He opened the small hatch and stared for a moment. A second drifted to a minute then longer before he woke suddenly, realizing he had been gazing into the plasma relay for almost ten minutes. The sounds of the squad from the armory woke him.
Dorik stood up. He stepped away from the open relay and held up a hand to stop the squad advancing any further.
“Seal off this section,” he said. He tapped his communicator. “Doc, get down here. I’ve found Yanic. He’s…”
Featherstone’s voice burst over Dorik’s communicator. “Where is he, Sergeant?”
“Sir, he’s… He’s dead.”
7
Peeking out of the tunnel, Boyd saw a second Blade enter the central chamber of the asteroid. The two fighters sat in the center of the town, their lower hulls only meters apart. In perfect synchronization, they turned and presented their forward spitz guns to the town.
The blast of spitz gun fire shredded a building only meters away from where Boyd and Thresh were hiding. As the sound of spitz fire died away, it was replaced by cracking and crumbling as the building slowly collapsed. The local grav field had held the shattered structure in place longer than it had a right to.
The street outside was piled with rubble, but a small speeder still managed to race along the rubble-choked roadway. It was heading toward the entrance to the transport loop—toward Boyd. The speeder carried a group of armed civilians and a pair of Faction troopers. They all fired at the nearest fighter, their pulse rifle fire flickering off the deflection shielding.
The fighter turned slowly—it had all the time in the world. The speeder raced toward Boyd and just as it came past, a blast of spitz gun fire raked the road. The explosion sent the speeder out of control and it collided with a pile of rubble, flipping the speeder and throwing some of the occupants clear.
Others were not so lucky and were crushed beneath it, but the group that had been thrown free did not waste a moment. They recovered themselves and raised their rifles to the Blade overhead.
Boyd knew it was pointless. The fighter had enough defensive capabilities to withstand a barrage of kinetic hail from a Faction raider. The troopers and civilian fighters would need a hundred pulse rounds to make a dent in that shielding.
The Blade fired in short bursts, and the speeder exploded. Boyd felt the heat from the explosion on his face. The Faction fighters that had been thrown clear took cover in the debris and continued a concentrated line of fire on the Blade’s drive section. It was a good tactic. If the rifles could maintain their fire on that target, the Blade might lose some power and could be forced to withdraw. But Boyd knew there were half a dozen Blades outside—more than enough to subdue this settlement, if not destroy it. If they used their lasers, they could reduce the settlement to dust in a few hours.
The fighters continued to pour fire at the Blade, reckless and brave, determined to fight the Union off their territory. Over the sound of pulse rounds and spitz guns, Boyd heard the distant sound of men on a rapid advance. Marine regulars moving fast.
At the end of the block, a group of Marines came onto the rubble-strewn street. They took up positions at either side of the street, climbing over and between the rubble, and advanced on the handful of Faction fighters still firing.
“Let’s go,” Thresh said, tugging Boyd’s hand.
Boyd looked one last time at the Marines jumping over the rubble. The Faction fighters were so focused on the Blade that they hadn’t noticed—until one of the troopers caught sight of them.
“Okay,” Boyd said, edging away but staying in cover.
He watched as the trooper turned to fire at the advancing Marines, but he was too late—outgunned and outclassed.
As Boyd and Thresh ran into a broken building, he heard the sudden eruption of coordinated pulse rifle fire. This was not the staccato firing of the Faction, but the organized, deadly fire of the Union Marines.
After just a moment, the street outside was quiet, with the weapons fire sounding only in the distance.
Boyd checked his wrist-mounted holo-stage and looked at the scene. The Blades were dominating the settlement while the Marines ran through the streets mopping up the small pockets of resistance.
“The Union are murdering scum,” Thresh said.
“Why?” Boyd said. “There is no discipline. Who is in charge? This would never be Union orders to attack like this.”
“The command center,” Thresh said. She pointed across the chamber to the command tower. A large holo-stage on the top of the tower was inactive. “Whoever is in charge will be in there.”
