The Swarm Cycle Universe
Copyright© 2007 The Thinking Horndog

Year Fourteen.

Thirteen years after the Average Joes Defense Force Special.

A small engagement during the Third Battle of Earthat.

The First Battle of Earthat is the one that takes place in the story “The Chinese Obligation” by Thinking Horndog. (our founding member)

The Second Battle of Earthat took place in “Water, Water”, by Zipper d. Dude, about a year prior to the time of this story. There are already Sa’arm on the planet, in Africa.

This happens the same day as another two of my stories, ‘Fly By’ and ‘Pyrrhic Victory’. You do not have to have read them first.

The Colonizer Sphere heading for the northern continent of the far hemisphere was having problems with the pesky defenders. It should be possible to defeat them, but they made it difficult to get close and observe for a good landing site. The Sa’arm gestalt settled on a quick scout ship exploration of an area of one continent that appeared sparsely populated by the dominant life form. There were some apparent regular shaped vegetation areas, some irregular shaped vegetation areas, very few buildings and a few visible, mobile life forms. The climate appeared suitable. The continent was primarily in a temperate zone. The terrain did not appear waterlogged. There were large, mostly flat areas available for easy landings. The location was designated to the escorts and three scouts proceeded towards the area.

The Sa’arm, of course, realized not that the dominant life forms on the planet had their own designation for the area. They would not have even understood that it had a name.

Texas

Screech! Beep! Beep! Beep!

“This is a broadcast of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is not a test. Multiple Swarm ships of scout ship size are on an apparent trajectory for a landing in the United States. Projected destination is somewhere in the South Central area, possibly north Texas or Oklahoma. Get to shelter and let the military deal with them. Stay off the roads. Turn to your local radio station for more information.

“This is a broadcast of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is not a test...”

“Rattler, this is Porky. Got your ears on?”

“You got the Rattler for one more minute.”

“I got ships landing out here! Space ships!”

“Hell! You idjit! It’s the invasion. Those are Swarm ships landing. And they can track radio. Especially that overpowered thing in your rig. Get off the air and go to ground someplace. Now!”

“Seriously? I’ve been off the air. Potty break. The close one is southeast of Pioneer. Another one looks to be over towards Cross Plains. Whoa! Piece of road just blew up! I bett...”

...

“Porky?”

...

“Porky? Come back?”

...

“This is KXCT, the CAT, on 102.3 FM. Ok, everyone listen up! We now have confirmed reports of three; count ‘em, three, Swarm ships landing over by Rising Star and Cross Plains way. If y’all are down there, hide! The Army Quick Reaction Team is already on its way up from Bliss and the National Guard has troops forming up in Abilene. If you are on the highway, get the hell off of it! I am deadly serious. The army does not want to drive their tanks over you or your F-150, but they will if they have to. Even with your family in it. They will be in a real big hurry. Ok, we’re opening the lines now to anyone who has actually seen anything. OH! And don’t use your CB, HAM rigs or maybe even your cell phones if you are close to the landing sites. They seem to be shooting at those. If they take out our back up tower, we’ll be off the air too. Caller Bill, you’re on with Tom.”

“This is just a hoax. Everyone knows this is just a way for those aliens to force us into slavery and...”

“Ok, he’s gone. Let’s be clear here. My uncle is out there with the Confederacy Marines. He has seen and fought the Swarm on three worlds so far. I believe him. I got friends out there as well. And the Swarm’ve been fighting in Africa for a year now. Hell, you can see the explosions from the space fighting overhead right now. Not a hoax. No more time for any more hoax talk. Next caller. Travis.”

“What are you talking about hiding for? This is Texas and it’s open season on the Swarm. Get your rifles, boys!“

“Ok, Travis, like I said; don’t clog the roads. If everyone tries to go after them with hunting rifles, the army won’t be able to get their tanks in. Next caller. Mike. You’re on the Cat.”

“They landed the southeast ship at the intersection of 36 and county road 239. If you’re coming in from the east take road 268 north to 269 and then west to 254.”

“That still sounds kind of close, Mike. Will that really get you around them?”

