I rolled my eyes when I heard the last of his words. How different our cultures were but how equally we recognized Winters to be useless.
“Very well, sir. I will do as promised.”
“You better do. Fail me not, Richard Stavos, as an Eres does not forgive.”
The line was cut just then and I felt an immense wave of relief flood my system. He had agreed to my proposal! Well, all I had to do now was to make good on my promise.
“What did he say?” Layla asked as we finished the conversation, but I was still coming to my senses. When you spoke to a 200-year-old general of the Eres race, you felt like you’ve been talked down to by your dad, teacher, trainer, master, policeman, and your grandfather at the same time.
“To light some fire under the Aloi asses,” I replied with a grin as I caught myself. This was my day, my time to shine and get ahead in this forsaken hellhole.
“Hah! Let’s bash some heads in!” Layla laughed as she tapped her hammer.
“Right, right,” I chuckled as Leo rolled his eyes.
“You indulge her too much, Sarge. She’s becoming more feral by the minute.”
Layla slapped Leo on the head again and then kissed his cheek.
“See? That’s the only answer she has to anything I say,” he muttered.
“Oh? I didn’t know you two had grown so close,” I teased.
“No, we haven’t!” she protested and pushed him away. “That was a spur of the moment thing!”
“Now, now,” Ginsk laughed. “You two are adults so whatever happens when you’re alone… you know?”
“Sergeant!” Layla cried as her cheeks flushed red. “Come on, already!”
I just winked and tapped the back of her head lightly.
“Come on, dove. Let’s get in some target practice.”
20
“Now?” Ginsk asked as he knelt behind cover to my right.
“Wait for it,” I replied with a whisper. “We need to be completely certain before we go in.”
The sounds of war that echoed through the mine grew louder by the minute. Qualt’s Second Army was making headway at the western gate and it looked like he was using all his forces to storm the walls in a reckless frontal attack. Detonations, gunfire, and screams filled the air.
“How long do we wait, Stavos?” Ginsk was impatient.
He had to wait. We couldn’t reveal our position too soon or the Aloi army would never defend at the drill.
“They count on the Pavlov Guns to attack Qualt’s Army. If the guns are compromised, the Aloi army won’t be coming this way.”
“If we wait too long, the Pavlov Guns will kill the Eres!”
“I know that, Ginsk!”
He was anxious, and I partially regretted bringing him with but—yeah, it was something you’d have to get used to. Unless you were much higher in rank, people didn’t quite trust your ability to make decisions, even less big plans.
Every single one of the seventy-eight specialists was hiding in cover just across the backside of the giant detrium drill. I didn’t even want Buzzard in the air in fear of being discovered so we’d have to play the waiting game. The Aloi knew something was coming up the moment Qualt left the safety of his perimeter and decided to attack the mine with everything he had. They still didn’t know what was going on and I didn’t want to give them a chance to find out before it was too late.
A blast of wind stirred up dust across the empty entrance, shaking the already shattered architecture of the Sardok Mine.
“The second shield layer is up!” Harper, the Farseer, informed me.
The Aloi had fired up the outer layer of shields on the detrium drill. This could only mean that Qualt was already pretty close.
“Get ready,” I sent over our INAS. “But keep your positions until the last moment.”
The sound we’d been waiting for finally boomed outside. It was a deep thundering sound laced with a hint of melody. I had no idea how it could feel so heavily oppressing and inspiring at the same time, but I felt both uplifted and weighed down at the same time.
“That’s the Eres battle horn,” Ginsk said as a smirk made its way up to his face. “Do we go now?”
“Do it!” I ordered. “Leo, four RSA bullets in a twenty-yard spread on these positions.”
Leo fired four bullets equipped for retrograde space analysis toward the spots I marked on the INAS. With an orchestra of war approaching the front part of the drill, the four bullet shots were barely audible. Leo was as precise as always, and the bullets jammed into different parts of the metallic structure at the back of the drill.
