25 – Battle, Part 1
(Destiny – Cargo Bay Twenty-Two - 02.27.2020, 1005)
La-27-A had turned one of the empty cargo bays into his staging ground-slash-command post. Because the bridge’s controls were dark and inert, he could not use it as his command post. The problem was that the enemy probably had the means to turn those controls back on. Which meant that he had to keep them out of that room. So he had assigned considerable forces to defend it.
~And then there is the issue of going on the offense.~ The enemy had set up of the headquarters in the room with the Alien Ring. ~And it’s a safe bet that they’ve dug themselves in.~ He turned to Middle Commander Fc-83-H, who he had made his second-in-command of the Hal’Iry forces. Fc-83-H had been making sure that everybody had weapons and setting up defenses for the cargo bays.
“How are we doing, Commander ?”
“All the troops are armed and we’ve used the crates to set up barriers, Supreme Commander.”
“Excellent,” La-27-A was looking at a map of the alien vessel. “Give the orders to begin, Commander.”
Fc-83-H nodded and began giving the troops their marching orders. As La-27-A watched them go, a smile grew on his face. Plan B was now in motion.
(Destiny – Control Interface Room - 02.27.2020, 1006)
The good news was that the Control Interface Room was working again. And the military personnel were hard at work setting up defenses around both it and the Gate Room. The bad news was that the internal sensors were telling them that not only was the enemy coming, they outnumbered Young and company seven to one. At the moment, Eli and Rush were doing their best to keep the Hal’Iry out of the Infirmary and the Garden.
“We need to retake the bridge,” Rush said.
“And they know it,” Young said.
The internal sensors showed multiple fortified position between the Gate Room and the bridge. And with their numbers, the Hal’Iry would be able to send in plenty of reinforcements if they attacked those positions. Next to him, Colonel Vale was also studying the enemy positions. It was not going be easy to win this fight and they both knew it.
(USS Prometheus – Bridge – 02.27.2020,1009)
Mackenzie, Woolsey and O’Neill had relocated to the Prometheus. Mackenzie had traded his suit for jeans, a white T-Shirt and a bomber jacket that he had inherited from his grandfather. John Alexander Mackenzie had been a pilot during World War Two, who had fought in the Battle of Britain. ~I wonder what Grandpa would say about this whole mess.~
Courtesy of the alien intervention, this had become an old-fashioned ground battle. ~Except for the fact that it’s happening aboard a spaceship millions of lightyears away from Earth.~ He was working one of the consoles on the bridge when Richard Woolsey walked onto the bridge.
“Any news from the Epsilon Site ?”
“Colonel Telford has send teams to secure both Spera and Chaser, he’s still working on getting people to Destiny,” Woolsey said.
Mackenzie nodded. There was no way that the Primians would be able to field a big enough for in time to help Colonel Young and his crew. It was at times like this that he missed being in the Navy. ~Those days are gone, Robert. The buck stops at you now.~ It made him feel Shakespearean. ~Heavy hangs the head that wears the crown.~
Of course, he knew that the real people carrying the weight right now were Colonel Everett Young and Colonel Marc Vale. And that Vale was his fault. After all, it had been Mackenzie who had offered him the job of Nova Roma Expedition commander. ~No way back now.~ He counted to four, then went back to work.
(Destiny – Corridor - 02.27.2020, 1014)
Lieutenant Matthew Scott fired his weapon and watched as the Hal’Iry soldier dropped. He was leading a team of defenders, who were firing short burst as the tried to hold the corridor. They had taken out the first wave of attackers with grenades connected to tripwires. ~The Colonel better come up with a plan, or this is not going to end well.~
Before he could ponder it further, the Hal’Iry rushed forw an masse. Scott and his team opened fire, but it was not enough. He watched in horror as Sergeant Greer took one of the energy bolts, follow by Corporal Barnes and Private Becker. ~No !~ Scott fired his weapon as he rushed towards the three of them, taking down two more Hal’Iry soldiers. Fortunately, Barnes and Becker had been shot in the leg. Greer, however, had not been so lucky. He had been shot near his left kidney. But Greer being Greer, that didn’t keep him from shooting at the bad guys.
