The Hydra fired her port micro thrusters and flew sideways, just as a lance of slender green energy swept through the place where the Hydra was a moment ago.Captain Ziegler heaved a sigh of relief.That was close.Too close.
"Engines all stop and turn one hundred and eighty degrees.Point us at that thing."Ziegler ordered Timmons.
"Aye,sir.Engines answering.All stop.Rotating now."Timmons said,a tinge of worry present in his meek voice.
The four-thousand-ton Hydra came to a standstill and swivelled to face the owner of that energy beam.Captain Ziegler expected it to be one of the Rencond's deadliest starships,a Valken-class crusier,but it was not.
It was something larger.
Much larger.
Directly across the Hydra, the space started to distort.The area became like a pool of water,with ripples coming from the centre of it.Then,something emerged from the distorted space.A ship. A Rencond ship,unlike any Ziegler had seen before.Instead of the usual arrow-head design characteristcal of most Rencond vessels,this one was a solid rectangular block.A black,equipment-laden area was sandwiched between two silver-white layers.A circle served as the only decoration for the bottommost deck of the ship.On the topmost,layers of small squares, most likely hatches,could be seen surrounding a hexagonal region,probably the bridge.Captain Ziegler could not discern any weapons onboard.
"Computer,"He called out,"Give me a full scan of that ship.I want every plate of alien metal overturned for answers."
"Processing,"A female voice emnamated from nowhere,with the characteristic warble of synthesized vocals,"Vessel is approximately four point two kilometers long and two point four kilometers wide.Spectroscopic analysis proved inconclusive.Ship's material doesn't match any known Rencond materials.Black region impervious to scanning.Recommend caution."
Interesting,Ziegler thought,a new ship.This should be of some entertainment.
"All thrusters to station keeping.Computer,evade any energy beams fired in our direction and alert me if there are any anomalies."Ziegler commanded,"And get me Smith on the intercom."
***
Slowly,cautiously,Smith rounded a shiny metallic corner.Nothing.For some reason,the alien vessel was empty,devoid of any life.Since they landed the Albatross into the ship's hole, they had seen nothing but metal and more metal.Smith was getting bored.Sighing further,he gripped his weapon tighter and moved on,with his team in tow.
Smith was a commado,the creme de la creme of the human infantry. And he proved it numerous times that he was,too.His team was responsible for the deaths of thousands of enemy troops,and the victories on the ground.Name of his squad:The Freikorps,after the real ones during the German Weimar Republic.
Smith advanced slowly,right hand on his Mark 8A Light Machine Gun,standard issue for commandoes.Under the barrel of the weapon hung a small cylinder-the shell launcher.A modified grenade launcher from the now obselete M16 assault rifles,these tubes could either fire an armor-piercing round or an inciendiary one,making them very invaluable on the battlefield. The inbuilt fire-control computer,coupled with Smith's compulsory neural implants done at birth,made the weapon a monster.
Clank.
The sound of metal banging against metal resonated throughout the dark,deary corridor.
Clank clank.
And it grew louder by the second.Smith swallowed and put up two fingers,and pointed them to the left.Winfield,the heavy weapons specialist,and Suzuki,a stealthy Infiltrator,silently moved to the opposite wall,and prepared for their first meeting with a Rencond soldier.
The being rounded a corner,and came into full view of the Freikorps.It was astounding.It was about a meter high,stood on chicken legs,and had two metal extensions along its cuboid torso as arms.A single red line pulsed in the middle of the torso.It too,turned to face the intruders,and lifted its arms.Without any sound,two blocks slid forward from the back of the alien to cover its arms,and locked themselves there with a resonating click.Then,twin spheres of green energy started to materialise in front on them.
Energy beams.
Smith and his teammates were dumbfounded,all except one.At the back of the Terran group,a lone figure vaulted high into the air and came down,just infront of the alien.The alien,visibly surprised,hurriedly raised its charging arms and prepared to release their deadly cargo.Its efforts were in vain however,for the lone human had a M2C heavy pistol levelled at the creature's red line-eye.He fired a sustained burst of three armor-piercing rounds into it.
The alien fell to the ground with a satisfying clank,silver blood formed a pool on the metallic floor.
