The Battle For Cyclops: A Xander Cain Novel

by P W Hillard

  “Helmets on everyone!” Candice was shouting, the door to the cockpit hanging open. She clicked her helmet into place, twisting the lock shut.

  “I thought this thing was airtight?” Mitch said, the straps finally clicking into place.

  “How long do you reckon things stay airtight when someone is shooting at it?” Trevor said as he placed a helmet over his head.

  Mitch got the point, twisting shut the lock on his helmet.

  “We’re good to go here,” Tamara said, her crew each giving her a thumbs-up as the seal light came on inside the collar of their suits.

  “Glad to hear it.” Candice’s voice was coming through the radios built into the spacesuits. “We’re taking off immediately. You won’t feel anything until we hit the atmosphere, then suddenly you’ll feel a whole lot in one go. Like young romance.”

  ***

  The doors to the bay opened, exposing it to the uncaring void. An orange light pulsed, warning people to stay clear. The opening of the door had been carefully controlled; the atmosphere pumped out of the bay before the doors opened to prevent the equipment within being pulled out into space. There were still crew working in the bay, those without suits having cleared out when the light had begun its baleful glow.

  The Summer Breeze crept out from the bay, sliding carefully into space on thruster power alone. It wasn’t a conscious thing on Candice’s part, the presence of passengers forcing her to fly more carefully than she normally would. She wasn't aware she was doing it, and normally she would pay no mind. Her normal cargo was tough mercenaries used to a few knocks and bruises. Candice was sure that Tamara was tougher than she seemed, she had to be to have survived Hades, but her desire to get as much camera time as possible was forcing her hand.

  Safely away from the Sunchaser, the dropship began to accelerate. With stealth no longer an issue it shifted about in orbit to take the quickest route to the enemy base. Engines fired, the ship cutting through the atmosphere like a knife, a fiery wake announcing its arrival.

  ***

  Anya was looking upwards, watching the dropship streak across the sky. It was transmitting to her, the radio codes identifying it as friendly. Despite calling to the Sunchaser and requesting pickup, for a moment Anya had worried it was yet more Black Rose reinforcements. The code identified the burning comet as the Summer Breeze, Candice and her ship coming to collect as promised.

  “Look sharp, Alexi, our ride is here.” Anya was standing by the shattered doorway, looking out at the courtyard. With the elevator not working, she knew that any enemy forces would have to attack from the direction she was facing.

  “Just in time as well, we were starting to catch a chill.”

  The Summer Breeze came in slowly, engines firing downwards to control its descent. It touched down gently in the centre of the courtyard, retractable feet squeaking as they took the weight of the dropship. Doors slid open, ready to receive the two waiting mechsuits. Three figures appeared at the edge of the doorways, tiny in comparison to the portals they stood within.

  “What the hell is this?” Anya said, gesturing towards Tamara and her crew. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  “We’re getting some footage from the ground. Right from where all the action is,” Tamara said, her suit radio on the same frequency as the mechsuits. “Look, after the attack on the Sunchaser-”

  “Attempted attack,” Candice said, her voice brimming with pride as she interrupted. “They didn’t even get to open fire thanks to yours truly.”

  “After the attempted attack on the Sunchaser, up there is just as dangerous as down here. If that's the case, we might as well get the best footage we can.” It was a lie, one that Tamara was telling for her own benefit. In truth, she was second-guessing her choice. Tamara had always followed through with her decisions, even if she secretly doubted them, projecting an air of composed confidence. That was the key to being a good producer, bottomless unearned confidence that you knew exactly what you were doing at all times.

  “Fine. Fine. But you stay in that dropship!” Anya pointed with the finger of her mech, the cannon attached to the bottom of the arm pointing with it, a gesture that was more aggressive than she intended. “You can film us getting in and out, but that's it. Once we find this other entrance or base, you're going back up with to the Sunchaser.”

  “Ok. Ok.” Tamara felt like she was a child being scolded.

  “I don’t want to rush you, my dears, but we should get moving. Sat here like this I’m like iced tea on a hot day, tempting. We should get back into the air,” Candice said.

  The mercenaries got the message, their suits stepping up into the dropship. It creaked as it leant slightly to one side. The weight evened out as Alexi walked to the other side, his mech stepping into one of the empty bays. Mechanical arms and clamps locked both suits into place.

  “This is good stuff,” Tamara said as she followed Mitch and Trevor around. The two men had sprung into action, capturing footage of the mechsuits taking their places inside the dropship. “The heroic Anya and Alexi spring into action to support their comrades!” Tamara said, voicing a possible video title.

  “Heroic, huh?” Alexi said. “Don’t think I’ve ever been called a hero before.”

  “And you haven’t now. It’s all promotional bluster. If you’re a hero, I’m the ice queen of Svarog,” Anya said with a rare chuckle.

  “Had to go and crush my dreams, didn’t you?”

  “Someone needs to keep you on the ground.”

  “Speaking of ground, we’re getting ready to take off. Those of you without a mech need to sit down and buckle in again.” Candice’s words were followed by the rumble of engines as the Summer Breeze started the procedure to lift off. “Do we have any idea where we’re going?”

