Three Square Meals Ch. 033

"Incoming friendlies," John shouted to the Terran forces, his voice amplified by the external speakers, so that it boomed across the site of the bloodbath.

The handful of Terran troopers poked their heads above cover, watching warily for any signs of the Kintark. They were astonished to see that the lizardmen forces had been annihilated, thick yellow blood splattering the corpses of their fallen enemies. Standing warily, they immediately noticed the two black armoured figures that approached them boldly from opposite ends of the plaza.

"Who are you?" one of the men asked them warily, as John and Alyssa strode up purposefully.

"Commander Blake, Special Forces, I'm here to stop the Kintark boarding action. Who's in charge here?" he asked the men, who turned to look at one another in confusion for a few moments before one of them raised his hand cautiously.

"My names Corporal Gibbons. We lost our lieutenant when we first engaged them, and Sergeant Deran ordered us to fall back here, but he just got killed," he said sadly, nodding at the dead shotgun wielder.

"Any reports on where the other boarding force is at the moment?" John asked quickly.

Corporal Gibbons shrugged helplessly. "Things went to shit pretty fast. We moved to engage this lot, and got our asses handed to us. I haven't heard anything from Central Command for the last couple of minutes," he replied, tapping the headset he wore for emphasis.

"You men hang tight, we'll head to the upper levels," John said looking around the plaza, and spotting some elevators on the other side of the open area behind the devastated coffee shop.

He looked towards Alyssa who nodded, and fell in beside him as they jogged across the plaza. The Terran troops watched them leave in amazement, their mysterious saviours departing as quickly as they had arrived.

***

Jade gasped as the rear end of the Raptor on the damage control hologram flashed a bright red. The gunship had shuddered violently as one of the relentless Kintark fighters managed to hit the starboard engine, blowing it out completely. She glanced at the approaching Invictus on the tactical map, but even though they were racing directly towards her, the Kintark ships were still out of range of the defence grid. Now down to only 50% engine power, Jade realised it was all over, and she braced herself for the final coup de grace.

"Pull up, now!!" Dana suddenly yelled over the comm, and Jade did exactly that, jerking the flightstick back sharply so that the nose of the Raptor pulled straight back.

The beam lasers on the assault cruiser lanced out, fired at the extreme edge of their range, and just missed the Raptor as Jade pulled the gunship clear. The six throbbing beams of amber energy incinerated the pursuing fighters in an instant, and all that was left when the beams winked out again a few seconds later, was a tiny amount of glowing debris, the rest of the Kintark ships completely vaporised.

"Let's get you back on board," Dana said to Jade with relief, before the redhead let out a big sigh. "But we better not let John see the Raptor till I've patched it up, he won't be happy how close that was."

Jade's answering laughter had a slightly hysterical edge to it, as she realised she'd been only seconds away from total disaster, and she revelled in the pleasure of simply still being alive. She brought the battered gunship around to face the slowing assault cruiser, and when the hangar bay door opened up, she landed the Raptor carefully in the centre of the big hangar. Finally safe and sound once more, the nymph slumped back in the pilot's chair, as her arms began to shake with the adrenalin. She took a big heaving breath, and then rose to go and rejoin the other girls, so that she could thank them properly.

***

The elevator let out a jaunty chime as they arrived at the level that was helpfully marked as Administration, and the doors opened to reveal a scene of destruction. Lights flickered intermittently, briefly illuminating the devastated office area, before plunging them into darkness once more. There had been a pitched battle here, and the shattered windows, overturned desks and a crazed mosaic of impact craters on the walls, attested to the ferocity of the fighting. The defending forces looked like they had accounted for themselves well, with several Kintark corpses sprawled on the ground in big pools of yellow blood, their bodies riddled with dozens of small exit wounds from armour piercing rounds.

*Switch to infra-red,* John thought to Alyssa, as he changed his scope settings himself. The room was then painted in shades of blue, with only the overhead lighting and plasma scarring on the walls showing any residual heat.

