Merkiaari Wars: 02 - What Price Honour

by Mark E. Cooper

  “Let go you fucker,” she snarled in the monster’s face and chopped at his neck.

  He grunted as her enhanced strength beat him to his knees, but he wasn’t ready to let go. Gina smashed her fist into his face repeatedly. He didn’t like that and bit her hand.

  “Need some help?” Higgins asked casually as he rounded the corner.

  “Nah, I’ve got him.” Gina shoved her hand down the monster’s throat, only to rip it out sideways a moment later.

  “Ouch,” Higgins said. He skipped back from a fountain of blood as the huge monster went into shrieking convulsions.

  “Phaw!” Gina shook her hand free of blood and slobber. “God that’s disgusting.” She tried not to smell it, and shook the worst of the goo off her hand.

  Higgins casually pressed the muzzle of his rifle against the dying monster’s head and pulled the trigger.

  Gina took her rifle back from him. “Thanks. Second floor clear?”

  “All done. I have one dead and two wounded.”

  “How bad?”

  “Your hand, my leg, both slight.”

  A few tooth marks were nothing, and John was still mobile even with blood showing. Their bots would see to both injuries without needing help.

  “Alpha One, Alpha One-One,” Hiller said over the comm.

  Gina finished cleaning the goo off her hand and replied, “Alpha One. Go ahead.”

  “All clear. Consol destroyed as ordered.”

  “Good, Ian. How do things look outside?”

  “Pretty peaceful. The sun’s just coming up. Not much happening on this side.”

  Gina nodded in satisfaction. “Okay. Hold the ground floor in case we have visitors.”

  “Copy that.”

  She turned to Higgins. “Collect your boys, John. I want to have a look up top.”

  Higgins nodded and spoke quietly over his comm as they walked back toward the ramp through the mess they had made.

  Gina selected a channel and contacted Second Squad. “Alpha Two-One, Alpha One. Report.”

  “Alpha Two-One. Third floor just about… Third floor now clear. Third Squad on the roof.”

  “Okay, Gwen,” she said pleased with their progress. “Get up there and set your fire teams to cover the LZ. I’m on my way up.”

  “Copy.”

  Higgins was waiting for her at the ramp.

  “John, I want you to go down and sweep the grounds around the building. After that, send a couple of your boys back to the LZ for a quick resupply, and then take defensive positions. Have a word with Ian about coordinating a decent defence… just in case.”

  Higgins nodded once, and led his men down the ramp while Gina went up to the roof.

  Gina stepped out into the open, and took a deep lungful of the bracing air before looking about herself. Gwen had positioned three spotter/shooter teams along the south side of the roof to cover the LZ and its approaches, but she hadn’t neglected the other sides. Third squad was helping her people watch the north and west sides. The east was deemed of lesser risk. According to satellite surveillance, the area had been extensively cultivated, but very few people lived on those huge automated farms. It was of no interest to the enemy.

  Gina crossed to the south side of the roof, and nodded to the others. “Anything interesting, Gwen?”

  “Captain Hames is ripping them up.”

  Gina commanded her processor to magnify the scene before her, and X4 strobed on her display. The battlefield rushed closer, and she watched the show. The enemy was dug in pretty good and they were holding for the moment. Captain Hames had positioned his AARs on the wings of his formation and they were strafing the enemy lines on a diagonal. The mortars and grenade launchers were popping their rounds among the Merki troops with frightening accuracy, but they simply stayed put and soaked up punishment.

  As yet, only two of the regiment’s APCs were down. They had been deployed to help cover the LZ. Hames had a while to wait yet before he could call on artillery. The regiment’s self-propelled guns were heavy ordnance, and could only be loaded aboard the landers one at a time. Grafton had only two Wolfcubs, and they were currently ferrying the APCs filled to the brim with ammo and grenades.

  From the west, a wing of fighters screamed by the terminal building, low enough for Gina to make out the pilots. In a widely spread formation, they strafed the Merkiaari with their guns before climbing steeply. The sonic boom of six SPAF-18 Nighthawks echoed in the cool morning air as they clawed for altitude.

