by Sam Schall
Damn them.
She pushed away from the wall where she’d been leaning, listening to reports from the techs as they nursed the defense comps until the reprogramming had been accepted. Now they needed to hold out until O’Malley could get them air support. But that wouldn’t be any time soon. He needed to deal with the enemy ships attacking the taskforce. That meant she and the rest of the Warlords had to hold out. More than that, they had to hold the groundside defense installations. The taskforce would be decimated should the enemy manage to retake them.
“Heavy armor and artillery, you’re with Snapper. Do not let them get a bead on the building. Bird, Falcon, Eagle, I want all our eyes in the sky active. If we don’t hold this position, the taskforce is lost. Reaper, get snipers into position. Then get teams together to reinforce all entries. Stand ready. We will not let them retake this facility.
“Comms, message to the other company commanders. New orders. Groundside defense installations are to be held at all costs. I repeat, at all costs. If the enemy cannot be held off until reinforcements arrive, the installations are to be destroyed. Repeat. Installations to be destroyed before they are allowed to fall back into enemy hands.”
“Roger that, Sorceress,” Comms said and then repeated back her orders before passing them on.
“New message to the admiral. The enemy is making a push to retake our position. We will hold out as long as possible. If forced to withdraw, we will blow the installation. We will not let the defense platforms fall back into enemy hands. Add that I respectfully suggest he get the ships moving and deal with the bastards topside. We need air support ASAP, before we are overrun.”
The building shook as enemy artillery began raining down on it. Ortega cursed softly. Before she could issue new orders, Adamson’s voice came over the battlenet, sending reinforcements where needed. Bird’s report came in next, assuring everyone the enemy’s aim was as bad as ever. Ortega hoped that continued to be the case. The building had taken a beating from her own people before they managed to secure it. How much more it, not to mention the equipment inside, could take was a question she really didn’t want to answer.
“Incoming!”
The XO’s warning came a scant moment before the building seemed to rock on its foundations. The fight was on – again – and it was up to the Warlords to hold out as long as necessary to keep the defense platforms under their control. Failure meant not only their deaths but the deaths of everyone in the taskforce. The enemy wasn’t known for taking captives, not often at any rate. Worse, if they failed, FleetCom wouldn’t know how they’d been betrayed.
She’d be damned if she let the bastards who betrayed them win!
2
Fuerconese Defense HQ
New Kilrain, Fuercon
LT. COL. ASHLYN SHAW leaned back and studied her company commanders over the rim of her coffee mug. The Devil Dogs had been back on Fuercon almost two months. From the start, their last mission had not gone as plan. At least this time it hadn’t blown up in her face. Far from it, in fact. The Devil Dogs had been dispatched with elements of First Fleet on a mission to protect the Drakkana System. They’d never made it. Instead, they had stumbled upon an attempt to invade the home system. If Second Fleet hadn’t been in exactly the right place at the right time, the Callusians would have had a straight shot for Fuercon. Ash’s blood ran cold at the thought of what might have happened. It hadn’t, in large part to her Marines. But victory had come at a cost, both in manpower and in equipment. Which was one of several reasons why the Fuerconese Marine Corps’ premier SpecOps battalion remained firmly tied to the home system.
Hopefully, that wouldn’t be the case for much longer. They were Marines and this staying far behind the lines of battle didn’t sit right. As long as she didn’t look at the status of her LAC units, the battalion was back to full strength. Hopefully, her LACs would be soon. If so, it wouldn’t be long before the Devil Dogs received their orders to ship out. It was time they assumed their place on the front lines, taking the fight to the enemy.
But that wouldn’t happen until she assured not only her division CO but the Commandant of the Marine Corps they were ready to ship out. After the enemy’s attempt to invade the home system, she knew it would take more than her simply telling them the battalion was ready to return to battle. While part of her understood FleetCom’s decision to hold her people in-system, she couldn’t deny wanting to be on the front lines, doing what they’d been trained for. The war wouldn’t be won sitting safely on Fuercon.
