George nodded. “I would be interested to hear more about this weapon.”
Mace huffed. “Yeah, well, you’ve just heard all you’re going to hear. It won’t be used by anyone else. And when we’re done with it we will likely destroy it, as it’s too dangerous. Don’t want it to fall into the hands of anyone looking to conquer the galaxy.”
George returned to his seat. “Yes… about that. I believe we have one of two options. Either we take steps to be in control, or we will be controlled.”
Mace scowled. “Or we control ourselves and let others control themselves.”
George slowly shook his head. “In an ideal universe, yes. We, however, do not live in an ideal universe. As I said—”
Mace raised a hand. “Save it.”
The train began to slow.
George stood and moved to the door as the train came to a stop. “If you would care to follow me, we’ll be continuing from here in an APC.”
“You don’t have a bus or something a bit more comfortable?” Johnny asked.
George replied, “We do. If you would prefer to ride with less security, you may do so.”
Johnny half smiled. “I would. Jane?”
Jane nodded. “I’d prefer that as well.”
Mace looked at Jenny. “Preference?”
Jenny smiled. “I’ll take the bus. Being in an APC with the Dedrus fighter out there won’t make a difference.”
Mace turned to face George Stanislaw. “I think we’ve made our decision.”
George stepped off the train and gestured toward a trail leading up to the roadway. “You’ll find a bus up top. Tell the driver if you would prefer it to be private. I’m certain you would like to talk among yourselves. And here, take this radio. Communication is key to conducting a war.”
Mace nodded as he hopped onto the gravel at the edge of the tracks. “We would prefer private. And thanks for the radio. And speaking of which… you aren’t worried about the Dedrus tracking you?”
George replied, “The Dedrus don’t know they are in use. Just as you didn’t. This was the latest tech out of our industries, with an added bit of United Front circuitry. Standard sensors only see it as natural atmospheric noise. Guard this radio as you would your most prized technology. Currently it is exactly that for us.”
As the others stepped down, George climbed back aboard the train. “I’ll be seeing to the care of Mr. Stark. Once he’s been taken care of, we’ll be joining you at the cave. Take care.”
George Stanislaw turned and disappeared back into the train car. A short walk had the others standing beside a bus.
Jane gestured to the elderly driver. “You can come down. I’ll be driving.”
The older man nodded, stood, and stepped down onto the pavement, disappearing behind the back of the bus as he moved to another.
Johnny kissed Jane on the top of her helmet as she took her place in the driver’s seat. When the others were aboard, she closed the door and started the engine. A handful of Stark’s men boarded the bus behind theirs, and the caravan of buses and APC’s began to roll.
Mace said, “I want to say I’ve seen Mr. Stanislaw before. His face is sticking with me.”
“He’s even creepier than Stark,” said Johnny. “Ever calm. As if he’s plotting his every word or move.”
Jenny said, “Yeah, a complete lack of a sense of humor or emotion. Stark… you can at least get a smile out of him.”
Johnny turned to Mace. “What do you think of his strategy?”
“Hard to say. He at least has one.”
Jane glanced over her shoulder. “You have any ideas?”
Mace shrugged. “We either attack or defend. Looks like Stanislaw is preparing to play defense.”
Jenny said, “If he has Apaches, tanks, and Stingers, he must have mortars and howitzers. Our forces never engaged the aliens here. There have to be huge stockpiles of weapons remaining.”
Mace shook his head. “I think the Mawga saw to it that a large portion of those were disposed of. When Stark took control, a silent disarmament had been underway. So whatever he’s gotten his hands on, it was likely because he rescued it back then.”
Jenny replied, “I never heard about that.”
Fatso Geerok said, “It was a program I instituted as soon as I arrived. I was diligent about destroying all aircraft. If Mr. Stanislaw and Mr. Stark were able to hide away a dozen or so Apaches, they did well. We were in the process of eliminating tanks and artillery pieces when Mr. Stark came to power. The program continued for months after that point. As you suggest, whatever weapons they saved are because of their own diligence.”
Chapter 23
*
The radio in Mace’s hand chirped. “Mr. Hardy. I’ve been asked to inform you about the fight along the parkway. We engaged with our tanks, mortars, and anti-armor weapons. Our current counts place Dedrus casualties at close to three thousand. A third of their armored force was destroyed. We lost six hundred forty-eight fighters as well as all twenty-four tanks. A highly successful assault. We’re hoping for even better results from our coming stand near Strasburg. And we’ve had reports of the Dedrus fighter being seen near Richmond. Your caravan should be secure for your journey.”
“Thank you for keeping us informed.”
The caravan quickly transitioned from I-695 to I70, heading west. An hour and a half later they reached their goal of Hagerstown and changed direction onto I-81, heading southwest. The ride down to Strasburg, depending on a clear roadway, would take another hour.
Johnny peered out the window beside his seat as they rolled. “Other than the overgrowth, you wouldn’t think it was any other day than a normal day here on Earth. I mean from back when it was normal.”
Jane said, “You saying the abandoned cars aren’t a big clue that something is different?”
