“Empty,” said Jennifer.
The scout thrust her phase spear forward. Trinity threw up a defensive shield of her own. The phase spear glanced to the side. Using telekinesis, Trinity pulled out the last clip for her phase pistol from the ammo pouch on her belt and replaced the empty magazine in her weapon. Still using telekinesis, she chambered a round.
Trinity sensed a line of energy reach out from the Crosioian scout. The large bore rifle the scout had discarded earlier rose into the air and into the bat-creature’s waiting right hand.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three slugs of heavy phase energy struck Trinity’s shield and glanced off. She felt her shield buckle slightly as a fourth round struck.
“That weapon’s too powerful,” said Jennifer. “You’re down to twenty-three percent Power in your reserve. You’ve got to close with her. That’s your only hope.”
A large explosion came from the direction of the freight elevator. A series of other explosions followed. They were no longer muffled.
Trinity rushed forward at max velocity swinging her phase rod as she came. As soon as her defensive shield made contact with the scout’s, a bright flash of light erupted followed by the sound of an explosion. Trinity felt herself being thrown through the air.
Wrapping herself in Power, Trinity attempted to slow her speed. She only partially succeeded and hit the wall with bone-breaking force. A flash of pain in her ribs and left arm almost made her black out, but by sheer force of will she held onto consciousness. Lifting herself into a standing position with telekinesis, she faced the scout who was just rising to her feet.
Trinity fired off two rounds from her pistol. They struck the scout’s armor and ricocheted off.
The bat-creature leveled her large bore rifle directly at Trinity’s chest. “You’re my number four. Die, wizard scout.”
A ball of phase energy streaked past Trinity’s head and hit the Crosioian scout in the right arm knocking the rifle out of the bat-creature’s grasp. A second round of phase energy flew past Trinity. Before it could hit, the scout turned translucent and sank into the floor. The phase round hit the hallway wall blowing a hole into the adjoining room.
Trinity turned around with her phase rod and pistol raised. A Warcat UHAAV stood crouched in the hall with smoke trailing out of the 20mm autocannon attached to its left arm. Trinity saw a special operations logo painted on the Warcat’s left shoulder. She heard a crescendo of plasma and phase guns firing from the cargo area where she’d left Charlie. Several soldiers dressed in special operations power-suits rushed by the entrance at the end of the hall. The sound of firing in the cargo area subsided and then ended altogether.
Looking through the Warcat’s windscreen, Trinity noticed the pilot. It was a man. The pilot raised his visor. The pilot was Major Jerad Criteron. Concern was etched all over his face.
Trinity switched her visor from night-vision mode to clear. She raised a hand in greeting and gave a weak smile before falling to the floor. The sweet balm of unconsciousness swept over her. She felt at peace. She knew everything was going to be all right. Jerad was here.
Chapter 15 – The Insertion
_____________________________________
“I don’t care who you call,” said Jerad. “You’re not going. This is a peacekeeper operation.”
“In case you’ve forgotten,” said Monsignor Detarus, “this is our planet, not yours. And we are going.” The monsignor looked away from the major at the green-robed priest by his side. “Isn’t that right?”
“That’s correct,” said Monsignor Zerakan. “There were enough weapons in that basement to equip a regiment. The prisoners say the main dissenter fortress has enough to outfit an army. Thanks to your wizard scout’s timely intervention, we’ve caught on to their plans a month before they were ready. We’ve forced their hand. We can’t wait any longer. We have to attack now and in force.”
“My division is forming up as we speak,” said Jerad. “I’ve communicated everything we’ve discovered to the Imperial High Command. The new division commander is being teleported to Cavos within the hour to take charge. The troop ships carrying our reinforcements have been authorized to make the six hyper-jumps necessary to get here. They’ll arrive by tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow night will be too late,” insisted Monsignor Detarus. “You’ve seen the data from their computers. The Hallowed Gem is at their fortress. Even now it’s being fitted onto a Carsoloian navigation ship. The ship won’t be on Cavos when your reinforcements get here tomorrow night. We either rescue the Hallowed Gem now, or it will be lost to us forever.”
