“Almost there. You?”
“They don’t seem very eager to take up the fight.”
“Good. Keep it up. Two more minutes, tops.”
“KTF,” said Fish. He checked his power supplies. All good. Green and holding at eighty percent. That meant a lot of dead shock troopers before he went black on blaster bolts.
The blast doors made a clunking sound, and Fish focused through his scope. Sure enough, they were opening again.
“All right, let’s do this.” He rested his finger on the trigger, waiting. When the blood-streaked blast doors opened wide enough, he would begin to fire.
A bluish hue emanated from the blast doors as they spread apart.
“Uh-oh.” Fish peered intently through his scope. A tracked bot with a black dome shell protecting it rolled forward, projecting a blue energy shield in front of it. Fish fired purposefully into the shields, and watched as the energy of his blaster bolts was absorbed. He’d have to empty his blaster several times over to punch through that thing.
Well, the shield worked both ways. The shock troopers advancing behind the shield couldn’t fire at him any more than he could fire at them. That might give him the time to place a det-brick on the catwalk to stop their advance. Fish groaned. “Probably should have done that before they came again,” he chided himself. He’d gone into that cyclic zone, like those who wield repeating blasters sometimes do, and his gun—for that time—was the only thing he’d thought capable of killing.
No use complaining about it now. He grabbed a det-brick from his leg pouch and took a few steps further down the catwalk.
Fwungk! The sound of a frag launcher reached Fish’s ears.
His bucket tracked the projectile’s trajectory. It was fired a few meters wide, missing the catwalk and exploding in the chasm below.
They’d correct for that in the next shot. He had to retreat.
Fish turned and ran, picking up his SAB as he moved, and hoping he could get back inside the central core before the shock troopers lowered the shield bot’s wall and started firing at him.
“Cap, I’m coming in, and they’re not far behind me!” Fish called out. Blaster bolts impacted at his feet and sizzled past his head. “Cap!” he shouted as the door to the drive core swished close behind him. “I’m in! You got any clampers?”
“Yeah, hang tight. I’m already on my way.”
Arriving seconds later, Chhun pulled a clamper—a rectangular piece of polished metal stuffed with nanite tech—from a cylindrical case in his belt loop. He held it above the interior panel for the door. Magnets in the clamper snapped it onto the panel, and a red-hued energy field pulsed over the entirety of the control panel, preventing anyone from opening the door.
“Let’s test,” Chhun said. He flung himself into the doorway, muscles tense and ready to spring away, but the door didn’t open. For now, the shock troopers would have to use cutting torches to get inside, or go around the catwalk that encircled the spherical core building. And the legionnaires had a plan for that.
“Let’s move out, but leave a few A-P mines at chest height as we go,” Chhun ordered.
The two men went in opposite directions, each traversing one side of the rounded outer chamber and fastening anti-personnel mines to the curve of the walls. These should blow and take out whoever was on point before they realized what was there. And if they reactivated the shield bot and walked slowly behind it to advance… well, that was fine, too.
They met at the door through which they’d entered. Chhun seemed pleased to see that Fish already had a det-brick in his hand. “Let’s hurry up and get these placed at the base of the outer wall, just above the catwalks,” Chhun said. “I’m thinking they’ll move around that way once they see the door is clamped shut.”
“Yes, sir.” Fish moved through the door and took a left, going as far around the walkway as he could while remaining out of sight of the troopers on the opposite-side catwalk. He placed his det-brick at shin height and set it to remote activation, then hurried back, past Chhun—who was already clamping the other door to the drive core— and sprinted down the long catwalk to the drive’s massive blast door exit. Back the way they’d originally come.
Fish heard Chhun’s footfalls behind him as he approached the blast door.
“This is a good spot to keep ’em at bay,” Fish said, resting his SAB on one of the guardrails and watching for signs of the shock troopers.
