"Send him up here as soon as he's out."
"Confirmed."
My pad chimed. O'Neil reported the jump point to Azgard was clear, and his fleet was in position to prevent anything getting through.
"We're eating in the Dining Room Jon, won't you join us please?" Amanda was just short of giving me an order. I had to smile. I'd completely forgotten about food.
I limped downstairs, joined them, and we ate amidst the pre-mission tension.
George and Slice joined us shortly after we began eating, and Eric not long after that.
I looked at Eric as he sat down. He was pale and didn’t look well.
"What happened to you Eric? John said he last saw you out of control near the jump point, and you just vanished."
He grinned.
"Yeah, it probably would have seemed that way. I'd taken a series of quick missile hits, which had damaged my thrusters, putting me into an uncontrollable spin. The next missile took out my engine completely, leaving me ballistic. As fate would have it, I went straight through the jump point, and continued on the same course in Atlantis. It was probably that which saved me from further missile hits, which would have killed me for sure. But by the time George found me, my life support was almost gone. For a while there, I thought my wife and kids would be getting my farewell message."
Slice looked startled for a moment.
"They didn’t, did they?" asked Eric.
"No," said Slice. "I'm sorry to admit, I completely forgot. I sent the ones for who we knew were killed, but they were only four out of the ten of us."
"Who?" interrupted Eric.
Slice gave four names, and Eric nodded solemnly.
Slice went on. "You were the only one listed as missing, from the Apricot ships. I wanted to wait until your death was confirmed, since there was so much wreckage. Then I simply forgot."
"Well I'm glad you didn’t send it. I'll send them a vid as soon as I finish eating."
"Make it a short vid," I said. "The three of you need to go straight down to the Dropships, and get familiar with them, and drops. As soon as the troops are geared up, we're going to the planet."
While we all ate, I outlined the plan.
Twenty Four
Excalibur dropped out the bottom of Custer, and I let her fall towards the atmosphere.
Slice had modified one of the comnavsats to look down on the planet. It had confirmed the city was deserted, and the tech centers destroyed. It also gave us the precise location of the enemy compound, and its buildings. Vonda and Annabelle had both been deeply concerned by how accurate my information had been.
I'd visited Medical before dropping, getting another pain killer, allowing me to fasten my straps tightly without hurting.
I let Excalibur fall like she was a drop ship. I watched the digital height display wind down.
At fifteen thousand meters, I took control and slowed, precisely coming out of the dive ten meters above the ground, heading inward to the compound buildings, pushing to full speed again.
At the last second I goosed upward, skimmed the top of the buildings without hitting anything, dragged back the speed, and fired ten quick torpedoes into the first Cruiser. The explosion engulfed me as I went overhead, but the shields kept me safe. I roared out over the opposite side wall, gave myself some room, executed the classic Immelmann turn, and headed back. Over the wall, I fired on the second Cruiser with the same result.
I roared back the way I’d come, did an Immelmann again, slowed right down as I came back, and started spraying the Talons with torpedoes. By the fourth pass, my Point Defense was taking out missiles aimed at me, and half the Talons were toast. On the fifth pass, the remainder joined them.
On the sixth pass I started looking for…
…shit, that’s a missile turret.
A missile was coming straight at me. I juked hard, and…
Twenty Five
…I was catapulted backwards, where I came to rest against the wall, hitting it solidly with my left shoulder. I lay there a moment in total shock.
It had happened again.
I looked towards the dining table to see everyone except the twins looking at me in shock. The twins were also on the floor, picking themselves up.
They rushed over to me, but I waved them away with my right hand. My left arm wasn’t working.
I managed to move myself upright with a major groan, sitting against the wall.
My vision swam for a moment, and I closed my eyes.
"Fuck me dead!" I grated out through clenched teeth.
"Not in the Dining Room Jon," said Alison demurely.
There was a chuckle around the table as the shock was broken.
The twins eased me up without touching my left arm or shoulder, and eased me into a chair. Jeeves rushed in, and gave me a pain killer shot. I sat there, trying to get it together.
"What happened?" asked Vonda.
"What just happened here before I hit the wall?"
"You'd just finished outlining your plan for the planet," said Annabelle. "You no sooner finished talking, when the three of you went over backwards."
"I just did the planet run again in Excalibur. I took out the Cruisers easily, had just finished off the Talons, and was looking for any other targets. Last thing I remember was a cave troll hitting me."
The twins grinned, remembering the last time I'd used that reference, when I'd called the first Missile Cruiser we encountered a cave troll.
"Cave troll?" asked Alsop, in a disbelieving tone.
"Sorry, missile battery on one of the walls. Damned thing was firing capital ship missiles."
"This is bullshit," muttered Alsop.
"This is bullshit, SIR," I barked back at him.
I made an effort to calm down.
"Sorry, I know how this sounds, but I know what happened."
I looked at Slice.
"John, after you finish here, and before you go down to the Dropships, can you change a comnavsat to point down at the planet for me? Have it make a pass over the city, and the other side of the nearest hills. I want to be able to tell if the local farmers put their beans in upside down."
