And it was a crime. A war crime made worse by the taunting words of the man who followed him everywhere. Jeremy had tried to silence his voice but couldn't. It was like trying to drive away a shadow.
He saw Redburn and Mannheim enter his room. He ignored them—maybe they would get bored and leave. It hadn't worked with the psychologists who had come to visit him, but he felt it was still worth the effort to try it.
"How are you feeling, Jeremy?"
"Tired," he said, a hint of anger in his voice. "I enjoy my time with Doctor Trever best. Nice lady. Painful needles. She didn't tell me that I'm crazy, but from that look on your faces, I'm sure she told you that I am. What did she say? Psychotic? Schizophrenic? Or am I simply a garden-variety mass murderer?"
Redburn lifted his hand as if to stop the words. Jeremy saw his gaze fall on the small wooden box. It sat silent but ominous. "Jeremy, I have told Hunter everything about your mission. I thought you should know. God knows he had the right to hear it."
Chin looked at Mannheim then back at Redburn. "Great. Thanks a lot. Now he can hate me, too." He stared at his fellow knight. "You have to hate me. I set you up from the start. I didn't just betray you, I turned my back on everything I believe in. I turned my back on being a knight."
"I don't hate you, Jeremy," Mannheim said solemnly.
"You have to. I killed those people. And a lot will die over the next few years because of me. You have to hate me."
"No, Jeremy," Hunter said gently. "I can't hate you any more than I hate myself. I was there, too."
Redburn stepped forward. "Jeremy, Hunter and I have talked. I think the two of you should spend some time together. Maybe you can find ways to cope with all of this."
Chin stood still, then shook his head at something only he heard. He closed his eyes and said nothing.
"Sir Chin?" Redburn prompted.
"They gave me medication. It makes him less . . . tempting, quieter. You have to tune him out or he keeps you up all night with his raving. He wants me to kill you. He says you deserve it for what has happened to The Republic. He says that this is all your fault, Paladin Redburn—not mine."
He: Thomas Marik.
Hunter stepped forward. "Tell that son of a bitch he has to go through me first," he said confidently.
Chin smiled grimly—the first time in months. "Yes. I think I will."
"We need to get you well again."
Jeremy looked thoughtful. "There's only one place I can hope to find peace." Only one place in the universe. The journey back was going to be longer than the flight away from that world. Much longer.
"Then that is where we will go."
Altar of Freedom 1
Training Facility Lion
Northern MopeliaIsland, New Earth
Prefecture X, Republic of the Sphere
Fortress Republic (-45 days)
Lady Crystal Livingston Synd was happy to admit that the Fidelis troops had performed exceptionally well in the training exercises with her troops. Given the recent challenges faced by The Republic, they seemed like a godsend, which automatically made her suspicious of them. False hopes had appeared in the past and quickly faded to bad memories. Adding to her apprehension was their refusal to speak of their origins. She had met with their senior officer, a commander named Boyne, who was quite professional and competent, but he simply ignored any personal questions and any questions about his troops, their past or the Fidelis' goals, no matter how strongly she pressed. Exarch—no—Paladin Redburn had warned her that she would have no luck penetrating the veil of Fidelis secrecy. That didn't mean she wouldn't try.
The training facilities on Mopelia had proven to be excellent as well. From her perch on a ledge overlooking the grass-covered valley, she could see the exercises unfolding. Captain James Paulis was leading a mixed combat team attempting to shake out the Fidelis troops from several knolls they had reinforced. Paulis was a Republic soldier to the core. His tactics and approach to battle were right out of the academy curriculum: He sent his forces along the flanks, and once they were in position, he pressed the center.
She stood at the top of the hill in her 85-ton Templar and gazed down. She was an observer on this exercise, piloting her Templar under the call sign Mongoose only to gain a position from which to view the mock battle.
Incorporating the Fidelis warriors into her unit had proven somewhat stressful, but not exactly in the way she had expected. Her own troops were combat veterans of the Tenth Principes Guards. It had taken some flexibility on her part to merge the units together, though the Fidelis had adopted the Republic rank structure quickly and without complaint, and even more work to integrate their fighting styles and tactics. The truth was that the Fidelis troops had proven themselves superior to standard Republic forces. In an occupation where rivalry and competition were important, this added tension.
This exercise was proof of the disparity in the troops' skills and tactics. The rolling green grass in the valley below her was dotted with the occasional jut of pink granite rock or dark-emerald clump of brush. The Fidelis defense points were on top of the knolls, foxholes and bags of dirt hastily filled in and positioned to resist the assault.
The Republic forces entered the valley from the far side. Fast-moving Rangers and Maxim and Saxon APCs swept along the flanks, while infantry poured down the center. Two BattleMech lances anchored the right and left flanks. Their mission objectives were simple: to take the tops of the three knolls. The Republic troops outnumbered and outgunned the defenders in the exercise.
