DOOM

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***

The fiendish fate gave me and many others a piggyback after three months of service. It was an ordinary day, you could say a regular day - we were hunting early in the morning. We packed up and left the base at three in the morning. Dzhokhar, Akil, Moseji and Ringar were with me. That's how we went to our hunting grounds. The beasts had been greatly reduced, but we still searched and found them.

Rin was the best shot with a rifle, and the others were a little worse, but they were okay. Together we filled six containers with meat - we butchered the carcasses on the spot, taking only the clean meat; the giblets were left for the scavengers to enjoy.

- Rin, tell Senna we're on our way back.

Rin nodded and stood still for a few seconds. Then, with a shake of his head, he went to his computer. Ten seconds later he looked up at us:

- Joe, Hyarty, there's no communication with headquarters.

- Don't talk rubbish," Dzhokhar took his computer and called Senna. I did the same, and the result is zero.

Something incomprehensible. The connection was protected from any EMP, so there was no danger. It was getting light out, something we would have seen in the atmosphere - during big storms the whole sky is ablaze with northern lights.

- AI, are there any drones on the base?

- A few observers.

- Give me a link," I expanded the screen to the size of a small monitor. It immediately displayed a picture from the balloon drone. A small walking spider was quietly tinkling its legs on the concrete as it approached the barracks. The guys were almost piling on top of me, wanting to see what was in there. And I didn't like the results very much - some murky individuals, blue-skinned....

- They're Kree. What do they want here? - Rin asked.

- Do I know? - Joe turned to me, 'Do you have spies in the camp?

- A dozen camera droids. Just in case.

Meanwhile, gunfire was heard. The last thing we saw was a Kree landing craft landing.

Oh, fuck, what the hell happened out there?! - Joe grabbed his head, we have to get back to base now!

- Joe, are you sure? - I asked, "By the way, there's a Kree trooper out there. That's five thousand people, and they've already jammed the comms.

The sergeant looked at our faces. They were all excited.

- So, what do we do if you're so clever?

- What do we do, what do we do..." I muttered, "We need to get on our feet and try to find survivors," Iskin, launch all available drones in the garrison. Look for signs of survivors.

- Acknowledged, Captain.

I've removed the screen:

- Sergeant, the thinking is we should make a run for it, or try to attack the base. But you see, we've got me with a heavy machine gun, one ersatz armoured vehicle and four more soldiers in light armour. Even if we engage all the forces.....

Joe's given up:

- For fuck's sake, this is a full-fledged war!

- If that's the case, Sergeant, we're already in the rear of the advancing Kree forces. I've got my ship stashed here, and if we can get to it, we can sneak off the planet. Or at the very least, get in touch with command.

The situation had changed the mood of the group, I could feel it. From ship to ball, or rather, from hunting to war... I decided to find out what people thought:

- Akil, Moseji, what do you think, should we get off the planet?

They looked at each other.

- Well... I don't even know! - Akil, a dark-haired guy about my age, replied, "If they've already taken over the base, what can we do?

We were already heading in the direction of our armoured car. Climbing in. I replied:

- You're right, if the base has fallen, we should retreat.

Climbing into the vehicle, I got into the driver's seat. Dzhokhar kept close to me, he was visibly worried. He took off his helmet, taking a deep breath....

We headed for the ship. It was hidden forty kilometres from our land. Forty kilometres at a car speed of two hundred kilometres an hour is no way to go. While we were driving, Dzhokhar was thinking. I was thinking too - how could I get in touch with the command? I had a secure line of communication with the hunters' guild, as well as an iskin that could break a lot of things. However, once we got to the corvette and went inside, the iskine disappointed me:

- I'm sorry, but the link to Xandar is jammed.

- What do you mean, jammed?

- All available ranges are jammed. The Kree jammer only works on this planet, they focus the star's energy to amplify the interference multiple times...

- So we have to get out of here first? - I asked.

- Exactly.

- Then...

Since the conversation was taking place mentally, Dzhokhar was not even aware of it. The guys couldn't contain their surprise when they got on my ship:

- "Wow," we went inside, "cool design. And it's so clean..." Rin said, "I wish I had a ship like this. How much is it?

- About twenty million," I shrugged, throwing everyone into a stupor, "I have some bad news. The Kree are focusing the star's radiation and have shut down all communication ranges, including hyperspace and tachyon.

- You have a tachyon link? - Dzhokhar arched an eyebrow expressively.

- Yeah. And a quantum modulator, just in case. Only thing is, I only have access to one bounty hunter on the other side. He's probably on Xandar. And the only thing that works with him is the hyperspace transmitter. For obvious reasons, my ship is not connected to the military communications system. And if it was, they'd think we were a setup.

We reached the control room. I asked the ship out loud:

- Lady, escort the boys to their quarters for a breather. Sergeant, I invite you to the control room....

The Iskin on the ship had a programmed female gender - she immediately took charge. The ship had enough seats for the crew...

