Hunter, Warrior, Commander

by Andrew Maclure

  “I still think it’s our only course of action. I’ll have the benefit of them not knowing I am up there and if I can toss them from just inside the access and slam it shut as soon as I have thrown them, the bulkhead should protect me.”

  Si’ir Monn looked down and shook his head. “It’s too risky. I don’t think you could get it done in time.”

  “What’s the alternative plan?”

  “There isn’t one. OK we’ve nothing to lose. Apart from five demolition charges. And you of course.” he added hastily. “But I’ll go with you. I can pass the charges to you, so you can throw quicker and if I’m behind you, I can pull you through the access point. Assuming we can find one.”

  “You’re too big and too heavy. It might work with someone light and agile.”

  “Private Kirrik!” Si’ir Monn called on the comms.

  An insect with delicate looking front legs and large powerful back lags approached. Si’ir Monn explained the plan and his role in it. Kirrik thought for a moment. “I can almost certainly get the Corporal through the access point, my legs work to jump backward as well as forward, but carrying the Corporals weight I will not be able to close it once we are through it. I suggest we have someone else with us to close it.”

  Por Aruf stepped forwards. “I’ll do that Sergeant.”

  “I’m not risking both my Corporals. Zan Witt!”

  A slender, long armed mammal came forward. “You’re going with Corporal Sah Lee and Private Kirrik. The Corporal will explain your role. Corporal Por Aruf get your squad to build a ramp for Sah Lee’s team to get to the ceiling and make a hole for them to get through.”

  Sah Lee took Kirrik and Zan Witt to a clear area away from the rest of the troops and briefed them on what she planned. The building plans from her AI showed her where the maintenance access door was. It was normally opened by an electric motor, but as a fail-safe it could be unlocked by a lever on the wall next to it and pulled open. The door opened inwards to the roof space above the area with hostiles in, which would make it more difficult to close, but that was a risk they would have to take. They practiced using pieces cut out of a desk instead of the demolition charges.

  While Por Aruf’s troops piled furniture up to give Sah Lee’s team access to the ceiling, Sah Lee’s squad used GSA20’s to shoot holes in the wall to provide loopholes to shoot through with viewing holes above them. The hostiles could see what they were doing so fired particle beam weapons through the walls as soon as a new hole appeared. Sah Lee’s troops took a few hits, but nothing that their field armor couldn’t absorb easily.

  Finally, they were ready. Si’ir Monn handed over the five demolition charges which Sah Lee slipped into her backpack. She, Kirrik and Zan Witt scrambled up the furniture pile and into the ceiling space. Por Aruf’s team had established that the ceiling would hold the weight of a single medium build soldier, and as Sah Lee, Kirrik and Zan Watt were all slender and lightly built, they would have no problem. Sah Lee saw a catwalk a few meters away and led the trio along it to the maintenance access door. She then pretended to find the emergency door lever next to it. She took her backpack off and passed the demolition charges to Kirrik. The atmosphere amongst them was tense. They all knew that the slightest error in timing could lead them all being killed by the demolition charges. Zan Witt eased the door open and Sah Lee told Si’ir Monn that they were ready. The sound of gunfire started almost immediately and Sah Lee saw five groups of holes appear in the false ceiling about forty meters from her. The ceiling was so extensively damaged that the ceiling tiles started falling down. Sah Lee could see that the domed roof, although higher than the ceilings in the laboratory and office areas, was still not high enough to throw the charges as far as the holes in the ceiling. She moved forward until she judged she was close enough to reach the furthest of the holes and without turning reached behind first with her right hand, Kirrik placed a charge in it. Still keeping her eyes on her target, she swung round to her left and reached back for another of the charges. “Ready.” she said to Si’ir Monn over the unit comms. She took two deep breaths and swung her right arm forward in an under arm throw towards the furthest hole, her arm following through briefly before she swung her left arm forward in a repeat of the throw. As her right arm swung back to balance herself she reached back and Kirrik placed another charge in her hand. The first charge dropped down the hole exactly as planned as did the next. Gunfire from below continued, distracting the hostiles from what was happening above them. The third charge dropped down the hole but Sah Lee stumbled as she lost her balance when throwing the fourth and it skidded on the ceiling, coming to a stop to the side and just beyond the fourth hole.