“Around them? Course not! But it gets you to where we’re grouping up to go in on foot. Bring your scoped rifles. Shotguns ain’t going to cut it.”

Warren Hodges slammed into his house, calling out to the family. No answer. There was a big notepad propped up on the kitchen table. In hurried, bold letters it said, “Headed to Gran’s. Saw a ship come down south at least 2 miles straight past over the Perkins’ place. Radio said not to use cell phones near Swarm. Mine’s off ‘til Gran’s. We have our HDs, Groucho, Harpo and Chico. Take care. Love, Gwen + kids. XOX.”

Warren collapsed in the chair for a minute. The relief hit him like a tangible thing. The family should be safe for now. They were headed north and his mother had a big, old, concrete storm shelter; fully stocked and equipped. She even had stored up dog food for the Marx brothers. Gwen had even remembered to take both her and Petey’s Home Defense rifles. He grabbed the purple Sharpie from beside the note and added his own lines. “Cell phone died. I got called up, as expected. Go back and stay with Mom until I come for you. Love, W.” Then he trotted through to the back room where he kept his gear, shedding work clothes as he went.

Skin-suit. Talc. A little KY, and ... ughh. Man, he hated those suit plumbing connections, but they were sure handy once you were in the field. The suit’s snug fit was also a good reason to keep his weight under a close watch. It was made of a carbon nano-fiber and Kevlar mix. The army had found out that the inconvenience of custom-fitting the suits was more than made up for by all the benefits. No skinned elbows while low crawling, built in cooling and heating, light armor, and protection from most contaminants. They were good against scorpions, snakes, stickers, and brambles too. Slip on the Advanced Battle Dress over the top, mainly for the pockets. Make double sure that it was set to the local camouflage pattern. Fill the camelback and the belt canteen with fresh water. Add those to the rest of the gear. Add the hard armor pieces and gear up. Helmet. Link the armor and ABD so they were on the local camo pattern. Grab up his ruck and the truck keys. His weapon was in the armory in Abilene, but...

He activated his implant. “Sergeant Leon. Corporal Hodges here. I’m suited up and leaving home. Stupid question maybe, but do you still want me to come straight in?”

“Yes, Corporal Hodges. When we call for all hands, we mean all hands; even you.” The implant simulated the caustic sarcasm quite well. Sergeant Leon could cut a person down to size with his tone alone, but he only used his power for good. Usually.

“Sorry, Sergeant. I was unclear. My family actually saw one of the ships landing near here. I have notes with a rough bearing from my location. I was wondering if you wanted me to scout it out.”

“Umm, hang on.” There was a pause of a minute before a new ‘voice’ came over the implant.

“Hodges, this is Captain Gardner. First, are you armed? And second, can you get close without being seen? We don’t want them knowing that there will be armed resistance on the ground. Orders from up top.”

“Sir, I have my HD-47 in 7.62. Semi and auto burst version. It’s been modified with a good scope for target shooting. I have several hundred rounds available here. It’s no M34, but it’ll do for a recon. It has a laser pointer that can double as a military designator. I paid extra for the compatibility and the unit armorer set it up. I’m a fair hunter, Sir. I move well in the brush. I’ve got all my gear here except the military weapons. Oh, and about that no resistance secret? You should know, sir, the good ol’ boys are arming and going out in force. I saw four pickups loaded with men and rifles on the road while I was getting home from work.”

“I knew that wouldn’t last long. I’ll pass it up the chain. Ok, go in. Look, but stay clear. If you can take command of any of the rabble, do so. We might need a reserve. Maybe you can at least keep them out of the way. I’ll pass any other local troops to you if we get any.”

“Yes, Sir.” As he talked, Warren was using his key to open his gun safe. He grabbed his rifle and his great-grandfather’s bayonet, worn down some from years of sharpening and polishing. It had been carried in the first battle of Pork Chop Hill, Korea. Somehow, his grandfather had carried it for his tour in Viet Nam as well. His dad had been in the Army as well, but had not made it into combat. However, this was going with him today. He took his three pre-loaded 30 round magazines and filled his magazine pouch. Grabbing some more, currently empty mags, he attached the loading tool and shoved the ammo from three stripper clips into each of four of them. Seven mags gave him 210 rounds. If he needed more than that, he was in serious trouble.

