The Great Betrayal

Chapter TWELVE

The Jötnar Battalion had been expected to return to the military at some point in the near future. Political agreements between the government on Terra Nova and the Jötnar changed things considerably. Now the Jötnar were granted equal citizenship, which meant access to both the Navy and the Marine Corps. Their strength would be felt on Helios where once more the Jötnar would prove their worth in the fire of battle.

The 1st Jötnar Battalion



Jack leaned close to the side of the tunnel and strained his eyes to see as far as possible. The computer told him the bend was over a kilometer away, yet in the dark, slightly damp interior he could hardly tell. Dozens more marines waited like him, each with their weapons trained down the tunnel. Even as they waited, more marines arrived and brought with them the mobile defense units. Two ran past him with a Ram and an officer behind them.

“Get back!” called out the officer.

The two marines pulled open the sides of the Ram and removed boxes that were about the size of a man’s head. The first of them went ahead of Jack and placed the unit on the ground. He could now see the shape. It was rectangular and enclosed inside a semi-transparent mesh housing.

“About right?” asked the officer.

Wictred waited in the middle of the tunnel and simply nodded in agreement. He was preoccupied, listening to the sounds of the approaching enemy forces that were getting louder and louder. The officer tagged the ground by using the engineer’s interface inside his helmet. It was a simple device but incredibly useful, adding markers on the ground that could only be seen by other marines in the tunnel. The two marines positioned six of the devices and rushed back into the tunnel, away from Jack.

“Well, what now?” he asked Wictred.

Wictred snorted in reply at him.

“Watch.”

His friend knelt down and tapped the rear of one of the units. The frame hissed and then expanded to a meter in each direction in just a few seconds. From inside, a tiny transparent bag inflated, filling the framework to create a sealed box.

“Uh, what are we supposed to do with that?”

Wictred tapped the other units and they did the same, much to his friend’s annoyance. Unlike Jack, Wictred had been to the engineering briefing in the last week. He’d seen the demonstration of several new pieces of equipment, and these were the newest piece of tech in the Marine Corps.

“Just watch...give it a few seconds.”

Jack waited patiently and almost gave up when he spotted a narrow flash at the base of the unit. A gray mist hissed out and filled the transparent bag. It made a high pressure groan and then stopped.

“Well?”

Wictred kicked at the gray shape, yet it refused to move. Jack moved to it but kept his head down, just in case. He tapped it, noting the sound and weight felt like concrete. It was dense but not as hard as stone, more like damp cement or even sand.

“Portable Barricade Units...you know, PBUs!” said Wictred. He tapped the top of the third unit as it filled with the gray mist. “Maybe attend the lecture next time. Each engineering platoon is getting kitted up with this stuff.”

Jack watched as the defensive wall built itself before his eyes. As well as being a meter tall, they also fitted together, creating a solid defensive position from which to fight behind.

“Wait,” Wictred said.

Jack looked up to his friend.

“What is it?”

He held up his hand to remind Jack to stay quiet. It only took a few seconds before Wictred looked back to Jack and the other marines in the tunnel. Sergeant Stone was jogging along its length and stopped next to Wictred.

“You heard?”

Wictred raised his head slowly.

“Yes, Sergeant.”

Stone surveyed the defenses and seemed satisfied.

“Good, the engineers are establishing a reserve weapons store two hundred meters back. Rams have placed sentry markers and mines further into the tunnel. The Animosh are coming.”

Private Frewyn stared into the tunnel.

“This way? How many?”

Sergeant Stone nearly smirked before answering.

“Son, you have a tactical overlay, why don’t you start using it?”

That reminded Jack, and he switched to the larger scale overview. He almost choked when he spotted the swarms of flagged enemy troops converging on their position. He might have panicked, had it not been for the calm voice of his Sergeant speaking.

“Colonel Gun and the 17th have engaged the Animosh from every direction. They have broken their outer defenses, and rebels are pursing them. Drones show them falling back in massive numbers. The precinct and this transport hub are right in the center of their route back to their secondary defensive line.”

