Jesse's Starship 3: Joshua's Walls (29 page)

Anderson nodded and set up his tripod without anchoring it in the rock. He looked at his platoon and said, “Make sure your cannons are hot and keep your hands off the triggers.”

The twelve warriors ran another diagnostic check and stood beside their tripods. They waited and kept their search beams trained up the shaft. “Major?”

“Yes.”

“Are they coming?”

“I think they’re having trouble making their way through the dead bodies of our Weg. I do believe they planned it to happen this way.”

“Yes Sir.” Anderson watched his seismic panel and didn’t see anything close to the first two that Bart slammed in the wall. Ten minutes had passed and no sign of the Weg defenders…yet.

• • •

Josh watched the Engineers cut into the rock wall ahead of them and was amazed at how they took the rubble and pushed it into the surrounding walls. It should have caused the walls to collapse but they somehow kept their integrity. He looked at his tactical display and saw the SF Company had not been attacked. He hoped they could hold out long enough for the Engineers to break through the bedrock and go after the Queen. He looked at his timer, twelve minutes passed and then he saw the SF weapons were being fired on his tactical. Would time never pass?

• • •

The Surface Defenders arrived at the five shafts and poured into them. Millions began digging into the rock but quickly discovered that was going to take far too long for them to make a difference. They moved to the surface and joined the millions forcing their way into the shaft.

The Defenders came rushing down the shaft and were met by a solid wall of slivers fired by the foreign Weg that exploded the front ranks into pieces. The shaft began filling up with dead Weg and many of the defenders were forced to grab the dead bodies and pass them back up the shaft. Their progress was incredibly slow and the passage was quickly choked by the mass of dead Weg carcasses. The new diggers rushed forward and used their two powerful glowing arms to vaporize the wall of dead in front of them. Whenever they broke through the dead, they were met with another volley of slivers and the process was repeated. It was slow going but it was faster than trying to dig through the walls. Many of them decided that the only way to get at the foreign Weg was to dig through the rock. Passages were started and moved ahead but they did not keep up with those being killed in the passage. The numbers dying were incredible and still the killing continued.

The last of the Weg defending the passage began firing their slivers continuously. The Weg charging down the corridor were stopped and were making no progress. However, the Weg cutting through the rock managed to pass the rear of the defenders and burst into the corridor behind them. Half of the foreign defenders turned and began firing their slivers behind them as the others fired up the passage. Four tunnels cut through the rock burst into the passage and the killing took on a frenzy. The Weg that managed to get behind the defenders didn’t consider rushing down the passage. Their rage at the presence of foreign Weg took them and they rushed at the defenders. Soon, the entire passage was choked closed by dead Weg. The ones still in the rock were unable to make it into the corridor and they were forced to continue digging through the walls.

At the twelve-minute mark, the last of the defenders died. The Weg in the passage fought their way through the dead bodies and rushed down the shaft. The ones in the wall sensed the break through and broke through the walls to join the rush.

Bart heard them coming and he moved behind his cannon. The seismic probes revealed they were four hundred yards up the shaft and coming fast. Bart smiled and said, “Fire!” The twelve cannons belched out a three-yard flame as eight barrels launched a sliver barrage followed by a white cloud of small particles. “Cease fire!”

Bart watched the sensors and saw the rush was stopped. The noise from the corridor could be heard through their helmets. Bart counted to six and said, “Fire!” Another huge volley shot up the passage and once again Bart called a cease fire.

• • •

The Weg charging down the passage were met with a solid wall of slivers that blasted the front ranks back fifty yards. The survivors began pulling the dead bodies out of their path when a white cloud blew into them. The tiny particles in the cloud hit the Weg and they immediately began burning into ashes. The cloud moved through another hundred yards of Weg disintegrating every Weg is touched. Some of the Weg tried to pat out the fire on those burning around them and also caught fire. The last Weg burning finally fell into ashes on the corridor’s floor and the Weg rushed forward again only to be met by another barrage of slivers and the white mist. They had lost more than three hundred yards of the progress they had made and millions of them dug into the walls and began cutting their way toward the source of the weapons killing them.