Boyd checked that the way was clear. “Let's go.”
The streets overhead erupted sporadically with flashes of pulse rifle fire. Faction troopers and civilian fighters struck from scattered locations, pouring fire randomly into the surrounding buildings. A single bright flash caught Boyd’s eye as he darted from cover to cover. Looking up, he saw a laser cutter blasting a fierce white line into one of the Blades. The drive spluttered and the deflection shielding flickered. The craft withdrew, sweeping down to the low, wide exit to the main landing pad.
The remaining ship turned and fired at the laser. The rock around the tunnel quickly melted as the Blade’s primary weapon lashed out, surrounding the men at the weapon. This caused the power cell of the laser to explode, throwing debris in all directions before slowly cascading to the streets.
Bellini watched the fighter craft slip out of the settlement. He watched the second destroy the laser. He saw the flickering lights of weapons fire all around.
He set to work on a shattered panel before he punched the broken console in frustration.
“Nothing works in this place.”
He stepped over to another console and shot it.
“Pulse pistol is doing just fine.”
Bellini stopped at a console with a few flickering lights. He tapped the controls. “I’ve got it,” he said. “Settlement defense platform operational. Let’s target the Blades out there.”
Targeting two of the fighters outside with all weapons, he extended the battery of hail cannon from their housing deep in the rock of the asteroid and opened fire. The smaller ships outside the settlement exploded with the burst of kinetic hail.
Next, he accessed the communications assembly and activated a transmission-dampening field. The Marines in the settlement were cut off. No help was coming for them.
“Good,” Bellini said to himself as he picked up a rifle. He looked out of the command center viewscreen to the Blade still firing from the inner chamber. The single fighter dominated the area, destroying Faction groups wherever they formed up.
The Marines were moving throughout the settlement by squads, moving easily with covering fire from their support. Bellini watched a squad flank a small group of civilian fighters. They gunned them down brutally, killing even those who offered surrender.
“Union scroats,” Bellini said, stepping over to a communications console. He made ready to send a message to all Faction troopers and any active fighters.
“We’ll give these Union bastards a fight.”
Boyd sat in rubble and peeked out along a street leading toward the control tower. A group of Marines were advancing on the entrance.
“They are going to take control of the tower,” Boyd said. “They are going in with a combat posture. The tower must be in the hands of the Faction.”
Thresh nodded. “We had better help out. Wait for the Marines to enter and we will have them trapped. We can hit them in the rear.”
Overhead, Boyd saw a group of Marines running along a street. They were executing injured civilians, firing pulse rounds or bayoneting them.
“They are monsters,” Thresh said.
“They are out of control. Their commander must have been killed and now there is no one to stop them.”
Thresh felt her small communicator vibrate. She pulled it out—a small handheld holo-stage. Bellini’s face appeared floating above her palm.
“I have
the tower. We have the settlement. All Faction fighters and troopers, fight. Attack. We outnumber them a hundred to one. We will destroy every last Union Marine in the settlement and toss their cold bodies to the vacuum of space. Attack them now.”
Boyd shook his head. “He won’t beat them like that,” he said.
“How would you do it if not with a full attack?” Thresh asked.
“Look—” Boyd pointed to the streets wrapped around overhead, which would show him the entire settlement. Faction fighters and troopers were holed up in small defensive positions firing at any Marine that came into range. Their pulse fire flickered in all directions. “They are scattering their fire and giving away their positions. Now look there—” He pointed to the right where pair of squads were moving. One squad was in cover and firing at a building where troopers were holed up. The second squad advanced in a skirmish formation, standing a few meters apart and moving fast. They dropped into cover and opened fire. Instantly, the squad behind broke cover and advanced. Together, the squads moved in on the Faction position before laying down a coordinated, heavy fire that shredded the building.
A group of troopers ran out of a rear exit as the two squads overwhelmed them. Only then did the third squad break cover from behind the building. They cut the fleeing troopers down in a sudden, furious blast of fire.
