Free Coming Home (Free Fleet Book 2) by Michael Chatfield Page A

California.
    “Wait until they’re out of the atmosphere to shoot them down. I want to minimize as much damage to Earth as possible,” I said, moving back to overlooking everything that was happening around me.
    “Understood.”
    “I don't think they’re missiles,” Sensors said as Marleen looked to me for confirmation. I held up a finger as I checked sensors.
    I watched the missiles on screen and watched as their trajectory changed. Four of the missiles, which where duds, turned back towards Earth, fired thrusters, shot out parachutes, and landed in the Pacific Ocean, boats rushing to them.
    “Hold your fire!” I said as I watched the shuttles exit atmosphere and turn. They where wobbly compared to missiles I’d seen before.
    “Get me an optical on those missiles.” On my view screen I zoomed in on the front of the ship, and I saw two windows and two pilots sitting beside one another as they flicked switches.
    “Those are shuttles. Track where they’re going to land. I want squads along the airlocks on that side. I need comms with them as quickly as possible. Tell the teams to only stun. I don’t want any killing. Have a show of force and that should stop them.”
    “Salchar, I believe we need to think whether they have nuclear armaments on those ships. Earth might have become desperate and if they want to erase evidence, a nuke is a good way to do it,” Rick said.
    “Sensors, I want full scans of those ships. Tactical, track. If they’re carrying nukes, I want to know. Contact them to surrender if they do, and shoot them down if they come within ten kilometers.” The lull that had started at the discovery of the shuttles was gone.
    “The ships are cleared; they’re not carrying nukes.” I sighed relief. I looked at the plot of the battle happening on the main screen before checking the track of the Earth shuttles.
    “Rick, you have control. Contact me if I’m needed. I’ll go and say hey to boarders.”
    “Sir, and Henry?”
    “If he needs forces, give them to him.”
    “Gotcha.” He turned back to his work as I walked out.
    “Give them my regards,” he shot after me. I grinned and shook my head as my protection detail fell in around me. I checked my weapons and jogged down to the hangar bay where it seemed the first ship was coming in and, hopefully, the commander of this assault. I walked into the hangar as the airlock opened and soldiers rushed up and out of what was our relative down. They were wearing bastardized Mechas. I could see the first stumble, adjusting to the new gravity and tumbling over as they rolled on the deck, shooting at my closest AMC, which put three stun rounds in him before he could get more than two rounds off.
    The rest of the assaulting force used their hands to throw themselves up, coming down in a roll. They came out in a flood, being stunned after they got just a few rounds off. Finally, all of them where stunned on the ground. There were some lazy calls from my Mecha's for medics. All of them where used to wounds now and none of them were immediately life threatening.
    “There’s another shuttle inbound on that airlock.”
    “Thanks, Rick. Looks like our boys have it in had, but I have an idea.”
    ***
    It sounds like a slaughter, Connolly thought as his first men had gotten off a few rounds but it was less frequent, even with his men pouring out of his shuttle at an alarming rate.
    Great way to start humanities attempt to take back the stars. Led by Captain Connolly gritting his teeth, he moved next to the airlock. He rushed after them, learning from the first man as he threw himself up and rolled right toward a circle of Mechas, these ones with the marks of battle and looking as solid as rock. He watched as his rounds, even from his high powered rifle, glanced off of the Mechas before his own Mecha went stiff with an electronic overload and he watched as his people poured in, all of them being cut down mercilessly. He hoped they where all using the