23.
Ethan had just got out of his combat gear, had a shower, and begun pulling on a fresh set of comfortable insulation undergarments when someone knocked on the door to his private chambers.
"Yeah," he said, and began pulling on another layer.
The door opened, and Ethan looked up. Claire Bothwin entered, eyeing him up and down.
"Seems I´m too late," she said, with a hinting smile on her full lips. Ethan smiled back, uncertain of her intentions. She did have a nice looking body, and her face wasn´t ugly either. Then he noticed something else.
"Hey, is that an eagle on your shoulder?" he blurted.
"Not wonder they teamed you up with the artillery observers," she replied, grinning. “You´re actually smarter than the average grunt.”
"When did that happen?" Ethan asked, ignoring her poorly hidden insult.
"The Tribune summoned me about an hour ago. Wants me on the cohort staff, it seems. Anyway, I couldn´t exactly refuse, even though I ought to command a century first, if I´m to advance much higher in the long run."
Ethan shook his head slightly. He knew Claire Bothwin was the ambitious type, which really meant not his type. She stepped closer. He could smell her scent, shower fresh.
"Adjunct, you could do well with a... friend on cohort staff," she said. He didn´t immediately reply, and she took another step toward him. She was closer than appropriate for an adjunct and a centurion. "Just consider it." Their eyes met, and for a moment Ethan thought she would kiss him. He didn´t know how he would react if she did, but a part of him wanted it. Then another part took charge.
"Centurion, I´m not one for climbing the ranks," he said. More firmly than he felt.
"Oh, but you are, Ethan. Look at you. How long since you were a recruit? Two years, almost three? And now you are an officer. Oh yes, you are definitely a rank climber, you just hide it well. Or perhaps you won´t admit to it? Not even to yourself?" She turned towards the door and opened it.
"Please call me Claire, by the way. We´re friends, right? And Ethan, do consider what I just said. That´s all I ask. For now." She stepped out and closed the door behind her.
Ethan looked at the closed door, lost in thought. What did she want from him?
24.
Ethan was having breakfast when the alarm went off. One minute he was engaged in a discussion on whether the TAR 17 or the ISR 15 were better rifles for close protection, and the next he was running for the airlocks, pulling on his helmet, along with everyone else. Once outside, he saw Senior decurion Sharon coming toward him, pulling another legionnaire along. Ethan contacted the squad leaders on the task force leader channel.
"Gather your squads. SD Schwartz, get first and second squad onto dropship A9. Third squad and staff on me, we´ll take dropship A11. I want the task force in the air within sixty seconds." Then he located Ariel and the other staff members, and ushered them inside the dropship. As he stepped inside he left a voice message for Centurion Lyons. "7-1-1, this is 7-1 Alpha. Headed to rally point Bravo now. Birds are on the move. Out."
He sat next to Sharon, who looked like he was listening intently. Ethan lifted his visor.
"Any intel on the attack?" Ethan asked. Sharon nodded.
"Listening in on command as we speak. There´s a fleet in orbit. Looks like we´re about to receive some heavy bombardment any time now. Nothing inside the atmosphere yet." Sharon paused for a moment, before he went on. "There´s a battle up there. The New Beginnings is badly hurt, dropping into the atmosphere as we speak. Damn, she was a fine ship, Sir." Ethan chewed his lip, thinking about all those crewmen. Some of them may have been there, back when Ethan and so many others were sent to Titan on that doomed first mission. The New Beginnings had been the first starship he had ever set foot on, and now it was plunging towards its death. He shuddered as the dropship shook slightly, and refocused.
"Yes she was," he said. "I take it we´re getting whipped then?"
"No Sir, our navy buddies are doing well, all things considered. The Stormbringer, the Excelsior and the Hellfire have all retreated to somewhere within Saturn´s rings, and they´re safe for now. The Dreadnought and the Napoleon Bonaparte are locked in battle, as they are the only ones armed to put up a decent fight. The Silver Shadow is on its way to reinforce them, ETA is six hundred seconds."
