Each Helo could carry a platoon of twenty soldiers in full armour and would get the combat troops out to the PLN Wishart. Captain Gibson’s Operations squad of ten, would be in the much larger Scarab class shuttle. All the personal gear and the Company’s Fully Powered Battle Armour would go with them.
Valerie saw Captain Benz off to one side with Lieutenant Penty and headed over to them. Benz and Penty seeing her approach, saluted. Valerie returned their salutes.
“How are we looking, Captain?”
“All good, Major. The Helos are checked and flight ready.” Captain Benz answered. “I’ve already been in touch with Captain Tsoutsouvas on the Wishart. She’s ready to receive us.”
“Excellent. I’ll check in with Joss and we can get this show moving.”
“Yes, Ma’am. I believe he’s over by the Scarab.”
“Thanks, Hans.” Valerie left them and walked over towards the shuttle, where it was parked on the other side of the Windsoars. The soldiers of Shadow Company were busy checking and loading their gear, so didn’t come to attention as she passed, but did acknowledge her with a nod or casual salute. She returned them, often with a smile. It was only the Company in the Bay and there was no need for formality.
Valerie found the tall, broad shouldered Captain behind the Scarab. More than twice the size of the Windsoars, it had heavier armour and was armed with only anti-personnel Pulse cannons. Like the Windsoars it was atmosphere and orbital space flight capable. Gibson was standing with his number two, Lieutenant Sylvia Hoeks. Valerie could spot his bald head a mile off and it made her smile to see the bay lights reflecting off it. With his heavy dark beard and deep voice he always made Valerie think he would be more at home fighting ancient pirates on the high seas of humanity’s home world, rather than directing combat platoons sitting in a chair.
His back was to her and he was studying a datapad so intently, he didn’t see Valerie approach. The Lieutenant stood opposite him and did see her. The young dark skinned Sylvia Hoeks had only been with the Company for three months, she jumped to attention and saluted smartly.
Captain Gibson turned round and Valerie returned the salute with a smile. “At ease, Lieutenant. It’s only us in here, so you don’t need to salute me every time.”
“Of course, Ma’am, sorry.” The young officer replied. A slight blush warming her face.
“Heh, don’t worry about it”. Valerie said with a light shrug and a grin. “Joss, Hans says that Captain Tsoutsouvas and the Wishart are expecting us. Are we all ready to go?”
“Yes, Major, just about. The FPBA’s are loaded along with the troops gear. The Companies Tea Chests are going onto the shuttle now.” Tea Chests were the name everyone in the Legion used for an officers personal arms crate. Valerie didn’t know why. Many years ago she tried to find out, but hadn’t been able to get a satisfactory answer. There were many ideas and speculations, none with any basis in hard fact.
“Excellent. I’ll get the troops on the Helos then.” With a nod to the two officers Valerie turned around and sought out Bickerstaff. The Sergeant Major was half way down the line of Windsoars. He stood off to one side, keeping an eye on the soldiers chatting amongst themselves in their platoons.
“Sergeant Major.” Valerie called clearly across the deck. “Let’s do it.” She emphasised the order by twirling her finger in a circle above her head.
“Yes, Ma’am.” Bickerstaff called back and raised his voice to a parade ground bellow. “Shadow Company. Load ‘em up!” There were more efficient, electronic means of communicating Valerie’s orders. None had the impact of a properly enunciated order given at the appropriate volume.
Shadow Company stopped milling about immediately and moved with a single purpose. Years of dedicated training and experience came into play, as they boarded the Windsoars and Scarab smoothly. No jostling or getting in each other’s way was evident. Within two minutes, Valerie was strapping herself into her acceleration chair set slightly behind the cockpit of Helo One. As soon as she was secure, a green light would show to the co-pilot. Almost instantly, Captain Benz’s voice came through her com.
