<
“Get everything on video—as good a quality as you can get.”
<
Tara pressed the transmit button. “Boss, 25. Unknown contacts three hundred meters east-southeast of the compound. Moving to identify.”
“Move to engage and kill.”
Tara turned and marched the CASPer through the underbrush toward them, counting six unmoving figures atop a cool rock outcropping. Her line of sight was clear. They had to see her, yet they remained still. Icons populated her screen as friendly CASPers and vehicles moved into the canopy on the far side of the compound and prepared to attack. She dropped the thermal system to look at the targets and gasped.
“What in the hell are those things?” The large, dinosaur-ape things looked at her impassively then returned their gazes to the compound. They either didn’t believe she was a threat, or they didn’t know what she was.
<
“All Raiders, this is your commander. Attack immediately. Give them hell!” Raleigh screamed like a banshee.
Tara snapped the volume down to near zero and crept the CASPer closer. A series of thunderous detonations hit the western side of the compound and everything that could scatter fled into the jungle.
WHAMM!
A tremendous explosion shook the ground. <
Her six targets moved much faster than something as big as they were should have moved. Tara cued the thermal system and bounded forward, trying to catch them. Damn, they’re fast! The CASPer ran in great loping strides. At top speed, it could cover a quarter mile in less than four seconds. Tara pushed it as fast as the terrain and vegetation would allow, but it wasn’t enough. In seconds, the things were gone. She turned back to the compound and realized she was way out of position—nearly 600 meters away from where she was supposed to be. She fired the jump jets once and landed the CASPer in the middle of several large, flowering bushes. She jumped again. At the jump’s apex, she could see the compound and a massive amount of fire on the western side. Whoever was in the compound didn’t seem to be firing much, but there was no real damage to their defenses. The CASPer landed, and Tara looked around for her next firing position. The southeast corner seemed quiet, and while she couldn’t see anything offensive on the wall, there had to be something there.
<
No shit. Tara saw a large tree trunk descending from the canopy above. It was wide enough to provide some cover and concealment if she could—
A flash of orange high up in a tree to the north caught her eye. She rolled her thumb across the CASPer’s controls, zoomed the camera in and raised her weapons. The railgun’s targeting reticle centered and locked onto a faint heat signature. She could see the small power source on the creature’s laser rifle as clear as day.
“Sniper! North side of the compound—in the trees!”
* * * * *
Chapter Eight
MinSha Compound
Weqq
Vehicle noises and the heavy thumping of CASPer feet came through the jungle seconds before the bird-things in the upper canopy squawked and fled over the compound, spraying shit over everything. Trees in the distance shook, and several collapsed. Behind a parapet firing position, Jessica raised her head but couldn’t see anything. The mercenaries were trying to get to visual range. That was good and bad. If they could see the compound, they’d be extraordinarily close and well within the maximum effective range of everything in their arsenal. If they were halfway competent, Reilly’s Raiders would rain sustained fire on the compound. Given what she’d seen of the structure and Tirr’s defensive plan, a fierce firefight might last a couple of minutes at the most.
Tirr appeared at her shoulder. He wore segmented body armor that looked robust enough to stop a CASPer but still let him move gracefully. “Five hundred meters and closing. Defenses are ready, Peacemaker. You’ll want to get to safety.”
“No, Tirr.” She shook her head and looked over the parapet again. “He’s going to charge in here and use as much firepower on you as he can so you will break. Because you can’t surrender, he’ll keep pushing until your colony is a smoldering crater. That’s apparently what his contract says.”
“And there is no way to stop him?”
Jessica shrugged. “The only way you can stop him is to outgun him or give him something he wants.”
Shouts came from the southern wall. Jessica turned and saw the first CASPers pushing through the thick jungle flora. Two battle-damaged Mk 6s that had clearly seen better days raised their weapons and fired at the compound. The laser bolts slammed into the wall, but there was no appreciable damage.
“What in the—”
Tirr smiled. “Most species don’t realize that metallurgy is a strength of ours. We’ll fare a little better than you might think, Peacemaker.”
She chuckled despite the icy tingles of fear running down her back. More attacking CASPers, including a decent-looking Mk 7 broke from the jungle and fired. Several rail guns chuffed high-velocity rounds. The compound vibrated with the impact, as the rounds ricocheted in a screaming fusillade that reminded Jessica of cheap fireworks on the 4th of July. She’d launched fireworks just once, the year after her father’s disappearance. She shook off the thought. CASPers appeared by the western wall. “We’re being hit from both sides.”
Tirr pointed. “Watch, Peacemaker.” He tapped the slate on his wrist. Along the western wall, a triangular shaped section popped up every five meters, between the firing parapets. In unison, they chuffed out projectiles. Jessica followed one’s trajectory, but it fell into the jungle with a disappointing thud. A dud. One of the Mk 6 CASPers jumped to fire and landed near the dud. The landscape shuddered with a tremendous explosion, and the mangled CASPer toppled facedown into the jungle.
Mines!
“Activating the southern wall now,” Tirr said. “Salvo one of five away.”
