The Red Leopards of Zaxon B (Galaxies Collide Book 2) (4 page)

Major Hecklan nodded, examining the armoured vehicles, ‘Hover Tanks and armoured cars…good…’ He glanced up at the Lieutenant with blue piping, ‘…and you Malikkas?’

The officer’s darkened skin was tinged and swept with lighter shades across his cheeks and lower chin, his bright eyes flashing red in the light, his voice seeming strained with a heavy accent as he smiled confidently at Jozefina, ‘Sorry my English may not be as good…the Herraka Blue Leopards can drive the counterattack, we have heavy weapon infantry and low level air support…’ He flicked the map with two fingers back to the front line, nodding, ‘The Morgons will have moved up quickly, their blood eagerness pushing them beyond their heavy ground based anti-air cover…’ He looked up, his eyes sparkling with adrenalin, ‘They will only have hand held rockets against our own air specialists…once we have thinned their numbers, my troops will drive them back with support from the 2
nd
and 16
th
on the flanks. The reserve unit can follow on behind us and mop up the survivors and any wounded, it will be good experience for them.’

Communications Captain Tarkai awaited for the Blue Leopard officer to finish before speaking, his hands placed on his hips, ‘Fleet have some interesting equipment to add to the counterattack…I will arrange its deployment to the north and south of the specialist unit.’ He grimaced at the map before them, ‘There will be no other units to add to this sector for some time I think, so we had better limit casualties.’ He panned the map across, ‘Some earth soldiers and Trevakians are clearing the tunnels to the north, and we have two units holding the front defensive line…one or two companies will have been destroyed in the Morgon breakthrough…’ Pointing his fingers at the villages to the east as the map zoomed in on the holograms, ‘We need these troops back, and safely…there are some earth units amongst them…as well as the civilians that lived in the hamlets…it is our responsibility to protect them.’

Major Hecklan smiled grimly, ‘Let’s hope our defences hold up then…before we launch the counterattack…’ He nodded to Jozefina, ‘It seems the reserve battalion…your
Heathrow
volunteers are about to come face to face with our enemy…we do not have enough soldiers in this sector to remove them from the line…let us just hope some of them survive to tell the tale…’ He indicated to Captain Mason, ‘Move the Americans to the north, I need some soldiers in the tunnels to release our own troops.’

The American shrugged, ‘But Sir…the volunteers here have little to no experience…I should command them…’

The Major raised his hand, ‘There are too few Americans to make a difference…we do not want to endanger your specialists…the tunnels need to be secured and quickly. Once we have driven the counterattack forward, I will release the reserves back to you…’ His eyes softened as he saw Mason’s frustration, ‘Don’t worry captain, they will only be used in the rear areas as per your wishes…perhaps this Lieutenant Kim can command them in the interim until they are returned to you.’

Shino stumbled on the stoned and snow covered track, her exhausted body dropping forwards as her knees skidded along the dirt. Gasping, she attempted to force herself upwards, Riaz grasping her right arm roughly and propelling them forward as she struggled to rise. She desperately sucked air in, coughing through the dust and smoke as her senses began to panic, vaguely aware of the abandoned airstrip to her right, the snowflakes beginning to drift and swirl to earth around them.

Screaming from behind broke through her stinging half-blinded sight, the tears and dirt smeared across her face as she forced herself upwards. Riaz winced as his muscles tensed, the agony shooting through his limbs as he gritted his teeth, a whine of pain slipping from his lips in desperation, ‘Come on Shino…we need to keep moving!’

Debra Hardie grasped Shino’s other arm, wrenching the small Philippine upwards, her voice feverishly raised as the blasts of warm air hit them from further back up the slope, explosions rocking the terrain as they were showered in dirt, ‘Get up…you are not on an
effing
break now!’

More screams, the shouts of the wounded, panicked fleeing miners and soldiers next to them loud in their ears as running bodies swept past. Crashes behind as buildings collapsed in the mining village, the Morgon troops and grenadiers firing rockets into any structures that offered resistance, the remaining desperate Trevakian marines buying time for their escaping countrymen, time paid for with their lives.

At the brow of the track, Captain Dugachard was shouting desperately at her remaining marines, the soldiers ducking behind any available cover to fire at the pursuing enemy. Smoke and dust billowed around them, their muzzle flashes lighting the terrain as clouds of acrid smoke rose and spiralled from the burning buildings ahead. Standing just below the rise, she fired blindly back at the village, her visor pulsing deep red as engines roared to the right, the remaining damaged hover tank and armoured car attempting to retreat towards the fire. Morgon infantry mounted the armoured hulls, wedging armoured piercing grenades into any gap they could find as the blinded crews inside fired desperately out into the swirling smoke.

