"Dammit!" He stood and shouted down the line. "Medic!"
Seeing none, he grabbed Major Hollins by the jacket and tucked him between two white faced privates. "Watch him!"
Sedan fired round after round. The puckered brass shells sizzled into the snow next to her. Karl stepped up to the edge and level his rifle. He was about to make a witty comment, something to inspire her, but instead he fired.
The Kadan troopers rushed forward like a wave of gray. They stumbled and bucked through the trenches and leaned forward into the wind. The mass of troops was unlike anything any of them had ever seen.
The first wave was just a probe, a test. Then the artillery came in assuming the umbrella was down. Now they sent it all. The weight of the Kadan sledge hammered down.
Karl braced the cold wood to his cheek and breathed like he was taught. Fire. Pause. Fire. One round after the next.
The first shot dropped a Kadan trooper and the insectoid fell forward like a hammer had hit it. The second shot blew an arm joint out of another and it spun around. Someone else finished that one.
Still the wave of Kadan raced ahead. They fired in groups. It was never a single trooper that fired, but a small pack would all halt at once and fire in unison. It worked surprisingly well. The Kadan would fall, but one or two of the Vasilovs would fall, too.
More soldiers surged up from behind the line. They were stained brown with mud and already it was freezing into a waxy sheen. A machine gun crew set up next to Karl.
"Hurry up!" Karl said to them.
Sedan fell back and dropped to the bottom of the trench. Her helmet bounced and spun on the ground with a single crease through the top. She looked up at Karl with wide eyes.
A Sergeant Major ran by and hoisted her up. "Off your ass, private!"
Karl laughed and resumed firing. He picked his shots and fired. A clock could have been set to his timing.
All down the line it continued, a cathedral of gunfire with an organ of steel. The Kadan ran into the wall and dashed themselves in a desperate bid to finally crack the Vasilov line.
The commset crackled and the two privates looked between each other. "Corporal?" one said to Karl.
Karl was too focused. He snapped round after round.
"Corporal!" the private blurted out again.
"What?" Karl snapped at the man.
"Comms, you're the rank here, eh Corporal?" The Private had a wild look in his eyes. The bolt of his rifle was half-cocked, a slug of rock was jammed into it.
Karl reached over, ripped the debris loose, and stepped off. "Focus! Take your time."
The commset crackled, beeped, and tones sang out. Karl scooped it up, huddled against the wall and cursed his bad luck. Now he'd have to pull the glove off to authenticate. He bit the tip of his glove, tasted leather, and popped it off. Immediately the cold air searched his barely warm fingers and he punched in his auth code.
The commset glowed green. Karl tucked an earbud in and hissed. It was cold, damn cold.
"—all lines stay in position. Take every third soldier and have them go to the east flank, repeat, every third to the east flank." Karl struggled to get the glove back on. He didn't worry about the message, he was the east flank.
"Again, incoming armor, all anti-tank units to the east flank. Every third to the east flank. East flank, do you read? Major Hollins?"
"Hollins is down," Karl said. "We're holding." He glanced up at the firing troops and at the wounded lying around him. Were they? He wondered if they could. It was never like this before.
"Roger east flank, hold that line."
"Where is the fallback line?" Karl said.
"There is no fallback."
Karl sighed and blew warm air into the glove. He felt it burn and slapped the glove hard against his leg. No fallback, great.
Major Hollins struggled to his feet and leaned against one of the Privates. He beckoned at Karl and clutched the commset. "Hold the line," he said to Karl.
"Yes sir," Karl said. He took a step back. He could see a hundred meters in each direction. At the end, the trench took a curve and then moved farther. This was his zone, he'd never found himself in charge of so many.
"Armor!" a voice called out. The anti-armor battery popped off a shell. A massive cone of snow erupted behind it before settling down into a sheet of white.
Karl didn't step up to the wall but instead ran and shouted. "Pick your shots, work in pairs, one rests, one shoots!"
"Corporal! We need rounds!"
