by Rod Carstens
Marine Raiders: Strike Back
Book 2 of the Blood War
Series
By
Rod Carstens
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
Copyright 2015 by Roger C. Huder
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
Cover art by
Creative Paramita
http://www.creativeparamita.com
PROLOGUE
CONFEDERATIONS SPACE SHIP
LSD TARAWA
ENROUTE PLANET 703
GENERAL DASAN DANIEL QUARTERS
SOL STANDARD 11/19
2100 HOURS
"Twenty-four hours until drop. I repeat, twenty-four hours till drop. All hands make all drop minus 1 preparations. All Marines be advised and begin mission appropriate actions. The ship will now go on Von Fleet 703 gravity for marine acclimation. Be advised 703 gravity is 7.65 of Earth standard. The mission clock has started."
General Dasan Daniel Sand studied the hologram of the raid plan. It floated just over his desk. The Von Fleet Crystal Refining Facility was shown in minute detail. The objectives of the raid were marked with their operational time benchmarks. The unit assignments were shown by each objective. The security points where the armed guards were stationed were shown in red highlight. He had been over it a hundred times during the planning for the raid, but he still felt if he went back over it one more time, he might be able to find something they had not covered. Across his desk, Major Axec Aijuba waited as he finished going over the newest tweaks to the raid's plan. Dasan leaned back and stared at it for several more seconds. He couldn’t resist looking at the mission countdown clock in the corner of the holo. It had begun. Time for changes had almost run out.
This was the first Confederation operation against the Xotoli since they had attacked Rift and Ceti. Dasan had led the successful defense of Rift, but Ceti had been occupied. The Xotoli were using the Ceti system as the center of operations as they occupied more and more Confederation systems and planets. Using their human-hybrid soldiers, they were systematically stripping the valuable resources from every planet they occupied, leaving behind only the dead in their wake. They exterminated every human they encountered. It was truly a Blood War of extermination.
"How sure are we that we’ve identified all of the strong points around the facility?" Dasan asked.
"As sure as we can be with the intel we have. Von Fleet has been very helpful, providing us with blueprints, diagrams, and everything else they had on their facility. Unless the Xotoli have hardened the security checkpoints, we should have no trouble. Even if they have, we’re talking security guard types, not trained infantry."
"Could the drones have missed something?"
"Sure, but I don't think they did. Why would the Xotoli harden a place like 703? It doesn't have strategic value, just economic value. I've given the new handheld scrams to each sergeant and above. I've also added a heavy weapons platoon. Even if we do run into unexpected trouble, we have naval gunfire we can call on. We’re as ready as we can be."
Dasan looked over at Aijuba and said, "I think it was you who taught me that rule number one of command is that no plan ever survives first contact with the enemy."
Aijuba arched an eyebrow.
"So now you’re going to use my own lessons against me?"
They laughed together. Aijuba had been his platoon sergeant during the Choem Incident, when he was an inexperienced first term lieutenant. It was her teachings that had gotten them all through that first brush with the Xotoli. It was Choem that had changed the course of his life. Dasan found his life's purpose on that patrol. He went career because of that incident. Then he, along with Aijuba, had spent his career preparing the Confederation for the inevitable conflict with the Xotoli. His and Aijuba's obsession had saved the Confederation and the human race from extinction on Rift, when their newly formed Armored Infantry fought off the Xotoli invasion there. Now they were finally about to strike back on their own terms.
"Do you realize it has been almost twenty-six years since we first encountered the Xotoli?" Dasan asked.
"Yes, it has been a very long time."
"This is the first time we will be on the offensive and not just reacting to their latest attack. I want it to hurt them."
"I know. I’m a Wolf, remember? We keep track. I’ll make sure that the Xotoli feel this operation."
Dasan smiled. He knew Aijuba would make them pay. He reached up, grabbing the holo. He spun it around so he could see the drop zone from the Xotoli's side. They looked good, close enough to their objectives to allow the troops to organize once on the ground and move to their objectives quickly. It all looked good, but something kept bothering Dasan. He couldn’t put his finger on the cause. As usual, Aijuba had done an excellent job planning the operation. It was simply a matter of carrying out the plan. He shoved the holo over to Aijuba. She snapped her fingers, and it flew down into the pad in her lap.
"Remember this is only a raid, just the start of what will be a long war. I’ll need you for the length of this war. Don’t take unnecessary chances."
"My breed may be Wolf, but I’m not stupid."
"I don't feel good about this one, old friend," Dasan said, signaling that the official part of the meeting was over.
"Dasan, it will be fine. It’s just the fact that we won’t be together on this one."
"For the first time," Dasan said.
"Yes, my partner for the first time. It had to come someday."
Dasan looked over at her hard, beautiful face. There was no worry in those eyes, just determination.
"Let my legacy be written in their blood," Aijuba said.
