Every once in a while he’d receive an update on his display or a verbal order from Dunn; he no longer had access to Lieutenant Templeton’s communications. The only other sources of input he still possessed were his own sensors and the annoying comrade who was whispering into his ear.
“Do you think they saw something? Toni?” Hirum breathed fearfully over the comm, causing Toni’s tense jaw to tighten a little more.
“Lay off the comm, Fourteen ...” he replied, trying hard to keep the irritation from his voice.
Hirum had been getting on his nerves since the imminent contact progression had begun more than an hour before, his comrade having taken to speculating on everything that might be happening up ahead. At first the noise over the comm. had been merely annoying, but Hirum’s constant thought verbalization was beginning to cross the boundary from annoying into deadly distraction.
As he willed his jaw to unclench once more, Toni noticed diffuse smoke at a spot forty paces ahead. He switched his spectrum sensitivity to infrared and picking up a small, flickering heat source in the distance, partially obscured by the plantation trees. He kept his eyes on the light and wondered at what it was.
“Hey. Hey! There’s something out there, man!” Hirum suddenly cried, causing Toni’s body to tense up instinctively.
He scanned his surroundings, seeing nothing outside or on his display worthy of attention. Gritting his teeth, he willed himself to calm down again, reminding himself that it was Hirum who’d given the alarm.
“You talking about the smoke up ahead or what?” Toni asked, keeping communications strictly to their private line.
“Huh? Yeah, that’s it – Wait, you think it’s where they wasted the Unmils?”
“Uh. Yeah, that’s probably it. I guess we’ve advanced five clicks, so that’ll put us right where the shit happened. Listen mate, check your panic over the comm, alright? I nearly went into labor here ...”
He mentally kicked himself for not having thought of it first. Of course that was where the smoke was coming from. He searched the ground ahead of him, noticing how badly it had been disturbed by the maneuvering Hammerheads, and how a tree seemed to have been violently shouldered into; it’s trunk was bent at an angle, a splintered limb resting on the ground beside it.
“You think something’s gonna happen soon, Toni?”
“You do realize it’s the third time you’ve asked me that, don’t you?!” Toni finally burst out. There was merciful silence for a moment before an apologetic Hirum answered.
“Sorry, mate ... It’s just that – how long do we have to keep on doing this? We can’t keep up the pace. This doesn’t make any sense ...”
“We’ll keep going like this for as long as we want to do the job and get home safe ... or maybe you’d prefer for us to walk into an am–”
“Here LOGIS Prime, from now on there will be no chatter over the comms. All orders will be given and received over your displays.”
As the lieutenant cut off Toni quickly checked his communications panel, finding that his ability to verbalize over the comm had been deactivated. A sudden thought stabbed at him, one that suggested that the lieutenant had been monitoring their conversation. A moment later he received a flash memo from the lieutenant.
» SORRY ABOUT THAT, ANY MORE FRICTION AND YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN TEMPTED TO FRAG THE KID. NOT CONVENIENT.
The memo confirmed his suspicion. He tried to send one in return but found he was blocked from doing so, resigning himself instead to trying to remember whether he’d said anything potentially compromising over the last hour. Eventually deciding he was safe from court-martial, he basked instead in the joy of having been unplugged from his partner, although at the expense of not being able to communicate with Dunn without activating the emergency mode.
He barely had time to think about what would justify Em-mode activation before another memo appeared on his display.
» RAISE CAT PRESSURE TO FULL AND PREP FOR LOCOMOTION.
Toni activated his APU, feeling his body shake in its HINT as the turbine resting below his Interface Cavity roared noisily into life. That was the other reason why they were halting their advance every few minutes.
Progressing with activated APUs was a little like hiding in a forest with a solar flare siren strapped to one’s back. It was worse for the Hammerheads than for the Mocas; the combat units had more efficient PAMs and greater interior tank capacity, but their armor and chassis was on the bulky side, and the gas it took to make them move forced the drivers to top up more frequently. Putting it simply, his Moca could move on air pressure alone for a full ten minutes at maximum consumption, while a Hammerhead could hardly manage more than six.
The combat unit’s upside was an attractive one though: they carried more than five times the armor and three times the operational payload of the Moca.