“So if they want to get back, they will have to get through here?” asked Jack.

Stone nodded.

“Exactly. In less than two minutes, the entire east flank of the Animosh will try to break through three tunnels here. Our job is to hold this one, the lowest.”

He turned, looking into the wide tunnel.

“And the largest.”

He paused for a few seconds as if expecting something to happen. Finally, he spoke to the marines.

“Right. We have a job to do. Our friends in the precinct will stop any Animosh getting inside the hub from above. All we have to do is stop several thousand Animosh and their machines from getting through the shafts.”

Another squad of engineer marines jogged past, along with four Rams. They stopped short of the mines and proceeded to deploy the Rams. From where Jack waited behind the new defenses, he could see the Rams lowering themselves to the ground, creating a number of defensive turrets. As they started to run back, the flags on Jack’s helmet overlay flashed.

“Here they come, boys. Keep your heads down!” Sergeant Stone shouted.

Jack kept low and surveyed their position. The tunnel was actually four separate tunnels and merged into a large arched hall big enough to house a military warship. Each tunnel was wide enough to drive three or even four Bulldogs abreast. The marines had constructed two defensive lines with the PBUs, and the engineering squad was busy constructing a third back near the platform. He couldn’t make out the details other than that the wall was already two meters high and filled half the width of the platform. He counted two platoons of marines in position and waiting behind the two front lines, with the gaps mixed with Rams and other defenses. The lines were not complete, but they should be enough. Even so, he counted less than ninety marines against several thousand Animosh and their support units. The engineers were certainly capable of helping, but right now had their hands busy improving the third line, and he doubted another dozen marines would turn the tide, one way or the other.

“Hostiles, nine hundred meters!” shouted another marine.

Jack looked deep into the tunnel and watched the red outlines move closer and closer. The wall mounted sentry drones had already spotted the approaching enemy forces and sent the details to the waiting marines.

“Jack, why don’t we just blow the tunnel?” asked Private Callahan.

“Who knows? Maybe they don’t want us to cause any more damage.”

Wictred heard them talking. He was walking along the line a short distance away from Sergeant Stone.

“We’re not down here to kill them all. We’re here to stop them moving their forces. The longer we can keep them busy, the better.”

Jack was surprised at his friend’s grasp of what needed to be done. He was right, of course. They were behind the frontline, yet this one place was used to move Animosh forces safely to a hundred different positions. If they destroyed the tunnels, they would just have to find an alternative. By letting them feel they had a chance, they could be contained, and that would give the Helions their best chance at finishing the job.

“Makes sense. We’re here to pin their troops down so the rebels can end this. The 17th have surrounded them and are making breaches in their defenses. We are a thorn in their side. If they want to plug the gaps in their defenses, they will need to deal with us.”

“Really? I don’t think so,” said Private Riku, “More likely we don’t have the time or gear to do it. Have you seen the walls of this place?”

Jack looked off to his right and at the smooth wall. He’d assumed it was solid rock but on closer inspection could see it was some form of metallic substance.

“What is it?” he asked quietly.

Sergeant Stone appeared behind the group.

“Keep your eye on the tunnel, marines. We ain’t paid here for gawping. You will let them get close and then hit the bastards hard.”

He pointed in the direction he wanted them to look.

“Look what we have here.”

A six-wheeled vehicle with Animosh markings raced down the middle tunnel. The Helions’ vehicles shared some similarities with those of the Alliance, but they tended to be smaller and were designed for urban pacification rather than general combat. The front was a sealed unit with a slab front and small vision slits, the perfect design for use in street riots. As it came closer, three more vehicles appeared behind it. They were all moving dangerously fast. White flashes danced about the turret mount fitted above the crew areas.

“Keep down!” Wictred called out.

He was just in time, for as the marines ducked, the burst of gunfire ripped into the PBUs. These were thermal rounds, the type of ammunition favored by the Animosh. The gunfire was wild and erratic, and with the vehicles bumping about, it was almost impossible for them to target any particular individual. They must have spotted the marine defensive line but nothing seemed to slow them down.