  “Shit!” she hissed through her teeth as she threw the last charge, which found its mark and dropped through. As soon as she released her grip on it Kirrik grasped her by the shoulders of her extreme environment suit and leapt backwards toward the access door. He landed a meter and a half short and sprung backward again. He hit the edge of the door with a crash and he and Sah Lee tumbled inside.

  Zan Witt swung the door round and slammed it shut grabbing the lever to lock it down but before he had a chance to move it a massive explosion shook the building and he fell backwards. The blast pushed the door back into its recess with such a force that the door buckled, but held. Following the explosion, they could hear the crashing of debris from below and a few moments later a louder roar and crash of something more substantial falling. Sah Lee and Zan Witt helped Kirrik down to join their comrades and found the dividing wall had failed where they had punched so many holes through it. Several of the troops were laying on the floor. One of them, a Private in Por Aruf’s squad, had a large piece of the wall protruding from their chest and was covered in blood. Por Aruf and two of her soldiers crouched over the body.

  Si’ir Monn jogged over to them. “We lost one soldier, but your plan worked better than anticipated. Did you mean to leave that charge up on the ceiling?”

  “No, I stumbled as I threw it. I’m sorry, I messed up.”

  “You didn’t mess up Sah Lee, you did bloody well. Because of the charge up there, a huge chunk of the roof came down. It was the roof crushing the hostiles that finished them off after the explosions. We haven’t fired a shot since and can’t find any signs of life there now. We make a good team Sah Lee.” He put his large hand on her shoulder and gave her an affectionate shake. “Your brains and guts compliment my recklessness and lack of planning.”

  “I’ll be happy to follow you into battle any time Sergeant.” She said with a smile.

  Si’ir Monn grinned. “You won’t be a Corporal for long Sah Lee, then I’ll be happy to follow you into battle! I’m going to take the remaining troops in and check for any hostile survivors. Can you get Por Aruf together. I think the casualty was a friend.”

  Sah Lee turned to Kirrik who was leaning on Zan Witt and obviously in pain. “Oh shit, I should have taken care of you Kirrik.”

  “It’s OK Corp, all you could do is call for assistance from the medics and I've done that.” Zan Witt said. “They don’t come into an active battlefield and as we don’t know if there are any more hostiles around they’ve sent a gurney with a medical AI. They should be here soon. The gurney will have a pressurized enclosure, so the AI medic will be able to do pain relief, but it will have to stay with us until we've secured the area.”

  “Why didn’t I know that!” Sah Lee asked her AI.

  “Because you haven’t had full training yet. You would normally learn this sort of thing in the field as a Private. You need to assign two soldiers to act as escort and security for the wounded. The dead should be left here to be collected on the way back, but in the circumstances, you could call a gurney to pick the body up and wait for your return.”

  “Well done trooper. You stay with him and the gurney as security, I’ll send someone over to support you. You know what to do?” she said to Zan Witt.

  “Yes Corp. I’ll get someone over while you attend to Corporal Por
Aruf.”

  Sah Lee smiled at him. “Thanks, Zan Witt. I’m new to this.”

  “No problem, Corp. We’re supposed to work as a team.”

  Sah Lee walked over to Por Aruf and crouched down next to her and the dead soldier. She put her arm round her shoulders. “I’ve called a gurney to pick your comrade up. There’s nothing more we can do for them now.”

  Por Aruf turned to her. Sah Lee still couldn’t read her Avian features, but she was clearly upset. “I’ve known him for a long time Sah Lee. He was a good soldier and a good friend. It seems so wrong that he died in a stupid accident, not in battle.”

  Sah Lee gave Por Aruf’s shoulders a squeeze. “Come on Por Aruf. The job’s not finished yet. Time to grieve later.”

