Star Crusades Nexus: Book 06 - Call to Arms (15 page)

Spartan was forced to lower his head and acknowledge his friend had been right.

“Yeah, okay.”

They moved their attention back to the large computer system and watched as Lieutenant Jenkins moved the flat, two-dimensional schematic along to show more of the site. Unlike the richly detailed information Spartan would have expected on an Alliance system, this one was very basic, with the plans already looking only partially up-to-date. As the imagery moved, it stuttered and jerked about while the computer system loaded the data. It moved a few centimeters and then vanished before reappearing with a number of off visual artifacts. Spartan shook his head in amusement as the system attempted to fix and reposition the missing data.

“Man, how old is this tech?” Khan grumbled.

Lieutenant Jenkins lifted his hand in mock apology and continued moving the imagery until it showed the landing area, as well the sections of the refinery complex.

“There, you can see where the damage occurred during the initial attack.”

Spartan looked at the imagery and then to Khan who looked equally annoyed.

“This plan sucks. You know that, right?”

Spartan nodded to Khan.

“You’ve got no argument from me, old friend.”

He then pointed at the screen.

“John, you saw our reports, and you know what landings under fire are like. Do you think two shuttles and fifty private security guys are going to be able to pull this off?”

A flash on one of the smaller screens showed the first of the shuttles had come down low and was near the taller structures on the surface. Light glinted from the metal and flickered white on the screen.

“If the Biomechs have secured the refinery, then they will also have established a strong perimeter. They aren’t stupid, and they are tough to fight when they’re dug in.”

“That’s why we suggested the discreet approach,” Khan said, with a wide grin on his face.

The two of them were hardly known for their subtlety in combat operations, but even Khan could appreciate the benefits of a more considered approach to what could prove a deadly operation. Lieutenant Jenkins sighed and moved along the screen to watch the view from the second shuttle.

“You remember the landing on the Titan Naval Station, don’t you?” asked Spartan.

It was a painful memory for the two of them, as it had been their baptism of fire. After months of training and work, the unit had been thrown into a full-scale assault where hundreds had been cut down in the first waves. The survivors had become the veterans for the rest of that long war.

“Don’t forget, that was only against Zealots and their rebel friends. The Biomechs are something else. They are able to take on a Jötnar in hand-to-hand and have the firepower to deal with decent armor.

“I know. I read your report, and I saw the video briefing you gave Earthsec command before we left. They have given your tactical assessments of their strength to Cobb and his unit commanders. The plan comes directly from Cobb though.”

“Plan?” Khan laughed out.

The three of them waited and watched as patiently as they could. The lower levels of the refinery complex were a dangerous place at the best of time, and now they had to contend with battle damage. It wasn’t just impact damage where the small number of Biomech landing teams had crashed down, it was also the destruction wrought by the fighting that had taken place.

“Look at the surface. There is more structural damage than the last footage suggested. We’ve got two collapsed towers, and the refinery site is venting.”

Spartan shook his head violently and pointed at the smoke rising from the refinery.

“I can promise you the Biomechs won’t have damaged anything significant there. Look at the buildings nearby. The place is secure. The enemy will have shattered the defenses and then moved on the site best suited for establishing their compound.”

Khan nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, he’s right. They’ll have their people and our prisoners working on modifying and installing equipment to service their plan very quickly. They are not like us. The minute they secure territory, they begin exploiting it.”

Spartan pointed at the refinery and the number of green diamonds that had started to appear on the biometric overlay.

“These are life signs, correct?”

Lieutenant Jenkins nodded, and Spartan traced his hand around where they were positioned. The small icons moved very slowly though. It was hard to tell if it was because the target was static, or just that the technology was slow assimilating new data. The Lieutenant pointed to one of the towers nearby.

"That's one of the damaged relay stations. We modified it to track the biosignatures of anybody still alive on the station. It isn't perfect, but it gives us an idea of what's down there."

Spartan scanned the imagery with a quick eye, taking in the details and adding up the numbers in his head. As he identified each one, the furrow of his brow seemed to widen.

“Apart from what, maybe two dozen, the rest are all in this one area and moving about. This is where they are housing the prisoners while they build their factory system. I can guarantee you that.”

Lieutenant Jenkins didn’t seem convinced.

“You honestly think they will drop small teams onto Mars just to build a factory? Why Mars? You can see the place. It ain't anything special.”

Spartan placed his head in his hands and took a number of slow, careful breaths. Finally, he lifted himself back up and looked directly into Lieutenant Jenkins’ eyes.

“You fought in the War, and you must remember what they did at the Bone Mill?”

The mere mention of that place seemed to drain color from the poor man’s face.

“Exactly,” continued Spartan, “The Biomechs managed to get some of their technology established down there. Now, we know the Zealots used this equipment to create a massive, and I mean a massive army hidden underground. Hell, it was on one of our own colonies, and we didn’t see it.”

Spartan paused and then thumbed the screen with his good hand.

“You know why we didn’t see it? Because they built it inside a collapsed mine and refinery complex. They had access to technology, machinery, and thousands upon thousands of trapped workers.”

