Second Front: Chapter Nine

Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three  
Chapter Four 
Chapter Five 
Chapter Six 
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight 

Chapter Nine

Just Move

“No f---'n way!” Sgt Gore exclaimed.

Even though they could hear each other they had agreed to use their suit radios while passing through the alien city, neck-deep in murky water.

“Keep it down, Sergeant.” Lowery told him, looking around.

“Launch must be closer than we think.” The Korean soldier said. “We should move faster.”

“Maybe we should get out of this muck and double-time it to one of the gates.” Lt Max Jackson suggested. “Although we'll have to fight our way out.”

“The soldiers here don't seem to be wearing the armored suits. We might be able to actually make it if we could move faster.” Kim Lu-Hyun said, “Not stealthy at all, of course.”

“Well, bloody hell, Kerensky already has blown any secret there is about us being here.” Lowery pointed out. “Let's go for it.”

Lance Corporal Arlen broke into the channel. “Since everyone is out of range of my guns, I'm going to head back up the vent shaft.”

“Let's run for it.” Sgt Gore agreed, “Got that grenade launcher handy?”

“Of course.” Jackson answered, “Twelve rounds loaded and raring to go.”

Lowery led them to the edge of the canal-river and they looked around. “It looks deserted.”

Kim Lu-Hyun checked the drone feed. “Yeah, it does. Civilians must be inside the columns for shelter when a launch is imminent. Soldiers must be heading toward where Kerensky is.”

They climb out of the muck carefully, check their weapons and then -after one last look around- they took off toward the nearest of the gates. The four men moved as fast as their weapons and backpacks allowed them to. Their footsteps echoed on the black rock pavement.

Kerensky had found a big open space. He stopped the small alien vehicle and checked the nuclear bomb sitting in the back. Then he shrugged. It was as good a time as any to set the timer. He turned his radio on, wondering if anyone else was listening.

“This is Senior Lieutenant Igor Arkadyevich Kerensky of the Morskaya Perkhota. I am setting the timer for ten minutes. Everyone who can move needs to get outside of this underground tomb.” He said into the radio, which he then shoved into a pocket. He felt fortunate that he could rub his face and eyes as he punched in the codes and set the timer. None of the others had voluntarily removed their helmet when his had busted. They still had some stupid hope of going back to Earth. Idiots.

Then he wondered whether it made any sense to try and get out because the alien soldiers obviously had him surrounded. He didn't know what they were waiting for, maybe they were shocked to see a human there on their world. Maybe they were shocked to see an enemy wearing their armor. Apparently the home gvardiya here didn't even get the armor. They might not have considered that it might be necessary.

Kerensky laughed.

He could see the aliens looking around the corners of some of the buildings and stalls at him, as if they were mere observers gawking at a circus act.

“Come and get me, fools!” he yelled in Russian. “What are you waiting for?”

After a moment he began to worry. These guys were lightly armored but they were still soldiers or at least politsiya. They were watching and waiting. Waiting for what? Knowing some of the stuff they had sent to Earth, the Senior Lieutenant was suddenly a bit nervous.

Lance Corporal James Arlen had expended nearly all of his ammunition. Now he was running uphill inside of the vent shaft. “Ten minutes.” he had told himself when Kerensky had sent the warning, “Ten minutes.”

He knew that the top of the plateau might collapse when the explosion occurred. He thought that he might be able to reach the ship by then and that he could glide down to the surface level with the big glider-like parachute.

It wasn't much of a plan, but he hoped it would work. That ship was the only bit of home they had left, even if it wasn't designed for this or could never go back. Besides , it was his only chance to get down there if he didn't want to go through the city. Now there wasn't even time for that.

Arlen's energy was already starting to sag. He hadn't even rounded the turn built into this vent shaft at about half-way. His mind was telling him that he would never reach the ship before the detonation, but it was his only chance now. He knew there was a risk when he volunteered for this mission any way.

Lieutenant Max “Action” Jackson fired off the grenade launcher at the first alien soldiers, or possibly some kind of police, as they came into view. The explosion tore through some of the sheet metal street stalls they had seen, and the aliens.

