A Show of Force (44 page)

“Ten seconds!” Ensign Latfee announced as the combat jump shuttle began to climb up from between the buildings again and decelerate.

“Ghatazhak, stand ready!” Telles ordered as he powered up his energy rifle and turned toward the doorway on his left.

Corporal Davies strafed the rooftops with his energy weapon hanging out the side door in an attempt to keep any would be shooters behind cover instead of shooting at the shuttle as it slowed to deploy the commander and his men.

The shuttle came up to a few meters above the roof of the broadcast studio. Jung soldiers arriving below jumped from their vehicles to open fire on the hovering shuttle.

“Go! Go! Go!” Ensign Latfee ordered.

Commander Telles was the first one out the port door, stepping out into the open air and falling ten meters to the rooftop below. The assist tubules in his combat suit stiffened to protect his knees from the impact of landing, and then immediately released to allow him to hit the roof running for cover. Master Sergeant Jahal landed in the same spot a few seconds later, with the two Ghatazhak soldiers jumping from the other side of the shuttle landing only a few meters behind them.

Ensign Latfee watched out the starboard cockpit window as the Ghatazhak landed. “Four down!” he reported.

“Climbing!” the lieutenant replied as he applied power.

Corporal Davies caught something out of the corner of his eye. A flash of light on the next roof over. He swung his weapon upward to bear on the flash of light, but it was too late. The last thing he saw was a brilliant red light.

The shuttle lurched to starboard.

“We’re hit!” the lieutenant cried out as the shuttle rotated to starboard.

Sergeant Torwell looked down between his legs, spotting Corporal Davies on the floor of the compartment below him, his face and chest still smoldering from the impact of the Jung energy weapon. “Davies is hit!”

“Ellis! Check Davies!” Ensign Latfee ordered.

The shuttle rocked again, its aft end suddenly going downward and to the right, bringing the shuttle’s nose up and left.

“Fuck!” the lieutenant exclaimed as he struggled to control the shuttle. “I’ve lost number four!”

Alarms began sounding in the cockpit and over their comm-sets.

“Davies is dead!” Ellis cried out.

“Who the fuck is shooting at us?” the lieutenant demanded. “Somebody kill that fucker!”

“I’ve got nothing!” Sergeant Torwell replied as he rotated his turret to port. He looked to his left and saw flames spewing from the top of the aft port engine pod. “Fuck! L-T! We’re on fire! Number four is going to go!”

“I’m putting us down!” the lieutenant announced as he struggled with the controls, barely missing the roof of the broadcast studio as the shuttle began to fall from the sky.

“Get out of the bubble, Sarge!” Ensign Latfee ordered.

“Don’t gotta tell me twice!” Sergeant Torwell mumbled as he slid down out of the seat, landing on the corpse of Corporal Davies. “Fuck!”

“Hang on!” the lieutenant yelled.

The shuttle plowed into the side of a building across the road from the broadcast studio, smashing into the second floor windows, and then falling tail first to the ground below. Propellant immediately spewed out in all directions, catching fire within seconds.

Commander Telles and Master Sergeant Jahal looked at the crash site from the rooftop across the street.

“I don’t suppose you want to go and check on them?” Master Sergeant Jahal asked.

“No time,” the commander replied, pointing at several more Jung troop vehicles a few blocks down the road and headed their way. “Call it in, ask for another shuttle,” he added as he headed for the roof exit door.

“Mobile Two, Jahal,” the master sergeant began as he followed his commander. “We have a jumper down. Jumper One is down at our location.”

“
Jahal, Mobile Two. We copy. Vectoring Jumpers Nine and Twelve to your location. E.T.A., three minutes. We’ll try to get some air cover as well. Plenty of fast movers on their way down from orbit.
”

“The battleships?” Master Sergeant Jahal asked as he entered the stairwell behind Commander Telles.

“
Affirmative.
”

Mister Bryant frowned as his communications officer passed him the message. He turned toward the Admiral. “The Jung had two additional battleships in hiding,” he began.

“Where?” Admiral Dumar wondered.

“Behind a small moon orbiting the third gas giant in the Tau Ceti system.”

“We cold-coasted that system several times,” the admiral insisted, frustration in his tone.

“If they were tucked away between this moon and the parent planet, they would be extremely difficult to detect, especially with passive sensors. Due to the heavy traffic in the system, most of our recon was done from considerable distance, in order to avoid detection and maintain the element of surprise.”

