Overrun: Project Hideaway Read online

  OVERRUN:

  Project Hideaway

  By: Michael Rusch

  Text Copyright © 2002 Michael Rusch

  Also read “Overrun”

  by Michael Rusch.

  Available on Kindle.

  Table of Contents

  ...105 Years After Final Ozone Depletion

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  ...105 Years After Final Ozone Depletion

  They floated unknowing in space. Awaiting the time when salvation, or the end would finally come.

  Chapter 1

  Fifteen minutes prior to Death Wall ignition of Science Dome 15

  Approximately eighty-two miles from Beuford, Washington

  It had only been a short while since the first signs of detection were evident. Science Dome 15’s special lookout squad watched in silent horror from the cloaked facility’s observation deck.

  In an instant, the trucks and jeeps pouring from the burning fires of Beuford had changed course. Every vehicle leaving the city now seemed headed in their direction.

  It was then that SD15’s observation team knew that their secret location was known. Japan’s Great Union had redirected their forces and were now coming for them.

  Five minutes later the scream of over revved engines filled the air as the small sleek shapes of Science Dome 15’s Bullet ground team rushed to intercept the coming assault.

  Perched outside just at the edge of Science Dome 15’s mammoth facility, Watch Tower leaned against the thin metal of the observation deck rails and focused his extended range glasses towards the cloud of churning sand and flying dirt that marked the location of the racing land fleet.

  A quiet terror settled across his shoulders. It choked the air around him and the young men that made up his observation crew. The heated metal of the observation rails, hot even at night when the sun was no longer in the sky, burned against his stomach through the thick fabric of his uniform and gear. Watch Tower found it odd that after all these years of holding this command post, it was now that he noticed.

  Trucks, tanks, and a hodgepodge of other massive land assault vehicles moved from the various fires slowly consuming Beuford. All appeared straight on course to the hidden facility. Nothing else stood within the vast open nothingness of the sun-battered land that separated the city from the cloaked location of Science Dome 15.

  There was no doubt the dome had been discovered. And there really was no question as to what was to be their fate.

  The vehicles and those that governed their advance were coming to attack and destroy the facility. But not before ripping from its core the technological secrets held there by a desperate nation.

  Fear seared through the facility. Not of death or of capture during war. But that the J.G.U. were coming to retrieve the United States’ last hope for winning the conflict, the Beam Cannon Hardware.

  Through their extended range glasses, Watch Tower and his crew watched the first of the Bullet land fleet meet the front vehicles of the J.G.U. assault. Their cannon fire ripped easily through the armor of the vehicles at the head of the convoy obliterating driver cabs and instantly shredding drive wheels and tires.

  After each delivery of heavy weapons fire, the quick-moving Bullets retreated easily avoiding the return bursts from deeper within the convoy.

  “Bullet Land Team to Observation Post,” a voice squawked from the comlink on Watch Tower’s wrist.

  “Go ahead Bullet Leader,” Watch Tower didn’t lower his glasses as he raised the communication hookup to his lips.

  "There's a lot of 'em, but their armor's pretty light. Minimal weaponry, relatively easy to disable. Advance confinable. Just need a bit more time."

  "Not much of that left," Watch Tower dropped his glasses and reported nervously back. He looked down at the sound of revving engines at the base of the dome as a second squadron of Bullet vehicles raced to join the fight. “You're only thirty miles out. And we've got scanner readings on another two hundred coming from the city."

  Watch Tower raised his glasses back to his eyes not hearing the ground leader's response. He wiped at the perspiration rolling down his face and shifted uncomfortably in his uniform coat. It was unbearably hot and moist having been recently dampened by a thick layer of sweat.

  * * *

  Down below in the deepest recesses of Science Dome 15, the officer in charge of the vehicle landing bay and the giant shielded doors protecting the entrance into the facility listened to the thunder of explosions pounding just outside.

  For the past ten minutes he had been monitoring the communications between the observation post and the Bullet defense teams.

  Missile blasts launched from J.G.U. land craft still thirty to forty miles away echoed loudly throughout the underground vehicle hanger. He could feel the dome’s massiveness shudder and shake from their impact. They were smashing and obliterating the terrain just outside the door he stood behind.

  He didn’t share the optimism of the Bullet squad commander leading the defense assault team outside. He knew the men perched on the lookout post many floors above shared his concerns.

  Bay Guard watched his nervous crews prepare the emergency receiving bays for the return of the Bullet fleet. They avoided looking at the holovid monitors that filled the hanger. Fires raged on the outside and heaps of destroyed wreckage cluttered the ground. Huge billows of black smoke swirled around further obscuring what little view was offered by the monitors.

  The crews readied the devices that would catch the retreating assault team and keep them from impacting against the walls when they came screaming through the giant entrance doors. The crewmen knew as well as he did that the receiving bays they prepared wouldn’t be of much use. The bays and landing equipment weren’t designed to handle the vehicle numbers necessary in ground battle.

