by M. D. Cooper
Joe’s expression softened placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not an easy road you have ahead of you.”
Trist’s expression flashed confusion and mistrust. “I was under the impression that you don’t think I’m all that trustworthy.”
“The jury’s still out on that as far as I’m concerned, but I do know what it’s like to literally have to face your demons,” Joe said. “Just keep a clear head and don’t get in the way.”
Trist opened her mouth to give a retort, but Williams used a Marine sergeant look on her and she shut up.
Tanis didn’t quite know why, but she found herself liking Trist more than she would have expected, and also a bit annoyed with Joe for his attitude toward her. Being in MICI had made her world mostly full of shades of grey. She sometimes forgot that his was likely much more black and white.
No time to think about that now, she put her analysis of Joe aside and got back to the task at hand. “Enough chatting, let’s get this show on the road.”
…………………………
Williams liked Major Richards, which is why he had assigned himself to the team which was her escort detail. One/one had also volunteered to be the escorting fireteam—apparently they had taken a liking to the major as well. He hadn’t often witnessed an officer impressing the enlisted so quickly, especially a Micky officer.
In his estimation, it was a shame that she would be shipping out on the Intrepid. The TSF needed more people like her. Even her number two, Commander Evans, wasn’t a bad sort. He certainly had proven his bars in piloting that freighter.
However, Williams did have some misgivings about this venture. The major was walking into an obvious trap—planning to spring it, in fact. The last time she deliberately sprung a trap she had ended up on a dock surrounded by nearly a hundred mercs all gunning for her.
His thought process caused him to recheck the route and ensure that all teams were in position. The rest of his platoon would be making a show of patrolling certain areas on the ring. The Mars 1 authorities had raised quite the stink when they caught wind of this venture, but they were brought to heel by the TSF. Preliminary Micky reports indicated M1 security would have their people out in force on the ring as well. Several pundits on the nets were postulating that M1 security didn’t want to garner the reputation the MOS had for shoddy security—or they wanted all the glory for themselves.
Probably both.
Looking at the intel that was coming in from the tactical net, Williams could see the positions Mars 1’s security had taken up; some were decent and others looked poor to say the least. Hopefully they wouldn’t get in the way too much. In his experience, killing local cops always made the brass grumpy.
The team left the Intrepid and crossed the dock with no trouble. From there, several tubes and a maglev took them to the connector elevator that ran down to the MCEE and then Mars 1. They secured a car and the eight of them rode down in silence, the only movement being the weapon ready checks which everyone except Trist made periodically.
The Mars 1 ring generated its gravity from centripetal force as it rotated around the planet at the geosynchronous orbital distance. As a result, the side facing the planet was “up” and the side facing out into space was “down.” The ring’s top level sported a full ecosystem with hills, lakes, even a few oceans. It was larger than the all of Earth’s continents combined, and it was also the location of the team’s ultimate destination: the federal courthouses.
Far below, at the lowest level of the Mars 1 ring, the elevator lock cycled open. After sending out probes, the team debarked in careful formation.
Jansen and Lang were in the lead, followed by Williams and Joe, then Tanis and Trist. Cassar and Murphy brought up the rear. The hard stares the Marines were casting cleared a path faster than the presence of their high-powered pulse rifles. Because the ring was not a pressurized system like a standard station, each member also carried a small slug thrower.
In the corridors the team moved through, the twenty-fourth century architecture was nearly something to stop and marvel at. The designers of the ring had added a twist of art deco to their creation. Unlike most stations, which were more utilitarian or very high-tech flashy, Mars 1 was built with an element of garishness. The sweeping archways and overt embellishments of every doorway drew the eye and amazed with the boundless attention to detail.
After clearing security, a process that simply involved a quick check of their IDs and extensive scowling by the Marines, they entered a maglev station that took them seven thousand miles east around the ring.
“So far so good,” Joe murmured.
“Oh great…you had to say that,” Jansen said. “Er…sir.”
“Relax, Marine.” Williams scowled. “This won’t be anything we can’t handle, nothing worse than what we’ve seen before.”
“Aye, Staff Sergeant,” Jansen replied, taking a deep breath. “It’s the lack of activity…I wish they’d just attack already.”
“Don’t worry,” Tanis said. “You’ll get your wish. We’ve got to change trains ahead, and I anticipate that to be their first probable ambush point. When we debark, stick close to the wall on the right and keep your eyes peeled. When we round the first corner, we may encounter some company.”
“You do have people there, right?” Trist asked Tanis. “And I really wish you’d give me a gun.”
“Yes. No.”
“She’d make a good sergeant,” Cassar said.
Williams smiled and Tanis took it as a compliment. Everyone rechecked their weapons as the maglev began to slow; sidearms were loosened in holsters and extra clips were moved into readily accessible positions.
