Colonel Nikolai Vargev was stood on a concrete platform at the top of the main command tower high above the surrounding buildings and workshops within Echo base. Silently looking out over the windswept plains of Gamma IV and stroking his dark moustache. It was a bleak, cold, often damp place. Raising his binoculars he could see the shadowy forms of the Valcasian mountains on the horizon, and the glinting steel structures of the far off colony buildings in between, the bright sunlight of the Gamma sun shining off them.
The shipyards and naval repair stations were all in orbit above the planet, while the vast tank factories, munitions factories and warehouses were on the surface itself.
Vargev squinted through his binoculars, gently panning them across the horizon, straining to catch any glimpse of the advancing Krenaran ground forces. He didn’t know how many there were, but he knew they were coming. He had sent two squads of his most expert trackers to ascertain the size of the enemy forces almost six hours earlier, he was confident they would return; as yet they hadn’t.
General John Steel; the British commander of the 3 ^rd armoured company, the ‘Hells angels,’ strode up and stood next to the big Russian.
“ Still wondering where the devil they are colonel?”
“ Something like that,” Vargev smiled as he continued to peer into the binoculars.
The platform they stood upon, was atop a twelve story high tower, the other floors all contained training rooms, workshops for aspiring E.D. F engineers, as well as offices for the hundreds of operations staff of the base itself.
To his north, lay the 40 feet high, reinforced concrete perimeter wall, and the guard towers which studded it in even intersections, directly ahead of them was the main gate, where the two largest guard towers loomed over a wide tarmac road, serving as the only entrance into the base. A giant barrier and security station barred access, which could only be opened by inputting a unique identification code issued to all staff working on the base.
To Vargev’s west, there stood the massive munitions factories, where tonnes of rail-cannon shells, and a host of other ammunition was made, and even further to the west, he could just make out the tops of the enormous tank factories, huge columns of steam rose from their stacks from the cooling processes used to make the armour.
Running through the middle of those tank factories was a narrow yet deep canal, which provided the vast quantities of water used; named the Aquarius canal by the workers after the astrological water carrier.
As Vargev turned his attentions eastward, he could see the vast shape of the spaceport, several hundred meters wide. It was designed to accommodate the bulk freighters who would transfer tanks, other armoured vehicles and supplies to larger freighters in orbit which would in-turn transport them to whichever E.O.C. A colony was in need of them.
Attached to the spaceport was the even bigger loading area, where vehicles would be arrayed for each particular pickup, then driven onto the freighters themselves.
Further east, Vargev cast his eye over the tall warehouse buildings, where tanks and equipment would be stored awaiting pickup. It was always busy around those buildings as military vehicles drove to and fro from the loading area.
As he returned his attention northwards once again, he could make out the snaking course of the river Tariseia, where the Aquarius canal got its water. It ran through Gamma colony, about a few kilometres further up the road. The colony itself was a small self contained city, built for the workers at echo base.
Vargev knew he should feel comfortable in the formidable protection that Echo base offered, but he didn’t. There would be an attack soon, he could feel it, but hadn’t a clue where the attack would come from, the tension was rising amongst the men, as it always did on the eve of battle.
As he looked over the base in front of him, he could just make out a lone soldier, playing on an old antique harmonica to others around him, the Russian smiled.
The E.D. F naval vessels that were posted to this area were pushed almost to breaking point trying to hold back the Krenaran attackers. However, sooner or later a Krenaran force will break through, capture the shipyard and then launch an all out attack upon the surface. Every instinct within him was telling him this, and he trusted those instincts, they had kept him alive.
Vargev had barely a hundred E.D. F commandoes under his command, the most highly trained and deadly troops in the E.D.F. Used in the fiercest of the fighting, each man was already a veteran of a dozen engagements during this war, every one a perfectly honed killing machine.
He had posted them to strategic locations where he knew the fighting would be thickest. The spaceport, and dug in within the colony itself. The spaceport would be a high priority for the Krenarans as they would no doubt use it as a staging post to spread out and attack the rest of the base, two twelve man squads lay in wait there to prevent that happening, with their lives if necessary.
