Damnation, page 25
part #3 of Forgotten Vengeance Series
Four goliaths in one place? He had never seen it before.
They were moving as fast as they could, long strides carrying them in pursuit of the xaxkluth. Nathan wasn’t sure if the Relyeh creatures were coming to fight or simply running away. It didn’t matter now. By some miracle, backup had arrived.
“All units,” Nathan said. “Target the Norg and begin the retreat. Last in, first out. Maintain cover fire. Do not let up.”
“Roger, General,” Spot replied.
Nathan began running down the slope toward the fight.
The Relyeh ships started shooting.
Energy bolts zipped across the field, slamming the human troops and sending them tumbling with each strike. More Norg reached the ground, joining the attack and filling the air with energy blasts. The humans fired back with plasma and conventional projectiles, both sides taking huge bites out of the other, the seconds ticking away.
Max remained in the center of it all, dropping the shards in a pattern. His Skin glowed bright blue from the constant fire he was taking, the enemy eager to take him out. Nathan knew Max was drawing power for the shields from the shards, making him nearly impenetrable as long as he was still holding at least one. That didn’t stop the enemy from trying to kill him .They probably didn’t know what he was doing, but they knew he was an Axon, and that made him a major threat.
The shaking of the ground intensified.
The Parabellum swept across the field, sending bursts of plasma into the Relyeh ships. Detonations rocked the vessels as Isaac hit the guns, reducing the fire from the platforms. The volunteers began to reach the cavern, the first of the units beating a desperate retreat to the Pilgrim to escape.
Nathan leveled his rifle and rejoined the fight, careful to conserve ammunition as he targeted and fired, each round leading to a kill. It sounded more impressive than it was. The field was so thick with Norg it was nearly impossible not to hit them. And hit them hard.
But it wasn’t enough to stop them.
The Relyeh were closing on the human forces, desperately trying to reach the cavern and the interlink inside. The Parabellum crossed the field again, Isaac shifting his focus to the forces on the ground. The enemy ships shifted their focus too, guns suddenly blasting at the streaking dropship. It twisted and rolled through the sky, avoiding most of the hits.
But not all.
An energy blast hit the Parabellum in the back near the thrusters, causing a small explosion and a sudden outpouring of smoke.
“Damn it,” Isaac shouted. “I’m hit.”
The dropship didn’t crash, instead accelerating away, the thrusters still functional. The increasing blackness of the smoke was proof it wouldn’t stay flight-worthy for long.
The ground shook harder now, and when Nathan looked to his left he saw the goliaths in full view, towering over the xaxkluth. The Relyeh creatures had slowed as they entered the fight and the goliaths caught up to them, stomping them with their feet or grabbing them and tossing them into their mouths. There were four of the giants, one of whom was familiar to Nathan. It was the one Hayden called Alpha. The one with the interlink transceiver in its neck. It was groaning and howling as if it were leading the others against the Relyeh.
Their advance pushed the xaxkluth into the Norg, creating a new level of chaos. The Norg were swept up in massive arms and crushed under huge feet, the goliaths clearly being careful not to kill the humans during their passing. Nathan stood dangerously still while he watched them, amazed to see them act in unison and with an intelligence he had never seen before. There had always been questions about how much of a goliath’s actions were calculated versus instinctive. Now they had part of an answer.
“Completion!” Max announced. “General, the shards are ready.”
The announcement jogged Nathan back into action. The shards were set, but the battlefield was a mess, the intensity of the fighting still escalating. The Relyeh ships shifted their guns to the goliaths, blasting at them with bolts of energy. One of the goliaths turned and charged one of the ships, bashing it with its shoulder. It hit it again as it took heavy fire, grabbing at the bent metal and finding a seam, tearing it off and throwing a hard punch inside. A xaxkluth jumped on its back, followed by a second and third, but then another goliath grabbed the creatures from the first, crushing them in its massive hands.
Nathan resumed firing at the Norg, cutting down one after another as he tried to cover the retreating soldiers. “Ike, the shards are ready.”