The station was decidedly upscale with a broad atrium ringed by catwalks, a lavish fountain, and a small food court on the far side. It looked empty, strange at this time of day, though nothing was flagged as hostile on the Marine’s systems.
“Let’s do this,” Tanis said and the escort began to move off the train.
Directly into a storm of particle beams.
“Fall back,” Williams shouted at Jansen and Lang who were out front while everyone else took protective positions inside the train. The two Marines jumped backwards and Joe and Williams pulled the doors shut.
“Injuries?” Williams called out.
“No sir, armor appears to have absorbed it all,” Lang said. Jansen reported the same.
An explosion rocked the car and Tanis had a sinking feeling.
“Two on that catwalk above.” Williams called out. “Cassar, Murphy, get suppressing fire on those bastards. I see muzzle flash coming from that food stand at ten o’clock. Jansen, you and Lang move down one car and see if you can’t flank them. I’ll hold their attention.”
“Two more at three o’clock from around the fountain.” Tanis relayed information from Angela’s scan. “One/two is also advancing from where we thought the ambush would be, but they’re under fire as well.”
“Sounds like a party.” Joe took aim at the fountain, blowing off bits and pieces in an attempt to decrease its cover.
“Someone is not going to be happy that you are chewing apart their art.” Cassar said.
“What they get for putting a fountain in a train station.” Williams snorted.
“Time for me to use my new toy.” Tanis began to pull her light armor off. Underneath she wore the glossy black shimmersuit she had appropriated from the assassin, Kris. She issued the command and the suit flowed up over her head completely covering her.
“I feel like I’m suffocating every time it does that,” Tanis said.
“Good look on you though, sir.” Joe grinned from where he was taking cover.
Tanis slid two long blades into the covered sheaths on her arms and with a silent command to the suit, faded from view.
“I’m going right to take out the guys behind the fountain. Concentrate your fire on the left side; your scan can’t see me and I won’t show on combat net—don’t want to give off a signal.”
“Aye, sir,” Williams said and made sure all the Marines knew what to do.
Carefully slipping over the jagged edges of glass in the train car’s shattered windows, Tanis cursed softly, wishing that the stealth suit provided some amount of actual safety. Even though she was invisible, the notion of being effectively without protection in a firefight was unnerving.
A scream came from the catwalk and one of the attackers toppled over the railing, courtesy of Cassar’s heavy repeater. Tanis caught sight of the heavily armored man as he crashed to the ground. It was similar armor to what the attackers had on the night of the VIP party, only a few revisions newer. Specs showed few weak points and Tanis would have to make the best of them.
Slipping around the fountain she saw four attackers, not two. This would be a bit more challenging than she first thought. Carefully observing them, she planned out her moves.
An initial kick to the back of the man on the left would send him sprawling out into the open, where with luck Joe or Williams would finish him off. A rather spirited woman was cursing loudly as she tried to place her shots through the shattered windows of the train car. The other two women were calmer, and consequently more precise in their shooting.
Having worked out the best moves, Tanis took a running jump and slammed her feet into the man’s back. Sure enough, he slid out from behind the cover. Without looking to see if he had been targeted by the Marines, Tanis glanced at the two more controlled women. One had already noticed her compatriot being struck and was looking frantically for the perpetrator. Tanis stepped past her, slid a blade out from her forearm and sliced the throat of the third, more vocal, woman.
Now both of the remaining two were alert, and the screams to her right told Tanis that the Marines had taken out the man.
The two women started firing around themselves wildly. Just barely avoiding being hit, Tanis stepped between them. Quickly sliding out the other blade, she reached out and slit both of their throats at once.
Blood fountained across her and she went from being invisible to being the red sticky outline of a person. A cry rang out from the catwalk and shots rained down around her. Grabbing one of the rifles on the ground, Tanis dove for cover in the fountain, the action having the dual purpose of washing the blood from her and giving her some protection.
The red tint left her vision and she peered around the splashing water trying to get the man overhead within her sights. As it turned out, she didn’t need to since when he leaned over to get a bead on her someone else filled him full of holes.
Another few shots rang out and a scream came from Jansen’s target, followed by a gun being thrown over the counter and a cry of surrender. Tanis, invisible again, stepped quietly over to the concession stand only to see the final attacker hiding under a candy machine of some sort, a rifle trained on the opening. The weapon he had tossed over the counter must have been that of his dead companion.
Tanis raised her arm and flung a blade at him attempting to hit the creases on his armor’s neck. She missed and it bounced off, clattering to the deck. He spun and started shooting wildly in her direction, forcing Tanis to hit the deck.
“Surrender for real or we toss a grenade in there to do the job for you.” Williams called out.
“You wouldn’t,” the man replied. “Station would throw a fit.”
“I’m a Marine staff sergeant. Do you really think that I give a monkey’s ass what this station thinks? You’ve got five seconds.”
The man didn’t even think about it for two. He was out and on the ground so fast he nearly landed on Tanis. Williams was securing him when one/two arrived, looking worn but triumphant.
