Farpoint Rising (Farpoint Series Book 2), page 38
“Regardless… If we can grab one, great. If we cannot… Well, I am not going to lose sleep over it. We were not prepared for this.”
They spent the next few minutes examining the bot feed while waiting for Flair and Bennett to be ready. When they finally joined them, Kasey was frowning.
“Bad news?” Flair asked.
“Not as such. We have a place ahead we can hold, but beyond that the area is far too open. Take a few minutes to review the feed, but I would say our best bet is to drive forward straight to the sphere and break inside as quick as we can. Better to deal with the unarmed Cassian in there than the unknown number that could surround us in the open.”
“But inside,” AnnaChi added, “we have to deal with two more of those new aliens on top of a small hoard of Cassian, even if they are unarmed. No real cover either.”
Flair got a faraway look for a minute while she viewed the feed, then sat, thinking.
“Well,” she said slowly, “we can have some portable shield-walls brought forward and set them up once we break into the sphere, but it will take time. It will give us some cover while we move everyone inside. Still, it will be costly to get them deployed.”
“I already have Griff and his engineers pulling the two shield-walls off the bard,” Bennett added. “He believed he would have both working before we move out. But they won’t be fully charged. They are also repurposing a few of the destroyed security bot’s grav-panels to serve as a mobile platform. He believes one of the bard’s guns can be mounted on it but is unsure how well it will handle under the recoil.”
“Good thinking, we could use that firepower. See if they can get a second one ready, even if the platforms are only used for moving the guns onto something we can mount them on in the field. Keep one in the rear for any surprises, but if we can get one into the sphere it would make a big difference.”
Kasey listened and shrugged. “It’s a better plan than I had, but I still think we will take a lot of losses.”
“We need a distraction,” AnnaChi asserted as she rolled her shoulders back and smiled.
“I assume you have an idea about that?”
“Maybe. But I will need the demo bot, a sniper rifle, one of the remaining security bots, and two of Flair’s best sailors.”
Kasey frowned at her and took a deep breath. “Flair, can we break into this sphere without the demo bot? We need a lot more than one breaching charge if we want to make a fast entrance.”
“We have three breachers with us. We can combine all three charges into one. It should do the job and then some.”
He rubbed his temples. “Fine… AnnaChi, you have a go, but all five of us stay on the command channel and stay coordinated.”
It took longer than Kasey would have liked to get everyone to the new position. He had to admit it was a great location. Instead of the long winding and mostly nondescript hallways and chambers that had brought them so deep into the ship, they were now in a building of some kind. The structure looked like it had been built for more artistic purposes, but everything was oversized. It didn’t seem to serve an actual function but had access to multiple floors of the mothership. Best of all, it was a was natural defensible position.
He settled into an empty chamber as Flair and Bennett handled the logistics of the people. Everyone was getting acquainted with the layout leading to the sphere and discussed strategies for the assault in groups.
Instead of joining them, he watched AnnaChi’s progress. She had already left, taking a passage through the upper floors, and appeared to be nearly above the sphere now. The sphere itself was embedded into several floors, but he could not tell which one she was on.
Everyone else had chosen what they now thought of as the main deck. The entryway to the sphere was on this level so that was where they needed to be. April had bots out searching for less obvious routes that would take them closer to the sphere’s entryway, but so far none had been located. Flair’s assessment of the painted Cassian guard’s locations also indicated the open areas were likely to be the only decent entrance.
“AnnaChi. Give me a status.”
“We are a bit lost at the moment actually. In a maintenance passage tween decks. Sorry Kasey, I thought we would have a solution by now.”
April interrupted, “I am detecting movement. Looks like a group of Cassian, hundred meters, ten o’clock from our position. The bot noticed two Cassian and followed them to a larger group that appear to be waiting for us.”
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
“How many?” Kasey asked.
“Maybe twenty, but if others continue to join them…”
“Then the longer we wait, the more we will need to deal with. Got it. AnnaChi, step it up!”
“On it! Give us ten. If we don’t have a way in by then—we will make one.”
The bots located two more groups of Cassian gathering. It was clear now that a trap had been designed to catch them in the open. He hoped the enemy didn’t know how much his group had grown since the last attack. Maybe they would underestimate and make a mistake. On the other hand, maybe every Cassian in the entire mothership was on the way.
