Battle- Earth Read online

  Battle: Earth

  Alien Invasion

  Mark Harrison

  Ozark Publishing

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  The highway was packed. Patrick Clampsey and his family were stuffed inside their tiny hatchback. It was hot and the air conditioning in the car wasn’t working. Patrick scheduled to take it in to the shop on Monday but that wasn’t going to happen. Not now. He wiped sweat from his brow and looked at his phone to read the news. The headlines said it all:

  Alien Invaders Attack Earth!

  “Dad, where are we going?”

  Patrick looked in the rearview mirror. Ethan, his 8-year-old son, was in the backseat and wore a worried expression on his face. He couldn’t scare his child with the truth, could he? What would he say? Everything is going to be okay, son. The giant alien ships hovering over the city are nothing to worry about. He couldn’t say that. His eyes left his son’s gaze. “We’re going to grandpa’s farm,” he said. “A little getaway. That’s all.” He knew the answer wouldn’t be enough to meet Ethan’s curiosity.

  “But what about school?”

  “It’s okay, I talked to your teacher.”

  His son wasn’t buying it. Ethan’s face went from confused to upset. Great, now he’s going to cry. Good one. Patrick turned back to the road. They needed to get moving.

  When reports came in that thousands of large, metallic ships had settled over cities all over the globe, he didn’t believe it. How could he? It all sounded so ridiculous, like something out of a cheesy science-fiction movie. It wasn’t until he saw the clouds in the sky and the fire and lightning that came with them, that he knew it was true. It wasn’t long after that reports of destruction followed. They hadn’t attacked Los Angeles yet. But they would. Patrick could sense it. It was only a matter of time.

  During the initial panic, he surprised himself with his resourcefulness. Within minutes of the ships appearance over the skyline, he had his family packed and ready. Making things easier, Ethan, and his youngest, Rose, were dressed for school. They had their backpacks on and their mother, Faye, had finished making some sandwiches for their lunch. He threw their lunches in their backpacks and told them all to get in the car. They’d be fine until they got to the farm. That’s where they would go. His father’s old farm. While his family ran to the car, he stayed in the kitchen. He went to his closet and grabbed an old backpack he used while travelling through Europe. He filled the backpack up with goods from the kitchen. He grabbed whatever wasn’t perishable. It wasn’t until they were on the road that he realized he forgot matches. How could he forget the matches? It didn’t matter. They’d stop at a gas station. They’d have time. Of course they would.

  All they had to do was get out of Los Angeles. But that was proving to be a challenge. They left home an hour ago and were still within the city limits.

  Looking at the traffic ahead, Patrick sighed. It seemed like everyone in the city had that same idea. Get out.

  They hadn’t moved in minutes. It was so bad, some people were standing outside their cars, some on the hoods. His family would be here for awhile. His hands were starting to sweat.

  “At this rate, we’d get there faster if we walked!” Faye said.

  He looked out the rearview mirror. The ships were still there. They didn’t look real. They looked like some Hollywood CGI. They hovered over the Los Angeles skyline. Every now and then they’d make a loud noise. But they hadn’t attacked. Maybe the reports were wrong? He turned to Faye, “Maybe we should go back?”

  “Are you serious? Whatever those things are, they don’t mean well. You think the reports are wrong?”

  “The governor announced that people shouldn’t panic. Maybe everything is okay.“

  “You saw the military helicopters and the soldiers,” Faye said. “You know things are not okay. We need to get out of the city.”

  “But if those things start attacking, we will be sitting ducks on the freeway.”

  “If they start attacking, we’re done for, regardless of where we are.”

  Faye was right. The interstate was their only choice. He’d feel safer outside the city anyway. It would give him time to collect himself. To make a plan for what would come next. This was their only option. He grabbed hold of his wife’s hand, squeezed it, and smiled. He couldn’t help but look at the alien ships again, although this time he noticed something different. “Look,” he said.

  Faye turned around and looked at the ships, so did Ethan and Rose. They all watched in horror as black clouds emerged from the hundreds of large ships hovering over the city. Something was wrong.

  In the distance, Patrick started to hear honking. He looked around from car to car, everyone was panicking. Vehicles began to drive on the side of the freeway, the drivers honking at pedestrians who were in their way. It was chaos.

  As unusual as it was to see people driving on the side of the road, it was just as weird to see them with their hands on their steering wheels, overriding their vehicle’s autopilot. Patrick had to follow suit. He hit the manual control button on his dashboard. The plastic plate hiding the steering wheel slid to the side and the car’s steering wheel popped out. He put his hands on the wheel. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d manually driven anywhere.

