Star Crusades Nexus: The First Trilogy, page 73
“Get down!” he barked.
Ambassador Ramir was the first to be killed when a hidden assailant pushed a blade through his back. He fell from the podium to the screams of those assembled. Gunshots erupted, and the place turned to a bloodbath as citizens, ambassadors, and security forces fought in a confused battle. Anderson and Rivers threw themselves down, a reaction that had been honed by years of battle experience. Ayndir was too slow, and she was cut down by stray gunfire before T’Kron could pull her down to safety. Anderson grabbed his sidearm and took cover behind the nearest of the low seats.
“Rivers, what the hell is going on here?”
Both took aim with their pistols, using them to pin down the nearest of the Helion guard; one of them managed a perfect headshot before ducking back down. The General grabbed his secpad and tapped it furiously.
“An assassination attempt on us. It’s pretty simple. They kill us here, and the Alliance will have to support the Helions against the rebels.”
Anderson moved to the right and past a fallen Helion. He used the cover to mask himself and took aim at another group of four guards. He fired a single shot and then examined the fallen enemy. It was one of the group that had attacked them. When he pulled his tunic away, it revealed bare skin underneath. What caught his attention was a detailed black mark, much like a tattoo on his neck.
“Animosh,” said T’Kron. He’d moved over to him, looking for signs of their aggressors. Like the Alliance officers, he also carried a sidearm and was prepared to use it.
“You’re sure?” asked Anderson.
T’Kron nodded, “That is the mark of the Animosh security forces. This was supposed to look like the Zathee.”
“Bastards!”
Anderson turned around to face General Rivers. He had seen and heard it all.
“Can you reach the fleet still?”
The General pointed the secpad to the Admiral and showed him a split screen. At the top was the angry face of the task force commander and at the bottom the face of Commander Gun.
“Do it,” said General Rivers and then rolled back into cover.
“What’s happening?” asked Anderson.
General Rivers moved another short distance until he could use the base of the raised plinth in the middle of the room. Several of the bodyguards from the other Powers had managed to overpower three of the Helion guards and had taken their weapons. Harlan, in the meantime, was moving back toward the main entrance with two-dozen guards, each shooting anybody that approached. Rivers turned from them and looked at Anderson.
“I’ll tell you what’s happening. Gun has been looking for a fight for months, and he’s going to make them regret the day they ever turned on us!”
* * *
Jack and Wictred reached the rest of the marines first and quickly moved the fallen Teresa into the nearest security room. The door was locked and windows sealed, but a quick strike from Wictred’s boot forced it open. They went inside and placed her on the table. Lieutenant Rossen ran in to see the three of them, completely ignoring the Helion and the two synthetics waiting at the doorway.
“What’s going on?” she demanded, wasting no time on pleasantries.
“We escaped with help from the Zathee underground,” explained Jack, stripping the clothing from around his mother’s wound.
“And her?”
The blue spider’s web of around the wound had expanded further, and Teresa was now completely unconscious.
“She was hit by Animosh security forces when we escaped.”
The Helion man approached and looked down at her. He placed a hand on her arm and then looked to Jack.
“I can stabilize her for a few hours, that is all.”
From inside his long coat, he pulled out a small pack about the size of his hand, placing it on the table.
“What’s in there?” asked Jack suspiciously.
The Helion smiled crookedly at him.
“The Animosh often use these weapons against us. Even a wound will kill over time. We have medicines that can help.”
He opened the pack, revealing a dozen metal cylinders and vials of blue and green fluids. Jack stepped back to let him work and turned to the others.
“These are Helion synthetics, like Hunn and Wictred. They helped us escape, but there are more coming.”
Lieutenant Rossen nodded.
“Yes, we saw. Thai Qiu-Li is on the roof trying to make contact with the fleet. We need help down here and fast.”
Several bursts of gunfire from outside caught their attention, and her secpad crackled to life. She tapped it and transferred the audio feed to her earpiece. Jack did the same and was surprised to find he could speak with them all.
Finally, something actually works!
Of course it was down to the fact they were high and well above the jamming equipment of the Animosh, as well as in close proximity to each other. It was an open channel between the squad, and Jack could barely contain his smile at the sound of Hunn, his old friend, as he spoke.
“Thirty plus targets on the steps, more on the way.”
Rossen looked at them in the room and moved back to the doorway.
“Look, there are only two wide staircases heading up here to the roof. Either they come up on foot or they land by aircraft. Wictred, Jack, and those brutes out there, you hold the staircase. Hunn and I will move up to the top level and look after Thai Qiu-Li.”
Jack almost seemed to wince at the mention of her name, as if he had done her some great disservice.
“Lieutenant, I’ve reached the fleet!” said the young marine over the communications network.
“General Darcy is sending Hammerheads to our position. ETA, fifteen minutes.”
Lieutenant Rossen smiled at Jack before replying.
“Good work, Private. Are you still in contact?”