I sat in the pilot's chair, the sergeant stood next to me.

- Hyarty, I can't advise you on this. I have no idea how to contact command or what kind of forces you have....

- 'Not as much as you might think,' I thought, 'you know, there's an opinion that we should throw a sabotage team into the first settlement. Yeah, right. The Kree have probably already finished the massacre and are settling into our base... I've got some turrets, some battle droids... if we use all our weapons, we can distract them a bit.

I had no doubts about the fate of Senna and the rest of the garrison - the Kree never took prisoners, they have no tradition of doing so. So, if the Kree are walking around the base freely, then all of our people are already dead.

- Seekin, what do you think? I'm not good at tactics, you're the head.

- What is your objective? Destroy the enemy, recapture the base, or just make some noise?

- Distract them before we leave, and take out as many of them as we can.

- Then I would suggest you attack the base from two directions. One, set up battle droids and turrets in the settlement. The second is to attack the power plant. Processing aluminium requires a large amount of electricity, and I estimate that if we disrupt the reactor, it will cause an explosion of at least two to three hundred megatons. Guaranteed to destroy every settlement and the entire colony.

- Then what if there are people left?

- That's unlikely. Kree troop transports have already landed in all the settlements, most likely the colony is destroyed.

- Then why would they take over the colony? - I wondered, "It's much more profitable to bomb it from orbit.

- I suppose even the Kree need aluminium. I don't have much data, but I'd venture to guess that they wanted an intact aluminium factory. By my reckoning, capturing the colonies and manufacturing equipment would greatly improve the material situation of the invading army. And thus, it could be the reason for their success - only they don't have enough resources of their own to sustain the war...

I shook my head. Those blue-skinned Kree! They annoy me so much! Nothing, now I'll start surprising the sergeant, secretly attributing the decisions of the seeker to myself.

- There's a power station near the settlement. If we disrupt it, there will be a very large explosion. The Kree have taken over the colony with the intention of using it in a war against the Republic. We can't take it back, so at least we can spoil their mood. What do you say, Dzhokhar?

The sergeant shrugged:

- Scorched earth tactics? Are you sure? - I could understand him, he had never made such decisions and was not ready to make them.

- Yes. The base is destroyed. I don't have a choice. If anything, blame it on me, I'm the boss. As captain of this ship, by the way," I said, "we should get ready. We'll clean our weapons for now, get some sleep, have a light snack. You can find chocolate in the bar, distribute it to the lads....

- There's a bar? - Joe raised an eyebrow expressively, "Okay, I'll give them out.

* * * *

I checked our plan of action with the seeker once more. I had six droids with me - I got them all out of subspace and activated them. Twenty-four turrets - they could be dropped from above, with the help of the ship... well, and the ship itself - a very powerful thing. "The Blind Maiden was my guinea pig during my weapons experiments. The main calibre of the ship was a blaster cannon, there were two more rapid-fire blasters on each side of the ship, forty missiles could also seriously interfere with the enemy's plans... but it's all trivial - proton torpedoes - that's what's important. True, they made the ship shake, but it was worth it - proton torpedoes were a huge threat in the right hands.

Six commando battle droids were lined up in the cargo bay. This is a very serious force - my suit was partly designed on their basis. Powerful reactors, strong muscles, good defence, ability to withstand huge loads... The fun began - I gave them all available machine guns and rifles - three of each. The secret was simple - they worked in pairs. A sniper and a machine gunner, supported by five or six turrets.

The ship, under invisibility, was already gliding towards the camp. It was indeed a horrible picture from above - it seemed Senna's carelessness had played a bad trick on him - there were almost no traces of the battle outside the military base. But our base had been wrecked - apparently, it was the technicians with combat vehicles who fought back the longest. But the Kree were there too... blue, in soldier's armour, climbing on our base with poorly concealed joy... Freaks. But nothing, joy comes to us, joy comes to us... - I smiled at the sadistic thoughts. Soon they'll be in for a total asterisk...

- Iskin, what do you need to blow up the power station?

- We need to get to its control panel. Unfortunately, it's off the grid, so we need a connection to the central computer.

- What if the Kree shut it down?

- It's useless. You can't just switch it off. And if they damage it, they'll lose any chance of fixing it.

- All right. I don't think they have a lot of hackers.

I've steered the ship towards the settlement.

* * * *

The car came in handy. On our ersatz armoured vehicle, I've mounted all three droid groups with turrets. According to the attack scenario, the armoured vehicle should break the way of the droids, at the right moment the droids would simply drop the turrets to the ground and come down themselves. There were twenty-four turrets, five or six per droid group. Unlike in Halfa, these turrets can't be hit with an elbow or a grenade, they are well armoured and have excellent reactions.

* * * *

The Kree garrison that had taken over the base was already settling in. The Xandar corpses were being piled up and burned. Suddenly there was a loud metallic clang from the forest. Most of the soldiers paid no attention to it - there was no telling what was going on here.

