Extinction (65 page)

At first, Surgeon was a little concerned
at the amount of firepower needed to take down the warrior but as he inspected
the body his fears were somewhat relieved. This alien didn't have a personal
shield like the first one they encountered, so all of their rounds actually
caused damage. To the team he said, “We put a lot of rounds into this guy but
from the looks of it, we really didn't need to. He didn't have a personal
shield like the first one. Also, the rounds to his head and chest seemed to
have the desired and common effect of anyone else we shoot.

“I know our first encounter made us a
little heavy on the trigger for this contact but let's dial it back unless we
know they've got a shield on.”

He got several affirmative head nods and
a couple of “Copy” responses. He gave the signal to start moving out and that's
when the first plasma bolt took one of the operators off his feet and burned
through his chest. The team dove to positions of cover as best they could.

The hallway was longer than the one they
had just come from but this one had several doors and rooms coming off of it.
The team members started dumping into rooms for protection. The first two or
three men in the room cleared the room while the last man took up a firing
position in the doorframe to attack or defend against the oncoming enemy. The doorways
were large enough to fit at least two defenders in each one.

The four operators still on top of the
elevator held their position. Joker was in charge of this team. “Hold fast,
guys. Jumping into the car now would just get us killed.” Turning to Beast, he
added, “Get a drop camera and put it in the elevator so we can view the
hallway.”

Beast grabbed a drop camera and tossed
it into position near the elevator doors. He then ripped the roof hatch off of
its hinges and tossed it on the floor in a position that wouldn't allow the
doors to close. Joker gave him a quick nod, showing approval of Beast's
forethought.

On the camera, they could see the battle
unfolding. Without personal shields on, the warriors were a bit more
conservative with their tactics. They were setting up firing positions that
were typical in this given situation. They were feeling out their enemy's
tactics and resolve and not pushing things too far at this point.

The warriors' plasma bolts had less
effect on the hallway walls than the operators' bullets did. Joker made a
mental note to get a sample of the wall after the firefight. He also put the
note into his visor's failsafe memory. If Joker died, then everything in his
failsafe memory would be transmitted to the team leader's visor.

As any species progressed in weapons
design, the structural technologies changed to match the weapons' abilities.
You wouldn't want a military structure to be completely vulnerable to the
weapons you just made, so you had to beef up the materials. Joker theorized
that the hallway walls were built to provide some protection from plasma fire
but projectile weapons are so ancient to this species that the walls are less
able to withstand hits from them. If the Coalition could figure out what is in
the walls, then maybe they could make body armor out of the same materials.

In the hallway, the firefight raged on,
this one much longer than the previous. Neither side gained ground as both probed
the other for weakness and general tactics. Eventually one side would have to
give and both knew that most likely it would be the invaders.

The home team always had the advantage
in this sort of situation. They had more supplies, usually more soldiers, more
knowledge of the battlefield and just generally more of everything needed in
this sort of situation. Surgeon knew it and the enemy knew it. But Surgeon knew
one thing that they did not: he had four operators hidden above the elevator. He
just had to figure a way to get that leverage into the fight.

He put the question to the team. “I
think we all know that we need to start pushing this fight to them. I can't see
what everyone else is looking at so I'm open to suggestions here.”

Ratchet spoke up from one of the forward
rooms. “We've got some sort of gas cylinders in our room. We don't know what
they contain but based on their construction we're guessing it's under a lot of
pressure. So even if the gas inside isn't combustible, it should vent pretty
damn fast. I think the cylinders are meant to vent rather than explode, so
maybe we could launch them downrange and see what happens.”

Surgeon wasn't completely against the
idea. “Let's hold that one for a minute. Anyone else have anything less Hail
Mary-ish?”

The weapons fire from both sides had
slowed to a trickle as the temporary stalemate became more obvious. Joker was
looking at his team for ideas when he saw something he hadn't noticed before. “Can
anyone down there see vents in the ceiling? And if so, how big are they?”

Seth keyed in a command on his visor. “I
see one. I'm sending you my visor feed.”

Joker smiled. “Okay, guys, here's the
plan: we have a vent access hatch in the elevator shaft that looks like it
links up with the one Cadet is looking at. My team is going to strip down our
gear and get in the vent system. Hopefully we can get on top or behind the
enemy. We'll drop down some grenades and assault from there.”

“Sounds good, buddy.” Surgeon added, “If
you can't get through the vents on their side, do something, anything, to get
their attention turned around to you so we can push our assault from this side.
Also, Ratchet, I want your idea in place and ready to go as a last resort.”

Ratchet had already started making
preparations for his idea and had six of the heaviest cylinders ready near the
door.

Cadet also added to the plan. “We'll
need to keep them distracted while Joker's team is moving above them. We also
need to conserve ammunition, so when Joker starts moving we'll start a three-round
rotating volley.”

A rotating volley would have each
operator rapidly fire three rounds followed by the next operator doing the same
thing and this continued in a clockwise rotation from the starting point. This
volley caused a constant stream of rounds to go downrange from different points,
making it seem like more rounds were being fired than what actually were being
fired. With how many operators they had, they would each be firing three rounds
about every ten seconds so they wouldn't even be using an entire one hundred
fifty round magazine in five minutes of shooting and that should be long enough
for Joker to get into place.

Joker's team was already getting the
vent cover off and putting their first man through when Cadet had finished his
comment. When they were about halfway down, Joker put the rest of the team into
action. “Let's start up that volley fire, guys; we're about halfway to them.”

The team started firing their three-round
volleys and achieved their desired effect. The trickle of gunfire turned back
into a full-fledged gunfight. Initially, the alien warriors were taken aback by
the increased rounds but then they began unleashing more plasma bolts into the
hallway and a couple even moved forward towards unoccupied rooms nearest them.

