“Target that Sweeper,” Forbes yelled over VNET. “Put it down!” Blaster fire erupted from all sides and pelted the TS40. Meanwhile, fire from the south moved dangerously close to the shuttles, carried by a river of hydraulic fluid and lubricant. “Cyril, can you close the south tunnel’s entrance?”
“Sure, sure, sure. Let me see what I can do ten four, sir,” the code slicer replied. “You know, this is actually a lot harder than playing Galaxy Renegade.”
“The sooner, the better, Cyril. Or else we might not have a ride home.”
The TS40 to the west turned broadside and aimed its guns on the nearest shuttle—the one Granther and Paladia Companies arrived in. Despite Forbes’s best efforts to thwart it, the Sweeper blew holes in the shuttle, breaching the hull and permanently grounding the vehicle from space travel. Metal shrieked as it bent inward, succumbing to the M109s’ withering firepower, while conduits burst and sprayed the hangar with gas.
“Shut that down,” Forbes barked, pointing to the gas leak. If it were flammable, the mission would be over in a hurry. “And, mysticsdammit, get those bastards off those guns!”
“Forbes,” Magnus said over VNET. “Do you copy?”
Forbes barely managed a reply as he ducked behind cover again, asking Magnus what he needed.
“We’re gonna be coming in hot, south entry,” Magnus said.
Great, Forbes thought, looking at the fire. Just great. He explained the problem to Magnus and then added the minor note about the second TS40 ripping up Magnus’s shuttle. The lieutenant was about as pissed as Forbes expected him to be. The good news, however, was that the survivors of the four companies could fit on two shuttles.
Suddenly, the TS40 broke left, spinning its guns on the remaining gladias by the tunnel’s entrance.
“Left,” Forbes hollered for the second time, willing his men to adjust their fire. When Magnus asked Forbes to be ready, Forbes said he would be even though he had no idea how he was going to get Magnus’s people through.
Forbes closed the channel and swore at his men, screaming at them to finish off the Sweeper. But they were pinned down, and the vehicle had the upper hand. Plus, more Marines were filing in behind the Sweeper and firing on second platoon. The TS40 was busy mowing down anyone who tried to assault its guns. And although Nelson’s GU90s fired relentlessly at the behemoth, all they did was turn the vehicle’s impenetrable nose armor cherry red.
“Doors closing, sir,” Cyril said. Forbes looked to the south tunnel, which was still consumed with fire, but nothing happened. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Forbes saw the west doors close, shutting out the rest of the Marines who tried following the TS40.
“Wrong doors, kid,” Forbes said. “But I’ll take it.” Still, the Sweeper was wreaking havoc in the hangar. Forbes had to act fast.
Then, he saw it—a window of opportunity. The vehicle was headed toward a new crater in the hangar floor left over from yet another failed attempt to bring the juggernaut down. Forbes reached down and grabbed a LIMKIT4 mine, tucked it under his arm like a space ball, and took off running for the Sweeper.
“What the hell are you doing, Forbes?” Nelson blared over comms. But Forbes’s adrenalin was so high he hardly registered the comment as he sprinted.
The M109s remained focused elsewhere, blasting away, while Forbes dropped to his side and slid into the crater. The Sweeper’s blade crossed over the top of him, sealing him under the Sweeper. The fit was so tight that the vehicle’s exposed belly scraped against his armor. Forbes activated the mine and flipped it over as the humming electromagnet adhered to the TS40’s undercarriage with a loud thunk. Then Forbes punched the trigger key for a four-second delay and hoped it was enough time.
As soon as the Sweeper cleared the crater, Forbes scrambled out of the hole and ran for cover.
Three… Forbes counted in his head. Two…
The blast threw Forbes toward Nelson’s defensive perimeter and into a portable shield wall. He tumbled to the ground and watched as the Sweeper rose three meters off the floor and split in half. It crashed back down, forward treads still clawing at the ground. The front-end drove in tight circles until the unit’s fuel reserves depleted.
“Guess five seconds would have been better,” Forbes said to himself.
