The Lost Stars: Imperfect Sword

by Jack Campbell

  Shuttles were grounding in a roughly rectangular pattern defined by streets facing the last row of buildings before the open area surrounding the main base of Haris’s ground forces. The buildings offered protection against aimed fire from the base as the shuttles came down. Drakon could see the symbols for soldiers spilling out of each shuttle as it landed, then scattering into the buildings for cover as the shuttles leaped skyward again to rendezvous with the freighters and pick up another load of soldiers. There were few reports of contact with enemy forces to be seen, and those individual enemy soldiers encountered had either faded back toward their base or vanished into the buildings on the other side of the street from those occupied by Drakon’s troops.

  As the first wave of ground forces consolidated their positions, Drakon could see his square perimeter taking shape, the enemy ground forces base in the center and the rest of the city outside.

  Like many Syndicate ground fortifications, the base had been deliberately constructed inside a dense section of a city, ruthlessly maintaining a clear security area around the base but leaving the buildings beyond that in place. Drakon had been told that the original designs had been intended to prevent ground forces mutinies by keeping them in areas easy for the snakes to monitor, to allow easy use of ground forces to suppress demonstrations or riots by citizens in the cities, and had also been constructed amid cities because the Alliance had once shied away from bombardments of civilian targets. That last piece of logic had lost any meaning as the war went on for decade after decade, and the Alliance began bombing as indiscriminately as the Syndicate mobile forces, but the Syndicate had never made a habit of changing any of its practices just because they no longer offered any benefits.

  One significant negative of his forces’ current position was that this first line of buildings facing the base consisted of fairly low structures to avoid blocking lines of sight against targets in the air. At only three or four stories tall, these buildings were overlooked by the taller structures across the street. But since Drakon didn’t intend staying in these buildings, that shouldn’t be a problem for very long.

  He had dropped with Gaiene’s brigade, which was forming into a half square centered on the hexagonal shape of the Syndicate ground forces base. Warning symbols glowed all around the outside of the Syndicate fort, cautioning of active defenses as well as mines and other hazards. Having watched the Midway attack force approaching for days, the Syndicate forces had received enough warning to concentrate inside the fort and ensure all of the base’s defenses were prepared.

  On the other side of the Syndicate base, Kai’s brigade was dropping and forming into another half square, linking up with Gaiene’s to completely surround the Syndicate soldiers. Under cover inside the buildings just beyond the base’s cleared security perimeter, the vast majority of Drakon’s forces were facing inward, preparing to assault the base, only a few watching their backs for threats coming from outside the circle. With the Syndicate ground forces trapped inside that base, there shouldn’t be—

  Alerts appeared on Drakon’s helmet display as a chorus of shouts and warnings cut across the comm circuits. He forced himself to study the information carefully instead of barking out orders before understanding what was happening. Threat symbols flickered in and out as momentary detections registered on the sensors of battle armor worn by the scouts conducting reconnaissance of the buildings outside the perimeter.

  “What have we got?” Drakon asked.

  “General,” Colonel Kai said, sounding annoyed the way he usually did when something interfered with the smooth progression of a plan. “The squads I sent to search the buildings outside our perimeter are spotting indications of enemy ground forces.”

  “How many? I’m seeing contacts fade in and out.”

  “My scouts are estimating the enemy in that area at about platoon strength. It’s hard to tell, though, because the enemy ground forces are avoiding contact.”

  “Avoiding contact?” Drakon questioned. “Are they running?”

  “No,” Kai said. “They are remaining in the area but evading contact whenever my scouts try to close. I have ordered my scouts to cease pursuit because it looked very much like they were being drawn into an ambush.”

  There were times when Kai’s caution paid off, and this was such a time, Drakon thought. “Good move. You’re right. If they are staying close but just out of contact, they must want us to pursue.”

  “Should I reinforce my scouts, have them hold position, or withdraw?”

