"The Eden Campaign"
Episode 207 – Yesterday Returns
D-Day
"A warrior bug doesn't think. It kills. A Warrior human thinks and kills. Which is the more deadly, that which does not truly know that it is killing, or that which kills knowingly? I've seen the fear and desperation in the eyes of a trooper being faced with a dozen bugs. I've also seen the joy in those same eyes as he killed those bugs. It's a strange thought really, because the bugs show no emotion either way, they don't know any better. We know what we're doing; I think that's what makes us the more dangerous. Every human thinks for itself, and that terrified the queen to her very soul, if she even had one..."
- Dr. Robert "Paperboy" Higgins, from: The Roughneck Chronicles
EDEN
The first transport crashed into Lake Harper twenty miles south west of the Capital. The second, into the mountains to the north, while the third and fourth ones into the fields to the east and west respectively. The farmers and civilians had evacuated into the city hours before the first transport slammed into the water.
The MI had quickly drawn out a perimeter defense of the city, but with only four squads, the lines were thin. Marauders were at the ready, six in all, each guarding up to three miles each, while four to five troopers took on key intersection points, the areas where the bugs would have maximum use of their numbers.
LT. Jacques Ryan of Ryan's Rangers stood on the southern plateau of the city looking down upon the rolling grasslands where the bugs would definitely come from. The initial satellite scans showed more than fifty thousand bugs surrounding their transports. He flipped his visor down and began doing a long range scan. The bugs were beginning a slow march forward, they were unsure of what to expect is what it appeared to be. He watched as droves moved across the fields, trampling the soft grass beneath their harsh claws.
He watched in horror as tankers came from behind the haze that filled the noon sky. Dozens of tankers, followed by several plasma bugs lumbered slowly forward towards his line. He realized quickly that that was the reason for the slow movement. They were attacking at once, no forward assault troops. Maybe that would give Ryan his advantage. Anything to hold them back was an advantage, even if it only worked for a short time.
A young private rushed up beside him. "We've got the governor on the horn sir, he wants a word."
Ryan returned his visor back to the top of his helmet. "What could the prick want now?"
The trip to the trench where his squad was awaiting the battle was quick. He found a portable com unit waiting for him with William's face on the screen. He looked nervous, not that he blamed him, they all were. But Williams had a bad habit of trying to be a general, when he didn't know squat about tactics. Ryan sat and lowered his face to the small camera at the top of the screen.
"What Governor?" Ryan asked, his voice filled with venom. "I'm extremely busy here."
"I understand that Lieutenant, that's why I'm sending you some reinforcements." Williams said; his face seemed to perk up with a forced smile that only accented his nervousness.
"What?" Ryan asked angrily. Williams could not be doing what he thought he was doing.
"This is a colony of veterans Lieutenant. I have about forty headed to you, along with the others, forty to each of them."
Ryan bit his lip. "You have got to be kidding me."
"No Lieutenant, I suggest you use them, we don't know when the fleet will arrive here with further reinforcements and supplies. Williams out."
Ryan slammed the face of the com down. Williams was going to get to many people killed. The best tactic would be to recall all troops within the barrier that was still functional from the war.
All the citizens soon arrived and Ryan spread them out along the trench with Moritas and some extra ammo. They would hold out as long as they could, even though it was certain suicide. The line would be held, because there was no surrender, bugs didn't take prisoners. If they were overrun, they would all die.
The faint bulbous glowing form of a plasma bug began to emerge from the haze, showing that they were still a good sixteen miles away. Others soon followed; all preceded by the faint dancing lines of the Warriors clearing their way. He grabbed a private.
"Private, I want a range and an estimate on enemy strength and area covered." The private nodded. At the rate they were moving, Ryan gave them three hours. The speed was a complete mind job, but he wasn't going to question it, it could provide him with a tactical advantage, and any would suffice.
The private returned. "Approximately ten thousand warriors, two hundred tankers and three dozen plasmas spread out over a ten kil0ometer radius moving at only three kilometers an hour, sir."
"Thank you private," Ryan patted him on the shoulder. "That'll be all. Man your post." All they had to do now was wait. Hopefully the Lindsey was having better luck.
* * * * *
Lieutenant Lindsey looked over the battlefield that would soon be covered with the carcasses of dead warrior bugs. They were coming into view now, and were slowly moving east, towards her. They'd have to maneuver through the canyon before they could spill out onto the grass that was the only thing for three kilometers before the outskirts of the city. Things were going to get ugly quick.
The citizens had arrived along with three marauders to try and hold the line until God knew when. Ryan had been right, they needed to be inside the old perimeter from the war, it had worked then and would hopefully be of some use now. It hadn't been activated in over seven years from what she understood, but it was hope.
Another truck pulled up behind the line and some men unloaded boxes of ammo. They gave the thumbs up to the forty or so troops. All cheered and waved the rifles in the air. At least morale was high. Lindsey turned back to the bugs and just waited. Her sergeant joined her in her gazing.
"Not long," he said. "Maybe two hours."
"Why doesn't Williams use the damn planes?" She asked quietly.
"Probably feels the risk is too great, they'll be needed for the city once we fall back."
She looked up at him. "You're pretty sure we'll be pushed back?"
He gave her a cross look. "You think otherwise?"
Lindsey tongued her cheek for a second. "It's possible."
"Hope never fails," He said with a smile. "Does it?"
"No, not after all I've seen" She said. She had watched her squad be decimated during the war and only her survive through a sheer miracle. The rocks on Klendathu had collapsed around her, crushing her leg and burying her. She had watched through the cracks as hundreds of bugs had swarmed the squad and ripped them limb from limb. Her rescue had been three days later as she stood facing death.
The rest of the Klendathu Campaign for her had been spent on Sanctuary. She had appealed until the higher ups gave in to get back into active duty during the battle for Earth, but then again, they need every single person they could get.
She'd been assigned her own squad two years after the end of the war, and landed what she'd thought would be a cushy assignment with Eden. But now she was facing the enemy on his terms once again. But she wouldn't be taken out again.
Her sergeant looked around the trench. The troopers were getting anxious. "What now?"
"We wait, tell them to get some sleep or something, I don't care." She left him to deliver her orders while she went to an isolated spot on the outskirts of the perimeter and watched the bulbs moving closer.
* * * * *
Murphy didn't exactly want the bugs to hurry up, but he was sure as hell tired of waiting for them. Something had to happen, and soon. His troopers were getting restless and wanting to start opening up with atomics, but orders to the Lieutenants had been to maintain Eden's integrity at all costs, that meant no high yield explosives. They always took all the fun out of it.
He didn't care specifically about the planet one way or another; it was just another rock that needed to be cleaned.
His sergeant arrived in a small truck with three civilians who had sparse armor on and carried older model rifles. He jumped down into the trench that faced north towards the approaching hordes.
"Fifty thousand sir." He said with a huff. "That's counting tankers and plasma bugs. What're your orders?"
"We'll hold." Murphy said. "Man your post. They'll be here within the hour, if their pace doesn't change."
