Star Crusades Nexus: Book 09 - The Black Rift (35 page)

“Wait,” said Gun.

His expression changed to a frown. He spoke a few words and then looked to her. He clearly wanted to say something. A red flash lit up his visor, and he moved quickly to his right.

“Take cover, now!”

The mountain shuddered, and then came impact after impact. Teresa ran along with dozens of marines, as they made for the protection of arches, tunnels, doorways, and shafts. More dust broke free from the ceiling, and then gaps appeared. Teresa reached a ramp leading down to a storage facility. She made it halfway down when the first massive impact occurred. The strike was so great that she was lifted from her feet. Gun was thrown to the nearest wall and fell backwards. His bodyguards rushed to help, and then more impacts came in.

“Stay down!” he yelled.

Cracks popped up throughout the ceiling, and then entire sections of masonry ripped off. The ceiling was so far up in the air that it took sometime for the chunks to hit the ground. Another impact quickly followed, and a huge chunk of wall near the motor pool vanished. A rock splintered and tore apart and was replaced by the bow of a crippled Ravager warship. The wreckage pushed on until it reached halfway into the facility. Teresa tried to stand, but the impact continued.

“Jack!”

She looked around and then spotted the entrance to the medical bay. Dozens of people were rushing inside. More masonry above the site broke apart, and another chunk of shattered ship tore through, vaporizing the entire area in an instant. The ruined section spun about and crashed into the crippled Ravager.

“No!” she yelled.

Hands pulled her back, but she pushed them away. The dull rumble of short-range atomics continued to echo through the mountain. Dust and explosions filled the air, and still the impacts continued. She glanced at the real-time data from Jack, but all contact had been lost. Hatches and doors opened throughout the Ravager, and hundreds of Biomech warriors streamed out. The first to hit the ground were Thegns, and right behind them came the entire range of war machines.

“Stay down!” hollered a nearby marine.

Teresa ignored the man and walked out into the open. She pulled up her carbine and blasted the first two Thegns. One spotted her and returned fire. A single round deflected from her leg, and she dropped down to one knee. More shots whisked overhead, and she put rounds into another creature. Small groups of marines emerged from their hiding places to surround the crashed ships.

“Protect the Colonel!” someone shouted.

Five marines ran past her and right into the path of an Eques walker. The machine crashed down from the Ravager, along with a large group of Decurions. Vanguard Marines advanced from the left, but the Biomechs had numbers on their side. Teresa aimed at the machine, but it turned its attention on the nearest marines. Its turrets spun about and opened fire. Two were torn apart, and the third took a round in the face. A small proximity bomb rolled along the floor, and Teresa scrambled to get out of the way. It exploded, and sent her flying nearly ten meters through the air.

* * *

The first thing Teresa felt was a sharp pain in her leg. She looked down and spotted the piece of metal embedded just below the knee. It looked like the arm of a Decurion that had been snapped off half a meter from her. Blood ran down the wound, and when she tried to move, there was nothing but numbness from the knee down.

It’s the armor, painkillers and suppressors.

“Colonel, we have to move.”

She looked to her right and found Gun holding the broken body of a Decurion. He lifted it to the side and then hurled it at two approaching Thegns. One raised its arms to protect itself, and Gun used the opportunity to open fire with his shoulder-mounted gun. He looked back to her and nodded. A pair of his bodyguards helped her to her feet, and she immediately groaned.

“You have to walk. The facility has been breached. They hit us with atomics and then crashed the last of their ships all around the mountain. First to go was the landing pads, then the air defense sites.”

Gun grunted as a bullet struck his armor. He turned around and blasted a Thegn emerging from the blackness.

“The armory medical center, vehicle pool. It’s all gone. We’ve got no air cover left, and the fleet left to help Anderson and his plan. We’re falling back.”

The mention of the medical center wasn’t a shock, but it still dulled her thoughts even more. She looked about but didn’t recognize the place. The ceiling was much lower, and the lighting was only provided by the armor worn by the defenders. There was barely enough room for Gun to move.

“Where are we?”

Gun looked back, fired a single shot, and then kept on moving.

“The machines have taken the upper levels. Our engineers set thermite charges before we left. The mountain is gone. We’re heading for the west and the secondary lines. Captain Tycho is preparing them right now.”

Teresa took a step, and the pain almost threw her down. The ground shook, and part of the tunnel behind them lowered with a grinding sound. Chunks of rubble dropped down and struck those nearby. Teresa tried to move to help, but Gun grabbed her, pulling her toward the direction the rest of the marines were heading in. She hopped and groaned as they moved meter-by-meter from the devastation wrought through the mountain.

“No, they need our help!”

She pushed back at him, but his armored limbs were impervious to her touch.

“Behind us!” shouted a marine.

The man turned back and pulled himself low. He lifted his carbine and fired a long burst before looking to Gun.

“General, we’ve got more back there. They’re pinned down at the junction.”

Gun tried to move back, but the partial collapse of the tunnel made it impossible for him to get through. He bent down and shone his lamp deep into the ruins of the mountain. Further back was the wide-open intersection where the tunnels from all four directions joined. The center space was large enough for half a dozen Bulldogs. In the middle were thirty or more marines, with a sprinkling of Helion militiamen.

“He’s right. I need a squad to go back.”

Part of the ceiling cracked, and then another chunk dropped down to open a hole to the level above them. A Decurion dropped through and embedded its blades into the nearest marine. One of Gun’s bodyguards smashed its fist into the machine and then forced it against the sidewall. Two marines blasted it apart with close range carbine fire. More limbs appeared in the hole, and three more machines dropped in to attack them. Gun swung his fists at any that dared to come near him. As he released his grip, Teresa took that as an opportunity to get away. She staggered from Gun and looked to the marine next to her.

