“In English!”
Riddle glanced up. “We’re on overwhelm. I’ve got it under control.”
“You better,” Raleigh said with a sneer. The young man looked away, and Raleigh fought the urge to laugh. There was nothing quite as intoxicating as absolute power and singular authority, and the application of both. On his command Tri-V, blossoms of explosions, primary and tremendous secondaries, rose from the outlying MinSha colonies. He glanced at the mission timer. He’d given the Peacemaker eleven minutes. Four were left.
Do I call her back or just level the place? He grinned as they fell toward Weqq. Decisions, decisions.
* * * * *
Chapter Seven
Weqq
MinSha Compound
Jessica watched Tirr direct his meager forces with considerable skill. He quickly identified holes in the defense and adjusted the automated defenses to maximize firepower. Jessica determined a likely landing point for the two large vessels. It was an interesting strategy to bring the whole ship down to the surface, but it wasn’t unheard of—Raleigh’s forces were likely not well supplied and didn’t have a solid logistical plan for getting materials. Taking everything but the kitchen sink on the mission hurt more mercenary forces than it helped, but given the class of Raleigh’s vessels, they had more than enough power to get back to orbit whenever they wanted.
“They’ve got to land here,” Jessica pointed to a wide marshy area ten kilometers away. “The soil’s not that soft, and the clearing is big enough to accommodate both vehicles. They’ll stage from there.”
Tirr looked at her. “What makes you say that?”
“It’s what I would do.” Jessica pointed at the low, round hills between the marshy area and their position under the thick canopy. “From there, they have an indirect fire capability, and they’re shielded by the terrain. It’s a pretty standard tactical plan.”
“Where will they attack from?”
Jessica shrugged. “We can’t guess until they land and start deploying forces. How they move from their assembly area will give us a clue. We have to be ready for attacks from several sides.”
“We?” Tirr stared at her.
“There’s not much choice, if you don’t evacuate.” Jessica replied. The door to the command center slid open, and Psymrr sauntered in dressed like an armored nightmare. His body armor didn’t appear to fit in all the places it should. Leader he might be; warrior he was definitely not.
“We will not evacuate.” Psymrr said. “Or is that what your intention is, Peacemaker?” He stressed the syllables of her title into a sneer that made her involuntarily clench her fists at her sides.
Jessica pointed at the tactical display. “Assisting Tirr with this colony’s defense is what I’m doing, Honored Psymrr.”
“You’re studying our defenses to relay to your friends.” Psymrr stomped toward her. “You had your chance to talk to them and failed. You knew they were never going to do anything but attack our peaceful colony. They have a contract to execute. You’ll legitimize it simply because you’re a Human and that entire company is made up of your fellow pathetic flesh bags.”
Jessica turned to face him. “We’re jammed on all communications frequencies. I am prepared to order a stay and send an emergency message to my guild about the situation the moment that—”
“And it will be too late for us. They will not honor your stay—they have no intention of doing so. You know this, Peacemaker. You want us to evacuate under the pretense you’re saving us.”
Jessica glanced at the Tri-Vs as an immense amount of data flickered over the screens. Tirr gasped, and Psymrr stepped involuntarily backward. “W-what happened?”
“They’ve destroyed our other compounds with airborne bombardments. Both compounds are a complete loss, and self-destruct systems were activated. All four vessels are now descending toward this compound.” Tirr said. “You were right about their landing point. Seventy percent probability they set down there.”
Psymrr stepped forward and swiped at Jessica’s chest with her claw. “Get out of this command center, Peacemaker. I believe your presence is hostile to our operation, and you are to be expelled from this compound immediately.”
“You can’t spare the security personnel to escort me out of this compound, Psymrr.” Jessica said. “My recommendation is that you evacuate this colony. You do not have the firepower, manpower, or resources to hold out against a well-prepared mercenary company.”
“I told you no. There will be no evacuation. We will stand against them and you,” Psymrr said. “You should have done what was right. Because they are Human like you, you talked and made promises to give them time to deploy forces and destroy two of my colonies. Six hundred MinSha are dead, Peacemaker, and their blood is on your hands. Whatever happens to us will further that guilt.”
“You’re wrong, Psymrr, but you don’t care about right or wrong. You care less about your colony than your plan to manipulate the TriRusk. That child in your infirmary produces ten grams of pure diamonds every week. It’s been two weeks since you “discovered” it. Where are the diamonds? In your personal vault?”
Psymrr gaped for a split second, and Jessica knew she’d hit the mark. “They are of no concern to you!”
“The hell they’re not!” Jessica roared at him. “You’re guilty of—”
She didn’t see the strike coming. Psymrr’s left claw collided with her right shoulder, knocked her into a display, and catapulted her toward Tirr, who caught her gracefully.
“Get her out of here, Captain Tirr, or your services will be terminated.”
