Escape Part II
By Nathan Carlisle ©2014
The Alien drone had a small weapon on it and it open fired briefly at the strike team on the ground as it began to shriek out a warning signal to nearby troopers. The strike team was quick to respond with their on volley of fire which managed to knock the drone around a bit til it slammed into the side of a nearby building, thus rendering it silent.
Cursing their luck the team loaded into the Hell-Hammer as quickly as possible, all the time being alert as to whether enemy troopers were approaching. The team member who took up the driver's position eased the Hell-Hammer into gear and the enormous mass that made up the mobile base started to move down the alley like some prehistoric beast.
The end of the alley was blocked by a couple of abandoned cars which were pushed out of the way by the vehicles massive bumper assembly which was attached to an articulated base that allowed the driver to operate the unit in a similar manner to a blade on a Bulldozer. This feature came in handy when trying to move various types of obstacles encountered on the battlefield.
The hub motors were a bit rusty and they made more sound that they would have liked as they progressed out of the industrial park. Other than the slight grinding sound of the wheels the hissing of boiling water the whole of the area seemed to be draped in a cloak of silence. Not wanting to be caught off guard the remaining team members took up various positions around the vehicle.
The team commander took the seat to the right of the driver which was the co-pilot and navigator position. From this position one could operate the forward facing weapons systems but could also override the other weapons systems if needed as well as monitored the active defense systems. The next team member took up the forward facing turret while the remaining member took up the rear facing turret. Both turrets had 360 degree rotation capabilities but with two almost guaranteed full coverage of the vehicle.
As the vehicle continued on its journey the grinding sound of the hub motors seemed to become less and less but the tension was still high. The strike team knew that the alert that the alien drone sent out was heard and was responded to yet they had not seen any enemy troopers as of yet. They knew that it was only a matter of time.
All of a sudden they were taking fire, coming from the top of some of the abandoned buildings that lined the street like so many corpses. The alien troopers were well hidden and the guns they were using had very high kinetic impact that seemed to rattle everything that was not bolted down on the interior of the ACV. Both top mounted turrets whirled into action, finding targets and opening up with their 20mm guns.
The enemy positions exploded with a cloud of glass, steel and concrete that came tumbling down to the streets like a hail storm. The team commander reminded them to conserve ammunition by selecting their targets and not to just spray the area, which was much harder said than done considering the circumstances and how easy it was to burn off a few hundred rounds in a matter of seconds. Nonetheless the team was well trained and were making progress when more fire came from the rear of the vehicle.
The commander activated the automated rear defense systems since the team members in the turrets were still occupied with the buildings to the sides of them. The quad 7.62 gun on the rear of the vehicle immediately burst to life and seemed to almost fire continuously as it dodged from left to right. That's when the Hell-Hammer's alert went off indicating an approaching vehicle coming from in front of them. Not wanting to be surrounded, the gunner engaged the gas/nitro-methane turbine engine which actually blew out some of the nearby widows as it roared to life. The massive vehicle shot out from its position like a jungle cat sending debris flying to the side in giant waves.
The alert in the ACV changed tone to indicate that the approaching enemy vehicle was now in firing range and that is when the saw it, an enemy drop-ship.
To be continued....
I created this image using Lightwave 6.5 and Photoshop CS1.
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