“Oorah!” he yelled. Moving and shooting like that was what it was all about. The explosion would attract attention, but that no longer mattered. He had eleven more grenades in the launcher and a 50 cal machine gun strapped to his back. He was going to go out fighting like a Marine.

Not that many years ago when he was playing high school football, he learned he was different. He hadn't looked any different, but it was apparent to Max that he did not want to be like most of his teammates. Most of them were on track to become thugs and gang bangers. Max was in school to get away from that, he wanted to get his grandmother who raised him away from that.

He had read that the Army had a gang problem. That some gangs were using it as a training ground. The Marines didn't have much of this problem. The Marines had their own culture, the Marines replaced any kinship to a gang with a kinship to the corps and to each other. The Army should be more like the Marines.

“Oh crap.” Kim Lu-Hyun exclaimed and held up a hand. “Oh my God, look at this.”

They all pulled up the image on their helmet HUD. Some sort of very large robot was headed toward Kerensky's position. It was as tall as a three-story building and walked on two legs.

“We can't help him.” Lowery said, “We'd never get there in time.”

“I wondered if they had any kind of armor.” Gore said, “Looks like they do.”

“That must be what they were loading into those ships.” Lu-Hyun said, then he glanced at the chronometer on the HUD, “We need to move faster.”

The gates seemed to be within reach but they were so large it was hard to tell distance. The gates were nearly completely closed too.

“More soldiers are heading in this direction.” Lu-Hyun told them. “Get that grenade launcher ready.”

“Oh, it's ready.” Jackson answered as they began running toward the gates again.

Kerensky heard it before he saw it. When he first saw it, it was over the top of some nearby buildings an the sight made his stomach fall. One arm was useless and all he could really use was the pistol on his hip. The rifle was still in the vehicle. He glanced at the nuclear weapon. More than seven minutes remained on the timer.

He briefly wondered if that beast would take a prisoner? Then he pulled the rifle from the vehicle and rested it on the top. Better to go down fighting. He could feel the ground vibrate as the giant metal beast walked toward him, stepping into the clearing. There was probably an alien or two driving it, he thought, must be the alien version of a tank.

Senior Lieutenant Igor Kerensky took a deep breath, and squeezed the trigger “For Mother Russia!”

Lance Corporal James Arlen was panting and trying to get air into his lungs. Something was not right with the suits filter unit. Might be clogged with some of this sticky alien dirt. It felt like he was trying to breathe through a straw. He could see the light at the end of the shaft up ahead. If he could reach.

He gagged. “F--- it!” he thought and unstrapped his helmet. He put it down and sat on it. Finally he could breathe again, even if the air on Nemesis seemed a bit strange and slightly sulfuric. He had already been able to smell that, even through the filters. The oxygen in his lungs gave James Arlen some energy again and he carried the helmet as he jogged uphill again.

When he reached the top he realized his error. The wall was a bit higher than he had remembered when he had buddies to help him get down. He might be able to make it, but it would mean leaving his pack and most of his gear behind. His modified sniper rifle, his baby, would be left behind too, but it would perform one last useful function.

It was strong enough to hold his weight. He would put the pack on the ground and then put the gun, barrel down, on the pack and use it to boost himself up. He climbed up but couldn't reach the top, so he jumped and managed to get some finger tips over the top of the wall. He could do this!

“Just keep on bloody moving!” Lowery yelled as alien soldiers came into view. Gore fired some rounds from his guns, but the grenade launcher Jackson carried did more damage. They were going to make it, Peter Lowery could see that. If they could get out of this wretched underground chamber there was a chance of surviving the nuclear explosion.

The Korean Kim Lu-Hyun was the one having a little trouble now. The technician was trying to see what lie ahead while moving. Lowery shook his head. “Lieutenant Kim! Keep up!”

“Yes, sir.” The man said, looking around as if noticing things for the first time. They both slowed down only momentarily, “We just need to get by one larger group of soldiers, a guard post and then find a way out.”

Then they ran to catch up to Gore and Jackson.

