Raid on Kahamba (9 page)

“We'll run with that plan.  Wish we had
a
better
one
." Will
i
e
paused.
"
J
ust
make sure you get out,
amigo
.”

“I’m not planning to go on
safari
here
,” Joshua replied.

***

The HARMs continued running along with the trucks while X counted down.  The aliens were definitely headed towards them. 
"I have the Newt air units on my radar.  They are slowing to Mach 2.  One minute to contact.
Range is 40 kilometres."

"
Willie, make
your
break for it, we’
re
mak
ing
a stand here.
”
 
Joshua brought his HARM unit to a stop in a cloud of dust.  Penny did the same a little further down the road.  Both of the HARM units
faced the oncoming mech
a
s while the trucks accelerated away.  “
Penny, anti-air targeting mode.  Coilgun to single mode." 

"Coilgun to single mode,"
his mecha’s AI
confirmed. 
"Targets can be engaged at 25 kilometres."

Joshua watched the six enemy units rapidly approach on the zoomed out tactical display.  "X, coordinate fire on incoming
aerial
hostiles."

"Fire control linked,"
his mecha’s AI
replied. 
"Zooming targeting display.  Target sequence will appear on your displays. Fire at each target once.  Visual lock established.  Th
ey
are
jamming the radar, weapons lock
will be by visual targeting
only
.
"

The
early
dawn light showed Newt transports that were like nothing Joshua had seen before.  During the Alien War,
the Newts had used orbital
shuttles to drop off
their spider
mechs.  These were not shuttles or regular transports.  They looked like rockets with long triangular wings that ran down their length.  Underneath each one was an unusual looking bulge that vaguely resembled a folded up spider mech
tucked into the fuselage
.

"I've never seen anything like that," Penny
commen
t
ed
.

X searched the database but was unsuccessful. 
"The transports
and
mech
a
s do not match any known models. Caution is recommended on first contact."

"Looks like we'll be
killing some new type of  mech
a
.”
T
he Newts had been developing new weapons and technology
too
,
Joshua thought
.  They had been considered
non
innovative during the war, a trait that
had
worked to the advantage of their human enemies.

His mecha’s AI
began a countdown. 
"Range is 35 kilometres... Range is 30 kilometres... Range is 25 kilometres.
Altitude 200 metres.
  Engage targets
now
."

The HUD
s
for both mecha pilots showed an enhanced video feed of the incoming mech
a
transports.  Each
of the m
ech
a
transports had been assigned
target numbers
on them,
and a targeting reticule led each transport
er
to indicate where the HARM pilots should fire to hit the
m
.  The lead mech
a
transporter
had been targeted first
.
When its
targeting reticule flashed
from yellow
to green
,
Joshua lined up the coilgun sights on the reticule
,
which turned white to indicate a lock
,
and fired.  Penny fired nearly simultaneously.  I
f their aim was true the hypervelocity shots still wouldn’t hit for many
seconds.

The HARM pilots switched targets and fired a second salvo off four seconds later when the coilguns
had
recharged. 
The thunderous claps of the firing coilguns came
in
close succession. 
While
they were setting up for the third salvo, the first salvo was marked as a miss by the AI.  The distance had been extreme and they were shooting at the narrow front profile of the transport
ers
.  Both pilots fired
their
third
shots.  The
first target
would be reengaged
later.

“Range is 15 kilometres.
Altitude is 1
5
0 metres.
”

The pilots switched targets again and fired their fourth salvo. 
On the fifth salvo on
e of
the transport
ers
exploded spectacularly in
air
in a massive fireball
,
as
the kinetic penetrators punched through it and its fuel tanks
.
“Splash one!” Joshua yelled out.

They fired the sixth salvo.
  Another one of the of the transport
e
rs erupted into flame from being hit by a previous salvo.  Smoking, it continued flying towards them.  

