“Which dead German taught you the importance of logistics?” Maya asked. Success galvanized Lemieux’s belief in his mediocre plan. Introducing suggestions through forced compliments was part of the new strategy.
“Well, most German military theory revolves around extensive logistics networks,” Lemieux crowed. “Even in these days of small mercenary companies, if a unit survives the first engagement, it’s the unit that resupplies the quickest that will win out.”
“Oh, I assumed there was some tank commander or something who’d written a book or something,” she said casually.
“Um, well, Guderian, a German tank strategist, said ‘Logistics is the ball and chain of armored warfare.’” Lemieux even spoke in a cheesy German accent while recalling the statement.
“Guderian,” Maya said, and nodded her head thoughtfully. “Yeah, I think I heard about him in school. Anyway, I should go help reload the CASPers. We’ll be ready if they come back, sir.”
“They’ll come on in the same old manner, and we’ll meet them in the same old manner,” Lemieux said as she walked off. “Wellington said something like that after Waterloo.”
She turned her head, smiled, and walked back to her CASPer. Loading complete, she crawled aboard. Her radio crackled as Hex finished briefing Lemieux about the Avaka scaling the cliffs on one prong of their attack, while the other followed a low valley.
“Copy, Ghost One. Interesting theory.” Lemieux paused. “All units, Hammer. Saddle up, Marauders. Lucille reports cameras from the city show another wave inbound.”
“Hex, Maven, you up?” she called. With the whine of a motor and the whoosh of the canopy closing, she resealed the mech.
“Hex is up,” he answered.
“Maven’s up, though I’m kinda busy, about to launch for recce,” Maven said. “He wants me to confirm his program’s report. I think he digs that thing more than me.”
“I thought it was just an analysis program, but did it just give him an intel report?” Maya asked.
“I think it collects feeds from all over,” Hex replied. “Honestly, I don’t know how it works.”
“Anyway,” Maya continued, “I prepped the battlespace. Maven, all on you now.”
“Roger that. I’ll work him like a Pushtal with a Human pet,” Maven answered.
Is that even a thing? Maya blushed as she pictured the implication.
“Hey, if we can somehow just knock Lemieux off altogether, can we readdress that threesome plan?” Maven laughed across the frequency.
“No!” Hex shouted.
“We’ll see,” Maya said simultaneously, in jest.
“Wait, what?” Hex mumbled. Maya chuckled.
“Messing with both of you!” Maven laughed. “I’m gonna go check on this new wave.”
* * *
Lemieux directed them back to the same positions they’d held in the first assault. As planned, First and Second Squads both picked their way through the terrain, ostensibly to save jumpjuice, but mostly to give Maven time to work on Lemieux. During this time, Lou called to complain that Panzer Platoon’s progress had stalled out once more, this time in a pool with deeper mud than expected. Hex listened as Lou received direction to deal with it.
“Angel One, Hammer,” Lemieux called. “Got eyes on yet?”
“Yeah, Hammer,” Maven said, concern in her voice. “There’s a metric crapton more of them this time. I can’t even make out individual columns this time.”
“Copy, Angel One,” Lemieux answered. “Hey, are the Avaka piling up over the terrain, or are they funneling down valleys?”
“Uh, kind of funneling for now,” Maven said. “Is this where you come up with some sexy, brilliant strategizing? From their numbers, I think we could use it.”
“Well, just digging though my list of dead Germans to consult,” Lemieux said.
Hex shook his head. Now he’s stealing lines I fed to Maya to sound clever to Maven. Schmuck.
“I’m sure you’ll think of something impressive,” Maven said coquettishly. “Anyway, Hammer, just give us the word, and we’ll hit ‘em with a closed fist.”
There it is, Marc, make the connection.
The frequency fell silent. Hex imagined their boss consulting Lucille, the data analysis program he treated like a Human. Lucille did most of his real thinking for him.
“Huh, Maven,” Lemieux in his inspired tone. Here it comes! “You just gave me an idea. One of my dead Germans used to say ‘Hit them with a closed fist, not with the fingers spread.’ Now they’re spreading their fingers as they dig through those hills, saving their strength while there’s no target. Which means if we back out to the plains, they’ll pour out in manageable columns, where we can focus fire on them one at a time. Plus, we’ll have the maneuverability of the plains, and you’ll have open lanes to strafe, assuming you can steer clear of their anti-air. Thoughts?”