"I'll get it!" Karl replied and discovered that his job wasn't to fight, but to keep everyone else fighting. He grabbed a pack of wounded men who could still move. They ran into the supply bunker and he sent them out to refill the lines. He paused before rushing back out and stared at the massive stacks of ammunition. He nodded and scooped up a bag of grenades. Then he set back out.
The wind slammed into him once he left the bunker. Almost every soldier stood at the line and fired. The only ones who didn't lay dead or wounded. He pressed coagulant packs into bullet wounds and stripped supplies from the dead..
More soldiers came and the trench line grew crowded. The anti-tank cell had toppled over and a team struggled to right it. Karl gave a hand, helped the barrel up onto the edge of the trench and finally got a good look.
The drifting snows had heaped higher but it fell no longer. Now the full extent of the assault was visible. Almost as far as he could see were Kadan troopers supported by Kadan armor. The armor was sloped in the front with wedge packs on the side. Low turrets on either side jutted out. Almost all were burning.
He stepped down, turned, and was slammed into the ground. A hot sensation spread through his back. He gasped for air and gulped, but nothing came. Arms grabbed him and drug him away. They stripped his jacket off, it was burned almost completely through on the back.
The anti-tank gun spewed black smoke. It was topped over backwards with the breech on the floor and the barrel pointed into the sky. The composite shielding and hydraulics burned intensely.
A Sergeant rushed up and spoke to Karl.
Karl watched the Sergeant's lips move but heard nothing but a tinny ringing. Someone put a dead man’s jacket onto him and he stood on shaky feet. The Sergeant ran past with more NCOs spreading out. Then the ringing changed and slowly Karl could hear.
"Hold the line! Draw bayonets! Hold the damn line!" The Sergeant stomped down the line and slapped soldiers on the back and spoke in a confident tone.
Karl pushed himself to his feet and rushed to the edge of the trench. He fumbled to draw his bayonet and realized he had no rifle. He'd lost it when the AT gun blew up. The pain shot through his back like little steely knives coming in, but he pushed past it. Then he saw over the edge.
A line of Kadan troops rushed forward with thousands more right behind. The machine guns blazed into them but it wasn't enough. They fell in clumps, in droves, in packs, but more filled the ranks. Then the grenades flew out and even more fell. The armored insectoids fell to the ground and the sickly yellow ichor blasted everywhere.
Karl leaned down and picked up a rifle and pushed it to his cheek. Cold, damn this thing is cold. Shoot! He squeezed a round and dropped a Kadan. Then he fired again and missed. Again, hit. Again. Hit. He caught movement in the corner of his eye and saw a huge group almost at the Vasilov trench.
Men and women cried out and fired as fast as they could. Grenades flew but the massed point of Kadan troopers were too many. They clashed into the trench and for the first time in years, it was hand-to-hand combat.
Karl dropped the rifle, drew his blade and ran toward them. The little sword was almost like a Roman Gladius, stout, thick, with a chisel point. It was designed to puncture the Kadan exoskeleton.
The Kadan fell into the trenches. The nearest Vasilov soldiers ran, wild-eyed and filled with fear. Others inside the trench fired at the Kadan but the breach was made.
A Kadan trooper spun, dropped to a knee and pulled out a stubby nosed weapon. The barre
l bore was large enough for a man’s head. The trooper fought to engage the weapon.
Karl ran straight toward the Kadan and held his knife up at eye level. He ran like he never ran before and in a second covered the last few meters. The Kadan trooper raised the weapon, but just before it fired Karl slammed the blade into the creatures chest.
Karl rolled forward, tumbled with the trooper, and snapped the blade out of the leathery chest. The yellow goo ran down onto his arm and Karl wanted to vomit.
More soldiers rushed in and fought alongside Karl. But for every Kadan they killed, more rushed in.
Then a new sound came, a deafening roar, a horrible booming, and a shuddering in the ground.
Karl through for just a second that the orbital was back, but then he recognized that sweet sound. Allied artillery. Someone, somewhere, had gotten some artillery to fire. It wasn't the massive barrage of the past, but just a steady rumble.
Karl dodged in under a Kadan and stuck his blade into its abdomen. A man dropped dead next to him and Karl stabbed the offending Kadan. A hot searing pain stabbed into his leg. Karl spun to face a Kadan. It had plunged a bayonet into his calf. He screamed and grasped at it. His mind was lost in fear and pain. All he wanted to do was get away.