“Everyone’s here, Ma’am,” Master Gunnery Sergeant Kevin Talbot said softly from her side. “Captain Nichols’ XO is standing in for him.”
She nodded. Delta Company’s commanding officer’s father had been in the hospital for several days and wasn’t expected to live much longer. After Captain Loren Nichols responded to her message setting the time for the morning’s briefing, she had ordered him not to attend. Being with his family came ahead of duty this time. She didn’t want him to regret not being there for his mother and sister should his father die while he attended what looked to be another status briefing and nothing more.
“Then let’s get started.”
Before she could call the briefing to order, the door to the conference room slid open. Ashlyn looked up and frowned in concern as Lance Corporal Faith Connery stepped inside. The young woman had been acting as Ash’s aide since their previous mission. Now she moved quickly to where Ashlyn sat and bent to whisper in her ear. Ashlyn listened, her frown deepening. Under the table, her right hand fisted. Then she nodded once before climbing to her feet.
“Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. There’s a message I need to take.” She glanced around the table. “Major Laboe, get everyone started with reports on personnel and equipment needs. If I haven’t returned by the time you finish with that, move on to the training schedule we discussed earlier this morning.” With that, she left the conference room, the lance corporal on her heels.
“Talk to me, Lance,” she said a few moments later as they moved down the corridor in the direction of her office.
“You know as much as I do, Ma’am. The message has Colonel Ortega’s ID attached. It is marked urgent and for your eyes only.” She waited as Ashlyn placed her palm against the scanner next to the office door before continuing. A moment later, Ashlyn bent and waited as the retinal scanner did its job. “I know you said not to interrupt the briefing, but I felt you’d want to know.”
Ashlyn nodded. The moment her office door opened, she stepped inside. The lance corporal followed and, before Ash could say anything, Connery activated the security screens. No one would be able to enter without the day’s override code and, more importantly, no one would be able to overhear what was on Ortega’s message. Trusting the lance corporal to make sure she wasn’t interrupted, Ashlyn sat behind her desk and activated her comm. With privacy mode on, she waited as the wallpaper on her screen changed from that of the Warlords to her best friend’s and former executive officer’s face.
Ashlyn gasped softly. Then she waved Connery back as the lance corporal stepped forward in concern. Her attention riveted to the screen, Ash paused the image, taking in every detail. Ortega sat on the ground, her back against what looked like the remains of what had once been a wall of some sort. Her battle armor showed signs of having been in heavy fighting. She’d removed her helmet and looked at her video pickup with eyes bruised with exhaustion and, unless Ash missed her guess, more than a little anger. But it was the blood staining one side of her friend’s face, her friend’s very swollen and bruised face, that worried her.
“Ash, I’m breaking protocol with this message but I don’t care. I need someone I trust to know what’s happened.” Ortega paused, looking to her right as the sounds of an explosion filled the air. Before she continued, she issued orders to someone out of sight. Then, as she faced the screen once again, she drew a deep breath, almost as if calming herself. “We walked into it on this mission, Ash. Not only was our in
tel wrong, it was totally fucked. The enemy was waiting for us when we dropped. We managed to hold them off and secure our objectives but they’re pushing back now. I don’t know if we’re going to be able to hold them off this time.”
Ortega paused again, ducking her head and shielding it with one arm as another explosion rocked the building. Dust cascaded down on her, but she ignored it as she once again continued. “Ash, it’s bad. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear the enemy not only knew our order of attack but who we had where and what our armaments were.
“Damn it, Ash, this shouldn’t have happened. I can’t deny that it feels too much like what you went through on Arterus. I’m afraid it might end even worse than your mission did.” She paused once again, and Ashlyn waited, anger and fear churning in the pit of her stomach. “Status here is bad. Damn it, who am I kidding? It’s critical. The battalion was already down re: personnel and equipment when MJ and I reported in. The only reinforcements we’ve had since our arrival are the few Devil Dogs you left with us. We’ve gotten nothing from Division and no explanation why. Worse, I’ve lost good people in this fuck up, too many of them. We needed reinforcements before this mission and I’m not sure we can hold out until they get here – if they ever do.”
