Chapter 77

KOLTAR FOUR
CAPITAL OF LEPIRI
SPARTAN ONE

Reva, Lylor, Aryera, Rothan and several other Kirek Pack members were standing off to the side of the ramp near the wall, their eyes watching Danny’s six-foot five body leaning over the edge of the ramp with what looked to be not a care in the world. And to top it off he did not wear a safety harness. All of them had wide eyes, for even with all their years and their combat experience, none of them had ever seen such precision before. Reva had tried to tell them; tried to prepare them for it, because of them all, only Reva had ever actually seen what they could do because of the time spent within her sphere form.

There were four different columns of Lycavorians, a mix of the Durcunusaan and Kirek Pack soldiers that now made ready to exit the ship once it set down. These men and women did not question what their orders were. For the Durcunusaan it was simple, nearly all of them had fought with their King, Androcles or some part of the Royal Family for the last decade or more and they would have it no other way. The Kirek Pack members fed off that emotion, causing Lylor, Rothan and Aryera to feel it most of all. The internal ship’s speakers were all connected to the Communication Implants they all now wore and they could hear everything that was happening. There seemed to be different voices coming from everywhere but no one appeared to be flustered or confused by this as they all listened.

“Northeast down and secure!”

“Southeast down and secure!”

“Northwest down and secure!”

“Southwest down and secure!”

“All Ground Sticks, move to your Primary Positions and hold!” Miranda Lorian’s voice echoed on the COM. “Scar Flight!?”

Steven’s voice echoed on the COM channel now and this caused Lylor and many of the Kirek Pack to look at one another.

“Scar Actual to all flights! Jolly Roger and Grim Reapers have TAC Ground Support!” Steven’s calm voice echoed once again. “Black Widow and Death Jester have High Altitude Support of Spartan One. APOC Drones fourteen through seventeen have dropped into cover position on Spartan One. They got clean up. Anything gets close to Spartan One, kill it! No questions.”

“Black Widow Lead, Affirmative!”

“Death Jester Lead, Roger that Scar Actual!”

“Fly Free... !“ Steven’s voice barked over the COM.

“Die well!!“ Countless pilot voices chimed in right after his.

“Five Seconds!” Tina’s voice overpowered everyone else’s on the COM.

Danny’s eyes had not left the status of the drill as Tina guided it around along the dye path that Martin had left for them. Endith had held the ship as steady as a rock in a windstorm which was nothing new to any of them. Danny had lifted his gaze several times and saw perhaps half a dozen men running along the ground beneath them waving madly at others to clear the area. None came close to the position under the TYPE TWO so Danny did not bother with them.

“Through!” Tina screamed. “We’re through!”

Danny’s brow furrowed and he turned his head back toward the cockpit. “Tina, nothing is happening!” He barked.

“Wait for it big boy!!” Tina barked back without malice. All of them were excited and running on pure adrenalin.

Danny’s keen wolf ears heard it first, even above the roar of the engines. A low pitched, grumbling roar that rose in a smooth crescendo and then Danny’s head snapped back around and he saw the earth beneath him just collapse right down. He heard the scream of tortured and now overtaxed metal as it gave way and his eyes grew wide as the ground seemed to swallow up everything beneath their ship, drop for fifteen meters and then stop as the weight of now unsupported earth crushed the tunnel beneath it like so much paper, opening one end and blocking the other.

“Fucking A Baby!” Danny shouted out the words. “Turn and drop Endy! Turn and drop sister!”

Endith looked at For’mya with her trademark smile. “Here we go!” She exclaimed before throwing SPARTAN ONE into a gut wrenching turn that spun them around one hundred and eighty degrees in the opposite direction in two seconds flat. As Danny held the side of the open ramp and they dropped to just above the ground he could look dozens of meters into the part of the tunnel that had not been crushed.

Danny didn’t hesitate. “Assault One! Go! Assault One! Go!”

