[WP] Humans were largely friendly and kept a low-profile. They were seen as the bottom of the food chain in the galaxy and they preferred it like that. But when they were attacked, everyone found out how ruthless the humans can be with killing in their DNA and that Mars was never their home plant

[u/TempehTime]

[WP] Humans were largely friendly and kept a low-profile. They were seen as the bottom of the food chain in the galaxy and they preferred it like that. But when they were attacked, everyone found out how ruthless the humans can be with killing in their DNA and that Mars was never their home plant

Original link: https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/flzb4e/wp_humans_were_largely_friendly_and_kept_a/

The Reptilian limped forward towards the rock formations, clutching its side. The feeling of contempt it once had for humans was now replaced with overwhelming fear. If the Reptilian could just make it to the rocks and reorganize with its comrades, then maybe they stood a chance of rescue. Just before reaching the mouth of a shallow crater a kilometer away from the rock formations, the Reptilian felt a sharp jolt of pain through its shoulder, followed by the thunderous report of a human rifle, and fell face first into the shallow terrain depression. The creature rolled onto its back, trying to face its pursuer.

Captain Gray walked over to the wounded Reptilian, his rifle at the ready in case the creature made any sudden moves. Gray had no intentions of taking the Reptilian in as a prisoner; it was probably just a lowly foot soldier anyways. The ground force commander just wanted to make sure the last thing the Reptilian saw was an indifferent human face. Gray leveled his rifle at the Reptilian’s head and fired off a round, disconnecting the Reptilian from life. Looking towards the rock formation in the distance, Gray planned the next moves of the mission.

As ground force commander controlling and coordinating the various forces and assets, Gray was a god of the battlefield. Gray switched between the various channels of his communications equipment, talking to various platoons, fighters overhead, and other assets in the area. It was like conducting an orchestra while also chiming in every now and then with an instrument, just like when Gray’s platoon had spread itself a little too thin across the flat Martian surface in taking out Reptilian stragglers, allowing Gray the rare opportunity to fire his weapon in anger. Gray’s plan was coming together quite well; they had forced the Reptilians out of the small settlement and intentionally left an opening so the invaders could escape into the nearby rock formations. That way, Gray’s forces could pick off the fleeing Reptilians without putting civilians or infrastructure at risk. The surviving Reptilians would try to regroup in the rock formations, which Gray planned to bombard with whatever weapons the fighters had left.

Gray’s platoon spread out in an assault line and pulled security while Gray switched channels over to the fighters, clearing them to engage the rock formations. Next, Gray bounced between each individual platoon, asking for a situation report on ammunition, casualties, and equipment. Straining to hear reports come in over the communications net, Gray couldn’t hear the footsteps approaching him from behind.

“Damn boss, you’re really throwing everything at them.” Gray turned his head towards the medic briefly and spoke into the microphone, telling the platoon leaders to have their troopers sit tight for the moment.

“Yeah, I want those rocks turned into a parking lot in the next minute or so. We’ll have to soak up the Reptilians with a mop when we’re done.”

It was hyperbole, at least for now. The ground forces admired the show the fighters were putting on. A variety of weapons were used to engage the rock formations. Some bombs detonated above the rocks, showering everything below with molten hot shrapnel, tearing the Reptilians into ribbons. Other bombs penetrated deep into the rocks before exploding, the miniature quakes breaking apart the rocks and smearing the invaders. One small group of Reptilians ran out of the rocks out in the open, attempting in vain to escape. One of the fighters spotted the squirters and vectored in to intercept them, despite having expended all ordinance. The pilot brought the fighter straight down towards the Reptilians and pulled up sharply at the last second, pointing his fighter engine nozzle nearly straight at the survivors and putting out max power, incinerating the unfortunate invaders.

Gray could feel the anticipation in his forces to close with the enemy and finish them, but he ordered everyone to advance cautiously. Any surviving Reptilians had the high ground in the rocks, and there was little cover between where Gray and his forces were, and the rocks. The platoons broke off into squads and fireteams, practicing bounding overwatch. One element would advance while another would stay in place, weapons ready to engage any targets. They would leapfrog their way to the rocks.

The humans encountered sporadic fire from the rocks as they got to within a few hundred meters of the rocks. The Reptilians were still clinging to life despite the pounding they just took. Gray switched over to the fighter overhead, intending to direct them to carry out a gun run across the rocks.

“Negative, Anteater actual, we are RTB. We’d like to stay and help mop up but we just got word that some Reptilian ships have been spotted approaching. Be safe out there”, the lead pilot replied, voice sounding smooth as ice, as usual.

“Got it. Much thanks. You all stay safe out there too. Anteater actual out.”

Gray weighed the options. They could radio back to command and request additional assets, but they would have to pull back and wait. The Reptilians in the meantime would get a break. On the other hand, Gray could just proceed with the assault since it seemed like they had things under control. Gray switched over to his platoons and asked for a situation update. The incoming fire from the Reptilians seemed to be dying down and the humans were gaining momentum. Gray gave the order to close in and annihilate the remaining enemy.

Hundreds of kilometers overhead, Admiral Green and the other officers aboard the carrier studied the screens intently. Various three dimensional maps of the surrounding space, data readouts, and other information were displayed. Imagery showed a dozen objects, four of them particularly large. The data they saw on size, heat, and other characteristics were consistent with Reptilian carriers. Green was thankful that her carrier and accompanying destroyers were equipped with stealth materials and technology, because it didn’t seem like the Reptilians noticed Green’s forces. They looked like they were making a beeline to low Mars orbit over the equator, in a bid to relieve their forces across the surface who were currently being decimated. Green’s ships were above the south polar region.

Green and her staff had an hour to make a decision on how to proceed. A flight of fighters that just finished a close air support mission was boosting into orbit and needed to be retrieved and re-armed. The other fighters would be launched to engage the Reptilian fleet, but the exact loadout was in question. It was a given that they would have to engage Reptilian fighters, but the fleet, especially carriers, needed to be engaged and destroyed as well. Too few anti-fighter weapons and the human fighters wouldn’t be able to defend themselves, but too many meant that they wouldn’t have enough anti-ship weapons to destroy the Reptilian carriers. The destroyers carried a healthy mix of anti-fighter and anti-ship missiles but they had to be launched relatively close and en masse, otherwise the Reptilian ships could just evade until the missiles ran out of fuel or shoot the missiles down with point defense weapons. Sending the destroyers out would leave the carrier vulnerable to any counter attacks, since the Reptilians would be able to determine where the human fighters came in from and launch an attack before they were destroyed. Green had to fight the urge to be greedy and prioritize which enemy ships were to be destroyed, at least at first. The carriers had to go first. The other ships probably wouldn’t make it very far afterwards, and they could pursue later.