No Price Too High (Warp Marine Corps Book 2)

by C. J. Carella

  “While the evacuation proceeds, the assault ships due to arrive in the next half an hour are to change course and head away from TN-11 until they move beyond firing range. They will not come any closer until after we are gone. Failure to comply will result in the destruction of this facility. Do you understand?”

  ‘I understand,” he repeated. It wasn’t like the Ovals to fold so easily, but the sudden change in allegiances had taken the station’s personnel by surprise, too. It took some work to switch mental gears and accept that former friendly neutrals had now become enemies. It’d taken Heather almost a minute to make that leap.

  “Good,” she said. “Maybe next time your superiors will know better than to threaten my country.”

  * * *

  “I really must protest this seizure of private property,” said the skipper of the Maffeo Polo for the umpteenth time. Heather had only heard the complaint about half a dozen times since she’d made it to the docking bay and waited for the last refugees to enter the ship, and she was already sick of it. She considered using her beamer on the merchant captain – on stun, of course – but decided that would complicate matters.

  Fortunately for everyone concerned, the only American vessel in the system was a massive bulk cargo freighter, currently laden with a hundred and fifty thousand tons of fabber feedstocks earmarked for Sol System, eight warp transits away. Even with full holds, the ship had enough space for the six hundred or so humans in TN-11, although the accommodations would be Spartan at best and its life support system was going to be strained by having to provide basic consumables for ten times as many people as it was designed to keep alive.

  “Protest all you want,” Heather said. “Your ship was about to be seized by the Ovals, rather than borrowed by the US government. Not to mention you and your crew would have been interned and possibly killed.”

  The captain shut up, letting Heather consider the situation.

  This was going to be almost as bad as the Days of Infamy. The Ovals had been major trading partners and there were hundreds of ships and thousands of humans inside their borders. Most of them wouldn’t have any warning until they were captured or worse. The financial losses alone were going to badly hurt the country.

  At least getting away wouldn’t be a problem. New Jakarta was ten warp-hours away from the station. It was GACS space, but the Pan-Asians were on America’s side. And given that the Ovals were clinging to at least the pretense of neutrality, their fleet wouldn’t follow the Polo there. The US would have to decide whether seizing thousands of citizens and billions of dollars in property, not to mention allowing enemy forces to travel through Vehelian space, was enough provocation to declare war on the O-Vehel Commonwealth.

  She shrugged. Deciding such things wasn’t her job. She’d managed to save a few hundred souls, the best she could do under the circumstances. Her biggest regret was losing contact with Honest Septima, who’d been proving to be a priceless fountain of information about the Imperium.

  “That’s the last of them,” Guillermo said. After he’d recovered from his shock, her fellow spy had helped organize the evacuation. Not bad for a suit.

  “Going into warp while docked is going to destroy this entire level,” the captain of the Polo said. “Tens of millions of GCUs in damage. And it will certainly be construed as an act of war!”

  “They shouldn’t have started it, then,” she told him.

  A few minutes later, the Maffeo Polo fled the system, tearing a big chunk out of TN-11’s docking bay and leaving a mess of escaping atmosphere and electrical fires in its wake. There were no casualties, but the damage was just as bad as the captain had feared. And Heather didn’t feel the least bit sorry about it.

  The war had taken yet another turn. Warp-induced visions of destruction haunted her for the entire trip.

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  GLOSSARY

  (Note: Some of the military/Marine jargon below comes from current and past terms used by the US military; others are made up, on the grounds that new terms would have been developed over the decades since First Contact).

  03: Warp Marine Slang for someone with an infantry MOS, as opposed to a POG (see below).

  1369: A fake MOS that indicate an individual is unlucky and wont to give oral pleasure to males of the species.

  AFC: After First Contact. The new US calendar has Year Zero beginning on the day the Risshah bombed the Earth, killing some four billion people.

  ALS-43: Automatic Launch System. Portable heavy weapon that fires a variety of 15mm ammunition, including grenades, armor-piercing and incendiary rounds. Also known as the All-Good or Alsie.

