Harris dove to the deck at the front edge of the Bangor, firing two plasma rounds at a pair of Denzee crewmen who were standing in the open. He rolled and dashed to the cover of a loading vehicle parked in the bay. The loud cracks of blaster rounds impacting the machinery in front of him were countered by the familiar whumps from the Saxon Repeating Plasma Rifles.
Tawn's squad took out another Denzee crewman as they made their way behind a stack of containers on the far wall. Harris was quickly joined by the remainder of his squad.
“Genna, you and Harpwell move down this way. The rest of us are heading straight for that door.”
Trish came over the comm. “Five bios showing in here. Two left and three right. Five more moving down the hallway toward the door.”
Harris' charge cleared the left side of the bay, ending by taking the door. The five crewmen coming down the hall met with quick deaths as two slugs dropped through the door, blanketing the approach with plasma fire. Tawn's squad made short work of the remaining three.
“Bay is clear of bios,” said Trish.
Harris glanced back at the ship. “You're on your own in there. You have trouble, you comm us. If it gets bad, just take her out and wait for further instructions.”
Harris looked at Tawn. “Let's keep it moving but keep it safe. They're crewmen, not warriors. They'll make mistakes. Exploit them. See you on the top deck.”
Tawn led her squad off in the other direction.
Trish said, “Bisocan shows fourteen Denzee down this hall on either side just in front of you, Mr. Gruberg. Two behind the first door on the right.”
The door was blasted open. A stump ducked behind the doorframe, dodging several rounds before charging inside. Two whumps saw to the end of the crewmen attempting a defense. The remainder of the hall was cleared in the same manner. Trish highlighted bioscan data, passing it to either squad as they moved forward.
The stairwells going up saw minor resistance. All were dispatched with minimal effort on the part of the Biomarines. Their moves were precise, their efforts determined, and their tactics spoke of their extensive training and experience. Nine minutes into the assault, the top deck was reached and cleared.
Harris said, “We have two stairways on either side of this ship. Post someone at each of these two. Tell me when you have the stairwell covered and we'll move down a deck. You move down two. When you have it cleared, wait for my signal that we're ready to drop another level. I'm giving us twenty-two minutes to clear this sphere. We have Trish's help. Let's see if we can shave a few minutes off that allotment.”
Tawn nodded. “Show the way.”
The twenty-four decks of the larger sphere were taken without casualty. A run back up the stairs saw the two squads converging on the two halls in the tube leading forward.
Trish came over the comm. “Bioscan counts sixty-five crewmen in the rooms along those halls. That's all the info I can give you. The hacker is close to penetrating our firewalls. I have to disconnect.”
Harris nodded. “Just follow our prior instructions. We still have the camera feeds running to our helmet displays. Be safe.”
The comm closed.
Harris looked to his second. “Turkey shoot is over. We'll have to work for these.”
The slug standing beside him grinned. “An honest fight? I prefer it, sir.”
Harris' squad moved down the upper tube. The first two rooms were empty. The third erupted in blaster fire as the door was opened. Shrapnel from a disintegrating doorframe dug into the arm of a slug. After a coordinated series of plasma rounds, the room was cleared.
“You OK?”
“Just in the meat, sir. Cut through the suit. Could use a bandage... and a good stiff drink.”
Harris waved her back. “Dothan, see what you can do to patch her up. You two up front, keep that injury in mind going forward. Make certain you're as far around the corner as possible when the door is opened.”
As the squad moved ahead, Harris leaned against the wall. A slug and a stump moved to the next door. The wall behind Harris buckled outward violently, pushing him across the hall and into the far wall. He slammed to a hard stop and dropped.
The door was blown open and the room filled with plasma fire. Any fight from those inside was quickly over.
Dothan knelt beside a stunned and shaken Harris. “You'll live.”
Harris held up a hand. “Give me a minute to clear my head.”
Dothan glanced up at the others. “Hold up. Chief has cobwebs.”
Harris stood, rotating a shoulder that had taken the brunt of the initial hit. “I'll be OK. Move us forward.”
Dothan waved to the two Biomarines in front. “Move out. We're good. Sir, I'd suggest you hang back for a few minutes. We've got this.”
Harris nodded. “I think that best.”
Ten minutes of continued action saw the team reaching the end of the connecting tube. The smaller of the two spheres, eight decks tall, held the bulk of the Denzee crewmen. Harris enabled a translator that had been loaded into his helmet system. The commands that would follow would be spoken in Denzee.
“This is Harris Gruberg. I'm in command of the force you are fighting. We have control of the rest of this vessel, including all systems. Surrender now and you will be allowed to live. Attempt to resist further and you will die.”
