Fortress Beta City (The Sleeping Legion Book 2)

by JR Handley

  What a stupid name for a military operation, thought Thann. As if the human, McEwan – who instigated the original Operation Clubhouse fiasco – would ever know he was being insulted.

  Thann went back to work. He started by assigning rendezvous locations for his crew. Once they were safely away, a shuttle could pick them up. Even if they had to take a few trips, it would get his pack and their equipment out of harm’s way.

  Once Thann had accounted for his ground crew, he passed encrypted orders to his fighter pilots. He sent the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Squadrons into the air. They would perform whatever tasks Vendar wanted. Likely, they would screen the advancing Janissary infantry and gravtanks and take out any asset that could threaten the New Order advance.

  However, their main mission would be to simply stall. Just long enough for the militia to escape and join their brethren. He ordered his fighters airborne and put 5th Squadron on standby. After passing the order, Thann gripped his steering column and painfully smiled.

  — Chapter 69 —

  Early Afternoon, Post-Revival Day 22

  Outside Fortress Beta City, Serendine

  3rd SQD, Canal Co., 2nd BN, 428th MER, Human Legion

  Just last month, Senior Sergeant Alexander Strachan was happily serving as a team leader in a Marine infantry company in the Nitida System. He’d gone out hunting for lapuka, a carnivorous deer like creature, with his fire team when everything had gone dark. He’d come to, strapped to a table being interrogated by several Jotun officers about his loyalty to the White Knight overlords. He never knew whether his answers satisfied the officers, but the next thing he remembered was being revived in a new system with strange alien officers and a dubious mission.

  Alex never considered himself particularly loyal to the White Knights, the Human Marine Corps, or any other political entity. He just cared about the Marine to his left and his right. When he was un-iced and told he was now a Marine in something called a ‘Human Legion,’ he merely saluted and carried on with his new mission. Upon being revived, he’d been complimented on his service record and promptly promoted to squad leader of an Independent Marine Engineering Regiment. What was so independent about it, he didn’t know.

  When he was ordered into the 150 miles of open fields and trenches surrounding Fortress Beta City, in plain sight of a strange new alien enemy, he had misgivings. For the first time since being transferred to 428th Independent Marine Engineering Regiment, he wished he was back home in ‘the Nitida’ hunting with his friends. Instead, he was ordered to lay mines and booby-traps to stall the New Order. He struggled with his new role, trying to remember everything he’d been taught about the tasks of the combat engineers. He had to rely heavily on his digital manuals.

  Unlike most of the Marines in his new squad, Alex wasn’t raised and trained with artificial intelligence aides, or AIs as they were being called. He was falling in love with the concept. Especially when he started to feel lonely for his home. The soothing feminine voice of his AI was enough, though her accent was a tad odd, to bring him peace in the crazy world he’d been revived into.

  The halt of his mine laying vehicle brought Alex back to reality. After calling orders to his squad, and the Aux squad supporting him, he dismounted and started pinpointing the places that the AIs and battle planners had designated as ideal locations to place the mines.

  Orders are orders, but it seems like a waste of time to place mines in open terrain with drones and scouts watching our every move, thought Alex. It’s not like the enemy can’t just mark these locations and move around them.

  The pattern of the mines his squad placed was irregular, though Alex suspected the erratic nature was designed to make them harder to predict. When he read the schematics, he saw they’d alternately mix anti-tank and anti-personnel mines to completely deny the area to the New Order.

  At his urging, his squad worked quickly. Time wasn’t on their side. His squad had just finished their sector, moments ahead of the rest of his battalion, when he spotted movement in the tree line. Zooming in with his helmet, he watched as trees exploded and gravtanks began pushing into open terrain. Oddly armored Hardits clung to the tops of the gravtanks and pumped their weapons into the air. The movement also caught the attention of the lookouts who began yelling and pointing.

  Alex called the report into his company commander. His battalion commander, a seasoned combat engineer with a mathematical mind, didn’t seem to understand the significance of this combined forces attack. To his surprise, they were ordered to make a full withdrawal, rather than making the enemy fight for every inch.

