Three Square Meals Ch. 090

Sakura strafed her fire into the rear of the vessel, destroying all three of the huge inert engines and rocking the bulky cruiser with a series of fiery explosions. When the stream of pulsed beams finally cut out, the hive ship was still intact, but now it couldn't escape and was incapable of firing any weapons at the civilians - just as she'd planned all along.

Glancing at the Pulse Cannons in her weapon loadout, Sakura selected them and activated target-selection mode. Focusing on one of the Kirrix troopers, she locked it in as the target, then activated auto-fire. The Valkyrie's shoulder mounted energy weapons burst into life, sending long trails of blue laser bolts into the reeling Kirrix ground troops. Leaping over the cowering lines of stunned Trankaran civilians, she landed on a squad of insectoid soldiers, squashing them flat under the enormous weight of the mech as it thumped into the ground.

Hundreds of black compound eyes tracked this white titan in astonishment, the insectoid forces caught completely by surprise by Sakura's furious charge. As the mech's shoulder-mounted Pulse Cannons continued to carve their way through the invaders, the Kirrix finally started to react, raising their neutron rifles to fire back and skittering to cover. A fusillade of green bolts started to strike home against the Valkyrie's shield, creating scores of tiny ripples in its shimmering surface.

There was a piercing, high-pitched scream as the night's sky was suddenly lit up by another brilliant azure flash. The biggest group of bug soldiers was incinerated by a painfully bright stream of Photon Laser beams, leaving nothing behind except wide glowing trenches in the ground. That opening salvo was joined by a curtain of blue laser bolts as six more Pulse Cannons tore into the Kirrix ranks. A gleaming white gunship roared overhead a few seconds later, its engines blazing a bright orange against the night sky. The Raptor banked hard, continuing to punish the Kirrix forces with its turreted weapons as it circled the plaza.

The Trankaran prisoners shook off their shock and pounced on the now dramatically outnumbered Kirrix guards. The rockmen were incredibly strong and ripped them apart in savage retribution, green blood gouting in the air as the unsuspecting insectoid troops were torn limb from limb. The civilians began grabbing neutron rifles from the fallen Kirrix, using the invaders' own terrible weapons against the few surviving soldiers.

Sakura nodded with satisfaction and sprinted onwards into the night. She didn't pause to check on the little girl she knew she'd just saved, trusting in the freed Trankaran civilians to keep her safe. It wasn't that she didn't want to, she simply didn't have time, not when there were another twenty-nine hive ships to take down...

***

"Alright Faye, get ready with the Photon Lasers!" Calara exclaimed, as the Invictus hurtled towards the loose formation of Kirrix capital ships. Racing ahead of them were the dense swarm of drone fighters that were rushing towards Khalgron to aid the hive ships.

"Do you want me to shoot at the drones too?" Faye asked, her expression pensive.

The Latina shook her head. "No! I'll try to take out as many of the fighters as I can with the Nova Lances, but I'm only going to get one shot. Then we'll be on top of the carriers and it's going to get really nasty! You focus on hitting the capital ships; we can't let them get near the planet..."

The purple sprite nodded her understanding. She glanced at the Tactical Map, eyes locking onto the closest of the segmented Kirrix drone carriers. "Should I focus fire on that first one?"

"Start with that ship, but don't go for damage, just knock out their shields. Then I can bring the Heavy Cannons, Gauss Cannons, and Singularity Drivers to bear!" Calara explained, taking a firm grip of her weapon controls.

"Alright, will do!" Faye eagerly agreed.

Alyssa stayed silent during this exchange, too fearful to speak. Her heart pounded in her chest as she listened to John and the girls down on Khalgron, living every second with them as the train sailed out into the air, then plunged down towards the lava below...

***

Time seemed to slow for John as the train lurched into the abyss, his heart pounding as his eyes locked on to Dana's terrified face. This wasn't just a trick of the mind though; he'd activated his psychic speed and was now moving many times faster than the scared teenager. She started to stumble back into the driver's cab as the carriage upended, the train going from horizontal to vertical in a matter of seconds. Using a firm grip on the window ledge beside him, he launched himself down the carriage, letting go of his Quantum rifle as he stretched out his arm to grab her.