  Por Aruf stood up. “Yeah, come on.”

  They joined Si’ir Monn and the rest of the troops. The four drones were darting around the pile of debris and the crawlers were working their way in and out of the gaps. There were torn bodies and bits of bodies belonging to the hostiles who had been taking cover amongst the laboratory equipment and instruments.

  “Any survivors, Sergeant?” Sah Lee asked.

  “We only found one alive, the rest were all killed outright. That was a fucking good plan Sah Lee. I’ll make sure my report on this goes straight to the Generals.”

  “Do you know who our new Colonel is yet?” she asked.

  “Yeah. It’s Colonel Ssar Bess Dassur. He’s a miserable bastard. He’ll be a pain in the ass and don’t expect any support from him. You’ll need to do everything to the letter with him.”

  “So, not like Colonel B’Erren Tek.”

  “Pretty much the opposite. And he really doesn’t like the People. I know you say you don’t either, but as far as the top brass are concerned, you are only here because of them, which is true, but you’ve more than earned your place here now.”

  “Why isn’t he here? Doesn’t he like getting his hands dirty?”

  “No, he likes being where the action is. At the rear of it, so he is never in harm’s way. He’ll be with us in future, and he’ll make a point of telling you where you’re going wrong all the time, even when you’re doing everything right. I’ve just had a message from Major Erret San Mer, he’s on the way here. They have cleared out their end in a number of small engagements. They have a hostile body count of ninety, about the same as us.”

  "Eighty four, Sergeant.”

  “What? Eighty four? What are you talking about?”

  “Our hostile body count. My AI has been monitoring the drone feed and counted eighty four hostiles we’ve killed.”

  “Oh, right. Well in that case there must be twenty-four left.”

  “My AI has analyzed all the information it has received and estimates that there are seventeen left.”

  “It must be a bloody smart AI to have worked that out. I think I’ll stick with twenty-four. We’ve lost two soldiers and one injured unable to fight. Have you assigned two soldiers to guard and secure him?” Sah Lee nodded in the affirmative. Si’ir Monn continued “The Major’s unit have lost Sergeant Blan, Corporal Bice and eleven troopers. We’ve been lucky.”

  Chapter Seventy Eight

  Combined Units

  The remnant of the unit led by Major Erret San Mer arrived, looking tired and dispirited, but they brought the active soldiers up to 23, so if Sah Lee’s AI was right, and she was sure it was, they had a numbers advantage over the remaining hostiles. What was worrying Sah Lee, and probably Si’ir Monn and the Major, was that they had seen no live Tranossians yet. Given that they had found a total of only seven of their bodies so far, there should be another one hundred and two somewhere. It was possible the outcasts had pushed them out of an airlock to die on the frozen, airless surface of the moon. If all the Tranossians were dead, it didn’t matter what else they achieved, they would have failed their mission objective.

  The Major took charge of the unit though he seemed to be reluctant to do so. He took Si’ir Monn to one side and a few moments later called Sah Lee over.

  “Your Sergeant tells me that his success so far in this mission has been down to your tactical planning. Is that correct Corporal?” the Major asked.

  “No Sir. I mean, I played my part, but we work as a team.”

  “Good answer Corporal. We may need more of your tactical planning skills. You know the problem we have. We need to find and rescue the remaining research staff. The probability is that unless they are already dead, the hostiles are holding them hostage. That means they want something. We don’t have the authority to offer them anything, our mission objectives are simple. Kill the outcasts, rescue the Tranossians. The outcasts are likely to want to negotiate free passage and possibly something else. They didn’t arrive in this star system in their landers and there is no sign of any other transport. Our corvette has been scanning but can’t find any other ships, so we must assume that whatever brought them here has left and they are expecting it to return. The local wormhole is only 36 light minutes away, so if whatever brought them here can travel at a respectable pace it could be here in seven hours, allowing for deceleration time. I’ve ordered the corvette to take up position at the wormhole and to take out anything coming through that can’t provide verified credentials. That secures our position, but it will leave the outcasts with nothing to negotiate for, so they’ll kill any hostages and fight it out with us.”

