Tomi grasped the comms, hit company override, and broadcast to the entire regiment: "Everyone stop! Mines!"
The comms went wild and then immediately dropped clear. Colonel Clarke spoke calmly and clearly as he asked Tomi to explain what he saw.
The mine was barely anchored in the ground. A drift grew on one side of it while the windward edge was scoured clean. A gust blew, and even more dirt was blasted away from underneath. It wobbled for a second and exploded right in front of them.
Someone else saw one of the mines exposed. Then another one exploded in the distance. The two tanks with mine-clearing equipment spun around and finally found the rest of the unit. They set out once more, this time slower and more carefully.
***
They were still on the plains when the sun rose. The dust clouds were streaked on the horizon. Great fans of pale-yellow light bathed the ground. And as suddenly as the storm arose, it settled back. There, a half-dozen kilometers away, were the pillars.
Tomi punched the throttle as the lead mine-clearing units accelerated. He kept one eye locked on the tank before him and the other on the pillars. He knew where they wanted to be, and this wasn't it. They were headed right for the center pillars—not on the flank they wanted.
Artillery punched in the ground behind them. Geysers of dirt and dust exploded up. More rounds fell, followed by antiarmor fire that skidded across the dirt.
Then the mine-clearing tanks swung in a great arc. The entire column followed behind. The dust obscured those in the rear. They dropped down into a dry riverbed and raced out the other side.
Artillery rounds fell in a devastating barrage. It was a ripple of fire that tore through the ranks and detonated deep underground.
Shrapnel clanged off Bulldog's hull. Detonations rocked it from side to side. For a few long seconds, the comms were scrambled. Then they drove through it.
Just in front, one of the massive rounds detonated directly on a tank. The side panels shot out and disappeared into the dust. A close miss halted one other tank. The tank spun sideways as the track poured off.
The Kadan had waited and picked the perfect position for the artillery barrage. The armor-mounted antiartillery umbrellas were overwhelmed by the pinpoint barrages.
Tomi focused on driving, on the tank before him, and then realized they had no mine-clearing tank before them. Only one tank was in front and that was Bastard, Captain Torori's unit.
"On my lead!" Torori called. "We're headed in!"
Bulldog swung in right behind Bastard with the rest of the 19th close behind. The dust swirled up before them and then fell in clumps. Far ahead, one of the drop capsules started rising into the air.
A few tanks opened fire, but the rounds fell far short of the chain plates.
Colonel Clarke came on the comms. "Hold fire! Focus on the closest pillar."
Bastard bounced up and over a line of empty trenches. Another set loomed a hundred meters further along. Bulldog rose up and slammed down a second later. Tomi never let off the accelerator.
The antiaircraft units opened fire, and a moment later a Cion interceptor blasted through the sky. It dropped a charge that exploded just short of Bastard. Then the AA ripped loose with a steady rage of fire. Tracers shot out and tumbled through the sky. It was like a string of pearls tossed in dust.
One Cion flier nosedived, while the flier next to it simply exploded. Two more units swung away and never managed to drop their loads.
Tomi ignored all of it. The only thing he focused on was the path of Bastard. He'd stopped thinking of mines, and he was sure they were past them.
One more trench line blew by; this too was empty. The pillars loomed large ahead. The silver capsule crested and then began the rapid ascent into the sky. Dust fell in giant clumps and collapsed onto the ground in a heap of static electricity.
A round appeared from the dust and ricocheted off the front hull of Bastard. It sailed into the air like a red rocket and disappeared.
"Contact!" Torori shouted.
"Every other tank, load penetrator!" Colonel Clarke called. "Engage the Emflife armor! Keep moving, damn it! Keep moving!"
Mick leaned down and yelled, "Load pen!"
Puck leaped out of his chair and swapped out the ammo bin. "Rounds up!"
"Straight ahead, Tomi. Keep on the bastard's ass," Mick said. He leaned in close to the controls and adjusted his headset. Then with a flick of the wrist, he opened fire.
Bulldog fired just over Bastard. The rounds sailed on either side and disappeared into the dust. Through the spectrum, the Emflife armor came into view.
