I set my cup on the table. “You and I both know that, which is why I have asked you to not mention this to your crew. We won’t be out here forever and rumors have a way of spreading. So, this info is as classified as it gets.”
Jarrod sat back in his chair. “No worries from my end. I don’t tell anybody anything. My father and brother think I’m wasting my time on some third world mining operation making the minimum pilot’s pay.”
When we arrived in the Pollus sector the Swift and the Hammer were placed into service. The eight ships were split into teams of two with each team taking a number of Grid locations to scan. Frig calculated that it would take two months to cover 85% of the sector. A central rendezvous point was established and each set of crews would return to it once every five days.
A report of their findings would be dropped in a matrix probe and then deployed for the others to find. If a sighting was made the ships that had made it would wait for the others to join before making a move. With luck we would stumble upon another large freighter from which we would extract another Torrian. We were completing the third such rendezvous when the Raider named Goliath returned with a possible hit.
The Goliath’s captain spoke, “Yes Sir, it is one of the big freighters. Scan shows that it is laden with Silver ore. It has a sixteen ship military escort, nothing that we can’t handle Sir.”
It took a week for all eight ships to reach the space dock where the freighter was being loaded. I held a meeting on the Helix between all the captains. I spoke, “I want to say that we wait until the freighter leaves, but we only have a few more months before the next coronation on Torrus. After that it will be another generation before any more of them are out away from their world.”
Davis added his take, “Sir, we aren’t even sure any of them are on that barge. If we attack and they aren’t there, do we keep looking? And if so, what do we do with that barge? That is a lot of Silver ore Sir.”
The discussion continued for an hour before the decision was made. We were taking down the freighter. The Helix would hold the freighter in place while the rest of us took care of her escorts. We were soon flying into action.
“This is Swift; we should swing in behind that planet and attack as if we are coming up from the surface. It might add a bit of surprise to the mix, letting us get off those first rounds of shots. Set all cannons on negative and let’s show them what we’ve got!”
We raced to a position on the back side of the planet from the parked minor fleet. As we dropped from light-speed we entered the planet’s atmosphere and circled around to the other side. We shot through the atmosphere and our targeting software picked out a battleship as our first mark. Before it could fire we had knocked out one of its two main cannons.
I yelled, “Pulling left! We are swinging about for a shot at that cruiser…. he is turning away, take out his engine and we will get the gun on another pass.”
Frig fired and the cruiser began to list as it lost engine control. I pulled back hard on the stick and looped back towards the battleship we had targeted before.
Boom!
I spoke, “Awe crap! We’ve lost steerage! We must have a weak spot somewhere on this hull that we haven’t identified!”
Frig responded, “It could be a glitch in the software Sir, perhaps we could try a reboot.”
I shook my head. “Computers… reboot and let’s see if we are dead or not. Hammer, this is Swift, we are going to need some backup for about 45 seconds, systems are hung. We are going down for a reboot.”
Barg was soon on our tail, watching for any of the Milgari ships that might turn our way. The Raiders continued the assault with four of the 16 Milgari ships now offline. When the systems came back online the steering was once again free. We turned and re-entered the battle.
The fight lasted for 12 minutes before the last of the Milgari guns that could do damage went offline. The smaller cannons continued to fire, but their effects were not felt as our armor sufficiently dissipated the lower level ion charges. A quick run of taking out their engines saw to it that we would not be rammed by a suicidal Milgari.
“This is Hunter, we are on the freighter deck, breach will occur in three… two… one…”
A flash could be seen as the breach tube violated the freighter’s hull. Three other raiders were soon on her deck with their Marines charging aboard.
Frig then spoke, “Sir, I checked the traffic logs during our skirmish. A small shuttle left the freighter. It was headed for the surface. The coordinates should be on your console display.”
I looked at the image of the shuttles destination. It had landed in a trade port on the planet’s surface. The trade port was quickly identified as Bellows Station and its location was in the center of a large city named Hungren.