"I can do that," he responded. "Won't take long." He stood and walked out.
A silence fell over the room. The twins took their place at the table again, and went back to finishing their coffee. Jeeves brought me a bottle of water without my asking, and I drained it. I closed my eyes.
Are you going to tell me what's going on?
Eyes you have, but see you do not.
Can I buy a vowel?
Know that which you need.
Thanks. I think.
I opened my eyes. A random thought hit me, and I started chuckling.
"He's lost it now," said Alana.
I laughed outright.
"The men in white coats are on their way," said Agatha.
I laughed so hard, I fell out of the chair, and landed hard on the floor. The resulting pain, in spite of the shot, made me pass out.
Some horrible smell went up my nose, and I jolted awake. I was sitting up again, this time leaning against the chair. Jeeves pulled his hand away, and left.
"Please don't make me laugh again," I said generally.
"Sorry," said Alana and Agatha together.
"It's ok. I just had this déjà vu moment. I think I was about nine, back in my bedroom playing a game. I blew the mission, and had to reload a save. It felt like I’d just done that here."
"It feels that real to you?" asked Annabelle.
"Yes," the three of us answered together.
"Spooky," said Abigail.
Twenty Six
I waited for the comnavsat to show me the compound in detail this time, before I backed Gunbus away from the station.
I moved to a point directly over the compound, and let Gunbus slide into the atmosphere gently. I wasn’t in any hurry this time.
At thirty thousand meters up, I stopped, and used just enough thrusters to hold Gunbus i
n one place. The red dots of the ships below were showing on the scanner.
"Jane, paint the missile launchers as well please." She did, adding more red dots. "And the laser positions." More red dots.
I hadn't even been aware of the laser positions last time around.
Odd, I did think of it as the last time around. This wasn’t a game, but it had that feel.
I literally felt I'd reloaded a save game after being killed. Twice. It was the freakiest feeling.
"How many targets?"
"One hundred and seventeen."
I began pumping out FF missiles from both the front and rear launchers, as fast as they could launch. Before leaving the station, I'd had the front launcher changed to all FF's. This gave me one hundred of them to fire, before I needed to reload.
The missiles streamed out in front, and back, before turning downwards.
"Reload."
"Confirmed."
I brought the comnavsats vid up on a side screen. Down in the compound, all was quiet. Some soldiers were marching around in formation, others were smoking in small groups. I'd never seen anyone smoke before, outside of old flat screens, but here they were. Sentries walked the walls. Gunners lazed around looking bored.
I watched as death rained on them. All of the Talons exploded, since none had active shields to protect them. The Cruisers also died as enough FF's hit them to breach their hulls and detonate their missile magazines. The nearest building was flattened. The one beyond it was damaged, and soldiers began to pour out of it.
Missile launchers and laser positions on the walls, and dotted through the compound, vanished, to be replaced by holes.
The last FF landed. I checked how many red dots were left. Twenty Seven.
"Go." I said into the open channel to Custer.
Above me, three white dots appeared.
"Reload complete."
I pumped out twenty seven more FF's, and watched the last targets vanish.
Three Dropships screamed past me, and I followed them down more sedately. At five hundred meters above the compound, I told Jane to hold us there.
I unstrapped, picked up my sniper rifle, and limped down to the Cargo Bay. By the time I arrived, the airlock was open. I laid my rifle down, and stepped into the back of my combat suit. It sealed behind me, and powered up. I bent, picked up the rifle, and walked to the edge of the ramp. I gave my feet a command to magnetize to the decking, and calmly looked down.
All three Dropships were on the ground now, with troops fanning out from each. Some of the laser turrets were firing in other directions from the one the troops were going. We'd split the team up this time, so each dropship had combat suits leading the charge out. There were no stunners being used this time. The combat suits carried Pulse Rifles, the soldiers, lasers. Jane's combat suit was carrying her Meson Blaster in one hand, and her Heavy Pulse Rifle in the other. It was wearing a suit as usual, and she was back in her Lizard shape, I noticed with a smile.
I concentrated on what was going on, looking for any enemy soldier who looked like he was being effective. I found one. He was on the wall, firing down at the combat suits. I aimed and fired. He went down. I shifted target, and fired again.
Team coms was an overlapping chatter. I listened to it as I searched for targets. As someone mentioned a problem, I sought it out and fired.
I lost track of time. Target and shoot. Target and shoot. Shoot, shoot, shoot.
Suddenly I'd nothing to aim at, so I cast my eyes around the compound. They settled on a large group of people approaching the wall from the direction of the hills.
"Jane, target the wall with a torpedo please. I want a hole where those people can enter easily, without endangering them with the hit."
"Confirmed."
Gunbus moved, and tilted down. This left me leaning in midair. A torpedo fired from above me, streaking down to blow a good sized part of the wall down.
"Company coming," I said.
"Friend or Foe?" asked General Smith.
"Friends I think. They're coming down from the hills. Must have seen the party, and wanted to join in."
"Got it. BA."
"Sir?"