The units were still racing into position. More Vasilov tanks opened fire. Rounds shattered over the barren ground.
Mick gritted his teeth and was silent. His mouth moved, and he nodded with each strike. One by one he keyed up targets, and after the cannon cycled it moved on to the next. If one round wasn't enough, he let another unit fire at it.
A scream came over the comms and was suddenly silenced. Behind them a tank flipped over and flames shot out the back. The ammo cooked off just as the next unit blew past it.
They were almost on the pillars now. The target was a kilometer off, and the bottom of it still hidden in the dust.
"Take position! Get into cover! Alpha-Bravo, screen positions. Everyone else, five hundred meters back!" Colonel Clarke called. "Don't shoot the pillar yet!"
At that point, if they traveled any further they'd run out of elevation on the main cannons. The units swung about and searched for any cover. Bulldog tucked in next to a smoldering Emflife tank. Bastard, a bit further down, hid behind a Vasilov tank that sat dead.
Charlie, Delta, and Fox Companies were already digging in half a kilometer back from the front line. The plan was for those closest to keep the Kadan at bay while those further back hammered at the chain plate.
Mick started speaking; it was a prayer. His head darted from one spot to the next—"mother of grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you"—and the words drifted off as the cannon fired again and again.
Something shifted in the distance. A second capsule peeked just above the swirling dust.
"Infantry!"
Mick fired off three more shells. "Dismount!"
The air was suddenly alive with small-arms fire. Mortars dropped among the Vasilov tanks, followed by the ripping sound of a heavy machine gun. Slugs clanged against the armor.
Puck popped the hatch, and the infantry rushed out.
Hutchins knelt just at the exit and pumped out a string of grenades. They disappeared into the dust and exploded a second later out of view.
The others lay prone around the wrecked Emflife tank or on the side of Bulldog. The heat rolled of the dead tank in waves, and one of the tracks sputtered and hissed as it burned.
One of the Vasilov tanks pointed its barrel into the air. A single round shot up and detonated against the massive chain plate. From the distance it didn't look to have any effect.
"Hold! Not yet!" Colonel Clarke called. "Wait for a capsule to rise!"
"Infantry incoming. There they are!" Mick called over the squad comms.
"I don't see 'em!" Puck said.
Tomi went to grab the autocannon controls and then remembered it was dead. They hadn't had a chance to fix it yet. Now he felt really helpless.
Mick fired off three more rounds and was rewarded with a solid hit that bored into an Emflife tank. He laughed and punched out two more.
Tomi saw the wave of advancing Kadan infantry. They carried rocket launchers, portable mortars, and antiarmor cannons. The pace was steady, just above a jog, and on they came. Autocannon fire stitched into the line from another tank. Some fell, but most kept running. They couldn't see the Vasilov infantry, just like the Vasilov infantry couldn't see them.
The wind shifted, and the dust billowed low. Then the Kadan line came into view.
"Fire!" Puck yelled.
The Kadan halted, suddenly aware of how close the Vasilov positions were. Artill
ery rounds dropped down amid the Kadan. Pockets of soldiers simply disappeared from the mix.
In the middle of one crater rose up a synthetic in black. It glared down the line and broke out into a full run.
Tomi watched it coming closer. Rounds pinged off one arm, then the other. It stumbled as a ricochet clipped its leg. The arms pumped faster. It was fifty meters, forty, thirty. It moved impossibly quickly. Round after round thudded around it. Tracers lit up, and still nothing seemed to hit it.
"Gotcha," Vinovy said. He squinted down the barrel, exhaled, and gently squeezed the trigger.
The synthetic fell in a cloud of black dust, its head vaporized.
"I got him!" Vinovy cheered.
"Shut the fuck up!" Puck said. "Keep shooting!"
Gunfire raged across the line. The Kadan line, halted for a second, began a fresh advance. The Emflife synthetics led the charge. Finally, groups of Kadan dug into the earth. Dust exploded around them. The Vasilov focused on the heavy weapons teams, but there were just too many. Soon the heavy machine guns were in position.