Anger building, Ash paused the video and quickly tapped out a series of commands on her virtual keyboard. The secondary screen on her desk came alive and she scanned the information. Her blood ran cold for a moment and then burned hot. Heads were going to roll, possibly literally, before the day was done. But that had to wait until she heard what else her friend had to say.
“Ash, if I don’t make it out of here, promise you’ll find out what happened and who betrayed us. I don’t believe for one moment that it’s dumb luck on the enemy’s part. Not when they managed to ambush and kill Hammer and the others and not after what they’re trying to do it to us. Someone is feeding them information about our movements out here.
“Promise me, Ash. Find the bastards responsible before they murder any more of our people.” Ortega looked around, as if making sure she couldn’t be overheard. “I don’t know if we’re going to be able to get out of this. Admiral O’Malley is doing his best topside, but the taskforce took serious damage before managing to drive off the Callusian ships. If the enemy returns with reinforcements before we get help, we’re all fucked.”
Another explosion rocked the area and Ortega’s expression darkened with even more concern. “Do me one more favor, Ash. I know I don’t have to ask it. But tell my folks I love them. If I don’t make it back, let them know I don’t regret one minute of being a Marine. Then locate that bastard of a division commander of mine and find out why he never sent us any reinforcements.” She looked into the pick-up and a slight smile touched her lips. “Ash, you’re my best friend and my sister by choice. We had some good times together. Now make these bastards pay. Ortega out.”
Ashlyn leaned back, her face a stone mask of cold fury. Without a word, she replayed the message, her eyes never looking away from the screen. She didn’t want to miss one detail, one nuance. As the screen faded to black, she once again activated her virtual keyboard. Her fingers flew as she typed in a new series of commands. She didn’t care if the information she wanted wasn’t necessarily any of her business. She had no intention of letting her friend down. If she couldn’t save her, she would avenge her death and the deaths of the Marines she commanded.
But, by all that was holy, she would do everything in her power to make sure it didn’t come to that.
A few moments later, she shoved to her feet. Connery looked at her in concern as she stalked around her desk and crossed the office.
“Colonel?”
Ash didn’t respond. Instead, she deactivated the security system and left the office. She knew she should return to the conference room. But this was what she had an executive officer for, not to mention one of the best senior NCOs in the Corps. She’d leave the briefing to them. She had to. More, much more was at stake just then.
“Colonel?” Connery slipped inside the lift after Ashlyn, the doors barely missing her. Concern filled her voice, not that Ash appeared to notice.
“You are dismissed, Lance Corporal,” Ashlyn said as the lift came to a stop and the doors opened.
“Colonel.”
Ash bit back a snarl and turned to face the young woman. “Connery, return to the conference room. Inform Major Laboe he has the briefing. That’s an order.” She spoke softly, each word clearly enunciated.
“Where will you be, Ma’am?”
“Trying to keep some good Marines from being sacrificed without reason. Dismissed, Lance Corporal.”
Connery swallowed hard before bracing to attention and saluting.
Before the doors closed after Ashlyn, Connery pulled out her comm. This wasn’t good, not good at all. “Master Guns, we have a problem,” she said the moment her comm was answered.
BRIGADIER GENERAL ELIZABETH SANTOS stepped into the gym and glanced around. A frown tugged at the corners of her mouth at what she saw. More than a dozen Marines in PT gear stood around one of the sparring rings at the far end of the gym. A few called out encouragements, but most watched in undisguised concern as their CO fought. None seemed aware of her arrival and that, Elizabeth knew, spoke volumes about their worry for their CO.
Not that she blamed them.