The footsteps of small boots could be heard coming from around a corner along with hushed voices.
Dothan leaned back toward Harris. “I don't like this, sir. We're exposed.”
Harris nodded. “Listen up. Fall back to those first two doorways. Dirgess, you and Scalese stay out here, but be ready to move back should things get dicey. I'll give them one more chance to respond. If they don't, we'll press forward.”
Harris stood in a doorway with the two Biomarines on either side of the hall in front of him. “This is Harris Gruberg. We're giving you one last chance to comply with our request for surrender. Enough of you have died. There doesn't need to be any more.”
Again the thumping of small boots was heard, along with whispers in Denzee.
Dothan said, “Sounds like a lot of boots out there, Chief.”
Harris opened a comm to Tawn. “What's your status?”
“We're at the hall's end. I've given the ultimatum as we discussed. Haven't received a reply.”
Harris nodded. “Hold tight.”
A comm was opened to the Bangor. “Trish? What's the bioscan telling you?”
The comm closed before an answer was given.
Harris sighed as he looked over his shoulder at Dothan. “Hackers must have her tied up still. Looks like we're doing this the hard way.”
As Harris leaned out into the hall to give the order, the loud cracks of blaster fire filled the audio in his helmet. Dirgess and Scalese opened fire immediately as a rush of Denzee flooded their position. Plasma and blaster fire quickly gave way to hand-to-hand fighting with knives. The two Biomarines were overwhelmed by numbers before a respectable fight could be put forward.
Harris repeatedly expelled explosive rounds into the horde of Denzee crewmen filling the hall in front of him. Dothan reached up, pulling him back by his shoulder as the first of the Denzee reached their position. Plasma rounds split bodies wide as their taloned fingers clawed gouges into the lower suits of the Biomarines.
Tawn came over the comm. “They're pushing us back down the hall! It's a bloodbath but they keep coming! We lost Lopez in the initial surge!”
Harris countered as Denzee body parts filled the hallway just outside his door. “Dirgess and Scalese are gone! We're trapped in side rooms! There are hundreds of them!”
“The numbers are thinning down here. You must have taken the brunt. Hang tight. We're on our way up!”
Tawn yelled into her comm. “Push forward! We're taking this hall!”
Harris, Dothan, and a stump named Ferris fired a constant stream of plasma toward the door and into the hall beyond. The whumps of their rifles was followed by the rumble of explosions in the hall. An equal maze of similar noise emanated from just down the hall at the next room as the two slugs trapped inside attempted to defend their position.
Several minutes of mayhem passed before the forward assault stopped, the rumbles and explosions of plasma rounds coming from the near end of the hall.
Tawn yelled over the comm. “Charge out! We've got 'em pinned!”
Dothan shoved Harris forward, high-stepping over the remains of dozens of dead Denzee just beyond the door. Forty seconds later, the hallway fell silent.
Harris stood, knee deep in body parts. “Your squad?”
“I lost Bellamy coming up. You?”
Harris glanced back down the hall. “Shaw? Drumford?”
Dothan came from their doorway. “Gone, sir. Both took blasters to the head, so it was fast.”
Harris sighed. “We have eight decks to clear. Let's move.”
Two stairwells went up and down through the levels of the smaller spherical section of the Denzee rattle ship. The team, this time staying as one unit, fought their way to the top deck. Five minutes later, the single vast room at the top was cleared of belligerent defenders.
Harris pointed at the far stairwell. “Take your team that way. We'll meet you in the middle of each deck. Leave one behind to guard the stairwell as we clear the rooms.”
Tawn nodded with a smile. “Exactly as I would have called it. I'll race you to the center.”
Harris frowned. “We've probably taken out 60 percent of their crew. I wouldn't get too cocky if I was you. That leaves a couple hundred still. Pick your battles and bring your four friends back alive.”
“You concerned that we haven't heard from Trish?”
“I am. But at this point our only real choice is to finish the job. We do that and we can jump this ship out of here.”
“And where would we take it? We don't have Farker with us.”
Harris nodded. “A fact I'm aware of. Worst case, we jump it to the Retreat and leave it with the colonel.”
Tawn took a step toward the assigned stairwell. “Let's get this over with before we have visitors.”
An explosion coming from the stairs knocked a squad member off her feet. The roar of small boots followed.
Harris pushed Tawn toward the other stairs. “Come on!”
The duo slid, spinning around to face the other way as the rest of their team stepped over and past them onto the stairs. Harris was the first to pull the trigger, catching the lead Denzee as it charged out with a blaster in hand. Eight plasma rifles focused a continuous stream of bolts into the stairwell opening. Screams were heard and chaos ensued. The fallen quickly blocked the path upward.
