"So young, barely a real officer. You might have been able to wriggle your way out of a death sentence, if you cooperated with the regulars." Ethan eyed her sharply, and shot back.
"I´m a legionnaire, like everyone else here. We don´t betray our brothers and sisters. Now, shut up."
She stepped out of the room, leaving Ethan standing there, anger welling up inside him.
"How was your first officer meeting, Ethan," Lyons said from behind him, and he turned around.
"Sir, it was fine. I just... I didn´t have anything to say..."
"Don´t worry, adjunct. That´s normal for a fresh officer." The centurion nodded toward where Bothwin had gone.
"Don´t let her get to you. Some people will work hard to maintain a kind of informal pecking order, but you answer to me, not her. Got it?"
"Yes sir." Ethan stepped out of the room, satisfied with his superior´s words. Still, something about Adjunct Bothwin irked him. He would have to keep an eye out for her.
17.
It was late, and the mixed platoon Ethan was working with had trained for several days. After some hot food and a nice shower Ethan stumbled into bed. He was so tired, he was ready to sleep for a week. His breathing slowed and he drifted off, while thoughts of tactics and orders floated through his mind.
Something moved in the shadows and he started awake. As an officer he had his own room, and nobody should be here at this hour. He grabbed at his sidearm, which hung beside the bed, but before he got that far, someone stepped toward him, and he heard a hushing sound.
"Be quiet, Ethan," a woman´s voice said. Helena crept into bed, and he relaxed. They hadn´t been together since that night back on Earth. He grinned as she cuddled in beside him. Helena was definitely... interesting.
Afterwards they lay panting beside each other, sweaty, exhausted, tired, and happy. Ethan smiled up at the ceiling, before he bent over and kissed her. She kissed him back.
"Helena, I think I..." She but a finger on his lips to quiet him.
"Don´t say anything, Ethan. At least not something you´ll regret."
"But why? I mean, seriously, I really like you."
"Yeah... I like you too Ethan. But we´ll be at war again soon, with an enemy that´s determined to kill us all, it seems. And let´s admit it, our chances aren´t good, not when the regulars are teaming up with several of the legions. You know what happened to Pearson´s and Sphinx." She let it just hang there, and Ethan didn´t have a good reply, so he kept quiet.
"I have to go," Helena said. "We both need to sleep, and let´s face it, if we lay here any longer we might not get much sleep at all." She grinned and gave him a wink.
"Let´s do this again, some time, Ethan," she said when she had dressed, giving him a sly wink. Then she turned and left the room, leaving Ethan alone with his thoughts.
18.
"So, what´s with the navy? They still not taking sides?" Ariel said, leaning back in her chair in the lounge room, as Ethan had just told her the story of how they fought their way out from Camp Piteaa and escaped to orbit.
"I haven´t heard anything yet, but I cannot imagine they´ll stay neutral much longer. What I´m wondering is what´ll happen with the ships currently in orbit here when they decide to take sides. Will the navy split? That seems unlikely. And if they do pledge themselves to Earth, will they attack us?" Ethan had so many questions. He had tried to discuss it with Centurion Lyons and even Senior Decurion Schwartz, but none had any answers.
"Well, most of them are lightly armed anyhow," Ariel said. "They´re not battleships, they´re transports. No, I think they´ll wait until a larger force comes. But unless we´ve got some kind of plan, I don´t know…"
"I wonder if Legate Camus has a plan. He usually does," Ethan said.
"All right, Ethan, enough business. I heard someone say Helena discovered your arrest. While you were still in bed… Now, how can that be?" She grinned, and Ethan immediately flushed.
"She´s not interested in anything more though. So just… Forget about it. We´re not a couple, and we´re not likely to become one."
"That´s because you don´t know women, Ethan."
"What? You´d think that..."
"Okay, some of them are attracted to you, sure, but you…" Ariel began. Ethan cocked his head. Some part of him didn´t like they way this conversation was going, while another was eager to learn what Ariel was thinking.
"The truth is, you´re pushing them away as soon as they get close to you." She sighed.