Johnny chuckled. “No. I’m talking about the Earth. Had we all still been here and had decided not to maintain this growth, it would look the same. You just have this picture of the interstates in your mind that have nice neat manicured shoulders. Now you have trees coming up only a couple feet away. I actually like the more natural feel of it. It’s mostly green instead of nothing but billboards and signs.”
Geerok said, “In our culture, signs were frowned upon. Digital maps and searches were available to find the business service or product you desired. I’ve always found your signage here fascinating, but not very pleasing to the eye.”
Jenny replied, “We were just transitioning to those technologies. If you had given us another fifty years I think you’d have seen a lot of that starting to come down.”
The caravan pulled to a stop near Strasburg, on schedule.
An officer of Earth’s defense force was waiting as they stepped off the bus. “Please come with me to the briefing room. General Tibbet will fill you in on our actions and plans.
Mace asked, “What is this place?”
The major replied, “This is our local HQ. Used to be a paintball sports field. The woods are littered with bunkers, trenches, and spider-holes. Advisers thought it a defensible location.”
The general paced back and forth in front of his officers as the group entered the back of a camo tent.
“The column coming this way is being bolstered by eighty-six of those armored carriers. We’ve collapsed the bridge at Old Valley Pike and have fortified the area between there and the quarry going south. If we work this right, we should be able to force them off the roadway and up through this area by Cedar Creek called Stickley Run. If we can maneuver them across this land-bridge through the center of the quarry, we’ll have them pinned in a good kill-zone.
“While they’re occupied with that crossing, our Abrams will come through the woods here at Cedar Creek, striking the un-armored soft underbelly of their column. They’ll also be taking fire from the two thousand men of Colonel Viper’s brigade. Those men will flow from these woods, following the creek bed, and then attack the rear of the column from the north side of
the road. The fallback will be a return to the creek and then back to the woods. If they take the bait and follow, we have two dozen howitzers zeroed in on this field.
“The Battle of Cedar Creek was a decisive victory for the Union during the Civil War. After taking a beating and being driven back repeatedly by the Confederate General, Jubal Early, General Sheridan rallied his troops and soundly defeated their adversary. It was the last fight the Rebs were able to muster in the Shenandoah Valley.
“I don’t think this will be the last fight for our adversaries here, though. That force is too powerful. When they break through our defenses here, we fall back to Harrisonburg, where General Wallace will be leading up the effort. You’ll be briefed again at that point.”
An officer raised his hand. “Sir, Major Briggs, I was discussing this with Major Donaldson. What if we place a battalion in the woods south of I-81? We could move on that roadway after the howitzer rounds start falling. Give us ten minutes with mortars followed by rifles and we might be able to take out the entire rear of that column. Could be a real blow to their numbers.”
The general nodded. “Had you presented that two hours ago I may have considered it, Major. That force will be here within the hour. We just don’t have time to safely move those fighters in place before they arrive. As it stands, this should be somewhat of a surprise. I’m counting on that to effect maximum casualties with minimal risk to our own.”
The major continued: “Sir, we have the 80th Field Artillery, who had their guns destroyed. They’ve been reassigned as a mortar company under Colonel Byers. Can I request we move them forward and put them in the fight? They are sitting in reserve at the moment. We also have C-Company of the 197th, thirty-two of our best snipers, easily deployed. We might do well to place them along this ridge just south of the interstate. If you approve the mortar barrage, they could keep those troops pinned up on the highway.”
The general turned and looked over the map behind him. “Here’s what we’ll do—a commander is nothing if he can’t make adjustments. Deploy your mortars here and take half of C-Company to the ridge. The remainder will be deploying along the valley. We want to keep constant pressure on this column.”
The general gestured toward Mace. “Mr. Hardy, your group comes with me.”
Mace moved to the front of the room. “If you’d like us involved, General, we can fight. We each have stealth battlesuits… except Johnny. His is out of service.”
The general shook his head. “Not today, Mr. Hardy. You six will be transitioning to Harrisonburg with me. Colonel Anderson will be taking over from here. We expect this battle to last less than an hour.”
Mace asked, “What comes after Harrisonburg?”
The general replied as he walked. “Lexington, and then over to White Sulfur Springs. We hope to meet up with our reinforcements from Pittsburgh, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Louisville. They should all be converging on Charleston tomorrow. That will give us two Apache helicopters, an additional thirty tanks, and eighteen thousand more soldiers.”
“No new artillery? How many pieces do you have?”
The general replied, “Twenty-four. And they’re highly mobile. And no, nothing new. The city commanders wanted to keep what they had. The king gave autonomous command to each of those commanders when it came to sharing their resources. A mistake if you ask me, but he claims it keeps them cooperating. And in the event of a critical need we know where to find those resources.”
Johnny chuckled. “You don’t call this a critical need?”
The general paused. “That’s a debatable point. However, we aren’t on a pure defensive here. We’re calling the shots, trying to lead them into the fights we want to have. So long as that scenario holds, the king has decided it’s not critical.”
The general led the group to an APC.
Jane sighed. “What’s wrong with our bus?”