It was an ancient Wolf saying before a battle. Aijuba made a fist with her right hand and gently tapped Dasan’s chest. He did the same. It meant to fight from your heart. The Wolf breed believed that if you fought from your heart, then you could never loose, even if killed in battle.
"Fight from your heart," Dasan said quietly.
Aijuba nodded and left the room.
Confederation Space Ship
LSD Tarawa
1st Marine Raider Battalion
Alpha Company
1st Platoon
Hanger Deck
"Come on, Sarge, it's rack time."
Sergeant Mala Nani stood in front of her squad. She was dressed in just shorts and a T-shirt. Her squad was fully armored up. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she had a scowl on her face. The tattoos on her arms glowed brightly, reflecting her bad mood.
"Negative. They just reduced the gravity to 703's. You were supposed to have adjusted your armor to 703's gravity to compensate for the reduction. Now we’ll see if everyone did. Line up."
The squad reluctantly lined up according to fire team. They were standing in the Tarawa's hangar deck. The hangar was filled with the two squadrons of the Special Operations Craft that would drop them tomorrow. The SOCs were lined up in neat, long lines. It was a perfect obstacle course for someone in full armor. If anyone of her knuckleheads hadn’t adjusted their armor for the reduced gravity on 703, she was about to find out.
"Okay, fire team one. Hu, you’re up first. I want you to clear every SOC one at a time, come to a stop, and then jump again."
Hu led his team to the first SOC and waited for Nani's command.
"Go."
Hu jumped and flew over the first SOC and then landed on the other side. His fire team followed him one by one. When they jumped, they were a
ll under control in the reduced gravity. Each one skimmed over the ships with ease and control. There were fifty SOCs in ten lines of five each. By the time Hu finished, he was breathing heavily. They were back at the starting point.
"Good. Next, fire team two, you’re up."
They started out fine. Each Marine easily clearing SOC after SOC until they came to the third row. Nani noticed that Mica was beginning to struggle to control his jumps. Then it happened. He was beginning to get tired and getting sloppy with his jumps. He jumped over the next SOC and flew all the way to the overhead and smashed into it.
"Mica, out of line and get over here," Nani snapped.
Mica, shame faced, reluctantly came over and stood next to Nani. The rest of the team was fine.
"Fire team three, get it."
This time there were two in of the fire team who hadn’t adjusted their armor. Nani stood in front of the three, hands on her hips.
"Okay, you dumb kaks. You know that if you over-jump in combat you become an easy target. While I could give a shit about losing one of you, it puts a hole in one of my fire teams. This is a smash and grab raid. I need every swinging dick I can get, and losing someone who is too lazy to adjust his or her equipment is not going to cut it. You will not hit the rack until you have adjusted your armor and I have inspected it."
"Kak, Sarge, that'll take a couple of hours. We got a drop coming up. You know we’re not going to sleep for a couple of days. We need our rest."
Nani just stared at the three.
"Move!"
The three hustled off to the armory.
"The rest of you get out of your armor and get some rack time. Mica is right. This is going to be a long operation."
As the others walked back toward the equipment locker, Hu walked up to Nani.
"How did you know?"
"Oh, I know these guys too well. There’re always some lazy kaks. We can't afford them this trip."
Together, he and Nani walked back to the equipment locker and got out of their armor. While Hu got out of his armor, Nani went to check on the three who had to adjust their suits. Hu was leaning against the bulkhead, admiring her slim muscular figure as she came down the passageway.
"What are you looking at?" Nani said with a smile.
"Nothing. Nothing at all, just my new squad leader."
"And?"
"Well, we are going on a mission in a few hours, and I thought we could well, sort of prepare for the mission."
Nani smiled for the first time tonight and said, "You have a one track mind, miner boy."
"You still owe me one from Rift. I thought I was just catching up on the interest that’s accruing."
Nani came up to him gave him an intimate smile.
"If somebody I know hadn’t gotten shot to pieces on Rift and needed two new legs grown, I would’ve had the time to pay him the debt I owe."
"I got shot to pieces saving your ass."
"That’s cute ass to you, Corporal."
Hu smiled and said, "Sorry, Sergeant. Cute ass."
"I seemed to have been the one still standing at the end of the day. It was me who saved your ass," Nani said.
"Horseshit. I keep hearing about this poor girl who grew up in a brothel and learned all the tricks of the trade that she’s going to use on me."
"I was sold into sexual slavery. It wasn't my fault I had to learn all those tricks."
"I have a new theory that you were never sold into sexual slavery. I think you volunteered."
Nani hit him hard on the arm and said with a smile, "Was not. Besides, Von Fleet didn't engineer me to be a miner on some lousy corporate planet. You’re going to thank me when we finally get some liberty. I will wear your young ass out."
They turned and headed toward the noncommissioned officers’ quarters together.
"I’m afraid we do need our rest," Nani said as the walked down the passageway.
"Yeah, but you can't hit the rack until you inspect Mica's and those other guys’ armor. You need something to pass the time."