The sergeant saluted and walked two hundred yards down and sat to himself. Murphy couldn't believe how far he'd come since the war, how he'd managed to survive. He'd been on the Bunker Hill during the first year of the hops, cleaning out the mounds. But as the bugs became increasingly harder to find and therefore eradicate, the forces used were downsized. As a result, he'd wound up on Eden.
Five years of minor skirmishes, a few search and destroy missions, he'd kept some of his edge, but now, he was facing the enemy like he'd had to before. He was never going to be one hundred percent, but he'd die trying.
His eyes peered over the loose dirt and watched as the bugs slowly moved closer. He felt uneasy not doing anything.
* * * * *
Colonel James Vivin smiled. The eastern front was undergoing final preparations. Range finders shouted distances every ten seconds to help the Marauders know when to open up. Night was closing now on the field, things could get difficult in the dark.
The slow moving Plasma bugs were the easiest targets, and James wasn't about to allow them within range of the city, even though he knew from the war that their range was much more extensive than five miles. Why they hadn't begun a massive attack yet was beyond him, but he wasn't looking a gift horse in the mouth.
Forty armed men and women and three marauders versus thirty thousand bugs. He liked those chances.
"Ten meters until range!" A private screamed from down the trench. Guns were readied, grenades and other such munitions loaded into the chambers. The massive chain gun began spinning in order to allow for maximum usage.
"Five meters!" Came the call.
"Steady!" James shouted. "No heroes! Stay at your post!"
"Range!" the private called out.
"Fire!" James shouted squeezing the trigger.
The plasma bugs slowly turned and the warriors sped up their pace, soon, carcasses were piling up across the field as tracers arched across in sweeping patters. Explosions ripped the ground and bugs to pieces, James felt alive. This had been a long time coming, he felt useful again. The bugs continued their advance.
The plasma bugs lowered their hind quarters into position and seven blue balls of light shot out. They moved quickly, and accurately. James watched two of the Marauders instantly disappear along with twenty troops.
"Harlem!" He shouted to his explosives expert. "Nuke, bug L-2, make it count!"
"Orders sir!" The young man shouted pulling out a launcher and resting it on his shoulder.
"To hell with the orders! Acquire your target!" James shouted into his com. He dropped three warriors with several pulses. Three troops jumper out of the trench and moved forward slowly. They were taking out a leading group quickly.
"Target acquired sir!" Harlem shouted.
"Take your shot!" James shouted vaulting out of the trench along with the remainder of his troops. The last marauder boosted over the trench and landed in the midst of a bug group of close to thirty and began to open up.
The rocket left its berth and crisscrossed through the sky and locked in. It moved up then down and destroyed the bug at critical mass, enveloping the three on either side in balls of flame. Everyone was momentarily blinded, and it was enough for the bugs. While many of them were incinerated in the micro-nuclear explosion, those in the front continued onwards, and the human's three second lapse in vision was ample.
James regained his vision to see three men torn to shreds only meters from him. The marauder was on its side, being rocked back and forth, the bugs trying to crack it open. Harlem and several others retreated back into the trench. He bit down for the channel that allowed him to hear all of the forces engaged around the city. The others were suffering lighter casualties than he was, but they couldn't hold the ground. It was impossible.
He jumped back into the trench and moved towards Sellers, his communications officer.
"Sellers!" He shouted over the screaming of both the bugs and humans. Some were still alive in the field.
Sellers turned around, his young face streaked with tears and blood. "Sir?"
"Patch me into the Governor!" he yelled. Sellers began to move but was quickly grabbed by a warrior thrust its upper mandible through the young boys chest. James jumped back and opened fire on the bug. It threw the boy's lifeless body into the coming crowds of bugs. More plasma fire ripped through the trench. Debris rained down around James as he watched the last four troops make their stand. In less than five minutes, his entire squad had been obliterated.
James stood and moved down the trench to Harlem. They didn't die in vain. He grabbed the rocket launcher and pulled the three remaining nukes out. Harlem saw what he was doing and tried to stop him.
"That's a negative soldier!" He said knocking the man back. "Get out of here, that truck is still a few meters away, get back to the city!" James grabbed a time delay fuse from a box of munitions. He motioned for all the remaining troops to abandon the position. They quickly scrambled up the opposite wall and made their way for the truck.
A bug fell into the trench and saw James who fell back against the wall and blew its upper jaw off with a grenade round. The carcass blocked him from the other bugs that were soon rushing though. He gave Harlem and the others thirty seconds before clicking over to the command line.
"Colonel James Vivin to all personnel. The eastern front has fallen." He cut the line and placed the fuse on the outer case of one of the nukes and quickly wired them together.
The fuse was set and James closed his eyes.
* * * * *
The flash from the Capital Building of New Buenos Ares was spectacular. Howard grimaced at the Colonel's last transmission and knew exactly what happened. Fleet was still days away, he was quickly running out of options. He knew the electrical barrier was supposedly still operational.
Howard stepped away from the window and sat at his desk. All civilians had thankfully already been pulled within the ten mile perimeter, so there was no evacuation to worry about. Perhaps there was hope.
He punched up the command line and issued the orders for all squads to fall back and take up their secondary positions.
"Sir," Murphy cut in. "In regards to previous orders towards the use of high yield weapons-"
Howard cut him off. He knew that the options in the field were running out. "Belay those orders. Use any and all means to ensure retreat."
The line was cut. Eden was going to fall.
JEAN RAZAK
Zim sat with the others in the mess hall watching FEDNET. The images of the battle were being broadcast from remote drones and satellite images. L'Ioo and Murphy were sitting on the tables while Kepler and Muniz sat bellow them on the benches. Doc and Brutto stood on either side of the screen while Gossard and Zim were separated on another table. Rico though, stood with his arms crossed leaning against the bulkhead watching the stars pass.
They watched the eastern front fall and the nuclear blast that halted the advance towards the city from that direction for the time being. The other fronts were in the midst of retreating when the com lines picked up. They could hear every scream, every order, every sob, every breath.
"Major Rico, report to the bridge," the loudspeaker echoes through out the ship. It was a female voice. "Major Rico, please report to the bridge."
Zim looked over to Rico who turned and shrugged. "Squad's yours Charlie."
Rico exited. Zim looked around and could see that no one had really noticed Rico's exit. He made a quick command decision and left his seat. He approached the screen and stepped in front of everybody. He turned his back to them and cut the feed. Protests began to erupt.
"Zip it!" He barked. All became instantly quiet, except for Max, who continued to grumble in his own little way. Zim was used to it but decided he'd take care of it on his own time.
"We are landing in a hot LZ!" He turned back to face them. "You greenies don't know what that's like," The older Roughnecks chuckled. "And you old farts don't even remember what that's like!" They quickly shut up.
"I checked the records, Alpha team, that's Muniz, Kepler, L'Ioo and Murphy; your last drop into a red zone was during your basic. Your last trip to the VR Room was four months ago. Your last combat mission was two weeks ago. Beta Team, that Brutto, Gossard, and Doc; your last combat drop was the battle of Luna, nine years ago! Your last trip to a VR Room was varying, none earlier that seven years ago."
"What about you Zim?" Max spat out.
