The Battle For Cyclops: A Xander Cain Novel

by P W Hillard

  “What makes you think that? They could be in one of those buildings.”

  “When are we ever that lucky?” Meg said.

  “Fair point. We’re going to have to figure out a way of breaching that door fast. There’s no telling what kind of defensive force is behind it and if we need to stop to crack it open, we’ll lose our element of surprise.” Xander sighed. Ideally, he would need an entire division of mechsuits to pull this off. The Paladins were just too small.

  “I have an idea,” Matthias said, pausing the footage to focus on the door. “One that will require some assistance.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Mikal looked at the plan Xander had sent him. It seemed crazy, but crazy had served the Paladins well so far. When Mikal had first met Xander the mercenary had been piloting a lost tech mechsuit. Plugging your mind into something you didn’t understand didn’t seem like the sanest idea to Mikal, never mind risking a relic worth billions. It still pained Mikal to think of the wrecked suit laying at the base of the space elevator on Hades, the building around it burning, all that money going up in smoke.

  He checked the numbers again, running the calculations through the ship’s computer. They were correct, which was impressive. Calculating orbital angles and atmospheric distortion was difficult at the best of times, and Xander had done it from within the cabin of his mechsuit. Mikal had to admit the man was constantly surprising. Mikal wrote it off as a benefit of Xander’s privileged upbringing. Most people were too worried about where the next credits were coming from to bother learning advanced mathematics.

  “Will this work?” Sergei said. The man had been peering over Mikal’s shoulder constantly since the information had arrived, transmitted up by radio signal from the planet below. “Space stuff isn’t really my area of expertise.”

  “Fair. There are no spreadsheets in space, after all.”

  “Actually, aren’t there a lot of them? Crew rosters, repair schedules, supply list-”

  “I get your bloody point,” Mikal said. “You know what I meant. I was just being sarcastic.”

  “So was I. You don’t have a monopoly on razor wit.”

  Mikal just nodded, taking Sergei’s words as a compliment. “This will work. I think. The numbers check out but doing something like this always has a chance for things to go tits up. You just need one thing to change and you throw everything off.”

  “Right. We need this to go smoothly. This plan just barely skates the edge of the articles. We wander out of this grey area just a little too much and we’ll be slapped with a fine so big that the company would just fold immediately.” Sergei looked concerned. He understood the basic gist of the plan, but he had to wonder if things were as desperate as Xander had described.

  “It's fine, technically. I think. Fuck if I know. Operating under the rules isn't exactly the done thing for a pirate. Black Rose is a terrorist organisation, and this planet is unclaimed by any corporation, so I'm pretty sure it's fine.” Mikal held up his hands. “Like I said though, I don't know shit. Don't take my word for it.”

  “If Xander thinks it’s fine, it probably is,” Sergei said. “He has more experience in these things than us.”

  “Well, we better hope he knows what he’s bloody doing.”

  ***

  “Ok, bring it in,” Candice said. She was standing on the side of the Summer Breeze, the magnetic boots of her spacesuit clinging to the metal. It was only a precaution, a standard safety measure for dropship pilots. Whilst the cabin was pressurised with its own air supply, there was always a chance that incoming fire could cause a leak. It wasn’t a necessity for mech riders, their suits were sealed against the vacuum anyway, acting in essence as a giant armoured spacesuit. Candice was vaguely aware that there were models of mech designed specifically for space operations that had expanded cabins to allow the rider inside to wear a suit similar to her own.

  The Summer Breeze had flown inside the mech bay through the massive doors at the end that led to space beyond. Normally it was docked to the side of the Sunchaser during flight, a downside of the Summer Breeze's unique enlarged transport capacity. It was simply too big to sit in the bay permanently like most dropships. The side of the ship was open, the doors stretching upwards like gull wings to allow the mechsuits to be loaded.