“There’s movement,” Leo said over our squad channel.
“Where?”
“The four-story construction adjacent to the mine.”
I stared through the nano-occulars where the main security hub for the Sardok Mine was. It was also the place where we could access the Pavlov Guns if everything went right. The building was well defended by Aloi forces and stationary defenses, so breaking in would be a very forceful endeavor.
“Sending in the live stream from the bullets over the INAS,” Leo said over the INAS so everyone could hear. The images streamed in and everyone in our platoon received the same picture. The bullets served as cameras and while Leo was fed the data directly into his brain, he could transfer the video to us as well, though with a lag. “You have the coordinates, Sergeant.”
“Good job, Leo. Now, it’s as expected. We have stationary turrets in front of us and several nests of Rainstroopers and Ravagers. They need to go before we can cross the distance to the building.”
“How do we proceed?” Ginsk asked.
“Don’t use heavy explosives ‘cause if we destroy the main security hub, we won’t be able to take control of the Pavlov Guns. Fire on my command.”
The sun was slowly setting, and the heat of the day gave way to a fresh breeze caressing my face. This was the moment of truth, either this would succeed or the death of thousands would be my cross to bear forever. For the briefest of moments, I wondered what the hell I was doing here. Before the thought could fully develop and bloom, I bit down on my lip and looked at the unsuspecting Aloi across the open space that separated the main building from our positions, and then back at the determined faces around me.
“Fire!”
Commandos and Gearlords opened a joint barrage on the strategic locations I marked on the INAS. I had six Commandos to my right, including Leo. I watched as the recoil of their rifles pushed the butt into their shoulders and the bullets flew, stirring up sand and dust from the ravaged buildings.
Across the opening, the four-story structure was plastered with bullets and precision artillery. The Gearlords couldn’t go all out, so their use within the mine was very limited. That’s why we had twenty-two Commandos with us and only eight Gearlords.
The Aloi static defenses started exploding left and right as hundreds of bullets penetrated their pekta-reinforced armor from all sides, mostly from behind. Tracer rounds showed me the final destination of where they were shooting at, but only several seconds later, the entire building was enveloped in smoke and dust.
“Stop shooting!” I ordered to assess the situation. It wouldn’t do to waste ammunition as we weren’t able to go gung-ho at will. The dust settled quickly as the wind blew heavily from outside. Once I could see, the first thing I noticed was that we had cleared out the turrets and a large group of Raintroopers and Ravagers on guard. The Aloi knew that we were coming and would do anything to defend the security hub.
“Let’s go, Stavos,” Ginsk urged me on. “This is what we were waiting for!”
I knew better than to follow him in there. The Aloi wouldn’t just let us cross the opening after we decimated their flank. No, the true enemy still had to reveal himself.
“Duskwalkers, report.”
Four Duskwalkers had infiltrated the structure in the meanwhile and it was their mission to cut communications from the security hub to the rest of the Aloi forces
. It was a nearly impossible task, I might add, but I was confident they’d manage it. We weren’t specialists for no reason, right?
“Kirgian reporting.” His voice cut through Ginsk’s bitching. “I’ve killed all live feed from the cameras surrounding the building during the attack. They don’t know what exactly happened other than that they lost contact. You should move.”
“Duskwalker 2, 3, and 4, come in. What can you tell me?”
“Duskwalker Adebisi here, sir. I jammed the comms, but it won’t last more than a minute or two. One more thing, sir, Duskwalker Metzger is dead.”
“And Jacobs?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
“Ok, sit tight. We’re coming.”
The Duskwalkers bought us some much-needed time before the Aloi reinforcements would arrive. I ordered most of the platoon forward while I left several Commandos, Gearlords, and two Farseers in the back to give us cover. Sporadic fire from the structure was easily mitigated with Warwalker War Shields or just plainly absorbed by the Brawlers in the front. We moved slowly and carefully but made sure to progress steadily as my anxiety rose with every step. The reinforcements were on their way, I knew it, and any second now they could pop up from all sides.
