Joined In Battle

by Toby Neighbors

  “What’s in the Beru System?” Ghost asked. “I’ve never heard of it.”

  “I don’t know what the trouble is. I know Beru has three planets with water and atmosphere. At least one is being terraformed, but that’s all I know at the moment.”

  “Alright, you heard the man. Everyone hit your bunks. Except for you, Loggins,” Chavez said. “I can still smell the xynodrex on you. Better take a shower.”

  “Ha ha, very funny,” Private Cody Loggins said.

  There were more jokes as the platoon left the mess hall and crossed the concourse. Dean longed to follow them. He felt sleepy after the warm, spicy meal, which was surprisingly good. He’d had jambalaya on board ships before, but it was usually little more than tomato soup with hot sauce. He made a mental note to show his appreciation for Sergeant Franklin’s culinary skills when he got the chance.

  He had reports to dictate before he turned in, but before he retired to his cabin he stopped at his console on the bridge and pulled up the report on the Beru system. He had been correct. Three planets orbited the yellow star within the habitable range. The planet Benson, a desert world with a slow rotation and thin atmosphere, was the closest to the star. It was the first planet to host a colony. The French government had built a large solar energy facility on the surface and erected massive biodomes that held the excessive heat in check, allowing humans to create a thriving colony with abundant power. The planet was rich in minerals, which were mined using unmanned sand trollers.

  Vattan was a world almost entirely covered in water. There were islands and atolls, but no landmasses or continents above the surface of the water. EsDef had a scientific outpost on the planet, and several companies were siphoning water for export to other worlds. Water levels were being closely monitored with the hope that if enough water could be exported, dry land could be maintained and cultivated on Vattan.

  Lars was the third planet in the habitable zone. It was much larger than the other two worlds, more than twice as big as Earth. Like Mars, it had wide fluctuations between day and nighttime temperatures. An outpost had been set up on the planet, but it wasn’t quite a colony. Nearly two hundred atmospheric processors pumped out a variety of gasses in the hopes of thickening the stratosphere and creating a more habitable climate. Dean saw that three of the atmo processors, each manned by a single human operator, had gone offline. There were large animals native to Lars, many of which were carnivores; apparently at least one had found the workers on the atmo processors to its liking.

  “Everything in order, Captain?” Vice Admiral Anders said, coming back to the bridge from his quarters.

  “Yes, sir, just getting an idea of what we’re up against in the Beru system.”

  “Very good,” the vice admiral said as he settled into his chair at the command station. “Looks like everything is green across the board. We’re on target to be in the system in fourteen hours. Once we reach the heliosphere, we’ll be in Lars’ orbit in just two hours. The gravity drive is even faster than I thought possible.”

  “Sixteen hours. That’s perfect, sir,” Dean said. “I’ll be in my quarters if you need me.”

  The vice admiral nodded, and Dean went to his small room. The first thing he did was take a shower. Five minutes of hot steam and radiant light therapy helped relax his tense muscles. He spent the next twenty minutes dictating reports that would be filed with EsDef as soon as the Hannibal slowed enough to send an electronic information packet to the nearest communication buoy. Then Dean set his wrist link on a six-and-a-half-hour timer and dropped onto his bed.

  The vibration on his wrist was annoying, and it seemed to Dean as if he had just closed his eyes—but life in Force Recon was one of constant work and regimented sleep patterns. Dean was up and moving before he even had time to complain. He took a moment to freshen up a bit, then returned to his station on the bridge. They were still seven hours from the Beru system, and no new information had come in. Satisfied that there was nothing more pressing to attend to, Dean joined his platoon and several other crew members for breakfast.

  “What are we looking at today, Captain?” Adkins asked.

  “Search and rescue,” Dean said. “Possibly contact with native life forms.”

  “A bug hunt?” the big HA Specialist asked.

  “No, not bugs on Lars,” Dean replied. “You ever heard of a Yeti?”

  “A what, sir?” Wilson asked.