  The harnessing device was created so that the land racers could enter the small dome landing bay without breaking speed. This was especially useful for quick returns on reconnaissance runs or perimeter patrols. They were also handy when land pilots were in danger of being located by overhead satellites or when outsiders wandered in too close to the cloaked dome.

  When a pilot entered the bay at top speed, the device struck out like a giant mechanized snake and snatched the vehicle off the floor preventing it from smashing against the wall. Vehicles could enter the small hanger bay at more than one hundred miles per hour, hit the harnessing mechanism, and stop instantaneously without injuring the driver or damaging the vehicle.

  The vehicle was then quickly whisked away by another machine to make way for more coming in behind. The harnessing devices were good for small controlled teams, but not meant for panicked retreats or large numbers of vehicles pouring into the bay at once.

  Despite the shortcomings of the harnessing device, both Bay Guard and his men also knew that many of the Bullet land fleet would probably not return at all. The ones that did most likely
would be coming in at such extreme speeds the emergency bays won’t be able to absorb the shock. They would explode across the walls and against each other before the equipment would have a chance to move the vehicles out of the way down the hanger and reset.

  Missile strikes chasing them in would kill still more. Strays would cause explosions, wreck equipment, and even take the lives of some of his men.

  A well-placed missile guided in by a J.G.U. gunner waiting for the door to open could actually kill them all.

  The crews readied all the receiving bays. Bay Guard didn’t need to look at the monitors displaying the outside battle to know its status. The J.G.U. had rolled through the town of Beuford and stormed across the hundred or so miles separating the destroyed town and Science Dome 15’s hidden location.

  Another explosion pounded just outside the shielded doors causing Bay Guard to turn from his consoles and glance up. He could almost smell the chaos of scorched earth, twisted metal and burning oil on the other side of the giant doors.

  * * *

  Another volley of weapons bursts transformed a handful of J.G.U. vehicles into flames. The Bullets zoomed in and around the wreckage to engage the others replacing them from the rear.

  For the moment, the enemy procession had stopped. A giant wall of flame and burning debris lay strewn across the drive paths of the coming trucks and jeeps. Several small explosions fed its fury momentarily making it impossible to pass.

  Watch Tower lowered his glasses. By now the battle was so close, he could watch it easily from the observation deck without any additional aid to his eyes.

  Suddenly becoming visible through the smoke and sand, bulkier more cumbersome trucks and tanks pushed from the back of the J.G.U. ranks. Their larger frames crushed and pushed aside the flaming wreckage of their own fleet vehicles fallen before them.

  "Bigger vehicles coming from the rear," Bullet Leader's voice came nervously from the comlink. "Breaking off from main attack to engage."

  And it was then Watch Tower saw them. "Oh, my God," he muttered softly.

  Two large sections of trucks split in opposite directions away from the convoy revealing the mammoth structures hidden behind. Their presence until recently concealed by thick black smoke, the dome destroyers towered the size of small buildings into the air.

  Large thick panels lowered along their sides to reveal each structure's awesome supply of large scale rockets and massive artillery cannons. Some continued their lumbering pace further towards SD15, while others rotated around to align their weapons at the dome's base.

  "Dome-killer enemy transports in sight!" Bullet Leader's voice screamed from the comlink. "Visual sighting of ten…make that fifteen units. Less than thirty miles out…some drawing weapons, others positioning to fire…!"

  Watch Tower jabbed his glasses roughly into the side of the lookout standing next to him and ran down the observation deck to the control panel at its center. Two of the other sentries manning the observation post closed their shoulders in next to him. Both kept their glasses pressed hard against their faces and pointed towards the battle waging below.

  "What the hell are those…?" one asked incredulously.

  "I need some help over here!" Watch Tower barked at the one standing closest to him.

  The young sentry dropped his glasses to the ground and slid behind the observation deck control panel. Watch Tower jumped around excitedly next to him flipping switches and punching at the controls.

  The sentry's glasses crunched softly beneath Watch Tower's darting feet.

  "Enter the codes. Enter them now!" Watch Tower almost shrieked. "Heat up the Death Wall! I want it primed and ready to go in the next three minutes. Three minutes or not at all. Do you got that?!"

  The sentry's hands became a blur across the panel. Watch Tower stepped away and turned back to the ground battle.

  The advancing trucks and other smaller vehicles then changed direction. Rather than continuing forward, they broke to the sides and away from the main group. As their numbers began to thin, more of the mammoth transports could be seen lined up single file behind them.

  Watch Tower raised his wrist and pressed the small metal of the comlink tightly against his lips.

  "Bullet Leader! Bullet Leader! Bring it back in!" Spit flew from the sides of his mouth and misted lightly across the controls in front of him. "Death Wall ignition two minutes and counting!”