Surgeon would've let the enemy come to
him if the tables were reversed so he was a bit surprised to see his enemy
leave cover just to gain a paltry ten meters of ground. One of the warriors
paid the price and went down after two rounds went through one eye. “Nice shot”,
he said to no one in particular, unaware of where the rounds came from. The
other warrior made it to his intended destination and took up the first
foothold in the hallway that his side had been able to attain up to this point.
Surgeon wanted that foothold to be their first and last.

“Ratchet, put one of those canisters in
the hallway but don't light it off yet.” Surgeon just wanted to see how his
enemy would react to the gas cylinder in the hallway. If they became more
cautious, then it was probably a good idea. If they didn't care about the
cylinder, then it was probably not going to help them. If they all ran like
hell at the sight of it, then it would probably be best not to shoot it.

Ratchet placed one of the cylinders on a
dolly that was meant for moving them around. He rolled the dolly into the
hallway and pushed it forward. The dolly ended up in the middle of the hallway
and pointed in the right direction.

Initially, the warriors in line of sight
of the cylinder ducked but then cautiously peeked around the corner to see what
the invaders were up to. The volley fire continued but the next shot from the
warrior was clearly aimed at the cylinder, though it missed. Surgeon aimed and
fired one round directly into the valve mechanism on the neck of the cylinder.

The bottle vented as Ratchet theorized
it would and the cylinder became a missile. It wasn't a fast-moving missile as
missiles go but at about a hundred kilometers an hour, it would severely injure
or kill anyone it hit during its travels.

The warrior who had taken the room in
the hallway peered out just in time to see the cylinder fly within centimeters
of his head and continue down the hallway. The near-miss caused panic fire from
the warrior and he let lose a plasma round.

The plasma passed through the vented gas
from the cylinder and there was no more question of whether or not the gas was
flammable. The vapor ignited and a brilliant greenish purple tail of fire
chased the cylinder in an attempt to catch the source of the venting gas. And
the tail did catch the cylinder a half second later and the explosion put both
sides on their respective asses. Most of the gas must have vented before the
explosion because it wasn't as bad as Surgeon would have expected.

The team was back up and the volley fire
resumed. “Do you think we can repeat that but in a controlled and purposeful
manner?” Surgeon was taking his turn in the volley fire.

Ratchet was already thinking the same
thing. “I don't think so. If we ignite it too soon, then it explodes on our
side of the fight and if it hasn't had a chance to vent a lot of gas, I'm
pretty sure it would kill us.” There was a small pause. “But I do have some
empty bottles in here.”

“Good call.” Surgeon was reworking his
plan. “If we can get them far enough down the hallway, it will cause them to
duck and cover. If we can't get them far enough, then the cylinders will draw
their fire as they attempt to explode the gas on our side. Either way, we
should get one or two small windows when our guys aren't taking direct fire.
Let me know when you're ready.

“Joker, are you getting close?”

Joker and his team were having a more
difficult time getting in position than they had expected. “We're almost there.
Give us two more minutes.”

Joker knew as well as Surgeon did that
two minutes was a lifetime in a firefight, so if that's what Joker said he
needed, Surgeon had to trust him that it couldn't be done in less time. “No
pressure, buddy; we're all just waiting on you. The fate of the galaxy and all
that.”

More weapons fire from the hallway rang
out through the ventilation system Joker's team was pulling themselves through.
The ducts divided and went in opposite directions of where they wanted to end
up. On the squad push, Joker relayed their readiness. “We've reached the end of
the line. The ducts split and go away from our targets. We didn't get as far behind
them as we had hoped; in fact, we're pretty much right on top of them. In ten
seconds, start your diversion and then we'll make our move when we see the best
window of opportunity.”

Joker put two operators in the middle
while he and Beast went to vent openings about five meters apart. As Joker's
team was getting set, Surgeon's team got started with the diversion.

Ratchet had the near-empty cylinder
ready to go. Surgeon pointed at Ratchet and then gave him the thumbs-up.
Ratchet sent the cylinder flying down the hallway and he received the response
they were hoping for. All except one of the warriors ducked for cover as the
impromptu missile sped their way.

The one who did not take cover attempted
to shoot the cylinder as it came towards him. After two shots went wide, he
dropped his weapon and stepped into the hallway in front of the projectile. If
the cylinder had been full, his plan wouldn't have worked: the cylinder would
have at the very least taken him along for the ride, if not tearing through him
first. This cylinder was almost completely empty, so it only had enough
gumption to get itself down the hallway and at a fairly slow speed.

The warrior caught the cylinder in all
four arms and was pleasantly surprised to have not been killed by the impact.
And although that was a fortuitous happenstance, Surgeon's men were well
equipped and trained to take advantage of unforeseen outcomes. Two of the
operators immediately opened fire on the still slowly venting cylinder. There
wasn't enough gas or pressure left to cause an explosion but there was enough
left to start a fire. That fire blossomed instantly to engulf the previously safe
warrior.

Joker saw the warrior catch the cylinder
and figured this was a good time to start his assault. He gave the command to
fire and the two operators in the middle of the duct began shooting through the
duct work and ceiling. They didn't know exactly where their rounds were going
but based on the video feed they were still receiving from the drop camera in
the elevator, they were pretty sure they were close to their targets.

One of the warriors who was ducking for
cover felt the heat from his brother's living funeral pyre and then felt a few
of the human's rounds go through his leg. The wounds didn't hurt so much as his
brain registered an injury that needed to be taken care of later. He also
reflexively pulled his leg away from the incoming bullets and began to turn to
face his enemy. In the hallway stood an opponent worthy of his time. The
non-human roared a challenge and raised an edged weapon that was all too
familiar to the warrior; he knew it had once belonged to one of his brothers.