by Rod Carstens
Fenes could think of other things to call what had just happened. He would have said something, but his mouth was too dry with fear.
Sui-Ren System
Chika
Naval Special Warfare Squadron
Mike Boat 79
“Okay, hero. We rescued these guys, now what do we do with them? We can’t take them back to one of the LZs. They're not secure,” Odaka said.
Zenes Lee looked over at his copilot. He had a point. They didn’t know who was in their troop compartment. Lee switched to the loudspeaker and said, “Will the person in charge plug in to the ship’s intercom? It’s on the cockpit bulkhead.”
It was a few seconds before a voice said, “This is Staff Sergeant Striker. You guys saved our asses. We owe you a big one.”
“Roger that, Striker. I am Chief Petty Officer Lee, the pilot of this bus. Who are you guys?”
“We are the first platoon of the 3rd Company of the 135th Penal Battalion.”
“All I can say is you were the only guys fighting out there. The three LZs are pinned down. We can’t take you back to the Von Fleet LZ. So give me a few minutes to figure out what to do with you guys.”
Odaka looked over at him. “Penal battalion?” he said.
“Yeah, so? Are you forgetting the Legion and how many of them were given a Legion tour or jail? So fuck that. The real question is what do we do with them.”
“We can’t make any more gun runs with them in the back. So until we find a home for our lost souls, we are out of the fight,” Odaka said.
“Let me think.”
“You just talked about the answer,” Toland chimed in.
“What are you talking about?” Lee snapped. The last thing he needed was another smart remark from Toland.
“What unit is all former Legionnaires and could care less if these guys are from a penal battalion?”
Odaka turned his head and looked at Lee. “The Raiders.”
“And where are the Raiders?” Toland said.
“The spaceport,” Odaka said.
Toland was right. The Raiders didn’t care who you were or where you came from, only that you fought. These guys in the back had just proved they could do that, and the spaceport was the most secure of the other LZs. They could drop them off and be back in the fight in no time.
It was the ideal solution, but how did he coordinate the drop-off with the Raiders? They had the habit of shooting first and sorting things out later. It came with the territory. So who did he contact to make that decision?
When in danger, when in doubt, call to the top—the person in charge.
“Dragon One to Raider Actual,” Lee said.
There was a long pause before a voice came up.
“This is Raider Actual, go.”
Lee looked over at Odaka. That was not the colonel’s voice. He knew they had lost a lot of officers—they must be reaching way down the chain of command, because he didn’t recognize the voice at all.
“Raider, we just picked up a platoon that was stuck out on a limb, and none of the other LZs are secure. We’re looking for a home for our friends,” Lee explained.
“Dragon One, if you think the spaceport is secure, you’ve got another think coming.”
“Roger that. But believe it or not, you’re the most secure spot.”
“Dragon One, I don’t need a platoon that I have to babysit. I need fighters up here. Can they fight?”
“Raider Actual, that is affirmative. We pulled them out of a Custer’s-last-stand situation. Ask a couple hundred dead hybrids if they can fight.”
“Okay, then I could use the reinforcements. Stand by one and I will find a home for your cargo.”
Lee banked the ship and headed for the spaceport. It was a minute before Raider Actual came back up.
“Roger, Dragon One. I want you to drop them off at the administration building. That is on the east side of the building on runway seven right. Your landmark is the control tower. Drop them off at the building at its base.”
“Roger, Raider. Administration building east side on runway seven right.”
“Check. Advise your load that they should come off as a combat assault. We are still in the middle of clearing the place, but it is the most secure.”
“Roger. We are inbound to your position. Five minutes. Make sure your people know we're friendlies.”
“Check. Raider Actual out.”
Lee changed back to the intercom. “You still there, Striker?”
“Yep. Where was I going to go?”
“Okay, here’s the deal. We are going to take you to the spaceport and the Raiders. They have been informed and are ready for you. Get your people ready for a combat exit. I’m going to drop you in front of the building they have designated as your position.”
There was silence on the other end for some time before Striker came back up on the comm. “Sorry, I was passing on the info so we could get a head start. You know who I should report to?”
“Negative. The Raiders should have somebody there to meet you.”
“Thanks again there, Lee. If I live through this, me and the rest of the platoon intend to get you guys as drunk and fucked up as you could possibly want.”
“Sounds like a plan, Striker. Two minutes. Good luck.”
“Roger, two minutes. Thanks for the ride.”
Lee switched to a private line intra ship line. “Toland, how do they look?”
“Like they got their shit together. They are ready for the off-load already.”
“Roger that. One minute.”
Lee banked the ship and approached the spaceport. There was fighting going on almost everywhere he looked. He could see the red and green hybrid laser and plasma streaks as well as the outgoing red tracers of the Raiders. He would come in from the west, fly over the administration building, and set down so when the ramp dropped all they had to do was run straight into the building.
“We’re on our final,” Lee said.
“Roger. We’re taking ground fire but so far nothing serious.”
“Can you return fire?” Lee asked.
“Negative. Things are too mixed up down there. I can’t return fire.”
