“Sah Lee, you have very little experience of a low gravity planet. You can take half an hour acclimatizing yourself to it. I suggest you start with a short run. Would someone step forward to volunteer to go with her?”
Si’ir Monn, Bynor and Touren all stepped forward.
“Very well,” the Colonel said, “I guess I could do with a run too. Let’s go.”
They ran along a dusty track as a group for a quarter of an hour when Sah Lee called them to a halt. “Colonel, I would like to practice some agility moves, I rely on them for close combat fighting.”
“You have taken half of your allocated time running out here, it will take the rest of your time for us all to run back. However, this exercise is mainly for your benefit, so you can take another half hour, then we return and start the mission. The rest of you can stand easy or exercise if you like. I’ve got a stack of equipment requests to review and approve, so I’m going to get on with them.” She sat on a rock and her eyes took on the faraway look of someone who was working in a VR environment.
Sah Lee practiced her jumps, flips, bends, rolls, cartwheels, back and forward handsprings and just for fun in the low gravity, handstands and walking on her hands. She noticed Si’ir Monn doing a series of stretching exercises while Bynor and Touren spent the time sparring at unarmed combat.
After half an hour the Colonel stood, stretched and called them together. Sah Lee joined them with a big grin on her face.
“You seemed to enjoy that.” the Colonel said to Sah Lee. “Was it useful too?”
“I think so. I’ll find out if I get into close combat on the exercise.”
“We’re about six kilometers from the target, we’ll run back and stop two hundred meters from the villa. The first step is to attempt to get undetected into cover and take up position about fifty meters from them. Center yourselves on me with a separation of five meters. Sah Lee to my left, then Bynor. Touren to my right, then Si’ir Monn. I don’t know the layout or disposition of the hostiles and hostages, so I’ll assess the situation and finalize our attack when we get there. Take your pace from me.”
The Colonel took them back at a steady pace so that they got to the villa still warmed up but not breathing heavily. The ground was uneven with boulders strewn around and a few of the low growing native scrubby bushes and scrawny twisted trees. Crawling forwards on their bellies, they all found enough cover to protect them as long as they were laying down.
Sah Lee watched the Colonel so she would be ready when the signal came to attack, although she didn’t know what the Colonels plan was yet. The Colonel stood up, in full view of the hostile outcasts in the villa and called out: “Throw your weapons out and come out of the building holding your arms outstretched at your sides!”
She was answered with a hail of fire and stood for a moment until the firing stopped. On the squad comms she said, “Your AI’s should have told you that I am now dead and can take no more action in this exercise. You are all acting Privates and there is no chain of command. I’ll stay here and observe. I no longer exist to the AI controlling the hostiles and hostages, so it will ignore me. Carry on soldiers.”
“Who’s in charge now?” Sah Lee asked the Colonel.
“Don’t ask me, I’m dead.” she replied with a smile.
Bynor said “In this position Sah Lee, one of the soldiers will take charge with the consent of the others and assume the role of Corporal.”
“I’ll take over.” Si’ir Monn said. “Get ready, we’ll make a frontal assault!”
“Hold on.” Touren spoke up. “I veto that. A frontal attack will result in the hostages being killed. I’ll take charge and we’ll wait for the hostiles to make the first move and we’ll respond to it.”
“We’re not here to negotiate, we’re here to kill the outcasts!” Si’ir Monn replied.
“I veto both of your ideas. I’ll take charge and we’ll get in position and shoot them as they make themselves visible.” Bynor said.
“Just a moment.” Sah Lee spoke up. “Let’s think about this. We know there are four hostiles and five hostages, right?”
“Yeah, and we need to get in there and kill them.” Si’ir Monn said.
“We need a plan. Let’s take an inventory of skills. Bynor, what are your strengths?”
“Close combat and KE weapons.”
“Touren?”
“GSA20 particle beam weapon and field medical.”
“Si’ir Monn?”
“Close combat and heavy caliber KE weapon, but we know all this, let’s get on with it. Or are you planning to invite the hostiles to this meeting and bore them to death?”
