Behind the Lines: Ganog Wars Book 1

by Chris Fox

  "Why has she not deployed her fighters?" Takkar wondered aloud. "And why not utilize their stealth devices?" Those were the only areas where the Coalition had any advantage. Their fighters could force him to take a defensive position, at least initially. It would take time for his fighters to overwhelm the enemy, and during that time they could inflict appreciable damage on his dreadnoughts.

  Takkar began to pace. There was a trick here, but what was it? What was she trying to accomplish? Why return to the system now? He whirled, facing the Saurian techsmith. "Get me Krekon, now. His report is overdue. Find out what's happening on the surface!"

  The Saurian closed her eyes, and pulses flowed to her arcanotome.

  Takkar continued to pace. Was this enemy commander coming to rescue her people? She had to know such a move would fail, unless she had access to resources she'd yet to reveal. He needed information, and he needed it now. Her fleet was nearly upon him, just outside of firing range.

  "Clan Leader, Krekon has not checked in. His cruiser is still idling in the slums at the deployment site." The Saurian bowed as she backed away rapidly. Her arcanotome gave her scales a hellish look.

  Takkar shuddered. "Connect me to the cruiser," he growled. "Now."

  The Saurian closed her eyes again, then looked up fearfully. "They are not responding, Clan Leader. It's possible the storm is somehow involved."

  "Possible, but not likely. Krekon hasn't checked in, and the enemy chooses this exact instant to attack? There is treachery at work." Takkar thought furiously. How best to respond? "Order all fighters to deploy. Focus on the smaller craft. Move the capital ships closer to engage the enemy. Let us take the fight to them."

  The scent of fear wafted from the techsmith. "Sir, what about the planetstriders? If we leave this position they will not be able to intervene on our behalf."

  "Do not question me again, Techsmith. I do not wish to train a replacement, but if you speak so, I will deal with the inconvenience." He turned back to the upper hull, watching the swarm of fighters begin emerging from every dreadnought.

  It was true that moving to engage the enemy would deprive them of the planetstriders--for now, at least. Yet it was also an unpredictable move, one that might confuse the enemy commander while costing Takkar little. He could always fall back to the planet's high orbit, if need be.

  "Mobilize the planetary garrison," Takkar commanded, "and order it to begin sweeping the area around Krekon's cruiser. Continue to monitor the vessel, and let me know as soon as you establish contact. Also, ready the planetstriders for war. Have them ravage the city at random. Nothing survives the day."

  The move lacked subtlety, but it was possible they would get lucky and destroy their enemies in a random blast. The ka'tok were of little value, and his planetstriders had nothing to do until he called upon them to aid the fleet. At worst, it would put the humans on the defensive.

  "Make of that what you will, enemy commander," Takkar said aloud. He gave a wicked, fanged smile. "Will you risk your fleet to try reaching them before my planetstriders destroy them?"

  Chapter 47- Dance

  "Admiral, the enemy is deploying fighters," Juliard said.

  "Yes, I can see that," Fizgig snapped. "From the look of it they've launched everything they have."

  The enemy fleet had broken orbit and was moving to intercept. Abandoning a superior tactical position made no sense, and deploying their fighter screen was premature. She didn't understand what she was seeing, and wished she had some context for the enemy's actions.

  Every foe she'd previously fought, she understood. Tigris, humans, and even the Void Wraith had reacted predictably in most situations. She knew who they were and how they fought. But this? She didn't understand the enemy's disposition, and the ignorance was not enjoyable.

  "Order Khar to have his booster mechs stand by," Fizgig ordered. "Have the vessels from the 1st screen the vessels from the 2nd. We cannot afford to lose any of the theta cannons before we begin to fire." She dug her claws into one of her satiny cushions. Venting that tiny portion of her fury helped.

  "Enemy fighters have reached us," Juliard called out. "They're aiming for the capital ships."

  Fizgig frowned. Then she blinked in understanding. "Order the frigates and corvettes to take evasion action, immediately."

