by Mark Harritt
The first round hit behind them; and then another. More rounds, more explosions, more shrapnel melded into one long, rolling thunderclap. The world around him darkened as Jennifer took the mech to its knees, and leaned forward to cover them with her armor. The world filled with sound. The air disappeared as a constant slurry of dirt, rock, sand and water took its place. Metal from shredded robots, gravel, mortar casing, and anything else the explosions turned into shrapnel chewed up the world around them with an intense lethality.
That wasn’t the worse part, though. Every time a round hit the earth, Mike’s body would leave the ground, and then slam back down. The bombardment went on, and on. Somebody was screaming, and Mike couldn’t swear that it wasn’t him. A huge chunk of the cliff face slid off and almost buried them. Mike could feel wave after wave of overpressure hit his body. He thanked God that he had his helmet on, otherwise he would have been deaf, possibly concussive, and most likely dead. As it was, he could feel the slight difference around his face as the overpressure hit and subsided. He didn’t know what size mortar shells they were using, but he’d bet money that they were as large as, if not larger than, a 122 mm mortar. These weren’t the small 60 mm mortars that the Ranger battalions carried with them. No, these were bunker busters.
All of the sound and fury around him gave him tunnel vision, making him focus on his small part of the world around him, hoping that he would survive. It was hard to think, but he had to think about the team. Mike gathered his wits, what little he had left, “Jennifer, you need to monitor how close those mortar shells are falling. If they start walking the rounds toward us, we need to move quicker. I don’t know if your mech can take a direct hit from a mortar round, but I don’t want to find out.”
“Mike, we need to move then. They’re firing five per iteration, and the rounds are getting closer to us.”
“Fuck! I hate it when I’m right.”
“Mike, what do we do?” Craig asked. Mike could hear the naked fear in Craig’s voice.
“High crawl, low crawl. Do it fast! It’s the only thing we can do. We can’t stand up and run. The shrapnel would cut us down. Jen, I need you to stay on top of us. We need the overhead cover.”
“No problem, Mike. I’ll move with you.”
Mike started crawling. The others crawled with him. It was a slow pace. The high crawl was a slow way to move, the low crawl even slower. Every few feet, he’d stop so that Jen could catch up with the team, which made their movement even slower. Mike wanted to get up and run, screaming at the top of his lungs, and he knew he wasn’t the only one. He also knew that he wouldn’t last five steps if he did that.
“Luis!”
“Yeah, Mike?”
“Make sure everybody else knows what’s going on.”
“They know. It’s not just your canyon. Everybody’s getting hit.”
“What do you mean, everybody?”
“All the canyons are getting hit with high explosive. Behind the junction, we have shrapnel bursting overhead. We have scores of casualties.”
“What about Everett?”
“I don’t know, Mike. There’s no way I can find out right now. I’ve got to go. We’ve got a lot of problems back here.”
“Hang on Luis! Did they pull wounded back from the canyons?
“Yeah, they got the wounded out. They couldn’t get the dead out, though.”
Mike grunted. Maybe it was disrespectful, but right now he didn’t care about the dead. He had a responsibility to the living. The dead were beyond his concern.
The enemy mortars were both a blessing and a curse. Mike knew that, as long as the mortars were firing, the enemy couldn’t move their soldiers forward. If used correctly, however, the high explosive rounds pounding the canyon would destroy all of the IEDs. The other problem was, if used effectively, the mortars would cut them to pieces. Then they could shift fire, or stop it altogether, and walk in to mop up the shredded remains.
There was no easy solution. For Mike, it was an easy choice. The explosive rounds would rip them to shreds. The shrapnel wouldn’t be able to touch the mechs, and the body armor of the sec team would deflect a lot of the shrapnel.
“Have the Mechs and infantry pull back. Move them back to the junction. Have the mechs stand over the infantry to try and shield them.”
“Mike, I’m moving everybody back onto the same channel. There’s no need for me to relay information if everybody’s pulling back to the same area.”
“Okay, put me through.”
“You got it. Done.”
“Tom, can you hear me?”
“Five by Five, Mike.”
“Who’s running the show on Charlie canyon?”
“Rita here.”
“I need all teams to pull back to the junction. They’re using high explosive rounds in the canyons. We can deal with the shrapnel. We can’t deal with high explosives.”
“Mike, how the hell are we going to do that. We can’t move. The team has cover. If they start running, they’re going to be cut down.”
“Rita, right now I have my helmet digging through the dirt. Low crawl, high crawl, I don’t care how you do it, just get it done. That hole won’t be secure when H.E. rounds hit it. Just make sure that you move behind them to give them cover. I’ve got Jen doing a high crawl in her mech to give us overhead cover. If you do that, you stand a better chance of getting out of there.”
Tom spoke, talking over Rita, “Mike, we’ve got it. You guys hear that. It’s not just me. Mike agrees, we have to get out of here.”
Mike started to talk, but then he understood what was happening. Tom wanted to move, but Rita disagreed. Tom was going to leverage Mike’s advice to get them moving.
“Diane? How’s Alpha canyon?”
“Already moving, Mike.”
