Existential Threat: Chapter 17 Part 1 of 3 (Patreon)

Chapter 17:

12/07/2242

Luke stepped through the trees, the hunter in the lead with an Orkaran fighter, following some path only he could see as far as Luke could tell.

“Spores are getting thicker this way,” Shiro said.

“Harvester took out nearly all of them on the way down. It’s air defense is nuts.” Jynx said.

Rounds cut through the forest the Orkaran fighter, tackled the fighter as Luke dropped to a knee mid-stride and fired back at where the rounds came from, shredding trees, foliage and two Adraxi grunts.

“Contact!”

Rounds suddenly tore around him, Adraxi moving in the undergrowth, nearly blending in with the early morning shadows.

The others ripped off a burst with their heavy machine guns and ran up, orientating a line towards the enemy, the other units moving as they’d trained relentlessly.

“Hotel in position to flank on the right!”

“Foxtrot hold firm and watch our left side, make sure we don’t get hit in the side. Golf, support Hotel, swing around and hit them in the side.”

Green lights lit up their names, their positions shifting.

Luke hissed, missing Adraxi using the under-brush and low features to move forward.

A cannon cracked, turning a tree to Luke’s side into so many splinters, throwing him to the side.

He pushed himself up.

“Jynx?”

She let loose a grunting yell, hurling the tree outwards.

“Fuck you and your fucking tree jack ass!”

She fired on semi-auto, hitting the stone and dirt the Adraxi were moving through. The penetrators went through the dirt and rock, turning them into shrapnel as their payload erupted. The crab tank reared from where it was laying hull down.

Explosions tore through the beast.

Luke rolled up to his knee.

“In position!” Hotel said.

“Friendlies crossing our front, watch fire, AP only!” Luke yelled. Jynx dropped down into cover behind the tree that had landed on her. Greens came back from every squad member. The Orkaran’s were firing from where they were.

As good as we’re going to get. “Hotel you’re clear to move.”

Luke fired at a rock spitter trace was coming from, shaving down the rock-face, the fire cutting down. He kept bursts going as Hotel swarmed over the hill.

A grenade went off, Adraxi leapt up, turning to face the new threat, cut down as Hotel rushed their position.

An explosion went off behind the rock Luke was sending bursts at, keeping half an eye on the squad moving through.

“Watch for friendlies!”

Moose and Fin stopped firing. Luke lifted his aim away away as Hotel with Golf reinforcements moved up.

The shooting along the line died, then those from the flankers.

There were no black markers among the Orkaran, his stomach stopping trying to force his heart into his chest.

The fighter that tackled the hunter was yellow.

Half of Hotel were down and one from Golf. A medic was checking them, updating from the blacks and red markers to their repairability.

“Clear,” Martinez said, pushing hers and Golf beyond the attacking point, taking up defensive positions. “You’re good to move up.”

“Foxtrot you first.”

“Lets go!” Scalia led his people forward.

“Alright Echo, Orkaran fighters move up.” Luke rose to his feet and jogged forward, the Orkaran’s surged as well, the hunters a few seconds slower.

Someone threw out an A-nade, the wave of noise squealed over the area, bouncing between rocks and dying off into the forest.

Adraxi parts started to collapse into dust. An Orkaran kicked one over, dust falling out the holes where the creature’s arms had been and in the new ones in its chest.

Luke jumped up rocks and down on the other side, joining Hotel squad.

He opened his mouth, weapons fire rolled in the distance eyes flickering he dropped to a knee.

“Coming over near my mark.” Martinez pinged.

“Kaalim how our wounded looking?”

“Two up, two down still, get a third up quick, fifth be easiest to haul with us, let the nannies work.”

“Good stuff, Ken how’s your fighter doing?”

“Armor is hammered, bruised and broken possibly, gun-nanites on armor to fix. We’ll send him with the movers when we meet up with them.”

Luke glanced at the road to their right. The movers back from their position.

“Alright arrowhead, Hotel you’re up front, Orkaran guide behind him. We’re not far from the mining cities.”

The long hours had drilled in the formation to their minds, everyone fell into their positions, moving faster than before, right towards the sounds of fighting.

“Ichika, its Luke, requesting a fly-by on marked target, we can hear weapons fire,” Luke paused hearing the distinct howl, and detonation of a crab round. “At least one crab in the area.”

“Got it, heading in your direction.”

***

Ichika broke off from her orbit path, Carver riding on her wing.

“You need us?” Gloria asked.

