Ep.#6 - "Head of the Dragon" (The Frontiers Saga) (16 page)

Travon was floating beside and slightly ahead of Tug as they coasted toward the comm-drone platform when he noticed movement. “
Jumper one, Dumar. Their defensive systems are powering up. One of their gun turrets is rotating to take aim. You must jump immediately
.”

“
Not until you reach the platform,
” the copilot insisted over the comms. “
We’re still too close to you, and we have no idea what effect a jump in such close proximity will have on you.
”

“You have only seconds before the turret fires,” Tug warned. “Jump now! That’s an order!”

The turret continued rotation outward as Tug and Dumar continued coasting toward the platform. Tug could only assume that the platform’s defensive system either did not see them because they were too small or did not interpret them as a direct threat. Then again, as the turret was taking aim directly between himself and Dumar, it could very well be targeting them.

The turret stopped its rotation and adjusted the angle of its twin barrels. A moment later, it opened fire, sending amber bursts of energy spewing forth, the brilliant bolts of energy streaking between them. There was a flash of light from behind them, causing them both to instinctively close their eyes. The turret fired a total of four times before ceasing its attack and rotating back into its safe position.

“Jumper one, Tug. Do you copy?” Tug could not see behind him, and he had no time to turn around as he and Dumar were rapidly approaching the platform. “Jumper one!”

“
Get ready
,” Dumar warned. He was the first to hit. There rate of approach was more severe than he had realized. He struck the side of the platform hard, nearly knocking the wind out of him. His tool pouch broke free from his torso, bouncing off the side of the platform. He grabbed onto the side of the platform, scrambling to find something to hold onto as his body toppled over, heading over the top of the platform. As he slid along the upper side, he finally managed to seize some conduit, stopping his forward motion. His tool pouch, however, continued onward over the top of the platform and out into space.

Tug was the next to hit, toppling over in similar fashion. He was surprised they had not impacted the platform directly in its side, as upon their exit from the shuttle, it appeared that they were on course for her midsection. He too reached out, attempting to grab onto something, anything, but his body twisted as he toppled, and he found himself facing away from the platform as he passed over the top. Just as he was sure he was going to tumble off into space, his motion stopped with a sudden jerk.

“
Gotcha!
” Dumar grunted. There was a brief pause as Dumar steadied himself, afraid to do anything but hold onto his friend with all his might until his forward momentum had subsided. “Twist
to your right
,” Dumar ordered. “
Reach out and grab my shoulder with your right hand!
”

Tug struggled to twist to his right as instructed, his right arm straining and flailing about as he tried to find his friend’s shoulder. After several attempts, he finally grabbed hold and twisted himself around to face Dumar, who pulled him down toward the platform. Tug swung his feet down under him, placed them firmly onto the platform’s sidewall, and activated his mag-boots.

“That was close,” Tug sighed. “Thank you.”

“
I was reaching for your tools
,” Dumar joked. “Mine are gone.”

Tug looked back to where the shuttle had been only a minute ago. He scanned the area visually from side to side and up and down. “No signs of debris. They must have jumped away just in time.”

“
We must begin immediately
,” Dumar reminded him. “
Time is short
.”

“Tug looked at the mission clock displayed inside the upper left corner of his visor. “We have less than ten minutes before the rotation of Ancot will bring the garrison into line of sight with this platform,” Tug added as he began to make his way along the top of the platform toward its opposite end.

“
How did we end up so off target?
” Dumar wondered. “
When we jumped, I was certain we were headed toward the center of the platform.
”

“Perhaps the shuttle’s close proximity jump caused a change in our trajectory.”

“
Is that even possible?
”

“I do not know,” Tug admitted as they continued along the top of the platform. “There is so much about this jump drive that even the people of Earth do not yet understand.”

“
Tug, Jumper one. We are two light minutes out from you. Standing by just outside the platform’s defensive perimeter. Comm-lag is two minutes. Let us know when you are ready for pickup.
”

“
I guess that answers that question
,” Dumar said.