Zim looked at him and smiled. "Getting your rotten carcass off of Hawaii was mine." He winked at Max who only huffed and crossed his arms. "I have us set up for eight hours of training a day in room two until we arrive at our destination. Training time is at 1200 hours." He checked his watch. "That gives you fifteen minutes to be in full powered suit and have weapons checked. Move!"
The tables quickly cleared except for Doc and Gossard who remained until the rest were out.
"You ready for this LT?" Doc asked.
"Yeah, it's a big job," Gossard said with a smile. "A squad to yourself."
Zim sighed. "Not mine, still the Major's."
"Rico's Roughnecks." Doc intoned. "You know now that you're here, some of the higher ups may push for him to take a desk job. Someone with his know-how, they'll want him strategizing."
"Yeah," Gossard seconded. "Anyone notice his distance. We're his friends, even with us..."
"The effects of long term social detachment." Doc said.
Zim shrugged and said: "Not my business to worry about the Major, nor yours. Saddle up boys, twelve minutes until drop."
Gossard and Doc nodded and left after an awkward moment. Zim followed shortly after. Rico had changed, a lot. War does that to you. Zim's mind wandered back to Miriam and how he wished he could just leave this all behind. He was tired of war, the latter half of his life had been devoted to war, and now, he was actually growing tired of it. But he was up for one last hoo-rah.
* * * * *
Admiral Ibanez sat on the bridge, her aide had called for Rico shortly before. She missed him dearly, sometimes looking back and wishing that maybe they could've had a chance of working out. But that was the past.
She pulled a small pad up from beside her chair and looked it over. The engines hadn't been broken in yet, and were running at only eighty percent efficiency. The engineers were having trouble keeping the engines cooled, and still, they were getting barked at for more speed.
Jonnie reached the bridge and she put the pad down. She looked up at him as he stepped in front of her.
"Admiral." He said officially.
"Major." She gave him a warm smile which he returned. "At ease Major. I have something you need to see. Ensign Gonzalez, pull the feed up."
The communications officer pulled up a video. Rico recognized the terrain quickly.
"Klendathu," He watched as transports burst through the thick atmosphere and plowed into the mountains.
"This was thirty minutes ago, we got it five." Carmen turned to Rico. "Reports are coming in from all the outposts on the borders, transports are everywhere, maybe twenty total."
"And if each contains seventy five thousand bugs," Rico continued her sentence. "That's 1.5 million bugs."
"With the possibility of more on their way." Carmen said holding up a report. "And we have no idea where they're coming from."
Rico watched on the vid as bugs soon began swarming. "What are our orders after Eden?"
"Fall back with the survivors to Tesca Nemerosa. We'll meet up with the third task force and be given orders from there."
"Survivors..." Rico let the word hang a moment. SICON was already expecting heavy casualties. "Not thinking many will be getting out alive I assume."
"The psychics are going crazy," the word psychics made Jonnie think of Carl. He could really use him now. "We're in for it."
Rico saw the bugs overrun the vid and all went to static. "Are we still getting a feed from Klendathu?"
"Somewhat," Carmen said sitting. "Its garbled, static, lots of mix transmissions. We have no idea what is really happening there."
"We need more speed." Rico said stepping down and exiting the bridge. Carmen gave the orders, they were still three to five days away, hopefully Eden could last that long.
KLENDATHU
"GET OFF OF THE GROUND!" the LT shouted at Private Henderson as he crawled for the trench. He felt a firm hand take hold of his shoulder pad and pull him into the trench. The LT stood next to him, his muddy boots stomping into the wet ground. Again, he was pulled and found himself face to face with the LT.
"I told you to get off of the ground Private!" He grabbed his helmet and pulled it until the plastic that separated them touched. "Do you have a malfunction Private?"
"No sir!" Henderson screamed.
"Good. Now, if you slow me down, you will be bug bait." He released his grip and thrust a gun into Henderson's hands. An explosion caused debris to rain down from the orange sky in thick chunks. Joseph turned back to the battle to see tracer fire tearing through the dusk sky, bugs were dropping all over the place, their massive shapes being partially illuminated by the red hot rounds, giving the scene a eerie, desperate feel.
The others in the squad had fallen a few hours before in the evacuation from Fort McCall, leaving only Joseph and the LT to fall back to the secondary trench lines. The LT had managed to get the sentry guns working, seeing as they hadn't been used in two or three years. He'd been trying to lay some mines in front of the razor wire when an attack had come from the direction of the fort.
"What are our orders, sir?" Joseph asked taking aim and dropping a few warriors who broke through the deterrent a hundred feet beyond them.
"No orders Private." The LT said grimly loading another magazine into his weapon.
"Sir?"
"HQ reports more bugs than what landed. It seems there were thousands of dormant insects waiting for the call."
"What about the fleet, sir?" Henderson asked, beginning to become truly scared. His training had managed to keep him calm until the basic logic functions of his mind began to take over.
"Fleet..." The LT trailed off and waited a moment. "Fleet's 'working on a plan'. We don't know when to expect retrieval. It's now every squad for themselves." He turned to Henderson. "I am sorry son, but...we're going to have to move soon."
The sound from the sentry guns stopped, the air was still, like the planet itself was holding its breath.
"The Major has authorized the use of any force necessary to survive. We're going to try and make our way for Fort Pyres, about fifteen miles south of us."
"And there sir?" Henderson asked.
"Well, if we don't encounter any other MI, we make the transition into guerilla battle tactics. Causing as much damage as we can, and just hope for Fleet to eventually get here."
Henderson looked to the ground and let out a sigh. Things were beginning to look more and more hopeless. The LT patted him on the shoulder.
"I'm not a total hardass son, I do want you to survive, so I am going to try and keep you alive." He took a look around, night had fallen and the perimeter was silent. "Grab as many supplies that you can manage to carry, we move in fifteen."
"You think we can make it, sir?" He asked taking two extra canteens from a rusting iron box. The air tight seal on the containers would keep the water fresh for up to six years, so they still had time.
"No. But we're going to try, they have an armory and air locks there, hopefully we can survive for a while there." He began gathering weapons and ammo into a satchel. After ten minutes, they left the trenches unattended, the sentry guns would keep the bugs off of them as long as the ammo lasted.
HYDORA
The waters of Hydora had been quiet for over ten years since the last human transport had lifted off. The indigenous species had begun the slow reclamation of their planet back for what few bugs they thought had lingered behind and reestablished their natural equilibrium with their planet.
But today, the peaceful airs were destroyed by the roar of arachnid transports crashing through the atmosphere and flying across the water to various islands where remaining bugs waited. Broken waters thrashed on what little land could be seen as they crisscrossed around the planet for hours before finally leaving for their intended targets. And life returned to normal on the water planet.
NEAR LOVELL
[You hear me human?] The voice whispered.
Carl sat up startled from his sleep. He stepped out his bunk and made his way to the front cabin. The star field above was clear. He had been hallucinating, and was having trouble keeping his location hidden from the queen; her psychic attacks were too much sometimes in his weakened state. He'd managed to apply his field medical procedures that he'd learned in basic to help him at least feel better. The ship was in disarray as he'd pulled components out from bulkheads and tried to hotwire the ship back into functioning order. But the problem seemed to be mechanical and not electrical, which meant as soon as he was ready he'd have to leave the ship and work outside it, which could be extremely dangerous.
