Marine Raiders: Strike Back (Blood War Book 2)

by Rod Carstens

  "Okay. Jack in," Basso said.

  They were going to have to shoot through the building with a penetrating round. It wasn’t as accurate, but it was the only way. There was no wind to worry about and the distance was nothing. Mara pulled out his targeting computer and got another drone ready. It was larger, but still not much bigger than a fly. It would provide them with the data that would allow them to come up with a firing solution. Basso pulled her sniper rifle out of its case and snapped it together. She loaded the rifle with several penetrating rounds, flipped the bipod down, and took up a position.

  Mara launched the drone. It flew silently toward the target. He jacked into the computer using the plug behind his ear. He would designate the target simply by "touching" it in virtual reality. Basso would see the target highlighted yellow in her scope superimposed on her view of the scene.

  "Ready," Basso said.

  "Check. Stand by," Mara replied.

  Basso put her reticle on the supply building approximately where they had the Marine on display.

  "Target."

  That meant he had touched the image of the Marine. Immediately in her scope she saw the Marine staked out on the X, superimposed on the front of the supply building. She was outlined in yellow. Basso, not knowing the construction of the building, put the crosshair center mass. A fifty caliber penetrating round would cut her in half. The marine started to scream again. Then Basso recognized her. It was Gide. She had been on Rift with her. Basso pulled the trigger before her mind could bring up memories.

  "Shot," Basso said in an icy tone.

  The image of the marine disappeared from the screen and her scream stopped abruptly.

  "More targets," Basso demanded.

  Mara began to touch hybrids as quickly as he could. Even if they moved once targeted, the drone would keep them in the targeting database for Basso to shoot when she could take them on. Basso shot again and again as fast as she could acquire a target. Mara kept finding targets as the hybrids ran for cover. She emptied one magazine and put in another.

  Hybrid after hybrid was blown apart by fifty caliber rounds. Basso continued to fire at the hybrids’ center mass. When they were hit, they literally disappeared. More hybrids continued to pour out of the building. She and Mara went through three magazines of penetrating and smart rounds in a matter of minutes.

  Finally, the hybrids realized they had a drone up and took cover. Their countermeasures soon knocked out the drone. Drones only worked once in a tight environment. Then it was impossible to use them again. The hybrids would be looking for them, and in a tight spaces they would be too easy to detect and destroy. Basso and Mara sat down. The image of Gide being skinned alive would be with her for the rest of her life, but she had done the right thing. She knew it. They were still sitting in the debris, too exhausted to move. The intensity of that shoot was unlike anything Basso had ever experienced. Lieutenant Taro and Sergeant Elias came down to their position.

  "Nice job. I know... Well, nice job," Taro said.

  "How many?" Elias asked.

  "Twenty plus," Basso replied.

  "Nice. Fucking nice," Elias said.

  Basso and Mara packed up their equipment and began the long crouching walk back to their original positions. As they passed Marines, each turned and said something.

  "Fuckin’ A, Basso."

  "Get some."

  The one that she remembered most was when someone simply said, "Thanks."

  Mara and Basso returned to their position in the line.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Xotoli Outpost

  Exoplanet 1123.567

  Von Fleet Planet 703

  1st Marine Raider Battalion

  Major Axec Aijuba ducked behind a jagged rock outcropping to avoid the heavy weapons fire from their front. Chips flew off the rock as the rounds struck the other side. She and her security detail, as well as a platoon from Charlie Company, were moving into position to relieve a Bravo Company platoon. This was the second time they’d pulled relief duty and Aijuba didn’t like how things were going. It was taking too long to provide covering fire for a platoon while they fell back, carrying their dead and wounded.

  During the last relief, she had just had her force move into Bravo Company's line. They had been able to provide covering fire for their retreat. It had gone too slowly as they were unable to suppress the hybrid fire long enough for the platoon to disengage without casualties. This time she was going to try something different. She gathered all of the other platoons’ unused shoulder-fire scrams and added them to those her team already carried. She was going to take out as many positions as she could using the scrams, and then have a SOC make runs on the remaining hybrid positions while she and her force provided covering fire for the Bravo Company platoon.

