Solar Warden

The drill Part 99

It took a bit till the lift came up again and the door opened. The machine stepped out and accelerated towards the entrance.

Everybody were sprinting as long as they could. They were now in the corridor which led out. Mighty steps were coming closer from behind. Caine was the last one. But Samuel was on his limits. He could not keep the speed. Feeling the pain, he tried to override with his will. Focusing kept him a bit longer running. The cut hole was close. Then around the corner. This machine was taller than the cut. Still the door did not move up.

Samuel slowed a bit down. Caine was close to him.

"Go, go, go!" Caine shouted. A shot was passing. They went around the corner. Samuel slowed further down.

"Don't stop!" Caine shouted. Samuel did his best to keep up. It was only the mind which kept him running now.

The machine went on the opening. Still the door did not open. Now three sentries fired. It also seemed to do nothing. From the left arm three shots were fired and the sentries were down.

Samuel was now on slow jogging speed.

SW-2 returned fire, to keep the machine occupied, while the others made their run on the side of the cave.

After exchanging some shots, finally, the machine stepped back.

"It must have respect from the combat drones," Ryan said a bit out of breath. He was with Newman already out of danger a bit down the hill.

Now Samuel came also to the for now safe zone. He broke down fully exhausted and went to the ground.

Even here the radio seemed to be not working. Ryan could connect to the ones close to him, but the Icarus was not available. He went close to the relay station they had. Then he got a connect.

"Captain we lost man down there. I didn't count yet. Also here our communication works not very well," he reported while looking around.

"What happened down there?" the Captain asked.

"They encountered a heavy armored mechanic machine on legs. It also had some kind of shield against the alien rifle. We had nothing to damage it. I will draw back to the landing zone and check the data we got. Then you get the numbers and names who are missing. I guess we need then also resupplies."

"We still can observe the area. Report back as soon as you can. Can you send some data, now?" the Captain asked.

"I let all transfer their records before we leave here," Ryan replied then activated his record transfer.

"Everyone to the relay station and transfer your records up. Then we regroup at the landing zone!" Ryan shouted.

Freeman went to him. "Three bikes are down. Some have to walk."

"The first ones on the landing zone come back to pick up the walking!" Ryan shouted.

Then all went to the relay station and loaded up their records. There was always a record running if not turned off. But additionally it was possible to record something into an extra file. Even with different settings.

The first ones left after transmitting the data. Ryan went with SW-6 on a walk till they got picked up.

He had already the number that three were missing and it was clear that Pearce and Knight were not there. Arriving at the landing zone Freeman told him that Riley was the third missing.

It was a short check now as the communication worked, then the missing ones were verified.

"Captain, we need a new battle plan. Knight, Pearce and Riley are missing. Lee and Chavez are well. This armored machine is denying us the access to the cave. With this communication disruption field, we cannot operate with drones very well or at all," Ryan reported after his short troop check.

"We pinpointed one of this jamming transmitters. Now fighters will try to destroy it. Then we could have at the cave entrance a better situation. Inside this mountain base we can do nothing, then get the position of the next one. This armored machine seems to be a problem. Trying to destroy it with rocket launchers would be difficult and dangerous," the Captain replied.

"Yes, I check now the options with Newman. If we have something I report at once."

"Good, we will now also search for a solution. We keep you informed," the Captain said. He had already given the order to find a way to destroy the machine. He followed now the approach of the fighter. The craft flew in attack range near the mountain. Then the pilot fired his railguns and microwave guns similar like a drone would do it. He flew a bit slower than the drones, but used the attack assistance system which aligned the guns to the correct position. So he had only to fly at a five-degree angle to the target.

The three seconds burst hit and the jamming signal of this transmitter vanished.

On the tactical display the fighter flew away.There was no defense system. They had already checked before as good as theycould. But this was a strange behavior. What is a jammer worth without beingdefended, the Captain thought?