He decided to go ahead and check his powered suit and prep it for himself. The average warm up time was two hours, so that gave him some more time to try and get the radio working, SICON needed to know the location of the queen.
He soon found himself underneath the comm. pulling wires out and trying to get the antennae back into working condition, but it just didn't seem like it was going to work. This truly wasn't his week. He went back to the engine compartment and tried to ignite the engines, but again, after thirty minutes of tearing and rearranging, nothing would work. He was beginning to get frustrated when he was struck by an idea that might work.
The search didn't take long, he knew where they would be heading, and therefore, basing it off of a trajectory from Tophet to Eden, Carl was able to locate the ship the Roughnecks were on. He was surprised to find it operational already; its shakedown cruise had been scheduled for a month ago on a three week tour. Seeing it in his mind's eye gave him hope, SICON had gotten something from his message, Jonnie had gotten his message. He continued his search through out the ship, using one person's mind to find the one he was looking for.
He found him in the VR Room, firing at holographic images of bugs. He smiled when noticed that they were all together.
Carl knew that the queen was afraid of the Roughnecks, of Jonnie, of Carl. They'd been the only enemy in a thousand years to successfully kill one, so they were a threat of the most lethal kind. Gossard continued firing over the trench lines on the photon constructed landscape of a twilight Klendathu.
"I'm sorry Gossard," Carl said in his mind to his distant friend. He concentrated and pushed.
JEAN RAZAK
Gossard kneeled next to Doc. "You think that the LT can make this any easier?"
Doc shrugged and continued firing. "One little two little three little arachnids all dressed in black and white," he sang with each one he dropped in succession. "Four little five little six arachnids, all of whom are going to die!"
"Hey, old timers," Max shouted from down the trench. "Less sing-a-long and more shooting."
"I'm not to old to come down there and show you that this old timer can still teach you a thing or two." Gossard yelled.
I'm sorry Gossard, he heard.
"Yeah, that's right you are!" Gossard yelled at Max.
"What are you talking about?" Max replied disgusted.
Gossard looked at him a moment. "You didn't just—" Gossard cut himself off with a long scream that caused Zim to pause the simulation. Gossard grabbed his head and fell into Doc.
He could feel sharp pains surging throughout his mind, certain memories coming up for no reason at all, then they stopped and all went black. He awoke in the infirmary with Doc's smiling face over him.
"Wakey wakey sunshine," Doc said helping him up. "It's time for school."
Gossard felt his head swimming with searing memories of ships schematics and advanced T-1334A engine field repairs for some reason. "I feel like I was hit by a truck."
"Not far from it," Doc said pulling up a neural scan. Rico and Murphy were present next to his bed.
"You okay Goss?" Rico asked worriedly. He could see the fear for his friend's life in his eyes; it was something that Rico hadn't seemed to have lost in the years of the constant war.
"Yeah, I'll be okay," He said throwing his legs over the edge of the medical bed. "How long was I out?"
"An hour," Doc said, "Private Murphy helped me lug your heavy carcass all the way up here. You been putting on weight on that boat?"
Goss smiled. "All muscle baby! All muscle!"
"What happened to him Doc?" Murphy asked in his thick accent.
"Looks like a psychic probe by the way his synapses are firing." Doc said pointing at several highlighted points on the display. "A strong one at that."
"The queen?" Rico asked.
"No," Gossard said. "I heard someone tell me they were sorry right before it happened. They were accessing ship schematics, they were looking for something in particular. They wanted to repair a ship"
"Carl?" Rico asked Doc who only shrugged.
"It is possible, I read a work up on him, his powers have magnified tenfold since the end of the war. And since no one knows where he is..."
"He could be in trouble." Rico said. He looked at Gossard who looked a little woozy. "Is he going to be ready for drop?"
"Me and the ship's doctor both concur, he needs at least two days of light duty, but yeah, he should be." Doc said giving him a slap on the back. "Hear that, you can only fake it for two days, after that, you have to go back to work."
"Sounds good to me." Gossard said with a smile. "I could use some time to sleep, old man Zim has us on four hours followed by two hours of PT before grub."
"What's wrong with him?" Murphy asked loudly. "Is he trying to kill us?"
"Careful Private, that's an LT you're talking about." He smiled over at him. "Your beauty sleep that important?"
"No sir, sorry sir." Murphy said quickly.
"The LT is trying to keep you from being killed." Rico said smiling at Doc. "You haven't been in a true war situation yet. You don't get sleep on the front." Murphy looked suddenly worried. "Go get some sleep Private, Major's orders."
"Yes, sir." Murphy saluted and left the empty infirmary.
"You taking us down Jonnie?" Gossard asked.
Jonnie gave him a malicious smile. "Ol' Zim ain't getting my squad. You're butts are mine. Both of you get some rest, I'm taking over tomorrow, three days until we reach the planet. We're going to have some fun."
He left the infirmary and let Doc help Gossard to the bunks where most of the squad was already asleep. L'Ioo was in her small room on her knees at her bunk. Doc laid Goss down and hopped up onto his bunk.
"And I had gotten used to a real bed." He said throwing his shirt down. "But I think I missed this."
"You sure that's not indigestion?" Gossard asked.
"Might be." Doc replied after a moment of thought.
Gossard stared at L'Ioo for a moment and noticed that Murphy was lying in bed, his eyes wide open, staring at the bunk above him. He looked back to L'Ioo.
"What's she doing?" He asked nudging Murphy's bunk and nodding to the kneeling Tophetti.
"Praying." He said plainly. "She's done it since she was a girl, always, right before she goes to sleep, for an hour. And believe it or not, after the life she's had, she's giving thanks."
Murphy laid back down. "Does he ever stop accursed noise?" he yelled kicking Max's bunk above him.
"Nope," Gossard said resting his head on his pillow. "You'll get used to it."
LOVELL A-19
The queen sat idly listening for the thoughts of the one she was after. But she couldn't hear him, couldn't locate him. He was stronger than when her mother and faced him, he was blocking her. She had other concerns too. On the homeworld, the Terrans were scattered and in disarray but were causing extensive damage to the armies through what seemed to be suicide attacks.
It was something she knew they would do when pressed to the limit, but it was something that she was unfamiliar with. Why would a species, confronted with death, throw its life away in a blaze of futility? What were the rewards?
But it didn't matter; she had more for her armies. Three of her transports landed on the rocky surface above her and load close to two hundred thousand fresh troops for the hordes to dispose of the human race for good. She set the course for the transports telepathically and let go with orders to destroy anything that got in their way. The target was set, the humans would know what it was like to be pushed from their home much like her species had, but unlike her, they would not be returning.
"And now as the armies clashed at one strategic point
they slammed their shields together, pike scraped pike
with the grappling stength of fighters armed in bronze
and their round shields' bosses pounded hide-to-hide
and the thunder of struggle roared and rocked the earth.
Screams of men and cries of triumph breaking in one breath,
fighters killing, fighters killed, and the ground streamed blood."
