Markov's Prize

by Mark Barber

  “You finished?” Van Noor frowned. “You know your problem? You think too much. And you think with your heart instead of your head. Remember where your brain is, mate. Yeah, we did the right thing tonight, but I think we do the right thing more often that you give us credit for. We’re not some evil empire expanding across the universe to drag every planet we meet into our dark clutches. And beyond that? I don’t give it much more thought. And you shouldn’t, too.”

  The two soldiers stopped by the entrance to the medical dugout. Three medical drones were already busy checking over the first of the refugees who had arrived. Van Noor turned to Tahl.

  “I’ll get patched up. Don’t leave without me.”

  ***

  Markov’s Prize’s first sun was now peering over the horizon, casting long shadows across the grey ground as Beta Company advanced toward the outskirts of the city. On the left flank, Owenne patched into one of the spotter drones which had swept ahead and updated his appraisal of the enemy defenses. The ground leading up to the capital was sharply contoured, with the connecting roads taking advantage of the few natural breaks in the razor-edged ridgelines and steep slopes around the plateau topped city. A handful of defensive turrets had been built at various points around the city, with subterranean power supplies safely hidden from attack. Primitive scanners were also built atop tall towers, most of them a hangover from the city’s previous defenders.

  Owenne had selected a defensive line which was dead center between two of the large gun turrets, far enough away from them that fire support would be indirect and inaccurate. Owenne watched as Beta Company’s seven T7 transport drones rushed toward the city, flanked on the left by a pair of M4 combat drones, and on the right by an assorted collection of smaller weapon drones. He glanced, almost nervously, at an isolated spot height which jutted up midway along the defensive ridgeline. The slope was too steep for a drone to tackle without entering into atmospheric flight and exposing itself to anti-aircraft fire. If the Ghar realized the tactical importance of that spot height, the attack would stall and possibly even fail. And Owenne would not stand for that. Not when he was this close to his objective. He watched in silence as the first explosions began blossoming up from the ground around the transport drones. To the left and right, Alpha and Cian Companies carried out their own advances. But Beta Company had front and center and would take the brunt of the enemy fire.

  ***

  A volley of fire smashed into the dark rocks in front of Tahl, sending chips and stones twirling through the air. Behind him, the Duke’s plasma light support turret swiveled in place and fired over the top of the three troopers of the company command squad, raking lines of blue projectiles against the advancing squad of Ghar Outcasts. Cane and Van Noor stood up to lean over the natural rock barricade and raised their carbines, adding their own fire against the enemy soldiers.

  “Squad Jai, from Command,” Tahl transmitted from his crouched position behind the rocky barricade. “Move to marker indigo and provide fire support to Alpha Company’s advance to marker sierra. I’m moving an M4 across for further support.”

  “Command, Jai, copied!” Strike Leader Rall replied as his squad instantly reacted to the order, moving across the three dimensional battlefield projection which appeared in the corner of Tahl’s visor.

  He winced as he read a casualty update from Alpha Company on his left flank, advancing into the teeth of the Ghar defenses.

  “Bry, I’ve sent Rall’s boys across to the left,” he called to Van Noor. “I’m giving them both of our M4s as well. Alpha Company is getting murdered.”

  Van Noor ducked back down beneath the edge of the rocks as shots continued to blast away against the far side.

  “What’s up?” He called across as he checked his carbine.

  “It’s those turrets,” Tahl returned his attention to the battlefield projection. “They’ve got more range and more accuracy than Owenne predicted. They’re tearing Alpha Company apart.”

  Before Van Noor could respond, the three troopers of the command squad were lifted up and flung into the air by a deafening explosion. Tahl’s world faded to black before he even hit the ground.

  ***

  Whilst his vision still swirled from the concussive impact of the blast, Van Noor’s hearing had been completely preserved by his helmet’s automatic audio filters. Trying to focus on the blurred images of his armored hands pressed against the scorched earth underneath him, Van Noor slowly pushed himself up to his knees as the shrill scream of another shell whistled somewhere to the right before a detonation sounded and the ground shook again.

