War Dogs

by Jan Domagala

  “We were on the same side. You were the shining light that should’ve been me; they chose you to lead the War Dogs. You became our people’s saviour, because of what, that group you led? If it hadn’t been for that serum you’d have been just like me, a soldier. After all the sacrifices I made, along with others who died for our cause, all the people remember is you and those damn War Dogs. You saved us all,” snarled Black allowing his anger and frustration at the man to come bursting out.

  Alex stood up. “Is that what this has all been about, you’re jealous of me? Why?” he asked, seeing the man for the first time for what he truly was. He dropped his guard for a second as he felt pity for the man; it was a mistake.

  Black saw the movement and his anger took over and he fired on fully automatic.

  The stream of pulsed plasma bolts struck Alex across his torso sending him flying backwards, his blood arcing in the air tracing his path in a gory visage of the shooter’s jealous rage.

  Black yelled in triumph, oblivious to the danger coming at them all from the Cartel members.

  Jake fired his M25 cutting the man down in the middle of his triumph. Black staggered once then fell; he was dead before he hit the ground.

  Gina was the first to reach Alex as he lay on the floor. One look into her sad eyes told him what he already knew.

  “You’d better go, the serum’s gone. The threat’s ended,” he croaked as she tried to cradle his head. He coughed up a stream of blood from his punctured lungs that settled on his chest. He looked up at her, smiled once then his head tilted over, the light gone from his eyes. He was dead.

  Jake was at her shoulder saying, “We have to go.”

  Mack and Joe helped her bring Alex’s body to the Switchblade he had used. They all quickly secured it inside the canopy and contacted Artie to fly it remotely back to the Pulsar.

  All of them silently got on their own Switchblades and, with a final glance at the approaching Cartel members Jake gave the order to take off.

  III

  Jake flew his Switchblade up into the atmosphere followed by the rest of his team but couldn’t shake the feeling from his heart that they had failed miserably.

  He knew they had escaped from the planet and the masses of Cartel members but the threat from the ship in orbit still remained.

  “Artie, prepare for our docking. Ready your weapons should that cruiser take an aggressive stance towards us. The moment they charge their weapons or target either you or us blow them out of the sky,” he ordered.

  “Copy that, sir,” the AI replied.

  The five Switchblades flew in tight formation with Artie controlling the one carrying the body of Alex Thorn. They exited the planet’s atmosphere and into space where Jake saw the cruiser in orbit close to where the Pulsar was parked.

  “Stay in tight formation team, here we go,” Jake said through their comm link.

  They all fired their boosters and increased speed towards the Pulsar’s last known co-ordinates.

  “Artie, get ready to take us on board,” Jake said.

  When they received no reply Gina asked, “Where the hell is he?”

  The cruiser moved to intercept the small flight of Switchblades. From the distance they were from the craft Jake and the others could not tell what was happening on board and the Switchblades were not equipped with long-range sensors adequate enough to probe into that detail.

  “I’ve a very bad feeling about this, boss,” Joe said.

  “I think they’re targeting us with forward pulse cannons, boss. It looks like they’re manoeuvring around to take the shot head on,” Mack observed.

  “Get ready to take evasive action if they fire,” Jake instructed calmly.

  As the cruiser moved around into position they all saw quite clearly pulse cannons emerge from hidden recessed gun ports in the ship’s hull.

  “On my mark break formation,” Jake said.

  There was a disturbance in the space behind the cruiser, as if the very fabric of space itself was coming apart. Suddenly the Pulsar began to appear as space around it began to shimmer and separate.

  The captain of the cruiser must’ve been made aware of the sudden appearance as he tried to turn her around to face the larger threat.

  Before that could happen, Artie opened fire with the Pulsar’s forward pulse cannons.

  Explosions erupted down the flank of the cruiser as plasma fire raked her side as she turned into it.

  A brace of Hellfire missiles were fired from missile tubes in the forward section of the Pulsar and within seconds closed the gap between them. The missiles hit the bridge of the cruiser blowing it apart, sending flaming debris flying out in every direction that was quickly extinguished in the vacuum of space.

  Another brace of Hellfires struck the rear engines of the cruiser exploding that section completely. What was left tore itself apart as structural integrity was lost and the stresses on the craft from losing both the bridge and engine room won the day

  “Brace for impact!” ordered Jake as they all knew the shockwave from the explosions would hit their small vehicles very soon. Luckily they were all far enough from the blasts that the force had dissipated enough for them to feel nothing more than a surge rather than a tidal wave.

  “Let’s get aboard,” Jake said once the shockwave had passed them by.

  24

  Once the Switchblades were in the docking bay on the Pulsar, Jake ordered Artie to take them away from the planet and back to Confederation space.

  They all assembled on the bridge in a solemn mood.

  “Do we count that as a success, Jake?” Gina asked.

  She looked up into her friend’s green eyes and saw only sadness. The loss of a comrade in arms was something they had all encountered in their careers but nonetheless was still difficult to come to terms with.

