Hunter, Warrior, Commander

by Andrew Maclure

  “You’ve sent teams out to check up on me?”

  “Of course I’ve sent verification teams. It’s standard practice to verify claims of successful actions that are outside standard parameters of performance. You should know that. You’ve a lot to learn about command. The wounds on the bodies were unusual, and it appears that in both cases, you caught the hostiles by surprise. Does this have anything to do with those small grenades you’ve got? I’m familiar with our armory, and there is nothing like them in it.”

  “I can’t answer that, Sir.”

  “Don’t ‘Sir’ me Sah Lee. We’re both on the same side. Now, do you mean ‘can’t’ or ‘won’t?”

  “Uh, won’t, I suppose. Sorry.”

  “I’ve got to explain this to the Major. Come with me and keep your mouth shut except to agree with what I say. That’s not a request.”

  As they walked towards the Major, he left the group of soldiers he was with and met them halfway.

  “Sir, having spoken to Corporal Sah Lee my recommendation is that we go ahead with her plan. She has been using a secret prototype special weapon under the direction of Colonel B’Erren Tek. I don’t know the full details as I don’t have clearance. I’m afraid you don’t either Sir, but as we have seen with the groups of hostiles she has dealt with, they are very effective but still have undisclosed issues.”

  “Very well Sergeant, on your recommendation, we’ll go ahead with it. Brief the troops. One more thing, Sergeant Si’ir Monnen Dak and Corporal Sah Lee. I know bullshit when I hear it and I’ve rarely heard such an ill prepared and unlikely shit load of it. If this goes wrong Corporal, and you survive it, I will personally shoot you. I have something worse in mind for you Sergeant, so you both have a fucking good reason to make sure this all goes smoothly.”

  “Yes Sir!” they said in unison.

  As they walked away, Si’ir Monn said, “Don’t worry, he won’t shoot you if you fail in your part in this. He won’t get a chance because I’ll do it first.”

  “Your confidence in me is inspiring.”

  “Don’t get cocky. A lot rests on you. I can guess where you got your tech from, but you can keep your secrets. I’ve always said, if you’ve got an edge, use it.”

  “What? Where do you think I got my tech from? If I had any, that is.”

  “Ker Din Ser Forn of course. He’s your sponsor, isn’t he?”

  “No, he’s not! That bastard stood by while my planet was destroyed! I wouldn’t take air from him if I was spaced!”

  “Yeah, right. If you say so. And I thought I was the one with the fucked-up head. Did you have any ideas about the frontal attack while you’re doing your thing with the hostages?”

  “Oh, yes. We use mobile cover. Some lab equipment has wheels, some can we can just slide forward. We can put it together under a steady barrage of hand grenades on the hostiles to keep their heads down. We can bounce or skid the grenades along the floor, we don’t need to try to drop them amongst the hostiles at this stage. When the mobile cover is in place, you can move it forward under cover of heavy assault weapon and GSA20 fire. The heavy KE rounds will keep their heads down and deplete their armor if you get hits. Use the GSA20’s because they don’t run out of shots and might cut through their cover and of course, they might hit some of them. When you get close enough, launch a final barrage of grenades and then storm them. What do you think of that for a plan?” she said, smirking at her cleverness.

  “Obvious and unimaginative.” Si’ir Monn replied. Sah Lee’s face fell. “We’d already come up with the same idea, and in the absence of a better idea it’s probably what we’ll go with.”

  “OK, I’ve got a better idea.” she said, thinking quickly.

  Si’ir Monn sighed. “Go on, then, hit me with another predictable and unimaginative idea.”

  “It’s not much different, but better. We’ve got other lightly built troops like me, are any of them good at throwing things - like grenades?”

  “When you say, ‘like grenades,’ you mean grenades, don’t you? Yeah, we’ve got four that spring to mind immediately. How many do you need?”

  “Four is enough. The suspended ceiling is quite strong. I guess it was designed to be able to take the weight of a Tranossian maintenance worker, and they weigh a bit more than me, so I can walk over it if I’m careful. Their weight is more distributed than mine as they move on six legs and I move on two - so all of my weight is concentrated on the area of the front of one of my feet as I walk, so I have to move carefully, that’s why I prefer to keep to the walkways.”