The rest; apart from another two squads which were held back to defend the command building itself were ordered to fan out amongst the buildings of the colony, and to prevent the Krenarans from capturing it in the hopes of laying siege to the base itself.
General Steel however, had far more resources at his disposal. He had bolstered the commandoes position at the spaceport with four Apollo main battle tanks, and two dominator assault walkers.
Most of his heavy armour was placed amongst the warehouse buildings and within gamma colony, whereas the faster moving elements of the company he had set up in the Valcasian mountains, as a large pass ran straight through them.
Vargev had approved of the generals decision of sending the 14 or so dominators to gamma colony, as their rugged survivability, thick armour and firepower made them excellent units to use in a built up area, where their comparative slowness wasn’t an issue. Together with 6 more Apollo tanks dug in within the colony, it was pretty well defended.
However, he had staunchly disagreed with Steel’s decision of sending the large force of raider A.T. V’s and rapier light tanks up into the mountains, as Vargev thought the attack was unlikely to come from there, enemy units would have to cover large areas of open ground once clear of the mountains, leaving them vulnerable. However the general had overruled him to his chagrin.
The hot Gamma sun had settled below the horizon, bringing nightfall to the colony. The stars glittered in the inky blackness overhead, and the faint clicks of men checking their weapons could be heard through the quiet night air.
Vargev could pick up the faint, barely audible conversations of the lesser trained infantry sharing soldier stories, he silently harrumphed at their lack of discipline, at giving their positions away so easily. His commandoes however were all perfectly silent. Quietly watching, and waiting. Vargev smiled to himself in pride, before allowing himself to rest briefly before the fireworks began.
Lieutenant Shaw was stood on guard at the main gate when he heard a faint dull whine passing overhead. Glancing around his immediate area, he could see nothing.
Two other soldiers, Corporal Jackson and Sergeant Forrest were busily playing poker. Trying to pass the time until their guard shift ended.
The whining grew steadily louder; Shaw, now troubled by the noise shone his torch over the dark surroundings, but still could not perceive anything of significance. Readying his pulse rifle just in case, he gave out a blind call of “Halt, who goes there. Identify yourself.”
No reply came.
At this call, the two other soldiers put down their cards, and headed over to Shaw’s position. “What’s up Lieutenant, you seem kinda jumpy tonight, your shadow scaring you again?” Forrest asked jokily.
“ Just thought I heard something, a faint whine passing near; probably nothing.”
“ Could be the munitions factories,” Jackson offered.
“ Could be,” Shaw nodded in agreement. “Keep your eyes open anyway.”
A much louder whine appeared to shoot past them, followed by such a powerful blast of air that it nearly blew the three of them off their feet.
“ What the hell!” Forrest shouted.
They shone their torches skywards and could just about make out the matt-black and silver metallic hulls that marked the underside of the dreaded Krenaran stealth ships; barely visible in the dark night sky.
“ Shit it’s the Krenarans!” Jackson yelled.
“ Get command on the line; now!” Shaw ordered, as he barely finished his sentence the guard tower across the road burst into flames as a torpedo smashed into it and blew it apart, showering the three of them in concrete dust and debris. The flames lit up the main gate in a bright orange glow, and smoke billowed out into the night sky.
The commotion forced Vargev awake with a start, and he ran to one of the forward windows in the upper floors of the command building. He could see the orange glow of the flames and the thick black smoke of the destroyed guard tower billowing out high into the night sky.
“ I fucking knew it; the Krenarans must have captured the shipyard.” He said to himself as he grabbed his trusty Armschlager. 44 caliber heavy machine gun, and sprinted down to meet up with Steel and the rest of the command team on the 8th floor of the building.
A flare was launched from near the main gate, high into the sky. It light illuminated the dark silhouettes of the stealth ships passing by overhead, as well as those that had already landed unseen, disgorging hundreds of Krenaran warriors between them. Those which had already landed their payload of troops began to lift off ready for the attack on the base itself.
Two more Krenaran ships swooped in low, firing their powerful bright green particle beams at the perimeter fence in a deafening roar, blasting away huge chunks of scorched concrete.
Vargev rushed into the makeshift command centre, just as another officer shouted, “they are attacking the fence!”
