Battle for Proxima (29 page)

“Where the hell is our air cover?” shouted Teresa rhetorically.

“It’s there, trust me. The problem is the enemy aren’t just moving men and machines down the highway to the city. They’re bringing prisoners from the spaceport with them. Two bombing runs have already been called off to avoid civilian casualties,” shouted Daniels.

Spartan leaned around the corner of the rubble that used to be some kind of vehicle shop. He fired a quick burst that killed an enemy soldier and wounded another, then moved back behind the masonry. He looked over to Captain Daniels.

“You’re kidding? How many?”

Daniels looked at a screen inside his suit before looking up to Spartan.

“Look, our estimates put the enemy infantry at over six battalions of militia with a similar number of Biomechs. We calculate another two to three thousand troops in the northern suburbs and on their way to clear the city.”

“Is that who the Air Force have been bombing the crap out of?” asked Teresa.

Captain Daniels turned and signalled for the mules to move towards them. More gunfire continued, the intensity now far greater than before. He looked back at Teresa.

“Yes. They’ve already hit the lead units approaching the city and have moved to the north. With more of these units taking prisoners it’s making air support difficult.”

Spartan looked down at his map of the city and the approximate disposition of the enemy. The Vanguards had created what amounted to just a small enclave in the middle of the city and the perimeter was shrinking as more enemy forces approached. He looked at the Captain.

“If they are going to hit us soon, we’re going to need to dig in. We have to take the hub and clear a path to the civilians. We’ll need their help.”

“What are you thinking?”

“Full frontal assault, we take this hub once and for all!”

Teresa nodded, the Captain looked less than convinced.

“You realise there are over three hundred troops dug in just over that escarpment?” he said, pointing ahead to where the repeated gunfire came from. A flag was being raised bearing the symbol and iconography of the Union, but accurate fire from the Vanguards cut the pole in half and it dropped from sight.

“Give it another five minutes and we’ll be surrounded. The only way is forward. Are the mules fully operational?”

The Captain nodded. “Okay, Spartan, you’re sure your Vanguards can handle this?”

Spartan looked at him with a look that told him he really shouldn’t be asking the question. Captain Daniels tapped a key inside his suit and sent out communications to the other units. As he organised the attack, Teresa turned to Spartan.

“You’re not just trying to impress him now, are you?”

“Why does everybody keep questioning me? What else would you suggest?”

Teresa shrugged.

“Yeah, thought so,” replied Spartan with a grin. “We rush the bastards, smash though the barrier to the civvies and link up. We need to secure this place and fortify it in the next thirty minutes. If we don’t succeed, we’ll be overrun and it won’t matter anymore.”

Daniels signalled to Spartan and Teresa.

“Lieutenant Weathers and his Vanguards are going to launch a diversionary attack in sixty seconds. We wait thirty seconds after they start before moving in. Look at this.”

Inside Spartan’s suit a map slid onto his tactical screen showing an aerial view of the hub. It looked like a cross between a highway flyover and railroad station. Large parts were damaged, but what really mattered were the trenches and weapon emplacements.

“If we take out the two positions on the right, we can link up with Weathers as his forces penetrate their line.”

Spartan nodded in agreement and glanced down at the readouts in his suit. He gave them a cursory look, ensuring the guns and ammunition were ready for the battle. A new set of icons had appeared that gave him authorisation to control the mules. It wasn’t direct control, simply a mechanism that allowed him to select them and move them to particular areas. He tapped the two green shapes and moved them out into the open so they could start suppressing fire.

“What are you doing?” asked Teresa.

The two four-legged machines moved out from cover and into the open, directly in front of escarpment. Rifle fire started to hit their thick metal armour and a rocket exploded ineffectually nearby.

“When Weathers attacks, they will assume the mules were a diversion. They can advance with us.”

Teresa didn’t look totally convinced. She called over to the squad sergeants and quickly ordered the Vanguards into position to commence their attack. With precision and skill, the operational Vanguards moved as forward as they dared. The two mules remained stationary, absorbing masses of fire. Their motorised gun turrets joined the battle and very soon the enemy were keeping their heads down. Spartan looked down at the timer on his suit and then hit the intercom button.

