The guide was busy driving the vehicle and didn’t answer. Looking through the large, view-screen display, Jacob could see the chaos outside. All types of civilian and military vehicles were rushing by them on all sides. Columns of advancing troops were firing into the open gate as they moved forward. He even saw helicopters from some hidden base had joined the last-ditch fight against the invaders.
“This vehicle, and the Ursus’ uniforms, have thermal shielding; highly effective against the Ursus’ rifles,” Karina finally said. A burst of rounds pinged and crunched against the side of the transport, followed by a blast of sparks and smoke popping from a console on the bulkhead. “Unfortunately, we were not prepared for your high-velocity projectile weapons.”
“Well, that was stupid,” James laughed.
Jacob was also wearing one of the Ursus’ jackets. It had the feel of smooth synthetic leather; it was light and seemed to shrink and adjust to the occupant’s size. They’d used shoe polish to cover the red-striped sleeves in hopes that an excited soldier wouldn’t put a bullet into them. The pock-marked and blood-stained front of Jacob’s jacket reminded him that these coats wouldn’t work against a good old fashioned rifle. They’d procured the enemy armor, but the rifles were useless to them. Somehow tuned in to the alien DNA, their own human bodies were unable to activate them.
She shook her head, thrusting the vehicle forward, narrowly missing a car racing into a Delta horde at high speed. “The last time we visited this world, the most advance projectile we faced was a musket or a spear.” The craft rocked as it collided with a truck; she corrected course and directed it forward. “We would have expected your weapons to evolve with your technology—lasers or other energy-based weapons—but you humans have embraced your primitive projectiles.”
James laughed loudly, loading another belt of ammo into his M240. “Hell, yeah!” he shouted. “We love guns.” He stood and climbed back into the turret, firing long salvos into the Delta horde.
Jacob watched on the view screen as a column of small cars raced directly into the Deltas and exploded in the center of the mass. Karina ducked as the view screen filled with the devastation, the explosion temporarily washing out the display. Rogers righted her, putting her back on the controls. “Militias,” Rogers said, pointing to the craters left by the car bombs. “They are not to be fucked with.”
She put her head down, working the throttle and veering to the left to allow more of the car bombers to pass by her. “I will never understand your people’s call to violence. Why not just leave? Even if you win here, you cannot win everywhere.”
Rogers grunted. “Look who’s talking. Those men out there fighting have had everything taken away from them. Your people created this, not ours. You said it yourself; if we leave, they’ll cull this area with The Darkness. Maybe we can stop that.”
“You are only delaying the inevitable. The exodus has begun; there is no way for you to win once our main forces arrive. This is a waste of both of our people,” Karina protested as she watched the slaughter in front of her.
Rogers looked up and saw they were now at the stalled front lines. Ahead of them, men were exchanging gunfire with the aliens at long range. In the distance, he could just make out the glow of the alien orb. “Okay, this is close enough. We can move out on foot from here.”
With that, Karina broke the craft from its hover. Slamming a control arm forward, the vehicle anchored hard into the ground outside and came to rest, grinding against the earth below them. James’ machine gun continued to rattle away, spilling hot brass into the compartment. Duke paced and growled below, snapping at the man’s boots while Karina used a control panel to drop the rear ramp. Jacob lifted his rifle close to his chest and checked the action. He turned and followed Rogers out as the big man moved Karina ahead of him into the open battlefield. The sounds of war were louder outside, the air filled with the zipping of rounds, yelling of men, and the stench of burning explosives and gunpowder.
Overhead a Blackhawk passed by at high speed, gunners firing from the doors. The bird banked hard, making a dangerously close pass while the door gunners bled rounds into the last of the Delta lines. In front of the horde, the remnants of one of Meaford’s remaining rifle battalions were in close, engaging The Darkness at point-blank range.
“They teach you about close air support at your Star Fleet Academy?” Rogers said, smiling at the helicopters racing overhead. “I notice you turds don’t have any air defense.”
She shook her head. “Like I said… spears and muskets. But you can trust me when I tell you that our main forces will have such things. These skies will not be safe when the exodus arrives.”
Rogers moved around the side of the hovercraft; he squatted and waited for the others to catch up then peeked around the corner. Just as Karina had said, the defenders appeared to be pulling back. Off to the right was a series of loud explosions that rocked the ground and lit the sky to the east in balls of orange flame. He turned his gaze and pointed to a section of the alien wall, now crumbled and twisted. “That would be Clem. Right on time, opening another exit.”
Jacob stood and used the optics of his rifle to look in the direction of the blast, seeing the bright fireballs of exploding semi-trucks laden with explosives. The wall was peeled back in an open breach. Transport trucks raced through to gather the fleeing civilians. He searched the mass and could see long columns of approaching survivors. Jacob held his breath and prayed that Katy and Laura were in the group.
“You okay, Jake?” Rogers called back to him.
Jacob
