something stunned his nervous system. He tried to move but found himself paralyzed. In less than three seconds all his branches turned black and he died withering in horrible pain. The waiter watched from inside the restaurant and then went out the back door and boarded a small speeder. The crowd gathering around the dead Algean never saw him leave.
Chapter Eight
J on inspected his platoon before the drop on Belwen. The Hagrem had taken the planet three months earlier and the Realm’s forces were tied down pushing their fleets out of the sector. The last of their ships had jumped away leaving the occupation forces still in control of the planet. They were heavily dug in and their planetary guns made it too dangerous for a fleet battleship to come close. The only way to take control was to teleport the Life and White Warriors in to take out the heavy batteries.
The Hagrem Warriors were dangerous and were technologically ahead of the Realm’s forces in their blasters. The beams would rip through a Life Warrior’s armor if they were closer than a hundred yards. The batteries were protected by thousands of their warriors and Jon knew getting close enough to get through the huge gun’s force field was going to necessitate coming into range of the defending forces.
He looked at the map of the area his company was assigned and saw that there were thirty of the giant gun emplacements within visual sight of each other. The regiment had been told that those guns could also be lowered to fire at anything on the surface as well. This was not going to be easy.
Sgt. Dominick Calso looked at the map of the terrain and said, “Why are we doing this?”
“Huge numbers of the population went into the forests when the Hagrem landed and they’re running out of food. If we don’t move in soon, most of them are going to die of starvation.”
“Why haven’t the Hagrem gone after them?”
“They’ve had their hands full getting control of the cities. They took this planet because of its Rexite deposits and most of the cities are located close to the mines. They could care less about the inhabitants.”
“This is impossible. How do we get close enough to take out the guns?”
Jon continued to stare at the map and finally said, “Whatever we do, it will have to be done extremely fast.”
“Why don’t we just teleport a nuke in on them?”
“That would destroy the mines and the population needs them to provide the energy for their civilization.”
“Surely Fleet knows there is no way to do this?”
Jon sighed, “All we need is a clear space over the planet for our ships to come in and take out their forces. I think they hope one of our units might be able to do it.”
Dominick shook his head and said, “How do we get through the force field if we’re able to make it through the defenders?”
“A life Warrior is assigned to our unit and he will teleport through once he gets next to it. He’ll then take out the gun.”
Jon stared at the picture of the huge gun and thought, “Teg, will a mini-penetrator make it through the gun’s force field.”
“I’m afraid not, Jon. That force field is stronger than the ones used by our fleet. It also recovers extremely fast, so hitting it multiple times won’t do it.”
Jon thought a moment and pulled up the map of the gun his unit was assigned to destroy. “Teg, do we have a detailed depth scan of the defender’s bunkers?”
“I’m sure one was done; why do you ask?”
“Well, this map indicates that they aren’t staggered but done in aligned rows with the back of them being covered by those closer to the gun.”
Teg pulled up his map and examined the Hegrem’s positions, “It’s the same for the one we’re going to take out.”
Jon thought a moment, “Dern, you might want to join this conversation.”
“What’s up?”
“Take a look at the positioning of the Hagrem bunkers. Do you see anything significant?”
“They’re murderous if they’re taken
Chapter Eight
J on inspected his platoon before the drop on Belwen. The Hagrem had taken the planet three months earlier and the Realm’s forces were tied down pushing their fleets out of the sector. The last of their ships had jumped away leaving the occupation forces still in control of the planet. They were heavily dug in and their planetary guns made it too dangerous for a fleet battleship to come close. The only way to take control was to teleport the Life and White Warriors in to take out the heavy batteries.
The Hagrem Warriors were dangerous and were technologically ahead of the Realm’s forces in their blasters. The beams would rip through a Life Warrior’s armor if they were closer than a hundred yards. The batteries were protected by thousands of their warriors and Jon knew getting close enough to get through the huge gun’s force field was going to necessitate coming into range of the defending forces.
He looked at the map of the area his company was assigned and saw that there were thirty of the giant gun emplacements within visual sight of each other. The regiment had been told that those guns could also be lowered to fire at anything on the surface as well. This was not going to be easy.
Sgt. Dominick Calso looked at the map of the terrain and said, “Why are we doing this?”
“Huge numbers of the population went into the forests when the Hagrem landed and they’re running out of food. If we don’t move in soon, most of them are going to die of starvation.”
“Why haven’t the Hagrem gone after them?”
“They’ve had their hands full getting control of the cities. They took this planet because of its Rexite deposits and most of the cities are located close to the mines. They could care less about the inhabitants.”
“This is impossible. How do we get close enough to take out the guns?”
Jon continued to stare at the map and finally said, “Whatever we do, it will have to be done extremely fast.”
“Why don’t we just teleport a nuke in on them?”
“That would destroy the mines and the population needs them to provide the energy for their civilization.”
“Surely Fleet knows there is no way to do this?”
Jon sighed, “All we need is a clear space over the planet for our ships to come in and take out their forces. I think they hope one of our units might be able to do it.”
Dominick shook his head and said, “How do we get through the force field if we’re able to make it through the defenders?”
“A life Warrior is assigned to our unit and he will teleport through once he gets next to it. He’ll then take out the gun.”
Jon stared at the picture of the huge gun and thought, “Teg, will a mini-penetrator make it through the gun’s force field.”
“I’m afraid not, Jon. That force field is stronger than the ones used by our fleet. It also recovers extremely fast, so hitting it multiple times won’t do it.”
Jon thought a moment and pulled up the map of the gun his unit was assigned to destroy. “Teg, do we have a detailed depth scan of the defender’s bunkers?”
“I’m sure one was done; why do you ask?”
“Well, this map indicates that they aren’t staggered but done in aligned rows with the back of them being covered by those closer to the gun.”
Teg pulled up his map and examined the Hegrem’s positions, “It’s the same for the one we’re going to take out.”
Jon thought a moment, “Dern, you might want to join this conversation.”
“What’s up?”
“Take a look at the positioning of the Hagrem bunkers. Do you see anything significant?”
“They’re murderous if they’re taken
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