Overrun Page 22

The rapid fire of machine cannons filled the once still air surrounding the perimeter of Dome 26. Dirt and scraps of metal exploded in small clumps amidst both land forces as they raced to meet each other head-on.

  "Foot Four, Five and Six, I need steady blanket fire dead ahead," the leader of the land force sounded from the transmitter. "Right at them. Concentrate initial shots on frontmost vehicles. Spread and divide their formations. Clear them out some and don't let any of them regroup enough to mount their own attack. We have to take it all from them right here!"

  Rockets detached themselves from the sides of the Bigfoot vehicles before the order had even been completely given. Propelled by long bright fiery tails streaking through the dark night, they nearly completely obliterated the initial wave of charging jeeps and trucks. A few larger tanks were left damaged and immobile on either side.

  A cheer went up from the men manning the observation post. Sky Angel continued to look straight ahead and didn’t share in the applause.

  The battle being waged on the ground outside the dome was now close enough he did not need his extended range glasses to monitor its progress. Even from his spot high above, he was beginning to be able to feel the warmth emitting from the flames of the fight.

  The sound of flying rockets and exploding ammunition pounded against his ears.

  The Bigfoot assault crashed head-on into the advancing J.G.U. forces. In an instant, many of the vehicles racing from both sides crumpled and exploded into nothingness.

  The second wave from both fleets swerved to avoid the fiery pileup and the many destroyed and burning dead from the initial run. Rockets whistled through the air as both forces split their assault formations apart. More J.G.U. and Bigfoot units exploded under weapons fire. Additional vehicles from both sides were crushed beneath the falling wreckage.

  "Spread out, Foot Team," Foot Leader's voice came through the transmitter still calm and controlled. "The fight's too close. We're going to have to end everything right here."

  "Less than ten miles away," Sky Angel reported into his communication link. “That’s ten miles. Distance closing.”

  Ahead of him, like Boston in the distance, the countryside was consumed by a blazing fire.

  After slicing through and reaching the rearmost end of the J.G.U. land force, the survivors of the initial Bigfoot assault whipped their vehicles around and streaked back towards the dome.

  When they again reached the front and positioned themselves between the coming onslaught and the dome, the crews pulled their vehicles back together as a group and assembled into a single straight attack line.

  From where he watched from the platform, Sky Angel could hear the arming devices on their side rockets begin to prime.

  The J.G.U. land troops increased their speed, pulled their vehicles closer together and continued their charge towards the Bigfoot force.

  "Five miles away," Sky Angel said more nervously keeping his eye on the small assembled vehicle firing line. “That’s five miles. Five miles and closing quickly.”

  "Hold…" Foot Leader instructed his stopped force. “Hold positions just a few seconds more.”

  His words were followed by a thick line of smoke that had detached itself from the front assault vehicles of the J.G.U.

  "Let em’ go!" Foot Leader said smartly into his transmitter. “All weapons fire!”

  Hundreds of rockets detached from the Bigfoot land units as if in one single movement and rushed toward the J.G.U. assault.

  The J.G.U.-launched projectile trailing black and red smoke wove untouched through the onslaught directly into the center of the Bigfoot formation.

  It smashed through the cockpit of the center unit and obliterated it into dust. Shrapnel from the blast ripped the next closest two apart into nothingness. Other units were thrown over on their sides and into the air. Still others were drenched instantly in thick flames.

  A quarter mile away, the hundreds of fired Bigfoot rockets ripped effortlessly into the coming brigade and decreased its heavy numbers in one blinding flash. Fire, smoke and scorched earth fell across what was left of the battlefield outside the dome.

  "Goddamn," Sky Angel swore quietly.

  "Anyone still around, full retreat!" Foot Leader’s voice yelled from the transmitter. The few Bigfoot assault vehicles still visible through the smoke quickly reversed their course away from the blazing chaos in front of them.

  "Full retreat," Foot Leader said more evenly. "Bring it back fellas. Get back inside now."