  Wevers shook her head. “They missed the damn mines. Flyboys…” her lip curled in disgust. “They can’t wait to kick arse.”

  Gina nodded thoughtfully, and wondered what the General thought about it. She was willing to bet he was not happy. “The mines are stopping us from pushing them completely out of the port. The General will be coming down soon. We need to clear the area and access the city before then.”

  “We could go and help.”

  Gina nodded. “I’ll ask.”

  * * *

  The ground erupted and showered Kate with soil. The damn flyboys had screwed up and left her arse flapping in the wind. Captain Hames seemed to agree. He spat dirt, and propped himself up on his elbows to evaluate the strike. It was obvious he didn’t like what he was seeing.

  Hames scowled and turned to give his orders. “Richmond—” his eyes went wide, and he slumped forward as the gauss slug sheared through his helmet.

  Kate wiped grey and red gunk off her helmet’s visor with a shaking hand. Keeping low, she dragged the captain’s body down from the lip of the crater. She checked his vitals as a matter of course, but she didn’t need the flat line on his wristcomp to tell he was gone. She glanced around at the others trying to ignore the blinking blue icon on her sensors, but none of them had seen Hames go down. They were busy taking pot-shots at the enemy, completely oblivious to the disaster that had befallen one Lieutenant Richmond. She looked back at her captain for a long moment and shivered. This was not good, not good at all. Hames was, had been, the only veteran assigned to Alpha Company. Only he knew what he’d planned to do next. The General’s plan was screwed to hell and gone, and the goddamn flyboys hadn’t done their jobs…

  Kate swallowed her insipient panic and took a deep breath. Okay… okay all right. She didn’t need a damn officer to tell her what needed doing, not even one as good as Hames had been. She could handle it. She would handle it.

  She selected a channel, and took a deep breath. “Gold One, Charlie One.”

  “Burgton, Charlie One. Go.”

  “Sir. I have a situation here. Captain Hames is dead, sir. Orders?”

  There was a long silence, but then, “Richard is… Hames is dead you say? You’re sure?”

  “Positive, sir,” Kate said looking into Hames’ dead eyes. “I believe he was about to order another air strike. At least that’s what I’d like to think he was going to do. Are you monitoring our situation?”

  “Affirmative,” Burgton said. “They have you pinned.”

  “Exactly right, sir. They have us pinned down, but we have them pinned down too. It’s a stalemate, sir.”

  “Not acceptable,” Burgton said coldly.

  “No, sir, I agree. We need those mines cleared.”

  “Katherine, here is what you will do. First of all, call the other platoon leaders and inform them of the situation. Secondly, hand over command of your platoon to Brice. He can handle it… you agree?”

  Kate nodded to herself. “Yes, sir, Martin would be my choice. He knows what to do.”

  “Good. I’m raising you to temporary command of Alpha Company effective immediately.”

  Her mouth went dry. “Yes, sir, I understand.”

  “Order your strike, Captain. Gold One clear.”

  “Charlie… Alpha Leader clear,” she said feeling almost dizzy.

  Burgton wouldn’t make her elevation permanent would he? He wouldn’t do that to her… would he? Kate shook her head and got to work. She couldn’t worry about it n
ow. She called Brice and Dengler in to inform them about Hames’ death, and the General’s response to it. Brice was unconcerned about his promotion to command Third Platoon. He was more than competent.

  Dengler frowned at Hames’ corpse and then at Kate. “You gonna order another strike?”

  “Yeah.” Kate changed channels. “Jaguar Leader, Alpha Leader, come in.”

  “Copy, Alpha Leader.”

  “Jaguar Leader, you missed.”

  “Come again?” Jaguar Leader said in surprise. “Er, I mean repeat please, Alpha Leader.”

  “The minefield is still here, Jaguar Leader. I want it gone! The Merkiaari are not your target, what do you think I’m here for? Now listen: I want another run to take out those mines. If I don’t get it, I’m coming up there, and taking it out of your hide, personally!”