Lady Synd watched as the attack force reached the valley floor, a long, narrow, flat area interrupted only by the knolls. By adjusting her cockpit sensor feeds, she was able to magnify the image of the battle unfolding below. The defending force opened up first on the troops advancing down the center, aiming for the fast-moving ATV force that led the charge. A squad of hoverbikes and the ATVs caught the initial bursts of small arms and mortar fire. They were using dummy rounds, but even these kicked up enough smoke to mark their kills and create a realistic fog of war. Those two squads ground to a halt, but the rest of the force reached the bottom of the first knoll and began to charge up. On the flanks, the 'Mech forces split up and moved around the first knoll, driving fast for the other two reinforced positions. The 'Mechs unleashed low-power laser bursts up the hillside to little effect: The hilltops represented perfect hull- down positions.
Synd studied the troops under her command. The Republic troops were executing a textbook assault, yet something told her that the Fidelis troops were going to persevere. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach.
The attack force in the center trudged up the hill under sporadic fire. She could see the blanks firing from the hilltop, muzzle flashes, the smoke of battle. Could they hold?
The Republic forces reached the hilltop and suddenly there was a massive white cloud of smoke blasting out from the hilltop in multiple directions. The attack force, five squads, had been plastered white with the mock- damage smoke. A perfect trap. They had been lured in and taken out. The simulation computer recorded the deaths of the assault squads.
Her attack force froze, stunned by the sudden blast and the massive cloud of white smoke that rose from their attack on the center. Working from the vantage point of observation. Lady Synd hadn't been tricked. She knew a trap and a diversion when she saw one. The other two hilltops were not hunkering down. One did nothing. The other had infantry troops running down the hillside closest to her, right on top of a Kinnol tank and a 'Mech there that had twisted around to see the source of the first blast.
The Fidelis troops were like gorillas. The vehicle fired just once before they were on it. They swarmed onto the top of the vehicle and opened the hatch before it could be buttoned down. White puffs of smoke emerged as dummy grenades were tossed in. Three of the troops dropped inside, not waiting for the "dead" crew to be evacuated.
Another two squads hit the Blade as it turned to respond. They didn't bother to fire on it, th
ey just climbed up it. Like ants assaulting a milkshake, the power- armored infantry scaled the exterior of the 'Mech before it could bring its guns to bear. They reached the cockpit in three heartbeats. Two more and they registered a kill on the simulation computer, taking out the MechWar- rior. Within a few minutes the 'Mech was running again, as was the Blade, now under control of the Fidelis. How had they bypassed the security protocols so quickly?
The assault on the third hilltop was slow and ponderous. The Republic 'Mech and infantry forces were in no mood to duplicate the events on the first hilltop and had no idea what had occurred on the other side of the battlefield—until the Blade and an armless Targe fired at the rear of the attacking force, devastating blasts at essentially point-blank range. The simulation computer logged the data and fed the results to the attackers.
At the same moment, the top of the hill erupted. The assault force turned to meet the captured Blade and
Targe, not aware that at this precise moment the Fidelis forces on the hilltop had emerged and charged down. A Stinger was caught off guard by the infantry and blown up. A chaotic fight erupted as the forces mixed up in a jumble at the foot of the hill.
She watched and nodded. They are very good. But were they going to be good enough? Her mission might require more than what even the Fidelis could muster.
Redburn had been right; they would give her an edge, but nagging doubt still tugged at her thoughts. Skill alone might not tip the scales.
* * *
The bunker was part of the training facility used by the Fidelis on New Earth. The decor was one step up from Spartan: simple block construction covered with a dull coat of gray industrial paint, and white fluorescent lighting that only added to the dinginess. The holographic situation table, however, shone like a jewel in its surroundings. It offered resolution that Lady Synd had seen only on models used by the knights and paladins in their exercises.
Captain Paulis stood at the table. The debrief on the exercise had been completed two hours ago, but anger still showed red on his face, highlighting the remaining white dots of damage powder from the simulated battle. His forces had been beaten by the Fidelis' unorthodox tactics, even though both forces had deployed mixed Fidelis and Republic troops. His failure simply pointed out to Paulis that his opponent had executed a superior plan—and that bothered her Republic officer.
Boyne's face offered nothing. His expression showed interest in the briefing, concentration when she spoke, but there was none of the lighthearted gloating she had expected, none of the camaraderie between Boyne and Paulis that was common among military leaders. Also missing was a sense of rivalry: Boyne simply did what he was told to the best of his abilities, period. His ego had been checked at the door.
Also in the room was her ghost knight, Jayson Greene. At least, that was the name she had been given. Ghost knights tended to live in a universe where they changed their names and identities as often as their clothes. Greene was short, and looked older than anyone else in the room due to the gray in his sideburns and his hair. There was no air of mystery about him; he appeared to be a soldier just like any other. Of the three ghost knights that Redburn had brought to their meeting, Lady Synd considered she had drawn the best of the lot.
She punched a control on the table's edge and the system came on, showing a city that filled the three- by-three-meter table. The holographic buildings flickered into existence, the green of the parks came into view. It was a moderate-sized city that could have been anywhere in the Inner Sphere, home to over a hundred thousand souls. This was their target.
Her voice was crisp. "It is time we discussed our objective. So far, all I've told you is that we are going against the Jade Falcons to perform an extraction of friendly personnel. Now it is time for you to hear the details. You've met Major Greene already. I have asked him to provide the operational details. Major Greene?" She turned to him.