  Knowing he couldn’t contradict the orders sent down to his battalion, Alex sprinted over to the commander of 4th Battalion, 1st Aux Regiment to explain the situation.

  “Ma’am, momentum is everything. If we don’t make these Hardit frakkers pay for delving into the dead zone, they will see us fleeing and it will bolster their confidence and speed of pursuit. Regardless, if we don’t slow them down they will ride right over top of us. We all die if we don’t delay those gravtanks.”

  Aux Lieutenant Colonel Grace Bennington looked at Alex. With a sigh, she acknowledged that her orders were too assist the engineers.

  “Providing a rear guard is certainly within the letter of my orders,” she said before agreeing to stand and fight while the Marines retreated to the safety of Fortress Beta City.

  Alex looked at the strange gravtanks approaching as he jumped into a trench and readied his rifle.

  Looks like I’ll be hunting again, he thought.

  — Chapter 70 —

  Early Afternoon, Post-Revival Day 22

  Outside Fortress Beta City, Serendine

  1st BN, 18th GravTank RGT, New Order Army

  Subaltern Kytrush Baki-Pintar was one of the youngest Janissary officers in the regiment. Despite the lack of years, Kytrush commanded one of the many gravtanks comprising the 18th GravTank Regiment of the New Order. Kytrush hoped their actions today would allow for quick promotion. More so, this promotion would allow for a greater leadership role within the Janissary regiment. Being packed into a gravtank and sharing air with militia rabble was an insult. After all, a Janissary should lead equals.

  Shortly after finishing a midday inspection of the gravtank, which Kytrush did three times a day to ward off saboteurs, they received orders to move out. With a childish pre-combat glee, only available to those who haven’t been baptized by fire, Kytrush readied the gravtank. Scanning with three eyes, the young Janissary heard the shrill blast of a miner whistle. It was time to move out.

  Barking orders to the incompetent militia crewmen, Kytrush ensured the gravtank maintained equal spacing and pacing with those around them. Blasting trees out of their way, the gravtank pushed into open terrain. Knowing they couldn’t get ahead of the line of advance, Kytrush resisted the urge to charge ahead after the fleeing humans. The nefnasts appeared to be pulling back towards their fortified structure, but it would be an impossibly long run. The Janissary’s eyes observed them diving into trenches and earthworks. Wanting to set the pace, Kytrush ordered the militia to lob some rounds at the retreating filth. The Janissary let out a low growl as the rounds did little more than kick up dirt.

  While slowly advancing, the New Order gravtanks began targeting the fortress walls. The gravtanks shook as they belched rounds at the construct. Kytrush watched through the gravtanks zoom optics as the rounds barely scratched the walls. It was obvious the fortress was built solidly, and being more than 100 miles away limited the effectiveness of their ordnance.

  Kytrush ordered the crew to aim at the top of the narrow walls. The young Janissary hoped they would be able to whittle the structure down piece by piece. When Kytrush’s crew had the walls in range, humans wearing mismatched combat armor popped up out of the trenches. Sabot rounds began bouncing off the sides of the gravtank.

  The nefnasts are so poorly equipped their combat armor doesn’t match, thought Kytrush. This slaughter will be glorious!

  Wi
th exuberance, Kytrush ordered the gravtank crew to engage the poorly equipped scum. The gravtank sensors revealed a cluster of nefnasts on their extreme left flank. Kytrush ordered the crew to obliterate them, despite those humans being well outside of their sector of fire.

  The crew pivoted their turret and aligned their sights. The Janissary saw another tank crew preparing to steal their prize. Kytrush berated and cajoled the crew to work faster, and the gravtank shook as it fired. Staring through the viewfinder, Kytrush howled with joy as the bodies of destroyed humans were tossed into the air.

  — Chapter 71 —

  Early Afternoon, Post-Revival Day 22

  Outside Fortress Beta City, Serendine

  4th BN, 1st Aux RGT, Human Legion

  Just after Aux Lieutenant Colonel Grace Bennington agreed to make the suicidal attempt to hold the earthworks around the new fortress, Senior Sergeant Alexander Strachan saw that the 4th Company in the battalion, or Pen as the Aux called it, were bunched up. Knowing that he could lose the whole Pen to one or two lucky shells, he started to run down the trench line to save them. Grace was faster, using her thrusters to jump awkwardly, and got there first.