  Van Noor quickly checked the bio readouts from the command squad shard. Cane was dead, Tahl was critically injured but stable. His vision focusing, Van Noor saw the top half of Cane’s body a few paces to the left. Tahl lay face down at the edge of a small gully a few yan further on. On the left flank, Squads Jai and Denne were attempting to hack down a quartet of Ghar battlesuits atop a shallow ridgeline; to the right, Squad Teal was advancing against a small horde of Outcasts, their carbines cutting swathes through the ranks as a pair of D1 drones added their own firepower to the mix. Another shell landed in the dead ground in between Van Noor and Squad Teal, throwing up clods of earth and a shower of stones.

  Forcing himself to his feet, Van Noor staggered over to Tahl and dropped down next to him. He slid back the company commander’s visor; blood was trickling from Tahl’s mouth, nostrils, and ears. His eyes stared blankly up at the sky, yet his vital signs were stable.

  “Come on, mate,” Van Noor gasped, hauling the wounded soldier up over his shoulders, “let’s get you out of here.”

  Another shell impacted the ground close by, throwing Van Noor back down. He cycled through the visual feeds from the company’s spotter drones until he found the source of the bombardment. Nearly halfway between the gun turrets to their left and right, an isolated spot height atop a steep slope gave a commanding view of the battlefield. A Ghar battlesuit with a deadly disruptor bomber was raining down shells into the advancing Concord troopers, covered by the natural rock around it and defended by a conventionally armed Ghar suit and a multitude of Outcasts. A torrent of plasma fire spat down from the position and tore into one of the company’s Dukes, blasting the transport drone apart and sending its flaming wreck sinking to the ground. If the firing position atop the steep hill was left alone, Beta Company’s advance would stall, leaving them isolated in the open. The hill had to fall, or the company was doomed, and with it the entire attack. But attacking the well-defended hill across open ground and up a steep slope was as good as suicide.

  Van Noor shook his head. He despised sending troopers to their deaths, but the hill had to be attacked and distracted at the very least. He quickly checked the battlefield projection to ascertain which squads were closest before sending out his orders.

  ***

  Qan leaned against the hull of the destroyed Duke, raised his carbine to his shoulder, and fired an aimed shot up at the Ghar defenders at the top of the ridgeline before ducking back down into cover as a hail of return fire rattled against the remains of the drone transporter. Hunkered down by her squad, Rhona glanced across to where Althern and Squad Xath were similarly pinned down by the ferocity of the Ghar defensive fire. The seven strike troopers were squeezed into the minimal cover presented by a tiny gulley in the rock, to the left and a little way behind Rhona’s squad.

  “We need to get over to the right!” Gant shouted, his raised voice standing out as an indicator of his stress levels as the active noise reduction in the troopers’ helmets made it unnecessary. “If we stay here, we won’t last long!”

  “Yeah, I see that,” Rhona agreed, sending an order through the squad shard to drive her spotter drone around to the right of the raised ground and look for more cover. “We’ll need covering fire from Squad Xath and whatever command can give us.”

  Before she could pass her intentions on to Althern, she heard Van Noor’s voice through her helmet.

/>   “Squad Wen, Squad Xath, from Command – advance and take position at marker delta.”

  Although not impossible, it was uncommon for advance orders to come from the senior strike leader rather than the strike captain.

  “Confirm the boss is okay?” Rhona found herself blurting out.

  “The boss is wounded but stable,” Van Noor replied. “Look, this entire attack is getting mauled. The key position is right in front of you. I need the two of you to take your squads and go straight up that hill. I’ll give you everything I can to support you, but you need to get their attention away from the rest of the company so we can regroup.”

  It was only then that Rhona realized marker delta was the top of the plateau which was home to the Ghar units pouring fire down into the Concord forces below. Three battlesuits – one with a heavy weapon – at least a dozen Outcasts, a couple of heavy weapons mounted on mobile tripods, and a heavily fortified turret to either side. All dug in and nearly impossible to see, let alone shoot.