“Tell them thirty seconds, Toland.”
“Check, Chief. Thirty seconds.”
Lee weaved around the control tower and rotated the engines, pulling the ship to a hover just on the east side of the administration building. He set the ship down.
“Ramp down,” Odaka said when he had lowered the ramp.
Sitting on the ground was not Lee’s favorite thing to do. They tended to draw fire, so he sat there staring off across the runway at green and red streaks heading their way. The hybrids had already spotted their ship. It was kind of hard to miss. When the rounds or plasma bolts struck the ship, they bounced off in a shower of sparks. The Mike boat was designed to take much heavier fire, and this ground fire wasn’t going to harm a thing, but Lee worried that if they stayed on the ground too long they would eventually draw fire heavy enough to damage the ship. He wanted to get out of there.
“They're gone. Let’s make our hat,” Toland said.
Relieved, Lee rotated the engines and pushed the throttles forward. They roared across the runways only a few feet above the surface before he gained altitude and flew off to the east, where there was nothing but bad-guy targets.
“Firing,” Odaka said as he found targets to their front.
Lee could hear Toland’s mini howling from the back. He had himself one fine crew.
135th Penal Battalion
3rd Company
First Platoon
Striker was the first down the ramp with Fenes following close behind. Fenes’s head was still spinning. It had only been minutes ago he had thought he was about to die. Now, after what seemed like a very short ride, he was heading into a fight with the Marine Raiders. The Raiders were the toughest of the tough. They had all heard of them, but he had never expected to be fighting with them. After all he was just a con
script in a penal battalion.
None of that mattered now because he was running toward a building that looked like it had seen a lot fighting going on around it. There were several hybrid bodies scattered on the ground between him and the building. Some were in armor, and those that weren’t were in pieces. He ran, jumping over the bodies and body parts, all the while watching for a sign from the building that would tell him where to go.
A door flew open and an armored hand waved them in. When Fenes reached the building he threw himself against the wall and covered the rest of the platoon as they ran into the building. When he looked to his left, he saw Striker on the other side of the door. Ardan and Minga were just inside with their weapons pointed out, covering the platoon.
When the last man in the platoon ran through the door, Fenes turned and moved into the room. Striker came in last. Somebody slammed the door and they were in the building. He turned to see who had closed the door and was faced with a room full of Marine Raiders. Looking at them through the green-and-black night-vision filter on his heads-up, he saw they were more than imposing in their state-of-the-art armor. They looked like muscled-up robots. Their armor was composed of large muscle-shaped servos that roped around their bodies. Their chests and stomachs were covered with strips of extra armor that made them look like they had huge chests and six-pack abs. They carried their weapons as if they were an extension of their bodies. Their helmets had no faceplates. Fenes had seen videos of course, but the impact in person was staggering. He was just glad they were on his side.
“Well, what have we got here? Who’s in charge?” a female voice said.
“I am,” Striker said. “Staff Sergeant Striker, Von Fleet military. This is the first platoon, 3rd Company of the 135th Penal Battalion.”
“Penal battalion?”
“Yeah.”
“How did you get this detail?”
“I volunteered. Now who am I speaking to?”
“Sergeant Mala Nani. First platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Raiders.”
“You mean Acting Lieutenant Nani, don’t you?”
“Shut up, Hu. The chain of command has been pretty much fucked. So I’m the platoon commander until we can sort things out.”
“Okay, Lieutenant. Where do you want us? This is a good platoon. They can fight,” Striker said.
“I’ll be the judge of that. We don’t trust anybody until we have seen them fight ourselves,” Nani said.
Fenes couldn’t wait any longer. He stepped forward and said, “The drill instructors for our platoon told us to tell the first Marines we saw that we had Legionnaire DIs and they put us through what was essentially Legion selection.”
There was a pause as all of the Raiders turned to look at Fenes. “Really. A nice story there, cowboy, but give me some names," Nani said. "The men and women in this room will know if you’re bullshitting us.”
“The senior was Ura, with Chucha and Mati as his assistants.”
Nothing was said for several moments.
“You’ve got to be shitting me. Mati. She was an old hand when I came to her unit. She mean as ever?” Nani said.
“She put two Von Fleet security types in sick bay without breaking a sweat. Broke arms and knees.”
Nani laughed. “What did they do?”
“They called her a little bitch,” Fenes answered.
“That’s funny, because the Mati I knew was a big girl,” Nani said.
“Wrong Mati then. Because this Mati, she was small.”
Nani laughed again. “Just a little test and you passed. I knew Mati well. We could use her here today.”
“You were testing me?” Fenes said.
“Of course. Don’t believe anything you hear and about half of what you see in the universe, and you’ll do a lot better. I’d like to hear the rest of the story, but we got work to do.”
Fenes realized he should have expected as much. The story was a lot to believe.
“Where do you want us?” Striker asked.
