Suddenly gunfire erupted from the hall, a hail of pulses that decimated the troops. Dozens of men died instantly, dozens more screamed and fell wounded. Confused, the men didn't know whether to advance or retreat. Sergeant Wofford turned to yell at them but was cut down before he could speak. Immediately, his men turned to flee, running for their lives back toward the shuttles for cover.
Captain Armand yelled into the tacnet: "First and Second Platoons, covering fire, aim at the entrance to the Hall!" As he spoke the words, the hail of pulses from the top of the stairs halted. First and Second Platoons quickly turned from their perimeter defense role and aimed their weapons at the top of the stairs and sent a storm of fire up at the entrance to the hall. But shooting up as they were, they succeeded only in knocking chips off the remaining inside roof of the hall. There was no one there to hurt.
Angry, Armand stepped out from his cover, waving his pistol at the retreating troops coming back toward him. "Stop!" he yelled. "Stop or I'll fire!" He aimed his pistol at the nearest trooper running toward him and fired, killing the man instantly. "Stop, I said!"
Slowly, the troops lurched to a halt. Behind them, dead and dying littered the bottom of the steps. Armand looked at them grimly.
"Corporal Mueller!" he yelled, looking at a Corporal near to him. "You take Sergeant Wofford's place."
"Yes, sir," said Mueller.
"Reform the men and prepare to enter the Hall," Armand said.
"Yes, sir," said Corporal Mueller.
On the tacnet, Armand called Sergeants Helmand and Gibbon. "Bring your platoons back over here and form up behind the others. We'll go in as a group and overwhelm them."
Armand got replies from the two Sergeants and saw their platoons coming back in his direction. Soon he had them formed up behind the remnants of the 3rd and 4th Platoons.
"We'll let the cowards go first, in the place of honor," he said openly over the tacnet, so that every man could hear it.
"Mueller, you're going to charge that hall - and any man who turns to run will be cut down! Got it?"
"Yes, sir," said Corporal Mueller.
"And just to be clear," he added over the tacnet, "Helmand and Gibbon, for the remainder of this mission, any man that turns to run, shoot them. Got it?"
"Yes, sir," chorused the two Sergeants.
***
Marine Lieutenant Jeff Abrams lay prone at the second barricade, at the top of the South stairs down to the basement level, where the squad had retreated after their initial ambush. The remainder of the squad lay likewise, heads pulled down below the level of the main floor. A low, rambling barricade of furniture and debris lay across the entrance to the stairs, arranged to be as innocuous as possible. Between two blocks of stone the team had pushed into place, Sergeant Cook peered through a peephole, watching.
"Here they come," he whispered, as the Hanoverian rebels rushed the entrance to the Great Hall, firing wildly. Pulses glanced off the partially collapsed roof and the battered walls, ricocheting in every direction. Some even came back and hit the rebels, as they swept over the empty first barricade where seconds before the fire team had ambushed them.
Finding no one there, they came to a stop, milling around, searching the dim hall for anyone. Abrams saw another platoon press forward behind the first one, pushing into the hall as they all scanned the darkness.
Abrams watched as a Corporal and two Sergeants - identified by the stripes on their shirts - came up behind the mass of men and consulted together. Then, evidently in response to a command on their tacnet, the men started to spread out and search the floor.
"Standby," Abrams whispered, raising his hand slightly. The fire team watched him closely. As the rebels moved across the floor in all directions, bewildered by the lack of RDF personnel or bodies, they clustered up in several groups. Coming toward them, a large group of thirty to forty rebels began moving toward the staircase, and Abrams dropped his hand.
"Now!" he yelled, and the fire team popped their pulse rifles over the top of the barricade and opened up, hosing the floor of the Great Hall with fire. In front of them, rebels dropped by the dozens, as the concentrated fire of twelve Marines with pulse rifles on full auto raked them mercilessly. Screams and shouts covered the floor of the Great Hall as hundreds of men ran for cover, sometimes tripping over the bodies of the dead and wounded. In five seconds, the firing stopped. The fire team turned and ran, hunched over, down the stairs to the next level basement. Behind them, an angry mob fired hundreds of pulses over their heads, then charged the top of the stairs. They arrived to find an empty barricade. A few jumped over the barricade and started down the stairs. Sergeant Helmand cried "Stop!" at the men running down the stairs. Almost all of them did. Several, however, kept running, around the bend in the stairs and into view of the basement below. They were cut down instantly by a hail of fire from further down the hallway. Helmand had no trouble getting the remainder of the men to halt and come back up to the ground floor.
New Geneva
RDF Seal Team Seven – the RDF Seals were an unconventional warfare unit of the Rim Defense Force, named in homage to a similar group from 21st century Earth. Seal Team Seven – also named in homage to such an Old Earth team – was the unit stationed on New Geneva, home of the Rim Parliament and Cabinet.
- RimWiki, 2675 Edition
Kamilaroi - New Geneva - Seal Team Seven Barracks
19 February 2189
1930 Hours
Grayson Clarke woke up when he hit the floor. Confused, he lay in the dark for a second, listening to the thumps of explosions occurring nearby. He jumped to his feet and burst a query out to the OOD, while he threw himself into pants and jacket.
