Barbarians

Fallen angels at my feet

Whispered voices at my ear

Death before my eyes

Lying next to me I fear

She beckons me

Shall I give in

Upon my end shall I begin

Forsaking all I've fallen for

I rise to meet my end

Evanescence - “Whisper”

Like the massive shield protecting it, the entrance to the bunker complex wasn’t difficult to locate.

“I’m guessing the big hole is the way in,” Whisper giggled, setting off a series of rolled eyes throughout the team.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Musashi snorted, sparing a brief glance at the twins following along behind. So far, so good, but then they had hit no resistance yet.

“Why haven’t we hit any resistance yet?” Graybird asked.

“They want to sucker us in,” Tango answered from her overwatch position. “They’ll wait until we’re deep underground, and then cut off our lines of retreat,” she predicted, as another face popped up on her HUD.

“Tango, what is the situation?” Nassat asked her.

“Found the entry point,” she answered, “but I guarantee it’s a setup.”

“Understood,” he replied. “What do you propose?”

The sniper sighed. “Boss…move your people back. Way back.”

The Saurotaur blinked and then nodded. “We are falling back now. When you are ready, Tango.”

“Copy that,” she told him, before hopping back on the team channel. “All right you two, get the door knocker ready. Everyone, clear the area.”

Taichist and Chechla shared a quick grin as they got to work. Since she’d wanted the old-timers keeping an eye out for...well...anything, she’d passed the “Door Knocker” on to the twins. It was an easy enough task, and they’d rehearsed it enough times in sims for Tango to be comfortable with them performing it, but still...

It only took a couple of minutes to get set up before Taichist launched the small drone, maneuvering it through his datalink. Chechla handled the cameras, checking their feed from multiple angles as her brother flew it over the bunker entrance, bringing it to a hover over the gaping cavity.

“It appears to be a straight drop for dozens of meters, at least,” his sister reported. “I cannot see any further, even with infrared filters.”

“Good enough,” Tango told them. “Start your countdown.”

“Copy,” Taichist said, “Beginning countdown on my Mark...mark. Ten...nine...eight…”

As her brother counted down to zero, Chechla readied the release mechanism. Not knowing what to expect they’d rehearsed several scenarios, including flying the drone in manually, but given the terrain, they’d opted for something a little simpler. As her twin reached the end of his countdown, she pressed the release.

Dropping one-hundredth of a gram of antimatter straight down the pipe.

The twins were already down and covering their heads when the bomb detonated. The very ground beneath them rumbled, transmitting a ripple in every direction as a massive fireball erupted at the crater’s mouth, sending out a shockwave that blasted them with a wall of dirt and debris. The pair held onto each other for dear life as the roaring blast seemed to go on and on and on, raining down grit and dust as the entrance collapsed in on itself, leaving a massive caldera behind as the smoke began to clear.

The pair stared wide-eyed at the devastation. “...wow,” Taichist managed, as his sister could only nod in agreement.

The rest of the team emerged from their own covered positions, cautiously moving forward to inspect the damage. There must have been a large cavity just under the surface, much like a sinkhole, leaving an enormous depression behind as the ground filled the space. As Musashi peered over the edge he spotted a series of tunnels, now uncovered.

“I think we got their attention,” Graybird said, as Whisper got a glimpse and started giggling, while Tango got on the horn.

“Boss, the way is open,” she informed him. “Bring everyone up. The only way this works is if we hit them hard and keep hitting them, to throw them off balance.”

“I agree,” Nassat replied. “We are joining you now.”

“All right people,” Tango snapped, “move in and take positions.” The team headed down the pile of scree at the edge of the hole, picking their way down as they covered the tunnel entrances, with the Saurotaur twins bringing up the rear.

Minutes later, the rest of the bunker team arrived, led by Nassat and Jiyazh. They spotted Tango and made a beeline to confer with her, as the others moved in behind them and climbed down into the pit.

“We can’t stay here,” Tango informed the pair, “we’re sitting ducks.” The two exchanged confused expressions as she rolled her eyes. “...freaking aliens...it means we’re exposed.”