“We start our attack in forty seconds, make your checks.”

Almost to emphasise the starting attack, a low level group of three Lightning fighters screamed overhead. Two of them fired long bursts into the enemy positions ahead. Spartan watched his drone feed with pleasure as the machine gun nest to the right was saturated in gunfire. Nothing could survive that inferno.

“We’re going in!” called Lieutenant Weathers over the intercom. Though his voice vanished, the sound of the assault could be heard from their position two hundred metres away. Spartan shuddered as he wondered how they would fair against such devastating firepower. He looked back down at his timer, it read just twenty seconds to go.

“1
^st
Platoon, squad leaders report in.”

The Vanguards were obviously ready and waiting for his command. Off to his left, he spotted the raised arm of Marcus.

“3
^rd
Squad ready, Sir!” he replied with a bark. Sergeants Lovett and Harris quickly followed him.

Spartan checked once more, just ten seconds to go.

“Vanguards. We do not stop, no matter what! We take this place, understood?”

A chorus of agreement echoed through his suit. He looked over to Teresa who waited, both her weapon arms ready for the fight. She nodded to him. The timer flashed, it was time.

“Now!” he shouted, and then pushed himself from out of cover and into the open. Lights flashed through the suit as sensors detected incoming bullets and rockets. It didn’t matter to Spartan, he pushed down with his feet and drove himself forward. The patter of small arms struck around the suit but nothing was able to stop him making progress. No sooner had he pushed ahead ten metres, when a group of six soldiers in carapace armour stood up to fire their heavy weapons. Spartan kept going and held down the trigger of his L48 rifles. Bright muzzle flashes rippled along the line of Vanguards as they stormed up the broken embankment and towards the escarpment. To his left a rocket smashed into a comrade, knocking the still burning Vanguard suit to the ground.

“Lieutenant Spartan, we’ve broken through!” came a rough crackle on the radio system. It was Lieutenant Weathers. Spartan kept going, digging in his right arm to help lift him up to the lip along the embankment. As he stood there looking down, he could see several dozen Biomechs picking up weapons and rushing towards him. To his left, three Vanguards appeared and to his right, another two. He didn’t even hesitate.

“Follow me!” he cried and jumped down to the charging Biomechs. He held down the triggers but it wasn’t enough. They were on him in seconds. He was forced to rely upon his speed and skill with the excavator claws built into the fists. Behind him, dropped more Vanguards as they filled the transport hub and overran the defensive positions. The closest Biomech swung for him but he evaded the strike with a quick twist of his torso. He followed it with a savage uppercut that embedded the metal blade deep into the creature’s throat. Another approached from the left and he smartly dealt with it, firing a long burst from his left arm.  Teresa jumped next to him, fending off three carapace-armoured soldiers with her L48 rifles.

“Spartan. You ok?” she shouted over the din of the battle.

Throwing off the bodies of the dead, he lifted his arms and stepped forward, blazing away with the built-in gun.

“All fine here, you?”

“No problem, where is Weathers?”

Another group of Vanguards dropped in, Spartan instantly recognised them by their suits, it was Marcus and the rest of 3
^rd
Squad. He was quickly assailed by a small group of Biomechs, but the massed firepower from the squad stopped all but one reaching them. As the final bullet-ridden Biomech stumbled forward, one of the mules appeared behind them. Its computer controlled turret weapons system locked onto the Biomech and opened fire with linked automatic cannons. It instantly turned the creature to pulp.

“Holy shit!” shouted Marcus over the radio.

A dozen rounds hammered into the thick frontal armour of Teresa’s armoured suit, throwing her to the ground. As she fell back, Spartan grabbed her arm and lifted her up.

“What you doing? We’re not finished!” he said, moving back into the fight. From the right flank of his platoon, the battle damaged and heavily scarred Vanguards of 2
^nd
Platoon staggered over the western ridge and moved into the transport hub. The weapons fire was already starting to fade and the last few dozen soldiers lifted their hands to surrender. Three Biomechs remained, each stood around the last soldiers, waiting to protect to them from the Vanguards. Captain Daniels pushed past Spartan and towards the group.