With shouts of approval, and before SPARTAN ONE had even settled fully to the ground, four columns of Lycavorians lifted their weapons and charged off the ship in four different directions. Endith had set them down only five meters from the edge of the now gaping hole in the ground. The collapsed part had formed a perfect ground ramp down into the once hidden underground facility while crushing the main tunnel coming from the garrison a kilometer away from their location. No one watched as Isabella and Cirith practically leaped into the two Heavy Particle Turrets that had been added for this mission and were now extending outward on hastily constructed arms on either side of the extended ramp. One moved straight out and the other began to curl upwards so that it extended over the top of the ship and could cover the front.

This is where Isabella took over as she plugged into the headset that dropped from the railing above.

“Assault One! Overwatch One and Two locked and cocked! All sticks announce when in position and prepare to repel! They’ll be coming at us hot and heavy no doubt! Spartan Six and Seven have the guns! Call out your support when needed!”

“Assault One confirms!”

Danny turned from where his eyes had been focused down into the tunnel in front of them. “Assault Two! Thirty seconds!”

On either side of Danny’s body three Spartans took up positions and their Shi Viskas flared into existence making the spear of the phalanx with Danny the point. Anja, Dysea and Duewa moved into position directly behind Danny, Anuk and Nayeca between them with their PPRs at the ready and Thoti directly behind them, forming the middle. Kesyla would be helping to watch the situation in a makeshift command seat station on the edge of the cockpit. Lylor, Ranol, Aryera and Rothan moved in behind Anja, Dysea and Duewa and they watched as another two dozen Spartans closed in around them all, their Shi Viskas out and humming on their arms. Lylor’s eyes were wide as he looked back quickly and saw four more Spartans move in behind them and effectively seal them into an impregnable formation the likes of which he had never seen before. Thoti towered over Anja, Dysea and Duewa, his own Shi Viska giving cover for the two most senior and important medical personnel anywhere in this quadrant, as well as two Queens of the Union. Martin had protested at first, sending two of his Queens into the fray along with Duewa and Anuk did not sit well with him. Anja, Duewa and Anuk were the most experienced and knowledgeable medical people they had anywhere and he hated putting all of them at risk, but he relented in the end, knowing it was for the best. Anja would always want Dysea beside her in a situation like this because her calm demeanor and voice could put even the devil at ease and Martin knew the faster they were in and out, the less loss of life there would be, and those four women could work miracles together.

Thoti turned quickly and looked at Lylor, Ranol, Rothan and Aryera. “Turn when we do! Stay below the lips of our shields unless we say so! Keep your PPRs ready but do not try to fire above us unless we direct you to! This is our way of battle! You are along for the ride right now, so let us get you where you need to go! Maintain your spacing and your footing at all cost! Do not try to push ahead or we will trample you down!”

Lylor nodded his head and slammed his hand down on Thoti’s arm twice. “As you say!” He barked. “As you say!”

Thoti nodded his head at Lylor, knowing, sensing that they would listen to everything they were told.

“Assault Two!” Danny’s voice rose above the din of the engines and everything else that was happening. “Deploy! Deploy! Deploy!”

Nyser Arhtai stormed into the Command and Control Center for all Koltar Four and saw what could only be described as mass confusion to the untrained eye. Male and female Pack technicians were scrambling all over their equipment and nearly yelling at one another across their consoles. Nyser’s security detail fell to the side as he stopped beside the tall Lycavorian and Nyser grabbed his brother’s arm.

Yeren Arhtai looked at his older brother briefly and Nyser saw the expression of disgust on his face. Though ten years Nyser’s junior, Yeren Arhtai was a skilled tactical officer and had never failed his brother. Yeren had not agreed with their actions on the Dremsa Rie Saan and had made his reasonings known. Of them all, only he seemed to fear that the other Packs had failed in their part of the agreement by removing Daniho and Ashten Mahanlo and any of their blood. He had warned them all that if any Mahanlo blood descended from Daniho and Ashten survived, they would one day come for their vengeance. And it would not be pleasant for any of them. Yelma had laughed at him, but Nyser had taken his brother’s words to heart and did everything within his power to confirm with the other Packs that they had succeeded. He had failed in that and now his brother’s warnings were coming true.

“Yeren?” Nyser gasped. “Talk to me fervon?”