“
10 kilometres.
Targets are decelerating.
Switching to burst mode firing.
”

The
targeting program
had cycled to the first transporter again.  A raucous seventh salvo fired off as both
HARM
s fired three shots per second.  There was a pause for a recharge, then they fired off the eighth salvo
together
. 
All of the transporters were now
braking and evading, making them
harder to hit.  Still, t
he rapid fire struck the
first and
second transporter
s
in the formation.  The lead transporter burst into flame and began veering towards the ground.  The mech
a
underneath broke free and a
small
supersonic parachute deployed behind it
,
ble
e
d
ing
off
its velocity.
A moment later the lead transporter struck the earth and exploded in a
rolling
trail of fire along the ground. 
The second transporter didn’t
get
as
far,
exploding
in another ball of flame that rained debris over a wide area. Its mech
a
did not survived the explosion.
Adjusting their aim, t
he pilots fired their ninth salvo.

“5 kilometres.  Last salvo
.
”
Joshua’s AI
warned.
 

Both HARM
s
fired their last bursts
,
then pivoted to
clear
out of the enemy mech
a
drop zone.  The final salvos missed.  Less than ten seconds out, a
lmost overhead, t
he last three mech
a
s dropped free of their transporters which
veered
clear of the battlefield immediately. 
The descending enemy mech
a
s deployed their parachutes
. 
The
small braking chute
s were
followed by larger chute
s
that slowed the mech
a
s
to landing speed
.
 
The chutes were released by explosive bolts and
the mech
a
s completed
t
heir final landings with
land
ing rockets. 

“
Prepare for g
round combat
,” Joshua called out
. 
“Coilgun to single mode.” 
The
enemy mech
a
s had landed
,
and now the real battle would start.  The tactical display showed four enemy mech
a
s, three forward and one further back.  All were
immediately
on the move
after
they landed.

“Coilgun to single mode.”
X confirmed. 
“Distance to nearest enemy mech
a
is 1500 metres.  Enemy mech
a
s are spreading out.”

The new enemy mech
a
s were only superficially like the standard spider mechs the Newts
had been using
.
  A standard spider mech had a
flattened, teardrop shaped body with
three legs to either side
and a primary beam turret.  These
new enemy mech
a
s also had six limbs
, but t
hey resembled giant, heavily armoured versions of a Blue Newt body
shape
that were dark blue and red in colour
.
  

Joshua and Penny finally
had
their first clear view of the enemy mech
a
s. 
Penny
exclaimed,
“
They’ve
copied the HARM design!” 
The Newts had seen the effectiveness of the HARM units in combat
during and after
the Alien War and had finally deployed their own versions.  These mech
a
s
had the elongated body of a Newt that moved on four legs with
its
two front limbs carrying heavy weapons in their hands.  The body was segmented to allow for flexibility and it looked like it had shoulder mounted weapons. 
The new mech
a
s were fast and
moved against
the HARMs quickly.

Joshua designated the three closest mech
a
s as targets.  “Penny, engage with Typhoon! 
X, full barrage of missiles
.”
 

“Roger.  Activating Typhoon system,” Penny
armed her system through her AI.

“
Full
Typhoon
barrage
armed and locked on targets,”
 
his mecha’s AI
confirmed.

“Fire!”

A single-
use
Typhoon
missile
pod was
bolted onto
each shoulder
of both HARM units. 
One missile pod contained
16
missile cells, giving each HARM the capability to fire
16
or
32
missiles at once. 
This provided
HARM unit
s
with
an art
illery bombardment capability that would otherwise be unavailable on a fluid battlefield. 
Compared to
the regular missile pods, the new
Typhoon pods launched improved missiles with
more powerful
warheads.

It was li
ke a fireworks show when 32
missiles
simultaneously
rose
out of the pods on each HARM unit.
 
In
a huge burst of white smoke
,
64 missile smoke trails
arced
high into the air before plunging bac
k down in a crazy swirl of smoky lines
.  The missiles didn’t fly in a straight line
,
but spiraled and changed direction on target approach.  The expended missile pods dropped from the HARMs.