Khan nodded at the screen and the shape of the first shuttle as it came down to land.

“Yeah, and what does that place look like?”

Spartan scratched at his cheek, considering the situation.

“They will have this place up and running in months, maybe even just a few weeks. You can expect the first batch of their creatures to be ready. At that point, the only option left will be atomics.”

Khan rubbed his forehead and then stood up and walked a few meters away from the screen. He reached a line of seats, all of which were far too small for him. Next to them was a rack fitted out with twenty thermal shotguns, all locked by a triple bar system so that they couldn’t be easily removed.

“Look, they’re landing,” said Lieutenant Jenkins.

He pointed at the bank of ten screens that showed views from the shuttles, as well as the Captain and his six squad commanders. Spartan and Khan moved closer and watched with fascination as the first of the craft moved to the surface surrounded in a cloud of dust.

“It begins,” Spartan said quietly.

“Right,” agreed Khan, “and it will end just as quickly.”

* * *

The landing of the two shuttles was an impressive sight and might have been enough on its own to encourage surrender to most foes. The lightly armed craft swept in like aircraft at an air show. Even before landing, their height had dropped to barely ten meters above the ground. At that height, the landing lights activated and bathed the surface in a dull glow. Contrary to the suggestions of Spartan, the team had elected to land during the night cycle. The rusty iron oxide littering the surface kicked up when they swept in, leaving a trail of what looked like mini cyclones right behind them as they screamed in at high speed.

The signal that the descent had turned to a landing sequence was when the engines reversed thrust and the retro thrusters activated. In an instant, the shuttles lifted their noses and moved in to settle on the ground. The first came in a little hard, and the hydraulic landing skids retracted almost half the way back into the shuttle before it bounced and then settled down on the Red Planet.

Most assumed that Mars would appear red upon a first visit, and as the first Earthsec platoon exited the shuttle, more than a few that were surprised at what they saw. The landing lights and flood lamps fitted to the craft lit up some of the ground around them, but it was the navigation and marker lights fitted all over the refinery that did most of the work. They cast an odd series of hard shadows in all directions, as well as lighting up the ground and highlighting the peculiar array of oxidation and rust on the surface. It was more colorful than the majority had ever expected.

"Move out, people," said Captain Cobb.

He watched the first team leave from the safety of the second shuttle. They moved out as a single large unit toward the surface blast doors. At first glance, it looked nothing more than a crowd of heavily armed men, but as they covered more ground, it became easier to see the three large squads as they pulled apart. Two moved for the array of doors while the third took up positions in cover a short distance away, providing a basic degree of overwatch.

"One more pass," he said.

The second shuttle tilted hard to the left and circled over the landing zone for the third time. The onboard gunners, as well as the remaining half of the landing party watched in all directions, each looking for signs of the supposed Biomech enemy. Cobb looked at the video image showing on a thick display screen embedded on the wall. It showed the last known positions of the enemy and also confirmed to him that there had been no more than four of the multi-limbed combat drones.

Biomechs, my ass. These could just be private security combat drones.

Like all of the Earthsec operatives in the combat component of the unit, none had experience of the Biomech threat. Only three had ever ventured outside of Sol, and the stories of the Great Uprising still seemed farfetched; even to those who had been to see the sacred sights of some of the larger battles that had since been turned into tourist attractions or memorial gardens.

Captain Cobb had dealt with a dozen minor insurrections and incidents on the colonies of Sol over the last thirteen years. He had even been involved in the Jupiter incident, where a private firm had attempted to take control of the orbital mining facility. It was one of the richest sites in Sol, and his use of forbidden robotics had allowed him to empty large parts of the base into space, making the site uninhabitable for nearly three years.

Tyrant Hawken,
he thought bitterly, remembering the odd name the criminal had taken, or perhaps he'd chosen it for himself. In either case the man had escaped, along with his entourage of a dozen combat drones and weapons.

This looks and sounds just like his work.

Cobb watched the first shuttle lift up from the ground to provide a clear landing space for his own craft. Satisfied with the initial dispersal, he gave the order to his pilot to move in. This time the landing was textbook, and no sooner had the skids settled, the doors had opened, and the Earthsec team flooded out.

The atmosphere on Mars was still not completely breathable, but at least the atmosphere itself had begun to stabilize after centuries of development. It was no Earth, but it was a great deal further ahead than the sterile hell of twenty-first century Mars where the first colony had failed in less than a year. With a modest atmosphere, it was able to retain some warmth at night, but it was still a difficult planet to live on. The clothing and armor used by the Earthsec team was more suited to the underground peacekeeping duties that were common beneath the surface of Earth; and lacked a fully enclosed and sealed environment for operating on airless moons or in the direct sunlight. It was another reason Cobb has selected night for the attack.

Captain Cobb was the first out of the second shuttle, and to the horror of his men, he stumbled and dropped to one knee as he moved from the craft. The two following tried to avoid him but only one managed, and the other stumbled and fell down alongside him.

It was at that very moment when the Biomechs struck.