Star Crusades Nexus: Book 03 - Heroes of Helios (16 page)

“Under here is the nearest Zathee district. It is only two levels high in most places.”

Jack was sure he could detect disdain in the man’s tone.

“Zathee. Aren’t they the ones you said were attacking us?” asked Jack, this time directing his question at the young female Helion. The Ambassador threw her a stern glance before she could reply.

Lieutenant Rossen had heard enough and nodded to Thai Qiu-Li.

“It will do. Get me the XO, and fast!”

Thai Qiu-Li worked quickly and connected in seconds. The image of the man appeared to the left of the video feeds coming from outside the ship.

“Good, you’re still there. Why aren’t you heading for the emergency areas?”

Before the Lieutenant could answer, Jack had already moved in front of the screen.

“Sir, the Helions have intel on the best landing place.”

The XO looked surprised.

“Landing? We aren’t landing, son. This is a controlled crash.”

Jack nodded firmly, but Lieutenant Rossen pulled him to the side to speak.

“Sir, this area is over forty stories in height, and the casualties will be catastrophic.”

“So? Maybe they should have thought of that before they hit us.”

From the observation ports built into the lifepods around them, a streak of orange tore past the outside of the ship. A shredded lifepod vanished off into space, either torn apart by enemy fire, or more likely by the fact they were descending into the atmosphere. The young Lieutenant wiped her face and shook her head.

“No, apparently, these are not Helion ships. They are rebels. The Ambassador has a safer location here. It is far less populated.”

She tapped the communication unit to pass on the location. The XO looked at it but appeared unimpressed. He was able to give only a percentage of his time to the conversation as he had a dozen other things to do right then.

“Put him on, now!” he snapped, taking Rossen and the other marines by surprise. She turned and indicated towards their guests.

“You!” she growled, the venom clear for all to hear.

Hunn pushed the Helion from behind and toward the screen.

“Is this true?” demanded the XO.

The Helion Ambassador nodded, saying nothing. The XO watched his movement with annoyance, and then walked away for a few seconds. The Ambassador tried to move back but was blocked by Jack.

 
“No, you stay there,” he said with a wry smile.

The XO returned, his left hand rubbing his chin as he thought about what he’d heard.

“Right, we’re targeting this new area. Lieutenant, keep our guests safe.”

He turned to leave them but looked back, staring directly at the Ambassador.

“We have things to discuss when we land. This crash is going to cause a lot of damage, and we will hold those accountable.”

The image turned black, and once again the marines and their Helion visitors were on their own.

“Any of you been in a planetary forced landing before?”

Wictred, Hunn, and Jack all laughed at the question.

“You name it, we’ve crashed in it.”

The ship started to shudder uncomfortably, and a howling sound rushed up from deep inside its cavernous interior. A pair of navy enlisted men ran into the oval room with looks of sheer terror on their faces. Both ignored the rest and went directly for the escape pod hatches. The marines blocked their path while the five Helions simply stood and watched.

“Hey, wait your turn,” said Hunn.

The look of fear turned to one of anger on the taller of the two men. He wore a blood stained tunic, and a tear the size of his hand showed just below his neck. Dirt and oil ran down his left arm, and a number of small cuts dripped blood from his chin.

“I’m not staying on this ship to die!”

Hunn blocked his path, and as soon as he stepped closer was greeted with a punch from his oversized fist. The crewman staggered back before straightening himself. The man reached down to his belt and pulled out a navy issue sidearm. Lieutenant Rossen saw this as the final straw, and with speed that took them all by surprise, she lurched forward and delivered a powerful snap kick that struck the man in the chin. Without so much as a sound, he dropped to the ground and slid back two meters. The second of the crewmen came to his senses and stopped trying to reach the pods. Instead, he waited next to his comrade, saying nothing that might encourage another violent response from the marines.

“What happened to you?” asked Lieutenant Rossen.

“The engine room was hit. The whole compartment was blasted out. Only two of us made it out before the bulkheads sheared.

Rossen took a long, deep breath.

“Well, you’d better stay with us; we’ll be on the ground soon.”

The man nodded and seemed to be calming down. What none of them could tell though was whether it was because he felt safe with them, or was it simply that he was now resigned to his fate? Either way, the great ship, the largest and most powerful universal warship in the fleet, was falling like a meteor toward the surface of the planet of Helios. A dull thud shook the floor, and a blast of air gushed in from three broken seals before the internal units could patch them with vaporized resin.

“That isn’t good,” said Hunn, his arm outstretched.

Jack followed his arm until he spotted the warning light on the life pod. It was flickering green and then finally showed red. One by one, the others followed until just a single door remained with the green light still showing. It flashed once and then stabilized. Jack approached the remaining sealed door and checked the panel.

“Well?” asked Lieutenant Rossen.

Jack looked back at her and shook his head.

“They are all showing as faulty. They must have been damaged by that ship in the attack, and only this last one is showing as fully functional.”

