Rise of the Phantoms (Special Missions Unit Book 1) Read online

  RISE OF THE PHANTOMS

  A Novel By

  Gary Beller

  This book is a work of fiction.

  Characters and events contained herein are fictional and are a product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to any real person, living or otherwise, or any locality are strictly coincidental.

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  © Gary Beller, 2015

  Acknowledgements

  The Author would like to thank the following people for their contributions to this book’s success.

  Bob Beller, for your encouragement to continue writing, for your input on technology and science, for your editing of this book, and for being an outstanding father, role model, and all around exceptional human being.

  Crystal Beller, Likewise for your encouragement and lending an ear, and for being an outstanding mother, role model, and all around exceptional human being.

  Angel Marie Oliver, for help with the aliens and the universe.

  Kristen Smith and Kristen Bollman for being test readers.

  Jill Solomon, for being the enthusiastic and supportive better half.

  For John and Summer, my wonderful children.

  May this book remind you that nothing is impossible.

  MAJOR CHARACTORS

  The Players

  1st Special Missions Unit

  Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin “Ben” Pierce-Commanding Officer

  Major Summer Isabelle “Sid” Dawn-Executive Officer

  Captain Rob Grimes-Operations Officer, Linguist

  First Sergeant Kate McMillan-Lead Sniper, Senior Enlisted Advisor

  Master Sergeant Gene West-Sniper

  Gunnery Sergeant Kevin Bielema-Support Weapon Gunner

  Chief Petty Officer Geoff Mason-Lead Hospital Corpsman

  Staff Sergeant Erica Martinez-Sniper Team spotter

  Staff Sergeant D. J. Smith-Sniper team spotter

  Petty Officer 1st Class Ashlie Adams-Corpsman

  Sergeant Johnathan “John” Roberts-Support Weapons Gunner

  Sergeant Carl Wainright

  Sergeant Troy Evans-Designated Marksman

  Sergeant Timothy “Wilkie” Wilkenson-Demolitions

  Coalition and Allied Personnel

  Lieutenant General Praxis Hardfighter, Commanding General, Expeditionary Corps Lima

  Major General Isabelle Hale, Commanding General, 2nd Marine Division

  Major General Allie Grant, Commanding General, 1st Marine Division

  Brigadier General Thomas Westover, Commanding General, 1st Marine Brigade

  Colonel Billy W. Williams IV, Commanding Officer, 7th Marine Regiment

  Colonel Kristen McQueen, Starfighter Group Commander

  Lieutenant Colonel Kay-Jay Wright, Commanding Officer, 2SMU

  Prologue

  In the year 2015, pioneering engineers and physicists responded to a call from several wealthy but anonymous venture capitalists to develop a practical means of faster than light travel. The prize for the competition was set at a half a billion dollars, to be paid after a practical demonstration of the ship carrying at least the pilot, copilot and a contest official.

  Groups from around the world began work almost immediately. Some were small start-ups looking to strike it rich and make a name for themselves; others were corporate partnerships looking to conquer space and expand into the final frontier.

  In February 2025, FTL USA, a joint subsidiary of The Boeing Company and General Dynamics, announced they had two working prototypes, Challenger and Columbia. The two ships used Alcubierre drives; contracting space in front of them and expanding it back behind them; using a configurable negative-mass energy field. The ships, piloted by test pilot John Robert Andrews, made successful test flights in March, and in April finally fulfilled the criteria of the contest, earning FTL USA the prize.

  By 2030, various space agencies from around the globe were sending manned missions to explore space. First contact was made with more than a dozen species over the next decade, almost all of them being friendly in nature. Notable among these were contact with the Valderan Royal Empire and the Kntarian Imperial Realm.

  The humanoid Valderans and bipedal feline Kntarians proved to be good friends with Earth, exchanging scientific knowledge and becoming valuable trading partners as Earth expanded its colonial reach.

