“Go,go, go!” screamed another as one Nova after another brokethrough.
Valentine lifted herself back up and smiled. She started to speak as ablade slammed into her shoulder. The impact sent her flying to theside and into a column. Parts of the upper section split away andcrashed around her, but that didn’t stop the enemy. Chief EngineerThompson was already at the entrance and looked back ather.
“Run!” she screamed,“Get it done!”
She rose to her feet and shook her head. The Ski’lig took aimand never even saw Olik thundering from the left. He barged throughthe alien as though he was a skittle, and behind him came the otherNovas.
“Inside!” he yelled.
Valentine groaned in discomfort, limping up the steps and through theopening. Once inside she gasped in astonishment. Fifteen or sixteenaerial Ski’ligs plus various others were firing back. Two roundshit Valentine, and then she returned fire. It was a short, brutalfirefight that left another Nova dead and four more badlyinjured.
“ChiefEngineer Thompson!” Olik shouted as the smoke continued circlingaround them.
“I’m here.”
He moved closer and stopped in front of a series of large, curvedimages. Olik then looked to the surviving warriors.
“Novas. Seal the entry points. I wantthis area locked down.”
“Captain,” said LieutenantFletcher, “The main entry point, it’ssplit right open.”
He pointed to the half-shattered archthat was wide enough to drive a tank through, and the steps leadingdown to the hall. As he pointed to it, shapes started to circlefrom above, and then fire rained down on those inside the commandcentre itself.
Some ofthe Novas returned fire, while others shielded Chief EngineerThompson with their bodies as the shots crashed down.
“Protect this level,” saidOlik, “3rd Lance, secure thatentrance!”
Valentine nodded andmoved back in the direction she’d come in from.Tsarkov, Alexis, Hawkins, Kallias were also there, as well as apanting Sergeant Jablonsky. Lieutenant Fletcher was right behindthem, and he looked in pain as he struggled to the opening. Hestarted to speak and then gasped.
“What is it?” Alexis asked.
We’ve got a problem. A big problem! Texsaid.
Valentine moved beside him, ducking back as something moved inthe smoke.
“What was that?”
“Check your tactical data,” saidLieutenant Fletcher, “They’re coming forus.”
She looked to the fresh dataaccumulating in front of her eyes. Texadded everything to present a vivid picture of the threat facingthem. Valentine’s eyes moved back and forth as she found a dozenseparate groups all moving in towards them.
“Are you seeing this?” Tsarkovasked, “There must be hundreds ofthem.”
The ground began to vibrate slightly. Valentine leaned out fromthe arch and looked down into the half-destroyed hall. Shapes werealready moving inside, and then she saw the large burning hotbeasts coming behind them. It was like a tidal wave of death comingright towards them.
“They’re coming this way.”
“How many?”
She laughed as she checked the loadingfeed on her rifle.
“I think all of them.”
At the sametime, a great moan filled the interior ofthe ship. Valentine looked around her, half expecting to see theship falling apart, but there was no obvious change. She lookedtowards Olik who was busily blasting away at the creatures circlingin the upper levels of the command centre.
“No way,” said Hawkins,“He did it. The main engines areoff.”
“That’s good new?”Kallias asked.
“Well, it means we’re gonna loseheight.”
“Yeah,” laughed Kallias,“And it means we’re gonna die.”
The ship shuddered againfor a split second.
“Novas,” said Lieutenant Fletcher, “We hold this breach, nomatter what comes for us. They cannot restart theengines.”
“Why not just blow the controls?” Kallias asked, “Then nobody canget them back online.”
“What controls? The entire systemis virtual. The Engineer says he’s got it locked down. The minutehe goes offline, the system can becontrolled from somewhere else.”
“Then we hold the breach,”said Valentine.
She leaned out from the side and tookaim with her rifle. More and more shapes swarmed inside from thefar end and continued to rush forward.
“Let’s bring ‘emdown!”
She opened fire, and the othersquickly joined in. Small arms fire and cannons blasted swathes ofthe enemy, but more came on. Then the return fireslammed into the breach entrance and thebroken statues of the massive beasts. On and on they came, with theliving clambering over the dead. Most were the poor enslavedsoldiers, rushing forward with no concern for theirlives.
“Hold the line!”Lieutenant Fletcher said.
The seven struggled to fire whilenot exposing themselves, but the numbers were simplytoo great.
“Outside!” said theLieutenant, “Shield wall!”
Valentine gulped but did asordered. The small group lined up at the top of the steps even asthe shots hit around them. A small number of marines took theirplaces and fired from behind what cover they could find.
“Everything you’ve got. Do not stop!”
Valentine gritted herteeth, tracking left and right as sheblasted away. Body after body fell, but the return fire still hitaround them. Alexis took hits to the body that knocked her down.Valentine looked back to help her as the next wave hit. Theyswarmed over the line and tried to get inside. Valentine threw oneto the wall, and then blasted the second. She turned around to seescores of bodies. More Ski’ligs charged at the line, blasting andstabbing away. Three Novas were dragged down, and Kallias had toblast their wounded bodies with gunfire to drive off the enemy. Thetrio were alive but badly hurt.
“We’ve got this,”said the marines behind them as theystruggled to drag the wounded Novas back inside.
Valentine moved to the middle ofthe group and then almost choked at seeing only Kallias andSergeant Jablonsky were still standing. Alexis leaned against wallof the breach and took aim. A howl rang out inside the hall, andthen they came at them once more.Valentine looked down at the pools of blood and spotted one of thefallen enemies. She bent down and lifted the rifle that was stillattached to his body. She took aim and fired. A pulse of lightpunched through half a dozen of the enemy, exploding them withease.
“Holy crap!” Sergeant Jablonsky said.
He grabbed one of the firearmsand joined in while Kallias went to work with his quad rifles.Dozens of enemies fell before them, andKallias started to howl as he slaughtered the enemy. The shipcontinued to shake, and Valentine quickly checked the data on hervisor to see what was happening.
“We’re entering the atmosphere. It’sworking!”
She looked back and
