Galaxy of Heroes

“We’ll travel in squad file until we reach the ridgeline,” Sergeant Major Rupa said. “Then squad column to the rift. Alpha fire team wedge right. Bravo left. Tracking?”

“Roger, Sergeant Major,” the team leaders replied. Alpha fire team was led by a Craaldan soldier named Sgt. Shard. Bravo was led by Sgt. Boke.

“Professor Mahlis, your battle buddy is Private Phleg,” Sergeant Major Rupa said. “Private Phleg, do not let the professor out of your sight or into harm’s way. Copy?”

“Copy that, Sergeant Major,” Pvt. Phleg answered. Phleg, carrying his large CX-649 weapon, stood up from his crouch and walked up beside the professor.

The soldiers were nearly indistinguishable in their mech armor, except for the number of stripes on the insignia on their chests. Their names and ranks were also printed on the left side of their chests. The computer in Spade’s mech armor seamlessly translated the Craaldan lettering and insignia into its human equivalent.

Two of the soldiers were distinguished by the specialized weaponry that they carried, which looked like larger versions of the CX-649.

Sergeant Major Rupa had so many stripes on his insignia that, in comparison, the others looked deficient in rank. The sergeant major lifted his armored arm and waved his palm forward. The squad moved out in spaced single file.

Spade jogged up beside the sergeant major. “You didn’t assign my battle buddy,” Spade said.

“That is correct,” Rupa said.

Spade walked beside him, dodging massive mechanized vehicles as they rumbled past on the rock and ice.

“Why is a sergeant major leading a scout squad anyway?” Spade asked. “Shouldn’t you be back on the command ship terrorizing lieutenants and stroking some general’s ego?”

“I was a squad leader in a scout platoon for over 300 Earth-years, human. I was a platoon sergeant for another 200. A first sergeant for 50. I’ve seen more battles than you’ve seen stars.”

“Squad leader is below your pay grade,” Spade said.

“Craaldans don’ get paid,” he replied.

“So whose pot did you piss in to get assigned this mission?”

“Hmph. General Seb wants the professor back alive, and he wants me to keep my eyes on you. That’s why I am leading this mission. So watch yourself.”

“Just so you know, I ain’t infantry,” Spade said. “I’m a pilot.”

“I know that.”

“Where do you want me in the formation?” Spade asked.

“On point,” the sergeant major said.

“Say again?”

“You heard me. On point. Get up there, human!”

Spade knew little about infantry tactics. He was a pilot, not a ground pounder. He attempted to recall those countless conversations he had with a former crewmember named Sgt. Joe Grimes. Grimes had been a Ranger with the Heliac Defense Forces, and on their voyages through the Inner Galaxy, Grimes would often recount the Craaldan assault on the Heliac System and the tactics the Rangers used against them. Of course, the Craaldans made short work of the Heliac Defense Forces and massacred the humans that had settled that system.

“Stay tactical, human,” Sergeant Major Rupa said. “Take point, ASAP!”

Even behind the mech armor, the sergeant major had command presence and a persuasive quality. Spade trotted up to the front of the column and took his position at the front of the squad.

The squad left the gate and marched up a rocky slope. When they reached the ridgeline, Rupa signaled for the squad to get down. The soldiers took cover behind boulders and chunks of black ice.

Sergeant Major Rupa waved over Professor Mahlis, who signaled for Spade to accompany him.

Rupa scanned the plain below. Nine platoons were dug into fighting positions below in the half bowl where the plain met the Bleak Range. A large kill zone would greet enemy forces that attempted to advance on their positions.

Outside the kill zone, the Craaldans had emplaced ambushes and observation posts at strategic points on the plain all the way to the glowing Naos Rift.

The rift glowed red in the blackness of the moonscape. Beyond the rift was a long expanse of empty plain that stretched to the foothills of the Craggy Mountains, where the ruins of Zander City were visible against the dark, jagged silhouette of rocky peaks.

“I see no enemy units,” Professor Mahlis said.

“They’re out there,” Rupa said. “Every unit that has tried to cross the rift has been cut down. They are dug in so well that our sensors have not pinned down a complete picture of their fighting positions.”

Spade pointed out at the plain. “They are dug in there, there and there,” he said. “They’ve built a trench line and tunnel system below our line of sight and are able to move between their bunkers for complete coverage of any direct crossing of the rift. They know how to use terrain for concealment, that’s for sure.”

Rupa zoomed his optics in on the positions. “Impressive, human.”

“We can cross the rift there,” Spade said, pointing to the north.

“We will still be in range of that bunker complex,” Rupa said.

“Roger, but there is a spine of rock that runs due west and is paralleled by a narrow ravine. If we stay in the ravine below the spine, we have a shot at infiltrating their lines. Then we can make a run for the mountains.”

“I see no spine of rock,” Rupa said.

“Trust me, it’s there,” Spade said. “When I was a kid, I used to sneak up on Naos Lunar Militia patrols during training exercises by following those rocks. Worked every time. If you ever want to cross Zander’s Plain without being seen, that is the way to do it.”

“Excellent, Captain Spade,” Professor Mahlis said. “Despite the reservations of General Seb, you are proving to be quite the asset.”

A violent shockwave suddenly thudded against their armor. The ground beneath them lurched and rumbled. Spade, Rupa and Mahlis dropped to the ground and took cover behind outcroppings of rock.

“Team leaders, report!” Sergeant Major Rupa said.

“Alpha is up.”

“Bravo up.”

A yellow fireball expanded over the forward operating base behind them.

“That’s the command post,” Rupa said.

The bright fireball climbed upward above the base that they had just left. From their vantage point on the ridge, it appeared that a large blast had just flattened much of the base.

“The base just got smoked,” Rupa said.

“Commander Cripp is in the command post, as is the entire command staff,” Professor Mahlis said. “It cannot be destroyed.”

“The brigade’s aerial defenses have gone down,” Rupa said. “This is not good.”

A missile screamed upward from Zander City and arced over the plain.

“Get down! Get down!” the sergeant major exclaimed.

The missile crossed over the Naos Rift, then shot downward toward 2nd Battalion’s positions.

The landscape vanished in a blinding flash of white light. A shockwave hit Spade like a sledgehammer, throwing him from the surface and hurling him backward.

He slammed hard into rock. His visual display flickered out. His mech armor was not responding and he was unable to move. He realized that no oxygen was reaching his bloodstream. Panic set in as a feeling of suffocation overwhelmed him. He felt his consciousness rapidly slipping away.

As his panic reached an apex, his visual display flickered back to life. Oxygen flowed back into his bloodstream to his profound relief.

He stood up from the rocks and ice to see a giant nuclear mushroom cloud expanding over the plain where 2nd Battalion had been safely dug in only moments before.