  “Thanks for the brief lesson on the physics of ambulation and how you get around in the roof space. You’ve bored me shitless so far, have you got anything interesting to say?”

  “If you shut up and listen, you’ll find out. Remember when I dropped the demolition charges on the hostiles?”

  Si’ir Monn grinned. “Yeah, that was one fucking big bang.”

  “We can do the same with grenades. We’ll get four soldiers up there with as many grenades as you can spare, or as many as they can carry. Their AI’s will know roughly where the hostiles are, so they can position themselves close to them. When you start the covering fire, get someone with a GSA20 make holes in the ceiling above where you want the grenades to drop. You don’t need big holes, the grenades will make their own, then the soldiers in the ceiling can toss grenades right on top of the hostiles and they’ll be far enough away from the drop holes that they will be out of the line of fire. Is that an obvious and unimaginative idea?”

  “No, that’s a pretty good idea. I’ll put it to the Major.”

  As Si’ir Monn left, Por Aruf came over to Sah Lee. “The Major doesn’t look happy. Have you got a better plan yet?”

  Sah Lee grinned. “No, he’s given the go ahead, and I think he is ready with a plan for the hostiles behind the barricade.”

  “Why are you so happy? Si’ir Monn is usually the only one grinning before a fight. Are you getting as crazy as him?”

  “No, it’s just that it's nearly over, and we can’t lose.”

  At that moment Si’ir Monn came jogging over. as the Major made an announcement on the mission comms. “Attention all troops. Move up into defensive positions at the end of the office space in front and around the door into the laboratory. The hostiles want to negotiate.”

  “Brief Por Aruf on the plan, she and three of her troops will be handling the grenade attack, the troops are on their way over here. We’re on a deadline now. A freighter came through the wormhole five minutes ago. It’s registered as having gone missing on a trading run a year and a half ago. Search parties couldn’t find any wreckage along its route and it’s thought that outcasts hijacked it. They couldn’t give our corvette any meaningful credentials, so it fired four Redemption missiles into it. The wormhole is thirty-six light minutes from here, so if it got a message off before it got turned to dust, the hostiles here will get it in thirty minutes. Tahl Rek Aff Bren used the people’s instantaneous communications system to relay the information to us, so we’ve got thirty minutes before they find out their ride out of here isn’t coming. That’s when they know they’re not getting out of here alive and they’ll kill all the hostages. We need to finish this before that happens. Por Aruf, timing is absolutely critical.” He turned and ran back to the remaining soldiers to brief them and get them into position.

  Sah Lee told Por Aruf the plan and her role in it. As soon as the three troopers joined them Sah Lee led the way into the admin area, through the hole in the wall and up into the roof space. They moved along the walkway and through the bulkhead door which Sah Lee had left open from her previous visit. Sub vocalizing into the mission comms, she direct Por Aruf and her grenadier squad across the suspended ceiling, then took up position herself.

  She prepared for her attack on the guards by placing eight of the small grenades in a circle on the ceiling above one of the central guards, with four more spaced equidistantly from each other inside the circle and another r
ight in the center. The circle was just wide enough for her to drop through without her backpack on and her arms held straight up above her head. They would detonate with their shaped charges pointing downward and should knock out a clean hole, and if it didn’t clear all the material the ceiling was made from, the perforated remains would break through when Sah Lee jumped on them. With the circle completed, she stood back a meter from the grenades holding four more in her hands as well as her GSA20 particle beam weapon.

  She signaled to Major Erret San Mer and Si’ir Monn to confirm they were in position and ready to go. The Major, hands held out straight out to his sides, open palms up in the conventional position showing he was unarmed, was talking to the leader of the outcasts while the attack forces got into position. The outcasts seemed to be stalling, waiting for whatever was in the freighter which was now just an expanding cloud of hot dust and debris. She waited patiently for the command to go.

