Omega Force 3: The Enemy Within (22 page)

“Let’s see what we’ve got,” Jason said, detaching his big plasma rifle from its anchor point and jogging over to the edge of the roof. The building was a squat, four-story affair that perfectly overlooked the skirmish that was taking place at the mouth of
an access tunnel that led directly into the MoD headquarters building.
Talk about a stupid feature on a building that’s supposed to be a fortress.
The ConFed infantry was well-equipped and trained, but only at company strength. The defending troops were dug in behind fortifications and had the advantage of only needing to secure about thirty feet of beachhead. From what Jason could see, there was only small arms fire being exchanged at the moment. While the company of attackers (likely the full troop complement for a standard Fleet cruiser) was outnumbered, a well-placed rocket would put an end to the conflict. The defenders, while numerous, were all bunched up into an enclosed space. It would be a slaughter. Surely they had to realize that?

“Why doesn’t someone just lob a grenade into that bunched-up pack of morons?” Crusher asked, giving voice to what Jason had been thinking.

“The ConFed infantry does not appear to be trying to capture the tunnel in earnest,” Lucky said. “It is likely that this is a diversion.”

“For what?”
Jason wondered.

“Who cares?” Crusher said impatiently. “If we eliminate the diversion, I’d say that would force their hand.”

“Well,” Jason said, “it is what we came to do. How do we want to—”

“I believe surprise will give us maximum impact, Captain,” Lucky interrupted. “Dispersing the soldiers will allow us to accomplish our objective with reduced risk. May I?”

“By all means,” Jason said, curious as to what his friend had in mind. Lucky’s eyes instantly burned red and the whine of his weapons charging filled Jason’s ears before the battlesynth took two steps and launched himself off the roof. “I wasn’t expecting that,” Jason said, rushing to the edge and bringing his weapon up.

Lucky descended in a graceful arc, bent his knees slightly, and
slammed
into the pavement below right in the middle of the ConFed position. The horrendous sound of the impact reached Jason’s ears as the debris kicked up caused mass confusion in the enemy’s ranks, all of them trying to figure out what had just happened.

If Lucky’s arrival caused confusion, the result when he opened fire within their midst could only be called panicked chaos. Soldiers broke discipline and scattered in all directions as the battlesynth’s plasma cannons started shredding though their ranks. A few squeezed off a few shots in his direction, but none came close to actually hitting him.

“We’d better get down there,” Crusher said, moving to climb over the ledge and make his way to the street level. Jason hopped up next to him and jumped off the roof in the same manner as Lucky. When he was halfway through his descent, he fired the repulsor jets that were built into the suit, two large boosters up by his shoulder blades and two smaller jets that popped out near his armpits, to slow his flight. While not as sexy as Lucky’s foot-mounted jets, it was a far more stable configuration.

As soon as he touched down, Jason started targeting the stragglers and opened fire, dropping each with a double-shot, center mass. His plasma rifle, while not as devastating as his beloved railgun, was quite a bit more powerful than the standard-issue infantry weapon, and the ConFed standard-issue body armor wasn’t faring well against it.

“Watch your back,” Crusher said from his left, having free-climbed down to the first story before jumping to the street below. He let loose a rapid-fire salvo towards the iot troops that were now targeting them in lieu of the ConFed soldiers since they were no longer in range. Crusher’s burst hit the tunnel roof over their heads and brought enough small debris raining down to make them duck and cover. “I count thirty-five down, that means we have another thirty-five or so still out there.”

“True,” Jason said as they moved to the corner of the nearest building to find cover from the
iot troops. “But I think this assault has been busted up. Whoever is left in command will probably be calling for an extraction about now. Or at least trying to round up his survivors.”

“All troops have dispersed to the point of being ineffective, Captain,” Lucky reported as he walked casually around the corner to meet up with them.

“Thanks for taking all the fun for yourself,” Crusher accused.

“My apologies,” Lucky said. “We now have a new situation. I detected six thermal signatures approaching from the upper atmosphere and converging on this position. I believe this may be the second prong of the assault.”

“How the hell did you detect that?”

“I am in contact with the
Phoenix
and monitoring the sensor feed from the ship’s active array,” Lucky said.

“Doc,” Jason said into the com, “do you see the six contacts approaching from orbit?”

“
Affirmative, Captain
,” Doc answered. “
What should we do about it?
”

“Engage them,” Jason ordered. “Do NOT let them land on, or take position around, the MoD headquarters.”

“Now what?”
Crusher asked. “We should get moving before the iots decide to press the attack and come around the corner on us.”

“This went a little easier than I had expected
, to be honest,” Jason admitted. “Let’s move and keep the rest of that company from reforming and coming back to find us.”

*****

“So what’s the plan?” Kellea asked. She was met with a trio of helpless looks from the other members of Omega Force. “What?”

“I think it would be best if you took over,” Doc said.

“Me? Why?” she asked, confused.

“You’re the only captain here right now,” Twingo offered. “We’re mildly proficient, but going head-to-head against six hostile targets is a bit too much.” The others were nodding their heads emphatically at this.

“Oh for ... Move!” she barked at Doc. He practically threw himself out of the pilot’s seat to make room for her and strapped himself back in at the sensor station. Kellea slid into the pilot’s seat and waited while the computer adjusted the seat and control positions for her body size. She had only flown the
Phoenix
twice before, and both times had been nothing more than goofing off with Jason, but at least she was familiar with the stick and rudder control configuration. So even though she had the least amount of hours in the big gunship, her years as a pilot and starship captain still made her the most qualified to fly the
Phoenix
into combat. “Kage, bring the weapons up and start prioritizing targets. We’re going for disabling shots, there are still a lot of civilians down there.”