  “A large, hairy creature resembling a human or bear, said to inhabit the highest parts of the Himalayan mountain range on Earth,” Lieutenant Sheldon Meyer said, without ever looking up from his breakfast plate.

  “We hunting Bigfoot?” Adkins said.

  “Oh my god,” said Kliner. “I seen everything now.”

  “You can’t be serious, Captain,” Private Cody Loggins said.

  “Well, I’m not saying we’re hunting a Yeti. But the creatures on Lars are large, very large—think dinosaur large. Tallgrass, why don’t you do a little research for us. I want a brief report on the types of native carnivores we’re likely to encounter on Lars.”

  “Of course, Captain,” Sergeant Eleanor Tallgrass said.

  “I also want your opinion on ordinance for yourself and Corporal Landin. If we have to take something down, I want to do it as efficiently as possible.”

  Tallgrass nodded and Dean turned to Chavez.

  “Staff Sergeant, let’s make sure everyone is fully armed and that we have live ammunition this go-round. No plasma—we need ordinance that packs a punch.”

  “Yes sir, sounds like my kind of party,” Chavez replied.

  “Ghost, I want you carrying your Vandmere SE long rifle. Load up on the .50 cal and long-range shotgun ammo.”

  “You got it, Captain,” Ghost said.

  “We hit the system in six hours, people. I want everyone in armor and ready to rock as soon as we’re in the heliosphere. Any questions?”

  There were no questions, and Dean went back to his station on the bridge. He didn’t expect there to be news from the Beru System, but he wanted to check just in case. He spent the next hour studying the specific terrain they would encounter on Lars. The planet was mostly land, with large ice caps on both poles. Vegetation consisted of thick lichen and hardy shrubs. Nocturnal activity was minimal, and Dean hoped they were lucky enough to go in at night. Their armor would protect them from the frigid temperatures, and most of the animals that might cause them problems went to sleep once the sun set.

  Dean dictated more reports outlining his preparations for their mission on Lars and then carefully proofed his reports from the night before. Finally, with only an hour left until they reached the system, Dean went to the Ready Room and suited up. His battle armor wasn’t uncomfortable, but it wasn’t designed for sitting and waiting. There was no telling how long he would be in the battle armor, and he wasn’t in a rush to spend more time than necessary suited up. Still, he didn’t want to be caught off guard. He left his weapons in the Ready Room but took his TCU with him back to the bridge.

  “We’re in the heliosphere,” Vice Admiral Anders announced. “Everyone report.”

  “Enlisted personnel report all ready for planetary orbit,” Hines, the XO, reported from his station just behind and to Anders’ left.

  “Communication systems on line, sir,” Donika Gretskey said. “I’ll begin hailing the Lars outpost at your command.”

  “Very good, Lieutenant,” Anders said.

  “Ship is on course for Lars orbit,” Myers said without looking up from his bank of vid screens.

  “The gravity drive is purring like a kitten,” Lieutenant Monica Plegg said, winking at Dean before turning her attention back to her station.

  “The Raptor shuttle is prepped and ready for deployment, sir,” Chappelander said from the operator’s console.

  “Very good, everyone,” Anders said. “Let’s have another successful mission by the numbers, shall we?”

  Dean hoped that their mission was as simple as the last one, but
he didn’t put much stock in wishful thinking. He tended to expect things to go wrong, and his mind was constantly running through the variables, considering what he might do if things fell apart.

  “Captain Blaze, is the Recon platoon ready for deployment?”

  “Yes sir, we’re sitting on go. I was hoping to hear from the outpost before we began our insertion.”

  “Lieutenant Gretskey will include you in all communications, but I’d like your platoon on the shuttle before we’re in orbit.”

  “Yes, sir,” Dean said, standing up and settling his TCU over his head. “With your permission, I’ll see to my platoon.”

  “Granted,” Anders said.

