Battalion 1

Rhodes paused on the landing bay threshold. The 249th, the 278th, and the 217th Platoons were back on board the Ero. Why did he delude himself into thinking it could be any different?

The soldiers nearest the entrance stopped what they were doing to turn around and stare at Battalion 1. The battalion had fought side by side with most of these men on the shelf on Ohait.

Rhodes gritted his teeth and stepped out onto the floor. The captains and lieutenants in charge of the three platoons were busy handing out weapons to everyone who didn’t already have them.

That created another barrier between Battalion 1 and the regular Legion soldiers. No one in Battalion 1 carried a weapon—or any gear—or wore any body armor. They didn’t need it.

Rhodes walked over to Captain Vernick. “Any word on where we’re going or what’s waiting for us down there?” Rhodes asked. “Everyone is keeping this hush-hush.”

“They’re keeping it hush-hush from us, too. I’m telling all the men to prepare for another bloodbath like Luluna.”

“I can’t wait,” Rhodes muttered.

Vernick grinned at him. “I’m sure you and yours will be fine.”

“How do you want to play this?” Rhodes asked. “Do you want us to go in with you….or separately?”

“I really couldn’t tell you. I don’t know anything about the terrain down there or even where the enemy is.”

Rhodes pursed his lips, but just then, Fisher showed him The Grid of the planet Sulia. “The Emal are laying waste a city on the northern continent. They just made landfall here—on the Brokix peninsula.”

“Where is the Ero planning to land?” Rhodes asked.

“Here—outside the city of Thaklia. The city is still relatively intact. The Ravagers are evacuating the population before the Emal get there. Then the Legion plans to defend the city to stop the Emal from advancing any further.”

Rhodes became aware of the rest of the battalion and all their SAMs listening through the interface.

Vernick stood in front of Rhodes listening to him carry on a conversation with someone Vernick couldn’t see or hear.

Rhodes had to explain all this to him, too. The platoons needed this information as much as Battalion 1 did.

Rhodes glanced around. “Do you have a computer terminal here?”

“Over here.” Vernick led the way to the side of the bay, pulled a corporal toward him, and dug around in the boy’s backpack before he found a remote device.

Rhodes pulled up the chart on the device and went through all Fisher’s information so Vernick could see it.

“That complicates things,” Vernick muttered. “We have to fight our way through the city just to engage with the enemy. Why don’t they drop us off on the side facing the peninsula?”

“We can get in front of you,” Rhodes offered. “We might be able to slow the aliens down until you get into a more favorable position.”

Vernick made a face. “I don’t like throwing you in front of a gun—again.”

“You don’t want to get caught with your pants down in the middle of the city without being able to see the enemy coming.” Rhodes pointed to a spot on the far eastern side of the city. “We’ll rendezvous here. We’ll hold them here until you come. Then you and your men can set up fortifications and hold the aliens outside the city. That will work better than fighting house to house and building to building.”

“Have it your way,” Vernick told him. “You’ll have to contact me if your line breaks and the aliens get inside the city. Just don’t let them surprise me if they do get past you.”

“I won’t.” Rhodes found himself smiling at his friend. “Good luck down there.”

“You, too. I’ll see you on the ground.”

“I’m certain of it.” Rhodes pointed across the bay. “Pull your men back from the launch doors. We’ll leave first and put as much distance between us and you as we can.”

“You got it.” Vernick took off elbowing his way through the packed bay toward the launch doors.

Oakes glanced around at the nearest soldiers. They all cast suspicious looks at Rhodes and his people.

“Good,” Lauer muttered. “I don’t want to be anywhere near these guys.”

“Get used to it,” Rhodes told him. “If we succeed in stopping the aliens outside the city, we’ll be fighting side by side with these platoons again.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Oakes agreed. “The sooner we get on the ground, the better.”

Rhodes led the way to the launch doors. It took Vernick, Turney, and Upshaw a while to convince the soldiers to back off and make room for the battalion to move closer to the exit.

Rhodes faced the doors. He didn’t let himself look at the men he knew. He would rather face the enemy.

He went over The Grid in his head while he waited. He turned it this way and that and examined the battlefield from all sides.

The Emal had already leveled four cities farther east from Thaklia. The aliens had driven more Legion platoons out of those cities. The platoons fought their way backward toward Thaklia while the Emal laid down punishing fire all the way.

