The first day, p.19
The First Day, page 19
part #1 of Vanguard Series
On the ridge Jones watched the treeline for signs of movement, when suddenly it erupted in a firestorm of plasma as dozens of weapons began firing. Several seconds later the enemy began to stream out the jungle again, this time under covering fire and led by dozens of their crawlers, whilst overhead numerous winged creatures flew. Immediately the marines returned fire.
“Keep it short and steady,” McKay bawled as he marched along the ridge despite the intensity of incoming fire. “Sal!” he called, grabbing a marine on the shoulder.
“Yo,” Salzema replied while continuing firing.
“Redeploy to the hook,” he ordered, pointing to a small bend along the ridge.
“Copy that, Sandy,” she replied, swinging her LX-3 off the parapet.
“And make sure you can overlap with Melik!” McKay called as Salzema scurried away.
Jones had moved to the northern edge of the ridge, where the attack was heaviest. As he ejected another magazine, he looked out at the enemy relentlessly charging to their death. Suicidal, he thought, slapping a fresh magazine in. But if they wanted to die, then he was only too happy to oblige.
“Sir, we’re in business!” Simpson cried, activating the microwave beam emitter.
“Well, feel free to fire at your own leisure,” Jones replied sarcastically.
“With pleasure,” Simpson replied. He aimed and fired. Nothing happened.
“Well, that was worth it,” Jones laughed. “Crank the fucker to full power.”
“If I do, we could overload it.”
“Because now’s the time for caution,” Jones replied, deadpan.
“Alright, you’re the boss,” Simpson replied, and turning the power control to full he fired again. This time the ultra-intensity microwave beam did work, and dozens of the enemy literally exploded, raining puddles of green and black goo around.
“Ho shit!” Simpson cried in astonishment. “I guess you do see something new,” he laughed.
“That was pretty cool.” Jones grinned.
The fighters and drones continued to engage the enemy fighters, but for everyone they destroyed more were pouring out from their ships’ hangers to join the fray. Pax’s fighter was in the midst of the fighter battle. She barrelled down onto the tail of an enemy fighter. Quickly she set her sights and destroyed it with several short bursts from her guns before peeling off after another target.
“Sugalips, Pax, copy. Over.”
“Go ahead, Pax.”
“We gotta try and hit their launch bays, slow their rate of reinforcement.”
“Only the Strjkar’s have the ordinance to penetrate their shields.” She paused. “And we’re down to nine of them.”
“We’re game,” Omecuhr, the Norn commander of the Strjkar’s, said.
“Alright, buddy up with the Nebula fighters and make some runs.”
“That’s a start, but we need to do more, or we’ll be overrun,” Pax said, destroying another with a short burst from her ship’s deadly cannons.
“I'm open to suggestions?” Tori replied as she chased an enemy fighter around the debris that now littered the area before incinerating it with her plasma cannons.
“Their ships can't manoeuvre for shit,” Siren broke in. “I say we use the Venom's to draw them into their own fleet take the battle in there.”
“That's gonna be a shit storm of a gauntlet for us,” Tori replied.
“For them too,” Pax added.
“Fuck it, we can't do any worse I suppose,” Tori said. “Alright, squads three, four, seven and eleven form up on my mark.”
“Understood,” came several replies.
“Madcap, take command of the remaining fighters and drones. Continue to engage the fighters we can't draw off.”
“Copy, good luck in there,” she replied.
“Helm, take us right at them. We'll make another pass through,” DeLancy ordered. “Tarim, have the gunners target at will. Concentrate our missiles and artillery upon the larger ships.” He paused. “Target the Starburst array at your discretion.”
“Aye, sir, but we're gonna be swamped by fighters in there.”
“Plenty of targets for the flak batteries then.”
“Sir, Commander Hakir on the line,” Dillon announced.
“Go ahead, Commander.”
“Captain, we're in position on the far side of the enemy's fleet. We're about to make a pass.”