The APU ceased to operate after only a couple of minutes, leaving him to wait patiently while their big brothers half a kilometer ahead continued to pressurize. He soon received another memo ordering renewed progression.
Toni was fortunate; his trajectory took him towards the source of the smoke. What he saw there, however, disappointed him greatly.
What was left of an open-box mining vehicle, not so different from something he’d expect to see on a farm, smoldered inside a deep crater, its front so heavily damaged any possible seat would have been crushed beyond recognition. It still carried part of its load of plantation seeds, the remainder of its cargo having been wastefully strewn over the ground. Pushing on, he came upon a second object thirty meters down, apparently the remains of a robotic arm, gouges on the ground nearby suggesting that it had been flung there from the wreck. Moments later he came upon another mining vehicle even more badly damaged than the first, its chassis having been mercilessly riddled by cannon fire.
There wasn’t the slightest suggestion of armament on or around the wrecks. Had they even belonged to the Unmils, or had the ASC patrol simply obliterated the first vehicles they came upon that didn’t wave a white flag on it? He heard a metallic sound behind him, turning quickly to find the lieutenant’s Suit holding the robotic arm in its gauntlet, inspecting it carefully. A text appeared on his display.
» HAVE YOU COME ACROSS ANY CORPSES OR BODY PARTS?
It was from the lieutenant.
» NEGATIVE.
» ANY WEAPONS?
» NEGATIVE.
» KEEP YOU EYES PEELED. COOLED DOWN YET?
» SORRY SIR. I LET HIM GET TO ME.
» NO SHIT. I COULD HEAR YOUR TEETH GRINDING OVER THE COMMS. KEEP YOUR COOL AND CARRY ON.
They pressed onwards, their progress occasionally punctuated by pauses for pressurization and observation. Toni’s eventually found himself moving through flat plantation land, finding only green, unripe seeds still hanging from their trees. Every couple of kilometers they came upon uncultivated islands of forest where floral species unknown to him abounded, dark and dense and sinister, and packed with troops of tail-less macaques, their red rumps contrasting starkly with their storm-grey coats. The islands exploded with avian confetti every time they set their turbines running, dismaying him as the flocks rose high enough to be visible for kilometers around.
It was morning, chronologically speaking, when LOGIS finally hit hilly terrain, the islands and plantations fast asleep except for the three kilometer wide swath of alarmed fauna in Main Force’s wake. Soon they would be sound asleep as the giants that had woken them disappeared into the forest.
He envied them for that.
“Execute order: Upper Limbs Autostride. Execute order: Deactivate Right Ocular.” Toni ordered his OS.
His right eye plunged into darkness and he lifted the flip-up display that covered it, stretching his arm out to feel his way along the interface cavity’s wall for the light switch. Finding an inset switch he turned it, remembering too late that it opened the hatch. The cavity’s interior was suddenly flooded with light as the hatch popped open, paralyzing the Suit’s right appe
ndage as musky air poured in from the gaping hole. Cursing to himself, Toni used the daylight to find the light switch to his left, turning it before he tried to shut the hatch once more.
It failed to close.
Cursing again, he turned the hatch switch repeatedly, finding to his frustration that it wouldn’t budge more than an inch before returning to its open position. Too late his left eye saw a lowlying branch and collided against it, the deafening clang making him bite his own tongue as he struggled for his balance. Still Looking through his left eye, he realized he’d fallen behind and picked up his pace, finding it much harder to maneuver without binocular vision. With his right eye he searched the interface cavity’s interior, finding to his surprise and satisfaction that the collision had sealed the troublesome hatch. Hastily he removed a small pill from the pouch on his HINT and slipped it into his mouth, swallowing it dry. He regained stereoscopic vision to find a memo floating before his eyes.
» HOW MANY PILLS HAVE YOU TAKEN TODAY?
» FIRST ONE NOW, SIR. DID YOU NOTICE?
» EVERYONE DID. NEXT TIME KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE TREES. STILL GRINDING YOUR TEETH?
» NO SIR, NO TEETH GRINDING.