“Roger, General,” Isaac replied. “I’m on it.”
“How’s the damage to the Parabellum?”
“Manageable. Get to the Pilgrim.”
Nathan didn’t like the way Isaac said it. “Ike, are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine, General,” Isaac replied. “Fate brought me back to life for a reason. I’m pretty sure this is it.”
“Ike, you don’t have to do this, Max can—”
“Max needs to work the interlink. He has to get out of here. I told you, Nathan. I’ve got this. It’s not like you can stop me.”
Nathan clenched his jaw. Isaac was right about that. He couldn’t stop him.
“Max, let’s move!” he shouted instead, finding the Intellect charging through the enemy, his hands transformed into blades, his entire skin glowing with energy. Nathan fired at the Relyeh in Max’s way, mowing them down ahead of the Intellect.
“Appreciation,” Max said, catching up.
“Get inside. Go.”
Max joined the others on the retreat. Nathan reloaded his rifle again, using the armor’s jump thrusters to leap backward and land on top of the hill at the cavern’s entrance. He caught sight of the Parabellum in the distance, the stern bleeding smoke as it made its final approach.
“Alpha!” Nathan roared, hoping to get the goliath’s attention. The giants were feasting on the Relyeh the way the Relyeh feasted on fear, stuffing Norg and xaxkluth into their grinding mouths. “Alpha!”
He had no idea if the goliath knew the name Natalia had given it. But then its head swiveled, looking over at Nathan.
“Run!” he shouted. “Run! Go! Leave!” He waved his arms, trying to warn the goliath away. Then he pointed at the Parabellum in the distance.
Alpha turned its head the other way, howling and groaning. The other goliaths responded, turning away from the bulk of the Relyeh army and clearing the area at a run.
“General, we’re in,” Spot said. “Get inside!”
“Roger. Pyro, do you copy?”
“I copy, General.”
“Activate the sled. Get ready to go.”
“Yes, sir.”
Nathan jumped down in front of the cavern, landing in the middle of a group of Norg. The Relyeh were entering behind the fleeing fighters, still trying to reach the Pilgrim. He powered into them, shooting them in the back or shoving them aside. Whatever his armor was made from, it absorbed the energy blasts from their staffs without complaint, allowing him to take a position at the head of the cavern and block the Norg from entering. He continued to fight them, his coilgun falling empty. He dropped the weapon, switching to a pair of pistols that emptied rapidly into the onslaught.
He remained fixed in place, buying time for the others to escape. The Parabellum was almost at the target, sinking ever faster toward the field of shards. It would take a burst of energy to begin the chain reaction.
A burst the damaged ship could only create one way. Nathan would be damned if he would let Isaac die alone.
“General,” Max said, coming up beside him. “We have to go.”
“Max, you shouldn’t be here,” Nathan replied. “Get down to the Pilgrim.”
“Affirmation. Requirement. With you.”
“I need to be here, Max. I’m going to stand with him.”
“Negation. The survivors need a leader. They need you.”
Nathan looked over at Max. The Intellect was right.
“Ike?” Nathan said.
“Yeah, General?”
“Thank you.”
Nathan turned away, rushing down the tunnel with Max. They reached the shaft, shoving through the Norg who had made it that far and jumping to the bottom. A few of the Relyeh had gotten there ahead of them, but the deputies were cutting them down as they tried to emerge.
“Let’s move!” Nathan shouted out to them as he approached. The deputies stood and turned, running with him toward the sled. The massive machine had come to life, a constant thrumming noise coming from its base.
They reached the stairs, descending them two at a time. At the bottom, Nathan found the Parabellum on his tactical, only five hundred meters above the ground.
He closed his eyes as the dropship hit and a sudden silence fell over everything, the universe drawing in a breath. But only for an instant. Nathan grabbed onto the rails of the stairs as the Pilgrim and the sled began to shake violently, the ground above both rumbling and loosening, the cavern collapsing anew in its negative spaces. A couple of the deputies lost their grip and fell away screaming.