Waslinski fired from the cover of Bulldog. She lay prone just beside one track, her helmet half askew. A heap of empty brass was piled around her. She concentrated, fired a round, and then scanned for the next target.
A mortar detonated a dozen meters away, and she rolled on the ground, screaming. Bits of shrapnel smoked in the fabric of her body armor.
Kallio sprinted from the cover of Bulldog with her body hunched low. She dragged Waslinski behind the tank and ripped open her body armor. More mortar rounds detonated around them, but Kallio worked, oblivious to it. She called out, and Hutchins sprinted over. The two dragged Waslinski into Bulldog.
A drop capsule rose up impossibly slow and struggled to escape the gravity. Its great silver sides glinted in the morning sun. It was six kilometers distant and still massive.
"Get ready!" Colonel Clarke yelled. "Fire on the chain plate!"
A line of fire rippled out from the Vasilov line. The rounds sailed through the air, a faint tracer glowing in the rear, and exploded against the chain plate. Each strike was a tiny blister of orange. More rounds smashed into it, and still the capsule rose.
Then the wind shifted. A gust cracked out from above, and the dust exploded on the ground. Both infantry lines were obscured, and the small-arms fire died away. It was too intense to stare into without a face mask. But the pillar was still in view, and the rounds kept slamming into it.
Tomi watched and felt the wind rock his tank. Then, just as suddenly, it died. It reminded him of when a thunderstorm came in—that first great gust of wind. He looked out, and the external view rippled once. He focused his eye on the spot where the camera looked odd and blinked. A moment later there was a second ripple, then a third.
"It's raining," Puck said. His voice just a whisper.
Rain poured from the sky, and the dust fell.
#
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Near Kalivostok III, Kalivostok System
Umi sprinted down the center hall with Vik and Vaughn right behind him. His shoulder throbbed with every single step. He still hadn't figured out why he was going, when he couldn't wield more than a pistol.
They entered one of the rooms and Vaughn helped Umi get suited up. Vik worked into a weld-spattered EVA suit. He kicked open one of the boxes. "Stick with the heavies. Those crawlers take a beating."
"Heavy-bore shotgun?" Vaughn said.
"Nah, I'd stick with the big boy there. What is it, an AP-25?"
Umi wiggled and felt the suit get tight. Vaughn secured the rear and then sealed up the helmet.
"Cap?" Vik said. He held out a blocky pistol.
Umi nodded and took it. It was heavy in his hand, and he wedged it into the EVA belt.
"It's loaded. Safety is on the rear slide."
"Got it."
Vaughn scooped up one of the AP-25s. He packed every pouch on his EVA suit with ammunition. Vik did the same.
"I'll take the rear," Vik said.
Vaughn nodded. "I've got the center."
Umi felt the adrenaline start to pump in. "I'll take the bridge."
"Everyone get ready!" Rachel called over the comms.
The three soldiers ran into the main hall and went their separate ways.
***
Umi came onto the bridge just as the last of the staff was getting into the EVA suits. The Vek ship was highlighted in the rear and advancing fast. On another screen, the orbital bombardment continued. The course took them around the surface of the moon.
Rachel glanced at Umi and then sealed her helmet. "Weapons?"
"Online. Ammunition levels are low," an engineer replied.
"Defenses?"
"Maybe 10 percent."
Umi was an observer in all this. He knew nothing of orbital combat, but knew a bad fight when he saw it. If it was a tank, he'd find cover and run. Or at the worst, get a better position and hope he was followed. But this...where did you hide? There was nothing.
The line of capsules glittered on the screen. At least two dozen were inbound from the other planet. The bombardment platforms were mixed in with the nearest just coming into orbit.
"We can't take a hit!" the engineer at the defensive console said.
Rachel studied the orbital path, the trajectory of the two ships, the eventual combat point.
"The capsules," Umi said. "Use them as cover!"
Rachel looked up at Umi. She cocked her head slightly and then barked orders. The display shifted and tilted. New lines of trajectory spun around the moon, the planet, different points, before finally settling at the capsules.