At least Ash had chosen this way to deal with her anger instead of going after a living target. If their positions had been reversed, Elizabeth would have been hard pressed not to seek out Ortega’s division commander to deal very up close and personally with him. Even so, the sight of one sparring droid sprawled on the floor of the gym, an arm separated from its body and one leg twisted in a way that, were it human, would have probably required amputation, did little to reassure her.
Squaring off against a second droid, this one showing signs of being well and truly battered, Ashlyn waited for it to make its move. She still wore her MARPATs, all save her blouse. It lay across a bench against the far wall. Sweat covered her face and rolled down her arms. It stained her tank top. So did blood from her split lip, a cut at the corner of her right eye and what looked like it could be a broken nose, not that it appeared to have slowed Ash down any.
Standing just inside the doorway, Elizabeth watched as the droid closed in on her daughter. Ashlyn bounced lightly on her toes, waiting, gauging the droid’s next attack. The droid, designed to simulate the appearance of a Callusian foot soldier, narrowed the distance between them. It feinted with a right jab and followed up with a left hook that looked like it could have separated Ash’s head from her shoulders if she hadn’t blocked it.
Elizabeth hissed out a breath as Ash caught the droid with short but vicious backfist, striking the droid squarely across the jaw. She followed up with a quick jab to the solar plexus and a forearm to the kidney. The sound of flesh striking pseudo-flesh filled the gym, as did the occasional gasp or groan as the droid managed to land a lucky blow, staggering Ash back a step or two.
Wincing as the droid landed a quick jab that had Ashlyn’s head snapping back and blood flying from her reinjured nose, Elizabeth nodded to the man standing next to her. “Sergeant Major.”
The man stepped forward. For a moment, he glanced around. Elizabeth had no doubt he noted every Marine present and would have more than a few words for them given the chance. Not only because no one had called the gym to order when she entered but because no one had been on watch. They had been so focused on what their battalion CO was doing they’d left themselves open to potential danger.
“Attention on deck!”
The sergeant major’s voice rang out and Elizabeth smiled slightly as every Marine instantly turned in the direction of his voice and snapped to attention. Then she winced as the droid, not programmed to respond to such orders landed a solid blow to Ashlyn’s mid-section. The young woman staggered back two steps before righting herself. Even as she gasped for air, she forced herself upright, doing her best to brace to atten
tion as the nearest Marine broke formation to deactivate the droid before it could do any more damage.
“Sergeant Major Kaplan, I’ll leave you to explain to these Marines what they did wrong here today,” Elizabeth said softly, but not so softly the others didn’t hear. “Lt. Colonel Shaw, I’ll have a word with you in private.”
Trusting her daughter to follow, Elizabeth made her way across the gym to one of the two private offices attached to it. The first she checked proved to be empty. Satisfied, she stepped inside. By the time Ashlyn joined her, she sat behind the desk, looking for all the world as if she were in her own office.
Ashlyn crossed the small office and stopped in front of the desk before bracing to attention. Holding her there, Elizabeth pressed the almost hidden button on the desktop, closing and locking the door. A hum so soft it was almost imperceptible sounded as she activated security. As she did, she noted the way Ashlyn’s eyes widened slightly in surprise before her daughter’s expression went blank once again.
“Care to tell me why you destroyed one sparring droid and were well on the way to doing the same to a second?” Elizabeth leaned back and waited, knowing Ashlyn would understand this was senior officer to junior officer and not mother to daughter.
“It was better than the alternative, Ma’am.”
“And that alternative being?”
“Doing the same to a senior officer, Ma’am.”
Elizabeth pursed her lips and studied her daughter for a moment. She’d seen the younger woman look worse but not by much, at least not short of seeing her after battle. Worse, she saw the anger still lurking in Ashlyn’s eyes and it reminded her of the near stranger Ash had been when she finally returned to Fuercon after those two long years spent in the penal colony on Tarsus.
“Would you care to explain?”