Authors: Max Feinstein
The rest of the building was in no better shape, however. Almost every outward facing surface seemed to be scorched or potmarked from impacts and explosions of various intensities.
Occasional flashes of light, reflections of the eastward setting sun, let Jonathan know that even throughout that horror some windows had still survived. For whatever reason that small realization stuck with him as he looked over the building, trying to discern if anyone was still inside.
Those thoughts were answered seconds later as the drone descended a little lower. The first indication was the appearance of two new markers within the building, one from each of the fireteams still inside. The second was the Jayhawk’s detection of small groups of enemy soldiers rushing towards the structure from all sides. When zoomed in closer, Jonathan could see the large alien soldiers
advancing along the streets on all four of their fur covered limbs.
Without warning flashes of plasma fire erupted from all sides of the building in perfect unison. The streets surrounding the office tower erupted in small explosions of fire as these deadly bolts hammered the opposing forces. Most of these rounds
seemed to be simply absorbed by the enemy armor, while others just ricocheted off it in various directions. Still, small numbers of this intense plasma barrage found their mark. Jonathan watched as one of the alien soldiers took three different hits in the forelimbs and neck and staggered in midstride before collapsing on the street half on fire. Another soldier took a direct hit in the head from what Jonathan guessed to be an MH-44 hypervelocity rifle. That enemy soldier’s head burst open in all directions within a millisecond of impact as the round detonated before exiting the other side. Another soldier nearby went down the same way to the squad’s sniper.
These casualties
, however, caused the enemy horde no pause and they proceeded unabated towards the squad’s position. The outgoing plasma fire was soon answered by the enemies own weapons systems. Watching the engagement Jonathan counted no less than three different types of weapons used against his infantry team. One of these seemed to be small glowing orbs that were fired in groups of three and were the alien version of sticky grenades. Whatever surface they seemed to stick to would quickly start to glow a deep orange before detonating in a shower of superheated gas and debris. Another weapon employed was an energy beam type, emitted from some of the large cannons carried on the backs of the large enemy soldiers. He noted at a certain number of those barrels would glow on the sides as if fire, but nothing was visually detected emerging from them.
Deep inside himself Colonel Hallsworth wished he was there fighting alongside those brave men and women who were willing to risk their lives for those of the civilians they had sworn to protect. If he had been in Captain Fiahmsa’s place he would have requested an extraction for that squad. That was not the case, however, and as a commanding officer in charge of thousands upon thousands of people he had to keep the big picture in mind.
The sounds of civilians being loaded onto the trains stationed outside his armored vehicle made the choice for him. There was no way he could put all their lives in danger, no matter how tempted he was, in order to save those soldiers now caught behind enemy lines. As he tightened his face, Jonathan promised himself that not one of those warriors would be forget for their sacrifice.
The right thing to do was at least them that team know what was about to happen, so Jonathan used his neural implant to send another command to the Jayhawk, which in turn established a secure laser connection with a small
relay set up on the building’s roof.
“
Jackal One-Three Actual,” the Colonel heard Sergeant Chezwik respond through the speakers after another prolonged pause between transmit and receive times.
“
DestCom Actual, I reviewed your situation Sergeant, but unfortunately we can’t conduct an extraction at the moment,” he said the last part with a bitter feeling in his mouth about abandoning those fine men and women.
“Roger that sir, we all thought
that as well,” there was pause from Chezwik as the sound of gunfire and distant explosions came through the speakers, mixed with soldiers yelling at each other. “I doubt we would even last long enough to wait for the extraction.”
“I’m sorry, son, I just wanted to let you know
Phase Two is a go, we can’t postpone any longer.”
“
Copy that, sir. We’ll hold off as long as possible until we get your order. It was a pleasure serving under you sir. Get those civilians safe.”
“The pleasure
was all mine Sergeant. Your efforts shall not be forgotten. We couldn’t have done it without you. Tell that your squad, please,” he took another look at the display, watching the enemy advance closer to the office building, “DestCom out.”
