Fortress Beta City (The Sleeping Legion Book 2)
Page 26
I shall lead from the front and bring honor to my family’s name.
— Chapter 63 —
Noon, Post-Revival Day 22
Outskirts of Fortress Beta City, Serendine
Commander, Clubhouse Vengeance Detachment, New Order Army
Vendar sat in front of a small field desk. A holo-display projected the area around the fortress from his digital tablet. Four officers gathered around him: commanders from the two Janissary regiments, the commander of the air wing, and the officer in charge of the gravtank regiment. During the lull in the battle, as each side reeled from its losses and reassessed the situation, plans were made and wounds were tended. After deciding that the Vengeance Squadron had likely given them a clear picture of the situation, they began making detailed plans to capture the enemy stronghold.
Strutting around his field desk, feeling confident, Vendar began addressing his command staff. “It has become obvious to me the humans don’t have enough bodies to defend the elevator. They have spread their forces thin trying to hold and conquer too much landmass. We will make them pay by destroying them and taking the elevator.”
Vendar stopped behind the commander of the air wing, Thann, and watched his ears and body lower. Resting his metal ringed tail on Thann’s shoulder to unnerve him, Vendar continued speaking.
“Missiles came from Beta City and destroyed some of our Vengeance fighters. These were likely the result of the automated defenses left over from the Free Corps Mutiny. We can ignore that threat. It should be obvious, but we will avoid getting close to Beta City. I don’t want any other surprises.”
Pushing Thann into the table, Vendar walked back to his place at the head of the briefing. His tail caressed his digital tablet as the holo-display showed where units would be placed.
“I want the 4th and 5th Battalions of the 7th New Order Janissary Regiments to go into the tunnels, break into the fortress, and attack the fools from behind. Scent Leader Thann, you will get the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Squadrons into the air to defend the attacking infantry and gravtank forces. Fail your mission, and I will make your past suffering feel like a pleasant dream.”
Vendar turned to the Janissary officer who commanded the 18th GravTank Regiment. The sight of the Janissary made Vendar feel pride after having to converse with Thann.
“Senior Scent Leader Thendig Filar-Nion, you will coordinate an attack pattern for your tanks with the 8th Janissaries. We will advance, seizing the earthworks left by the incompetent humans, and use them to conquer the fortress in front of us. Once we are close enough to begin hitting the troops on the top of the walls, the gravtanks will halt, breach the walls, and the Janissaries will rush into the fortress. “
With his battle plans in place, Vendar shouted the ritualistic chant.
“For the New Order! One scent, one people!”
The group shouted it back and snapped to their tasking. Vendar kicked the Air Wing officer’s rear end, hitting him in the sensitive spot under his tail, when he determined Thann wasn’t moving fast enough to suit him. When the kick caused Thann to fall face first into the mud, Vendar laughed. The other officers present joined their commander in laughing at the abused plight of the militia officer. Once Vendar could shake it off, he grabbed his rifle and went into his command module to rest before the last push toward victory.
— Chapter 64 —
Noon, Post-Revival Day 22
Fortress Beta City, Scrofa Island, Serendine
Commander, 428th MER, Human Legion
Lulls in battle were common, more common than those who have never seen combat would suspect. This one came at the perfect time for the Marines scrambling to recover from a vicious opening blow. Of the initial defenders of the fortress, they’d lost nine full companies of troops in just under half an hour, though they estimated that at least they’d destroyed at least twenty aircraft. Not only was there the loss of life, but the wall facing Beta City was damaged by a destroyed enemy fighter.
Colonel GG scanned the dead and dying bodies of her fellow Marines, the damage to her almost finished fortress, and the bits of Hardit corpses that’d fallen out of their downed craft.
It seems the Hardits have conquered their fear of flying. Or maybe there is something more to this? GG thought as she looked at the devastation. We should collect blood from these fallen foes for analysis. Regardless, it appears the beasts have created new aircraft. We should salvage what we can and analyze it.