Lance Corporal James Arlen rolled over the top and laid there looking into the sky. Just for a few seconds, he promised himself. It was afternoon or something on this world. In the evening you could see Nemesis in the sky on Earth, so you must be able to see Earth from here in the mornings he guessed

Then he stood up and looked around. The ship was probably over there. He forgot how far it was but he could see something in the distance that was probably it. Free of his gear and helmet he took off running, feeling some kind of liberation.

The rifle fired, but it jumped out of his grasp. Cursing his useless arm, Kerensky struggled to get it back aiming in the proper direction. The large robot was now right in front of him and the first shot had bounced off. Now there was some sort of humming coming from the alien machine. He glanced at the timer.

“Five and a half-minutes.” Was the last thought Senior Lieutenant Kerensky had.

Voosh! Voosh! The M32 grenade launcher sounded like that when it fired rounds into the enemy formation in front of them. The explosions ripped through the enemy, but some of them continued to fire at the pinned humans.

“We don't have time for this!” Lowery yelled, firing his own weapon at the aliens and ducking back behind the low wall.

Sgt Gore rolled away from the wall on the ground and spat out a couple dozen rounds from his machine gun. At least two or three enemy soldiers fell to that burst. They could hear enemy rounds whistling past their heads or pounding into the wall they were behind.

Then Jackson stood up again and fired three more grenades into the enemy ranks. When he dropped behind the wall the three explosions had decimated enemy lines. Lowery noticed that Jackson had punctures in his suit on the left shoulder and that his helmet faceplate was cracked from shrapnel or bits of the black rock everything seemed made from thrown up.

Fortunately these soldiers weren't armored. These must be like the reserves.

“That gate will be closed in less than thirty seconds.” Kim Lu-Hyun estimated. The gate was enormous, towering over everything now and the noise that it made when moving was starting to become deafening. They just needed to get outside of that before the detonation.

-------------- Chapter Ten

I wanted to mention that this story has now passed 20,000 words in length. So it is already longer than Oasis, and as you can see it ain't over. You can also tell that I haven't lost interest. Also, I have had some good ideas for improvements for the second draft. I might even totally rewrite the prologue soon.

Second Front : Chapter Eight

Prologue
Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three  
Chapter Four 
Chapter Five 
Chapter Six 
Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Choke point

2033 AD

Fourth Day, Two Days before the landing on Nemesis

The image of the young Korean girl standing near an alien who was holding a sketchpad depicting the ravaging of Earth's resources and the new planet leaving under power like a space ship had spread around the world at the speed of a meme.

The crippling of some of the swarms by EMP weapons was also a big news item. This was sort of good news but there weren't many EMP bombs and lasers in operation. The US had only built a few for testing and had only fielded one airborne EMP laser in the middle east for a short time to test it in battlefield conditions.

“Once we secure North America, we will help the rest of the world fight these swarms.” The President had said on a tarmac near where a swarm was destroyed, a burned out husk of a landing vessel serving as a backdrop. The image was supposed to convey that the President landed Air Force One because we were now winning, but it looked like the end of the world behind him.

When a journalist asked the President about alien plans to strip Earth of all useful resources before leaving to find a new victim, he answered, “We are not going to let that happen. We are just starting to beat back this invasion and when we can we shall take the fight to them.”

It was as close to a public mention of Operation Doolittle as had been made up to that point.

“All signs say that North Korea has ceased to exist as a country because of the invasion. A highly militarized country like that has apparently fallen to these invaders, silence from some other countries troubles people too.” A journalist pointed out, before asking, “Can we win this war?”

The President took a sip of water. Then he said, “We are going to win this war. We do not really have much choice at this point.”

The government was also trying to get a handle on rovers, large groups of internal refugees that would not stay in one place. Temporary shelter and food was offered to them, but they wanted to go from one place to another. They all had their own reasons, but these large transient groups of people often sparred with locals over precious resources.

These civil conflicts caused a lot of problems because there were simply fewer and fewer things that could be done about them. Much of the country had become lawless in reality, if not in theory and it was likely to get much worse as time wore on.

There were reports that at least one band of rovers had been absorbed by a swarm. This might just have been a rumor created by the government to try and frighten people to be wary of moving around much, while a government refugee camp that had been destroyed by swarms was kept out of the news as much as possible.