  "The enemy fleet is firing, all vessels," Juliard screamed. "The Kettle and The Zelb have been hit. The Zelb is requesting assistance. Their keel is breaking apart. No word from The Kettle."

  "Blast it. Have the smaller ships fall back, and use our capital ships as cover." It was unusual for an enemy to focus on smaller, more maneuverable ships. It was the opposite of what the Ganog had done the last time they'd clashed. This commander was canny. He was changing tactics, seemingly at random. "Have the fighters screen the capital ships, and push closer to the enemy ranks."

  "Should we deploy theta cannons, sir?" Juliard asked.

  "No," Fizgig snapped. "It's too soon. We have to get closer. We need to hit all of them at once. For now, we need to rely on the fighter screen."

  Her chest swelled as Khar's booster mechs hit the enemy line. Khar's forces cut deep wedges in the more numerous enemy, dancing away to circle around for another pass. They took a few casualties, but inflicted many times that number on the enemy.

  "Enemy fleet is firing again, sir," Juliard said, her tone tense.

  The enemy ships fired a barrage from the main cannons on the dreadnoughts. Their fire hit both Khar's line and the enemy fighters. The casualties were hideous, on both sides.

  "Damn it. Have Khar's line scatter," she snarled.

  The enemy commander clearly knew he could win a battle of attrition, and his tactics reflected that. He was pushing her early and hard, seeing if she'd break.

  She'd sooner die.

  "Full power to engines. Ready the theta cannons. Let us show them they are not as invincible as they think they are."

  Chapter 48- Knock Knock

  Sissus stopped outside the cruiser, hesitating before climbing the ramp. The cruiser stood open, a testament to Ganog arrogance. It left the vessel open to assault, a possibility the Ganog would never consider. They were the elites, after all and the Saurians merely their hounds, running prey to ground. They were used to being the predators.

  "Where is Krekon, ka'tok?" a Ganog boomed. He strode toward Sissus, his scarlet armor gleaming. He had a long, curved sword resting casually against his shoulder. Behind him sat two more Ganog, both drinking liberally from hollowed gek horns. Sissus recognized none of their names, though their faces were familiar.

  "Apologies, great warrior." Sissus gave a cringing bow. The mask came easily--and hopefully for the last time. "Krekon is busy prying secrets from his enemies' minds. He sent me to return with spoils. He has captured one of the enemy's war machines, including the core."

  That got the warrior's attention. His fur darkened to deep green, and his eyes narrowed. "You will show me this core, now. Or I will feast on you, property of Krekon or no."

  Sissus knew it was bluster. There was no way this lowly warrior would risk offending Krekon, certainly not over something as valuable as a core. He wouldn't steal it, but he might want to be the one who presented it to Takkar. Krekon might grant him that honor, if he were both efficient and humble in securing it.

  That was the very ambition Sissus had sought to provoke. Judging by the green in the fur, he'd achieved it. The envy was powerful, enough that the fool would overlook any signs of the carefully laid ambush.

  "Pardon, warrior," Sissus whined, "but the war machine is in several large pieces. It might be wise to bring additional help to carry it back. Already, the ka'tok scurry from the shadows. They may grow bold enough to take this prize." He found himself enjoying his role, knowing that he was convincing this fool to walk to his death.

  "You left the core unguarded?" the Ganog roared. He spun, calling back up the ramp to the other warriors. "The defiler has need of us. Gather your packs." The Ganog turned back to Sis
sus. "How far is this war machine?"

  "Not far, great one, not far. I will show you," Sissus retreated down the ramp, beckoning the Ganog forward. "There, you can see some of it now." Sissus pointed at the remains of the captain's mech, which the warrior they called Annie had carried here. It gleamed in a way little metal did on this world.

  Greed lit the Ganog's gaze. He saw nothing, except his own glory. The other Ganog followed his gaze, and each took on a similar cast. Only their Saurians were wary--the true threat in this situation. They trotted slowly past Sissus, eyeing him distrustfully.

  There was little love lost between clutches, and he eyed them just as distrustfully as they passed. They'd expect nothing less. Sissus gave a cringing bow as the last of the Ganog warriors passed. He glanced behind him, inside the ship. It appeared entirely empty.