They pushed further into the admin complex, reaching the defensive line where the Terran troops had stood their ground. John's face set in stone when he saw the charred corpses of the slain Terran soldiers, the brave men horrifically burned by plasma fire. There were dozens of spent magazines discarded on the floor, telling their own tale of the valiant efforts to repel the invaders. He heard the distinctive sound of further gunfire from up ahead, and he broke into a loping run as he closed the distance, with Alyssa sticking right by his side.

The Terran forces had fallen back and were retreating up a broad staircase, whilst being relentlessly pursued by the Kintark warriors. The lights were almost completely out in this section, with only the sporadic bursts of assault rifles, or the green glow of plasma fire, offering any real illumination in the room. The light from the gunfire cast frightening shadows across the fiery hellscape, while the burning plasma lit a fel green hue over the desperate battle. One of the troopers sprinting up the stairs was hit by a couple of plasma bolts, and although miraculously the man was still alive, his clothing caught fire, and he staggered into the railings before toppling over them in a verdant blaze. His harrowing death screams echoed around the room, before they came to an abrupt and merciful end.

John brought his railgun up to a firing position as they moved deeper into the administration area, and swept from left to right looking for targets. Despite the dead shotgun wielder's assertion, the Kintark seemed to be running very hot indeed, and they showed up in the scope as bright red silhouettes. As before, John and Alyssa started with the stragglers and worked forwards, silently executing one hulking Lizardman warrior after another with precise bursts, as they stalked invisibly through the blackness like vengeful wraiths. They scythed through the Kintark forces, wiping them out to a man without the lead warriors even realising they were under attack, right up until their heads were blown apart by hypervelocity railgun rounds.

John reloaded his weapon as he ran up the stairs, seeing no more sign of Kintark forces as he reached the top, only the backs of fleeing troopers. "Incoming friendlies!" his voice boomed down the hallway, amplified by the external audio in the Phalanx armour. The running troopers ducked behind cover, be it a vending machine, or a series of Holo-net booths, and peered fearfully back down the corridor to see who was shouting. John and Alyssa ascended the tops of the staircase, and the glow from the plasma impact craters illuminated their glimmering black armour in an ethereal green aura.

One of the troopers who was terrified out of his mind, fired his assault rifle down the corridor at John, but the rounds were deflected harmlessly with an odd whumping sound.

"Cease fire, or we'll be forced to neutralise you," John warned him sternly, raising his weapon as he approached. One of the man's more coherent squadmates slugged the trooper, knocking him to the ground, preferring him not to be killed by their rescuers.

"Who are you?!" one of the troopers stammered fearfully.

"Commander John Blake, Special Forces. We've eliminated both groups of Kintark warriors, and we're looking for one of the doctors who evacuated up here. Have you seen them?" he asked firmly.

"Sure, they ran past us a few minutes before the Kintark attacked," another trooper volunteered, as he cautiously stepped out from behind a vending machine he'd been using for cover.

"Where did they go?" John asked brusquely.

"Towards Central Command, but we lost contact with them a while ago," the man replied. "Back down the steps, then take a right." he added helpfully.

John nodded his thanks, then turned and sprinted back down the corridor, catching up with Alyssa who was leaping down the stairs three at a time.

*We wiped out both of the squads from the dropships,* she thought to him as they darted to the right, and ran full tilt down the corridor. *What could have attacked Central Command?*

Before John could reply, they stumbled upon a slain trooper. It looked like he'd been dead for a while, as the fatal wound from the plasma gun that killed him was no longer glowing. The fallen soldier had been shot walking across an intersection, which was helpfully signposted with bold lettering on the walls, with arrows pointing to different destinations. Directly ahead was "Hydroponics", to their right the corridor was labelled "Central Command", while to the left, the signs read, "Cargo Loading" and "Passenger Processing".

*Survivors from the crashed dropship,* John reasoned, as they took the right turn to find out what had happened to Central Command.

*How could anything have survived that?* Alyssa asked dubiously, recalling how the critically damaged dropship had careened into the hangar before breaking in two.

*I'm not sure, but any groups from below would have had to fight past those defending troopers, and we arrived just after they started running,* he answered her logically.

*Makes sense,* she agreed, slotting in another full magazine.

