The Feeding of Sorrows

by Rob Howell

  “Good.” He clicked his comm. “Fahrissthan, you may have gotten your wish, but I need prisoners. Don’t destroy any dropships or shuttles that made it down safely. Surround them and give their occupants a chance to surrender.”

  “But—”

  “Hasn’t my hunt proved successful thus far?”

  “Yes, Kal’shin.”

  “Then trust me, my old friend.”

  Tahnerif watched the rest of the battle impassively as his command staff howled in triumph.

  Eventually, the screen cleared.

  “Status on the Human warships?”

  “I don’t know, sir.”

  “Why not? They didn’t take down the entire Maquon satellite network, did they?”

  “No, sir.” Allzhen looked at him with confused eyes. “They were on the network and then they weren’t. It’s like they got into the network and erased their presence.”

  “Last known location?”

  “Here, sir.”

  Tahnerif sighed. “Fahrissthan. Any luck with prisoners?”

  “No, sir, not yet.”

  “Have you found any Human bodies? Any destroyed Human armor?”

  “What?” After a pause. “By the Great Hunter, not a one.”

  “Keep looking, but I suspect you won’t find any.”

  “Yes, Kal’shin.”

  “Akuwin, did you hear that?”

  “Yes, sir. Edmonds filled the sky with a bunch of material. It was all chaff, even the dropships.”

  “Yes. A feint. The real attack will come from somewhere else.”

  “Wouldn’t we have seen his troops come down from orbit, especially if they landed anywhere close to here?”

  “We should’ve. The Great Hunter knows they’re here somewhere. Edmonds is too damned smart.”

  “He hunts well, there is no doubt.”

  “Indeed. Start trying to figure out where his strike will come from.”

  “Yes, Kal’shin.”

  Tahnerif looked at the reports flowing in. The Slyest Prey beckons, and I sink into the swamp.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 44 – Pvt. Rhan’Kiial’Tala

  Jeria Delta Refinery

  Jeria River Delta

  The shuttle flight from the Algonquin was the most frightening experience Kiial had ever faced. They had been in their CASPers, but that meant nothing. They launched at the upper tolerance of their shuttles and they were going fast when they hit Maquon’s thermosphere.

  The CASPers’ auditory equipment enhanced the sounds around them. Every creak and wail of the shuttle attacked Kiial’s ears like the shuttle attacked Maquon’s atmosphere. Though they were above the feint on the base, their shuttles passed through the arc of Zuul anti-air artillery. The Zuul fire couldn’t reach their altitude, but it was still nerve-wracking.

  Then the shuttles dove for the ground, and Kiial suddenly felt airsick. He stopped paying attention to the danger and focused on not puking in his CASPer.

  The shuttles leveled off for a moment, and their reverse thrusters engaged.

  Kiial closed his eyes and held a paw over his mouth.

  Their vector changed sharply again. And again.

  Then they were on the ground.

  Their CASPers remained locked in place, but Kiial could open his cockpit. He leaned out as far as he could and puked all over the CASPer next to his.

  “Goddamnit, Kiial!”

  “Sorry, Sarge.”

  “Get your goddamn toothbrush ready, Tailboy. You’re gonna need it when we get done with this.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Kiial took a deep breath and closed his cockpit. It smelled like puke, which made his stomach rumble again, but he took a sip of water and held it down.

  He looked around. His hadn’t been the only cockpit that opened. Worse, some of the others hadn’t been able to get theirs open before puking.

  Thank Mizar! I dribbled in here, but it ain’t everywhere.

  Then the door opened, the locking clamps released, and they heard Pedersen talking to them.

  “Alright, ladies and gentlemen. We’re down. Form up by sections on the ground. Then we’ll help the sappers refuel the shuttles and dropships.”

  The dropships proved easy enough, as their portable fuel containers had been designed for this purpose. But the avgas was a bitch. The sappers had to fiddle with the containers they brought to connect them to the Maquon facilities.

  The Maquonese facility’s employees were no help, as they stared at the Foresters in bewilderment.