  Drakon frowned, one part of his attention watching as the shuttles kept rising to pick up the next wave of soldiers from the freighters. Any of the three options could be justified based on what was known. “What does the senior soldier on the scene think?”

  “I will link them in and ask. Sergeant Gavigan, what is your feel for the situation?”

  Gavigan’s voice was steady, but her words carried uncertainty. “Everything our sensors can see feels fine, Colonel. But there’s something about this that doesn’t feel fine. I’ve got my scouts widely dispersed, and they’ve all got that crawly feeling like people are infiltrating around them. We’re not getting new detections right now. Just that feeling. We sent out gnats, those are what picked up most of the unknowns we spotted earlier, but the enemy must have deployed wasps because our gnats have been dying fast.”

  If the gnats, tiny robotic scouts which could not do very much or for very long distances but were very hard for enemies to spot, were being taken out by wasps, slightly larger robotic hunters whose sole function was to spot and destroy gnats, then whoever was hiding from his scouts wasn’t just a patrol caught outside the base. They were equipped to deal with Drakon’s scouts and capable enough to employ concealment and countermeasures to remain almost entirely hidden.

  Drakon glanced around at the fine dust in the air from the recent bombardments and the damage to the buildings. “Do you have enough dust floating where you are to spot stealth suits in motion, Sergeant Gavigan?” Even the best stealth suits could not avoid revealing their presence amid smoke, mist, or dust.

  “Yes, sir, General. There’s enough dust. We can’t see anything moving . . .”

  “But . . .” Drakon prompted.

  “I’d really like to fall back and concentrate my forces a little, General. If it was up to me. But we’ll push on and see what we can find if those are our orders.”

  “Colonel Kai?” Drakon asked.

  “We are still pretty thin on the ground,” Kai pointed out. “If I reinforce the scouts, it will have to come from forces preparing to assault the base.”

  That decided Drakon. “Bring your scouts back in, to the near side of the buildings across the street from our perimeter, and have them maintain a close watch. Leave snoops behind. I want to see what follows the scouts when they pull back. Have your other forces continue their assigned tasks.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Kai had scarcely signed off before more alerts sounded. “We’ve got something out there,” Gaiene reported. “Unknown strength, avoiding contact.”

  “Are your scouts pursuing?” Drakon demanded.

  “With extreme caution.”

  “Pull them back. Near side of the buildings across the street from your half of the perimeter. Leave snoops when they fall back. Did your scouts send out gnats?”

  “Yes, sir,” Gaiene said. He might be a frequent drunk in garrison, but in a fight he was on top of every detail. “But the gnats are getting eaten.”

  “Colonel Kai’s troops ran into someone with wasps on his side, too. We can’t divert forces from preps for the assault on the base, so have your scouts do their best to find out what they’re facing but do not let them stick their necks out.”

  “Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full.”

  Drakon had barely ended that conversation when more alerts sounded, and his display lit with new threat symbols. “Warbirds!” someone called across the comm circuit.

  “Engage when they reach effectiv
e range—” Colonel Kai began.

  “Sir, they’re not heading for ground attack. They’re climbing to intercept the shuttles.”

  Damn. Drakon glared at the symbols representing the enemy aerospace craft. His forces didn’t have any antiair weapons with enough range to hit the warbirds if they stayed high, and they were going for the most vulnerable part of his forces.

  “Did that charming Kommodor leave anything in orbit to help deal with these fellows?” Gaiene asked Drakon.

  Had she? That had been the plan, before the Syndicate flotilla had shown up. “I—” More symbols on his display. Particle-beam fire, coming down from above, spearing four of the warbirds climbing toward the shuttles. “Yes, she did.”

  The remaining warbirds scattered, some attempting to continue toward the once-more-descending shuttles. But it was very hard for anything moving at atmospheric speeds to evade a weapon moving at the velocity of a warship’s hell lance. Four more warbirds were stricken by a second volley from high above, some spiraling off like lifeless, falling leaves and others exploding as the weapons they carried detonated.