As if on cue, the CASPers halted in place. Several continued to fire as they moved to find anything they could use as cover. Jessica realized none of the MinSha around them had shouldered their rifles. She glanced at Tirr and saw him tapping the screen. “What else do you have up your sleeve?”
Tirr’s head jerked toward her. “My what?”
“Sorry,” Jessica tried to wave the comment away. “Earth expression.”
“The southeast corner delivery system is malfunctioning. There is a CASPer approaching it.”
Jessica reached for the slate. “I’ll go get it.”
Tirr hesitated. “It’s not that easy, Peacemaker.”
A fresh burst of laser rifle fire sizzled through the air above their heads. The parapet protecting them gave her a better sense of security than anything she’d used for cover in years, but it wasn’t enough. “Do me a favor? Call me Jessica.”
Tirr nodded, an awkward movement of his head, but the effort wasn’t lost on her. “I will, Jessica.”
“Now, give me the slate. Is there a maintenance access for it?”
Tirr pointed at the southeastern corner of the compound. “Five parapets from the corner. From there, you can plug the slate directly into the system and fire the first salvo manually. Then, reboot the system.”
Jessica held out her hand and Tirr placed the slate on her palm, screen up. “Got it.”
Tirr turned away, screeching commands to his subordinates along the top of the wall. They knelt below the parapets and skittered across the compound’s roof. For the first time, Jessica realized that, like the mine dispersal units, several large gun platforms rose from hiding positions within the walls. The small science station had teeth she hadn’t realized were there. Perhaps she
had underestimated the MinSha scientists. Or, their vast experience had prepared them for these situations. Either way, things were starting to look up.
Jessica crawled across the roof, keeping her head below the shallowest parapet, to the nearest ladder and swung her legs down. From the floor of the compound, the incoming rounds sounded muted as if at a much farther distance. The MinSha’s’ ability to forge metals and alloys astounded her—she’d never seen anything like the compound. Jessica ran the sixty meters across the hexagonal compound and leapt onto the ladder at the southeast corner. A MinSha guard she didn’t recognize reached down a clawed hand and pulled her up the last meter. She landed deftly on her feet.
“There’s one out there about 300 meters. Chased off a group of those gray things.” It pointed into the jungle. “They bolted away, and that contraption chased them.”
“It’s called a CASPer. It has a Human pilot.” Jessica said. A flurry of movement to her right, along the south wall, caught her eye. More CASPers were moving to the east. Envelopment was the standard tactic for ground-based mercenary companies. Their ability to command and control a situation defined their tactical ability. Reilly’s Raiders took an objective by putting it in the middle of their forces and directing enough fire against it to cause collapse. Envelopment was easy, almost anyone could do it, but the ability to fight and move at the same time set apart the units that could really fight. She looked up at the guard. “Covering fire. As soon as I move.”
The guard nodded. Jessica looked down the wall and found the mine controller. “Now!”
She darted down the wall, staying low but moving as fast as she could. From the sounds of thumping mech feet, she could tell the CASPers were bounding forward as if sensing an opening. The MinSha behind her came up over the parapets and laid down impressive fire from their shouldered rifles. Jessica opened the control unit and saw where to plug the slate into the device. As advertised, the slate slid in and clicked, but nothing happened. The instructions were printed in MinSha and looked like something between Sanskrit and a toddler’s stick figures.
She tapped her headset. “Lucille? Translate for me.” With a twist of her arm, Jessica focused the slate’s camera on the panel and snapped a quick picture. By the time she turned the slate to look at the display, Lucille translated the instructions.
<
Jessica did so, and a series of lights came on. A burst of automatic weapon fire and the chattering of an ancient .50 caliber machine gun tore through the air above her head. She barely flinched. “Next.”
<
As Jessica forced the handle to turn, the launchers along the eastern wall and the southeast corner whooshed up to their firing positions. Above the panel were three buttons. “Which one?”
<
If they could stop the CASPers from enveloping the eastern side, they could maneuver a force outside the compound and flank them. Jessica tapped her earpiece. “Get me Tirr.”
“Peacemaker?”
“We need to concentrate fire on the southeast corner. They’re hung up in the underbrush.” Jessica ran back to a position near the MinSha guard she’d spoken with earlier. She leaned against the parapet and raised her rifle to her shoulder. The guard ducked down below the parapet, and a volley of laser bolts flew overhead. As soon as they passed, Jessica raised up over the edge, firing. A Mk 6 and two Mk7 CASPers muddled through the brush too close by to fire at. Jessica came down from the parapet.
“Can you swing the cannons this way?”
The MinSha nodded. “Which target?”
Jessica grinned. “The closest one to the wall. Hit the leg junctions with everything you have.”
The guard tapped his slate, and one of the nearby gun platforms roared to life, firing at the Mk 6’s leg junctions. The right hip joint gave out and the CASPer fell hard to its right, taking down one of the Mk 7s. As it fell, it pinned the other Mk 7 against a large tree with a wide, snarling root system. The three of them weren’t going anywhere soon.