  Dean thought that having his platoon waiting on the shuttle was pointless. They weren’t entering a combat zone, and the ship wasn’t so large that they would waste precious time getting to the shuttle when it was time to deploy. The Hannibal’s artificial gravity made life on the ship much easier. On the older ships, getting to the hangar bay and into their transports was often much more difficult, as they had to transition from spinning sections that mimicked gravity by using centrifugal force to zero gravity hangar bays, which were often on the far end of the ship from the crew’s quarters. In fact, the older ships were usually much larger than the Hannibal—but since Dean had captured the Urgglatta ship, everything in EsDef was changing. Still, Dean knew that some aspects of military life were so ingrained that arguing with the vice admiral over when his platoon got onto the shuttle was a waste of time.

  “How are we looking, Staff Sergeant?” Dean said as he entered the Ready Room.

  “Platoon is ready for deployment, Captain.”

  “Tallgrass, what are we likely to face on the ground?” Dean asked.

  Tallgrass, in battle armor with the exception of her helmet, stepped to the long workbench and activated the report she had put together. From the projector in the ceiling, a holographic image of what looked like a wooly mammoth appeared.

  “The most prevalent species on Lars is an omnivore called a tusker,” she said. “They roam in herds and eat everything. They are also the most sought-after food source on the planet to other carnivores.”

  An image of a human appeared next to the creature, which was smaller than an elephant but still large. Dean decided they were more like yaks than wooly mammoths.

  “As you can see, they are large enough to provide ample sustenance,” Tallgrass went on as another creature appeared, this one larger than the Tusker. It looked like a huge wolf, only with long, shaggy hair and an extended muzzle that reminded Dean of a crocodile. “The apex predator is the cragnil, a solitary hunter with a large territory. They don’t like other predators encroaching and will kill most anything if given the chance.”

  “Why would anyone want to live on that world?” Adkins asked. “It’s like bizarro prehistoric earth.”

  “Let’s stay focused,” Dean said. “Continue, Sergeant.”

  More animals appeared: a small pack of what looked like hogs with long tusks, spines along their narrow backs, and tails with what resembled a bony club at the end. They were half the height of the human in Eleanor Tallgrass’s report.

  “The real danger is the brindleback. They attack in coordinated packs and show a higher intelligence than most animals. They’re the only animals that have been known to bring down the cragnil.”

  “Lovely,” Dean said. “Anything else?”

  “No sir, I don’t think any of the other carnivores are large enough to pose a threat to us.”

  “Good work, Sergeant. Download your report to the platoon folder. I want you all studying these creatures while we wait to be deployed. If we run into trouble, we need to know how to bring them down quickly. Vice Admiral Anders wants us on the shuttle before we reach orbit. Grab your gear. Let’s double-check armor and get to the hangar bay.”

  Chavez checked Dean’s armor while he toggled his TCU through the various reports. There was still nothing new from Lars, which Dean found odd. They were in the system and the Hannibal was slowing as they approached the planet, but there was no reason that they couldn’t get an update on the situation.

  Dean snapped his EMR rifle to his chest armor via the electromagnets he could activate with his TCU. He watched as his platoon marched out of the Ready Room and down to the hangar bay. Unlike before, they were armed to the teeth, and Dean felt a little more secure knowing they had plenty of firepower.

  In the shuttle, Dean found his seat and strapped in. The telemetry feed from the bridge showed nearly an hour before the Hannibal would reach orbit. There was nothing more for Dean to do but wait. He only half-listened to the comms chatter from the bridge, which was simply mundane reports between Anders and his crew. The ship practically flew itself, and unless there was a problem, there was actually very little for the ship’s officers to do.

  Lieutenant Gretskey as communications officer tried to reach the outpost on Lars but got nothing for her efforts. The silence was ominous to Dean, but there was nothing he could do but wait. He would find out what was going on down on the planet soon enough; he just hoped that when he found out, he didn’t regret it.

  Chapter 13

  “We're in stable orbit,” Hines said.

