Triton: The Descendants War Book 1 Page 2

  “What’s happening there?” Titus asked. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s brand-new. They’re not even out of their first decade yet. Who would be stupid enough to attack them?”

  “We’re not sure,” Rudy replied. “They’ll spend more attacking the place than they’ll get even if they steal all the supplies. Foodstuffs don’t sell as well as mining materials. Anyway, we’re the first responder to this one. The mission parameters are simple enough. Stop them at all costs.”

  Titus turned to him. “At all costs? That… seems extreme.”

  “The message we received from the admin down there suggested two starships hopped in without a word. They were on a hot approach. Scans showed they had defenses up but our database had no matching silhouette. Command doesn’t want us taking any chances. If they are hostile when we arrive, we take them out.”

  “And ask questions later?” Titus hummed. “That seems dangerous. If there are more of these vessels…”

  “We’ll get what we can,” Rudy interrupted, “from the debris. Scans. But our primary responsibility is keeping our people alive.”

  “I’ll mobilize the marines then.” Titus got on the comm, reaching out to the security room. Gunnery Sergeant Kenzo Stefan had been with the service for thirty-five years. He was a serious warrior, one who faced mandatory retirement in a couple years. They were fortunate to have his experience. “Gunny, you boys ready for a field trip?”

  “Saving some colonists?” Gunny’s voice sounded rough after a lifetime of yelling at his men. “We’re always up for putting boots on the ground, sir. Just give us the word.”

  “It’s given. Report to the hangar. I’ll have a shuttle standing by.” Titus strapped into his seat. “They’ll be ready to extract civilians, at least. Do you have a guess about what we’re facing?”

  “I try not to,” Rudy said. “Violet? You have anything?”

  “I’ve analyzed the information we received.” Violet turned to look at them. She wore her dark hair in a tight bun, pulled back from her dark skin. Her cheekbones made her look severe, but she’d proven to be one of the gentlest souls aboard. She also had some serious coolness under fire. “Unfortunately, they didn’t send us their scans.”

  “Damn.” Titus sighed. “I wonder why.”

  “Panic,” Rudy replied. “That’s the only explanation. We can’t expect them to operate at their best under these circumstances. If the intruders were regular pirates or raiders, then we’d have silhouettes. The fact they’re totally new makes this far more exciting than normal folk are trained to deal with.”

  You’d think they’d be prepared for anything after coming all the way out here. Titus couldn’t fathom what they might’ve encountered. The most likely explanation involved out-of-date software incapable of reading the latest enemy vehicles. If that proved true, the Triton would be more than sufficient to deal with them.

  Most of the colonies had the fortune of at least one or two TCN ships patrolling near enough for a rapid response to problems. Rapid response time tended to be essential to save lives. Seasoned pirates knew exactly how long they had before the military showed up to stop them.

  Titus had arrived at many scenes where the criminals had already left. Chasing them down generally took days. He wondered if they’d find themselves in a similar situation at Gerdon. It all depended on what their targets made off with… and how much carnage they left in their wake.

  “Scanning the system now,” Violet said. She gasped. “Putting… putting on screen now.”

  Titus had never heard her sound so surprised. The stuttering in particular alarmed him. As the viewscreen flickered to life, he squinted at the two objects orbiting the colonized planet. They were far off; way too distant to make out any details. Violet surrounded each with a square and then zoomed in.

  Titus had never seen ships like them. They had boxy, squared edges with four rounded thrusters in the back. Each was larger in the back and narrow in the front, but it was like a child had put building blocks together. The scan continued, depicting metal spikes sticking off the ship at various points.

  “What are those things?” Titus asked. “Sensor equipment? Some kind of… I don’t know… energy relay?”

  “Weapons,” Ronin muttered. “If I had to guess, they’d be weapons.”

  “No barrels,” Jane said. “How would they… you don’t think…” She turned to her partner. “Lasers? Beams I mean?”

  Ronin shrugged. “Why not?”

  “Because,” Rudy replied, “pirates do not have that technology.” He sighed. “Though these ships… where would they have even found them? This makes no sense to me. What do you have on the surface? Anything?”

  “The colony has been attacked!” Violet continued to act out of character, shouting the report. “Buildings burning… life readings are minimal. There’s fighting going on down there too. Weapons I’ve not seen before. I’m patching into the satellite for a detailed look at what’s happened.”

  A portion of the screen shifted, showing the destruction. Violet zoomed out, showing several black, boxy things on the ground outside. It appeared to be a staging area for the invaders. They couldn’t make out people moving around at that vantage, but it gave a good idea of what happened.

  “Open a communication channel,” Rudy said, “blast it out. I’ll address them. You find out if anyone’s left alive down there.” He waited until she told him it was ready. “Attention, unidentified spacecraft. This is Captain Rudy Barrington of the TCN Triton. You have infringed on Terran space, attacked our colony, and killed our people. We demand you stand down immediately.”

  “No response, sir,” Violet replied, “from the enemy ships or the surface. We do have an open comm on the surface. I just don’t think anyone’s there to answer it.”

  Rudy turned to Titus. “Opinion?”

