“Yes, how is Mark?” Nerva asked, allowing some honest interest to seep into his voice.
Tyler was touched by the concern which was so rare from the man who had gained the nickname Diablo.
“He’s apparently not as bad as I was, which kind of scares me considering how far gone I was. Ferguson says that he should be able to get him up and moving by the end of the day though,” Tyler added, faithfully repeating the information that Ferguson had given him. He didn’t try to hide his apprehension; he’d seen the mess that was Mark’s body underneath his armor. It looked like he had been bent over for the impacts which had cracked his armor plates, they were used like shrapnel to be driven up and into his main cavity. They’d nicked his lungs and come out of his back.
“You two take a hell of a lot to put down, if Ferguson says he’ll be up by the end of the day then we might as well take that as law. Now what I want to know is your take on the colonists and the tunnels you went through. We’re going to need them in the next offensive or we’re going to have them crawling back up behind us once again,” Nerva said, waving Tyler to a pile of what had been a machine.
Jerome walked towards them, nodding to Tyler, a cigarette in his mouth.
Even though Tyler didn’t like the habit he felt like having one of the smokes to calm himself down, take the edge off of everything he’d seen.
“They’re pretty well designed, simple but effective. Fighting in them is going to be a bitch, whoever has control of them has to push forward relentlessly, not getting distracted. There’s little to nowhere to hide and grenades will take out the supports and drop the roof on top of anyone. I think they’re linked to every single factory. I don’t know if there is a way for them to cross between districts but we’d find out after using them. At each ladder up into a factory they run a tunnel to all of the ladders and connect all of the parallel tunnels,” Tyler said, grasping at other things to say.
“Did they have lights all the way up to the front?” Nerva asked.
“Umm, yeah they did, I didn’t really notice them with the helmets illuminating the tunnels,” Tyler said.
“So they need light to move down there,” Nerva trailed off, his eyes thoughtful, nodding to himself as if confirming a thought.
“How wide and tall?” He asked his eyes coming back to the here and now.
“About two people wide and around average height,” Tyler said, wondering what the Captain was thinking.
“Good, alright get yourself squared away, I think it’s time we tried something old school.” There was a hard edge to Nerva’s eyes and also, sadness?
Nerva pushed himself to his feet and headed off. Tyler leaned backwards until his back was touching the machinery behind him.
Jerome came over and took Nerva’s spot sitting against the other wall with a heavy sigh, the cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth.
“You got another?” Tyler asked.
Jerome pulled out a pack and tossed it to Tyler.
“Thanks.” He pulled his helmet off, pulling his sweaty hair out of his face and pulling a cigarette from the pack. He grabbed the lighter inside and sparked up the stick, taking a large inhale as the smoke filled his lungs, he held it for a moment before letting it out.
He put the lighter back in the pack.
“How did Pullo die?” Tyler said, the pack and lighter back together, tossing it to Jerome.
Jerome took his time putting the pack away. Tyler could see the fresh and raw memories pass behind Jerome’s eyes.
“One of those shotguns got him from below. They shot the catwalk sending shards into his legs. He fell down but they got another few rounds into the catwalk, he was dead in seconds,” Jerome said, taking a drag on his cigarette.
It wasn’t a good death or a bad death, it was like the majority of troopers that died, it was sudden and terrifying. One moment someone was alive, the next they were gone.
Just like the rest of the section. A shiver went through him as he remembered how he had been following Utkin when he had stepped on a mine. The force of the explosion lifted him up, his body had dropped down, he cried out, the radio cutting out the noise as he tried to get up and see his lower half. A round from a weapon emplacement removed his head so suddenly, Utkin’s remains had dropped to the ground and Tyler had run over him, using his path because he knew it was clear of mines up to him.
He spat on the ground, not because of the taste of the cigarette but the feeling of rising bile at the image of Utkin’s body which remained impressed on his memory.
He and Jerome sat there in companionable silence, finishing off their cigarettes and taking a few long minutes before Tyler stood.
