No one said anything.
“Then get in the right headspace for this.” Gunny checked the HUD for an ETA. “We’ll be making planetfall in less than five minutes.” He turned away, heading to the cockpit. Their pilot, Petty Officer Andrews, just turned them toward the planet. “You got a safe LZ for us yet?”
“Not yet,” Andrews replied. “I’ll get you as close as possible without putting you down in live fire. Scans of the surface are tough until we get closer. The destruction of the buildings and whatever ordnance they used is giving off a lot of radiation. Violet’s struggling to get through it too. We’ll relay back what we can.”
“I’d like some life readings,” Gunny said. “I want to know there’s even a reason to put down. God forbid but if they killed everyone, then we might want to assess the mission.” He figured things might change to a seek and destroy situation however, that depended on their opponents.
Those ships look awfully strange to me. Gunny craned his neck to see them. They still had yet to respond to the presence of the TCN vessels. I wonder if they’ve even scanned us yet. And if they care.
Gunny had fought in hundreds of skirmishes throughout his career. He had trained men, led them in battle, and watched plenty of soldiers die. Of all the times he’d been out there, he had a good sense of which direction a fight might go. This time, staring down a completely unknown enemy, he found himself unsure.
And if the right people knew that, they’d be damn nervous. Titus got it. Captain Barrington… not as much. The man had been set in his ways for twenty years. He’d been through the same type of encounters over and over again. The repetition made him too stubborn to be objective.
“Got a landing zone,” Andrews said. “Looks like there are lifeforms down there but I gotta warn you, Gunny… I’m not sure what’s up with these readings.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Uh… I guess… that they must be…” Andrews shrugged. “Hopped up on some kind of drug? I sincerely don’t know. They’re in some kind of weird armor. Maybe it’s making the scans go wonky. Whatever it is, be careful. I have no idea if they’re junkies, on some kind of shit that makes them badass, or maybe infected by radiation.”
“Leaves a lot of room for error.” Gunny sighed. “Time to drop off?”
“Six minutes.”
“You got a number on how many of those freaks there are down there?”
“Uh… lots. Dozens.”
“Shit.”
Gunny hadn’t brought that many soldiers with him. But then it was a rescue mission. He needed space for people to get aboard the shuttle. We’re not here to fight. Grab the civilians and get the hell out. Do whatever it takes to survive and protect them. Reminding himself helped, but something told him it wouldn’t matter.
These weirdos are going to fight. That’s why they’re here. The ship broke through the atmosphere, making a final descent. They were bucked about by turbulence, the shields reacting to the friction. Gunny tightened his grip, squinting in an effort to catch sight of the land through the clouds.
Once they made it through, the terrain opened up before them. The colony had been built in the middle of the plains with forests some thirty miles away on one side and a sea on the other at about the same distance. Rivers cut through the trees, offering some natural irrigation for the farms.
The colony itself was burned. Buildings were reduced to rubble, with craters all around it from the shots that had missed. The enemy had hit them hard, and it was quite clear they had no intention of stealing a damn thing. Not with those kinds of shots.
This was a slaughter. Blatant murder. What happened? Who pissed these people off to bring them here?
Gunny had witnessed situations where criminals destroyed buildings or even sections of towns in an effort to kill a single person. He’d been around to stop some of them in the past. This resembled those but was perhaps even worse. They had taken out everything except the command center. That remained standing.
Why? Why leave that one structure? Gunny had no idea. Hopefully, the militia took refuge in there to hold it against the invaders. He figured they might stand a chance if they bottlenecked all those forces. Unless they assumed their opponents planned on bombing it out. I’ll have to see it for myself.
Andrews looped them around, dropping low to get them near the surface. “Better get ‘em up.”
“On it.” Gunny headed back to the others. “We’re about ready so off your asses and down the ramp! This is a hot drop!” He paced by them all, slapping the panel to open up. The contingent of soldiers rose, waiting for the green light. Once Andrews got them low enough, he popped it on.
Gunny waved them out, following the last man. They dropped into the tall grass, each crouching as the shuttle veered off to the north. Andrews had orders to keep moving, to maintain speed and distance until they were ready for a pickup. The concern revolved around interception from the enemy ships… would they launch to address him?
So far, they don’t seem to care about your technology, Gunny thought. We’re about to see what they think of our guns.
“First stop,” Gunny said, “command center. Spread out and stay low on approach. Keep your eyes on your HUDs for scans. Fall out!” He started out, making directly for the colony. The command center happened to be in the back near the incomplete wall. That’s not exactly protocol. They were supposed to be erected in the center of the encampment.
The wall shouldn’t be partially built either. Lazy ass colonists.
“We’re en route,” Gunny reported in,