  Her reaction force was composed of the Charlie Company platoon, which was almost entirely Wolfs and Rifts. Her own handpicked security team was all Wolfs, so she had a force of men and women born and bred to be warriors. They were the best of the best in the Raider Battalion. She was asking much of them. She wasn’t sure if she and her team would ever make it off this planet. The number of armored hybrids was more than the Intel had predicted, and the Xotoli were proving to be smart and capable in defense. It wasn’t a good scenario for extracting the rest of her Raiders.

  She also knew she was running out of time. The Xotoli landing force was inbound and would be in orbit in a matter of hours. The Navy hadn’t planned on fighting a running battle with a Xotoli convoy of capital ships in addition to protecting the rest of the task force. There was going to come a time when they would have to make a choice between the Marines still on the planet and those that had already been extracted to the Tarawa. She leaned against the black rock with the snow and ice blowing around her. Aijuba turned her head and looked at the men and women who had willingly followed her into this situation. She was proud to call them comrades. She had been a warrior her entire life, first in the legion and now in the marines. Counting her regeneration, she had been fighting for close to sixty-eight of her eighty-five years. That was a long time and too many battles to count. It was beginning to look as if this might be her last. You only had so much luck, and then it ran out. It didn't matter how good she was or how tough. To last through so many battles, there was a lot of luck involved, and she knew that. It just as she had told Dasan her luck had finally run out.

  She had no regrets; nor did she fear death. She had seen too many friends and comrades die to worry about death. It waited for all of them, and while she didn’t welcome it, the abstraction had no hold over her. As a Wolf, she accepted death as part of her path in life. A person’s path always had an end, and no one knew where or when the end was waiting. That was up to fate. Her only real regret was her short time with Dasan. They had only committed to one another after Rift.

  "Dragon Twenty-nine to Raider Actual.”

  "Go Twenty-nine.”

  “We’re inbound for our first run. Can you mark the targets?"

  "Roger."

  Aijuba switched to her team’s frequency and said, "SOC is inbound. Mark the targets. Bravo Company, second platoon, prepare to move out."

  "Roger. Targeting."

  "Roger. We’re ready to get out of here, Major."

  The laser target designators marked the hybrid defensive positions in the cliff in front of them and in the huge robot truck control center. Aijuba glanced at her heads up. The targets looked like they had spotlights on them. The SOC should have no trouble with targeting Xotoli positions. The SOC broke through the low cloud cover behind them. The little ship was screaming toward the cliff. It began to fire its forward guns and air-to-ground missiles from those stubby wings. The pilot was good, and the fire was accurate and devastating. In addition, Aijuba's team was using the shoulder-fired scrams to clean up any positions that had survived the initial SOC gun runs.

  "Go, go, go," Aijuba ordered and watched as the Bravo Company platoon began to fallback. Her team was pouring co
vering fire into the same positions as the SOC. There was little return fire as the Bravo Company platoon ran, jumped, and leaped over rock outcroppings toward the rear, using all the power their armor had to move quickly through the rugged terrain. It looked as if the Xotoli positions had been all but eliminated.

  "React platoon, move to our next position."

  Aijuba's plan was to move to their next platoon's position and go through the same attack sequence. It just might work. She turned with her troops and jumped over a large jagged rock. Stine, her battle comm tech, was right beside her when a single shot rang out. It missed Aijuba, who it had been aimed at, and caught Stine in the head. She dropped to the ground without moving. Aijuba dropped to the ground next to her. The bullet had been meant for her center mass. No one tried for a headshot with a moving target. It should’ve been her, not Stine, Aijuba thought. She placed her hand on Stine’s chest and thanked her quietly before moving on to catch up with the rest of the team. They lost two others to snipers before they reached their next position behind the second Bravo Company platoon.