Decision made, he stood and opened the command channel. “Change of plans. We are going to get swarmed from all sides if we make a run directly for the sphere. That is what they want. We might make it, but we will lose a lot of people. However, we know where several of the Cassian groups are building up, so we will attack them directly and take them out with our superior numbers. Even if the remaining groups attack, we will have less overall enemy to deal with at once.”
“That would buy me more time as well,” AnnaChi added.
“Agreed,” Flair responded after a moment. “The groups we know about are between twenty and thirty strong. We should be able to attack the two closest groups at the same time. The third is a bit further forward, but we can expect them to attack while we are busy with the first two. Bennett, can you set up a surprise for that third group when it shows up?”
“Yes, sir. We will set up the two heavy guns centrally and prep the shield-walls for additional cover. We shouldn’t have trouble with one group unless they are really spread out.”
“Good, we will reinforce you once we take out the first two groups, then we all press forward. April, spread out the security bots to act as spotters.”
Kasey watched proudly as each team moved out one by one. He joined Bennett’s team as they went out behind the navy groups. Bennett had chosen an area that rose up higher than most areas, providing a good vantage point. As Bennett crawled up to peek over the top, he waved Kasey to join him, then pointed at the halfway point to the sphere room.
He heard Flair’s firefight starting before he got a look at what Bennett was pointing at. At least four different columns of Cassian had broken their cover and were all heading towards the navy team locations.
“Damn. We need to draw some attention and give the navy time to take care of their first groups.”
Bennett unlimbered his rifle and looked to his team. “Rifles only on this hill, pick targets and wait for my order. After the first volley, you are free to fire at will. The rest of you, drop back thirty yards and set up the heavies. Shield-walls on the flanks and make sure you have room for us to join you. We will bring them up and over this hill and into our killing ground.”
Twelve crewmembers moved forward to join them. When Bennett gave the order, fourteen shots rang out and nearly as many Cassian fell. A few got back up, but most of the closest ones paused and looked around.
“Hold fire!” Bennett quickly commanded, “Prepare for another volley on new targets. Fire! Weapons free!”
More Cassian dropped, but not as many as in the first volley. There was continuous fire now and the Cassian took little time to locate them and charged towards their position, firing their own weapons as they did. The crew continued firing for a few more moments before Bennett ordered them to fall back. Two shots later Kasey and Bennett were running as well.
Cassian were over the hill before Kasey made it back to the line. It was a surreal experience running toward a line of people that appeared to be firing directly at him. Running past the front line he dove for cover.
He heard something whiz over his head as he dropped his rifle and unslung the Cassian weapon everyone was now carrying in addition to their main weapon. It was less accurate and had a shorter range, but it could penetrate the Cassian armor where their own longer-range weapons could not. The fighting was too close now to worry about accuracy, so everyone would be using the Cassian weapons for this fight.
He barely noticed April calling out warnings to Flair as well as numbers and positions, but Kasey had too much to worry about with the ever-increasing numbers of Cassian scrambling over the hill towards them.
The team’s two heavy guns shredded dozens of the enemy but had to concentrate on keeping the flanks clear. Everyone else was concentrating on the center. It worked for a while, but as the numbers grew, too many made it close to firing line.
“Grenades as able! Top of that hill if you can!” Bennett shouted.
One by one, grenades were lobbed into the mass of Cassian. The explosions spouted filth high into the air and knocked down those that weren’t killed. The flow of enemies slowed enough for the crew to kill all the closest Cassian and start targeting those at the crest of the hill again. He expected the flood of enemy to increase again, instead the tide began to slow.
“April, where are the Cassian?”
“Looks like most groups are heading back towards the command sphere, sir.”
“Flair, where are you?”
“Almost to your position. There were more than we expected, and we had several come in at our backs. I guess they didn’t all head your way.”
“Causalities?”
“April got us a warning. They got a few lucky hits on us, but nothing we can’t shake off.”
He looked at Bennett, who gave him a thumbs up. “We are good here too. Great job everyone! Now, let’s go finish this.”
“Just waiting on you all,” AnnaChi added, “and the sooner the better. If they look up, I am screwed!”
“Flair, get us in rifle range and pour some heat onto the groups around the sphere. Keep their attention on us.”