The Iliad - Book Eight: The Tide of Battle Turns; Homer
Episode 207 – Yesterday Returns
D-Day
"A warrior bug doesn't think. It kills. A Warrior human thinks and kills. Which is the more deadly, that which does not truly know that it is killing, or that which kills knowingly? I've seen the fear and desperation in the eyes of a trooper being faced with a dozen bugs. I've also seen the joy in those same eyes as he killed those bugs. It's a strange thought really, because the bugs show no emotion either way, they don't know any better. We know what we're doing; I think that's what makes us the more dangerous. Every human thinks for itself, and that terrified the queen to her very soul, if she even had one..."
- Dr. Robert "Paperboy" Higgins, from: The Roughneck Chronicles
EDEN
The first transport crashed into Lake Harper twenty miles south west of the Capital. The second, into the mountains to the north, while the third and fourth ones into the fields to the east and west respectively. The farmers and civilians had evacuated into the city hours before the first transport slammed into the water.
The MI had quickly drawn out a perimeter defense of the city, but with only four squads, the lines were thin. Marauders were at the ready, six in all, each guarding up to three miles each, while four to five troopers took on key intersection points, the areas where the bugs would have maximum use of their numbers.
LT. Jacques Ryan of Ryan's Rangers stood on the southern plateau of the city looking down upon the rolling grasslands where the bugs would definitely come from. The initial satellite scans showed more than fifty thousand bugs surrounding their transports. He flipped his visor down and began doing a long range scan. The bugs were beginning a slow march forward, they were unsure of what to expect is what it appeared to be. He watched as droves moved across the fields, trampling the soft grass beneath their harsh claws.
He watched in horror as tankers came from behind the haze that filled the noon sky. Dozens of tankers, followed by several plasma bugs lumbered slowly forward towards his line. He realized quickly that that was the reason for the slow movement. They were attacking at once, no forward assault troops. Maybe that would give Ryan his advantage. Anything to hold them back was an advantage, even if it only worked for a short time.
A young private rushed up beside him. "We've got the governor on the horn sir, he wants a word."
Ryan returned his visor back to the top of his helmet. "What could the prick want now?"
The trip to the trench where his squad was awaiting the battle was quick. He found a portable com unit waiting for him with William's face on the screen. He looked nervous, not that he blamed him, they all were. But Williams had a bad habit of trying to be a general, when he didn't know squat about tactics. Ryan sat and lowered his face to the small camera at the top of the screen.
"What Governor?" Ryan asked, his voice filled with venom. "I'm extremely busy here."
"I understand that Lieutenant, that's why I'm sending you some reinforcements." Williams said; his face seemed to perk up with a forced smile that only accented his nervousness.
"What?" Ryan asked angrily. Williams could not be doing what he thought he was doing.
"This is a colony of veterans Lieutenant. I have about forty headed to you, along with the others, forty to each of them."
Ryan bit his lip. "You have got to be kidding me."
"No Lieutenant, I suggest you use them, we don't know when the fleet will arrive here with further reinforcements and supplies. Williams out."
Ryan slammed the face of the com down. Williams was going to get to many people killed. The best tactic would be to recall all troops within the barrier that was still functional from the war.
All the citizens soon arrived and Ryan spread them out along the trench with Moritas and some extra ammo. They would hold out as long as they could, even though it was certain suicide. The line would be held, because there was no surrender, bugs didn't take prisoners. If they were overrun, they would all die.
The faint bulbous glowing form of a plasma bug began to emerge from the haze, showing that they were still a good sixteen miles away. Others soon followed; all preceded by the faint dancing lines of the Warriors clearing their way. He grabbed a private.
"Private, I want a range and an estimate on enemy strength and area covered." The private nodded. At the rate they were moving, Ryan gave them three hours. The speed was a complete mind job, but he wasn't going to question it, it could provide him with a tactical advantage, and any would suffice.
The private returned. "Approximately ten thousand warriors, two hundred tankers and three dozen plasmas spread out over a ten kil0ometer radius moving at only three kilometers an hour, sir."
"Thank you private," Ryan patted him on the shoulder. "That'll be all. Man your post." All they had to do now was wait. Hopefully the Lindsey was having better luck.
Lieutenant Lindsey looked over the battlefield that would soon be covered with the carcasses of dead warrior bugs. They were coming into view now, and were slowly moving east, towards her. They'd have to maneuver through the canyon before they could spill out onto the grass that was the only thing for three kilometers before the outskirts of the city. Things were going to get ugly quick.
The citizens had arrived along with three marauders to try and hold the line until God knew when. Ryan had been right, they needed to be inside the old perimeter from the war, it had worked then and would hopefully be of some use now. It hadn't been activated in over seven years from what she understood, but it was hope.
Another truck pulled up behind the line and some men unloaded boxes of ammo. They gave the thumbs up to the forty or so troops. All cheered and waved the rifles in the air. At least morale was high. Lindsey turned back to the bugs and just waited. Her sergeant joined her in her gazing.
"Not long," he said. "Maybe two hours."
"Why doesn't Williams use the damn planes?" She asked quietly.
"Probably feels the risk is too great, they'll be needed for the city once we fall back."
She looked up at him. "You're pretty sure we'll be pushed back?"
He gave her a cross look. "You think otherwise?"
Lindsey tongued her cheek for a second. "It's possible."
"Hope never fails," He said with a smile. "Does it?"
"No, not after all I've seen" She said. She had watched her squad be decimated during the war and only her survive through a sheer miracle. The rocks on Klendathu had collapsed around her, crushing her leg and burying her. She had watched through the cracks as hundreds of bugs had swarmed the squad and ripped them limb from limb. Her rescue had been three days later as she stood facing death.
The rest of the Klendathu Campaign for her had been spent on Sanctuary. She had appealed until the higher ups gave in to get back into active duty during the battle for Earth, but then again, they need every single person they could get.
She'd been assigned her own squad two years after the end of the war, and landed what she'd thought would be a cushy assignment with Eden. But now she was facing the enemy on his terms once again. But she wouldn't be taken out again.
Her sergeant looked around the trench. The troopers were getting anxious. "What now?"
"We wait, tell them to get some sleep or something, I don't care." She left him to deliver her orders while she went to an isolated spot on the outskirts of the perimeter and watched the bulbs moving closer.
Murphy didn't exactly want the bugs to hurry up, but he was sure as hell tired of waiting for them. Something had to happen, and soon. His troopers were getting restless and wanting to start opening up with atomics, but orders to the Lieutenants had been to maintain Eden's integrity at all costs, that meant no high yield explosives. They always took all the fun out of it.
He didn't care specifically about the planet one way or another; it was just another rock that needed to be cleaned.
His sergeant arrived in a small truck with three civilians who had sparse armor on and carried older model rifles. He jumped down into the trench that faced north towards the approaching hordes.
"Fifty thousand sir." He said with a huff. "That's counting tankers and plasma bugs. What're your orders?"
"We'll hold." Murphy said. "Man your post. They'll be here within the hour, if their pace doesn't change."
