Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 490: Landing on Yuri
Jace stood in his full Spectre armor on the bridge of the Wolfsbane as the screens showed the passing lights as the wave rider drive was still activated. "We are only a few minutes from arriving. Are you sure you do not want to be on the bottom deck with the landing party?"
"No," Jace answered Solisa as they watched screens. "I need to be up here then I will head down to assist them. Are our starships ready to launch? I want complete coverage as soon as possible. Controlling the airspace is the first step in this battle."
"They are all ready. We are disabling the drive in 3...2...1!" Solisa commenced the countdown and then the screens all suddenly changed as they rapidly approached a dark planet. It was only lit up by the artificial lights that covered buildings.
They moved right past a large ship that was covered in a white gold armor plating. It looked like one of the many Holy Empire star ships that were blockading the planet. They barely missed it as they flew right toward the planet before suddenly the screens and orientation changed as even Jace could feel a slight pull due to the gravitational forces at work.
"We are right by the blockade. The Elysium and Colonel Dahlia have already commenced their attack. Releasing our attack craft in three two one." Solisa declared before several attack and star craft were suddenly released from the hangars aboard the Wolfsbane. Solisa was already highlighting targets for them on the ground and in the air.
There was not much for them to attack in the air. But on the ground there were a number of artillery and gun emplacements that would make it difficult to move around. They were also the reason why the Holy Empire had been struggling to establish a proper foothold.
But with the sudden blitz attack they were blowing up easily before they even realized what had happened. Jace could already hear the panic over the various signals and communication channels of the Circle of Yuri as they realized another group just stepped into the ring without any warning.
Through the screens he could see the explosions and the areas Solisa highlighted as areas of interest or where tactical advantage could be established. Then a solid yellow area was highlighted.
"I found a suitable location for a ground base of operations." Solisa informed him.
"Good." Jace nodded and then moved to the door. "I am going to take it. Have my troops fight their way there." Jace informed her as he left the bridge and walked to the nearest airlock. He walked through the first and then second one before stepping out and falling off the side of the ship.
But he was not worried as he fell. He could see the battlefield below as he fell before he suddenly kicked off the side of the Wolfsbane and flew through the air toward the area Solisa highlighted as a good spot to establish a base of operations.
As he got closer to the ground he lowered his body and readied himself to land. But just before landing on the ground he spotted a group of vampires that were crouched down behind some debris.
He materialized his knife and landed next to one of the vampires near the center of the formation. The ground cratered upon the impact of his landing but Jace was already jumping forward, slicing through the air and the vampire’s neck as he was in the midst of turning toward him.
After cutting off the vampire’s head he twisted his body slightly and kicked it away. It flew through the air and toward the left side of the vampire formation. While he spun his knife in his hand and moved toward the right side of the formation which was already falling apart with the last four members.
The next one he arrived at was throwing his weapon at Jace in panic while the one behind him had turned into a mist and moved further away. Jace cut right through the laser gun with a vertical slice from his knife and then elbowed the vampire in the chin. When he did his armor’s shielding flared momentarily and he picked up the sound of metal on metal as a dagger bounced off his left side.
The vampire flew into a wall and spit up blood as the concrete wall cratered and then fell to the ground limp. But only for a moment before cracking could be heard from his body as he started putting himself back together internally. Seems Jace did not put enough force into the strike to destroy the vampire’s heart.
But Jace was moving toward the next vampire who pulled out a pair of dual short swords. He stopped just short as the vampire swung down and the blades passed harmlessly in front of him. The vampire’s eyes widened in shock for a moment before Jace swung his knife and cut the top of his head, from his nostril up to the scalp, clean off. Jace reached forward and grabbed a hand into the cavity that was in the skull and tossed the body through the air while Jace spun around.
Jace tossed the knife to the side at the vampire that was pulling him off the ground after being thrown into the wall. The knife slid right through his chest and his heart. Killing the vampire as a burst of electricity ran through the knife and then the vampire’s body.
Jace pulled his Wildfire Assault Rifle off his back and opened fire on the other two that were across the room and tilted his body slightly as several laser bolts moved past him and hit the wall behind him or hit the body he had thrown.
Jace hit the closer enemy with a burst of three bullets. Two to the chest and one to the head. It would not kill the vampire permanently but it would put him down long enough for Jace to move in and finish him off.
But the last enemy turned into mist and the bullets missed him completely as the mist moved over a wall and out of site. Jace switched to electrical vision and watched as the vampire quickly ran away. He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he recalled his knife and moved to the vampire’s body as he put his rifle back on his back.
"I am on the ground." Jace reported as he stabbed the knife into the last vampire and killed them. "How is the fight looking? Vana? Ulin? Nila? Rook?" He called out the four respective commanders that should be on different parts of the battlefield.
As he called them out he watched with his electrical vision as an invisible ship flew over head and towards another area of the planet. It was flying low to the ground. That must be Nina and her unit. He knew her first target was a group of Clan leaders that should be in the midst of a meeting. He should not know that, but he was just that good at collecting information. That was a lie, Nina told him her list and the way she would go down it.
"Rook reporting," Rook decided to start it off. He was actually one of the people in charge of the air and space craft that should be covering the battlefield with bombs and weapons fire. "No enemy craft had made it past Solisa’s long range battle array. So aside from strike pockets full of enemy combatants, we are sitting bored up here."
"Ulin reporting," Ulin cut in next but he could hear weapons fire in the background this time. "We are on route to the site that Solisa has marked off. But we can see that you are still ahead of us and will likely get there first. Should we move right in or link up with you first?"
"Move right in and assess the situation on your own. I will be covering you from afar." Jace answered as he looked over his shoulder at the other weapon he had brought. Something he had been testing for awhile now and would finally get the chance to battle test it. "Think of me as a form of backup in case things go wrong."
"Understood." Ulin answered.
"Nila reporting," Nila sighed in exasperation and annoyance. "I am bored. These vampire humans are all bark and no bite. They rely too heavily on their regenerative capabilities but clearly lack basic training when someone goes around tearing out their hearts and cutting off their heads." In the vampire’s defense, Cerberus was probably one of the few units that required all of their soldiers and personnel to have training with a hand to hand weapon or technique. Making them the bane of vampires from the Victorium.
"Vana reporting, all battle lines are moving forward and logistics are running just fine. The commanders of the respective units are all satisfied with their personnel. No casualties so far while the enemy has lost over five hundred within the first few minutes of our landing. That is a rough count, not an exact one." Vana reported, just as Jace predicted. His work and algorithms along with Cain and Solisa had turned Cerberus into a well-oiled killing machine.
Now command was finally turning the machine on and pointing it at an enemy target.
