Alien Enigma (37 page)

"The objective, as you can probably guess, is to limit the number of robots and Worms available to defend the intelligence node by limiting their access to the tunnels. Our Barrett teams will be mixed with fire teams and backed by SAW squads and rifle teams. The Barretts will go for the robots while the fire teams take care of the Worms, and also provide support against the robots.

"I'm hoping the two assaults will have to take only a limited number and length of the tunnel systems before surrounding the node. At that point, I believe the heaviest fighting will occur since the underground tells us the node is heavily defended. This is assuming the robots have made it to the weapons sites defending access to the node through the tunnels. Or, it's possible that the node itself will conduct the defense. It is described as being heavily surfaced with com domes and it's possible those heavy energy guns can be operated automatically. In either case, that's where I believe the heaviest fighting will be.

"We'll do our best to capture the place as intact as possible but if it turns out that we're suffering too many casualties I will order my marines to back out and let you hit it with your rail guns. I know that isn't the optimum situation but I have only so many marines."

It was a moment before Keane replied. Rambling thought he just waited until he was certain he'd finished outlining the assault plan.

"Okay, Steel. It's all yours. We'll do whatever we can to help, but the brunt of it is going to be on you. I have to repeat, though, the central intelligence node is vital, even if you do lose troops capturing it. Now when do you want to begin?"

"Give me thirty more minutes while you and Cindy sweep the city. Any time afterward when you tell me the surface is clear, that's when we start the assault."

"Got it. Notify me when the marines move out."

***

"This is what we've been waiting for," Doug said as he and Clemmie led her underground wing to the marine assembly point. In the background he could hear the thundering of rail gun fire. Occasionally the already well-lit sky brightened from flaring flames ignited by laser cannon.
Good,
he thought.
Die, you bastards!

"We can use the maps our friends gave us so upload them to your HUD, plus I've added a few from our last trip," First Sergeant Watkins said loudly. He was assuming command of Company A while the remaining platoon officer had Company B. He had lost all his platoon officers but one to death or wounds. Junior officers were depleted quickly in combat. "We'll blow an entrance into the lower tunnels just on the other side of where the rail guns from the ship are attempting to collapse everything. I think we can use the tunnels to get to the central node. Clementine O'Hara will be just behind the lead elements to help guide you."

Doug shuddered inside as he heard that, but she had insisted on leading the marines since she was the only person to have gone through the tunnels all the way to the node. He caressed the new marine rifle in his hands. Any Worm or robot that tried for her was going to be in trouble.

"We don't know the extent of the defenses. It may be protected by a few robots or a lot, and maybe we'll see Worms, too. The Barrett team with the short rifles go first, backed up by marine fire teams. Barrett snipers and SAW squads will help clear the tunnels in advance where possible. Squads of riflemen and grenadiers will be backing them up. We're anticipating advancing into the node by the four tunnels on this side of the city, two squads to each. Company B will assault from the other side in the same fashion. Remember, we have two military shuttles and a Space Navy warship overhead and our com team will be running lines back to the surface to call down air cover as we need it. Questions?"

The Gunnery Sergeant in charge of two of the squads spoke up. "First Sergeant, we all know our assignments. Let's get going before the Worms recover from the bombardment."

"Patience, Gunny. We're about ready. Anything else?"

No one else spoke.

Watkins stared into space for a second as if listening. "Good, let's get cracking.
Doc Travis
and the shuttle pilots say they've done all they can for now."

Cindy Cantrell, on the scout
Hemingway,
monitored the marine movement from above and relayed data back to
Doc Travis
. So far, no laser cannons or weapons had targeted her craft, but that still did not make her feel easy. Something was boiling down below, she could feel it. The echolocater from
Doc Travis
confirmed her suspicions. It had detected heavy movements below ground, probably robots, despite all the preparation by the rail guns and laser cannon of the ship.