“You are the last one, Major.” He reported. As the senior officer she was always the last to board. “Everyone is secure, all systems are green and we are cleared by Furioso Control for departure. ”
“Thank you, Hans. Launch on your order.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Valerie could see on the board in front of her, the Captain switching channels from a one to one with her, to a channel connecting all the pilots of the six space craft and their platoon commanders, including her. “We are cleared to go. All craft to launch with Helo One and come to formation Alpha One.”
The screen on Valerie’s command board showed the view from one of Bay Fourteen’s cameras. She watched the five Helos and single shuttle lifted on their anti-gravs. A faint hum could be felt through the Windsoars hull. The two oversized engines spooled up and Shadow Company smoothly left the bay in unison.
Switching the view over to tactical, she saw the icons move into a standard five pointed box formation, with the Scarab at the centre and Helo Three leading the way. Manipulating the controls, Valerie brought the view out further, the six craft becoming one icon. The icons of Furioso and all the ships and small craft surrounding it came into view. A quick query highlighted the PLN Wishart and another calculated the estimated time of arrival, to show a short twenty minute flight.
Relaxing back into her seat Valerie switched the view over to the forward camera mounted on the Helos nose. The stars spired as Captain Benz manoeuvred the craft around, to take it through the traffic moving around Furioso. After years of traveling in space, Valerie still found the blackness empty of life, to be soothing. It gave her a sense of peace only bettered by time with her family.
An excellent pilot, like all of those Valerie handpicked to fly Shadow Company’s support vehicles; Benz’s control was smooth and unhurried. There was no discernible movement from inside the craft, the compensators working perfectly, as the Captain guided the Helo with its accompanying drop ships and shuttle. Stars and the pinpoint glares, from the drives of numerous different craft of all sizes, moved on the screen as Benz re-orientated the Helo and the PLN Wishart came into view
Six hundred metres long, its carbon steel battle armour painted the standard Legion Navy light blue. With her running lights on, the ship gleamed in the dark of space. The slight blue haze of her shields encompassed her entire length. Sealed gun and missile ports ran down the two sides visible to the Helo. Her engines glowed a dull green, speaking of her readiness to depart.
As the Wishart grew in her screen, Valerie was able to pick out the landing bay sitting above the gun ports and she heard Hans over the ships intercom.
“Now on approach, all craft come to landing formation Alpha four.” The shuttle accelerated ahead of the Helos and they took up positions behind it. Designed to deliver supplies and troops in a combat environment, the Scarab was still the most vulnerable craft within Shadow Company’s flight of six, so it was always placed in the most protected position.
The bay had been completely cleared for Shadow Company’s use by Captain Tsoutsouvas. Despite that, it was still a tight fit as the Scarab and Windsoars landed smoothly. The moment they touched down, Valerie activated the override on her command panel and walked through the troop bay. In its standard safe mode, the ramp lowered unhurriedly, rather than the fast wrenching movement it was capable of in combat.
Stepping off the ramp when it touched the deck she walked confidently around the still whining engines of the Windsoar. As she passed the cockpit, she saw Captain Benz shaking his head at her, so she gave him a wave and a smile. It really was against the rules to leave a space craft before the Pilot gave the go ahead. This was to ensure the engines would not vaporise an unsuspecting person, who strayed too close, and there was a breathable atmosphere.
Valerie could see the same information as Benz on her panel. She knew it was safe to leave and she knew exac
tly how much room to give a shutting down engine. If there was the slightest sign of a problem, she would have stayed in her seat until Hans had done his job. Sometimes it was good to be the boss and break the rules.
The real reason she left the Windsoar early was entering the Wishart’s boat bay, along with a junior officer and a non-com. The brown haired, lean shape of Captain Tsoutsouvas strode towards Valerie, her long legs covering the distance quickly. At more of a saunter, Valerie smiled at the older woman and held her hand out as they met.
“It has been a while, Mariya. I got a good look at the Wishart on the way in. She looks in lean and mean shape.”
“For an old girl you mean.” The Captain replied with a smile as she shook Valerie’s hand. “You’re right, it has been too long. What was it? That mess in Wolfram?”
“That would be the one. You pulled my arse out of the fire that day.” Valerie said with a chuckle.