Another Krenaran ship swooped in, unleashing a torpedo straight at the fourth floor, the missile smashed through a conference window and detonated, blasting apart the entire floor in the fury of the explosion. Glass shattered and flames burst from the damaged floor as smoke billowed out, the entire building shook from the force of the explosion.
Vargev and the rest of the command team were thrown to the ground, gradually they got back to their feet, brushing themselves down.
Cannons in the guard towers began returning fire with a deafening chattering roar, as their tracer fire streaked across the night sky, however the Krenaran ships were too fast and too agile and few shots actually hit.
The few Hellfire anti-air units they possessed also opened fire. Their rapid firing heavy laser turrets lit up the night sky in intense flashes of blue energy. The stealth abilities of the Krenaran ships however confused their targeting systems and most of the shots went astray, one however was caught and hit repeatedly, the craft slammed into the ground on the far side of the colony, smoke and flames billowing out from the twisted wreckage.
Vargev ran to where Steel was stood, “we need to get out of this building, fast.”
“ I hope the rear emergency exits are still intact. Everyone with me, we’re evacuating.”
Steel, Vargev and around twenty other troops all ran for the exits, when they got there, they found the emergency escape ladders were damaged but still usable.
“ Move!” The big Russian shouted over the noise of battle outside.
They quickly began to make their way down the steel steps, as a second torpedo slammed into the front of the building with a deafening explosion, violently shaking the tower once again. Vargev and Steel clung on desperately, but another soldier wasn’t so lucky, as the force of the shaking unbalanced him and sent him plummeting over the side of the steps, landing with a sickening crunch seven floors below.
Overhead Vargev could just make out the shapes of three more stealth ships incoming from west to east, as they swooped down, they unleashed a salvo of torpedoes. A hellfire anti-air battery was hit, the force of the impact blasting the near 30 tonne vehicle almost ten feet into the air. The wreckage came crashing down in flames, scattering razor sharp debris.
More shots rained down upon Echo base, blasting a wide hole in a tank factory roof, another torpedo decimated the top floor of the command tower, where Vargev had earlier stood.
Elsewhere another guard tower burst into flames as it too was hit, sending the occupants plummeting on fire, to the ground below.
Vargev, and the surviving troops had made it to ground level and quickly began to take stock of their situation. Chaos was everywhere, two guard towers were burning, and the command building was now thoroughly ablaze after taking several hits, like a giant pyre in the centre of the base.
Luckily the munitions factories had been spared, if they had been hit, with all those explosives inside. The resultant blast could take out half the base.
Amongst the flashes of torpedo fire, anti-air fire and tracer shots, two bulk freighters began to descend bearing E.D. F markings, they hovered low, as though attempting to land on the spaceport. The freighters held position barely two meters from the surface of the pad.
Vargev eyed the transports with suspicion, why the hell are the Krenarans ignoring those transports? Almost in an instant the realization hit him; holy shit!
A hatch opened on both freighters, dozens of Krenarans poured out of the hovering vessels. Their weapons mercilessly scything down the E.D. F troops attempting to stop them landing.
The freighters eventually touched down on the landing pad, releasing a second wave of warriors, their weapons blazing away.
Vargev cast a glance northwards and could see yet more Krenaran ships landing in the dusty fields between Echo base and the colony. This is not going to be a fucking good night.
For the most part, the perimeter fence was holding up to the onslaught, the reinforced concrete was doing its job well. However it wouldn’t last too much longer, already in several places it was cracked and broken.
At the main gate, a dozen or so soldiers were hurriedly forming a barricade.
Vargev sprinted towards the loading area connected to the spaceport. The surviving soldiers there had managed to close one of the sliding heavy steel doors, and were trying to fortify it with anything they could find.
Just outside the building, he could hear the unmistakable ‘thump’ ‘thump’, of the heavy footfalls of dominator assault walkers. Two of them were approaching, Vargev rushed back out and signalled to the pilots, who turned their metal behemoths and began to follow.
“ I want you two to guard that door!” he shouted up to them, “any Krenaran that comes through I want dead.”
The two pilots nodded their understanding. Taking up positions near the door, their multi-barreled heavy assault cannons trained upon it.