The Kadan leaned forward and glared at Karl with its multi-faceted eyes and then its head exploded. The creature tumbled and Karl screamed as the blade fell out. His fingers shook and he fought to smash the coagulant pack against his leg. The cold air tore at the open wound and he felt the blood icing up. The coagulant burned for a moment and then the wound was sealed.
Fresh soldiers rushed forward. Karl struggled to stand. He hobbled to the edge of the trench with one hand on the coagulant patch. He was dizzy with pain and the effects of the coag patch. But he had to look, had to see, had to know if they finally broke the charge. He heaved himself up next to the body of a Kadan.
The wave of Kadan troopers fell back. Artillery shells exploded through the Kadan ranks. The rounds fell sporadically, but it was enough to dull the charge.
"Why can't we fall back to LISCOM?" a Private said to Karl. He didn't look fearful, but feral.
Karl shook his head. "And then what? If we don't hold them here, they'll take LISCOM and then they'll be on Vasilov Prime."
The Private whimpered and slumped down.
Karl grabbed a dead man’s rifle. He hobbled off and prayed again, but this time he prayed that the orbital didn't strike again.
#
Chapter Ten
Vasilov Prime - Northern Industrial District
Heavy was the rain, heavy and dense. It fell in sheets and splattered into even the covered areas. Cargo cars stood idle in the train yard. Work crews raced between open ended warehouses and the dark maws of the cars. They moved great cases, crates, containers, and cylinders.
Colonel Clarke stood under an awning right at the line where the rain splattered. He was soaked right through his rain jacket. The day wore on him, but at least he had plenty of time. The last packet received from the Mackinof front showed that all was quiet.
A fat civilian bus rolled up on the edge of the train yard. The door opened and the horn honked, but no one got out. The police at the gate didn't look eager to step out and speak. The horn blared again.
"Captain Louis?" Colonel Clarke said.
"Sir!" Captain Damian Louis replied. The Captain was just young enough to look eager for command, but not so young that people thought he was a noble. Captain Louis was from farm country, and was built like an ox. The other Officers joked that they could still smell the manure.
"Go see if that's our guests."
Captain Louis sprinted out through the driving rain. He stopped at the bus and waved toward the Colonel.
Three dozen men and women rushed through the rain. They all toted heavy packs. Some hunched over under the weight while others stood like they didn't even notice. All of the packs were Sigg issue, covered in pouches, and in stark contrast to the simple styles of the Vasilov.
Umi Matsuo slowed his pace and walked right up to Colonel Clarke. He moved to salute and then caught himself and instead grinned and extended a hand. "Colonel, good to see you!"
"Captain Matsuo. We ordered some beautiful Vasilov weather for you."
Umi dropped his pack with a grunt. He sighed and ran his hand through his water-soaked hair. He slung off a handful of water. "We ran into some trouble, Cole."
"Customs?" Colonel Clarke said. He raised an eyebrow, it wasn't unheard of for foreigners to run into problems. He thought of Baron-Colonel Devos and frowned.
"I was attacked with Lieuten—err, Ms. Dell—on Sigg Orbital."
"Attacked? Boben?"
Umi shook his head. "I'm not sure. We'd just finished loading up Sevel when we came out and then it attacked."
"It?" Colonel Clarke said.
Other Vasilov Officers stepped up along with the Sigg. All eyes were on Umi. The rain fell in one last gust and then let up to a light drizzle. The silence that remained gave an eerie feeling and the chill air set in.
"It dropped down, a little thing in a black bodysuit. It had two blades. We kept it at bay for a second but it would've had us. Then a woman came in with a damned RPK-23."
"An anti-tank rifle?" Colonel Clarke said. His eyes grew wide. "In an orbital station?"
"She missed the first time and hit a container of cobalt ore, then the second round connected. It threw a knife at her, but it wasn't like anything we'd ever seen. The blade turned into liquid and grew inside of her until it, well, until she died." Umi's eyes looked strained and he sighed.