“Jumper one, Tug. We have made it to the platform and are making our way forward to the interface console. Will advise.”

Lieutenant Commander Toral’s shuttle jumped in just outside the rear of the Ancot garrison, no more than thirty meters above the surface. As the small shuttle had no weapons, as soon as she came out of her jump, she immediately spun around to face her aft end toward the garrison, dropping her rear cargo ramp down so the troops in the rear of the cargo compartment could fire on the turrets. As the shuttle slid backward toward the garrison, two of the Corinari troops stepped out onto the cargo ramp which, in its current position, served as a platform of sorts. Two more troopers grabbed them from behind to ensure they would not tumble off the ramp as it bounced and swayed on the shuttle’s approach to the garrison. The two men raised their launchers and simultaneously unleashed a pair of missiles at the turrets. The missiles closed the distance on the targets in short order, the turrets exploding and sending debris in all directions. The turrets had never made a move, as they had no power being fed to them. Perhaps they never would have moved. Perhaps the garrison commander had never felt the need for additional power sources for the base’s primary defensive systems. Either way, the Corinari had no intention of finding out.

Having performed their task, the two shooters tossed their expended launchers over the side and pulled out their energy rifles as the shuttle continued to slide backward toward the garrison. From the far side of the garrison, they could see the narrow beams of energy being exchanged by the defenders and the Corinari attacking from the front of the base. Ta’Akar troops began to spill out into the yard on the backside of the garrison, their weapons raising toward the shuttle as it approached. The two shooters still kneeling on the ramp opened fire, cutting down the imperial troops that were spilling out into the rear courtyard.

The shuttle quickly slid over the rear of the garrison and beyond the rear courtyard, taking fire along its underside from the few imperial troops that had been smart enough to remain inside until the weapons fire raining down from the shuttle above them had ceased. The impacts were few and passed quickly as the shuttle slid in over the building.

Two more Corinari tossed thick ropes over either side of the ramp, the top ends of the ropes secured to the inside ceiling of the shuttle, the opposite end dragging slightly on the rooftop directly below. The men who had tossed the ropes over the sides were the first to go, sliding quickly down the ropes onto the rooftop below and immediately raising their weapons to open fire on the two doorways at the opposite end of the roof from which imperial troops had begun to emerge. One by one, the other eighteen men followed, including Lieutenant Commander Toral. The crew chief in the back of the shuttle released the ropes as the shuttle accelerated forward and away from the rooftop firefight, its cargo ramp closing up as it departed. Seconds later, the shuttle’s cargo ramp slammed shut, and it disappeared in a blinding flash of blue-white light as it jumped away.

“I already have three dead and two wounded, sir,” the corporal informed his commander as soon as his boots hit the rooftop. “There’s no way we’re getting through those two doorways, sir!”

“Fire teams one and two, engage the hostiles at the doorways! Teams three and four, rope it over the sides. We’ll cut them off from below! We’ve got ten minutes to secure this end of the garrison so we can land the next wave inside the perimeter. If we don’t put some serious pressure on these fuckers, they’ll cut our guys out front to pieces! Now move!”

As the colorful yet deadly energy weapons fire continued to fly back and forth across the rooftop, men tossed ropes over the sides of the building. Without hesitation, men went down the ropes on either side to the ground below, scurrying into the cover of the building as soon as their boots hit the dirt.

Lieutenant Commander Toral watched his combat information display on the inside of his visor as his men below moved into the building and began working their way up the stairs under the imperial troops with which he and the others on the rooftop were still exchanging fire. He felt a sudden wave of heat against his right leg, followed by the weight of his corporal as he fell against the lieutenant commander, a gaping hole burnt through the left half of the man’s head and face. The dead corporal’s helmet had done nothing to protect him, having melted instantly away when struck by the enemy’s overwhelmingly powerful energy weapons. For a split second, he wondered how tough those simple utility shuttles they were using as jump ships must have been to have withstood even a few hits from such weapons.