  Area Force Field: A heavy force field can generate a sphere hundreds or even thousands of yards in diameter. Vehicle-mounted versions are used to protect advancing troops.

  Blaster: Slang magnetically-propelled slug-throwers that usually fire plasma-explosive bullets. Also see Infantry Weapon Mk 3.

  Biosphere Classes: The four known forms of life in the galaxy, which appear to descend from four primordial biology groupings that somehow spread throughout known space. Class One. Two and Three Biospheres are carbon-based but each has a distinct biochemical makeup that make them incompatible with each other. Class Four entities are silicon-based and can only survive under environments other classes find uninhabitable.

  Bloomie: Thermal-pulse weapon of mass destruction, which generates a distinctive force field-contained ‘blooming onion’ shape that persists for several hours. Designed to minimize damage to the ecosystem, it generates heat without producing radiation or other effects, and the force fields radiate most of the heat beyond the planet’s atmosphere after reducing everything within the area of effect to molten slag.

  Bubblehead: slang for Navy spacers, from the shape of the ‘astronaut’ helmets issued during the early years after First Contact.

  CVW: Carrier Space Wing. Operational naval space fighter organization comprising all warp fighter squadrons in a carrier vessel.

  Dabrah: Pal, friend. Short for ‘dudebro.’

  Domass: Stupid, idiot. Contraction of the words ‘dumb’ and ‘ass.’

  ET: Extraterrestrial, common vernacular for aliens. Also rendered as Echo Tango, or simply Tango.

  Eet, Eets: Slang version of ET; both terms are used interchangeably.

  FNG: Fucking New Guy. Term of endearment for new soldiers and spacers.

  Foxtrot-November: Unofficial acronym for ‘Fucking Noob.’ See also FNG.

  Full Goldie/Goldilocks Planet: A world with conditions nearly identical to Earth’s (95% or higher on all major categories, including oxygen/nitrogen mix, gravity, and average temperatures).

  Gack, Gacks: Slang; derogatory term for the Greater Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and its citizens.

  Galactic Imperium: The largest known Starfarer polity, and the only one comprising several member species of roughly equal power.

  Greater Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (GACS): A federation comprising China, India, Russia and an assortment of Asian countries and former Soviet Republics. Other than the United Stars, it’s the only human polity with a presence beyond the Solar System. Commonly referred to as the Pan-Asians or the Gacks.

  HAW: Heavy Anti-Armor Weapon. Large missile usually mounted on combat vehicles or deployed by company-level anti-armor teams.

  Hrauwah: Starfaring species and early US ally. Pseudo-canines with arboreal adaptations, the Hrauwah are social obligate carnivores vaguely resembling a cross between a dog and raccoon. Also see Puppies.

  Imp(s): Short for ‘implant,’ a catchall term for the numerous bionic systems most humans use for communications, first-aid, protection and entertainment. Imp services include: full biomedical monitors, virtual reality displays, mapping and location apps, targeting and sensory arrays, a
mong many others.

  Infantry Weapon, Mark Three (IW-3): The standard issue personal arm of the Marine Corps, a dual-barreled grenade launcher and assault rifle, firing 4mm explosive plasma rounds and 15mm airmobile ordnance grenades.

  Iwo, Iwo-gun: Slang term for all Infantry Weapons.

  Kirosha: A continent-spanning kingdom on the planet Jasper-Five; the same term is also used to refer to the inhabitants of the kingdom and its capital city.

  Lampreys: Slang term for the Lhan Arkh species.

  LAV: Land Assault Vehicle, an armored personnel carrier/infantry fighting vehicle, sixty tons in weight, capable of carrying an infantry squad, armed with a 25mm laser or a 30mm grav cannon, as well as four HAW missile launchers. Its gravity drive allows it to fly and maneuver at speeds of up to 300 mph, but its main purpose is to fight at ground level. Crewed by a driver, gunner and loader.