Loud metallic ‘clangs’ resounded across the hushed loading area. As fire from Krenaran weaponry slammed against the heavy steel on the opposite side.
Vargev and the remainder of the commandoes readied their weapons.
Powerful explosions continued to light up the night sky outside as stealth ships maintained their assault on the base.
Apollo main battle tanks were directed towards the main gate to provide a defence to the inevitable attack there.
In the distance, General Steel could see multiple explosions lighting up Gamma colony, the black shapes of Krenaran ships silhouetted against the glow of fires swooping in and out, performing strafing runs. He knew however that it was just a diversion to get the forces he had placed there to keep their heads down so they can land more men.
He motioned to a young soldier nearby.
“ Yes sir.”
“ Where’s your comm. unit,” the General asked.
“ Here sir,” the young soldier pulled out the comm. unit out of a pouch on his webbing, and passed it over to Steel.
He input the frequency to contact the forward command post in the Valcasian mountains, “This is General Steel to all units, Echo base is under attack, all units are ordered to return to Echo base; repeat return to base.”
He passed the soldier his comm. unit back, and looked out beyond the main gate towards the hundreds of Krenarans massing for the attack, barely half a kilometre away.
I just hope some of those units make it here, he thought. Another explosion from the burning command centre nearby made him duck.
The main body of the Krenaran force did not advance however, instead they dug themselves in. Knowing they could not yet penetrate the thick outer perimeter. Instead the Stealth ships renewed their attacks, bombarding the base throughout the night.
When the sun arose on the second day, barely two of the guard towers were still standing and smoke hung thick in the air. The Krenarans were well dug in, in the fields between Gamma colony and Echo base.
The burned out command tower still smouldered, though now barely better than ruins. The first rainfall the colony had seen in nearly 3 months gradually began to patter off the armour of the Apollo’s and the Dominator’s.
Barely a quarter of the raider A.T. V’s and Rapier light tanks had made it back from the Valcasian mountains during the night, their blackened twisted chassis could be seen dotting the fields close to the Krenaran lines, wisps of light smoke could still be seen from some of them.
Steel had ordered the Groundhog artillery batteries to remain within the mountains, and co-ordinate their fire with the two other batteries positioned within Echo base, they continuously pounded the Krenaran lines with high velocity shells.
An emergency field hospital was set up during the night in one of the tank factories, and was rapidly filling up with the injured and dying.
Engineers from within Echo base itself were hurriedly trying to shore up the perimeter fence before the attacks resumed again.
Vargev joined Steel, near the main gate. “Well, we made it through the night,” the general said.
“ We may well have to make it through more yet comrade.”
In the distance they could see the faint wisps of smoke rising from the colony.
“ How many casualties?” Vargev asked.
“ 70 dead all told, nearly twice that many injured,” Steel replied with a sigh.
“ Not bad considering the beating we took.”
“ Yes, but not good either. I’ve been a fool colonel, I almost allowed the Krenarans to waltz right in through the front door. Most of the faster units, the Raiders and the Rapiers were left well out of position, you were right to tell me not to put the majority of my forces in the mountains.”
“ What is done, is done comrade, what we have to do now is hold the base until help arrives; at all costs.”
“ The stealth ships won’t attack during the day that’s for sure.”
“ One of the biggest problems we have is how the hell do we re-capture the spaceport?” Vargev asked rubbing his soot streaked chin.
The commander of Echo base General Kalidis approached the two men.
“ Where the bloody hell were you during the attack!” Steel shouted.
“ Cut off; I was in the far tank factory when the attack came. I know of a small entrance to the roof of the loading area, I’ll show you.”
He led them over to the front of the loading platform near to the perimeter fence itself, it was partially covered by foliage. But there was a very small flight of slippery, rusted steel steps that led up onto the roof.
Vargev and Steel climbed up the steps, peering over the roofline, they could make out the Krenarans were busily assembling something. Neither of them had any idea what it was. They were milling about the freighters, going back and forth, bringing out equipment. One massive Krenaran strode into view, standing upon a pair of thick mechanical legs, he was head and shoulders above the others and almost seemed to exude a sense of raw power, he bellowed out orders to the others around him.