Trinity watched the back and forth. They were in the main conference room at the spaceport. Once the special operations troops had secured the CSI building, things had happened rather quickly. It hadn’t taken long for her to find out Sergeant Ron had only waited an hour before informing Jerad of Charlie and her foray to CSI. The major had led the special operations raid to rescue them himself.
“The monsignors are right,” said Sergeant Ron who was leaning against a side wall chewing on a toothpick. “Those tigers aren’t going to wait around for more peacekeepers to arrive. They aren’t even going to wait an hour for your general to get here. I’m betting they’re making whatever final adjustments they need to that Hallowed Gem of the monsignors and are warming up their engines as we stand around flapping our gums.”
“Not you too, Sergeant Ron,” said Jerad. “Our orders—”
“I’m a civilian,” said Sergeant Ron. “The Imperial High Command doesn’t order me around. If we weren’t still hooking up the hyper-drive on the Defiant, I’d get in orbit and shoot down any Carsoloian ship trying to take off. But I need a few more hours before the Defiant’s ready, so I can’t.”
“We have no navy of our own,” said Monsignor Detarus, “and your superiors didn’t see fit to leave any of the Empire’s warships here. It’s up to our ground forces to stop the Carsoloians’ ship from taking off with the Hallowed Gem.”
Jerad looked at Trinity for support. She hated to disappoint him, but she’d never been one to pull punches. “Sorry, Jer… err… Major. When I went to the Defiant to change clothes, Telsa told me she ran simulations which proved the fleet-wide stealth shield will work if they have the monsignors’ gem as its energy source. According to the prisoners, the Carsoloian fleet has already been assembled. If their navigation ship with its fleet-wide stealth shield links up with their fleet, the Carsoloians are going to attack Risors itself. Our navy won’t even see them coming. We have to stop them while they’re still on the ground.”
“The Carsoloian navigation ship will take off before any of our troops can get inside their fortress,” said Jerad. “We’d be losing soldiers for no reason.”
Trinity shook her head. “Not necessarily. If I airdropped into their fortress before the attack began, I could disable the Carsoloians’ ship somehow. Once your troops breach the walls, I’ll link up with them, and we can destroy the ship and save the monsignors’ gem.”
“The hell you will,” said Jerad. “You don’t even have your battle suit anymore. That Crosioian scout saw to that. Charlie told me it will take days to repair. You almost got yourself killed once today. I’m not going to let you try again.”
“You’re not going to let me?” said Trinity feeling her face growing hot. “I’m a wizard scout. I’m not one of your toy soldiers that you can—”
“Enough!” said Sergeant Ron losing his temper for the first time Trinity could remember. “By the Creator, you both sound like a couple of pactars fighting over the same bone. The Carsoloians and the dissenters are our enemies, not each other.”
Trinity bit off the retort she had ready before it hit air. The Defiant’s captain was right, and she knew it. A look at Jerad told her he knew it as well.
The major’s face softened. “I’m not going to authorize a suicide mission. It’s too dangerous for her to go in alone.”
“I agree,” said Sergeant Ron. “It’
s too dangerous for anyone to go in alone.”
Trinity opened her mouth to protest, but the Defiant’s captain raised his hand before she could get a word out.
“I’m not in charge,” said Sergeant Ron speaking as if he were. “But if’n I was, I’d send Trinity in with a team of the major’s special operations soldiers to back her up. Then I’d gather as many of the peacekeepers as can be gotten ready and have them high-tail it over to the dissenters’ fortress. Then I’d have them linkup with the monsignors’ troops and make a joint attack.” Looking at Jerad, Sergeant Ron said, “Your heavy armor units can join the attack once you can get them there.”
Jerad shook his head. “That’ll take four hours. We’ve probably got less than an hour to stop that navigation ship from taking off.”