  Alex Thorn was not one of them. He was not a member of the team but for a short time he had fought alongside them and been their comrade in arms. To lose him in battle was still a tough thing to take. Even though they had hardly known him, they knew enough to call him friend.

  His death was meaningless. They had completed what they could of their objective and were on their way out when he just seemed to give in. Laying down his weapon like he had was not the action of someone who wanted to live.

  Jake had not realised just how deep Alex’s melancholy had gone about how his alterations had affected the way his own people had viewed him. His depression must’ve been severe for him to lay down his life like that.

  Jake looked into Gina’s compassionate eyes and shook his head, unable to voice the words he wanted to say, but he couldn’t, not yet anyway. He was too full of anger at the futility of Alex’s death and frustration at not being able to see the symptoms clearer so that he could have acted to prevent such a tragic loss.

  Taking a deep breath he said, “No, this is not a success. We just got our asses handed to us and because of that we lost Alex.”

  “We did stop them getting their hands on the serum though,” Joe offered.

  “At what cost though, we lost the Garrisons before we even got here. Now we have to go back to Genotia and inform them not only did we not rescue them but we also lost their serum and Major Alex Thorn to boot. Can you see any positives out of that one because I sure as hell can’t?” Jake snapped back.

  He turned away from his friends as he silently fumed. He knew it wasn’t any of their faults. They did the best they could do with the intel they had but in the end it was just not enough.

  “Artie, plot a course for Genotia and make the jump. I’ll be in my quarters ’til then,” he said and left the bridge.

  Gina, Joe and Mack watched him slowly walk off. They hadn’t seen him this down since he and Natasha Garvey decided to go their separate ways.

  Gina said, “Artie, can you prepare a stasis chamber for Major Thorn’s body please. I think it best we do what we can for him in death that we failed to do for him in life,” this last part she said looking dire
ctly at Joe.

  Unable to look at her Joe turned and left the bridge mumbling something about going to his quarters too.

  She looked at Mack and said, “Do you think Jake’s right about us getting our asses kicked down there?”

  “Damn right, girl, we left that fight with our tails firmly tucked,” Mack replied. He looked at the woman and saw the concern for Jake. He knew like Joe did how she felt about their team leader.

  “Don’t worry about the boss man, he’ll come round, he always does.”

  She looked at him with one raised eyebrow. She saw him smile and nod his head as if to say, I know.

  With a snort she said, “Hell, I know he’ll be alright, he’s as tough as an ox that one.” And looking away self-consciously, she left the bridge heading for the docking bay to deal with Alex Thorn’s body.

  “Girl, you’re going to get burned if you carry that torch much longer,” Mack muttered after she had gone.

  25

  I

  Genotia

  When the Pulsar arrived at Genotia the welcome they received was not what they expected.

  Jake and the team escorted the body of Major Alex Thorn to the surface where General Matthias met them personally.

  It was a sombre occasion, as you would expect. The coffin was received with all the pomp and ceremony of a returning hero, which was how it should be according to the Wildfire Team.

  “General Matthias, Major Thorn gave his life in order to save ours; I would like the record to reflect that. He died in the service of his home world and should be afforded all the honour that entails. I hope the Major receives the peace in death that was never afforded him in life,” Jake said when the coffin was handed over.

  “I shall see to it personally. Thank you for delivering his body to us, we are indebted to you,” Matthias replied solemnly.

  “Thank you General, but I doubt that will be necessary. I trust this unfortunate incident will open a dialogue that will hopefully bring our two worlds closer.”

  “I’m sure it will Captain and on that note I would like to inform you that the cruiser that attacked you was not from us. We found out about Colonel Black being sprung en route to a penal colony by members of a following that wanted to reignite the civil war. We have since located the whereabouts of the group and eliminated them. The so-called re-emergence is dead.”

  “That’s good to know. Now if you would excuse us, we have to get back to our own world,” Jake said.

  “By all means,” Matthias said. He saluted them all and shook everyone’s hand before they all boarded the front section of the Pulsar.

  “Why the rush boss, I thought we were staying for the funeral?” Joe asked as they all stood on the bridge.

  “I’m sorry but I just couldn’t face it, besides I think we need to get back home to deliver all the new intel we acquired on the Orion Cartel. This may be over but I can’t shake the feeling that there’s a storm coming and I think we need to prepare,” Jake explained.

  They had taken off as soon as they were all aboard and were soon reconnecting with the main body of the huge starship.

  “Course plotted and logged in, sir. FTL at your discretion,” Artie said.

  Jake said, “Make the jump, Artie; take us home.”

  II

  Earth

  Sometime later the Pulsar emerged from a hyperspace window in the solar system.

  “Take us in Artie and contact General Sinclair at HQ to inform him we’ve arrived,” Jake said as he watched the welcome sight of planet Earth growing larger in the forward viewscreen.

  “Sir, Colonel Gemmell has informed me that he will be awaiting your arrival with anticipation in readiness for your full report,” Artie replied after a short pause.

  “Colonel Gemmell, ‘eh? Where’s the General?” Jake asked his brow lowering.

  “According to Col Sec records he no longer heads up the Intelligence Division or the Wildfire Initiative. In fact he has been moved off world completely.”

