by Lucas Marcum
The soldier partially turned and said urgently, “Get her moving. When we open up, that armor’s gonna hit us again.” Brian nodded, picked the armored figure up, and tossed her over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. The trooper nodded once and opened up with the Mark 30, spitting green fire into the darkness.
Brian scrambled out of the hole and sprinted for the relative safety of the wall of the supply point. He paused a moment and knelt to catch his breath, then turned to peer back at the two troopers firing long bursts on the lascannon. As he watched, the bright red beam hit the position. There was a flash, and the two troopers fell. Two of his indicators blinked out.
Brian’s jaw tightened. He stood and turned to move towards the aid station, and came face to face with a slick black-armored figure. It jumped, apparently as startled as he was.
Acting on reflex, Brian whirled, pushing all of his weight, assisted by the augmentation of his armor, into the movement. The feet of the unconscious soldier draped across his shoulders flew out from centripetal force, striking the Elai in the helmet before it could lift its rifle. There was a sickening CRACK, and the enemy soldier’s visor starred. It crumpled to the ground, its helmet damaged from the impact of the soldier’s boots. Brian paused, and then delivered a vicious kick to the prostrate figure’s head, feeling a solid THUMP as his boot connected. He then turned and sprinted the additional ten yards to the aid station. Coming to the cargo container in front of the aid station, he paused. The door of the aid station stood in front of him. As he watched, several loud and close shots rang out. A dark-suited figure staggered backwards from the aid station and fell onto its back. Two more shots rang out, then nothing.
With a sickening feeling in his stomach, Brian set the soldier down and moved towards the door. Carefully coming to the side of the door, rifle at the ready, he snapped up his helmet visor and shouted, “Friendly coming in!”
He could hear movement from inside, then a familiar voice asked, “Agawa? Is that you?”
A wave of relief surged through him. He shouted back, “Yeah. I have wounded. I’m coming in.” He moved back to the wounded soldier, slung her over his shoulders, and made for the aid station. Entering, he faced a half dozen weapons, which lowered slightly upon seeing a friendly figure. In front of the door lay another Elai soldier, face down, with two large, smoking holes in the back of his chest armor.
In the middle of the room stood Elizabeth, her sidearm drawn and pointing at the door, with a slight trace of smoke coming from the barrel. She looked at him and motioned to the medics near her to get the patient. The medics rushed to get the wounded trooper.
Elizabeth lowered the pistol, gave Brian a look, and frowned. “Brian, I’m getting tired of this shit.”
Brian laughed wearily. “You and me both, Ma’am.” He motioned to the trooper. “Abdominal wound. I biofoamed her, but she probably needs evac. Do what you can.”
Elizabeth nodded and turned to tend to the patient, then spoke over her shoulder, “If you wouldn’t mind, tell the first sergeant we need a security detail. I don’t know if we can hold this place again.” Brian nodded wearily and stepped back out into the night over the bodies of the Elai soldiers.
Coming back to the supply point, he stopped to check his indicators. Two more red lights blinked at the far end of the line. Peering out from behind the supply point, he saw that the firefight was continuing to rage. Both of the Mark 30s lay silent, the crews dead. In the distance, he could hear a squeaking and grinding noise. The red flashes died down in intensity, and he made a run for it. Sprinting down the length of the line, he dove into a hole with two troopers.
One was firing, the other slumped against the back of the hole. The trooper firing glanced at him and went back to firing.
Brian got to his knees and checked the soldier lying in the hole. He opened the chest panel and checked vitals. He got to his feet and grabbed the other soldier’s shoulder to get her attention. She turned to look at him, and he shook his head. She glanced back at her friend lying in the hole, and with a hard look on her face turned back to her firing position.
Brian turned to climb out of the hole when the grinding and squeaking noise came into sight. An Elai ground vehicle with a large main gun on a turret, a wide body, and treads ground into view about thirty meters away.
The trooper shouted, “Armor!”
Brian moved up next to her and pointed his rifle at the advancing tank. He could see the blue streaks of the human energy rifle rounds flickering off the hull. The secondary lascannons were pouring murderous fire into the Spaceborne positions. Further down the line another emerged from the dust, and even further down, more red lines of lascannons showed there were more out there.