He knew better, but he momentarily considered adding a handgun. He left behind the short-barreled .357 with magnum hollow points. It was against policy, added extra weight, and was probably useless anyway. Hmm, he should grab some energy bars though. He took up his Home Defense-47, a generic name that people were using for several models of Kalashnikov variants. For the past three years, in Texas and several other states, they had been issued free to anyone who took the courses and could pass the tests. Since he was in the National Guard, his was a fully legal, auto burst version in 7.62 NATO; the same caliber as his M34. He had almost asked for an FN-Fal or an M-14, but the wife and kids were not as proficient or as strong and he wanted everything compatible. Also, the AKs were rugged and forgiving of poor maintenance. However... “Oh, and Sarge?”

“Yes, Corporal Hodges?” The Sergeant sounded rushed.

“Can you bring my M34? Please?”

Warren was downing an orange juice for the moisture and quick sugar as he started to hop into his truck, but then he had a thought. He ran through the side door into the garage, where he threw up the garage door and rolled out his dirt bike. It was smaller, harder to spot, it would do better off road and since the Swarm were supposedly deaf, they wouldn’t hear it, or anything else; so why not. He checked the fuel; then he grabbed the heavy plank from the truck bed, dragged it back to the pickup’s tailgate, and set it up as a ramp, before rolling the bike up and into the bed. He didn’t bother tying the bike down; he just wedged it in a bit. A bright flash overhead caught his attention for a moment. He hoped it was a Swarm ship that had just died in space and not another human one. Slamming the tailgate up after he slid the plank in, he climbed into the truck and drove off.

He used his implant again. This time, it was to contact the National Guard’s 36th Infantry Division AI link. “Arrowhead! I need some info. Can you monitor cell phones, CB broadcasts, FM and AM stations in the area, internet traffic and anything else you can think of for info about where the civilian hunters might be congregating?”

<Affirmative, Corporal Hodges. Previous information gathered from a talk radio program indicates that some individual named Mike is attempting to designate the intersection of county roads 269 and 254 as a rally point to go after what he has designated as the southeast ship. I will continue monitoring these media for more information. >

“Good, can you play that back for me, in his voice?” Warren listened for a minute. “I think that’s Mike Kingman. He’s not too stupid, but he is cocky and really stubborn. He won’t listen to me if he already has a group with him. And he has some natural charisma. They’ll follow his lead.”

<There are fourteen active cell phones in the vicinity of that intersection, including one owned by Michael R. Kingman. More are approaching.>

“Yup, I’ll ignore his bunch. Ok, if that one is southeast, then mine must be near the north end. I’ll get back to you. Please upload that info to the company.”

<Acknowledged. >

“Arrowhead? Some of those people might take pictures of the ships to send to friends.”

<Acknowledged. A National State of Emergency has just been declared. I will monitor all private communication in the area. Corporal, be advised that your National Guard unit has now been Federalized. >

“Acknowledged. I understand that I’m in the US Army until further notice.”

He headed south and noticed that there was significant traffic even on the small back roads. Families were heading north; men with rifles were heading south. When he got to 217, he pulled the truck off the road, unloaded and hopped onto his dirt bike. He had caught a glimpse of smoke rising from a mile to the south. He stayed in the trees and creosote for another half mile. One last dash through cover to just shy of road 2731 and he shut the bike down. He slipped over to a north-south windbreak tree line on foot, traveled another quarter mile down the length of that. Then he went prone to crawl over to the ditch, where he uncased his binoculars.

There it was, well over three hundred meters away. And at two hundred meters south of the ship, there was a clump of burning pickups. He couldn’t see anyone moving near them. It looked like all four pickups had been north bound. One was only the rear-end now; the engine compartment and front wheels were just gone. Two more trucks were flipped onto their sides with a crater between them. The last one was on its roof and it had a huge hole punched into the side. He could see what he thought were a few bodies inside the trucks and two more were laying on the road. There were brush lines and windbreaks blocking much of his field of vision, but the ship and the trucks were straight down the road from him.