The redhead's eyes widened as she fell backwards in slow motion, watching John as he rushed towards her in a blur. He soared down through the now-vertical train to catch the falling girl, grabbing her around the waist and watching her suddenly speed up as soon as she touched him.

"Flight mode!" he shouted at her, landing on the wall at the end of carriage.

Holding his other hand palm-upwards at the side of the falling train, he gathered his will and unleashed a wave of force. The telekinetic surge blasted through the side of the train, ripping the entire wall clear of the carriage. Dana only had a split second to activate her Paragon suit's flight mode, but she obeyed him instantly, enabling her armour's flight capabilities. John felt the distinctive tremor through her suit as she activated the thruster on her back and without pausing, hurled her skyward through the huge hole he'd just made in the carriage.

Dana slowed again the second she left his embrace, her face revealing her shock as she was launched up and out of the train. John squatted down then kicked off from the end wall, activating flight mode himself as he leapt off the metal surface. Aiming for the other two girls in the second carriage with him, he caught his falling Quantum rifle as he flew upwards, aiming an outstretched arm through the shoulder strap and letting it swing around onto his back.

Not taking any chances, he grabbed Rachel and Tashana around the waist as he passed them, the shocked girls having enough presence of mind to keep a firm hold of their guns. They matched his accelerated speed as he caught hold of them, then quickly followed his instruction to activate the flight mode on their suits. He threw them clear of the doomed train, which meant there was just one girl left to save.

When John soared into the last carriage, he found Irillith waiting for him. The retro-thruster on her back already glowing as she turned away from the engine, electricity still coursing around her hands. With his left arm hooked to catch her, he aimed his right at the rear wall, pounding it with a telekinetic blast wave that tore it from the carriage. He grabbed Irillith and the pair of them soared out of the falling train.

The ravaged Trankaran transport dropped at a glacial pace, before the front cab plunged into the molten lake, spraying geysers of lava outwards with the tremendous impact. The remaining two carriages collided together with a booming crash, before the vertical train toppled sideways with the horrific squeal of tearing metal and flopped into the bubbling lava. John felt Irillith tremble in his arms, the Maliri girl having watched the entire crash with wide-eyes. She met his gaze for a second, nodding briefly in gratitude for the timely rescue.

As they sailed through the air, John was able to clearly see the full extent of the damage the bridge had sustained. The Kirrix had given up attempting to hit the fast-moving train, especially with John and the girls sniping any Overseers they could see. Instead, the Overseers further ahead of them had demolished what had once been an impressive example of Trankaran architecture with several missile strikes.

At least fifty metres of the bridge had crumbled into the lava, but only a few hundred metres beyond that rift, John could see their destination. The fortress might have been an imposing edifice at one time, constructed in the brutalist style the Trankarans favoured. Now however, it was battered beyond belief, with almost every square foot of its outer walls revealing battle-damage of some kind.

The leftmost tower was still mostly intact, but there were deep rents in the rest of the structure, revealing just how thick the walls actually were. At the centre, what must have once been an imposing gatehouse had been reduced to rubble after being blown to pieces by a huge explosion. The Kirrix had bored through that broken ruin to continue their assault and the insectoid horde was now running into that yawning tunnel.

That is, the ones that hadn't stopped to shoot at John and the girls. Neutron bolts whipped through the air around them, the Kirrix having trouble hitting the fast and nimble Paragon suits as they jinked towards the fortress. The plateau itself was heaped with slain Kirrix, the corpses ample proof of the spirited defence the Trankarans had mustered.

Activating the internal comm system in his Paragon suit, John said, "We'll go in through the front door! I want the four of you to land by the tower on the left then start clearing the Kirrix."

Four worried faces appeared in his Helmet HUD as the girls acknowledged his order.

"Got it," Tashana replied curtly, taking point as she soared over to the left side of the plateau outside Hol Darim Fortress.

Rachel glanced back at him and Irillith. "I've got the Pulse Cannon for you!"

"On my way!" the Maliri girl replied, sounding eager to get her hands on her weapon again.

John released his firm grip around Irillith's waist and watched her race towards their companions, thrusters flaring on her suit to propel her through the air.

Dana's holographic face was the last to appear. "Where are you off to?" she asked him in alarm.

"I'll keep the heat off you while you regroup," he replied, heading straight towards the centre of the swarm.