  “We don’t know the enemy capabilities,” Titus replied. “But we do know a couple of things. First, they haven’t responded nor moved since we arrived. Second, they destroyed the buildings down there. Even if they had already looted it, they have no intention of coming back. Which isn’t normal pirate behavior.”

  “What do you propose?”

  “We need more data,” Titus said. “Get closer, allow Violet to get a solid scan on them so we know what we’re up against. I’d like to understand their defensive capabilities… find out if Ronin’s right about the weapons. If he is, we haven’t encountered those before. We have no idea whether they’re giants or simply strange.”

  “Sound thinking.” Rudy narrowed his eyes. “But we also have a responsibility to save anyone who survived down there. Violet, you have until we’re in combat range to gather data. Ronin, attack speed. Get us close. Power up shields and weapons. We’re driving these criminals off.”

  I’m not sure he understands the gravity of what we’re seeing. Titus knew better than to argue with Rudy when he made up his mind. That didn’t mean Titus wasn’t still compelled to push his opinion about caution. Jumping into a fight with these unknown ships seemed exceptionally dangerous.

  He figured they might be some kind of prototype; something new stolen to wreak havoc in the area. When this is over, we need to contact every research station in this region. Maybe one of them can shed some light on a major theft. At least then we can trace the source of these vehicles.

  “Incoming message,” Violet said, “TCN frequency.”

  “Put them through,” Rudy replied.

  “Captain Barrington,” a fuzzy voice came through the speakers. “This is Commander Channing of the TCN Haley. We’re en route with the Covington and should be there in two minutes to assist with the distress call. Please respond.”

  Rudy smiled, turning to Titus. “There, you see? Now we’ve got some backup. Does that give you a little more faith?” He tapped the panel on his chair to acknowledge the communication. “Welcome to the party, Commander. We’ve got a strange one over here. I look forward to your assistance. Prep your defenses as soon as yo
u can. Barrington out.”

  No, Titus thought, I’m not feeling particularly confident about this. The oddity of the ships bothered him, their lack of communication, the fact they had bombarded a colony with nothing of value… all these combined to create a mystery that needed solving prior to a fight. This might be a test of their weapons.

  Picking a remote location for such a thing made sense. Anyone capable of building something so potent likely should’ve known the TCN patrolled the area. And if so, then they might’ve wanted to see how their toys held up under a conflict with the military. If that’s the case, we might’ve been lured here.

  “Get the troops down there,” Rudy said, “rescue mission.”

  “Yes, sir.” Titus didn’t like that either, but he gave Gunny the order to go. He lowered his voice, adding “Take care down there. We don’t know what you’re walking into. Be smart about how you proceed, yeah?”

  “We’ll evaluate, adapt… you know the rest,” Gunny replied. “Primary objective is saving people. That’s what we’ll do if at all possible.”

  The strange starships still had yet to acknowledge the approach of the Triton. The two destroyers arrived, moving to form up on them. Now that they’re outnumbered, maybe they’ll make a move. Titus had his doubts. I still feel lured in… drawn close for some reason. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

  Their ground force launched, taking a wide route to avoid the two vessels in orbit. Whatever happened, the Triton had to buy them enough time to save the civilians, to bring them back from the surface. Even if we have to abandon the colony and come back with a bigger team. I still feel like we’re biting off more than we can handle.

  And if that proved true, then any fight may not last very long at all.

  ***

  “Listen up!” Gunny shouted at the twelve men strapped in around him. “I’m keeping this short. We are here to save lives. Enemy engagement is a secondary activity; one that we’re trying to avoid. Intel is shoddy. We don’t know anything about them. Observe, witness, and remember. They’ll have questions when we get back.

  “There are two objectives. The command center of the colony and the surrounding farms where civilians are likely located. Our ship will touch down to let us off then get out of there, moving to a safe location. Our rendezvous point will change so keep an eye on your HUDs for updates. Are there any questions?”

  “What’s the big deal?” Private Hershal asked. “They’re just fancy pirates, aren’t they? I’m not sure why we’re all bent out of shape. Just go down, shoot them, finish this shit off.” He looked around at the others. “Am I wrong?”

  The rest of the men grunted in response.

  “We’ve never seen their ship before, numbnuts,” Gunny replied. “Not to mention the fact that no one’s talking since they arrived in orbit. Furthermore, they hit a colony with no strategic value and no goods worth stealing. You think that’s normal? You think we should go in like we’re fighting your rank-and-file peons?”

  Hershal wouldn’t look at him but he shook his head. “No, Gunny.”

  “That’s right. You monkeys need to think more! Yeah, I admit we’ve had it pretty easy in our assignments lately. They’ve been straightforward. This is why I drill you dumbasses so hard. Because eventually, we were going to have this happen. And now that we do, you need to rely on your training and not assumption. Any other brilliant thoughts?”

  No one said anything.

  “Then get in the right headspace for this.” Gunny checked the HUD for an ETA. “We’ll be making planetfall in less than five minutes.” He turned away, heading to the cockpit. Their pilot, Petty Officer Andrews, just turned them toward the planet. “You got a safe LZ for us yet?”