“What about key terrain?” Maven asked.
Just can’t help but push it, can she?
“The sign of a good strategist is the ability to throw out the rules when the situation dictates,” Lemieux said with swagger. “Keep an eye on them, Angels. All other units, fall back to the plains. Check in with ETAs to the objective markers I’m about to send you.”
With one exception, all units checked in with a reasonable estimated time of arrival to their marker. Panzer Platoon, however, checked in with a predicament.
“Say again, Panzer Lead?” Lemieux demanded.
“Like I said, Panzer Two got stuck in a mud flat; you knew that,” Big Lou explained. “The damn rats chewed up my treads. We repaired ‘em, but they’re jury-rigged, and I’m not gonna trust ‘em traipsin’ through crap terrain, am I? I had Panzer Two leading, but they got stuck in mud, now I’m trying to drag ‘em back out. Wish you’d come up with this damn plan of yours earlier, Hammer; like yesterday woulda been good.”
“Copy, Panzer, move the others while you two sort it out,” Lemieux said. “Third and Fourth, move back up and try to lead the Avaka away from Panzer. Don’t get too close, just let them notice you and pull back and away. First, you stay on with Panzer Lead and Two and support as needed. Second Squad, be prepared to fall back to the city for final protective fire.”
First Squad found a good rocky outcropping as a vantage point, where they could see the Avaka approach at a good distance, but keep some concealment. Hex watched the intel feed of the horde’s advance and constantly checked on the progress of the stuck Panzers. After a few nervous minutes, Hex ordered half his squad down to render what help they could. On the display, the lead tendrils of the Avaka split away as the other two squads successfully diverted them. The overall flood, however, still moved across the whole area. When, not if, the Avaka discovered their presence, they would surround the six CASPers and two tanks on three sides.
The pucker factor increased when Hex made out dust rising in the distance. At a glance, he checked on the tanks. Lou’s Greengold tank tug furiously at the cable attached to Panzer Two. Though the CASPers had found materials to shore up the rear tread of Panzer Two, the two tanks still struggled to rock back and forth in concert. The CASPer leader restrained himself from shouting a word of warning. The tankers knew the urgency of their situation.
The fuzzy little psychopaths became visible over a near ridge. With a rock forward and a perfectly orchestrated thrust backward, Panzer Two leapt from the mud and raced forward onto dry ground. Panzer Lead jerked back but was able to arrest its momentum before they struck another boulder to their aft. The jury-rigged tread snapped apart.
“Panzer Lead’s immobile,” Lou said in a strange calm. “I’m sending my loader and driver over to Panzer Two.”
Hex ordered his squad up, where the six CASPers began bursts of fire along the front of the inbound wave. Panzer Two picked up the two strays, ambled over a hill to get past Panzer Lead, and rolled away as directed. As it cleared, Hex pulled First Squad back.
“Lou, I’m bringing First Squad down,” Hex said. “Get you
rself out of there, and I’ll carry you out.”
“Dammit, Hex, I’ve had a good run,” Lou answered. “My family’s good and set up, and none of ‘em care about the mean old bastard who’s never there, anyway. Get on out of here, I’ll kill as many as I can to cover you.”
“Fuck you, Lou,” Hex replied. “I’m staying. First Squad, bound your way back, I’ll wait until this stubborn POS rethinks his life choices.”
“Well, it’s your goddamn funeral, Hex,” Lou grumbled. “Maya’s gonna be pissed you got yourself killed over an old grumpy asshole like me.”
“No, Lou,” Hex argued. The low rumble of encroaching Avaka announced their closure. “She’ll be pissed if I leave a Marauder to die. Look, they’re gonna close in from the sides soon; we gotta move. I know you’d rather die in the pathetic hope Lemieux blames himself and learns some stupid lesson, but don’t kill yourself just to prove a point to him. Don’t. Come on, climb out of that hatch, grab these handholds on my back, and I’ll get you out of there.”