The TS40 was no longer a threat, but it had taken a toll on Tausar Company. Most of second platoon and parts of first and third had taken heavy casualties. Even some of Nelson’s men were hit while the M109s tore up the shuttle. Without the Novian armor, Forbes knew things would have been much worse, but the losses were enough that Forbes cursed under his breath as he doled out orders to regroup.
“Captain Forbes, sir?” Cyril said.
“What?” This had better be good news, Forbes thought.
“Bad news. Bad news about the doors.”
“Gah, dammit to hell!” Forbes turned to Nelson and opened the channel for both companies. “Let’s get fire suppression on that blaze; get handhelds from the shuttles if you have to. Then I want tow cables and winches on the wreck. We’re hauling it out of there. We’ve got Granther Company coming down that hallway, and I’ll be damned if a Magnus—any Magnus—finds us with our thumbs up our butts.”
Forbes asked Nelson for men to assist in recovering Taursar’s wounded and then ordered everyone to pull survivors back to the shuttles. With the southern and northern tunnels blocked by wreckage, and the western blast doors sealed, Forbes knew he had a small window to get things in order before Magnus arrived.
“Help me with these two,” Forbes said to two gladias from Hedgebore. They worked to lift a piece of the TS40 off men from second platoon. The victims were severely wounded, but Forbes saw their vitals in his HUD and guessed they’d survive if their suit’s nanobots could keep them alive until they got back to the Spire. “Easy, easy.” Forbes coached the rescuers as they dragged the men to safety.
Next, Forbes found a gladia whose chest and head were covered with a piece of plate metal. He removed it and winced—the gladia’s head was gone, probably due to point-blank M109 fire. Forbes tagged the corpse in his HUD for non-critical retrieval and then moved on to look for more survivors. He helped several gladia to their feet and pointed them in the right direction. “Back to the shuttle,” he said. “Your job’s done. Good fighting.”
When he was done overseeing the casualty retrieval, Forbes looked to the south tunnel. Nelson had successfully put the flames out and was busy securing tow cables. Forbes got him on comms and said, “Just be ready for resistance from the other side.”
“We’re on it, Captain,” Nelson replied. Hedgebore’s CO waved to his engineers, who then activated the winches beneath the operational shuttles. The cables went taut, and the wreckage began to screech as it bit into the corridor’s walls and floor. The winches growled, and Forbes noticed the shuttles start to list to port.
“I want everyone clear,” Forbes said, ordering the gladia away from the cables. “If those things hit you, we’ll be dragging you back in body bags.” The men backed away, looking between the winches and the wrecked TS40.
Finally, the first chunks of the vehicle broke free and got yanked into the middle of the hangar. Forbes noted a few cheers go up among the engineers. But as he looked into the cavity, he noticed several new obstructions blocking the opening.
“Splick,” he said to Nelson. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a collapsed tunnel.”
“I see it,” Nelson replied. The two commanders moved forward carefully, ready to return fire to anyone gutsy enough to shoot through the debris. But no fire came, and none of Forbes’s sensors indicated life signs. “Whaddya wanna do, Captain?”
“Well, our winches aren’t clearing that out,” Forbes replied. “And we don’t have the tools to cut through.” He looked back to the remaining LIMKIT4s.
“You wanna blow it?”
Forbes shrugged. “I’m not sure what other choices we have.”
“Is that you up there, Forbes?” said a familiar voice
.
Forbes peered through the debris and switched to IFF overlay—identify friend or foe. Magnus’s outline and the rest of Granther and Paladia Company’s gladias filled his HUD. He could see the mystics holding a Unity shield further down the hall.
“Dammit, you’re early,” Forbes said.
“Better than fashionably late.”
“I guess. You still have what we came for?”
“Affirmative. You still working on a way to get us through this?”
“We have an idea, but it’s not a good one.”
“Lay it on me.”
“LIMKIT4s.”
Magnus rolled his head around, surveying the damage. “Might work, but might make things worse.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I said it isn’t a good one.”
“Copy. Give me a second?”
“Hey, it’s your ass over there. Take all the time you want.”
* * *
“Awen,” Magnus said, asking her to step up. “I need your eyes on this.”
Awen ran forward, leaving Willowood with Piper. “What do we have here?”