  “Ok,” Alexi said, giving a thumbs-up as he did. Behind him was his mechsuit, the front armour leaning away from the torso to expose the cabin within. Normally a rope ladder would be dangled from the side allowing the rider to climb into the cabin, but the lack of gravity made it unnecessary.

  Alexi launched himself off the ground with a gentle push, grabbing onto his suit’s front armour and pulling himself inside the cabin. He strapped himself into the seat and tugged the cabin door shut. A few moments later the mech stood up from its crouched position, the front armour closing and locking into place. The machine stretched its limbs experimentally.

  “Everything good?” Anya said. She was standing on the deck of the bay, her machine waiting for her to climb inside.

  “Looks green across the board. It’s still more or less brand new.”

  “Well, please try not to break this one,” Anya said. “Go on in.” She thumbed towards the waiting dropship. Technically all the Paladins current roster were equals, all part owners in the company, but Anya had slotted effortlessly into the position of second in command behind Xander, at least when it came to combat operations. Anya had something about her tone and presence that meant that even when she was asking nicely, it felt like a direct order.

  Alexi’s Defender began to move forward. Not under its own power—most mechsuits lacked magnetic grips for moving in zero gravity—but carried across the bay by motorised clamps that held onto its feet. When it reached the doors of the dropship the clamps released, the mech pulling itself inside using the doorframe as a handhold.

  “Take the bay on the right, honey,” Candice said, pointing at one of the small bays inside her ship that held mechsuits in place. “All your weapons and gear are already loaded.” Those had been put onto the dropship first, things loaded on in order of difficulty.

  Alexi did as he was told, pulling his machine into the bay by his hands. He placed his feet to the floor of the ship, clamps locking them into place as mechanical arms gripped his suit. With everything secured, the mechsuit was held rigid in its bay. It was important it was secure. If a suit got loose during a difficult drop having a multi-ton machine bouncing around inside an aircraft was a recipe for disaster, one Candice was intimately familiar with.

  Candice released the magnets on her boots and then pulled herself into the Summer Breeze, launching herself on an angle towards Alexi’s mech. She re-engaged her boots, coming to a stop before a control panel in front of the bay, her body wobbling slightly from the momentum.

  “Just checking everything is locked away. Always best to double-check things. Don't want another bout of lawsuits, do we?”

  “Sorry, what?” Alexi said through his suit’s speakers.

  “Oh, nothing. Don't you mind little old me, just talking out my thoughts. Everything looks snug as a bed bug in the summer heat.”

  “Oh well, that’s alright then.” Alexi had no idea what Candice had said.

  “Bring in the next one, darlin’” Candice said, gesturing to Anya.

  Anya’s Warden was a much larger suit than Alexi’s Defender. A heavy combat unit designed to be the lynchpin of a combat line; the thing barely squeezed through the doors as Anya mentally commanded it into the dropship. Getting it to fit into a bay aboard the Summer Breeze was a tight squeeze, the massive rotary cannons proving particularly difficult. Unlike the weapons of the other suits they were built into the arms, and whilst Anya could eject them, it rendered the weapon unusable.

  “You certainly don’t mess around, that’s for sure,” Candice said, checking the lock status on the console before Anya’s suit. The freestanding consoles before each bay were another feature unique to the Chariot model, most dropships
had the consoles mounted to the walls beside each bay, but the space consumed by the extra bays forced the standalone’s. They weren’t the greatest, Candice had replaced them too many times to count, the consoles crushed underfoot by careless mercenaries.

  “Messing around is for children and idiots,” Anya said. Her mechsuit was looking straight ahead, the camera lenses adjusting as Anya tinkered with their settings.

  “I bet you are just a blast at parties. I would have loved to have been there when you came out a debutant.”

  “Oh, I think Anya is plenty out as it is,” Alexi said.

  “You know you have to come back to the same ship as me when this is all over, right?” Anya said. “I know which room is yours.”

  “Point taken and understood.”

