Resilience (Warner's World Book 6)

by Dave O'Connor

  Ginty barely had time to get back to her third platoon position before the first enemy rockets impacted the southern wall. She gave Jim a quick report and responded ‘ten minutes’ to his question about how long she could hold. He demanded 30 but she terminated the call when the first rogan warriors charged in the breach. The fight for the transport centre was just beginning.

  Inside the facility Jim took a hail from Argha advising him that his Charlie Company could not hold much longer in the east. They had been engaged by what was estimated to be a battalion of infantry supported by a company of AFVs. Only one battlewagon remained. He either needed reinforcing or they had to withdraw now. Jim turned to Dave. His eyes asked the question and Dave nodded his reply. Jim hailed back to Argha “OK withdraw back through Bravo company.” They formed the inner ring of the defensive position along with Foxtrot company from the Tenacity Battalion. The Tenacity’s Delta and Echo companies manned the north and west perimeter.

  Back in the transport centre the lead rogan warriors had pushed though twenty metres into the huge building but were now being engaged on three sides. The bodies quickly piled up in the kill zone and the enemy survivors pulled out behind the southern wall. Ginty and her marines breathed a collective sigh of relief.

  She took the opportunity to check her company’s strength. She was down to 21 marines and 32 droids. She had lost two thirds of her droids and one third of her marines. It had been a brutal engagement the likes of which none involved had seen before. She knew they would be back but wasn’t going to sit idle in the meantime. She ordered Bel to block the breach with one of the big trucks and she got Kong to ensure the wounded were evacuated back and everyone got a resup of ammo.

  Argha was having a tougher time. His Charlie Company had to endure an air strike as they tried to withdraw. When he finally stopped behind Bravo Company and regrouped within a warehouse he mustered only 14 marines and 25 droids. He was almost in a state of shock when Jim caught up with him. His bottom lip was quivering uncontrollably. Jim realised he was for all intents and purpose hors de combat. The disruptive shock effect of coming under strike by the enemy fighters would take a while to wear off. Jim just hoped Bravo Company could hold. The more he thought about young 2nd Lt Omar Hadley the more worried he became. He began jogging to where he believed Omar had his HQ.

  Inside the facility Agent Aracon Haspl was arguing with Dave about his intention to blow the facility. There was a tense standoff and not just of wills. Dave and Tammy were well aware of the ISS agents, all armed and seemingly ready to use them. Tammy had hailed for backup from Foxtrot Company.

  “You have no right” reiterated Aracon. “This is not the act of an ally. My orders are specific and they are to secure this facility not to destroy it.”

  Finally, Dave in desperation responded “OK we will withdraw and you and your troops here can secure it.”

  Aracon looked suitably alarmed at the prospect, being well aware of the number of enemy troops outside. At this moment a team from Foxtrot Company arrived and faced off against the ISS security troops. Aracon knew he had little option now but he was not one for giving up easily. “Will you not speak with Admiral Draag?”

  “I did so before arriving. We are one on this.”

  “Allow me to confirm that.”

  “Go ahead.”

  As Aracon hailed Neeblo Control, a series of explosions occurred to the south heralding the second assault into the transport centre. Tammy took the hail from Ginty requesting reinforcements to repel this latest incursion. She consulted with Dave who approved the commitment of a platoon from Foxtrot Company to join the fray.

  It was a dissatisfied Aracon who finally conceded the need to demolish the facility. His ego and pride had been hurt. He wasn’t happy. “So how do you plan to do this?” he asked.

  “We use our support droids to lay down a covering barrage along the front line while we withdraw Alpha and Charlie companies back through here and then north through Echo Company. As soon as they clear here, we blow this place. We’ll then conduct a fighting withdrawal northward towards Neeblo. I don’t expect the enemy will follow up hard. They are after this facility and once it blows they will probably leave.”

  “Maybe” said a wary Aracon.