  “What are you doing?” Faye asked.

  “I’m going to get us out of here. Whatever the fuck that black cloud is, I don’t want to meet it.”

  “Patrick!” Faye said. “You shouldn’t curse in front of the children.”

  “Not now, Faye!”

  The ground started to shake. Living in California meant he lived through lots of earthquakes, but this was different. As the ground shook, people began to scream. He looked in the rearview mirror again. The dark clouds released from the ships grew large. Whatever they were, they were headed their way. As they approached they made a terrifying sound, like a motocycle engine, but deeper, darker.

  “We need to leave,” he said. “We need to leave now.”

  “Why?” said Faye.

  “Those things. They’re headed our way.”

  “Things?”

  Faye turned around and looked at the black clouds. She began to see what they were. They were maybe seven miles away. They were not clouds at all, but thousan
ds of small ships. Faye’s mouth hung open in horror.

  “Drive, Pat! Drive!” she screamed.

  Patrick slammed his foot on the gas and tried to steer the car onto the side of the freeway, but couldn’t. He attempted to merge onto it but ended up hitting the car in front of him. The children in the back fell forward. The hatchback’s emergency detection system activated. The steering wheel collapsed back into the dashboard. Inside the car, a red light began to flash. The voice activated AI spoke:

  This is your emergency detection system. We have detected an emergency. Please remain seated while we assess the damage and contact the authorities.

  “Fuck!” Patrick shouted. “Fuck! Is everyone okay?”

  He looked around the car, his wife and children were shaking. With the emergency detection system activated, it would be impossible for him to manually drive the car. They needed to get out of the car.

  “I’m okay,” said Faye.

  “I’m fine, daddy,” Rose said, her little voice barely rising above the voice of the emergency detection AI. She was still holding the tiny pink teddybear she’d been given for her birthday.

  “I’m okay,” Ethan said.

  Assured that his family was alright, Patrick got out of the car. The driver in the car he hit got out of his and approached Patrick but stopped before he got to close. Patrick stood waiting to hear it, but the driver raised a hand and pointed toward Los Angeles, a dumbfounded expression painted across his face, one of shock and horror.

  Patrick looked back toward the city. Approaching the highway were dozens of tiny ships. They were triangular in shape, flew at incredible speeds, and could maneuver unlike anything he’d seen before. Atop each ship were three black blades, like shark fins, that glistened in the sun. A green glow emanated from the back of each ship.

  When he turned back to the driver of the hit car, Patrick noticed he wasn’t there anymore. The driver was running down the road. People in vehicles all around him started to flee. There was no where to run but forward. The highway was blocked on either side with large concrete walls. Walls that were meant to minimize the sound of the traffic for any residents living nearby, but now served as a cage.

  Patrick opened up the backseat door and pulled out Ethan, shouting to his wife, “Get Rose! We’ve got to run!”

  He pulled Ethan out of the car and carried him as he ran. “Don’t open your eyes,” he said.

  As the triangular alien ships approached, pulses of blue light shot down from them, exploding as they hit their target.

  Faye was holding Rose and was shielding her ears from the explosions. Rose held onto her pink teddybear. She wouldn’t let it go.

  They ran down the highway.

  “Don’t stop running!” Patrick said. “Whatever you do, don’t stop running!”

  The Clampsey’s ran, avoiding moving traffic and other people fleeing. The alien ships were right behind them. Blowing up everything in their path. The Clampsey’s were sitting ducks. Easy targets. They had no chance.

  Chapter 1

  Outside the military truck’s front window, Rick saw the large alien motherships floating above Los Angeles. Their metallic frames revealed themselves as the truck drove through the San Gabriel mountains. The dry foliage of the landscape gave way to the the harsh metallic bodies of the ships. Below them, he could see smaller ships. He’d heard reports about the first few attacks. About how the smaller ships emerged from the larger ones and then destroyed everything in their path. He heard about how these smaller ships emitted blue pulses of light that exploded everything they touched. He hadn’t seen any of that yet. But he knew he would. And when he did. He wanted to give them a piece of his mind. It was time for the human race to fight back against these motherfuckers. They weren’t going to take over our planet without a fight.

  He pulled out his rifle and started to clean it. It was only a matter of time. Rick was travelling with a group of SpaceForce soldiers toward toward Los Angeles. He was going to be on the front line of the counterattack being led by SpaceForce Mission Control.

  “There’s smoke up ahead,” Sam Matters said.

