by E. G. Castle
The pirate chief had to wonder why.
“Tell me, general, why did you agree to all this?”
General Val’gor looked up from the display, as the symbol depicting the Kzarchian and Marine forces edged forward slightly to their target.
“Why? It’s simple enough: So that I can lead the planet.”
“…I don’t quite follow,” said Bloody Jack slowly, although he was beginning to get the picture.
“The United Federation has failed Kzarch, pirate. They barely sent any help whatsoever, at our time of need. Kzarch needs a new direction, and I shall provide it.”
“Ah.”
Warming to his subject, General Juan continued. “You see, if I waited for the Marine reinforcements, the people may well not realize how they actually failed us. But on the other hand, if I control the planet when they arrive, the people will support me. Then, I’ll be able to inform the Marines that Kzarch feels that it has no choice but to declare itself independent from the United Federation, due to its failure to protect us.” He gave a broad, if thin-lipped smile.
“They’ll have no other alternative but to leave. And then I’ll be able to declare myself as king of Kzarch, and begin rebuilding the planet, to my vision.”
“You know, even if Kzarch remained part of the United Federation, you could easily have been voted in as governor, based on your military leadership in time of war,” Bloody Jack pointed out mildly.
General Val’gor sneered.
“Hah! That would never suffice. Maybe, if I could convince the others of the First Family that I should be elected, I might become governor. But I doubt it. They certainly showed not the slightest interest in having me as one before, fobbing me off with the job of ‘Commander of Kzarch’s Military Forces’. Turns out that was their mistake.” The general grinned wolfishly.
“It was a pointless job before, but with the situation as it is now, I’ll be able to use it to seize power. And if they try to stop me…” The general made an expressive gesture across his throat.
“In any case, if the Marines get rid of you, there’s no way that they’d leave quickly. They’d stick around, and would be reinforced by officials from the United Federation, to ‘help’ Kzarch. There’s no way they would allow us to keep to our customary ways of doing things. Certainly, they won’t allow me to stay as governor for more than the limited nine years.”
Bloody Jack snorted mentally. Oh, yes, the ‘customary ways’! Utter corruption and abuse of power would be a far more accurate way of putting it.
But with all that the general had said, the pirate captain finally understood him, and why he was doing what he was.
As the general turned back to the display, Bloody Jack’s face flickered into toothy smile.
The general was a megalomaniac.
Oh, a mild case, so far, but quite definitely a megalomaniac. From his long career as a pirate and associations with them, Bloody Jack could recognize the signs more accurately than a trained psychologist.
It did rather explain why the general had been so easy to manipulate, if ‘manipulate’ was the right word for helping someone do what he wanted to do anyway. But that was the point, wasn’t it?
General Val’gor was predisposed to believe anything that would allow him to get or achieve what he wanted. Even if that meant trusting nasty, treacherous, backstabbing pirates. His reasons were obviously either delusional, justifications, hypocritical or just plain idiotic.
In short, an utter fool, Bloody Jack thought coldly, smugly, his face now a mask.
It hardly made a difference now, of course. Still, Bloody Jack rather found himself looking forward to things…
Bending to look at the display, as it let out a beep, Bloody Jack saw that the Kzarchians and Marines were finally in position.
He gave a nod to the pirate at the com.
“Send the order to attack.”
***
Frank wondered when the other shoe would drop.
They had just about reached their destination, and would be launching their attack within a minute.
But where the hell were the pirates?
Surely they had detected them by now…
“I really, really don’t like this…” he muttered to himself.
Glancing around, he waved at the Marine squad nearby, to move a bit to the right. They were almost ready…
Then a Marine’s voice blared over the com channels; Frank recognized it as one of the scout Marines.
“I’m detecting a force moving in on us! Six hundred or so strong!”
“I knew I didn’t like this!” the lieutenant groaned to himself, then snapped a channel open to the Colonel John’son, the other officers, and Platoon Sergeant McKain.
“Sir, I recommend we halt the mission, at least until we deal with the incoming force.”
“Of course!” the colonel snapped. “All officers, get your men ready for an attack to the left! Prepare to stagger fire!”
The entire force scrambled to reform, in order to protect its left flank.
“McKain, why are there so few of them?” Frank asked over a private channel.
“We expected them to act piecemeal, sir.” Despite his supposedly explanatory words, the sergeant’s tone was heavily dubious.
“Yeah, sure.” His tone would’ve been more sarcastic if the lieutenant hadn’t been too busy getting the units by him formed into a defensive line.
At that point, the first shots started coming in, a mixture of exbys, energy shots, and good ol’ fashioned bullets.
“Hold fire!” Colonel John’son cautioned. “Don’t waste your shots! We’re probably going to need every one of them! Wait until you can spot ‘em!”
Despite his order, the Marines began opening fire.
“What-”
“We can spot them with our sensors, sir.”
“Ah. Right. Everyone, keep an eye out for where the Marines are firing on! If you spot anything, open up.”