  Sissus smiled, and walked up the ramp into the ship.

  Chapter 49- Pew Pew

  Annie didn't much like Lieutenant Burke, or his sour-faced gal pal. They were too stiff, too set on doing everything right and proper. Their kind infested the Coalition military, and every day Annie was a little closer to going back to asteroid mining.

  Today wasn't that day, though. Today she needed to be a soldier, or there wasn't going to be a tomorrow--not for her, or for the rest of this ragged outfit.

  Burke's voice crackled over her comm. The rust played havoc with the signal. "Annie, move three meters to your right."

  "Yes, sir," Annie drawled back. She kept her tone cheerful, suspecting that Burke hated that about her, and guided her mech back three meters, which cut her view of the burly Ganog cruiser.

  Not that she needed all that great a view. All she had to do was charge in and light up the enemy when the lieutenant gave the word. Easy peasy. Annie sucked at the piece of chew she'd been nursing for the last twenty minutes. She was almost out. That was gonna be a sad day.

  Figures were moving down the ramp into the dusty street. Annie couldn't get a great look at them, but she counted three Ganog elites and a pack of the lizards with the red scales. They reminded her of the venomous snakes that had infested the jungles of Arcada. A third of her squad hadn't made it off-planet, and they'd never even seen the enemy.

  That was one of the reasons Annie had gone into asteroid mining. She liked having a ship between her and things that could kill her. She'd leapt at the pilot training when the military had introduced the mechs a year back, because it got her off the front line. There weren't many to go around, but knowing Nolan had its perks. That kept her from getting shot at directly, most of the time.

  "Nuchik, get a bead on the lead target," Burke ordered. "Annie, I want you to scatter the lizards. I'll deal with the remaining Ganog."

  Annie knew the noise dampening in the cockpits would prevent their enemies from picking up voices, but his voice still sounded too loud.

  "Roger that, sir," Annie drawled. Soldiers didn't say roger that, and she knew it would make the man's eye twitch.

  The report of a high-caliber rifle echoed through the skeletal buildings, and one of the Ganog slumped to the dust. His companions sprang instantly into action. The Saurians fanned out around the body, scanning the shadows with their plasma rifles. The remaining pair of Ganog began that bellowing breathing of theirs. It reminded Annie of that one guy in every gym who yelled whenever he squatted.

  The Ganog began to grow, muscles bulging as they swelled in size. Burke stepped around the corner, his particle cannon punching a hole through one of the Ganog's chests. The other completed its transformation, and charged.

  Part of Annie wanted to intervene. Not because she wanted to help Burke, but because he was riding Hannan's mech, and if it got damaged Hannan would be pissed. She'd want it fixed straight away, and that would send her begging to Annie's bunk.

  Annie was a good soldier, though, no matter what Burke thought. She followed her orders, and went after the lizards. They were looking for targets, so a bunch of 'em zeroed in on her mech the instant she stepped from cover. They peppered her with small arms fire, most of which pinged off her armor. There were a couple with plasma weapons, though, and even small plasma weapons could mess up her day if they got lucky.

  "Guess we'll just have to give you something else to occupy yer minds, critters." Annie laughed over the loudspeakers. She doubted they spoke English, but that didn't much matter.

  To her surprise and delight Aluki popped over a bent girder, holding something with a strong resemblance to a P-181 rocket launcher. She fired it, and a trio of Saurians were flung screaming into the air. None rose.

  "Now that is an excellent idea." Annie popped the cover on her missile tubes, tapping in the targeting sequence using her right gauntlet. Nine missiles shot from her mech's tubes, zipping toward nine individual targets. The lizards, bless their scaly little hearts, tried to run.

  Explosions sprung up, all up and down the street, and lizards popped like the melons she'd used to practice on before she enlisted. The few that survived the initial barrage started sprinting for the ship. Annie cored one with a quick shot from her particle cannon.

  That left three more.