  Sam Matters’s SpaceForce commando suit was new. There wasn’t one blemish on it. He was eager to get it dirty. To see some action. Rick and Sam had been friends since their were both cadets at SpaceForce academy. They both had bonded over their affinity for whiskey and fast women. Sam was a better student than Rick. Rick wasn’t a good student, but he was good at picking up women and he could hold his liquor better than Sam. Sam sat across from Rick in the back of the truck.

  Alongside them were fifteen SpaceForce soldiers. Like Sam, their uniforms were clean. Many of them wore anxious expressions. They’d never seen real combat before. No SpaceForce military exercises prepared them for this. Rick smiled. They’d be getting a fucking first-class education soon. They all would. He peaked out the front window once more. He couldn’t stop staring at the motherships. It was almost as if he needed to remind himself that they were real. That this wasn’t some nightmare.

  When reports came in to SpaceForce that the motherships were attacking, Rick volunteered to fight back. Even though he wasn’t a SpaceForce soldier, even though he didn’t give a rats ass about SpaceForce. He asked Sam if he could come along, and Sam said yes. Sam knew they would need all the help they could get. And in any case, Rick was as qualified as any SpaceForce soldier. He’d completed the training. Hell, he’d still be in SpaceForce if it wasn’t for his father.

  You could tell the other soldiers in the commando unit weren’t pleased by Rick’s presence. They’d heard the rumors. They knew the stories. They knew about his dad. They didn’t trust Rick Frost, the man who’d survived Olympus Mons.

  Rick was the son of disgraced SpaceForce captain Blake Frost. The captain of the ship that went down during the infamous mission to Mars, Olympus Mons. It was supposed to be the first manned mission to the red planet, a triumph of human progress in the twenty-first century, of American progress, but it turned out to be a major disaster. The report the media received about the mission from SpaceForce blamed Blake Frost for the deaths of all the men and woman aboard the Olympus Mons ship. The report said Captain Frost had gone crazy. He’d started to see things. He’d stopped listening to SpaceForce Mission Control. The report concluded that Captain Frost must’ve flown the ship into some space debris, maybe asteroids. Whatever it was, it was blacked out. Redacted. In any case, moments after he disobeyed SpaceForce command order, the Olympus Mons ship’s hull was compromised. Everyone onboard was dead. Captain Frost was a mad man who responsible for the deaths of all the crew.

  The media said Captain Frost set the space program in the U.S. back twenty years. They were probably right. Soon after the Olympus Mons disaster, funding to SpaceForce and NASA was cut dramatically. It was ugly. And it was all Blake Frost’s fault.

  Rick was meant to be aboard the Olympus Mons ship, but his father kicked him off days before launch. The media speculated that this was all part of the Captain Frost’s plan. That the Olympus Mons disaster was some sort of sick suicide mission. That Captain Frost kicked his son off the ship because he didn’t want to kill his son. Rick had been spared only because of his crazy father’s plan to kill.

  But the media didn’t know the truth. The real reason Rick wasn’t on that ship was because he got drunk days before the launch and punched a NASA engineer in the face. It was as simple as that. But the media had a way of twisting things. They wanted a story. They didn’t want the truth.

  He didn’t know why his father did what he did up there. He didn’t care to know. The only reason he’d joined SpaceForce in the first place was because he wanted to impress his father. He wanted to mend their relationship.

  There was a SpaceForce tribunal after the Olympus Mons disaster where Rick was given two options: stay and work in maintenance or leave. SpaceForce wanted nothing to do with Rick or his father’s legacy. Rick choose to leave.

  For years, he didn’t think about SpaceForce. He worked
as a mechanic in South Dakota, fixing up old cars to meet modern electric engine standards. He lived the life of a recluse. Of a man ashamed of his past. Each night would be spent drowning his sorrows. He did his best to forget about the past. But that all changed a couple days ago.

  He was at his local watering hole when he spotted something falling from the sky. He didn’t know what it was at first, but when he saw it up close, he knew it was important. His initial thought was that it belonged to some new tech company. It was a small metal orb. It looked high-tech. He was hoping he’d be able to trade it back to whomever it belonged to for a pretty penny. He’d thought he’d hit pay dirt. He loaded the orb onto his truck and drove it to his barn.

  When it started to vibrate and pulse and explode, he knew it wasn’t something made of this Earth. He’d been in SpaceForce. He’d seen some of the worlds most advanced tech up close. No piece of SpaceForce tech was as advanced as this orb.

  After the orb exploded, destroying his truck and most of his barn, he called Sam at SpaceForce. Sam sent a few SpaceForce personnel over to Rick’s barn. They picked him up and the pieces of the orb and drove to SpaceForce Mission Control. Apparently, the orb was related to some international crisis. Rick agreed to go with them only if they agreed he could take his dog, Domino.