Clarke grabbed his go-bag and ran out of the room and down the stairs to the second-floor armory. He slammed his hand against the door, and it opened, getting the auth code from his MEMSAI, Samwise. He grabbed a rack of pulse rifles and pulled the entire rack out into the hallway, then pulled a rack of bandoliers out of the room and placed them next to the rifle rack. Grabbing three bandoliers and a rifle, he slammed a charge into the rifle and checked it just as Master Chief Petty Officer Li Tran ran up, still pulling his clothes on.
"Chief, we've got sixteen in the barracks, eight on the way in. I'm going downstairs to see what the story is. Stay here, get everybody kitted up, then send them downstairs. Capisce?"
"Capisce, sir. See ya!" said the Chief.
Clarke, commander of Seal Team Seven, ran for the stairs, passing five more of his team headed to the armory to get kitted out. Clarke pounded down the stairs to the OOD office, where Lieutenant (j.g.) Roger Battersea was peering out the windows at the Parliament building across the street.
"Anything?" he asked.
"No sir. They landed, went in, lots of small hand grenade type explosions, some firing but not much. There shouldn't have been very many people in the building on a Sunday night. Why assault the building if there's nobody there?"
"Smokescreen - a diversion. They want to draw everybody here."
"I'll be damn,"
said Roger. "What's the plan, Skipper?"
***
Prime Minister Sanada Yukimura had watched a holo and dozed off in his chair. He woke up to find a gun in his face. A voice said quietly, "No sudden moves."
Sanada nodded, then answered, "Yes. No problem."
"Get up and get your coat."
"Yes. No problem." He saw three men holding pistols before him. There was no sign of his security detail.
Sanada turned and walked to the front of his Japanese-style house, where the mud room contained all the shoes, umbrellas, and coats required in a wet climate like that of New Geneva. He took his overcoat off the hook and struggled into it. The man behind him pushed him forward with the muzzle of the pistol, so he went out the door. Outside, a flitter was parked on the lawn, and the bodies of two of his security team lay bloody on the ground. He was pushed harshly into the flitter. The door closed, and the flitter lifted off. It took a tack directly into the city, toward the industrial district.
Sanada saw smoke rising from the west, toward the Parliament Building. Soon the flitter descended, slipping between two small buildings to arrive at the back dock of a warehouse. He was roughly pushed out and stumbled, falling to his knees before someone grabbed the back of his collar and jerked him up. He was rushed into the warehouse as the flitter departed behind him.
Down a flight of stairs, Sanada was pushed into a small room. Carla Bianchi stood there, looking at him as the door slammed behind him.
"Well, hello, San-san," she said.
Sanada grunted. "That never was very funny, you know."
"Sorry. Couldn't resist." Carla replied.
"Any idea what's going on?" asked Sanada.
"Hanover," said Carla. "And Sierra Nevada, I think. I got a Code Zulu-Able-Zulu just before they put a block on my comm. And they're hitting the Parliament Building, for some crazy reason."
"Diversion," said Sanada. "To pull everybody away from us."
"Damn," said Carla. "Didn't think about that."
The door opened, and Home Secretary Adele Brodeur was chucked into the room, falling and cutting her knee open on the concrete floor. Carla rushed over to her, helping her up. She assisted her to the wooden bench by the side wall, where she deposited her carefully. Carla began working on the wound, tearing off a strip of cloth from her skirt for a makeshift bandage.
"Adele, what do you know? Any news?" asked Sanada.
"They took the Parliament Building and they brought the City AI back up in limited mode. It's broadcasting that the RDF Headquarters at Tolleson Base has been seized and Admiral James Cobb has been installed as the new CNO, you and the entire cabinet have been captured or killed, and the Covenant of God has taken over as the new government of RimFed."
"Lovely," said Sanada. "Seems like they've jumped the gun just a bit, though. I only see three of us. That's far from the entire cabinet. And I still hear an awful lot of firing and explosions off in the distance."
Carla grinned. "Leave it to the Saints to lead with their mouth."
***
"You don't want us on the Parliament Assault?" asked Clarke.
"No," replied Naval Attaché Captain Louis Marchand, "I agree with you that's a diversion. I think the Marines and the Guard can take care of it. I want you to go get the Prime Minister and Carla Bianchi."
"How do we find them?" asked Clarke.
Marchand, on the other end of their backup tacnet holo, gestured at a small device on the table in front of him.
"Several years ago, we simulated a similar scenario to this one. We wanted to implant a tracking device in each cabinet minister when they got elected, but the Prime Minister vetoed that suggestion. However, Carla Bianchi got one as an experiment. When we offered to take it out, she just laughed and said she would keep it. I had almost forgotten about it until today. I don't think anybody knows about it."
"Fantastic," said Clarke.
Marchand went on. "I've got a weak reading, but it should get stronger as you get closer. It shows her somewhere in the warehouse district. Pick up this homer on your way. Be careful; we want them back alive if possible."
"Aye, aye, sir," said Clarke. "Can do."
***
Carla Bianchi paced the floor. Sanada looked up at her.