With the other canyons pulling back, Mike could focus on getting his ass out of danger. Things were going from bad to worse. The pounding from the mortar rounds was getting more intense. Wave after wave of explosions were beginning to have an effect on Mike. The overpressure kept pushing him into the ground while the physical impact and explosion made the ground move underneath him. He felt like he was being shaken apart. Something was leaking out of his nose. He didn’t know if it was blood or snot. Shrapnel ricocheted off his body armor, sometimes with a glancing blow, sometimes with more force.
Cursing filled the air. He knew his team was close to breaking. He wondered how much farther it was to the end of the canyon. As he thought about it, a display popped up, showing him the distance. He was hit with conflicting emotion at that point. He was almost amused at the incongruity, despite the ass kicking he was soaking up. First, he was incredulous that the A.I. chose that exact moment to show him its newest capability. Second, he was disappointed that he wasn’t closer to the end of the canyon. They still had to crawl another eighty meters. Walking, that wasn’t too far. With your head in the dirt and mortar rounds blowing up around you, it was one hell of a long distance.
“Okay guys, we’re almost there. We’ve only got another seventy-five meters to go.”
He heard groaning and cursing as they absorbed the news.
“What? You a bunch of crybabies now?”
He didn’t know who said it, but he heard a distinct, “Fuck you Mike.” That was okay. Right now, he wanted them to hate his guts. If they were pissed at him, that would give them something to focus on.
“Fuck you, you bitchy little girls. All you do is fucking whine.”
More cursing, and all of it was directed at him.
Jen spoke, worried, “Mike, you have to move quicker. The rounds are getting closer.”
Now it was Mike’s turn to curse, “Keep up, you little bitches, if you know what’s good for you.”
Mike’s head and ass raised a little further up off the ground. His knees and elbows dug into the ground, trying to get some speed going.
The distance on the display seemed to move at a snail’s pace, sixty meters, fifty meters, forty meters. H
e yelled, he bitched, and they yelled and bitched right back at him. He ticked off the distance every time they hit another ten meters. He could feel the impact and the overpressure growing, crowding him as the seconds passed. Blood flowed freely from his nose. They were only ten meters away when the ground suddenly shifted beneath him. Rounds crashed around them, and he knew that the mortars had caught up with them.
“Move! We’ve got to move!”
Mike went from his high crawl directly into a sprint. He was knocked sideways as the ground shook. Staggering, he caught his balance and sprinted for the end of the canyon. Dirt and rock was falling from the cliffs around them. A large boulder almost smashed down on top of him. They were too close to the end now to die like this. The rest of the guys were right on his heels. The canyon opened up, and he could see the large open area of the junction. Mike turned the corner and slid in next to the cliff face, happy to be out of that hellish canyon. He did a quick head count, and was relieved when everybody was present. He looked back at the canyon, waiting for Jennifer’s mech to come striding out.
“Jen, you there?”
She didn’t reply. He couldn’t see her icon on his head’s up.
He started to get up, but the barrage in the canyon intensified. The ground shook under his feet, knocking him down.
“Jen!” he screamed. He pushed himself back to his feet and started toward the canyon.
“Oh, hell no, you aren’t going back in there.”
Somebody tackled him from behind. He went down hard because he wasn’t expecting anybody to stop him.
“Get the fuck off of me!”
He slammed back with his elbow, and caught whoever it was on the side of their helmet. Their body moved to the side, and that was all that Mike needed to turn his body so that he could face his assailant.
Whoever it was started cursing, “I need help. I can’t hold him by myself.”
Another body jumped on top of Mike, catching his arm as aimed a punch at the man on top of him. Now he fighting two of them. His fury increased. He completely forgot about the incoming rounds, the explosions in the canyons, the shrapnel flying through the air. A red mist covered his vision. Jennifer was in trouble, and these people were keeping him from her and his baby.
He started screaming as he fought “Jen! Jen, can you hear me?”
He got a hand free and slammed an open palm strike under the chin of one of the people on top of him, staggering him. He felt that one weaken, but there was still too much weight on top of him.
“Damn it, he’s going to fucking kill us!”
“You’re damn right I’m going to kill you! Get the fuck off of me! Jennifer’s still back in the canyon. I have to go get her.”
Another body landed on top of one of his arms. He shifted his body and slammed his heel down on top of a knee, trying to shatter the patella. He kept kicking until the leg moved.
“We’ve got to get him out of here! The cliff is about to buckle!”
He felt the mass of bodies on him shift, and he tried to take advantage of the movement. He slammed his helmet into someone’s face. He felt an opening, and moved into it. That gave him greater freedom of movement, and he did a leg sweep that took one of them down. He stood up, grabbed another, used their momentum and did a hip throw, throwing that one into two others.
He sensed someone behind him, and he turned to meet the threat. Whoever it was didn’t wait for Mike to get set, but grabbed him by his equipment and used Mike’s momentum to throw him. Mike went tumbling and rolled back to his feet. He went into a three-point stance ready to charge the threat.
“Mike, stop! It’s me, Mickey!”
At first, the name didn’t register.
“Damn it Mike, It’s me!” A big hand slapped Mike on the shoulder, knocking him off balance. Mike was knocked off balance, but he recovered, maneuvering for a punch.