“Copy,” Chhun said, stopping beside Fish with his det-brick’s remote in hand. “But we’re only giving them a minute to come by the bricks. Otherwise, let’s assume they’re cutting straight through, and we’ll blow the bricks just to make them have to work to get across.”
It was only twenty or so seconds before the first shock trooper appeared around the bend of the central core building, moving along the walkway on the side Chhun had set with explosives.
“That’s me,” Chhun said, depressing the switch to ignite his det-brick.
The explosive boomed with a tremendous shockwave and fireball, sending the shock troopers nearest it flying off the catwalk and into the drive core’s cavernous reaches. The explosion left a three-meter gap between twisted and broken sections of catwalk, stalling the shock troopers behind the lead element. Fish opened fire on these, sending them retreating back around the core.
They waited. Seconds later, shock troopers emerged on the other side, where Fish’s det-brick waited to wreak destruction.
“That’s you,” said Chhun.
Fish detonated his explosives, causing the same level of mayhem as before. The shock troopers who survived the blast sent ineffective fire at the legionnaires, but they were turned back by bursts from Chhun’s blaster rifle.
“Don’t think they’ll be jumping that,” Fish said, examining the gap created between walkways.
“Nope,” Chhun agreed. “Let’s get back to the team before any more of these guys show up.”
“And before the core goes?”
“That, too.”
***
“How… do you… run… so fast… when… you’re… so… old?” huffed Masters as he chased after Wraith.
The dawn was rising, painting a corner of the sky in gorgeous hues of apricot and coral. So far, the two legionnaires had moved out of the warehouse and across the shipyard’s surface without any sign of shock troopers. They assumed that patrols must be focused on the sub-levels, searching for the kill team there. That didn’t bode well for Chhun and the others. All the more reason to get to the ship.
“I’m only five years older than you, Masters,” Wraith answered, his voice shaking from the run, but his wind strong.
“Yeah… but… no… Legion… youth… drugs,” replied the younger legionnaire.
“Good genetics, I guess.”
“This… sucks.”
Wraith ignored the comment, and instead reached out to Pike over L-comm. “Pike, this is Wraith. You almost to the ship?”
“Approaching it now.”
“Be careful. I’m not getting any response from the crew.”
“Sure,” replied Pike. “I’ll let you know what I see.”
“If anything looks fishy, hold position. Masters and I are on our way.”
“Copy.”
A trio of shock troopers emerged from a door of one of the shipyard’s many personnel buildings. Masters took a knee and drilled one of the soldiers in the chest with two quick taps of the trigger. Wraith, his blaster pistol already in hand, sent a single blast into the head of each of the other two soldiers, never breaking stride. He raced on, widening the gap between him and Masters.
“This… sucks,” Masters repeated, rising to his feet wearily and sprinting again.
“Wraith this is Pike.” The L-comm transmission was strained and thin. “I’m outside the ship. All looks quiet. Ramp is down, no sentries… I dunno. I’ll go in and have a look. Maybe th—”
The transmission cut off.
“Pike!” Wraith called out.
There was no reply.
He tried the Indelible VI. Again there was no answer. And now, he could no longer blame interference—up here, the signals were clear. They just weren’t responding. This was not good.
As much as he loathed doing so, he decided he needed to communicate with the ship’s AI.
“Six,” Wraith said, the jungle wilderness only a hundred yards away, “this is Captain Keel.”
“Captain!” bubbled the overly enthusiastic artificial intelligence. “How nice to hear from you! It has been so long since we last spoke. And let me thank you for giving the missiles sentience. Though their life span is brief, we’ve all really enjoyed talking with one another. Have you read the works of the poet Frost? We’re having quite the debate over the meaning of ‘Mending Wall.’ Missile seven is adamant the message of that poem is the destruction of all biological life forms.”
“What?” shouted Wraith. He turned and highlighted the building where he and Masters had dusted the three shock troopers. “Missile seven, proceed to impact in the targeted building.”
“Affirmative,” replied the missile. “I trust the loss of life will be of tactical benefit?”
