Shaitan Wars 2: Wrath of the Shaitans (42 page)

“Thanks but the credit goes more to that nutcase Major and his equally brave company. Make sure that you and the rest of your team thank them personally when they wake up. As far as wiping the Shaitans off the planet goes, don’t count your chickens yet Yusuke. There are more lurking somewhere, and we don’t even know where. That is the scary part.” Replied Leanna grimly.

Chapter 27

Hole in the ground

South Pole of Mars

September 2083

“USS Resolute to Kormas base. Be advised that we have located the missing Shaitan bird. Repeat. USS Resolute to Kormas base. We have found the Shaitan shuttle.” The sensor operator repeated.

“Copy that Resolute.” The com operator at Kormas base responded as she got in front of the screen. “I just received the coordinates, I will pass it on to the colonel. Thanks.”

Leanna must have been monitoring the channel, for she butted into the conversation. “Resolute, this is Col. McGraw, it took mighty long. Where are the bastards hiding?”

“They have made no efforts to camouflage colonel. They don’t seem to be hiding. The Shaitan shuttle is parked right in the open. They are right at the South Pole colonel. That is why it took us so long to find them. We had to change to a polar orbit to see them.” USS Resolute replied.

“Ah… that explains it. Wonder what they are doing at the South Pole. May I speak to the captain please?” Leanna asked and she was connected to the Trisha. “Hey Trish, I know the Resolute has done a lot already in space, could I ask for one more favor?”

Trisha stuck to formally addressing Leanna, despite them knowing each other very well. There were so few women in command positions, that senior women officers in USC were usually close, sharing their unique issues in an otherwise male majority organization. Leanna however was far senior both in rank and age compared to Trisha. “Colonel, please let me know your command, we are here to help.”

“Is it possible for the Resolute to take out the shuttle from space? Ideally disable it with an antimissile. The Marines have been through hell in the last few hours, I would like to spare them a serious fight by taking out the shuttle from space. I don’t want to create a mess though. I am very curious to find out what they are doing out there. Any clues about that from your sensors?” Leanna asked.

“I am afraid colonel, you asked me something we cannot do. We are completely out of antimissiles. There is just one nuke left, which would definitely create a lot of mess. I am afraid the Marines will have to take their shuttles up against the Shaitan shuttle and do it the hard way.

Regarding what they are up to, I have seen the sensor data, but I am afraid, I don’t have a clue why they would be interested in the South Pole. I can confirm that they have not tried to make any base, at least nothing over ground.

It is unlikely that they would have constructed underground and we wouldn’t have detected construction signs. There hasn’t been enough time for them to have hidden it so well. Their shuttle engines are cold from the thermal images.

It is likely that the radio jamming the Shaitans have unleashed is now working to their disadvantage. It was a good call colonel keeping it on, although it is a pain waiting for our orbit to take us over Kormas base to establish laser connectivity. The Shaitans at the South Pole are probably not aware of what has happened at the Kormas base.

I am releasing our last satellite in synchronous orbit over Kormas base. It should make our communications easier, and will also give Kormas base direct line of communication to Earth without having to switch off the Shaitan radio jamming.” Trisha finished.

“All right Trish. I guess with your current missile situation, there isn’t much you can do to help from up there. Thanks for putting up the satellite though. It will help a lot. Leanna out.” Leanna cut the line and connected to the air strip below in the plains.

The Shaitan jamming had been left turned on primarily to prevent the other Shaitan shuttle on the South Pole from getting to suspect that there was something wrong here on Kormas base. It was however hampering their own efforts to coordinate the mop up operations.

There were many Shaitan soldiers who had fled into the ravines. They needed to be hunted down and neutralized, before they were able to cause any act of sabotage or harm. Humans lived on the edge precariously on Mars. Even a small sabotage, for example to the nuclear power plant, would be a death sentence for all of the humans on Mars.

So Leanna had to use the wired lines and ask the com operator there to fetch Ed from wherever he was. Ed came into view about 10 minutes later. He was obviously coming in from somewhere outside, and had not bothered to take off his suit since he intended to go back out. Even through the faceplate, Leanna could see that Ed was tired and fatigued. “Colonel, how can I be of service?”