"Anything on the size of the enemy fleet?"
"Hmm, no. But everyone expects it to be large."
A tall man who had been sitting alone next to the door to the cockpit stood up. The Jumpmaster. Every dropship had a Jumpmaster, a relic from the days of parachute jumps being the primary insertion method for airborne troops.
"Listen up," the Jumpmaster barked. Everyone´s attention turned to him.
"In thirty seconds we land. Once we do, I want you all out of here in half that time. Got it? Right." He nodded to Ethan and Ethan stood.
"On me. You heard the man. Quick deployment is what we´re all about. Decurion Snow, as soon as we hit the ground, I want third squad out. Establish a perimeter, while the rest of us deploys. We´ll connect with first and second squads as soon as the birds leave." He slid his visor down, and he immediately felt it as the suit´s AC kicked in.
The dropship banked, and then the hatch opened. The light switched from red to green and Decurion Snow led his squad out into the open. Gusts of wind blew snow inside, and though well insulated, Ethan shuddered from imagined cold. Then he darted outside with the others. As soon as he exited the dropship, the bird took flight again.
Fifteen minutes later the task force had gathered, and they began setting up camp. They were located on a hillside that overlooked a great valley, one of the main overland routes toward the main base. One squad was assigned to guard duty at all times, covering every possible approach. The others built covers that would hide them from detection by land troops, while a large winter camouflage cover hid them from aerial detection. Heat reflecting sheets underneath would shield them from detection with heat sensors.
They were ready. Now all they could do was wait.
25.
The bombardment started an hour later. At first it looked like a meteor shower, but then the first one struck, and the second, exploding with kinetic energy.
"Do you think they will use nukes?" Ethan asked as they watched the barrage on the horizon.
"I don´t see why not," Sharon replied. "But probably not from orbit. With all the shielding and so on needed for atmospheric entry, it´s just easier to push rocks into the atmosphere. And so much cheaper. But we´ll see nukes, count on it. Probably use a few ourselves as well."
Once, before the Lumin invasion, nukes had been anathema, a line not to be crossed. But the being under attack from the Lumins had changed that. The war had seen great swaths of land wiped clean by nuclear weapons, cities vaporized and even an entire continent made uninhabitable. Now nukes were part of any arsenal, from small rockets and grenades utilized by heavy infantry to the great city busters. Granted, stolen Lumin technology made their secondary effects less vile, and every soldier had pills that nearly neutralized the effects of radiation on an individual, but the devastating effect of the blast itself was enough that anyone feared those most powerful of weapons. On Earth the damage to nature had been another deterrent to using them. Here, on Titan, no one would have any such qualms.
"Sir, we have incoming ships," a legionnaire interrupted Ethan´s thoughts, and pointed at something in the distance.
Ethan zoomed in and saw at least fifty dropships falling.
"Estimated landing spot?"
"Somewhere between grid H65 and K28, sir," one of the artillery observers replied. "ETA thirty seconds."
"That puts us right smack in between them and our base," Ethan said. Senior Decurion Sharon flashed a wolfish grin.
"I have three artillery batteries on the line, ready to fire at your command, Sir."
"Tell them to stand by. I want them close enough to reach their vanguard with direct fire. For now, we wait."
> 26.
Ethan had his artillery observers in second squad take up positions that allowed them a good view of the valley. He would stay close to them as they would deliver the main blow to the invasion force, and needed his full attention. First squad took up positions above the main camp, as protection against flanking maneuvers from above, while third squad spread out in front of the artillery observers. These troopers were heavy infantry for the most part, carrying heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, mortars and grenade launchers.
More dropships were landing in the distance, while the vanguard was already moving through the valley toward them. There seemed to be thousands of enemy troops.
"Do we have any numbers on that force? Just give me an estimate," Ethan said. Sharon replied immediately.
"About four or five thousand in the vanguard. Might be one of the legions, actually. The main force must be several tens of thousands. The ships keep coming, so it´s too early to tell." Ethan gritted his teeth.