“Instead, the surprise was on us.” Admiral Dumar thought for a moment. “How did we learn of this? By ambush?”

“Fortunately, no. Lieutenant Commander Nash managed to get word to the Ghatazhak, who then relayed the information to the Aurora, only minutes before the hidden battleships revealed themselves.”

“Of course, the presence of those ships dramatically changes things,” the admiral said. “Those ships carry significant forces that they can deploy to the surface, and the Ghatazhak have a difficult enough assignment as it is.”

“The battleships have already sent additional troops to the surface.”

“How many?”

“Undetermined at this point. The Aurora has already engaged the two battleships, but they do not believe they can take them both out without suffering significant, if not catastrophic, damage. They are recommending another KKV strike.”

“Is that even viable?” Dumar wondered. “Surely, after seeing their other major assets destroyed, they are not going to remain stationary long enough…”

“They are currently in low orbit over Kohara,” Mister Bryant interrupted, “very low orbit.”

“They’re using the planet as protection,” the admiral surmised. “They must have figured out how we took the other assets down so easily.”

“It would not be difficult to determine.”

“No, it would not.”

“The Jung obviously believe that we would not risk inadvertently striking a heavily populated planet with such weapons.”

“A logical conclusion,” the admiral agreed, “although I doubt the Jung would have such concerns, should the roles be reversed.” Admiral Dumar took a breath and let it out slowly. “I don’t suppose Captain Scott is offering any recommendations?”

“He is.” Mister Bryant looked at the Admiral.

“I thought so,” the admiral replied, getting the message from the look in his subordinate’s eyes. “If we strike from an angle that guarantees the safety of the planet, we greatly reduce our chances of destroying the targets.”

“What if we adjust that angle to one that, if the target
is
missed, the result would be a glancing blow to Kohara?”

“Kohara has a population of over three billion,” Admiral Dumar reminded him. “Even a glancing blow is likely to wipe out half of them. If not immediately, then over time. It is a risk we cannot take.” Admiral Dumar sighed. “We have four KKVs left. Have them positioned for a minimum safe strike angle. Two KKVs per target, spaced properly along each target’s orbital path. Launch when ready.”

“And if we miss?”

“If we miss, the Jung will likely not even know we took the shot. If time permits, we will pick up the KKVs on the far side and try again.”

“We could just leave and try again later,” Mister Bryant suggested. “Wait for a better moment…”

“There will not be a better moment,” the admiral insisted, “and with all the additional Jung fighters providing close air support, we’d likely lose half our ground forces in a withdrawal.” The admiral sighed again. “No, we must destroy those battleships, now. Once they are gone, our forces can dig in and wait for the Jung air cover to run out of fuel. Meanwhile, make sure that we have destroyed any surface support bases for those Jung fighters. We don’t want them refueling on the ground.”

In systematic fashion, Jung soldiers sent a continuous stream of energy weapons fire through the broken windows and doors of the front of the broadcast studio. Red bolts from varying directions struck all about the reception counter in the lobby, and the wall directly behind, as well as the ceiling above, sending bits and pieces of the inside structures flying in all directions.

Gerard’s men tried to return fire, but the incoming fire was so intense that they could not take the risk.

Jessica was crouched on her knees behind the counter, just like the others, trying to protect herself from flying debris as the energy bolts continued to pound their position. She could feel the heat of the Jung energy weapons, especially in the reinforced reception counter that was slowly heating up from countless strikes. She looked at Gerard a meter away. “They’re going to keep this up as they advance!” Jessica yelled above the constant noise of the firefight. “We have to fall back! Down the corridor and back to the studio!”

“And then what?” Gerard replied. “They’ve probably got all the exits covered!”

“We hold until help arrives!” Jessica answered as she turned to move toward the main corridor.

“And if they do not arrive in time?” Gerard wondered.

“Then we die!”

Gerard pulled out a homemade grenade and activated it, tossing it over the counter into the middle of the lobby.

The grenade detonated, and the weapons fire stopped. Jessica rose and started backing down the main corridor, rising up from her crouch just enough to return fire, her shots barely clearing the top of the reception counter. Gerard rose next, backing down the corridor as he fired in the same fashion, sweeping left and right aimlessly through the cloud of dust and smoke, providing cover fire for his last two men.

As soon as all of them were returning fire, Jessica turned and ran down the corridor. The Jung opened fire, again sending bits of the walls and ceiling flying all about her.

