Star Force: Canderous (SF16) Read online

  Jumping up into a sprint, Frank dashed out of the edge of the forest and up to the back of their grounded ship, slipping down and underneath the hull as it floated on an anti-grav cushion. He saw two sets of legs on the far side and fired at both, clipping one set that ran off while the other fell to the ground giving Frank an easy shot at its torso. He fired two solid blue lances, one of which hit the creature in its scaly head, blowing out a small section of its skull.

  Frank scanned the area underneath the ship again, seeing no other targets, then pulled back out and circled around, intent on going after the forklift. His effort came up short as a green flash of plasma hit the ship next to his head, prompting him to turn back the way he’d come, using the ship’s hull for cover.

  Knowing his feet were exposed as well, he ran along the outside of the port hull and up towards the front end where most of the fighting was taking place. Halfway up that side he spotted another of the aliens and fired. His shot missed low and splattered dirt up on the lizard/man, causing it to jerk back around. Its head twitched in surprise at seeing him approach, then Frank blew out its left knee with another shot. To the creature’s credit, it stayed on its feet until a wave of plasma shots came in from the left and took it to the ground.

  Frank kept his face forward but glanced left, seeing a knot of armed workers and off duty security poking weapons out of a side building. Apparently they’d been able to make it over to the armory, which meant the Canderians now had numbers on the attackers.

  In response to the new threat the ship’s cannon swiveled around and targeted the building, blowing apart the main door with the first shot and scattered debris like a fragmentation grenade. No return fire manifested from the building, meaning either they were dead, incapacitated, or had fled into the back…none of which was a good sign right now.

  Knowing they had to do something about that cannon, Frank moved forward up towards the blunt nose of the craft until he could see the muzzle of the weapon sticking out ahead of him. Hugging the hull as close as he could, he moved up until he was about ten meters away from it and fired three rounds at the stubby barrel.

  A force field flashed into place as the plasma hit, protecting the weapon that now started tracking Frank’s way.

  Knowing that even a close hit would hurt him, the Canderian ducked under the ship and rolled sideways as fast as he could. He felt a wash of pressure and heat cook his right side as he flipped over onto his back, then it dissipated as he continued his roll. The ship was sitting about a meter off the ground, and he desperately hoped none of them got the idea of flipping off the engines and smashing him flat. To avoid that possibility he stopped his roll when he came over onto his stomach for the third time and began crawling towards the starboard side in a hurry.

  Outside the ship there was a large ‘crack’ accompanied by a flash of light that Frank recognized as a Canderian grenade, though he didn’t see who’d thrown it or where it’d hit with the ship obscuring most of his view. What he could see as he approached the far side was the bottom of the fork lift dig down into the dirt and slide forward into the side of the ship four meters ahead of him.

  The underside of the ship just above his head moved from the impact and Frank scurried back for a second, not wanting to get pinned. The ship leveled out soon after the impact momentum bled off and Frank took advantage of the newly formed cover as he slipped out from under the ship, but aft of the downed forklift. He stepped out and stood up…staring face to face with the driver.

  Both soldiers went for their weapons, but Frank had the advantage that his was already in hand while the lizard’s was still in a hip holster. The point blank plasma blast tore through the chest armor the creature was wearing and knocked it back a step, the scent of cauterized blood filling the air. Frank fired three more times while stepping forward, then used the butt of his rifle to knock the alien’s pistol aside as it tried to aim at him.

  A good kick in the midsection took the creature to the ground and Frank poured four more shots into its chest at point blank range for good measure before stepping over it and grabbing the dropped pistol, flinging it far underneath the ship and out of reach of anyone else. He crept around the back end of the lifter as another cannon blast hit a nearby building that he saw Nicholas taking cover behind, then a hail of incoming plasma shots against became visible to Frank’s eyes. All across the front arc of the ship the attackers were taking hits from more than 20 men while the aliens’ deployed troops were clinging to cover behind some of the damaged crates, with the metal bars within soaking up all the plasma damage that could be thrown at them.

  Suddenly there was an ear piercing mechanical whistle that made Frank grimace. Upon hearing it all the lizards began backtracking towards the open access door just ahead and to Frank’s left where the lifter had been trying to enter. The Canderian shot two on approach as they figured their back arc was still secure while several others jumped up and in…far more than he’d realized had been deployed.

  As soon as they were inside the ship rose up and took to the air. Frank fired a few shots at its underside, which ironically made little imprints where the plasma hit, along with the salvos coming from the other Canderians as they melted away tiny bits of hull armor…but no shields popped into place to prevents the hits, making Frank wonder if they had only been built in to protect the ship’s guns.

  Not counting it all clear yet, Frank began a visual sweep of the area searching for other threats and policing the bodies of the lizards he’d just shot. An arm movement from one prompted shots from three different Canderians almost simultaneously, putting an end to that potential threat as more and more people began emerging from cover. Overhead the ship disappeared across the edge of the forest canopy, quickly gaining altitude and speed.

  “I’m clear,” a voice said through his earpiece.

  “Same here,” another said.

  “Clear,” he echoed into his comm.