"So we´re totally dependent on our artillery to do their job well. No way we can take one anything more than a small fraction with infantry, even if we had cavalry support."
"Sounds about right to me," Sharon replied.
The vanguard was closing in, slowly but surely.
27.
"What´s the latest on our navy friends?" Ethan asked. Sharon shook his head.
"The orbital battle is over. The New Beginnings crashed down somewhere on the far side of Titan. The Dreadnought was blown up in space. The rest of the ships fled to safety somewhere in the rings."
"So the enemy controls Titan orbit completely then."
"They do, Sir. But it´s a vast space out there, so our ships should be safe.”
"I wonder how Legate Camus plans to get us off this rock."
"Sir, I´m just a grunt. But we have a lot of transports and dropships, and my guess is they are all well hidden now. If most of them survive the bombardment, we might stand a chance. Like I said, it´s a vast space out there."
Ethan nodded while he zoomed in on the coming force.
"Not much longer now," he murmured to himself.
"Sir, we have confirmation on the vanguard´s identity," one of the artillery observers said. "It´s the Gold Legion, sir."
The Gold Legion was one of the first legions to swear allegiance to the new authorities on Earth. They were seen among other legionnaires as the primary perpetrators of the massacre on Pearson´s Legion on Mars, and as such they were hated among the legionnaires on Titan, and probably anywhere else the free legions were scattered.
"Perfect," he heard someone say. "They´ll pay for what they did," someone else said.
"Silence," Ethan commanded. He needed everyone focused on the task at hand.
He continued staring at the approaching enemy.
"Decurion Hamill, do you see that outcropping two hundred meters out?" he said.
"Yes Sir."
"As soon as the first enemy passes it, I want the batteries to fire for effect. No warnings."
"Sir, that´s awfully close for a full barrage..."
"We´re well protected. The risk is acceptable."
"Affirmative, Sir."
More waiting ensued, and time stretched. Ethan saw the first enemy pass the outcropping, and mere seconds later he heard the whooshing sound of incoming fire.
"Take cover," he said, and hugged the ground.
The next few minutes were one of the scariest moments of his life. The ground shook, and though the helmet´s automatic auditory protection muffled the worst of the noise, he clearly heard the barrage as it pounded the enemy. His teeth clattered and he felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest. The barrage was accurate, but even so a few rounds came dangerously close. Then there was a slight break before an explosion came that dwarfed the others. At first, there was a sharp flash, followed almost immediately by a rumbling sound. Moments later came what felt like a hurricane and an earthquake combined, tossing him around where he lay, even while he was squeezing his face to the dirt. He was about to look up when another flash came, followed by a third. He squeezed his eyes shut as he hugged the ground again, when he heard Decurion Hamill on the command channel.
"We just nuked the rear of the vanguard!" he shouted excitedly.
"Everyone, inject the countermeasures," Ethan ordered. He felt a light sting of a needle penetrating his skin as his own suit followed his command, and countermeasures against radiation poisoning entered his veins.
"Visuals, anyone?" he then asked. One of the artillery observers replied.
"We have taken out most of the rear of the vanguard, Sir. Those at the front were all blown to bits. Seems to be a few hundred survivors on their left flank though, and a smaller number on their right."
"Right. Well guys, time to earn your pay."
28.
"Senior decurion Sharon, have the batteries attack the right flank ASAP, before they get too close. Decurion Hamill, stay put with the artillery observers, and have your infantry provide close protection. First and third squad on me. We´re taking the fight to their left flank. Concentrate fire and stay low. We are outnumbered, but we have the momentum. As soon as the artillery barrage begins, they will duck and stay low. That´s when we attack. Ariel, I want the drones in the air to provide support for first and third squad." Ethan watched as Ariel prepared her drones, six in all. One was an intel drone that would hang back to provide real time intel of the battlefield, while the other five were attack drones that would engage hostiles alongside the human soldiers. Ariel would be watching the camera feed from the intel drone, and relay anything important to Ethan. Steve, the Tech guy, helped launch the drones, and would be able to take manual control of any drone that required it. He was also able to do minor repairs, but the drones were fully operational and ready, so that part of his job would wait until after, if there was an after.