Tirr said nothing. With his claws set on her shoulders, there was nowhere for Jessica to go. Tirr maneuvered her through the control room and into the main passageway. Jessica looked over her shoulder on the way out. “Evacuate, Psymrr. Then we’ll see who wins in front of a tribunal.”
“You’re lucky I don’t execute you right now, traitor.” Psymrr waved them out, and the doors slid shut.
Tirr let her go. “You can’t come back into the command center.”
She whirled and looked at his face. “I have no intention of doing so. If you’re not going to order an evacuation, I’m—”
“You don’t understand, Peacemaker.” Tirr’s whole body sagged. “His power over the colonies is sole and unwavering. I cannot challenge him, even if I believe he is wrong.”
Jessica shook her head. “If you don’t evacuate, you’re going to die here.”
Tirr shook his head. “We will do better than you think.”
She understood his overconfidence. Marc Lemieux, and just about every mercenary commander she knew, believed their force could succeed where logic and other mercenary companies could not. In Humans, most of it was bravado. In alien species, save for the Altar she’d fought alongside, it tended to reflect their inability to see the second and third order effects of decisions. Their inability to think “around a corner” left them focused on a single battle, or a single course of action, instead of looking at where things could be after the second or third alternatives passed.
“You’re only going to win if you fight like a Human, Tirr.” She said and turned down the passageway for her quarters. “I’ll be on the wall. Where do you want me?”
Tirr’s head twitched. “On the wall?”
“I have a rifle, can hit pretty much anything I aim at, and you need weapons. Where do you want me?”
Tirr nodded slowly. “On my shoulder, Peacemaker.”
A loud, inhuman wailing filled the passageway. Jessica whirled and ran for the infirmary with Tirr following close behind. As they came around a corner, she saw Fuul struggling to carry the TriRusk child.
“Help me get her out of the compound! They’ll be coming for her.”
Jessica shook her head. “It’s too late. The mercenaries are landing. Get her back in her pen.”
“But they’ve heard her! The TriRusk will come for her, and they will be slaughtered.”
Tirr hefted the an
imal and pushed toward the infirmary. “The battle will keep them away. We have to keep the child safe until then. Get her sedated and protect her to the best of your ability.”
Fuul bowed her head respectfully and glanced at Jessica. “I am sorry for not telling you. Psymrr was clear you were not to know about the TriRusk.”
“Or the diamonds?” Jessica asked and almost winced at how badly Fuul flinched.
“Yes.”
There was no time for this. Jessica pointed in the direction of the infirmary. “Get that child taken care of and brace for casualties, Fuul.”
“I am prepared for that eventuality.”
Jessica leaned around her. “I’ll meet you on the wall, Tirr.”
He didn’t respond as he lifted the child into her pen. She turned and ran for her quarters, tapping her earpiece as she did. “Lucille? Can you get into their network?”
<
“Keep trying. Emergency messages to the guild, the MinSha home world, and Dad.”
<
“You didn’t tell me?” Jessica dodged more MinSha gathering weapons and reached the door to her quarters.
<
“Disregard. Anything from my father gets first priority, no matter what I’m doing.”
<
Jessica pushed into the room, grabbed her weapon, and checked that extra power packs were charged and ready. She grabbed a second stun baton, four small fragmentation grenades, and two CASPer killer, short-range EMP devices. She left the room and returned to the bustling corridor before pushing outside. She could hear the vessels descending in the general direction she’d identified. Humans were predictable, to a point. Her father’s message bothered her. Looking out for her fellow Humans was pretty damned hard when they were the bad guys.
After the cool, dry comfort of the building, the oppressive outside air felt like a sauna, and a mixture of perspiration and fine mist slicked her skin in seconds. Jessica climbed to the top of the wall and looked toward the landing craft. Through the dense foliage, she couldn’t see more than a few hundred meters. She glanced in the other direction and saw six TriRusk sitting on a rock-outcropping watching. As before, there were two smaller females surrounded by four hulking males. There was no sign of a child, nor could Jessica see anything suggesting weapons or other accoutrements that would have indicated they weren’t a feral tribe. Yet, their presence was unnerving. They’d heard the child in the compound. They’d heard, and maybe seen, the descending ships in the marshes. Something in their gaze suggested intelligence. Jessica believed they knew what was happening and were considering a course of action. Her skin crawled with a shocking thought that made her look back at the TriRusk for several seconds. After a moment, she became certain they weren’t watching the commotion around the compound.
They were watching her.
* * *
Raiders Assembly Area
West of the MinSha Compound
“Deathangel 25, moving. Set the perimeter on me.” Tara stepped off the loading ramp of the Alpha vehicle and jogged the agile mecha onto the soft, marshy soil. The ground wasn’t completely saturated, nor was it sticky enough for them to worry about the ships and the larger vehicles getting stuck. She bounded forward and saw the soil turn darker, suggesting there was more water underneath. Without hesitation, she engaged the jump jets and shot into the marsh. From her apex about twenty meters off the ground, she couldn’t see much beyond the end of the marsh. The large clearing looked eerily like the eye of a green hurricane. The lower marsh lands were surrounded by the tall, thick jungle canopy. Tara looked down, sighted an area that looked like solid ground and adjusted the CASPer’s flight path with small tweaks. The mecha slammed into the marsh all the way up to its titanium leg joints.