Brian leaned close to the trooper and shouted, “What the fuck do we do with those?”
The trooper leaned back and yelled, “Well, if we can get close enough, an energy grenade in the treads is supposed to stop ‘em.” Brian looked at her in shock.
She laughed grimly and shouted, “You asked, flyboy. We don’t have armor, and no fire support. That’s the best we got!” She opened fire on several Elai infantry trying to rush the line, forcing them into cover.
Brian watched as several streaks from above screamed in from the dark at the tank, but a red stream from the tank’s defensive systems reached out to each one and detonated them before they got near. The tank continued close. It was now twenty meters away. Suddenly, the vehicle shuddered, and a dark spot appeared in the front, then another. The tank ground to a halt. Several darker spots appeared, then a hatch flew open, and an Elai crewman tried exit, immediately drawing ferocious fire from the defenders. As the enemy soldier desperately tried to dismount, there was a blast of blue flame that shot out like a flare, engulfing him. There was a large explosion from the rear of the tank, causing Brian to shield his face. The Elai tank crewman slumped back into a pillar of flame and disappeared.
The second tank down the line was also shuddering, and the spots were appearing. Brian belatedly realized that these were holes being punched right through the massive vehicles. The second tank also detonated, sending a blue ball of fire into the sky. Further down the line, there were several larger blue-green explosions, marking the deaths of more of the armored vehicles. Brian could see the Elai infantry scrambling back into the dust, and the grinding and squealing went with them. As Brian’s hearing began to recover from the explosions, he could hear cheering. The Elai were retreating, and their armor with them.
Several moments later, a low slung, dark shape with a massive gun poked out of the dust from the left of the defensive perimeter. It made a low hissing noise as it moved, holding several inches above the dusty ground. As it moved, it kept the massive main gun trained out into the dust in the direction of the retreating armor.
Brian began to grin. He slapped the trooper on the back and shouted, “It’s the goddamn armor! It’s about goddamn time!”
The soldier in the hole with him was grinning widely and pointed at the Titan IV main battle tanks now sliding across the field, preparing to give chase to the fleeing Elai armor in front of them, and screamed jubilantly, “What the fuck! I fucking love tankers now!”
Brian grinned and then suddenly sat, exhausted and sad beyond belief.
****
Inside the command post, Colonel Terrell breathed a silent prayer of thanks, as the Elai Armor withdrew with the Titans close behind them. He turned to Captain Esteban, whose face was pale and dripping with sweat. He said, kindly but firmly, “Captain, very well done. Get a head count and casualty numbers, and get the lines rearmed and reorganized.” The captain nodded and turned to the task.
Colonel Terrell turned to Major Martinez. “Anything on the brigade net?”
The major shook his head. “No, Sir. I’m staying on it.” Terrell frowned.
The sergeant on the comm bank spoke up, “Sir, I have some snatches of traffic. The interference seems to be dying out. It sounds like there’s a lot of fighting going on abo
ut thirty clicks south of us, Sir. Not sure what the overall picture is.” He paused, then spoke again, “Sir, there’s a Lieutenant Colonel Travis that says he’d like a word. Says he’s outside.”
Terrell grinned and turned to Major Martinez. “You know what to do.” He turned and headed for the entrance to the dugout.
Stepping out, he looked the dozen meters to where the line of fighting positions had been dug. On the other side sat the looming bulk of three Titan IVs with their exterior lights blazing, illuminating the area. The burning hulks of the Elai tanks gave off an orange glow in the dust, and the area was buzzing with activity. The troopers were moving wounded and repairing fighting positions. Colonel Terrell grimly noted the tent where far too many still forms in power armor were being stacked. He moved towards the tanks and saw a figure standing on the front deck of one of them. The man was wearing a standard combat vehicle crewman uniform, but had a large cowboy hat on, and antique revolver slung at his hip. As Terrell approached, he could hear the man drawling into a handset that stretched down into the tank.