The charges? Why haven’t they gone off? Jack wondered.

“Take aim!” Sergeant Stone ordered.

Every marine rested a rifle or carbine on the defensive walls and took aim at the approaching vehicles. They didn’t need to be told to select the high-power modes; it was simply a matter of training. They waited, and the vehicles came closer and closer. By the time they were within four hundred meters the shapes of hundreds of Helions was just about visible. They were like a horde of wild animals, running or jogging after the armored vehicles. Jack looked back at the final wall the engineers were working on. He could see only four marines were guarding it; and behind that was the platform, the transport hub, and the rest of the tunnels.

This is insane. They’ll run through us in seconds!

Wictred must have noticed his friend’s nerves. He dropped down next to him even though half of his body was still exposed. There was something about Jack that had changed. It wasn’t cowardice; he’d seen enough of that before. It seemed more like Jack had dropped his hotheaded arrogance of youth, something he'd always quite liked about the young man. Before, Jack would have leapt into battle without thought, just like him. Now Jack was becoming more calculating, as if he suspected life was in fact far more dangerous than before.

“You ready, Jack. This is gonna get messy, and we need guns on the line!”

Jack glanced at him and felt flushed with anger.

“Don’t worry about me, Wictred, I know what I’m doing.”

He spotted Sergeant Stone’s arm in the air and then it dropped, a simple yet effective signal for the entire unit.

“Fire!”

On the Sergeant’s order, the entire front defense line opened fire. A full platoon, over forty marines, filled the tunnel with magnetized rounds from their carbines and six explosive shells from each squad’s support L48 rifles. The front of the nearest vehicle vanished in a cloud of torn metal and glass. It quickly twisted and tipped as the driver tried to avoid the gunfire. It slid down the left tunnel on its left-hand side, its wheels still spinning wildly before coming to a grinding halt. The others managed to swerve to avoid the wreck and hurtled even closer before being stuck by more explosive rounds. In less than thirty seconds, the tunnel started to fill with noxious smoke fumes from the vehicles. Sergeant Stone walked along the line; upright and ignoring the stray rounds coming in from the approaching Animosh.

“Not bad, marines, not bad at...”

He flipped out his sidearm like a handgun from the old West and gunned down two Helions that rushed out from the smoke. They both fell face down to the ground. What shocked the marines nearest the killing more was that these were not Animosh, they were unarmored Helions carrying rifles.

“Who the hell are they?” Wictred shouted.

“Command thought as much. Justitium Lyssk must be getting desperate. He’s drafting in militia from the Irkerk, Yuulen, and the Sh'Dori. They have numbers, that is all.”

“Sergeant!” called Private Jana Jenkell, the unit’s medic.

The marines turned their attention to the smoke just as the first wave burst out. Jack’s first view of them was of two combat drones and nearly fifty Helion militia. They looked hysterical as they ran with their guns firing. He took aim, but the advancing machines took all of his attention.

“Keep up your fire!” continued Sergeant Stone. He waited calmly and took aim with his pistol. Jack flicked the switch and proceeded to strafe the line with automatic gunfire. Puffs of blood marked those he hit, and countless figures fell to the ground. More and more continued forward, and even when the Ram gun turrets fired, they kept moving along. Two marines jumped up and ran back from the frontline, only to be hit in the back by thermal weapons.

“Animosh!” Wictred hissed.

Behind the civilians came a tide of the cloaked warriors. They seemed as keen to shoot their own militia as they were shooting at the marines. They used as much cover as they could find but refused to throw themselves onto the guns of the marines. Sergeant Stone ducked to the side as one tried to hit with accurate rifle fire.

“Animals, they’re driving the civilians along like cattle.”

Sergeant Stone’s face turned when he realized what was happening. He spoke into his intercom over the platoon channel.

“Lieutenant, we have diversionary troops pouring in down here. Their main force is somewhere else.”

Another marine was hit, and then an explosive charge tore a hole in the first barricade. Two combat drones pushed into the gap, blasting away at the marines a few meters away. Privates Sanford and Giblin were cut down; the others either fell back to the second line or tried to hold off the machines.

