“You don’t think this will be considered a campaign?” Curtis said.
“Three days of fighting? Three light companies taking on a legion? Not a chance. The next one bloody well might be. This was no cake walk, but it was enough for Hawkwood to know what the Red Light can handle. Since most of us are still on the hook, expect a bigger, nastier fight next time out.”
“Nastier?” Curtis asked in a worried tone.
“Nastier. That doesn’t mean worse or more dangerous. A larger engagement just brings more to the field. More opponents, more threats, more allies, more room, and maybe more coin. Were you hoping you could cut and find another unit to latch on with?”
Curtis shook his head. “No. I just thought this one was nasty enough.”
Hank laughed. Pointing past his teammates he said, “There’s some familiar faces.”
A look revealed Sam Healey leading the rest of Lee’s surviving classmates along with Barb Somers.
“We’ve got quite a bit covered now that we’re among real infantry,” Sam said as he placed a crate on its side and sat down. “From sniper team troopers and communications grunts to walker crew to an ex-tread-head.”
“You got fired from your gunner job?” Brennan poked at Briggs.
“Yeah,” he deadpanned, “they said they were getting sick and tired of you crying about missing me.”
Hank Bastrop pointed at Sam and Vincent. “You’re sticking with your current gig?”
“Bellvue asked us about it this morning,” Vincent said. “Sam said he’d stick if I would and I said somebody has to keep an eye on him so, yeah.”
“So Myles is the only one not pounding ground now,” Brennan said with mock derision.
“I’d like to think I bring an infantryman’s sensibility to the ranks of the vehicle crowd,” Myles offered.
“Myles the tread-head.”
“That stings,” Rivers replied with a laugh. “Just to set things straight, Lunatic Red walks, pal. At least she will once we get her patched up.”
“You gotta tell us what it’s like to take a fall in a machine like that,” Vincent said.
“I will. I’ll give you the short version now. It ain’t fun.”
The young troopers laughed.
With the smile on his face fading, Sam said, “Once we’re back in Nelson City, what say we go somewhere and drink a toast to fallen friends?”
“Least we can do,” Brennan said grimly. “Fran would insist.”
Briggs nodded. “She would.”
. . .
Commander Jack Hawkwood and Ray Winger walked the vehicle strewn road. While salvage assessments went on, body recovery did as well.
Overseeing at least a part of this effort was Senior Sergeant Black, the man who had formally surrendered on behalf of the Keen Steel Legion.
“Commander Black?” Hawkwood said as he and Winger approached.
“Sergeant will suffice, commander. Captain Beckett is now acting commander.”
“Where is Gifford?”
“On her way off-planet, sir.”
Hawkwood nodded. “I see. You did your troops well yesterday.”
“I wish it hadn’t fallen to me.” He paused and grimaced as he looked over the dozens of damaged vehicles. “I hope it never does again.”
Winger snarled at the memories of Boomoon and taking on the same role not so long ago. “I was in the same place, sergeant. You did what was best for your troops when they needed it the most. It doesn’t feel like it right now, but you’ll come to grips with it. You did the best with what you had.”
“You mean Boomoon?” Black said. “This wasn’t as bad if what I heard was correct. Thanks.”
“If you find yourself seeking another unit and want to skip the hiring hall routine, contact me,” Hawkwood said. “We can use a senior sergeant like you.”
“I just might do that, sir. I can opt out of my current contract if I choose. I’ll wager Keen Steel won’t have me back even if I wanted to stay.”
Hawkwood and Winger left Black to his grim duty and continued south. Terry Holden soon joined them.
“I saw you talking with Sergeant Black,” Holden said. “I take it you know Gifford isn’t here?”
“He told us,” Winger said.
Holden nodded and then smiled. “Captain Beckett said Gifford refutes the surrender on the basis of negotiations taking place on bands other than treaty channel.”
“So Gifford is into defense mode already,” Winger said.
“She lodged a grievance against the Arbiters Federation this morning,” Hawkwood replied.
“On what grounds?” Holden asked.
“The battlefield for starters. She feels it clearly favored light units and was misrepresented when the conflict was placed as open for contract. An ‘anti-armor bias’ was brought up also.”
“No grievance against us?” Winger said.
“Not yet, but I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t bring one concerning Posey’s craters and felled trees as mines or something similar.”