“Negative, Commander. Hold your position.”
“Sir?” Hakir replied, puzzled.
“I'm taking Vanguard down the bastards’ throats. Once we exit the other side, then make your pass. Hopefully they'll be too busy with us and you should get some good hits.”
“Understood, sir. Good luck, out.”
“Alright, Baxter. Take us in.”
“Sir,” he replied, manoeuvring the Vanguard towards the enemy fleet. As she closed the distance, the volume of shots from the enemy fleet began to intensify, each hit on the shields draining away the precious power. Even as she took hits from all around, Vanguard’s guns held their fire until she was right on top of the enemy. Then she let loose with her entire armament, which tore into the ships all round her, several of which disappeared in brilliant explosions.
“Sir, shields are about to collapse!” Tarim yelled over the noise on the bridge. Seconds later the ship was rocked by a huge explosion, and an alarm instantly sounded.
“Sir, we’ve got a hull breach deck fifteen starboard sections three through seven. Drones have been dispatched and I’ve sealed off the area,” Lieutenant Tomaz Drieth, the ship’s damage control officer, reported.
“Helm, try and keep the damaged section away from the enemies’ guns.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Sir, recommend we retract what’s left of the shields so they’re just protecting the emitters,” Brown stated. “It’ll let them recharge without the continuous drain.”
“Do it,” DeLancy ordered, making a mental note to ask Brown how later.
“Sir, I’ve got Colonel Jennings on the comm for you.”
“Danny, what’s the situation down there?”
“They’ve just started up another attack, but we’ve got enemy fighters bearing down on our position from orbit. I need some fighters to keep them at bay.”
“Can’t spare any fighters at present. You’re just gonna have to cope on your own until we can gain the upper hand, soon as I can I’ll vector fighter support.”
“Understood, Cap.” He paused. “Steve, I think if we want to hold this colony, we need to evacuate the civilian population while we still can.”
“Agreed. However, I’m not sure if we can cover a convoy of ships fleeing the system,” he answered.
“Sir, there might be a way we can increase our chances,” Hixxs interjected. “We have several dozen astrometric probes aboard. We can modify them to emit a false energy signature. With a little luck and the right sales pitch, we should be able to trick them into chasing those while the colonists escape.”
“How long will it take to make the modifications?”
“Thirty minutes, give or take,” she replied.
“Ok, Hixxs. Get to work,” DeLancy ordered. “Did you copy that, Danny?”
“Got it, thirty minutes til go. I’ll contact the Governor and make arrangements to be ready, out.” He turned. “Dillon, get me the Governor.”
“On the line now, sir,” he replied.
“Governor, I’m afraid the time has come for you and your people to begin evacuation procedures,” Jennings said.
“Is it that bad?” he asked.
“It’s getting grim around here, sir, and by all accounts the same is true up top, but we need to move quickly while a window of opportunity still exists.” He paused. “Once we’ve evacuated your people, however, we’ll be in a better position to hold down here, and our ships in orbit can mount a more mobile battle rather than be tied to the planet as they are.”
“Very well, Colonel. We should have enough transports, but they are not going to last long if attacked.”
“Don’t worry about that, sir. Our ships will cover you, but you need to be ready in 30 minutes.”
“Understood, Colonel. We will be ready.” Jennings turned back to the operations table. “Corporal, are there any fighters left on the base?”
“There’s eight left in the hangers, but we don’t have any pilots to fly them, sir.”
“Can they be rigged for remote control?”
“Possibly, sir, but that’ll take time.”
“How long?”
“Uncertain, sir. They’re the older Nebula class; I’ll get engineering crews on it.”
“Fuck, we need pilots.”
“We do have a few technically.”
“Technically?”
“Well there is a squad of cadets here on leave, but I’m not sure how competent they would be as pilots.”
“Only one way to find out.” Jennings paused. “Have those cadets with piloting experience assemble in the hanger bay.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Dillon, get me Captain Radmar,” Jennings ordered.