Colonel Clarke didn't know how to respond. It was one thing to order a man into combat, but to be attacked by an assassin was something else entirely. "Who was the attacker?"
"Not he, but it. It was a cybernetic organism of some sort. In about five minutes it oxidized into a pile of basic elements. The damnedest thing, just poof, a pile of rust."
Kelly stood behind Umi and wore a heavy arm brace. She nodded along as Umi told the story.
"Security came in, then the SigInt boys swarmed it with the research wing but there wasn't a damned thing we could find."
"Who was the woman?"
Umi shrugged. "No clue, she came in from the Caledonian Worlds earlier that day."
Colonel Clarke chewed on his lip and narrowed his eye. He didn't like it, not one bit, but what the hell did it have to do with them? A coincidence maybe?
"And Colonel, the last thing the woman said was: tell them to hold, they must hold. The Emflife are coming."
"Well, they're holding, nothing new on this mornings dispatches from any of the Lishun bases. Emflife, eh? I though that was some ancient story told to keep naughty aliens in line." Colonel Clarke looked at the faces of those watching him and Umi. They didn't look fearful, or scared, more curious than anything. "No use worrying about something we can't do anything about," Colonel Clarke said.
A whistle sounded and the train cars clanged.
Major Bresov stepped under the awning and pulled her rain hood down. She saluted Colonel Clarke and gave a glance at the Sigg mercenaries. "Colonel, the train is leaving."
"Thank you, Major, get everyone loaded." Colonel Clarke turned to Umi. "Are your, well, your associates ready?"
Umi gave a slight grin and glanced at the motley crew behind him. "Consultants?"
Colonel Clarke snorted. "I prefer mercenaries, now let's go."
"Load up!" Umi said.
They loaded onto cargo cars and tucked in wherever it was dry. Umi stood with Kelly, Major Bresov, a pack of Captains and Colonel Clarke. They swayed from side-to-side as the train car surged around corners.
"Colonel?" Umi said above the clatter of the steel wheels. "Why are we taking a cargo train?"
Colonel Clarke smiled a thin smile and leaned in close. "It's a surprise."
Umi's eyes lit up and a wide smile grew on his face.
If there was one thing good Officers loved, it was a surprise inspection.
> #
Chapter Eleven
Lishun Delta - Mackinof Front - Power Distribution Node #4
"There it is, Captain," Engineers Mate Zedun said. He pointed at a frost ringed computer screen that blinked rapidly. "The stargate is buried under a hundred meters of, well, whatever is left of the command bunkers."
Captain Wyse shivered and peered at the screen through his own frosted breath. Deep. Too deep. He knew there was no way they could dig it out. "Wait, this is diagnostics?"
The rumble of artillery and the hum of the Umbrella above cut the conversation. The room of technicians and Engineers all froze. The sounds hung like a guillotine's blade, scarcely a man breathed. Then it stopped as quickly as it started.
"They're testing us," Zedun mumbled.
"Focus, soldier, are these diagnostics?"
"Da," Zedun said. "Why?"
"It's still operational."
Zedun and the other technicians perked up. The men stood and they all came close to the half-smashed computer console. They all spoke at once, arguing, cajoling, speaking, in the way that only Engineers can do.
Zedun leaned close to the screen and shook his head. "It's functional but structurally unsound. It'll collapse as soon as we open it."
"But how long?" Captain Wyse said.
Zedun licked his chapped lips. Already stubble grew on his face. He looked to the other technicians but no one said a word. "Fifty, maybe eighty milliseconds."
"Long enough for a data packet?"
Zedun fumbled with a pack of cigarettes and drew out a crumbled white stick. He lit it with a cracked match and inhaled deeply. The sparkle of the ember seemed so out of place in the cold. "Yes."
"Get it ready, I'll get Pavel on the cell."
"Pavel," Zedun snorted, "Colonel'd have your ass. No one calls him Pavel."
"Well, then don't tell him," Captain Wyse said.
He ran through the cloud of cigarette smoke, out of the room, and tore a commset out of a Lieutenant's hand with a nod for an apology.
Steel Breach Page 7