» GOOD. DONT FORGET TO KEEP AN EYE ON FOURTEEN AS WELL. DOESNT MATTER IF YOU HAVE TO GRIND YOUR TEETH TO DUST, ONCE WE RETURN ILL GET YOU NEW ONES. GET THE JOB DONE.
» YESSIR.
» YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT THE ASC LEFT FLANK HAS FOUND THE MISSING MINERS. THEYRE JUST BONES ON A FIELD NOW AND THEIR EQUIPMENTS MOSTLY ABSENT. DONT TELL HIRUM IF YOU WANT TO MAKE YOUR JOB EASIER. DID YOU KNOW ROSA WAS ACQUAINTED WITH SOME OF THE MINERS?
» NO SIR.
» HES NOT REACTING TOO WELL TO THE NEWS. IF NECESSARY I WILL PULL YOU FROM HIRUM AND HOOK YOU UP WITH HIM. ARE YOU GAME?
» MOST DEFINITELY, SIR.
Toni had to wonder about the lieutenant. Was he texting the other units as well, or only his? Not that he disliked the attention, but somehow it made him feel pressured. The thought was interrupted by a flash update on his display.
» FORWARD UNITS REPORT AVIAN UPHEAVAL ONE CLICK EAST, IN PROXIMITY OF FRIENDLY FORCES CENTER. UNMIL ACTIVITY SUSPECTED. STANDBY FOR ORDERS.
And there it was, the ever more familiar ripple up his spine. It wasn’t as bad as the first time he’d received a similar warning over an hour ago. That time it had been the Hammerheads’ turbines that had startled the wildlife. But the timid animal in the corner of his mind reminded him that the Suits were currently running on pressurized gas alone. He felt a second ripple up his spine and began to gear himself up for action.
» HERE BROTHER ONE. FROM NOW ON AND UNTIL CONTACT WE WILL USE HAND-SIGNS ONLY. ALL EYEBALLS ON MY UNIT.
Toni turned to his section leader, finding Unit Fifteen with its gauntlet held high above its head, its index finger on display. They hurried to comply, forming a single column behind his unit with Grimm bringing up the rear. A quick look to his flanks made Toni feel a little anxious; they were now clear of friendlies, the remaining sections well on their way to set up a possible axis of retreat in the company of combat engineers.
Section one’s mission was clear. Upon imminent contact they were to rendezvous with the two resupply sections of the ASC platoons two hundred meters behind the skirmish line, and then assist in ammunition resupply of combat units on demand. In the previous hour’s false alarm they had gotten as far as where they were now, pausing in single column as Dunn awaited a signal from Main Force.
The delay proved to be a short one.
Dunn gave the signal to advance and stomped ahead at high speed, leaving the remainder of his section to try to keep up. Toni momentarily felt his footpads leave the ground, and he realized that he was actually running in his armored Suit for the first time. He deeply disliked the shuddering noises and pendulous movements his inner ears were picking up, the timid part of his spirit hoping that something wouldn’t be able to take the stress and break down.
Shortly after, the column slowed and took a more winding path among the trees, as if their section leader was looking for something and not finding it. They came to a full stop beside a clump of trees, no resupply Suits yet in sight.
Following their secleader’s signals, the section formed a loose line facing east and advanced carefully for about a hundred meters before pausing again and putting a knee to the ground. Toni chose a particularly broad tree to shelter behind, although he was still afforded a good look of the front line.
The Hammerheads were strewn out about a hundred meters ahead, with perhaps fifty meters of spacing between each hulking unit. Some had deployed Remote Mortar Assemblies further back, the systems still under the control of the drivers via a thirty meter armored cable. The units stood immobile, the dark grey camouflage that covered their chassis working well enough to make it difficult for Toni to count their exact number. The seconds passed by as he watched, and no resupply sections deigned to make an appearance and link up.
Toni saw the detonations before he felt them; wherever he had counted a Hammerhead, and in some places where he had not, brilliant flashes blinked in and out of existence as a cascade of sparks erupted from the units. Then the very air around the Suits erupted violently, enveloping the surrounding trees in unnatural ruby-red flames. The shockwaves from the detonations arrived first, coming across as a particularly stiff cannonade that rattled the bones in his body as well as the structure of his Suit. The combined wave-front from the secondary explosions arrived a moment later, lifting Unit Seven clear off its footpads and into the air.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Mining quadrant, 08H35, 14th of June, 2771
You’ve been taught how to stand in your Suit, Toni reminded himself as he stared hazily at the treetops above, the sky beyond darkening fast.
