Rapparee_The Regeneration

by Robert Weisskopf

  These sensors, named pigeons 1, 2, 3 and 4, had been roosting unnoticed for over an hour when pigeon 2 sensed movement below. This triggered a message sent to the command post. It then awoke and activated its video and audio sensors. Chris who was manning the CP while Nicky took a break, relayed the alert to all the Genus troops and put them on 100% alert. Nicky got the message and returned. He moved into the position behind the monitors.

  Soon after pigeon 2 alerted, pigeon 3 alerted. After five minutes pigeon 1 signaled, followed two minutes later by pigeon 4. With the full array activated, Nicky evaluated the manpower they were facing.

  “Chris, this is a sizable force. It must be close to two hundred bandits. Good news the bandits don’t appear well equipped. Like usual, they’ve bet on quantity over quality. I don’t see any heavy weapons only personal weapons. Plus, they don’t have any exoskeletons or power suits.”

  “Nick keep watching. These might be the first wave. The cannon fodder. They may be hoping we’ll blow our wad on them and then have their elite roll over us.”

  Chris let all the fighting positions know to hold their fire for now. Tommy sent a message back to the command post with an idea. Chris gave him the go ahead and sent him the coordinates of the incoming bandits.

  With hand signals only, Tommy and Jason set their plan into motion. Turog picked up a stone. Like an Olympian shot putter, he threw it in the direction Tommy pointed. The stone soared through the upper branches and out of sight. Turog threw four more in quick succession. Each stone weighed close to fifty pounds and yet Turog tossed them like a baseball left fielder making the play at home.

  Nicky monitored the results on the ground. The first stone landed in the middle of a group of bandits. It shattered into hundreds of razor-sharp shards. On the screen, at least three bandits were dead, and five more wounded. The stones arrived with no noise. No one had any idea what attacked them until the third stone arrived. The bandits were now all on the ground crawling for shelter. When the fifth stone struck, close to thirty bandits lay wounded. It was clear there were ten dead. Blood sprayed everywhere from the shards.

  It took the bandits several minutes to gather up after the bombardment. A credit to their leaders there were no shouted orders. Hand signals conveyed orders. They left the wounded on their own with a buddy or two to help tend the injuries. The leaders got the bandits moving again. The second volley of stones struck them after two minutes. This time there were ten stones in the attack. The carnage wasn’t as great as the bandits now knew to dive for cover with the first stone.

  The bandit leaders got them back on their feet and moving and pressed on. Rather than a volley of stones there now was an endless rain of stones from the sky. Unless the stone hit a branch on the way down they were silent until they struck the ground.

  More than killing and injuring the bandits, this had the desired effect of dispersing the attack by the bandits. Instead of the planned spearheaded, it forced the bandits to spread their manpower. The thrust had been weakened and it became more difficult for the leaders to communicate with their men. It was now impossible to keep the attacking line even in the dense forest. The bandit’s lines thinned in places and bunched up in others. The attacking force split into two disorganized forces. This would prove to be more damaging than the initial casualties from the barrage.

  After a message from Chris, Turog shifted his aim to the left and right while Jason and Tommy found more stones for him to throw. These stones were as effective as a mortar barrage. They might even have been more effective since they were silent until the projectile struck the ground. Jason and Tommy struggled to keep Turog supplied with boulders and Turog acted like he could do this all day.

  When the attackers got within range of the Genus troops, they were being picked off by the expert shots in the prepared fighting positions. This attack would soon founder. The bandits were now running from cover to cover trying to survive. The will to attack was gone. Chris saw their drive vanish.

  Chris sent out a message to all troops. “Prepare for a second wave attack. These may be mechanized and armored.”

  Nick looked at him and said, “You have been hanging out with Jack so long you’re having hunches too.”

  Smiling, Chris replied, “I guess so. I hope I’m as good at it as he is.”

  Nicky chuckled knowing that Chris was as good a military tactician as anyone and a skilled warrior. If he had a hunch, you acted on it.

  Chapter 21

  As Lola rounded the south pole of Chico 7, the shuttle and fighters came over the north. The drones were also making their way around the equator. Running ahead of the rest of us, the drones would make contact then launch their missiles moments before we did. At least that's what we planned. Due to running silent, I had no idea of everyone’s exact position and had to hope they were on schedule.

  I found myself sitting tall in my seat staring out the bridge windows. As if it would make a difference, subconsciously I was trying to see over the curve of the planet. Lola’s sensors would spot the bandit's ships long before I would. It would be best if I never saw the bandits and they flee or are destroyed before they’re close enough to be visible.

  Iwona sat glued to her sensor screens. I'm sure she was afraid to blink. Suddenly she shouted out, “Missiles in the air. They're headed towards the bandits. The drones have fired all eight of their missiles. The drones are turning to evade. Bandits have not reacted yet.”