***

Keane had a last informal conversation with Rambling. "Major, I've got a feeling this is gonna be a bear. We'll give you as much air support as we can but we've taken a lot of damage. If we missed a major weapon and it fires on us we may have to retreat and regroup on the other side of the planet. We can't afford too many more hits-and neither can you. Bear in mind that the shuttles are your transport, too, so if things get real tough, back off and fly your marines far enough out from the city so that we can bring in the
Doc Travis
dirtside if necessary. The weapons and aliens may be tougher here, and we both know that- but that's just conjecture on our part. I know you know all this Major. Do what you have to do, we'll back you up no matter what."

"I know that, Captain. The assault has already begun."

A few minutes later Rambling reported back. "Cantrell pinpointed the location of some hostages on the surface. We're sending a squad to lead them out. By the way, do you want us to bring back any live robots or Worms this time?"

Keane thought for a moment. "Let's leave our options open for the time being."

"Right, sir. Just let us know."

***

Rambling listened intently on his com as Sergeant Martinez reported. "Major, we have a shitpot of robots exiting out of the north side. They're using heavy energy guns as well as their hand weapons. Get us some air cover, pronto!"

Cindy looked at a holo map in the shuttle, wanting desperately to help Sergeant Martinez and his men. They were cornered. The road went from directions arbitrarily designated north to south, with a wall of buildings on both sides. No exits and the robots were emerging from below faster than the snipers or the point troops could kill them. She saw one chance and took it, a low swooping run
between
the buildings with only a hairs breath margin of being able to pull out without crashing. She punched the release lever for her bombs and yanked desperately at the controls. The shuttle bucked as a horrible tearing noise ripped through it. She thought she must have hit one of the walls but a quick look at her panel told her it was an energy bolt that had done the damage. It had hit the right thruster, disabling it and starting a fire. She knew she could eject and live but she had other marines in the shuttle - the spotters and security, com tech and several others.

She wrestled with the stricken aircraft, pulling it in a circle just above the spires of the city still left standing, and nosed it in a dive toward the brush along the outside wall. She almost hit the wall itself before pancaking the craft to earth on the last bit of power left in its lone gravity thruster capacitor. It slid along the ground, tearing a swath through the brush, tilted, and came to rest.

"Out! Out! Everyone out!" She yelled, shepherding the crew through both opened ramps. "Back over the wall!" she shouted again when everyone was out. The shuttle was burning fiercely. She scuttled over the wall and dropped to the other side, then immediately had the breath knocked out of her by someone landing on top. More bodies hit the dirt before a giant explosion rocked the world. Only the wall of the city protected her and the crew but it sufficed. All she felt was the down pressure of the blast, then the smell of greasy smoke. She was alive and so was the crew.

***

"Fire in the hole!" the demolition expert yelled and ran up a rubble strewn slope for cover. He barely made it before the charge blew. He looked back down after the dust cleared and waved his hand. Another tunnel beneath the debris was now exposed. Marines ran by him, those carrying short-barreled Barretts in the vanguard.

"Go, go!" Bullet yelled as he fired. He hit the small robot's com dome squarely, shattering it, then aimed lower, trying for its CPU. The large robots in front of it hesitated just long enough. More gunfire chewed at them. The way was cleared. He inserted another clip into the Barrett and moved on, wiping at blood from a cut on his arm as he went.

Zembra fired again, hitting her target just where she intended. She was partially concealed in one of the little robot charging stations. It gave just enough cover to brace her rifle and fire down the long tunnel, right over the heads of the troops in the lead, taking down opposition they hadn't even seen yet. By God, she wasn't about to let anyone get to Bullet again! She couldn't tell which of the marines ahead of her was him, but she knew he was in the group working their way forward, still heading down and forward, hunting for the intelligence node. She gasped as she saw one of the marines fall. She practically didn't breathe at all until she passed the fallen form and saw that it was Jackson, not Bullet. She muttered a prayer for him and sought out another high point to shoot from.