They ran down the corridor until they reached a security checkpoint, and found that the guardsmen had been gunned down by plasma fire, while the heavily reinforced doors had been ripped off their hinges.

*Uh-oh,* Alyssa's voice said in John's mind, as she noticed the crumpled and battered steel doors that had been cast aside.

*Having second thoughts about not letting me bring the sword?* he asked her wryly.

*Not at all! I wouldn't want you tempted to charge anything that could do... that,* she replied seriously.

They moved forward more cautiously now, checking warily around corners as they moved into Central Command. Dead Terran troopers and command staff lay slumped along their path, most of whom had been killed by plasma weaponry, their bodies badly burned. One unfortunate trooper had been ripped in half, savage claw marks apparent on the dismembered corpse, and they examined the body silently for a moment, wondering what could have caused such terrible injuries.

They moved onwards once again, and the sound of rhythmic thumping began to reach the audio pickups in their armour. The deep bass rumble of two heavy objects repeatedly colliding together reverberated down the corridor, making the hair on the back of John's neck stand on end.

*What the hell is that?* Alyssa's muted voice sound warily in his mind.

*I have a feeling we probably won't want to find out,* John replied, as he stepped over yet another deceased trooper.

They came to another intersection, and a dead Kintark Warrior was sprawled across the corridor, its body riddled with the small exit wounds of armour piercing rounds. The trooper who shot the Lizardman was slumped against the wall opposite, killed himself as he had tried to reload his weapon with a fresh clip of armour piercing caseless. The corridors were marked with more signs on the walls, indicating what lay in each direction. To the left was system flight control, to the right was the barracks and directly ahead was the armoury. The booming crashes were louder now, more angry somehow, and were coming from the corridor directly opposite them.

*The armoury it is then,* John's sardonic thoughts reaching Alyssa clearly, and her nervous chuckle reached his ears.

It looked like the rest of the troops based up at Central Command had made their last stand here, using the reinforced security desk for cover. They had accounted for themselves admirably, having killed another four Kintark warriors, leaving the corridor beyond sprayed liberally with thick yellow blood. Sadly they had then been overwhelmed, and the six remaining soldiers had been ripped apart with a savagery that almost defied belief. Dismembered body parts were scattered with abandon around the room, the interior painted red with blood and ichor. There were two Gatling laser turrets here as well, but the power cuts that seemed to be affecting this whole level had rendered them inoperable, and their barrels hung low, as though mourning the slain troopers before them.

There was an upper level to this room, which overlooked the charnel house at ground level. Green armoured figures could just be seen moving around up there, with the hissing sibilant speech of the Kintark echoing down to John and Alyssa from the room above. There was an open-sided loading lift to the side of the room, but as John glanced that way, it wasn't the lift that held his attention. Huge rents had been gouged out of the metal walls; long deep furrows in sets of three, that made it look like something had clawed its way up, and then onto the floor above.

*We can't activate the lift, we'll lose the element of surprise.* Alyssa cautioned John as he studied the wall.

*I was thinking of something a little more unorthodox*, he replied, before moving over to the wall swiftly and silently. He lifted an armoured boot, and placed it on the wall speculatively, activating the magnetic field in the boots via a command in his optical HUD. He leaned into the raised leg and then moved awkwardly to place his other foot on the wall, the strong magnets holding him in place. John straightened himself up, and then began to slowly walk up the wall, the magnets in his boots keeping him secured against the wall. Alyssa darted over to join him and after a few tentative steps, she was standing by his side, looking like her feet were glued to the metal surface.

*Well, this feels weird,* she laughed, before they cautiously walked up the wall to get a better vantage point.

It took a little getting used to, looking at the room sideways, but they could see five Kintark warriors waiting around idly, looking at a massive reinforced bulkhead. The cause of all the mighty crashes now came into view, and Alyssa gasped as they saw it for the first time. The creature was huge, at least fifteen feet long, with four muscular legs, a sturdy tail, and a body covered in thick red scales. It looked like a massive, heavily armoured prehistoric beast, and the creature was battering the heavy door by rearing up on its hind legs and then slamming its scaled, blocky head into the trembling portal. There was a long jagged scar across the creature's back, its scales splattered with dried yellow blood. It looked at a glance like the wound had sealed over however, and the armour plating was intact.