  “What the hell was that?” asked Joe. He caught the latter end of the conversation as the rest of the team assembled on the bridge.

  “Did I just hear right, General Sinclair is no longer in charge of Col Sec and we report to Colonel Gemmell?” asked Gina.

  “That is correct, sir,” Artie said.

  They all looked at each other with bemused expressions until Mack voiced all their thoughts.

  “Just how long were we gone?”

  26

  The Pulsar’s forward section landed at Nellis Base, the home of Col Sec.

  During their approach to the planet Artie had brought them up to date with the events that occurred during the recent security summit when Washington DC had been destroyed by a Quantum bomb. They had watched news reports detailing the deaths of the civilians caught up in the attack and the ensuing changes to Col Sec.

  They were all devastated by the events that had transpired whilst they were away, which quickly put their experience into some kind of perspective.

  Jake led the team through security, which was something new for them. Being members of the Wildfire Initiative meant their security clearance was of the highest level and these sorts of procedures were wavered to enable them to move around freely and more efficiently.

  “That was new,” Joe observed as they all passed through the scanners.

  “You know how it is with a new broom,” added Gina as she fell in step with them.

  When they reached the C and C things were the same. The large room was a hive of activity with monitors showing scenes of ongoing missions around the Confederation. What was new was that there was no sign of General Sinclair. Instead, standing in the centre of the room was the imposing figure of Colonel Abraham Gemmell, who, up until recently, had been the General’s second in command.

  Gemmell was a career officer, like Sinclair, but unlike him, he preferred to wear the uniform whilst on duty. Standing at six feet five he had a lean, fit body and was known for setting the standard for younger officers beneath him. He regularly went on training missions with the troops to keep abreast of latest techniques and to keep as fit as the Marines who fought on the front line.

  Light grey eyes showed a keen intelligence that he focused on any given task with a tenacity that bordered upon obsession. As he approached the end of his fourth decade his dark hair had lost none of its colour and his face had none of the creases that his age would normally show.

  “Welcome back Wildfire Team,” he said with a slight knowing smile. “I bet you’re all tired, ‘eh Jake?” he added.

  “That would be somewhat of an understatement, sir,” Jake replied as they all came to attention in front of him.

  “At ease, come into the Ready Room and you can fill me in,” Gemmell said with an ease that they were not used to with their dealings with Sinclair.

  Inside the Ready Room nothing significant had changed. Gemmell had brought in his own chair from his previous office but that was only because the previous one had trouble fitting the lanky officer in.

  “I’m sure by now you are all familiar with the incidents that transpired while you were away on mission so there’s no need for me to belabour the point any further. Let’s just say that we move forward and do the best we can,” Gemmell said, taking his seat and indicating for the others to do likewise.

  “According to your report, there was no sign of this serum. How can you be one hundred per cent sure?” he added looking Jake straight in the eye.

  “We can’t, sir. All we know is that we saw the effect of some of it after it had been used on one of the Cartel members, we don’t even know who it was,” explained Jake.

  “So this threat could still be out there then?” posited Gemmell.

  Jake glanced at all the members of his team. This was something they had all talked about but hoped was not true.

  Facing Gemmell once more Jake said, “I suppose so, sir.”

  Gemmell sat back and made a steeple with his fingers placing the tips under
his chin as he stared off into the middle distance. His mind was working through the various possibilities concerning this problem and then finally he sat forward and said, “Okay, well there doesn’t seem to be much we can do about it at the present time. We’ll just have to keep our eyes and ears open to any sign that this might surface again.”

  Jake relaxed a little. He had expected to be raked over the coals for what he considered to be his failure on this mission. That clearly didn’t seem to be the case here.

  “What about the Orion Cartel, what did we learn about them?”

  “Not as much as we’d like, sir. We arrived on Talipso knowing it was a stronghold of theirs and our initial scans showed a smallish settlement. We later learned that there was an underground compound beneath the settlement holding untold numbers of them. I think they’re a more viable threat than we were led to believe, we definitely need to keep eyes on them.”

  “Have you any idea of their military capabilities?” Gemmell asked, concern etching his features.

  “No, sir, but I would assume with the manpower we saw on the planet it could be quite extensive. The only good thing is we didn’t see any sign of it on the surface of the planet,” explained Jake.

  “Do you think with the destruction of the serum their plans might have been averted?” Gemmell asked looking at each of them.

  “I can’t say with any certainty, sir, but we saw no signs of the serum before we left the area. Therefore I would have to say that if their plans hinged on them procuring the serum we have at least put a halt to them,” Jake said.

  Gemmell gave that some thought as he looked at them all. Seeming to come to a decision he leant forward once more.

  “Now, on to other matters, what is the situation with Genotia?” Gemmell asked.

  “They seem stable for the moment, sir. I don’t think the Separatist Movement is as active as those involved would like to think. After the losses the war tolled on them I think it’ll be a while before anything happens there, if at all. We can hope they will go forward and try to unite the once warring factions inside their people instead of resorting to conflict,” Jake said.