As soon as they came into range, everyone lined up and sent several volleys into the packs of Cassian. The first shots were devastating, but the Cassian immediately turned their protective armor towards the attackers, hunkering down in safety.
“Heavy guns?” Kasey asked.
Bennett responded, “We could, but we would run out of ammo before we made a dent in their numbers at this range. I suggest we save the ammo.”
“Damn. Flair, a head-on attack is going to take too long. Can we faint an attack up the center, but have our real attack head to one of lighter-defended sides and out-flank them? I think the combined breaching charge will penetrate the crystal walls based on the damage we did to the last one. Just avoid the main entrance altogether.”
“The breach charge will work, I have no doubt. I suggest a three-pronged attack. Send a small team to the far left to start the attack. Keep them far back at max range. A third of our troops then attack down the center. Once the center is fully engaged in a firefight, we pull the left team to join the center troops and then everyone starts leapfrogging to the right side. Our largest force will make its way up the right side, not engaging until they need to. Our snipers and heavy guns go with that group. Push down their right flank hard and blast our way into that sphere while at the same time we can provide some cover fire for our other troops to join us.”
“Interesting but sounds complicated. Done this sort of thing before?”
“In a real fight? No. But plenty of times in simulations and war games, as have all navy.”
“And did it work?”
“In the sims, it worked well. Not so well in war games, but most plans don’t when everyone has the same playbooks. Which is the whole point usually.”
“Okay. We give it a try. AnnaChi, be ready with your distraction when we get close to the sphere. We need to set the charges and blast through before they can prepare a welcoming party for us inside.”
“Oh, I promise they will be distracted. Just hurry it up.”
* * *
Kasey ducked behind an oversized bench. Just beyond, his men worked their way around a group of strange sculptures he could not identify. The alien area would be relaxing if the sounds of gunshots and alien weapons couldn’t be heard in the distance.
He checked the feed from the security bot they had scouting ahead. It had stopped moving. Directly ahead of it was a small group of Cassian. It was the first of three groups his team was planning to attack simultaneously. Beyond the groups were a larger concentration of Cassian, with several of the painted ones mixed in.
Bennett crawled up beside him, indicating they were ready. Readying his own weapon, Kasey prepared to take over the position ahead as soon as the troops rushed forward.
A shot rang out close by. Too early!
“Go, go, go!” Bennett shouted, as Kasey tried to make sense of what happened, but there was no time. He moved to the next position and checked the feed, only to find it offline. More shots rang out as they engaged.
“Kasey! We lost contact with our left flank team,” Flair called out over comms. “Something must have hit them from behind—we still have a visual of their targets, but they are no longer under fire. Permission to send a rescue team?”
Kasey felt heat rushing up his spine in worry. The whole plan was going to hell fast.
“Do it. Bennett, send half our reserve to backup Flair’s center team.”
Orders went out and troops shifted. Kasey could now see the Cassian far ahead, two painted in vibrant blue colors. He took aim and fired, but the shot glanced off the creature’s armor. He looked for another target but was interrupted.
“I think they have noticed my team,” AnnaChi calmly announced, “there is movement in the passages behind us.”
“How many?”
“Can’t tell… Shit! The big ugly alien just looked up. It sees us!”
“Can you…”
A massive explosion rumbled through the area.
“AnnaChi? AnnaChi, respond!” he couldn’t think, “AnnaChi!”
Bennett grabbed him and pointed ahead. The sphere’s lights were flickering. Large topside sections of the structure had broken off and fallen on the enemy inside it. The groups of Cassian outside the sphere had stopped firing and were scurrying madly back and forth.
He got a grip on his thoughts and shrugged away from Bennett.
“Everyone attacks now! Bring the heavy guns forward and get us to that sphere now! Flair, rescue status?”
“They are all dead… A group attacked them from behind and more were coming. We are pulling back towards you now.”
He could not find his voice to respond. Everything had gone wrong, and it was his fault. He never should have been in charge. He wasn’t even sure how it all had gotten dumped on his shoulders. Now his decisions had gotten even more people killed.
One of the heavy guns the engineers had mounted on a busted security bot’s chassis was being pushed past him. He dropped his rifle and moved to it. Taking control, he pushed the heavy weapon at a run towards the front line and beyond.
Several people were shouting behind him, which he ignored. The Cassian ahead were still in their weird frenzy, but one of them stopped and looked his way.