Jonathan looked away from the screens
for second and down at the metallic floor, rubbing this eyes with one hand. This was one of the aspects of command that he was never fond of, but knew could not be avoided. These were choices only he was capable of making, whether for good or bad.
“Request denied for the rescue attempt. Proceed with Phas
e Two, repeat Phase Two is a go,” Jonathan ordered in a commanding voice, knowing that some wouldn’t like or agree with the command, but he also knew that all of them would do as instructed.
Specialist Caesaris was the first of these men and turned his head back towards the Colonel with a saddened face. Jonathan could see the man working through the situation in his mind and the want to express concern was clearly visible on his young face. The specialist’s demeanor changed just as quickly to one of resolved as he realized the difficultly with whish his command officer had issued the order. He went to work immediately relaying the orders to the various ground stations as well as to the dozen other unground terminals scattered throughout the city district. There too thousands of people huddled
en mass waiting for the military to take them out of the warzone.
Colonel Jonathan Hallsworth waited just long enough to hear the acknowledgement come back from the various infield commanders, a minute or two later, before turning away from the monitors. He knew exactly what was supposed to happen and chose instead to look out the rear of his command vehicle. He watched the different families gather up their meager belongings. Most had taken shelter with only the clothes on their backs, but a few had had time to put together a small suitcase or two. Soldiers dressed in full combat gear could be seen helping people load whatever things they brought with them as well as patrolling the crowd of people to make sure everything went smoothly. There had already been a few altercations about the water and food rations being passed around, but Jonathan filed those under extreme anxiety induced rather than all out malice
.
Meanwhile, behind him
on the Tactical Map Overlay or TacMOv, the views on the monitors began to change. The feed from the Jayhawk had expanded and zoomed out to encompass the entire city block. It was at this moment that the building protecting the Army Squad detonated in a brilliant flash of light, extinguishing all signs of life within. The explosion was large enough to shatter most of the surrounding building and propel large chunks of debris in all direction, killing or maiming many of the enemy soldiers trying to attack it.
The same happened throughout the entire section of the city district, as the other projected map indicated.
Dozens of similar detonations went off at strategically selected locations and were quickly followed by other small explosions just above the cityscape. These explosions represented the bursting of artillery canisters to shower the surrounding area with smaller plasma charges. These charges free-fell between the various buildings within a hundred meter radius before rupturing just before hitting the ground, spraying superheated plasma in all directions. Multiple similar barrages followed this first to saturate the entire district area.
With most of these places still crawling with enemy combatants
it was hoped that a good number of attackers would lose their lives in the operation, thus causing the enemy to take pause in their assault. The resulting rubble would make passage through that part of the city slow and hazardous, giving the defender an advantage along the new defensive line, and would also force the aliens to use more of their air assets to transport their soldiers. Those very assets were easier to see and therefore visually track, which in turn made them easier targets to anti-air weapons systems.
These systems went to work even as plumes of billowing smoke still rose towards the heavens on the TacMOv from the different detonation sites.
Rapid bursts of laser and particle beam fire raced into the sky from locations hidden throughout the outer edges of the city to meet a squadron of enemy fighters flying over the warzone. These fighter craft had quickly descended to investigate what had just happened and presumably to try to hit back against the newly entrenched Army force. The display showed two of these ten fighters disappear almost instantly and the others broke formation into evasive maneuvers.
As these craft shattered in all directions new objected blinked onto the map already in midair and quickly accelerated towards the enemy fighters. These new missile contacts had come from the same AD-201 Sentinel
air defense systems already providing airspace protection for the UPF held territory. Being laser and optically guided, the missiles had no trouble tracking the enemy, even if they never showed up on the other area sensors.
Another trio of fighters disappeared from the display in the next few seconds as
a number of missiles found their marks, while another turned back to stagger away from the area after another missile had detonated underneath it. What remained of the broken squadron seemed to somehow avoid the rest of the missiles and start to reform. Before the four surviving fighters could coalesce into a fighting unit, however, a group of bluish beams streaked through the air and impacted against them. Only one of the four craft survived this new barraged and turned to retreat even before the burning debris from its comrades’ fighters crashed to the ground below.