  “Jaguar Leader copies,” the pilot said stiffly.

  Kate waited for the strike while her people used the mortars to keep the enemy’s heads down, and the AARs to kill any that popped up for a look see. There weren’t many of the latter, not after the first few times.

  “We should have landed a squad on the other side,” Dengler mused.

  “No. The city is infested with Merki infantry. Vipers we may be, but we’re not invincible.” Kate nodded at Hames as proof. “Landing between two forces is not a good idea.”

  “Maybe we should wait for Arty.”

  Kate shook her head. When she had mentioned the possibility earlier, Hames told her the guns would take hours to get here. She wanted this over long before then. There was no way she would be responsible for the General landing in the middle of a battle.

  “Alpha Leader, Alpha One,” Fuentez said over the comm.

  “Alpha Leader. Go.” Kate ducked again as a persistent trooper popped up and fired at her.

  “The terminal building is secure, and Second Platoon holds the LZ. All hostiles eliminated, but I lost a man.”

  Shit. “Who?”

  “Chrissie Roberts.”

  Ah hell, why did it have to be Chris? They had been so damn lucky so far, and now this. Perhaps it wasn’t so surprising they had another casualty, not when considering the opposition they were facing. It was a damn shame, but people died in war.

  “Copy that, Gina. I want you to hold the terminal and keep an eye on the satellite feeds—especially over the city. Sing out if you see something I should know.”

  “Copy that, but I could come over and support your right…”

  “Negative, Alpha One. Sit tight and wait for the General.”

  “Copy, holding position.”

  Kate watched as the fighters bore in. This time they attacked the correct target and the minefield erupted.

  WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP!

  She nodded in satisfaction as a path three hundred metres wide was blasted through the minefield all the way to, and through, the Merki’s lines.

  “Alpha Leader, Jaguar Leader.”

  “Copy, Jaguar Leader,” Kate replied.

  “Returning to rearm. Jaguar Leader out.”

  “She’s in a bit of a snit isn’t she?” Brice said.

  “Too damn bad,” Kate said, and answered the call. “Alpha Leader copies.” She turned back to business. “On my signal, clear?”

  Brice and Dengler nodded, and ran in a crouch to rejoin their platoons. Moments later the mortars and grenade launchers left off their methodical attack to go to rapid fire. The AARs laid down covering fire as both platoons moved up ready for her signal.

  “Go,” Kate said simply and ran forward.

  The enemy stayed down at first, but one brave troop must have poked his head up long enough to realise they were coming, because suddenly the entire Merki force opened up. Kate sprinted at full speed jinking left and right to avoid being hit. She leapt into a convenient crater, and then jumped out and ran forward to dive head first into another one.

  “This will do nicely,” Kate murmured to herself and raised her rifle. “Hmmm, where are you? Ah…”

  She squeezed the trigger and took the top of a Merki’s head off. Her targeting reticule hesitated a second, and then tentatively settled on another target, this time the barrel of a plasma cannon. She dropped onto the target and fired a three round burst and watched the cannon explode into its operator’s face.

  Kate chuckled. “Lovely.”

  Looking around, she found her people moving from crater to crater, closer and closer. Time to move up again. She crawled out then sprinted forward a few yards. The first she knew she was hit was when she fell face first into a crater. She grunted as the air was blasted from her lungs, but the fact it hurt was reassuring. If it hurt, then she must be alive. She realised her armour was cracked over her ribs, and that her damage indicator was blinking pale yellow over her left side. It hurt like a sonofabitch, but it was nothing to worry about. No doubt she would sport one hell of a bruise tomorrow. She leapt out of her crater into the next one.

  “Now then, what’s the range?” Kate checked her range finder. “One hundred?” She poked her head up for a better look, and ducked as the rim of the crater eroded from incoming fire. “Yep, one hundred. Delta One, Alpha Leader. Report status.”