“And it takes only two crew?”

Jack nodded.

On the wide ribbon-line display they watched their own descent via external camera feeds. Every few seconds, a swarm of small shapes would detach and vanish into the sky as more lifepods and lifepods left the ship. The image of the XO appeared completely unannounced.

“The Chief says you’ve sustained damaged in the evacuation deck. Casualties?”

Lieutenant Rossen stiffened at the sight of the senior officer.

“No, sir. We were just about to leave, but all the pods are damaged, except one.”

He nodded as he listed.

“Look, we’re down to a skeleton crew of just fifteen. Automated systems are running the rest. You can try and reach the next level down, or ride the crash out like us.”

He moved closer to the screen.

“And protect the Ambassador and his assistant…at all costs!”

The image vanished and was replaced by the external feeds and the rapidly approaching ground. Lieutenant Rossen turned around and faced her small group of marines.

“Well, you heard the XO. Ride it out, or go for the next level down.”

The ship shook as though hit by a heavy object, but this time all of them were carefully braced. Wictred started to laugh at their predicament, much to the amusement of Jack and Hunn. The Helions watched them aghast, unable to fathom what could be amusing them.

“LT, there is no chance we’ll reach the next level down. We are on the top of this ship, the safest place,” said Jack.

The young officer nodded at him but said nothing. None of the others argued and simply checked around them for the safest place. The crewman with the bloodied nose staggered over to the right of the deck and slammed his fist down onto a panel. A board with several buttons popped out which he then tapped. Small metal rods flicked out like spikes around the deck, along with mag-seals and straps.

“For rough landings,” he said with a grim smile.

Lieutenant Rossen smiled for the first time in what felt an eternity.

“Good, everybody strap in.”

They moved to the small metal devices and pulled the straps out and round their bodies. The harnesses were simple but should be enough to keep them from being hurt in the landing. Jack lowered himself onto the crude seat and pulled the straps around his chest. He looked at the interior of the compartment as it shook and shuddered.

She’d better hold together.

He then looked over to his three comrades, and the look between them said it all. Jack closed his eyes and slowed his breathing to calm down.

This is going to hurt.

The Alliance survived the generation of strife that followed the Great Uprising and on until the present day. Those early years were marked by minor insurrections and even the violent coup instigated by the corporations. Many worlds united by a love of peace and commerce and a mutual hatred of the violence of the past. Even the fires of the Apocalypse to come could not break the will of the Alliance.

The Unforeseen Consequences

Teresa and Gun stormed inside the Ministry of Justice building to find General Rivers, as well as another dozen marines watching a massive circular display. It showed an orbital view of a Helion satellite that was tracking ANS Conqueror. Though they were all armed, not a single one of the Alliance personnel looked in the slightest aggressive. All but two focused their eyes on the unfolding disaster.

“General,” Teresa called out, moving to the middle of the room.

The old man turned his head and grimaced as he saw her and Gun.

“This isn’t good, look.”

He pointed to the screen. The shape of the ship was almost impossible to make out, due to the haze, smoke, and flames engulfing it.

“We have been unable to contact her. Something or someone is interfering with our signals.”

“Yeah, amazing how that always happens, isn’t it?” she answered.

Gun looked about, noting the number of Alliance and also Helion officials present.

“Who are these rebels, and why are they attacking us?”

A figure approached, nodded to General Rivers, and looked to Teresa and Gun. It was a male Helion, almost as tall as the General and wearing a long black coat. The collar was raised around the neck, merely emphasizing the pale face.

“I am Vigilis, Watchman of the City of Helios. I will coordinate the rescue of your people.”

Teresa looked confused.

“City?”

“Yes, it is the name we give to the urban layers of our world. Our entire planet is one urban site. Is it not the same on your worlds?”

Teresa didn’t seem impressed with this, however.

“Forget that, how is our ship?”

Vigilis nodded in agreement and turned to face the massive screen. He gestured at the unit with his arms, and the displayed altered to show a more zoomed in view. At this range, the feed started to jump, and the quality of the video dropped off considerably. Even so, it did show the rapidly moving object.

“We are tracking your ship. It appears they have changed direction from our designated landing zones. Do you know why that is?”

General Rivers heard the question and intervened before Teresa could answer.

“How the hell would they know? All we know is our ship was attacked, and they are heading low and fast into that area of your city. Would they even be able to land in those areas you suggested?”

Vigilis said nothing in reply. Teresa was already pointing at the vast dark area off to the right. Unlike the rest of the city, it was shrouded to the level that only a few spires could be seen and looked very different to any other parts of the planet any of them had seen so far.

“What the hell is that?”

Vigilis seemed unwilling to reply, but Teresa repeated the question, and Gun tensed the muscles in his arms, expecting trouble.

“That is the Zathee district, one of the less…”

Of all of them, Gun seemed to be the one with the least patience. He grimaced as he spoke.