“Where’s the ammo dump? I need to get a new load and Mark will probably be needing one too,” he said.
“I’ll show you,” Jerome said, standing and leading the way.
“How long do you think it’ll be before we get sent into the grinder again?” Jerome asked.
“As soon as the higher ups realize that we’re not moving, probably in a few hours,” Tyler said with a voice of someone ten years older than he was.
“Did you hear?” Jerome asked, looking to Tyler as they climbed down the metal rungs of the factory’s catwalk.
“What?” Tyler asked.
“They fucked up by the numbers it seems,” Jerome growled, bent over as if he was carrying an extra load of ammunition on his back, a sour expression on his face.
“In which way?” Tyler said, thinking of a number of ways that the higher ‘credible intelligence’ had royally fucked them a few times. He had a new appreciation for EMF’s intelligence and it had most definitely not gone up.
“It looks like they think there are closer to a million colonists holding out in the city, not three hundred thousand,” Jerome said, looking like he was about to pull out another cigarette just as they got to the ammo dump. Thinking better of it with the tech people’s dirty looks.
“Fuck,” Tyler said.
“Got that right, and we lost about forty-three thousand people. Fifty-nine thousand against a million, they should have brought three carriers to take back Sacremon,” Jerome said, spitting in anger, moving through ammunition piles and slotting new magazines into empty holsters.
Tyler didn’t say anything; he didn’t need to. Jerome had said everything that needed to be said.
And was General Wai going to order an orbital on Processing? Hell no! We’re just sixty thousand odd people. None of us are a CEO or worth more than the gear we wear. They would send another three carriers to Sacremon to take it back as long as the CEO’s are willing to pay for it. When it comes down to it we’re still just people from the slums, they can always get more of us.
They piled ammunition into their harnesses and pockets, slapping ammunition packs on while taking an extra each.
They’d probably need all too much of it soon.
Jerome sparked up a cigarette as they walked away.
“Got another?” Tyler asked, Jerome passed him the pack and lighter without even a raised eyebrow.
Tyler sparked up and felt the smoke fill his lungs.
It felt nasty for the first few, but it started to cool his nerves. He passed it back to Jerome as they trudged to their position.
Chapter 19
Processing City
Sacremon Actual, Sacremon System
8/3171
Mark awoke with a lurch, fresh dreams made him reach for his pistol, he needed to save his section-mates, the colonists were coming.
“Woah woah woah, calm down there Mark!” Ferguson said, hearing the man’s voice gave Mark pause as he found that he also wasn’t wearing his pistol or his holster.
I got hit in the tunnels, our people just found us when I changed my implants to saving me. His mind put images to his thoughts.
“Hey,” Mark said, looking down at his tattered shirt. What hadn’t been messed up by constant fighting had been ripped off by the medics. Scars lay right under his stomach. He felt t
he tight areas in his back, finding new larger scars there.
He looked to Ferguson, the man was watching him warily. Mark could see the exhaustion in the other man’s eyes. The kind of exhaustion that weighed not only on a person’s body but their soul.
He spotted the needle in his hand.
“I guess there’s a reason that you woke me up?” Mark asked.
“Yeah, we’re moving forward. The contract got adjusted so we’re losing some restrictions and they’re offering us one hell of a bonus if we succeed, the less damage we do to it the better the payout.” Ferguson slumped onto the medical supplies behind him, rubbing a tired hand over his features.
“How bad is it?” Mark asked.
“Bad, they’re dug in tight and some of the units that got closer than us found out that they had artillery support. It’s short ranged but their explosives are powerful. Not many made it out of that mess,” Ferguson said, looking tired, the kind that seeps into a person’s bones.
“What’s the plan?” Mark asked.
“Starve them out,” Ferguson said flatly.
“Well that doesn’t sound exactly fun,” Mark said, sinking into a squat.