Kasey squeezed the trigger tightly, blasting the creature apart. He swung the weapon across the next cluster of Cassian and kept moving forward. A few fired back, but a rain of plasma, bullets and black bolts from captured weapons flowed around Kasey, pounding into any creatures who survived his onslaught.
The heavy gun clicked empty, and Kasey released it and drew his pistol, but a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back before he could fire it.
“Sir!” Bennett yelled at him. “AnnaChi’s team are taking fire!”
He looked towards the sphere, which he was surprised to see was now very close. A constant flow of bright blue bolts was being fired towards the top of the sphere blasting tufts of shrapnel across the room below. Great sections of the upper sphere were gone from the earlier blast, but above those were new openings exposing the innards of the mothership’s workings. Oily liquids and sparks from broken components showered down onto the control areas, as well as the aliens below. Every so often, he could see movement in the above wreckage.
“Blow the breach now! And get me a damn rifle!”
The breach’s blast cut a man-sized hole in the large crystal wall, sending cracks outward over the surviving facet’s surface. Nearby Cassian took the full force of the blasted wall’s shards, killing many of them instantly. Several grenades were tossed inside, adding to the chaos.
Kasey followed the first group of troops through the hole. The shield-walls would follow, but he couldn’t wait. He moved inward, keeping his sights towards the areas the bolts were being fired from. The destruction around the hole would have been disturbing at any other time, but now he moved through the wreckage on a mission.
It took a moment to realize why the blue bolts suddenly stopped firing upward—until one of them exploded into Kasey’s chest.
CHAPTER FIFTY
Kasey’s vision faded—then returned as new meds pumped into his system. The bolt had impacted close to the earlier hit he had taken, thankfully the suit was not reporting any ruptures. More bolts crossed his vision as he realized he was on his back again.
He watched as, far above, a head peaked out from the wreckage and slid up its faceplate, showing AnnaChi’s face smiling down. Yet the smile wasn’t for him, but for something her rifle was now pointing at. She fired, paused, and then fired several more times. Eventually she stopped and looked around the sphere before she shrugged and pulled her helmet’s faceplate down again.
Everything got suddenly quiet.
“Uh, Kasey,” Flair sounded astonished, “the Cassian have dropped their weapons and are backing off! What just happened?”
They spent the next few minutes examining the bot feed while waiting for Flair and Bennett to be ready. When they finally joined them, Kasey was frowning.
“Bad news?” Flair asked.
“Not as such. We have a place ahead we can hold, but beyond that the area is far too open. Take a few minutes to review the feed, but I would say our best bet is to drive forward straight to the sphere and break inside as quick as we can. Better to deal with the unarmed Cassian in there than the unknown number that could surround us in the open.”
“But inside,” AnnaChi added, “we have to deal with two more of those new aliens on top of a small hoard of Cassian, even if they are unarmed. No real cover either.”
Flair got a faraway look for a minute while she viewed the feed, then sat, thinking.
“Well,” she said slowly, “we can have some portable shield-walls brought forward and set them up once we break into the sphere, but it will take time. It will give us some cover while we move everyone inside. Still, it will be costly to get them deployed.”
“I already have Griff and his engineers pulling the two shield-walls off the bard,” Bennett added. “He believed he would have both working before we move out. But they won’t be fully charged. They are also repurposing a few of the destroyed security bot’s grav-panels to serve as a mobile platform. He believes one of the bard’s guns can be mounted on it but is unsure how well it will handle under the recoil.”
“Good thinking, we could use that firepower. See if they can get a second one ready, even if the platforms are only used for moving the guns onto something we can mount them on in the field. Keep one in the rear for any surprises, but if we can get one into the sphere it would make a big difference.”
Kasey listened and shrugged. “It’s a better plan than I had, but I still think we will take a lot of losses.”
“We need a distraction,” AnnaChi asserted as she rolled her shoulders back and smiled.
“I assume you have an idea about that?”
“Maybe. But I will need the demo bot, a sniper rifle, one of the remaining security bots, and two of Flair’s best sailors.”
Kasey frowned at her and took a deep breath. “Flair, can we break into this sphere without the demo bot? We need a lot more than one breaching charge if we want to make a fast entrance.”
“We have three breachers with us. We can combine all three charges into one. It should do the job and then some.”