  Thick black smoke and ruined earth rained from and covered the sky. The surviving crews of the Bigfoot team turned their vehicles slowly back. Raging flames ripped across the vehicle wreckage.

  Satisfied momentarily that the onslaught had been contained, Sky Angel turned and headed down the platform towards the elevator.

  "Sir," one of the sentries grabbed and held him near his elbow before he could completely go. Sky Angel followed the sentry’s gaze past his outstretched arm.

  Sky Angel raised his extended range glasses back up to his face. It was then he saw them. From the fire and smoke, the enemy jeeps and tanks continued to come.

  "Somebody's not doing their job down there!" Sky Angel screamed into the transmitter.

  "Holy shit! Are you guys seeing this back there?" Foot Leader's voice crackled nervously back.

  "We see it, Foot Leader. Where the fuck are they coming from?!" Dome Leader's voice came through from the command center.

  "I don't know how, but they're still coming!"

  "Way too close, Foot Leader!" Sky Angel shrieked into his comm. "Intercept in sixty seconds! Bigfoot Leader, turn your team around!"

  "I know, I know! Foot Team, on my mark, I want you guys to turn around and launch every goddamn thing you got. When you're done, I want you use hand weaponry and throw goddamn rocks if you have to. Target the center of their formation. Take care of stragglers with cannon fire!"

  "Dome Defense, launch everything you've got done there!" Sky Angel yelled again into his transmitter. "Send every last man out there! They're almost here, goddamn it!"

  "Everything’s out, sir. Pilots are priming the few we've got left…," his transmission then faded away.

  "Dome Command, we have to make an emergency evac! Sky Angel screamed. "Now! This is way too close. Start sending people out the other way."

  "It's too late. We should have done that already!" Dome Leader's voice chopped back at him. "They never should have made it this close. Or even known we were here."

  "Four more miles," someone reported solemnly along the platform’s rail.

  Sky Angel dropped his glasses and held the outer rails until his knuckles turned white. Directly below, the few remaining Bigfoot units slammed on their brakes and spun around in the sand to defend one final time against the advance.

  "Two miles," another voice said. "They're only two miles away."

  A different sentry pulled at Sky Angel's arm.

  "What is it?" Sky Angel asked watching the J.G.U. cover the short distance between them and the Bigfoot units. The heat of the air and the fiery warmth the wind carried from the explosions of battle brought a blanket of sweat pouring down his neck and face.

  "What are those?" the sentry asked his mouth agape and fear widening his eyes.

  Through the flames and burning wreckage more vehicles appeared.

  Churning across the twisted battle wreckage, two mammoth rectangular superstructure vehicles emerged that until now had been hidden at the rear of the battle. Large heavily armored square block sections along their tops towered nearly as high as the dome’s observation platforms. Their sides were also covered completely with ammunition armor and heavy steel.

  "They're beginning to pull back," the man who had just grabbed Sky Angel's arm announced nervously. "The smaller ones are starting to pull back. They're halting their attack."

  "Those things aren’t," Sky Angel answered him.

  "What the hell are those things?" Dome Leader's voice crackled in the background thro
ugh the static-filled airwaves.

  One of the structures, which looked like a small building mounted on top of mammoth steel wheels, stopped at the front of the formation and faced the Bigfoot team.

  While everyone watched with breaths frozen and constricted within their throats, a large panel dropped from its front. A barrage of cannon fire spewed forth from the blackness hidden behind. The new onslaught of weapon rounds tore into the remaining Bigfoot team and chewed into the bottommost structure of the dome.

  Three Bigfoots were immediately ignited into a single ferocious blaze while those remaining swerved to avoid being swallowed by the destruction.

  Only ten of the seventy-five unit Bigfoot team remained on the battlefield. They sped and veered through the smoldering and burning wreckage trying to survive the newest attack.

  "Everyone back!" screamed Foot Leader. "Just get away from that thing."