“Heard you guys needed a hand,” Corporal Taylor said.
“We did,” Jansen said. “What took you so long?”
“Just ran into a few folks who wanted to turn us into sponges.” Taylor grinned. “We showed them how that goes when they try to take on Marines.”
The fireteam gave an “Oo Rah” to that and Tanis couldn’t help but grin. She walked back to the train to retrieve her armor and weapons.
“Good work,” Williams commented. “Make sure all these folks are dead or secure and wait for station security to arrive. We’ll be rolling out as soon as the major’s ready.”
“They’re actually right behind us,” Taylor said and turned around. “You guys can come through, looks like everything’s taken care of here too. Good thing you were around to not help us.”
“We came as fast as we could,” the man in the lead said. His shoulder patches identified him as a lieutenant in the MSF. “We’ll take over this scene, but we’ll need statements.”
“Those can wait.” Tanis stepped from the train car, once again clothed and in her armor. Trist was in her wake casting uneasy glances at the large body of police officers. At least thirty of them had streamed into the atrium.
“Major Richards?” the MSF lieutenant asked.
“Yes…” She waited for him to identify himself.
“Lieutenant Folsom. I’m going to have to ask you and your forces to lay down your weapons and surrender to us.”
Tanis wasn’t certain she’d heard the man correctly. “You want us to what?”
The Marines had snapped into action the moment Folsom spoke. Raising their weapons they began to ease into positions to cover one another.
“By the authority vested in me by the Mars Protectorate, I am placing you under arrest on the charge of harboring a known terrorist.”
“What known terrorist would that be?” Tanis asked.
“The woman with you: Trist. She is wanted by the Jovian government.”
“Last I heard, we weren’t in Jovian space,” Joe said. “Why don’t you boys pack up and head out before we place you under arrest for interfering in the prosecution of a federal case.”
Tanis saw that Cassar had reached a position offering decent cover. He slowly eased to a knee, switching his weapon to full auto. He had one eye on Williams and the other on the MSF squad. One word and he would have at least ten of them down and out of the fight. Tanis assessed the other Marine’s positions through her recon probes while Angela furiously queried Mars 1 databases, trying to find the origin of Folsom’s orders.
Tanis said.
“It appears we have a situation.” Tanis scanned the MSF unit. Most of them were arrayed behind Folsom, though a few were slowly easing into flanking positions. “You see, I can’t find any validation of your orders. And there is no way I’m just going to surrender to you without them. You’ve got to know there is no way these Marines will surrender to you under any circumstances.”
A few of the cops looked uneasy at that and the stone-cold looks from one/one and one/two only solidified the knowledge that these Marines would go down fighting. Even death here would be more preferable to the Marines than going back to their platoon having been arrested by civilian cops, especially since they were only outnumbered two to one.
“Nevertheless, you will surrender,” Folsom said. “We have reinforcements on the way. You’ll be subdued.”
“Like hell we will,” Williams grunted. “I’ve faced more threatening odds on my own. You station fairies are going to die today if you get in our way.”
Tanis grinned; there really was nothing like having a sergeant put it in the simplest possible terms. Several of the MSF men and women were looking a lot less certain and she decided to push it home.
“You have ten seconds to stand down
before I log this as an official violation of the Federated Space Treaty, Section 4.2—TSF Charter, paragraph 9. Such violation authorizes TSF forces commanded by an officer ranking commander or higher to respond with lethal force against anybody, official or otherwise, who is interfering with TSF actions.”
Folsom still looked resolute and Tanis began to count.
“One.”
“Two.”
“Three.”
“Four.”
Several of the MSF men and women put down their weapons and slowly began stepping back, out of the line of fire.
“Five.”
“Six.”
A couple more left, bringing the MSF numbers down to twenty.
“Seven.”
“Eight.”
No one else moved. Everyone tensed.
“Nine.”
Tanis waited the space of a second and then dove to her right, knocking Trist to the ground while raising her rifle and taking aim at Folsom. He ducked as well and her shots cut through the air where his chest had been.
Cassar opened up and in moments six of the MSF were down and several more were stunned by the rapid fire of his weapon. Perez, one/two’s heavy gunner, was less than a second behind in releasing his barrage, and Williams, taking his pissed off look to a whole new level, leaped through the air, horizontal and low, taking out the legs of several MSF officers.
Five seconds later it was over. Taylor had been hit point blank center mass, but his armor had absorbed the impact, leaving him merely sore and embarrassed. Murphy had taken a shot in the shoulder, where his armor creased to allow flexibility. The limb hung stiffly, already suffused with med-nano stemming the bleeding and stitching his sinews back together.
“I’m five by five, Staff Sergeant,” he grunted. “Can shoot just fine with my other arm.”
“Never doubted it for a moment,” Williams said. “You keep to the back of your team, though.”