  This time, they faced the operations control center. It was a building high up on another black, rocky cliff with windows overlooking the cranes and robotic trucks as they operated. It amazed Aijuba that the operations were still continuing, despite the battle going on around them. Trucks filled with material would pull up to a crane, which would then retrieve the raw ore, placing it on huge conveyer belts that transported it into the automated plant. The second Bravo Company platoon was stretched out in a ragged line among a row of outbuildings that were just on this side of the robotic truck raceway. They were exchanging heavy fire from positions dug into the face of the cliff and in the operations structures. The Xotoli positions seemed to have significantly more heavy weapons than the last. They were chewing up the buildings and area around the second platoon’s position. She saw a corpsman try to change positions to help a downed trooper. He was caught between the heavy weapons and torn to pieces. Stine and now a corpsmen, the Xotoli were tearing her Raiders apart, Marine by bloody Marine. Her team needed no direction. They were soon in position. Despite the losses, difficult terrain, and accurate enemy fire, her Raiders were accomplishing their mission. She couldn’t have been more proud to be their commander.

  "Dragon Twenty-nine, this is Raider Actual. We’re in position and painting the targets. These kaks are really dug in. You may have to make more than one run."

  "Roger, Actual. Make sure your people's heads are down. With the targets this high up, the debris is really going to fly."

  "Roger. Actual out."

  A SOC broke through the clouds and began its run. The front of the craft disappeared in flashes of white and orange flames as the chain rails and cannons fired. Two missiles left its stubbed wings and raced for the main structure built into the cliff. Explosions covered the face of the cliff as the rail and cannon fire found their targets. Two huge explosions enveloped the main structure, and it crumbled into huge pieces. Pieces of both the cliff and structure were blown down onto the robotic trucks. Scrams from Aijuba’s team were also finding their targets in the cliff side as one after another fired. Despite the fire from the SOC and the scrams, the heavy fire continued from the cliff. The SOC made a huge arcing turn, straightened out, and began a second run on the cliff. Then a missile left a position in the cliff, and raced toward the incoming SOC. It was so fast that, between the fast missile and the closing speed of the SOC, it was a blur of color in the sky. The pilot never had a chance to take an evasive maneuver or fire any protective countermeasures. The SOC simply disappeared in a flash of orange flame and debris.

  Aijuba had to duck to keep from being struck by the debris from the destroyed SOC. The heavy fire from the Xotoli positions recommenced almost immediately. The run by the SOC had done little. This had to be the main line of resistance for the defense of the facility, and Aijuba, her react team, and the second platoon of Bravo Company were pinned down. She needed naval gunfire if she was going to destroy this complex. She switched her frequency to the Tarawa.

  "Tarawa, this is Raider Actual."

  "Go, Actual."

  "We need emergency naval gunfire danger close."

  There was a long pause on the other end of the communication link.

  "Actual, be advised the destroyers are no longer ... uh within range."

  "Tarawa, what are you talking about?"

  "Actual, be advised they have left orbit to engage the incoming Xotoli."

  "Great, just fucking great. This is Raider Actual out."

  Rounds impacted the outcropping Aijuba was taking cover behind. She looked to her left as another Marine was blown apart by the heavy fire. They were trapped with no air or naval support!

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Xotoli Outpost

  Exoplanet 1123.567

  Von Fleet Planet 703

  Geosynchronous Orbit

  Landing Ship Dock

  Tarawa

  Flight Petty Officer Zenos Lee had just sat down in a big comfortable crew chair in the SWCC ready room. He was exhausted. He’d had no idea flying a SOC in combat would be so much more demanding that piloting a Swift Boat. He had been flying close support for the Marines since the insertion. Due to the amount of resistance the Marines were encountering, their mission had changed with from a simple insertion to close support. He had run out of munitions, and they had landed back on the Tarawa for rearming before they returned to provide more close support for the Marines. All he wanted to do right now was catch a quick nap; just a few minutes of sleep would make a huge difference in the next few hours. The sudden blaring of the alarm klaxons let him know he wasn’t going to get any anytime soon.

