Imminent Destruction

“I want the hundred-thirteenth to set up a defense perimeter. Lieutenant Forgisom, casualty report.”

“Private Narcis, IEV disabled, air pressure at one third. Sergeant Holmbur, KIA. Privates Kimoto and Hijasaki, also KIA. Thirty four men left total, including Narcis. The 113th platoon has no casualties.”

The dark, dingy, and narrow space could barely contain the bulk of the IEVs and the narrow walkways proved difficult for the units to navigate. Extra space had to be found in the crags and pockets of the engine itself, positions that offered limited cover. A staircase of metal plates led downward, where the liquid tanks from the lower level gave an eerie blue light.

“Corporal Pitt, investigate the lower level.”

“Yes sir. Let’s move out.”

Three followed him into the depths, enemy corpses were stuck in the engines. A box of tools lay open at the side.

“Mechanics sir?”

“Right,” Pitt hailed Soel, “Lieutenant, we have clear panels containing fusion liquid. I see some tools, mostly conversion rods, a few filters, electronic drilling rods. Someone was obviously working on these tanks. They could be unstable, and who knows what might happen in this depressurized state.”

“So we’ve breached the hydraulic fusion engines for the main thrusters, they do require routine maintenance. Be careful not to damage the inner workings, they’re fairly delicate.”

“There’s an entrance down here, we’re going in.”

“Be careful, Corporal.”

A breeze flew into the lower engine room as the hatch opened. Two men in oxygen suits took cover behind an overturned table; a drink machine glowed behind them. They fired frantically with kinetic weapons, hitting the walls, the floor, and the furniture. Hits were gained on the IEVs, but the low caliber laser pistols barely left a mark on their armor. When the power of the enemy pistols was depleted, Corporal Pitt charged in, slicing the table in half with a single swing of an energy whip.

The enemies stood, placing their hands behind their heads. The captives wore badges on their sleeves and caps depicting a knife and wrench; they were identified as privates belonging to a maintenance unit. A room to the side was an engineer’s lounge with no other exits. The ventilation shafts there were reinforced by titanium bars, so it was a perfect place to keep the new prisoners.

“You won’t be helping your friends from here.”

“They can’t hear you through the I.E.V. unless you turn the speaker on,” Pitt explained, “Don’t access it now, there’s no need. Commander, we have two prisoners in the break room. We’ll need to get some air in there though, they shut the ventilation to this sector down. What are your orders?”

“Send your men up for posting with other squads, you’re on guard duty Corporal, if anyone escapes it’s your hide. We’ll be sending more your way once the situation stabilizes.”

“Yes, sir.”

-----

In the upper section, the IEVs positioned themselves alongside the only hatchway. An engineer worked at the access panel, explosives ready. The other engineers put the final touches on the sealing of the outside hatch; they had removed much of the protective paneling from along the sides of the engine to create three layers of cover. Insulation material had been found in an emergency supply container and spread thickly in-between the metal seals.

As soon as they secured the breach, the gray squared titanium panel into the longer sections of the Neimun opened. The engineer unit preparing the panel for decoding dodged backward as air refilled the sector. High-velocity projectiles dented an empty walkway before three robotic attackers rolled inwards on tracks. Lieutenant Soel and Forgisom retreated from their exposed positions while keeping the robots in check with suppressive fire.

An engineer unit moved from behind the door, locked its hands together and bashed one from the top. The robot took a huge dent over its navigation system. Then another engineer pulled out his laser rifle and fired directly into that same dent; it fell to the floor. Parts scattered. Nicholson and Morgan sprung from cover and dispatched the remaining robots with the same method.

The company squeezed into the hundred-meter-long hall, one by one. Booths at the sides were for manually controlled weaponry. Colorful wall units held backup computers and control panels for antipersonnel launchers. The bright lights revealed no enemy presence. The next hatch beckoned. The IEVs advanced cautiously while the engineer units examined weapon structures. Lieutenant Soel’s unit stood at the rear of the advancing formations. The unit of his staff officer, Mito Forgisom, was by his side.

“This is far too quiet, prepare for an ambush,” Soel warned, “Advance cautiously. Don’t crawl though, we don’t want to give them too much time.”

