Existential Threat: Chapter 19 Part 1 of 3 (Patreon)

Chapter 19:

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Luke glanced up through the rain, tracking several incoming dropships with Hellcat escort, the aerial Adraxi were a damn pain in the ass for people on the ground and dropships, but the ‘cats ruled the skies.

Sleep had come in four hour power naps, food, bathroom breaks and showers, snatched in seconds. While they were away, others jumped into their bots, keeping up the push, moving closer to the southern harvester.

Everything else but the mission, what they were doing was washed away, just like the rain carving new streams into the dirt.

Luke shifted his rifle, lying in the rubble of a building along the outskirts of the city.

His night vision compensating for the flares of nukes and lightning.

“How many bots are on the planet now?” Moose asked.

“Something like a hundred and twenty or fifty million,” Jynx said.

“Thought we didn’t have that many bots.”

“Been building them day and night, without them we can’t do half of the things we do.”

Movers ran up and down the main road, people huddled in their truck beds. More and more were laying on their sides, coughing up gunk.

The Command posts burned away the spores, leaving piles of dust upon the ground, mixed with the rain and mud.

Lightning-probably nukes or impactors thundered in the distance. It had become background noise, like the near-constant rain and thick cloud cover.

Dropships came down over one of the large access roads that ringed the city, releasing the tanks from their underside. The tanks thrusters flared, blowing water out of puddles and small rocks, bouncing as they accelerated into the forest, smashing through trees and clearing the LZ.

“Charlie Company you ready to push out?” Commander Kirmani asked on a private chat.

“Just waiting for the rest of my alphabet, shouldn’t be more than a few minutes. You sure you don’t want to command?” Luke asked.

“You got a lay of the land, you know what you’re dealing with, I’m just getting up to speed, got to interface with the other commanders and see what we have on deck. Take me twenty minutes just to get into the groove. You got this Luke.”

“Thanks Kirmani.”

Bots dropped from the gliding dropships, their engines rose in pitch as the last bot dropped out, banking away and heading back to the mining facility.

“You sure about taking the Orkaran fighters?” Krimani asked.

Luke bounced his eyes between different points in his arcs, keeping his eyes ‘fresh’ for movement. “Its their planet and their people. They called us symbiotes in the beginning because the Aer caste used bots to appear on the planet and subjugate them,” Luke said. “Now they all call us bots, they fight on the line with us, I have to hold them back.”

“The spores could kill them,” Kirmani said.

“They know, they’re okay with it.”

“Guess I’d do the same in their shoes. Sure you don’t want a commander job on a more permanent basis?” Kirmani chuckled.

“No sir commander Kirmani sir. Though seems I got stuck with a company,” Luke snorted.

“Wonder how that happened?” Kirmani hmm’d, turning serious again. “If the Orkaran to agree that we’re not liable for injury and that in writing they can go. We need people with the lay of the land and know the locals. Try to keep them back from all the fury of the front.”

“Yes sir, I’ll do my best.”

“Good hunting, I hope you get everyone from the city. Smash the fuckers.”

“Yes sir,” Luke’s voice hardened to meet the controlled rage in Kirmani’s voice.

He keyed squad chat and checked the forces massing. Twenty eight squads four heavy, another four in tanks with ten Dropships  in support and orbital a call and a yell away.

“Kirmani sends his regards,” Luke said on squad chat, the others around him, sitting and half-laying in the rubble of a building.

“How he doing?” Moose asked.

“Getting looped into everything, probably switch out with me once we have this city under our belts.”

“You sound relieved,” Shiro chuckled.

“Command ain’t too bad, but its easy to get overwhelmed, prefer just being a squad lead.” Luke shifted more out of boredom than a need to, resting his rifle on a new point. Few things matched with the sheer firepower of the heavy bots. “Jynx, how’s our merry band of otters doing?”

“They’re picking up how to use the machine guns well. Have them eating and drinking while we do drills. Some are sleeping. Think we should rotate everyone in this group back to the camp when we rotate back for rest.”

“Tough bastards,” Moose said.

Luke grunted, Ken and his band of fighters had grown in number even as he pushed several into the movers, sending them back to the mining facility to rest and recover. They’d hardened themselves over hours.

He checked the dropped tanks and bots forward of his position, forcing himself up to his knee and turning.

Jynx had the Orkarans working in pairs, replacing machine gun barrels, and reloading the weapons as she walked behind them, checking the work.

They switched over, checking the weapons were clear and started again, lying down in the mud.

He checked the sky, nukes back-lit or threw the clouds into chaos before forming more. Charged storms colored the skies while impactors cut through the clouds. He focused his hearing behind him, through the sounds of bombs and machine guns in the near distance to hear the dulled notes of the harvesters defensive fire.

Getting louder now.

Movers splashed through the mud, brakes squealing as people hustled out of buildings, loading the trucks. Wounded and those coughing up spores or had coughed out so much to be left weak were put in first. Gates swung closed, pinned in place, people calling out and hitting the truck’s side.

The movers splashed through more mud, and back through the city towards the main roads.

Orkaran volunteers guided the people of the city into movers now. The panic and fear was there, settling under the surface, ears pricked up and snapping to Hellcats passing nearby.

Heavy machine guns letting loose in the distance, the dull crack-thump of artillery hitting targets, small arms fights breaking out, the noise carrying through the forest.

“We’re pushing on all fronts, your dad really wants to smack that Harvester,” Fin said.

“We’ve only met light resistance, good to push now and hammer them back.” Luke’s voice rose to a yell over the atmospheric engines burning above, dropships and Hellcats loaded to bear on a straight line for the harvester’s position.

“Good to have some more boots on the ground,” Moose said.

“Last squad,” Zulu squad leader said on company command chat.

“Good shit.” Luke opened his terminal, showing his company in rough formation throughout the forest. “Alright you heathens, Looks like I’m it for this fight. We’re going to be part of the first wave. Seven companies including us are going to advance out to the South. I’ve broken everyone down into platoons; five bot squads, one heavy, one tank. Bots advance in arrowhead two squad up head, three in the second row, with heavies inbetween each arrowhead and on either side. Tanks will be on the left and right, three in the rear.” Luke checked his drawing, two chevrons, three behind with x’s between, then two circles on either side and behind.

“When we come under contact, first rank you identify targets and forget to watch your ammunition counters. Second line move up to support, Call in targets to arty and secondaries for the heavies and tanks. Mark all enemy tanks. I’m sure the tankers will appreciate,” Luke said dryly.

“I swear my eyesight’s not that bad, just hit a bot or two,” Yankee squad leader said, getting a ripple of amusement.

“Move, communicate, coordinate. Speed is of the essence here, we need to move up and secure the second mining city in this region. We’ve got some signs of fighting, but they’ve been under the spores for a few hours now, the sooner we get there and get command posts in place, the better. Alpha, Tango, Mike, Lima, you’re platoon leaders as we practiced. Step off in three minutes. Green up if you’re good.”

Green lights appeared next to all of their names on the side of his vision.

“Sweet, lets get to it.” Luke snapped off the chat and pushed out of the rubble, shifting it with his bulk.

“Jynx, lesson time is over, lets get into position.” Luke crossed to the side of the building.

“On it boss.”

“Back to the grind,” Fin sighed, rising with the others.

Shiro grunted in agreement.

“At least our bellies are full and we got a full load of ammo,” Jynx moved through the same alleyway, checking her weapon.

***