Harris stood, charging forward. “Over here!”
The team followed, again taking up positions facing the other way. The rumble of small boots echoed with the first Denzee coming into view after reversing their attempted assault. Several hundred plasma rounds later, the second stairwell fell silent. The remaining Denzee were in retreat.
Tawn hopped over her friend, jumping into the pile of bodies on the stairs behind them as she forced her way down. The remaining squad members followed. The second level saw light resistance, as did the third.
When the fourth was reached, Harris moved back to the entrance for the upper tube. “Tawn! Check out the boot prints! They're headed for the docking bay!”
Tawn grabbed one of the remaining slugs. “You stay with me. We're gonna clean this place out. The rest of you go with him!”
Harris hustled down the tube with six others just behind. As they approached the doorway leading into the bay, they encountered a dozen Denzee and quickly dispatched them. Burns on the wall just outside the doorway told of a fierce fight.
Harris slid to a stop, poking his head around just far enough to get a look at the bay. It was in shambles, having seen multiple large explosions. The Bangor raced in from outside, skidding to a stop in front of him with the hatch exposed.
Trish jumped into view. “Come on! We've got four minutes until the Denzee ship arrives!”
Harris vaulted forward and was quickly in the cabin. “How many ships?”
“Just one. But it's one of those warships.”
He turned to face the remainder of the team. “Go back and get the others, meet us back here as soon as you can. I'll see what we can do to slow their progress.”
The hatch closed as Harris strapped himself in. “You’d better sit and cinch that belt.”
The Bangor lifted, rushing out of the smoldering bay. “I had to use the railgun. Probably a hundred of them rushed me. Some were still clinging to the hull when I moved outside. I dropped the power down to minimum and fired three rounds.”
Harris nodded. “You did good. Only a dozen left when we arrived.”
“Are we about to do what I think we're doing?”
“Yep. Dial that power back up to full. We have no idea what the shielding is like on that thing.”
“What's the full plan?” Trish asked.
“Delay. We try to slow them down long enough for the others to get back to that bay.”
The Bangor closed on the rapidly approaching warship. The exterior lights on the Denzee ship went dark as the blue circle on the front began to glow white.
“They're firing!”
Harris turned hard, moving just out of the way of the invisible beam of energy, flipping back in time for Trish to fire off a hypervelocity tungsten pellet. An exterior shielding plate beside the powerful Denzee weapon buckled but held.
Harris growled. “We're in trouble.”
Two additional railgun rounds did their damage on either side of the circular weapon. Neither penetrated the ultrathick hull of the approaching ship.
Harris turned the Bangor back toward the rattle and the rest of his team. “I hope they're waiting when we get there.”
Bolts of bright green plasma energy emerged from the Denzee ship's standard weapons, bolts that were easily dodged as Harris ducked, rolled, and swerved with the Bangor on his way back to the rattle ship for a pickup of the others. A rapid deceleration and a hard cut had him landing in the bay only seconds later.
“Freely! Where are you?”
“On our way! One minute!”
Harris shook his head. “We don't have a minute! They're already on top of us!”
Harris held back the impulses from his brain telling him to leave. Tawn emerged from the doorway just as the great ship outside slowed.
“This is gonna be tricky,” Harris said as the others boarded. “Strap in!”
The Bangor moved out of the bay and around the large sphere, staying just out of direct sight of the titanic Denzee warship.
“We're trapped. They get close enough and we don't have anywhere to hide.”
Tawn released her belt, moving to stand behind Harris with her hand on his shoulder. “Maybe our only option is a bum-rush? You think we could make it to their hull, where their weapons can't get to us?”
Harris winced. “Will take all the luck in this galaxy to pull that off. If I can get them to follow us around, I'll put us back in that bay.”
“And from there?”
“From there we do whatever comes next.”
Tawn smirked. “That has Biomarine written all over it. Let's do it.”
Harris looked at Trish. “I'm about to do a roll that will expose us for only a few seconds. Take a couple shots if you can.”
Trish nodded. “Ready when you are.”
The Bangor flipped up and over the edge of the great warship, making it visible just behind the large sphere of the rattle-shaped Denzee ship. Two tungsten rounds found their mark, one entering through an exterior port, no doubt causing tremendous internal damage, the second merely denting the exterior hull. The Denzee ship moved toward them, following the Bangor just as Harris had hopped.
A hard push forward had the much smaller ship around and sliding back into the docking bay from where it had only moments before escaped.
“What now?” Trish asked.
“We wait for them to come back around. Flip that rail cannon back to autofeed. Dial the power down by 5 percent. When they come into view, just squeeze that trigger and hold it.”