by Matt Thomas
"What's the plan for once the ground forces secure a foothold?" Jean asked.
"The foothold is the primary mission. In other words, the fleet is going there to provide cover and get boots on ground, not to stay in a slug fest with the Hetarek at all cost. If we secure the upper hand in orbit, we'll stick around and you return to us. If we can't, once the troops are in, the fleet will pull back out in the short term to let them do their thing. Their plan as of now is for half to push south along to coast, and the other half to push east through the mountains and across the mid-west as far as they can go. In terms of you all, it's all going to depend upon the tactical situation as to whether we recall you or you end up sticking around the planet for a while. So I'd keep a bag in your stowage compartment if I were you."
"What happens if we can't get the troops to ground?" One of the new squadron members asked.
She stared at them solemnly, determined. "This mission is to get the troops on the ground. That's not something we're going to concede. The only plan is victory."
*****
Weapons littered the floor of what had been the ski lodge's main hall. Personal items that had converted the abandoned resort into something resembling a home for the previous nine months were gone, shoved into a series of crates stacked in the corner to be loaded into OTIS and stuck in the back of the trucks.
The room was far from silent. Some of the operators cracked jokes, others cursed as they tried to adjust now worn-out equipment. The clatter of ammunition magazines and metallic snaps of weapons being dry cycled echoed. O moved person to person, inputting the day's encryption codes into each radio. Jedynak handed out refills for first aid kits, extra wound dressings, and coagulating antiseptic gels.
Once Bryan had rechecked his own gear for the third time, he stood in the middle of the room. The team didn't stop what they were doing or go silent, but they paid attention.
"We're going to get out of here in the next hour so start wrapping it up. Last we heard the fleet was still on schedule. MacIntyre and his crew are expecting their team at Zero-Three-Thirty, which only gives us about four hours to get out there and in position. The first drop ships should hit by five to unload Rangers at Charlie. Everything else for about two hours is going to hit Alpha and Bravo. It's going to start getting crowded, so watch your fire once we have friendlies on the ground."
He checked his notes, written on the small tablet attached to his firearm. "Cobra is going to be our CAS..."
"CAS? I think I remember that..." Starek joked.
“Yeah, we're spoiled for this one. They're going to be dedicated to us and run through O as the primary JTAC, Perkins as the back up. Comms are likely to get crowded too so don't step on anyone. You can message us if you have to. Task Force says there’ll be MEDEVACs in the second wave once they have a casualty collection point secured. But I've got no idea where that's going to be. We’re going to have to find something and play it by ear. Which brings me to my next point. I'd just go ahead and expect we'll get separated when this is going down. Raghnal is going to pre-stage the vehicles south of Bravo, then come meet us. One-Five is linking up with Cho and his guys north of Alpha. Kendrick and Jess are going to be at their observation point, and the rest of us on the hill overwatching Alpha and Bravo. Our rally point is going to be the buildings on the river just west of Alpha, northeast of Charlie. Everyone here is an adult so just make your way back there as you can. If we run into issues, remember that the locals are going to take out the highway heading through the mountain pass. We’re not coming back here. If something happens and we can’t link up at the primary rally point, head to the alternate down in Tacoma."
"You going to give us a pep talk?" Kendrick laughed.
"You want a fucking hug, too?" Jess said.
"Sure thing, Chief." He spread his arms open and got flipped off for his effort.
Bryan laughed at the exchange, then checked his notes. "I don't have anything else. Everything's like we've talked about. So get your shit together and let's get after it."
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Kevak Akkad sent them to an airfield south of Seattle to wait in a huge facility that could hold the influx of warriors. When he arrived with Darga Kahil and Thrulk, the disused hanger had seemed cavernous. The trickle of newly released hatchlings and transfers from elsewhere on the planet slowly flooded the building as warriors were not permitted to leave. Schleckt transports flowed in from the eastern fields as normal, though virtually empty thanks to the insurgent activity that the Hetarek now used to their advantage. The schleckt distribution flights to the rest of the planet, however left empty, a charade to maintain cover. Waste built up in buildings around the airfield. The stench of the Hetarek flesh overwhelmed his senses as first hundreds, then thousands, of warriors crammed in. Hammocks stretched from floor to ceiling, no more than a few feet between each stack. His status let him share a small side office with Kahil and Thrulk, as the former planned for battle and the latter honed his skills. The situation contrasted starkly with his first arrival on the planet. The Hetarek had let him pick whichever luxurious house outside the human capital he wanted and bought his loyalty with items, and people, looted after the invasion. He had arrived on the planet sleeping on silk sheets in a mansion, now, at what certainly would prove to be the height of his power and end of his career, he slept on a hammock in a warehouse.
He had no qualms about his role. The humans certainly would be defeated in space. They certainly would be defeated on the surface. On behalf of the Hetarek Empire, he would declare victory to the humans. He would announce the eradication of the enslaved humans and help the Hetarek turn his ancestral planet into a wasteland. Then, the Hetarek would kill him, or, worse, leave him to his fate amongst the feral natives who despised him as a traitor.