“Captain, you and your company has done enough for the day, and you need to mop up the stragglers anyway. You and your people have been doing a good job of that, and once you have finished I want all of you to get back into the base and take some rack time. I however need the service of your shuttles.

The Gurkha platoons are relatively less fatigued, I want to take two of the platoons down to the South Pole to finish off the last Shaitan shuttle and check out what they hell they are doing out there.” Leanna said.

“Colonel, we are almost finished out here. I can lead the platoons down to the South Pole if you order…” Ed started but Leanna cut him off.

“You have done enough for the day Edward.” Leanna said in a soft but firm tone, leaving no doubt that this was not a suggestion but an order. “Don’t worry about babysitting a colonel, captain. I may no longer be as young as you, but I am not that old either. Remember I have seen my fair share of fighting these bastards.”

“As you wish colonel, I will recall the shuttle that is helping us recon the ravines. I will get them refueled. Thankfully the Shaitans didn’t touch the airstrip or the fuel dumps.” Ed said and signed off.

The shuttle ride to the South Pole was over two hours, and most of the Gurkha marines were fast asleep throughout the journey. ‘Less fatigued’ was a relative term. The Gurkha marines may have not had to make a death defying jump and hike up to the Korma base like the US Marines of the 3
^rd
company, but they had also been fighting for almost 4 hours.

There was no such relief for Leanna though. She was tense as they approached the designated point. She had coordinated with USS resolute. The Resolute had gone into a slower polar orbit, so that it would be in a region over the South Pole for almost 6 hours such that laser and radio communication with the ground would be possible.

USS Resolute may not be able to help them with fire power, but it will be the eyes and ears for the attack force. Leanna had timed her approach to coincide with USS Resolute approaching the South Pole. Leanna looked at the sensor reports coming from the Resolute. There was no activity around the Shaitan shuttle. Hopefully it will stay that way for the next half hour.

The shuttle was flying very low now, barely 10 meters above the surface, as it approached the designated point. The marines woke up and started getting ready to disembark. They had chosen a point 10 Km from the Shaitan shuttle. At this distance the Shaitan shuttle’s radars should be just over the horizon, so the shuttles should be safe from detection. 10 Km would not have been enough on Earth, but Mars was smaller, and the horizon was closer here.

Leanna had always been fit all her life, but there was nothing anyone could do about age. It takes its toll. The 10 Km hike in a suit, even in the one third gravity of Mars was no longer a breeze for her. Their plan was simple. The two platoons would try to sneak close to the Shaitan shuttle, attack and disable the shuttle. Once that was done, they would call in their own shuttle for air support and try to overpower the Shaitan.

Humans had never had an air combat with a Shaitan shuttle. They had no idea about its offensive and defensive capabilities. It was however huge in size, especially compared to the human shuttles. There was nothing preventing the Shaitan shuttles from carrying a large number of air-to-air missiles or even small nukes for that matter.

The human shuttles by contrast were not designed for combat, but for transport. The USC shuttles still carried two externally mounted air-to-air missiles and one heavy caliber machine gun, which could be manually operated. It was thought best for them not to chance an air-to-air combat between the Shaitan and human shuttles if it could be avoided.

USS Resolute was keeping a hawk eye on any change in status of the Shaitan shuttle and directly beaming it to the marching marines as well as the shuttles waiting at the designated 10 Km point. If somehow the Shaitans sensed the approaching marines, then the human shuttles would rush ahead to support the marines.

At about 1500 meters, they slowed down and started walking. This would ensure that they did not bounce as high as they moved. It was hard in this low gravity to not bounce high as you ran fast. There was absolutely no cover between the Shaitan shuttle and the approaching marines.

If the Shaitans had an attentive lookout on their shuttle, they would be able to detect the marines approaching now. There was nothing the marines could do about it. They just had to move as fast as they could and keep as low a profile as they could, storm the rest of the distance and hope to catch the Shaitans by surprise.