“Better than that, Sir, I’ve got a relay configured up here. I can come back down now.”
“Excellent work, get back here. We need all the help we can get.”
She changed to the repeater signal and was immediately connected to the marine liaison officer on board one of the major warships in orbit.
“Major Sherman here. We have seven Hammerheads en route. I have also made contact with Commander Gun planeside. He is coordinating ground actions in the capital.”
She wasn’t quite sure what that was all about, but right now they had more pressing concerns. She looked to her right. Jack and the two synthetics were dragging metal containers to barricade the open space facing the staircase. Wictred, meanwhile, defended the steps alone as they made the preparations.
“Lieutenant, we have a problem. The Helion defense grid is active. We’ve just lost a Hammerhead to automated ground fire. We can’t get anything below ten kilometers.”
The signal crackled, vanishing for a moment before returning.
“…for Commander Gun. We cannot get anything in the air for either of you without being shot down.”
Jack heard the conversation as it was being broadcast to all of them on their open channel. He felt momentarily sick at the prospect of failing after they had made it so far, when he remembered the breacher. He reached inside his jacket and held it up to show the Lieutenant for the second time. Jack smiled, realizing what he carried.
“The rebels gave it to us. It will override the Helion defense system and shut it down.”
Rossen looked shocked at this information.
“What? Are you serious? Use it!”
She reached for the unit, but Jack moved it aside, now starting to doubt whether it should be used.
“It is to be activated to start the Zathee uprising. If we use it, this world will tear itself apart.”
Lieutenant Rossen considered his words but only for a few seconds.
“How do we use it?”
Jack now looked confused as he examined the outer shell for a sign of how it should be connected.
“Uh, uh…”
The Helion busy working to help Teresa stepped to the doorway and called out to them. He was nearly twenty meters away but must have been listening to their conversation.
“That is a military-grade breacher unit. You need to plug it in directly to a communication node, like that one,” he said, pointing to a gantry one floor up and extended out to the side of the building.
Jack looked at it carefully but could only see a metal box on the framing. It was completely exposed to the elements, and almost certainly the gunfire from the enemy. He then looked back down to the unit itself.
“You’re kidding, that thing up there?”
The Helion nodded.
“Yes, open the panel and replace the unit with your one. The rest is automatic, assuming your information is legitimate.”
He walked back inside, and the Lieutenant looked back to Jack. She looked worried, and Jack sensed her indecision.
“Sir, the man that gave this to us said it would bring down all the Helion defenses and leave them open to a short coup. The Ambassador was taking it to them when they were attacked on our ship. Once the rebels take control, they promise to support us against the Biomechs.”
“If it works. It could just start a war, one we will be responsible for. We…I can’t be held responsible for a decision like that.”
Jack shook his head.
“No, the Helions started this when they attacked our ship and murdered our crew. Do you know how many Zathee have died in the last three hundred years at their hands? How many have died helping us to get here? We owe it to them,” he said, pointing out in the distance.
Lieutenant Rossen sighed, the weight of the decision playing firmly on her, but even now she couldn’t make the call; that one choice that could save them, or burn the world around them, potentially leaving them as the greatest criminals the Helions had encountered since their war with the Biomechs over a thousand years before.
“Jack!” Teresa called in a weak voice from inside the security room.
They both turned to see the haggard and partially dressed form of Teresa. She leaned against the doorframe with the Helion standing behind her in the shadows. There was open space in front of her, yet something caught her eye. Jack followed it, but he was too slow to spot the two Animosh warriors pulling themselves over the gantry on the left side of the structure and drop down onto the level. One moved behind a wide pillar, but Teresa cut the other to pieces. She had whipped out her sidearm and hit him twice in the head before losing her balance.
“No!” shouted Jack, but she hit the ground, only just protecting her face with her hands. Jack started toward her, but she waved him off.
“Help the rebels, Jack. We don’t need these animals on our side.”
Jack knew that voice, and he also knew deep down that he was going to do it. He had known the minute he’d seen the synthetics and heard of their persecution. He stepped away and threw a short glance to the Lieutenant.
“I’m doing it, to hell with them all.”
She watched him go but was lost for words as he rounded the corner, moving to the steps that lead to the next level. At the same time, the first wave of Animosh reached the top of the wide steps and fanned out onto their level. Wictred and the two synthetics opened fire at close range. Wictred had selected the rapid-fire mode on his carbine and cut down the first four before they even saw him. The synthetics used captured thermal weapons and between them brought down three more.
“Aircraft!” shouted somebody on the network.
Jack rolled to the side of the steps, and a burst of a dozen rounds burned into the metal around him. One reached just half a meter from his head, but he regained his balance and pushed on. As he reached the top, he glanced back and could see the marines blazing away at the Animosh trying to break out from the two staircases. Rossen and Hunn added their own fire to the cloud of ducted fan flyers whooshing like insects around the top of the tower. One spun down with black smoke belching from its engine, but another quickly replaced it.