  He expected two more voices but only one replied after a few seconds delay. “I’m hit.”

  “Where are you?” Frank asked immediately.

  “50 meters south of you.”

  Frank jerked his head around and began running, still keeping his peripheral senses alert for trouble as he searched for Henry. A few steps later he saw a rubble pile that had been the corner of one of the buildings before the ship’s cannons had knocked it down…underneath it was half a body sticking out, rifle held in hand.

  “Injury report,” Frank demanded, putting his rifle on the ground beside him as he started carefully pulling debris off the Munifex.

  “Don’t know,” he said, spitting out a bit of blood. “Numb below the waist.”

  Frank paused a moment to reach up to his earpiece. “Find the medic and get an evac dropship down here now!” he ordered.

  “We’ve got more wounded,” Nicholas replied. “And Wex is dead.”

  “Work the problem,” Aaron cut in. “I’ve got the perimeter, you guys see to the wounded.”

  “Copy,” Frank said, continuing to pull pieces of concrete-like building off of Henry.

  “Think…my back is broke,” Henry said.

  “Stay still until we get the medic,” he said, pulling a bundle of wiring out of the heap and tossing it aside, glad that it wasn’t electrically active.

  “What were they?” Henry asked, breathing progressively harder as the seconds ticked by.

  “Not Human.”

  “Their ship didn’t show up on sensors…until they were on top of us.”

  “We’ll find them,” Frank promised as he removed the last piece of debris and inspected Henry’s legs. By the odd way they were laying he knew his fellow Canderian had at least three broken bones. Several blood spots had already formed on his armor, prompting a frown from Frank.

  Henry saw what he was looking at. “Damn cannon splash damage…right before the wall came down.”

  “You’re going to bleed out,” he said, looking around for that blasted medic.

 
; “I know…how many did we get?”

  “I got at least four from behind,” he said, seeing and pointing at a nearby worker, then motioning him over. “Give me your shirt.”

  The man pulled his uniform top off without question and handed it to Frank who began slicing it up with the knife from his boot. He made a patch out of it and put it on one of the breach points in Henry’s armor. “Hold.”

  The worker stepped in and applied pressure, trying to staunch some of the bleeding while Frank cut another patch.

  “I…don’t think I’m…gonna make it.”

  “Stay awake!” Frank urged.

  “Trying…” Henry said, his eyes starting to disfocus.

  “Step aside!” a man yelled right behind Frank’s ear. He turned back and saw the uniform of a medic, then jumped out of the way gratefully.

  The medic pulled a quick injection vile out of a kit and jammed it into the side of Henry’s neck, making the already teetering man pass out. He reached up and grabbed the rim of his right arm and disconnected the armor latches, pulling that section free then attached a metallic brace around his arm. He inserted a needle in the contraption directly into one of his veins and started the artificial blood flowing in as he attached a liquid-filled sack onto the brace.

  That done, he attended to the blood leaks in the man’s broken legs using a can of sticky spray foam that filled the crevice the plasma had burned out, sealing up the wound and preventing further loss of blood. Upon reaching a medical facility the foam could be melted away with a special liquid, but until then it would work as a temporary bandage…though a painful one, which was one reason he’d knocked Henry unconscious before starting to work on him.

  As the medic continued to examine him as best he could while still in his armor he found another wound in his lower back where a piece of the rubble had punched through at the base of his spine.

  “He said his lower body was numb,” Frank offered.

  “His spine has probably been severed. We can fix this if we can get him back to the seda in time.”

  Frank reached up to his earpiece. “Report on our medical evac?”

  “On its way,” Nicholas replied.

  “I’ve done what I can,” the medic said, looking at Frank. “Don’t try to move him.”

  “Stay with him,” Frank told the worker as the medic scurried off, then he too left, knowing that useless sentiment wasn’t going to help his friend. He needed to focus on doing something useful.

  Frank walked around a bit, surveying the damage and the other wounded. He counted seven before a large knot of people attracted his attention. He went over and saw Nicholas in the center of them, examining three of the dead aliens they’d dragged over. Their equipment had been stripped off and laid to the side, including weapons, belts, wrist devices, and what looked like a forehead halo.

  “What have we got?” he asked Nicholas, who only looked up when Frank bumped him in the shoulder.

  “They’re built Human. Head, two arms, two legs. Pelvis and spine are similar. Not sure if that tail is manipulatable or just a decorative appendage. They were walking around like we do, but I also saw one shrink down and slither away on all fours, so I’m not sure what to make of them. I thought they were Human when the firefight started.”

  “So did I,” Frank admitted, toeing one with his armored boot. “Four digits.”

  “You think they’re indigenous?”

  “If they are, then Star Force royally screwed up,” he said, looking at the peculiar body armor it was wearing, which left the head and arms completely exposed, but had the legs and torso covered. The feet were also exposed, but they didn’t resemble feet as he knew them. They looked only a little thicker than the thing’s hands.

  “What do you want done with the bodies?”

  “Drag the rest over here and keep a guard on them until reinforcements arrive. For all we know they could regenerate.”

  Nicholas glanced at the obviously dead bodies and raised an eyebrow.