With no humans with which to interact, and no regional governor to advise, he sat. And thought. And rotted.
His days turned into monotony. He had not seen another human in weeks. A few Metic Ahai administered the airfield, but his contacts with them were fleeting. Thrulk, at least, who had been largely silent in his years guarding Divrack, never left his side. He was surprised how much the Hetarek understood of his language. It made him recall how he had been paired with Divrack after being extracted from Pollux simply because Divrack understood English after years of eavesdropping when no other Hetarek did. Thrulk had clearly listened to their conversations and understood far more than he let on. The Speaker found that, absent the Minister and surrounded by warriors, Thrulk spent more time with the human out of preference than necessity. While he would never consider Thrulk a friend, not as he had considered Divrack a friend, he began to see him a companion more than body guard.
But that fragile connection provided the only silver lining to his predicament. Kahil largely ignored him, except to provide sporadic updates on what occurred in the outside world, satisfying what could only be called a professional curiosity on how the humans outside fared. To the other warriors, he was just a human outsider, as he had been his first days accompanying Dirvrack.
He barely ate the schleckt, barely exercised, and barely slept. The latter condition had him lying in his hammock before the sun began its summer early rise, not that he would know it in the windowless building. He stared at the wall, his head buzzing with exhausted static, when he heard movement. A look to his left confirmed Darga Kahil lying flat on his couch staring at his computer. The aging warrior turned to the Speaker, somehow knowing the human was awake.
The Minister of Security and Commander of the Crimson Guard rocked his head from side to side, his nostrils flaring. They are coming. He stared directly into the Speaker’s eyes. It has begun.
*****
The objectives lay on either side of them, down the steep slopes that divided the two primary landing zones. Off in the distance, the skyscrapers loomed dark against a slowly brightening morning sky. Their position wasn't ideal. The team had to split into three elements to get full coverage
on the west, east, and northern sides of the hill. Jess and Kendrick crept forward, finding a house positioned over the industrial area but isolating them from the rest of the team. Raghnal, after stashing the vehicle in an empty warehouse, led a small contingent to the east side overlooking drop zone Bravo.
Once in position, imperfect yet functional, they waited.
"I've got good signal from all the beacons." O reported. “Everything's looking good."
Bryan checked his watch. Humans should return to their home planet within thirty minutes.
"Two-Two, One-Five.” The leader from the newly arrived team came over the radio. “Dude, no one’s here."
Everyone turned and faced Bryan as the other team called in on a shared frequency.
"What?" Bryan snapped back.
"Five guys showed up. And a handful of Metic Ahai." The other officer reported. "I got plans and ammo for fifty, and I've got five. If it were anyone else, I'd think you'd been scamming us for months. But I think we've been stood up."
Everything they had done for the past nine months had been for this. The training, the operations, the money, the weapons, everything. Bryan slammed his fist into the dirt where he lay. The uncharacteristic burst of anger drew attention from the others who looked over at him in concern. Not concern for the mission, but concern for their typically calloused leader.
"I don't suppose those five know anything?" He asked after he regained composure.
"They said they heard some people got diverted to support someone or something called Ava. Do they mean Portia?" He used the codename Bryan had used for Ava in all of his reporting.
Bryan didn't bother responding. Siskind read his mind and switched frequencies without being asked.
"Ava, this is Howe, over." He called out.
Predictably she didn't respond. Not even after the fifth time he called.
He cursed again and switched the channel.
"MacIntyre, Howe, over." He waited only a fraction of a second before MacIntyre replied. "Where you at?" Bryan demanded.
"I'm at the pass in a blocking position.” Lucas sounded confused. “Why?”
Bryan took a deep breath, but couldn’t remain calm. The stress simmering over the previous months started to boil over. "Why the everloving fuck are you at the pass, MacIntyre. You're supposed to be in Georgetown."
"Bryan... wha- I thought... Ava called last night. Said she needed us to keep the Hetarek from reinforcing from the east."
Siskind gave Howe a look. MacIntyre's naiveté would have been funny if it hadn't become so costly.
Brian kept the long string of curses to himself. As much as he wanted to reach out across the airwaves to hit MacIntyre, he'd need him. He realized he hadn't spoken in several seconds.
"Bryan,” the partisan leader offered. “If you need me to come to you, I'll come to you, brother."
"No, stay put. Hold your position and keep them from coming through."
O looked at him quizzically. Bryan shrugged. "He's not going to get here in time to do shit. Besides, if Ava put him there it means her people aren't there the blow-up the pass. And we need someone there."
MacIntyre kept talking over the radio. "Roger, Bryan. I copy. I think Cho's near you."
"Break break break." Jess's voice near shouting through the radio jarred him. "Hetarek inbound from the airfield. They're moving east towards your position."
O retasked the satellite to get a better view.
"How many, Jess?"
"A metric shit-ton.” She snapped back. “They keep coming out. Bryan, they're coming from that hanger...”
"Don't worry about it." He interrupted. "Lay low as long as you can."