Sah Lee ignored his jibe. “My strengths are close combat, GSA20 - which is no use as I’ve got this KE weapon, and stalking.”
Si’ir Monn said, “With all due respect Sah Lee, we are not on a hunt, I can confirm that you are not proficient with the FKE42 weapon and we won't be able to get to the villa for you to use your exceptional close combat skills. I propose we move forward under my direction.”
During this exchange, Colonel B’Erren Tek sat on a rock watching, with a slight smile on her face.
“I have a plan.” Sah Lee said.
Si’ir Monn and Bynor ignored her and argued over the squad comms about which of their plans they should go forward with.
“Shut up both of you!” Touren snapped. They must have heard her, because they both paused. “Let’s hear what she’s got to say.”
"Bynor, Touren, Si’ir Monn. I respect all of you and your experience in battle, but none of your plans will meet our mission objectives. My plan will.” Sah Lee said
“Yeah, we are all experienced, you’re not, so just keep quiet and let the grown-ups’ sort this out.” Si’ir Monn said.
“You are experienced, old, and inflexible!” Sah Lee said angrily. “Have you forgotten what our mission objective is? Let me remind you. It is to rescue the five hostages. With your plans, as soon as we attack, however we do it, the hostages will no longer have any value and the hostiles will kill them. So, we need to either kill all the hostiles simultaneously or distract them long enough to kill them before they kill the hostages. We can’t do that from here.”
“So, what you are saying is that we can’t succeed? That’s crap. I’ve been on hostage extraction missions before and we’ve always killed all the hostiles.” Si’ir Monn said.
“And did you save all the hostages?” Sah Lee asked.
“Most of them, yeah. You’re always going to get some losses.”
“By the Makers! Just listen to yourself.” she snapped. “You call them ‘losses,’ I call them innocent people killed needlessly. We are supposed to rescue them, not let any of them get killed. If any of them die, to them, we have failed completely. Is that what you want?”
“No, of course not.” Si’ir Monn said defensively, “But realistically, you’re never going to save them all, and saving some of them is better than saving none of them. We don’t live in a perfect universe. As soldiers, we have to accept that we can’t save everyone.”
“We will this time. We will kill all the hostiles and rescue all the hostages.”
“OK, tell us your plan, then we’ll make a frontal attack.” he said.
Sah Lee briefly outlined her plan. No one objected, so she went into more detail. Everyone contributed ideas, but her basic plan stood. “The only problem is,” she said, “I really need my knife, and it’s under my uniform jump suit, so with my body armor and environment suit on, I can’t get it.”
“This is your first time in action where you’ve needed an environment suit. The purpose of the exercise is to learn, so you’ve learnt that if you fight with a knife, you need to keep it accessible. The atmosphere isn’t toxic, it’s just very dry and hot, has a lot of carbon dioxide and not much oxygen. Take a few deep breaths and I’ll help you get your environment suit off enough to get your knife out. You are OK taking a few breaths of the atmosphere if you need to.” Colonel B’Erren Tek said.
“But you�
�re dead. You can’t help me.” Sah Lee said.
The Colonel smiled. “I might be dead in this exercise, but I still make the rules,”
Sah Lee took several deep breaths and a last really deep breath which she held and nodded to the Colonel. Between them they quickly stripped the top of her environment suit off. She reached back inside her body armor and jumpsuit and pulled her hunting knife from the sheath on her back. They got her environment suit back on again quickly and Sah Lee let out a deep breath.
“Does this mean we’re going ahead with my plan?” she asked.
“You’ll have to ask your comrades, I’m still dead.” The Colonel replied.
“Well, what do you think?” Sah Lee asked them.
They looked at each other, then at Sah Lee. “You’re in charge, Corporal.” Si’ir Monn said.