“I hear you,” said Sergeant Ron. “As I see it, we’ve got two missions. The first is to stop the Carsoloian ship and disable it enough to keep it on the ground. We can rescue the monsignors’ gem in the process. The second mission is to defeat those dissenters and stop the trouble on this planet once and for all. According to your prisoners, they’ve got at least six thousand heavily-armed troops dug in at that fortress of theirs. It’s going to take a heck of a lot more than four hours to dig them out. The monsignors’ troops are going to need your heavy armor whenever you can get them there.”
“I don’t need anyone going with me,” Trinity insisted. “I’m a wizard scout. I work best alone. I don’t need anyone. I never have.”
Jerad gave her a strange look.
Is he hurt? Trinity wondered.
“Jennifer told me that you’re down to less than thirty percent Power in your reserve,” said Jerad. “You’re hardly at peak efficiency.”
“Jennifer?” Trinity thought. “Are you sticking your nose in my business again?”
“Hey, the major asked me,” said Jennifer. “What’d you want me to do? Lie to the man?”
“Also,” said Jerad, “I know the prisoners said that Crosioian scout you fought escaped in his scout ship. I’m sure you realize they could be lying or that the scout could come back. You’re good, but so is she. You need me with you.”
“You?” said Trinity. “You’re a division commander. You’re going to be needed to lead your troops.”
Lifting his arm, Jerad looked at the timer on his wrist. “I’m the division commander for thirty-two more minutes. The general will be teleporting in to take charge then. I’ll just be one of several dozen majors again. I’m going to lead the special ops team, and that’s final.”
“But—” Trinity said.
“But nothing,” said Jerad. “Unless you’ve got your own stealth shuttle to sneak you in for the drop, you’ll need my assets. My team’s going with or without you. I’m leading the team. End of story.”
Trinity nodded her head in defeat. In reality, she wasn’t all that perturbed. While she really did prefer to work alone, if she had to work with someone, she figured the major wasn’t the worst choice.
The details of the raid took a few minutes to hash out, but only a few. They didn’t have any time to spare. Within fifteen minutes, Trinity found herself inside a fighter shuttle at twenty thousand meters zipping along at Mach 3 for the dissenters’ fortress. A dozen special ops men and women were arranged in seats on either side of the shuttle. They were all armed to the gills.
Trinity glanced down at the modified M12 in her hands. Sergeant Ron had cut off the stock and shortened the barrel. He’d assured her the 20mm grenade launcher wouldn’t blow up in her face at the first shot. She wasn’t quite so sure. Neither was her battle computer.
“Are you positive you don’t want a drop suit?” came the voice of the man sitting next to her.
Trinity looked over at Jerad. His black power-suit made his normally slim figure look bulky. He was wearing a drop suit over his armor that made him look even bulkier. He held an M63 lightweight plasma assault rifle upright between his legs.
“I’m a wizard scout,” Trinity said. “I don’t need a drop suit. It would just get in the way.” She pointed at his M63. “I’m surprised you’re not carrying heavier firepower, Major.”
Jerad smiled and hefted the M63 before setting it back down. “Like you said, you’re a wizard scout. I figured if I’m going to have any chance of keeping up with you, I had better be traveling light.”
The crew chief at the rear of the shuttle raised both arms with a single finger extended on each hand. “One minute!” he shouted.
The back ramp on the shuttle lowered revealing only dark clouds. It was raining. Stray drops of moisture hit Trinity in the face as she stood with the rest of the soldiers and made for the ramp.
“Lower my visor,” Trinity commanded.
“Roger that, wizard scout,” said Jennifer. “You know I can’t help you much without your battle suit. The least you could’ve done is took the major up on his offer to loan you a set of power-armor.”
“I’m not used to that bulky power-armor,” Trinity said. “It would only cause me problems.”
“Stand in the door!” shouted the crew chief.
Trinity shuffled forward to the edge of the ramp. She glanced over her shoulder. The major was right behind her. The rest of the special ops team was bunched up behind him. She looked back outside. Everything was pitch-black.
“Go to night vision mode,” Trinity said using command voice.
