Chapter 20: Crisis

Federation side

Lisa started hurling Crytherian warriors around the ship as she directed the Marines to their positions. Several had broken into one of the dormitories she had set up for the evacuees from Tau Ceti and were now holding ninety hostages. Ted's body still lay under the huge Crytherian warrior as the ships Marines having seen Ted go down, had gone ballistic, sacrificing their own lives to stem the flow of the invaders as more tried to get in. At last count, three hundred of them had taken a foothold in the command tower; they were shooting up her holographic projectors and computer stations. She had lost contact on most of decks fourteen and fifteen. The only systems working on those two decks were in environmental rooms six, seven and replicator repair stations nine and ten. Before she could use the replicator repair stations an explosion had cut the main junction relay boxes.

"Lisa, what's the situation on deck twelve?" chief of Security, Thomas Chu asked, as he was pulling the security panels and replacing them with new ones.

Thomas slapped a new panel in and looked around for the captain's sister. Not seeing her, he walked over to the replicator station and replicated the next boards needed to repair the internal sensors panel. The four boards lit up, showing intruders on nine decks.

"Fuck," Thomas said, as he turned his Com unit on, and started issuing his orders, "This is Chu! I want marines sent to deck nine sections thirteen and fourteen portside, also decks sixteen and seventeen in crew cabins four and five starboard side. We have fifty plus intruders in each section, I am sealing all cabins in those areas. Deck ninety has three hundred plus intruders. Get in there and get them off the ship. We need additional marines to the command tower as well. The Crytherians have taken decks fourteen and fifteen and they are working their way to the bridge deck on level six," as he was talking an explosion hurled part of the hull out from the ship on the starboard side.

Before Thomas could ask what was going on, ten Bengals jumped from their mech storage bay. They turned and using their jet packs, they jumped up the side of the ship until they came down on the main deck, where they opened fired on the Crytherians trying to get into the ship. Several more mechs came out of the breach and started down the length of the ship.

Captain James Blain gripped the yolk in his fist and swung the Lancer mech around the stern of the ship. As he took the turn, his body strained against the harness as it kept him upright. His broken arm hurt like it did the first time he was jumped by those redneck assholes down in Alabama, when he was on leave. Looking towards the hill, he saw a flash in the distance; he lifted his pulse lasers and started firing on the enemy positions as he took off running up the hill. Around him, Crytherian warriors scattered as he ran through their formation. Lasers and fletchen rounds ricocheted off his mechs force field as he hit his jump pack control.

James fired his jump jets. He flew up and over hundreds of Crytherians that were charging his ship. He came down among a group of six enemy mortar positions and started raking them with machine gun fire as he lifted his pulse lasers and started firing on the enemy ship.

Crytherian Battleship

Commander Halan watched the strange vehicles come out of the enemy ship and he issued his orders, "Take out those ground assault vehicles."

"As you command, Sir, opening fire now," replied the weapons officer.

The ships heavy lasers turned and of the remaining thirty operational mounts on the bow, only two could align up on the mech and they started pumping out their death. The first barrage missed the mech and took out another mech charging up the hill, while the other laser cannons started shooting at the ones in the air.

Federation side

James turned his mech just as the lasers beam shot past him and hit Corporal Ginny Grant's one-hundred-ton Death Stalker and it blew apart.

"Fuck it's still active, all units scatter and use all available cover," Captain James Blain turned his Lancer and boosted his speed up to one hundred miles per hour. He started running up the hill, dodging the laser as it tried to track him. Running a zigzag pattern, he closed with the mammoth ship and fired his jump jets. Arching up into the air the mech flew over the crumbled bow and landed on top of one of the laser turrets crushing it.

The light mech turned and opened up with its four plasma cannons, firing at once, two more turrets exploded as it started running down the hull. The fifty ton mechs feet tore up the armor deck and as it turned to fire on another turret, its foot broke through a weakened section plunging down to its knee joint as it fired.

