Battle: Los Angeles

Mission: Downtown

The fight still has a long way to go.

[Author's Note: This story takes place immediately after the end of the movie Battle: Los Angeles.]

"I'll be borrowing this, sir," said Technical Sergeant Elena Santos, holding up the laptop computer as she left the tent to follow the others to the chopper.

"Uh, yeah, er, carry on," said the officer, former owner of said computer.

Corporal Imlay was filling a satchel with toast and other food from the table in the tent. "Hard gal to say no to, I think, sir," he said to the officer.

"Guess so," said the officer, as he handed Imlay an insulated bottle of hot coffee. "Probably the sort of one we need right now."

Imlay rushed a salute and ran after Santos, catching her as she, Corporal Lockett, and Corpsman Adukwu joined Sergeant Nantz and Corporal Harris in the chopper. The chopper lifted off and joined a flight of four, heading back towards Los Angeles. Nantz was speaking on the chopper radio-phone. "Yes, I understand, sir, yes, this squad can do that," he was saying. "Sir, could you please inform 61st Air Base Wing that T/S Elena Santos is with us. As a ... uh, let me think ... call her an Air Force-Marine Liaison."

"Does that mean I get paid more?" said Santos.

"Of course not," said Imlay, as he handed out food. "But you get to hang with us handsome Marines."

"I'd prefer the money," said Santos, smiling her crooked smile.

"Where are we going, Staff Sergeant?" said Lockett, as Nantz hung up the phone.

"Downtown," said Nantz, hanging up the phone. "There's an alien ship there. Apparently, it was on the ground when we brought the command ship down. So it's intact, according to the air surveillance. Our orders are to check it out, see if there's anything that can be salvaged. Equipment or technology. Anything that might help us. We might have hurt them but there's a long way to go in this fight yet."

The chopper peeled away from the others and headed towards the jungle of skyscrapers. Lockett was looking towards the Santa Monica shoreline. It was a hive of activity – activity that was not human. There was a line of the alien equivalent of landing ships on the beach.

"I guess that it would be the same with us," he said. "If we were attacking somewhere, and we lost our headquarters, we would keep going. Even if they have lost their generals, they still have majors and lieutenants and NCOs, I guess."

"Like those ones with the legs like spiders," said Adukwu. "Platoon commanders, maybe."

"Let's hope they don't get their air power back," said Harris. "You think they can still track radio messages, Staff Sergeant?"

"Guess we'll find out," said Nantz.

The pilot, designation Moped, spoke through the speaker in the cabin. "Target in sight, two kilometres," he said. "But we're seeing a lot of ground activity in the area."

Imlay pointed. On the ground, not far away, there was a squad of aliens, on foot. One of the LongLegs was with them. "Looks like they're going to the same place we are," he said. Nantz nodded.

The aliens had seen them now, and had stopped. Two of them seemed to be assembling something. It took Nantz a few moments to realise what it was.

"Moped, there's an alien surface-to-air weapon down there! Get us out of here!" he shouted.

Moped threw the chopper sideways as the first rocket leaped out of the tube. It had a fiery head, like a large flare, and left a trail of smoke.

It streaked by, less than five metres away. But the aliens were already setting up to fire another – and this time the ordinance looked different, like a bundle of fireworks.

"Don't like the look of that," said Harris. He hefted his gun and fired, knowing that the range was too great for any sort of accuracy but hoping that a few bursts might at least put the aliens off their aim.

The helicopter was still banking sideways when the second rocket launched. It soared upwards, and then exploded into smaller pieces ten metres away.

"Goddamn cluster bomb!" said Lockett. "Damn, these guys have got some tricks!"

The range had been too great for the missile to be entirely effective but one fragment smashed into the chopper, near the tail. Immediately, the whole craft began to vibrate. They began to lose height.

"We're going down!" shouted Moped. "I'll try and get us to a level spot."

Nantz saw the downed alien ship flash by, beneath them. It was not one of the clone ships: with a dozen antennae, it looked more like some sort of communications ship. There was no sign of life.

The area was littered with debris: fallen girders, smashed vehicles, chunks of concrete. Not more than five square metres of open space anywhere ... no, there was a spot a few hundred metres away, on a street. Moped headed for it. But the chopper was losing height fast.

"Hold on to something!" he shouted over the speaker. "This is going to be tight! If you're religious, call in whatever favours you have! If you're not, now would be a good time to start!"

