Chapter 42

Jakod

It had been decided to cut the head off the snake. Following orders from Colonel Frost a company of one hundred and twenty Army Rangers had deployed aboard the Ares. Their mission was simple; enact the capture of Genii leadership and other high value targets located on Jakod. The standard Ranger mission was airfield seizure. In this case they were being used for another purpose. Each member of the assault force was outfitted with the black battle armor that had made the kull warriors of Anubis so fearsome. Instead of carrying their normal M4's and M249's they were instead carrying only Zat's. This mission was only to capture not to kill.

After conducting a detailed scan of the target area Colonel Sheppard ordered the crew to begin beaming down the assault team. In the hanger bay F-302's had departed moments before armed with Small Diameter Bombs, and Maverick guided anti tank munitions. This would be a combined arms exercise unlike anything the Genii were capable of.

On the ground the Ranger element disregarded their normal small unit tactics. Instead of utilizing the principles of stealth during their stalk the one hundred and twenty men formed line ab.r.e.a.s.t in a wide fanning wall. Their armor would render harmless energy weapons, bullet fire, and to a lesser extent explosives against the highly trained soldiers. Removing Zat's from their holsters the men began their slow march toward the entrance to the mining system housing the Genii.

Two Genii sentries were the first to see this black wall of men coming towards them. Quickly they radioed their sighting before opening fire with automatic weapons. Mouths dropped when they saw their bullets have no effect. The last thing these two men saw before everything went black were the silver beams of energy as Zat's returned fire on their position. One of the Rangers quickly tagged the two unconscious men with locator beacons.

"Ares, I have two down and ready to beam." said the Sergeant.

"Ares copies." replied Sheppard.

In a flash of light the two men disappeared. From above a flight of 302's released their payload of SDB's. Weighing only two hundred and fifty pounds the SDB's were a recent development of the Air Force. Meant for urban warfare they were much smaller than normal air dropped ordinance. The bomb cases were constructed of carbon fiber instead of the normal steel housings meant to produce fragmentation damage. Their seeker heads active the small bombs homed in on targets designated from the laser pod of their launching aircraft. Unknown to enemy forces the weaponry was targeted no closer than fifty meters of any fighting position. Seeing the explosions frantic calls for reinforcement went out among the Genii ranks. Foot troops quickly exited the mine to join the defenders ranks.

Marching forward impervious to the weapons fire they faced the Rangers pressed forward. Each enemy combatant that was stunned was tagged with a beacon and beamed aboard Ares. This process repeated itself many times in the four mile march to the mines opening. The 302's in turn targeted their Maverick missiles near the ventilation shafts on the surface. Their intent wasn't to collapse the mine, just add enough noise and dust to the interior to make it look good.

Seeing they faced an enemy they could not harm the remaining Genii troops abandoned their stand against the oncoming black clad soldiers. Radio calls went out among their ranks to retreat within the mine. Several made it to the safety of the underground cavern, but more did not. From the mouth of the mine men watched in horror as their comrades were hit with brilliant white pulses of energy, and then vanished in much larger flashes of light.

"Prenum, you must retreat further into the mine. My men will stop these attackers before they enter the mine." said Heiron.

"Who is attacking us? Is it the Tauri?" asked Prenum.

"My men report the attackers are dressed in some type of black full body armor. We have never seen the Tauri in any such gear." replied Heiron.

"As commander of Genii forces I order you to stop this attack! Our way of life hangs in the balance of your ability to protect me!" screamed Prenum.

"They cannot simply walk through a wall of weapons fire. Remain deep in the mine with the others of your staff and I will deal with this." replied Heiron.

Prenum and his staff quickly found shelter deeper in the mine, behind a very large steel door. Heiron had run forward, marshalling his men to defend the mine entrance at all costs. "They are not invincible boys! Take aim and send them to their deaths!" he yelled.

Thirty Genii soldiers opened fire on the approaching attackers. Grenades were tossed in for good measure. A cheer erupted among the defenders, but was only to last but a brief moment. Stepping through the clouds of dust kicked up by the grenades were the black clad attackers. The Genii in a panic began to spray the approaching attackers with wild weapons fire.

"Our weapons don't have any effect commander!" screamed a young Genii soldier.

"We can't kill them! We're doomed!" screamed another.

Zat fire erupted around the defenders. They fell in droves. As these men were beamed aboard Ares a team of ten Rangers were detached to press deeper into the mine. Scans from Ares showed only twelve hostiles remained. Two sentries tried in vain to protect the room where their people's leader had taken shelter.

"Corporal, use the cutting charges and get that door down." ordered the Ranger companies First Sergeant.

"Lead the way Top." was the Corporal's reply.

The young ranger removed three cutting charges from the pack he carried on his back. One was placed over each of the massive hinges of the heavy steel door standing between the soldiers and their prey. Triggering the remote detonator the hinges were sliced open by the copper jet that erupted from the small explosive devices. Taking a pry bar two more of the Rangers pried the heavy door loose from its frame, falling with a thunderous impact.

Inside the room Prenum and his staff cowered behind overturned tables. The Rangers entered the room without saying a word. Their weapons leveled the highly trained men were ready to complete their mission.

"Please don't kill me!" begged Prenum.

Firing in unison ten Genii fell, followed quickly by the remaining two. It was over for now. Fanning out the men began to search the underground complex for anything of intelligence value. Radios, papers, photos, and equipment were all beamed aboard Ares. With a loud and thunderous call of Lead the Way the rangers celebrated their victory.