"Check out the newbies. If they aren't friendly, I want to know about it."
"Sir."
Gunbus righted herself, and I once again stood upright, looking down. A combat suit sprinted towards the hole in the wall, stopping just inside. The people outside halted. I listened to half a conversation as BA talked to them.
"Friendlies," she announced.
They'd arrived just in time to avoid fighting.
"Do you need me anymore General?" I asked.
"No sir," she replied.
"I'll head back to Custer then. Report when you're able."
"Yes sir."
I unlocked my feet, walked back to the Armoury, and into a charge slot. The back of the suit opened, I stepped out, and limped up to the Bridge.
Jane had us on our way up already, so I sat and waited for us to arrive back at the station. Once Gunbus was docked, I limped around to Custer, and up to my suite.
Angel greeted me as I went in, and sank into a lounge chair. I soon had an excited puss in my lap, and I gave her all my attention for a while, as I let the tension drain. When she lost interest, and went to sleep in my lap, I started doing the releases for all the people I'd just killed.
When I finished, I sat there, pondering life, the universe, and game saves.
Twenty Seven
Jane brought me out of my pondering with the news an email had come in needing my attention. It was Admiral Bentley reporting her fleet had reinforced the Azgard jump point.
Vonda was in her office, monitoring the ground action.
We discussed our next moves for a short time, and I went back into my living room, calling for Jeeves. I gave him instructions to move all of Angel's stuff back to Gunbus, and to go there himself.
While this was happening, I went onto the Bridge and gave Jane instructions. Twenty of the comnavsats in the Cargo Bay were moved over to Gunbus. I emailed Slice a request for an invoice.
When the move was complete, I caged Angel, and we changed ships.
Custer undocked and pulled away from the station. Apricot One also undocked, and moved to dock with Custer.
Once they were at a safe distance, the station began to move towards the Midnight jump point.
I opened a vid.
"Marshall, Admirals, General. Cobol has been retaken. The enemy had a large walled compound on the surface being used as a ship landing area. They had two Cruisers, and sixty Talons on the ground. General Wellington will update you with Cobol's status as it becomes clearer. We freed some captives, and have made contact with the locals. I'm now on my way to Midnight. All is quiet at the Azgard jump point, where our combined fleets lie in ambush. Hunter out."
I sent off the email, with the battle feeds from the four ships involved.
Angel scampered up onto the console, stopped, looked at me, and meowed angrily. I’d forgotten to move her console cat pad. Jeeves hurried in with another one, and slapped it down in the same place it had originally been. Angel sniffed at it, stepped on, turned around three times, reversed, did another turn, then flopped down, facing the view screen. Another meow, and I transferred the station feed to the view screen, to replace the blank station wall it was previously showing. Angel started to purr.
I was hungry again, so Jeeves brought me some finger food.
I was struggling to stay awake, but I needed to. I threw the next episode of 'Who' onto a side screen, and started watching, munching and slurping my way through the next couple of hours.
Ten minutes from the Midnight jump point, my pad lit up, and began downloading emails. I was obviously close enough now for the comsat built into Gunbus to start working as a relay through the jump point.
I emailed Squadron Leader Lacey for a sitrep, telling him I was close to the other side of the Midnight-Cobol jump point, and there were no enemy in sight. Lacey
worked for me, and as far as I knew, was the senior rank at the blockade point.
I also emailed General Harriman, my Australian sector boss, of my location, and that Cobol was now secured, and communications re-established. I told him he would be getting a whole stack of status reports for the fighting to date. I asked him for a sitrep as well.
Until I heard something, I could not jump into Midnight. For all I knew, they had a massive debris minefield there, the same as they had in Miami.
An email came back from Lacey almost immediately, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I threw the vid to a side screen. He was sitting on an identical Bridge to mine.
"Good to hear from you sir. We were beginning to fear the worst. The Midnight jump point is secure. We lost some Gladiators in the early fighting, but nothing since. After a few days, we had enough debris to block the down jump area, so half of each battle was won before a shot was fired. General Harriman is here, commanding the blockade himself, with me as his XO. All our ships have battle damage, but nothing a repair droid can't fix when we dock next. Please let the General know your intentions. Lacey out."
I opened a vid.
"General and Squadron Leader. My station will be arriving on the Cobol side of the jump point within minutes of you receiving this vid. Please clear the jump point on your side. When it's cleared enough for a salvage droid to jump in safely, send one through. My AI will send all of mine to help with the clearance. While this is happening, I'll be getting some much needed sleep. I'll contact you in the morning. If it's clear for jumping then, I'll bring the station through, so keep all ships well clear. Hunter out."
I sent the email off immediately, and opened another vid.
"Marshall, Admirals and General. The Midnight blockade held. After the jump point has been cleared, I'll take the station through, and leave it there as a forward base for the Australian sector. I hope to be back at Cobol in the late afternoon. Hunter out."
I sent this one to Admiral Bentley and General Wellington, as well as the American Admirals and British Marshall.
Make or Break the Hero (The Hunter Legacy Book 4) Page 13