“Let’s hope this one won’t be like that. I’ve only got orders to get you to Concordia, wherever you are going after that, we won’t be there to back you up.”
“We’re Shadow Company. We don’t need back up!”
“Of course not and you didn’t need an entire task force at Wolfram to do just that.”
Valerie shrugged. “I just thought you were all a bit bored sitting out there beyond the grav limit. Time must have dragged when you only have hide and seek to keep you occupied.”
“That was plenty to keep us entertained, trust me. The Wolfram Navy had just enough tech to know something was out there and they did everything they could to find it.” Mariya changed the tone to a more serious one. “Now I understand we are on a tight timetable to get you to Concordia, so why don’t you come with me to the bridge and we get this old girl underway.”
“Good idea and in perfect timing, here is my XO.” The tall Captain stepped up beside her. “Captain Tsoutsouvas, this is Captain Joss Gibson. If you can point him in the right direction, he’ll get Shadow Company squared away and out from under your feet.”
“Welcome aboard Captain Gibson.” Mariya indicted the junior officer and non-com who entered the bay with her. “This is Lieutenant Oehlmann and Petty Officer Langhorne, they will make sure you all find your berths.”
“Thank you, Captain.” Gibson said, and then nodded to the two Navy personnel. “PO, Sergeant Major Bickerstaff is back at the lead Helo, co-ordinate with him. Lieutenant, why don’t you come with me and make sure I’m pointed in the right direction?”
“Of course, Captain.” The Lieutenant replied before turning to her CO. “With your permission, Captain?”
“Carry on, Lieutenant.” Captain Tsoutsouvas ordered and turned to Valerie. “Shall we head up to the bridge, Major?”
“Excellent idea, Captain.” The two commanding officers headed out of the bay as everyone else got to work.
CHAPTER THREE
“All ships we are T-minus sixty seconds from drop.” Hans’ voice came across everyone in Shadow Company’s com. Valerie studied her screen showing the information from the Forward Operating Base Modules passive sensors.
From the outside, it looked like every other mass transit container attached along the length of the freighter Eric Blair. Inside it was far from that. The module was made up of a large vehicle bay able to hold much more than the current load of five Windsoar Helos and the Scarab shuttle, along with large troop quarters and training areas. Sensor baffles hid its true purpose, to show the outside world what they thought they should see if they scanned it
Over the past nine days in the module, Shadow Company had gone through detailed planning and rigorous training exercises, to prepare for what was about to follow. The Company was as ready for this mission as they had been for any other and Valerie was proud of them. She worked her troops hard, pushing each and every one of them to their mental and physical limits, just as she did prior to every mission.
Now she concentrated on the take from the massive, hidden sensor arrays built into one entire side of the FOBM. They took in every piece of data that was flying around the system, light, radiation, com signals and much more. The computers on board processed it all, filtered the irrelevant and sent it to her screen. She could see the movements of all the craft around and on Gomez should she wish to.
Valerie was looking at just those that may be able to see what was about to happen. As planned, there were none in a position to compromise the mission. It took four orbital passes of the drop zone to get to those conditions and it was well worth the wait.
“Thirty seconds to drop.” Captain Benz reported. The soldiers of first platoon stirred in the troop bay behind Valerie as they prepared themselves. It was possible with the Helos compensators to fully counteract the G-Forces involved in an orbital drop. Valerie had decided long ago that it was beneficial for troops going into combat, to feel some of that and the Helos computer was set to allow 40% of the G-forces. It allowed them to mentally prepare for what they were about to do.
Satisfied it was all clear, just as both Captain Benz in the cockpit and Captain Gibson had done in the Operations Room, she switched to the view of the target area. “Ten seconds.” Valerie braced herself against the straps of the chair. “Five, four, three, two, one. Dropping.” The last was unnecessary, Valerie felt the Windsoar being fired out of the FOBM lock, her stomach doing its best to climb up into her mouth.