  2076 was a landmark year for Humanity. The Earth Union, along with its twelve major and thirty minor colonies convened a convention in Chicago to formalize a central governance. After months of negotiations and discussions, the Articles of Allegiance were drafted, forming the United Coalition of Independent Systems. In June, the Constitution was ratified and the government began to take shape, with the Capitol of the Coalition established in Chicago.

  At the dawn of the 22nd Century, the United Coalition had expanded again, encompassing more than 100 full members, 80 protectorates and 35 territories. The Coalition’s Navy began to assume a unified identity as starships were transferred from former owners such as the United States Navy and the British Royal Navy.

  Early in 2110, the Kntarians brought word of a disturbing development. A long-standing cold war between the Kntarians and their mysterious foes the Banor turned very hot. The Banor, a species of bipedal, Wolf-like aliens declared war on the Kntarians, and their allies, declaring the Banor race to be superior, and all others worthy only of subjugation and annihilation.

  Following an open declaration of war by the Banor, the UCIS and the Valderan Royal Empire both declared war on the Banor as part of a mutual protection agreement. The Banor’s lone allies, the Tyderian Confederacy, joined the war in early 2111.

  The war lasted only 18 months: A stalemate ensued shortly into the war, forcing the Banor and the Tyderians to concede a draw and sue for peace. Alarmed at the events of the short war, the Coalition began to build up its military. Previously, the Coalition Navy and its companion Marine Corps had been required only to keep the peace and deter piracy and smuggling. Following the war, the Navy expanded rapidly to include not only deep space cruisers, but battle groups built around Starfighter Carriers, Battleships and Battle Cruisers. Heavy Cruisers, Light Cruisers, Destroyers and Frigates were built up rapidly.

  The Marines, previously tasked with defending ships and Coalition Federal property, expanded as well, and by 2125 the Marines had six named Expeditionary Forces, each consisting of two combined arms Divisions, a Fighter Wing, and a Combat Support Element.

  In 2157, war broke out again. This time the Banor and Tyderian alliance weren’t content to settle for a draw. They attacked with a fury and relentlessness not seen before….

  Chapter 1

  February, 2159

  Tyrannia System

  They charged the gates, under the cover of darkness. They were 20 elite warriors, members of the United Coalition of Independent Systems’ Marine Corps. Behind them, on hills overlooking the compound they were assaulting, cover was being provided by two Scout/Sniper pairs, also members of the same Special Missions Unit.

  Leading the team was Lieutenant Colonel Ben Pierce, a native of Round Lake, Illinois. Pierce was an 18-year veteran of the Marine Corps and one of the most respected officers within the Special Operations Command. He was visually indistinguishable from the rest of his Marines, as they all wore black uniforms, black body armor, and black helmets with protective face shields. Pierce shouldered
his carbine and swept over the area, before signaling for another Marine to come forward.

  Staff Sergeant Kevin Bielema, from New Orleans, crept forward and produced a cutter from his pack. The perimeter fence was of welded wire mesh construction, so the compact laser torch Bielema was now wielding was expected to slice right through it, and he was not disappointed as he ran the torch across the fencing a meter and a half above the ground, and then down both sides. It took less than a minute, and was nearly silent.

  Pierce led the way in, followed closely by his executive officer, Major Carlos Cervantes and the Operations Officer, Captain Jennifer Durand. The speaker in Pierce’s helmet crackled to life, “Phantom Six, road is clear for sixty meters. Mutts patrolling after that,” Came the voice of the lead sniper, Gunnery Sergeant Kate McMillan.

  “Acknowledged.” Pierce replied, moving swiftly. The Marines broke into two columns and hugged the walls of the buildings as they moved further into the base. Cervantes and Durand led the column on the right, Pierce led the column on the left, with Sergeant Major Felix Bond behind him.

  At the tail end of each column, the team’s only two non-Marines brought up the rear. Chief Petty Officer Charles Stillman and Petty Officer 2nd Class Ashlie Adams belonged to the Coalition Navy. Both were Corpsmen, enlisted medical specialists responsible for providing battlefield care of wounded Marines. Their job, and their effectiveness at doing their job, made them exceptionally valued members of the team, and the 22 Marines around them would each lay down their own lives so the Corpsmen could save others.