  “Wen copies,” Rhona replied to Van Noor and Althern. “We’ll take lead, Xath follow us up to the left.”

  Rhona saw Althern give her a thumbs up from where his squad waited in the cover of the gulley to the left. She checked her immediate vicinity and found a pair of C3D1 combat drones to her right, supporting Squad Teal. Rhona’s need was greater – she activated a command override and connected with their shard, diverting the two drones and sending them speeding toward her position as shells began to rain down on the Ghar above them.

  “We’ve been ordered to take that hill,” she said to her squad, noting the immediate sensation of fear ripple back from them through the shard. “That position is giving hell to everybody else, and we’re closest. We ain’t got time to go around, so we’re going straight up and gunning them down. I’ll take point with Jem and the lance, the rest of you fan out and keep a good distance apart. Althern’s boys are right behind us. Let’s go.”

  The feeling of terror was not just from her squad. Rhona understood her orders, but a voice at the back of her mind told her that this was as good as suicide, and that this simply was not worth dying for. One hill by one city on a single planet on the fringes of nowhere was not worth dying to take, especially when it would be forgotten by this time tomorrow. And even though Rhona knew that was her real voice telling her, and that it was the C3 shard overriding her own natural survival instinct, there was nothing she could do about it. The fear was overridden by a need to carry out her orders.

  Rhona nodded to her troopers and ran out from behind the cover of the wrecked transporter and up the hill. The first few paces were surprisingly easy as she planted her feet down on the hard rock, propelling herself up the steep slope as her squad followed her up. Althern led his squad not far behind, sprinting up toward the Ghar above. Then the enemy noticed them.

  Sparks danced sporadically from the ridge above as the Outcasts’ muzzle flashes lit it up, spewing fire down into the advancing strike troopers. Rhona heard a familiar, dull hum as her hyperlight shields glowed purple around her, fending off projectiles from the primitive weapons above. The sun eased above the horizon directly ahead, painting the dull rock in a warm glow and silhouetting the Outcasts as they scrambled for better firing positions. Rhona heard her own breathing and her racing pulse as she continued to lead the attack, the destination never seeming to draw any closer.

  A line of explosions erupted along the ridgeline as the support Van Noor had promised finally arrived, sending plumes of grey smoke wafting up into the windless sky and blocking out a little of the fierce sunlight.

  “Come on, buddy, get up!” Rhona heard Gant’s voice as he supported one of the other troopers. “Keep going!”

  Rhona concentrated on the two weapon drones she had added to the assault, sending them shooting up the right flank and opening fire with their plasma light supports. The relentless fire continued from the Ghar defensive positions above, and Rhona felt a momentary surge of pain and fear through the squad shard, followed by an empty void as one of her troopers was killed. She did not check to see who – it did not matter right now.

  One of the Ghar battlesuits lumbered up to the rocky parapet above and leaned forward, bringing its weapon arm to bear. The huge gun thudded and the ground shook as an explosive projectile slammed into the earth in the middle of Squad Xath, picking three of the strike troopers up and flinging them across the hillside. Plasma bolts swept up in return as some of the troopers began firing from the hip as they ran. A second Ghar battlesuit appeared up ahead and plasma fire swept down the slope, one of the bolts slamming into Rhona and knocking her to the ground. Her left shoulder smoking from a jagged tear in her armor, Rhona recovered her carbine, crawled groggily back to her feet, and continued the charge up the hill, ignoring the pain which flared up from the wound.

  A large outcrop of rock just below the crest of the ridge loomed into view, presenting respite from the hail of fire. Rhona dived into cover, feeling a thud next to her as Jemmel pressed against her a moment later. The short woman leaned around the edge of the rock and fired a rapid burst from her plasma lance. Rhona ordered the two drones up over the ridgeline and opened fire with their weapons, sending the Outcasts scurrying for cover as a trio of their number were torn apart by the plasma. Rhona grabbed a plasma grenade from her utility pouch and lobbed it over the outcrop, waiting for sound of the detonation before rushing out again to climb the last few yan and hurl herself onto the top of the hill.

