fanfic_name = Gotterdammerung

chapter = XVI

author = Cicero Phelps

dedicate = Carla, Jo, Aiki, all my fans, and hopefully, others who read it, too

Rating = AP15

Type = Adventure

fanfic = Chapter XVI

Vanessa tried to keep her nerves under control as she walked through the enemy base. Personnel everywhere were aggressively attending to their duties, from security details to engineers to pilots, and she wasn’t entirely certain that her disguise would escape scrutiny. For the insertion, she had dyed her hair flame red, inserted contacts that turned her eyes green, and had applied makeup to make her skin appear even more pale than normal, suggesting that the light from her monitors was the only source of light she typically got. She fidgeted, worried that the makeup would flake off, or her facial features would give her away, but the people around her didn’t give her a second look as they rushed past.

The layout of the base was standardized, like ones she’d seen countless other times in her career, on other bases, and she could follow the layout easily enough. She entered the lift and descended towards the prison level…

*********

Lisa ran towards the engineer’s station, where Dr. Lang and his crew were holed up during the battle. She gripped the CQB pistol in her hand, a curious combination of side-by-side snub-barreled shotgun chambered in 10 gauge, with a Bowie knife mounted underneath it; it was especially useful in boarding party raids and close-confines combat.

She just never thought she’d be using it against her own comrades.

She could see the fusion torches cutting through the wall, saw the bayonets of the soldiers behind the engineers. She knew what their orders were as soon as she saw the blades; kill all who stand in their way and take the ship by force. “Aim well on your first shots, then fire at will,” she ordered. “Cut ‘em off here, and we won’t have to worry about retaking the rest of the ship later.”

Any reply from her few dozen troops was muted by the wall falling in, and the sound of gunfire. The six guards closest to the wall went down in rapid fashion, as Lisa aimed and fired, catching two enemy soldiers full in the face with her scattergun. The soldiers in the room were evenly matched, man for man, so numerical superiority wasn’t going to be a factor.

It was an old-fashioned killing field, a barroom brawl mixed with more rifle fire and bayonets than an Old West saloon, and the defenders were hanging on for their lives. Lisa raised her gun and fired again, catching another man in the back, and then swung her blade around to connect with a man’s midsection. Her attacker stumbled back, bleeding profusely from a deep stab to his stomach. A few errant shots whizzed her way, so she withdrew her blade from her victim to face the new onslaught…

***********

Miriya realized that she had the most recognized face of the group as she entered the enemy base, so she tended to stick to the shadows as she crawled along. She also caused a few of the electricity generators to malfunction, adding to the gloom and the reduced searchlights in the hallways, and planted several timed charges along the way, in service conduits.

The first patrol that she heard in the area started coming her way; she ducked into an open ventilation grating, and they walked past her, not noticing her. Putting her last timed charge in place, she slipped into the shaft and crawled forward towards the light she saw ahead of her. Voices came out of the darkness, so she slowed to listen to them.

“The second wave is almost ready, Colonel Howe,” came an unknown voice.

“Excellent work, Captain Preston, carry on. Launch the first group at your leisure,” Howe replied.

“Aye, Colonel.”

“Those extra mechs in the second wave ought to really help soften up the SDF-1 defenders,” Major Patton remarked.

“The Annihilator will be extremely effective,” Howe confirmed.

Miriya listened in horror as they talked about how they had planned to surprise and destroy the SDF-1’s defenders. Unfortunately, she let out a gasp when they started discussing the other mecha they were sending along.

“What’s that noise? Find that intruder,” snapped Howe.

Miriya stumbled over herself trying to scramble out of the air duct, making a lot of noise. The soldiers Howe had in his command room fired at her duct, striking her in the lower back and her left hip. She was swiftly located and brought before Howe, who strapped her to a chair for interrogation…

************

Admiral Gloval noticed the swarms of hatchet-wielding mechs headed towards the civilian shelters. “Tactical, raise the Omni-Directional Barrier, narrow-beam focus. I want those civilians protected.”

“Aye, Admiral. The barrier is up, and the enemy tanks have swept around our left flank to strafe at the air defenses. Our tanks are counter-attacking, but are having minimal gains.”

Gloval looked at the young combat controller, she was scared whiter than a sheet. “Order Rogue Squadron to lend assistance to the tank column, and have the Wraiths cover the civilians. Get me Skull Leader on the comm.”

“Skull One to bridge, I copy.”

“The enemy formation is headed your way from Grid Two. Set up defensive firepower and overwhelm them.”

“Roger that, bridge. Skulls two through five plus eight, regroup and concentrate fire on those tanks. Six, Seven, form on me; we’re mech hunting. The rest of you, concentrate on their support units.”

Gloval saw the groups split to their particular tasks, and noticed with interest that the enemy ranks were falling back towards the shore positions. The enemy infantry seemed lost in confusion, making several vain assaults on the Omni-Directional barrier without any coordinated strategy, suffering nearly a dozen men from ricocheted shots with each fusillade, then withdrawing in disorder. He was pleased that they held the line thus far, but he knew it wasn’t over yet.

*********

Rick and his squadmates were in cover behind a three-story brick building, hiding from heavy enemy fire. They had taken the point for the counter-offensive, but that left them outside the barrier. Three Hatchetmen were headed their way, each with rotary autocannons and three pulse lasers, not to mention their heavy cleavers on their right arms. Rick aimed his rifle very carefully at the cockpit of the lead butcher, sighting in with his zoomed scope, and loosed two rounds at his target.

The first shot slammed into the butcher’s left torso, but the second one was dead on, cracking the cockpit glass and giving the opposing pilot a severe concussion. The mech stumbled, hit a twin-story brick building, and hit the ground, taking down some debris to block the path of his squadmates. The two mechs behind the leader tried engaging their jump jets to clear the obstacle, but they hit each other in the attempt, one falling head-first into an exposed beam, and the other landing on his backside. The one that landed on his head cracked apart at the seams, and Rick finished it off with another shot to the head, killing it. The third mech landed on his right rear, setting off an ammo explosion, shearing its right arm off. The ammunition explosion brought down the rest of the building on the lead mech in the element, crushing his right side.

In this case, one shot, indeed, made the difference in the battle.

State = Continuará/To Be Continue

feedback = Sí/Yes

email = Lightsaber01ATHotmail.com