She could see the fear in the operator’s face. It was a gloomy outlook to be trapped in a siege.
“Don’t worry, this is only the beginning. They’re going to wish they’d never met the human race.”
She was trying her best to boost all their morale, but she wasn’t sure they believed her. She had the opportunity to smash an enemy army on their own soil, and yet she could not get the support she wanted or needed to do the job properly.
Why will they not commit the fleet?
She knew defending the gateway was important, but taking the fight to the enemy would have protected it also, or at least she believed so.
“They have passed within five kilometres, Ma’am.”
“And they have not fired?”
The man shook his head.
Why? They must know we now occupy this place, so why would they not shell the colony? What is so important about it?
Ever since she had arrived on the planet, she had felt there was more to learn there than they had seen or found so far. The waiting game was a dreadful experience for them all. Finally, the comms operator spoke again.
“Incoming craft landing on the surface.”
“Still not a single shot fired? No bombs dropped?”
“No, Ma’am.”
“Then our odds just improved. They want this colony badly enough to not risk its destruction. That’s the first bit of good news I’ve heard all day.”
He could see what she was saying, but it was little relief when the wolves were at their door.
“We’ve lost all communications. Hard lines only now, Ma’am.”
She had given strict orders that all breaches were to be reported on the hard lines or with runners. The Colonel knew they had a good chance of holding when their lines stayed firm. Any breach must be filled quickly, or they could be overrun. Bradley now sat in front of a board of lights indicating an incoming communication along the wired lines they had set up. It was an antiquated and painfully tedious way of working, but it was the best they could do.
An explosion erupted far from them, and they could just about hear it echo through the corridors. They waited with bated breath for news, and it wasn’t long before one of the incoming call lights was flashing. Bradley opened a channel, outputting on the speakers so they could all hear.
“We’ve got a breach in grid 6B. Enemy contact.”
Chandra looked down at the map they had hastily put together of the colony layout, and the positions she had designated for them all. It was Major Warren’s area. She wanted to rush out and help, but she knew she must wait for more news. Two other lights quickly flashed on the console, and Chandra could feel her pulse race as each of them lit up.
Within two minutes, they had five breaches in the colony’s perimeter, and all three Battalions were reporting enemy contact. She knew it was time to join the fight. They needed all the fighters they could get. She grasped her rifle from the table and rushed to the exit of the room. Stopping at the doorway, she turned back to Bradley and the others for just a moment.
“Have your weapons ready. We’re in for a hell of a fight.”
It wasn’t much relief to any of them, but at least they would be prepared. Suarez and Tsengal were waiting for her with the rest of the platoon. They looked raring to go and eager to draw enemy blood.
“Come on!” she yelled.
They took to a jogging pace and headed for Warren’s position. It was the site of the first breach and was therefore the priority. It took just a couple of minutes to reach the back of the Battalion. The small colony allowed them to pack in tight and concentrate their fire. The gunfire they could hear was controlled and steady. Chandra pushed her way through the lines, until finally she reached the front where Warren was overseeing the action.
The defences had been built tall, and she could not see over the barricades what the lines of commandos were firing at. They all seemed remarkably calm, and there were no casualties in sight. The three-dozen rifles firing were evidently holding back whatever was coming at them down the broad hallway.
“Give me an update, Major!” she shouted over the echoing shots.
“Enemy advance has been halted here. We have sustained no casualties.”
“Damn good work.”
“They’re being funnelled in through the breach in so few enough numbers that they aren’t making any headway at present.”
Chandra was glad to hear it and continued on up to the barricade to see for herself. She leapt up onto the make shift rampart to immediately see two Mechs being cut down by crossfire. The creatures were only able to get through in small numbers and were little trouble for the commandos, and yet they kept coming.
“Crazy bastards keep running onto our guns!” called one of the troops next to her.
She thought back to the lives Jafar and Tsengal had described. It was a hard and bitter existence for their race. She wondered if the first wave were just testing the defences, or even just expending their opponent’s ammunition. She didn’t share her thoughts. She wanted them to enjoy any little victory they could. The Colonel turned and jumped back down, striding to Warren’s position.
“Keep it up, Major.”
She strolled on more confidently than she had arrived. They had all expected to be hit with overwhelming force, and yet they were holding steady. The more she thought about it, the more it unsettled her until she decided to turn to Tsengal for answers.
“Why do they attack in such small number? This is too easy.”
“This is just the beginning,” he replied.
“Why not amass their forces for an assault?”
“My former leaders would not care for lives lost. The order to attack would have been given and must be followed.”
“And you lived like that?”
“Until we met Major Taylor, there was no other way to live.”
They got to the end of Warren’s troops to find a seamless transition to Chen’s soldiers. She was glad to see there was no break in the line. As she arrived, the guns went silent. She could see the first wave was finished. The Chinese troops had just four wounded and stood triumphantly before several dozen of the enemy. The soldiers were taking the hiatus to reload and ready themselves for a second wave. Chandra was about to congratulate Chen when they heard a ruckus from over the defences.
“Drones!” she heard one cry.
A surge of gunfire opened up, and she jumped to the line to see for herself. The hover drones they had gotten used to seeing in France were pouring in like ants. Their weapons fired the second they came into view, and there seemed no end to their number. She lifted her rifle and quickly joined in the fight.
Gunfire poured in from above their heads, and she looked up to see several platoons of Chen’s troops on a platform above them. Tsengal and four of her platoon leapt up to join in the fight, but they were all that could fit in the space left. Pulses from the drones smashed into their positions, but much of the defensive line was made from alien metal and stopped the worst of it.
The drones were being smashed as quickly as they poured into the hall, but still they kept coming. Several of the troops fired grenades into the mass, sending debris sprawling out across the ground and pelting the walls. Chandra’s magazine ran dry, so she ducked back down behind the cover to load in a fresh one. Back on her feet, she could see the drones had made a couple of metres progress, despite the floor being littered with the wreckage of those that came before them. Pulses continued to smash their position and rush overhead. Clearly, the fire from the humans overwhelmed them.
Seeing the relentless push of the drones was a frightful sight. Even the aliens themselves could eventually be broken and forced into retreat, but the drones kept going until the bitter end. She remembered studying the use of them in human history, and how they fell out of favour due to the inhuman nature of them. Hearts and minds is what she always remembered.
The last of the drones were finally reduced to a line of twisted and burnt metal, and the hall was silent again. There were no cries of celebration. Destroying machines seemed to have little effect on their morale, but it was at least a relief to have stopped the first attack.