“Fine, Hex, I’m coming, just shut up,” Lou barked. The hatch popped open again, and the burly, heavily-bearded man plodded over and climbed up. From outside, he heard Lou shout, “You just ruined my blaze of glory, bastard!”
“Ghost One, Ghost Three, hurry, they’re closing in on the sides,” the Third Squad leader called. Hex had assumed as much and planned to run as much as possible.
“Copy,” Hex replied.
“That goes for all of you!” Lemieux announced. “All Panzers, especially Two, move your asses back. Third and Fourth Squad, engage as able, then jump clear. First, cover Panzer Two. If you’re getting closed off, grab the crew and jump out!”
“Hammer, Ghost One Two,” Private Espinoza called in. “There’s seven crew here, only five of us.”
“Figure it out, Ghost One Two,” Lemieux responded. “Ghost One, catch up and help them out.”
“Copy, Hammer,” Hex answered. “Hang on, Lou.” He ran along the path Panzer Two had taken. With his peripheral vision, Hex saw the wave of Avaka closing on both sides, a couple hundred meters off. He rounded a corner and found Panzer Two high centered on a rock with his squad clustered around, trying to free the tank.
“Panzer Two, everybody out!” he shouted. “First Squad, pick ‘em up. Sullivan, McQuitty, take two each. Lou? Crawl around to my front.”
With Big Lou gingerly cradled in the arms of his CASPer, Hex fired his jumpjets and bounded low and flat to the Panzer Two tank. He found it somewhat difficult to see around the big tank driver, but he managed. Three members of his squad had already blasted away carrying four of the crew. He freed his left arm, as those shells would eject away from Lou, and fired controlled bursts into the nearest Avaka. The swarm closed in as he verified the other two had jumped away. Hex spun to jump. Three of the giant anteaters leapt onto him as he lifted off. He waved one off his left arm as delicately as he could, but he could only watch in horror as the other two bit hard into his passenger. Lou’s skull popped in front of his eyes with a loud crunch. Hex ripped another one off with his left arm. Finally, as the survivor latched onto his right arm and chewed into the armor, Hex shrugged to maneuver the Avaka into range of his free arm and wrenched that one off. Lou’s corpse dropped away into the mammalian horde. His jump nearly ended, Hex refocused at the last second to land upright.
“Lou’s gone,” Hex reported. Over another hill he caught up with the trail end of First Squad, only to find Private Sullivan’s CASPer sprawled out, immobile, piled over with psycho rats, and covered in a mess of blood and bone. He’d carried two of Panzer Two’s crewmen. Without a thought, Hex bounded again and raked the fallen mech with hand cannons as he passed over. He found it necessary to fire a sustained burst and toss another grenade into the swarm to clear himself a landing spot. One more bound put him clear and into the open plains. He found two tanks, the rest of Panzer platoon, and he leapt over them to relative safety.
The line of Marauders, composed of the remnants of Panzer Platoon and First, Third, and Fourth Squads, began a steady withdrawal toward the city. The Angels buzzed past periodically, so low they almost threatened to suck up the furry invaders through their lift fans. Missiles fired from the mass when the flyers went over, but the formation popped countermeasures as a group and buzzed away as fast as they’d arrived without loss. Without fail, the CASPers targeted the launch sites immediately, and the rate of fire decreased. As the numbers in front of them dwindled, Lemieux ordered the Angels to focus more to the north, where the horde slowly shifted to the far right of Command Platoon, Fifth, and Second Squads. Toward Maya.
* * *
Maya felt more exposed than she had earlier in the day, seeing as Second Squad had become the far northern end of the defensive line. The entire line blasted away at the encroaching horde for over forty minutes. The action lasted so long that Lemieux ordered units to fall back a few at a time to reload. However, ammo and fuel trucks had run dry. There would be no more resupply.
In the meantime, the greatest mass of Avaka slowly crept toward her, and Lemieux’s tanks could not slide in that direction quickly enough. The Angels had all Winchester’d out and landed to reload. She and her squad could only delay the inevitable; if the flyers or the tanks couldn’t come in quickly enough, the Avaka would overrun her. Nothing would stop them from taking the city four hundred meters behind them on the last stretch of flat land between the city and the hills.