  They were too close to the ship to risk either a missile or another particle shot, so Annie charged them. She leapt into the air, bringing one of her mech's legs down on a lizard. The thing's back broke, and Annie leapt again. She landed right behind the next lizard, pulping it with a metal fist. "That's right, you ornery little bastards."

  The last lizard made it halfway up the ramp. Three plasma bolts came from inside the ship, ending him. Sissus strode down the ramp, nodding in her direction. Annie turned her mech to size up the rest of the combat, but all the enemies were down.

  "All right people," Burke barked. "Let's get inside and secure the ship. We need to get into the air ASAP."

  "Uh, sir," Annie called. She raised the mech's arm, pointing at the mound where the captain was supposed to be operating. "Looks like that planetstrider thing is starting to wake up."

  Chapter 50- Knee

  Nolan checked the bracket to make sure the cable was properly affixed. The drone had placed it near the monster's hip, a thousand meters above Nolan's current perch. He clipped on to the cable, activating the winch.

  It came to life with a high-pitched whir, carrying Nolan up the cable. T'kon had already made the ascent, but Lena and Hannan still awaited their turn. They stood in a ridgy fold of dark green scales just above the creature's knee.

  Nolan focused on his ascent, wishing it were faster. They'd already been at this for seven minutes, and even with the cables they'd brought it would taken ten more to reach the hatch set somewhere on the massive metallic structure atop the planetstrider's back.

  "Captain, I've got something below," Hannan cautioned over the comm.

  Nolan risked a glance down, immediately overwhelmed by vertigo. It was a long way back to the ground. He forced a deep breath, looking for whatever had spooked Hannan.

  "T'kon, those lights down there, they look a bit like what we'd use for fire crews. What am I seeing?" Nolan asked, unsure if the translator microbes could accurately convey the meaning behind fire crews.

  "They are indeed alarms, Captain," T'kon replied, calm as ever. Nolan glanced up. T'kon was bracing the cable, waiting for Nolan to reach him. "If I had to guess I'd say the planetstrider has just been activated. The alarms are meant to warn us away, so we are not crushed when the creature breaks through the mound."

  "That probably means Fizgig has reached high orbit," Nolan said. "The clock has started, people. Lena, get on the cable. We can't afford to do this one at a time."

  Having more than one person ascend at once was risky, but they were out of choices. The cable shook as Lena attached herself and began to rise. Nolan avoided looking down, focusing instead on T'kon's growing figure. He had less than a hundred meters to go, and was climbing quickly.

  The cable jerked again, and Nolan looked down. Hannan was climbing, too, not far behind Lena. The cable was rated to handle up to five
human-sized bodies, assuming it had been properly affixed. It was meant to be connected to rock, though, not through a planetstrider's scales.

  A low subsonic groan came from the creature, and it shifted its weight from one leg to the other. The motion caused the cable to sway violently, and when it reached the apex the bottom bracket popped loose. The cable was now only affixed near T'kon, and he strained to keep it steady.

  "Climb. Climb swiftly," T'kon barked through gritted teeth.

  Nolan accelerated his climb, moving faster than safety protocol normally dictated. He twisted and spun around the cable, his breakfast threatening to come up. Finally, he reached T'kon. Nolan grabbed a broken scale, bracing his arm against the creature. He unclipped himself from the cable, pulling himself to safety.

  Lena was about halfway up the cable, maybe five hundred meters below. Hannan was twenty or thirty meters below the Tigris. The cable swung wildly as the planetstrider took a full step. Nolan cursed, bracing himself.

  "Captain!" Lena shrieked over the comm. "By the goddess, get me off this rope."

  Nolan unclipped his winch and fired the bolt through a scale. He tested it with his weight, and it looked like it would hold.

  "Give me a hand, T'kon," he grunted. He pulled at the cable, and with the alien's help was able to clip it through his winch.

  Nolan punched the crank, and the winch began to spin. "Hang on Lena. We'll get you out of there."

  The cable began to shorten. Combined with Lena's own winch, it ate up the distance. In less than a minute, she ascended into range.

  Nolan seized her outstretched hand. "Gotcha." He hauled her to safety, not letting go until she'd found purchase against the creature's tough hide.