"Captain Matsuo," Rachel said.
Umi half expected her to order him off the bridge. Was it a dumb idea? Hell, he didn't know.
"That might just work."
Umi grinned.
Then the first rounds smashed into the starship.
The Vek had just come around the edge of the moon when they opened fire. A pair of front-mounted particle accelerators hammered at the fleeing starship. At a distance, missiles were useless—they'd run out of fuel and could be easily dodged. Particle accelerators, though, could reach out and touch someone.
Vacuum alarms rang out, and then the sound faded away. It took Umi a second to recognize that they had no air.
"Open fire?"
"Negative!" Rachel said. "Give me a firing plot on that orbital and the capsules. We need a debris field to hide in."
Umi caught movement above his shoulder and turned just in time to see a crawler emerge from the wall. It was like a cockroach and gently skipped down to a console. It raised its head up, sniffed, and then disappeared into the hall.
He hadn't even had to draw his weapon.
"Ready to fire!"
"Fire!" Rachel yelled.
The mass drivers came to life. The entire ship groaned as the massive batteries came to bear. Eons of grit and interstellar dust ground away, and then the mass driver fired.
Rounds flew through space like a line of silver streaks. As they neared the orbital, they glowed in the wispy atmosphere. Then they disappeared into the orbital, and nothing seemed to happen. A few moments later, the entire structure cracked apart.
The mass driver swung and started firing on the capsules. The trajectory made it seem like the rounds were going to miss. But just when they looked to sail off into space, gravity grasped on and the rounds arced right into the incoming path of capsules.
This time the explosion was dramatic. The entire hull rippled outward and then imploded upon itself. Internal explosions shredded the capsule and an enormous cloud of debris drifted into orbit.
Further in the orbital path, the mass driver slugs pounded out and away. Distant capsules suddenly winked and rippled apart. One of the orbital platforms exploded in a fireball that writhed in the zero gravity.
A cloud of debris, some of it larger than the ancient starship, tumbled and slowly started to burn up in the atmosphere of Kalivostok. But for th
e first time, they had some cover—if they could get into it.
"Lots of crawlers out!" Vik called over the suit comms.
"I saw one too," Umi said. "It didn't seem interested."
More alarms popped up. Bright-orange icons throbbed on the display.
The bridge crew all shouted out damage indicators. They were losing power, the propulsion system was compromised, the internal electronics were sketchy, and they couldn't dodge the incoming particles.
"Fire at the Vek." Rachel said.
The mass driver battery crunched as it spun. Vibrations shuddered through the ship, and then it jammed.
"Oh shit." Rachel ran to the weapons console. She leaned over the engineer and tapped at the console.
Rings expanded away from the map view. The range was too far to use the fusion launchers.
An explosion rocked through the front of the starship. Rachel flew forward and crashed into a console. A moment later she was back on her feet and struggling to pull out her sealant. Atmosphere hissed out from a puncture in her suit.
Umi ran over, grabbed her hand, slowly pulled up the canister, and sprayed it on.
Rachel looked at him. Her eyes filled with fear, and then she calmed.
"Raziz! Can you fix it?"
"Negative, it's locked up tight. The ship will have to pivot to aim. Engage the AI!" Raziz radioed back.
Now that the mass driver couldn't spin, the only way to adjust the trajectory was to move the starship itself. But there was no way that could happen without engaging the artificial intelligence, the now-dormant system that had once controlled the ship.
The problem was, no one knew what would happen if they woke it up.
Rachel pointed at Umi. "Get ready."
Umi pulled out his pistol. "All right boys. AI is going live."
"Define objectives. Vek starship and orbital path."
"Done," Raziz replied.
Rachel broadcast on all channels. "AI is live in three, two, one."
***
The lights dimmed. The screens went blank. Then the starship really came alive.
Everything blasted back on, and the screens were filled with icons, displays, and information. The consoles themselves were dead; all manual control was gone. The only thing that remained unlocked was where the data cube itself rested.
Steel Storm (Steel Legion Book 2) Page 24