  A shrill whistling sound followed by an explosion tossed Alex backwards. Where once there had been a proud company of former slaves fighting to retrieve their self-respect, and prove their worth, now was smoldering pile. Alex screamed his anger into the heavens, where uncaring gods and goddesses watched on impassively. His AI, who had yet to be named, reminded him to stretch out his line and begin harassing the advancing Hardits.

  In that moment, Alex decided he would call his AI Grace, after the fallen Aux colonel. His AI had a name, Alex had strengthened his resolve, and his infantry training was about to pay off. He would pass on the lessons of war and use every dirty trick he’d ever been taught. The New Order would learn of war. Real war. Lessons that could only be taught in blood – theirs. Knowing he had little time, he called down the line and had his Aux Marines – for if they would stand with him, Alex figured they’d earned the title – to single out the officers.

  He spread his 1st and 2nd Pen thin, along the northeastern flank of the advancing line of gravtanks and Hardit infantry. While the line was thin, they could multiply the effect of their numbers by targeting the officers. As the Auxies scrambled into position, Alex led the 3rd Pen to envelope the easternmost section of the line in a flanking maneuver, which would allow him to hit their exposed sides.

  The New Order had anchored their flank with their gravtank battalion, giving room for the Auxies to sneak up on them. They would take advantage of the distraction caused by the Auxies from the other Pens defending the trench line they were approaching.

  The instant Alex and the 3rd Pen were in position, he gave the order for the other Pens to increase their rate of fire, and keep the Hardits occupied while he got to work. While the tank crews were busy trying to sight in on Auxies facing them, Alex started designating targets for 3rd Pen. He remembered that tanks were most vulnerable on their undercarriages and passed an update to his troops.

  Finding an Aux with an SA-71 Carbine with a functional grenade tube, Alex ensured it was loaded. Switching weapons with the Aux, Alex dropped to a knee and had Grace give him the most effective trajectory to fire. The rifle thumped as the grenade landed in front of a gravtank. The oblivious driver rolled over the timed munition.

  Grace activated the grenade and the gravtank jumped four feet into the air in a fireball. The explosion killed several of the Hardit Janissaries around the explosion. Before the gravtanks figured out where the attack had originated from, Alex ordered his units to switch to their anti-personnel rounds.

  Automatic fire began spewing sabots down range, while the antiquated mortar rockets fired by Auxies started dropping smaller cluster bombs on top of the Hardit flank. While the Aux lacked the benefits of Alex’s AI to assist their aiming, they had years of selective breeding and pent up rage to compensate. Every Aux on the line had reason to hate the Hardits who’d enslaved, tortured, and killed their friends. In the fifteen minutes that followed, 3rd Pen used their superior positioning and the pre-dug earthworks to shatter two companies of Hardits.

  Unlike their militia brethren, the Janissaries were crack troops who quickly spotted the enemy on their flanks and adjusted their line of advance. The Hardits hadn’t gotten very far, maybe 40 meters, when they began rolling over the mines placed in their paths. Dirt, fire, and bodies were thrown skyward as the first round of mines detonated. Alex hunkered down as shrapnel comprised of rock, bone, and metal began streaking through the air.

  Peeking his head over the trench, Alex guessed the mines had taken out several companies of Janissaries and multiple gravtanks were destroyed. It was hard to see with all the dust and smoke. Deciding to press their advantage, the 4th Battalion’s XO ordered the remains of his command to leap frog forward, using the earthworks as the natural forward barriers for each unit to use as cover while moving.

  While normally a solid plan, charging into a mine field wasn’t tactically sound. Before he could stop them, 1st and 2nd Pen ran forward. Alex screamed into the comms line for them to stop. It was too late. The 2nd Pen was ripped to pieces by their own mines while Alex pounded the ground with his fist. The 1st Pen, who were trailing behind the 2nd, picked themselves off the ground and fell back to the safety of the trenches. The shattered remains of 4th Battalion ground to a halt.