Something was wrong with his Suit, although he couldn’t quite figure out what it was. He rolled over his left side and onto a prone position. Pushing himself with difficulty up onto his kneepads, oblivious of the roaring chaos, he finally realized that his right appendage was unable to move. Finally managing to lift himself upright, he peered to the right side of his Suit’s torso.
His appendage, undamaged although it was, appeared as though it had been pulled halfway round to his back, and there appeared to be an object of some kind protruding from his right breastplate, exposing its interior. Slowly he realized that the hatch had popped open, the repeat event currently leaving him able to see almost directly into his chest, where the interface cavity resided. That explained the pungent air that was presently searing Toni’s lungs. He tried to close the hatch with his left gauntlet; as he’d expected, it didn’t budge. Almost as an afterthought, he gazed at his surroundings.
He easily found east due to the wall of flames which fed on the plantation, belching coal-black plumes of smoke into the sky as if giving birth to a storm.
Movement to the south suddenly caught his attention. Dunn’s Unit Fifteen was a hundred paces away, motioning frantically to Toni to retreat westward. The two Mocas beside him were scorched but otherwise operational, and they accompanied their secleader as he turned west and set off at a run, several damaged Hammerheads quickly overtaking them at a sprint.
The last of the Hammerheads burned fiercely with crimson flames as it bounded along, heedless of the thick smoky trail it was leaving in its wake.
The vision made no sense, and he dully decided that if it didn’t make sense it didn’t really matter. You are not authorized to be a hero, he reminded himself once more.
The remembered words reminded him of Hirum. Turning north, he searched for his partner’s unit, and found it still gripping what remained of the tree it had been sheltering behind. Toni bounded towards him, and he began to choke on the fumes that were circulating more briskly in his cavity. Dimly he wondered if it was some sort of chemical attack.
Dimly he decided he didn’t care.
Reaching Hirum’s unit, he pressed the PTT on his rifle-grip, trying to hail him over the comm. and failing to do so. He checked his commu
nications panel and did not like what he saw; his OS had just completed a self-diagnostic test, having confidently concluded that radio comms were no longer possible due to action of enemy frequency inhibitors. He activated his loudspeaker.
“Hirum ...” he bellowed loudly, the smallest hint of feedback in his ears, “Let’s get the hell outta here. Ya hear me?”
The Suit did not budge.
Toni tried to pry Unit Fourteen’s hatch open with his gauntlet, not managing to find any handhold to better apply his strength. My hatch can’t stay shut and his just won’t open, he thought, somehow finding the irony amusing.
Unit Fourteen’s titanium face turned slowly towards him. Its placid expression seemed to fit there, as if hugging trees in a burning forest filled with monsters was the thing to do nowadays, didn’t you know?
“Awake now?! Good! Now let go of the fucking tree, mate ...”
Its round oculars stared at him uncomprehendingly. Cursing, Toni grabbed a hold of Unit Fourteen’s torso webbing and gave him a violent yank, shaking himself so badly in the process that he teetered on the verge of unconsciousness. Two more firm pulls and he was finally able to get Hirum moving at the cost of an uprooted tree.
Hirum backtracked placidly under his mate’s towing force, hugging the tree as if it were some hideous teddy bear, clumps of earth still falling from what remained of its roots. Toni suddenly perceived movement from the smoldering forest. Instinct took over and he slipped behind Fourteen’s bulk.
An earsplitting concussion hammered its way through his skull as Unit Fourteen tore apart, sending incandescent metal through Unit Seven’s hatch and against his right arm, encased in its hydraulic interface. Lava-hot spalls punctured through steel and flesh alike, the impacts shaking him as if he were being ravaged by a predator. Screaming, Unit Seven fell hard upon the earth, splintered wood raining down all over as an orange haze cloaked the unknown assailant from his sight.
Descent into Mayhem (Capicua Chronicles Book 1) Page 24