Holden nodded. “You’ve added a new enemy to the list, Jack.”
“I’m fine with that. I sure as hell don’t want her as a friend.”
“Some say the best way to judge a person is by looking at their enemies.”
“I’ve heard that. What does holding Gifford’s enmity say about me?”
Terry laughed. “I’m not touching that one, friend.”
. . .
A Red Light Company track came to a stop near the waterline in the marshes and dropped the ramp. Several tech-n-mech troopers filed out including Senior Sergeant Brown and Sergeant Jackson.
Walking a short distance they looked upon the sad sight of Lunatic Red resting on her side where she fell the day before.
Grimacing at the scene, Brownie sighed and placed his fists on his hips. “See what fighting out of your weight class gets you?”
“They didn’t give us much choice, Sarge,” Jackson replied.
“Stick to that story, Jacks. Some might actually buy it. Until that walker is up and going again and seeing as you and Rivers are in serviceable order, I have a job for you starting tomorrow. All the vehicles Keen Steel left on the field need to be surveyed and evaluated for salvage.”
“It’s gonna be mostly parts-pulling,” Jackson said.
“Yes. And I need troopers to see what parts we pull. Someone with tech-n-mech knowledge who’s not got anything better to do. Someone who knows this marsh might be nice because there are vehicles and exosuits that need evaluating. Here, to the river, to the main north-south road, except for the bridge area, that’s your zone.”
Jackson seethed mildly but accepted his fate. “All right, Brownie. Just be sure Lunatic gets patched up to specs.”
Senior Sergeant Brown stared at Jackson saying nothing.
“All right, we’ll go splash around,” Jackson said. “We’re going to need a vehicle.”
Brownie looked at the downed walker and scowled. “I know.”
END
Thank you for your time spent with this book. If you enjoyed it and feel so inclined, please consider leaving a review at Amazon. Reviews are very much appreciated.
. . .
Works by DK Williamson
The Knockabouts Universe
The Knockabouts Series
The Knockabouts
The Knockabouts: Into the Maw of Madness
Coming Soon: The Knockabouts: Pawns and Gambits
The Bolo Digby Series
Coming Soon: Bolo Digby
.
The Warder
.
The Blastlands Saga(Rangers & Chasing Ghosts in one volume)
The Blastlands: Rangers
The Blastlands: Chasing Ghosts
.
Conflict: The Pythan War:
Conflict: The Pythan War, Invasion(Book 1 of 3)
Books 2 & 3 Coming Soon
.
R.R. Johnson Novels:
The Lowdown in High Town
>
Down Mean Streets
.
Thunderbolt-56, a Novella
.
Free Company: Red Zone(This Work)
. . . . .
Questions or comments? Drop DK Williamson an e-mail at:
[email protected]
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. . .
Slang and Terminology
. . .
Arty - Slang for artillery.
ASAP - As Soon As Possible
AT - Anti-tank, usually refers to trooper portable weapons capable of destroying armored vehicles.
CO - Commanding Officer
CP - Command Post
Defilade - A position where a unit or individual cannot be hit by direct fire. Reverse slopes, depressions, etc are examples.
Enfilade - Fire directed from a flanking position, especially a position that can rake a unit/s in a lengthwise direction.
Flank/Flanking - Simply put, a flank is the side of a vehicle or body of troops. A flanking maneuver is an attack from an angle that concentrates offensive power on the side of a formation or vehicle placing the target at a disadvantage.
Forlorn Hope - A term that dates back to Old Earth’s medieval period meaning a body of soldiers volunteering or selected for extremely perilous service. Often called for during desperate or highly difficult circumstances.
Free Company - Free companies were an Old Earth concept that appeared in the medieval period. Also referred to as grande companie or grand company, such units were mercenaries when hired to fight and little more than marauders and brigands when not employed. With the rise of organized military forces under powerful state control in the mid fifteenth century, the free companies ceased to be.
In the Jubilee System, the opposite occurred. With unchecked state and corporate power along with the use of weapons of mass destruction needing to be reined in, independent commercial military forces proved to be an affordable way to wage war while reducing national or corporate assets and civilian casualties.
Oddly, the commander of the Red Light Company carries the same surname as one of the most famous ancient free company commanders, John Hawkwood.