A scan of the local data told us that Hungren was the capital city of the planet Woulf in the Woulfan system. A quick scan showed the city to be largely abandoned. Most of the remaining population was working a large open-pit mine just on the outskirts of what was once a bustling metropolis. The trade port looked to rarely be used.
I spoke, “Frig. Put us on the ground where that shuttle landed. Helix and the rest of you Raiders! Get down on that surface and get after whoever that was. If it was Milgari they would not have run, I suspect it might be our Torrians!”
The door opened on the back of the Swift and I stepped out onto the tarmac. It was hot, too hot. The Woulfs had no doubt adapted, but as a Human who had lived most of his existence in a controlled climate, it was an uncomfortable place. Frig stayed aboard the Swift to be my eyes and ears.
Frig spoke, “Sir, I have a connection into their trade system. It’s a bit antiquated, but with a little work I should be able to find a way into the main network. If there are cameras in there, I should be able to patch them through to you.”
Jarrod set the Helix down beside the Swift and I was soon joined by 40 Marines. I turned to see Sheila Meyer standing beside me. “Captain said to not let you out of my sight. I told him I’d do my best. Hennings! Get over here and take point! Just tell us where you want to go Mr. Grange and we will clear the way.”
Before I could speak blaster bolts were whizzing by our heads from a far hangar. Five wheeled vehicles soon left the hangar in our direction carrying a small contingent of Milgari. “Let’s go people! Hit that red hangar over there! That was the last place we saw activity from the shuttle!”
The Marines all began to run across the tarmac as the Swift and the Helix obliterated the approaching vehicles. It was by far an uneven match. Several bolts were then fired into the hangar they had previously occupied, setting it ablaze. We entered the red hangar and were immediately confronted by an old Woulf security guard.
“You can’t be in here. This is a restricted area. I have to be notified of visitors!”
The old man held a wooden baton and did his best to appear threatening. I found it odd that he had been allowed to stay at his post after the rest of his people had been taken to the mines. I could only reason that they had let him be as he was frail and not altogether in the head.
I stopped and asked him a question, “The others that just came through here. Did they have a pass? They are not supposed to come through without a pass. Which way did they go?”
The old man looked confused for several seconds. “No one told me about a pass. They went through that door over there; it’s the tunnel to the main terminal. And they were on foot. Not sure why they didn’t take the bus over there. It is fully charged and ready to go.”
I turned to Meyer, “Get your men on that bus!”
The bus was an open trolley which seated 16 passengers. I pressed a start button as the 40 Marines piled on; they held onto every bar and stood on every step that was available. When I pressed the gas the bus began to move.
“What the… come on!” I rocked fore and back as if it would make the trolley move faster. Its top speed was five kilometers per hour. The Marines were piling off and running past as I
let out a stream of unpleasant words.
I jumped to the ground and was soon in pursuit of the others. Meyer was looking back with a smirk on her face. We reached the double doors into the tunnel and the Marines settled into a sustainable pace. The sweat was pouring from my brow. Even though my combat suit worked to modulate the temperature, it was only so effective in the extreme heat of Woulf.
When we reached the end of the tunnel it opened up into a large hallway that was full of shops. There were no Woulfan people and as such the shops were all uninhabited, many of them remained open in the very state they had been when the Milgari hordes had first seized control.
“Frig, how long has this planet been in the empire? And where are my feeds?”
Several seconds passed before Frig replied, “The Woulfans were overrun 11 years ago; feeds should be coming online now. I have movement detected a kilometer ahead of you, heading towards the city center. I’m patching that feed through now. Looks like your Torrians are on the run.”
We had stumbled onto two Torrian females who were attempting to make their way to the Milgari garrison at the Silver mine. Their pace was slower than the Marines I accompanied, but my pace was beginning to slow as the heat permeated my suit. As we moved down the hallway after the Torrians our task became complicated.