“Ah don’t care how far ya chase those sunsabitches, Captain. You keep chasin’ the little bastards, and you don’t stop until they ain’t runnin’ no more, ya got me?” A pause, then the man continued in his unhurried voice, “Good. Lone Star Six, Out.” He turned and saw Colonel Terrell, standing with his hands on his hips waiting for him, and winked. He spoke into the handset again, “Six here…Good. Good. Ah’m about to talk to their colonel. Ah’ll let ‘im know. In the meantime, do that voodoo that you do.” Another pause, then, “Roger that. Six out.”
The man tossed the handset into the hull of the tank and turned with a broad smile on his face. “Well, if it ain’t Ol’ Iron Mike!” The man lept lightly from the hull, and the men clasped hands.
Terrell grinned broadly. “Sam, you old bastard. About time you showed up.”
Travis drawled, “Well, sheeit, Sir. I figured we’d hold our grand entrance for maximum dramatic effect.” He looked around, and his smile faded. “Looks like we were damn near too late. Damn sorry, Mikey boy. We ran into trouble.”
Shaking his head grimly, Terrell responded, “Haven’t we all. Your boys chasing that surviving armor?”
The smaller man nodded. “Yap. Shore are. Only a couple left now. They won’t get far, then we’ll go huntin’ fer stragglers.”
Terrell looked at the three tanks. The battle damage on them was now apparent, with the massive hulls scored and streaked with hits and near misses. His eyes on the scars in the tank armor, he asked, “Take many casualties?”
Travis turned and regarded the tanks. “A few. Ain’t as bad as it looks. About three quarters of my strength is southa here, supporting your boys.” The man turned with a twinkle in his eye. “Ah have a message for ya, Colonel. Your old gal Lieutenant Colonel Hall and her three battalions of Spaceborne, with a tiny bit a’ help from two platoons of mah babies here, overran an Elai Corps-level headquarters. Got themselves a whole pile a intel, a buncha prisoners including the sharkhead version of a major general and his staff, and got about a dozen of our people back.”
Colonel Terrell raised his eyebrows. “Really? Damn.”
Travis nodded, pushing his Stetson back on his head. “Yep. Some of ‘em were pretty banged up, but they’re alive.” The man grinned broadly. “Seems they broke out the big ‘uns to stop ‘em. Apparently even nukes can’t stop your boys and girls.”
Shaking his head, Terrell replied, “Wouldn’t know. We’ve been out of communication with the maneuver units since they popped the bombs.”
Travis spit and nodded. “Yap. Ours are preserved causa the armor. Mosta you grunts’ stuff is gonna be cooked. We can route comms through the armor till you git them fancy tin suits fixed up.”
The Spaceborne commander paused thoughtfully, then said, “Follow me to the CP, Colonel. We have a lot to do yet, and we can’t take the pressure off.”
The man nodded, and together the two set off for the command post.
-10-
“Breakthrough”
THIRTY KILOMETERS WEST OF ALLIANCE LINES
0942 hours, March 19, 2245
Elizabeth and Brian sat on an empty, upturned loiter drone case and watched the seemingly endless stream of vehicles pass by. They were in borrowed lightweight duty uniforms, with field jackets to ward off the biting wind. Their armor was in a nearby tent, being looked over by one of the grateful Spaceborne armor techs. The column continued to rumble by, as they had since early that morning. Transports full of power-armored infantry, light armored vehicles, repair and recovery vehicles, and tanks. Dozens and dozens of tanks glided quietly by in convoys, their massive bulk belied by the fact that they were moving so silently on their magnetic repulsor fields. The stream of armor seemed to be never ending.
Brian handed Elizabeth a canteen and motioned at the armored column. “They broke through this morning. Apparently there’s three armored divisions rampaging around somewhere behind the Elai lines. They say the whole sector’s about to collapse.”
Elizabeth nodded and took a drink, then made a face. “What is this? Tastes...orangey.” She grimaced, took another drink, and passed the canteen back.
Brian absently accepted it and answered, his eyes still on the armor, “One of the powder packets from the field rations. Awful, isn’t it?” He paused, then continued, “I guess they’re saying that this whole thing was a rearguard action. The bulk of the Elai forces got off world intact.” He took a drink, and then sat for a moment.