  I looked at Al. “Be ready with our missiles and the photon cannons,” I said.

  Al never looked up from his screens. “Yes, sir.”

  “Fire when you have a target,” I said.

  Ten seconds later I heard rocket motors and saw missiles fired from our missile ports. In moments, I heard the photon cannons surge and the whining recharge of their capacitors. Al had fired our first salvos.

  “Missiles away and photon cannons fired at maximum range. Ten seconds until we see if the cannons hit their marks. Five until the drone’s missiles hit.” He said.

  I turned back toward Iwona. She was counting under her breath. She reached six. “Sir, six of the drone’s missiles struck the bandit troop transport.” She began counting again. “Four missiles struck from the north. Multiple strikes with the photon cannons. Our missiles are all tracking true and should all hit the ship.”

  Our surprise strike seemed effective.

  “Sir, the bandit ship is breaking up. There are multiple hull breaches and it’s venting atmosphere. All our missiles struck amidship. It’s broken into two segments and is tumbling. One segment is losing altitude and will enter the atmosphere. There won’t be much left of it when it strikes the planet. The other segment is now in a higher orbit.”

  “Are there any other threats in the area?” I asked.

  “Negative, it’s all clear,” Iwona answered.

  I raised Tony and the two fighters on the radio. I want the shuttle to join up with Lola. We'll look for survivors on the segment that went higher. Arrow One and Two will head towards our people on the hilltop. See if you can give them some close air support. You each have a couple ground attack missile so put them to good use.” I got a series of yes sirs, and the fighters pulled off heading back towards the hilltop.

  We maneuvered in as close as we could safely take Lola. From here the shuttle would venture nearer. Iwona was trying to raise the bridge of the bandit troop ship but no one had answered. That could mean any of several things. Radios could be out, there may be no survivors capable of signaling us, or they are lying in wait to attack. We hadn’t seen any life pods eject and there were none we could see, gone from the ship. Tony headed for Lola’s landing deck. He’d need a couple troopers to provide security and give him a hand with any survivors. I had an idea that he could help with.

  I gave a few orders to the bridge and ordered the recovery of the drones before I left for the hangar deck. I found Tony in the ship's hangar, supervising the armorers loading more missiles on the shuttle’s external hard points. I
told him my plan and ran off. Tony thought I was crazy but since I was the boss he went along with the idea.

  I had my second-generation power suit on as well as my helmet. I found a power suit exoskeleton and began to put it on. Tony sent a trooper over to give me a hand. “Skipper, Tony told me what you want to do. It’s crazy, but then so am I. How about I go with you? It's at least a two-person job. You need someone to keep an eye on your back and help you maneuver in the wreckage.”

  “What’s your name trooper?” I asked.

  “Sir, I’m Pat Martin.” He said.

  I reached out and shook his hand. “Welcome aboard. Nice to meet you.” I said.

  We both suited up and trotted up the ramp to the shuttle. Tony and two other troopers were already seated and belted in. The ramp raised, and we taxied out onto the launch deck. In minutes, we headed toward the wreckage tumbling about twenty miles away.

  Tony took his time cruising around the wreckage. There were still lights visible through some portals though we couldn’t see any survivors. At one point a human leg drifted past. Pat and I readied ourselves. We each carried a titanium wrecking bar, fifty foot of aramid fiber rope, extra lights, and photon carbines.

  We carried no first aid supplies. All we could do would be to place survivors in a life pod and eject them. We would pick up any pods once they were away from the wreckage.

  Tony found a gaping hole in the hull. It was safe for him to maneuver close and rotate the ship, so the ramp faced it. We were ready when the ramp came down. Using the thrusters on our exoskeletons we worked our way to the wreckage. This was damage from our photon cannon. The edges of the ship’s skin were melted, not torn, and there was little blocking our way. The photon cannon had burned a perfect hole through one side and out the other. There was no explosion here and no torn wreckage in the immediate area.

  We made our way over and into the hull of the bandit ship. We’d both been on similar troop transports and the layout was familiar. We worked our way into the hull and towards the bridge. It was clear this was a military surplus ship, and little had been done to change it. Our military sold these off when they reached a certain age. Mining companies used them to transport crews to planets. They worked well for that purpose. Given the bandit’s prior relationship with Hardcore Mining, it all made sense to me.

  There were still some lights on aboard the ship. Most were battery powered emergency lights, but there must be some electrical circuits working. We found a hatch and sealed it behind us with the manual locks. After that, we passed through and sealed another hatchway. When that one sealed, lights flickered, and a sign indicated the area was pressurizing. We would be able to enter other pressurized compartments from here.

  We made our way through several other pressurized corridors moving towards the bridge. We checked each compartment for survivors and found none. There was no one, dead or alive. I wasn’t sure what to make of that.