  “Sir, if we’ve nothing we can offer them, we won’t be negotiating with them anyway, will we?”

  “Yes Corporal, we will be. We don’t have anything to offer them, so we’ll just be buying time, but as long as we are talking to them the hostages will be safe and we’ll have time to rescue them. All we need is an infallible plan.”

  “Do you have one of those Sir?” Sah Lee asked the Major.

  “Not yet Corporal, it’s difficult to come up with one when we don’t know where they are, their dispositions and how the hostages are guarded. When we know that, your Sergeant thought you might be able to help us come up with a plan. He also told me you have a hunter’s intuition for finding hostiles.”

  Sah Lee knew exactly where the hostiles and the hostages were, because her AI had just told her that all the missing one hundred and two Tranossians were being held in a storage area right at the end of the building with four hostiles armed with RX4040 assault weapons and fragmentation grenades. Any open attack on them would result in a bloodbath. The other thirteen hostiles were in a room which looked like an office. It had direct access to the storage area where they held the hostages. They had moved packing crates of heavy equipment out of the storage area and arranged them as fortifications in front of a three meter by three meter opening into a large ransacked laboratory, but she couldn’t tell the Major that without revealing her AI’s secret drones.

  “My Ai has been building a map of the installation from the information from Sergeant Si’ir Monnen Dak’s drones and crawlers. It thinks they are most likely to be in the storage area at the far end of the installation Sir, that would seem the logical place if they are holding a lot of hostages.”

  “You’ve got a smart AI there Corporal. We’ll send all our drones and crawlers and scout the area. Meantime, Sergeant, get your Corporals to move their troops forward, sweeping the area as they go in case any of the hostiles have set an ambush.”

  The drones and crawlers found what Sah Lee already knew. The Major pointed out the large laboratory had a clear area in front of the hostiles defensive position which would make it more difficult to storm the hostiles, it made a good kill zone for them to cut down the troops as they approached. In the absence of any other route to attack them, he announced they would make a full-frontal attack on the main force once they had a plan to secure the hostages. However, he had no idea how to save the hostages as the hostiles would undoubtedly kill them as soon as the attack on the main force took place. In the meantime, the drones had spotted two groups of three hostiles leaving the main force, one to the left, the other to the right. The ass
umption was that they were planning to ambush the soldiers as they approached.

  “Major,” Si’ir Monn said, “we need to take those out while we have sight of them with our drones. I’ll take two troops with me for one of the groups, Corporal Sah Lee will take two with her. “

  “Sir,” Sah Lee interjected, “I would prefer to take that mission by myself. While I value the benefit of teamwork, this is the type of action I can best complete quickly and quietly by myself.”

  “You think so, do you?” the Major said. “What do you think Sergeant?”

  “She’s probably right Sir. You know her background. She’s a hunter. She can think on her feet and is a ferocious fighter and seems to be lucky, which is a hell of an advantage.”

  “In my experience, there’s no such thing as a lucky soldier,” the Major paused, looking hard at Sah Lee, “just a good one. If you are confident Corporal, you go by yourself.”

  “Thank you for your confidence Major. With all due respect to Sergeant Si’ir Monn, if I can complete the task quickly, I would be the best person to take on the other group too.”

  Si’ir Monn burst out laughing. Turning to the Major, he said: “If she can return before we lose sight of the second group of hostiles, I’d recommend we let her. I’ll stand by with my team ready to go if we lose sight of them. We’ll have a good enough idea of where to find them.”

  The Major looked thoughtful. “That’s a high risk approach Sergeant. We could lose the Corporal and lose sight of both groups of hostiles. My gut feeling is that letting the Corporal go by herself after one group is a big enough risk.”

  “Yes Sir, it is a risk, but the win we would get if she is successful is a quick, quiet action while we keep our main force here preparing for the assault on the main force.”

  “Right. No more talk. We need to get this done now. Corporal get going. Sergeant, choose your team.”