  “We head in the direction those dropships came from. We don’t really have anywhere else to start from.” Anya had been thinking about it as she had waited for the Summer Breeze. The entrance had to be close, or at least close at a dropships speed, the enemy reinforcements were on them almost right away. “Just follow the glacier and we’ll go from there.”

  Infantry on the modern battlefield.

  An excerpt from the upcoming Beginners Guide to Interstellar Warfare

  When the age of mechsuits began, it was thought that infantry would be phased out of warfare. After all, when you can field a giant humanoid war machine capable of moving as a person would, what purpose would the much more fragile infantryman serve?

  The realities of war quickly assuaged that notion. During the early days of the corporate wars, engagements were fought with massive quantities of infantry. Capturing an entire planet is an extremely difficult affair, requiring millions of soldiers on the ground. A large part of the devastation caused during this time period was from misguided efforts to reduce the number of soldiers needed, nuclear bombardments and chemical weapons used to clear out defenders before launching an attack.

  When the first combat mechsuits entered production, they were a revelation. Here was a machine with firepower equivalent to a tank that was able to traverse almost any terrain. They could jump gaps, climb mountains and change their loadouts just by picking up a new weapon. It was all the benefits of infantry scaled up and able to engage enemy vehicles on an even footing. For the corporate generals deploying them, they were a dream come true.

  In practice, several flaws became readily apparent. Mechsuits are expensive, the first few models especially so. It simply wasn’t feasible to use them to replace every role on the battlefield. Having millions of credits standing around defending a captured supply depot, for example, is extremely wasteful. Tactical doctrine quickly settled into using mechsuits to push the front lines whilst infantry followed up and mopped up the remnants.

  As the war progressed, tactics changed. Mechsuits were powerful, but they were not invulnerable. Canny generals quickly realised that tactics that worked against tanks worked just as well against mechsuits. Missile teams lurking in ambush proved effe
ctive, especially in urban environments. As a counter newer mechsuit models began to appear with laser weapons, smaller versions of the ship-mounted weapons providing effective anti-infantry firepower. Improved anti-armour missiles began to see use, then mechsuits specialised at removing infantry and so on until this day. The cold mathematics of war means that infantry are still regularly tasked with engaging mechsuits, the value of a taking out a mech, both monetary and tactically, worth the loss of life.

  In the modern combat theatre, infantry have retained their relevance, centuries passing since the initial predictions they would be phased out. It's safe to say now that there will always be a place in warfare for the solider, no matter the advances in technology. Most corporations maintain infantry forces to police their holdings and defend their facilities. Serving as a soldier is often sold as an easy way to start working your way up the corporate ladder.

  The use of infantry is much less prevalent for mercenary companies. They generally aren't concerned with holding captured territory, that responsibility falling on the corporation employing them. In the rare circumstance a company decides they are needed, there are a handful of mercenary groups that specialise in infantry warfare and work on a subcontracting basis.

  Over time, the infantry loadout has become standardised throughout known space. Some variations exist in the exact equipment, but they are generally (and sometimes intentionally) interchangeable. An infantry section is normally made up of nine men, split into three three-man fire teams. They are usually issued with the following.

  - Seven 5.56x45mm bullpup rifles, two with underslung grenade launchers

  - One dedicated marksman rifle

  - One 7.62mm machine gun

  - Two high-explosive anti-armour missile launchers

  - A mixture of fragmentation grenades, smoke grenades, laser dispersion grenades and plastic explosive charges.

  - Combat body armour. Usually based around a hard body armour vest.

  - A combat helmet with a permanent night vision mount and matching night vision system. The helmet features an inbuilt personal radio.

  - Long-range secure VHF radio.

  - Laser target acquisition systems. Either weapon mounted or handheld.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Xander leant the back of his mech against the wall, bracing himself as he returned fire at those chasing him. The attacks had slowed as he and Meg had made their way across the chamber, moving slowly as they had squeezed between the rows of equipment and weapons. As they had gotten closer to the edge of the chamber the infantry had found another well of strength, surging with what Xander expected was the last of their number. It was a good sign, one that signalled that he and Meg were heading towards something that the Black Rose wanted to keep them away from.

  “They’ve found some guts all of a sudden,” Meg said. She was moving quickly, a masterful demonstration of skill as Meg fired physical rounds one direction and laser beams another. She was moving gracefully, her mech dancing as it unleashed death around her.

  “This has to be the last of them. Whatever is behind this wall has riled them up.” Xander fired another round from his cannon. He had been overzealous with his lasers as the first wave of infantry had attacked and he was forced to let them cool before he could use them again. A small temperature gauge floated by the laser’s reticule to let Xander know how long he had left.

  “Probably all those puppies they’ve been keeping a secret.” Meg lashed out with her leg, the tip of her foot colliding with a Black Rose soldier who had been running towards her, plastic explosive in hand. Whilst in theory taking out a mech using them was possible, Meg had just proven why it was a very bad idea. Her mechs kick, with its considerable weight and power, had roughly the same effect on the soldier as being hit by a speeding train. “Or maybe it’s a lot of embarrassing photos.”