  At that moment LCmd Lizzy Kaleb hailed Tammy, who was acting as the watch officer for the entire force. Lizzy had been the commander of the Tenacity’ 31st Coy but after integration with their droids was in effect running the Tenacity Battalion. She had had little time in command of her newly formed force and had personally gone to each of her companies to ensure they were deployed well. It was when she was at the Echo Company position in the north that the enemy launched its third Battalion sized attack of the afternoon.

  Tammy interrupted Dave’s conversation with Aracon. “Sir we got trouble in the north. Kaleb wants to release her tangos to Echo Company. She says they are facing at least a battalion strong force with AFV support.”

  Dave let out a visible sigh. They were being encircled and he knew it.

  “Does that mean we are cut off?” asked Aracon.

  Dave ignored him and asked Tammy “Is the west still clear?”

  “At the moment.”

  “How much longer with those charges?”

  “Wait” said Tammy and she hailed Sgt Udai ‘Dice’ Seshadri who was in charge of the demolitions. “Another ten minutes” said Tammy. Her face looked strained.

  “Set the start time for those barrages to now plus fifteen” ordered Dave. “Change the withdrawal route. We’ll head west and then turn north once we’re clear of here. Do it now.”

  Tammy gave a nod and began modifying the plan on her console. Dave turned to Aracon. “You tagging along?” Aracon nodded. “Tammy” said Dave “slot the ISS detachment into the order of march behind Bravo Company.”

  Aracon looked worried. “Exactly where in the order is that?”

  “Don’t worry you should have someone behind you” said Dave not hiding his displeasure.

  Jim found Omar with his forward 1st Platoon in a half demolished building. It was then that he realised he himself was on the front line. Thankfully there was a pause in the enemy attack as they were reorganizing for another push. Several automatic pulse guns though were still chattering away and every now and then a twang would be heard nearby.

  To his credit Jim found Omar in a calm mood. He was giving instructions to one of his Sergeants. Jim waited for him to finish. Then he asked “How is it going Omar?”

  “So far, so good Sir. We knocked out that AFV in front and they pulled back behind that rubble over there. I don’t think they’ve run out of puff, just reorging for another push.”

  “Just so you know, I have no one between you and the facility. I’ll try and get a backstop for you from Foxtrot. You’re doing well Omar. Keep it up.” Omar smiled back and Jim turned and began jogging back to the facility across the open ground. He had gone fifty metres when the firing increased behind him. As he entered the doorway he told the two marines on guard there to stay alert.

  Chapter 18. Resolute 1430, 21 September

  It had taken them ages to recover the shuttles, especially the hippos which still didn’t have proper fastening systems for the battlewagons. Ivan barked at Li to hurry them up. He was about to order the intercept that he had Sue prepare when he suddenly changed his mind.

  The loss of the Raptor was still playing on his mind. ‘I should never have sent the frigates in by themselves’ he chastised himself.

  “Change of plan” he announced loudly. “We will marry up with the frigates on the far side of the planet, where we can all break cloak and coordinate our next move. I doubt they’ll follow us and leave their ground troops exposed and without support. Once on the far side we set up a conference and coordinate a proper plan. Anyone got a better idea?”

  No one spoke. “OK then, prepare a message to the rest of the ships to RV here (and he indicated a location on the holo). Copy it to Neeblo and Task Force Warner. When it’s
ready we’ll break cloak, broadcast and hightail it away.”

  Chapter 19. Neeblo 1440, 21 September

  Hec gave a big smile to the rogan hopper pilot who had picked them up and he was grateful the translator protocol was still working in his suit. The descent and landing in the escape pod was pretty rough and his suit kept throwing up a series of seemingly random alerts, all of which proved false.

  Meg’s mood had not improved and she looked decidedly impatient. “Where are we headed?” she demanded of the pilot upon strapping in.

  “Neeblo Control” replied the pilot as he tore the craft off the ground and banked hard while keeping the craft very low to the ground. They touched down in the same open space where Dave had had his accident a short while before. The pilot pointed to a guard standing outside an entrance and they made their way there.