  Small hissing noises filled the air, coming from behind the Marines and travelling forward. The snipers were firing at exposed enemy soldiers, and doing so rather rapidly. “Conscripts.” Came the single word from Gunnery Sergeant Gene West, the leader of the second sniper team. Hearing the call brought some sense of relief to Ben and his fellow Marines: Banor soldiers came in two basic types: Elites and Conscripts.

  Elites were volunteer soldiers, who trained from just after puberty until sometime within the first year of full adulthood, what the Coalition guessed to be a total of four years, for military service. These soldiers were highly trained, well disciplined, and comprehensively equipped. Although still used as regular troops, they tended to be much deadlier. Conscripts, as their name suggested, were involuntarily drafted into military service. Most went into front-line units with minimal training, and received equipment that was of distinctly poorer quality than that of the Elites. The Banor even conveniently gave the two groups different accoutrements, although there was some dispute within the Intelligence community as to whether or not conscripts formed a totally separate branch of the Banor’s armed forces.

  One thing the Conscripts did have going for them was numbers. Ben had never encountered a conscript unit that was less than battalion strength, or roughly 800 troops. That worried him, but there were two jumper gunships standing by if he needed additional fire support.

  “Contact right,” Cervantes said calmly, following his brief report with a rapid spray of energy from his particle carbine. Behind him, Staff Sergeant Ramirez dropped the bipod on his Squad Support Weapon, moved across the intersection where Cervantez was taking fire from, and let loose. Ben and his half of the team, along with Cervantes’ team, crossed the road while Ramirez, now with the added fire from Bielema’s own heavy weapon and a bit of flanking fire from Gunnery Sergeant West, kept the enemy pinned down.

  Alerted to the potential of a flank attack, the spotters for the two snipers, Staff Sergeant D. J. Williams and Staff Sergeant Erica Martinez brought their weapons into the fight. By using a high ballistic angle, the two Spotters were able to use their rifles’ attached forty millimeter grenade launchers as ultra-light mortars.

  When the grenades started going off, the enemy soldiers broke contact and retreated, allowing the team to advance again. Ben turned around and did a quick count. 20 still accounted for. “Move forward.” Ben ordered. “Rear clear.” Chief Stillman reported.

  At the tail of Ben’s column, Petty Officer Adams felt nervous. It wasn’t something she was accustomed to, and knew something wasn’t right. Despite being the youngest of the operators, she was a well-seasoned combat veteran, having served with a variety of Navy and Marine Corps Special Operations units. “This is wrong…” She said to herself.

  “Cut the chatter, Doc.” Ben said. Ashlie realized everyone’s comm was in voice-activated mode. Despite the admonishment from Ben, he did slow down the unit’s advance. Bright green light came streaming down the street, forcing the team to cover for a moment, and lending some credence to Ashlie’s disquiet. Bielema and Ramirez slid out from their cover and began returning fire. The blue bolts flew from their weapons at a rate of eight per second, suppressing some but not all of the enemy’s fire.

  The sniper teams again added their weight into the fight, this time just Kate and David firing. As Ben pushed the team forward, he saw an officer standing on the steps of the central command center, directing troops into place. Ben had his weapon up and had been firing at enemy soldiers popping up from behind their defensive works, but the officer was a tempting target. Ben levelled his weapon at the officer and triggered a single beam, hitting the creature in the forehead and sending blood and brains splattering across the wall behind where he had stood.

  The senior officer’s demise seemed to throw the defenders off, giving the Phantoms the chance they needed. “Deploy rifle grenades.” Ben ordered. Six of the Marines and Corpsman Adams moved forward, loaded high explosive forty millimeter grenades into their under-barrel launchers, aimed and fired, reloaded, and fired again. “Charge!” Ben ordered, taking advantage of the chaos on the enemy’s side.