***

"Yes sir, they're in the low ground around a tunnel entrance we have to get into. We're hiding behind an abutment a little north that wasn't completed, seems to be some type of place for storing electronic equipment. It's pretty good cover but we can't move without getting hit," the gunnery sergeant said to Watkins. "I've lost two of my team already. The Worms downhill are shooting at us with their energy weapons but they don't really have a good position and seem to be waiting, but we can't get any real shots at them, either. If we head out from the cover for too long we'll get turned into hamburger. Can you get them with the rail guns or bring in a shuttle?"

Watkins scratched his head, thinking hard. "No Sarge, I don't think we can-you're too close and they have some kind of anti-aircraft weapons. We'll figure something out. Give me sec here while I talk with Corporal Ambrose."

He turned to the corporal. "Ambrose, do we still have a Zippy left?"

"We have one Zippy and a Zip Junior, one for each team," Ambrose said, already figuring out what the First Sergeant was up to with the reconnaissance drones. He reached behind him to loosen a package of Clatismite.

"How much weight can they carry and still fly?"

"Well Top, they're really just used for spying, not for carrying any heavy loads, but they do have up to five kilos of fuel for long distance work." He split the package and began taping one section to the Zippy

"What's the minimum amount of fuel, in pounds, required to get them over to those robots from here?"

"Nothing to worry about, sir. I can send them in right away."

"No, first I want your team to attach two kilos of C-5 to the craft, hover it over the robots, and remotely blow it up. It should ignite their munitions and put some flying metal in the robots diet. We need to be careful, though. The Zippy's small and we'll want a quick insertion, but I want a diversion first. I don't want it shot down."

PFC Arlington cut in: "Sir, I think I can give you the diversion. One of my men, Lance Corporal Salvino, opened one of those drums we ran across. He poured some of the liquid on the ground and lit it. More flammable than kerosene or gas. Nasty shit. He suggested we roll one down the hill to our Worm friends, but I told him to wait until I talk to you. I think the drums will be a great diversion."

"How far you talking?" asked Rambling.

"They're about fifty meters away, all downhill."

Martinez looked at his holo map. The private was correct. He saw the distance and also saw some type of communication jamming. "There's some jamming going on, use a spread spectrum transmitter on full wide. It should work. You sure these drums will roll down far enough?"

"It's a smooth run all the way down, shouldn't be a problem. We'll need to push it out of this building, and expose ourselves a bit, and then get back under cover quickly. But my men can do it."

"Excellent. Let me know when you have the drums ready and I'll send in Zippy with an early Christmas present for our friends. Oh, and if by any chance there are any Worms left, try to bring in one alive ...or hell, dead. I don't give a shit-this is getting too hairy to worry about. Just get me one."

"Yes sir."

The diversion worked fine but left no living Worms. Seconds later the Zippy committed honorable Hari-Kari and took most of the blocking robots with it. A few quick bursts from a squad operated heavy MG finished the rest. The marines moved on, ever downward.

***

Keane agonized over the com report of Cindy's shuttle being hit but tried desperately not to show it, or let it affect his performance. There was still a battle going on and the aliens had just proved they still had some kick to their defenses. Her shuttle had gone down after being heavily damaged and then blown up. No word had come in yet on whether there were survivors but it didn't look good.

"June, Bogy, did anyone get a record of what hit Major Cantrell's shuttle? We don't want the same thing happening to us."

"I saw it, sir and the file has been saved. I think Cindy came in too low while trying to help some marines in trouble and a robot with a heavy energy gun caught her just right. Either that or she clipped the side of a building as she was pulling up. It was so close and happened so fast I'd have to play the whole thing in slow motion to get a real idea. Should I?"

"No, leave it until we have more time. Bogy, contact Shuttle Two and tell them they'll have to take over duties for both One and Two until I can contact Rambling again. And O'Neal, let's raise the ship a few more klicks to be sure we're out of their range."

***

The marines Doug and Clemmie were with had been forced to swing wide around a collapsed section of tunnels where
Doc Travis'
rail guns had taken a bigger bite than intended. It brought them within range of the experimental lab Doug had found. Sergeant Meyer decided to take a look and, if it seemed feasible, to free the subjects and send them back with a couple of marines and medical attendants.