The Ero thumped against something and an electric wave of tension went through the bay. All the soldiers crowded around holding their weapons ready.

Rhodes checked The Grid again. He and his people were the only soldiers here who knew what was going on outside.

The Ero touched down half a mile west of Thaklia. The platoons would have to fight their way all the way through town to get to the east side to meet the Emal.

Emal base ships advanced behind the alien horde. The base ships unloaded devastating laser volleys on the city and detonated buildings from miles away. No way could the Legion platoons survive in there.

Rhodes made up his mind. “We’ll get out of town and hold them on the eastern limits. We have to. We can’t let the aliens get the jump on the platoons inside the city.”

“We won’t stand a chance once the base ships show up,” Oakes pointed out. “No one can hold the line against them.”

“Maybe the base ships will be more concerned with bombarding the city than hitting us,” Henshaw suggested. “If we hold them at the eastern limits, the base ships will still be close enough to do plenty of damage.”

“Our only objective is to get through to the other side of town and stop the Emal there until the platoons catch up,” Rhodes cut in. “We’ll decide our next move there.”

Another deep thud shuddered the Ero. Flashing red lights blinkered on either side of the launch doors.

“Stand by to launch!” Rhodes ordered. “Take off as soon as the doors open! Don’t wait around in town. Just get east and engage as quick as you can!”

None of his people had time to answer before the doors cracked. A shaft of sunlight blasted into the bay and a warning alarm went off.

Rhodes didn’t give the order to launch. He didn’t have to.

He and his people fired their boosters and zoomed out of the bay before the ship touched down. The battalion raced away toward the buildings in the distance.

Another colossal laser smashed into a building on the right. The structure evaporated in dust and debris that pinwheeled in all directions. More bombardments struck all over the city.

Rhodes picked up speed, plunged into the city, and swerved to miss another building going up in a towering column of smoke and ash.

“Watch out, Captain!” Fisher warned.

“Don’t worry about that, pal!” Rhodes called back. “I just hope we aren’t too late already.”

“The Grid indicates the Emal are forming an advanced line five miles out of town! They’re waiting for their base ships to catch up.”

Rhodes pretended not to hear. He could see perfectly well on The Grid where the base ships were.

He could also see the devastation they were wreaking on the city landscape. Buildings burst all around him.

He could have used his grid lines to change into any shape he wanted. He could have bounced off buildings or burned along the ground chewing through buildings right and left.

Riding his boosters made him go faster. He didn’t want to mess around with theatrics.

The Grid showed the platoons approaching the west side of town. They advanced at a snail’s pace. They might not get to the east side for hours.

All the more reason why the battalion had to get there. He swerved between buildings bursting apart all around him. The Emal escalated their bombardment as they got nearer. There wouldn’t be much of this city left for the Legion to hold.

Rhodes had his orders. He didn’t need to know anything else.

He spotted daylight between the buildings ahead. The landscape opened up spreading east. He was almost there.

He made one last check of his people. They and their SAMs were all holding up perfectly. None of them suffered any malfunction—yet.

He erupted past the last building, soared over another six miles of open country, and caught up with the aliens on the planes.

He took a page from Lauer’s book, extended twin lasers from both hands, and swooped in low.

He banked sideways and raced up the Emal line cutting down as many of them as he could. He extended his lasers as far as they would go to widen his surface area as much as possible.

He made it a mile north from where he started before the rest of the battalion caught up. He killed hundreds of Emal in one pass, but the aliens must have gotten used to this tactic by now.

He angled southward to head back to his starting point. The rest of the battalion plowed into the alien formation. Each person used The Grid differently to change their shape to the best effect.

Lauer and Rhinehart both stayed airborne, bombarded the aliens, and dodged lasers to plummet back and forth across the battle line.

Oakes unleashed dozens of Viper missiles, drew the base ships’ fire toward himself to take the pressure off the city, and then veered in other directions to hit the aliens from angles they didn’t expect.

Fuentes and Henshaw took a completely different approach. Both of them dove straight down into the horde, landed on the ground, and whirled in all directions cutting down the aliens nearest them.

Henshaw used her scourge guns. Fuentes used lasers.

The Emal surged inward to attack them, but that only brought them into the path of the two fighters’ guns.

Rhodes picked up speed to rejoin the others when one of the base ships hit him from the side. It knocked him somersaulting back toward the front line where he fell down hard right in the aliens’ path.

End of Chapter 39.