She glanced up at the MinSha. The guard stared down at her. “Should I keep firing?”
Jessica knew what the question really was. Humans were in those CASPers, and while one was combat ineffective, the other two would eventually return to the fight. “I’m not going to stop you. You fight the way you need to fight. I’m trying to keep you alive.”
Her earpiece vibrated. Tirr’s steady, almost bored, voice came through. “What next?”
Jessica risked a look over the parapet to the south. With the tangled CASPers continuing to take fire from the MinSha, the others hung back in the flora and tried to find firing positions behind the massive trees. “We’ve slowed their attack, but they’ll press forward soon. Have you identified any command and control vehicles?”
“Negative, Jessica. We’ll keep looking for them. Have you seen the lone mecha to the east?”
Jessica blinked. She hadn’t been looking for it. Dammit.
“Not yet. If it’s out there, we’ll isolate it and take care of it.”
Tirr’s voice clicked. She recognized it as a chuckle. “The idea that a Human, Peacemaker or not, says ‘we’ is rare. Given that you’re actively defending us against fellow Humans makes it much more curious.”
Jessica shook off the praise. “Look, Tirr. If you want to fight off Human mercenaries, you must keep them unbalanced. We’re great at making things up as we go, but if we don’t understand the overall situation, we’re not as good. You’ve got an incredible defensive system in this compound—I wish there was time for you to tell me how capable it really is, but there’s not. Use your standoff weapons—take out the CASPers before they get into range. Can you see them that far out?”
“Some of them. Our sensors have a difficult time in the dense foliage. Some of it impedes radar with its chemical composition.”
Jessica took a breath. “Do what you can. Hit them farther out—give them a reason to pause, to think things out. That gives you time to react to their next move before they make it. Are you following me?”
“You’re insinuating I can control them?”
“Their movements, yes!” Jessica saw Tirr across the compound. He was looking at her. “In defense, you can make the enemy do what you want them to do. Establish a kill zone, and channel them into it with your mines and your weapons. If you can do that—” She paused. The CASPers were no longer firing. The lull had only one possible cause. “Tirr, get everyone off the wall. Artillery fire incoming.”
“I don’t see anything that suggests that.”
Jessica laughed. “I was a mercenary before I was a Peacemaker. They’re preparing to loft rounds into the compound itself. Get everyone to cover.”
Tirr paused for about five seconds. “I am trusting you, Peacemaker.”
“Godsdamnit, Tirr. I know what they’re going to do next! Shift your radars to tracking inbound rounds. When they fire, use you cannons against them. We call that counter-battery fire. Hit them with your railgun and see if I’m wrong.”
Jessica turned to the MinSha guard. “What’s your name?”
“Murrh, Peacemaker.”
“This is your post? You’re in charge of the defense of this corner?”
“I am.”
“Then get everyone off the wall, now. The mercenaries are launching artillery fire.”
Murrh looked across the compound in the general direction of Captain Tirr. No one moved.
“Do it now!” Jessica roared.
<
Murrh jerked as if slapped and chittered in the MinSha language. The defenders along the top of the wall scattered. Jessica headed for the ladder and noticed the eastern wall mine dispensers had collapsed into the wall again. She turned and saw the southern ones were open. They launched a second salvo of mines just as she turned. Jessica ran for the control unit,
sliding on her knees to a stop along the smooth metal walkway. Inside the control mechanism, she saw the slate had been jostled loose. She reconnected it, turned the handle, and re-engaged the system. Along the wall, mines chuffed from the tubes and spread along the jungle floor, as the first artillery rounds whistled overhead and fell into the compound. Jessica laid down on the metal decking and pressed her face against the parapet as the rounds exploded. Barring a direct hit, she thought she would be fine.
The thought made her chuckle despite the steel raining down on the compound behind her. Years before, she’d been exposed to enemy artillery fire when Marc Lemieux, her commander and sometimes bunkmate, jumped his CASPer to her and used its titanium-based armor to shield her as a barrage fell around them. But, his shoddy electrical work left the CASPer half-folded around her, trapping her under the mecha for more than an hour while the rest of the company cleaned up and completed their mission. Had it not been for that, his actions would have been honorable. She scrunched closer to the wall, pressing her face against the metal as shrapnel clanged off the parapet above her, tearing at the rear of her combat vest. As quickly as it started, the artillery stopped. Jessica was on her feet and yelling at Tirr in seconds.
“Hit them now! While they’re targeting the second round.”
Jessica watched the weapons pylons extend to their full heights, more than two meters above her head. A combination of missiles, rail gun projectiles, and high-powered lasers tore into the jungle. There were several secondary detonations as rounds found their marks along the southern and western walls. “Again,” she called to Tirr. The defensive positions roared to life again.
As they fired, Jessica jumped from cover and ran to the southeast corner. The tangled CASPers were silent. More would be coming. If the pilots were any good at all, they’d give the remains of the three a wide berth. That would direct them into the mines, provided she could get another salvo to fire. There was time. She ran for the mine controller, head down and arms pumping for speed. Seconds counted.
Honor the Threat Page 9