Nantz saw several of his team cross themselves and whisper prayers. He whispered one himself.

The chopper came down with a massive thump, and then skidded across the open space and into a wrecked car. The whirling rotor whacked into a concrete power pole, and the chopper lurched violently, spinning on the ground back in the other direction.

They came to an unsteady standstill. There was a creaking noise, and then one of the skids broke. The chopper crashed the final half-metre to the asphalt.

The squad members stared at each other. "That went well, I thought," said Lockett.

They clambered out, and Moped joined them, carrying an automatic rifle and a helmet.

"Not exactly my best landing, but one you can walk away from, right?" he said.

"Under the circumstances, not too bad at all," said Nantz. He looked at the pilot's badge of rank. "Uh, you're an officer, aren't you?"

"Yeah," said Moped. "But let's forget about it. Not like I know anything about fighting aliens on the ground. Looks like I'm on your team now, and that means I'm willing to follow your orders, Staff Sergeant."

"Huh," said Santos, who looked as if she had been planning to knock him unconscious if he had tried to take command.

"We've still got a job to do," said Nantz. "That alien ship can't be far. We get to it and figure out a way back from there. But that alien squad looked like they were going for it too. They're probably about the same distance, but on the other side. Whoever gets there first will be able to set up a defensive position."

"Then we should start right now," said Adukwu.

They set off at a run, watching for alien activity in the surrounding buildings. It was hard going, in the open, in the rising heat, with their equipment, running past bodies. But eventually the alien ship came into view. A hundred metres from it, they stopped next to the remains of a stone wall.

Nantz glanced at Moped, who was panting, sweat dripping off him. "We're almost there," he said, handing the pilot his canteen.

Moped took a swig. "I fight better when I'm sitting down," he said.

"Probably not going to happen today," said Santos.

Imlay was studying the craft with the binoculars. "No movement, no sign of life, Staff Sergeant," he said. "Of course, these guys are pretty good with the traps, and that thing on the top of the ship looks like some sort of cannon or something, like a tank turret."

"Okay," said Nantz. He knew that crossing the last part would be the most dangerous. "That looks like a door in the side, open, so we go for that."

They sprinted for the craft, half-expecting a blast of alien fire. Nothing. They reached the door and went through, and once inside almost collapsed with relief and fatigue.

"Watch out!" shouted Adukwu. "There's one still here!" He hefted his gun.

But the alien was dead. Maybe it was the pilot; he was in something that looked like a control chair. He wasn't going anywhere: half his head was gone, and it looked as if his arms had been surgically attached to the ship console.

"Like the guns the soldiers have," said Santos. "I guess these guys do nothing but fight."

"Santos, can you see anything that we might grab, give us some idea of how to fight them?" said Nantz. "This ship must have some sort of computer technology."

Santos was already inspecting the equipment. Much of the ship was wrecked. It looked as if the information that it had been on the ground when the C&C went down was wrong. It was obvious, when you saw it close up, that this ship had come down pretty hard. But there were still some lights blinking on the console, and screens with strange symbols scrolling across them. The command console looked like it would be impossible to take apart – not quickly, anyway.

But Santos found something that looked like a plug on the console. "I don't think we can prise any hardware off," she said. "But maybe I can use this to download whatever information there is in the system." She pulled the 'borrowed' laptop from her pack, as well as some tools and wires. She began to prise the plug open, and then checked to see if any of the jacks she carried were compatible. "Aha!" she said at last. "This should do it. Or maybe fry the whole unit, and then I'll have to buy the colonel a new one."

"Movement down the street!" said Harris, who was at a window of the ship. "I think it's our old friends."

The alien squad was coming on slowly, carefully. Nantz noted it. Yesterday, they had been confident, even arrogant, as if they thought they had already won. But today, after the loss of their C-and-C ... well, today was a different day.

"Take positions and wait for my signal," he said. "Low and quiet and maybe we can sucker them in. Santos, you keep working on ... whatever it is you're doing."

"Data transfer," she said, watching the laptop screen as images flashed by. There were pictures, lines of figures, diagrams, and maps – even a map of the Los Angeles area. "There's a lot of it. But I think it would be useful stuff."

The aliens had stopped – just inside maximum range. They began to assemble their rocket weapon.

"What the hell are they doing'?" said Lockett.