Chapter Seventy Two
The Exercise
Sah Lee left the team silently, moving her way round downwind of the villa. Staying concealed, she surveyed the rear of the building. The windows were made of toughened glass to protect the atmosphere inside. They were all either intact but riddled with bullet holes or completely smashed. The toughened glass had shattered into small pieces so there were no sharp shards in the broken window surrounds. She saw a movement through one of the windows and keeping low, crept closer for a better look. The villa had no cleared or planted area like a real villa would have done, there was just broken rock and a few of the small scrubby bushes but it was just enough to give Sah Lee cover.
“AI, remind me next time I go on a mission to check the terrain where I’m going and get myself some kind of camouflaged clothing, and I’ve seen devices that you can poke round corners to see what’s there without having to stick my head up like a target.
“Noted Sah Lee. I will make an inventory of all the covert operations equipment available and ensure that you are suitably equipped on your next mission.”
Sah Lee risked peeking through a shattered window and saw one of the hostiles holding a KE weapon and standing guard over the five hostages, who were sitting huddled on the floor. Her AI painted the golem representing the hostile with vulnerable points, but as it wasn’t wearing body armor or an environment suit - golems don’t need to breathe - there were a lot of them. Pretty much it’s whole body.
“I don’t recognize the weapon. What are its specifications?”
“It’s an RX4040. Commonly used by outcasts and criminals. It’s a very old design but a reliable and effective assault weapon. It can fire single shots, short bursts or empty the entire magazine of forty rounds in a single burst. The magazines can be changed in less than a second. The preferred ammunition of outcasts are explosive rounds, one of which would kill virtually any species if hit centrally. A short burst will kill all the hostages, although as they are training weapons which don't fire real bullets it can’t hurt you of course.”
Sah Lee thought that information could be useful to the rest of the team, so she broadcast to them, sub vocalizing, that the hostiles were using RX4040’s.
It was time to execute her plan. She broadcast to the team again confirming that she was in position, then slowly and silently backed up from the window. She counted down on the squad comm link from three. On one she launched herself through the window, the low gravity helping her to get the required momentum easily from her powerful legs. The hostile spun round bringing his RX4040 up as Sah Lee’s body momentarily blocked the light in the window, but he was too late to do anything as her knife flew through the air and buried itself in the golem’s forehead. The golem fell backwards, its fingers tightening on the trigger of its RX4040, sending a burst of virtual gunfire into the ceiling. Through an open door Sah Lee could see the three other hostiles crouched on the floor at broken windows, rising and turning at the sound of gunfire to bring their weapons to bear on her. She landed with a tuck and roll, springing up into a crouching run, snatching her knife from the skull of the golem as it hit the floor. She heard the burst of gunfire from Bynor and Si’ir Monn’s weapons, Touren’s GSA20 was no doubt firing too, but was, of course, silent in operation.
The three hostiles, surprised by the attack from behind and the firing from in front, hesitated. Sah Lee took the opportunity to leap at the central hostile, driving her knife into its throat and twisting it, kicking out at the hostile on the right, hitting it in the upper arm and knocking it over. The hostile on her left fired at her and her AI showed her where the bullets hit on an outline of her body in her peripheral vision, with a graphic showing how much the hits were depleting her field armor. The hostile she had knocked over was recovering its balance and bringing its weapon up on her. Bynor leapt through the window firing at the hostile on the left, then, dropping his FKE42, tackled him with a blade. Sah Lee kicked out with her right leg at the hostile on the right, knocking its weapon upwards, then with her left leg she kicked it in the lower abdomen. She spun round and jabbed the index finger of her left hand deep into its eye socket and as it recoiled, slashed its throat open with her knife. She heard a clapping sound behind her and spun round into a crouch ready to attack. She saw Bynor standing over the inert golem he had attacked and Si’ir Monn, Touren and the Colonel looking through the windows at her, grinning and clapping.
Chapter Seventy Three
Good News, Bad News
Back on the base Sah Lee returned to her cell, still elated not only from her success but also from the plaudits of her comrades.
Shortly after getting back, to her cell, the security officer Tor brought her dinner.