Frank was firing rapidly with both wegs, reserving his exby rifle and its limited amount of shots. Most of the other Marines were doing the same, although Kate and her heavy team, in the center of the formation, were only firing an occasional shot.
After almost two minutes, the pirate force finally came into view, meeting the volley of Kzarchian shots with a barrage of their own. People fell on both sides, but the better prepared and settled Kzarchians were taking a heavier toll on the pirates than the pirates were of them.
Inevitably, the pirates broke.
Targeting the last few ones, Frank managed to bring another one down, and hit two more, before a com channel interrupted.
“Sir!”
“Javer?”
“There’s another two groups coming in, one from the right, and one from the compound! They’re both about five hundred strong!”
“I knew I really didn’t like this.” Then, upon opening his com channel to the colonel, “Sir, I suggest we retreat immediately.”
“Retreat? Why are you sugg-”
Filling him in, Frank took another shot at a pirate attempting to sneak closer. The ever-cautious colonel had no trouble making his decision.
“You’re right. We need to get out of here immediately.”
The colonel opened the ‘all units’ channel.
“Everyone, prepare to retreat! Officers, organize your units. We’re leaving in thirty seconds, so move it!”
Thirty seconds wasn’t much, but everyone had had plenty of experience in retreating by now, and all knew the situation was serious.
“Lieutenant, get your heavy squad to provide cover.”
“Yessir. Kate, hit any large group!”
“Yes, sir! Let’s get ‘em, boys!”
SIAMs began launching irregularly, a heavy squad member firing whenever he managed to locate a target group that was sufficiently dense.
***
“They’re retreating.” Bloody Jack sounded mildly reproving.
“What’d you expect ‘em to do
?” the general grunted back.
“Honestly, I expected them to have retreated earlier,” the pirate said with a shrug. “At any rate, my forces aren’t getting the job done. The first one was supposed to have held the Marines and your forces’ attention until the other groups made contact. Ah, well. Can’t say I’m surprised.”
“Are you going to send in your other gunboats yet?”
“Hmm… No. I want them, or at least their heavy squad, thoroughly distracted before they get called in. Otherwise they probably won’t be able to accomplish much. Too much covering fire.”
“Mmph.” the general agreed.
Eying the display, General Val’gor added, “Your other forces better start moving soon. Or there’ll be a large enough gap for them to escape.”
Bloody Jack raised his eyebrows.
“Trust me. My people know what they’re doing. And if they mess up, I’ll shoot them. Fear of death always makes a good motivator.”
“True.”
They both watched the display.
***
The entire force was beating a fighting retreat, often resorting to a backwards leapfrogging. Despite their best efforts though, all three pirate groups were keeping pace. Although they were now mostly staying out of combat range, they remained near enough to cause regular problems.
“Sergeant Javer, are your scouts seeing anything?” Despite how bad the situation was, Frank was sure it was going to get worse.
“Not yet, sir,” came back the calm voice of the s-squad leader. “But I think we’re going to find something soon.”
Lieutenant Harsmith grunted, and fired at a sensor reading. Changing the channel, he called on his platoon sergeant.
“McKain? What’re you thinkin’?
“Really not liking this, sir. They gotta have other forces around here somewhere. And considering the way they herding us…”
“Maybe, but it’s not like we have much other choice. Unless you can think of away to break through…?”
“If we use the heavy squad to blast a way through… No. Probably wouldn’t work, and we can’t afford to use up too many missiles. Especially since their gunboats haven’t shown up.”
“And speaking of which, where are they?”
***
“Have them send in the poke group and the blocking force.”
“Yes, cap’n. Sending the message now…”
***
“Sir, we’re seeing another pirate group! Three hundred, to the high right!”
“Three hundred? That’s it?” frowned Frank.
“All units, bear down forward right!” Colonel Johnson ordered over the channel, his voice managing to mostly mask his worry.
“Move, move, move!” one of the Marines chanted near-breathlessly over the channel. Frank had to agree to the sentiment.
“Keep the com clear!” snapped a sergeant.
“Got one!”
“I’m seeing a group over on the back left.”
“They’ve got some heavy weaponry on the right. Kate, can you take ‘em?” Sergeant Abe asked.
“On it.” A missile hit the spot indicated, then another two when the first one hit a shield. Overlapping explosions shredded right through the shield, causing another series of somewhat smaller explosions, as the pirate’s missiles blew up.
“They’re down.”
“Incoming in the rear!”
“Left side is closing in- All units on the left, suppressing fire!”
Not letting the chatter overwhelm him, Frank tried to keep up with what was going on. It wasn’t going well, but so far they were holding their own.
“There’s a major force up ahead! Reading over a thousand!” a Marine suddenly reported in.
“A thous- Shit! I knew I didn’t like this!”
***
“And now, the trap’s jaws begin to close.”
“Hm.” the general agreed noncommittally.
“Gunboats are to be launched now,” Bloody Jack ordered. “Suppression flights only; we don’t want to lose too many of them. Ships are to begin firing ten seconds before the gunboats begin their strikes. Sealing force should start moving as soon as the gunboats finish their first attack. Tell them to move it!”