The captain swore under her breath as a plume of fire erupted through the smoke, the turret of the heavy tank blown from its ring as red hot shrapnel tore through the crew, killing them instantly as their screams were cut short, the hull sinking downwards as the motor died. The armoured car, blocked in the narrow dust filled street by the burning tank surged forward, flames pouring from its sides as the driver crashed into the advancing Morgons, screams of hatred filling his ears as the scared enemy swarmed over the sides. The top gunner was overwhelmed, his helmeted head torn from his body as the decapitated corpse slumped back into the vehicle, the quad gun spinning in automatic mode as it blasted from side to side, the cracking of armoured plate as enemy soldiers fell from the sides.

The engine belched, the motor dying as a rocket smashed against the cowling, thick smoke pouring through the driver’s compartment as the two remaining Trevakians scrambled from their seats, the vehicle lurching sideways. Bullets clattered against the hull as they heaved their bodies into the rear section, the blood from the gunner’s body seeping through the sealed upper position and dripping onto the steel grooved floor.

The male crewman turned to his female driver, his visor cracked, voice desperate as he listened to the metal armour clambering onto the hull outside, ‘I think this is it!’ He smiled weakly at his long term companion, their relationship blossoming from their initial recruitment three years earlier.

She smiled, lifting the helmet from her face, her short brown hair ruffled and matted from sweat and the close confines. She pulled him to her, feeling his muscles tremble as they kissed deeply, the shrieks outside intensifying, the Morgon’s sensing victory was theirs. She pushed him back, looking into his brown eyes as she smiled, her eyes filling with emotion as the quad gun above fell silent, ‘Shall we go together?’

He looked away, grimacing as she rubbed his arms fondly, grinning at his tensed frustration as the Trevakian she loved nodded silently, lifting a pulse grenade from his tunic. He looked back into her eyes, his hand flicking the top cap of the grenade and clicking the timed detonator. Leaning forward, he kissed her gently and tenderly, the five second timer detonating, their entwined bodies imploding inside the hull.

Captain Dugachard grimaced as more explosions emanated through the smoke, shouting at the soldiers around her to keep firing. A couple pushed themselves upwards, turning to run in panic, a clearing in the smoke sweeping across her vision causing her eyes to widen. At the outskirts of the village over one hundred metres away, the Morgon walkers stepped forward, the smooth armoured plate now smeared with dirt and blood as she instinctively turned, shouting in despair, ‘Retreat!’ There were no survivors between the two arch enemies, just lifeless bodies contorted in death.

The twenty plus marines scrambled from their cover, sprinting back down the track as she waved them on, glancing back one final time and seeing the Morgon commander staring at her, his arm rising to point forward as over one hundred of his grenadiers emerged from the side streets. Heart pounding, she spun round, her desperate shout caught as dust swirled around them, ‘Run!’

Riaz’s breath was coming in short gasps, the combat uniforms anaesthetic capability exceeded by his intense pain as he struggled to half drag Shino. Gasping, they reached the foot of the airstrip, his knees buckling as miners and marines ran past. Shino collapsed next to him, her chest heaving in the poor oxygen as Debra stumbled in the snow, her voice a scream in desperation, ‘We need to keep going!’

The Asian security officer struggled to the nearby cold rocks, the pain in his injured chest and shoulders almost overwhelming as he dragged Shino to him. Debra dropped to her knees next to him, tears filling her eyes as she raised her assault rifle, Riaz propping his weapon against the rocks with one hand as he coughed violently, his senses reeling.

Shino scrambled upwards to a crouch, biting her dried and dust covered lips as she stared back up the track. Debra Hardie glanced down, ‘You ok, Shino? We need to move…’ Her voice trailed off as the young Philippine slowly looked grimly at her, dust and dirt covering her face, her jaw tensing as she raised her assault rifle, a hand rising slowly to point.

Debra’s gaze followed her outstretched arm, seeing the few remaining Trevakian marines fleeing towards them, their bodies lowered in fear. Snowflakes billowed across the airstrip, the dark grey clouds gathering overhead as the running soldiers zig-zagged, their combat uniforms responding to their heightened body symptoms with adrenalin.

Shrieks of hatred echoed across the terrain, Debra straining her eyes as she heard the metal legs of the mechanical walkers, the smooth sloped steel emerging over the brow of the slope in the distance as camouflaged Morgon grenadiers ran to the rock edges. As the upper hull of the walker emerged, glows forming on the front guns, the airport supervisor’ visor flashing and glowing red in warning alarm as she stared at the running marines coming towards their position.

The armoured helmets of the Morgon gunners moved from side to side, tongues slipping across scaled lips in anticipation as they viewed the fleeing enemy soldiers below on the track. The gun muzzles glowed red hot, automatic targeting choosing the first victims as the barrels began to spin, sparks shooting across the length of the guns.

Debra gasped as the intense light shot outwards, the first two running marines simply disintegrating as the high powered energy swept through their bodies. Several of the runners glanced back in terror, their pace increasing in desperation as the upper hull of the walker shunted round, the guns belching again as a further two bodies shattered and collapsed downwards, dark blood spurting to the sides and across the rocks.