“Retreat !” Scott ordered.
Scott and Vanessa James provided cover fire, while the rest of the team got the wounded out of dodge. And then more Hal’Iry came rushing towards them and everything really went to hell.
(Destiny – Control Interface Room - 02.27.2020, 1020)
Things had gone to pieces. The civilians were trapped and the enemy was pushing them back fast. And the wounded were piling up in the Gate Room. TJ, Bennett and V’Lazo were doing their best, but they lacked the supplies and equipment they needed. Young was firing his weapon and doing his best to hold the Control Interface Room. He had just shoot one of the Hal’Iry soldiers when there was a beep. Rush had managed to get the countdown clocks back on-line.
~Eleven minutes.~ Destiny had dropped out of FTL when the Hal’Iry had dialed in. But with the wormhole disconnected by the New Asurans, the ship had begun doing the math on a new FTL jump. They simply hadn’t been able to see it until now. ~Great, just great.~ Then an idea formed in his head. He turned to Colonel Vale, who was preparing a surprise of his own for the Hal’Iry.
“I have an idea, but I need Rush to set it up. How is Maggie coming along ?”
“Ready to raise some hell,” Vale began. “Go !”
Young ran for the Gate Room, while Vale and Colson used Maggie to unleash a rain of bullets. Maggie was a Primian copy of a Mark-1 point three-zero-three Vickers machine gun. Earth considered these weapons obsolete, but the Primian Senate had not been so picky. So they had provided the Destiny Expedition with two of these weapons. The other weapon had been nicknamed Pauly and had been set it up to cover the Stargate, just in case the Hal’Iry tried to dial in again. Young found Rush at the Kino console and began explaining what he had in mind.
(Destiny – Cargo Bay Twenty-Two - 02.27.2020, 1020)
La-27-A was pleased with their progress. They had the enemy pinned in a single section. ~If only I had another cannister of poison gas, I could end this now.~ Alas, he lacked said supply. That was when there was a beep and a display above one of the doors activated. ~What does that mean ?~ It appeared to be a countdown. But because they could not read the alien language, there was no way for them to know how much time they had left. Nor did they know what would happen once said countdown reached zero. He grabbed his radio.
“La-27-A to Fc-83-H.”
=/\=Fc-83-H here, Commander.=/\=
“Did you see the countdown activate ?”
=/\=Yes, Supreme Commander.=/\=
“We need to speed up the assault,” La-27-A began. “Use the Mark-III grenades, right away.”
=/\=Right away, Supreme Commander.=/\= Fc-83-H said. =/\=Out.=/\=
The radio went silent and soon afterwards, Supreme Commander La-27-A heard a series of loud pulses echoing through the massive alien vessel. Several minutes later, the radio came back on and he got a report on their progress. ~About time.~ But it was not what he was expecting.
(Destiny – Corridor - 02.27.2020, 1021)
Nikita Aranov had just lost his lunch. The Hal’Iry had tried to use some kind of energy grenades against them, injuring four of members of his team. But the effect had been even worse for the attackers. Above the floor was five centimeters worth of dense mist, which was the residue of the Hal’Iry poison gas. It had not been affected by stray shots from the energy weapons. But the energy grenades had a higher output. As a result, the grenade had caused a reaction with the residue…
The defenders had been protected by their SG-uniforms and civilian clothes. And the fact that they lacked tails. As for Hal’Iry, they had not been so lucky. Nikita had watched in horror as the discharge travelled up their tails and they burst into flames. In a hellish moment, over a dozen Hal’Iry troopers had died horribly.
As soon as the smoke had cleared, Aranov had nearly dropped his weapon before throwing up. Which Laura Cadman totally understood. Her grandfather Alexander had served during the Vietnam War and had told her about napalm and the effects it had on people. The sight of the Hal’Iry reminded her of those tales.
“Are you okay, Nikita ?”
“I’m fine, but that…,” He swallowed. “…That was hell. But….” He looked down the corridor. “….that’s the only way we’ll be able to keep them at bay, isn’t it ?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Let’s get this over with this then,” Aranov said.