“An excellent point,” the Dhyaksh agreed, as he waved forward the Khonhim contingent. Not wanting to be outdone, the Tetrarchy forces were up and moving a heartbeat after.

“Keep moving,” Nassat ordered. “We are right behind you.” He spotted his children and gave them a brief nod as they trotted past him, forcing himself to stay focused.

“You heard ‘em guys,” she called out, glancing at the tunnel entrance with a sigh as she quickly and expertly broke down her sniper rifle and stowed it, coming up with a pair of autopistols in its place, “it’s ‘Run and Gun’ time.”

Whisper whooped with glee, chambering a grenade in his launcher as he charged forward, firing into the tunnel’s mouth with a muffled thwump. An explosion spewed out rocks and smoke as he ran ahead, with the others right on his heels.

“Idiot,” Tango muttered under her breath, even as she was up and moving. “Follow the lunatic,” she ordered, as the rest of the team disappeared into the darkness.

Admiral Otxoa was being kept apprised of the situation on the planet’s surface, but once General Nassat’s team went through the energy barrier, they’d lost all communication. She hoped they’d be able to shut down whatever it was the machines were hiding down there because if he couldn’t, things were likely to become...untenable.

The enemy’s hit-and-run tactics had continued nonstop, and every time they struck, they caused damage. Her people were dying...maybe not the massive casualties they’d suffered when Phalange had collapsed, but in some ways, this was even worse. It was like the ancient form of torture she’d read about, where they strapped you down and dribbled water on your head. It didn’t sound like torture until you think about what it must have been like...unable to move, expecting that next droplet, watching it fall…

...drip...drip...drip…drip...

She shuddered and then focused her attention back on the monitors, trying to anticipate the next attack. If there was a pattern, they had yet to find it; the strikes seemed to come at random intervals, from multiple trajectories. There had to be a way to predict where they would strike next...a sudden surge in engine power, perhaps. Something. Adelais pulled up the data from the previous raid and started examining the individual ships. Maybe there’d been a burst of communications….

“...Admiral!” one of her bridge officers shouted, yanking her out of her reverie, her eyes going wide as she stared at the plot.

“Oh, shit,” she cursed...as the entire machine fleet accelerated, diving at her forces, their energy beams began lashing out.

“All ships, fire,” she shouted, as antimatter rounds and missiles exploded out from her position, seeking their prey as the enemy closed in. Otxoa didn’t know what was going on down on the planet, but Nassat...or more likely Jiyazh...had stirred up the hornet’s nest. She felt Buenos Aires shudder as they took a beam amidships, the klaxons blaring as Medical and Damage Control teams responded. She put that out of her mind; dealing with those issues was the ship captain’s responsibility; hers was keeping the fleet alive.

There was one bit of good news, instead of concentrating their forces and coming in like one gigantic hammer blow, it seemed as if the machines had dropped whatever it was they were doing and charged at the Alliance fleet, which meant they were coming in scattered, from all directions. If she could somehow use that…

Adelais studied the plot furiously for a moment and then got on the horn. “This is Otxoa to all ships...make your course 032 by Mark 179! Keep together and keep firing! Best speed!”

The course she’d just sent them one was where the machines were the thinnest. If they could punch through, make them consolidate their forces and give her a real target, they just might have a chance.

The enemy responded almost immediately, but they were at a disadvantage. As scattered as they were, it would take time to gather their forces together...and time was on her side, not theirs. Her ships were sluggish at first, slow to obey her sudden change in strategy...but as they poured on the speed, the most distant enemy ships were being left further and further behind.

Those in front of them, however…

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what she was up to, which meant the enemy had two choices: they could either order those ships blocking her path to throw everything they had at her, or they could get the hell out of her way. Either choice would tell her something.

It seemed to take longer than it probably did...the adrenaline surge always messed with one’s time sense...but as she watched the machine vessels that stood between her and open space fired off their own engines and cleared a path for her fleet to pass through.

Interesting.

A thin smile crossed her features. So, they were husbanding their resources, were they? She knew the remedy to that.

“This is Admiral Otxoa to the fleet...once we have passed through the enemy’s lines, prepare to come about.” Her smile grew wider. “They’re close to the breaking point...and all we need is one more engagement to finish them.”