The Conscripts: Fight or Die (Blood War Book 3)

by Rod Carstens

  Fenes watched as the rest of the platoon turned and moved back to the phase line. The spot was nothing more than a line on the map in his heads-up, but it was what they had been using as a jumping-off point for this exercise. They had been at this training for two days now, and they were still lousy at it. The armor was the biggest problem. It was the oldest armor around, and using it was a real skill that took practice. Von Fleet kept the latest tech for their military units, and the penal battalions only got the leftovers. Striker had said as much. It sucked, but it still worked—it was just a matter of learning how to use it. So that was what they had been doing—working on how to use the armor and armored-infantry tactics for Chika. Fenes checked the positioning of his squad. They were all in place with the proper intervals.

  “All right. First platoon, move out. Second squad, take the lead, wedge formation. Third squad, on line behind. Now move like you got a purpose, people,” Striker barked over the platoons’ comm.

  Fenes watched Ardan move his squad out in a wedge formation. They were keeping their proper intervals and maintaining the formation as they moved swiftly forward. Striker and the counter-electronics-warfare and drone operations formed their own small wedge behind the larger one. Minga had her squad one hundred and fifty yards behind Fenes, spread out in a line. The formation was moving well, keeping their pace and varying their movements. Striker had taught them the way to move was to alternate randomly between “running,” which amounted to taking huge, armor-assisted steps, and popping up using long jumps. The idea was to never make it easy for hybrids by getting into a pattern that could be deciphered. Fenes reminded himself he was overwatch and should not be looking at the platoon but at the horizon. He saw a tiny dust cloud on the horizon and increased the magnification on his heads-up. Sure enough, a column was moving their way. He squawked a recognition signal. The target did not respond.

  “Target ahead. Speed fifty miles per hour. Ten thousand yards. Heading zero degrees. First squad, fire.”

  Fenes and the rest of the squad began to fire their rails at the approaching column. At first they were just kicking up dust around the targets. They were at the extreme range. Fenes pulled out a magazine of smart rounds that the squad leaders had been given. He took aim again. This time a tiny, dark figure dropped after his shot.

  “Second squad, extended line and take cover. Third squad, halt and fire. Drones, send the coordinates to the third squad.”

  The second squad’s lead member stopped and the two arms of the wedge came forward and into an extended-line formation. Minga’s third squad halted and spread out. They carried the platoon’s heavy weapons. Their rails had grenade launchers whose caliber approached that of a mortar. Soon small explosions began to bracket the column. More and more of the tiny black dots went down, but they didn’t stop. They continued to move at a frightening speed toward them. Suddenly there were several flashes of a laser, and the drones dropped out of the sky. Fenes could see the column clearly now. It was much bigger than theirs. The firing was taking its toll, but it would not be enough.

  “Fenes, L-shaped ambush.”

  “Roger. First squad, follow me.”

  Fenes used the sand berm and led his squad down its reverse slope. Their job was to form a line at a right angle to the rest of the platoon before the hybrids got there. He checked his heads-up. The hybrids were almost on top of them. The firing from the first two squads had increased in intensity. The trick was to move behind cover or get around just as they came into range.

  “I’ll take the lead. Remember, keep those intervals or we'll get slaughtered.”

  He watched as the range decreased.

  “Follow me!”

  Fenes made his first move—a big jump just skimming the surface. With his second jump he was close to three hundred yards out. He turned and fired into the column of hybrids. The rest of the squad did the same. Their intervals were perfect. In the crossfire between the other two squads and his squad, the hybrids went down in groups. Several of the second squad went down, and Fenes saw one then another of his squad go down. Striker was standing, directing fire from the third squad’s heavy weapons. The hybrids turned and ran.

  Suddenly the world went dark. Fenes pulled the plug from the I/O port behind his right ear. He was lying on a couch with the rest of the platoon around him. He was dripping sweat. The virtual reality had taken its toll. He closed his eyes and let his breathing return to normal.

  “All right, people, get your asses out of those couches!” Striker bellowed.

  Fenes and the rest of the squad stood on shaky legs. He glanced over at Ardan and Minga. They looked as tired as he felt.

  “Believe it or not, that was actually not half bad. Moving into a hasty ambush while on the move is one of the hardest evolutions to pull off, and you did it. But don’t feel too good. We still lost five people. The goal is to make the other fuck die for his cause, not for you to do the dying. That is the last evolution for now. We’ll pick up from there in one hour, after chow.”

  There was some moaning among the squad. They had been at this since reveille, and that long in VR was exhausting.

  “Shut up. We don’t have time to waste. The more you sweat in training, the less you’ll bleed in war. Now get some chow and get back here.”

  Lyten System

  CVN Phoenix

  Admiral’s Briefing Compartment

  “Admiral on deck,” the yeoman said.

  Admiral Ririsa Grogan strode into the compartment as everyone rose to attention. She walked up to the podium, turned, and faced the assembled men and women. The captains of every capital ship in the task force stood before her—all one hundred of them. The commanders of the marine, Wolf, Rift, and Von Fleet infantry units were present. It was now time to explain their mission. She wondered how they would react.