“On the line now, sir,” Dillon replied.
“Radmar, what’s the word on our aerial drones?”
“We’ve finished checking them. The damage isn’t as bad as first feared.” He paused. “We lost half of the gunship drones, but eleven of the Phoenixes are still operational.”
“I’ll take that. How long til you can get them into action?”
“Gunships are launching as we speak, give us five minutes and we’ll have the Phoenix’s airborne too!” he replied loudly over the sound of the repulsor engines.
“Good work, Captain. Get moving on those Phoenixes. We’ve got enemy fighters inbound.”
“Understood, sir. Out”
“Colonel Jennings?” a voice asked.
“Yes?” he replied, turning from the operations table.
“Sir, my name is Phil Steadman with the GNN. May we have your permission to remain here and report on the story?”
“There’s no story here, only battle and death,” he replied.
“Sir, the people have…” he began.
“Spare me the freedom of the press shit,” Jennings said, holding up his hand. “This isn’t my first outing.” He smiled. “You have my permission to remain, on the conditions that you do what you’re told, when you’re told and assist where you can.”
“We can do that,” Phil replied.
“Before you agree, take a moment to fully realise the situation.” He paused, eyeing both. “We are alone, fighting an enemy that so far seems endless in number. We will be under siege with no hope of assistance until we can establish communication outside the system.”
“To put it bluntly, are you ready for an average day in the Corps?” O’Malley asked with a smile.
“Sir, we saw first-hand on the orbital facility what you’re up against. We’ll take our chances here with you.” He paused. “Besides, we may have managed to get a report out about an hour or more ago. Perhaps we can help you get a signal out if it means we can get a report out too.”
“Very well, you can set up over there.”
“Thank you, Colonel,” Phil replied, spotting Dr Moebus he walked over. “Hello again, Doctor.”
“Mr Steadman, Mr Martinez, I’m relieved to see you both made it off the orbital research platform.”
“Yeah, we got out just in time,” Martinez replied.
“Although, not all were as lucky,” Steadman added.
“Yes, my colleague Dr Braemton was one of those.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Steadman said.
“Yeah, he seemed like a nice guy,” Martinez added.
“He was,” Dr Moebus replied sadly.
On the ridge, Jones and his troops continued to hold off the new assault as the enemy continued to pour from the jungle towards them, scrambling over their dead which slowed their assault somewhat. They also had to contend with a much stronger defence, bolstered by the guns of the berserkers this time which had begun targeting them as soon as they entered range. The deadly guns tore through several of the enemy, killing and wounding many. But on they came; even the wounded continued undeterred. It wasn’t long until the ridge was being pressed hard; however, the marines were keeping them at bay, just. From the tree line came a thunderous rumble, and seconds later several large trees toppled forward revealing a huge enemy war machine over ten metres in height. It lurched forward on its eight massive legs, stopped, and raising its two huge guns fired. The two bolts of energy raced off striking into the shield in a terrific explosion.
“Take that fucking thing out!” Jones cried.
“Sir,” a marine replied, shouldering a rocket launcher. He took aim, waiting until the weapon locked onto the target, and when it did he launched the rocket which sped off skywards. Seconds later it came racing back down and struck the machine, erupting in a huge explosion which utterly destroyed the machine, the shockwave ripping through the surrounding area. But even as this one was destroyed several more of these large machines began to emerge from the jungle, supported by dozens of the smaller crawlers. Overhead the gunship drones came racing down in groups of three. These small three metre drones had four repulsor engines, allowing them to hover anywhere between twenty to four hundred metres. They were armed with two SCREW cannons, two shredder guns and twin bi-phasic cannon. They opened fire at the enemy’s armour, the irresistible heavy ordinance tearing the machines apart with ease and obliterating any creature unlucky enough to have been in the way. Some way off from the ridge one of the PAD’s was rooted, laying down a continuous stream of plasma fire towards the oncoming enemies. Despite the huge amount of them that the PAD killed they kept closing, rushing closer and closer to it. The enemy thought that given three or four of them were sufficient to destroy a drone, that seventy of them should be enough to pull the PAD apart. Their maths was sound as the strength of seventy of these creatures would have been able to tear it apart, had it not been for the fact that the PADs can electrify their outer armoured skin. The PAD waited until several of the creatures were already swarming on it before it activated this defence. Instantly the creatures were killed as forty terra-watts of electricity surged through them. The PAD slowly began to withdraw to the main line firing with its rotary guns as it went, harassed by the enemy all the way, the drone striking out several times with its cannons or legs at any creature that got too close.