“No!” Nathan cried out as he failed to grab them. Then the metal clamps holding the sled to the floor of the cavern snapped open, and they began to rise, pushing against the loosened rock above.
Nathan and Max helped the remaining deputies climb the rest of the steps to the open hangar doors. They fell inside, and Nathan hurried to the door controls, swinging the door open and pulling the lever to activate the hangar bay door. Everything continued to shake, the world above exploding up and outward,giving birth to the long-grounded generation ship.
“Pyro, status!” Nathan yelled.
“All systems nominal, General,” she replied. “We’re on our way!”
He could barely hear her over the deafening roar of the collapsing mountain and the hard thrumming of the sled. He fell backward to the deck, watching tons of dirt tumble down outside the closing hanger door. The sight was replaced a moment later by the brightness of the sky as the Pilgrim finally began to break through. And then the hangar door clanked shut.
“Hahahaha. Hahahaha. Hahahaha.” Max laughed uncontrollably, standing near the door and looking out. “Hahahaha. Hahahaha. Ha.”
He stopped suddenly, at the same moment the din of the rumbling subsided and the ship broke completely free of the ground. A renewed silence filled the void, interrupted when the pressurization systems activated, creating a soft hiss.
“General,” Pyro said. “We have liftoff.”
56
Caleb
The hatch was located in the back of engineering, through a door marked as extremely dangerous and accessible only to the lead engineer and the highest-ranking employees. According to the schematics, it led to one of the rig’s four reactor cores—the power plants that kept the lights, life support and gravity going on the platform—dangerous to go near without an understanding of how it all worked.
However, it didn’t lead to a reactor core. Mapping the interior of the rig to the exterior quickly revealed the positioning of the door was completely wrong. In truth, it should open directly into open space. Instead, it opened into a small airlock. Caleb, Hayden, Tora, Gray, Stacker and Colonel Barth all entered together, waiting while the first hatch closed and sealed, and the second hatch opened. An older woman with a long face and graying hair pinned in a bun waited at attention on the other side. She was dressed in a crisp dark blue uniform, unmarked save for the four bars stitched to the sleeves.
“Captain Lewis,” Colonel Barth said.
“Colonel,” Lewis replied.
“At ease.”
She shifted her posture but still didn’t move or speak.
“Captain Lewis, this is Colonel Caleb Card and Sheriff Hayden Duke,” Barth said, introducing them. “This is Captain Lewis, commander of Invincible.”
“Captain Lewis,” Caleb said. “Thank you for the ride.”
“Of course, Colonel,” Lewis replied. “Anything I can do to help. We’re almost ready to go. If you’ll follow me.”
They passed through a different hatch altogether. A pair of guards on the other side pushed it closed and locked it into place behind them.
The airlock led out into a small room, which fed out into a passage that reminded Caleb of the smaller access corridors on Deliverance. Exposed wires and pipes ran along the ceiling while bare metal bulkheads and flooring traveled bow to stern.
“How long will it take to reach the damnation?” Caleb asked as they walked.
“We’ve set coordinates to intercept the Relyeh ship near its last known position,” Lewis replied. “We’re assuming it slowed significantly on its approach. If that assumption is correct, about an hour. The rest of the fleet will rendezvous with us at those coordinates.”
They continued walking, crossing a few more corridors until they reached a lift.
“The hangar and Org barracks are on Deck Three,” Captain Lewis said, tapping on the controls to summon it. “Sergeant Etti is waiting for you.”
Caleb nodded. They had already gone over the plan for the mission before boarding the Invincible. Everyone present already knew what they were supposed to do.
Now they just needed to do it.
“Thank you, Captain,” Caleb said. “Just get us close to the damnation. We’ll handle the rest.”
“Yes, sir,” Lewis said. “We’ll have twelve warships and nearly six hundred Stilettos offering cover for your ship. We’ll get you there.”
It won’t be enough.
It had to be enough. They were throwing almost everything they had at the Relyeh warship.