Yeren looked at his older brother and shook his head. “We have completely lost contact with RENDITION Station. All normal channels across the planet are being jammed by this signal we cannot identify or counteract. Nothing we do has any effect on it. The very last audio signal we got from the station was a report from the lower sections that they were being overrun and more troops were landing using some magical transporter lights or something like that.”

“Teleport technology?!” Nyser gasped.

Yeren nodded his head. “It has to be fervon. Troops appearing out of solid beams of light? What would you call that? The last actual report we had before we lost contact said that there were hundreds of troops on the station and they took down everything at once. The only way to get that many troops onboard is teleportation technology.”

“Carians!” Nyser gasped aloud. “We dismissed Teleportation Technology as too inefficient to use on a large scale!”

Yeren looked at his brother. “Whoever these people are, they are not backwards fervon!” He barked at him. “They are moving surgically! Removing threats to them as they go! Our sensors can’t penetrate the hulls of their ships! All of them are using a power source unlike anything we have ever seen!” He gripped his brother’s arm. “There is something else. Two of the ships ... two of them are using Onab Portal Generators.”

Nyser looked at him as if he had gone insane. “Yeren, tell me you are joking!”

Yeren shook his head. “I wish I was. The large one that moved north with the other three and that monstrosity in orbit. Both have active Onab Portal Generators.”

“How?!” Nyser gasped. “The Onab shut that project down before the war even began! It was unstable! It is what brought the Iais’Kai down on us!”

Yeren shook his head. “Well not anymore! Whoever they are, they managed to fix whatever problems there were.”

“Iais’Kai?” Nyser gasped aloud once more.

Yeren shook his head. “Negative. Our people would not side with those vile creatures no matter who they were. Our sensor sweeps just after they were detected on the station showed Lycavorian life signs and an abundance of secondary species we have never seen, but our people were dominant. And there were...”

“What?” Nyser demanded.

“There were half breeds among them.” Yeren answered.

“We must warn Fomir.” Nyser spoke. “I want that ship.”

Yeren shook his head. “We have also lost contact with the entire Iaaldo Engineering Compound.” Yeren told him. “They are not responding, even via the emergency channels. Nothing from Fomir nor his team either. Their transport is offline and we cannot even pick up their Transponder signal.”

Nyser looked at him. “Destroyed?” He asked.

Yeren shook his head. “I don’t think so. I think it has been deactivated somehow.”

“Nubou!” Nyser snarled loudly.

“Four of their ships did split from the rest and move in that direction once they entered the atmosphere including this one with the Portal Generator.” Yeren told him. “We lost them when they dropped below sensor coverage, but these ships must be exceptionally fast, Nyser. Faster than we first thought and much faster than anything that we have to have made it that far so quickly.”

“We didn’t...” Nyser stammered.

“Fervon what is going on here?” Yeren asked him. “The ships above us match nothing in our known databases! Nothing! Certainly nothing in this quadrant of space or dating back many millennia. Our sensors cannot penetrate their hulls, and they are using a power source of some kind that is unknown to us. Now we have detected traces of Onab Portal Generators within two of the ships, but I don’t know how Nyser.” Yeren moved closer to his brother. “What is going on brother?”

“Yeren we...” Nyser stammered once more.

“Teleportation Technology, brother!” Yeren snapped loudly. “They used Teleportation Technology to capture RENDITION Station before we even knew what was happening. This is Technology even we have not been able to develop with the Onab helping us! These ... these ships appeared out of nowhere, Nyser! Most of them jumped directly into the planetary system from somewhere other than Pakar Six! You know the technology it takes to plan and execute in-system jumps! They have Portal Generator technology! An Onab technology that should not even exist! What is going on fervon? You know who these people are!”

“I must speak with...” Nyser began to speak.

Yeren motioned to the system all around them. “You can speak to no one! Every channel we have is either jammed by a signal we cannot touch or broadcasting on a frequency that we cannot override!”

“Broadcasting?” Nyser asked looking at his brother. “What are they broadcasting?”

Yeren motioned him a nearby computer console and tapped the console several times. The female voice began speaking in the middle of a sentence but Nyser quickly deduced what was happening.