Vargev ducked back down, remembering back to the time six months ago when they fought Axus on the bridge of the Liberty, the one who had almost killed Vargev himself. “You must be presented as trophies for my master,” he had said to them at the devastated Agemman colony before taking them both prisoner. Could this be the one, could this be the master that Axus had spoken of; he certainly looked bigger than Axus, that’s for sure, and appeared stronger.
Steel looked over at the colonel, “are you okay, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“ I’m fine,” Vargev lied.
“ Who is that?” Steel asked as he also eyed the huge Krenaran working and directing those around him, typical Krenarans had a single barrel arm cannon, a weapon that was physically grafted onto the Krenarans own arm and was immensely powerful. However this guy’s weapon had not one, but three barrels.
“ I’ve no idea, all I know is that Axus once called him his master.”
The massive Krenaran looked over in their direction and spotted them at once; levelling his weapon he opened fire, three intensely bright green translucent beams hurtled towards them, Vargev and steel barely managed to duck back down as the shot blasted apart a section of concrete next to them, covering the both of them in choking dust, and showering them in masonry.
“ Jesus Christ, that weapon is a hell of a lot more powerful than the typical Krenaran weapons!” Steel shouted over the noise of the blast.
“ You’re telling me, time to get out of here,” Vargev replied.
They made their way back down the rusted steps, disappearing from view of the Krenarans.
During the rest of the day, they had moved all of the Apollo main battle tanks, and the majority of the dominator assault walkers towards the perimeter fence. Vargev could almost feel that the Krenarans would make a push for it tonight, try and break through the perimeter to join up with their other force on the spaceport.
The remaining commandoes; Vargev had ordered into fire teams, taking up positions on the warehouse rooves, near to the perimeter, where their powerful, heavy calibre Armschlagers would tear into the approaching Krenarans.
The commandoes that had fallen back from the space port, regrouped in the loading area, taking up new positions amongst the parked vehicles. Vargev had elected to allow them to stay, in case the Krenarans did manage to break through that enormous steel door that separated the loading area from the rest of the space port.
The Sun of Gamma IV was beginning to set, and night would soon be upon them. General Steel would be leading the defence of the main gate, while Vargev together with the other commandoes would be defending the perimeter. Kalidis would be out saving his own ass again, Vargev thought, he had taken an instant dislike to that man.
The sky had darkened noticeably and night time was fast upon them, it had been steadily raining all day, now it was getting gradually heavier. Vargev took up his position near to the perimeter. The rain had formed small rivulets down his helmet; he offered a silent prayer that he would see the night through.
The rain continued to patter off the helmets and camouflaged fatigues of the dug in commandoes as they silently awaited the coming attack, their weapons had all been checked and were ready for the inevitable onslaught that was to come.
The soft, low pitched hum of approaching stealth ships signalled the resumption of the attacks, just as they had done the previous night. Several of the deadly craft swooped down towards the base, unleashing a salvo of torpedoes as they did so, some of which smashed into the perimeter fence, blasting out gigantic pieces of concrete and masonry.
Another shot tore apart an Apollo M.B. T which was defending the main gate. Its flaming wreckage was sent tumbling end-over-end before smashing into the ruined guard tower. The roar of the hellfire anti-air batteries resounded across the complex as they once again tried to halt the swooping stealth ships, but as yet to no avail.
The Krenaran ships dived to the attack along gamma colony also, their torpedoes and particle cannons tearing apart the tightly packed structures; great plumes of fire and smoke rose high into the night air.
Casualties however had remained light in the initial attacks so far, as the majority of vehicles and men had dug in, or taken cover in or around the buildings for better protection.
The stealth ships swung around in a high arc, to resume their pounding of the perimeter fence once again; explosions lit up the night sky in bright flashes as torpedoes struck home. Throughout the assault Krenaran ground forces were steadily advancing towards the perimeter. Heavy weapons fire from the two remaining guard towers raked the advancing Krenarans, cutting them down as they approached, dozens of the green scaled draconic brutes fell clutching holes the size of fists in their chests.
The Krenaran ground troops were now almost within weapons range. The mighty Apollo’s opened fire with deafening blasts from their cannons, the high velocity rounds throwing up great plumes of charred earth and smoke where the rounds detonated. Several dozen of the aliens were blasted high into the air by the force of the impacts, heedless of their losses the brutal Krenarans continued to advance.