The more GG thought about the whole situation, the angrier she got. She began to feel the slow burn of a full-bodied Jotun rage. All twelve of her fingers tingled as her long, pointed claws began to creep out.
Frakk, just the breach along the wall was enough to endanger my fortress, GG thought as she looked at the destroyed pile of polycrete and twisted metal.
Feeling the fur on her back raising, GG took in a deep breath and blew it out. The time for vengeance would come later. Now, she needed to see to repairs and preparation. Using her Digi-Sheet to add damages to what the System AI was already reading, GG began inventorying what defensive features were functional. Her AI provided her a gross estimation of how long the damages would take to repair.
A week! Normally, such progress would be smiled upon. But by Tyndall, I don’t have that kind of time. Not to mention how many engineers and Auxies I lost.
Satisfied that she was aware of the issues, GG called over her remaining two battalion commanders and began to sketch out her plans for the 428th’s defense of their fortress. She intended to put the entire 2nd Battalion into the trenches surrounding the fortress with the goal of placing mines. This intentionally spread her Marines thin, as their purpose wasn’t to fight so much as it was to delay the enemy advance. The Marine engineering regiment would be supported by the 4th Battalion, 1st Aux Regiment, in the hope of expediting the deployment of the mines across the widest swath possible.
GG then turned to address the commander of the 1st Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Harper Alloy.
“I need what’s left of your battalion to suck up their losses and get those anti-air assets functioning. I’ve got Tech-Major Terloar en route to help. His brilliance might just save us all. Once you finish getting those weapons online, focus on repairing the breach in the walls. You’ll be assisted by the two surviving Pens from 3rd Aux Battalion. They’ve lost their officers, that’s where the Tech-Major comes in. I think they’ll listen to him. Follow his orders, and save us from any command issues while we fight off these New Order scum. Understood?”
Turning from Alloy, GG sent an update to Marchewka who approved her request to assume overall command of the fortress with surprising speed. Marchewka indicated that GG reported to him and the units fighting in the tunnels were under separate commands.
While frustrating, GG knew that she hadn’t yet proven her skill in combat, at least at this level. She knew Marchewka’s plan of separating the battle in the tunnels from the aerial engagements and the ground combat made sense. Accepting the outcome, GG sent two Aux runners to get the commanders of the Marine infantry battalions to her. Finding them took almost no time at all, but convincing the officers to follow the runners proved more difficult.
The moment the two battalion commanders arrived, GG stood at her full height and stared the humans down. Her combat armor morphed to her frame. The tips of her fingers becoming sharp spears and her visor became more bearlike and intimidating. When the first human colonel looked away, the second one followed suit. With her presence acknowledged, GG notified them that she had assumed overall command of the fortress. When they looked like they might baulk, she offered to directly connect them to Marchewka. When neither of them took her up on the offer, she moved on.
“Let us get right to the point, we have very little time before I suspect they’ll attack. The full 1st and 2nd Army Groups of the Akoni City Regional Army have been mobilized and are securing the tunnels underneath the orbital elevator. The Drakos and Storks have been scrambled in support. Maybe now those frakking thrott
le jerks can earn their grok. Finally, I’ve deployed engineers, with Aux support, to lay mines in the dead zone fields. The other engineers are working on getting our automated anti-air systems online. I want your battalions to secure the tops of the walls, though you should keep some of your men off duty so they can rest. This could turn into a prolonged siege, and we won’t need every man on the walls. That goes for the officers too.”
GG forced herself to relax before she continued. Her claws retracted, and her body armor adjusted.
“One last thought, we’ve gotten some indication that the New Order militias are unhappy and trying to side with the Human Legion. Thanks to Field Marshal Nhlappo’s tech heads, and Colonel Scipio’s AI enhancements, we’ve broken the intra-system communications blackout. We still can’t send or receive signals from other systems, but we can communicate among ourselves. This has let the Hardit militia communicate with our orbital assets, discussing their surrender to us.”