As it fled, two flights of four Dragonfire assault fighters each flew into view above the ravaged city. These newcomers were the next part of Phase Two and
quickly split up into four pairs on their way towards the alien controlled part of Destona. From each Dragonfire appeared two large missiles which instantly raced off the edge of the display map. These missiles were targeted at various alien military targets within the city limits, but mostly at the Mironia Spaceport. It was deemed that the destruction of that vital strategic asset would slow down the enemy advance, even for a short while, since they had worked so hard to capture it.
With their mission attack mission completely the Dragonfires proceeded to set up a combat air patrol above that part of the city. They would help hold off any enemy assault against the civilian evacuation. That part of the operation, Phase Three, was now finally underway with the first Htram pulling away from the station terminal.
Just couldn’t keep your big mouth shut, could you Dexie
, Dexter Iorns thought to himself as he watched a squad of large alien soldiers jog across the main landing strip of Hamilton Army Base. If he had simply agreed with Captain Angela Rasinek’s assessment they might not even be in this situation. On the other hand, Dexter also knew that he had been in the right to voice his opinion about proceeding to the designated Condition Red site. Unlike the other two platoon leaders, he thought it was prudent to ignore the order for the time being and return to Hamilton after they failed to contact the base through laser comms. The personal assessment had not been easy, but as he conveyed to the others, if the base was indeed under attack it was their responsibility to try and rescue as many survivors as possible.
After some though
t on the matter, the Captain had reversed her position and the entire company had conducted a low level, treetop flight towards the Army Base. After a three hour transit, Dexter was now here doing recon on enemy movements within the base for the past fifteen minutes. What allowed them all this surveillance time were the thick trees that made up the base’s western perimeter, providing the entire company with great degree of concealment against detection. It also helped that none of the enemy soldiers seemed to be concerned with a counter-attack. They were still too busy trying to extinguish all resistance within the large military compound.
Even a day post
-invasion, there were still survivors within the various structures on the base. Their continued resistance was witnessed once again when a bright explosion lit up the sky on the other side of the base. Dexter even noted that some of the base’s automated defense systems were still in operation and engaged any enemy forces that came near them. He had watched as an enemy squad mounted an attack against one of these emplacements. They had lost a soldier in the process, but had somehow put the system out of commission without firing a single shot. It seemed that the system simply shut down when the enemy had come within a certain distance, as if all power had been turned off.
From his command seat at the rear of the infantry fighting vehicle, just below the Centaur’s gun turret, Dexter had also used the night vision system to note that the enemy forces had started to employ the use of armored fighting vehicles of their own. At his vantage point he was unable to survey the entire base, but he cataloged at least two varieties. One was
seemed to be a medium sized troop transport that hovered around the base, disgorging troops from underneath it. The second type was a two story tall walking unit that functioned as a gun platform equipped with multiple weapons, from energy based to missiles.
All of that information was instantly distributed across the whole company through laser data links, allowing the tactical maps to be updated without pause.
It was this update that now informed Captain Rasinek that the area between them and the base was clear of enemy forces for the time being. With that last enemy patrol galloping across the cratered and devastated landing field that stood between Alpha Company and Hamilton Army Base, Dexter knew that their time to start their assault had finally come.
“Iron Fist
Two-One Actual reports ready,” Dexter called out over his comms as he leaned back away from the display.
He heard the other two lieutenants report the same, while gripping and disengaging his battle rifle from across his chest. Looking down at the charge display at the top of the weapon Dexter confirmed that it was indeed fully charged and ready. As he looked at the weapon lying over his lap, Dexter’s body finally grasped the full scope of the situation they were all in. His stomach tightened from a wave of nervousness. He had been on combat missions before, but all those were minor engagements or raids against
various terrorist and pirate cells. This was his first real shooting war, a war against an enemy that neither he nor anyone else had any real knowledge about. They would all have to learn on the fly, making it the most dangerous learning experience of their lives.