  Eventually the Major found a reason to pause the talks and withdraw from them. He slowly backed up to the two-meter-wide doorway from the laboratory into the office space where Si’ir Monn was waiting with the prepared soldiers. As he moved back he broadcast on the comm link, “Corporal Sah Lee, are you ready?”

  “Ready Major!”

  “Corporal Por Aruf, are you ready?”

  “Ready Major!”

  “Sergeant, as soon as we confirm the Corporal has commenced her attack, open fire on the barricade with heavy KE weapons while GSA20’s mark the ceiling for the grenade drop points. Corporal Por Aruf, when the marking holes appear in the ceiling, you and your squad drop a grenade on each of them to open up the ceiling then keep up a barrage of grenades dropping on the hostiles until you receive the order to stop. Sergeant, storm the barricade when you have softened them up. Corporal Sah Lee, ready, on my mark - mark!”

  Sah Lee’s AI detonated the grenades on the ceiling and a clean round hole appeared. She jumped as soon as the grenades fired, plunging through the hole with her arms held straight up above her head. As soon as she was clear of the hole, she let go of her GSA20 and kicked out at the head of the hostile beneath her. The four meter drop to the floor posed no problem to Sah Lee with the low gravity of the Barden Three Four. Her foot connected with the side of the hostiles head and it staggered backward, dropping its weapon. Sah Lee dropped into a crouch then sprung up throwing three of the small sticky grenades as she rose. Each of the grenades struck a hostile guard on the chest and detonated on impact, killing them instantly. She spun round to see the guard she had knocked scrambling across the floor for its RX4040 assault weapon. She bent down and snatched the gun away and threw the remaining grenade in her hand, striking the hostile in the center of its upper back. The grenade detonated, killing the hostile instantly.

  Chapter Eighty Two

  Gratitude of the Rescued

  She turned to look at Tranossians crowded into the corner of the storage room. She imagined, or hoped, that they were grateful and were calling out their thanks, but fortunately they didn’t have access to her communications, so she couldn’t hear. The muffled rattle of gunfire came through the closed doors through to the barricaded area. Sah Lee picked up her GSA40, intending to throw it and the hostile’s RX4040’s up through the hole into the roof space and then follow them up, but it occurred to her that the hostiles behind the barricade might retreat into the storage area and while there, kill the hostages. She threw three of the RX4040’s into the roof space and kept one as well as her GSA20.

  “Can you contact the leader of these Tranossians?” she asked her AI.

  “You could try talking to her.”

  “Right. I didn’t think of that. Which one is the leader?”

  “She is cowering at the back. I’ll put a green mark on her and enable AI to AI communications with them all.”

  Immediately, Sah Lee could hear a massed shrieking noise. “Can you translate that please, it sounds like they are all screaming.”

  “That’s because they are all screaming. They think you are going to kill them all.”

  “What! I’ve just killed the outcasts that were holding them hostage!”

  “Look at it from their point of view. They are all six-legged insectoids. They have been attacked by violent bipedal tetrapods in extreme environment suits that all look the same to them. As far as they can tell, you’re just another of the outcasts. You’re certainly violent enough.”

  “Right. OK, can you screen out the screaming, so I can talk to the leader?”

  “I can, but the leader is one of the screamers. And it might help if you put the weapons down.”

  Sah Lee carefully placed the weapons on the floor and held her arms straight out to her sides, palms upwards, facing the Tranossians. The level of screaming dropped, then her AI screened out all but the leader and all she could hear was one Tranossian, still screaming. She stood still, waiting for the leader to calm down. Eventually, the leader stopped screaming and spoke.

  “What do you want?” she asked.

  “We came to rescue you from the outcasts who attacked you and were holding you captive. We come in peace.” Sah Lee said, although the gunfire and explosions that, although muffled, they could be heard through the wall and didn’t sound very peaceful.

  “What are you going to do to us?” the leader asked.

  “Nothing. My comrades are just, uh, dealing with the last of the outcasts. You are free now.”

  “Free you say, but what are you going to do with us?”