Nani put her arm on his shoulder and said, "Well, since you put it that way, I might be able to squeeze you into my busy schedule. Besides, that will only take about two minutes. What will I do with the rest of my time?"
This time Hu hit Nani on the arm.
Sol
Planet Earth
City State of New York
Admiral of the Confederation Navy
Personal Quarters
Istas stood naked, facing the sun as it began to appear over the horizon. Her slim, muscular body was silhouetted against the rising sun in the huge windows of the admiral’s quarters. She stared out at the panoramic view of New York, its buildings stretching to the horizon in an unbroken display of urban density. Only on Earth, the center of the Confederation, could you find such manmade complexity. The outer systems of human expansion in the galaxy were hundreds of years younger and less wealthy. Istas stood in stillness, letting the memory of the past months wash over her. She was an Anjin, a trained and experienced assassin, one of the best in the known worlds. Yet now her mission was one of protection. She had saved the life of the admiral on Rift from an assassination attempt by a Xotoli hybrid. Now she had been ordered to permanently protect her from further attempts on her life. The irony of her becoming a bodyguard to protect a principal from assassins like herself had not escaped her. Life held surprises, including her growing affection for the admiral, something she had never experienced before.
Istas cleared her mind and began to breathe deeply. She took deeper and deeper breaths until she felt the power of her body slowly come alive as her enhancements activated. It had taken months for her to completely heal from the wounds she’d suffered while killing the hybrid and protecting the admiral. She did not take for granted this wonderful feeling of power that surged through her body.
She bowed to the rising sun and then slowly began to move through various attack and defensive moves. Her movements slowly becoming faster and faster until she was moving with the speed and power she used in battle. She paused, breathing heavily, and then relaxed, letting her breathing return to normal. Her naked, muscular body was covered in a fine sheen of sweat. Her body was ready for the more challenging parts of her morning ritual.
Bending her legs slightly, she sprang upward. She arched her hands backward, extending the crystal blades embedded in her wrists. As she reached the ceiling, she drove the blades into it. She hung by the blades for a moment, loving the feeling of her muscles awakening. Then she slowly pulled herself up so she was parallel with the ceiling. Again, she paused, enjoying the power she felt. Then Istas arched her toes backward, extending the crystal blades in the balls of her feet. She snapped her knees and drove the blades into the ceiling.
Istas hung there, savoring the feeling of power. Slowly she began to pull herself up and down with her arms. The muscles in her arms flexed with controlled power under her perfect skin. After twenty-five pull-ups, she retracted the crystal blades in her wrists and hung from her foot blades. She slowly curled her body up until her could touch her toes with her hands and then slowly let herself down. Up and down she went until she was breathing heavily. She retracted her foot blades and flipped to the floor.
She sat crossed-legged on the floor. She closed her eyes and let her breathing slowly return to normal. Her skin glowed with sweat and the flush of her exertion. She took slow, deep breaths until her killing power gradually relaxed, and her body returned to normal. To reach inside herself each morning and find the power that resided there was critical to her survival and to her mission.
"I do love to watch your morning ritual."
Istas turned and saw the Admiral of the Confederation’s Navy, Usiche Raurk, leaning against the doorframe. She was dressed in her formal naval dress whites with all her ribbons. She had two cups of coffee in her hands. She strode over and sat in a chair next to Istas. She handed Istas a cup of the coffee. Istas sipped her coffee, closing her eyes with pleasure.
&nb
sp; "Coffee is one of the few Sol pleasures I have come to enjoy."
Usiche arched a perfect eyebrow and said, "Really. What am I?"
"You are my job, my responsibility," Istas replied with a smirk. "That is all."
"I must say you did a great job last night, little one."
The both broke into smiles, and Usiche leaned down and kissed Istas gently on the mouth.
"An Anjin's duties are never done."
Usiche frowned and said, "Speaking of your duties, there is no need for you to accompany me this morning. I’m testifying before the Senate. That’s one of the most secure places in the Confederation. You don’t need to sit outside on a bench for hours while I play political games."
Istas looked up at Usiche. "I do not like it. I have a feeling."
"What feeling?"
"One of the main principals of my craft is to strike when the target feels most secure."
Usiche touched the communicator behind her ear.
"The car is here, dear, I must go."
Istas stood and embraced Usiche.
"Stay here, little one. I’ll be fine."
Usiche kissed Istas gently on the lips, rushed out of the room, and out of the door. Istas sat there and finished her coffee. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was in the wind. She was going anyway. Istas went to her closet and pulled out an outfit that looked like it had just came off a couture runway. It appeared to be black leather with gold zippers. It was made of a special fabric that was strong enough that Istas could survive even a rail fired round. She was going to be outside the Senate chambers. She knew something was going to happen today, and she would be there.
CHAPTER ONE
Xotoli Outpost
Exoplanet 1123.567
Von Fleet Planet 703
1st Marine Raider Battalion
Alpha Company
1st Platoon