  The remaining pilot crews of the Bigfoot team lurched their vehicles violently around and fled toward the dome. They were dwarfed to tiny details along the smoldering battlefield in comparison to the giant units that chased behind.

  Cannon fire ate up the dirt around them, and flame now completely engulfed the base of the dome.

  The second of the two superstructures pulled next to the first which continued to hurl cannon fire after the retreating dome land fleet. The second structure slowly set its wheels in the sand and shifted its mammoth shape until its side faced the dome.

  Its entire side surface area detached in one long single armored panel and dropped heavily to the ground. The impact created a huge crater ahead of it in the dirt. More than a hundred large-scale rockets twisted out on fiery tails from the structure's side and streaked out towards the dome and the fleeing Bigfoot land force.

  "Oh, my God," Sky Angel said standing tautly on the lookout platform.

  More cannon fire blasted across the battle-obliterated earth transforming two more Bigfoot units into brightly colored explosions. A third could not avoid the wreckage and became lost itself in their dying flames.

  Even from as high as the observation team stood, Sky Angel could hear the tortured screams of the Bigfoot engines as their crews fought desperately to escape.

  And then from the side of the second structure, another mammoth barrage of missiles was launched.

  Some tore across the ground. The rest ripped into the side of the dome. A wall of flames reaching higher than the topmost point of the facility ripped into the thunderous night air.

  The force of the blast toppled the entire observation team down across the hard metal grates of the deck. Sky Angel staggered to the edge of the swaying platform. Without looking at the pile of bodies moving at his feet, he knew two of his men were already gone.

  He trained his glasses at the fiery carnage below while the rest of the sentries struggled to stand.

  Nothing was visible in the distance. Not the old city of Boston. Not any of the surrounding countryside. Everything was consumed by raging flames. The platform Sky Angel stood across appeared to have been raised from the depths of Hell itself.

  Sky Angel covered his face with his arms to lessen the pain of the burning air searing through his lungs and across his skin.

  "Foot Leader, Foot Leader!" the muffled sound of the dome commander’s transmitted voice crackled from somewhere deep inside the facility. "Report. Somebody report. Outer dome doors need to be sealed. Say again. Dome doors need to be sealed. We’ll be dropping them soon. Need status report from the field."

  There was no response.

  "They're all gone!" Sky Angel screamed into the hot metal of his transmitter.

  "Drop the plates!" Dome Leader's orders came in panicked shrieks. "Drop everything now! Charge the blast cannons! Now! Charge them now!"

  Sky Angel staggered to the end of the deck. The heat from the ground was so intense he was sure the air was eating away his skin and scorching out his eyes.

  Next to him, one of the sentries gasped for breath and struggled to bring himself up from his knees. He pulled hard at the burning metal of the outer rail but still was not able to stand.

  Two of the other sentries pushed past Sky Angel and ran from the platform. Under the protection of the metal overhang near the dome's side, one punched at the controls to the elevator while another screamed and clutched his eyes.

  "If you don't completely stop them when you fire, we'll never recover from the energy loss!" Sky Angel screamed into the transmitter he clutched tightly to his mouth. "It will be our last and only shot! After that they're going to come right in!"

  "What the hell do you think they're doing now?!" Dome Leader's transmitted voice raged back at him through heavy bursts of static. "Nothing's stopping them. This is it! The land fleet is gone. I'm cutting power to some of the lower level systems that are gone. That should give us at least a little more power to recharge those guns!"

  Only one lookout remained on the swaying melting platform. He leaned up against the flames licking against the outer rails and stared across the land that had become completely engulfed in roaring fire.

  Sky Angel moved next to him and brought his glasses back to his eyes. Heat across its metal seared painfully across his face.

  "They're still coming!" the sentry screamed to him.

  "Dome Leader!" Sky Angel screamed into the transmitter in his fist.

  "Plates dropping now!"

  The platform swayed and rocked more furiously under their feet. Both men leaned over the rails to see the massive rectangular steel protective plates rip themselves from the dome's sides and disappear into the fire across the ground. Before they had completely fallen away, the awesome shapes of the dome's blast cannons had already slid through.