Riaz screamed in hatred, bullets flying from his assault rifle as he fired in bursts beyond the frantic Trevakians. Shino dropped to her knees, raising her weapon, the rifle juddering as she squeezed the trigger, bullets splattering across the rocks at the top of the track as the Morgon grenadiers ducked back into cover. Debra Hardie threw her body to the ground, the rifle rising in her hand as the darkened walker emerged further, her bullets sparking off the upper hull, the gunners instinctively lowering below their armoured plate.

The forward lasers shot again, static and steam spurting from the barrels as two more Trevakian bodies disintegrated on the track, one corpse’s limbs shooting outwards as they separated from the running body, the intense heat and energy tearing through the protective uniform and flesh. Melted shoulder armour and bloodied body parts fell to the snow covered track, Shino shrieking in despair as she fired again at the rocks, emptying the ammunition clip. Shaking in terror she fell backwards, her body jolting uncontrollably in shock as Riaz fired next to her.

Debra’s visor glowed intense red, the top of another walker emerging behind the first as the remaining Trevakians sped past, throwing themselves against the rocks, another body disintegrating as laser beams shot past. Blood splattered across Debra, her body beginning to tremble in almost overpowering shock as the walker stepped over the rise, the large armoured metal feet crushing a body beneath the steel, the corpse exploding outwards under the immense downward pressure.

Bullets zipped past them from behind, numerous Trevakian marines regrouping and forming a desperate defensive line. The intense laser lights shot past, shattering rock and bodies behind, the return bullets sparking off the armoured plate as Debra struggled sideways in fear, Shino grasping the back of her uniform and half dragging the supervisor’s body towards safety.

Riaz’s weapon clicked empty, a squeal of frustration emanating from his lips as he snatched another clip from his belt, slamming it into the rifle, the muzzle flashing once more. The second walker’s muzzles began to glow, Riaz screaming his frustration through a red visor as explosions shook the rocks above, showering them in debris. Morgon mortars now firing on their pinned prey, the only retreat and escape exposing anyone who ran into deadly accurate fire.

Their body armour inflated automatically, attempting to protect the user from harm, the suits pressed to their maximum usage. The first walker advancing down the snow covered track as bullets sparked and ricocheted against the upper hull and mechanical legs, the laser muzzles glowing once more as the targeting system engaged. Morgon camouflaged grenadiers and black armoured infantry emerged, advancing cautiously behind the second walker as another came into view behind, its acid guns dripping from eliminating any final remaining Trevakian resistance in the mining colony behind.

Muzzle flashes swept across Riaz’s visor, the dense protective plastic glowing and flashing red as his body shook, his mind blocking the excruciating pain in his muscles and shoulders as the walker clamped its heavy metal and polymer feet down onto the snow and dirt further up the track. Explosions rocked the terrain, the mortar rounds flying in towards the beleaguered defenders as they fired desperately up the slope. A couple of the Morgon infantry fell, bullets piercing between their advanced body armour as Silakian infantry surged in behind, using their allies and walkers as cover.

Debra Hardie shook her head in despondent defeat, turning to Shino as the walker crunched a skull beneath its armoured feet, the sickening sound resounding around the defenders. Shrieks poured across the enclosed landscape as the Morgons closed on their prey, the desire for blood and skulls urging their thirst and scaled bodies forward as they spread across the airstrip, dropping to fire on the isolated defenders.

Electronic and mechanical screams suddenly filled the air, the defenders ducking instinctively in fear as their heads spun upwards. Eyes widened as the shimmering objects swept over the rocks and barren low trees behind them, Tregan dropping to one knee next to Shino, his rifle muzzle flashing as the weapon bucked in his hands.

The silver objects flew overhead, swooping toward the Morgon infantry and walkers as the Trevakian drones sought out their prey, two flying directly at the high armoured vehicles. The explosion rocked the first high walker, the mechanical beast shuddering as the flash exploded across the terrain, one crew member beheaded by the high velocity shrapnel from the exploding vehicle as the other ducked down. The second explosion caused the mechanical legs to buckle, the upper body collapsing downwards as the supports gave way, the armoured piercing detonation slicing through the command optics, blue lubricating liquid spurting outwards as the heavily armoured vehicle lost power. The upper crew console crashed onto the track, the machine shattering upon impact as the surviving Morgon leapt from the wreckage.

Short laser blasts shot across the snow covered landscape as the drones fired on the enemy infantry, several bodies collapsing as the intensely powered heat seared through their armour. The numerous drones swept across the terrain, circling and firing on the armoured Morgon infantry below. Pulsing flares rose majestically into the air from beyond the brow of the track, the countermeasure beginning to confuse the targeting systems of any drones that flew too close.

As rockets swept upwards, explosions ripped against the furthest drones, the small craft crashing from the skies. Tregan lifted his weapon, slapping Shino next to him, shouting at the three of them, ‘Time to move back…the Red Leopards are about four clicks behind us…we need to get away! These drones were sent to delay, not stop the Morgons!’