“This isn’t right!” muttered the Sergeant.

He moved backward, firing his pistols as he went. He checked once more with the rest of the marine commanders as he moved.

No reply from the Lt.

“Marines, fall back!” he shouted.

The battered platoon moved back with only three marines and Wictred remaining to fight off the machines. Helion civilians quickly leapt over the broken defenses, only to be shot down by those waiting on the second. Jack was already moving back from the machines. He wanted to stay but thoughts of the things ripping his friends apart sent panic through his limbs. He took aim, but one of the marines jumped in front and was crushed as a third machine climbed through. They were not like the Biomechs’ weapons of war. They were slower and more like mobile weapon emplacements. Even so, they were strong and able to deliver substantial gunfire.

“Jack, help me!” shouted Wictred.

Any doubts Jack might have had were discarded at the plea for help from his friend. He grabbed a grenade from the thigh mount and hurled it to the wall. As soon as it made contacted, it flashed white hot, instantly killing the three nearest. He moved his bodyweight forward, aiming his carbine at the horde of enemy pouring over their line. The L52 was a wicked weapon at this range, and he cleared the defenses so that Wictred and the others could break for cover. Even Wictred was forced to withdraw as the Animosh moved up and sheltered behind the broken defenses. More gunfire ripped into the tunnel, and the machines were finally knocked out. The surviving civilians scattered all directions, but the shapes of a hundred Animosh filled the cover behind the first defense line.

“What now, Sergeant?” Wictred asked from behind the next piece of cover.

Seven marines lay dead in front of them, and smoke had reduced visibility to less than fifty meters.

“Marines, fix bayonets!” growled the Sergeant.

There were no questions. Each did their work silently, and only then did Jack notice their lack of sound. They had beaten off the first wave, yet so many of the enemy remained a short distance away. A handful of grenades moved back and forth between both sides, which confirmed to Sergeant Stone that something had to change.

“I want that barricade retaken, are you with me?”

The marines in the second line shouted out enthusiastically.

“Then follow me!”

The Sergeant was over the wall well before the others. Jack was sure he saw at least two rounds strike him, but on he went. Wictred was next, and then he found himself over the top and running back to the position they had recently abandoned. They surged past the wrecked machines and leapt over the outer wall to find themselves in amongst the Animosh. Whereas before the battle had been one of ranged firearms, now it turned into a bloodthirsty melee, with rifle butts and bayonets doing the hard work.

“This is insanity!” Jack said, but nobody heard him.

Wictred swung his fists and crushed anybody within reach. The Animosh desperately tried to fight them off. Jack stabbed the first Helion he saw, and then stumbled and landed on his back. He tried to move, but two more enemies stepped up to him, both aiming rifles. A great blast of air rushed overhead, and the two Helions vanished, to be replaced by the shapes of fresh marines. They surged past and two stopped to help him up.

“Who, what?” he said, confused.

“8th Marine Battalion. Looks like we got here just in time,” laughed the first.

More of the marines rushed past, chasing down the retreating enemy forces. Jack glanced back and saw Stone leaning against Wictred, who was sitting down on the broken first barricade.

“Not bad, son,” he said with his eyes squarely on Jack’s face, “I said you had it in you.”

He coughed and then lifted himself back to his feet.

“Okay, marines. Reload and get ready for the next wave. There are plenty more coming this way!”

Jack lifted his carbine, checked the clip, and then rested it on the broken defenses. Riku, Frewyn, and Jenkell all moved around him and did the same. Private Riku was the nearest, and she flashed him a smile that did more to show her facial scar than she might have wanted to. Even so, it filled Jack with a feeling of camaraderie that he really needed.

“You guys okay?”

“You kidding?” replied Private Riku, “I’ve been itching for some action for a while.”

Jack was sure he could see a glint in her eye as she said it. He wondered if it was a clumsy attempt at a pass, and it distracted him for several seconds. He looked at her face, and although her scar was always noticeable, he couldn’t hide the fact she was probably the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She spotted him looking and grinned.

“What? You like what you see?”