The enemy remained in the lower areas until they reached the plains. The flood appeared easily dealt with at first, but over time the sheer numbers poured into a massive carpet that lengthened to the sides, eventually connecting the columns of the flood together. Though the psycho rats had initially charged straight for the tanks and CASPers, they’d shifted north when it became apparent the Marauders’ firepower dominated.
“Branch, head back to the city and warn any civilians we might not stop the horde!” Maya directed. With two clicks of the radio, her trooper bounded back toward the closest buildings. Once again, she considered the strange arrangement in which no roads led out of the city.
“Maya, slow them down at all costs!” Lemieux shouted. He only used first names when the situation became uniquely desperate. “Significant loss in pay if these bastards reach the city!”
At all costs?
Does that mean me or my troopers?
“Branch, just broadcast a warning and get back on the line,” Maya clarified.
“Ghost Two, I’m in the city.” Branch sounded confused. “There’s no one here. Parts of it look kinda… fake.”
“What?” Maya exclaimed. “Branch, get back here and on the line. We’ll deal with it later.”
She checked status feeds on her squad and continued to fire with minimal attention. In a glance, she processed that the squad had spent all its missiles. MAC ammo was down to yellow status, low but not out. .50 cal ammo was red. Jumpjuice appeared nearly dry all around.
“Any more K-bombs, toss ‘em now!” Maya shouted. The CASPers flung out one last line of grenades into the wall of death. Explosions rippled down the line. Fur, blood, and bone leapt into the air, only to disappear as more murder rats surged toward the squad.
The Avaka closed within a hundred meters, a few seconds of charge away. Branch rejoined them.
“Second Squad, blades out!” She held her breath, closed her eyes, and pictured Hex for half a second. “Charge!”
The five CASPers lumbered forward into the ranks of razor-toothed freakish anteaters. The mechs clustered together and struggled in a frantic mess of hack and slash. Whenever an Avaka latched onto one of them, their neighbor would slice it off. Bennett, at the far left end, lacked a neighbor to clear off the beasts that piled onto his exposed side. His left arm went red, followed by his left leg, and with a scream over the squad comms, his suit turned red altogether. The last four CASPers slowly collapsed into a square. Her perception narrowed down to the pile of frenzied rats who assaulted her squad.
Maya hacked th
rough a pair directly in front of her and then paused at a strange sight. Chunks of fur and bone popped out from the Avaka in a line starting from her right and rippling down to her left. Three more similar lines traced their way down the swarm.
Explosions appeared further down the line. Maya and Second Squad still fought desperately for their lives as a group of shadows passed over them, heralding the flyers.
“I appreciate you savin’ some for me, Maya!” Maven announced on the private line. Then, on the command freq, she said, “Angels overhead and thinning the ranks, Hammer!”
The Sky Raiders screamed past and poured 20 millimeter rounds into the Avaka. The sheer numbers around Maya decreased significantly, but it was still too much of a snarling tide around them.
“Ghost One, slow it down and stay with Command Platoon!” Lemieux shouted. More slugs cut into the surrounding crowd, this time from her left.
Another CASPer, with a familiar paint job and a big Roman numeral one, landed on a burn of its jumpjets, firing well-aimed, measured rounds into the remaining Avaka. The other members of First Squad arrived shortly after him, and they helped finish off the vicious, razor-toothed anteaters.
The two squads backed away from the pulverized mass and scanned for any sign of survivors. The few Avaka who pushed themselves up from the open burial site immediately took decisive rounds.
“Maya, all good?” Hex asked on the private freq. “I tried calling, but you stopped answering.”
“Yeah, I got a little focused, sorry,” Maya said. She found herself in a bit of a daze, and she stalked her CASPer over toward the nearest buildings of the city. Once again she noted there were no roads that lead out of the city. There were, however, roads inside the city, the closest of which ended in a short little expanse with well-manicured grass and a few shaped trees. The buildings to either side of the landscaping appeared constructed of a shiny, reflective metal, interspersed with a good deal of large, artistically arranged windows. When she staggered onto the street, she looked around and verified there were absolutely no signs of life.
The Gates of Hell Page 36