The sergeant saluted and walked two hundred yards down and sat to himself. Murphy couldn't believe how far he'd come since the war, how he'd managed to survive. He'd been on the Bunker Hill during the first year of the hops, cleaning out the mounds. But as the bugs became increasingly harder to find and therefore eradicate, the forces used were downsized. As a result, he'd wound up on Eden.
Five years of minor skirmishes, a few search and destroy missions, he'd kept some of his edge, but now, he was facing the enemy like he'd had to before. He was never going to be one hundred percent, but he'd die trying.
His eyes peered over the loose dirt and watched as the bugs slowly moved closer. He felt uneasy not doing anything.
Colonel James Vivin smiled. The eastern front was undergoing final preparations. Range finders shouted distances every ten seconds to help the Marauders know when to open up. Night was closing now on the field, things could get difficult in the dark.
The slow moving Plasma bugs were the easiest targets, and James wasn't about to allow them within range of the city, even though he knew from the war that their range was much more extensive than five miles. Why they hadn't begun a massive attack yet was beyond him, but he wasn't looking a gift horse in the mouth.
Forty armed men and women and three marauders versus thirty thousand bugs. He liked those chances.
"Ten meters until range!" A private screamed from down the trench. Guns were readied, grenades and other such munitions loaded into the chambers. The massive chain gun began spinning in order to allow for maximum usage.
"Five meters!" Came the call.
"Steady!" James shouted. "No heroes! Stay at your post!"
"Range!" the private called out.
"Fire!" James shouted squeezing the trigger.
The plasma bugs slowly turned and the warriors sped up their pace, soon, carcasses were piling up across the field as tracers arched across in sweeping patters. Explosions ripped the ground and bugs to pieces, James felt alive. This had been a long time coming, he felt useful again. The bugs continued their advance.
The plasma bugs lowered their hind quarters into position and seven blue balls of light shot out. They moved quickly, and accurately. James watched two of the Marauders instantly disappear along with twenty troops.
"Harlem!" He shouted to his explosives expert. "Nuke, bug L-2, make it count!"
"Orders sir!" The young man shouted pulling out a launcher and resting it on his shoulder.
"To hell with the orders! Acquire your target!" James shouted into his com. He dropped three warriors with several pulses. Three troops jumper out of the trench and moved forward slowly. They were taking out a leading group quickly.
"Target acquired sir!" Harlem shouted.
"Take your shot!" James shouted vaulting out of the trench along with the remainder of his troops. The last marauder boosted over the trench and landed in the midst of a bug group of close to thirty and began to open up.
The rocket left its berth and crisscrossed through the sky and locked in. It moved up then down and destroyed the bug at critical mass, enveloping the three on either side in balls of flame. Everyone was momentarily blinded, and it was enough for the bugs. While many of them were incinerated in the micro-nuclear explosion, those in the front continued onwards, and the human's three second lapse in vision was ample.
James regained his vision to see three men torn to shreds only meters from him. The marauder was on its side, being rocked back and forth, the bugs trying to crack it open. Harlem and several others retreated back into the trench. He bit down for the channel that allowed him to hear all of the forces engaged around the city. The others were suffering lighter casualties than he was, but they couldn't hold the ground. It was impossible.
He jumped back into the trench and moved towards Sellers, his communications officer.
"Sellers!" He shouted over the screaming of both the bugs and humans. Some were still alive in the field.
Sellers turned around, his young face streaked with tears and blood. "Sir?"
"Patch me into the Governor!" he yelled. Sellers began to move but was quickly grabbed by a warrior thrust its upper mandible through the young boys chest. James jumped back and opened fire on the bug. It threw the boy's lifeless body into the coming crowds of bugs. More plasma fire ripped through the trench. Debris rained down around James as he watched the last four troops make their stand. In less than five minutes, his entire squad had been obliterated.
James stood and moved down the trench to Harlem. They didn't die in vain. He grabbed the rocket launcher and pulled the three remaining nukes out. Harlem saw what he was doing and tried to stop him.
"That's a negative soldier!" He said knocking the man back. "Get out of here, that truck is still a few meters away, get back to the city!" James grabbed a time delay fuse from a box of munitions. He motioned for all the remaining troops to abandon the position. They quickly scrambled up the opposite wall and made their way for the truck.
A bug fell into the trench and saw James who fell back against the wall and blew its upper jaw off with a grenade round. The carcass blocked him from the other bugs that were soon rushing though. He gave Harlem and the others thirty seconds before clicking over to the command line.
"Colonel James Vivin to all personnel. The eastern front has fallen." He cut the line and placed the fuse on the outer case of one of the nukes and quickly wired them together.
The fuse was set and James closed his eyes.
The flash from the Capital Building of New Buenos Ares was spectacular. Howard grimaced at the Colonel's last transmission and knew exactly what happened. Fleet was still days away, he was quickly running out of options. He knew the electrical barrier was supposedly still operational.
Howard stepped away from the window and sat at his desk. All civilians had thankfully already been pulled within the ten mile perimeter, so there was no evacuation to worry about. Perhaps there was hope.
He punched up the command line and issued the orders for all squads to fall back and take up their secondary positions.
"Sir," Murphy cut in. "In regards to previous orders towards the use of high yield weapons-"
Howard cut him off. He knew that the options in the field were running out. "Belay those orders. Use any and all means to ensure retreat."
The line was cut. Eden was going to fall.
JEAN RAZAK
Zim sat with the others in the mess hall watching FEDNET. The images of the battle were being broadcast from remote drones and satellite images. L'Ioo and Murphy were sitting on the tables while Kepler and Muniz sat bellow them on the benches. Doc and Brutto stood on either side of the screen while Gossard and Zim were separated on another table. Rico though, stood with his arms crossed leaning against the bulkhead watching the stars pass.
They watched the eastern front fall and the nuclear blast that halted the advance towards the city from that direction for the time being. The other fronts were in the midst of retreating when the com lines picked up. They could hear every scream, every order, every sob, every breath.
"Major Rico, report to the bridge," the loudspeaker echoes through out the ship. It was a female voice. "Major Rico, please report to the bridge."
Zim looked over to Rico who turned and shrugged. "Squad's yours Charlie."
Rico exited. Zim looked around and could see that no one had really noticed Rico's exit. He made a quick command decision and left his seat. He approached the screen and stepped in front of everybody. He turned his back to them and cut the feed. Protests began to erupt.
"Zip it!" He barked. All became instantly quiet, except for Max, who continued to grumble in his own little way. Zim was used to it but decided he'd take care of it on his own time.
"We are landing in a hot LZ!" He turned back to face them. "You greenies don't know what that's like," The older Roughnecks chuckled. "And you old farts don't even remember what that's like!" They quickly shut up.
"I checked the records, Alpha team, that's Muniz, Kepler, L'Ioo and Murphy; your last drop into a red zone was during your basic. Your last trip to the VR Room was four months ago. Your last combat mission was two weeks ago. Beta Team, that Brutto, Gossard, and Doc; your last combat drop was the battle of Luna, nine years ago! Your last trip to a VR Room was varying, none earlier that seven years ago."
"What about you Zim?" Max spat out.
