The First City Falls - A Sci-Fi Short Story

3 Hunters and Rail Cannons

AELIAN

Kohn and Aelian's RITTERs sat by their staging area. Kneeling and waiting, they had not taken their sights away from the city, fixing Aelian's Mark 108B rail-cannon on strategic points of the city. The cannon were almost twice as long as their RITTER bodies. Made to be fired in space, carrying it in the gravity of Proximo was surely a hassle, but the power they brought was not something to be underestimated.

Now, however, the pilots of the RITTERs raised their heads, and with it, so did the heads of their venerable mounts. The red sky of the forever sunset had a new addition; aside from the gargantuan war ships of the Jovian Navy that dotted the skies, were trails of fire from the skies, dropping onto the calm atmosphere of the city, not dissimilar from asteroids descending onto an unsuspecting world to bring only one word... Death.

The drop pods of Legio IX RAPAX came into the world of Proximo with a vengeful fury, but the defending Citizens of the First City did not simply roll over and give up, even that the city they called home had already been completely ransacked by bombardment. They fired back. Great cannons could be heard thumping in the distance, missiles were launched, and tracers from the orbital defense guns lit up the twilight sky. Though some pods were hit and disintegrated in the open sky, it did not stop them; as minutes passed, the many hundreds of surviving pods landed into various points of the city. Buildings, courtyards, sporting stadiums, malls, housing areas, government buildings, banks... Men encased in powered armor and some supporting legionary RITTERs unleashed and razed hell, quickly moving out of vulnerable positions and formed pockets of assault troops ready to storm the fortress that was the First City.

"Our brothers have arrived." Said Captain Kohn, through the radio.

"Your orders, captain?" asked Aelian.

"Let's start getting our heads in the game. Get the main cannons; this is the last chance we get to take them out. Fire on the direction of their tracers."

"Roger that."

Aelian then configured a few buttons on his overhead control panels. Then, a socket from on top of him opened, and a large firing visor lowered. He pulled the visor down to his eyes. He took another set of controls with his right hand, which was in the form of a pistol grip with a trigger. He put his finger away from the trigger, standing by.

"Guns online. Waiting for your go."

"Roger. Let me get on the horn first. OK. All Hunters, this is Hunter Three-Zero. We are in position. Permission to fire on ground targets at Sector Five-Seven. Over."

A different voice came in. "Three-Zero, this is Six. Fire at will. Good hunting. Break. Be advised. The Interpid has spotted two targets in your sector. They're big guns."

"Roger, Six. We have visual on targets." Kohn said.

"Roger. Better get them fast, otherwise we won't have a second wave. Ode to Jove."

"Ode to Jove." She said, then switched frequencies to the local. "Alright, Jack. You know the drill."

"A bit too well."

"Now won't you look at that. Target, Gun, to our Southwest... Bearing... One-Nine-Zero. Range Fiver Two Zero Zero."

"Roger. Shifting." Said Aelian. He shifted slightly to the left, and got sight of the gun. It was a large gun, nearly four stories tall, shaped like a massive dome, with a large barrel protruding off it... according to intelligence reports, the First City's Orbital Defense Gun was capable of piercing atmospheric resistances and fire into space. It had just emerged from the ground, and every time it fired, it shook the ground around it. The First City was designed with measures that allowed its vital infrastructure to 'sink' into the ground to avoid orbital bombardment. Having scouted the area before, it was no doubt that it had been a normal park of sorts before today. Around it were anti-aircraft artillery that flailed around tracers up into the red sky, doubtlessly trying to get as many drop pods as it could.

Kohn continued. "Two rapid shots down the rotation motors. On scope."

"Roger. Two shots. Locking in. This bastard isn't going anywhere but down." Said Aelian. He fixed his gun on the target, and the firing computer loaded into the aiming visor quickly displayed several firing possible trajectories. Aelian went for a straight shot between the base of the massive turret's armor and the motors below, which was amongst the weakest points. There was a medium pitched beep as the system declared READY TO FIRE. "I have tone." Said Aelian.

"Roger. Fire."

Aelian moved his finger onto the trigger. "Firing. Guns." He squeezed the trigger, and the mechanism engaged. The M108 ignited, as the coils heated up, releasing intense energy down the barrel, and engaged the projectile, propelling it with immense force out of the barrel... And it discharged in a blink of an eye. They could barely see it, as a seemingly invisible projectile struck onto the low flank of the Orbital Defense Gun. It cranked and stopped moving, but the turret above still fired.

Aelian loaded the gun with another round. He checked the temperature of the coils, and saw that it was not too hot to fire another one. "Firing two."

He squeezed the trigger again, and the second round broke air and crashed into the massive gun, and moments later, it toppled onto its side, neutralized and useless. Aelian could see the crew abandoning the massive gun, as it crashed down onto the smaller artillery pieces around it.

"Good kill." Said Kohn. "Shift fire to Two-Eight-Zero. By the commercial tower. Three-One-Zero-Zero."

Another similar gun was firing its shots up high, and it was up to them to take it out.

"Quickly now. The second wave is coming any second."

He shifted fire and the same drill was repeated. Into the visors. Lock. Squeeze the trigger. Ignition. Hit.

"Firing number two."

The railgun was too hot now, one more shot and they'd have to replace the barrel. Aelian squeezed the trigger anyway, and this time it was a bullseye: they hit straight into the magazine of the gun, causing a massive explosion that threw parts of the Orbital Gun all over.

Aelian, seeing the railgun being too hot, then disengaged the barrel and let the smoking barrel drop on the ground.

"Four rounds." Said Aelian. "Not bad, but had we been closer to the sunlight zone... It wouldn't have lasted two shots."

"Technology has its limits, but the human mind?" Said Kohn. She chuckled. "Good shooting. Re-equip to close quarters and booster gear. We'll leave the guns here for Squadron to pick it up."

"Roger that."

And just like that, they picked themselves up and slid down the slope, cutting a path to where their maintenance team was.

Above them, the second wave descended, now facing minimal resistance due to the successful neutralization of orbital defenses by the Hunter team. They were not in pods, but large drop ships of various sizes that could house from hundreds to thousands of men

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