“Pull it out, now.”

She nodded to the embedded chunk of metal. The Private turned to check with Gun, but Teresa struck him across the helmet with the butt of her carbine.

“Now!”

The men knelt down and placed his knee against her armored leg. He grabbed the chunk of metal and then yanked. The severed and razor sharp piece pulled out and clattered to the ground. Blood oozed from behind the hole and ran down her leg. Teresa cried out but punched at the ground, making sure she stayed conscious. With two commands, she sent the drugs through her body, as well as the sealant mist to stem the bleeding, cauterize the wound, and keep her in the fight.

“Are you insane? You cannot go back,” said Gun.

Other marines were still moving out of the tunnel, with only two standing their ground with their commanding officers. A single Jötnar in the color of Gun’s personal guard was also there. Teresa shook her head.

“Spartan’s lost somewhere up there, and Jack is probably dead inside this mountain. I have to do something.”

Teresa nodded to the direction they were retreating to.

“You need to hold this side of the tunnel. Watch our backs. We’ll be back.”

She didn’t even wait for his answer. Gun watched as the wounded Colonel crawled back through the rubble, along with two marines. In seconds they were gone, and Gun was left in the tunnel with just the last two marines and the single Jötnar.

“Typical Teresa,” he said with a chuckle.

“General, get back.”

He moved, not even thinking of what it might be. The Thegn landed a meter to his side and swung a pair of razor sharp blades. Gun blasted it to shreds with his shoulder-mounted gun while laughing.

“Come on, you can do better than this.”

He could hear movement above and used the moment of calm to shuffle back a few more meters, still keeping his lamps and weapons trained on the hole. A quick movement of his eyes gave him a glimpse of the small gap in the tunnel that Teresa had gone through. He could hear gunfire coming from that side.

Spartan, you old fool, it’s best she never knows.

Teresa reached the other side and activated her vision modes. The thermal imaging allowed her to see through the smoke and dust. At the end of the shaft were the intersection and the pinned down marines. Thegns and Decurions hit them repeatedly from three directions, and more climbed out of a breach in the floor just the other side of the rubble. One jumped out and turned around to rush the trapped marines.

“Hey!” Teresa shouted.

The Thegn looked back, surprised to find anybody at the partially collapsed tunnel. A single high-power round tore through its body. The two marines added their own fire and shredded the unfortunate creature. Two more climbed from the hole and fired toward the intersection.

“With me.”

Teresa limped closer and closer to the Thegns and embedded her bayonet in the back of the nearest one’s skull. The second saw the attack and twisted around, but it was too slow. The pair of marines shot at point-blank range, killing the thing instantly. The bodies fell to the ground, and they moved on past them.

“Don’t shoot,” said Teresa, moving out of the darkness.

“Where the hell did you come from?” asked a tall Marine sergeant.

Teresa glanced at the man, recognizing him from somewhere.

“Sergeant…Stone.”

“Yes, Sir,” said the man.

Teresa looked down and found the reason for them staying where they were. The badly mangled shape of a wounded lieutenant lay there. He was missing a leg, and there were two deep wounds in his chest. Even so, the man still lived.

“Lieutenant Elvidge,” said the young officer, “You need to get out of here. This entire place is falling apart.”

“Colonel Morato, and we’re getting out of here, all of us,” Teresa snapped back.

“Morato?” Sergeant Stone asked.

A howl came from the shaft off to the left.

“Come on,” said Teresa.

The group moved back along the debris-filled shaft; each taking care to protect the route back. No sooner had they left the intersection when more than a dozen Decurions with Thegn support moved in from two of the tunnels. They merged at the intersection and looked about aimlessly, lost now that their prize had vanished.

“Keep going,” said Sergeant Stone.

The first of the group were already at the section with the collapsed rubble. Several new chunks had broken down, and it was now only big enough to squeeze through one at a time. Teresa and Sergeant Stone brought up the rearguard while the others helped each other through the narrow space.

“Hold them back,” said Teresa.

The enemy had spotted their attempt to escape and opened fire. Two rounds struck nearby, and a third hit the Sergeant in the chest. The round deflected and embedded itself deep into the tunnel walls.

* * *

Gun watched the survivors crawl from the hole with widening eyes. First came a pair of privates, then a badly wounded officer with a missing leg. By the time the sixth came through, they were hit again. More holes had opened up on the sidewalls right next to the partially collapsed ceiling. Thegns appeared almost continually now, and for a moment the evacuation stopped.

“Get them out of here!” growled Gun.

He moved closer to the damage and blocked the path. Each time a Thegn appeared, he would stab or shoot instantly sending them back. After the fourth attempt, they backed off.

“Now, send more through.”

Another marine climbed through the gap and squeezed past Gun and out into the tunnel. More followed, but Gun could hear the sound of further enemy forces closing the distance. He took a step back and crouched down, but the gap was too low and too small for him to see through. Another marine came through and then an entire group of them. He was forced to stand back as each of them struggled to get past his armored form.

“More artillery!” shouted one as he rushed away.
            

Gun checked his helmet display, but he’d lost all contact with friendly forces. In any case, it didn’t matter. The shells struck in a bombardment that occurred one after the other. Sections of the ceiling tore apart, and he was forced to keep moving back or risk being trapped inside.

“Colonel, get out of there…now!”

He spotted movement in the gap and reached out to help. It wasn’t friendly though, and instead the arm was metallic and sharp. It flailed about and tore a chunk of plating from Gun’s arm. He took aim, but another clambered out of a breach in the ceiling and ripped at his main gun.