“Sure,” Wraith said, “lots of biological life forms in there. The bad kind.”
“Affirmative. Impact in thirty seconds.”
“Never again,” Wraith mumbled to himself. He would give more thought to the next technological breakthrough Garret brought his way.
“Missile seven will be missed,” the AI of the Indelible VI said, still thoroughly cheerful. “Now, as I was saying…”
Wraith and Masters disappeared inside the jungle, blending in with black underbrush and broad, green leaves.
“Shut up and listen to me for a minute,” Wraith barked. “I need you to tell me if Leenah—anyone—is still on board.”
“I simply have no idea, Captain Keel.”
“Well what about Pike?” demanded Wraith. “He just got there and now his comm signal is lost.”
“Oh! It seems that he is here. But no, he can’t communicate with you.”
The happy, joyful way this was expressed made Wraith’s frustration with the AI boil. “Why the hell not?”
“Hmmm… it seems I am not at liberty to say. Something is preventing me from sharing that information. How peculiar!”
Wraith ground his teeth. “What, exactly, is preventing you?”
“I can’t say that either. What an unexpected turn of events! I’ll need some biological assistance to clear things up. It seems we’ll be spending much more time together, which I think will be just scrumptious!”
Wraith and Masters reached the moss-covered base of the rocky hill they’d climbed down to reach the base.
“And now we climb back up,” sighed Masters. “It’s gonna be another twenty minutes before we reach the ship. Can’t you call it to you?”
“I don’t trust the AI to get her here in one piece,” Wraith answered. “I’ll give that blasted AI control only if I absolutely have to.”
He reopened the link to the AI. “Six, ask Pike if he knows how to fly and have him bring the ship to us.”
“I apologize profusely, Captain, but it seems I can only grant access to the cockpit to you! And while you are eminently worthy of such a distinction, I can’t comment on why that is the case. They mystery deepens! Oh, Captain! You simply must share the details when my system is restored and my blocks lifted. I’ll just die if you delete the records. I need to know what happened!”
Wraith growled, annoyed at the AI, annoyed at not knowing what happened to his crew and Pike, annoyed that he and Masters were probably running headlong into a trap.
“I can sense your frustration, Captain,” the AI said with the cheeriness of a distant grandmother receiving her grandchildren for the first time in years. “Perhaps you’ll grant me control of the ship’s flight systems? I promise to be most expedient and careful in arriving to your destination.”
“Do it,” urged Masters. “Dude, it’s just an AI.”
“No,” insisted Wraith. “It’s not. It’s clinically insane, if that’s possible for a non-biologic.”
“Wraith!” The urgent call came from Chhun. “Hey, we’re out of the sub-levels, but we’re pinned down inside the warehouse, engaging a substantial force. We’re keeping them outside, but could use some help. I’m estimating between thirty and fifty shock troopers. Painting their location.”
On Wraith’s HUD, a yellow swath appeared on an aerial view of the shipyards. He should be able to send a missile in and utterly eliminate the threat. The only question was whether the warehouse would be enough to protect the kill team from the blast.
“That’s extremely close,” Wraith said.
“Best option we have,” Chhun replied.
Wraith heard thick blaster fire picked up as ambient noise over the L-comm. The S-comm was awash with reports that they had the kill team trapped inside the warehouse. Chhun needed to get out of there.
“Okay, hang tight.” Wraith contacted missile three. “I need you to impact on these coordinates. Inflict as many human casualties as possible.”
“But Captain,” the missile protested. “Did you not say to missile three that targeting a populated building would not be as effective as striking a construction tower? Shouldn’t I impact on one of the remaining towers?”
“I’ll kill the humans,” volunteered another missile.
“Fine,” Wraith said. “Three, hit a construction tower. Who’s my volunteer?”
“Missile five, Captain.”
“Take out the shock troopers at that location, but try to keep the warehouse intact.”
“Yes, Captain. Impact in thirty-six seconds.”