A lone stealth ship opened fire with its particle cannon at one of the guard towers a few feet metres away from Vargev’s position. A huge explosion engulfed the tower, temporarily blinding the colonel. The few men inside that hadn’t been atomised by the heat and power of that particle cannon blast, were engulfed in flames as their uniforms and skin set alight. They ran headlong, screaming in agony and jumping from the tower in a desperate bid to escape the inferno, their bodies slammed into the wet ground far below with a sickening muted thud, the driving rain slowly extinguishing the flames from their broken and lifeless bodies.
The Krenaran force on the landing pad turned their attention towards the large steel doors barring their progress to the loading area. What they had been constructing throughout the day suddenly became all too clear when it unleashed its fury. Like a smaller, portable particle cannon, the force of the shot blasted a gaping hole right through the heavy gauge steel of the door. Three more times the huge cannon roared its anger, and on the third attempt, the doors crumpled and weakened as they were from the depredations of this awesome weapon, were finally blasted apart in a deafening roar that echoed throughout the entire loading area.
The two Dominator assault walkers which Vargev had stationed there, opened fire immediately, a flurry of. 50 calibre high velocity rounds from their heavy assault cannons tore into the charging Krenarans with frightening ease. Spent ammunition cases clattered to the ground all around the twin behemoths. The commandoes which had took up positions amongst the parked vehicles behind the dominators also opened fire, the immense hail of assault cannon fire and the commandoes own armschlagers was deafening, echoing all around the vast loading area, still despite the incredible amount of firepower being levelled at them the Krenarans still came on.
The miniature particle cannon opened fire again, smashing into one of the Dominators, its heavy armour no defence against the sheer force of the weapon. A pall of thick smoke spewed from the great rent in the armour of the machine, and it staggered a couple of steps backwards, then burst into flames before finally falling backward with a deafening ‘clang’ as its steel armour slammed onto the concrete floor.
The lone surviving Dominator desperately tried to continue the defence sweeping its heavy assault cannon in wide arcs, the muzzle flash blinding as dozens upon dozens of heavy caliber slugs burst from its myriad of spinning barrels, more spent casings skittered along the floor.
There must have been fifty Krenaran corpses piled up all along the corridor to the landing pad, nobody had the time to count, just to shoot. Bodies lay everywhere, the stench of charred meat and blood hung in the air, the alien’s milky white blood formed into tiny rivulets running down the long ramped corridor to where the freighters were docked above.
The huge Krenaran strode forward on his mechanical legs, giving off a hiss of released pressure as the bird-like feet slammed down on the concrete with such a force that it cracked underfoot. Calmly levelling the triple barrels of his weapon at the equally large assault walker tearing chunks out of his men, he clicked the internal trigger, and, with an intense blast of incandescent green energy, the second Dominator stopped motionless, its weapon hung limply by its side and it appeared to gently stoop forward.
A ragged hole the size of a watermelon had torn straight through the bullet proof cockpit glass, and reduced the pilot inside into crimson jelly that smeared every panel and instrument throughout the interior cockpit. Commandoes defending the loading area continued to rake the onrushing Krenarans with weapons fire, a deafening explosion from a grenade thrown through the breach filled the corridor with smoke, around twenty more Krenarans had fell, the floor turned slippery from their blood.
The advancing Krenarans returned fire and several commandoes were blasted back across the giant warehouse-like room. Landing in a bloodied heap with a crack as their heads snapped back and smashed into the smooth concrete flooring. The surviving commandoes knew they were fighting a desperate battle, and that the loading area was lost, but they had made the Krenarans pay dearly for capturing it.
High above the base, stealth ships continued their attack runs. Several more torpedoes slammed hard into a weakened section of the perimeter wall, sending debris and shrapnel flying in all directions, this last attack was finally too much and a small section of the wall collapsed into a large pile of dust and concrete rubble, the Krenarans had finally succeeded in opening a gap big enough for them to get through.
