Battle Earth Read Free Page A

engines were fired up before the shuttle ramp was closed. Larson stumbled as they lifted off the docking bay floor as he was trying to make his way towards the cockpit.
    “Come on, strap yourself in!” she shouted at him.
    He jumped into the seat as she manoeuvred them out. He stared at the obscure ships occupying their docking bay. They were the same vessel type they had witnessed earlier. The ever-changing surface texture that camouflaged them against any terrain still made it difficult to fully make out any details on them.
    “Time to get the hell out of here!”
    She hit the power and they surged towards the smashed doorway where the attackers had blasted through. In seconds they burst out of the docking bay and quickly gained altitude. They had expected to see some monstrous vessel blocking their path, but there was nothing. Only the same barren and desolate landscape and sky they had become so accustomed. The shuttle broke out of the Mars atmosphere and into the cold darkness of space. There were still no signs of any other ships in the vicinity.
    “We made it!” shouted Larson.
    “Maybe.”
    Ruby reached forward and programmed the transmitter to send a direct and live feed to their sister organisation on the Moon colony.
    “You’re going to send it out live?”
    “Yes, we have no idea how much time we have.”
    She took a deep breath and started the transmission.
    “This is Shuttle 12 of the Ares research base. The colony has just been attacked by unidentified hostiles. We are the only known survivors. The attackers utilised a chameleon type technology on their ships and attacked without provocation or any form of communication. They were well equipped and ruthless.”
    “What’s that on the scanner?” asked Larson.
    She looked down to see an object approaching them from the planet at high speed.
    “Hold on!”
    The shuttle surged forward as Ruby put full power to their engines.
    “At this speed we won’t have enough power to reach any of the colonies!” shouted Larson.
    “If we can’t outrun these bastards it won’t matter anyway!”
    “They’re still gaining on us!”
    “Larson, are we still transmitting?”
    “Yes!”
    “This is Shuttle 12, we are under attack by what can only be described as alien forces, we cannot outrun them, do not...”
    The shuttle was hit by a high power weapon that ripped it open killing both aboard instantly, the remnants floated apart in a fizzling array of twisted metal.

Chapter 2
     

    “Thirty seconds!” shouted Rains into the intercom.
    The Eagle FV assault copter soared across the treetops like a vulture to its prey. 5.45am and the sun was just rising from the trees in the distance. Rains rubbed his eyes, feeling the early start more than usual. As a navy pilot he was conditioned to early morning operations but since their new joint operations, the Commander was pushing them hard.
    Behind the cockpit of the copter sat ten U.S. marines. They each wore the Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP), which was worn by all U.S., European Union and Alliance of Asia forces, as well as a number of smaller members of the UEN, United Earth Nations. After World War 3 there had been a more determined attempt than ever to unify the major powers in the world. The world had not seen a war between major powers for sixty years.
    “Another fine day in the Marine Corps,” said Captain Friday.
    Mitch Taylor grinned at his second in command as he looked back out of the porthole. He could see the almost silhouettes of their other aircraft soaring along beside them, nine in his view alone. The Major led back in his seat and looked around at his HQ Squad to be sure they were ready. The side doors slid open.
    “Let’s do this!” shouted Mitch.
    The copter’s tail slung down as the vehicle came to an abrupt hover, the signal light turning green. Without wasting another moment the Major leapt from the door. It was a thirty-metre fall to the street below, close to the limits of their