  Alex screamed at the remaining Aux, reminding them of the mines, and ordered them to get into the tunnels and regroup. If they tried to ride their vehicles back to the fortress, they’d surely die. The tunnels were their only hope.

  — Chapter 72 —

  Early Afternoon, Post-Revival Day 22

  Fortress Beta City, Serendine

  Baton Co., 5th BN, 70th RGT, 18th DIV, 5th Army, 2nd Army Group, Akoni City Regional Army, Human Legion

  Staff Sergeant Carleton Strabane wasn’t a popular Marine. He was hated equally by the officers and the Marines he served with. Carleton’s status was due to him proudly flaunting his position as the aide-de-camp to the CO, a position he’d had since the pre-mutiny era. Regardless, today he was just another brother-in-arms.

  His green eyes were wide as he watched the New Order line begin advancing. He felt secure, perched high on the fortress walls. The moronic Hardits had attempted hitting the wall with gravtanks earlier. From that distance, their rounds had barely made a scratch.

  When Carleton got to the end of his company’s sector on the wall, he stopped to better view the conflict with binoculars. The battle waged more than 100 miles away. He could see the tiny dots of Marine engineers falling back and diving into tunnels and trenches. Squinting, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Aux troops, a bunch of glorified tunnel slaves, stood to fight while Marines fled.

  “First Sergeant, are you seeing what I’m seeing? The engineers are running from a fight while the Aux stand toe-to-toe with the Hardits? Please tell me this is a trick, some sort of sleight of hand to confuse the enemy? Otherwise, we will have all sorts of fun with them in the NCO canteen at grok call,” said Carleton.

  Rather than reply, his first sergeant merely grunted and continued to scan their sector. Just when things couldn’t get any odder, a single Marine peeled off from the engineers and ran to join the Aux in their fight against the advancing Hardits. Clicking a button on the binoculars, Carleton flagged the video to be recorded. After a few moments, the system AI informed him the Marine in question was Senior Sergeant Alexander Strachan.

  “Commander, Staff Sergeant Strabane here. Don’t know if you’re seeing this, but the Hardits are advancing. Can we get some more heavy weapons up here to take out those tankers before we have their air assets back on our arse too?” said Carleton.

  While normally he would grovel, seeking to stay in his commander’s good graces, today Carleton was merely a Marine in the face of the enemy. There wasn’t time to play the politics of advancement.

  After being ordered to switch to a pri
vate channel, then getting chewed out, Carleton asked again for more heavy weapons support and permission to engage the enemy. When he was denied, he was ordered to wait for the enemy to get closer. His commander insisted they were just as likely to destroy their own forces and earthworks from this distance. He was forcibly reminded that he and his Marines needed to monitor the air and not just stare at the unfolding carnage on the horizon.

  Just as his commander broke comms, the distant gravtank gunners began shooting at the fortress. While Carleton and everyone on the walls dropped to a knee, or flattened themselves out, the rounds hit the walls with a dull thud. The gravtanks were still too far away to be effective. Carleton knew that would change soon. He designated one of the Marines near him to record the advance and annotate how far the gravtanks were away. With that, he sat down and let his head lean against the wall behind him. It was time for a nap. After all, he needed to be rested before the enemy hit in earnest.

  — Chapter 73 —

  Early Afternoon, Post-Revival Day 22

  Skies Above Fortress Beta City, Serendine

  Delta Flight, 3rd Squadron, 75th Vengeance Air Wing, New Order Army

  Lieutenant Kralos Alat-Batu wasn’t your typical Hardit officer, or even your typical Hardit. He valued the diversity of non-Hardit species. Only because it made killing the enemies of the New Order more sporting. Kralos had a record of combat effectiveness. As a glorious fighter pilot, Kralos helped mop up the resistance on Baylshore.

  Now, the time had come to kill more. Having received orders to get airborne, Kralos ran on all fours toward the Vengeance aircraft that would deliver sweet death. He was convinced of an easy victory, sure that 1st Squadron had handled most of the remaining anti-air capabilities.