  “Delta One,” Lieutenant Dengler answered in a distracted tone of voice. “Still moving forward. I make it two hundred metres to target.”

  “Copy that. I’m at one hundred. Move up in line, and call off the barrage in exactly five minutes… mark.”

  “Copy.”

  Kate looked to her left but couldn’t see Brice. “Charlie One, Alpha Leader. Report status.”

  “Charlie One. I’m bogged down,” Brice said.

  “How far back?”

  “Three hundred metres.”

  “Three hundred is unacceptable, Lieutenant,” she said knowing that Brice wouldn’t like that. “Move your people up. In exactly four minutes, the barrage will lift and we go in. Be there.”

  There was silence for a few moments. “Copy.”

  Exactly four minutes later, Kate ran forward at top speed hearing the last grenades and mortars detonating ahead. It was a relief. She would really hate it if her own launchers killed her. She grinned into the wind, and fired at the Merki troopers in front of her. Both males went down as she jumped into their foxhole.

  “Woof!” Kate was body checked by a trooper before she could fire. He began to throttle her.

  She had a flashback of the simulation back at Alliance HQ for an instant, but this time she didn’t mess about. Her rifle came up in her right hand, and she selected full auto even as she pulled the trigger. She staggered back from the collapsing monster, drenched in alien blood, and reloaded her rifle.

  One of her men jumped into her foxhole, and immediately swung left to fire along the enemy lines. Thinking that a fine idea, Kate did the same on the right before climbing out and heading for the next position. With her sensors sweeping ahead of her, and her targeting software locking up one Merki trooper after another, she became a walking killing machine. The next enemy position appeared before her, and a grenade arrived in her hand as if by magic.

  “One… two—”

  WHUMP!

  “Three.” Kate grinned and dropped into the foxhole already firing. She stared at the corpses, and shook her head. “Waste of ammo.” She climbed out looking for something else to kill.

  All along the Merkiaari lines, her sensors reported blue viper icons swarming over, and slaying, the glaring red ones denoting enemy troops. She found herself too far away to do any good, and watched the red lights wink out one after another without firing a shot. With nothing else to do, she called for satellite imagery of the battlefield.

  Access satellite Sierra Zero One. Enlarge sector G-five.

  Everything looked quiet now. The satellite showed the port facilities and the surrounding area. The hangars were still burning, and she could see activity on the roof of the terminal building, which had gaping holes in the walls and many windows broken or missing. Fuentez had set up
a squad on the roof to overlook the LZ, and another was patrolling the grounds around the building.

  Centre grid G-six.

  The image was replaced with another showing Zuleika. The city seemed quiet, too quiet. There was no obvious enemy activity, but Kate knew they were there. The General said the control room found by Fuentez’s First Squad, was some kind of communications centre. She could expect to receive another attack at almost any time.

  “Alpha Leader, Charlie One,” Brice said over the comm.

  Kate ordered her processor to clear the image. As the view of the city disappeared to be replaced by her targeting display, she began making her way back toward the LZ.

  “Alpha Leader. Go,” Kate said as she crossed what had been the Merki line of defence.

  “Sector secure, no casualties.”

  “Copy that. Set the perimeter alarms and move the launchers into the dugouts. We might be receiving company from the city.”

  “Copy Alpha Leader.”

  “Alpha Leader, Delta One,” Dengler said making her report.

  “Go,” Kate answered.

  “Sector secure. No casualties.”

  “Copy that. Set up your spy eyes, Erma, and bring the mortars into position. Send someone back to Viper One to re-supply your platoon.”

  “Copy that.”

  Kate contacted Brice again to order a similar resupply for his platoon. She didn’t tell Fuentez to do the same; there was no point. Her friend would have seen the need, and already have done it. Kate decided it was time to give the General a sitrep.

  “Gold One, Alpha Leader.”

  “Report,” Burgton said instantly.

  “Spaceport secured, sir. No activity from the city as yet, but I’ve ordered alarms set to give warning, and a defensive perimeter is now in place. You may make your landing at your convenience, General.”