At the northern end of the line they watched the battle for the ridge unfolding. Nervous and tense, they awaited their turn.
“Lt, we got a lot of movement from the trees,” Sergeant Horani said, almost at the same time the enemy burst out of the tree line.
“Fire, fire, fire!” Frost instinctively cried. Plasma fire tore into the mass dropping large numbers as they swarmed forward. Behind the trench line the guns mounted in bunker nine opened fire, the thunderous chattering of them drowning out the other gun fire. A small gulley track led up the side of Bunker Nine to one of the entrances. There was a circular flat area of rock here, and this was where several of the graviton mortars were stationed. These mortars fired a high-density particle mass that, as it travels, draws into itself surrounding atmospheric particles until it becomes so dense and heavy that gravity pulls in back down to the ground. Upon contact with the ground the particle mass shattered, causing an energy shockwave that will kill anything in a ten-metre radius. The marines manning the graviton mortars began firing, aiming with pin-point accuracy for the centre of the advancing horde, where the enemy was most densely packed, maximising the kill potential of the shells. From atop of the bunker the two AA guns came to life. Rolling their barrels skywards, they began firing at black specks in the distance.
On the promontory, or pit as Arzael had called it, the Hak-rhen held their fire, despite the enemy surging towards them and against the marines below. Arzael watched as the enemy blundered right into his trap, and with a grin he pressed the detonator. A series of incendiary explosions ripped out from the ground, decimating the enemy’s ranks and setting the edge of the jungle on fire. With earth and debris still raining down, the Hak-rhen opened fire into the enemy, who attempting to avoid the fires had bunched up, making perfect targets. Gaushoame looked out from his position on the west side, and from here his section was perfectly sited to cover the marines forward firing position. Behind him a section of newly arrived drones began deploying into the battle. He raised his weapon, as from the jungle’s edge a swarm raced out towards the forward firing position.
Back in the command bunker, Jennings watched as the enemy fighters came closer and closer to being in range. There was at least sixty of them, and all he had to face them with were eight old fighters and eleven Phoenixs. Still, it was better than nothing. He looked at the tactical map, wishing that the fort had been complete. It only had six of its twelve AA batteries and only one of the SAM (Surface to Air Missile) sites; not enough to keep those fighters at bay.
“Status on our fighters.”
“They’re in the hangers undergoing pre-flight, five minutes til we can launch.”
“And the cadets.”
“Sir, they all have experience, but its only on simulators.”
“I’m afraid they’ll have to suffice.”
“But sir, they’ll get creamed up there.”
“I know, but the way things are going they’re gonna end up dead wherever they are.”
“Colonel, I’ve got squadron leader Phys in the Med-bay requesting to speak to you,” a corporal said.
“Put him through,” Jennings responded. “Go ahead Backstab.”
“Sir, I hear you need pilots.”
“Indeed, we do. What’s your status?”
“I got a busted leg, sir, but other than that good to go.”
“I can’t ask you to go out there wounded.”
“I’m volunteering, sir. There’s a difference.”
“Okay, Backstab. Get your ass down to the hanger bay. You’re flight leader; your squad’s a bunch of cadets with no real experience, but you’ve got Phoenixes in support.” He paused. “Keep it tight up there.”