“Bastards,” Thresh said.
“Tactics,” Boyd said. “The Union has them, the Faction is too individualistic. There is no coordination.”
“We won’t be told what to do. That is our strength.”
“It’s getting you killed.”
A group of Marines appeared suddenly, stepping out of the cover of a shattered building. They quickly surrounded Boyd and Thresh.
“On your feet, scum,” a corporal said.
Boyd put up his hands. Thresh staggered to her feet.
“Take me to the ranking Marine,” Boyd demanded.
A pair of Marines shoved Boyd and Thresh against the wall of the building they had been hiding in.
“You don’t give me orders, Faction filth.” The corporal sneered and readied his pulse rifle.
A Marine grabbed Thresh’s communicator and threw it to the ground. The Marines stood back and joined the line of their squad-mates. The corporal held his rifle to his shoulder.
“Aim.”
Thresh grabbed Boyd’s hand.
Boyd looked up. The fight was raging all over the settlement. He had always thought he might die alongside Union Marines in a fight on Faction territory, but this was not how he ever imagined it. The absurdity brought a smile to his face—facing down a Union firing squad in a town wrapped around the inside of a mined-out asteroid, mistaken for the enemy. He turned to look at Thresh. She looked afraid but brave. She smiled back.
The corporal and his squad-mates took aim.
“Fire!”
8
Boyd felt the blast of warm air. The echo of the corporal’s order to open fire was engulfed in a sudden roar. Boyd was thrown off his feet, feeling for sure that he’d been shot. He had never been shot before and wondered if this was what it felt like. Was this what it felt like to die? Dust and grit rained down on his upturned face. He felt blood trickle down his cheek.
The sound of pulse rifle fire nearby continued for a few moments.
“Get up!” Thresh was leaning over Boyd, tugging at his jacket. “On your feet.”
Boyd sat up and saw the bodies of the Marines, broken and scattered where they had moments before been standing in formation. A crater was smoldering in the middle of the scattered bodies. Boyd felt his body all over for wounds, but he could not feel any points of pain that would have come from a pulse round. He checked for blood. He was uninjured.
“Get up, Will!” Thresh was still tugging on him, but he was disoriented. He couldn’t help but think that he should be dead. Maybe this was the afterlife the Faction always talked about.
A billowing cloud of dust hung in the street. Walking out of the dust cloud came a group of Faction troopers walking ahead of a larger group of armed civilians. They were stepping over the fallen Marines, assuring they were down for good. Their rifles were ready to finish off any Marines still holding on.
“These troopers saved our hides, Will,” Thresh said. “They lobbed a mining charge right into the middle of the Marines. Lucky for us, eh? Not so much for the Marines, I guess.”
The troopers picked up all the fallen rifles that had once belonged to the Union Marines and continued down the street, leaving Boyd and Thresh in the rubble.
It was a cruel piece of fortune to be freed from execution by a Faction attack, but Boyd took his luck when it came. A good soldier never questioned good luck, just like they accepted bad fortune. He got to his feet, small fragments of rubble falling off him as he stood. Then he ran, holding onto Thresh and pulling her behind.
Ducking into a narrow side street, Boyd paused to check behind them. No troopers were following. All around the settlement were the flashes of minor skirmishes. The Marines were in good order but scattered. They maintained squad cohesion but were spread too thinly. Faction troopers, although fewer in number, were getting in between Marine squads and causing damage.
“Boyd!” Thresh called out in surprise.
Boyd heard footsteps on the rubble, and he turned to see Thresh surrounded by a large group of armed men. Boyd recognized the outfits—they were a raider crew. Among them, armed with Union pulse rifles, were Faction fighters—civilians a few hours ago who were now a Faction militia. Among them were Faction troopers, armed and dressed in best Faction-made equipment.
Stepping through the group came a big man, a Faction pirate for sure. He grinned at Thresh.
“Well, if it isn’t little Enke Thresh.”