  "All Special Warfare Combat Crewmen report to ships immediately and prepare for immediate launch. I repeat, all Special Warfare Combat Crewmen report to your ship for immediate launch."

  Lee looked over at his copilot, Odaka, and said, "What the fuck?"

  "Got me by the ass."

  They grabbed their helmets and sprinted down the passageway and out onto the flight deck. Ships crew chiefs and various specialists were running as well, arming the SOCs and preparing them for a mission.

  "What’s going on?" Lee asked his ship’s chief.

  "Don't know. They said they would brief you in the ship."

  Lee climbed up the side of his ship and sat in the pilot’s seat. He strapped himself in and began going through his preflight checklist. They were halfway through the list when their skipper, Lieutenant Chuto, came on the comm.

  "All crews, be advised this is an emergency extraction. I repeat, an emergency extraction of all marines on the ground. We have a Xotoli task force inbound to our position. Do not wait for squadron mates. As soon as you can, you are to takeoff. We will direct you to your unit pick-ups enroute. Good luck."

  Lee and Odaka looked at each other.

  "We ever practice an emergency extract?" Odaka asked as he ran through his preflight checklist.

  "Never. Looks like we’re winging it."

  "Rear gunner on board and ready. Hey, chief, they got me loaded. I'm ready when you drivers decide to go."

  "Check, Toland. It takes a few more steps to get the old Dragon Eight off the deck than it does to load a weapon."

  Toland just laughed.

  #

  "I'm beginning to hate this fucking rock," Lee snarled as he fought to control his ship in the high winds of the upper atmosphere.

  "Really? I came to that conclusion a while ago," Odaka said with a laugh.

  "What’s so fucking funny up there, Chief? It’s not much fun back here. It feels like I'm in a washing machine," Toland said. "Fuck, you just bounced me off the damned bulkhead again."

  "Just be glad you’re not down there with the Marines. I think they might like to change positions with you right now," Lee snapped.

  Lee had to think. They had never practiced an emergency extraction. There hadn’t been time before the operation. They were going to have pull th
is off by the seat of their pants. Each platoon and squad had a beacon that gave their position. Their orders had simply been to find the beacons from Bravo and Charlie companies first, and then work to Alpha. They were to be the last out. Poor fucks, was all Lee could think. They had just cleared the cloud layer and were ready to make a pickup.

  "Odaka, you got me a good beacon?"

  "Check. Come to 134.76. It’s one of the casualty collection points."

  "Roger. 134.76."

  Lee turned the unwieldy ship to the new course and heading. Below, he could see how much the battle had grown since the insertion. There were tracers and explosions everywhere and even with their friendly identification system, it was difficult to tell friend from foe. Lee flipped on his pilot assist and a virtual three-dimensional tunnel of green rectangles appeared. All he had to do was put the nose of the ship in the middle of that rectangle, and it would lead him to his pickup. The only problem was once they entered the atmosphere. With the winds, it was damned hard to keep the ship on course. The SOC bounced between the sides of the rectangle several times as he made his approach, setting off alarms.

  "Shut up! I'm trying to keep it in line." Lee said to the alarms as if they could hear him.

  "I need you on the stick with me, Odaka," he said to his copilot, who had been looking for targets as they neared the ground.

  "Got it."

  Even with both of them on the stick, it was still hard to control the ship. It was like trying to fly a rock. Wait until he got his hands on the guys who’d thought they didn't need larger control surfaces. It was no longer a joke. The winds were getting worse. He could see the beacon at the end of the pilot assist tunnel. The SOC was closing in on their pickup.

  "Five thousand feet," Odaka called out.

  "Four thousand feet."

  "Three thousand feet."

  "Your decent is too steep. Pull up. Pull up," the ship’s system began to repeat.

  "I know, goddammit! I know!"