“Sending now, captain!”
“Good.”
“What if they try breaking out past your ‘poking’ force?” the general asked, studying the map display intently, it showing a red group nearly surrounded by blue ones. But the blue line was thinner in one or two spots.
“They won’t have much chance to try. Besides, they’re about to get hammered from all sides. Even if they manage to somehow break out, they’ll be badly damaged. And once the rest of my forces catch them…”
***
“We’re surrounded.” The platoon sergeants always dour tone had achieved a degree of moroseness his commander would’ve sworn was impossible.
“I know that, McKain! How do we get out of here?!”
“I’m still thinking, sir. But our best bet is to attack were they’re weakest, and try to break through.”
“Well, obviously,” said Frank sarcastically. But he didn’t have any other plan.
Activating the officers’ com channel, he said, “Colonel Johnson, we need to get out of here. McKain and I suggest we hit the small group to the upper right. Maybe we can punch thorough.”
“Maybe, but if-” The colonel’s voice suddenly cut off.
“What happened?” the lieutenant demanded.
“The colonel’s been hit! Upper chest, exby bullet… He’s gone!”
“Damn! Colonel Firgos, we-” Frank began, before being interrupted.
“MISSILES INCOMING!”
“All Marines to point defense!” Lieutenant Harsmith immediately ordered, opening the platoon’s channel. “Where the hell are they coming from?! Kate, find out and take whoever-it-is down! Now!”
The missiles, in fact, were coming from the pirates’ three spaceships. All three had been parked near the governor’s mansion on an airfield below a cliff. While they weren’t very useful for ground combat, they could add some artillery support by using their missiles, especially if they could do so while staying away from the enemy. And that was exactly what they were doing.
Seventeen missiles roared at the group every five seconds.
“Get ‘em down! Shoot ‘em!” Frank ordered frantically, taking several shots himself. Missile after missile was blown away, but along with the second wave came the nasty surprise they had been expecting ever since the ambush had begun.
Gunboats.
Four of the pirates’ remaining six came roaring in on high speed passes, one still in the repair shop, and the other being used by Bloody Jack. Four was quite bad enough as far as Frank was concerned, however.
“Oh, shit. Kate, forget the missiles! Take the gunboats!” The heavy squad leader was already changing her targeting.
This is going to be bad…
It was. The combination of attacks from all sides, missiles from a hidden source and additional ones from the gunboats, as well as their ee-cees, smashed into the combined Kzarchian and Marine group.
The results were devastating.
Over a hundred-twenty Kzarchians were simply wiped out, and a hundred more injured. Five precious, irreplaceable Marines were killed. And despite their best efforts, h-squad wasn’t able to bring down a single gunboat.
When the gunboats’ pass was over, there was a moment of comparative calm. But Frank knew it wouldn’t last long. And that they were currently at a standstill. They needed to move.
“Colonel Firgos!”
“He’s dead! Hit by a missile.”
“Colonel Ru’st is badly hurt!”
Frantically, Frank tried to contact the two other colonels, but one was missing, whereabouts unknown, and the other had been knocked unconscious.
Their time was almost up, and the lieutenant knew that the force was about to break. They needed clear direction, now.
“EVERYONE!”
the lieutenant bellowed, using the full force of his suit’s loudspeaker. “TO THE UPPER RIGHT! WE’RE GOING TO CHARGE AND SMASH THROUGH ‘EM! REGULAR MARINES, UP FRONT! Sergeant Kate, make a hole on my order!”
“YESSIR!”
“YOU HEARD THE LIEUTENANT!” Sergeant McKain hollered, “EVERYONE, CHARGE!”
The gunboats were already beginning their next strike-run, and the missiles were still coming in, not to mention the tremendous weight of firepower the ground infantry was bringing to bear.
But despite all that, the Kzarchians and Marines charged with a will.
“FIRE TO THE FRONT! LET’S KEEP THEIR HEADS DOWN!” A large amount of bullets and energy blasts followed the lieutenant’s order. Then the gunboats were on them. Better prepared this time, the Kzarchians and Marines did their best to hammer them as they ran their strikes.
Another hundred or so Kzarchians were killed or wounded, leaving the entire force at only about three hundred fifty Kzarchians, and twenty-nine Marines.
Then the gunboats were past, and the charge met the pirate force.
“KATE, NOW-!” Seven missiles speared out, and quite literally blew a hole right through the center of the pirate group. Then the Marines were in the corridor, firing at every pirate in range. Considering how many of them there were, they had plenty of targets.
Whoever was commanding the group had obviously survived, and was well aware of the importance of keeping the Kzarchians and Marines from getting through. The pirates, instead of running, tried to close back up together to seal the hole.
But the Marines weren’t having any of that.
Despite the heavy fire they were taking, the Marines held the corridor open, until every Kzarchian still on his feet was through and the pirate force around them thoroughly broken. But at a cost. When they disengaged, they left the bodies of three dead Marines behind them and another fifty Kzarchians.
They had broken free of the trap… for the moment.
***