Ep.#3.6 - Evolution , page 17
“We’ve got more landing in back!” Vladimir bellowed from the back room.
Jessica charged into the kitchen, barely able to see anything through the smoke. The only thing she could see was light coming through the hole in the wall. A shadow appeared and she opened fire, hearing a body hit the ground. Someone fired through the hole, barely missing Jessica, who had dropped to the floor. She fired again from down low, dropping the second man before getting up and scrambling to the side.
Another shadowy figure appeared, stepping inside and firing toward where Jessica had been a moment ago. She didn’t move, remaining silent and motionless, using the cover of the smoke that hadn’t yet dissipated.
Two more men followed, but only the lead man was firing. Jessica waited, making sure no more were entering, then opened fire, dropping all three. She then moved quickly to the hole, peeked around, and dropped two more soldiers waiting outside. “You Zhulati suck!” she yelled, drawing fire from those still under cover in the distance. A quick peek outside as the fire poured in was all she needed to identify their positions. The incoming fire stopped, and she remained motionless, listening to the sounds of the ongoing firefight from the main room where Nathan and the old man were blasting away.
A few more seconds, and she stepped out, firing four shots, two to the left and two to the right, dropping all four soldiers with single shots. “Jesus. What kind of dumbass spec-ops troops don’t use personal shields?” She stood there a moment, waiting to see if anyone else popped their head up. But just as she felt like they might be getting the upper hand, another shuttle jumped in only a few meters above the ground, and six heavily armored men jumped to the ground. “We’ve got a problem!” she yelled as she opened fire on the new arrivals, then dove to the side as the Zhulati troops returned her fire ten-fold.
“Six Zhulati shuttles are landing troops,” Laza reported from the Aurora’s sensor station. “Our Dragons are not having much effect on their shields, but the Zhulati shuttles’ weapons quickly drain the shields on our shuttles.”
“Aurora, can we go down to help?” Cameron asked the ship’s AI.
“Negative,” Aurora replied. “Grav-lift systems are offline. We’ve lost too many grav-lift emitters on the port side, and our thrusters aren’t powerful enough to compensate. We’d flip over.”
Cameron pressed the comms button again. “Josh, you’ve got to keep those shuttles off the Mirai so they can pick up our people.”
“We’re trying!” Josh assured her.
Heavily armed Zhulati entered through the hole in the kitchen wall, firing through the opening into the main room.
Jessica dove through the doorway, just as the bolts of energy whizzed past her. “NATHAN!”
Nathan spun around, firing like crazy in the direction of the incoming fire as Zhulati energy bolts barely missed him, slamming into the wall all around. One of the bolts ricocheted off the metal door and grazed the old man’s shoulder, knocking him off his feet and causing him to drop his own weapon.
“Gillis!” Nathan yelled, but he couldn’t help him. He had to continue firing in the direction of the kitchen.
“Nathan!” Jessica yelled as she continued firing. “Front! Front!”
Nathan spun back around, moving to the window Gillis had been shooting from in order to get out of the line of fire coming from the kitchen. Six Zhulati soldiers, far more heavily armored than the original combatants, were moving toward him in a line. He opened fire, but these soldiers were protected by energy shields. “They’re shielded!”
“Vlad!” Jessica yelled as she fired. “How many you got back there?”
“Too many!” Vlad yelled back.
“How’s the doc?” Nathan yelled.
“I’m okay!” Doctor Barra squeaked.
Nathan looked around but didn’t see the doctor anywhere. He gave up and continued firing at the advancing line of Zhulati, despite the fact that it wasn’t slowing them down. “This isn’t working!” he yelled back at Jessica.
An energy blast struck Jessica’s left shoulder, knocking her back. “Shit!” she yelled, holding her arm. “My arm’s numb! They’re firing stunners now!”
“They want us alive!” Nathan realized. He turned to glance at Jessica, but instead caught a stunner blast in the face, dropping him instantly.