The two Marines’ body language revealed pride at the mention of Scipio. GG also believed in Scipio and his abilities. Using the change of demeanor to her advantage, she continued.
“So, if you see the Hardits retreating, you let them run. We can hunt them down later, if needed. It’s important we don’t harden their resolve to die as martyrs for the New Order. If any Marine continues to engage troops seeking to withdraw from the field, I will rip their head off and drink grok from their skull. Now you’ve got your sectors, go deploy your Marines. Dismissed.”
— Chapter 65 —
Noon, Post-Revival Day 22
Hangar Bay 22 Echo, Beta City, Serendine
Commander, 215th NAFS, Human Legion
When Field Marshal Marchewka scrambled all air assets, Lieutenant Commander Mawr Bryn knew this would finally be her chance to shine. After the siren went off and scrambled the fighters, she shouted in jubilation. Running on all six appendages, Mawr moved to be the first fighter from her squadron on the flight lines.
She’d been stuck in the Tranquility System for too long. As an atmospheric fighter pilot, conquered and pacified systems rarely provided opportunities for rapid career growth and promotion. There was also little hope of glory or honor. The instant the pilots from the 215th Naval Atmospheric Fighter Squadron were on the flight line, Mawr gave a quick pep talk to her fighters.
“First, remember to be gentle with those shuttle shites from the 126th Naval Auxiliary Craft Squadron. When we salvaged the training Drakos and spare birds, we gained two flights of fighters. They’ll be with us today. Those pilots flying the Storks will provide Combat Air Patrol or CAP, for Beta City and the new Akoni City locations. The rest of you pilots are with me,” said Mawr.
Stopping for a moment, she used her four arms to quickly scale the side of her Drako. Hanging there, with the pilots all looking up at her, she moved to inspire them.
“This is not a drill. We now fight enemies of the Legion. We will engage these Hardit bastards in aerial combat. We will prevail. And we will kill them with extreme lethal force. We will shoot until they are dead, then shoot them some more for good measure. If it can still fly, it must die. Now let’s go show these Marines how it’s done. Mount up. Individual flight orders will be coming, be ready.”
Finishing her speech, Mawr pulled herself into the Drako cockpit and began running preflight diagnostics and linking her AI. As her four arms moved in a blur of speed and efficiency, she glanced at the bare side of her Drako. It was common for pilots to paint their kills on the side of their fighter craft. For Mawr, it was how she honored Tyndall.
No enemy kills recorded for this campaign – yet.
— Chapter 66 —
Noon, Post-Revival Day 22
Tunnels Underneath Fortress Beta City, Serendine
Fury Co, 15th BN, 88th RGT, 22nd DIV, 6th Army, 2nd Army Group, Akoni City Regional Army, Human Legion
First Sergeant Craig Tibbs was tired and cranky. He’d just gotten off duty, having spent the past fourteen hours working, digging tunnels, and struggling to build Akoni City. Unlike many senior NCOs, he set an example by getting his hands dirty with his men. Just when he’d gotten off duty and into a deep sleep, General Quarters sounded.
“General Quarters, General Quarters, this is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. Report to your regimental staging area in full combat armor,” droned the robotic voice piping over the speaker systems. The message would loop continuously until all hands were accounted for.
Throwing on his combat armor, Craig ran to his regimental staging area to check on the Marines of Fury Company. Once he had accounted for his unit, he wandered over to check in with the other first sergeants. Jet black coffee was pre-staged, and Craig grabbed a cup to help shake away the shock of being jolted from bed.
The group began discussing the various rumors they’d heard and made assumptions about why General Quarters had sounded. Before any of the more succulent and fantastical scuttlebutt could be told and discussed, their regimental commander, Colonel Thomas Burrell, walked into the hall.
The sound of the 88th Regiment, fully dressed in combat armor, popping to attention, was deafening. When everyone was still, Colonel Burrell activated his thrusters and launched himself on top of an ammo crate. Every Marine helmet looked up at their colonel. His combat armor projected his voice, and it echoed as he spoke.