“On it, Captain,” Kage said, his four hands flying over the controls to bring the
Phoenix
up to full combat capable. “Weapons are up, shields coming up, targeting solutions are coming up on your tactical display. Point defense turrets will pinpoint main power junctions and weapon systems on the targets.”

“I’m authorizing the computer to fire at optimum range,” Kellea said as she wheeled the
Phoenix
around and slammed the throttle down. The big gunship groaned under the g-forces as she turned one hundred and eighty degrees in knife-edge flight. Kellea double-squeezed the trigger and held it for three more seconds before releasing it. This gave command authorization to the tactical computer to fire whenever it felt it had an optimum angle and range on a target.

“We have three coming down on us above and to port,” Doc reported. “The other three are extending out and will likely try to come at the target from the south.”

“Copy,” Kellea said calmly. “We’ll meet the three closer targets head on and then come around for the remaining three. Stand by.” She pulled the nose up and advanced the throttle, sending the
Phoenix
rocketing straight up and putting them on a collision course for the three incoming ships. The loose arrowhead formation seemed to waver in uncertainty as the bigger gunship bore down on them before breaking to avoid a collision.

The lead ship passed directly over the
Phoenix
and her point defense turrets blasted its engines into inoperability. It began drifting slowly to the ground on repulsors and emergency power. Kellea stomped the left pedal and sent the ship into a sharp hammerhead turn to try and get a better angle on the ship passing below and to port. The chin turret spat red death as the nose came around and ripped the stabilizers off the left side of the small craft. As it spun down, barely in control, Kellea realized these were small assault boats, not fighter craft. They were probably ferrying troops down to the roof of the MoD building.

“Where’s target three?” she asked as the
Phoenix
completed her turn and began accelerating back down towards the city.

“To port and low,” Doc said.
“Running fast along the deck.”

“Got him,” she affirmed before pushing the power back up and sending the gunship tearing down into the atmosphere after it. She saw that it was over an industrial area that looked to be mostly deserted. “Bring the main guns to bear. Destroy it,” she ordered. The powerful plasma cannons on the leading edges opened up and turned the small assault boat into scraps, none bigger than her fist. She yanked the ship out of the dive and hauled it into a violent bank to the right that would put them in line with the last three targets, all of which were slowing to drop off their loads on the MoD rooftop.

*****

“That should about do it,” Jason panted inside his armor. Even Crusher looked a bit winded as he nodded his agreement, his mouth split in a wide, savage smile. Lucky, of course, just stood and waited for his companions to catch their breath.

“That’ll teach ‘em,” Crusher said.

“I am not certain the lesson learned will be of much use to them now,” Lucky lamented, looking at the bodies of the company commander and his second. Crusher laughed uproariously at this and slapped Lucky on the back. They had been pressing the troops hard in order to keep them from regrouping, but the commander had surprised them and decided to order his charges to turn their guns on any civilian they could find. The three then changed their plan to hunting down the commander specifically and making him pay. He had begged for his life when cornered, and even threw his lieutenant in front of him as a shield before Crusher ended his life. Jason lamented the deaths of the regular troops. They were just your average ground-pounders following orders and likely fed a load of lies as motivation. But the company commander had obviously been specifically selected and placed for the mission. His death gave Jason no regrets.

“Let’s get some altitude and call for a pickup,” Jason said, eyeing the rooftops nearby. It took them more time than he would have preferred to find a way up, and even then it took getting up on a lower building and climbing the exterior of the taller to get in a space clear enough for the
Phoenix
to come and get them. Jason and Lucky used their repulsor jets to easily ascend to the roof. Crusher, who flat-out refused to be carried, arrived some time later, huffing and puffing from the vertical free-climb. “You’re out of shape,” Jason observed. This was met with a full teeth-exposed snarl. He let it drop ... he wasn’t
that
confident in his new armor.

“
Phoenix
,” Jason said into the com. “We’re ready for a pickup. You should see my beacon.”

“
Stand by assault team
,” Kage said. “
We’re still engaging hostiles
.”

“Copy that.”

As they waited they saw three smaller craft flaring and slowing near the roof of the MoD building.
Can’t get ‘em all, I guess.
Even as Jason was lamenting the fifty percent success rate of his crew, the lead ship disintegrated into an enormous fireball. The other two turned and tried to accelerate away, but the
Phoenix
shot out from over the building, wheeled about at an impossible angle of attack, and hit a second target, sending it spiraling down into the street. The third dove to get some airspeed and break pursuit, but the powerful gunship, still in a dive and racing down parallel to the building, rolled around and pulled up in a gut-wrenching maneuver that made Jason hold his breath. They lost sight of the
Phoenix
for a moment, and he waited for the inevitable explosion he knew was coming from his ship impacting the surface of Gryr-4. He looked up as the small assault boat raced overhead trying to escape. A split second later the
Phoenix
thundered over their position, mere meters above the buildings as it pursued the last target. They were all speechless for a moment.

“Has Doc been practicing?” Crusher asked in an awed voice.

“That wasn’t Doc flying,” Jason said, utterly certain who was in command of his ship at the moment.

“Kage?”
Lucky guessed.

“Try again,” Jason said.

“Humph,” Crusher grunted. “You know ... she’ll probably be looking for a job after this—” he trailed off as Jason’s helmeted head snapped around and fixated on him. He was smart enough to leave it alone.