*What the fuck is that?!* Alyssa swore in alarm.

*I have no idea,* John replied. *We have to act quickly though, that door isn't going to last much longer.*

They raised their railguns and took careful aim at the Kintark warriors. The next time the huge lizard slammed into the door, causing an enormous deafening crash, they opened fire. Allocating targets instantly by telepathic communication, they efficiently dispatched the Lizardmen with rapid bursts from their weapons. The surprised Kintark didn't have time to even shout a warning before they were all gunned down in a matter of seconds. John and Alyssa swung their weapons onto the Lizard and then opened up, the high velocity rounds pounding unerringly into the hulking creature. To their shock, the storm of hollow point bullets deflected away harmlessly from the incredibly thick and resilient scales, until the ominous click of empty magazines reached their ears.

The Lizard swung around, and looked at them with furious eyes, the dark glimmer of otherworldly intelligence quite apparent in the way it studied them. It let out a ferocious roar and then charged towards the edge of the platform leaping out with scythe like claws outstretched. Alyssa released the magnets in her boots, and dropped the ten feet to land cat-like on the floor, narrowly avoiding the claw swipe in her direction. She landed with a loud clang, and then tumbled away in an acrobatic roll, before running back the way they had arrived.

John was still secured to the wall, and the massive lizard clung to him, clawing and biting at his black armoured torso. He hung there for a moment until Alyssa was clear, and then released the magnetic fields in his own boots, so that he and the lizard fell to the floor in a deafening crash. The huge reptile clawed and gouged at him, but his armour was extremely durable after Alyssa's psychic manipulations, and the beast was unable to penetrate the Invictium plating.

The two combatants, man and beast, fought desperately as they thrashed around, locked in mortal combat. John was stronger than the enormous scaled creature, but he lacked the huge sharp claws that the Lizard was using to great effect. While he grabbed it by the scaly throat to stop being bitten, and restrained another fore-claw with his other hand, he was powerless to prevent the lizard from scratching and tearing at his armour with its free fore-claw and equally dangerous back legs. His armour was proving to be incredibly resilient, but even so, the razor-sharp blade like claws were taking their toll, rending huge furrows in his shoulder and leg plating.

The lizard rolled over, managing to pin John under its heavy bulk, and it's hideous reptilian visage sneered down at him contemptuously.

"Pitiful Terran! I'll dessstroy you jussst like I did all the other pathetic troopersss who dared to face me!" the Lizard snarled in a deep sibilant voice. "Witnesss the might of the Royal Guard!"

John was stunned that the creature was not only intelligent, but apparently sentient, and quite capable of speech. He wrestled with the creature trying to throw it off him, but it was difficult to get leverage against so big a foe. It reared back with its free foreclaw raised to deliver a killing strike, and it's huge reptilian eyes glinted with anticipation.

*Stay down!* Alyssa ordered him as she charged back into the room. She was holding the magazine that she had retrieved from the dead trooper in the corridor, and she slammed the armour piercing clip into her railgun.

The monstrously large Kintark reptile looked up at her when she ran into the room, and let out a hissing, barking laugh. "Take your bessst shot Terran!" it goaded her, supremely confident in the impregnability of its scaled hide.

Alyssa brought the railgun up to her shoulder, and fired on full auto, raking the huge beast with high-velocity rounds. The reptile stared down in shock as the armour piercing rounds slammed into its chest, punching straight through and drilling into the wall behind it. Thick yellow blood spurted out from the perforated creature, and it twitched and writhed as she emptied her entire clip into it.

"How was that, good enough?" she asked the Kintark beast, as it toppled over on its side.

The creature tried to reply, but just gurgled instead, its eyes rolling up as it collapsed on the floor.

"Nice work, honey. Perfect timing in fact!" John said with a grin, as he pushed the dead lizard's arm off his chest.

Alyssa tipped an imaginary hat at him, and the pair of them began to laugh with relief as he clambered to his feet.

"Dana did warn us that AP rounds could stop a tank. I never thought I'd be using them to hunt overgrown lizards!" she exclaimed, shaking her head.