Recruit: Book One of the Universal Conflict ( Under Constant Editing)

Chapter 42

  The trip down was smooth, ships of all sizes were disabled, the familiar clouds of vapor from the vented atmospheres surrounding each ship. Weaving through the debris, they approached Sha'agra. The continents passed below,  various shades of green of the landscape speeding under them.

 Thanks to the air strike pilots no anti-aircraft weaponry tried to blow them out of the sky. They landed in an open field a few miles outside of the city. That's where their fight began as the Ruchkitay presented a solid front of warriors as soon as they left the transports.

  The Sha'agrans were the first to exit, their guns cutting down the Ruchkitay fighters as they charged the ships. Not realizing the effectiveness of Earths weaponry, the Ruchkitay charged en mass as was their normal fighting style. Only a few in the rear of the charge realized that those landing had found the means to kill them, those few turned and tried to run back into the city. They didn't make it far as the landing parties cut down every Ruchkitay in sight. In the field, no Ruchkitay survived. The fleet warriors were fast and efficient.

  Around the planet this scenario repeated itself over and over. Even though the Ruchkitay fought back, they didn't stand a chance against the combined forces of the Sha'agrans and fleet personnel, both determined to retake the planet. Millions of Ruchkitay lay dead or dying in the fields outside the cities of Sha'agra. Many more were still in those cities, waiting for the former inhabitants to come and try to retake their world. Since no survivors came back from the battle, they didn't know about the weapons used by the returning Sha'agrans. 

  "Now comes the dangerous part of this effort." Cory told Caguan "The building to building hunting. These vermin are clever, fast and viscous. Don't underestimate them."

  "They shouldn't be too difficult to exterminate." Caguan boasted "Look how quickly we handled these."

  Cory shrugged, "Your funeral." he said.

  "A bit harsh," Krystal said "don't you think."

  "If he doesn't want to listen," Cory replied "he'll have to pay the price. He'll either die himself or have to live with the losses his carelessness will create."

  "I suppose," Krys returned "maybe we should have trained the Sha'agrans a bit more."

  "No time." Cory stated "You know as well as I do, sooner or later the rest of the Ruchkitay held planets are going to hear about the fleet and will try to stop us."

  "That's true." She responded "But we don't want to alienate the Sha'agran contingent of our fighters."

  "Still," Cory told her "if he doesn't listen, it's not going to be pretty. He's going to get killed or get a lot of his people killed unnessarily."

  Even as he said it, he hoped it wouldn't happen. He had made several friends among the Sha'agrans and he didn't want to lose any of them. Not to arrogant stupidity or an overinflated ego.

  The squad had been approaching the city cautiously,  slowly searching through buildings for any enemy fighters. It didn't take long before gunfire could be heard throughout the city. Squads from other landing parties were clearing the buildings in their sectors. So far Corys squad had been lucky, no stray Ruchkitay had been found.

  The next building to be searched was full of them. As Cory pulled the pin to throw a grenade through the doors Caguan charged in front of him, not giving Cory time to toss the grenade. It took only a second or two for Caguan to be attacked by the Ruchkitay inside. His end was gruesome as the Ruchkitay tore him to pieces. Even as his stomach threatened to empty itself, Cory threw the grenade into the mass of Ruchkitay, who were now fighting amongst themselves for the remainders of Caguans body. Those nearest to the explosive were shredded when it blew, the rest tried to run but were cut down by the guns of the rest of the squad.

  Cory looked at the mess that was what was left of Caguan then threw up. The rest of the squads Sha'agran fighters let out a long mournful howl, grieving Caguans death.

  "I am Shatal, Caguans second in command." Shatal stated as he walked up to Cory, who was rinsing his mouth out "Even if he was a brave warrior, he was foolish. He should have waited until you threw your bomb."

  "I tried to tell him," Cory said "he wouldn't listen."

  "He wasn't used to taking orders. He gave orders many times, acting without thought." Shatal stated "His arrogance caused his death."

  At that, Shatal had his warriors gather what was left of Caguan for burial. The rest of the squad cleared the building while they were picking up the pieces. It didn't take long for the rest of the building to get cleared out.

  Unfortunately, this reclamation wasn't easy at all. The Ruchkitay fought them in every building from then on out. The fleet personnel took a pounding, casualties were frequent, some were fatal. All told the fleet had more than ten thousand dead by the end of the campaign. Most of them from Caguans ship.

  Even though Cory didn't want to lose friends, he did. Two more of the Sha'agrans, both friends, in his squad were killed in the three week fight. Cory himself had been wounded towards the end of the fight.

  It was during a search of the underground transport system. Cory, Shatal, Krystal and five team members were walking down the passageway, looking for possible surviving Sha'agrans. Having previously never found Ruchkitay in dark places, they didn't expect the appearance of the three that attacked from a side tunnel.

  Shatal, as point, never saw what killed him. The Ruchkitay lunged and bit off Shatals left side, from shoulder to hip. The fighter behind him quickly killed the Ruchkitay, then he was knocked back into the following man by the second in line. Both were unconscious from the impacts. Cory shot that one but caught a clawed foot across his thighs from the third, tearing through to the bone, putting him out of action.  Krystal emptied her gun into the attacking foe. She killed it but it still hit her with enough force that she broke her arm trying to keep from hitting her head on the wall.

  It was hard to be back on the Revenge when the rest of the squad was still fighting on the surface but Cory and Krystal were now out of the fight.

  After the knowledge that Ruchkitay would go into the dark and damp was acquired, small drones were sent out ahead of patrols, stopping many fatalities.

  A week later Sha'agra was cleared of the enemy. The civilian population returned home after two decades and started to rebuild their world.

  Leaving enough weapons to insure they could keep it and half the warriors to secure the planet, the fleet left for the next world to retake.

  Cory knew it was only going to get worse from there.