A lone Dominator advanced toward this gap, the muted ‘thump’ ‘thump’ of its feet could be heard as it stomped its way through the muddy grassland, groundwater pooled in the muddy depressions of its footsteps. A single Krenaran managed to scrabble through the pile of shattered concrete and was greeted by a hail of high power assault cannon shells from the approaching Dominator, its body was ripped apart from the impacts of the heavy weapons fire and flung back through the breach.
Their objective complete, the stealth ships turned their attention to the forces defending the main gate, the hastily constructed barricades were already taking a beating from Krenaran weapons fire, the final remaining barricade was torn asunder by simultaneous blasts from two particle cannons, vaporising several soldiers using it as cover. However the firepower from four Dominators, together with cannon blasts from the Apollo battle tanks in support proved too much for the Krenarans, scores of the brutal aliens fell from the barrage of heavy assault cannon fire and the Apollo’s high velocity shells, their bodies littering the sodden ground. Those few surviving Krenarans fell back from the main gate, many of which were injured.
The lone, brave Dominator defending the breach in the perimeter wall was relentlessly pouring fire into the oncoming Krenarans, his weapon smoking hot from the friction produced by the rapidly spinning barrels and the hail of hot lead he was pumping into the advancing aliens. Shot after shot raked them as they threw everything they had at the breach, his ammo counter was beginning to run low.
In an effort to help the lone Dominator, struggling against near impossible odds, Vargev ordered some commandoes on a nearby roof to open fire. The awesome firepower unleashed from the commando fire teams’ Armschlagers tore into the advancing Krenarans, dozens fell as masses of high power rounds ripped through their alien bodies, their metallic battle armour no defence against solid slugs. Just for a moment it seemed as though the Krenaran were wavering under the intense firefight.
Resolutely however, the aliens returned fire, pressing their numerical superiority. Fire from several of the Krenaran cannons slammed into the walker, knocking it backwards a pace or two, its feet dug a shallow trench in the ground which quickly filled with rainwater as the assault walker weathered the storm of fire. The pilot’s cockpit glass was cracked in several places; a large hole was blasted into it just above the pilots head. Its frontal armour was also torn and bent in several areas, exposing the delicate electronics and wiring underneath. The pilot gnashed his teeth, and held fast.
Two of Vargev’s commandoes fell, as the Krenarans returned fire on them, their bodies plummeting from the roof of the warehouse. Vargev took aim with his own Armschlager and pressed the trigger, it bucked under the recoil of the high power rounds. One of the brutes fell, clutching its ruined face, a couple of others next to him hugged the wet ground, fearful of befalling the same fate.
The surviving commandoes on the loading platform were not faring quite as well though, embroiled in a desperate rearguard action now as the Krenarans pressed their attack, gaining ground all the time. Three more men died, gaping holes blown through their chests. The massive Krenaran commander levelled his weapon and fired, the resulting blast flung two more commandoes like rag dolls high into the air, their bloodied bodies slamming into the steel clad wall behind them.
The commandoes had put up an intense fight, but the Krenarans were now amongst them, and no human could match an eight foot tall Krenaran for brute strength, almost a dozen commandoes died as the bone crunching impacts of Krenaran fists and kicks snapped necks and broke legs and arms. The few surviving commandoes retreated out of the loading area completely, some were blasted face first into the concrete floor, as Krenarans shot them in the back as they ran, barely five commandoes had made it out alive, and two of them were badly injured.
Vargev, having made his way to one of the warehouse roofs to get a better view had witnessed the retreat; he knew they had lost the loading platform. His commandoes were cut off from the rest of the base as the Krenarans now controlled all of the spaceport and adjoining loading platform, and would very soon occupy the ruins of the command building as well, silently he prayed for a miracle.
The Gamma sun began to crest the distant Valcasian mountains, hailing the beginning of dawn for the third day and the fighting gradually ceased in its intensity, although the occasional crump of pulse rifle fire could be heard as well as the pounding of Apollo shells into the nearby Krenaran lines, who were now busily consolidating on the advances they had made throughout the night. The ‘Hell’s angels’ began counting the cost.
Two Apollo’s and a Dominator had been lost defending the main gate, another two Dominators at the loading platform, as well as more than fifty soldiers, both ‘Hell’s angels’ and commandoes were amongst the dead.