  A minute later they met Jeb outside the Control Room. “I don’t have much time” explained Jeb. “Go with this chap here and he will take you to a comms centre where you can coordinate the recovery of your personnel. He will also arrange for you to be issued weapons. Our force is at Mintoslum. They’re in trouble. So hurry things along. Any questions?”

  “What, we’re being committed as ground troops?” asked Meg.

  “Yep…desperate times. OK I have to get back in there.” With that he left them. The rogan sergeant led them to a nearby room where there were banks of comms terminals. He gave them a quick intro of how to work them and gave them the call sign for the hopper that brought them in. He stayed around till they got the hang of it, but then left them to it.

  Hec put out a call on their emergency frequency asking each of the pods to report in. He quickly formed a list and scheduled the pickup sorties required. While he was busy doing this Meg was asking questions about why her ship’s crew were being thrown in as ground troops. The marines yes but she could not believe they would be throwing away highly trained ship’s crew like this.

  Hec tried to ignore it but finally it got to him. “For heaven’s sake can you let me get on with this.”

  Meg was surprised for sure but something shifted in her awareness and she realised it would be good if she did something constructive. “I’ll chase up with the gear then” she said.

  “That would be good.”

  “Right, where did he say the armoury was?”

  “Up one, second on the right.”

  “Right…I’ll be off then.”

  Hec breathed a sigh of relief once she left him.

  Chapter 20. Mintoslum Facility 1445, 21 September

  Sgt Dice Seshadri had just finished checking the demo charges. All that was left to do was configure the remote detonator. He hailed Jim “We’ll be done in two minutes.”

  Jim gave Dave the thumbs up and Dave nodded his authorisation for the next phase to commence. “Phase 2 everyone” hailed Jim over the force wide net.

  The support droids commenced their covering barrage as Ginty pulled her bashed and battered company back from the transport centre and across the open ground in a mad dash to the southern entrance of the facility.

  Omar was doing the same on his side. He was straining to ensure that his forward troops were withdrawing when enemy mortars began ranging onto the open area between his position and the facility. “Fuck it” he called out to no one in particular and turned and ran to catch up to his marines who were now only a 100m from the facility.

  The next thing he realised he was flying forward propelled by the blast some thirty metres behind him. Despite or because of the shock his grip on his pulse rifle tightened and he found himself focussing on the charge pack housing. It seemed like he had all the time in the world. Just as suddenly he crashed back to earth, his outstretched left hand taking the full brunt of the impact with the ground. Thankfully his battle gloves held together.

  One of his marines ran back and helped him up. It was only then that he realised he must have fractured his left forearm. It was aching like crazy but he knew now was not the time to take a closer look. He was literally pulled through the entrance by another marine who shut the big doors behind him.

  To the west Lizzy Kaleb rose to her feet. A strong south westerly breeze was blowing. Despite the tough nature of the material, her cam suit seemed to flap around her wiry frame in the stiff breeze. She looked around to ensure that her Tenacity troops were rising with her. She urged her fourth platoon to begin the march away from the facility. They were soon on the march.

  They were being supported by a pair of battlewagons and these were cautiously advancing behind an arrowhead of droids and marines. There had been no reports of enemy in this sector but Lizzy was well aware that that could change at a moment’s notice. She glanced up to her left and made out the figures moving along the ridge that ran west-sou-west. They were her left flank guard. If the enemy from the south got wind of the withdrawal they would flank across to that ridge and then her force would be in real peril.

  She scanned across to her right across the ground that sloped gently down to the north. It was very lightly wooded. A clump of buildings about two clicks ahead dominated the otherwise open terrain. That was her current waypoint and she hoped to reach it within twenty minutes. It wasn’t going to be a problem for her droids or battlewagons but her marines were laden down with gear. Those not carrying a quanto were either carrying rizstorms (anti-armour/anti-pers rockets) or nocklars (anti-air rockets).