“Keep your heads up. Look for any signs of Aloi reinforcements. Farseers, are you seeing anything?”
“No major movement detected, sir. It seems the air is clear.”
“There’s nothing clear about this air,” Ginsk said sinisterly.
The old Warwalker knew as well as I did that shit was about to hit the fan in a major way. It was the waiting that tore at our nerves worse than the battle itself. Still, we arrived at the building unscathed and started to funnel in.
The platoon bunkered down in the building as well as they could without even needing orders. I had Commandos on windows, Gearlords, and Farseers on the roof, while Brawlers and Warwalkers patrolled the front entrance. I recalled the rest of the troops that gave us cover while we entered.
“Any movement?”
“None, sir,” one of the Farseers reported. I didn’t remember his name, but there were many present I never had any contact with prior.
“Do you have eyes on Qualt’s army?”
“Sir, Qualt’s forces are steadily making ground pushing the first Aloi army toward the mine. They’ll probably be in Pavlov Gun range within the hour. But sir, the second Aloi army is now climbing the walls; the general will soon be surrounded.”
“Keep your drones’ eyes peeled and report any movement.”
“Will do, sir.”
“Technomancers, on me,” I ordered as I stopped in front of the big elevator. Eighteen of us in total rode it down to the basement. The elevator was designed for races bigger than humans, as were most things in the Galaxy since we were quite small in comparison to the other species. Funny how it turned out that we were the little weird aliens.
The security hub of the Sardok Mine was one of the most sophisticated security networks out there. The main server room was the size of an underground tennis stadium. My heart sunk when I first laid my eyes on it. It was then that I realized that I might have overestimated myself and my Technomancers. The amount of work that was necessary to break through the firewalls would be immense. I shouldn’t have brought seventeen Technomancers, I should have brought fifty.
“We do this together. I’ll jack into the mainframe and use my nanites to break the primary pathway. I’ll need the rest of you to hack the smaller firewalls into manageable pieces that my main penetration program can chew through. Keep an eye on your cell count. If you run dry, get out and fight with the rest as you’ll be of no use here. If we hit it too quickly there’s a chance of the server going overdrive and shutting out all access. The Pavlov Guns won’t work for either side in that case.”
A detonation shook the basement walls. We flinched, hoping the ceiling wouldn’t break down and bury us along with the server.
“Harper, status report!”
“They’re coming, sir. They’re coming with a lot, there’s something big coming too. It looks like a whole building is moving. I’ve never seen anything like it—it’s…”
“Sergeant Stavos here,” I said over all channels, “Defend this building with your very lives. The Aloi mustn’t stop us now or we’re dead anyway! Give us some time and we can turn this battle around!” I turned to the Technomancers around me next. “Out there, your squadmates are giving their lives, in here, you’re giving them a chance to survive. Let’s get to it!”
I jacked into the mainframe and spent 3% nanites to open the first few doors toward accessing the more delicate options of the security network. I could immediately feel the rest of the Technomancers had plugged in as well. I sensed their presence in the network through the nanites they slipped into the system.
HACKING PAVLOV GUNS: 1%
I kept my focus on the process where it was required. I could break the layers of code necessary to control the Pavlov Guns within seconds or within hours, depending on the speed of the rest of the Technomancers. Figuratively speaking, I walked down a road while they removed obstacles. The walk itself wasn’t too hard but it required me to constantly shift and balance the nanites within the system. A task that didn’t require smarts as much as a feeling.
“Leo, what’s the situation outside?” I asked in between moving deeper into the server.
“A lot of them, Sarge. A fucking lot of them! I haven’t removed my finger from the trigger since you entered that basement!”
“Will you be able to handle it? Can you protect us?”
“Of course, Sarge. You know me, Boss, ten shots amount to ten kills.”