Many people vomited violently during a 40% combat drop. The pressures it put on their bodies, too extreme for them to handle. Some of her own platoon were not immune. Valerie had never experienced it herself fortunately. Maybe it was due to her unique physiology. She didn’t know, she had never had the reason to ask while she had the opportunity. Those who were affected, wouldn’t let it influence their performance and the others were professionals.
There would be some light joking at the unfortunate persons expense as soldiers do, none of it would be serious and not anywhere near a combat zone. They would save it for when the company was safe.
A violent lurch of the Helo, caused by it entering the atmosphere, brought Valerie out of her wool gathering. Checking the ETA to target, she saw they would be on the ground in under ten minutes. Valerie switched her com to a direct link to Ops.
“Ops. Shadow Lead. I’m not seeing any problems at the target. Do you concur?” Though they both had access to the same data, Valerie relied on the computer to send her what she needed to see. No program was infallible so there were two techs dedicated to sift the raw data in Gibson’s team, ensuring nothing was missed.
“I concur, Major.” Gibson replied. “All clear at the moment. No vehicle movement in the vicinity of the target. The landing zones are clear of any human life and tech, as far as we can tell on passives.”
Valerie grimaced to herself. Gibson was good at his job and a competent XO, but always wanted to cover himself. The few mistakes he made were due to him making sure he was covered, rather than concentrating on his job. He hadn’t been her choice. He was foisted onto her, after her last XO took a very well deserved promotion and Shannon hadn’t wanted the job, even though she was senior. He came with excellent experience from Heatseeker Company, another Devil action team, and references from senior Generals in the Commandos. Without a tangible reason, she hadn’t been able to turn down such a well-connected candidate.
Captain Gibson was the only member of Shadow Company she didn’t fully trust. As she mostly trusted him, she couldn’t justify finding some way to get rid of him, it was just something about Gibson that rang her internal warning bells. Possibly, it was the way he was more standoffish with the Manual troops than she would have liked. Until he gave her a real reason, she had decided to give him the benefit of the doubt
“OK, Ops. Let me know if the situation changes. Lead Clear.” Recalling the intelligence briefing in her mind, Valerie ran through everything they knew about the mission for possibly the hundredth time. Gomez was a terraformed world low on mineral resources close enough to the surface to be mineable. It took the in
itial colonists longer to build the industrial base, needed to create the system infrastructure to enable them to mine asteroids and other resources within the system.
While slowly building the industrial base and infrastructure, the economy turned more to farming rather than industry with very slow growth. This caused colonists looking to leave Earth and the Origin systems surrounding it, to choose the more affluent systems close by that became the Pantheon, slowing Gomez’s growth even further. Hundreds of years later, farming was still the largest driver of Gomez’s economy and it was far behind the Pantheon worlds.
One area it did excel in, was the growth of Poppy and Coca crops. The environment turned out to be perfect for the growth of these plants all over the planet. Despite being illegal in the majority of human space, including Gomez, there was still a great demand for Heroin and Cocaine. The Government on Gomez did its best to limit the production of these drugs, but it was too ineffective. There were large swathes of land where they had no influence whatsoever. This included the jungle Shadow Company was heading to.
In that jungle, far from the Gomez security forces, Liam Boyle, a powerful grower and exporter had his base of operations. He had built up a massive fortune and used it to create a personal army strong enough to threaten the System government. Valerie strongly suspected some of the Families of the Pantheon were backing him quietly. Looking to destabilise the situation, so they could come in and take over. He was too strong though and if the situation continued, it could result in the utter chaos of a civil war that would not benefit anyone.
A word would have been whispered into the right ear and Legion Intelligence asked to look into it. From there, a covert operation was approved, and Shadow Company were now hurtling towards Boyle’s main base of operations. There he kept the majority of his off-world weaponry, far surpassing those of the Gomez government. No information had been given about where the weapons originated. From L.I.’s informants, they believed none of the weapons were in use yet, even at the base. Boyle was keeping them secret and waiting for more to arrive before training his people. This in all probability, was the deal he had struck with whoever was backing him. Valerie had a fairly good idea who that was and it was the reason why their information was so good.
Reason For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 1) Page 4