He rubbed his temples. “Fine… AnnaChi, you have a go, but all five of us stay on the command channel and stay coordinated.”
It took longer than Kasey would have liked to get everyone to the new position. He had to admit it was a great location. Instead of the long winding and mostly nondescript hallways and chambers that had brought them so deep into the ship, they were now in a building of some kind. The structure looked like it had been built for more artistic purposes, but everything was oversized. It didn’t seem to serve an actual function but had access to multiple floors of the mothership. Best of all, it was a was natural defensible position.
He settled into an empty chamber as Flair and Bennett handled the logistics of the people. Everyone was getting acquainted with the layout leading to the sphere and discussed strategies for the assault in groups.
Instead of joining them, he watched AnnaChi’s progress. She had already left, taking a passage through the upper floors, and appeared to be nearly above the sphere now. The sphere itself was embedded into several floors, but he could not tell which one she was on.
Everyone else had chosen what they now thought of as the main deck. The entryway to the sphere was on this level so that was where they needed to be. April had bots out searching for less obvious routes that would take them closer to the sphere’s entryway, but so far none had been located. Flair’s assessment of the painted Cassian guard’s locations also indicated the open areas were likely to be the only decent entrance.
“AnnaChi. Give me a status.”
“We are a bit lost at the moment actually. In a maintenance passage tween decks. Sorry Kasey, I thought we would have a solution by now.”
April interrupted, “I am detecting movement. Looks like a group of Cassian, hundred meters, ten o’clock from our position. The bot noticed two Cassian and followed them to a larger group that appear to be waiting for us.”
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
“How many?” Kasey asked.
“Maybe twenty, but if others continue to join them…”
“Then the longer we wait, the more we will need to deal with. Got it. AnnaChi, step it up!”
“On it! Give us ten. If we don’t have a way in by then—we will make one.”
The bots located two more groups of Cassian gathering. It was clear now that a trap had been designed to catch them in the open. He hoped the enemy didn’t know how much his group had grown since the last attack. Maybe they would underestimate and make a mistake. On the other hand, maybe every Cassian in the entire mothership was on the way.
Decision made, he stood and opened the command channel. “Change of plans. We are going to get swarmed from all sides if we make a run directly for the sphere. That is what they want. We might make it, but we will lose a lot of people. However, we know where several of the Cassian groups are building up, so we will attack them directly and take them out with our superior numbers. Even if the remaining groups attack, we will have less overall enemy to deal with at once.”
“That would buy me more time as well,” AnnaChi added.
“Agreed,” Flair responded after a moment. “The groups we know about are between twenty and thirty strong. We should be able to attack the two closest groups at the same time. The third is a bit further forward, but we can expect them to attack while we are busy with the first two. Bennett, can you set up a surprise for that third group when it shows up?”
“Yes, sir. We will set up the two heavy guns centrally and prep the shield-walls for additional cover. We shouldn’t have trouble with one group unless they are really spread out.”
“Good, we will reinforce you once we take out the first two groups, then we all press forward. April, spread out the security bots to act as spotters.”
Kasey watched proudly as each team moved out one by one. He joined Bennett’s team as they went out behind the navy groups. Bennett had chosen an area that rose up higher than most areas, providing a good vantage point. As Bennett crawled up to peek over the top, he waved Kasey to join him, then pointed at the halfway point to the sphere room.
He heard Flair’s firefight starting before he got a look at what Bennett was pointing at. At least four different columns of Cassian had broken their cover and were all heading towards the navy team locations.
“Damn. We need to draw some attention and give the navy time to take care of their first groups.”
Bennett unlimbered his rifle and looked to his team. “Rifles only on this hill, pick targets and wait for my order. After the first volley, you are free to fire at will. The rest of you, drop back thirty yards and set up the heavies. Shield-walls on the flanks and make sure you have room for us to join you. We will bring them up and over this hill and into our killing ground.”
Twelve crewmembers moved forward to join them. When Bennett gave the order, fourteen shots rang out and nearly as many Cassian fell. A few got back up, but most of the closest ones paused and looked around.
“Hold fire!” Bennett quickly commanded, “Prepare for another volley on new targets. Fire! Weapons free!”
More Cassian dropped, but not as many as in the first volley. There was continuous fire now and the Cassian took little time to locate them and charged towards their position, firing their own weapons as they did. The crew continued firing for a few more moments before Bennett ordered them to fall back. Two shots later Kasey and Bennett were running as well.