James swore, trying to get the mech free as he laid waste to the enemy weapon platforms. Sighting a small ridge of heavy lasers swinging his way, he opened up with all four plasma cannons, his missiles belched from their launchers, "Eat molten plasma you fucking skull faces," James shouted inside his mech as he ripped his leg free. Turning he avoided the first barrage of lasers, the second slammed into his shield, sending him flying. His shield emitter exploded as he went flying over a disabled laser turret.

James shook his head as he brought the mech back online. Wiping the blood from his nose, he scanned the area around himself and saw his companions under attack, the turrets taking them out systematically. Looking up at the squat command tower of the huge ship, he could see the bridge deck and a plan started forming. "Jessie, I assume that is the main bridge up there?" James asked his AI.

"Yes it is James and if you're thinking what I am thinking you're thinking. You have less than one chance in ten thousand of surviving it."

"I didn't think I was going to survive. Please send my letter, to my sister," James replied as he activated his missile packs letting them fly.

"Message sent to the Oregon and saved in the main archive," relied Jessie.

"Thank you Jessie," James said as he continued firing a salvo of missiles at the tower.

The missiles, quickly crossing the mile to the bridge, exploded on its shields, antimatter danced along the shields as a second wave of missiles slammed into the same area.

Crytherian Battleship

Halan watched as the strange lightning danced on the ships shields and his eyes followed the trail of missiles back to the sixteenth heavy laser battery. Turning, he looked at the weapons officer and said, "Have all batteries fire on the number sixteen laser turret. Take that missile launcher out!"

"As you command Commander Halan," replied the weapons officer.

"Sir, we have received word that Captain Hhask is dead. You are now in command."

"Very well. Dispatch the second wave of warriors. I want that ship captured and I want..."

"Bridge shields are down," shouted the damage control officer as he interrupted his commanding officer.

Federation side

The next set of missiles slammed into the hull, exploding and Captain James Blain was moving before the antimatter died down. Jumping forty feet up into the air, he fired all four plasma cannons into the bridge of the battleship and the compartment exploded outward as the rounds punched through the armored front side of the tower. As he descended towards the main deck, six laser turrets swiveled and fired on him.

The first hits sheared his left leg off sending him tumbling to the deck. The next hit shattered his right plasma cannon and a third slammed into his missile storage, blowing the compartment into ruins. Crashing down on one of the turrets, he whipped his left arm up and took out two of the heavy defense stations as his machine guns started peppering the one in front of him, which caused them to freeze on its track as several bullets slammed into the traversing mechanism.

James turned his mech at the waist and was bringing the left plasma cannons on line with the turret when his mech was hit again. The round punched through his mechs chest cavity and hit the fusion reactor. The explosion shattered the deck and the nearest turrets as the mech went up in a miniature nuclear explosion. The same explosion caused the ship to shift and slide fifty feet down the hill, bringing some of the starboard guns to bear on the Oregon.

Doctor Molly Hinkle was working on a marine sergeant trying to save his life as a sword had been thrust into his chest, when the door suddenly slammed open. Looking over she saw Lisa walk in carrying a marine in her arms. Tears were running down her face as she walked. Molly's eyes drifted to the nameplate on the armor and her eyes took in the rank insignia as she screamed out, "Jonathan!"

Jonathan's head snapped up and he saw his wife rushing to Lisa. Another doctor had stepped up to her patient as she took the marine in Lisa's arms and carried her commanding officer to a medical bed. Running over, his emotions froze on his face as he looked down at the captain. His armor was sliced almost to the heart as far as he could tell. Reaching into the field, he started unstrapping the armor as Molly used a scalpel to cut the arm latches off the suit. The bed showed a faint heart beat getting weaker as he reached for the injector that Nurse Sara Hassel was handing him.

"Thank you Sara," John said.

