Battle Earth Read Free

research team were waiting for them. They all wore pressure suits and several had pistols slung on their waists. Ruby and Larson stepped out to greet their colleagues who were grim faced.
    “You’d better start talking, Ruby,” said Morris.
    “I don’t know how else to say this, Sir. When we arrived at the co-ordinates we found Shuttle 5 empty. We followed our scanner to the site of four readings, where we witnessed the execution of the shuttle’s crew by two beings, the likes of which I have never seen.”
    “You saw this too?” asked Morris.
    “Yes, Sir, they had a ship with some type of chameleon skin to it. Their weapons appeared to be energy based devices.”
    “Do we have any reason to think that any other organisations could be on the planet with us, Sir?” asked Ruby.
    “Like who?”
    “I don’t know, a private company, or a foreign military.”
    “This is a joint operation by twenty-one countries, who would try and undermine that?”
    Morris’ intercom on his wrist crackled as a transmission came through from their command centre.
    “Sir, we have three vessels incoming, they are not responding to...”
    Before the operator could finish a huge explosion erupted in the entry doors to the docking yard. They were knocked off their feet by the blast.
    “Masks on! Masks on!” Morris shouted.
    Larson and Ruby hit the controls on their suits and slid their dome-topped helmets over to revert to their own oxygen supply. They huddled behind a stack of large crates and watched as three small vessels passed through the breach swooping in quickly to land in the wide-open area used for supply deliveries. The vessels were mimicking their surroundings just as the one did before, now replicating the grey metallic surfaces of the docking area.
    Within seconds of landing, six figures emerged from them and were already shooting at any people they could see. Morris looked in horror as he drew his pistol.
    “What do we do, Sir?” shouted Larson.
    He didn’t respond, only watched as four of their armed personnel tried to engage their armoured foes. The energy weapons fizzled as blue pulses ripped through the interior of the walls. Within seconds the defenders were lying dead on the floor of the docking bay, their bodies smouldering. Morris had quickly come to the same conclusion that they had previously. These were not humans.
    The figures walked on thin metallic legs that appeared to be sprung, supporting their substantial bodies. They could only imagine that it was an armoured suit encasing whatever was controlling it. Morris turned back to Larson and Ruby.
    “We are finished here, take your shuttle, you’ll have enough power and supplies to reach the Moon colony. Get a transmission out immediately reporting what you have seen, they must be warned!”
    “How are we going to get past them?” asked Ruby.
    They turned back to watch as the six soldiers continued on into the heart of the colony. They were certainly on a mission to purge it. Morris looked back at the two men he had with him, each was armed with the same personal defence weapon he had in his hand.
    “We’ll try and hold them here as long as we can, you just get out and send that signal immediately!”
    “What do they want from us?” she asked.
    The shock had begun to pass as fear set in. All around them had long faces, they were realising that their lives were likely coming to an abrupt end. A number of the personnel had firearms training on the research colony, but never expected a need to use them.
    “You know as much as I do, now get out of here!” shouted Morris.
    He moved out from beyond the crates with the other crew and rushed to the door where the soldiers had gone through. They knew they were heading for their own deaths, but there was no choice left. Ruby and Larson watched as they reached the doorway. Morris looked back at them and nodded. They took the signal for what it was and leapt out from the cover and ran to their shuttle. The