"They don't want to protect and keep this ship, they want to destroy it!" said Nantz. "Fire!"

They opened up, but the range was long. Three of the aliens went down but the others escaped, falling back to a ruined building, with their missile launcher.

"That's probably the max range of their guns too," said Nantz. "But we don't enough about them to be making bets. Santos, how long?"

"Another five minutes until the laptop is full," she said. "Damned if I know if our tech guys will be able to make any sense of it, this stuff isn't exactly Spanish. But something to start with, right?"

"And if the ETs are so determined to destroy this ship, it must mean that it's got important Intel," said Lockett.

Imlay was looking at the building, to the north of their position, where the alien squad had taken cover. "If we were them, we'd be calling for back-up," he said. "And out here they've got more boots on the ground than us."

"I see more movement in the west," said Lockett. "I ... I think it's a couple of those hovercraft-tanks. And another troop of soldiers as well."

"Those things have got a longer range than anything we have," said Adukwu.

"Maybe not," said Moped. He started to climb into the gun-turret of the alien ship. He looked at the controls. "Whoa," he said. "This is a lot different to the inside of a Blackhawk." He was looking for a button or lever that was different to the others. He found one, a lever, and pulled it.

A bolt of energy shot out of the cannon and smashed into the ground twenty metres away.

"Okay, I'm guessing that one is the trigger," said Harris.

"Yeah, guess so," said Moped, as he continued to try other controls. "Now, if I can just get it around –"

The two hovercraft-tanks had rounded the corner and were coming towards them. One of them fired, and the shell exploded on the ground next to the ship.

"Two minutes!" said Santos.

The turret swung around as Moped pushed whatever buttons he could find. The cannon fired wildly. Not knowing how to aim the weapon, Moped was just pointing it in the general direction and shooting.

Not pretty, but effective. A bolt caught one of the tanks head-on, and it exploded into fire. The other took a glancing shot on the turret. It immediately began to back up.

The alien soldiers took the opportunity to make a run for another building, closer to the ship. Nantz and the others started firing, taking several more down, but the others reached cover.

"They'll be able to hit us with their launcher from there," said Nantz. "Santos –?"

"Done!" say Santos. "That's all she'll take."

"Then time for a tactical retreat," said Nantz.

They made for the door and then they were running away from the ship, along the street, back the way they had come. Santos, at the end of the group, turned and looked back – and saw an alien rocket sailing upwards, and then onto the ship. It exploded into fragments. "Nick of time," she muttered.

And then a volley of alien fire came at them from a building ahead of them. There was a series of explosions.

The squad took cover behind a pair of overturned trucks.

"Grenades," said Nantz. Then he realised that everyone was already loading them. He smiled. These guys are turning into a good crew, he thought.

He glanced behind them. Then were more aliens coming up – and the tank as well. In a few moments, his squad would be caught between the two groups of them – which meant that the path ahead had to be cleared. He looked at the others and nodded.

Together, Imlay, Lockett, Harris and Santos stood and fired grenades at the building, aiming for the windows. The grenades exploded together, making the whole structure shake.

"Outstanding," said Nantz. "Get you a case of beer for that one."

"Hold you to that, Staff Sergeant," said Harris.

"And now, we run," said Nantz.

So they ran, even as the aliens behind them began to fire. The tank fired, and there was an explosion a metre away from Santos, at the rear of the squad. She was blown off her feet, and there was a spurt of blood from her leg. Her helmet went flying, and the laptop she had been carrying went spinning across the road, stopping at Nantz' feet. He picked it up, and then looked back, gauging the distance between the oncoming aliens and the fallen Santos.

"Go!" she said. "That computer has got to get back!"

Nantz looked at her – and then nodded. The others, not knowing that Santos was down, were already running around a corner. He turned and ran after them.

Santos managed to get to her feet. She hobbled towards the nearest cover – a shoe store. A stream of alien fire followed her in: they knew where she was. She hefted her gun and fired – not with much hope of hitting anything, just to give them something to think about. She pulled a strap from her pack and tied it around her injured leg to stop the bleeding. The blood abated but the pain didn't.

She looked out the window. The aliens, flanking their tank, were coming for her.

"Damn," she muttered to herself. "This is what I get for hanging out with Marines." She put a new clip into her gun.

The squad found cover and stopped. "Where's Air Force?" said Lockett.

"She got clipped, went down," said Nantz. "She'll try to make cover, make a stand."