Five minutes of advancing and searching led them to another locked hatch. It was still quite cramped, an extremely narrow way for the vehicles. The units had to follow leap frog procedures in which one unit crouched while the other leapt past in order to advance. Corporal Edei was the first at the door, he summoned an engineer to get in front of him.

“We’ve reached checkpoint two Commander. It’s a communications station, should we move in?”

“Get the doors open and leap frog inside if you have to, we need it.”

Another decoding card found itself crammed into the slot. This one worked perfectly. The hatch slid open with barely a sound. The room was lined with wall computers and occupied by gray suited men.

“Controller, we have been breached!” yelled a Buldethian officer into his microphone. “Let us retreat. Please let us retreat. This station is worthless, please!”

As the IEVs entered, the Buldethian officer jumped from his seat, throwing down his speakerphones. He fired a low caliber laser pistol at the black armor of an IEV. Squad leader Jenson dodged to the side. The hands of the hostile communications officer disintegrated in laser fire before he found himself kicked to the floor. Two officers rushed Jenson’s IEV from behind; they were thrown back against their computers.

Jenson snapped their necks like dried twigs. Another officer panicked and banged desperately on a shut hatch. Two IEVs used their suits for melee combat. The fists of the machines became covered with blood. The enemy communications officers that resisted lay with unspeakable wounds.

A few others stared in amazement for a second, only to return to their work of sending calls for backup on random frequencies, but when rifles were pressed against their heads, they consented to putting their hands into the air. Titanium wire strap restrained their hands before they were taken to the back.

“Not a comfortable arrangement for the Buldeths, heh!” laughed one of the advance units of the 122nd platoon.

Lights flashed over the Buldethian National Seal, which now displayed in the communications room instead of the code and frequency lists that had been active while the officers were working. The seal disappeared from the screen; horizontal lines replaced it with the stony face of the Neimun’s Controller.

“Greetings Imperial Commander. I have to say you have done quite well with...”

“Commander Soel, the enemy’s addressing our forces,” Lieutenant Forgisom said.

Soel walked to the screen and opened the front panel of his helmet.

“We have your funeral prepared if you would be so bold as to continue. You see, the Dorian is disabled. It’s only a matter of time until she is no more the central hub of the Imperial fleet. In fact, the 1st Imperial fleet will soon be finished. Now, to the matter of your surrender...”

“Turn it off, they’re just desperate,” Soel said.

“I’ll watch you slowly die. You prune eating turkey,” said a private known as Sawblade.

“I can’t,” said an engineer, “The frequency is locked from the main control room.”

“Let’s end this the right way, sir,” Jenson said. “By blasting his brains out!”

“That’s an idea Corporal, let’s move.”

“Wait, there’s a room inside this short panel. A good starting point for an enemy ambush,” Private Diatsu said.

“Well, Check it out.”

A large rectangular access panel was moved from the corner and propped on a red machine labeled insta-tool. The soldier opened the torso hatch on his IEV, slid out, and then slid inside the opening on his belly armed with a combination laser-projectile pistol.

“It’s empty,” Private Diatsu said into his headset, “but there’s engineer access to the wires. We might be able to override some stuff, maybe even get the communications working for us.”

“Good, get out of there and let Sergeant Norwaki handle it,” Soel said, “We’ll have Norwaki and Narcis trade vehicles.”

The hatch into the next hall wouldn’t budge until Norwaki contacted Soel.

“Sir, I discovered a list of door codes. We can override the security locks from this point on.”

“Very Good, saves on explosives and scrambling cards. Jobelsoni, Ericson, Komito, Garo, Fumasa, secure this area. Medved, stay and see if you can help get this equipment working. I want advanced communications ability early on. The 113th and everybody else here will follow me, keep your suit communications active.”

The hatch now opened without complaint, revealing a wider hall that was almost half a kilometer long. They passed weapon system controls, waste disposal air lock controls, turret rooms, and laser computers without resistance.

Lieutenant Soel sped along with his men to the next door. The enhanced motion ability of the IEVs allowed them to hover centimeters off the floor now that there was space to do so. A few men tagged at the rear. They searched for resistance but received nothing.

The next sealed compartment soon came in sight.