  “We don’t want any more surprises,” Frank reiterated.

  “Right,” Nicholas said, walking off in search of another of the fallen aliens.

  “How’s the perimeter?” Frank asked into his earpiece.

  “All quiet,” Aaron reported. “They made off with four crates by my count.”

  “Damn,” he whispered, glancing back at the dead ones. “I suppose the sensor tower couldn’t track them on the way out either?”

  “Negative. Other than extreme close range their ship is a ghost. They were headed on a northwest track, if that means anything.”

  “It might. We’ll let the Tribune and Archons worry about that. As soon as you’re satisfied, we could use some help tagging and bagging.”

  “On my way now,” the other Triarii said.

  Frank stared down into the cold, dead, bulging black eyes of the nearest lizard, feeling a mix of anger and anticipation. He didn’t like taking casualties or losing cargo, but for Canderous this was their first blooding and they’d succeeded in driving the raiders off. He doubted this would be their one and only meeting, which meant they finally had a real enemy to face instead of repetitive simulations and contests amongst themselves.

  The Canderian didn’t know the size, strength, or origin of their new enemy, or anything else about them to be blunt, but he was eager to find out, as opposed to the Corvati who’d been rattled to the core by their attack. Frank and the Canderians were soldiers, trained from birth for combat. For better or worse they needed action, a legitimate fight they could throw themselves at in order to prove themselves and rid Canderous of its green birth. The Archons had done plenty to teach them humility and give them a challenge, continually thrashing them in training exercises but this was different. This was for keeps. This was real.

  This was war.

  Frank sucked in a deep breath of air, feeling for the first time in his life like a real soldier rather than a glorified newb. They didn’t ask for this fight, but they’d got it anyway, as the Archons had said would eventually happen. A righteous war, they’d said, would come in time. Creating one by misdeeds was both unnecessary and against the very code of the warrior. Patience, they’d urged, and the righteous war would come to them.

  And now it was here.

  Frank didn’t know what all this meant, other than there was no turning back. Canderous had seen blood. Canderous had seen victory. Canderous was no longer green. If it was a fight these lizards wanted, then Canderous would oblige, with or without Star Force, for now they’d finally proven that they could stand alone and that, above and beyond his own 4 kills, filled Frank with an indescribable pride.

  8

  July 13, 2261

  Epsilon Eridani System

  Corneria

  Harrison walked into the room where they had the alien corpses on the seda along with Mara-677, seeing that the other three Corneria Clan leaders were already present. His eyes went directly to the lizards’ faces, scrutinizing every facet of their scaly visages…then he breathed a sigh of relief.

  They weren’t V’kit’no’sat.

  “I don’t recognize them,” San-1299 said to Harrison, leaning on the examining table with both hands as he stared down at one of the corpses.

  The Saber nodded his agreement. “This is something new.”

  Tribune Raines, the only Canderian in the room, blinked in surprise. “You’re aware of other aliens?”

  “Yes,” Anders-743 answered, “but none are supposed to be in this star system.”

  Raines frowned. “You didn’t think you could trust Canderous with that knowledge?”

  “Actually Canderous does know,” Harrison said. “Information is restricted to Legats and above. You’re now the lowest ranking Canderian with that knowledge and it stays with you until orders to the contrary.”

  Raines nodded curtly. “Understood. How many others are we talking about?”

  “We have data from a classified source detailing thousands of races. To date we haven�
��t encountered any of them, so this attack is as much of a surprise to us as it is to you.”

  “What concerns me more is this inability for our sensors to detect them,” Jaime-532 said.

  Harrison glanced over the table at the local Sangheili leader. He was only two levels below him in rank, making them essentially tied for unofficial leadership in the system.

  “We were able,” Raines pointed out, “to pick them up at extreme close range. Not enough for sufficient warning or tracking, but at least their ship isn’t completely invisible to sensors. If we could get aircraft in the vicinity of their next attack, then it might be possible to track them at night if we stay close.”

  Mara shook her head. “The skeets have less sensor capability than your tower did. If we’re going to track them we’re going to have to stick them with a beacon or follow them on visuals.”

  “They ran off this time,” San pointed out. “Are you sure they’ll be back to try again?”

  Raines locked eyes with the Archon. “Either we scared them off, or they’ll move onto a softer target. Lacking such a target, they’ll either give up their raids or increase their attacking force to overcome our defenses.”

  Harrison nodded distractedly, still staring at the lizard bodies. “He’s right. We’re not going to catch them off guard again. The big question is where are they coming from. Does anyone have even the faintest of leads?”

  All four Archons shook their head in the negative, while Raines held perfectly still. He was by far the most junior member of the group, and it appeared that he felt the disparity in the way he was constantly standing at attention.

  Mara turned to look at Raines after a brief moment of silence. “Are you wanting air cover for your surface facilities?”

  Raines stiffened even further. “We have no such assets in the system, and without the ability to track the raiders remotely they can retreat and disappear at will.”

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Mara said, crossing her arms over her chest as she thought. “The question is this…are we trying to take the ship down or track it back to base?”