  The tips of the massive weapons quickly rotated around and came to bear on the attacking land fleet. While they were being primed and readied to fire, smaller rockets streaked away from the ports next to them into the J.G.U. onslaught.

  "Charging complete," a faint voice tried to break through the static of Sky Angel’s transmitter.

  "Fire it! Fire everything now!" Dome Leader responded immediately back.

  The recoil from the first blast knocked Sky Angel off his feet away from the outer rail. He landed hard on his back across the platform deck. All lights across the observation deck dimmed at the sudden rerouting of the dome's power.

  Three more shots ripped from the blast cannons. The recoil from the massive release of destructive energy caused the observation platform to sway violently nearly tearing it from the facility’s side and toppling it into the fire.

  Still sprawled on his back across the hot metal of the platform, Sky Angel watched the first superstructure, barely visible through the fire, disintegrate in a bright white flash to absolute nothingness. More than twenty vehicles nearby were also destroyed by the gargantuan blast.

  For a brief moment, from what could be seen through the massive smoke and raging flames, the J.G.U. assault appeared to stop.

  "Fire everything," Dome Leader screamed. "Fire everything now!"

  Sky Angel staggered to his feet and stared across the charred earth. Flaming wreckage littered the vast area like an exploded garbage dump. Shredded pieces of the Bigfoot team could be seen scattered throughout.

  Every armored defense plate across the dome dropped with men firing from every port. Bolts of energy streaked in a furious eruption of weapons fire from the facility’s side.

  Sky Angel managed to drag himself to his feet and clung desperately to the swaying platform's outer rail. With his free hand, he trained his glasses across the ground.

  The J.G.U. force continued to come. He helplessly watched the completion of the battle being lost before him. Additional rockets and cannon fire roared from the dome’s side and chewed into the already wounded earth. The course of the J.G.U. invasion remained maddeningly constant and did not halt.

  "We've got one coming in, sir," screamed the only sentry still standing with him on the platform. Immediately following his word
s, a large weapons blast threw both of them from the rail into a pile across each other on the deck.

  Sky Angel rolled himself over and watched the missile's smoke trail approach.

  In an instant the lookout platform was gone, obliterated to nothingness along with its crew. More than half of Dome 26's overhead structure was ripped completely loose from the blast. Its exterior walls toppled in on themselves and fell downward.

  Thousands died in an instant. Falling debris buried countless more. Rockets and missiles continued to fire from along the ground and the sections of the dome that continued to stand.

  The J.G.U. force continued to advance slowly across the demolished battlefield. Until about a quarter mile from the dome's outer walls, all the vehicles finally stopped. Bombarded by some of the heaviest firing from Dome 26 yet, the remaining vehicles assembled closer together. Many were quickly obliterated beneath the flashes, flames and destruction from the facility's defensive fire.

  The massive superstructures stood tall and still against the flaming night sky and slowly rotated to their sides. The other remaining J.G.U. vehicles lined up just behind them and the protection offered by their gigantic armored walls.

  Weapons fire smashed across the tops of the superstructures, but nothing penetrated their heavy steel. In unison, both structures dropped their side arsenal plates and brought their rocket assemblages to bear. The heavy firing around them lit up the darkness with vicious flashes of orange, red and white light.

  In the same instant, both structures fired. Hundreds of rockets broke from their sides and streaked as one solid rushing force towards the exploding facility.

  When they reached the dome, some sailed through the open defense ports while most of the others impacted across its side. The blast crumpled in its steel and left a giant twisted wound similar to a fired bullet having entered flesh. More than a third of it toppled over and buried itself into the fire-ravaged ground.

  A small group of J.G.U. jeeps slowly entered what was still standing of the smoking twisted skeleton of the damaged facility. Small trucks and additional superstructures rolled around its perimeter to the back of the dome firing occasionally at escaping survivors.