Conquest of Earth (Stellar Conquest Series) by David VanDyke

watch Spooky and Trissk sparring.
     

Chapter 9
    Past piles of corpses cleansed of life by the sledgehammer’s sweeping plasma wave Reaper and Bull walked, active sensors illuminating the spaces around them. All was still, for nothing weaker than a tank had survived the collateral damage from the enormous combination strike. Enemy maintenance bots and war drones alike stood fused to the floor. Every control panel now showed at least one gaping hole where nonmetallic parts such as polymer screens used to be. Even thin walls displayed irregular gaps where they had melted, sagged and run like wax.
    Eventually the Marines found what they were looking for: an armored blast door, relatively unscathed. Fire suppression sprinklers continued to drench the corridors nearby with water spray, reducing the dust and improving visibility. After the fog of combat, the rain showers made for a surreal scene.
    “Cutting charges,” Bull said, gesturing. Two sappers quickly began laying out the shaped explosives. As they did, Bull ordered the rest to spread out and keep watch. Repeth figured he was just being careful, for she could hardly credit the possibility of a counterattack. Any force not accounted for undoubtedly waited behind the blast door for a last stand.
    “Listen up,” Bull said. “We need to take this command center intact. That’s the whole point of the assault, and the lives of our friends we just lost. Use frag and shock grenades, but no plasma or heavy rockets unless you absolutely have to. You hear me, Massimo?” Ben Tauros pointed a finger at the warrant officer.
    “Sure, boss.” The Italian smiled disarmingly through his transparent faceplate, now beaded with spray. Repeth knew the gunner enjoyed blowing stuff up…perhaps a bit too much for even a Marine.
    “Charges set,” one of the demo NCOs reported.
    “Take cover,” Bull ordered. “We go in fast and heavy.”
    Once they were ready came the warning: “Fire in the hole.”
    A moment later the blast threw fresh dust into the air to compete with the falling spray, and Bull led the charge into the smoking breach, . “Stun grenades!” he yelled, and Repeth rolled several of the flash-bangs past her commander’s feet. These explosives would hardly touch a Marine in armor, but would shock and confuse lesser threats.
    Ignoring the slight danger of the grenades, Bull strode forward with First Squad at his back. Repeth took Second Squad rightward down a corridor. She heard the blasts on her external pickups, but encountered no opposition. Moments later she led her troops into a large, round, deserted command center, meeting Bull’s squad entering from the other side.
    Three pools of briny sludge showed where Meme had been before escaping down their flush tubes – but to where? Had they withdrawn to the Weapon redoubt and died, or did they have a hypervelocity escape drone?
    “Why didn’t they blow it?” Bull asked conversationally, looking around. “With no one here, what do they have to lose?”
    “Are we sure there’s no one here?” Repeth asked, eyes roving over the consoles, some made for Meme pseudopods and eyeballs, some for the manlike hands of Purelings.
    “Quarter and search by twos,” Bull snapped. “Take prisoners if you can.”
    Massimo got to play with his heavy laser once more, using it to cut open another armored hatch to expose a separate room filled with human-style consoles…and people. When Bull burst in, with Repeth right behind him, three men and two women, garishly outfitted in pure yellow-gold clothing, raised their hands and stood silently next to powered-down control boards.
    “Jackpot,” Bull said, slapping down a Marine’s rising weapon next to him. “Cease fire!”
    “Now we know why they didn’t self-destruct,” Repeth remarked, sliding her pulse gun into its slot on her armor. “Blends.” She keyed in the command to open her faceplate and fold back her gauntlets. Otherwise, to the people in front of her she