by M. D. Cooper
None professed to have any knowledge about the attack on the funeral and even though the recent battle with the ISF cruisers didn’t generate any love for the Intrepid, the news of the Sirian fleet put them in a tight position.
Tanis would never allow the Victorians to die at the hands of the Sirians, but Jessica didn’t think it would hurt for the downworlders to wonder.
Katrina had helped keep things smooth and cordial. The spaceport workers may have distrusted the Edeners, but they weren’t going to say no to one of the founders of their rebellion and subsequent colony.
The assault shuttle touched down and a platoon of Marines in powered armor rushed out and took positions around the landing field. Smoothly, and by the numbers, the Marines who had accompanied them to the funeral fell back and boarded the transport to don the spare armor brought down for them.
Jessica surveyed the deployment and once cover was well established, moved out from the lee of the building where she and Trist been sheltering.
As they approached the shuttle, Katrina stepped out of the bus to meet them.
“You know I’m coming with you,” she said, her expression resolute, ready for a fight.
Jessica sighed. “I imagine I couldn’t stop you if I wanted to.”
“Heck, she couldn’t stop me and I’m only two thirds your height,” Trist said with a smirk.
“I’m going to put you with Smith’s platoon,” Jessica said. “Armor up and see where he wants you.”
Katrina nodded and walked up the shuttle’s ramp.
Smith was not given to complaints and Jessica knew he and his squads just wanted to get back into the fight. His eagerness was one of the reasons she placed Katrina with him. He wasn’t going to go off half-cocked with the matriarch of this colony on his six.
And if he let anything happen to her they both knew Tanis would have his hide.
She reached the top of the shuttle’s ramp to see Trist engaged in a rather comical scene—even Katrina was smiling.
“Damnit, this isn’t going to fit,” Trist said while looking up at a standard ISF Marine powered suit in its rack.
“I told them to send down our suits,” Jessica said with a frown.
Her exaggerated physique was hard enough to fit in standard armor, but no Marine was anywhere close to Trist’s one hundred-fifty centimeters.
“You’re going to have to make do,” Smith said to Jessica before turning to Trist. “We have procedure for you, the armor doesn’t need your limbs in its limbs to work.
The lieutenant nodded to PFC Ramos who was already in his armor. The private pulled a suit out of its rack and gave it a deft twist, separating the torso from the legs.
“Forgive the intimacy. Kneel down,” Smith said and walked behind Trist as she knelt. He slipped one arm under her ankles and another across her chest. In one swift move he picked her up like she weighed no more than a pillow. Her legs were folded back at the knee and he slid her into the armor’s legs.
“Now fold your arms like they’re chicken wings,” he said to Trist. As she sat perched in the armor with her arms folded, he split the armor’s torso into its front and back pieces and then placed them back around Trist.
The armor detected its inhabitant and slowly adjusted to her form, filling the empty lower leg and forearm spaces with gel.
“This…this is weird, Trist said as the armor’s torso compressed, shortening to match her frame. Smith slipped the helmet over her head after a moment she raised her hand and wiggled her fingers.
Trist took a few tentative steps and gave a thumbs up.
The transport’s systems selected the closest fit for Jessica and a powered suit lowered off the rack and split open in front of her. Her entry was much more graceful than Trist’s and a moment later the protective shell closed around her.
Gel filled the spaces around her waist and the armor adjusted as much as possible to her lengthened legs and altered torso.
She Linked with the suit and a cool sensation washed over her skin as her outer touch senses transferred to the armor. The systems ran a quick check, and her visual HUD updated with data regarding the suit’s systems.
Several of the Marine’s avatars chuckled and Jessica was certain they’d remind Trist of this as frequently as possible.
The rest of the Marines were suited up and they moved off the transport, each grabbing a rifle at the top of the ramp.
Jessica selected a dual fire weapon which could switch between photon and proton streams. Behind her, Trist made the same selection.