Worst of all, General Steel was in critical condition from shrapnel injuries sustained during the defence of that main gate, which meant that Vargev, being next in the chain of command, was now in command of the defence, however, along with his fellow commandoes he was cut off from the rest of the base.
Pacing across the roof of the warehouse, the Russian considered his options which he had to admit, were very few.
Eventually he spied an abandoned Raider A.T. V, partly concealed by the corner of a nearby warehouse. Behind it a 7 tonne truck was parked which the engineers normally used to transport ammunition to the warehouses.
Climbing down from the roof of the warehouse via an access ladder, he motioned for the surviving commandoes to do the same. As they all silently made their way over to him in the cover of the rear of the warehouses, he spoke to the assembled group.
“ Listen comrades, we are going to abandon the warehouses and form up with the rest of the armoured company on the other side of the base. But since the Krenarans hold the spaceport and what’s left of the command building, we’re on our own. To get to the other side, we’ll have to use those,” he pointed toward the abandoned vehicles.
“ Sir, what if we are fired upon, the truck is unarmed.”
“ We’ll cover you from the raider since it has an Armschlager on the roof.”
“ Understood, sir.”
“ Okay men, let’s move out!”
They made their way towards the vehicles, carrying their injured with them, keeping in cover until they came to a wide road that ran between the warehouse buildings; this was the main route that ran all the way through the facility. Those that could, sprinted across the cracked asphalt and formed into a fire-team on the other side, covering the slower injured men with quick bursts of weapons fire. Eventually they all made it safely across the open expanse of road.
Once there, Vargev quietly signalled that three were to ride in the A.T. V, and the rest in the truck. He joined the others in the Raider, taking the drivers seat. One of the commandoes quickly manned the roof mounted Armschlager, while the other trained his weapon through one of the vehicles fire-ports. The engines in both vehicles simultaneously thrummed into life, and together they both sped off.
The damaged Dominator which had defended the breach in the perimeter wall so bravely, was finally relieved by two undamaged units, strengthening the defence in that area. The lone damaged Dominator slowly trudged its weary way back towards the tank factories for repairs. The Krenarans in the centre largely ignored it they were too busy fortifying their position, besides they didn’t think one damaged walker with barely any ammunition left was much of a threat.
Vargev continued to drive down the main road, the Raider rocked gently as the thick all terrain tyres hit the occasional crack and divot in the tarmac, this road connected the warehouse buildings in the east through to the tank factories in the west. And from the warehouses to the munitions factories, where most of the ‘Hell’s angels’ were camped, just over a kilometre away.
The biggest problem lay in getting past the spaceport, loading area, and command building currently held by the Krenarans, as all three were located perilously close to the road. There was however, a large field on the other side of the road, which was used for recreation and some small store houses further ahead. The heavy rain throughout the night had made the ground sodden, so any truck trying to cross that field would get quickly bogged down, Vargev silently cursed his luck.
There was no other choice, they would have to keep to the road and risk the Krenarans opening fire on them. They would have to drive as fast as they could manage, he hoped they would not attract too much attention.
The small convoy closed upon the spaceport, the commando gunner in Vargev’s Raider readied the roof mounted Armschlager. The other passenger also readied his weapon. The injured had all been loaded inside the truck since that was the safest place for them, some of the other commandoes were tending to them on route, however their condition was worsening, they needed to get to the triage centre and quickly.
Since the raider was the lead vehicle, Vargev gently pressed the brakes; and steered the raider alongside the larger truck, taking up a position between the buildings on the right hand side of the road and the vulnerable truck where at least the Raider could give the truck some covering fire.
Flashes of bright green energy began to slam into the ground around them from Krenaran weapons fire on the landing pad. The commando on the roof spun around and the Armschlager returned fire, peppering the sides of the tall building. Spent casings clattered upon the cabin floor of the A.T.V.
The truck increased speed, as did the Raider to match. All along the landing pad enemy fire came hurtling towards them, blasting apart thick chunks of tarmac, a shot slammed into the passenger door, blowing a wide hole in it and shattering the bullet-proof Perspex glass, just missing the commandoes leg. Vargev kept going, there was no choice; he had to.