HE - High Explosive
HEP aka HESH - High Explosive, Plastic or High Explosive Squash Head. A warhead useful for destroying armored vehicles and buildings. Containing a payload of plastic explosives, the malleable contents flatten on impact to form a flat shape on the surface of a target that detonates milliseconds later creating a shock wave that transmits through the material struck. This wave blasts holes in structures and can cause spalling in some armored vehicles. Not needing high velocity to do its damage, the warhead can be heavier than those designed to penetrate armor.
HQ - Headquarters.
Hull down - In land warfare, hull down is a position where a vehicle uses an object or land feature to shield most of itself while being able to fire its own weapons. For example: a tank might use a dirt berm or natural rise in the land to expose only its turret to an opponent thus presenting a smaller target while being able to engage with its main gun.
Klick - A kilometer.
Mike-mike - A phonetic expression of the abbreviation for millimeter, mm.
OP - Observation Post
Opfor - An abbreviation for ‘opposing force’.
SITREP - Situation Report.
Spall/Spalling - Simply put, spall is pieces of material broken or chipped off a larger body. In anti-tank warfare, spall is displaced material from the inside of armor, a turret or hull for example. Explosives detonating on the outer surface of armor can create powerful shock waves that travel to the inner surface and displace material that become deadly projectiles within the vehicle even though there is no penetration. Penetrative shells can also create spall.
STRAC/strac - A word dating back to World War II and used as numerous military acronyms in the decades that followed such as the U.S. Air Force STRategic Air Command or the U.S. Army STRtegic Army Corps of the 1960s. The term strac has long been used by American service personnel with numerous meanings ranging from disparaging to highly complementary, but generally denotes a service member that is capable and well prepared or one who is smart. Often turned into acronyms, a few examples are: Skilled, Tough, Ready, Around the Clock; Standing Tall Ready And Confident; Skilled, Tough, Reliable, And Combat-ready; Sharp Trooper, Ready Around the Clock; and a host of others. Negative or humorous versions include STRictly According to Regulations(supposedly from WWII) and the Cold War: Shit! The Russians Are Coming! The term is still used centuries later as it is in the Jubilee system.
. . .
Mercenary Rank System, Combat Services, Free Companies
. . .
Private, abbreviated PV1, PV2, PV3 - Three classes, 1st through 3rd. Private, 3rd is generally applied to green troops with no experience who move to 2nd class after their first deployment. Private, 1st is granted once a trooper proves to be fully competent in the job. Many mercenaries never rise above the private ranks—often by choice—and serve for decades.
Corporal, abbreviated CPL - Lower level leadership. Usually holding team leader positions, corporals often lead squads when needed or as a prelude to gaining a sergeancy. It is common for mercenaries to choose to stay at this rank.
Sergeant, abbreviated SGT - Mid-level leadership. Primarily leading squads or small sections, sergeants are the core of combat units. Often called upon to lead platoons, sergeants are expected to be extraordinarily sound troopers capable of leading dozens of subordinates efficiently.
Senior Sergeant, abbreviated SSG - Senior Sergeants are the cream of the crop among the mercenary ranks. Taking years to attain the level, Senior Sergeants are master soldiers possessing elite skills within their area of expertise and leadership abilities to match. Senior Sergeants fill Top Sergeant and Sergeant Major slots in free companies and legions.
Commander, abbreviated CO(commanding officer) or CDR - The highest rank among mercenaries be they free companies or legions. Most commanders come from the Senior Sergeant ranks, but some source from governmental or corporate units as well. In some instances, individuals or cabals with wealth enough have founded mercenary units and led them but save for a few rare occurrences, such endeavors did not fare well.
Other ranks that serve within mercenary units:
Commissioned officers are quite common in legion-sized mercenary units, though many legions’ ranks are structured no differently than free companies.
Ensign, abbreviated ENS - The lowest level of commissioned officer in government and corporate units.
Captain, abbreviated CPT - A mid-level rank that usually commands platoons, sections, or companies.
Major, abbreviated MAJ - An uncommon mid-level rank that is generally reserved for staff officers serving a legion commander.
Warrant Officer, abbreviated WO - Officers granted authority via warrant rather than by commission. Warrant officers are nearly always specialists and rarely hold authority beyond their area of expertise. Vehicle commanders are the most common soldiers holding this rank and most often within corporate affiliated legions.
. . .
Free Company: Red Zone
Copyright © 2019 DK Williamson
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Free Company- Red Zone Page 38