At the bottom of the ramp Jessica addressed the Marines over the combat net.
A round of muffled “oo-rahs” sounded through helmets and over the Link.
Moments later the Marines were bounding toward the ground transportation, their powered armor sending them meters into the air with each step.
Smith coordinated with the two other lieutenants and the platoon sergeants. They tweaked the approaches to the city and two force recon squads were dispatched ahead of the ground transports.
Jessica watched as the recon squads flashed rapid hand signals at one another before leaping into the air—their lighter armor and propulsion jets allowing them to file hundreds of meters between touchdowns.
Smith’s platoon would approach the city from the south, on the left flank. Their goal would be to take the parliament buildings and subdue any of the presidential guard who may remain.
They would also protect Katrina and ensure she could take control of the government while the other two platoons worked to keep Myrrdan from fleeing.
Jessica assigned herself to Lieutenant Usef’s section of the net. He was headed straight up the center. She had no real idea where Myrrdan would be, but her gut told her to keep options open, and the center was best for that. The fact that Usef had a weapons platoon also played no small part in her decision.
On the right flank, circling around from the north, was Lieutenant Borden’s platoon. They were lightly armored and would move fast, securing as much of the city’s northern reaches before the enemy could reach them.
She hoped.
“Yay for our side,” Priscilla smirked. “I bet that’ll give em some pause.”
“They’re jinking,” scan reported. “They’ve ceased braking, I think they plan to churn and burn the colony.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Captain Andrews replied. “Those dirtsiders may be a bunch of ungrateful asses, but they’re our ungrateful asses.”
“They must not have a lot of real combat experience in Sirius,” Tanis said as she rotated the holo display. “I guess all the wars back in Sol were worth something after all.”
“I assume there is a strategy for this?” Terrance asked
“Well, if you’re blasting down on a world, then your trajectory is relatively fixed,” Tanis replied and turned to the weapons team. “Take the two rails on the far side of Victoria and keep them peeking just above the poles.”
“Grapeshot?” Asked one of the lieutenants.
“You got it. Calculate your spread to hit them at just over a hundred million klicks. Once the first ships get hit by the grapeshot, they’ll likely disperse into one of these two patterns. Use the other two rails to fill those locations with grapeshot at that time.” Tanis provided the patterns and coordinates over the bridge net and couldn’t help feeling relief. The Sirians were not fighting smart, if they kept this up, it would be an even fight by the time their ships made it to Anne’s orbit.
Angela made a mental sound meant to indicate she didn’t like the plan.
Tanis knew she sounded certain, but she didn’t want to unleash the pico tech either.
Centuries ago, when nano-tech was new and self-replication became possible en-masse, nanoweapons would unleash swarms of bots which would self-replicate by essentially eating whatever they were fired at. It was a dangerous tech, but because nano-bots could not disassemble all molecules, they could be blocked. Eventually technologies were developed to defeat nano-swarms and their use as offensive weapons waned.
Pico swarms were an entirely different story. The Sirian ships were wholly vulnerable to them. A strike from a pico bearing missile would cause their ships to be devoured in a matter of minutes.
Use of a pico weapon created two immediate dangers. The first was that none of the ships in the Intrepid fleet were immune to pico swarms either. The second was likely Angela’s primary concern. Once it was known that the Intrepid possessed picotech, they would be chased to the ends of the galaxy.
Captain Andrews must have been reading her mind.
“ETA on the Antares puts it right when the battle is projected to occur,” his tone didn’t betray which way he was leaning in the decision.
“I’ve instructed them to maintain velocity. They’ll fly past at 0.15c. Any missiles they launch will be all but undetectable,” Tanis said
The captain nodded. “Don’t expect a decision before that time. We won’t fire those things unless there is no other choice.”
“Agreed,” Tanis rotated the holo again. “The grapeshot and the RM’s will hit them pretty hard. Chances are that we’ll break them before it comes to a fistfight.”
