First of the First

by Andrew Maclure

  Touren, Bekkreshan and Seltet boarded the lander and moments later, took off for the Swift. Simon, Orange, Ranesh and Kar Fen went to the other lander to collect their armor.

  “Aren’t you going to get your armor?” Mark asked.

  “I don’t need it now I’ve got full control over my phase shift armor.”

  “Do you want everyone to know you’ve got phase shift armor? And how long did it take Mike to work out that if you had full control over it, then you must also have a fully functioning People’s AI?”

  “It took her about two nano-seconds. You’re right, I hadn’t thought of that. I’d better get a set ordered from the synthesizer on board the lander.”

  “It’s just as well you’ve got me as backup. There is a helmet with a power pack in the synthesizer and it’s ready to make you a set of body armor as soon as its emptied. You can tell the team you had it made on the way down to save time.”

  “You’re getting good at this. And just think, when I first met you, your tea went cold while you were trying to decide whether to stir it clockwise or anti-clockwise.”

  Mark grinned and said, “You’re exaggerating - a bit. Go get your armor!”

  As soon as she started to run to the lander, the grin dropped from Mark’s face and he called Mike. “Situation report.” he said.

  “Yeah I’m fine, thanks for asking. I’ve got company in and we’re just chilling, with two soldiers pointing their KE weapons at me with their safety catches off and their fingers on the triggers, muttering to each other about how much they would like to go down in history as the soldier that shot dead the First of the First. I could be killed at any moment if one of them sneezes. But enough about me. How has your day been?”

  “And the Colonel?”

  “I’ve seen her in better moods. She’s showing a lot of imagination in describing what she’d like to do to you, Sally, and Bryd. You seem to have pissed her off a bit.”

  “Not as much as she and her troops have pissed me off.”

  “Has the unexpected lightning storm and nightfall got anything to do with you?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Well, you kids have a nice time, I might live long enough to see you again, but don’t count on it. Off you go, and try not to break anything.”

  “We’re coming to get you.”

  “That will be nice. I’m just going to ask one of these nice soldiers to massage my feet. Bye.” She broke the connection.

  “Mark,” the Major said, “I’m not going to be any help to you in the Palace, your AI will guide you and I’m sure you’ve got drones that can do surveillance for you. I’d like to get back to my soldiers.”

  “Why don’t you stay here with Sha? You’ll be safe in the lander.”

  “I didn’t join the army to be safe. I’ve had a message from my Captain. She’s got most of the Palace guard safe, but I need to take the conflict to the enemy. There will be patrols of the streets to enforce martial law, I’m going to send out squads to pacify them.”

  “You’re a good soldier Major. I’ve just called a lander; it will be down here in a couple of minutes – it hasn’t got far to go with the Swift almost touching the ground. It will be stealthed, but you will see it when it lands. You won’t be able to direct it; you’ll have to message my AI with where you want to go and it will set the course for you. The lander is at your disposal for as long as you need it. Use it, it has People’s phase shift protection, so nothing can harm it, and it is heavily armed for protection of itself and its occupants, so it will fight on your behalf if you are close to it, but it can’t shield you when you are outside. Listen, that’s it coming down now. Keep in touch. If you get into trouble, call us and if we can come, we will. Be safe Major.”

  “Thank you Mark. You are a good person to have as a friend.” As the lander came down he jogged over to it and ran up the ramp before it fully extended. The lander took off immediately and disappeared into the darkness.

  Chapter Eighty Three

  Deploying The Herassans

  Sally walked to meet Mark on his way to the lander. “I didn’t get the Herassans armor or weapons, but they are insisting that they join us to rescue Mike.”

  “I can understand why they would want to, but are they going to be an asset or a liability.”

  “I messaged Seltet to ask for her opinion as she’s been training them. She said they can march pretty well. Other than that, Touren has given them some basic officer training and Bekkreshan has given them very basic combat training. None of them think they should be in a combat zone.”

  “Does Simon have an opinion?”

  “Of course he does, on just about everything, even when he knows nothing about it. On this though, I value his judgment. He thinks they would be a danger to themselves and would distract us when we’re under fire.”

  “If that’s what Simon thinks, it’s good enough for me. Why are you asking me anyway?”

  “This is unfamiliar territory for me. What we do as an army is eliminate outcasts and occasionally perform peacekeeping duties, but being involved in something political where we want to keep casualties to a minimum, this is new to me. If I’d been in your position in those last two contacts, I would have killed all the soldiers. My gut feeling is that we shouldn’t have the Herassans with us, but I think it would be politically more acceptable for Herassans to claim to have rescued Mike, assisted by us, than for us to keep them out of it altogether.”

  “I see the dilemma. Do you think if we take them with us they’ll stay behind us until it’s all over?”

  “I think there is zero chance of that.”