  “Be seated, ladies and gentlemen. Please.”

  The men and women sat almost as one.

  “I want to thank you for the effort it took to be here on the Phoenix for this briefing. Some of your launches are not designed for this long a trip. This is the largest military fleet ever put together by the Confederation. We have Confederation naval and infantry units, Wolf infantry, Rift infantry, and of course, our friends from Von Fleet Corporation with naval, construction, and infantry units represented. This is the largest, most complex operation ever undertaken.”

  Ririsa paused before she continued, “Our objective is the binary system of Sui-Ren. Our orders are simple. We are to seek out and destroy all Xotoli and hybrids in the system, then fortify the system for the Confederation.”

  A murmur of surprise filled the room.

  “The operational security for this campaign has been the tightest ever. Most do not know that the raid on 703 was compromised by a leak. So for this operation the security has been extraordinary. The specifics of the operation and each of your roles, with timetables and objectives, have been sent to your pads and your ships. The messages are ‘eyes only’ security level, so no one can access them but you through biometrics.”

  Ririsa waited as the assembled officers glanced at their pads or leaned over to their neighbors and compared roles.

  “As simple as the objective is, the operation itself will be the largest and most complex ever undertaken by any human military organization. The human race has never attacked a fortified system. As we saw on Rift, even when surprised, defenders can repel such an attack. We will not be stopped. Sui-Ren is too important to the Confederation. The Sui-Ren system sits at the entrance to the only wormhole to Ceti. By occupying Sui-Ren, the Xotoli are attempting to cut us off from ever recapturing Ceti and the other Confederation systems in that quadrant. So we will take this system no matter the costs. We will fight to the last man if necessary.”

  Ririsa waited as her words were absorbed by the men and women in the room.

  “I think we can expect the Xotoli not to give this system up without a fight. I think we can expect naval engagements as well as stiff resistance o
n the planets. This will not be a quick battle. We will invade and hold this system. It will become part of the Confederation.”

  Ririsa touched the podium, and a holo of the Sui-Ren system was displayed.

  “The Sui-Ren system is a binary system. Sui is the roughly the same size and a quarter of the luminosity of Sol. Ren is a red dwarf, about one-third the size of Sol and less than a tenth of its luminosity. The only planet in the habitable zone is Chika. It is approximately the size of Earth, with approximately the same gravity. But it is much older than Earth and very dry. For those of you who study your planetary history, think of Mars before terraforming. The atmosphere is thin but breathable. The troops on the surface will need to carry additional life-support systems for the amount of work they will be doing. Chika has a few plants but no known animals. It’s just a big, rocky desert planet. The Xotoli have begun construction of a spaceport. They have not yet completely fortified the planet but are in the process of doing so. Intelligence thinks that we have caught them early enough in the fortification process for an invasion to succeed. They do have a significant number of troops and construction workers on the planet, so there will be resistance to the landing. They are in the final stages of construction of the port here.”

  Ririsa pointed to a location on Chika.

  “They are in the beginning stages of constructing a harbor in a geosynchronous orbit over the port as of our last drone flyby. If they finish that harbor and port, they will be able to move large numbers of troops and the equipment needed to fortify the planet rapidly. Our mission is to stop them, take the port, and establish our own harbor.”

  Ririsa paused as the various captains, admirals, and generals studied their pads with their individual unit and ship assignments in the operation.

  “The next structure out from Chika is the asteroid belt. The planetary guys tell us they think it was an Earthlike planet that met a catastrophic end. The Xotolis have a number of sensor stations scattered throughout the belt. We will destroy them on our way to Chika. Then comes a frozen rock of a planet that the planners have named Whiskey. It is a frozen rocky planet two and half AU’s from Sui-Ren with a large moon. Its gravity is slightly stronger than Earth’s and its year is about four of Earth’s. Next comes Tango. It is another rocky ice planet, approximately five AUs from Sui-Ren. It too has gravity that is approximately the same as Earth’s. Finally, we have Foxtrot, the last planet in the system. It is approximately nine AUs from Sui-Ren. Its gravity is approximately half of Earth’s. It has five small moons and two large ones.”

  “Admiral, you do know that the planners have named the three planets with the initials of WTF.”

  “Yes, I do. When they came to me with the plans, they thought it was funny. They had other code names, but I made them live with WTF, so feel free to give my planners as hard a time as you want. You have my permission.”

  Ririsa spun the holo around so Chika was closest to the audience. She pointed to a location on the surface and spread her fingers. The holo zoomed in to the planet. You could see the crater-covered surface and large mountains with deep valleys in-between. She reached out and touched a point on the planet, and an overhead view of the spaceport under construction expanded.

  “Now, General Sand will give you a brief overview of the invasion plans.”

  Dasan stood and walked up to the holo. He pointed to the spaceport.

  “This is our prime objective. Without it, we would lose too much time constructing this very same facility. It would give the Xotoli a chance to react to our invasion. So the Raiders will be dropped on the spaceport itself, while the rest of the infantry will be landed in this plain to the south of the spaceport in Landing Zones Sol and Rift. The Raiders will have to capture the spaceport and hold it until relieved. Our first and primary objective will be to relieve the Raiders before the Xotoli can react to the invasion. Once we have secured the spaceport, our Von Fleet friends will begin using what the Xotoli left and modifying it for our purposes. Once we have cleared the area around the spaceport, they will build a forward operating base using the crater between Sol and Rift Landing Zones.”