“Make sure you’re fully loaded on ammo and ingots. If we need you we’re going to need you in hot.” Ichika snapped a look at her ammunition levels.

[Hellcat]

[Primary Weapon: Heavy Machine Gun]

>Ammunition

>>V1(APFE): 473

>>V2(CAD): 159

>>V3 (AD): 65

[Secondary]

-EMPTY-

>Missiles (Mini)

>>17

“How you looking Carver?”

“Decent amount of Vees, got one forget me not mediums and twenty three interceptors.”

“Good on vee, out of forget me’s and down to seventeen inter’s,” Ichika said. “I’ve got more interceptors printing.”

“Same, I was using them as small forget me nots.”

“Groundies are gonna get confused calling missiles forget me nots.” Ichika snorted adjusting her altitude to let her sensors get a better picture of the ground and the friendly city.

“Well they’re all standing there, firing and watching the damn thing, by the time they go off, we’re well gone.” She could hear the grin in Carver’s voice.

“Heads on, coming up on the area, lets split and pull a figure eight.”

“Copy.”

“Mark.” They broke apart, banking in a slow circle that would take them around the area and cross over one another on the opposite side of where they’d appeared.

The trees cleared, markers throwing up around the city. Ichika unlocked her heavy machine gun, switching to V-2s as she picked out targets, using her finger balls to select or deselect a half dozen targets all in the time it took her to yell “Contacts!” She unleashed her first barrage of interceptors. “Adraxi attacking the City, friendlies in the buildings firing back on them.

A building caught a crab round, the roof, shaved trees blew out as smoke poured from the second floor.

Her craft bucked as she fired her machine gun, countering by learned response. She didn’t use bursts, a hundred rounds a second created a  line of rounds that jerked her craft like a dog had caught her in their jaws.

There was no grin on her face, a blank look as she adjusted her run, adjusted flaps, engines, thrusters, selecting targets with her left hand inside her netsuit.

Carver’s heavy cannon let rip as he came in from the other side, flying so close she could see him, got caught up in the wave of his interceptors plumes as they ignited their fury in the forest the Adraxi were moving through. Trees collapsed, others were thrown back and forth. Ichika’s targets slimmed down as she cleared Carver and fired.

“Friendlies on the ground,” She barked as tracers cut out from the side of the roughly square city.

Two squads ran through the city streets as Movers bumped along the road, moving through the streets towards the fighting.

Two Heavies machine guns added their fire to those shooting along the city’s flank, Orkaran fighters joining in.

Ichika banked, using her thrusters.

“One Alpha I need scans of the area, this is more than we’ve seen at other locations,” Luke said.

“Understood, the foliage is thick there, we’re relying on IR and shit’s hitting the trees,” Ichika worked against the wind as it continued to batter, upset and angered by those that dared distress her currents.

“Foliage is high for us down here, we’ve got good lines of sight.”

“Copy we’re recc’ing.”

“Carver how you looking?”

“Seven interceptors left, yellow on heavy.”

“Same on heavy, nine interceptors.” Ichika checked her sensors, a click away from hurling flares.

Spitters cut through the trees, Ichika fired interceptors, flares thumped and hissed out, impacts rang against the bottom and side of her hellcat, dying off suddenly as she rolled away, snapped up and curled back. Something pulled at the corner of her thoughts, a part of an image half-remembered.

“These fuckers are talking to one another, wouldn’t know we’re coming otherwise,” Carver said.

“I need to go back in for another look.” Ichika circled back.

“They know we’re coming boss,” Carver said, a note of frustration in his voice.

“Gut feeling.”

“Got it,” His voice softened, one learned to trust that feeling. “I’ll orbit.”

“Copy,” Ichika’s mind focused on clearing up what she’d seen. The forest had been so thick.

She selected V-3’s targeted the area and let loose.

Trees disappeared Ichika gained altitude looking through the opening as the dust cleared and spores filled it.

Three drop pods had fused together, creating what appeared to be a beetle fused to the ground, Adraxi grunts marched out on the organic Adraxi mat spreading from the building.

“Shit!” Spitters on the building fired on her, flares fired as she dumped all of her interceptors, banked down into the dirty black and brown metal filled stream spitters cut through the air and the trees, barely missing her as she fought her interia, her engines burning the water in the stream down to the stone beneath as she rocketed away.

“Adraxi birth thing on my marker! Its’ got space grade spitters.”

“Medium forget me not on the way!” Carver said.

Atomic Atomic Atomic