  “Squad Wen,” she commanded, “engage the battlesuits! Take down that bomber!”

  Five or six Outcasts lay dead at her feet, the remainder of the squad were edging back as the fire from the two drones cut them down. A Ghar battlesuit remained at the crest of the peak, firing down relentlessly into Althern’s squad. A second suit pivoted on the spot and fired a long burst into the two Concord drones, blasting one apart spectacularly. The third suit – a bomber armed with a heavy weapon – turned in place and lined up with Rhona, aiming the collosal weapon directly at her. The voice at the back of her mind came back again as she sprinted forward, asking her why she was here and why she would die this way.

  The Ghar did not fire. Its weapon arm shifted back and forth rapidly as it tried to clear a jam. Rhona did not have time to appreciate her immense good fortune; another of the lumbering suits turned to face her and Jemmel, and it fired a rapid burst into them, cutting them both down. Rhona let out a cry as pain flashed up in her right hip. She looked around frantically for her carbine and saw it a few paces away, smoking and bent out of shape. With a cry, she staggered back up to her feet again as her shields continuously flared purple around her. Her vision swimming from the automatically injected medication which flowed through her bloodstream, she staggered forward toward the Ghar bomber. Another shot struck her dead in the face, snapping her head back painfully and cracking her visor. She tore her helmet off and threw it aside, wincing as the fierce sunlight met her eyes and the acrid smoke burned her lungs. She raised her right hand and fired a small bomb from her wrist-mounted x-sling, impacting the bomber suit harmlessly.

  The huge suit cleared its jam and fired, sending a huge shell whizzing past Rhona and impacting the ground behind her, causing her to stagger down to her knees with the force of the blast. Blinking blood out of one of her eyes and gritting her teeth to ignore the pain in her left shoulder and right hip, Rhona staggered forward again and skidded past the Ghar bomber’s legs. Sessetti suddenly appeared next to her beneath the Ghar suit, dodging a lightning strike aimed at his head from the machine’s crude claw. The two troopers wordlessly packed plasma grenades into the Ghar’s legs before quickly running away, expecting a deadly shot to the back at any moment. The grenades detonated, blowing one of the Ghar war machine’s legs off at the knee and sending it toppling over and then rolling down the hill where it smashed and ricocheted off the rocks on the long fall.

  Rhona looked around to assess the situation. A second Ghar suit had been blasted apart by the second
D1 drone, although that too now lay in a smoldering heap at the crest of the hill. The three surviving troopers of Squad Xath had taken cover behind the Ghar suit and were pelting the final surviving Ghar war machine with plasma fire as it clumsily retreated in the wake of the handful of surviving Outcasts. They had taken the hill. But it was not enough – the two turrets at the top of the ridgeline were still raining shells down on Alpha and Cian companies.

  “Troopers! On me!” Rhona shouted.

  The handful of survivors from both squads moved over to take position by Rhona. Althern was not among them.

  “We’ve got to take that turret,” Rhona gasped, clutching on to her hip, “if we take that turret, Alpha Company can get up the hill and we can all swing around to help out Cian. No time to spare. Let’s go.”

  Rhona limped over to the body of one of her troopers.

  “I’m sorry, pal, I need this,” she whispered to Jemmel, patting the dead trooper gently on the shoulder before taking her plasma lance and turning to lead the next attack.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Outskirts of Pariton

  Capital City

  Markov’s Prize

  L-Day plus 59

  Van Noor felt another wave of energy course through his body as his battlesuit injected another shot of synthetic adrenaline into his bloodstream. He walked along the rocky ridgeline that connected the two gun turrets which had caused so many problems to the assault. After the guns had been silenced, Alpha Company was able to break through on the left flank before curving around to alleviate the pressure from Beta Company in the center. With the Ghar reshuffling their defenses to deal with the breakthrough, Cian Company then surged forward on the right and punched through the entire defensive line. The rumble of guns and artillery was still audible to the east as Ghar patrols tested Cian Company’s defensive positions but, judging from the reports which were filtering through the shard, Cian’s position was strong.