Twenty-nine year old Sara Hassel was a nurse that was recruited from Reno. She took her job seriously. She wore her red hair up in a bun as she worked. She always put her patients first before herself. During the recovery operation of Reno, she had to be sedated so she would sleep, because she was running herself ragged.

Brushing back a stray hair she responded, "Your welcome doctor," as she took several scans from the Captains body and saw it wasn't good.

Molly was working at cutting the armor off, when a scream shattered the air and then the sound of a thud as if something hit the floor. Molly jerked her head up to look around and saw Augusta lying on the floor and she saw that her people were all ready moving to help her so she turned back to helping her husband.

"Fuck, the armor is frozen to his skin," Jonathan said as he examined the cut.

"What do you mean? These are coming off with no problem," Molly asked.

"The blood has frozen inside the armor, which has bound the armor, his shirt and his skin together. Lisa, I need a spray bottle of liquid nannites."

"I can't give it to you Doctor Hinkle," Lisa replied.

"Authorization Gamma, Nike, Shelby One, Seven-Four Baker," Jonathan said.

Lisa processed the code and she was surprised, Doctor Marcus Wild authorized the emergency release of the liquid nannites when it was needed. "Authorization confirmed. One bottle of liquid nannites released," Stated Lisa.

On the replicator pad, a small blue squeeze bottle appeared and it was handed to Doctor Hinkle.

Taking the bottle, he squeezed the liquid into the wound, just as the ship heaved from a direct hit and the alarms started sounding.

"Lisa what the hell was that?" Molly shouted as she pulled the leg pieces off of Ted's body.

"Hull breach deck M, section thirty. We have invaders. Locking down medical two," Lisa said.

Blast doors slid over the entrance doors to medical as the internal doors for medical slammed shut, sealing the huge bay into a hundred smaller medical bays. "Medical two is now secure." Lisa said as she flickered out.

Lisa appeared in the corridor outside of section thirty and watched as the Marines fought the intruders. Hearing a noise she turned her head to look down a secondary hallway, so she had missed the Crytherian warrior who leaped to his feet, charging the marines around her. On the Crytherian's back was a huge silver pack. Clutched in his four fists were four rifles that he continuously fired until he emptied them. Marines went down under the intense fire, but several of their fletchen rounds hit the Crytherian causing him to staggered back. Dropping the guns he turned around and the pack detonated. The explosion ruptured the rooms on each side of the passageway, blowing ten-foot holes in the floor and roof.

The Crytherian warriors rushed forward, some dropped to N deck, while others used anti gravity belts and flew up onto L deck, while more ran towards the woman standing in the hallway. Before they could get to her, she turned and looked at the Crytherians as a force field popped up.

"Get off my ship or die," Lisa snarled as the Crytherians closed with her.

Weapons came up and they opened fire on the hologram. The shield deflected the rounds away from the marines that were behind the hologram and then Lisa stepped through the field and advanced on the nearest Crytherian.

Lisa reached out and picked up the warrior by his neck snapping it as more rounds ripped through her form. With an evil grin on her beautiful face, she hurled the dead Crytherian at a second warrior and advanced on the third one that had another pack on his back.

C'loink watched the hologram coming towards him and he raised all four rifles. Stepping back, he tried to figure out where the emitters were for the hologram and his eyes went to the roof. Spotting the strange crystal like objects mounted to the ceiling he fired at them. They blew apart as he continued to fire on them as he walked the trail of destruction down the hall towards the hologram, snarling at it as it vanished. "Destroy the crystals in the roof. It's how it makes its form to attack us my brothers," he yelled.

Other warriors started firing at the crystals around them and the message was passed to the other assault squads that were invading the human ship.

Lisa appeared back behind the force field and she fumed, as she watched the Crytherians destroying her ability to protect the ship.

Major Rachel Hays watched the Crytherians and she lifted her plasma rifle as well as her pistol. Powering up her armor, she activated the IFF and ran through the force shield. Her plasma rifle and pistol firing as she yells, "Come on you devil dogs. Let's kick this scum out of our home."