The general shook his head. “Five sets of bridges are down between here and Harrisonburg. We haven’t had the time or resources to rebuild them. The ride is just over an hour. Will be a bit bumpy at the bridge crossings, but not bad. You’ll survive.”
At the halfway point, the APC pulled to a stop.
The general asked, “Any way you can link that arm pad to your radio?”
Mace nodded. “I can give it a shot. Hold on… interesting.”
Johnny asked, “What?”
Mace typed away on the holo-keyboard floating above his right forearm. “The radio doesn’t show on the sensors.”
Johnny took the radio.
The general said, “Press that button twice and then the down arrow. Enter in the frequency that displays.”
Johnny followed the instruction. Seconds later, a single radio channel displayed on a list on his display.
The general said, “Have your comm broadcast on that frequency.”
Johnny nodded. “Got it. I’m out of the action, so I might as well be the radio man.”
The general pointed. “The radio should signal that a request is coming in. Accept it.”
Johnny complied.
The general sat back. “You should be receiving a video feed any second now. When it arrives, pipe it to your display so we can all see it.”
An aerial image of the Cedar Creek battlefield site came into view, with symbols representing the friendly and enemy troops displayed.
The general pointed. “Green triangles are our armor forces. Here and here are the infantry. Mortars here. Major Briggs’ snipers… and back here are the howitzers.”
Johnny asked, “I don’t suppose you have a drone in the sky that will allow us to watch?”
The general smiled. “We don’t. But we managed to get a camera up on a nearby cell tower. It has a near full view of the battlefield. We have three cameras that can be controlled from the HQ we just left. Select the right-hand sector of that display and select ‘Live Feed.’”
An image of I-81 coming down to the Cedar Creek bridge came into view.
Jenny asked, “You mentioned you have Apaches… why aren’t they being engaged?”
The general scowled. “Those laser weapons burn right through our armor. Only takes a couple well-placed hits to bring one down. Unless we can engage with a minimum of risk to our pilots, we don’t send them in. We have a small stockpile of Hellfire missiles, but those are in limited quantity, so we only make use of them as a last resort.”
Johnny pointed at the display above his arm. “Here they come.”
Two columns of armored Dedrus vehicles moved over a hilltop. Following close behind were brigade after brigade of Dedrus soldiers, including a mix of regulars and the advanced warfighters seen near Baltimore.
The general gave the order to his field commander. “Colonel Anderson… do your worst.”
The colonel replied, “All forces are in place, General. The men are ready for this fight.”
The advancing column stopped at the collapsed interstate bridges over Cedar Creek.
The general said, “Now we see if they take the bait. We built that bypass road to lead them right to the run between the quarries.”
The general took a deep breath and held it. Two of the armored vehicles moved off the interstate and onto the makeshift road, taking them a few hundred meters to the bridge of Highway 11. The scouts proceeded slowly across the bridge, moving out into a roadway cleared into a field that led to the path between the quarries. After a short pause in the fields, the two armored vehicles moved up to Stickley Run. Again time was taken to evaluate the route before proceeding. Once the Dedrus scouts had crossed between the quarries, the remainder of the column began to move.
The general smiled. “Excellent. If we can separate that armor from those ground troops, that would be a decisive blow to their capabilities.”
The advancing column came to a stop at the mouth of Stickley Run.
A voice came over the comm. “Colonel Anderson! We have a second column approaching from the Southeast along Highway 55!”
The co
lonel growled. “How’s that possible? Give me some numbers, Lieutenant!”
The lieutenant spoke into another comm channel before replying: “The column stretches back more than eight kilometers, sir. Initial estimate is more than thirty thousand foot soldiers, Colonel. They must have come from the Richmond force.”
The colonel banged a fist on a map covered table. “Why are we just now seeing this?”
The lieutenant slowly shook his head. “We have scouts watching I-66, sir. They’ve been moving along here… south of the river.”
The colonel looked into his comm. “General, we have one shot at making this work. We have to stop that column at the river bridge. Requesting permission to take that out with our artillery, sir.”
The general shook his head. “Denied, we shoot one of those guns and we give away our positions.”
The general grimaced in thought as he mulled over his options.
Mace said, “General, you take us back and we’ll keep them from crossing that bridge. At least for a while.”
The general opened a comm to one of his cohorts. “Derrick, I need one of your Apaches. There are two bridges crossing the north fork of the Shenandoah going into Strasburg from the southeast. One is Highway 11 and the other a train bridge about two hundred meters south. We need both of those down in the next ten minutes. Can you spare one of your birds? This is likely a one way trip.”
The army colonel, Amand Derrick, replied, “Just got the bad word, General. I’m putting her in the air now. You’ll have to give me a minute before I fully commit. Could you spare another five? I’d like to bring her home if possible.”
The general nodded. “No more than that. The Dedrus will be crossing by then. If we can keep the numbers making it over to a minimum, we might be able to salvage this operation. And sorry I can’t provide you with a laser designator, Colonel. We can’t get one in position in time.”
The colonel came back several minutes later. “You should have your strikes in seven minutes, General. I hope this is worth burning those missiles over.”
HADRON Emergent Page 23