  “Gretskey?” Vice Admiral Anders asked.

  “Still nothing, sir. No response from the planet at all.”

  “Well this is damn strange. Captain Blaze, we have no contact with the colony on Lars.”

  “That’s what we’re here for, sir. Send us down and we’ll find out what’s going on.”

  “Fine, but I want regular updates. If something is blocking communications, I don’t want to spend hours wondering if you’ve all been killed.”

  “Yes, sir,” Dean replied.

  “What’s going on, Captain?” Chavez asked.

  “No contact with the planet,” Dean said over the platoon channel so that everyone in the shuttle heard him. “Could be technical problems, or worse. We’re going down to find out.”

  “Is it possible the animal life turned on the humans?” Loggins asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Tallgrass said. “But the planet has only had a cursory study. No zoologists are stationed on Lars. And no thorough biological studies have been started.”

  “Could be anything,” Harper said. “Some strange illness we haven’t run across before, a work strike, power issues.”

  “Aren’t we past that kind of thing?” Adkins said. “Surely they have back-up plans for the back-up plans.”

  “I can’t imagine a disease that would wipe out that many workers,” Landin chimed in. “Our virulent detection is so good that we haven’t lost people to disease in decades, even on the colonies.”

  “How many workers did you say were on the planet?” Chavez asked Dean.

  “There are two hundred atmo processors, each with a human observer. The machines are automated, but the workers are there as a back-up just in case something unforeseen happens. Another two dozen at the outpost, I’d say. That’s it.”

  “So something has taken out over two hundred people?” Loggins asked. “Is that what we’re saying?”

  “Not necessarily,” Ghost spoke up. “My guess is the workers only have local communication abilities. They’ll be spread across a large area, each station acting as a signal booster so that they can stay in contact with the outpost. The only way to communicate off-world will be the main comms gear in the outpost. If it goes down, the planet goes quiet.”

  “We won’t know for certain until we get down to the planet,” Dean said. “But let’s not take chances once we’re on the ground. I want weapons ready before we land. Let’s stay focused until we’re sure there’s no danger.”

  Dean knew there was a possibility that everyone was fine on the planet, but he couldn’t help but worry. He didn’t like dropping into an unknown situation. It was unavoidable sometimes, and that was exactly why Recon existed. They could send drones down, but unmanned machines were limited in what they could achieve. T
he drones could fight if there was a clear enemy to engage, and they could send video footage back to the ship that might reveal why the colony had gone quiet, but drones couldn’t solve the problem. They couldn’t investigate, adapt to changing conditions, ask questions, or lend aid. Off World Force Recon was established so that no matter what problems were faced on a colony world or space station, humanity could respond.

  “Wolfpack, this is Command. We are launching in T-10 seconds, over.”

  “Time to rock, people,” Dean announced. “Double-check your restraints.”

  Everyone tugged on the safety harnesses as Dean toggled on the shuttle’s exterior cameras. The Raptor was built to fly troops into combat zones. It was fully armored with no windows, but Dean still liked to see where he was going, even if he wasn’t in the driver’s seat.

  “It’s about damn time!” Adkins said.

  “Express elevator to hell,” Carter announced.

  “Going down,” Kliner added.

  “Why are Heavy Armor troops so gung-ho to get shot at?” Harper asked.

  “Ain’t nobody shooting down there but us,” Wilson said.

  “We are Force Recon,” Owando said happily. “We are born to fight.”

  Dean felt the shuttle lift from the hangar bay floor on its cradle. Then suddenly they were out of the Hannibal’s artificial gravity and the planet was looming large in his vid feed. It only took seconds for the shuttle to hit the planet’s thin upper atmosphere, and they began to feel the pull of gravity.

  “Here we go!” Adkins said loudly as the shuttle rocked slightly.

  “Time to get it on!” Wilson added.

  “Force Recon, first in the fight!” Staff Sergeant Chavez said.

  “Tip of the spear!” the rest of the platoon chanted in unison.