“Cease fire!” he called and walked slowly towards them. In the middle stood a man in a dark uniform, similar in style and cut to those of the Confed Naval Intelligence. In his hand he held a small metal box.

“Captain, get back!” Spartan shouted.

The soldiers, still with their hands raised, dropped to their knees. It was then that he saw the thick metal collars around their necks. He jumped forwards and reached out towards the Captain. Fast though he was, it wasn’t fast enough. The man gave a sinister grin and pressed a lever. A series of blasts echoed as the collars of the dead and living exploded, each one sending shards of bone and lumps of flesh all around them. Captain Daniels staggered back from the blast and then fell down in a loud and violent crash.

As the final act in the battle for the transport hub played out, the Biomechs stood silently. Each watched their comrades vanish in a mist of blood and gore. They had a confused and slightly bemused expression on their faces. The leader was still standing and with the large number of Vanguards around him, he dropped the metal box and lifted his hands. Spartan stepped forward, easily double his size and stared at the man. He carried a scar on the side of his face and a look of sheer hate in his eyes.

“Lieutenant Spartan of the Vanguards. You will surrender yourself and these creatures to my safe keeping,” he said firmly.

“Hah!” laughed the man and he spat on the floor. “Your platitudes mean nothing to me, Spartan. The Union is just the beginning. My people have worked long and hard for our revenge, and it will come! The forgotten sons shall return soon enough!”

Spartan sensed what was happening. As the man reached for his pistol, he swung his right arm and smashed the man in the face with the back of his armoured hand.

“Lieutenant, over here!” shouted Sergeant Lovett. Spartan turned to see a number of ragged civilians appear from underground. They must have opened the hatches after seeing the last stages of the Vanguards’ assault. One man in particular moved towards Spartan and saluted.

“Sir! Sergeant Jim Patterson, 1
^st
Platoon, City Militia. Damned glad to see you. We thought they were going to break through.”

Spartan flicked a switch to open up the visor so the man could see his face properly.

“Lieutenant Spartan, Vanguard Marines. What is your status?”

“We have control of most of the city. They’ve been using the small bastards to infiltrate the place but so far we’ve held them off.”

Lieutenant Weathers arrived and moved up to Spartan to listen to the man’s report.

“The shopping precinct?” asked Spartan.

“Lost that almost twelve hours ago. They hit it first, why?”

“That is where we were supposed to break through.”

“Glad you didn’t use that route, Sir. It was captured quickly, but we used seismic charges to collapse the tunnels. It’s completely blocked now.”

Spartan turned to look at Weathers, his armour was smashed and damaged but still working. “Your platoon?” he asked.

“Three dead, two wounded. They did their jobs,” he answered calmly.

“Good call on the hub. If we’d kept on, we would have been trapped and surrounded at the precinct.” Lieutenant Weathers nodded, acknowledging the thanks from Spartan.

“We’re expecting a major assault on this position in the next few minutes. Can your militia help with the fight?”

“No problem, they’re itching for some payback.” He turned and whistled to those waiting underground. Without saying more, the first of them appeared. Each was wearing light armour and carrying out of date rifles and carbines.

Teresa helped Captain Daniels to his feet, the officer staggered for a second as he regained his footing. Spartan stomped over to check on him.

“You okay, Sir?”

“Yeah, goddamned rookie mistake. I should have stayed back.”

“Yes, you should have, Sir. At least the suit did its job.”

The Captain did his best to smile.

A flight of Lightning fighters whistled past and proceeded to strafe and bomb positions half a kilometre to the north. The flashes and explosions continued for several seconds as they flattened the section of the city. From over the ridge, the first of the mules started to climb down into the transport hub but lost its footing. The odd-looking mechanical contraption slipped and fell, but incredibly straightened itself before crashing. With a few slips, it managed to stand up and move towards Captain Daniels. He looked at it in surprise and then back at Spartan.