Ethan didn´t reply. But he nodded weakly. Ariel was right. Although Eileen had been adamant that they weren´t a couple, he had sensed that she cared for him. And now she was dead. And Malika, well, she had made her mistakes, but so had he. He had actually been relieved when they agreed not to become a couple. And yet, he had to admit to regretting that decision more than once. And now Helena...
As they sat there quietly, he heard footsteps. He looked up, and saw Julian enter. His friend stopped, dead in his tracks.
"Ethan, you´re back," he said. Ethan stepped over to hug him. He noticed Julian was holding back, just slightly, but Ethan didn´t stop to wonder what it was. It was just nice to have both his best friends around him again.
"How are you?" he said. Julian found a chair, smiling uncertainly, while mumbling, "okay."
"So, how are you, Ethan? Glad you made it," he said.
"I´m good. Look what´s the..." Ethan broke off as someone walked in, and came straight for Julian, who got up from his chair. Ethan turned to see Malika. She froze, before she slowly stepped over to Julian.
"Ethan," she said, grabbing a hold of Julian´s hand. Ethan looked from one to the other, and understood.
"Guys," he said. "It´s okay." It sure didn´t feel okay, but he owed them both a decent act.
Malika smiled and came over to give him a hug. He stiffened, but hugged her back.
"Good to see you, Malika," he said. She gave him a peck on the cheek, before she shuffled back to Julian.
"When we heard what was going on, we were afraid you wouldn´t make it all the way out here. You must have been among the last to get off Earth," she said. Ethan nodded. He didn´t know what to say. For the next five minutes he managed to be part of a conversation about fighting and escaping Earth, and what would happen next, while his thoughts were elsewhere. As soon as he could he excused himself, and walked away.
He knew, deep down, that he and Malika were a thing of the past, that she ought to be free to choose whoever she liked, but she had hooked up with one of his best friends. And although he didn´t want to be jealous, he didn´t have the right to be, it turned out that he was.
19.
"Adjunct, we´re taking heavy fire over there," the winded legionnaire in front of him said. "With the comms down and no satellite coverage we´re blind as well. We need covering fire to escape, and you guys are the only ones in range." The legionnaire had been running hard, and even with his exoskeleton doing much of the work he looked like he was about to topple over. Ethan gave him a quick nod.
"Get some rest, legionnaire. We´ll handle it from here," he said. Then he thought for a moment, zoomed in on the defenders. Two platoons of heavy infantry were pinned down almost six kilometers away. A methane river separated them from the enemy, while preventing a counter attack. The rest of the defending cohort was too far away to come to their aid. The enemy had the high ground, overlooking them from a hillside on the far side of the river, perfectly positioned to take them out whenever the infantry tried to move out.
Ethan´s platoon, on the other hand, were dug in, nearly invisible in the terrain to anyone who didn´t stumble upon them, and their close defense squads were spread out to avoid any surprises.
He was impressed by the legionnaire who had managed to slip out to get help. He took a mental note of his name to put in his report. Then he waved one of the artillery guys over. The iron legionnaire, a decurion, found a spot next to him.
"Sir, I would recommend a targeted rocket strike
at their vanguard, followed with a full HE barrage on the main force," the decurion said.
"Why not a straight on full HE barrage?"
"Well, sir, we always run the risk of friendly fire, but especially now, with our guys so close to the enemy. The rocket strike will help us take out those enemies closest to our soldiers, and it will help us target the barrage better."
"Good thinking, Dec." Ethan smiled, as the decurion returned to his squad. Then he contacted the nearest artillery base and relayed the coordinates.
A few minutes later the base commander, which happened to be Tribune Selznick, came on a private channel to Ethan.
"Adjunct, the enemy formation is destroyed. They are being pulled out as we speak. Your team just saved those two platoons from being annihilated. You´re turning out to be a fine officer, Wang."
"Thank you ma´am, but it was one of my men who came up with the idea," Ethan said, both proud and slightly embarrassed.