  Once the containers were filled and carried over to the shuttles, they had to be held at awkward angles to get the fuel into the ships. Even with the extra strength provided by the CASPers, it was tiring and frustrating.

  And it took forever.

  When they finally had a chance for chow, their section barely had enough energy to talk. Even so, scuttlebutt was rampant. Apparently, the dropships had gone up against Zuul craft, and the news didn’t sound great. Everyone said half of their air cover was gone in one fell swoop.

  “At least my CASPer doesn’t smell like badger puke anymore. Now it just smells like avgas,” Schmidt said as she finished what was supposed to be something called turkey.

  “Sorry, Sarge,” Kiial repeated.

  She waved it off. “Fuck it.” She looked at them. “We’ve got a chance to rest. We have to be up at 0400 to get back into our CASPers and head up the river.”

  * * * * *

  Chapter 45 – Lt (j.g.) Maxwell Jackson

  Southwest of Forward Base Maquon

  Jeriasker Province, Maquon

  “Sir! Get your lazy ass up here!”

  Maxwell woke with his GP-90 at the ready. When his mind cleared, he asked, “What you got, Steele?”

  “A response!”

  “A response?”

  “I just uploaded the latest images to the satellite and got a response directed at our phone.”

  “At our phone? What’d it say?”

  “An’ I’ll be to Scotland before you.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You take the high road, and I’ll take the low road…,” murmured the lieutenant. “Has to refer to that. Either way, the colonel’s up there.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “About fucking time.” He took the binoculars and stared at the base. “Doesn’t look like the Zuul know.”

  “No, it doesn’t.”

  In the sky, on the far horizon, there was a sudden bright burst of light.

  “What the hell was that, sir?”

  “No clue, Corp.”

  A bunch of things happened at once. Several groups of Zuul ran to various spots. The SAM launchers and quad-mount MACs started tracking. More Zuul ran to the four dropships on the tarmac, and moments later, they launched. Fifteen minutes later, several more dropships launched.

  Steele grabbed his arm. “There, sir!”

  Two sets of meteor-like tracks blasted through the atmosphere toward the base. The Zuul launched a full set of SAMs which raced away to intercept.

  “Too soon,” Steele gloated.

  “Good.” He leaned forward. “I’ll keep watching the base, Steele. You keep an eye on the dropships and CAS from Jeriasker.”

  “Got it, sir.”

  Then the air was filled with too much for Jackson to comprehend. Tracers flying every which way. Bursts of SAMs. The dropships made run after run at the shuttles and drop pods.

  His binoculars darkened automatically when a shuttle crashed and exploded in the river. A bunch of mines followed.

  “Damn!” Steele rubbed her eyes.

  He glanced down just as another shuttle hit the same spot.

  He turned back, and his stomach dropped. “Shit! As far as I can tell, not a single dropship landed, and the drop pods are getting torn to shreds.”

  Steele opened her eyes, squinted and watched.

  They said nothing more as the massacre continued. By the end of the battle, the
two were crying, though they said nothing.

  Jackson looked at her. “I don’t understand.”

  “Neither do I, el-tee.”

  “I don’t guess it matters, but I took a bunch of pics. We ain’t got enough ships to make another attack like that though.”

  “No, we don’t.” She wiped tears away. “Damn Edmonds, he got caught up in the Steele bullshit too. ‘Tenacious and Versatile!’ Such bullshit.”

  Jackson trained the binocs back on the base. Bits of drop pods littered the ground. The tail of one shuttle was all he could see of the two that had hit the river. A number of other shuttles and dropships lay crumpled here and there. Zuul were already climbing around them.

  He sighed. “Hand me the phone.”

  She shrugged and complied.

  “All we can do is our job, right? Know your role, that’s what they said at Owen Sound. That’s what my momma’s boy remembers.”

  “Yeah, that’s what they said.”

  He activated the phone, and it synced. He started to send the pictures. He blinked as an incoming message appeared. It said, “That was an attack worthy of Patton at Pas de Calais.”

  He blinked again. Showed it to Steele.