“NATHAN!” Jessica yelled. She spun around and opened fire as she backpedaled toward Nathan. Then she too caught a blast in the face, falling.
Josh jumped into the center of the engagement area, turning hard to port and heading straight toward the nearest shuttle, opening fire with everything he had.
“Ten seconds to collision,” his AI warned.
“Override auto-protect!” Josh ordered.
“That is not recommend…”
“OVERRIDE!” Josh demanded.
“Auto-protect, overridden,” his AI acknowledged.
“Come on, fucker!” Josh yelled, holding course.
The pilot of the shuttle was the first to flinch, rolling and turning to starboard and then jumping ahead. Josh had no idea where the Zhulati shuttle had jumped to. He didn’t care. All he cared about was that for the moment, it wasn’t here.
“YES!” he exclaimed triumphantly. “Dragon Leader to all Dragons! Play chicken with them!”
“Just park it in a hover directly over the LZ, at three thousand meters,” Kit yelled over the intercom.
“If I hover, we’ll get our ass shot off,” Aiden insisted. “Even at three thousand meters!”
“Then don’t hover! Just keep it under eight kph!”
“Pretty much the same thing!”
“I just need a few seconds, then you can jump away. Look, if we don’t get some boots on the ground, they’re done for, and you know it!”
Aiden looked at Erica, sighing. “Fine. How soon can you be ready?”
“I’ll be ready whenever you are!” Kit insisted.
“This should be fun,” Aiden said as he prepared to jump back into the fray.
“Telemetry from our Dragons and shuttles indicates a decrease in the firefight on the surface,” Laza reported from the Aurora’s sensor station. “Our people are about to be overrun.”
“Aurora, can we jump into low orbit and loiter over the area long enough to put some suppression fire around our people to buy them some time?”
“Our ventral guns would only be usable for a few minutes,” the Aurora’s AI replied. “It would also put our people at risk, as the accuracy of our weapons are negatively affected by atmosphere.”
“Captain,” Sima called. “The Mirai and three other shuttles are preparing to drop their Ghatazhak operators into the LZ from an altitude of three thousand meters.”
“Let me guess whose idea that was,” Cameron muttered.
“Lieutenant Vasya’s,” Sima confirmed. “According to Captain Walsh.”
“Have all our Dragons join them to provide cover, just in case,” Cameron instructed. She turned back to Laza. “Where’s that Zhulati cruiser?”
“They’ve jumped to a new location about five hundred thousand kilometers from their last position,” Laza reported. “The Dusahn ship is sticking with them. Estimate the Zhulati ship will lose shields in two minutes.”
“Excellent,” Cameron decided. At least something was working in their favor. “Aurora, jump us into low orbit in a position that will allow us to loiter over the LZ as long as possible.”
“Understood.”
“Now, let’s hope that Dusahn ship doesn’t come gunning for us once they’re done with the Zhulati,” Cameron added.
“Ten seconds,” Aiden warned over Kit’s helmet comms.
Kit was completely suited up in his heavy combat armor, complete with his jump-insertion rig. Attached to each thigh were heavy assault rifles, and on his forearms were double-barreled light cannons. Along with the assortment of grenades built into his abdomen and chest sections, he, and all the other Ghatazhak were loaded for action.
“You guys ready?” Kit called over comms.
“Ready,” the calls came from each of the other three Ghatazhak about to follow him down from their respective shuttles.
“Second squad will be one minute behind you,” Chief Anson assured them.
“We’ll try to leave you a few guys to play with,” Kit joked as the cargo ramp began to deploy, opening the bay up to the atmosphere outside.
“Jumping in three……two……one…”
Blue-white light filled the cargo bay, dissipating a moment later.
“Go!” Aiden instructed over comms.
Kit walked out onto the level cargo ramp, stepping off the end and starting his fall toward the surface as three more jump flashes appeared behind them, with the other members of his squad following suit.