“Major, I have three corridors being dug toward your location. They’ll arrive at your position in three minutes.”

Bart said calmly, “Fire!” The platoon fired another volley and Bart said, “Pick up and get out of here.”

The thirteen SF Warriors lifted their cannons and ran down the passage. They passed Captain Anderson’s platoon and Bart heard him say, “Fire!” A volley shot up the passage and arrived just as the diggers broke through into the shaft. The slivers caught most of those in the middle of the shaft and blew them away. The white mist flowed into the passages cut through the rock and choked them with burning Weg.

• • •

Josh looked at his tactical and saw the Weg were moving quickly down the shaft and shook his head. He looked at the Engineers and suddenly, the rock in front of them disappeared. They shot forward at a speed that was shocking. Josh followed them down into the bowels of the planet as the passage they were cutting picked up incredible speed. Josh looked at the Weg Engineer, “Are they moving the Mother?”

“No. It appears she doesn’t recognize the danger she’s in. They might start digging her a way out as we move closer.”

“What do you think she’ll do?”

“She’ll send her personal defenders toward us to stop our progress.”

“That’s not good.”

“They’ll have to dig a passageway to us. If we can beat them back, we’ll have a direct route to her chamber.”

Josh clicked a frequency, “Major, I need your weapons with us now.”

Bart received the message and shook his head. The Weg were back digging in the walls and Captain Anderson’s platoon was close to the end of the bedrock. He looked at his platoon and said, “First Squad, move down the passage to General Adams. Second Squad, join Captain Anderson’s platoon and try to keep the Weg in the rock layer. If they break through, pick up your weapons and run to join us.” Bart said, “Captain, I’m depending on you to hold out as long as possible.”

“Yes Sir.” Bart turned and sprinted down the steep shaft after the six warriors in the First Squad. He was amazed at how far the Weg had dug and it took him four minutes at his top speed to arrive at the end of the shaft.

Anderson looked at the seismic sensors and saw the Weg were coming at a steady clip down the shaft. He also saw that the ones digging through the rock paralleling the passage were going to break through the rock into dirt at the same moment the Weg charging down the shaft arrived. He had to decide if he would continue to fight to hold them in the rock layer. He looked at the seismic sensors again and saw there was no possible way to stop those digging around the shaft from breaking out.

“Alright, Bart’s Second Squad, go and set up a hundred yards down the corridor. My first Squad will set up a hundred yards beyond you. Once the diggers in the wall break through the rock, my Second Squad and I will run past your two positions and set up a hundred yards beyond the Major’s Squad. We will continue to leap frog each other as long as possible. I want the Corporals in each squad placing seismic probes in the walls as you move deeper. If I see the diggers are going to pass one of your locations, I’ll call for you to run past our last position. Any Questions?” No one said anything, “The Major’s First Squad and my First squad, get moving. Anderson turned to his squad, “Alright, launch slivers until the diggers come around the shaft arrive. Fire a cloud of Burners on my command and then run as if Satan is on your back.” Anderson watched his tactical and saw it wasn’t going to be much longer.

• • •

Josh watched as the Engineers continued digging through the ground at an incredible speed. He looked at the Leader and thought, “Any movement?”

“She has decided to fight it out in her chamber. She has sent all of her personal defenses toward the shafts being dug toward her.”

Josh stared at the Engineer, “How long before her defenders arrive here?”

“They’ll be breaking into our passage in five minutes.”

“What do you plan to do?”

The Engineer shrugged, “We’ll continue digging and try to fight them off.”

Josh didn’t want to ask but had to know, “How many are moving toward us?”

“We’ll be outnumbered twenty to one.”

Josh turned to Bart, “Major, please tell me you have a way to stop the Weg coming our way from the Queen’s Chamber.”

Bart saw on his tactical that the Weg in the shaft had overrun one of the squads and the other two were firing on the run. He looked at Josh and said, “Get everyone back from the front wall just before they break through.”

Josh looked at the Engineer, “I want all of you to move aside ten seconds before the Mother’s defenders arrive.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Josh looked at Bart and turned back to the Engineer, “I am. I want a passage through your ranks for my child to get to the breakout point.” The Engineer turned and gave instructions to the digging Engineers.