  Ben led the way, flanked by Cervantes and Durand, with Sergeant Major Bond and Chief Stillman just behind them. Bielema and Ramirez kept up the moving fire as best they could while running. As Ben closed within 50 meters of the ramparts, Banor soldiers broke ranks and retreated. It was an odd development, even for conscripts: The enemy troops almost never broke ranks and ran.

  The whole team was running, in a loose formation behind the officers. Ben was outrunning almost everyone by a step or two, when his foot caught a piece of debris in the road. The Colonel stumbled, almost went to the ground, but recovered quickly enough.

  Tripping might have been the most fortunate thing to happen to the Colonel to that point. As he recovered, something bright, hot, and loud came to life from nowhere ahead of them. Shrapnel from the exploding bulwark killed Cervantes, Durand and Bond immediately. Ben took a piece of shrapnel to his neck, just below the bottom of his faceplate and dropped.

  Master Sergeant Kara MacArthur saw the leading units go down and dove for cover, followed by the rest of the team. She looked out at the road and yelled for Ashlie, who was already running forward from the rear. To cover her advance, Bielema and Ramirez laid down covering fire.

  Ashlie took a moment to take stock of the situation, running to the front of the group. Chief Stillman, missing a part of his leg, was crawling to check on Felix Bond when a green flash hit him in the side, rolled him over, and dropped his lifeless body to the street. Return fire from the phantoms was ferocious. Adams passed six wounded Marines who were still standing and fighting to get up to where the five bodies lay in the street. With cover from several Marines, she checked each of the five, coming to Ben last, as he had been closest to the wall, but farthest from Ashlie.

  She choked back tears as she confirmed that Cervantes, Durand, Bond and Stillman were dead. She had to slide in next to Ben to avoid having her head removed by enemy fire. Ben didn’t look good, didn’t sound good, and wasn’t conscious. The shrapnel had apparently partially blocked his airway, causing him to make an odd, wheezing and gurgling noise with each faint breath.

  She didn’t dare try to remove the shrapnel, for all she knew, removing it could cause more damage, and possibly kill him. She was glad for the moment that her face was hidden behind her helmet’s face shield as tears streamed down
her face. She assessed his situation quickly and made a snap decision. She produced from her medical kit a scalpel, a piece of medical tubing, and a disposable anesthetic jet injector. Ashlie straddled her patient and laid the tools on his chest. She placed the injector against his neck and administered the anesthesia, then found his trachea with her fingers. Carefully, she made a small incision in the skin, then in the trachea. She used the scalpel’s handle to hold the hole open, and inserted the medical tube into his windpipe.

  Ashlie removed the scalpel and was about to put it away when a green energy beam vaporized it in her hand. Only then was she aware of how close the enemy fire had come to hitting her. Had she been cognizant of the beams flying past her head, she might have been petrified. Instead, she was fearful that Ben might die on that street, like four of her team mates had done already. She quickly applied bandages where she could to stop the bleeding.

  Ben made a gurgling noise and began convulsing. He must have had some blood in his wind pipe, causing him to choke. Ashlie was getting nervous now, but more for him, ignoring the incoming enemy fire. She felt confident that her team mates would cover her. Ashlie began chest compressions to try and force the blood out from around his lungs, then had to remove her helmet so she could syphon some of it out using the tracheotomy tube.

  Ben stopped breathing during the process, and stopped convulsing. His pulse was now weak and fading. “No sir!” She said through gritted teeth as she began chest compressions, “You can’t die, asshole! Not without my permission!” She was raging now. She smelled burned hair, and was pretty sure a passing energy bolt had singed her pony tail. She leaned over and blew into the tracheotomy tube, and resumed chest compressions. “Damn it Ben don’t do this to me!” She was yelling now. She heard a muffled scream and a thumping sound behind her. Staff Sergeant Ramirez was down, his face shield shattered, and a charred hole in his forehead. His open, unseeing eyes told her he was dead.