  Pat was leading the way and stopped as we came to another hatch. This one had a window in the door. Pat raised a hand to signal stop. Through the window, we saw light. From my angle, I couldn’t see much but I did see a shadow move. Pat did too. We both brought our carbines up and were ready. Pat moved towards the window while he removed a small video camera from a pocket. It had an adhesive patch and he stuck it to the window. He then touched his wrist pad and both he and I could now see the feed from the camera onto the bridge.

  The image was a wide angle shot. I could see several bodies slumped over consoles and on the floor. In the captain’s seat, there was a body slumped over. Pat and I took our time and set up on each side of the hatchway. When we opened the door, he would go in first to the right and I would follow going to the left. The power was on and the hatch showed it was unlocked.

  With his fingers, Pat counted down from three. He hit the door latch and it slid open. He went in low and to the right. I followed going high and to the left as planned. We moved out of the doorway rather than stay in the funnel of death where we made easy targets. We kept moving and checked all the bodies for signs of life. They were all dead except the man in the captain’s seat. He looked injured, he had blood on his head and shirt. The survivor was groggy, and he gave no fight. Pat picked him up and took him to the nearest life pod. He set him inside. Buckled him in and sealed the hatch. Pat pressed the ejection button and I told Tony to expect the pod. With a whoosh, the pod shot out.

  We continued to search the bridge as well as the adjoining captain’s quarters. We didn’t expect to find more survivors but I hoped to find information on the bandits. Pat pulled the ships navigation data. It would show their recent travels. I looked for any documentation and names. In the end, we tossed every data chip we could find into a duffle bag from the Captain’s quarters.

  The wrecked ship was beginning to shudder. We could feel it through the deck. It meant only one thing. The ship was breaking up. We needed to get back to the shuttle. I radioed Tony and told him we were headed back to the hole we’d entered. He’d already picked up the life pod and would be waiting for us.

  With the duffle bag over my shoulder, I followed Pat as he led the way back to the breach in the hull. We went much faster than when we first boarded. The ship’s shaking told us we didn’t have long.

  When we got to the unpressurized section, the shaking became more violent. It was difficult to work our way down the corridor while it bucked like a wild animal. It wasn’t soon enough when we saw the photon cannon damaged opening. Tony was further off this time, but not too far for our thrusters. Pat told me to go first and I didn’t hesitate. He followed me and within five minutes we were standing on the deck in the rear of the shuttle. Tony closed the ramp and pressurized the cabin. Once pressurized, the two troopers in the cabin opened the pod and began first aid for the occupant. At this point, all they could do was bandage his injuries and put him on oxygen. He would be in Lola’s sickbay in six minutes.

  Chapter 22

  It took me a few minutes to get out of my exoskeleton even with the help of two troopers on the hangar deck. I guess it helps if you do it more often than I get to. I went straight to the bridge dragging the duffle bag full of data cores we salvaged.

  “Any word from the hilltop or the fighters?” I asked.

  “Nothing yet. We’re still too far on the other side of the planet for communications.” Iwona answered.

  “Are we set for a course back to the hilltop yet?” I said

  Al answered me, “I had to wait until you were back on board, but we've been traveling at the fastest safe speed back to the other side.” He knew I understood that if we went too fast, we’d break orbit and head off into space. It was nothing we couldn’t handle but it wasted time.

  “Iwona, I want you to go take a break. You’ve been at that console for too long. Take an hour. Al, you take an hour when she gets back. I want you both refreshed when we get back to the hillside. I know you both need a good night’s sleep. That will have to wait till this is over.”

  Iwona grabbed her go cup and left with a thank you. I grabbed the duffle bag at my feet and took it off to the small office to the side of the bridge. Designed to be the captain’s on-duty office, it sat unused most of the time. I usually conducted business in my small galley which was just a few steps down the corridor. I set the duffle on the desk and closed the door behind me. “Al, no one goes in there without my permission. Got it?”

  “Got it.” He responded. “Can I ask what’s in the bag?”

  “Sure, when we went over to the bandit's transport, my goal was to gather any intelligence that might help us. The humanitarian rescue was secondary because I never expected to find anyone alive after eighteen missiles and a photon cannon barrage. If the survivor makes it, he might be our best data grab.”

  “Did you get anything good?” He asked

  “I haven’t had the chance to go through it yet. That’s why I dumped it in there.” I answered.

  I sent a text message off to the sick bay, asking for an update
on our survivor. I didn’t expect anything from the doctor immediately. He might have his hands full now, so he surprised me when he came through the doorway onto the bridge.

  “Skipper, I thought you might like an update on your survivor.” He said.

  “Yes, I would, thank you.”

  “Well, other than superficial cuts and bruising he’s fine.”

  I guess my surprise was evident on my face. The Doctor chuckled and continued. “I don’t believe he was ever unconscious. He has no indication of head trauma. I think he got tossed around the bridge a bit and when you showed up he decided to play dead rather than fight you.”