A large armoured vehicle had rammed through the gate of the settlement. The flaps, designed only for beasts, flew spectacularly aside. The big dirty-green armoured vehicle drove a few dozen metres further, crushing several blue-skinned invaders. The Kree soldiers opened fire on the armoured vehicle, but the two blaster turrets came to life, unleashing powerful charges that no amount of armour could save them from. The armoured vehicle slowed down and two droids jumped off it, dropping their turrets before doing so. The droids surveyed their surroundings and one of them, under the cover of the other, began to set up the turrets. The five rapid-fire turrets gave the infantry no chance to get close to them.

The vehicle, meanwhile, continued on its way, with four more commando droids perched on its roof, clinging to the ledges. The second group had been dropped near the spaceport.

The Kree could have easily crushed the machine - all they had to do was lift the landing craft into the air and shoot the unexpectedly fast enemy. However, the specifics of the planet did not allow this and the Kree were left with nothing to do but hold their positions. The third and final group of droids climbed up to the processing plant.

The droids had set up their turrets so that no attempt to attack them, either from the ground or from the air, would succeed. The Kree, realising they were facing a serious opponent, retreated to regroup.

In any case, the droids did their job well - they diverted the main Kree forces away from the thermonuclear power plant. After cutting down the enemies, the four soldiers ran briskly through the station's lobby, setting up a couple of the remaining turrets there. Hjarti alone went inside - he left his friends upstairs to shoot back, and ran down the corridors and stairs. Any Kree that were caught were energised and silenced forever.

A heated battle broke out in the lobby - three soldiers and a couple of turrets took up defence, covering themselves with whatever they could. The turrets, which the seeker controlled personally, were spinning at breakneck speed, firing at anything that moved, except his own, of course. An attempt to throw a grenade was unsuccessful - the seeker shot it down in mid-air, and the thrower, who opened up during the throw, was shot by the soldiers.

Five minutes later Hjarti flew out of the control room faster than a bullet. He ran into the lobby.

- Let's go!

- We can't! - The sergeant called back, "Those things seem to have figured it out!

- Shit...

Iskin informed Hyarty about the disposition. The enemy was storming the power station. Without a moment's hesitation, Hyarty flew out of the front door, firing repulsor shots at anyone who wanted them.

- Maiden, I need help! - Hjarti fired randomly at the two charging enemies, - Bersi?

- Roger that, Captain. The Maiden is on her way.

- Unspeakable..." Hyarty smirked.

His armour had been put to the ultimate test. The enemy was outnumbered and outgunned, but Hjarti had the advantage of mobility - he could fly. He did so - the enemy's attempts to overwhelm him with his mass only resulted in him flying a couple of dozen metres and shooting the enemy from afar. The blue-skinned kriyas flew away from him just like that, except the kriyas wouldn't give up. The Kree commander didn't know what exactly was going on, figuring it was that the small group of soldiers were continuing the resistance. He was hardly mistaken.

The seeker has made contact:

- Retreat to the entrance to the ES, the deva will now hit with missiles...

- Roger, - Hyarty took off from his seat and quickly flew to the entrance of the power plant. Just in time - as soon as he landed, a blast wave hit him on the back, which almost knocked him down - the manoeuvring engines on the suit prevented an ignominious fall.

A black ship, completely atypical of Xandar, lowered near the entrance and opened the ramps invitingly.

- Quickly! - Hjarti shouted.

His companions jumped up and ran inside the ship. Hyarty was the last to climb in and watched the soldiers firing pointlessly at the "Maiden", as they were frantically firing turrets at them....

Once inside the ship, the soldiers, except for Hyarty, fell to the floor of the cargo bay and began pulling off their helmets. Sweat was pouring down their faces, and their eyes were all dazed. Hjarti was a little better, but he, too, had been knocked out by the whole thing, and he still couldn't believe he was doing it. Before giving the command to leave, however, Hyarty turned to the seeker:

- What about the droids?

- We'll have to leave them behind. They'll self-destruct the moment the power plant explodes. I guarantee that no one will find even a trace of their existence.

- How are they doing?

- After the Kree realised the droids were a distraction, they concentrated their forces on the power plant. The droids teamed up and hit them in the rear, forcing them to fight on two fronts. The missile attack took two hundred and four Kree lives, as they piled up very tightly....

Hjarti only took a deep breath.

- Let's get off this planet. Optoelectronic invisibility, of course....

The girl didn't have to beg long - in a minute the ship was racing away. Hjarti looked through the porthole at the explosion. From space, the explosion was perfectly visible - three hundred megatons is no joke. And given the amount of radioactive contamination... there was no chance of survival for the colony.

Hjarti tried to relax in his chair. It didn't help...

Meanwhile, back in his quarters, Rin managed to switch on the television. All the channels were talking about was the start of a full-scale war...