Lieutenant Iorns was turning towards his troops when his comm came alive
, “this is Iron First Actual, mission is a go, repeat mission is a go. Launch the Jays and good hunting.”
“Al
right, you heard the Captain!” Dexter shouted to the entire platoon through his comm, “check your gear and launch the bird. Moving out in T minus 2.”
With that he
pushed his BR-112 rifle back into front of his chest plate and commanded his Centaur to launch a single Jayhawk drone, which was instantly dispatched from a vertical launch tube. The bird-like drone quickly unfurled its wings and ascended to an altitude of three thousand meters under its own power. Another drone quickly joined it only a second later from one of the other three fighting vehicles in his platoon. The same procedure was being conducted by the other platoons in the company and soon there were a total of six recon drones scouting the area ahead of their planned assault.
Dexter also noticed that his stomach had almost settled as a soft whine erupted from the rear of the vehicle when the engine
came alive. That welcoming sound preceded a sudden soft vibration that ran through the interior, indication the activation of the repulsor field. With that the IFV lifted almost a meter into the air and hovered in place as the mission clock counted down. All around them other similar vehicles were powering up and getting ready themselves. The tension and nervousness inside the confined space was nearly palpable as Dexter glanced at the faces of the men and women under his command. Some were staring at the floor, while others were trying to joke around with their fellow comrades before the coming battle. He admired each and every one of them for their service and for some unknown reason felt tranquility take hold of him. The visor of his combat helmet dropped down over his eyes and sealed air-tight against the contoured lower half to cover his entire face just as the clock hit zero.
When the countdown finally hit zero the twelve Centaur Infantry Fighting Vehicles that composed the entire Alpha Company surged forward out of the forest. The almost pitch black night, provided by the fact that Frontiera had no moon, offered perfect visual stealth for the armored vehicles. Even so, every Centaur had their camsheath generators turned on just in case, making the large IFVs all but invisible to sight and most sensor systems.
They only had a total distance of twelve hundred meters to cross, but during a state of war no unnecessary chances were being taken.
Thanks to their intensive training the company moved in perfect union as it crossed the completely open high grass field. Each fighting vehicle proceeded with caution, its armed turret scanning slowly side to side for any sign of danger, guided by a sophisticated automated target engagement system. The ATES was an autonomous system designed to gather information from a variety of sensors connected to the Centaur in order to gain as much situational awareness as possible on the battlefield. Each recognized target would be pinged instantly for friend-or-foe identification and engaged accordingly.
If needed the system could be switched to semi-automated mode and controlled from a living gunner inside the vehicle, however, that was seldom done these days since it freed up an extra soldier for other duties.
They had gotten no more than half-way across the field before their entire plan fell apart.
‘Movement ahead!’ came the shout through the company’s LDL TacNet, and over Dexter’s internal speakers, as one of the other Centaur’s detected something up ahead of them. The lieutenant turned towards his tactical display block and saw that the ATES had already started to respond to the new threat. The IFV’s turret instantly swung back towards the front and Dexter watched as a line of six large cylindrical shapes rose from out of the ground in front of the destroyed Hamilton landing field. As dirt fell from the tops of each one two rounded projections extended out towards them, making their intended malice that much more obvious.
Before these supposed cannons even completed their protraction the Centaur’s ATES has already classified them as hostiles. They matched nothing within the system’s database and did not reply to the IFF request when interrogated. As enemy installations they were immediately targeted and engaged by the vehicle’s Particle Burst Cannon. The triangular barrel automatically locked on to one of the emplacements and fired, letting loose with three quick successive particle beams. These light-blue beams lit up the surrounding area before impacting against their intended target, one after the other in almost the exact same area.
As Dexter watched on his screen, a thick crimson force field ignited around the weapons emplacement and shimmered as each beam hammered into it without any effect. The same could be witnessed throughout the company as the other IFVs automatically engaged their own targets. Even with each of the six installations being assaulted by two different Centaurs there seemed to be no result in the company’s favor. A few of the shields wavered momentarily, but stabilized, much to Dexter’s disappointment.