“First, I want you to dump those old rails and go in the next room. We got better weapons for you all. Grab a weapon and load up on ammo. If I know Mati and the others, they taught you how to shoot. After that I want to make sure our frequencies are set so we don’t have comm problems. I wish I could give you some new armor—yours is some of the first ever made. But the spares we have are full of holes.”
“First squad, grab some weapons,” Striker said, and Fenes led his squad into the next room. There were piles of weapons. He almost grabbed one of the .48s, but then he saw a sniper rifle. He was the best shot in the platoon and had always wanted to use one. He grabbed the rifle and ammo for it. He also grabbed the spotter’s equipment. He walked back into the other room and his squad followed him and gathered around. It was the first time since they'd been picked up he had had time to do a head count. He was down from eight to only five plus himself, an overgrown fire team. The rest of the squads were almost as bad. When they had finished, the three squads were standing with Fenes, Ardan, and Minga at their heads and Striker in front of them all.
“You three squad leaders?” Nani asked.
“Yes, Sergeant, acting squad leaders.”
“Who made the assignments?”
“Ura.”
“Anybody got a problem with that? Striker?”
“No, they're good squad leaders.”
“Lieutenant," Minga said. "I’ve only got three left in my squad. Why don’t I give them to Ardan and that will give you a full squad to work with and I’ll be Fenes’s spotter.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Minga walked over and stood next to Fenes. No one else said anything.
“Good. I’m going to use you to fill in some holes in my squads. I’ll leave Ardan as squad leader in charge of his squad. Fenes you picked a sniper rifle and we do not use them as squad or fire-team leaders, you will be on your own. Hu will place you in his sector and will take care of your squad until we see how you fight. Any problems with that?”
Fenes, Minga, and Ardan said nothing.
“Striker, now you’re an interesting problem. You been in long?”
“Thirty years. All of it in the infantry.”
“Good. Why don’t you stick with me for now until you understand how we do things?”
“Check.”
“Sergeant Hu, you’ve got first squad. You guys follow him. He’ll take you to your positions.”
Fenes, Minga, and the rest of his squad followed the big Raider out of the room and down a hall. Fenes noticed that Hu had a shovel on his leg instead of an axe.
“Say, Sergeant Hu, what’s with the shovel?”
“First, don’t call me Sergeant. Call me Hu or Shovel. That’s my nickname. I carry the shovel because my father taught me how to fight with it and I like it better than the axe.”
“Uh, okay.” Fenes hesitated then said, “Shovel.”
“You any good with that sniper rifle?” Hu asked.
“I shot expert and we did training on them during boot camp.”
“Good. I need a sniper in the platoon. I have just the place I want to put you.”
They followed the big Raider down a hall where the floor was covered with dead hybrids and a couple of Raider bodies. It was a grim reminder of how deep in the shit they were. If the Raiders were getting pounded, then it was hard for Fenes to imagine just how bad it was going to get.
1st Raider Battalion
Alpha Company
First Platoon
Hu led Fenes down past the Raiders already in positions in the building. He put Fenes’s remaining squad members in slots between Raiders, then led Fenes and Minga to a set of stairs that looked like it went up to the roof.
“First, turn around. I want to make sure your comm and combat networks are on the right frequencies.”
They each turned around so Hu could check them. Then he stepped in front of them and said, “You’re set. Okay, our responsibility is the east side of the administration building. To our l
eft is third platoon in the weapons shop the next building over, then past that the electronics shop and finally the repair shop. Third platoon scattered between the three buildings. To our right is the second platoon in Hangars One and Two. We've pretty much cleared these buildings, but the hybrids keep popping up so keep your head on a swivel. I’m going to give you the highest ground I have, since you’re our only sniper. There is another sniper team in the control tower, so beware of them. I want you to face east and cover first and second platoon’s front. That’s all the way down to the repair shop.”
“Roger. Rules of engagement?”
“Don’t shoot any Raider. Assume anything else that moves is a bad guy and kill it. Clear?”
“Yeah,” Fenes said. Minga nodded.
“Okay, here’s the deal. It’s getting close to sunrise and if the ’brids and Xotoli stick to their usual tactics, they will attack us soon. They have been coming from out east on the plain somewhere. We haven’t been able to find out where they’re coming from, but that’s where we expect them. It will be a frontal assault with more of them than you want to try and count.”
“Yeah, we saw that when they tried to rush the Von Fleet LZ.”
“Good, then you know what to expect. The only thing different here is that we have been seeing Xotoli mixed in with ’brids for the first time. You’ve seen the videos so you know what they look like. When they attack, I want you to concentrate on them. Our normal weapons hardly slow them down, but your fifty will take them out. Understand one round will not normally put them down, so put several in them. Any questions?”
“No, Shovel.”
“Nope.”
“Good. Now get up on the roof and find yourself a good hide and get your ranges set.”
“You’re not going to show us where you want us?” Fenes asked.
“Listen, I don’t have time to hold your hands. If Ura and the others trained you, then use it. I was FNG not that long ago, and there is no book for out here. You either learn or we send your family a report of how bravely you died.”
“Check.”
“Okay, I got to make my rounds. Now get up there before we have company.”