Marshal Tucker had crawled onto the muddy, rock-strewn bank of the river. He didn't know where Samantha was. His one responsibility in a world torn apart and he had lost her. He rolled over onto his back and scooted to get away from a stone stabbing at him.

“Sam.” He barely managed to groan out loud, tears threatening to form in his eyes. No, he wouldn't lay here sniffling and crying. Marshal reminded himself that he didn't even know if he was safe yet. Using his energy reserves he looked around. Woods. He might as well be inside of Yellowstone National Park for all the good that looking around did.

He would have to lie there, take a nap, to give himself some rest and some energy. So he closed his eyes. Something touched him on the forehead and he thought about this in his half-sleep mind for a bit before deciding to wake up.

Marshal opened his eyes to the sight of some ugly thing messing with the top of his head. He gave a frightened shout and rolled over and into a sitting position. Instead of some alien monster trying to eat his head, he was staring at a baby moose... no a bison. His mind was still a bit foggy. The baby bison looked at him inquisitively.

Maybe he really was in some national park. If tourists had been feeding the animals then they wouldn't be scared of humans. Which was not really a good thing, objectively, but at the moment he was glad mama bison hadn't trampled him.

Where was mama bison? Where was the herd? Now that he was almost completely recovered from his sleep, this baby shouldn't be out this far without a mama. It might be an orphan. If that were the case it would become a meal for wolves or something in short order.

“What am I doing?” he asked himself, “Anthropomorphizing a bison.”

Then he laughed, “I'm not ready to replace Samantha with you, yet, little guy.”

Even though it did have a pitiful, frightened look on its face and was likely to follow him for a long distance, Marshal had to put himself and his sister ahead of it. “Sorry about this, but I have bigger things to worry about.”

Marshal decided to walk upriver a ways to see if there was any trace at all of Samantha. Maybe she had gotten out of the water before he did. Or maybe he'd have to bury her. Either way he would do it because he had to.

…

Park Eun-Hee had grabbed her backpack and walked straight home after the alien had crashed through the wall because of the flash. She wondered if the alien might have Post-Traumatic Stress or something like that. Some of the buildings had been boarded up and many looked vacant. Her parents were outside and they embraced her.

“Where have you been?” Her father asked sternly.

“School.” She answered. Her parents looked at each other and then decided to forget it, They ushered her straight to dad's new car. Her younger brother had already been strapped into the backseat and he looked at her funny. “Hello stranger.”

“Not funny.” She told him as her parents slammed the doors and started up the engine.

“Where are we going?” Eun-Hee asked.

“This neighborhood isn't safe. The fighting is getting too close.” Her father said, putting the car into gear, “We have to head south towards Dajeon.”

“Not the train?” Eun-Hee asked, taking the KTX would be much faster.

“The train lines have been damaged in some places by fighting.” Her father told her, “We'll take the Gyeongbu Expressway. She hadn't seen him this talkative since the ROK won the World Cup the previous year. The Gyeongbu was the busiest highway in South Korea, she hoped there wouldn't be too many traffic problems.

“Hang on. You didn't say where we were going?” Eun-Hee asked.

Her mother replied, “Let your father drive. Don't ask so many questions.”

Then Park Eun-Hee noticed that tanks and other vehicles were clogging one side of the road ahead, tanks were much bigger than she thought. Looking up from the backseat they were like two-story buildings or something. At the end she saw a large truck with some kind of big round parabolic mirror, like a satellite dish but it didn't point up. That one had a US-flag on it.

“What is that?” She asked nobody in particular.

“Active Denial System.” her little brother said, hardly even paying attention to her. She thought he was too young to know something like that, but he was a boy after all. “Causes pain, not damage. Good for riots, not for zombies.”

Then he went back to his hand-held video game.

Pain, not damage. The words stayed with her. After a moment she understood. They wanted to capture an alien alive.

Her father tuned the radio to 94.5 FM, which broadcast the audio from the Yonhap cable news channel.