Elizabeth shifted her weight, then said, “What are we going to do now? I mean, we’ll get debriefed and some leave and all that, but we don’t have a unit anymore.”
Brian shrugged. “Dunno. I still have four years left on my contract. I’ll probably get a schoolhouse assignment. I hear the flight medic school has open slots for instructors, and I fit the bill. Easy station, too. It’s on Earth, someplace in Colorado. Nice, thin, cold air, like home. Not sure what they’ll do with you.” She nodded absently. They sat in silence for a few moments watching the armored parade.
They heard the crunching of footsteps behind them. They turned and saw Sergeant Rogers approaching. She remained clad in her armor, and she was smiling.
“Sergeant Agawa, Captain Suarez. Colonel Terrell and Sergeant Major Binda request your presence for a briefing in the ops center. Starts in five.” Brian nodded, stood, and recapped the canteen, and he and Elizabeth headed for the operations center.
Several minutes later they were outside the operations center. The trooper on guard outside the door waved them in. They moved down the ramp and into the now significantly expanded command center, and stood in the back. Colonel Terrell was sitting up front, listening to a captain speaking. Behind them was a large map, with a projection moving as he spoke.
The young officer was speaking very matter-of-factly. “So, after we hit dirt, we started trying to get organized. We made contact with the other three companies ok, but couldn’t raise Colonel Hagerty on the net, or anyone from their pod. We were scattered all over the place, so we just tried to get reorganized and find any of the battalion staff.”
He paused and looked at a notebook open in his hand. “We finally got a contact report from Major Knut in the battalion executive officer’s drop pod about thirty minutes after we set down. They said they had hit hard and taken casualties, and that they were under heavy fire.” He looked at the colonel, his face exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes. “We pushed for them immediately, Sir. By the time we got there, Major Knut had been hit, and most of the remaining staff was dead, trying to defend their pod. They’d landed in an Elai company-level bivouac area and got shot up as they exited the pod.” He paused again. “I’m sorry, Sir. My troopers and I tried. We weren’t fast enough.”
Colonel Terrell spoke firmly, “You did the best you could with a bad situation, Captain. No one can plan to have a battalion staff taken out like that.” He paused and asked in a softer voice, “How is Major Knut? And h
as Colonel Hagerty been located?”
The captain looked down for a moment, then spoke in a wooden voice, “Sir, Major Knut is in the intensive care ward on board the Temperance. The Navy docs are doing the best they can.” He paused, then continued somberly, “Colonel Hagerty’s pod has not yet been located, Sir. Division is running analysis of Naval drop records to see if they were hit dropping in, but that’ll take some time.”
Colonel Terrell nodded. “Thank you, Captain.”
The captain continued, “Yes, sir. Anyway, after that, we were too far away from the other three battalions to support the assault on the main enemy area, so we just fanned out by company and hit them wherever we could. We managed to smash up a motor pool with a bunch of light armored vehicles and a refueling point. We got a big artillery ammo dump, too. It wasn’t even really defended.” He stopped again.
Colonel Terrell nodded again, and replied, “You did good, Captain. If you hadn’t hit that ammo dump, they would have probably hammered us hard here. Why don’t you have a seat, we’ll review your reports and talk more later.” The young man nodded and took a seat.
Sergeant Major Binda cleared his throat and announced, “Lieutenant C-colonel T-t-travis, Sir.”
The short man, now without his ubiquitous cowboy hat, stood and moved up, running a hand over his close-cropped hair. “Mornin’ Sir, Sar’nt Major.” He turned and gestured at the map.
“Me and mah boys dropped here; and lemme tell ya, it was one hell of a ride.” The map blinked, with the symbols for armor lighting up on it. The colonel continued, “Those little sneaky bastahds had some kinda heavy missiles. Fortunately fer me and mine, the heavier construction of th’ drop frames prolly saved mosta mah troopers. Their guidance systems also weren’t much good. Dunno why, those critters shot aight on the ground. Seems they’re better tankers than they are spacers.” He scratched his head and continued, “Anyway, once we hit, we set a rally point and regrouped. Only lost one vehicle on th’ way in, and the crew got out aight. Hit quite a bit a resistance heading to you, though.”