  “See, now I really want to know what it is.”

  “I believe we can get the lasers back online,” Matthias said. The AI had been silent since Xander had asked it to hold his brain together with the mental equivalent of duct tape. “I can control the emitters to fire the laser in pulses, rather than a solid beam. It will be just as lethal but generate less heat.”

  “Glad to hear it.” Xander immediately gave the mental order to fire. Three soldiers fell screaming, their skin flash-fried by the searing burst of energy. The heat gauge increased, but the weapons didn't overheat as they would have with a single constant beam. “This works great. Think it’s something we can automate in the other suits?”

  “Oh? Yes, yes, probably. Sorry, I'm rather…distracted. I'm still trying to hold your mind together, along with maintaining reactor integrity. Your brain might be in essence a complex computer, but it's not one designed for this kind of work. I’m finding my resources rather…stretched, by keeping everything running.”

  “Well, you’re doing a damn good job,” Xander said. He was normally dismissive of the AI, resentful of the imposition of it squatting in his brain.

  “Thank you, Xander.” Matthias was genuinely touched by Xander’s appreciation. “I would suggest that we do have somewhat of a problem currently, however.”

  “More than these crazed bald guys trying to kill us?”

  “Oh, I have no doubt that you can deal with this riff-raff.” Even though Matthias lacked a body or even a digital avatar, Xander could hear the dismissive wave. “Our problem is something rather more, troublesome. You know of course I see everything you do. You're distracted fighting, but I'm able to take in the totality of everything we see, and I do of course have perfect recall-”

  “Just get a move on and tell me!” Xander ducked, a missile crashing against the wall where he had been standing. In their haste to try and take out Xander and Meg, the Black Rose soldiers weren't taking the time to aim properly.

  “There is a door to the further facility nearby, but it's person-sized. Unless this era has some kind of magical shrinking tech to make you fit.”

  “Ah.” The AI had a point. Xander and Meg had picked a direction, running towards one of the walls of the chamber. They had been drawn towards an indent in the wall, at the end of which was a doorway. During their flight, they had both been fighting, not paying much attention to the exit they were heading for. “Meg,” Xander said, switching his radio back on, “how the hell are we going to get through that doorway?”

  “Well, I figured I could stay here and defend your suit, whilst you head inside on foot. If the prisoners are somewhere in this place, then they aren’t going to be in a warehouse like this. And before you do the stoic, I’m the leader I must stay behind crap, remember that your mech is battered and mine is built for taking care of guys like this.”

  Xander couldn't argue with her logic, even if he hated leaving her alone. It felt like Xander's forces were getting constantly divided. He didn't even know what Alexi and Anya were doing. With the elevator out of commission, they had to be looking for another way into the base. Xander suspected that Anya was already looking for where the enemy dropships had launched from. Xander had a lot of formal leadership training growing up, but Anya had the kind of effective no-nonsense leadership that was forged in the heat of battle.

  There was a lull in the fighting. Xander knew that the enemy was gathering their strength for another big push, but it was the window he needed. His mechsuit went down on one knee a released a long hiss as the armour unsealed. The front plate tilted forward, exposing the cabin inside.

  “Wait a moment,” Matthias said. A moment of silence passed. “Ok, now. I had to control the reactor shut down, otherwise, the damage would have prevented it from starting again.”

  Xander pushed open the door of his cabin, immediately feeling the cold of the air outside. It wasn't freezing inside the chamber, the walls providing some protection from the lethal temperatures of the planet above. Xander was glad he was wearing his cold-weather gear, even if spending hours trapped within the cabin of his suit had made it smell ripe. He pulled his rifle off th
e wall and tossed the ladder over the side. Xander opened the locker below his feet, pulling out a helmet that had been stuffed in amongst the supplies. He slipped it on and then stood up, stepping out of the cabin by putting one foot onto the ladder.

  “Good luck, Xander,” Meg said, her voice coming through the radio built into the helmet.

  Boots struck the floor of the chamber, Xander letting go of the ladder and dropping to the ground. He checked the safety was off on his rifle. “Yeah. Me against whatever Black Rose forces are behind that door. If it's even the right door. I need all the luck I’m going to get.”

  ***

  Brother Commander First was furious, or at least, he knew he should be, but the alterations made to his mind were stifling his emotions. Instead, he seethed inside, the anger escaping only as slow drumming of his fingers on the command panel. He tried to calculate the odds. The overseers had considered his performance on Hades a failure. When he had been finally able to leave that planet, First had been shifted to the considerably less important posting of Cyclops processing facility. Now the base was under attack, and by the same mercenaries who had made a mockery of him on Hades. Of all the different mercenary companies in known space, First thought it had to be impossibly unlikely to cross paths a second time.

  “Your orders, First? Our forces are heavily depleted.” The brother sitting at the console was known as Sixth, numbered by his order of joining within his cohort. “We have no brothers adapted for riding mechs remaining, and our infantry has struggled to deal with the intruders.”