"Even better," the Tribune replied. "Many officers don´t listen to their subordinates, and those who do rarely gives them credit. I stand by my assessment of you, adjunct." She left the channel.
That evening, while Ethan was having dinner with Ariel, Julian, Malika and a few other friends, he saw Tribune Selznick coming toward him. He was surprised to see she was walking beside Legate Camus, and trailing behind them a group of higher officers followed. Ethan got up and came to attention. Tribune Selznick motioned for him to stand at ease, which he did.
"Legate, this is the one I told you about. A fine young officer, if I may say so." Ethan felt his cheeks grow hot. Legate Camus laughed.
"Adjunct Wang, you never seize to surprise me. Looks like you´ve impressed our allies now as well. Good, good, carry on soldier, enjoy your meal." The legate and the rest of the officers walked on and Ethan sat down.
"I think I had you mistaken, Adjunct Wang," a voice said from behind him. He turned around and saw Adjunct Bothwin stood leaning to the wall, arms crossed, peering at him.
"What do you mean?" Ethan asked, perplexed.
"Well, I think you´re more ambitious than you let on. I think you´re a clever one. I didn´t think so before, but I sure do now." Then she winked, turned around and walked off.
20.
"They call it the Sol Empire," Centurion Lyons said. Someone snorted, a few chuckled. Most just shook their heads.
"We knew they were crazy," one of the officers said, gaining nods of agreement.
"Nobody thought it was this bad though," another said.
"Okay," Lyons said, motioning for everyone to settle down. "Whatever the reason, and however crazy it all seem, we have a job to do. We already knew they wanted us dead, so there´s really nothing new, except for the name. This meeting is adjourned. Dismissed." He turned toward Ethan.
"Adjunct Wang, a word please."
Ethan remained standing while everyone else filed out.
"Sir," he said.
"Be seated," the centurion said. Ethan sat back down.
"Adjunct, I have a special task for you. I need you to set up a task force. Platoon size. You may pick from your current platoon and perhaps add a few others that you trust. The bulk of your unit needs to be artillery observers or heavy infantry qualified. Pick your second in command and squad leaders carefully."
"Sir, may I ask what the mission is?" Ethan asked.
"You may not. Not right now, anyway. I´ll let you know when the time is right," the centurion replied.
"One more thing, sir. Why me? There must be others more qualified..." Centurion Lyons held up a hand, and Ethan stopped.
"You were my first pick. As soon as the task was given to me, I knew you were right," he said. "You´re wasting time, adjunct."
Ethan got back up, saluted, and hurried out of the room. As he shut the door behind him, he noticed Adjunct Bothwin standing a ways off, watching him. He ignored her. One thing he knew for certain, he didn´t want her on the task force. That woman was too curious, too ambitious for his liking. That kind of officer would either stab you in the back, or get themselves killed, possibly dragging others with them. He walked in the opposite direction, avoiding her, as he began thinking about possible squad leaders.
21.
Ethan sat alone by a table in a room Centurion Lyons had said would be for his task force only. It had a separate airlock to the outside, in addition to another entrance that led into the rest of the facility. Ethan waited for his NCOs to arrive, and looked forward to gathering them, even though he still had no idea what the mission entailed.
The first to arrive was Optio Sharon. The grizzled veteran grinned at Ethan, and Ethan grinned back. Ethan fished out a small package from his pocket and put it on the table in front of him. The Israeli chuckled.
"Sir, do you have any idea how many officers have promoted me to decurion? They all regretted it within a week." Ethan remained smiling.
"Open it," he just said. Sharon did, and his eyes narrowed.
"What´s this," he said, picking up one of the insignia. The SD was dark metal, and as he turned it over, it hardly reflected any light at all.
"Senior Decurion," Ethan said. "Can´t have a simple dec as my XO. Centurion´s orders." He shrugged. "You´ll just have to accept it, even though I know you think SDs are almost as bad as officers."
"XO... You want me to be your second in command?"
"I can think of no one better."
"What about Schwartz? He´s pretty capable?"
"Sure, he´d be a good pick," Ethan said. "But he´s been training recruits for quite some time. I want him as squad leader for now. And I want you as my second." Ethan got up.