There were at least a dozen Kirrix soldiers shooting at him near the tunnel, with many more lining the edge of the ravine to take up firing positions. Behind them, one of the hulking Kirrix shock troops emerged from the column-lined tunnel, letting John get a good look at it for the first time. Standing over twenty feet high, the terrifying Kirrix Juggernaut resembled a praying mantis, with a pair of hooked scythe-like claws. However, this was no spindly, puny creature; the Juggernaut had all the armoured bulk of a stag beetle, with glossy black plates covering every inch of its heavily reinforced monstrous bulk.

John soared through the air towards the platform, holding his Quantum rifle with his right hand, while raising his left and aiming at the insect soldiers. Focusing his willpower, he summoned up a broad wall of force and blasted it into the mass of Kirrix, sending scores of the four-legged creatures flying backwards. They rebounded off the rear wall, then slid across the platform, lying stunned by the impact. The Juggernaut braced itself as it was buffeted by the psychic attack, standing firm while its smaller comrades were knocked sprawling across the ledge.

"Let's see how tough you really are," John muttered, landing on the cleared platform and squaring off with the insectoid beast.

The Juggernaut lowered its head and charged, massive legs grinding into the ground to give it extra traction. John aimed for its glistening black thorax and held down the trigger, firing round after round into the massive insectoid horror. Hyper-accelerated rounds smashed into its chest, cratering its armour and sending gouts of viscous green ichor spraying out its back, but the monster shrugged off the wounds as if they were merely pinpricks. His eyes widened as it kept on coming, even though he could see the far wall through the enormous ragged hole through its torso.

Engaging his psychic speed once again, time seemed to slow as the rampaging onyx beast roared its defiance. It was less than five metres away and he could see the frenzied look in its inhuman eyes as it jerked back its enormous sword-like forelimbs in preparation to strike. He lifted the muzzle of his rifle with his finger still clamped down on the trigger, the bullets streaking out to carve a bloody trench through the Juggernaut's upper body.

A slug hit it in the right side of the head, knocking the massive black skull backwards with the impact. The armour here was even tougher and while the slug penetrated, the entry wound was no larger than his fist. He continued to pump bullets into its head but it kept on coming, even after being hit several times. The right side of its face was nothing more than a shattered crater, and its remaining mandible quivered with anticipation as it lunged forward with its mammoth serrated blades.

Dropping his rifle, John smoothly drew his two-handed sword. Darting to his left, he sidestepped the Kirrix horror like a matador dancing with an enraged bull. The sparkling white blade whistled through the air, and he hacked off its huge sword arm at the elbow, before bringing the sword down in a mighty blow that cleaved straight through its rear leg. It stumbled over, losing its balance as it was suddenly divested of a big chunk of its bodyweight, before skidding across the ground with the momentum of its charge.

The platform lit up with a flashing blue haze and his ears rang with the booming retorts of Quantum weapons being fired. The girls unloaded on the Juggernaut as it tried to get up, making it twitch violently as it was struck by dozens of slugs and laser bolts. Tashana aimed for its head, her brace of pistols pumping round after round into its skull, until it was reduced to a green pulpy mass. With a shuddering wheeze the Kirrix beast finally collapsed, green blood pouring from scores of wounds and pooling around the mutilated corpse.

"Really fucking tough!" Dana breathed, staring at the Juggernaut in disbelief.

John could only nod in agreement as he sheathed his sword and bent down to pick up his rifle. He loaded a fresh magazine, then glanced to his left, where the prone Kirrix soldiers were starting to clamber to their feet. "Irillith, clear the platform, Tashana cover her. Dana, Rachel, you're with me." He glanced along the gallery overlooking the lava lake and saw several more Juggernauts a good way off in the distance, stomping inexorably towards them amongst the teeming horde of Kirrix soldiers. "Don't try and fight those big fuckers, retreat into the fortress when they get close."

Irillith strode past him to take a firing position by the slain Juggernaut. "Oh yeah..." she growled, a wicked smile on her face.

Tashana nodded to him as she passed, her hands deftly loading fresh mags into both her pistols as she said, "I'll keep her safe."