Zim looked at him and smiled. "Getting your rotten carcass off of Hawaii was mine." He winked at Max who only huffed and crossed his arms. "I have us set up for eight hours of training a day in room two until we arrive at our destination. Training time is at 1200 hours." He checked his watch. "That gives you fifteen minutes to be in full powered suit and have weapons checked. Move!"
The tables quickly cleared except for Doc and Gossard who remained until the rest were out.
"You ready for this LT?" Doc asked.
"Yeah, it's a big job," Gossard said with a smile. "A squad to yourself."
Zim sighed. "Not mine, still the Major's."
"Rico's Roughnecks." Doc intoned. "You know now that you're here, some of the higher ups may push for him to take a desk job. Someone with his know-how, they'll want him strategizing."
"Yeah," Gossard seconded. "Anyone notice his distance. We're his friends, even with us..."
"The effects of long term social detachment." Doc said.
Zim shrugged and said: "Not my business to worry about the Major, nor yours. Saddle up boys, twelve minutes until drop."
Gossard and Doc nodded and left after an awkward moment. Zim followed shortly after. Rico had changed, a lot. War does that to you. Zim's mind wandered back to Miriam and how he wished he could just leave this all behind. He was tired of war, the latter half of his life had been devoted to war, and now, he was actually growing tired of it. But he was up for one last hoo-rah.
Admiral Ibanez sat on the bridge, her aide had called for Rico shortly before. She missed him dearly, sometimes looking back and wishing that maybe they could've had a chance of working out. But that was the past.
She pulled a small pad up from beside her chair and looked it over. The engines hadn't been broken in yet, and were running at only eighty percent efficiency. The engineers were having trouble keeping the engines cooled, and still, they were getting barked at for more speed.
Jonnie reached the bridge and she put the pad down. She looked up at him as he stepped in front of her.
"Admiral." He said officially.
"Major." She gave him a warm smile which he returned. "At ease Major. I have something you need to see. Ensign Gonzalez, pull the feed up."
The communications officer pulled up a video. Rico recognized the terrain quickly.
"Klendathu," He watched as transports burst through the thick atmosphere and plowed into the mountains.
"This was thirty minutes ago, we got it five." Carmen turned to Rico. "Reports are coming in from all the outposts on the borders, transports are everywhere, maybe twenty total."
"And if each contains seventy five thousand bugs," Rico continued her sentence. "That's 1.5 million bugs."
"With the possibility of more on their way." Carmen said holding up a report. "And we have no idea where they're coming from."
Rico watched on the vid as bugs soon began swarming. "What are our orders after Eden?"
"Fall back with the survivors to Tesca Nemerosa. We'll meet up with the third task force and be given orders from there."
"Survivors..." Rico let the word hang a moment. SICON was already expecting heavy casualties. "Not thinking many will be getting out alive I assume."
"The psychics are going crazy," the word psychics made Jonnie think of Carl. He could really use him now. "We're in for it."
Rico saw the bugs overrun the vid and all went to static. "Are we still getting a feed from Klendathu?"
"Somewhat," Carmen said sitting. "Its garbled, static, lots of mix transmissions. We have no idea what is really happening there."
"We need more speed." Rico said stepping down and exiting the bridge. Carmen gave the orders, they were still three to five days away, hopefully Eden could last that long.
KLENDATHU
"GET OFF OF THE GROUND!" the LT shouted at Private Henderson as he crawled for the trench. He felt a firm hand take hold of his shoulder pad and pull him into the trench. The LT stood next to him, his muddy boots stomping into the wet ground. Again, he was pulled and found himself face to face with the LT.
"I told you to get off of the ground Private!" He grabbed his helmet and pulled it until the plastic that separated them touched. "Do you have a malfunction Private?"
"No sir!" Henderson screamed.
"Good. Now, if you slow me down, you will be bug bait." He released his grip and thrust a gun into Henderson's hands. An explosion caused debris to rain down from the orange sky in thick chunks. Joseph turned back to the battle to see tracer fire tearing through the dusk sky, bugs were dropping all over the place, their massive shapes being partially illuminated by the red hot rounds, giving the scene a eerie, desperate feel.
The others in the squad had fallen a few hours before in the evacuation from Fort McCall, leaving only Joseph and the LT to fall back to the secondary trench lines. The LT had managed to get the sentry guns working, seeing as they hadn't been used in two or three years. He'd been trying to lay some mines in front of the razor wire when an attack had come from the direction of the fort.
"What are our orders, sir?" Joseph asked taking aim and dropping a few warriors who broke through the deterrent a hundred feet beyond them.
"No orders Private." The LT said grimly loading another magazine into his weapon.
"Sir?"
"HQ reports more bugs than what landed. It seems there were thousands of dormant insects waiting for the call."
"What about the fleet, sir?" Henderson asked, beginning to become truly scared. His training had managed to keep him calm until the basic logic functions of his mind began to take over.
"Fleet..." The LT trailed off and waited a moment. "Fleet's 'working on a plan'. We don't know when to expect retrieval. It's now every squad for themselves." He turned to Henderson. "I am sorry son, but...we're going to have to move soon."
The sound from the sentry guns stopped, the air was still, like the planet itself was holding its breath.
"The Major has authorized the use of any force necessary to survive. We're going to try and make our way for Fort Pyres, about fifteen miles south of us."
"And there sir?" Henderson asked.
"Well, if we don't encounter any other MI, we make the transition into guerilla battle tactics. Causing as much damage as we can, and just hope for Fleet to eventually get here."
Henderson looked to the ground and let out a sigh. Things were beginning to look more and more hopeless. The LT patted him on the shoulder.
"I'm not a total hardass son, I do want you to survive, so I am going to try and keep you alive." He took a look around, night had fallen and the perimeter was silent. "Grab as many supplies that you can manage to carry, we move in fifteen."
"You think we can make it, sir?" He asked taking two extra canteens from a rusting iron box. The air tight seal on the containers would keep the water fresh for up to six years, so they still had time.
"No. But we're going to try, they have an armory and air locks there, hopefully we can survive for a while there." He began gathering weapons and ammo into a satchel. After ten minutes, they left the trenches unattended, the sentry guns would keep the bugs off of them as long as the ammo lasted.
HYDORA
The waters of Hydora had been quiet for over ten years since the last human transport had lifted off. The indigenous species had begun the slow reclamation of their planet back for what few bugs they thought had lingered behind and reestablished their natural equilibrium with their planet.
But today, the peaceful airs were destroyed by the roar of arachnid transports crashing through the atmosphere and flying across the water to various islands where remaining bugs waited. Broken waters thrashed on what little land could be seen as they crisscrossed around the planet for hours before finally leaving for their intended targets. And life returned to normal on the water planet.
NEAR LOVELL
[You hear me human?] The voice whispered.
Carl sat up startled from his sleep. He stepped out his bunk and made his way to the front cabin. The star field above was clear. He had been hallucinating, and was having trouble keeping his location hidden from the queen; her psychic attacks were too much sometimes in his weakened state. He'd managed to apply his field medical procedures that he'd learned in basic to help him at least feel better. The ship was in disarray as he'd pulled components out from bulkheads and tried to hotwire the ship back into functioning order. But the problem seemed to be mechanical and not electrical, which meant as soon as he was ready he'd have to leave the ship and work outside it, which could be extremely dangerous.