Kit only fell for a few seconds before his suit AI auto-jumped him to a point only a few meters above the surface, and about twenty meters behind the line of Zhulati who were advancing toward the house that Nathan and the others were defending. The Zhulati continued to fire, but only occasionally, just enough to keep whoever was inside from slowing their advance.
“Shit,” Kit cursed to himself, realizing the gravity of the situation. The enemy was only seconds from breaching the building, at which point their only hope of rescuing their people would be when the Zhulati attempted to evacuate them. Kit broke into a jog toward the enemy, who was still not aware of his arrival.
The advancing Zhulati suddenly stopped, the sight of three jump flashes revealing single, armored and armed combatants behind the other lines of Zhulati troops. One of the men turned around, realizing there was someone behind them, but it was too late.
Kit opened fire with both wrist cannons, first dropping the Zhulati soldier who had first turned around, then dropping the rest. Just as he had hoped, the enemy had channeled all of their suit power into their forward shields, expecting all the incoming fire to come from the front.
Six thunderous tearing sounds could be heard in the background as the other Ghatazhak also fired. Kit spun around, spotting four Zhulati shuttles coming in to drop off reinforcements, accompanied by two fighters that were already diving toward the LZ to blast them.
“Incoming!” Kit yelled, breaking into a run toward the house. “Get inside!”
Kayci was already checking on Nathan when Vladimir and Breyanna came charging into the main room from the back of the house.
Vladimir stopped in his tracks. “Bozhe moi.”
“They’re only stunned!” Kayci declared, moving to the side of the old man. “But he’s not! He’s badly injured! We have to get him to a medical facility!”
“Doctor, how are…” Vladimir was interrupted when the door burst open. He spun around and nearly opened fire before he recognized the Ghatazhak combat armor.
Breyanna did not. She fired, her energy blast bouncing off Kit’s personal shield.
Not recognizing the woman, Kit instinctively returned fire, a stunner blast striking the woman squarely in the chest.
Breyanna was more than a little surprised, and then even more so when she realized she was unharmed and still standing.
“Cease fire!” Vladimir demanded. “They’re friendlies!”
Breyanna kept her weapon aimed at Kit. “But he shot me!”
“And you didn’t fall!” Kit exclaimed. “What the fuck?” He looked at Vladimir. “Who the hell is she?” he demanded. “What the hell is she?”
Mori entered from the kitchen, both his hands pointed toward Breyanna, also not recognizing her, and concerned that she was pointing a weapon at his cohorts.
“Everyone! Stop firing!” Vladimir demanded. “We’re all on the same side!” He turned to Breyanna. “Lower your weapon, Breyanna.”
“There are four more Zhulati shuttles landing out front, right now,” Kit warned. “And this time, they won’t make the mistake of channeling all their power into only their forward shields.”
Breyanna reluctantly lowered her weapon but did not put it back in her belt.
Kit moved closer to Vladimir, looking down at Nathan and Jessica, both of whom still weren’t moving. “Are they?”
“Doc says they’re just stunned.”
“Mori,” Kit called. “Hit them with anti-stun, Jess first.”
Jokay and Abdur entered, also from the kitchen side, having circled around after putting down the Zhulati troops originally in their way.
“They just dropped twenty-four heavies in front,” Jokay reported. “They’re fanning out as we speak.”
“Let’s keep them focused on us while second squad drops in to surprise them,” Kit instructed. “Who is she?” Kit asked Vlad, leaning in closer to him.
“The girl in the SA pod,” Vladimir replied.
Kit looked at Vladimir. “Seriously?” Kit shook his head. “That explains a lot.”
“Really?” Vladimir replied. “Then maybe you can explain it to me.”
“The second group of shuttles can’t get into position to insert the rest of the Ghatazhak,” Sima reported urgently from the Aurora’s comms station.
“There are more than a hundred Zhulati combat drones over the LZ,” Laza announced. “They’ve stacked about a dozen every five hundred meters. The moment one of our shuttles jump in, they’re attacked.”