  Lhan Arkh/Lhan Arkh Congress: Class One Starfarer species, commonly known as the Lampreys due to their funnel-shaped, tooth-ringed mouths. The Lhan Arkh Congress, a sort of communist oligarchy, is one of the largest polities in the known galaxy.

  MBT-5 ‘Schwarzkopf’: Main battle tank of the Marine Corps, a hundred-ton, gravity drive vehicle armed with a 250mm grav gun mounted on a turret, three 15mm ALS-43 guns, an Air-Defense Gatling laser on its cupola, and two 20mm plasma projectors (one coaxial on the turret, the other bow-mounted).

  MEU: Marine Expeditionary Unit, consisting of an infantry battalion, and several organic attachments, including a tank platoon. The most common Corps deployment and administrative unit.

  MOS: Military Occupational Specialty, a numerical code indicating a soldier’s career field.

  Obie: Someone performing his Obligatory Service, especially during the first two years.

  Obligatory Service Term: A four-year military conscription system all US citizens must participate in. Eligibility starts at age sixteen; one must be enrolled before age twenty. Failure to comply is punishable by a four-year prison term and loss of citizenship status. In addition to basic military training, OST conscripts receive basic education equivalent to the last two years of high school and/or vocational training or college courses.

  Nasstah/Nasstah Union: Class One Starfarer species, bearing some morphological and cultural similarities to the Rishtah (a.k.a. Snakes). Their largest polity, the Nasstah Union is openly hostile towards America and humanity in general. Commonly known as the Vipers.

  Ovals: Slang term for the Vehelian species.

  POG, Pogue: Person Other than a Grunt, used contemptuously for soldiers with non-combat occupational specialties and less frequently to refer to civilians in general.

  Portable Force Field: A small area force field, usually configured to project a wall of force or a small bubble, meant to improve entrenchments and other fighting positions; it is too cumbersome to be used on the move. Issued at the squad or platoon level.

  Pow, pows: Short for power pack, the high-density batteries used to supply energy to combat armor and some weapon systems. Not to be confused with P.O.W. (prisoner of war).

  Puppies: Common term for the Hrauwah species, due to their resemblance to short-haired humanoid canines.

  Rat: A derisive term for corporate employees, bureaucrats and city dwellers of all stripes, originating from a popular song from the First Century AFC.

  Remfie: Civilian, especially those with little understanding or appreciation of the military. Less-commonly, military personnel operating far behind the lines who show same. Origin: REMF, Rear Echelon Motherfucker.

  Risshah/Risshah Nest Collective: A Class One species brought into Starfarer society as a client of the Lhan Arkh Congress. The Nest Collective was largely destroyed in war with the USA, although a few million members survive under Lhan Arkh patronage.

  Shellies: Slang term for tank crews.

  Snakes: Derogatory term for the Risshah.

  Stormin’ Norman: Common nickname for the MBT-5 Schwarzkopf tank

  Tango: Short for Echo Tango, or ET (see above), used somewhat less frequently than ET or Eet. Also, military vernacular for ‘target.’

  Textic/Textic-American English: Written form of modern English, notable for the use of shortened words, anagrams and other minimalist techniques to maximize meaning with the minimum number of letters, numbers and characters possible. The spoken version can be found mostly among the lower classes in human cities or enclaves.

  United Stars of America: A nation comprising the former United States, Canada and portions of Mexico on Earth, as well as several dozen star systems around the galaxy.

  Vehelians/O-Vehel Commonwealth: Class Two Starfarer species that has a mostly commercial relationship with the USA.

  Vipers: Slang term for the Nasstah species.

  Warp Rating: A living being’s ability to endure entering warp space, ranging from 1 – can only endure warp travel while sedated or unconscious, to 4 – can enter warp in a sealed suit and survive. Less than ten percent of most Starfarer species (the average is closer to five percent) are warp-rated. Humans, for reasons not yet understood, are an extraordinary exception, with fifty percent of their population rated at level 1 or higher.

  Wyrms: Slang term for members of the Wyrashat species.

  Wyrashat Empire: A Starfarer polity dominated by the Class One species of the same name.