  “Center all attack on the larger units!" Bullet Leader's voice came back across the communications link. "Gunners continue to fire. Repeat. Gunners continue to fire. Pilots bring the units back in. Full-scale retreat!"

  "Safety zone twenty miles!" Watch Tower yelled into his wrist. "Say again! Safety zone twenty miles! Death Wall ignition in two minutes."

  An entire fleet of the large transport vehicles became visible from beneath the flying grit obscuring the battle below. Like submarines skimming just below the water's surface, the top of the structures jutted ominously through the billowing black smoke.

  As if a single foot reached from the heavens and slammed their brake pedals to the floor, the Bullet vehicles spun about in coordinated unison as soon as the order to withdraw was given.

  Some catapulted across their sides and burst into flames while others were crushed by the mammoth wheels of the advancing transports.

  Cannon fire from the smaller vehicles slapped harmlessly off the transports’ heavy armor as the land fleet made its panicked retreat.

  Return artillery bursts from the transports picked at the smaller Bullet units transforming them one by one into bright balls of light that wounded the surrounding earth.

  "Lock down the dome!" Watch Tower yelled to the lookout manning the controls. "Get the concussion shields down immediately. Be ready to lower them completely on my mark. We're going to need to leave the bay area exposed until we get the team back in! Those transports are going to be following close behind!"

  The sentry didn't look up. Only the increased ferocity of his hands across the controls signaled acknowledgement of Watch Tower's latest command.

  "Bullet Leader," Watch Tower barked into the comlink again. "We're keeping the landing bay open as long as we can. You've got a twenty-mile safe zone when it goes off. And we're going to have to seal the doors at least fifteen seconds before that. If the shields aren't down when the Death Wall goes up, the whole facility could go down!"

  "We hear you Watch Tower," Bullet Leader’s voice came again from Watch Tower's wrist communication link. A calmness had replaced the controlled panic in his voice. "Keep those bay doors open as long as you can. Light up the wall the instant that first transport reaches the safe zone. Any one of those gets through, everyone will be dead…not just us."

  "Acknowledged Bullet Leader," Watch Tower said solemnly and lowered his wrist.

  Without turning his eyes from the battlefield, he nervously switched frequencies on his communication link. After a few quick taps of his fingers across its tiny controls, he raised it back to his lips. When he spoke, small drops of moisture jumped from his mouth into the warm dusty air.

  “Bay Guard! Bay Guard! How much of the team is secured?” Watch Tower felt his voice shriek out into the night.

  * * *

  Hundreds of feet below, Bay Guard finished working the controls that opened the mammoth doors to the landing bay. Opening the doors he had always been told was like rolling an animal on its back leaving its soft underside completely vulnerable to attack.

  The doors stood wide open allowing thick black smoke to pour inside. His eyes stung instantly from the fiery fallout of the battle. Like his crew around him, Bay Guard hurriedly pulled a breathing mask across his face.

  Through the protective material now covering his nose and eyes, he watched a group of about ten of the Bullet fleet break from the havoc of the battlefield and streak towards the landing bay. The vehicles were obliterated in an instant by missile and cannon fire launched by unseen jeeps and trucks chasing them from behind.

  “None!�
�� Bay Guard screamed back into his own communication piece strapped tightly to the back of his wrist.

  “Watch Tower, the team is not secured! None! I repeat. None! None of them are in!”

  * * *

  A new burst of explosions and chasing artillery fire forced Watch Tower to press his wrist transmitter closer to his ear.

  “Say again, Bay Guard!” Watch Tower felt himself scream. “How many are secured? We’ve got to get them in here! We’re going to light it!”

  “The Death Wall is set for launch!” a different sentry on the observation deck screamed at Watch Tower from the other end of the observation deck. He also struggled to be heard over the sound of blasts.

  "Bay Guard! Bay Guard! Is the Bullet team secured?"

  "Negative, Watch Tower!” Bay Guard’s voice crackled out over the explosions filling the night. “We just opened the door. No one’s made it to the door!”

  "We've got to get them in here! We're going to light it!" Watch Tower jerked away from the control panel and brought his glasses back to bear on the ferocious ground battle being waged less than twenty-five miles from Science Dome 15.

  “Bullet Leader!” Watch Tower barked in a flurry of spit into the side of his wrist. “We have got to get them in here now! You’ve got to move them in faster or we’re going to close the whole bay out! The doors have to be shut. And they have to be shut now!”

  The sentry working the controls stood up and ran down the length of the observation deck and disappeared into the darkness at the far end of the platform. Flames from the battle below cast eerie shadows across the entire observation post.

  Watch Tower gripped the large main guard rail that surrounded the observation decks and ignored the mild burn of its metal reaching through the fabric of his gloved hands. Grimly, he watched the Bullet land fleet speed toward the dome receiving bay. His stomach clutched painfully inside his gut as he watched five more vehicles explode into nothingness. The flames from their blasts lit up the night sky.