“We need a way through, and I was hoping you could, you know…” Magnus made some motions with his hands, hoping she’d interpret it.
“Is that what you think I do?” She mimicked his motions.
“Can you move it?”
Magnus watched Awen’s shoulders rise and fall. “I think we can,” she said, then turned and called up Nídira, Wish, Telwin, and Findermith. Everyone stepped aside as the four mystics joined Awen and Magnus.
“Think you can make us a way through?” Magnus asked.
The mystics conferred before Awen finally said, “Yes, we have a plan. But since we don’t know what else is above this, we’re going to need everyone to move quickly.”
“I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem.”
Awen stepped toward Magnus. “Just… be ready to move.”
“Got it.” He hailed Forbes and Nelson. “Listen, I think you can save those mines. Awen’s got a plan, but I’m gonna need everyone on that side to stand clear and be ready to get people to cover.”
“Understood,” Forbes replied. “We’re ready.”
Magnus stepped aside as the five mystics took positions on either side of the wreckage. They lowered their heads, and everyone in Granther Company went still. At first, Magnus didn’t notice anything happening. Awen and the others just stood there motionless. He was about to say something when the floor groaned.
Magnus took another step back and watched as a piece of charred metal pulled itself from the floor. It slid from a deep hole, acting like a dagger retreating from a wound. Next, the corner of a steel plate began to roll back, peeling away from a small opening like someone had pulled back a curtain. The plate shuddered, letting out an ear-splitting whine. Magnus took another step back. It didn’t matter how many times he saw Awen and her kind do their thing—he was still amazed.
Next, a large support truss that lay diagonally across the corridor started to right itself. Several other pieces of metal tumbled left and right as the truss rose. The sounds of debris catering against one another rattled the hallway. Whatever the mystics were doing, it was working. And Magnus told them so.
“Shut up, Magnus,” Awen said. Magnus pulled his head back, surprised by her curtness. But he knew better than to piss her off, so he just raised his free hand in submission.
Several more critical pieces raised themselves, retracing their invisible paths to the walls or ceiling. Magnus continued to stare in amazement as the way cleared one meter at a time.
Magnus opened a private channel to Willowood. “How’s our rear line holding up?” In the distance, he could see several platoons pouring blaster fire into the massive Unity shield.
“Just fine, Magnus. But you should be more concerned with what Awen’s doing.”
“Well, I am, but… she doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“That’s understandable. It’s extremely complicated and, therefore, extremely taxing. One wrong move and this goes boom. Plus, you’re probably annoying.”
“Yeah. Wait—what?”
“When she gives you the word, we run.”
“Got it. But you think I’m—”
“Shut up and focus!”
Magnus turned back to face the maze of wreckage slowly undoing itself. He could almost see all the way through to the shuttles—it was tight, but even Rohoar and Abimbola could make it through if they squeezed. All that remained was…
Magnus found himself holding his breath. A massive girder lay across the last section. The thing had to weigh several tons, and it looked pinned down by other support structures in the ceiling.
“Not to rush you or anything, Magnus, but it sounds like Marines are trying to blast through the wreckage in the north tunnel,” Forbes said over a private channel.
“Handle it.” Magnus glanced at Awen and could tell her body was trembling. “We’re at a critical point here, and I can’t make the mystics go any faster.”
“Copy that,” Forbes replied.
Suddenly, Awen let out a grunt of frustration, as did a few of the others. The girder lurched upward—not far, but enough to let Magnus know the mystics were moving it. “Come on, Awen,” Magnus whispered in his helmet. “You got this.”
The girder rose several more centimeters. Just when Magnus thought it was high enough for people to pass under, blaster fire ricocheted down the corridor and struck Reimer in the back of the head. The sound must have distracted Awen and the others because the girder dropped down, as did a few other smaller pieces of metal.
“What the hell?” Reimer exclaimed, turning around. His shield had absorbed the blow, leaving him with 47%, but the fact that he’d been hit made everyone look back.
Magnus zoomed in with his bioteknia eyes and noticed small openings forming in the shield wall. “What’s going on back there, Willowood? I thought you told me not to be concerned.”