  “Pick up the pace” hailed Lizzy and there was a noticeable increase in tempo. She glanced across to her right. She had opted not to put a flank guard out there, relying on their ability to observe a long distance in that direction. It was tense work and physically demanding especially for someone as diminutive as Lizzy. She really had to pace it out to keep up. She was soon perspiring.

  With a click to go to reaching the first waypoint she checked behind and could see her 5th and 6th platoons now fully shaken out into their arrowheads. The 5th was behind and to the left while the 6th was behind and to the right. Together the three platoons made their own arrowhead.

  “Hurry it up Lizzy” hailed Dave who was propped up against the western entrance of the facility. He was keen to leave this place behind and blow the demolition.

  “Double time” ordered Lizzy to her troops. She groaned as she pushed off harder with her legs.

  Soon there was room for Dave’s command group to move off. He gave Argha a pat on the back as he hobbled past him. “As soon as Ginty comes through” he reminded Argha. Argha nodded. Their eyes met and Dave was reassured that Argha had recovered from his earlier ordeal.

  Now it was Dave’s turn to break into a trot but his injured left foot caned him with each impact. Chase came along side and put his right arm under Dave’s left shoulder and together they stumbled forward like contestants in a three legged race. Chase began to laugh as he realised how ridiculous they must look. The pain Dave was experiencing didn’t lend itself to merriment but after a minute he too laughed, albeit laced with a little pain.

  Jim stayed behind with Argha and anxiously counted off his troops as they came through. He gave words of encouragement and urged them to hurry up and shake out into their allotted formation sub groups. He was mightily relieved when Ginty came through the door. He gave her a pat on the back and told her to hightail it. Ginty didn’t need the encouragement. She began barking orders to her rump of a force to form up and she began moving off within a couple of minutes.

  Finally Kong came through, his face actually betraying some concern, which was unusual for him. “That’s it?” asked Jim. Kong was trying to catch his breath. He nodded and then added “they are probably in already” referring to the enemy.

  “Right then, you can rest later Kong” said Jim and he waved him off. Kong with a shrug started to jog away after his platoon commander. “Come on Argha” said Jim “it’s time to blow this place.”

  Argha had organised his small force into two groups. Group One was three hundred metres west of the facility, deployed and ready to cover the withd
rawal of Group Two. “Group Two pull back” hailed Argha. He and Jim joined them as they broke into a run. They kept running for a good 100m past Group One.

  Jim however dropped off at Group One and gave Dice the order to fire the demolition. At first he thought it had failed to go off properly. There were a series of thuds and a rumbling sound that seemed to be moving in a circular motion around the facility. Jim looked anxiously at Dice.

  “Wait for it” said Dice. There was real excitement in his dark brown eyes as his left thumb kept moving up and down on his clenched fist. “Wait for it…” and then the great domed roof lifted off the facility in a massive explosion. Concrete, brick and metal pieces hailed down around them.

  Jim cursed “fucking hell!” He quickly regained his composure. “Right this is no time to dally lads. Let’s go.”

  Dave like everyone else in the withdrawal could not but turn and witness the demolition. A smile came across his face.

  “Fuck you Sallusam” yelled out Chase triumphantly and they both laughed again as they began to hobble off.

  Chapter 21. Rogintinam over Cheklin 1500, 21 September

  “NO!!” exclaimed Meeka as he slammed his fist into the arm rest. His eyes were bulging as he focussed on the enemy icons on the holo, which was zoomed in onto the Mintoslum facility. “Launch the fighters. Hunt them down.” He bellowed.

  “Hold on” interjected Haina. “We’ve already lost 22 fighters. I’m not losing any more on a fleeing enemy.”

  “Are you questioning my order?” asked Meeka.

  “We agreed to consult, remember” said Haina standing her ground. “Let’s just consider our options first.”

  “I’ll be dammed if I’m going to let them get away.”