Space Odyssey: Spectre

As he closed the top hatch of the tank it took a moment to seal before the cabin lit up and the tank hummed with power. He could feel it connect to him like an extra limb as a wide view of the area outside of the tank appeared.

He ran through his system checks quickly before pulling up the transmission data that Solisa was constantly sending him. He moved the tank quickly away from the vehicle preparation area and it clicked as its metal limbs tapped against the ground.

The tank moved over the softer grass terrain a lot quieter as Jace began to move parallel to the walls of the city while also moving closer. As the tank moved closer he began to aim the cannon that was on the roof of the tank. As soon as he was close enough to hit just inside the city he stopped moving toward the city and just moved in a parallel circumference to the city wall.

The data he was sent appeared as a map and he focused on the area that was in range of his tank. He fired a tank shot, the tank hummed as it was fired and the shell was ejected out of the back. The shot soared up and over the wall before slamming into an area just inside the wall. The shot hit an empty building and sent up a plume of degree and likely jarred anyone nearby but did not cause any damage.

He adjusted aim as he fired the next shot at a more populated area. The bioscan revealed a mix of humans and sirens. So it was likely they were using the sirens as human shields. The shell was ejected again while the shot exploded over the target area and electricity spread out over an area.

He checked the transmission location of the Muddied Salamanders on another screen as he loaded the next shot and adjusted aim so he would be hitting the wall this time. While simultaneously dodging a few mines that were left over.

Around the entire city was movement as portions of the armored units were preparing and moving into position. They were not worried about the occupiers blowing the explosives early because they would likely wait until Jace’s army took most of the city.

Just as there was movement outside the city there was movement inside the city. "Commander," Jo’nez started his report. "They are pulling out all of the assets. We see from our drones that they are positioned troops on roofs and buildings which all have sirens in them. That is not all we are seeing. It looks like some of the damage you are doing is throwing them enough that some of the sirens are taking advantage to begin fighting back. There is combat in multiple zones. Even the central mansion is positioning all of its troops outside."

"Then the distraction is working. The Muddied Salamanders are out of communication range." Jace declared. "Be ready to blitz the doors. I will start knocking open holes in the walls." He had already made a few holes and destroyed plenty of buildings.

They would prepare to take the city. But there might not be as much to do if the sirens were already revolting and trying to take back their city.

Jace had to pull back suddenly as artillery began to hit the ground around him. He went to aim at the source but stopped when he noticed a bunch of sirens positioned around it. He could not risk blowing it up using the explosive rounds. As for the electric rounds, he could not risk those either. Just in case the artillery ammunition they were using was vulnerable to electricity triggering them.

Several more minutes passed as he was more than halfway done with a loop around the city. By which point the Muddied Salamanders were no longer in the natural cavern under the city. They are now in the basement of the mansion in the center of the city according to the scan.

"Commander Jace, we hit the jackpot. We have eyes on the nuclear device." Adrian confirmed over the radio.

"Already?" Jace asked in surprise.

"We mined up into the room where it was located. It is connected to a remote detonator. Looks like it is not the only bomb connected to the network." Adrian continued after a second, "I do not know how many but I have the network information sending it over now. Also the nuclear material is disabled."

"Take it with you up through the building. Do not go up through the reservoir with nuclear material." Jace told them quickly as he received the information and immediately began to hack into the network. "All units, be aware that we have six new targets. All of which I have highlighted and sent to you. They are explosives that need to be disarmed."

"Commander, can we take the rest of the building?" Adrian asked.

Jace hummed. "Once I jam all frequencies so the commander of the occupiers can not remotely detonate the other bombs. In fact, all units are to move in on the city as soon as the jamming is up." There were several clicks in confirmation as Jace tapped his controls and an inaudible hum was generated from his tank.

The hum was the jamming. It blocked all signals in the area. As soon as it went up, Jace changed his movement. Instead of heading parallel to the city walls he went right toward them. There were several ’dings’ and the sound of metal on metal as bullets ricocheted off his machine.

As soon as he was within throwing distance of the wall the tank stopped and moved down slightly before slamming upward. The tank launched itself up as Jace for the first time manipulated the small arms turrets and fired. The enemies that were on the wall were gunned down and most of their bodies disintegrated into blood and guts.

The tank landed with a thud on the wall before Jace made it jump again. This time further into the city and onto a building that looked sturdy enough. He could hear cracking from outside as he picked up a firefight between some sirens and occupiers.

He aimed the cannon and fired a distance behind the occupiers. There was an explosion that did not cause any direct damage to anyone aside from throwing up some dust from the street. But the shockwave threw the humans off their feet, giving the sirens an opening.

Simultaneously there were explosions around the city. They were at the entrances where the armored units were entering from. Jace moved the tank forward and climbed over buildings. Careful to check where he moved as he closed in on the closest bomb location.

BOOM!

The tank shook and swayed slightly as a missile slammed into the side of his tank. He spun his tank around only for his cannon to make a click sound. Indicating that the clip currently installed was empty.

The missile came from a group of enemy infantry. Jace fired his mounted small arms guns and mowed down the enemies. He moved the tank forward and into the alleyway before stopping it behind a building. According to the scan the bomb was located in the building he was behind.

Jace opened the hatch and climbed out as he split his attention between controlling the tank and moving his own body. Once he was out he jumped forward and onto the ground. He could hear the hatch seal behind him as he moved to the building. But before he could open the sliding door.

It slid open on its own. It was not the only one either as several other doors in the alley opened and the enemy occupiers stepped out. Many of them were humans. But there were a few other subraces of humans who were not native to their galaxy with a variety of color skin and altered appearances.

"I know you can understand me." One of them stepped forward who had heavier armor and more medals on his chest. He was clearly the leader of this group of occupiers. "I am-"

FISSS!

A green laser bolt slammed into the man’s head and killed him instantly. Jace raised an eyebrow under his helmet as he glanced to the side before a wave of laser bolts slammed into the other enemies killing them immediately. The sirens who were watching from the roofs began to climb down.

One of them with a number of battle scars approached him with a rifle in her arms. "Friend or foe?"

"Friend." Jace answered as he turned to the building. "There are bombs hidden throughout the city. I am jamming the set off signal but we still need to manually disable them."

"One of them is in this building?" The man asked as the group of sirens warily watched him.

"It is." Jace nodded as he looked through the building with his electrical sight.