A blue bolt from a blaster impacted Hennings as he led the Marines down the hall. The combat suit he wore managed to dissipate a large portion of the bolts charge, but it was not enough. Hennings heart exploded as the remaining ions spread throughout his chest. He fell to the floor with a thud.
Meyer then jumped into action. “Billis! Take that right side and Moses you take left! Move up under cover and let’s take out whoever fired that weapon!”
Our pace slowed dramatically until the single Milgari soldier was taken down. A hail of blaster bolts blew away the cover behind which he was hiding and three bolts intersected his torso at once. His upper body exploded into a thousand tiny pieces leaving his legs standing in place for several seconds.
Meyer again barked out orders, “OK, people, the route just got longer. Stick near those sides and I want to see zigzags. Don’t want any easy targets!”
The Marines in front were soon taking shifts with the man on point darting back and forth as he moved forward. When he had tired sufficiently a new Marine would take his place, allowing him to move to the back of the line where he could rest and recover.
After ten minutes on the move I got Frig on the comm, “How’s our progress? Are we gaining or falling back?”
Frig replied, “You are gaining Sir. The Torrians are walking. They are now three quarters of a kilometer from your position. A stretch of hall is coming up where you should be able to see them. I would suggest setting blasters to a very low level, perhaps only enough to make them uncomfortable; it should help you to gain on their position.”
I turned to Meyer, “You have a sniper on your team?”
Meyer replied, “Hollis! The shot is 750 meters. I’m looking to only slow their pace so set your level at two notches. Let’s see how good that training was that the Grid spent all that time on you for!”
Hollis was soon attaching the extension and scope to his blaster. His movements were precise even though he continued to run along with the others.
He yelled out as he slid down onto the floor, “Pop coming through!”
Zzp!
A low energy bolt flew down the hallway, striking the Torrian on the left and knocking her to the ground. Three seconds passed before a second bolt took down the remaining Torrian. In an instant Hollis was back on his feet and jogging with the rest of the team.
The two Torrians got immediately to their feet and once again began to run. Hollis repeated his shots knocking both Torrian females to the floor. When they again got to their feet they began to zigzag. Hollis’ first shot found its mark but the second missed to the right.
As the downed Torrian was helped to her feet a slew of blue bolts came our way. More Milgari troops had come to their defense. Meyer took control, “OK people! Keep ‘em low and under cover! And Hollis, if you have targets take the shots on full! Just make sure you don’t hit those Torrians, we need them all in one piece!”
Hollis had taken out three Milgari soldiers by the time they wised up and took cover. The Torrians were safely behind them and moving slowly along the walls. I then gave a command to Hollis, “Set your power level to three notches and start popping those girls. We want them to stay where they are as we work through these soldiers!”
Hollis replied as he set his blaster, “Yes Sir! Can do!”
Blue bolts flew up and down the hallway as we slowly closed the distance. Hollis was knocking the Torrians down as soon as they were able to get to their feet. After the third such strike the Torrians entered a storefront on the left hand side of the hall. We had stopped their progress.
As we continued to move up the hall, Frig provided us with a video feed of the area. “Sir, I count 19 Milgari, four dead. Only five have shooting positions. I would suggest Hollis work his magic on the right hand side where 14 of the 19 have taken their positions.”
Hollis replied, “Already on it Chief!”
Zzp!
“Eighteen to go!”
Zzp!
“Seventeen!”
The Marines were professionals. Their tactics and training showed as they moved up the hallway closer to the prize. At 150 meters we had our first casualty since Hennings. Corporal Mary Whethers took a glancing bolt to the right arm. The suit had done its job of lowering the charge, but the advertising stand beside her had taken the brunt of the ion expansion. Composite and metallic shards had ripped into her left leg.
“Man down! Medic!”
The medic and a second Marine grabbed her up under the arms and dragged her into a nearby store. The Marine returned to the fight while the medic prepped the Corporal for evac. The right pant leg of her suit was removed and the eight pieces of shrapnel slowly withdrawn.
The medic attempted to distract her attention from her wounds, “Nice gams Whethers. I didn’t think the Marines allowed those!”