"Carla, I think you should sit down. Save your energy."
"Dammit, I don't want to save my energy. I want to kill somebody!"
Sanada laughed. "Be careful what you wish for. You may get the chance!"
The door slammed open and they saw a big bear of a man standing there, in front of two guards with pulse rifles. He was wearing a uniform, with shoulder flashes and insignia like a general. He advanced into the room and stood in front of Sanada, ignoring the other two.
"I am General Ernst Wolff. I am now the Prime Minister of RimFed. You are no longer in charge here, Sanada."
Wolff produced a tablet. "You will sign this document."
Sanada grinned up at Wolff. "Actually, I won't."
Wolff slapped Sanada across the mouth, breaking his lip. The blood dripped down Sanada's hand as he held his lip.
Wolff shoved the tablet at Sanada. Sanada ignored it, his gaze challenging Wolff. Wolff hit him again, knocking him off the bench. Carla ran at Wolff, but one of the guards behind her knocked her down before she could get to him. Wolff bent over Sanada.
"Last chance, chink. Sign or die."
Sanada looked up at him. "I can't believe you're so stupid you don't know the difference between Japanese and Chinese."
Wolff sneered at him and spun around, leaving the room. As the door closed, Carla crawled over to Sanada and wiped blood away from his eye where he had hit the floor.
***
Clarke and his team inserted into the warehouse district about ten blocks from the suspect warehouse. They did their equipment checks and then moved out cautiously, scanning for snipers, watchers or other threats. They saw nothing until they were within a block of the warehouse. Then the Seal on point pumped his hand, and they froze. On the tacnet, the point whispered, "Snipers ahead, two each side of the street, top of the roof."
Clarke acknowledged. "Fire Team One, left side, up through the building beside us, take them out on my mark. Fire Team Two, right side, up through the building beside us, take them out on my mark."
The two Fire Teams acknowledged and moved out. Clarke and Chief Li Tran took the other four Fire Teams and moved into the cover of the building beside them, waiting for Teams 1 and 2 to get into position. After several minutes of waiting, Clarke heard the acknowledgement over the tacnet.
"Team One, in position, ready."
Shortly after, he heard the other team's acknowledgement and called, "On my mark...3...2...1...mark!"
Up the street, seconds later, he heard a thud.
"All bogies down, one went over the building, sorry about that." he heard from Team One.
"Shit happens," said Clarke. "How's it look?"
"All quiet so far."
"OK," Clarke said on the tacnet. "We're on the clock now, as soon as they poll the snipers and get no response, our surprise is gone. Teams Three through Six, with me, move forward fast to the edge of the target building. Teams One and Two, stay in place, cover our butts."
Acknowledgement came quickly, and Clarke moved out with the rest of his fire teams. They made good time to the edge of the warehouse. Clarke leaned carefully around in the pitch dark and saw a dozen guards lounging in front of the warehouse door.
"Team Six, go around the back and see what's up."
Clarke waited for a minute, until Team Six called in.
"Four guards in back at the loading dock."
Clarke issued orders.
"Teams Three and Four, wait here. Teams Three and Four only, on my mark, wait five seconds then take out the guards in front. Be noisy about it. Then move through the building, making lots of noise. Remember, somewhere in here is the Prime Minister and at least one of his cabinet, so watch your targets. Team Five, with me."
&nb
sp; Teams Three and Four acknowledged. Clarke reversed course and moved toward the back of the warehouse where Team Six waited. Getting to the back corner, he leaned out carefully and scanned the rear with his night goggles. There were four guards, two standing and two sitting in chairs. Clarke withdrew and spoke softly over the tacnet.
"Team Six only - on my mark, take out the guards in back as quietly as possible. Teams Five and Six only - after the bogies are down, move fast into the warehouse and secure a perimeter. Be as quiet as possible. All teams - remember watch your targets, we have good guys in there. Any questions?"
All teams acknowledged. Clarke took a deep breath.
"On my mark...3...2...1...mark!"
Team Six disappeared around the corner of the building, followed closely by Team Five. Clarke waited 5 seconds, then went around the corner of the building.
Four bodies lay on the ground by the loading dock, and the last of Team Five was entering the building. From in front, he heard noisy gunfire as Teams Three and Four attacked, intentionally making as much disruptive noise as possible.
Clarke followed Team Five into the building and scanned quickly. Three more bodies lay in the hallway, and one on the steps leading down to the lower level. Teams Five and Six were setting up in the rooms beside the hallway, covering both directions. Clarke scanned with the homing device. He was close, but it was hard to tell where Carla Bianchi was with the device. It showed her right on top of him, but he couldn’t get a direction.
Clarke thought for a moment, looking at the body on the steps. He motioned to Chief Li Tran and they ran down the steps to the next lower level.
Beside the first door they came to was an empty chair. Clarke looked at Tran and they stood on opposite sides of the door, raising their pistols for entry. Clarke tried the handle, but it was locked. He nodded at Tran, who placed a small charge on the door at the lock. They crossed the hallway to the opposite side and Tran sent a command via tacnet, then started counting.
"3..2..1.."
Imprint of War Page 11