“Who can say?” Sanderson shook his head. “Not a lot of space forces invade foreign systems. It’s not like an insystem fight when there’s somewhere to retreat. The fact that the Victorians chose to execute all of Yusuf’s crew is not going to help either.”
“You think they’ll fight to the death?” Ouri asked from her station.
“I think we need to be prepared for it,” Sanderson replied.
Scan updated with the latest projected trajectories for the Sirian ships. The vector confirmed a churn and burn on Victoria. It was imperative the battle be decided outside Anne’s orbit.
“Are all of the RM’s in position?” Tanis asked the weapons team.
“Yes, Sir, we’ve adjusted their locations per your latest projections.”
“Good, I want them within three light minutes of the Sirian fleet when the grapeshot crossfire hits.”
Tanis turned to look for Joe before remembering he wasn’t on the Intrepid. So much for their pledge to not get separated again when things got crazy.
Tanis sighed, mentally acknowledging that Angela was right. But the fact that Joe had one of the most dangerous missions in the upcoming battle didn’t help her nerves.
Dry leaves crunched underfoot as Jessica peered down an alley. Her nanoprobes told her it was clear, but minutes ago they had taken weapons fire from positions which scan also showed as clear.
It smarted to know that many of the people she was fighting had trained at her police academy. The fact that they used Edener weapons and armor smarted more. Especially when their aim proved true.
What didn’t make sense was their armor being invisible to her nano—Tanis wasn’t so trusting as to provide equipment their own forces couldn’t counter.
Yet the Victorians were able to hide from scans that should have revealed them.
Jessica looked over squad positions on the platoon’s combat net. Only one other fireteam was close to the sniper’s position, but they were dealing with their own problems.
She logged her approach on the combat net and began to slowly work her way toward a side entrance on the building the sniper was in.
She crept down the alley toward a parallel street. There was little cover for her, but likewise there was little for anyone else to hide in.
Her nano swept upward, watching windows and looking over the rooftops. No enemies appeared on their scans, though she saw a few scared families through some of the windows and felt a pang of regret.
She had never been part of a military action that caused families to huddle together in their homes. It wasn’t a good feeling.
Jessica reached the end of the alley and her nano moved out onto the tree-lined boulevard.
A gust of wind rushed past her, blowing dry leaves through the air—momentarily blinding her motion tracking. She waited for a shot, but none came. If the sniper could see down this street, he wasn’t paying attention.
Keeping under store-front awnings and the occasional tree, Jessica moved as quickly as she could. It had already been thirty minutes since they left the spaceport and she could feel anxiety growing at the thought of Myrrdan escaping their web.
She crossed another street and then angled away from the sniper’s building to come at it from the side.
A chuckle came over the link.
Jessica swore softly.
She looked over the area her nano had scouted. The roof to her left sported a lush garden that would provide perfect cover. She leapt up and landed behind a tool shed.
Her probes rushed through the plants, watching for movement in the air currents and errant heat signatures. Jessica followed them slowly, her own active camouflage shifting to hide her amongst the plant life.
At the edge of the garden she toggled her vision to a full spectrum blend. Just one building separated her from the sniper’s position and she looked for any movement, or degradation of his active camo.
Her nano reached the edges of an enemy sensor cloud and she moved them around to the south. Once there she directed several of her probes to move into the enemy cloud.
Her feint worked and the density of the cloud near her decreased. She also saw some leaves on the rooftop move, as though a person laying on them had shifted.
“There’s one,” she said softly to herself.
Trist’s avatar stuck its tongue out at Jessica, and below, a very believable holographic representation of a person in powered armor dashed out into the street below.
Jessica wasn’t watching the street; her eyes were on the rooftop, layers of nano augmenting her vision. At the moment Trist sent out her decoy, Jessica spotted the second sniper and was in the air, rifle taking aim.
A primal scream left her lips as her feet crashed down on the first sniper, the metric ton of her armor driving him half through the building’s rooftop.