  “What does that mean, sir?”

  Jackson grinned. “They told me about it at officer training, Steele. Patton didn’t attack Pas de Calais. He was a decoy.” He looked at the base. “Whatever that was, it wasn’t a real attack! Edmonds is taking the low road and coming to Scotland overland.”

  “Damn that Edmonds. Had me going.” Steele shook her head. “What are you waiting for, sir? Send up the images. And leave that phone on. We got all the batteries in the galaxy now.”

  * * * * *

  Chapter 46 – Kal’shin Tahnerif

  Forward Base Maquon

  Jeriasker Province, Maquon

  “Kal’shin, the Zuparti have located the Foresters. They landed at what looks like a Maquonese refinery.”

  “Good. Does the refinery produce shuttle fuel?”

  Akuwin checked his references. “Doesn’t appear to. Avgas mostly, along with a variety of useful petrochemicals.”

  “What are the Foresters thinking?”

  “They clearly need more fuel.”

  “But they can’t use avgas, can they?”

  “I wouldn’t think so, sir, but they went there for a reason.”

  Tahnerif hunched his shoulders. “Remaining air assets after that first fiasco?”

  “That wasn’t your fault.”

  “Doesn’t matter now. What’s our status?”

  “The CAS squadron is ready to go. We still have twelve dropships. Plenty of munitions and fuel for each. Pilots are ready to go.” Akuwin shrugged. “And you made sure security was good from the start. The squads watching it are sharp.”

  “Did the Zuparti get a good look at what the Foresters brought?”

  Akuwin guffawed. “Lots of orbit-to-surface craft. Hundreds.”

  “Even the Slyest Prey wouldn’t believe that.”

  “No sir.”

  “Then we expect the entire Foresters unit.”

  “We downed nineteen shuttles and dropships in the feint.”

  “Nineteen? How many hunters could they have brought?”

  “I don’t know sir, a bunch of them came from the Human freighter up there. They could’ve brought extra.”

  “Rei’shin, your talent for bringing good news is delightful.”

  “Thank you, sir.” He paused. “Shall I prep another airstrike?”

  Tahnerif thought for a long time, staring out over the valley. “I don’t like it. No. Keep a four-dropship CAP and have the rest ready to strike where we need them. Edmonds is planning something sneaky, and he’s got the initiative.”

  “If all he has is his full regiment, we outnumber him. We could garrison the base firepoints and still release a company of our own.”

  Tahnerif’s ears went up. “Good thought.” He pulled up a map. “I want Qarsh and a company here with two rocket teams.”

  Akuwin glanced at the map and bared his fangs. “That’s a good choice, sir. He can command all the southern approaches.”

  “I hate taking the defensive. I always feel like I’m missing something. Rei’shin, what am I forgetting?”

  “The Slyest Prey will have his due, sir.”

  “Then let’s pray the Great Hunter guides us.”

  “I haven’t stopped praying for that since we got here.”

  “Me too, Rei’shin. Me too.”

  * * * * *

  Chapter 47 – Col. Roosevelt Edmonds

  South of Forward Base Maquon

  Jeriasker Province, Maquon

  Edmonds stepped off the dropship onto the LZ. Foresters from the shuttle slipped into the jungle.

  “We made it.”

  “So far, Colonel,” muttered Sheridan. “That descent was something, but using avgas in the shuttles was incredible.”

  “Any casualties?”

  “A crate got loose and broke an engineer’s leg.”

  “Could’ve been worse.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Get me in touch with Jackson and Steele.”

  “I had Sparks working on that the moment we landed. If they’ve checked their messages, they should know the attack was a feint.”

  “Good.”

  Sheridan walked off to organize things. Edmonds moved into the planned line of assault, studying the feed on his CASPer as he did.

  “Sunray Actual to Bravo First. Advance two hundred meters, heading 170. Bravo Fourth extend the wing to the left. Alfa First, extend to the right. Let’s spread this line out, ladies and gentlemen. Stay with your fire teams, but put a little distance between us. They’re more likely to use area effect weapons than sneak up on us.”