  A hand went up. “General, I thought you said that it was almost finished. Couldn’t we just use what they've already constructed?”

  “Yes, and that is what we hope to do, but there will be a preliminary bombardment of the spaceport and the plains by our Navy friends. We don't anticipate that and the fight for the port itself will destroy or damage it significantly. That is why we are dropping the Raiders onto the port, we hope to make the fight a primarily infantry battle and thereby minimizing the damage. In order to supply us on planet, the Navy will place a mobile off-planet base in orbit over the spaceport until we can build our own harbor. The MOPB can accept the Von Fleet container ships and provide the supplies we will need until the harbor is finished.

  “Now, while that is a rough overview of what we ground pounders hope to accomplish, it gives you enough information to put in perspective the roles you will play. We will be totally dependent on you. Without the Navy controlling the space around Chika and the rest of the system, the Xotoli could simply blast us into dust and send in their hybrids.” Dasan smiled before he said, “Don’t leave without us.”

  “General, what about the Xotoli using nukes on the surface?”

  “Good question. They could have used nukes on Rift and Ceti but chose not to because they want the planets’ infrastructure in reasonable shape. So we are not expecting them to use them.”

  “But, General, what if you do kick them off Chika? They could just cover the surface with nukes as they left.”

  Sand glanced over at Admiral Grogan.

  “That, ladies and gentlemen, is our job. We'll control the space in and around Chika to prevent exactly that type of scenario. So as you can see, we are all up against it. My suggestion would be for us to make sure that does not happen. I would hate to have a bunch of Marines pissed at me.”

  Everyone chuckled, and Ririsa stepped back up to the podium.

  “We will establish a Ball of Twine series of orbits around Chika. The ships will be in support of the Marines on the ground and looking for targets of opportunity. The closest in will be destroyers. Next will come the cruisers, which can also provide limited naval fire support. And finally we will have battleships whose sole responsibility will be to defend the space around Chika. The rest of the fleet will be patrolling the system.” Ririsa pulled up another holo of the system showing the relative positions of the planets.

  “As you can see, Whiskey is in the closest proximity to Chika. Tango is halfway around Sui-Ren, and Foxtrot is on the opposite side of the sun at this time. The general was not exaggerating. The Marines will be dependent on our controlling the system. It is my feeling that the Xotoli know about invading systems and they will try to prevent us from controlling the space in this system without naval engagement. There is a good chance that the Navy will have as many battles as our friends on the planet. Any more questions?”

  No one said a word. The admiral’s assessment was sinking into these captains. They were facing as tough a fight as the Marines.

  “You will now break up into your assigned task groups for detailed briefings on your precise roles in this operation.”

  “Excuse me, Admiral. What is the name of the operation?”

  “Its code name is Wayfinder. Starting at 0000 hours we will go on Chika time. This will give us all a chance to reset our activities to coincide with those of the troops on the planet. Now let’s get to work.”

  Lyten System

  Von Fleet Troopship VF 11213

  135th Penal Battalion

  3rd Company

  First Platoon

  Striker led the platoon out of the assembly compartment into another compartment. One wall was covered with a long line of what looked like booths. Each one had a replica of a rail rifle sitting on a shelf. Facing the booths was a crude visual of a desert. Dieter had better visuals on his game console back at home.


  “All right. Line up by squads facing the simulators,” Striker ordered.

  Dieter led the first squad to the first row of booths. The second and third squads formed up behind. Another sergeant walked up to Striker. He had a pad in his hand.

  “Who do you have, Striker?”

  “Third Company. First platoon.”

  The new sergeant stepped in front of the platoon. “Listen up, conscripts. This is the rifle range. You will be tested on your marksmanship. It will determine what kind of Von Fleet occupational specialty you will receive. If you are anything like the last platoon, you will be assigned to the permanent labor detail. Now, first squad you will step forward and pick up the rifle in your booth. The rifle is set to have the same number of rounds you will have in your weapon when it's issued. You will wait until I give the command before you touch your weapon. Anyone not following instructions will be punished. Any questions?”

  No one had any questions. Striker stood to one side, his arms folded across his massive chest, his tough face impassive.

  “All right. First squad forward.”

  Dieter and the other men and women in the first squad stepped forward. Each stepped into a booth and stood waiting for the command to pick up the rifle. It was the same type of rifle they had trained on in boot camp. He felt very comfortable with it. The simulated scene in front of him had silhouettes at varying distances, from a hundred yards to what appeared in the video desert to be five hundred yards.

  “When I give the command, you attempt to hit the targets you see in front of you. You must strike all the targets to qualify as infantry. These are not smart rounds. You must be able to sight the weapon and fire it properly if you are going to hit any of the targets. You will be timed. The quicker you knock down all the targets, the higher your qualification. You will put your weapon down once you have knocked all of the silhouettes down. Any questions?”