Within seconds, though, it was the enemy’s turn to respond and Dexter watched as orange lights began to pulse up and down each emplacements side. This pulsing repeatedly got quicker and quicker over just a few seconds until they became two solid lines on either side of each emplacement. At the exact second that these lights stabilized reddish beams of energy discharged towards the approaching IFVs. Not every vehicle was targeted, but Dexter felt his Centaur shake as if hit by a massive hammer, making it quickly apparent that his vehicle was one of those targeted for destruction. He witnessed the shields protecting his IFV flare to life just before the laser impacted the vehicle’s hull and dissipate the destructive energy.
Other vehicles were getting hit as well, Dexter noticed while switching the display view from front to the sides. There were a couple of near misses, but three other IFVs were similarly hit. Their shields held strong, however, one of the IFVs from 3
rd
platoon wavered from some reason. There was no sign of laser impact or damage, the vehicle simply stalled with complete loss of power in midair and fell twenty-five meters to the ground below. The forward section of the armored Centaur crumpled under the heavy impact and dug into the earth under it, causing the entire thing to flip over onto its back.
Dexter’s IFV immediately pulled up to gain altitude, surprising everyone within the troop compartment. They were all thankful for their restraints as the armored vehicle banked away of the laser fire directed towards them as the driver conducted evasive maneuvers. One hand gripping an overhead brace, Dexter kept watch on the display in front of him as the IFV jostled them all around
. He targeted the crash location and summoned a Medevac team instantly even as another two fighting vehicles fall out of the sky without being hit by anything visible to him The thought of not knowing what was attacking them made him somewhat furious inside. Every soldier in his platoon was his responsibility and he had to do his best to keep them all alive, but how could he protect them from something he did not comprehend.
His mind raced to find a solution to this madness and one finally rose to surface. One that would hopefully keep the remaining elements of the company still concealed. Establishing a TacLink with the three other IFVs under his command
Dexter used his command rights to synchronize the actions of all of their ATES units. At the same time he called up his platoon’s Jayhawks and gave them new commands to execute at the appropriate time. Within less than a minute, even through the erratic direction changes of the IFV, his preparations were complete and disseminated to the other platoons within the Alpha Company. There was no time to wonder if it would even work, but something had to be done and Dexter gave the initiating order to his vehicle’s ATES.
The response was instantaneous and two pairs of missiles were magnetically ejected from a series of vertical launch tubes along the rear sides of the Centaur. These four missiles, in two volleys were joined by an equal number from each of the three other IFVs in the unit less than a second later. Dexter watched as their motors ignited at preset distances from their respective vehicles and each accelerated into the air, only to arch back down towards the
ground seconds later. At the same time the platoon’s Jayhawks fired guiding laser beams at each of the four targeted enemy emplacement in an effort to help the missiles find their targets just in case countermeasures were deployed.
His Centaur dove for the ground as another energy beam brushed past them and Dexter switched his display view to monitor those closest weapons installations. He was just in time to watch the first wave of missiles descend on their designated targets. These came within meters of their targets before some unseen force seemed to nudge them out of their descent trajectory. Dexter had never seen anything like it and frowned slightly as the first of his missiles slammed into the ground away from the target. The second missile, coming in at almost the same time, just barely missed as well, but it was close enough for its proximity sensor to trigger. Its
directed pulse warhead went off just before the projectile smashed into the ground, sending a heavily concentrated magnetic pulse into the installation.
Leaning forward and holding his breath in anticipation Dexter waited to see what effect this first part of his plan would have on the enemy. At first it seemed that the attack was a failure
as the shields around the emplacement flared crimson once more. The force field reaction turned out to be one last dying spasm. He watched the orange lights along the installation’s side extinguish just after the missile’s pulse. This was instantly followed by the shield wavering and shimmering along various sections before finally collapsing.