I appreciated Leo’s enthusiasm, but I realized I wasn’t getting much real info.
“Ginsk, what’s the situation? Who are the enemies?”
“A bloody Tetrarch is at our door, Stavos. Can’t talk.”
“A Tetrarch? Are you sure it’s—”
Ginsk wasn’t listening to me anymore, I realized. Damn it! A Tetrarch could spell disaster at this point. Only a few soldiers had ever witnessed such a devastating war machine. I had to be confident in Skull Company and continue the hacking process or anyone who lost their lives until now would be on me.
HACKING PAVLOV GUNS: 6%
The eighteen of us were a force to be reckoned with no matter how you looked at it. Several thousands’ worth of nanite cells were located inside the room and would soon swim through the Aloi security system. It was going pretty well, although even at 6%, I noticed some Technomancers struggling with their nanite control, especially those below Tier 3.
Hacking Aloi systems was strenuous work that required incredible finesse and, coupled with an ongoing war just outside of the walls where we were busy working, brought a headache even to the best of us.
A harrowing sound reached us down in the basement. It was like a dying animal in its last breaths of agony. The sound sent shivers down all our spines and made me even try harder.
“Sarge, what the hell was that?” Neumann asked.
“The song of death,” Birch answered.
“Godsong, they call it. It drives people mad, lowers their focus and strength. That’s the Tetrarch’s doing.”
“There’s a Tetrarch outside?” Neuman almost yelled. All the Technomancers in the basement turned around and looked at me.
“Yes, there’s a damn Tetrarch outside and Skull Company will wipe the floor with it! Now focus!”
Even I didn’t really believe we would wipe the floor with the Tetrarch. A Tetrarch was a humongous beast. They used experienced Ravagers that managed to somehow survive years of suicidal tactics and bioengineered or evolved them, if you would, into Tetrarchs. They had knowledge, experience, and most importantly, the firepower on their side. I just hoped Layla wouldn’t see it as a challenge and do something stupid.
HACKING PAVLOV GUNS: 11%
I focused back on the task at hand as the building above us shook with numerous explosions. The Aloi, I assumed
, wouldn’t be stupid enough to bury their own security hub beneath a heap of rubble, but the structural integrity was definitely chipped and one misguided explosion or two could spell doom for all of us. Then came another call.
“Sergeant Richard Stavos of the human forces,” the voice said. I recognized it like no one else but the majestically grand General Qualt. “The Aloi army is in flight before the great Eres Second Army,” he said and seemed to wait for—I had no idea what.
“Good, General. You’re every bit as brave and victorious as the stories go,” I finally said to break the silence.
“Yes, I am. The Aloi army will be in position within minutes from what I can see. They are setting up defenses beneath the Pavlov Guns as we speak while my army is just out of firing range. How long do we wait, Richard Stavos? Keep in mind, we have another Aloi army at our back.”
I tried to calculate how much time it would take but there was no way of being sure. I couldn’t give Qualt a half-assed answer, so I made a full-assed one up.
“About twenty minutes, General, and the guns are ours if the Tetrarch overhead doesn’t take care of us.”
“Very good, Richard Stavos. We’ll be prepared, and make sure it doesn’t kill you. I do not wish to see my people die for nothing.”
I cut the connection with Qualt and took in a deep breath. His people. It was only logical that he didn’t care about us, but whatever. It was what it was.
I turned to my Technomancer team and spoke. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have twenty minutes to do this.”
An immediate uproar was their response but I shut their bitching, pleading, and protesting out. I’d be far more afraid of Qualt’s anger than any Tetrarch in existence.
HACKING PAVLOV GUNS: 17%
“We can do it and we will do it!” I snapped. “Use another round of cells instead and give me your all!”
“Another round? Sir, I’m already approaching 50% O-Nan cells as is!” Private Fridrich, who sat across from me, said.
Starblood: A Military Space Opera Series (War Undying Book 1) Page 26