"Against all of them?" said Adukwu. "Not much chance."

Nantz was looking at the computer. "We really should do everything possible to get this back to base," he said. "As quickly as possible, without risk. We really should."

"Right, Staff Sergeant, we really should," said Imlay. He checked his supply of grenades.

"That was the mission," said Lockett, reloading.

"I could give you this thing and tell you to go," said Nantz.

"You could try, Staff Sergeant," said Harris.

There was the sound of an engine. A heavy pick-up, painted bright pink, pulled up next to them, Moped at the wheel. "Sorry, couldn't find a tank or anything less colourful," he said. The soldiers clambered aboard, Nantz in the passenger seat.

"Which way?" said Moped to him.

"You know which way," said Nantz.

Santos was doing her best to hold them off but she knew it was just a question of time. She was moving from one firing position to another, hoping to confuse the aliens, hold them up, and give the others a chance to get away.

But she was running low on ammunition. Only enough in the last clip for one more burst.

She saw the LongLegs, standing at the back of the alien platoon. Too far for an effective shot.

The hovercraft-tank raked the store with a series of shells. Santos lifted the rifle to fire – and then stopped. Let them think that took me out, she thought.

The alien soldiers began to advance – and then the LongLegs was in range. She aimed carefully, inhaled ... and fired. The LongLegs went down. The others scattered.

Her rifle clicked on empty. And no more grenades. She drew her pistol. It didn't seem like much.

She watched the alien soldiers re-group, although without the LongLegs they seemed confused. But eventually they began to advance again. She fired, hitting them, but they just would not go down – at range, the pistol simply did not have enough punch. Save the last bullet, Elena, she told herself.

And then a fusillade of machine-gun fire cut into the alien troop. She looked along the street.

A pink pick-up was roaring along at full speed, everyone aboard firing.

The tank began to turn towards it.

Elena watched as the soldiers leaped off the vehicle, Moped the last one out, rolling out of the cab onto the asphalt. The pick-up streaked along, taking fire but not stopping. It smashed into the alien tank. The two vehicles exploded in a ball of flame, taking out a half-dozen alien soldiers as well.

The squad were up and firing now, close enough to aim for the aliens' weak spot. Several more aliens went down. The others began a hasty retreat.

"Do we pursue, Staff Sergeant?" said Lockett.

"Another day," said Nantz, as Santos hobbled up to them. Adukwu took out his med kit and began to apply a field dressing to her wound.

"I was just telling myself that you guys would have to be crazy to come back for me," said Santos.

"Pretty right, there," said Imlay.

"Guess we've got used to you, Air Force," said Lockett. "But you'd do the same for any of us, right?"

"Of course not," said Santos, although she was smiling. "Except maybe Imlay."

"Yes!" said Imlay, punching the air.

"Huh," said Nantz, almost smiling. "Moped, Lockett, Harris, see if you can find us a working vehicle. Imlay, you're on watch." He turned to Santos. He pulled the laptop from his pack and handed it to her. "This is yours, I think," he said.

She took it, staring at him. "Thank you, Staff Sergeant," she said.

It was the next day when Nantz sought out Santos in the medical tent at Mojave Base. She was lying on a cot with her leg up.

The first thing she said to him was: "Hey, can you tell these guys to let me out of here."

Nantz grunted. "They say one more day," he said. "I thought I should tell you that the techs are having wet dreams over the information you put on that laptop. They're still working on the translation but they say they're making headway, and they think that there is a lot of tactical and strategic stuff there. We've already distributed copies to all the other forces fighting around the world. They're calling it the Santos Stash."

"Huh," said Santos. "How about that, eh?"

"The colonel – the one whose laptop you borrowed – wants to put you up for a commendation. I told him not to bother."

Santos stared at him. "Oh," she said.

"It's a joke," he said. "He's already contacted your CO about it."

She started. "You ... made a joke, Staff Sergeant?" she said.

"Yeah, well, don't tell the other guys," he said. "Which reminds me, they sent you something." He took something out of a paper bag. It was a helmet. "Since your Air Force one went missing," he said.

She looked at it. On one side was written: HONORARY MARINE. On the other side was: ONE TOUGH MOTHER.

"As close as Marines get to being charming," said Nantz.

"Well, I guess this means that I'm on your team until this thing is over, Staff Sergeant," said Santos.

"Looks like it," said Nantz.

END