  “I'm afraid I don't quite follow,” Candice said, lost in the maze of interpersonal in-jokes.

  “You will soon enough,” Alexi said. “You’re one of us now. A Paladin. The misfit mercenaries of known space. Seems like we’re all locked in and ready to go.”

  “Right. I'll get to the cockpit and give the ready signal. We'll be dropping in two shakes of a lamb's tail I imagine, so tug on those straps and sit tight.” Candice pushed off the floor, floating across the room. She grabbed onto the hatch that led to the cockpit, sealing it behind her.

  “I have no idea what that woman is saying most of the time,” Alexi said over the radio. “It’s all grandpappy’s this and billowing willows that. I can’t keep up with it all.”

  “That’s just Hestian’s for you. Every world has its quirks. We’re Svarogians, we aren’t really immune to being strange in off-worlders eyes. You’ve seen them stare when you down a bottle of vodka in one go.” Anya’s vision was full of graphs and figures as she ran diagnostics on her suit’s systems. “Makes you wonder how she ended up out here flying this…” Anya considered her words carefully, “aircraft, rather than living in her father’s mansion.”

  “Not everyone on Hestia can be rich and powerful, surely?”

  “Maybe not, but do you think poorer Hestians debutant or whatever it’s called?”

  “I have no idea what that even is,” Alexi said.

  “It's a kind of party where rich families debut their daughters who are of a certain age. They present them, in a way.” Anya's tone made it clear she didn't approve of the practice.

  “That sounds a bit creepy when you think about it.”

  “You pair know this is an open line, right?” Candice said.

  ***

  Xander watched the footage being funnelled to him from Meg’s suit like a hawk, studying the occasional movement around the warehouses. It didn’t seem likely to him that the prisoners were in there. The buildings had no visible vents or chimneys for heaters, and even though this was considered the planet’s habitable zone it would still get lethally freezing at night. That meant that logically the warehouses were filled with supplies of some kind. It was good news for the Paladins. If they could storm the base without damaging the warehouses then it meant more salvage, potentially.

  Being able to salvage at all was a big ask. Xander knew they would have to kill or capture the bases entire contingent before they could even consider trying to ship anything back to the Sunchaser. Considering that the forces they had seen already outnumbered the entire company that didn’t seem likely. This would need to be a smash and grab job.

  “Got everything marked up?” Xander said. His mech was still hiding behind the ridge, relying on Meg’s smaller machine to act as his eyes.

  “Yeah. Looks like those tanks aren’t manned, so we can ignore them for now, I think. I’ve got the door painted ready.”

  “Good. And yeah, I agree on the tanks. But that still leaves us four mechs we can see, plus who knows how many behind that door. That base could be massive beyond that.”

  “Not afraid of these Black Rose jerks, are you?” Meg said. There was a playfulness in her voice that signalled she was joking.

  “Me? No. What I am afraid of is trying to get who knows how many civilians out whilst potentially under fire.”

  “Sunchaser to strike team.” Mikal’s voice was coming over the radio, though the signal was a little distorted. The radios mounted to suits and ships were powerful things, easily capable of sending a signal to and from the surface of a planet, but both sides of the exchange were deliberately operating on a weaker signal to try and avoid detection. “Our bird is away. They'll be in ionisation blackout about now, but you'll have company in about twenty. Things are being prepped ready at our end. This is a hell of a plan.”

  “You won’t find me disagreeing,” Xander said. “Time to find out if it works.”

  Space Combat – A Primer

  Congratulations recruit! As one of the newest employees of Marathon Haulage, you've got an exciting and fulfilling career ahead of you. If you haven't done so already, please contact your line manager to set up a personal development plan. Marathon Haulage values all of its employees, especially those such as yourself who choose to help our deliveries get to our customers. It's a unique opportunity to earn some credits and see the stars at the same time! (A reminder that all travel and boarding fees are automatically deducted from your pay on a monthly basis.)