Levelling the Pulse Cannon at the incapacitated Kirrix forces, Irillith hit them with a sustained burst of laser fire. The closest soldier was hit in the abdomen and the thorax, the laser bolts melting huge holes through everything they struck. Both of its right legs were melted clean through and as it toppled over to its side, a third blue bolt struck it in the throat, instantly decapitating it and leaving a glowing furrow where its neck used to be. Their carapace armour was no match for the devastating power of this weapon, with Kirrix troopers slashed in half by the unremitting hail of sapphire laser bolts.

Irillith methodically swept the plateau clear, hitting anything that moved with multiple shots. The sound of shrill death shrieks grew to a cacophony and the floor was soon carpeted with melted, glowing limbs as she added scores more twitching corpses to the piles of Kirrix dead. Tashana hovered protectively by her side, wary for the slightest hint of danger that might threaten her sister.

John jogged towards the huge tunnel in the fortress wall and headed inside, rifle raised cautiously as he checked for Kirrix forces. The wall was five metres thick and he marvelled at the scale of this Trankaran defensive emplacement. Dana and Rachel were on his heel, running to keep up with him as they entered Hol Darim Fortress.

The tunnel led through to a courtyard that had been the scene of fierce fighting. They had to clamber over the horribly mangled corpse of another Juggernaut, which had been blown to pieces in the explosion that had destroyed the gatehouse. There were scores of Kirrix corpses here too, as well as the bodies of several armoured Trankarans. Up ahead was a second gatehouse which had been destroyed in the same manner as the first, the detonation triggering a severe cave-in. It looked like the Kirrix had then been forced to dig through this second obstruction, burrowing a hole through the reinforced ferrocrete rubble.

John led the way through and paused as he saw what was on the other side. There was a yawning chasm beyond, with a relatively narrow, three-metre wide causeway leading to the ledge opposite. Beyond that was another fortress wall, which looked to be largely intact this time. Moving in single file, they jogged across the platform and as they drew closer, it became apparent that the enormous gatehouse doors had been smashed in. Down in the ravine to either side of the causeway were massive piles of Kirrix dead, including several Juggernauts which had taken terrible damage as they tried to batter their way inside.

"This was one hell of a killing ground..." John muttered, impressed by the lethality of the Trankarans robust defences.

"The Kirrix must have lost hundreds trying to storm this place," Rachel agreed, shocked at the extent of the carnage.

Jogging up to the sundered gatehouse, John slowed his pace to a more cautious walk. "Movement up ahead."

There was another open courtyard, this one also stacked high with Kirrix corpses as well as lots of dead Trankarans. It looked like there'd been an intense firefight here, with many of the rockmen gunned down as they attempted to retreat to the central fortress. A pitched battle still raged on the far side, with scores of Kirrix soldiers exchanging fire with a beleaguered handful of Trankarans up on the fortified parapet. Two more Juggernauts were smashing into a towering set of crumpled metal doors, attempting to bludgeon their way into the fortress.

"Leave the big ones to me, you two clear out the trash," John said to the girls, drawing his sword and breaking into a run.

***

Sakura's almond eyes narrowed in anger as she spotted another of the disgusting parasitical hive ships looming over the outskirts of Mulbharum. Her arms and legs moved in a blur as she sprinted down the avenue, the Valkyrie's upgrade with frictionless joints letting it match her psychically enhanced speed. She was methodically cleansing the Kirrix infestation as she tore across the city, crippling one hive ship after another and massacring the insectoid guards, freeing the civilians that were being herded into those ships. This was the tenth such target and she vaulted over a squat Trankaran building as she locked onto the rear of the Kirrix vessel with her Photon Lasers.

Faye's image appeared beside her inside the Valkyrie's cockpit, a look of concern on her elfin face. "I'm about to engage the eleventh hive ship as you requested, but wouldn't it be better if I stayed with you to provide cover?"

"We can't risk any of these monsters escaping!" Sakura hissed, clenching her trigger fingers. "You scanned them yourself, they've already got loads of Trankarans on board!"

The four triple-barrelled laser weapons opened fire, blasting through the Kirrix shield as she carved those deadly blue beams through the engine housing at the rear of the alien cruiser. Ochre armour plating melted away as Sakura cut a glowing trench in an inverted "V" across the rear of the ship. One of the engines exploded in a bright explosion that lit up the night's sky, while the other two were sheared in half, big chunks of the Kirrix vessel crashing to the ground with a deafening rumble.