Cassian were over the hill before Kasey made it back to the line. It was a surreal experience running toward a line of people that appeared to be firing directly at him. Running past the front line he dove for cover.
He heard something whiz over his head as he dropped his rifle and unslung the Cassian weapon everyone was now carrying in addition to their main weapon. It was less accurate and had a shorter range, but it could penetrate the Cassian armor where their own longer-range weapons could not. The fighting was too close now to worry about accuracy, so everyone would be using the Cassian weapons for this fight.
He barely noticed April calling out warnings to Flair as well as numbers and positions, but Kasey had too much to worry about with the ever-increasing numbers of Cassian scrambling over the hill towards them.
The team’s two heavy guns shredded dozens of the enemy but had to concentrate on keeping the flanks clear. Everyone else was concentrating on the center. It worked for a while, but as the numbers grew, too many made it close to firing line.
“Grenades as able! Top of that hill if you can!” Bennett shouted.
One by one, grenades were lobbed into the mass of Cassian. The explosions spouted filth high into the air and knocked down those that weren’t killed. The flow of enemies slowed enough for the crew to kill all the closest Cassian and start targeting those at the crest of the hill again. He expected the flood of enemy to increase again, instead the tide began to slow.
“April, where are the Cassian?”
“Looks like most groups are heading back towards the command sphere, sir.”
“Flair, where are you?”
“Almost to your position. There were more than we expected, and we had several come in at our backs. I guess they didn’t all head your way.”
“Causalities?”
“April got us a warning. They got a few lucky hits on us, but nothing we can’t shake off.”
He looked at Bennett, who gave him a thumbs up. “We are good here too. Great job everyone! Now, let’s go finish this.”
“Just waiting on you all,” AnnaChi added, “and the sooner the better. If they look up, I am screwed!”
“Flair, get us in rifle range and pour some heat onto the groups around the sphere. Keep their attention on us.”
As soon as they came into range, everyone lined up and sent several volleys into the packs of Cassian. The first shots were devastating, but the Cassian immediately turned their protective armor towards the attackers, hunkering down in safety.
“Heavy guns?” Kasey asked.
Bennett responded, “We could, but we would run out of ammo before we made a dent in their numbers at this range. I suggest we save the ammo.”
“Damn. Flair, a head-on attack is going to take too long. Can we faint an attack up the center, but have our real attack head to one of lighter-defended sides and out-flank them? I think the combined breaching charge will penetrate the crystal walls based on the damage we did to the last one. Just avoid the main entrance altogether.”
“The breach charge will work, I have no doubt. I suggest a three-pronged attack. Send a small team to the far left to start the attack. Keep them far back at max range. A third of our troops then attack down the center. Once the center is fully engaged in a firefight, we pull the left team to join the center troops and then everyone starts leapfrogging to the right side. Our largest force will make its way up the right side, not engaging until they need to. Our snipers and heavy guns go with that group. Push down their right flank hard and blast our way into that sphere while at the same time we can provide some cover fire for our other troops to join us.”
“Interesting but sounds complicated. Done this sort of thing before?”
“In a real fight? No. But plenty of times in simulations and war games, as have all navy.”
“And did it work?”
“In the sims, it worked well. Not so well in war games, but most plans don’t when everyone has the same playbooks. Which is the whole point usually.”
“Okay. We give it a try. AnnaChi, be ready with your distraction when we get close to the sphere. We need to set the charges and blast through before they can prepare a welcoming party for us inside.”
“Oh, I promise they will be distracted. Just hurry it up.”
* * *
Kasey ducked behind an oversized bench. Just beyond, his men worked their way around a group of strange sculptures he could not identify. The alien area would be relaxing if the sounds of gunshots and alien weapons couldn’t be heard in the distance.
He checked the feed from the security bot they had scouting ahead. It had stopped moving. Directly ahead of it was a small group of Cassian. It was the first of three groups his team was planning to attack simultaneously. Beyond the groups were a larger concentration of Cassian, with several of the painted ones mixed in.
Bennett crawled up beside him, indicating they were ready. Readying his own weapon, Kasey prepared to take over the position ahead as soon as the troops rushed forward.
A shot rang out close by. Too early!