“Authorities in Wonju report that several evacuated neighborhoods have been hit by fires caused by propane cook-stoves that had been left improperly disengaged. Authorities in Suwon are asking residents to pack their bags and get to a relatives home in the countryside. Reports suggest that a military operation might be underway there....'

“That is what we were seeing back there.” Her mother said. Her father nodded.

“... authorities around the world are now trying to authenticate this image of an Asian girl taken with one of the aliens. Using computer enhancement it has been determined that the photograph was taken in a Korean classroom...”

Of course they had no idea what the image was that Yonhap TV was showing their viewers. There was no way her parents would think....

The car stopped. Both of her parents and her little brother were staring at her.

…

The AH-64 IQ unmanned attack helicopter focused on the six targets a few miles away. It assigned two of its AGM-114X Shockfire missiles to each of the larger robots in the midst of the alien swarm. It was believed that these were the ones guiding the swarm. Although evidence did not always back that up in the field.

Two at a time the twelve Shockfire missiles blasted out of their housing and arced into the sky where their boosters would stop firing and each warhead would find its target and then a second rocket booster shot it downward at high velocity. Each of the $200,000 missiles carried a 21 kilogram warhead that would detonate as the javelin-like point inserted into the target. All within a millisecond of breaching the outer skin of the target, armored or not, the explosion would kill a tank or about anything.

As soon as the first missiles were within about a mile and half above the target, it sensed the danger. These aliens really hadn't taken air-power much into account, it was one of their known weaknesses so far.

The larger alien robot managed to shoot down one of the incoming missiles with some type of laser but it was noted that the other larger robots did not engage this incoming threat. Of course within seconds they too were under the same attack.

“Without air power this war would have been lost already.” One of the ex-Generals who frequented the news channels had told viewers. “If the aliens had taken this into account, this would be very one-sided.”

Of course the host had to point out that we did not know that for a fact, that it was conjecture.

The unmanned drones in the area watched the attack unfold. All four of the larger robots in the swarm had been blasted to bits within a couple of seconds. As they watched the swarm of tiny chrome robots changed directions, then again. They engaged in some kind of intricate dance where ribbons of robots would meet at the middle. Within minutes it became obvious that they were rebuilding the larger robots.

---------- Go to Chapter Nine

Comments, ideas, tips and spelling correction is always appreciated. This is a first draft story being posted as it is written. I think it's pretty good for that kind of thing. As always you can help me out by buying New Arrivals, Oasis or leaving a PayPal tip using the button on the sidebar.

GIMP tutorials

Make Planets in GIMP
http://mygimptutorial.com/the-ultimate-gimp-planet-tutorial


I have not tried these tutorials but I will at some point!

If anyone of you reading this have tried this, link to the image in the comments section. I'd love to see them..

Make starfield in GIMP

http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/starfield-tutorial

Whoever made these for these tutorials are very good. Remember that these images are owned by those who made them. They are both the pages linked.

You can see how these things could come in handy to someone who wanted to learn how to create their own images for  their website or blog or an ebook cover.

Oasis update

Oasis: A Sci-Fi Novella is now available at Google Play and at Smashwords. Of course it also for sale at Amazon.

71-page novella for 99 cents.

Odd Tree Press Quarterly #1

Odd Tree Press Quarterly issue #1 is out and you can buy it from Amazon for only 99 cents!

19 stories, a humorous essay and some cool art is in there, including a science fiction short story by me!

Most of the stories have something to do with horror or Halloween, (not the one I wrote though, lol)

http://amzn.com/B0163TRUHW

 I think the Halloween themed cover is actually pretty cool.

A real bargain at 99 cents!

Second Front: Chapter Seven - The Way Through

Prologue

Chapter One
Chapter Two

Chapter Three  
Chapter Four 
Chapter Five 
Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

The way through

Lance Corporal James Arlen had the alien in his sight. It had stopped the small vehicle and was checking some kind of mechanical box. All he needed was the go signal. The conversation that just took place was still in his mind. Every second and a half two counter rotating blades from the large vent fan blocked out his sight for just a brief half second.

“I'll take the motorized vehicle and the bomb.” Senior Lieutenant Igor Kerensky had told them, “The rest of you need to get out. Either up the vent or through the city in that stream or sewer or whatever it is.”