“Shit!” Tara instinctively keyed the jets to max jump, and the CASPer shot into the sky, flinging oily mud in all directions. She keyed her radar system to scan the ground but didn’t find anything useful. “Lucille, find me a landing spot.”
<
Tara felt the CASPer begin its descent. Changing the path of a CASPer in flight was nearly impossible. Hex Alison was the only person she’d seen capable of doing it without either wrecking the vehicle or killing himself. He’d been able to make the damned things pirouette in the sky and do incredible things. The ground came up fast. “How deep is the creek?”
Lucille didn’t answer as the CASPer broke through the layer of deep green cover and sank up to its chest. <
Guess we do this the hard way. Tara started walking through the almost still water. The depth remained constant, and all of the CASPer’s systems stayed green. She might have to stop and clean off the weapons, but the cockpit was watertight and holding.
“Hey, 25! Get your ass out of the water and set the perimeter!” Raleigh growled in her ears.
“Moving, Boss.”
She could hear him laughing. “No wonder you ran from combat, you can’t even walk the damned things straight.”
Fuck you. She wanted to depress the transmit switch and scream it with all her might. If she did, though, no other mercenary company would sign her to a contract for anything short of a garbage run. The CASPer slowly climbed up the far bank of the creek, metal feet scraping exposed rock as she climbed free of the black water. “Creek runs roughly north-south—be advised, Boss. Deathangel 25 on the bounce.”
“Yeah, I’ve got Ranger 21 on the perimeter, Mason. Take your CASPer and sweep to the southeast of the compound. There’s another creek down there—you might want to stay out of it. You see anything larger than a Flatar, you kill it. You read me? Weapons free.”
“Understood, Boss. Deathangel 25, out.”
On firmer ground, Tara boosted her jump jets to close the distance to the jungle canopy faster. Moving south, she made three quick jumps and boosted through the thicker vines to the jungle floor off the marshes. The loamy floor of the jungle teemed with life. Various creatures flew or ran, scattering from her mecha as she moved quickly, taking full advantage of the cover.
<
Tara chewed her lower lip for a second. Turning off the external systems would save power and fuel consumption but would leave them blind to everything happening around them. Raleigh wanted it that way. His standard operating procedure called for no communications outside his systems. Distraction had no place on the battlefield. Anything that needed discussing came solely through him. He monitored every system on the company’s vehicles and could act swiftly in almost any situation. “Understood. Power them all down.”
<
Tara glanced at the instrument panel and saw the oxygen sensor light flicker three times in quick succession. Raleigh couldn’t see everything they did. She didn’t think he monitored anything she said in the cockpit, because he didn’t know about Lucille. When he’d plugged his monitoring equipment into the CASPer’s chassis, the connections were nowhere near her logic circuits, so even the CASPer technicians had no idea Lucille rode along and interfaced with the command and control of the mecha. Still, if Raleigh was listening or
monitoring their systems, he’d see that everything was as it should be, except for Lucille monitoring UHF frequencies in the local area. The line of sight communication was something a potential adversary could use. As an intelligence source, that could be very valuable. Almost every species they’d run into still used UHF for short-range radio communications. Lucille’s clandestine signal meant she was monitoring what she could in Raleigh’s robust jamming field.
“SITREP, 25.”
Tara frowned. The man wouldn’t let her do anything on her own. Giving a situation report before investigating and understanding the situation made no sense. He wanted to harass her. She could put up with it, but it tried her patience. “Solid ground outside the marshes. Terrain is slow-go, but manageable. Visibility is low in most areas—maybe three hundred meters. Lots of native creatures, but nothing large yet. Moving to sweep the southeast corridor now.”
The connection clicked off, and Tara started to move. “Lucille, give me radar as far out as you can.”
<
Tara charged the CASPer’s weapons systems as she stepped off, and she locked and loaded the left arm’s rail gun. She held her laser rifle in her right hand and brought it up to a ready position as she used the CASPer’s left arm to sweep away the vines and branches in her way. On the heads-up display, bright orange thermal images appeared superimposed over what she could see in the visible spectrum. Small orange creatures darted across the display in every direction. “Can we null out small targets?”
Immediately, the screen cleared of anything smaller than her head, which cleaned up her display and left her blinking away the orange afterimages. Her position markers said she was three hundred meters from the compound and moving downhill to the southeast, clearing the valley in front of her. She turned to look over her shoulder in the direction of the compound, and several new orange blips appeared. Tara paused. “Lucille, can you make them out?”
Honor the Threat (The Revelations Cycle Book 12) Page 8