He cleared his throat. "Our mission is to go to the world of Ryde, to the city of New Dearborn, and raid a Jade Falcon-held research facility. Our intention is to mislead the Falcons into thinking that we are a Lyran Commonwealth attack force. Our objective is to extract five scientists who work at that facility, and their research data. Our implication of the Lyrans has to be subtle, but sufficiently clear for the Falcon's Watch to piece together. We will then depart the system with the scientists."
Boyne said nothing, but crossed his arms as he thought. Captain Paulis jumped in, speaking directly to Synd. "Sir, are we going to have the forces to pull this off? The Jade Falcons are not going to simply let us land and take what we want without putting up a fight. They're bound to come right at us with whatever they have—and we have the challenge of fighting this battle in an urban combat zone."
She understood his concerns: She had voiced them herself to Paladin Redburn and had gotten nowhere. "The Republic is stretched very thin at the moment. We go in with the resources we have."
"Are we going to attempt a diversion of some sort, something to lure them away from our target?" the captain pressed.
Boyne surprised her by answering that question. "It would not work. The Jade Falcons are not fools. A diversion would have to be significant in size and present a significant risk for them to pay any attention to it. To offer such a risk, we would have to draw too much from our primary force, which would severely diminish our chances of success. I believe a diversion is not the answer." Synd was more surprised by the fact that Boyne was offering an opinion than by his accurate analysis. Now that we are working on the details, he has something to say.
"Captain Boyne is correct. I have reviewed this operation many times, and a diversion is simply not going to work given the size of our force. Major Greene, please display possible landing zones, our objective and projected Jade Falcon response."
Greene activated the controls on the table and the lighting changed on the holographic city. The park area and the spaceport at the edge of the city in the far corner of the map pulsed a brighter shade of green. One building turned a dull yellow that made it easy to see in the middle of the city. Synd had the same thought every time she saw the map: There was far too much distance between the LZs and the objective. At the far east and west edges of the map pulsed two red circles of light.
Greene used a laser pointer as he spoke. "The city limits what we can do. The Jade Falcon garrisons are in the suburbs on the far east and west. We could land outside of the city, but as you can see, that would stretch us out like a snake. The Falcons would be able to cut us off from our DropShip once we reached the central city. That leaves us with either the city park, or the spaceport to the south."
"The spaceport is too far away; it creates the same problem as landing in the farmlands in the outskirts of New Dearborn," Captain Paulis noted.
"My thought as well," Greene said. "That means using the city's centrally located park as our LZ." He pointed to it. "It gives us two wide boulevards to work with, and puts us only eight blocks from the target. If we work in two columns, we should be able to reach the facility in just a few minutes.
Boyne added. "Hopefully before the Falcons can respond."
"That would be nice," Paulis said, drawing a grin from everyone but Boyne.
As if on cue, the red dots in the suburb turned into glowing red lines racing into the city on every major highway and road. Like a vice clamping on the park and the research facility, they wound tighter and tighter until the simulation stopped—with the red lines forming two bubbles around the research facility and the park. The simulation underscored the threat Lady Synd had recognized the moment she had looked at the plan.
Greene plowed on with his analysis. "Our current intelligence indicates the Jade Falcons have two Trinaries in their garrison, as well as two companies of local militia and elements of a Provisional Garrison Cluster. The heavy hitters are veterans of Alpha Galaxy rotating to Ryde for rest and refit. Our sources on Ryde say that the local forces are heavy in 'Mechs and vehicles. I would rate these troops as veteran. Th
eir garrisons are placed with easy access to roadways that can get them on us quickly."
There was a pause as they each surveyed the map.
Synd watched them staring at it, searching for something that would give them even a momentary advantage. Boyne broke the silence. "That river running north and south just to the west of the park. What can you tell me about it?"
Greene smiled. "The River Rouge. We've been thinking the same thing, Captain. There are a lot of bridges there. The river is plenty deep and the shore is built-up: Hovercraft and 'Mechs can cross, but there's no way for them to climb the other bank. There are a dozen bridges over the river, and it would drain our limited resources too much to blow them all."
Boyne's brow wrinkled in thought for a second or two. "Lady Synd. My people are trained in combat engineering. You have seen that they operate well in small groups. We do not have to take out all of the bridges— only key points that will bottleneck the Falcons and buy us time. I can send out three-man teams using power armor equipped with jump jets during our initial approach. They can take out a bridge or two each. It will not prevent the Falcons from coming, but it will slow them down."
She thought for a moment. It was a good option. "Interesting, Captain Boyne. I think we need to look at the details. A combat jump into a city is tricky, but this just might work."
Captain Paulis pointed to the map. "The garrison force off to the east will have the advantage of this major highway. If we can clog that up, we can force them onto secondary streets. As Captain Boyne pointed out, we just have to slow them down."
"I have considered that avenue as well," Synd said. "But blocking the highway is somewhat trickier. There are no bridge's or underpasses. It is a straight pipeline into the heart of New Dearborn. I do not see a way for us to tie up that road enough to make a difference."
Surrender Your Dreams Page 6