The human,Combat Elite Number 12,said in a cool monotone,"Threat neutralised.Resume initial operation."
"Engines all stop and turn one hundred and eighty degrees.Point us at that thing."Ziegler ordered Timmons.
"Aye,sir.Engines answering.All stop.Rotating now."Timmons said,a tinge of worry present in his meek voice.
The four-thousand-ton Hydra came to a standstill and swivelled to face the owner of that energy beam.Captain Ziegler expected it to be one of the Rencond's deadliest starships,a Valken-class crusier,but it was not.
It was something larger.
Much larger.
Directly across the Hydra, the space started to distort.The area became like a pool of water,with ripples coming from the centre of it.Then,something emerged from the distorted space.A ship. A Rencond ship,unlike any Ziegler had seen before.Instead of the usual arrow-head design characteristcal of most Rencond vessels,this one was a solid rectangular block.A black,equipment-laden area was sandwiched between two silver-white layers.A circle served as the only decoration for the bottommost deck of the ship.On the topmost,layers of small squares, most likely hatches,could be seen surrounding a hexagonal region,probably the bridge.Captain Ziegler could not discern any weapons onboard.
"Computer,"He called out,"Give me a full scan of that ship.I want every plate of alien metal overturned for answers."
"Processing,"A female voice emnamated from nowhere,with the characteristic warble of synthesized vocals,"Vessel is approximately four point two kilometers long and two point four kilometers wide.Spectroscopic analysis proved inconclusive.Ship's material doesn't match any known Rencond materials.Black region impervious to scanning.Recommend caution."
Interesting,Ziegler thought,a new ship.This should be of some entertainment.
"All thrusters to station keeping.Computer,evade any energy beams fired in our direction and alert me if there are any anomalies."Ziegler commanded,"And get me Smith on the intercom."
***
Slowly,cautiously,Smith rounded a shiny metallic corner.Nothing.For some reason,the alien vessel was empty,devoid of any life.Since they landed the Albatross into the ship's hole, they had seen nothing but metal and more metal.Smith was getting bored.Sighing further,he gripped his weapon tighter and moved on,with his team in tow.
Smith was a commado,the creme de la creme of the human infantry. And he proved it numerous times that he was,too.His team was responsible for the deaths of thousands of enemy troops,and the victories on the ground.Name of his squad:The Freikorps,after the real ones during the German Weimar Republic.
Smith advanced slowly,right hand on his Mark 8A Light Machine Gun,standard issue for commandoes.Under the barrel of the weapon hung a small cylinder-the shell launcher.A modified grenade launcher from the now obselete M16 assault rifles,these tubes could either fire an armor-piercing round or an inciendiary one,making them very invaluable on the battlefield. The inbuilt fire-control computer,coupled with Smith's compulsory neural implants done at birth,made the weapon a monster.
Clank.
The sound of metal banging against metal resonated throughout the dark,deary corridor.
Clank clank.
And it grew louder by the second.Smith swallowed and put up two fingers,and pointed them to the left.Winfield,the heavy weapons specialist,and Suzuki,a stealthy Infiltrator,silently moved to the opposite wall,and prepared for their first meeting with a Rencond soldier.
The being rounded a corner,and came into full view of the Freikorps.It was astounding.It was about a meter high,stood on chicken legs,and had two metal extensions along its cuboid torso as arms.A single red line pulsed in the middle of the torso.It too,turned to face the intruders,and lifted its arms.Without any sound,two blocks slid forward from the back of the alien to cover its arms,and locked themselves there with a resonating click.Then,twin spheres of green energy started to materialise in front on them.
Energy beams.
Smith and his teammates were dumbfounded,all except one.At the back of the Terran group,a lone figure vaulted high into the air and came down,just infront of the alien.The alien,visibly surprised,hurriedly raised its charging arms and prepared to release their deadly cargo.Its efforts were in vain however,for the lone human had a M2C heavy pistol levelled at the creature's red line-eye.He fired a sustained burst of three armor-piercing rounds into it.
The alien fell to the ground with a satisfying clank,silver blood formed a pool on the metallic floor.
The human,Combat Elite Number 12,said in a cool monotone,"Threat neutralised.Resume initial operation."
To Be Continued...