“Compared to the danger ahead of you, you shouldn’t. But that doesn’t mean Paladia Company is out of the woods.”
“You’re saying they can’t hold it?”
“Not much longer, I’m afraid. The amount of blaster fire they’re resisting is substantial.”
“Roger that.” Magnus opened up a channel that didn’t include each fire team’s mystic. “I need you all to set up a rear guard. If the Unity shield goes down, I’m gonna need you to lay down some suppressive fire so we can get Piper out.”
The teams acknowledged the instruction and maneuvered back to support Paladia Company. Meanwhile, Willowood walked forward, cradling Piper.
“She needs you,” the old woman said.
Magnus looked at her. “Who does?”
“Awen, she needs you.”
“Yeah, I’m not saying a thing.”
“Not over comms.” Willowood nodded to Magnus’s chest. “Say it to yourself. She’ll feel it.”
Magnus hesitated, then looked back at Awen. The beam vibrated again, but it wasn’t going back up.
“She can’t do this without you, Magnus,” Willowood said. “Go on.”
Magnus swallowed, then switched off comms. “Hey, uh. Listen. I’m guessing you can hear me, maybe? Anyway, just wanted you to know that you’re doing great there.” The girder slumped back down. Magnus swore. He sounded so stupid to himself. It was like talking to hard vacuum, hoping the cosmos was listening or something. It felt weird. But if Awen really could hear him, Magnus supposed he’d better suck it up and say something that counted. “Awen, I—I want you to know that I believe in you. Like, more than anyone in the galaxy, crazy as it sounds, I know. But you have more heart than anyone I’ve ever met, and you can do things that… well, that pretty much freak me out. But that’s what I love about you. And if there was ever a person who could save us now, who could save Piper, it’s you. You and me against the whole damn galaxy, girl. I got your back.”
If his words were supposed to do something magical, they sure a
s hell didn’t. He waited and watched, but nothing new happened. He turned toward Willowood. “So much for—”
Magnus was cut off by the sound of metal grinding against metal. He spun to see the girder rise off the ground, centimeter by centimeter. The walls spasmed as the giant beam sent a shudder down the corridor. Bits and pieces of debris clattered down through the jumbled mess, but the steel beast continued to rise toward the ceiling. As it went even higher than it had before, Magnus leaned over and saw straight through to Forbes, who waved at him.
Another few seconds and the beam was a meter and a half off the ground and holding. Magnus looked at Awen and saw her body shaking. “Let’s do this, people,” Magnus exclaimed and started pushing Willowood forward. The old mystic ducked and made her way through the gauntlet of floating debris, Piper secure in her arms. Next came a few of Paladia Company’s older members, but most stayed behind to keep the failing wall from giving out completely.
Magnus started ordering the fire teams through, beginning with the larger members. Rohoar patted Magnus as he passed. “Do not stay too long.”
“I don’t plan on it, big guy,” Magnus replied. “See you on the other side.”
Abimbola got down on his hands and knees. “I do not want to have to come back here to collect your helmet, buckethead.”
“You won’t have to if it’s shoved up your ass. Now get going!”
Magnus continued to wave the gladias forward until only Awen, her four counterparts, and the remaining cadres of Paladia Company were left. Sion approached Magnus. “You need to lead her through. We’ll help sustain their efforts as they move. The rest of us will hold the wall.”
“But you’re coming with us, right?”
The man hesitated for a fraction of a second. “Of course.”
“Okay, ’cause no else is getting left behind today.”
“Absolutely. Now, go.” Sion pushed Magnus forward.
He placed his hand against Awen’s back and gently—ever so gently—coaxed her forward. “Come on, Awen. Time to move.” Her body quivered at his touch, but he applied more pressure until she took a step forward. “The rest of you too, come on.” Magnus stepped in front of Awen and began leading her through the small corridor she’d created. He slung his blaster and held her hands, guiding her around protrusions and craters in the floor. The other four mystics followed, their focus never straying from their work. Which, Magnus realized, was a good thing because they were all deep in the small tunnel—one missed step, one tiny distraction, and they’d all be buried alive. At least Piper would make it out alive, Magnus thought.
Ruins of the Galaxy Box Set: Books 1-6 Page 161