Stonehaaryn labyrinth, Pyrotus Six, September of 7461 AL.
He could hear the tanks' treads rumbling up ahead, paving the way for the battalion on its march towards their objective; Calx Urbs, an underground research facility operated by Clades Corporation. The facility had been built around a tungsten mine early in the Colonial War; tungsten was a vital resource to both sides of the war, it was used to produce armor plating on warships, tanks, and aircraft vital to the war effort. Salem was leading a column of tanks and foot soldiers through a massive stone labyrinth towards their insertion point. There were a dozen other columns like his working their way towards the facility, once they were in position they would begin a coordinated strike to capture the base, simultaneously weakening the Stonehaaryn leadership by eliminating several high-ranking individuals in Clades and releasing several hundred POWs.
Calx Urbs was one of a hundred underground facilities in the Stonehaaryn inner systems; as the war dragged on it became apparent to the Coalition's leadership that the Machinae would eventually reach the inner systems around Garnavaan. The Machinae's shock-and-awe style of warfare left them with little time to prepare; they attacked with overwhelming numbers and heavy armor, crushing the Stonehaaryns' defenses and capturing planets by the fistful before they had the opportunity to mount a proper defense. In preparation for the eventual invasion of their home-system, the Coalition began building fortified positions underground; on the planets in the inner systems, they built fortresses primarily underground surrounded by minefields that went on for kilometers. They dug pitfalls so that tanks would prove useless, they hid automated gun emplacements everywhere they could manage so aircraft couldn't safely approach. On the off chance they made it past the anti-aircraft guns, the forts were protected by dome shields; aerial bombardment wasn't worth the effort until they'd already penetrated the facility's defenses and disabled the shield. Entire planets were converted into fortified positions, making traditional combat all but impossible in the inner systems; the Machinae tactics were useless, but the resources the colonies stored were too valuable to skip over. They were left with a single option; traversing the labyrinths.
The Coalition's leaders knew the Machinae would eventually become frustrated and abandon the inner systems, instead barreling straight towards Garnavaan to attack their enemy's home directly. The Stonehaaryn home-system was not prepared to fend off such an assault, so they had to improvise; they had to make the inner colonies difficult to capture, but not impossible. Massive stone labyrinths were carved around the bases, providing an attractive alternative to the minefields aboveground. The Machinae war leaders knew the labyrinths were trapped, but traversing them was still less costly than attempting a head-on assault through the minefields. They were time consuming, but not overly difficult; seismic scans provided the proper pathways for the columns to follow, the hardest part for them was marching through the dull gray tunnels for days on end. As long as there were no parasites, at least; in Salem's experience there were always parasites.
"Our forward recon team hasn't checked in yet," Hyde chimed in, "They're almost a minute late; they should be checking in every four minutes."
"Try reaching them on radio," Salem said, shifting nervously in his seat; his APC was in the center of the column, the battalion's tanks were covering their front and rear while soldiers marched in formation behind them. They had sent rabbits ahead to scout out the tunnel and check for traps; the rabbits were lightly-armored vehicles with machineguns mounted on the back, they were perfect for running around the tunnels. More importantly, they could outrun Stonehaaryn missile turrets; that had proven an invaluable feature on more than one occasion.
"I have, no response," Hyde said, "We need to send someone ahead to check on them."
"Never thought you'd be worried about puny mortals," Salem muttered to himself, picking up his radio receiver.
YOU ARE READING
The Grey Chronicles Part One: New Declaration of An Old War
Science FictionSalem Grey has finally negotiated a peace treaty between the Machinae, a war born culture descended from the remnants of the human race, and the Stonehaaryn Coalition, an alien race with blue skin and pointed ears. Both factions were formerly enslav...