  “You put me in the front line when I had hardly been trained, could you find a position for them that’s relatively safe and they can be useful?”

  “No, you had more training than they had and although you were unwilling, you had natural talent. They are over-keen, untrained and Bekkreshan didn’t think they have any talent. And, this is going to be classic light infantry action – fast moving seek and destroy, or capture. We must try not to kill them. There is only one position; point. And that’s only if we’re moving forward in a line. There are no ‘safe’ positions.”

  “Oh. That’s difficult. I know! We can have them follow us, tell them to keep back a bit and that they will be our rear guard in case we get attacked from the back. That way they will be with us but won’t get involved with any resistance we might meet.”

  “Brilliant. Unless we do get attacked from the back, which is possible. Then they’ll all get killed. Got any sensible ideas?”

  “OK, I’ve had another idea. Let’s assume that the lander that’s here for Sha to use leaves to take her to a studio or wherever it is she works, so we’ll need the one that Seltet, Touren and Bekkreshan are coming back in to evacuate in. They’ll join us, so it won’t be guarded. It won’t need it of course, it’s quite capable of defending itself. But we could get the Herassans to stand guard around it and tell them we need them to keep it safe for when we get back. The lander will defend them, so they’ll be safe. We offer them the choice of the ‘dangerous’ job of defending the lander to ensure that we can get the First of the First away safely, or they can take the ‘safe’ job of supporting us. If they are as keen as you say, they will probably opt for what they see as the riskiest job.”

  “That might work. I’ll call Seltet and run the idea past her. She seems to know them better than anyone else. If she thinks they’ll fall for it, we’ll try it. Well done Mark. Let’s join the others. I should have an answer by the time we get to them.”

  As they reached the lander, Sally whispered, “Seltet said she thinks they’ll go for it. I’ll message the team to shut up when I put it to the Herassans.”

  As Sally hoped, the Herassans chose what they believed was the riskiest option. Simon gave them ideas on how best to deploy themselves, take cover, lay down suppressing fire to cover their colleagues if they need to move or be recovered if they were injured, and told them not to try and take p
risoners but to make sure their targets were dead. He made it sound so scary that they looked like they were having second thoughts and that maybe they should have chosen the ‘safer’ option of going with the rescue party to get Mike.

  By the time the Herassans had got their weapons, ammunition, body armor, helmets and field armor power packs made by the synthesizer on the lander, Touren, Seltet and Bekkreshan had returned. Sha said she was going to go the Tefran Central Update studios to get everything set up ready for when Mark’s VR recordings and scripts were ready. Mark asked her if there would be anyone there as the city was blacked out in the middle of the day and martial law had been declared.

  “Are you kidding!” she answered, “This is the biggest news since,” she paused, “since forever! Everyone will be there, and they’ll be gagging for any VR from the Palace.”

  “And this gets broadcast to the whole Empire?”

  “Of course. With martial law being declared, everyone will be watching it.”

  “Can’t the military shut it down?”

  “They could, but the studios have become a gathering point for protesters against martial law, and there are a lot of military there who don’t support the coup and have said they will defend us. I’ve been watching it as much as possible to see what’s going on.”

  “Is there any feedback from anywhere else?”

  “They are starting to get reports from the nearer solar systems about resistance to the coup. On Harnett, the closest of our planets to Tefran, crowds are forming chanting ‘Rule by the many.’ so I guess our JabJab messages and posts are having an effect there. Nekkar, the first solar system we Herassans ever colonized when we became post-emergent, has one occupied planet, two habitats and a settlement on a moon round a gas giant. They have all rejected the coup, as have the local military. But on Effran, which is the next nearest occupied planet to the Nekkar solar system, crowds are gathering in support of the coup, so it’s not all good news.”

  “OK. Good luck. I should have the VR and script package ready soon. I’ll give you updates on progress through the Place. And by the way, make sure you give prominence to the dangerous task your Herassan colleagues have volunteered for. We’re depending on them to ensure we have safe evacuation for the First of the First.”

  “Of course. They are heroes of the resistance.” She winked at Mark before turning and running up the ramp into the lander. She messaged Mark as soon as she was inside. “I’m ready to leave now, and I’m not fooled by you keeping them out of danger without them realizing it. Thank you for that.”

  Mark smiled and messaged back, “No problem. I’ve instructed the lander you’re in to give air support to the military protecting the studios. Let them know in case they think it’s a threat. Broadcast that you have taken control of the lander you were loaned to take you there and you have ordered it to provide protection. You can’t control it of course, but if you need it to do anything, message my AI and it will do what you want. Keep in touch.”

  Chapter Eighty Four

  Mission Prep

  Following Sally’s suggestion, Touren had returned with a rail rifle and a backpack full of missiles for it. Bekkreshan was carrying an HKE36 heavy caliber high fire rate KE weapon slung over her shoulder and a collapsible tripod attached to her back pack, Seltet was carrying a lightweight shoulder mounted RPG launcher with a self-propelled pallet stacked with crates of rocket grenades following her.”