  Sadly, not everyone in known space is as excited to make deliveries for Marathon Haulage as you are. Rival corporations, thieves and pirates have all been known to attempt to intercept our ships, and that means that sadly combat is inevitable in your career. Marathon Haulage is a family and stealing from the company means credits coming out of your pocket! This primer will give you the basic outline of how ship to ship combat works so that you’re better prepared to face down this unfortunate danger. (Marathon Haulage is not responsible for any injuries that occur during space combat. Any damaged or stolen goods are deductible from your pay as per your contract.)

  Those who have completed our intro to mech combat training course may be familiar with lasers. Powerful weapons that fire a beam of focused light, lasers are a common weapon on the modern battlefield. Channelling power directly from a neutrite reactor, laser weapons are capable of scorching flesh, and the instantaneous nature of the beam means that the devices are widely regarded as being “point and click.” The laser would be the premier destructive weapon if it were not for one simple flaw. As a beam of light, a laser can be reflected. Modern mechsuits and vehicles are treated with a special paint that contains particles designed to deflect and scatter the beams of lasers, a simple but extremely effective defence, one that means standard kinetic munitions win out as the weapons of choice.

  Space is a different matter. It is difficult for most people to grasp just how large space is. Jump travel is vital to commerce, especially to a delivery company like Marathon Haulage, but it has the effect of making known space seem smaller than it is. After all, how far away can somewhere really be if it only takes moments to travel there?

  The truth is space is vast, the distances involved mind-boggling. If you are unlucky to find yourself involved in space combat the enemy ship could be millions of kilometres away. With such vast gulfs between you and the target, lasers are the only reasonable weapon to use. Projectile weapons are useless as the enemy can simply move out of the way, so the light speed beams of lasers are a necessity.

  A starship is a powerful thing, its reactors much larger and effective than those on any ground-based vehicle. Neutrite reactors are able to run much more effectively in zero gravity, and this extra power means that ship-mounted lasers are dramatically stronger. Light scattering paint is still an issue, ships are treated with the same substances as any other armoured vehicle, but the sheer output of a starship's weapons can sear away layers of protection, weakening the defences until it's able to bore into the hull.

  This means standard space-based tactics are as follows. These tips and tricks will set you up on the road to victory.

  Strike first! Statistically speaking the ship that fires first wins the engagement sixty-four per cent of the time.
Being the first to attack means your enemies defences become degraded just that bit quicker.

  Focus fire! Whilst most ships have only a single laser, a handful of our larger transports have a few. Where possible you should concentrate fire over a single area. Even with a single weapon, you should keep targeting the same location repeatedly to quickly damage vital components.

  Keep moving! With the distances involved even a weapon fired at light speed takes time to reach you. Random evasive patterns will weaken the effects of your enemy’s weapons. Even if your opponent is landing shots, you want to spread the damage across as much of the ship’s armour as possible to minimise the damage to the armour.

  Target the reactors! Whilst there are thousands of different ship models and designs, they often follow similar principles in their construction. You can gauge the locations of main reactors reasonably effectively and damaging your enemies will often be a killing blow.

  Follow these simple tips and victory is assured. Whilst space combat should be avoided if at all possible, Marathon Haulage accepts that you will be attacked at some point in your career. Don’t panic, follow your instructional guides provided by the training team and you’ll be fine.

  Disclaimer: The Marathon employee health plan does not cover injuries that occur during space-based combat. Under no circumstances are space assets to fire at the surface of a planet. Marathon Haulage accepts no responsibility for any fines incurred under the articles of war for doing so. Any such fines will be transferred to the crew of the offending ship, as per standard company contracts.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The plan needed to be timed to perfection. Xander waited for the signal from Candice, the dropship racing from above directly towards the enemy base. He knew that his reinforcements would be detected, the Summer Breeze taking the fastest route, one that took it out of the sensor blindspot. Xander was counting on it, he needed the attentions of the base elsewhere, for a few seconds at least.