"Sir, we are pretty vulnerable to friendly fire out there..." Senior decurion Schwartz said.
"It´s a risk we must take," Ethan said. No one opposed it. They all knew the stakes. If the enemy advance wasn´t halted, two entire legions might be caught before having a chance to escape. And everyone knew what happened to prisoners.
The artillery barrage resumed, and Ethan signaled to Schwartz and Snow to follow him. The two squads attacked the enemy on the left flank with rockets, grenades and heavy machine guns. The drones flew overhead, providing an extra angle of attack, taking out enemies who had found cover against the human attack. A legionnaire next to Ethan was cut down by what Ethan suspected was shrapnel from friendly fire, and he dove to the ground, sliding through the methane slush. For a moment he couldn´t see, until the visor cleared, and then he saw an enemy wearing the golden sword of the Gold Legion on his tattered suit pointing a gun at him. Ethan was paralyzed for half a second, before a burst from behind him made the top half of the enemy vanish in a mist of blood and gore. Ethan turned and saw his former instructor from basic training veering. His suit was ripped, and blood ran from his chest. A tattered stump was the only thing that remained of his left arm, and there was a widening crack in his visor. Ethan could see Schwartz´ nose and upper lip was already half-frozen. His breath was ragged, and he coughed.
"Oh shit, that stuff stinks," Schwartz said, coughing blood, before he toppled over. Ethan crawled over to him.
"Medic!" he yelled. Malika, assigned to Decurion Snow´s squad, landed beside him, and began applying nano gel to Schwartz´ wounds and a patch to his visor.
"Can you save him?" Ethan implored. Malika didn´t reply at first, but then she shook her head.
"He´d dead. I managed to stop the bleeding and patch the visor, but he had already inhaled too much of that freezing, poisonous air. He didn´t stand a chance once his visor cracked open. Sorry, Ethan." Then she darted off to help someone else, before Ethan could say anything.
He took one last look at his former instructor, before gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut. Then he turned away and spoke.
"First squad, Senior decurion Schwartz is dead. I´m taking command of the squad myself for now. Let´s finish what we started. Follow me!"
29.
"7-1 Alpha, this is 7-1-1," a familiar voice sounded in his ear. It was Centurion Lyons. "What´s your status?"
"Sir, we..." he began, before his voice broke. He took a deep breath. "The enemy vanguard, the Gold Legion in fact, is completely destroyed. But there is nothing we can do about the main force. They will be here soon sir."
"You took out an entire legion?" Lyons said. "By yourself? What about casualties? Are you still operational?"
"I guess we are, Sir. We lost half of third squad, and three legionnaires from first, including SD Schwartz. The rest is mainly minor injuries that can be fixed on the spot Sir. One of the drones was shot down and another is being repaired by our Tech."
"And the ammo situation?"
"We´re good, Sir. We´re redistributing what we have right now."
"All right then. Listen, there´s no time to rest up. You are to stay put and report enemy movements as the main force approaches. A combined force of cavalry and heavy infantry is coming. Their job is to stop the enemy advance and yours is to direct artillery support. There may be heavy losses, but there is nothing to do about it. You must stop the advance at all costs."
"Yes Sir."
Ethan let out a deep breath as the centurion left the channel. No retreat then, not until everybody else was safely gone. The centurion hadn´t specifically said to fight to the last man, but Ethan knew their chances of surviving this were slim. But he knew it had to be done, and his task force was a necessary component in order for the artillery to be effective. He turned to SD Sharon.
"Senior decurion, I´m putting you in charge of first squad," he said. The veteran acknowledged the command, and turned to gather his legionnaires. Ethan turned to Snow.
Rogue Legion Page 5
