Battle for the Earth (25 page)

‘Nibiru.’ Marie spoke the word at the same time as Pausanias.

‘Well, this can’t be good.’

Pausanias nodded and began to search through a database.

‘With Nibiru’s present position, it will be forty-eight hours before the shuttle arrives.’

Suddenly an audible alarm sounded on the proximity console. The two Annunaki battle cruisers were on the move.

‘Where are they going?’

You could hear the distress in Marie’s voice as she was joined by Lee.

‘They’re heading east. London, maybe.’

The two cruisers had accelerated, still heading east.

‘Doesn’t look like London. Europe then, somewhere?’

Still accelerating, the cruisers darted over Germany, over the Black Sea, then the Caspian Sea, and finally into Chinese air space, where they slowed down as they approached Beijing.

‘Beijing, they’re heading for Beijing,’ spluttered Lee.

‘They’re heading for the underground base beneath the Forbidden City.’

Sure enough, they watched as the two battle cruisers came to a halt directly above the Forbidden City and unleashed scores of assault vessels to join the battle which had now broken out below them. The fighting was vicious. The ESG underground base was probably the largest on Earth and extremely well defended. However, the all-out bombardment from the battle cruisers above the base was relentless and devastating.

Jumouk had now joined Lee and Marie at the console. All three looked on in horror. The Annunaki had discovered the largest underground base on Earth and were in the process of decimating it.

‘We need to send our battle cruisers in, Jumouk, We can’t leave this to fate.’

It did sound rather as Lee’s Chinese roots were favouring his fellow countrymen, however Jumouk was aware that he had only two battle cruisers left and if he lost those he would have handed Earth on a plate to the Annunaki.

‘You know we can’t, Lee, and you know only too well why.’

**

Mark had just been informed of the departure of the two Annunaki battle cruisers from Dulles, and wasn’t going to let the grass grow under his feet. He immediately ordered an all-out attack on the Annunaki Dulles base.

Leading three thousand resistance fighters, Mark stormed the Dulles base. The defences struggled to hold out, but the sheer weight of numbers of Mark’s resistance fighters was overwhelming. Mark was paying a heavy price, though. The defences Nalater had put round the perimeter of the base were savaging the assaulting resistance fighters.

Then, out of nowhere fifty TAG assault craft appeared, slashing through the ground defences like scythes through wheat and decimating the Annunaki assault ships that had been left to provide air cover. Balac led the assault from the air and the Annunaki forces that had been left to protect the base were overwhelmed both on the ground and in the air.

Jumouk had decided that, while direct intervention in China would not be viable, an attack on the Dulles base would provide a distraction and might cause a split in the Annunaki forces.

Dulles was in turmoil. The Annunaki were putting up savage resistance, but were slowly being cut down. However, the Sybotes had now been let out and were proving their worth. Fearless and ruthless they were tearing through resistance fighters as if they were cardboard cut-outs.

The purpose of the black hair-like Nanites had now become all too evident. They multiplied grotesquely and formed a kind of impregnable, lightweight chain mail over the silver body armour.

Nothing seemed to be able to stop them. Bullets and pulse weapons simply bounced off them. For mass killing they had changed their modus operandi from tearing heads off to using two machete-like blades in hand-to hand-combat, slicing through the resistance fighters at will, and causing atrocious injuries before inevitable death.

This was having a devastating effect on the morale of the resistance fighters. There were only ten of these creatures, but they were slaughtering everything they came close to.

The Dulles base was definitely being overrun, but the human cost was spiralling out of control.

Mark was agonising over what to do to stop the Sybotes, when one of them suddenly erupted in a ball of white boiling flame, Bill put the SMAW shoulder-launched rocket launcher back into the relaxed position. The thermobaric rocket from the SMAW had incinerated the Sybote from the inside out, sucking in oxygen from the air around it to fuel the intense heat within it, leaving little besides bits of the armoured suit smouldering on the ground.

It was not the ideal weapon because of the collateral damage it could cause, but it certainly seemed to do its job.

Mark waved a thumbs-up to Bill, and the battle raged on, now slightly more in favour of the resistance.

**

When he heard of the attack on the Dulles base, Tannacha flew into a rage. Leaving Gargius with the
Serpitus
to finish the job at Beijing, this time he broke his own rule of not separating his battle cruisers. Loading a full complement of assault ships and Annunaki warriors, he left Beijing and rocketed back towards Dulles. Jumouk’s diversion had paid off. Now the
Serpitus
was on its own at Beijing, and Jumouk was going to take full advantage.

The two ESG battle cruisers had been waiting on full battle stations alert and were ready to go. Lee and Konoco were on their respective bridges on the
Victory
and
Iron Duke,
Along with Jumouk they blasted out of the weak atmosphere of Mars and headed straight for Beijing. As they entered Earth’s atmosphere above China the targeting systems were already locked onto the
Serpitus.

Gargius had spotted the approaching ESG battle cruisers and had begun to disengage from the attack on Beijing to concentrate on confronting the two cruisers. As the first volleys of weapons fire landed, the
Serpitus
lurched violently sideways with explosions ripping through her port hull. The bridge lifted skyward as if the massive craft was stalling, giving Gargius a perfect view of his executioners bearing down on him. The final weapons fire from the two ESG cruisers ripped through the bridge area of the stricken
Serpitus,
sealing its fate, as the huge craft split in two, showering the combatants below with white-hot debris.

In its last death-throes the
Serpitus
had managed to get a well-aimed, or lucky, barrage of pulse weapons fire directly on to the
Victory,
badly damaging it and leaving the pilots on the bridge struggling to keep the battle cruiser under control.

The destruction of the
Serpitus
had been a huge success but had left the
Victory
badly damaged.