“Arrowhead. I have a visual on the ship.”

<Go ahead, Corporal. >

“It’s very near the corner of county roads 240 and 376. It’s in the field about 400 meters north northeast of that intersection. Just inside of the big crop circle there. South of there, on the road, I see four destroyed pickups. At least a couple of bodies, as well. Human bodies, that is. All of the vehicles seem to have been approaching the ships and were just within a couple of hundred meters of it. The ship’s silhouette seems to be of their scout type craft. It’s vaguely triangular and blocky looking with a large bulge at the bottom. It has landed vertically. Right on it’s ass. It looks much like a giant Hershey’s Kiss with out the paper tassel. There is a lot of smoke and haze around it from what looks like scorched ground and smoldering vegetation, as well as the burning trucks. I can see two ramps and they appear to be one third of the way around the ship from each other. I’d bet it’s trilaterally symmetrical, as the creatures are, or nearly so. Anyway, I am assuming a third ramp on the far side. I can see maybe a dozen individual Swarm creatures. Six are placing some sort of device right at the intersection of the road. It’s a large device, the size of a couple of barrels or maybe a big barbeque, with handgrips for carrying. It appears to be heavy. Three of them were carrying it using both large arms. No visible markings or coloration on the device other than a dirty blue overall shade. Ah, hell!”

<What is the problem, Corporal? > The AI did not sound distressed, but it was concerned, in a non-emotional sort of way. Hodges was an asset.

“Stand by. I have activity going on. Ok. Two local guys, civilians. I think I recognized one of them. I did not see them previously. They jumped up from cover, west of the ship, and opened fire from under one hundred meters. One Swarm went down. Then both men got hit with return fire. At least three hits per guy. Lasers from the Swarm troops. I could see the later beam strikes in the smoke from the first shots. Uhm, that is, the smoke from the earlier hits on the bodies, that is. Then, as they were falling down, the ship fired something; beam of some sort from the very top of the ship. One shot. Big explosion. The locals are just a hole in the ground now. I think that’s what got the trucks. I’d bet it was the ship’s light particle beam. It came from the nose area and it looked like a big lightning bolt. Noisy too. Please pass the word. Our info during training was correct. These things react quickly and every one reacts together. The three carrying the barrel did not stop doing that, though.”

<Acknowledged. A review of information indicates a temporary state of group inactivity may occur when resistance is encountered. Is this not happening? >

“If I recall correctly, that sometimes happens, but it generally only happens once per engagement. Also, that is usually during the initial encounter. I bet whatever happened with those trucks ruined that chance for us. I don’t expect any freebies. Also, I’d like to mention, those guys made it in close, maybe seventy five, one hundred meters, but then they got stupid and exposed themselves before they fired.”

<Acknowledged. Captain Gardner reiterates that you need to stay under cover. >

“Trust me, I’m hugging dirt.”

<PFCs Jennifer Baker and Mark Baker are in your area. They are heading to join you. They are being guided along the same path that you took, on the assumption that it is a safe one.>

“Yeah, that should be ok. I came some of the last part by dirt bike though, so they will probably have to hoof it in a ways.” He thought for a moment. Jennie and Mark were good people, and good troops, but he wasn’t sure about having a married couple in the same fire team. No telling what either would do if their spouse was in danger. Oh, well. They were what he had. “Arrowhead, are they armed?”

<Yes, although they do not have compatible weaponry. J. Baker has a .270 and M. Baker has a 300 Magnum. The information on file indicates these are not military weapons. >

“Correct, but I remember those rifles, now. They hunt and do target shooting. Those are both Weatherby Magnums and they have some good range. Get them guided to me.”

<Yes Corporal Hodges. Corporal, you are now designated OP North. >

“Confirmed. Observation Post North.”

Hodges concentrated for a moment on setting up a temporary fire team link with the communications implant. Then he contacted the Bakers. “Bakers, Jennie and Mark. This is Corporal Hodges. We just got designated as an Observation Post. You are now in my fire team link until we physically link up with the company.”