“This morning, the Hardit New Order launched a surprise aerial attack on the Marines building and defending Fortress Beta City. Thanks to the frakking Hardit blackout, we don’t know a lot of details. The blackouts been defeated, so information is coming,” said Burrell. “Here’s what I do know. The 1st and 2nd Army Group of the Akoni City Regional Army has been mobilized to secure and defend the tunnels underneath Fortress Beta City. The 3rd and 4th Army Group will defend Beta City. The 5th and 6th Army Group will defend the planned site for the Akoni City.”
The colonel took a moment to pass information to all the senior NCOs. Craig’s helmet reticle lit up with supply locations for his unit to equip from. As he tried to figure out where they would go, Colonel Burrell continued speaking.
“In fifteen mikes, we will begin drawing extra sabots, support weapons, and other supplies. I just updated your NCOs with info on where you will go to get your loadout. Wait for direction from your NCOs and don’t turn this into a cluster frakk. Once we’ve all drawn four times the normal combat load, and the supplies needed to live in the field for the next two weeks, we will report down to the Level 29 Maglev. From there, we will hitch a ride over to defend the tunnels under the orbital elevator. It’s do or die time, Marines. We cannot afford to lose that elevator. Defend it all costs.”
Once the murmuring of the excited Marines had died down, Burrell continued.
“We’ve given your company commanders their orders. I expect rapid deployment to your sectors the moment we disembark the maglev. Marines, make the 88th proud!”
— Chapter 67 —
Noon, Post-Revival Day 22
Tunnels Underneath Fortress Beta City, Serendine
4th BN, 7th New Order Janissary RGT, New Order Army
Scent Leader Kelk Caratize-Marisk was thrilled to get underground and away from the vastness of the topside. The comfort provided by the enclosed spaces underground were desirable. Unlike most of the orders Kelk had received since becoming a Janissary, going to the tunnels felt like a reward. The orders were uncommonly vague. The Janissaries were to seek a route through the tunnels into the inner portions of the fort the humans had erected around the orbital elevator.
Once underground, the tension almost visibly melted away. No micromanagement, just get the job done. Kelk spread out the companies within the battalion. Giving them the freedom to explore in force. The Janissaries were instructed to lay ground lines for communication purposes. While tedious, Kelk understood the reason. The natural rock deposits from the inert volcano made traditional communication tricky.
The first commo check went flawlessly. Kelk’s executive officer reminded the Janis
saries to watch for enemy wires as well, as this was an old human trick. Slowly, the mission crept forward. The Janissaries marked off any dead-end tunnel and moved forward. Each new discovery was sent via the wires to the regimental commander. Listening to the spool of wire rattle, Kelk sighed.
I guess even the tunnels can be a bore, thought Kelk. Will we ever find this drenting fortress?
— Chapter 68 —
Noon, Post-Revival Day 22
Outside Fortress Beta City, Serendine
Commander, 75th Vengeance Air Wing, New Order Army
The afternoon heat brought glorious news to Thann, as he sat in the cockpit of his Vengeance fighter hiding from the Janissaries and their brevet sub-commander. It was good enough for him to almost forget all the pain he was feeling. He couldn’t be sure, but he figured a few of his ribs were broken and perhaps even his tail. His tongue could feel the spaces where teeth were missing and the jagged edges of his broken canines. But the message from his brother soothed his injuries better than any balm ever could.
The warzone of Serendine paled in comparison to the war the drenting Brevet Sub-Commander Vendar had waged on his body. Thann stared at the cryptic message from his brother, his three eyes examining every detail. It included the coordinates to a rendezvous location on the northwestern most peninsula of Serendine. The New Order maps indicated the coordinates led to a Human Marine Corps facility. Specifically, it listed one of series of abandoned outposts. This was promising, as those outposts were likely still stocked with supplies for his militia.
After receiving the coordinates, Thann began planning to sneak his ground crew away from Vendar and the Clubhouse Vengeance detachment.