For what must have been the first time ever, Jack didn’t know what to say. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Private Riku nodded in the direction of the bodies and wrecked vehicles.

“Here they come. You ready?”

Jack took aim down his carbine and placed the reticule over the chest of a running Animosh fighter. He squeezed the trigger within a second of the rest of the platoon.

I am now.



* * *





Admiral Lewis paced the CIC of his flagship while he waited for the distance to close between the two fleets. Already his own forces were well within range of the approaching craft, yet so far not a single shot had been fired, and he was loath to be the first one to do so.

“Lieutenant Ryante, your thoughts?”

The young tactical officer didn’t even have to think about it before she replied.

“Admiral. Our fighters have fired warning shots, and they are continuing on their course. In less than three minutes, they will be able to bring an exponential rate of gunfire on our forces. When we move past that window, it could go either way.”

Yes, and we still have plenty of marines on board.

He looked at the officers on his bridge and back to the disposition of the remaining group of Alliance ships. He was tempted to contact Admiral Anderson again, but he didn’t have the time.

You’ve already made one mistake today. Don’t make another one.

“Very well. They’ve been given the chance. Let them know we mean business. Target the battleship and give them a volley.”

“Admiral.”

Lieutenant Rola Ryante already had the lead ship in her sights. She tapped the final release button, and the ship hummed with power as the forward emitters unleashed incredible power. The particle beam was completely invisible in the vacuum of space, although the minute particles of dust around Helios allowed a small quantity of light to be reflected. At the speed of light, the powerful blast struck the battleship and exploded a section the size of a destroyer. Large chunks ripped off, yet it continued onward. Admiral Lewis almost called off the attack when scores of warning lights flashed through the CIC.

“Admiral, they are opening fire!” cried out Lieutenant Ryante.

“Very well.”

He lifted the intercom and selected the channel to all the ships’ captains. There were some orders that needed to be done personally and not by a computer.

“This is Admiral Lewis, engage the enemy fleet.”

The opening phase of the battle was as short as it was bloody. The nine ships of the Alliance 4th Heavy Strike group used a mixture of particle beams and railguns to decimate the ships in the front of the enemy fleet. In the first five minutes, a third of the automated ships were burning hulks; the rest slowed their advance and interspersed themselves with the Alliance vessels. Rather than firing as individuals, they selected one target at a time, unleashing all their firepower into one place. The robotic fighters, on the other hand, ignored the capital ships, merely circling the Alliance fighters and drawing them into a cat and mouse game of space combat. The first ship to be hit was ANS Sentry. Hundred of shells and missiles rushed to her, but only a fraction made it past her battery of defense turrets.

“Is this all they have to offer us?” complained Admiral Lewis.

It wasn’t that he wanted some great battle, but the destruction of a fleet as large as this made little sense. It would have taken considerable time to assemble such a force, as well as substantial resources.

“Admiral, the Confederate ships and the Khreenk battleship have changed course. They are on an intercept course with us.”

“Stop them!”

She nodded and directed the primary weapons of four Alliance ships to the targets. Gunfire flashed from both sides, and now ANS Conqueror started to take damage. Even her massive batteries of defense turrets couldn’t stop every impact.

“Gun ports open, they’re launching nukes!”

Nuclear weapons were an old weapon for use in space. Though very powerful, they were nowhere near as useful as when used for terrestrial battle. In space there was no shockwave, and all ships were heavily shielded against radiation to protect their crews. Even so, a direct impact by a nuclear weapon could easily disable or destroy even the largest warship.

“New ships, range seven hundred kilometres!” called out the XO with a minor hint of surprise in her voice.

Admiral Lewis looked at the tactical screen and surprised to see the Alliance signature appear.

“It’s Captain Hampel, Admiral. His ships are providing a defensive screen.”

He smiled at this news. The small escorts were nothing compared to the massive capital ships, but their defensive weapons were the latest the Alliance had to offer. In tests they had been shown capable of destroying targets as small as a coin at incredible ranges. There were no formations now for this kind of battle. The ships from all sides were interspersed with the Alliance ships engaging the nearest threatening targets, as opposed to the automated fleet’s system of selecting one ship at a time.