“Remember,” Caleb said. “Don’t try to be a hero. Fall back until you get our signal. You can’t withstand a prolonged battle against a damnation.”
“Understood, Colonel. Retreat coordinates are already entered into the fold computers. I’m willing to die for the Organization, but I don’t want to die from arrogance or stupidity.”
The lift arrived at the deck, the doors sliding open.
“Thank you, Captain,” Caleb said before turning to Barth. “Thank you, Colonel. Godspeed to both of you.”
“Good luck, Colonel,” Barth said. “We’re counting on you.”
Caleb, Hayden and the others boarded the lift. The doors closed, the cab descending deeper into the Invincible.
“Everything is happening so fast,” Sergeant Gray said.
“It needs to,” Hayden replied. “For as hard as we’re working against the enemy, the enemy is working just as hard against us.”
“That’s great looking armor,” Caleb said, getting a closer look at the combat armor the rest of the team was wearing. It was sleeker than the armor he was accustomed to, the plates made of a completely different composite that was a quarter the thickness of the original. The bodysuit beneath also seemed to be a different material, and it appeared to offer the wearer more range of motion and ease of use.
“The CSF doesn’t have equipment like this,” Gray said. “It’s all ghostware. None of it officially exists.”
“Fifty percent lighter,” Stacker said. “And thirty percent stronger.”
“As long as it means it can hold up against teeth, claws and tentacles, I’m happy,” Tora said.
“I’d still prefer a Skin like yours, Colonel,” Gray said.
“I wish we had enough to go around,” Caleb replied. There was no denying the Axon tech was superior to the best protection the Organization had to offer.
The lift stopped, the doors sliding open. As Captain Lewis mentioned, an Org Marine was there waiting for them. He was taller than average but shorter than Stacker, with olive skin, a bald head, square jaw and thick muscles bulging from beneath his utilities. He came to attention as soon as his eyes landed on Caleb.
“Colonel Card, sir. Sergeant Etti reporting.” He saluted, remaining stiff.
“At ease, Sergeant,” Caleb said, returning the salute. He quickly introduced the rest of the team to the sergeant.
“Welcome aboard, all of you,” Etti said. “Colonel, Lieutenant Grishek is overseeing the preparations in the hangar. If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to her.”
“Thank you, Sergeant,” Caleb said.
Sergeant Etti led them from the lift, through another series of corridors until they reached the wider hatch leading to the hangar. It opened at their approach, revealing a flurry of activity as mechanics and techs, and Organization pilots and infantry swarmed the cavernous space, carrying out their duties in advance of the assault.
A woman in a dark blue uniform matching that of Captain Lewis was off to the left, barking orders at one of the tech teams to get the Stiletto missile pods loaded faster. She turned as Etti and Caleb approached her with the others in tow, her stern eyes annoyed at the interruption and shifting quickly when she noticed him.
“You must be Colonel Card,” she said, her curious gaze drawn to the Intellect Skin. “Lieutenant Grishek, sir.”
“Lieutenant,” Caleb said. “How are the preparations coming?”
“We’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time, Colonel. But we’ll get it done before we get there.”
“I’m sure you will.” Caleb looked around at the activity in the hangar. “Lieutenant, I’d like you to gather the units assigned to the drop team for a quick briefing.”
“All of the units should already be on board the Rapture, sir,” Sergeant Etti said.
“Already? I’m impressed,” Caleb replied. He looked past the Marines and technicians, locating the dropship a moment later. He pointed at it. “I assume that’s the Rapture?”
“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Grishek replied. “I assigned Commander Song to handle the flying. He’s our top pilot. If he can’t get you onto the enemy ship, nobody can.”
Caleb continued to stare at the dropship. It was a near clone of the Parabellum. A little newer, a little less scuffed and dirty, but the same general size and shape.
We’re the only ones who can get us onto the damnation.
Caleb ignored Ishek’s remark. They still had to get the dropship through the enemy defenses to the ship, regardless of the Advocate’s part in the attack.