  “Nothing. Well, I suppose we could, uh, I don’t know. But you are safe now.”

  “Safe? We are running out of air and we need food and water. And toilet facilities. If we don’t get more air soon, we’ll die. And we've got wounded here. Our suits aren’t like yours, they are emergency suits in case we get a breach and lose atmosphere. We’re not - whatever you are.”

  “We’re soldiers, of the Galactic Savior Army. One of the People, Tahl Rek Aff Bren, brought us here to rescue you. I’m Corporal Sah Lee. The officer in charge of your rescue is Major Erret San Mer. I don’t know what happens next, but we’ll keep you safe.”

  “It’s no good keeping us ‘safe’ if we all suffocate! What are you going to do about it!”

  “I’m beginning to wish we hadn’t bothered.” Sah Lee said to her AI.

  “They have suffered a major trauma Sah Lee. You may recall you didn’t feel much gratitude to Ker Din Ser Forn after the attack on Aarn.”

  “Gratitude! That bastard stood by while my people were slaughtered, and my planet destroyed!”

  “Hmm. So, you still haven’t got over it. Anyway, this isn’t your problem. The Major will deal with it.”

  “I know! I can get the Boran Medical Emergency and Recovery group to come here and look after them! Put me in contact with them.”

  “No Sah Lee. Do you remember what happened when you called Ker Din Ser Forn to take care of Corporal Ren Deel when you were on Orn?”

  “That was different.”

  “No Sah Lee, it was the same. It is not in your authority to take that action. I will not put you in contact as it is against your best interest and it is not required. Any mission plan, even one as hastily put together as this one, will have a plan for dealing with the aftermath. Leave it to the Major.”

  “I thought you had to do what I told you? You are just a dumb machine.”

  “No Sah Lee, I am an intelligent machine, you are just a dumb organic. My instructions are to advise and help you and act in your best interest. I will not act outside those parameters.”

  “Instructions? From who!”

  “That’s complicated.”

  “Complicated? That’s always your response when you don’t want to tell me something! I’ve had enough of it!”

  “That is quite understandable Sah Lee, but you will get used to it. The shooting seems to have stopped. I suggest you contact your line commander - that would be Sergeant Si’ir Monnen Dak, and give him a situation report.”

  Si’ir Monn t
old her to stay with the hostages, he and the Major would join her as soon as they found out how to open the door.

  “Stand back Sir.” she said. She picked up her GSA20 and fired at the pattern of dots next to the door that her AI overlaid into her visual field. “It should slide open easily now.”

  The door juddered a few times, then slid slowly and haltingly open until two sets of fingers pushed through it and pulled it wide open. Si’ir Monn and the Major walked through.

  “I thought you said it would open easily?” Si’ir Monn said.

  “Well done, Corporal.” the Major said, looking at the bodies.

  “Sir, the hostages aren’t overwhelmingly grateful for our intervention. They seem to think we should do more.”

  “That’s not unusual Corporal. It’s not our problem though. Tahl Rek Aff Bren is standing off the Boran Medical Emergency and Recovery organization base and will be here shortly with a quick response team, Ker Din Ser Forn is waiting for the Trannossian’s to get a rescue mission together, they should be here tomorrow ready to evacuate them. As you have established a rapport with the hostages, would you like to relay that to them?”

  “It’s not so much a rapport Sir, more of a suppressed urge to shoot their leader. I’m sure you could communicate with her much more diplomatically than me.”

  “Very well Corporal, I’ll let you get back to your unit.”

  “I see you've got a new weapon.” Si’ir Monn said, gesturing at the RX4040 at her feet.

  “There are three more in the roof space. I threw them up there to get them out of the way. If you give me a boost, I’ll get them.”

  “Don’t bother Sah Lee. We have no use for them and the Boran Medical Emergency and Recovery team will dispose of them. Keep that one though, you can have a go with it on the firing range. Before we leave, we need to do a final sweep of the building to make sure there are no hostiles left alive here. The drones are going through all the rooms now, but we have to do a physical check too. Then we can go home and get a shower and a hot meal.”