"Two-Two, One-Five. We've got Komodos starting to cruise the streets."
“How many?”
“Enough to keep us busy if it’s just the twenty of us.”
He gave Siskind a look, who obediently switched the channel again. “Cho, this is Howe, over.”
There was a long pause, and he wondered if even his most effective local leader had abandoned him, too.
“This is Cho. We’re en route.” The words came out in puffs. The man was running while he talked. “Our contacts didn’t leave us the vehicles like they said they would; we’re on foot.”
At last, Bryan felt some relief. “You’re not the only one she left hanging.”
“We’re about ten minutes out.” Cho announced.
“Be advised we have high concentrations of Hetarek moving around the airfield.”
“Yeah, we see ‘em.” Cho panted. “But we’re in the tree line. We can sneak around them. We’re near the rendezvous.”
Bryan looked up at the sky, hoping to see some sign of movement. “Better hurry up.” He suggested. “They’re almost here.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Future reports would say that, technically, the Hetarek initiated contact.
The stream of warriors moved southeast across the airfield and north, suspiciously towards the exact locations of both teams. Bryan’s team watched the vanguard approach, then stop abruptly. A Komodo’s turret rotated ninety degrees, pointing at a spot along the hill where Bryan estimated Cho led his team of partisans ran towards their assigned blocking position. It belched heavy laser fire for two seconds before the Komodo exploded from a AT9 blast.
The Hetarek advance stuttered as the team opened fire from two locations. Starek hammered with his machine gun. O’Hare fired another round from his anti-armor weapon, destroying a second Komodo. The rest of the team engaged the mass of warriors, retorts echoing off the hill as spent magazines and shell casings began to litter the ground around them.
A skilled ear could make out the distinctive report of Kendrick’s sniper rifle accompanied by Jess’s precision laser fire.
Cho’s team at the foot of the hill recovered quickly, returning fire.
The Hetarek took fire from three locations. To them, Bryan estimated, it must have looked like the entire hillside shot at them.
And yet they ran towards the hill. The team’s gunfire whittled away at the edge of the formation while the front line pushed across the remaining valley towards the human positions. The enemy quickly disappeared from their view beneath the edge of the bluff, using the team’s elevation against them. Other Hetarek warriors split north and east, heading towards the blocking position and Cho.
“Two-Two, One-Five’s in contact.” The other team leader called over the radio.
Bryan took aim at three Hetarek nearly three hundred meters distant, hitting two of them. “Us too. Cho’s pinned down.” He managed, ejecting a magazine while he spoke.
“Bryan, they’re climbing the hillside.” Jess reported from her vantage point.
He kept one eye on the slope in front of him, expecting Hetarek to start materializing, and his other eye on the nebulous mass still discharging from the hangers across the field.
If he could hold them off for just a few moments, the return of humanity would distract the onslaught.
The ground beneath them shook with a sharp intensity, enough to make Bryan risk himself and look up. The rest of the team did the same, pressing pause on the level of fire. The sound struck a few moments later, the double boom of a large explosion. Off in the distance to the west, a column of smoke rose near Bellevue.
“What the fuck was that?” Kendrick asked.
“O, we still don’t have anyone overhead, right?”
Siskind shook his head. “No, not yet.”
“That was a lot of explosion.” Raghnal said. “And it wasn’t near the highway.”
“O, get Loki over that.”
“Already working on it.” The image on his small screen panned over. “Shit. It’s looks like the joint Hetarek Metic Ahai barracks.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. What’s the status of the highway?”
It took a few seconds for the satellite to change positions. “Completely intact.”
; “Ava fucked us.” Jess said, looking over his shoulder.
“In more ways than one. How many Metic Ahai were in that compound?” Bryan asked.
“A lot.”
“How many of them were on our side?”
“Enough.” Jess answered dead-pan. “There goes some of our support.”
*****
The electric blue surrounding them broke apart. Stars materialized, as did ships and space stations. And, directly in front of them, filling nearly every space on their canopy, Earth appeared.
“That’s more like it.” Sasha said, shoving the throttle forward.
Jean looked over his shoulder. His new wingman was right where he was supposed to be. Further away, two squadrons, Viper and Asp, charged towards the Hetarek warships surrounded by Sickle interceptors. Jean didn’t have time to think about how the Hetarek fighters were already launching when the humans emerged from the wormhole. The defending warships and stations came to life, moving towards a blocking position between the planet and the arriving human fleet.
They ignored the Hetarek, swinging wide as they dove towards the planet at full speed.
“I’ve got the target area.” Sasha announced, nodding towards sharp line of night slowly moving west as Earth rotated. Few white clouds obscured the land mass below. Jean could make out the mountain peaks meant to guide them in. Neither could give the sight due appreciation. They weren’t on the edge of the system finding a pale blue dot, they were home. But they couldn’t waste time thinking about anything but their role in the unfolding battle to retake it.
Green indicators appeared on his canopy, triangulating a position. “I’ve got the homing beacons.”