Kerensky no longer bothered trying to wear the helmet. He would stand out to the alien population, they might even completely shocked at seeing a human on their world.

“I think we should all stay together.” Sgt Frank Gore said, “Marines don't want to leave anyone behind!”

“I agree.” said Lt. Max “Action” Jackson, “But these circumstances are quite extraordinary.”

“To say the least.” Lieutenant Pete Lowery of the Royal Marines replied, “I think the Senior Lieutenant can make up his own mind. He is the one who has been exposed to unfiltered air and whatever germs might be infested in this underground city.”

“Whatever we do, we need to do it quick.” Korean Kim Lu-Hyun said. He wasn't about to take a side on this.

“You guys will need sniper support.” Lance Corporal Arlen had said. “I'll stay up here and give you as much as I can.”

“Not you too!” Sgt Gore said, “We have a better chance to survive if we stay together! We can leave the bomb in the dark stream. It does have a timer, doesn't it?”

“Of course.” Kerensky told him. “If we just set it down and leave, I think they'll destroy it or keep from exploding somehow.”

“I don't know. They haven't used any advanced weapons that makes me think they could or have built nukes of their own.” Kim Lu-Hyun said.

“They might. They did have the ability to steer their planet, didn't they?” Lowery asked. “They survived and now they are here. I don't think it is an accident that they chose Earth, either. They turned a planet into a starship.”

Kerensky had described a plan where Gore, Jackson, Kim and Lowery would take the wet route through the city, hopefully not being spotted. Kerensky would take the vehicle (after Jackson loads the bomb) and be as distracting as possible. Arlen would give some sniper support from the perch behind the big fan. Kim Lu-Hyun would give them a birds eye view of “ground” activity inside the underground city.

The alien soldier rode the tiny vehicle another third of a kilometer and stopped at another small metal box jutting from the ground. Ground vehicles were exceedingly rare in the underground city from what they could see, so a human driving one would attract a whole lot of attention.

“Now!” Kerensky ordered.

Lance Corporal James Arlen had a good read on the target, the large round left the barrel of his gun and tracked to the target. The advanced 50 caliber round could change course slightly but only once on its short but deadly journey. It wasn't necessary, the round penetrated the soldiers neck and he dropped like a stone.

Immediately Lowery, Jackson and Kerensky, who had been standing against the wall took turns jumping through the moving blades. They all made it through unscathed, then began to scramble down the side of the building. They moved toward the vehicle and got a good look at the controls.

“Do you think you can drive that?” Jackson asked Kerensky as Lowery was checking the safety harness and the air flow in his helmet.

“Looks simple enough.” Kerensky said looking through the high-tech binoculars and even snapping some pictures of the vehicle with it before handing it back to Lowery.

Jackson and Lowery already had both parts of the nuclear weapon laying out, they were preparing to assemble it. The others were gathering together to plan their escape route through the muddy river that went through the whole city and then, apparently, close enough to one of the giant metal doors to get out.

Lance Corporal James Arlen wasn't planning to die, he hoped he could get back to the top of the plateau before the blast occurred. It was probably a long-shot but he hung onto it.

Igor Kerensky managed to get through the turning blades of the very large fan and then lower himself down the side of the wall with one arm before dropping the rest of the way. His ankle hurt but he kept low and moved toward the alien and cart. Finally he raised his good arm and gave the signal.

Then alien soldier had been looking at something in the metal box, but suddenly his scalp vanished in a reddish cloud. His body collapsed immediately and Kerensky used his good arm to drag it several feet to a spot where the ground was lower. Hopefully the corpse wouldn't be seen from the city.

Lowery and Jackson had to time getting through the spinning blades with the 23 kilogram nuclear weapon precisely. Lowery climbed down the wall to the ground and Jackson lowered the weapon to him before joining him. Meanwhile Kim Lu-Hyun and Sgt Frank Gore were getting ready to follow them but to head directly for the water. At least, they hoped it was water.