“All railguns load Sanlav rounds and bring them down.”

The railguns had their benefits, and the older models of ships quickly turned to the special close ranged rounds developed early in the Uprising.

“What is the status of ANS Sentry?”

“She’s sustained heavy damage. Her engines are offline. She can’t take much more, Admiral,” said the XO.

“What can we do to take the fire off her? Why did they target her?”

He looked at the displays. Sentry was the closest to the enemy battleship.

“She’s the closest to their flagship!”

“Admiral?” asked the XO.

“Helm, set a collision course for their flagship. Maximum speed.”

His orders shocked the crew. To them it must have looked as though he were mad, sending his own ship to destruction for such a modest chance of destroying an enemy ship. Even so, they carried out their orders, and they were soon heading toward the battleship. He had already sent the orders to the other ships to pull back and fire on the enemy at range. Almost immediately, the guns of the enemy fleet changed their targets and proceeded to fire upon the flagship.

Lieutenant Rola Ryante smiled inwardly.

“They are firing on whichever ship is closest to threatening their battleship. That is a pretty simple command system.”

Admiral Lewis nodded quickly.

“Exactly. Their tactical systems are primitive at best. This fleet isn’t here to destroy us. It is here to keep us busy while they do whatever it is they are doing. We will maintain a distance of ten kilometres. The rest of the fleet will select the smallest of their ships, one at a time. Keep firing until they are all burning.”

“What about us, Admiral?”

His confidence had returned.

“Simple, I want us to present our beam to them. Captain Hampel and his escorts will form up on our opposite flank and assist with a defense screen. Every single gun will open up a flak corridor.”

“And their ships?”

“Leave them to the fleet. We will take the punishment while they finish the fight.”

The ships changed formation quickly, and in minutes the automated fleet concentrated its full power onto the single Battlecruiser. The occasional projectile struck into her flank, but incredibly after twenty minutes of continuous bombardment not a single nuclear missile had reached her. The 1st Battle of Helios ended with the complete destruction of the automated fleet for the cost of a single crippled Crusader class ship. By the time it was over, Admiral Lewis was sweating profusely. He looked over the casualty and damage reports. He counted less than fifty on his own ship, but it was the information coming back from ANS Sentry that almost made him vomit.

Two hundred and twelve dead, seventy-two wounded, and for what?

Because of his decision, hundreds of men and women were now dead or wounded. One of the newest Crusader class warships would need months of repair work, assuming it was even salvageable. He wiped his brown and ran his finger along the lines of data.

“Admiral, incoming message from the AJ Naval Station. It’s Admiral Anderson,” said the communications officer. He nodded slowly in reply.

“Put him on the main screen.”

The face of the Admiral filled half of the main screen, and he was surprised to see the man was smiling at him. There was a delay while the signal worked its way from the Naval Station, through the Rift in T’Kari space, and then through Helios to his ship.

“Admiral Lewis, I have been monitoring the battle reports in the T’Kari Sector. You’ve done great work. Your Captains are to be commended. This is one of the most decisive battles in the Alliance’s history.”

Admiral Lewis wiped his brown again, wondering quite how many battles the Alliance had even fought in its short history.

“The ground operation is going well. Our troops have the Animosh and their commanders boxed in around the Triangle sector.”

He took a short breath as if he was preparing for something bad.

“The T’Kari inform me they have intercepted communications between the Khreenk and the forces of Justitium Lyssk.”

Now it was Admiral Lewis’ turn to hold his breath as he waited for the inevitable news.

“It looks like they are attempting a rescue of their High Command.”

The face moved to the right, and a map of the Helios Sector appeared. To the left were the planet and the small group of ships under the command of the Khreenk Admiral. A short distance away sat the three ships led by ANS Crusader.

“Your ships are too late to stop them getting on the ground. I need you to blockade the planet. Do not let Justitium Lyssk and his commanders escape, or this war could go on indefinitely.”

“Understood, Admiral. We’re on the way.”