Whethers winced and managed a shallow smile as a three inch piece of a metal frame was pulled from her flesh, “Girls gotta have her good points. I got this ugly mug from my daddy, these fun bags on my chest came from my momma, the legs… they were passed down from my grandma. She was a dancer in the Grid Follies!”
We had closed to within 40 meters when bolts again began to fly wildly down the hall. Storefronts shattered, littering the hallway with debris. Tiles on the floor exploded upward as low bolts impacted.
Frig came on the comm with the bad news. “Count says there are 304 Milgari soldiers coming your way. I suggest finding substantial cover Sir. If they all begin firing that hallway is going to become a death trap of shrapnel Sir!”
I called across the hall, “Meyer! You hear that! We got 304 charging at us. Frig! Where are the other Marines! Five Raiders should have landed. That’s 160 more marines that I don’t see!”
Frig responded, “Captain Demissal has them coming up a parallel hallways Sir, They should be breaking in behind the Milgari in about six minutes.”
I replied, “All 160 going there? We need backup here! Why wasn’t at least one of those groups routed our way?”
Frig passed the comm over to Captain Demissal, “Grange! That decision was made before those 300 showed up. We thought we could stop the escape and defend your position as we withdrew with the Torrians. Those troops in front of you did not show on any video feeds we had.”
I grimaced at our bad luck and then replied, “So, Captain, tell me some good news!”
The Captain responded, “I’m afraid the news doesn’t get better Grange. We estimate that 2,500 soldiers moved out of the garrison at the mine before we could get over there and shut the place down. They went underground and we can only guess that they are headed your way. We are blasting that ground in between you and the garrison pretty hard, but we don’t kn
ow where that tunnel leads or how deep it runs. If it’s hardened we won’t be able to shut it down before they get to your position.”
I again grimaced and spit out a few choice words. “How long do we have before we can expect their company!”
The Captain responded, “Best guess is about 45 minutes, but you will need to be ready to move in 20 to 25. We don’t yet have an idea of what their transportation is. I have a man working on that express bus you tried to hop. If he can override the governor on it we might have you a set of wheels for evac. He has some old man over there badgering him about it, but he seems harmless.”
I had to chuckle at the thought of the old Woulfan harrassing the Marine. It was a moment of comedy in an otherwise bloody and chaotic situation.
Debris continued to fly as the Milgari began to push in our direction. They took heavy casualties as they advanced. Hollis continued to work his magic. As each Milgari stepped out into the hall to move forward he was met with fire from our weapons. Their advance was slow, but steady.
I spoke, “Frig! Where are those other troops? We are starting to lose ground here!”
Frig responded, “They are moving into position now Sir. You should see the result momentarily.”
In an instant the Milgari push turned into a fight for their lives. The Marines from the other Raider ships had made their way into the fray. In the first minute of the counter assault 76 Milgari lay dead.
The Milgari realized they were caught in a crossfire and changed their tactics. Several squads broke through the walls in the backs of the stores and had soon made their way behind our position. Hollis, after having racked up 52 kills, was the first to take a bolt in the back. Once again the scene in the hallway grew chaotic as bolts flew and debris darkened the air.
I spoke, “Meyer! I count eight store entrances up to where the Torrians are! I say we take a team back in here behind me and we start blasting our way through these walls. Retail space can’t be very hardened!”
Meyers nodded and assigned Weaver, Nellis and Campbell to accompany me. She remained trapped on the opposite side of the hallway. The first wall came down within seconds, followed soon after by the second. When we reached the store in front of where the Torrians were we encountered three Milgari soldiers. Weaver rolled into an aisle taking out the first while Campbell blew the head off the second with a precision shot. The third countered by dropping to the floor and blowing off the lower third of Nellis’ left leg. A medic was called as Weaver again rolled and took the kill shot. Nellis was stabilized and the medic was soon dragging him back towards our original position.
AMP Private War Page 20