  Protected by the fire of the warships in near orbit as well as by a fresh barrage of chaff, the shuttles started down with the second wave of assault troops. They would land in the same areas as the first wave, on the streets just outside the current perimeter of Drakon’s forces.

  And there were unknown forces lurking inside the buildings on the other sides of those streets.

  “Screen the drop zones,” Drakon ordered. “Colonel Kai, Colonel Gaiene, pull half the first wave forces prepping for assault and send them to reinforce the units around the shuttle drop zones so the next wave can get down.”

  “Are you noticing the curious lack of artillery and missile fire on our positions?” Gaiene asked.

  “Yes.” They had assumed the landing areas and the occupied buildings would be getting hit by this far into the operation. “Haris doesn’t have that much long-range bombardment capability. Maybe he moved it out of range of this location and is having to get it back into place.”

  “Or,” Gaiene said, “maybe they’re worried about rounds hitting whoever is in the buildings across the street?”

  “The snoops my scouts planted are being taken out,” Kai reported. “Someone is neutralizing them before they can provide detections.”

  Someone was a lot more capable than the single brigade of professional ground forces on this planet was supposed to be. “Each of you get a company set up in defensive positions across the street.”

  “They’ll have to come from—” Kai began to object.

  “I realize that,” Drakon said, studying his display. “I’ve got a bad feeling. If we don’t cover those landing zones and protect our rear, our assault could be defeated before it begins.”

  “Do we abort further landings?” Kai asked.

  “No! Anyone we left on the freighters would be sitting ducks. We need to get them all down here so we can move in on that Syndicate base. The sooner we take it down, the sooner we can move out from it to eliminate any remaining enemy ground forces.”

  Shuttles once more began landing in the streets outside, their exhaust pushing abandoned ground vehicles around and stirring up clouds of dust. Soldiers raced out of them as the ramps dropped, fanning out and diving into the already-occupied buildings facing the enemy base.

  Threat symbols appeared on Drakon’s display again, multiplying rapidly in the buildings across the street all around the perimeter. This time the contacts stayed solid, and red markers indicated combat under way.

  “My forces across the street are coming under pressure,” Kai remarked laconically. “Estimated enemy strength of at least a company.”

  “Here, too!” Gaiene announced. “We’re holding.”

  Shuttles were leaping upward again to pick up the third and last wave of ground forces from the freighters. Drakon tried calling the warships in orbit but could not get through the jamming that Haris’s forces were employing. He switched to the circuit for the shuttle wing commander. “Major Barnes, what can you and your pilots see of the situation on the ground?”

  Barnes, understandably, sounded distracted as she answered. “We’re not too focused on that, General. There’s still a lot of fire coming at us. Damn! Wait.” A pause, then Barnes came back on. “My bird took a hit. Nothing serious. General, I can’t make out details, but some of my pilots have spotted something unusual. Normally, we come in like this, and we see people fleeing the city. People in vehicles, on foot, whatever. Can’t see that here. Wait.” Another pause. “My bird is going to need some work when this is over, General. What we’re seeing is stuff coming in. Vehicles, groups of people on foot, but not crowds.”

  “Not crowds?” Drakon pressed. “People on foot coming into the city. But spread out and not crowded together?”

  “Yes, sir. Coming in from all sides near as I can tell. Looks like ground forces to me from the way they’re moving.”

  “When you get high enough, ask whatever warships are up there to see if they can knock down bridges and interdict other routes into the city.”

  “Yes, sir. Got it. I think you’ve got four HuKs still in close support. Before our last dive, I saw all of the cruisers heading off after Haris’s cruisers.”

  Four HuKs wasn’t much, but it was a lot better than nothing.

  Drakon pulled out the scale on his helmet display. The enemy base, and Drakon’s troops, were located a little way from the city center. Reinforcements coming in would not all arrive at once as those with more distance to travel took more time to get here.