The two of them began collecting grenades from the Hal’Iry remains. ~This is not going to be pretty~ Soon, the Hal’Iry found themselves at the receiving end of their own grenades.
(Destiny – Control Interface Room - 02.27.2020, 1026)
Nicholas Rush was working his console. Colonel Young had come up with an idea to deal with the Hal’Iry, which Rush had calculated had a fifty-fifty chance of working. ~Better than our current chances of winning this firefight.~ While Young was leading the defense of the Gate Room, Rush and Eli were preparing to execute Young’s plan. Rush looked at the countdown clock. ~Five minutes.~ He looked at Eli, who was working at one of the other console.
“Yeah, impossible deadline, entire ship on the line…,” Rush said.
“What else is new,” Eli said.
“And if you think Spera was any different, forget it,” Vale said as he walked in. “Pauly has been moved from the Gate Room to one of the corridors. As soon as we finish burning the residue out of the local corridors, we’ll be facing another wave,” He paused. “So, how are we doing here ?”
“We’re almost done with the preparations, but our chances are fifty-fifty…” Eli said. “…That’s presuming the bad guys don’t overwhelm us before the countdown clock hits zero.”
“I’ll go see about that,” Vale said.
Vale left the room, while Eli and Rush turned back to their consoles. Eli just hoped that the Colonels would be able to keep the Hal’Iry at bay long enough for them to finish. ~Or else, this is going to get very ugly.~
(Destiny – Cargo Bay Twenty-Two - 02.27.2020, 1026)
La-27-A was getting reports that the Ka’Zinro were striking back. They had used the Mark-III grenades against his troops, which had resulted in the entire wave he had send to retake the Ring Room being wiped out. Oddly enough, the enemy had not make a push for the bridge. ~What are they up to ?~ Before he could ponder it further, more reports came in.
So far, the enemy had used their control of the ship to lock doors and limit both their movements and speed. But now they were opening the airlocks and decompressing sections of Prime. ~We still don’t know what this ship is called.~ Not that it mattered. With all three of their warships destroyed, they either needed to retake the Ring Room or the ship as a whole. Or they were not going home. ~Of course, if the Ka’Zinro win this fight, that won’t happen either.~ He grabbed his radio and activated it.
“Fc-83-H, status report.”
=/\=We’re preparing the next wave, sir.=/\= Fc-83-H said. =/\=They’ve used up all the residue and grenades, sir. They won’t be able to hold this wave back, Supreme Commander.=/\=
“Excellent, Middle Commander,” He looked up at countdown display. “What about the translation matrix ?”
=/\=No luck so far, sir.=/\=
They had been scanning the transmissions of the Ka’Zinro. But the translation computer was refusing to lock on. Apparently, the Ka’Zinro were apparently speaking several languages. ~They probably have some translation matrix of their own, allowing them to communicate amongst themselves.~ Which was making their lives really hard. And then there was something else that was nagging at the back of his mind. Based on the level of technology he had seen them use, these people had clearly not build this vessel. ~Nor the alien rings.~ So why where they here ? Alas, it was a question that would probably never be answered.
(Destiny – Corridor - 02.27.2020, 1030)
Vale had overseen the relocation of the defense teams. They had moved their positions forward where they could, with two positions having been reinforced with Maggie and Pauly. ~Of course, that will only do us good until they run out of ammo.~ Now, they were placing grenades and Claymore mines with tripwires. But Vale knew that the Hal’Iry were no fools.
They would start checking for the mines soon. And the mines were doing damage to the corridors. ~None of which will matter if we loose this ship.~ Then he spotted another wave of Hal’Iry troopers. Seconds later, his radio activated and the voice of Doctor Nicholas Rush came over the air.
=/\=Twenty seconds until FTL jump.=/\=
~Now or never.~ Vale look cover behind a crate and waited for the clock to hit zero. If Colonel Young’s idea worked, this was going to be a far from normal jump into faster-then-light.
No comments:
Post a Comment