The Lieutenant took cover behind a piece of rooftop machinery along with the last two surviving Corinari still fighting on the rooftop. They continued to take turns popping up and firing on the two open doorways from where the enemy fire was originating. If they allowed any of the Ta’Akar troops to get out onto the rooftop, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

“
We’re moving up the stairs now,
” a Corinari voice announced over the lieutenant commander’s comm-set.

“Move it!” Toral ordered. “We’re down to three up here!” The sergeant next to him popped up and fired several more shots into each of the doorways, killing at least two imperial troops before he took a hit in the shoulder and was sent tumbling backwards. “Sergeant!” Toral yelled, but the man wasn’t moving. Muffled energy weapons shots were heard, and the shots coming from the doorways suddenly stopped. “Now! Forward!” he ordered the wide-eyed trooper squatting next to him.

The two of them jumped out from behind their grossly inadequate cover and charged forward screaming, their weapons firing madly at the doorways. Ta’Akar troops came pouring out of both doorways, being driven out into the open by the Corinari troops charging up from beneath them. They stumbled out directly into the unyielding fire of the lieutenant commander, and the last remaining troopers were cut down without mercy. A few of them managed to get shots off as they exited the doorway onto the open rooftop, but their wild attempts were way off target, all except for one.

Lieutenant Commander Toral felt a sudden burning pain in his lower left abdomen. His left leg suddenly crumpled under him, sending him falling to his left. Ironically, as he fell, another wild shot whizzed past his right ear, passing so close he could feel the heat of the energy blast as it just missed him. The pain in his abdomen exploded into new heights as he struck the rooftop, screaming out in agony. His ears rang and his vision blurred. Then everything went silent. He could see the amber and pink sky of the morning dawn above him. The shooting had stopped, and the trooper’s face was hovering over him, frantically asking him something as his eyes closed and his world went dark.

The two jumpers carrying B company’s first platoon jumped in on either side of the airfield just inside the perimeter fence. They had jumped in only a few meters off the ground and had descended, dropping their aft ramps to the dirt as they touched down. The men quickly unloaded from the shuttles, running down the ramps and fanning out on either side. Within thirty seconds, both shuttles were unloaded and were lifting off, their cargo ramps closing as they sped away, jumping back up into the safety of orbit above Ancot.

Lieutenant Waddell and his platoon advanced quickly and without resistance toward the cluster of buildings at the airfield for nearly a full minute before enemy troops emerged from between the buildings and opened fire on them. He listened to the firing patterns coming from the imperial defenders. They were erratic, uncoordinated. “Those are not imperial regulars,” he said to the corporal next to him. “They’re probably flight line or maintenance personnel.”

“
Bravo one, Bravo two!
” the voice called over the comm-set.

“Go for Bravo one,” Lieutenant Waddell answered.

“
We’re taking heavy fire, sir! They’ve got us pinned down in the open. I’ve lost two men already!
”

“Are they regular troops? Are their firing patterns regular and coordinated?”

“
Hell yes!”
the voice reported.
“These are imperial regulars, sir. I’d bet my life on it! Request instructions!
”

Lieutenant Waddell looked around. Sporadic fire continued to splash about them from in between the distant buildings. He looked at the morning sky behind him, hoping that his jumper was still in the area, but it was long gone.

“Bravo two, is your jumper still in the area?”

“
No, sir, they already jumped out!
”

“Then dig in and hold your ground, two. One out.” Lieutenant Waddell turned to his corporal. “Pass the word. Odds use grenade launchers. We launch ear-busters on my go.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Orbital altitude in ten seconds,” Josh announced.

“They’ll be in firing range in twenty seconds,” Loki warned.

“How far to the Aurora?”

“At least a minute,” Loki answered.