"What´s the mission?" Sharon asked. Ethan shrugged.
"I have no idea. So, do you accept?"
"Sure."
The door opened and four NCOs entered.
The artillery decurion from the Iron Legion, the one who had advised Ethan the other day, was first.
"Decurion Hamill, thank you for coming," Ethan said. Senior decurion Schwartz followed right behind, and exchanged nods with Ethan. Then came Decurion Snow, Ariel´s former squad leader. Ariel came last, the only optio among them. Ethan let them all find a seat before he began.
"All right, here´s the deal. Senior Decurion Sharon here is my XO. Senior Decurion Schwartz, you´ve got first squad. Hamill, you´ve got second and Snow, you´re third. Optio Chambers, you´re my Weapons NCO. I have already put together a small staff and I want to discuss a few names for the squads with you. After dinner I will make some decisions, and the squads should be ready by tomorrow morning."
"What´s the mission?" Snow asked.
"Honestly, I have no idea. The secrecy alone makes me think it´s rather important. That´s why I´ve picked you guys."
They sat discussing for a while, before going to dinner.
22.
Ethan stood facing his task force outside. In front of him the squads stood at attention. Senior Decurion Sharon was facing him in front of the small task force staff, consisting of Ariel and two other optios, while the squad leaders had lined up their squads in single files facing Ethan. They still didn´t know the mission, which had caused some issues when putting the squads together, but Ethan had finally decided they ought to put together teams of reliable soldiers, making sure they had the necessary general skills, such as heavy weapons, medic, tech and so on. Since the task force included people from the Iron Legion, Ethan had emphasized the need for experienced artillery observers and close protection team skills, which was the closest to infantry skills the Iron Legion had. He had omitted cavalry, since he had personally concentrated on working with artillery in the time he´d spent with them. He didn´t think the brass would have selected him for a task that relied heavily on cavalry skills.
Centurion Lyons walked out of the building next to them, and stepped over to stand next to Ethan.
"A fine platoon you have put together, Adjunct Wang," he said.
"Sir, I think we need to know the mission now, if we are to do
anything more than stand here looking fine. Just my opinion, sir," Ethan replied, earning a sideways look from his superior.
"I guess it is time," the centurion said, before addressing them all on the platoon channel.
"Task Force Alpha," he said, letting the name sink in before he continued. "You have been selected for an important task. You all know the regulars, likely supported by one or more of the legions cooperating with Earth, are coming. Although we have no intel on this, we expect them here within a very short time. Possibly just days. And when they come, they will try to annihilate us. They cannot do that from orbit, not entirely, and they know it. That means we are facing an invasion.
So we need to bring out the big guns, and this is why your mission is crucial. You are to serve as long-range recon and tactical support for the Iron Legion artillery. As most experienced soldiers know, the great killer on any battlefield is artillery, and we need ours to be deadly accurate. This task is even more important when considering the overall strategy. Legate Camus and Legate Yhvann have deliberated this for a while, and come to the conclusion that sooner or later, Titan will fall." Ethan noticed a few legionnaires stirring, and even he felt like speaking up, though he didn´t. This was a decision that belonged at the very top, whatever he felt about it. But it did feel a little like a betrayal. He hid his emotions, as did most of the others. He did notice Sharon grimacing though.
"I don´t expect you to like this, but we are leaving Titan as soon as we can secure our departure. Your task, along with the artillery you will be assigned to, is to hold the enemy for as long as needed so the Iron and Ghost Legions can manage a controlled withdrawal to orbit. Our navy allies, and yes, the navy has split, will secure our exit from the Solar system."
So the navy finally decided to join the fight, Ethan thought. That might mean devastating orbital bombardment, or fighting in space, or so many other things he had never considered much. The Ghost Legion were used to controlling orbit, and drop into the heat of battle from the safety above, not sitting inside tin cans surrounded by vacuum, while nuclear rockets were propelled at them from enemies far away. They were infantry, not space marines.
Rogue Legion Page 4