“Go, go, go!” Bennett shouted, as Kasey tried to make sense of what happened, but there was no time. He moved to the next position and checked the feed, only to find it offline. More shots rang out as they engaged.
“Kasey! We lost contact with our left flank team,” Flair called out over comms. “Something must have hit them from behind—we still have a visual of their targets, but they are no longer under fire. Permission to send a rescue team?”
Kasey felt heat rushing up his spine in worry. The whole plan was going to hell fast.
“Do it. Bennett, send half our reserve to backup Flair’s center team.”
Orders went out and troops shifted. Kasey could now see the Cassian far ahead, two painted in vibrant blue colors. He took aim and fired, but the shot glanced off the creature’s armor. He looked for another target but was interrupted.
“I think they have noticed my team,” AnnaChi calmly announced, “there is movement in the passages behind us.”
“How many?”
“Can’t tell… Shit! The big ugly alien just looked up. It sees us!”
“Can you…”
A massive explosion rumbled through the area.
“AnnaChi? AnnaChi, respond!” he couldn’t think, “AnnaChi!”
Bennett grabbed him and pointed ahead. The sphere’s lights were flickering. Large topside sections of the structure had broken off and fallen on the enemy inside it. The groups of Cassian outside the sphere had stopped firing and were scurrying madly back and forth.
He got a grip on his thoughts and shrugged away from Bennett.
“Everyone attacks now! Bring the heavy guns forward and get us to that sphere now! Flair, rescue status?”
“They are all dead… A group attacked them from behind and more were coming. We are pulling back towards you now.”
He could not find his voice to respond. Everything had gone wrong, and it was his fault. He never should have been in charge. He wasn’t even sure how it all had gotten dumped on his shoulders. Now his decisions had gotten even more people killed.
One of the heavy guns the engineers had mounted on a busted security bot’s chassis was being pushed past him. He dropped his rifle and moved to it. Taking control, he pushed the heavy weapon at a run towards the front line and beyond.
Several people were shouting behind him, which he ignored. The Cassian ahead were still in their weird frenzy, but one of them stopped and looked his way.
Kasey squeezed the trigger tightly, blasting the creature apart. He swung the weapon across the next cluster of Cassian and kept moving forward. A few fired back, but a rain of plasma, bullets and black bolts from captured weapons flowed around Kasey, pounding into any creatures who survived his onslaught.
The heavy gun clicked empty, and Kasey released it and drew his pistol, but a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back before he could fire it.
“Sir!” Bennett yelled at him. “AnnaChi’s team are taking fire!”
He looked towards the sphere, which he was surprised to see was now very close. A constant flow of bright blue bolts was being fired towards the top of the sphere blasting tufts of shrapnel across the room below. Great sections of the upper sphere were gone from the earlier blast, but above those were new openings exposing the innards of the mothership’s workings. Oily liquids and sparks from broken components showered down onto the control areas, as well as the aliens below. Every so often, he could see movement in the above wreckage.
“Blow the breach now! And get me a damn rifle!”
The breach’s blast cut a man-sized hole in the large crystal wall, sending cracks outward over the surviving facet’s surface. Nearby Cassian took the full force of the blasted wall’s shards, killing many of them instantly. Several grenades were tossed inside, adding to the chaos.
Kasey followed the first group of troops through the hole. The shield-walls would follow, but he couldn’t wait. He moved inward, keeping his sights towards the areas the bolts were being fired from. The destruction around the hole would have been disturbing at any other time, but now he moved through the wreckage on a mission.
It took a moment to realize why the blue bolts suddenly stopped firing upward—until one of them exploded into Kasey’s chest.
CHAPTER FIFTY
Kasey’s vision faded—then returned as new meds pumped into his system. The bolt had impacted close to the earlier hit he had taken, thankfully the suit was not reporting any ruptures. More bolts crossed his vision as he realized he was on his back again.
He watched as, far above, a head peaked out from the wreckage and slid up its faceplate, showing AnnaChi’s face smiling down. Yet the smile wasn’t for him, but for something her rifle was now pointing at. She fired, paused, and then fired several more times. Eventually she stopped and looked around the sphere before she shrugged and pulled her helmet’s faceplate down again.
Everything got suddenly quiet.
“Uh, Kasey,” Flair sounded astonished, “the Cassian have dropped their weapons and are backing off! What just happened?”