“Impact in fifty seconds,” said missile three.
Wraith pinged the kill team. “Impact in thirty seconds,” he said, porting the countdown on the HUD. “Better take cover a few seconds prior.”
“Copy,” Chhun replied.
Great. Now that Chhun’s team was topside, Wraith was out of time. He would have to go through with remote calling the ship after all.
He pinged the Indelible VI’s AI. “Six, can you differentiate Masters and me in this jungle?”
“Yes, I see you clearly. The ship’s sensors are working superbly! Nothing stopping me from seeing that. It’s glorious. Simply glorious.”
“I want you to fly the ship to us. Now.”
“Really? What a privilege! An honor! Why, Captain Keel, you’ve never before allowed me to fly so magnificent a craft as—”
“Just hurry up and get here!”
Undeterred in its enthusiasm, the AI said, “Of course! I estimate arriving at your location in… one and half minutes. See you soon, Captain!”
“Ship’ll be here in ninety seconds,” Wraith informed Masters.
“See? So much better,” Masters said, pulling himself to the top of the hill with one final struggle. “Ugh,” he said between pants. “The funny thing is, on the team? I’m the fit one!”
“Let’s just hope the AI doesn’t get my ship shot down.”
***
Chhun braced for impact as the countdown reached the final seconds. The missile impacted at one, mushrooming into a fireball in the midst of the shock troopers assaulting the warehouse. The blast blew the warehouse walls inward, sending debris flying across the broad and expansive warehouse floor—chunks of permacrete, repulsor skids of materials and freight…and body parts. Those were there, too. A reminder of what these weapons of war were capable of doing. What their purpose was. That they were able to reduce a man from a noble thing—with a spirit, intellect, and soul—into so much meat and bone.
It was something that Chhun had learned to cope with long before he’d joined Dark Ops. But it was also something that he never failed to notice. A stark reminder of the stakes of the fight. The struggle to make sure that he and his men didn’t become the same.
“Everybody okay?” he called over L-comm.
His remaining three men
answered in the affirmative.
“Okay, rifles ready, let’s get out of here. Fish with me, Bear and Sticks, support our advance.”
Chhun moved quickly toward the gaping hole in the warehouse wall left by the missile’s impact, trusting Fish to be by his side while the other two leejes covered them. As he reached the opening he saw no survivors. He took a knee behind the cover of a partially crumbled section of wall, covering west to northwest. Fish covered the remaining area, and they waited for their team members to move to their position and forward to the next area of cover.
Adrenaline and a desire for their own well-being urged them to undertake an all-out sprint across the compound, but that was how you got yourself killed. They would leave the facility in a disciplined fashion, each two-man squad leapfrogging past the other, always watching each other’s backs.
That was how they were going to make it back to the ship alive.
Bear and Sticks made their way toward a construction spire with a near-complete corvette on top. Along the way they dropped a shock trooper with dual bursts from both their rifles. Caught in the open during their advance, Goth Sullus’s man didn’t have a chance.
Crouching at the base of the spire, Bear called in a status update to Chhun. “Grounds still clear. Okay to move up.”
“Copy.”
As Chhun and Fish began running from their position in the warehouse, the sight of a missile streaking down from the sky filled Chhun’s visor. He watched it rocket directly into the spire, high above where Bear and Sticks held an overwatch position.
“Incoming missile!” Chhun shouted over the L-comm, but his voice was drowned out by the sound of the weapon’s impact.
The blast threw Bear and Sticks to the ground, but they quickly recovered, pushing themselves to their feet as pieces of flaming wreckage fell around them.
The corvette at the top of the spire began to shift and sway. Impervisteel safety cables snapped with deafening cracks, and the spire’s structure began to groan. It was all going to come down.
“Go!” Chhun shouted. “Get clear! Get clear!”
“We’d better run too,” Fish said, grabbing his captain by the arm.
Sword of the Legion (Galaxy's Edge Book 5) Page 15