Gerard continued backing down the corridor, firing along the way. One of his men took a direct blast to the face, sending him tumbling over backwards. The second man took a hit in the left shoulder, sending him spinning to the left, but he managed to stay on his feet and run down the corridor. Gerard continued to return fire, moving quickly backwards as his last man passed him by.

Jessica ducked around the right corner of the corridor, then came back around to open fire.

The corridor was dark, filled with dust lingering in the air, and lit only by the red flashes of light as the Jung energy weapons flew down the hallway. “Firing on your left!” she warned Gerard and his last man. She again opened fire, sending a steady barrage of energy weapons fire down the corridor, barely missing her friends.

Gerard turned around and ran, following his wounded friend, the two of them finally ducking around the corner to the left, opposite of Jessica. Jessica dashed across the corridor to join them on the other side. She grabbed two homemade grenades from the wounded man’s vest pockets. “How the fuck do these work, again?” she yelled.

“Twist the top caps, then push them down!” Gerard replied as he helped his friend. “Ten second fuse!” He turned to his wounded man, questioning him in Cetian. The man nodded, and readied his weapon with his good arm.

Jessica did as instructed, arming both grenades. After a few seconds, she tossed the first one all the way to the reception counter where they had been a moment ago, and the second one about halfway down the corridor. “Go!” she yelled.

The three of them charged down the corridor, away from the intersection and toward the news studio at the end of the hallway. The first grenade detonated, sending a muffled thud reverberating down the corridors. The second grenade was far louder. Jessica felt like someone had slapped her ears, which were now ringing.

They burst through the studio doors, and immediately headed for the anchor desk at the far side.

“What the fuck kind of grenades are those?” she yelled.

“Very simple devices,” Gerard replied. “Very powerful. Explosive cores, packed with bearings, incendiary compounds, and smoke agents.”

“They might be a bit too powerful,” Jessica commented as she stretched her jaw to try and clear her ears.

“There is no such thing,” Gerard replied as he looked around the studio. “You take the anchor desk. We will go to either side of the set. That way they cannot take us all down with one well-placed grenade.”

“Great,” Jessica mumbled as she headed for the anchor desk. “I get to be the one in the kill zone.” She moved across the studio, grabbing a large, rolling cabinet full of electronic gear and dragging it behind her. There was a pounding sound, and a muffled holler. She looked at the control booth, where one of the studio staff had apparently been hiding. The man was pounding on the window and yelling something at her, which she decided to ignore. She pushed the cabinet in front of the anchor desk, and then knocked it over to add a layer of protection. Sparks flew from the cabinet when it hit the floor, followed by a puff of white smoke. She glanced at the control booth as she moved around the anchor desk. The man was holding his head and looked like he was about to explode.

Jessica smiled as she moved behind the desk, then stopped in her tracks, looking down. Hiding behind the anchor desk, squatting on the floor, was the newscaster. “Not a great place to hide,” she told the woman.

The newscaster looked up at Jessica with a terrified expression. “Where should I go?” she asked in an almost inaudible voice.

“Anywhere but here, lady. This is the kill zone.” Jessica waited for a response, or a movement, but the terrified young woman was paralyzed with fear and doubt. Jessica suddenly felt sorry for the girl. “Maybe you should go join your friends in the control room over there?”

“Here they come!” Gerard yelled.

“Maybe not,” Jessica said as she ducked down. Several energy bolts flew over her head, blasting through the set wall behind her.

Gerard returned fire from the right side of the room as his injured friend fired from the left, both of them concentrating their fire on the only doorway into the studio.

Jessica looked at the newscaster, who was now even more terrified than ever. “What’s your name?”

“Are we going to die?” The woman asked.

Jessica peeked up over the desk and fired several shots, then came back down to look at the girl again. “What’s your name?”

“Kata,” she replied. “Kata Mun.”

“Kata.” Jessica fired a few more shots. “We’re not going to die, got it?”

Kata nodded, although she did not appear convinced.

The firefight quickly escalated, as the Jung soldiers increased their rate of fire in an attempt to get through the door and into the studio. Jessica kept popping up to fire, then quickly dropping back behind the desk. Within seconds, she was no longer able to do anything but cower on the floor next to Kata, as Jung energy bolts tore apart the top of the desk, sending bits and pieces flying about. The set wall behind them caught fire, becoming engulfed in a wall of flames seconds later.