“Claw squad ready, Alpha.” Squad Leader Lee “Noose” Sato commed.
“Paw squad ready, Alpha.” Squad Leader Lola “NGD” Petrov said.
“Fang squad ready, Alpha.” Squad Leader Tucker “Cheat” Meyers responded.
“Good.” Sahib said, then opened a channel to the drop ship pilots. “Wolf Platoon ready for deployment.”
“Copy that Wolf. Initiating operation Downfall.” A voice responded over the comms.
“Stupid name for the operation.” SL Lola “NGD” Petrov grumbled.
“I agree, we should have called it something like Sky fall or Hammer of the Gods.” Tucker “Cheat” Meyers added.
Sahib closed his eyes and tuned his people out, letting them chat. He felt the drop ship lift from the Monarch’s hull and set out into space towards Trivax’s lower orbit. Sahib reflected back to the moment he took a posting with the Exploration Fleet, he wanted to go see other worlds, meet new alien races. He knew that he had a much greater chance of doing that with the Exploration Fleet. It was a tough choice, his friend Adrian had offered him a place in his clan, Warpath. But Sahib refused him. Sahib wasn’t like Adrian, he wasn’t a warrior. Sahib was a soldier and he like being one. What Adrian wanted was different. So Sahib stayed with the army.
He felt a slight shake of the dropship entering the upper atmosphere, and he felt a rush of adrenaline. This was what he lived for.
“Wolf, prepare for the drop in twenty seconds.” A voice said over the comms.
Sahib steeled himself as he waited, the rest of his people quieted and waited as well.
“Dropping in five, four, three, two, one! Drop pods away.” Suddenly Sahib felt pressure pushing him downward toward the planet. The pod was away, speeding towards the ground, with each squad having a different landing zone. Sahib heard no sound, his suit’s helmet was blocking everything, but he could feel the vibrations. Soon he lost track of time as the vibrations intensified and then suddenly disappeared.
“Thirty seconds until landing burst.” A computer voice said. Sahib stiffened, the worst part was still ahead.
“Five seconds until burst, four, three, two, one! Engaging counter burst.”
Sahib’s entire body jerked, as the reverse thrusters and dampener field worked to counteract the incredible speed they were falling at. And then the pod hit the ground, and Sahib felt as if he was hit by a truck, thankfully the pod itself and his suit took on the brunt of the impact.
“Report.” Sahib managed to drawl out on the comm for his squad. A few seconds later, six people called in, and a few seconds after that the other squad leaders reported that their squads too landed safely. Sahib readied his weapon, the pod’s front panel exploded outward and he stepped onto the ground of Trivax. The other six pods landed around him, and they too had been opened, his squad mates already out.
All were in their battle-suits, although his squad had three different types of suits. The one he wore was a medium assault suit, meaning that it had hard plates over his vital areas, while joints were made out of carbon nano fiber mesh. It was powered by a small battery protected by the plate on the back, with features like two small tanks of nanites, one filled with repair nanites that could be sent anywhere through the suit to repair it, and others filled with medical nanites that could treat any wound. In order for it, and any other of the Empire’s suits to be used, the wearer had to possess a secondary implant with an access point at the back of the neck. This allowed the user to move in the suit as efficiently as if they were only in their own body. Sahib along with Red, Bella, and Garth were the ones in his squad equipped with the medium class battle-suit.
The next type was the heavy class battle-suit. It was bulky, covered in ri-steel plates and coated in heat resisting sheet of ceramics. These battle-suits had three extra batteries, gave the user much greater strength and speed at the expense of maneuverability. It was worn by heavy infantry, in his team those being Loca and Lucky.
The final type, was the very different than the rest. It was the only suit that wasn’t a hybrid between the Empire’s and the Earth technology. It was the latest generation of the old Olympus battle-suits. The light class assault battle-suit rated for stealth. It had an amazing stealth system that let the light “pass” right through it, of course it was more complicated than that but Sahib didn’t really need to understand it, just know how to use it. It too was powered, and while it did enhance the user’s strength and speed it wasn’t as powerful as the other battle-suits. The last member of his team – Eagle eye – wore a light assault battle-suit.
Sahib checked the battle map on his HUD, the Fleet Commander had acquired the plans to the city from few comm stations that were still operational on the planet. He looked at their objective, they were supposed to secure the courtyard of the Trivaxian Space Exploration Center. “Alright squad, you know the plan, let’s move.”
The seven of them started towards the huge complex, passing through narrow city streets. The Trivaxian architecture reminded him a lot of European architecture, a clash of cultures and ideas all mashed up together. The streets were empty, most of the population had evacuated even before the alien invaders reached Trivax, getting out of the cities. Only those in key positions remained, at least according to the people that they could get in contact with.
Then they arrived close enough to their destination that they could see the aliens preparing to enter the SEC building. His implant immediately counted all the aliens in his view, there were twenty three of them. The alien themselves wore a kind of battle-suit. It was dark red in color and appeared clunky. The general shape of the aliens was bipedal, with two arms, two legs, a head and a torso just like humans had, although they did appear taller than humans. And the shape of their helmets was more triangular, whether that was because of the shape of their head or a design Sahib couldn’t tell.
“It looks like they are trying to enter the building.” Eagle eye commented.
“The survivors must have blocked the entrances, see those containers over there?” Sahib asked gesturing, “Those must be heavy or breaching weapons, they are in a hurry to get them assembled.”
“They are probably worried about some guys with big guns falling down on their heads.” Loca said in a cheerful tone. Sahib nodded his head, they must know by now that their fleet was destroyed, and since they still didn’t respond to the constant calls for surrender, the aliens most likely wanted hostages. “Alright, Bella, Garth you are going around these buildings and will come at them from the right side. Red and Lucky, the two of you are going here, coming at them from the left. Loca and I are attacking them from the front. Eagle eye, you see that tall building over there?” Sahib asked, while highlighting, buildings, areas and routes on his HUD map. Eagle eye nodded her head. “Yes PL.”
“Good, you get there and provide cover and support. Alright squad, let’s do this quickly, efficiently, and bloody.” Sahib said.
“Let’s go wolfpack!” Loca said, and the rest joined in with their own cheer.
Five minutes later Bella and Garth were in position overlooking the aliens from the side building. All in all the aliens had a decent enough perimeter set up. They guarded their backs efficiently, Bella thought. But it was nothing special. They had no heavy weapons set up in the SEC building’s courtyard except the one they were assembling to break into the building.
“What do you think they look like?” Bella asked in an excited tone.
“I don’t really care, they are the bad guys.” Garth answered with disinterest.
“I hope that they look like beautiful faeries.” Bella added.
Garth turned to her and gave her a droll look of disbelief that was wasted on her as neither of them could see each other’s face. “We are about to fight yet another alien race, and this is what you think about moments before battle.”