“What about our Dragons?” Cameron asked. “Can’t they protect them?”
“They are trying,” Laza assured the captain. “But the moment they do, more drones and fighters appear and attack them.”
“Sima, tell them to keep trying,” Cameron instructed. “We’ve got to get more boots on the ground before it’s too late.”
Another warning alarm sounded on Laza’s console. “It may already be too late. There now thirty Zhulati advancing on our people, and they have four more shuttles on approach to the LZ.”
“Aurora! I need suppression fire on that LZ!” Cameron ordered.
“Unable to comply,” the Aurora’s AI replied. “There are too many friendlies jumping in and out of the line of fire.”
“Damn it,” Cameron cursed. After sighing, she said, “Sima, tell all our shuttles and Dragons to clear the area and stand by. And tell Kit to take cover.”
“Captain!” Laza interrupted. “Eight Dusahn shuttles just jumped in over the LZ.
“Sima, belay that!” Cameron instructed. She turned to Laza. “What kind of shuttles, and what are they doing?”
“They’re troop shuttles, sir,” Laza replied. They’re positioned around the outer perimeter of the LZ at about one thousand meters.” Laza looked at Cameron. “I believe they’re deploying troops.”
Cameron’s mind was racing. “What is that Dusahn warship doing?”
“Still slugging it out with the Zhulati cruiser,” Laza replied. “Which is about to lose one of its port shield sections.”
“They’re still not targeting us?” Cameron asked.
“No sir. They’re still ignoring us.”
Cameron had a decision to make, but she had too little information to rationalize any course of action. “Aurora, hold fire!” she ordered, going with her gut.
The eight Dusahn troop shuttles that had just jumped in began circling the engagement area below, jumping ahead by short distances every other second. In between each jump, a soldier stepped out, falling toward the surface as they disappeared in their own flashes of blue-white light.
In groups of eight, the soldiers in black, high-tech combat armor appeared behind blue-white flashes of light, only a meter above the ground. They landed in perfect combat stances, immediately opening fire with heavy assault rifles and shoulder mounted auto-blasters. Positioned in a circle around the Zhulati forces, their appearance forced the Zhulati to abandon their assault on the house and return fire on the new threat that was amassing behind their lines and all around them. With each passing second, another group of eight appeared with absolute precision, being placed perfectly around the compass. In less than fifteen seconds, eighty of the unknown soldiers had surrounded the Zhulati, and were systematically mowing them down.
The sudden cessation of incoming fire caught Kit’s attention, and he stood to see more clearly out the windows.
“What the hell’s going on?” Nathan asked, finally shaking off the effects of the stunner blast and struggling to get back on his feet.
Jessica was already standing, stepping carefully over next to Kit.
Kit watched as the firefight outside raged. But no one was shooting at them. Even more importantly, despite the incredible amount of firepower being pumped into the Zhulati lines, not a single bolt of energy was missing their targets and reaching their barely standing shelter.
“What the fuck?” Jessica wondered, seeing the same thing as Kit. “Who are these guys? Even the Zhulati don’t shoot that well. Only…”
A blue-white flash of light appeared from overhead, just a few meters in front of the prefab home, followed by a thunderous tearing sound. A second later, ten soldiers appeared behind blue-white flashes of their own, dropping to combat stances on the ground. Their armor was flat-black, with discrete touches of red trim reminiscent of the armor worn by the Dusahn long ago.
Nine of the soldiers turned toward the Zhulati lines, opening up and catching them from behind in a crossfire. The tenth man began walking toward the battered home, seemingly unconcerned with the firefight raging behind him. As he neared the front porch, his opaque helmet visor retracted upward, revealing the man’s face and his stern, confident expression.
Jessica’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped, as did Nathan’s. “No way,” she uttered in disbelief.
“Is that…” Nathan said.
Kit smiled broadly. “Rezhik!”