Come on, Jack, get it over with!
He pushed out from the cover and sprinted over the open ground, passing by three pillars before spotting the moving shadow.
Something is coming down!
He rolled across the ground and slid against the fourth column, his carbine raised and ready for whoever or whatever it might be. The footsteps became louder, and then the form of Thai Qiu-Li appeared. She staggered but kept moving. He jumped out to grab her and pull her from the stray rounds striking the building. There was blood on her chest and arm.
“Thai Qiu-Li, are you hurt?” he asked stupidly.
She looked at him with amused eyes and then slumped forward. Jack held her weight but could see the dark red blood dripping from her back. He looked at her face, but it was deathly white. There were three burn marks from thermal rounds in her chest and another on her shoulder. As he examined her, he knew it was a miracle she’d got so far. There were more noises from above, and two Animosh appeared on the steps, looking down. Jack lifted his carbine and put a shot between the eyes of the first, but the second ducked back out of sight.
“Thai Qiu-Li, I’ll be back for you,” he said, lowering her still form to the ground.
The start of the gantry was only a short distance away, but if there were Animosh above him, they’d kill him the minute he stepped out.
I need to get rid of them first.
Jack activated the rapid-fire mode on his carbine and sprinted up the steps to the next level.
“This is Jack. Thai Qiu-Li is down, and there are Animosh on the rooftop.”
“Understood,” replied Lieutenant Rossen, “be quick and get that unit activated!”
Jack had hoped they might be able to send somebody to help, but the whoosh from gunship firing rockets reminded him how hard the others were being hit. A four-engine ducted fan flyer moved past and hovered to the side of the floor he was approaching and dropped off another four Animosh, as well as something else, something much larger. He ducked back and watched from the last few steps.
“Uh, Lieutenant, did you know they have infantry combat drones?”
The machine was slightly larger than a Helion and bipedal, but armored in a similar fashion to the T’Kari. In its arms, it carried a larger thermal rifle that looked more like a cannon.
Well, here we go.
Jack clipped his bayonet to the muzzle of his carbine and took aim at the nearest Animosh. Again he scored a perfect shot to the head and then moved out from his cover. There were three more of them, plus the missing one that had gone into hiding. The machine instantly spotted him and swiveled about nosily to aim its weapon. Jack sprinted as fast as he could, sliding to a stop behind a column. The gun flashed, and a streak of blue energy pulsed out to strike the column, but not before vaporizing one of the other warriors that had managed to get in the way.
“Nice, two left plus that thing.”
He reached into his webbing gear but could find no grenades. It was an automatic reaction, but he’d completely forgotten how lightly equipped they all were. More rockets continued to strike the building, and large chunks of black masonry ripped off to fall onto the lower levels.
“Jack, we need that signal!”
He looked to the three targets, but the voice of the Lieutenant kept ringing in his ears. He inhaled a deep, long breath and ran from the cover and toward the edge of the building. All three of them opened fire, but only the machine was accurate to strike near enough. As he reached the railing, a round blew a hole the size of his head in the metal framing. Without hesitating, he jumped up, throwing himself off the edge and into open air. Shot after shot flashed past him as he fell an entire level, crashing halfway along the gantry. His carbine clattered away and tumbled from the edge, and he slipped from the rusted walkway.
You idiot, get to your feet.
He knew he didn’t have long, and so with all the strength he had left, yanked himself to the metal flooring and limped to the control box. It wasn’t particularly big and was surrounded on all sides by a thin acrylic type protective shell. Jack kicked at it twice, and it cracked and fell apart, revealing the unit. He expected it to be stiff, but the door opened to reveal a complex series of circuits and cylinders.
“Sir, I’m at the unit.”
He looked at each piece, finally reaching a sphere identical to the one he was currently holding. It took a firm tug to dislodge it, yet nothing happened.
Weird.
Jack had expected something to happen, even if just a noise. Somebody shouted from behind, and the two surviving Animosh on the floor above spotted him. One lifted his rifle, but Jack knew he couldn’t waste time. With a quick movement, he forced the breacher into the unit and slammed the door shut. The first shots from the Animosh struck the metal framing and another came even closer. More concerning was the head of the mechanical beast that was moving slowly to the edge.
Move it, now!
Ignoring the gunfire, he clambered back across the gantry and hurled himself to the safety of the floor. A powerful shot ripped apart a large chunk of the metal structure, and part of it fell away, including a section of the communication relay.
* * *
“Well?” demanded Commander Gun for the tenth time.
The three Hammerheads sat on the landing platform with their engines running and each packed with marines. Gun waited outside while a squad kept their carbines trained on a group of battered and bruised looking Helions. Gun looked out at the smoke almost two kilometres away, where the fourth of the Hammerheads had crashed with the loss of everybody on board. He wanted to hit something, and the longer he waited, the more likely it was that he would turn on their prisoners. Luckily for them, the young communications specialist in the lead craft leaned out from the side.
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