“I transferred to Security to guard dangerous criminals, not to become a waitress.” she said, passing the tray to Sah Lee.
“What did you do before you transferred?”
“I was a front-line soldier, like you. Well, not quite like you, I was a Major, zero gravity specialist.”
“You went from Major to - I don’t know what rank you are, but it’s not as senior as Major.”
“Yeah, I’ve had enough of fighting. I’ve seen too many friends die, and too many troops who were my responsibility died. This is a transition for me, back to civilian life. I can do something useful here, sometimes, when we’ve got prisoners and I’m not acting as a waitress.” she smiled. “I’m getting used to not fighting all the time. Only a tiny fraction of galactic citizens ever join an army, so being ready to fight anyone who pisses you off is not socially acceptable. I hope you survive Sah Lee. The Generals don’t care. They have been in the army far too long and I think they may all be a bit crazy.”
“Thank you Tir.” Sah Lee smiled. “If I ever leave this army, I’ll look you up.”
“I would like that Sah Lee, but that may be a long time. I hope we can meet sometimes before that,”
Tor left Sah Lee to eat and when she finished, she disposed of her plate and tray, shut her cell door and settled down to sleep. As she dozed off, her AI spoke. “Sah Lee, I have received a message from Colonel B’Erren Tek. She wants to see you now.”
She woke immediately. “Message her back, tell her I’ll shower and change and come straight away.”
Leaving her cell, she looked for Tir. She was in the Security Office talking to Sek. They looked up as she came in.
“You’ve got a meeting with Colonel B’Erren Tek.” Sek said.
“Yes. How did you know? Anyway, would one of you escort me when I’ve showered and changed please?”
“We got a message from her AI. You don’t need an escort. The message said you are free to move about un-escorted. Your AI will show you how to get there.”
“Really? Isn’t that unusual for a prisoner?”
Sek shrugged. “Yes, but we’re just following orders.”
Sah Lee hurried to the wet room, showered and changed, then ran to the Colonel’s office. Stepping inside she stood to attention. “Private Sah Lee reporting, Sir!”
“At ease Private. I’ve ordered you a hot drink, it’s in the synthesizer with one for me. Bring them over and take a seat.” She said gesturing
at a guest chair.
As instructed, Sah Lee fetched the drinks and sat in front of the Colonel’s desk.
“I have good news and bad news. First, I compiled a report on the exercise and sent the recordings form the exercise to the Council of Generals. General Mauren Dag Slen picked it up. He agreed to my recommendation to release you from prison forthwith and that you are offered the promotion to Corporal. So, do you want to accept the promotion?”
“Promotion? What for? I mean, yes, of course. What does it mean? What do I have to do?”
“Don’t get too excited. You’re being offered the promotion because you have clear leadership capabilities and appear to be able to think on your feet. And you came up with a good solution to the problem on Betzel. We also need more junior officers because we keep losing them. Your friends Touren Ud Sen and Por Aruf both hold the rank of Corporal but declined to act in that position in almost every mission offered. I have assured the General that you will be eager to take command of a squad and will make a good job of it.”
Sah Lee grinned, “Does that mean I’ll be going on real missions?”
“Yes. There has been a sudden increase in outcast activity recently. Missions are coming in thick and fast, so you should have plenty of opportunity to face outcasts in combat.”
“You said there was bad news?”
“The Council of Generals are unhappy with my involvement in the Orn mission or with my handling of your punishment. They think I am too close to the People, though it’s difficult not to be when you are the army’s official liaison officer with the People. They also think I am too close to the lower ranks. So - they are moving me out of military operations and putting me in charge of logistics, which is all done by an AI, so it’s not a role that demands much from the Colonel in charge. That’s my problem, but it becomes your problem because there will be a new operations Colonel. There are five Colonels in the army, the most likely candidate to take over your section as Commander of Military Operations is Colonel Ssar Bess Dassur. His style is very different from mine. You’ll find out in the morning when new mission orders are issued, and you’ll probably get a posting.”
Hunter, Warrior, Commander Page 31