“No it doesn’t, there were canisters of the stuff you ran into in Vine City, it’s being brought up. The techs are figuring out a way to drop it onto the enemy to help speed the process up. Any food will be covered with it. We’re immune so it won’t affect us,” Ferguson said, seeing Mark’s look of concern.
“You don’t exactly sound pleased with the idea of using their own weapons against them,” Mark said, wondering why Ferguson wasn’t happy about the fact that it looked like their time on Sacremon was going to become a hell of a lot easier.
“There’s about a million of them, say that half of them survive the gas, they’re going to be angry. They’re going to be living in their breathers and full coverage suits, they’ll have to check all of their food, water, everything. Anger is going to turn into blinding rage. Then it won’t matter, they’re going to charge us, the only way to get out of this hell they’ve made is through us. Say by the time they snap there’s three hundred of them, that’s being optimistic, that’s six times our numbers!” Ferguson said, waving his hands to emphasize his points before they sank into his lap.
“I thought that Reclaimer had nukes, cannons and turrets, wouldn’t that mess them up before they got to us?” Mark asked.
“Yeah, but processing is the most valuable city on this entire planet. It is the centre of it. Every road and path leads to this city. This is the hub of the planet, the amount of money here numbers in the trillions, losing this would put Sacremon back decades. We also only got a contract to break so much stuff, the more we break the less the EMF makes off of the contract,” Ferguson said.
“Fuck,” Mark said.
“Yeah exactly. Pissed off CEO’s means pissed off EMF, which means pissed of generals and the proverbial shit falling down hill,” Ferguson sighed and then seemed to pull himself together a little. “Oh yeah, Nerva wants you to see him, there’s a new set of clothes and armor there.” Ferguson used his chin to point to the pile of items, standing.
“Thanks,” Mark said.
“Try to keep yourself in one piece more often,” Ferguson said with a note of concern.
“I’ll try.” Mark flashed a rare smile.
Ferguson snorted and walked off to see to his other charges.
Mark quickly dressed, feeling gross because sweat permeated everything, the salt in it making him feel grimy. He pushed the thoughts aside. He might be nine kinds of nasty but keeping Nerva waiting was not an option, and being out of armor felt odd.
He clipped the last piece of armor into place a few minutes later, it’s comfortable weight settled into position as he pulled his helmet on, he found Nerva soon enough, Tyler was with him as well as Jerome.
Everyone else except Tyler was dead from his section. Jerome was the only survivor from his section now.
He grabbed his rifle and clipped on the awaiting ammunition pouches. He checked the rifle as he walked out of the room. Everything looked good on it. He jogged towards Nerva’s position, hoping that he would have at least some time where he didn’t need to use his E-12.
Following Nerva it’s better to bet that I will be using it.
Nerva was talking to an officer, Mark joined with Tyler and Jerome.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Jerome said. Tyler reached out his arm and Mark tapped it. Neither of them were in the mood to slam shoulders together.
“Thanks, what’s going on?” Mark asked.
“We’re going on a little road-trip for a briefing with Major Huang, he got hammered pretty good but he wants to talk to Captain Nerva and the newly minted Captain Ly before he gets shipped back to Reclaimer,” Jerome said, a mix of annoyance at having to make the trip, but also respect for Major Huang actually sticking around for it.
Captain Nerva walked over, he looked like the rest of them, aged beyond his years, hard lines framing his face. His armor was scarred and worn, his face and hair were dirty but he had long ago forgotten about that.
“Good to see you back on your feet,” he said to Mark.
“Same sir,” Mark replied, nodding to the Captain. He saw the weight behind those eyes and the question in that simple statement. Nerva was asking if Mark blamed him for his injuries or the loss of the rest of his section and two sections worth of people.
But Mark couldn’t really blame him for it and he was starting to understand why Nerva had sent Alpha company to recon Growing city instead of helping out the rest of the unit. Knowing the weapon emplacements and the information they knew about the enemy and that information being given to the next wave of troops was more important than the lives of those that were on the ground.