He decided to go ahead and check his powered suit and prep it for himself. The average warm up time was two hours, so that gave him some more time to try and get the radio working, SICON needed to know the location of the queen.
He soon found himself underneath the comm. pulling wires out and trying to get the antennae back into working condition, but it just didn't seem like it was going to work. This truly wasn't his week. He went back to the engine compartment and tried to ignite the engines, but again, after thirty minutes of tearing and rearranging, nothing would work. He was beginning to get frustrated when he was struck by an idea that might work.
The search didn't take long, he knew where they would be heading, and therefore, basing it off of a trajectory from Tophet to Eden, Carl was able to locate the ship the Roughnecks were on. He was surprised to find it operational already; its shakedown cruise had been scheduled for a month ago on a three week tour. Seeing it in his mind's eye gave him hope, SICON had gotten something from his message, Jonnie had gotten his message. He continued his search through out the ship, using one person's mind to find the one he was looking for.
He found him in the VR Room, firing at holographic images of bugs. He smiled when noticed that they were all together.
Carl knew that the queen was afraid of the Roughnecks, of Jonnie, of Carl. They'd been the only enemy in a thousand years to successfully kill one, so they were a threat of the most lethal kind. Gossard continued firing over the trench lines on the photon constructed landscape of a twilight Klendathu.
"I'm sorry Gossard," Carl said in his mind to his distant friend. He concentrated and pushed.
JEAN RAZAK
Gossard kneeled next to Doc. "You think that the LT can make this any easier?"
Doc shrugged and continued firing. "One little two little three little arachnids all dressed in black and white," he sang with each one he dropped in succession. "Four little five little six arachnids, all of whom are going to die!"
"Hey, old timers," Max shouted from down the trench. "Less sing-a-long and more shooting."
"I'm not to old to come down there and show you that this old timer can still teach you a thing or two." Gossard yelled.
I'm sorry Gossard, he heard.
"Yeah, that's right you are!" Gossard yelled at Max.
"What are you talking about?" Max replied disgusted.
Gossard looked at him a moment. "You didn't just—" Gossard cut himself off with a long scream that caused Zim to pause the simulation. Gossard grabbed his head and fell into Doc.
He could feel sharp pains surging throughout his mind, certain memories coming up for no reason at all, then they stopped and all went black. He awoke in the infirmary with Doc's smiling face over him.
"Wakey wakey sunshine," Doc said helping him up. "It's time for school."
Gossard felt his head swimming with searing memories of ships schematics and advanced T-1334A engine field repairs for some reason. "I feel like I was hit by a truck."
"Not far from it," Doc said pulling up a neural scan. Rico and Murphy were present next to his bed.
"You okay Goss?" Rico asked worriedly. He could see the fear for his friend's life in his eyes; it was something that Rico hadn't seemed to have lost in the years of the constant war.
"Yeah, I'll be okay," He said throwing his legs over the edge of the medical bed. "How long was I out?"
"An hour," Doc said, "Private Murphy helped me lug your heavy carcass all the way up here. You been putting on weight on that boat?"
Goss smiled. "All muscle baby! All muscle!"
"What happened to him Doc?" Murphy asked in his thick accent.
"Looks like a psychic probe by the way his synapses are firing." Doc said pointing at several highlighted points on the display. "A strong one at that."
"The queen?" Rico asked.
"No," Gossard said. "I heard someone tell me they were sorry right before it happened. They were accessing ship schematics, they were looking for something in particular. They wanted to repair a ship"
"Carl?" Rico asked Doc who only shrugged.
"It is possible, I read a work up on him, his powers have magnified tenfold since the end of the war. And since no one knows where he is..."
"He could be in trouble." Rico said. He looked at Gossard who looked a little woozy. "Is he going to be ready for drop?"
"Me and the ship's doctor both concur, he needs at least two days of light duty, but yeah, he should be." Doc said giving him a slap on the back. "Hear that, you can only fake it for two days, after that, you have to go back to work."
"Sounds good to me." Gossard said with a smile. "I could use some time to sleep, old man Zim has us on four hours followed by two hours of PT before grub."
"What's wrong with him?" Murphy asked loudly. "Is he trying to kill us?"
"Careful Private, that's an LT you're talking about." He smiled over at him. "Your beauty sleep that important?"
"No sir, sorry sir." Murphy said quickly.
"The LT is trying to keep you from being killed." Rico said smiling at Doc. "You haven't been in a true war situation yet. You don't get sleep on the front." Murphy looked suddenly worried. "Go get some sleep Private, Major's orders."
"Yes, sir." Murphy saluted and left the empty infirmary.
"You taking us down Jonnie?" Gossard asked.
Jonnie gave him a malicious smile. "Ol' Zim ain't getting my squad. You're butts are mine. Both of you get some rest, I'm taking over tomorrow, three days until we reach the planet. We're going to have some fun."
He left the infirmary and let Doc help Gossard to the bunks where most of the squad was already asleep. L'Ioo was in her small room on her knees at her bunk. Doc laid Goss down and hopped up onto his bunk.
"And I had gotten used to a real bed." He said throwing his shirt down. "But I think I missed this."
"You sure that's not indigestion?" Gossard asked.
"Might be." Doc replied after a moment of thought.
Gossard stared at L'Ioo for a moment and noticed that Murphy was lying in bed, his eyes wide open, staring at the bunk above him. He looked back to L'Ioo.
"What's she doing?" He asked nudging Murphy's bunk and nodding to the kneeling Tophetti.
"Praying." He said plainly. "She's done it since she was a girl, always, right before she goes to sleep, for an hour. And believe it or not, after the life she's had, she's giving thanks."
Murphy laid back down. "Does he ever stop accursed noise?" he yelled kicking Max's bunk above him.
"Nope," Gossard said resting his head on his pillow. "You'll get used to it."
LOVELL A-19
The queen sat idly listening for the thoughts of the one she was after. But she couldn't hear him, couldn't locate him. He was stronger than when her mother and faced him, he was blocking her. She had other concerns too. On the homeworld, the Terrans were scattered and in disarray but were causing extensive damage to the armies through what seemed to be suicide attacks.
It was something she knew they would do when pressed to the limit, but it was something that she was unfamiliar with. Why would a species, confronted with death, throw its life away in a blaze of futility? What were the rewards?
But it didn't matter; she had more for her armies. Three of her transports landed on the rocky surface above her and load close to two hundred thousand fresh troops for the hordes to dispose of the human race for good. She set the course for the transports telepathically and let go with orders to destroy anything that got in their way. The target was set, the humans would know what it was like to be pushed from their home much like her species had, but unlike her, they would not be returning.
"And now as the armies clashed at one strategic point
they slammed their shields together, pike scraped pike
with the grappling stength of fighters armed in bronze
and their round shields' bosses pounded hide-to-hide
and the thunder of struggle roared and rocked the earth.
Screams of men and cries of triumph breaking in one breath,
fighters killing, fighters killed, and the ground streamed blood."
The Iliad - Book Eight: The Tide of Battle Turns; Homer