Lowery and Jackson hoisted the weapon into the back of the light vehicle while Kerensky tried to figure out how to drive the thing. Once the weapon was pretty secure they saluted the Senior Lieutenant who saluted back. “I am proud to have known you, now get the water and get the hell out of here while I set the timer. I'll start it once I get as far as I can into the city”

The two quickly made their way to where Gore and Kim were already waiting and testing the water.

“That lightly sulfuric smell is bugging me.” Sgt Gore said as they approached. “It's more noticeable around the water.”

The canal was about four meters wide and two or three deep. It was still a bit darker in the city than outside so it was hard to make out the color. Then Sgt Gore shrugged and climbed into the water first.

“Not as cold as you might think.” He told them as they followed.

“That's warm, like someone just pissed the pool.” Lowery said, “There is some higher grass n the side of the water nearer the city. We just need to try and move as quickly and as quietly as we can.”

“This does not feel right.” Kim Lu-Hyun said quietly as they began moving toward the city with just their heads above the water. His electronics and gear were all stowed in his water-proof pack except for his sidearm. Sgt Gore had kept the 50 cal slung to his back, even though the water might affect it. He'd rather have the gun than not.

Kerensky managed to figure out how to make the vehicle go, stop and turn from side to side. Then he pushed, pulled, wiggled and cursed the alien ignition widget. Finally he assumed the alien must have some sort of key so he walked back to the corpse and searched it. He found some kind of metal device that might be a key along with some sort of metal sheet book. Kerensky took that too.

Once back in the vehicle he looked at the small alien device and it glowed softly in his palm and the vehicle had already started up. Apparently anyone who had the device when they approached the vehicle would be able to drive it.

“Looks like most of the locals have gone indoors.” Lance Corporal James Arlen told Kerensky over his radio. They were to use it as little as possible, but he thought it was an important point. Launch might be imminent in who knew how long.

Kim Lu-Hyun still had his helmet HUD and used it to control the small drone. He had already noticed that the aliens were moving indoors, even the ones who were apparently running outdoor shops and stalls. In a way this would be good for them since they were hoping not to be noticed. On the other hand, if the rockets launched before the nuclear weapon was detonated, then who knew what kind of problems Earth would face.

The rows of columns that rose from ground to ceiling were teeming with aliens. Who knew how many of them might take a glance outside and see these humans in the waterway? The waterway would go right through the center of them, dominating them. In a way these towering behemoth columns reminded him of downtown Seoul.

Kerensky got the strange vehicle moving. The slightly sulfuric air started brushing his helmet-less face as he controlled the steering with his good arm. He knew there was no chance he could drive this glorified golf cart and shoot the gun that sat on the seat next to him. Without his helmet he would be instantly recognizable as an alien on this world.

“Let them see my face. Let them know what I do here today. Let them know that the humans on Earth aren't as easy to defeat as they might hope.” Senior Lieutenant Igor Kerensky told himself. A part of his mind still thought about escape routes once he abandoned the bomb after starting the timer. The more rational part of his mind looked on this with some pity,

Lance Corporal James Arlen kept checking the soldier patrols in the city and the military areas to his right and left. These soldiers had not yet sought shelter from the launch. That made him worry more. Maybe the gates would be closed first and sending the civilians to the shelters was just a precaution, but meaningless.

That might block the others from getting outside before the blast. They could all die here after all.

Then he tried to anticipate the route of the small silvery vehicle that Kerensky was driving to see the reaction of the alien soldiers. They hadn't yet seen this yet, but he wondered how the shock would register on the bat-like faces of the aliens when they realized a human was driving it. Would they just start shooting or would they attempt to chase and capture the Senior Lieutenant?

The plan was that once Kerensky had been noticed, Arlen would take out as many alien soldiers as he could. Not just from the ones heading toward the vehicle but all over the city. He needed to cause chaos and confusion as much as possible.

Arlen didn't know if this plan could work, or whether any of them would survive. He didn't know what the next order of business should be if they did somehow survive. Would they be expected to keep fighting at another city, assuming they could find one, or find a way to return to Earth? That had been discussed by their team, of course, but more as fantasy than reality.

