Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 420: Fuji-8 Crash

Chapter 420: Fuji-8 Crash
Jace swayed forward slightly as the Fuji-8 was hit by another laser. At this point the Wolfsbane was just about out of range. But for them it appears they were using visual confirmation for their weapon systems. Because they would be focusing on the Fuji-8 if they knew that the Wolfsbane was out of range.
A red laser raced right past his head and hit the glass windows of the bridge that were getting superheated by their entering the planet’s atmosphere. A crack blossomed on the window as Jace adjusted course now that they were low enough. He also began firing the lower thrusters to slow down their speed.
"I would appreciate it if you stopped them from shooting. The bridge windows can only take so much." Jace called back as he checked on the group in engineering. Who were in a similar situation with their position being pinned down by enemy fire.
These demons sent the weaker and unarmored ones through the portals first. When they failed to return they seemed to have decided to just close them. But because they were able to return at the portal that appeared near Captain Ulin’s position, the demons sent a number of their armored demons with some more high tech weapons. But they were still using minimal gear so they had helmets and chest plates but that was about it. The weapons they were using appeared to be some type of hard light with properties of disintegration.
GROOOAAANNNN!
The ship loudly groaned as Jace read the altimeter. They were low enough that they could drop with parachutes. Checking he realized that Captain Tyler and the walker mechs had already detached their magnetic couplings and were using their orbital descent systems. Jace calculated the approximate location they would crash and sent it to Captain Tyler.
A moment later another red bolt raced past his head and slammed into a window. It began cracking even worse but Jace was already reorienting the ship as the emergency ship systems fired foam out onto the hull to cool the shell and provide cushioning for the impending impact.
The bridge window shattered as Jace turned around to check on his team now that there was nothing he could do about the ship. His team had been holding them back. But the demons were using cover as well and there were so many firing at once that some got past Foulm’s shield.
Jace was fortunate that they were missing him completely but he was still annoyed because of the wind that was hitting his back. So he vaulted over a console and reloaded his shotgun with more shells. "I have done all I can. Be ready for the impending impact. With the amount of damage they have done the Fuji-8 will likely fall apart upon impact." Jace explained as he moved to the bridge doors frame.
He peaked around the corner and had to immediately duck back around the corner as several bolts slammed into the doorframe. It heated up and melted the door frame. Jace had to move further to the side as it turned to slag.
"Haha! I do not think the demons lie you kid! Shit!" Gorund was laughing but quickly ducked behind cover as well. Red bolts began hitting the console he was hiding behind as well.
The ship suddenly rattled and lurched as they slammed into the ground. Jace managed to grab the wall behind him. But his team and the demons were clearly not as lucky as they were all thrown forward toward the bridge windows.
One of the demons stumbled right by him and Jace hit him in the back of the head with the butt of his shotgun. As the demons stumbled further Jace moved into the hallway while the demons were off balance. There were a dozen of them left.
The closest one got hit on the chin and reeled back. Jace hit the weapon out of his hand and used his body as a shield as he aimed down the hall and fired. Hitting several of the demons at the same time. None of the hits were fatal but it was disorienting enough.
CREEAAKK!
The entire ship groaned again and he suddenly saw sunlight splash in as the bridge section of the ship fell away. Jace cursed and pushed one of the demons out the door and out of the ship. While he moved forward and grabbed a horn of one of these demons and shoved it into the chest of another before firing again. This time the shot was more focused and resulted in three of the demon’s deaths.
The pair that were stuck together received another shotgun blast that tore them apart. He then turned to the last five. One of them was to his right and was dropping his long range weapon in favor of a jagged looking knife. While the other four were to his left and were already adjusting to the change in situation and taking aim at him.
Jace grabbed the wrist of the guy coming at him with a knife and pulled him in between himself and the other four demons. While his other hand pumped the shotgun and then he threw it up and caught it by the trigger and fired while they hesitated.
Two more were screaming in pain as the pellets hit them but now his shotgun was out of ammunition. He did not pack enough on his person for a long confrontation. He tossed his shotgun at one of the uninjured enemies and pulled his Pyre.
Firing four shots quickly. The demon he was restraining with his hand went still as he realized he could not pull his knife hand out of Jace’s hand. He slowly looked up as Jace put the barrel of his Pyre to the demon’s head. "You are not of the humans. What are-"
The demon did not get to finish his sentence as Jace pulled the trigger. He then looked around at the other dead demons before moving to the door to the bridge. Which was now the edge of the ship with a view down to the front half of the ship that had collapsed.
"Doctor Foulm, Corporal Quest, Captain Uti, and Specialist Velwrench. Check-in, are you all alive?" Jace asked as he looked down the sheer edge that resulted in a front chunk of the ship falling down. "Sergeant K and Captain Maxim, I need a head count and check-in as well."
"This is Doctor Foulm, we are banged up down here but fine. The demon you dropped is a pancake. We have a path away from the ship but we have no way up. It looks like we wouldn’t want to either. Specialist Velwrench says there are enough fires breaking out to have a cascading effect." Doctor Foulm ed as Jace spotted them down by the debris. He could see them making their way out a path of debris. It looked like one of them was limping as they moved.
"Understood." Jace answered and looked around. "Maxim and K, status?"
"Alive." K answered a moment later. "We have four minor injuries. Two major injuries, one of which is Captain Maxim. We managed to take down all of our enemies. But the minute we slammed onto the ground the reactor core burst. It was not an explosion but the shrapnel still injured a few of us. I am going to send someone to find a way out for us."
"Good, do what you can." Jace answered as he looked up above him. "I will climb up and try to find a location we can meet up. Captain Tyler, are you in range of communications?"
"Yes sir," Jace could hear him chuckle through the communication as he responded. "I will say that aside from floating down. I can not do much else. Was there something you needed? Because I have plenty of time on my hands." Tyler explained. Jace smirked as he realized they were probably floating down with the parachutes but were too small of a target for the demons to shoot down.
"No, I was just making sure we could communicate." Jace answered as he walked over and picked up his empty shotgun. As well as one of the demon’s weapons. He thought of something as he walked back to the open door. "Actually... Can your mechs get survey scans? Nothing invasive they might pick up. But it would be nice to see if the demons have set up bases."
"Hmmm... I can do that, it will work. There should not be anything they can pick up. But it will mostly be pictures. Nothing too fancy, fortunately the people who designed this mech thought of going low tech." Tyler answered with a scoff. "Honestly, any other nation’s mech might be more kitted with counter surveillance rather than avoiding surveillance entirely."
"Which would not work on a species that might be more technologically advanced." Jace chuckled, "well that is Vexical in a nutshell. We packed our ships with just about anything that could be of use. Glad to see the Victorium is open to the idea." Jace moved to the edge and began climbing up. He needed to get a view from a higher point. At the moment all he could see were some hills and mist.