The sky took on a reddish tint. She still couldn’t see through the thick clouds, but it didn’t matter. She reached out with her passive scan to the ground twenty thousand meters below. The outline of the fortress appeared on her heads-up display. Thousands of pinpoints of yellow, orange, and red dots covered the display. She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t see a blue dot.
“Go!” shouted the crew chief as the jump light on the ramp’s rail lit up.
Trinity dove out into the dark night and spread eagled into a controlled fall. It was twenty thousand meters to the ground. She had a long ways to go.
Chapter 16 – The Hallowed Gem
____________________
“You’re at sixteen thousand meters,” said Jennifer. “You appear to be drifting off your optimum approach angle.”
“It’s cold,” Trinity said. “It’s kinda hard to freefall with any accuracy when my arms are frozen solid.”
“Your arms aren’t frozen solid,” said Jennifer sounding not the least sympathetic. “Your self-heal will keep them thawed. I’ll admit you’re cold, but you won’t freeze to death. You’re lucky that you added a supplemental oxygen tank to your battle helmet or you’d be suffocating from lack of oxygen at this altitude. That’s neither here nor there. You need to get back on your glide track. The major and the others are following your lead.”
Trinity arched her back a little and pulled in one arm slightly. She overshot her path. The hell with it, Trinity thought as she wrapped herself in Power and used telekinesis to push herself onto the correct glide path. Once on track, she dropped her telekinesis and went back to guiding herself with her arms and legs.
Jerad’s voice came over the battle helmet’s intercom. “Trinity, are you sure we’re on the glide path? That was a pretty big correction. I can’t see anything through these clouds. They must have a jammer down there because my sensors are going haywire.”
Glancing at her heads-up display, Trinity noted the locations of the rest of the team. They were spaced out in line behind her at a distance Jennifer had calculated would bring them into the drop zone at five second intervals.
Drawing Power from her reserve, Trinity formed an active scan. After wrapping it in a stealth shield, she sent it down toward the dissenters’ mountain fortress. A second later, the scan’s details were displayed on her heads-up display.
“I’ve got my end handled, Major,” Trinity said. “It looks like they’ve opened the entrance to their mountain and rolled out the Carsoloian’s navigation ship. From what my scan can tell, it’s somewhere between the size of a recon ship and a small destr
oyer. I’m going to take us down right next to the main ramp of the ship. My passive scan’s picking up at least two hundred life forms near the ship, so I’m guessing we’re not going to be too lonely when we touch down.”
“Roger that,” said Jerad. “I had a feeling we wouldn’t be.”
Continuing to use her passive scan, Trinity noted the location of large groups of life forms in formations surrounding the mountain. From their locations, she knew they were the vanguard of Jerad’s peacekeepers and the monsignor’s military units.
“I calculate the forward units of the monsignors’ troops are almost in their attack positions,” said Jennifer. “I’m surprised the dissenters’ sensors haven’t picked them up yet.”
Beams of energy suddenly lashed out from several places on the mountain in the direction of the attackers. Return beams from the monsignors’ troops and the Empire’s peacekeepers shot back toward the mountain. Trinity’s passive scan began picking up explosions all over the target area. The numerous explosions and energy beams almost made her glad she was falling through the air and that she wasn’t on the ground walking.
“The attack’s started early,” Trinity told her battle computer. “I estimate we’ve still got another minute before we reach the ground.”
“Actually, you’ve got fifty-two seconds,” said Jennifer. “As for the battle kicking off early, it was always a calculated risk whether our forces would be detected prematurely. It’s not like there was much time to plan and send out recon teams.”
“I see flashes through the clouds,” came Jerad’s voice over the intercom. “What’s happening down there?”
“The attack’s started already,” Trinity said knowing full well the major undoubtedly already guessed as much. “I can sense the Carsoloian ship’s hover-engines warming up. The navigation ship’s main ramp is starting to close. I’m changing our glide path to put us down right next to a set of maintenance stairs at the rear of the ship. Jennifer thinks they should stay open a few seconds longer.”
Trinity Unleashed (Wizard Scout Trinity Delgado Book 1) Page 17