“Hello, Bellini,” Thresh said, shying back as he stepped in close.
“What brings you to a pathetic little rock like this?” Bellini tucked a wisp of hair behind Thresh’s ear.
“Just trying to stay out of trouble,” she said.
“And you brought a friend.” Bellini stepped past Thresh and stood before Boyd. He looked Boyd up and down. “I know you.”
Boyd looked Bellini up and down as well. He didn’t recognize this pirate at all. He couldn’t recall the name or the face.
“We’ve never met,” Boyd said in all confidence.
“True.” Bellini smiled. “We never have, but I’ve seen you. You are the Union spy that was on Kitzov’s ship. Right under his nose. I was the one that found you in the data base of a Union cruiser.” Bellini looked up, making a show of thinking. “The Resolute. You are a Blue Star Marine. A spy.”
Bellini scowled. Thresh stepped in between Bellini and Boyd.
“He’s not anymore. He’s Faction, through and through. He helped Kitzov escape the Resolute. Helped me too.”
Bellini tossed Thresh into the grasp of a Faction trooper.
“He is a spy. How do you explain this?” He gestured around the settlement as it flickered with scattered pulse rifle fire. “This is a secure Faction settlement. How could the Union find this place if it wasn’t for a spy?” Bellini snarled. He pulled his pistol and readied it. “How does it feel to escape a Union firing squad only to be shot in the face by a Faction pirate?”
Thresh shrugged off the trooper and stepped between Boyd and Bellini.
“He’s no spy!” She shoved Bellini, but even her heaviest push couldn’t move the big man. “He’s Faction, and he can help us here.”
Bellini looked around. “You are not Faction,” he said, lowering his pulse pistol. “You’ll never be Faction. But if you can help me take that cruiser out there, I might keep you alive.”
Boyd considered his options, surrounded by an angry bunch of armed Faction fanatics.
“Let’s get a look at this cruiser,” Boyd said.
Bellini grinned and showed Boyd the way.
“Don’t mind me if I keep a pistol in your back,” Bellini said. He nudged Boyd forward with a sharp jab in the
back. “The main landing pad. Move.”
The streets were quiet but dangerous. Boyd moved quickly. He heard the approaching footsteps and slowed. Bellini shoved him hard again.
“Someone’s coming,” Boyd said.
“I hear it too,” Thresh said. She snatched a pistol from a trooper’s hip holster and took cover.
“Get down,” Boyd said.
A squad of Marines came running around the corner. They were heading for the control tower entrance.
Thresh fired and hit a sergeant in the head, throwing him off his feet. The rest of the squad took cover and returned fire.
The Faction group opened fire.
Boyd looked at their position. They were dug in at a crossroads and in danger of becoming surrounded.
“We need to move,” Boyd said to Bellini. “They’ll have us in a crossfire as soon as the next squad comes around that corner.” He pointed to the street junction behind.
“How do you know?” Bellini snarled.
“Because if I was in charge of that group, it is what I would do.”
At that moment, pulse rifle fire leapt up from the rubble behind.
Bellini looked at Boyd and snarled again. He handed Boyd a pulse pistol and then shouted to his group.
“Get ready to move,” he said.
Thresh was already moving, darting from cover to cover, closing in on the Marines between her and the entrance to the hangar. She fired as she moved. The return fire missed as she advanced rapidly. She was at the entrance to the landing pad a moment later, calling Bellini and his group forward. The entire squad of Marines in front of her lay dead.
Bellini grinned. “Now that is Faction,” he said to Boyd before pushing him forward. “Covering fire! Hold the Marines at our rear, keep their heads down. Move.”
Boyd knew how to react to a command, and he was on his feet running toward Thresh. She was smiling, panting and beckoning Boyd to her.
She was a dangerous and skillful killer, truly a Faction pirate. As Boyd fell into the landing pad entrance, he turned to give covering fire to the Faction fighters that were following.
Blue Star Marine Boxed Set Page 54