Bart hit a clip on the tripod and it dropped off the huge multi-barrel cannon. He walked forward and waited. He kept his eyes on the front wall and also checked his tactical display. The SF Warriors in the shaft were close to being overrun. “First Squad, move back and assist the others in holding the shaft. Chen, you stay with me.”

“Yes Sir.”

Suddenly, the Engineers fell to the sides and Bart and Chen rushed forward and raised their cannons. “Burners first.”

“Yes Sir.”

A section of the front wall fell into the passage and Bart jammed his cannon into the opening. Chen pushed his cannon forward next to Bart and they fired a huge cloud of white gas into the opening. Josh’s Combat Visor dimmed at the massive fire that broke out beyond the opening. Bart said, “Clear out enough room for us to move forward.”

Josh sent the instructions and the Engineers dug away the rest of the front wall. Bart looked at Chen, “We can’t block this corridor; only use your Burners.”

Josh watched the two ten foot tall armored warriors walk through the gas burning every Weg in the corridor for more than sixty yards in front of them. Even the Weg that punched through the passage’s walls caught fire. Bart keyed his communicator, “General, hold your Weg back until the gas dissipates and stops burning. It’s going to take about twelve seconds before you can follow us.”

Josh sent the information to the Engineers and he stepped through the opening and saw the Major and Sergeant moving forward. The entire passage in front of them was choked with screaming, squirming Weg Diggers. Josh said, “Spread your diggers out and try to keep any of the defenders from breaking through the walls behind us.”

The Engineer nodded and the Weg Engineers began moving down the passage. Josh thought, “How long before we arrive at the chamber?”

“It took them fifteen minutes to get here. Thanks to them providing a direct path, we should arrive in less than five minutes.”

Bart looked at Chen, “Go back behind our ranks and fire Burners into the corridor.” Chen nodded and ran back through the advancing engineers. Josh watched him pass and said, “Major, where is your Sergeant going?”

“He’s going to the rear of our forces to fire Burners into the corridor. Your Engineers will only have to keep them out of the walls where they’re located.” Josh nodded and passed the information to the Weg.

Three minutes later, the ten surviving SF Warriors arrived at the break out location and joined Chen. They added their fire and moved forward with the Engineers.

Josh looked at the burning Weg in front of him and, then, in a moment, they were all gone. A white wall appeared and Bart said, “We have reached the Chamber.”

Josh looked at the Engineer, “I need a hole cut into that wall.”

Twenty Engineers rushed forward and jammed their claws into the wall. They peeled back layers and Josh shook his head. The wall had to be five feet thick. They finally cut a three-foot hole through the wall and Josh heard the screams of the approaching Weg behind him. He knew they would not be able to cut a bigger hole before they arrived. He turned to Bart, “Major?”

“Stand back.”

The Engineers moved away from the wall and Bart went forward and pushed the barrels of his cannon into it. He pulled a tab off the center barrel in the cannon and took a projectile off a clip on his back. He jammed it into the center barrel, leaned into the Cannon’s stock, and pulled the trigger. Bart was thrown back ten feet from the wall. Josh shook his head. Bart’s armor weighed more than a ton. Josh put out his hand to help Bart to his feet and said, “What did you just fire?”

“Five hundred special sliver rounds that are set to find the Queen. They’re boosted to more than seven hundred miles an hour and they’ll blow through anything they hit until they find the Queen.”

“How were they able to target them to her?”

Bart smiled, “The scientists used that head your Weg brought to the surface at the Gracken Capital to set their targeting systems. Bart looked back up the corridor and saw the Weg advancing down the Corridor were close. Suddenly, the ground shook. Josh began walking up the corridor and saw the Weg had stopped their advance and were walking around aimlessly. He knew that would end shortly once they were able to shake off the disorientation of losing the connection to their Queen.

Josh heard a loud sizzling sound through his helmet and saw a bright blue beam blow through the corridor a hundred yards behind the Engineers. “Josh, get the engineers to jump into the shaft we just blew.”