It was simple but bloody math, if they had Alpha fight with them then they might have held their tower, with their information Nerva knew that the next wave could come in and take the city.
Nerva nodded recognizing Mark’s support, he leaned against a wall and took a drink of water, his icy expression tired but not beaten.
“So I assume these two told you what’s going on?” Nerva asked.
“Yeah, were taking a little road trip,” Mark said.
“Yeah, we’d best get a move on.” Nerva pushed off of the wall, his face hardening as he walked, he stored his water, and put his helmet on while checking his rifle.
Mark and Tyler were on both sides of him as Jerome took up the rear with his repulsor.
Everyone sealed their helmets and got to the edge of the factory.
“We have reports of sniper fire so we’re going to do some running. Hope you can keep up Jerome,” Nerva said, making a jab at the man’s shorter stature.
He didn’t give him time to reply as he took off. Mark and Tyler followed. Mark ran ahead, Tyler and Jerome behind Nerva, in that order.
No one so much as took a pot-shot at them as they made it to the next factory in district six.
They were breathing heavily after that run but Nerva kept moving forward to the medical area where Major Huang was.
The Major looked bad, his body looked to have been melted down one side and was hooked up to a face mask. He had a bag of drugs connected to his arm.
Nerva walked up, nodding to Captain Ly that was already waiting. The Captain looked apprehensive and unsure, but ready to do his duty.
Mark, Jerome, and Tyler stayed outside of the medical area, not wanting to get in the way of anyone. They found a place to sit and Mark pulled off his helmet and packed a chew into his lower lip, there was an area he could spit in his helmet and the helmet would recycle it out. It was made primarily if the user vomited in their helmet so they didn’t drown in it. It worked great for chew spit too.
“Mark?” He heard a somewhat familiar voice from a trooper.
“Yeah?” He asked, looking for the person’s nametape. They pulled off their helmet, blonde hair falling out of it.
“Alexis!” Tyl
er said, standing and pulling off his helmet.
Her face split into a smile and her eyes seemed to sparkle as the two of them embraced.
Jerome looked to Mark. Am I missing something? His eyes seemed to ask.
Mark waved him off and leaned against the wall.
Jerome nodded in understanding, pulling off his helmet and pulling out a cigarette.
“I heard that the fourth got pretty fucked up in Growing City,” she said a note of concern in her voice.
Mark nodded, his eye going bleak as memories tumbled through his mind.
“Yeah it was pretty bad,” Tyler said, finding a seat and bowing over, clasping his hands together. Alexis took a seat beside him, her hand falling on his leg. He smiled to her and leaned back.
“How was your trip down?”
“I came down in growing city with almost everyone, we cleared out the separation areas in Fields, where were you?” She asked.
“We cleared the fields and took the housing units,” Mark said, he saw the look of shock on her face.
“Fuck, you guys went through a grinder and a half,” she said, the housing units had been a nightmare with the people making fake walls and all kinds of modifications and booby traps to kill troopers. There had only been twelve or so towers, none of them higher than forty floors but they had been worked on a hell of a lot more than the towers in Growing City.
“Yeah,” Jerome said, clearly not wanting to talk about it.
“So what are you doing here?” She asked, quickly trying to change the subject.
“We’re guarding Captain Nerva, he’s talking to Major Huang,” Tyler said.
“You have any idea what we’re going to be doing?” Alexis asked.
“We’re going to use their own weapons on them and hopefully keep them in the city when they try to counterattack,” he said after no one looked to have much of a clue.
“So we get them to come to us, simple I like it,” Jerome said with approval.
“Yeah, all one million of them,” Mark said with disapproval. “Ferguson said that the hope is that the gas will kill a bunch of them, it will get on their food and make it harder for them to live. I think the higher ups are hoping that the gas just kills all of them. It won’t and when they see that there’s no option but to attack us, they’re going to smash into us with all the anger of caged animals,” Mark said, annoyed he spat on the ground and shook his head.
Sacremon (Harmony War Series Book 1) Page 29