  A number of clicks answered him, and he saw the line extend as ordered.

  “Sunray Actual to Alfa Fourth. Cover the sappers.”

  “Alfa Fourth to Sunray Actual. Roger, wilco.”

  The Foresters moved from tree to tree. The trees on Maquon were much smaller than those on the Bruce Peninsula and provided little cover, especially for CASPer Mk 6s. However, training was training, and his mercs’ attention to the small details pleased Edmonds.

  “Sparks to Sunray Actual. I have contact with Jackson.”

  “Well done, Sparks.” A click. “Sunray Actual to Jackson.”

  “Jackson here.”

  “Good work so far, Jackson. I need a sitrep.”

  “Thank you, sir. You’ve kicked over an anthill.” He hesitated. “Tell me those drop pods were empty, because the Zuul hammered the shit out of them.”

  “Those drop pods were empty, Lieutenant. So were the shuttles.”

  Jackson took a relieved breath. “Damn good thing.”

  “Were you in a position to watch the strike?”

  “Yes, about five klicks away on a rise. I’m bouncing over the binoc images I took of the SAM and flak during the drop. They’re not great, and I couldn’t see the whole base, but I could see the main area by the docks.” He paused. “Steele was watching for launches from behind the hills. The Zuul have at least two launchers I couldn’t see. There was enough tracer fire to suggest at least two more quad-MACs, but I’d bet there are more.”

  Edmonds shook his head. “Sunray Minor, you getting this?”

  Sheridan responded. “Yes, sir. If those quad-MACs can attack ground targets, and we’d both be shocked if they couldn’t, they’re going to be an issue, even with the CASPers.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Jackson, can you confirm troop strength?”

  “At least a battalion. There could be more, and we think there are, but it’s hard to tell. You’ll see quite a few patrols on the binoc pics, and we think they’ve also been reinforcing the main buildings to hold off any attack. Steele pointed out they’ve been toting in bags that look suspiciously like ceramacrete.”

  “Are they all concentrated in the base?”

  “I don’t k
now. As far away as we are, it’s possible they sent units into the jungle and we couldn’t see them.”

  “Okay. Any other heavy weapons?”

  “None that we saw.”

  “No indirect fire artillery?”

  “Not that we’ve seen, sir. However, they’ve got a squadron of atmospheric CAS birds, not to mention those bulky-ass dropships.”

  “Yeah, our dropships already had a skirmish with them.”

  “Hope we did okay.”

  “We killed quite a few more than we lost, but it’ll take a DNA scanner to find what’s left of the best pilot I’ve ever seen.”

  “Shit.”

  “My thoughts exactly, el-tee. You and Steele okay to move?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. Think you can get eyes on the high hill to the south of the base?”

  “Probably.”

  “Try, but stay safe. You’ve already done your hero part.”

  Jackson laughed. “Order received and understood, Sunray Actual. We’ll do our damnedest to comply.”

  “Sunray Actual out.” He transferred frequencies. “Sunray Minor, what do you think?”

  “I think it’s likely they’re using the CAS as fire support instead of an artillery battery somewhere around Jeriasker.”

  “Agreed, and that’s good. I was worried we’d have to endure incoming arty. We can hold our own against the CAS.”

  “Yes, sir.” Sheridan paused. “Still not going to be a joyride.”

  “Nope.” Edmonds switched to the command frequency. “Listen up platoon leaders. Here’s the situation. There’s a target-rich environment at the base. They’ve got at least a battalion, and they’re dug in. If they were Foresters, I might be worried. But they aren’t, and we’re going to kick their asses.”

  “Tenacious and versatile!” chorused a number of voices.

  “Forsberg, you’ll take Hill 296 on your way to the west entrance. If the Zuul commander is smart, he’ll see it’s the one hill to the south that he needs to hold. Unfortunately, other than choosing to fight the Foresters, they haven’t been stupid yet. I’m trying to get eyes on it, but it’s iffy. Assume doggies are there until we know otherwise.”