  “Not yet,” Andrews replied. “I’ll get you as close as possible without putting you down in live fire. Scans of the surface are tough until we get closer. The destruction of the buildings and whatever ordnance they used is giving off a lot of radiation. Violet’s struggling to get through it too. We’ll relay back what we can.”

  “I’d like some life readings,” Gunny said. “I want to know there’s even a reason to put down. God forbid but if they killed everyone, then we might want to assess the mission.” He figured things might change to a seek and destroy situation however, that depended on their opponents.

  Those ships look awfully strange to me. Gunny craned his neck to see them. They still had yet to respond to the presence of the TCN vessels. I wonder if they’ve even scanned us yet. And if they care.

  Gunny had fought in hundreds of skirmishes throughout his career. He had trained men, led them in battle, and watched plenty of soldiers die. Of all the times he’d been out there, he had a good sense of which direction a fight might go. This time, staring down a completely unknown enemy, he found himself unsure.

  And if the right people knew that, they’d be damn nervous. Titus got it. Captain Barrington… not as much. The man had been set in his ways for twenty years. He’d been through the same type of encounters over and over again. The repetition made him too stubborn to be objective.

  “Got a landing zone,” Andrews said. “Looks like there are lifeforms down there but I gotta warn you, Gunny… I’m not sure what’s up with these readings.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “Uh… I guess… that they must be…” Andrews shrugged. “Hopped up on some kind of drug? I sincerely don’t know. They’re in some kind of weird armor. Maybe it’s making the scans go wonky. Whatever it is, be careful. I have no idea if they’re junkies, on some kind of shit that makes them badass, or maybe infected by radiation.”

  “Leaves a lot of room for error.” Gunny sighed. “Time to drop off?”

  “Six minutes.”

  “You got a number on how many of those freaks there are down there?”

  “Uh… lots. Dozens.”

  “Shit.”

  Gunny hadn’t brought that many soldiers with him. But then it was a rescue mission. He needed space for people to get aboard the shuttle. We’re not here to fight. Grab the civilians and get the hell out. Do whatever it takes to survive and protect them. Reminding himself helped, but something told him it wouldn’t matter.

  These weirdos are going to fight. That’s why they’re here. The ship broke through the atmosphere, making a final descent. They were bucked about by turbulence, the shields reacting to the friction. Gunny tightened his grip, squinting in an effort to catch sight of the land through the clouds.

  Once they made it through, the terrain opened up before them. The colony had been built in the middle of the plains with forests some thirty miles away on one side and a sea on the other at about the same distance. Rivers cut through the trees, offering some natural irrigation for the farms.

  The colony itself was burned. Buildings were reduced to rubble, with craters all around it from the shots that had missed. The enemy had hit them hard, and it was quite clear they had no intention of stealing a damn thing. Not with those kinds of shots.

  This was a slaughter. Blatant murder. What happened? Who pissed these people off to bring them here?

  Gunny had witnessed situations where criminals destroyed buildings or even sections of towns in an effort to kill a single person. He’d been around to stop some of them in the past. This resembled those but was perhaps even worse. They had taken out everything except the command center. That remained standing.

  Why? Why leave that one structure? Gunny had no idea. Hopefully, the militia took refuge in there to hold it against the invaders. He figured they might stand a chance if they bottlenecked all those forces. Unless they assumed their opponents planned on bombing it out. I’ll have to see it for myself.

  Andrews looped them around, dropping low to get them near the surface. “Better get ‘em up.”

  “On it.” Gunny headed back to the others. “We’re about ready so off your asses and down the ramp! This is a hot drop!” He paced by them all, slapping the panel to open up. The contingent of soldiers rose, waiting for
the green light. Once Andrews got them low enough, he popped it on.

  Gunny waved them out, following the last man. They dropped into the tall grass, each crouching as the shuttle veered off to the north. Andrews had orders to keep moving, to maintain speed and distance until they were ready for a pickup. The concern revolved around interception from the enemy ships… would they launch to address him?

  So far, they don’t seem to care about your technology, Gunny thought. We’re about to see what they think of our guns.

  “First stop,” Gunny said, “command center. Spread out and stay low on approach. Keep your eyes on your HUDs for scans. Fall out!” He started out, making directly for the colony. The command center happened to be in the back near the incomplete wall. That’s not exactly protocol. They were supposed to be erected in the center of the encampment.

  The wall shouldn’t be partially built either. Lazy ass colonists.

  “We’re en route,” Gunny reported in, “we’ll let you know what we find.” They were roughly three hundred yards from their destination. It would be a few minutes before they got there at their cautious speed. Better that than going rushing in. I need to see these enemies before we start shooting them.

  And hopefully, they’d pick up some allies before then as well. If they start responding to comms at least. He still felt like the inhabitants were likely all dead. Time to confirm a tragedy… or be lucky enough to prevent one. Either way, he had a terrible feeling about what they might find out there.

  ***

  Titus continued staring at the enemy ships, watching intently for any movement whatsoever. There was activity. Thrusters ignited at various parts of the vessels, holding them in place at their locations. Automated systems might be engaged to perform such maintenance. The implications behind that bothered him.