  “Fuck me!” Simon said. “Are you planning a war?”

  “We thought we should be prepared for anything.” Seltet said.

  “Can that pallet keep up with us if we are running up and down stairs or over rough terrain?” Sally asked.

  “Probably not. Is that what we’re going to be doing?” Seltet answered.

  Sally grinned, “I don’t know, but in the circumstances, I think that might be overkill. We will probably see all our action in the palace and enclosed spaces aren’t the best place to use RPG’s, unless you’re an Ant, then you wouldn’t hesitate to use one in a broom cupboard. Can I persuade you to arm yourself with something more portable?”

  “I’ve got this.” she said, pulling out a short bladed dagger.

  Sally burst out laughing and Seltet grinned. “How about an HKE36 heavy assault weapon like Simon, Ranesh and Orange have got if you want something with a bit more destructive fire?” Sally offered.

  “I’ll take an AKE17.” Seltet said. If it’s going to be close up action that will be fine against Herassan armor, it’s got a shorter barrel and its light enough to be easily maneuverable. “I’ll get one from the synthesizer in the lander.”

  “Bekkreshan, are you going to be OK carrying that weapon?”

  “Yeah, and if we get pinned down or hit a barricade, we’ll need this. If I get tired, I’ll swap with Ranesh.”

  “Is that OK with you?” Sally asked Ranesh.

  “Yes.” she answered with her usual eloquence.

  “I’d already checked with her.” Bekkreshan answered.

  “Listen up!” Sally called out as Seltet exited the Lander. “We know exactly where Mike is, I have sent drones into the Palace to scout our route. We’ve shut down all their power and security systems. They are electronically blind, and it is pitch dark in there. They will have night vision infra-red and image intensifiers in their helmets, same as we do. I have got flashers in my rucksack which will temporarily blind their image intensifiers, so be ready to shut yours down when I tell you. Our uniforms and helmets can mask our IR emissions for a short time. You’ve all got battle gloves that will mask your hands, they came with your body armor. I know some of you don’t like them but wear them anyway. We’ll approach at a run, spread out. They might have acoustic dishes pointed our way, if they have they’ll hear us coming and we may take some fire. They are unlikely to hit any of us and if they do get lucky our field armor will protect us. When we get inside, Mark and I will take point. Kar Fen, Orange, you’re our rear guard. Simon, I want you right behind me. The rest of you, sort yourselves out. Our route is clear now, but they will know we’re coming and if they are in rooms with closed doors, the drones won’t be able to get in and spot them, so we could, almost certainly will, be ambushed, so stay sharp! Any questions? No? Good. Get ready for Mark to kill the light and as soon as it’s dark activate your night vision. When I say ‘go,’ break for the Palace entrance.”

  The light went out. Sally waited for a moment to make sure everyone had their night vision on, then called out “Go!”

  Chapter Eighty Five

  Sally Flashes At The Enemy

  They reached the Palace without being challenged, though they heard some shouting from a top floor window way off to their left. The double doors were locked when they got to them.

  “Simon,” Sally said, “I’ve got a drone in there. The left hand door has slide bolts going down into the floor and up into the stone lintel at the top. The right hand door has a slide bolt twenty centimeters from the top and another twenty centimeters from the bottom. The drone has checked for booby traps but hasn’t detected any. The doors open outwards, so I don’t want them smashed up so they jam, and we’re all going to be nearby, so I don’t want you to demolish half the frontage. Take the bolts out with minimum explosive and if you’ve got moderator patches put them on to protect us and keep the noise of the explosion down.”

  “If I could interject?” Mark said.

  “Interject away.” Sally said. “My translator has given me that in archaic and formal language. Couldn’t you just say excuse me?”

  “I could, but I’d prefer not to. I can take the bolts out quickly and silently if you’ll step away from the door.”

  “If I wanted you to smash it open using your phase shift armor I’d have asked! Now get out of the way and let Simon get on with it.”

  “Just move out of the way.” Mark said, pushing her with his left arm while raising his right arm to point at the top of the door, then dropping it down to point at the bottom of it. Before Sally
could say anything he pulled at the handle in the middle of the door and swung it open. He pointed to the circular holes his embedded weapon had made through the door and through the bolts.

  “I suppose you think you’re clever.” Sally said.

  “I’m not the one to judge that.” Mark said modestly.

  “In that case I’ll be the judge, and you’re not.” She led the way into the Great Hall and muttered “Smart-arse.”

  The Hall was empty and silent. The drone hadn’t detected anyone in it, but there were several doors leading in and, of course, a lot of escape tunnels which could be used as ambush points.