When the marines were at about 400 meters from the shuttle they were detected. The Shaitan technology was better than humans, but it was not magical. The shuttle engines lit up but it still needed a few seconds for them to warm up and generate enough thrust to lift off.

“RPGs aim for those engines NOW! Marines full speed ahead, let’s try to stop that thing from taking off.” Leanna shouted, as she wished she had a few shoulder fired Surface to Air missiles. The marines normally outfitted themselves like a light infantry unit. There had been no SAMs stocked in the Kormas base. Shooting down an airplane or a shuttle did not figure as one of the likely possibilities when this base was built.

The biggest weapon the marines had, to hit the shuttle from a distance was an RPG. It was a granddaddy of an RPG, but an RPG nonetheless. The USC-GCF special issue RPG had bigger explosive power and it shaped charge, was far more powerful and destructive than the RPGs used a hundred years ago against the sloped armor of tanks. It was tested to be effective on the kind of materials used on the hull of Shaitan ships.

Humans had not seen Shaitan tanks or armored vehicles. This was the first battle where humans were seeing Shaitan shuttles, so they had no idea what these vehicles were made of. So the humans had gone with the assumption that they would be at least as hardy as the hull material of Shaitan ships.

Leanna had ordered the engine exhaust targeted because they were likely to be the weakest part externally of the shuttle. The problem with RPGs were that they could not be guided. You had to aim and hope you got it right. Aiming for an engine at 400m with an RPG is not easy. It is a matter of luck. Once the shuttle starts moving, it would be even harder to hit the shuttle, let alone aim for the engines.

Their best hope of disabling the shuttle would have been to sneak in and attach explosives, but it seems unlikely they would be able to do so. The marines rushing towards the shuttle were too far. Leanna just hoped there were no machine gun operator on board the shuttle aiming at the marines. They would be slaughtered.

The shuttle took just 4 seconds after lighting its engines to start to take off. The laws of aerodynamics dictated that the Shaitan shuttle looked fairly similar to human shuttles and aircrafts in its basic design. The propulsion system however was definitely different from those of the humans. The thin sloped wings of the shuttle did not seem to have any machinery.

The backward thrust was provided by an engine inside the shuttle, with the exhaust to the rear, while there were 8 smaller exhausts on the belly of the shuttle that provided VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) capability. The RPGs managed to slightly damage the vent of the rear exhaust as well as one of the 8 smaller thrusters on the belly.

They had been approaching from the rear, hoping they were less likely to be seen from that direction. That had given them a good sight to the rear engine. Leanna realized that she was thinking anthropomorphically. Humans could see in only one direction, so their rear of a shuttle was blinder than the front. Shaitans saw equally well in all directions, so why should a Shaitan aircraft be blinder to the rear?

“Gurkha 2, Gurkha 3, be advised, we have taken off and are on our way. ETA less than 30 seconds.” Leanna heard inside her helmet. That was the good news. The marine shuttles had been watchful and had moved on cue. The bad news was that there was no place to take cover. If the Shaitan shuttle opened power right now, they would be sitting ducks.

Then Leanna realized that was not even the worst news, when they saw Shaitans jumping out of the ground a few hundred meters to their right. The marines hit the dirt and got into firing positions immediately. The platoon commanders immediately got into the act, organizing a defensive line.

While the Shaitan projectile weapons were as effective if not worse than the plasma weapons of the Shaitans, Leanna knew that the marines were psychologically more terrified of the plasma weapons. She understood why. Plasma guns were being seen for the first time, and somehow the damaged caused by it looked more terrifying.

It was however the wounds the marines had seen on their comrades, which made the plasma gun so terrifying to the marines. A plasma pulse does not go very deep into the body. It however burns a relatively large part of the suit and the skin compared to a bullet wound. The plasma wound looks a lot bigger and thus more terrifying.

The biggest danger to life from a plasma gun wound is from not being able to repair the suit fast enough however, not the wound itself. If one is able to repair the suit, then a bullet wound is likely to be more fatal than a plasma wound. A bullet on the other hand makes a very small entry wound, and most of the damage is internal, so it does not look that terrifying.