Kerensky was heading toward a small group of the alien soldiers who were just walking somewhere and not even noticing the vehicle. Arlen put the cross-hairs on one of the aliens and waited for any reaction. Would the alien soldiers even look up as he passed?

The Lance Corporal sighed as Kerensky managed to clip one of the aliens as he rushed past them and the others scrambled to respond. He aimed and fired at the four remaining alien soldiers who seemed very disoriented. The first two were head shots, then a neck shot that decapitated the creature and the other two were hit in the chest, where their armor would have stopped anything less than his 50 cal.

Since the shooting had started Arlen mentally calculated how many rounds he had left, all of his magazines were arranged on the ground in front of him. For his particular self he would do what he could before taking off back up the vent shaft.

The vehicle Kerensky was driving moved toward the city now. Arlen targeted an alien soldier on a raised platform, probably meant to keep an eye on the factory workers coming and going from their shifts. Evidently, that one had no armor because the round blew a big hole through its chest.

Arlen spotted a different vehicle moving through the city, it was carrying some kind of greenish vines or roots in the back. He targeted the driver and fired. The vehicle careened and overturned right in front of the one of the large columns that kept the ceiling up. He saw the doors open as aliens scrambled to scoop up some of what must have been food.

The Lance Corporal still felt somewhat sorry for these oppressed aliens.

Groups of soldiers were now leaving the military compound to his far left. They had seen the vehicle Kerensky was driving wildly. One of the alien soldiers was barking orders at the rest, so Arlen put that one in the cross-hairs and pulled the trigger. Then head shot knocked the alien officer back a few feet, spewing blood. The other soldiers had stopped to gape before they started moving in different directions. It looked like panic to the human sniper, so he looked for another target within the range of his modified weapon. Then a loud grating sound was heard.

Senior Lieutenant Igor Kerensky was trying to reach somewhere near the middle of the huge underground city. He had his mind set on putting the bomb somewhere between the four pillar-like columns at the center. If the blast went as he thought, the ruins of the city might be buried by the collapse of the plateau on top of it. Maybe it would some day be named after him.

He did wish the glorified golf cart was a little faster, although the smelly wind on his still felt pretty nice. Maybe he would be awarded the Hero of the Russian Federation medal, whether he lived or not. It was worth a moments thought. That is when the loud noise started up.

Sgt Gore had been cursing like a, well, Marine under his breath ever since he had to climb into the alien waterway and he imagined all of the bacteria and germs that could penetrate the suit he was wearing. So far it had stayed water proof.

They were at least half-way as far as he could see. Occasionally the banks would get low and the grasses thin enough to see street-level views of the alien city. Some of it would not have looked out of place in a third world country. Lowery was getting pictures and video on the high-tech binoculars of anything that looked interesting. Which was pretty much everything.

He had taken point in the move toward the far side of the underground city, as the soldiers had wordlessly fell into single-file.

Lieutenant Pete Lowery followed him. The Brit had been mostly quiet during the trip, probably contemplating the sacrifices of Igor Kerensky and the Lance Corporal. The Korean Kim Lu-Hyun was third in line. He was keeping tabs on the area with his little drone, you couldn't even see the little thing above them. Lt Max “Action” Jackson followed in last place carrying his heavy 50 cal machine gun. There was no telling what this kind of water might do it long-term, but the Marine would no doubt clean his baby properly when the opportunity came.

Then the loud, grating noise had started up.

“What the f--- that?” Sgt Frank Gore asked in a loud whisper.

“Oh no.” The Korean replied, “I think the gates are closing!”

-------------- Go To Chapter Eight

All comments and tips are welcomed, even spelling corrections. You can help me out by buying a copy of New Arrivals or a small Pay Pal contribution through the link button on the sidebar. This is a first draft story, I expect the second draft to have some major changes. Probably even follow other characters on Earth.

Chapter Seven on the way.

Second Front chapter seven is halfway done. Have some patience.

Hullabaloo on Cora

You can read my story "Hullabaloo on Cora" at Aurora Wolf, right now! It's at the top of the sidebar on the right side of the page,

direct link; http://aurorawolf.com/2015/10/hullaboo-on-cora/