Konoco had taken up position over Beijing, but Lee was clearly struggling to keep the
Victory
stable in flight. If he didn’t do something soon he would be in danger of losing the battle cruiser altogether. Jumouk came to a decision. He ordered Lee to take the stricken cruiser to Sub Sea One.

Entering the Yellow Sea, Lee submerged down to five hundred feet, desperately checking for any hull breaches that hadn’t been automatically sealed. Fortunately there were none and Lee set off on his hazardous journey to Sub Sea One and the Android corps of maintenance for repairs.

**

As Tannacha arrived back in the Dulles base airspace he was presented with an unwelcome spectacle. The Annunaki force that had been left behind had all but been routed by the overwhelming numbers of the resistance fighters and TAG assault craft.

The arrival of the
Nephilimis
and its reinforcements quickly swung the balance of power back into the hands of the Annunaki and it wasn’t long before the resistance fighters had to retreat back into the cover of the surrounding towns and the sewer tunnels.

Once Balac was sure he had done everything he could to cover the retreating resistance forces, he and his TAG assault vessels disappeared into the North Atlantic, shaking off any pursuing Annunaki assault craft as they returned to Sub Sea One via predetermined escape routes.

Meanwhile Tannacha brought the
Nephilimis
to rest over the Dulles base once more, and ordered his ground forces to get the base into some kind of order before he and Nalater came down to survey the damage.

**

Nalater was the first to receive the devastating news about the
Serpitus
and Beijing, and knew it was his responsibility to break the news to Tannacha.

For a while now Nalater had been of the opinion that this mission was no longer sustainable, and that they should take as much gold, minerals and crystals as they could, and return home. He had obviously not expressed this opinion to Tannacha for fear of his leader’s reaction, but as things went from bad to worse the temptation to cut and run was growing stronger.

The Annunaki forces were now down to one battle cruiser, around forty-five assault craft, two large transports, and a number of shuttles of varying sizes. The ground troops consisted of around seventy thousand warriors, scattered around the world, and ten thousand now at the Dulles base. This wasn’t a conquering army any more: now it wasn’t even an expeditionary force. No, he thought. Now is the time to confront Tannacha.

His thoughts were interrupted by Tannacha storming up onto the bridge.

‘I know!’ he snarled, sneering at Nalater.

It was almost as if Tannacha knew what he had been thinking.

‘I want all our warriors and troops worldwide back at Dulles by the end of the day. Now do it.’

Nalater said nothing of what he had been thinking. He set off at once to carry out Tannacha’s order.

**

43

Marie was watching the visual depiction consoles, and just bringing Nibiru into sight, when sure enough a small shuttle appeared on approach to the planet. Marie had to take a second look.

Within the asteroid belt surrounding Nibiru was a second Annunaki fleet, and the shuttle wasn’t heading for the planet. It was now on course for the lead battle cruiser.

Pausanias joined Marie at the console and began expertly adjusting the visual controls. Marie counted the cruisers. After she reached eight she gave up and sat down despondently.

Pausanias took over the count. The final result was heartbreaking after everything they had been through. Now we should have had the advantage, she thought. Two cruisers to one. Well, that’s the way it should have worked out. Eleven battle cruisers, five large troop transports and numerous support craft. It was a crushing blow for everyone, and probably a death sentence or worse.

Marie contacted Jumouk and Konoco.

‘I’ve got some terrible news, Jumouk,’ Marie stammered. ‘The visual display consoles on Mars have picked up a large fleet around Nibiru.’

Jumouk sighed audibly.

‘How many, Marie?’

Marie began to cry softly.

‘Eleven battle cruisers, five large transports and some other assorted craft.’

Jumouk stared at Konoco. There was desperation written all over his normally expressionless face.

‘Marie, go and get yourself a strong, sweet cup of tea, I’ll be back to you shortly.

‘Konoco, contact Lee and bring him up to date. Find out what condition his cruiser is in.’

Jumouk contacted Mars again, this time talking to Grant.

‘Grant, I need the transports here at Beijing. You will need to organise an escort for them. They’re too vulnerable to be on their own.’

Grant acknowledged the message and set to work.

Lee was stunned when he heard the news about the Annunaki fleet. His battle cruiser was nearly repaired now. The Android maintenance crews had done an amazing job and had worked non-stop.

Konoco had anticipated Jumouk’s thinking and had already started to organise the evacuation of the Beijing base.

On board the now-repaired
Victory
Lee joined the
Iron Duke
over Beijing to provide air cover for the rapidly filling transports. Meanwhile, Jumouk had got back to Marie and explained the new plan of action.

Marie and Pausanias were now busy preparing for the arrival of the refugees from Beijing. Marie didn’t know how many people the Mars base could accommodate, but Pausanias didn’t seem to have any problem with the size of the new intake, which was reassuring from Marie’s point of view. She no longer cared who had built the base; she was just happy that it was there and that Pausanias clearly knew what he was doing. Between Earth and Mars there was now so much going on that nobody had the time to worry about the new threat from Nibiru. They could just move the human cargo as quickly and safely as possible.

The whole operation seemed to be going extremely smoothly with absolutely no interference from the Annunaki presence at Dulles.

As each transport filled up, it left for the Mars base escorted by twenty-five assault craft and Lee in the
Victory.
On its arrival at the Mars base the transport unloaded its human cargo under the watchful eyes of Marie, Pausanias, and the hundreds of Mars inhabitants involved in settling the new intake into their new way of life.

The normal reaction of the new arrivals at the Mars base was one of disbelief at the size and comfort of the underground facility, especially in light of the widespread rumours that the base was a dingy old mine or, worse, mine tunnel.