“It’s Mickey!” he roared at Mike, “Fucking stop!”
The words broke through Mike’s rage. He didn’t try to fight Mickey, but he tried to scramble around him. Mickey stepped in front of him and slammed both hands into Mike’s chest. Mike went staggering back.
“God damn it, Mickey! Jennifer’s in there!”
Mickey stepped in front of Mike again, “You can’t go in there. You’ll die.”
“Run!”
Men ran past Mike. He didn’t know who they were. He didn’t care who they were. He was sickened that they chose to run and wouldn’t help him find Jen.
A loud rumble sounded as the cliff, weakened by the shelling, started to come apart. Reason took hold of his mind, pushing his rage away as he realized that he and Mickey were in the danger area. If it was just him, he wouldn’t care. He’d run through the avalanche to get to Jen. He couldn’t put Mickey in danger though. He knew Mickey wasn’t going to leave until he could get Mike to go with him.
“Mike, run!”
Mickey ran right at him and pushed Mike away from the canyon. This time, Mickey didn’t get any resistance. Mike turned away from the canyon, sick to his stomach, knowing that his beautiful wife and child were about to be buried beneath tons of dirt and rock. Tears ran down his face. The rumble intensified as the cliff face gave way. He didn’t look back. The chance for him to do anything had come and gone. Dust filled the junction as an avalanche of dirt and debris caved in on top of Jennifer.
Mike stopped on the other side of the junction, and looked back at the destruction. He couldn’t see any trace of her mech. His display didn’t show her icon. The mech was buried under tons of rock and dirt. Dust billowed in the air, marking Jennifer’s tomb.
Mike dropped to his knees, and screamed, his anguish giving his voice a ragged edge, “Jennifer!”
There was no answer. Mike pulled his helmet off, and he was immediately overpowered by the sound of the shelling, and the smell of dirt, explosives, burning hydrocarbons, and gore. Tears ran down his face, carving a channel through the grime and crusted blood.
Mickey stopped next to him. Behind Mickey, the shelling continued, but the dust slowly started to settle. Mike looked up at Mickey. Mike spoke, his voice filled with despair, “This has got to stop.”
----------------------------------------------------
Chapter Ten
Mike had to yell to be heard, “The only people I’m going to take with me are volunteers.”
Mickey looked at Mike, his eyes begging, “Mike, you can’t do this. It’s a suicide mission.” Tom, standing behind Mickey, also looked concerned. They were in the box canyon with the shuttles. All three of them had their helmets off.
Mike waved his hand back toward the canyons, where the thunder of the exploding mortar shells still sounded. The ground shook beneath them with every impact, every explosion. The noise was deafening.
Now, the last three mechs and the surviving warriors stood guard at the opening of the box canyon, waiting for the soldiers that would come. Men were clustered behind the mechs, gripping their rifles tightly, staring at the mouth of the canyon, almost as if they expected the enemy to come charging through the aerial barrage. The Contai were nervous, knowing that they were heavily out gunned.
Mike watched the flash of the aerial shells. The bright explosions were muted by fog and dust. The enemy had kept up the barrage, the shrapnel slicing through the air, turning the five long canyons they’d made home into a hell on earth. Anything that moved back there was dead. So far, the mortar rounds hadn’t come any closer, either because the mortars didn’t have the range to hit them, or they didn’t know where the box canyon was. This was the only safe space left, but Mike knew that could change soon.
The barrage had driven them back, making them leave their dead where they lay. The Contai had moved back, but not soon enough. They didn’t have the body armor that Mike and the teams had, and they were cut down if they didn’t move fast enough. Some made it, others didn’t, their bleeding corpses left lying where they’d dropped. Those men’s graves were the muddied, bloodied ground that had been chur
ned by the constant shelling. Mike knew that those bodies would probably never be recovered, the explosives turning the bodies of the dead men into pulp. Those canyons and cliffs were the only gravestone that those men would ever have.
Those weren’t the only corpses left behind, though. Women, children, the elderly had been killed, wounded. Now, here in the refuge of the box canyon, many were in shock as they realized that friends and family had been killed and weren’t coming back. The wounded were gathered round the shuttles. Joan and Joel were using the larger shuttle as a triage and surgery center. That’s where Everett was now, so that Joan could keep an eye on him. The people that hadn’t been hurt or wounded, to include the old Earthers, sat on the far side of the shuttles, as far away as possible from the opening of the canyon. Women and children were in the caves to keep them away from the sight of the wounded and dead.
Everywhere Mike looked, he saw defeat in the eyes of the people. There was no retreat. They couldn’t move further back into the mountains. Up there was where the hot springs and the geysers were. Going that way was risking death by being boiled alive or having your skin peeled by scalding geysers. The canyons had seemed like a perfect place to relocate to. They’d gambled, and they’d lost. God alone knew how the enemy found them.
“I’ve got to stop this, Mickey. How long before they shift fire and target our people here. We don’t know what kind of range those mortars have. Hell, right now, they may be shifting fire toward us so they can bring their men in closer.” That was an old infantry tactic to walk the men in behind advancing artillery rounds.