  Reinforcements. Was the enemy base nearly empty and being defended mostly by automated weapons?

  Or did Haris have on the ground the same sort of surprise that the Syndicate battleship had provided in space?

  Why hadn’t Morgan made contact yet? How could she have missed substantial additional ground forces?

  “General, something is wrong—” Colonel Malin began. He was over on the opposite side of the perimeter from Drakon.

  “I already know that. Listen up, all three of you,” Drakon said, linking in Kai and Gaiene as well. “The birds have spotted ground forces coming into the city and no citizens fleeing it. We need to know how well defended that base actually is.”

  “They have been throwing out shots whenever they get a glimpse of our soldiers,” Kai said.

  “I’ve seen that. But it’s apparent that we’re going to be facing a much more serious threat outside our perimeter than we anticipated. We may have to assault sooner and with fewer troops. Try probing the base’s defenses to see how much fire you draw.”

  “I would caution against a premature attack,” Kai said. “We need enough troops on the ground to not only penetrate the base’s defenses but also hold their gains and expand them. We do not have those forces available yet.”

  “I believe that Colonel Kai is right,” Malin said.

  “Test the defenses,” Drakon repeated. “Let’s make sure that base is as strongly held as our plans assumed.” He was seriously second-guessing his own decision not to ask the warships to bombard part of the base’s defenses as well as annihilate the snake headquarters. Given the limited bombardment capability of the few Midway cruisers, it had seemed much better to ensure the total destruction of the snake complex and to capture the base intact, along with the weapons and supplies within it. But that decision could not be revisited now. If the Midway cruisers had followed the plan, they had expended all of their bombardment projectiles.

  “General?” Drakon instinctively looked up as he once more heard the voice of his shuttle commander, Major Barnes, through a hiss of static and wavering jamming tones. “Sir, we’re loading up now. We’ve lost two birds, several others have hits but are still flyable. What do we do after we drop the last load?”

  The plan had been for the shuttles to return to the freighters and await further developments in orbit. But that plan hadn’t anticipated having an enemy battleship bearing dow
n on them. “How long do we have left before the battleship gets here?”

  “Twelve hours. The freighter crews are acting like it’s already coming within weapons range, though. They’ll run as soon as we leave with this last wave of the assault, General. I guarantee it. There won’t be any freighters in orbit for us to link up with after the last drop.”

  Drakon exhaled heavily, glaring at his helmet display. “I hate to give this order, Pancho, but after your last drops, have the shuttles scatter. Stay real low to avoid any warbirds that Haris still has operational. Tell your people to find spots to land and hide until they get word to lift and rejoin us inside the base.”

  “Yes, sir. General, it’s pretty hard to hide something the size of a shuttle.”

  “It’ll be easier to hide on the ground than if you’re in the air or in orbit. We’ve taken out Haris’s orbital sensors. We’ll have to hope that Haris’s warships stay focused on our warships and the freighters and don’t do orbital searches for you. Odds are the attention of Haris’s ground forces is going to stay focused on us right here.”

  “All that’s true, General. Good luck.”

  “Same to you. Tell all of your pilots that they did a fine job, and I’ll stand them all for drinks when this is over.”

  “We’ll hold you to that, General. All of my birds are loose and starting the last drop. And . . . the freighters are scattering. Looks like they’re going to hug the curvature of the planet to hide themselves from the battleship for a little while, then head off in different directions.”

  “Understood.” Drakon clenched one fist, wondering if his next sight of one of those freighters would be a ball of fire blossoming high overhead as the Syndicate warships closed in on them. He had no idea where Haris’s two cruisers were right now or what Kommodor Marphissa was doing with her cruisers.

  “The pressure on our perimeter is increasing,” Gaiene reported. “I’ve got at least two companies of ground forces pressing on my people holding the far side of the street.”

  “Pull another company out of the perimeter to reinforce your people in those buildings,” Drakon ordered. “Colonel Kai, you do the same.”