Dave had regained his composure now. The shock of the news from Assam was at bay. He was already working out a response. He focussed back on Liz. “You are right Liz. It’s a big risk but everything we do now is a big risk. If we play safe there’s a very big risk we will lose Beta Phi and all the forces, all the people we know, that are down there. My prime mission is to harass the enemy Liz not defend Klaster. I’m sorry but this will happen.”
“All right” said Liz with some resignation.
“Reina I need two teams of your marines and two from Herb’s. Can you get them over to the Resolute once we are aloft?”
“Sure. Usual arrangements about their return?”
“Same as always” said Dave and he managed a weak smile.
“That’s what I was afraid of. What do you plan to do with them.”
“Retake Assam of course.”
All three women looked gobsmacked at Dave.
“You’re not serious are you Sir” asked Reina. But she already knew he was so she added “You don’t even know what the state of play in Niku is?”
“Look, of course, if things are not well in Niku then we’ll rethink things. But if they are, then yes we have to go to Assam. If Assam falls Beta Phi is lost. Don’t you see that?”
“It’s a big city Dave” said Rihan. Her sharp mind was racing now playing catch up to Dave’s.
“It is and I know you reckon that we would normally need a whole Division to secure it and you’d be right. But we’re not securing it we’re crushing the foe that are there and by my calculations that can’t be more than half a battalion of rogan. There might be rebels too but they are only fighting because they think the rogan have won. We’re going to show them otherwise.”
“How much of your ground forces do you still have on board?” asked Reina.
“One droid company plus some support droids and two teams of marines” replied Rihan.
“And what with our four teams you’ll have two full platoons of marines and your droids. About half a battalion. Doesn’t sound like superior odds to me sir.”
“What doesn’t” said Herb as he walked in. “Sorry for being late Sir. What have I missed?”
Chapter 3. Niku 0430, 23 May
The rogan light shuttle now designated Romeo One had just lifted off and was heading north at 50m altitude, just enough to clear the tops of the odd tree that were scattered about the scrubland. After ten K Art climbed the craft to 150m and banked right turning into what would be the rising sun, in less than two hours’ time. Another twenty K and he banked south flying above the great Mahu canyon carved out by some long ago river. He was careful to maintain an air speed of around 350 kph lest they woke the natives or any other creatures for that matter. At that speed they would be there in just over an hour.
Buster and Akos were in the main hold and Jade was strapped into the co-pilots seat. “So how should we go about this?” asked Art.
“What, I thought you had a plan?” said Jade.
“Well a general one – ie get the bad guy.”
“Oh terrific. No wonder we’re losing this war.”
There was silence for a couple of minutes then Jade asked “I suppose we are in emissions blackout?”
Art nodded.
“Oh well when we touch down I’ll give Murray Benson a call. He’s ..”
“Your old boss.”
“Exactly. If he can’t help directly at least he will know what’s going on.”
“That’s if he’s still alive?”
“He will be. He’s a survivor. You don’t get to the top in our business Art without being a survivor.”
“Too right. OK that’s a start. We’ll just have to wing it from there. But Jade I don’t want us heading off on any errands, no matter how justified they are. We stay focussed on the main game here. We’re killing Bane and McShane.”
“Understood. Which one do you want?”
“I’m not particular. What about you?”
“Me neither, as long as they both go down.”
“Good.”
Silence prevailed for the next five minutes. A faint shimmer, the prospect of dawn, could be seen on the eastern horizon out his left window. He turned his head back to the front and then glanced across at Jade. He could see her mind was set just like his.
“We’re the same” he said “you and I, cut from the same cloth.”
“Not surprising Art. It’s the business we’re in. It does it to us all … well those that stay anyway.”
“Have you ever tried to get out?”
“Often … well twice anyway.”
“For someone special?”
“First time.”
“What happened?”
“They died….they all die don’t they Art.”
“I hope not Jade. I hope not.”
“I would like to hope again Art. You know, love again. It’s been so long.”
“What happened … the second time?”
“Just fed up with all the dirt and muck. So I resigned didn’t I? But then this blasted war happened. It sucks us all in, in the end anyway.”
Chapter 4. Resolute in warp to Beta Phi 0520
Val and her team had pulled out all stops in conjunction with the Klaster ground crew. John had marshalled, cajoled and in some case bullied all staff to be ready for launch and James pushed the envelope in his ascent from the surface. The marines were transferred in under ten minutes, the Whiskies launched back to their mother ships and John’s words echoed through the ship “Warp in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”
Rihan followed Dave back to his office and closed the door. But before they sat down Aubrey knocked and entered without waiting to be asked in. “Excuse me Sir but what’s the plan for this operation in Assam?”
“Why don’t you take a seat Aubrey” said Dave with a wave of his hand.
Having seen Aubrey go in Chase felt emboldened and he too rocked up and poked his head in the now open door, followed by Ivan and Crystal.
“Hold on a moment folks” said Dave. “Why don’t we adjourn to the briefing room?”
As they headed next door he added to Rihan in a soft voice “this must be a record for the rumour mill.” She smiled and shrugged her shoulders as if to say ‘what did you expect’.
Once they were all seated around the big holo display Dave began. “OK I’ll cut to the chase – and that doesn’t mean you” he said to Chase with a smile. It was a lame joke and Chase rolled his eyes. But Dave pressed on regardless. “I plan to go straight back to Beta Phi, assess what’s happened down on the deck in Niku and Assam and then decide whether or not to commit to an operation to destroy the enemy in Assam. If conditions are right, then we’ll commit our remaining ground forces - less one team of marines - to insert at a yet to be determined DZ in or close to Assam. From there they will close with the enemy and destroy them.”
Aubrey was about to ask a question but Dave put up his hand to forestall her. “Now once they are down and the transports recovered I plan to attack whatever enemy ships we can, then warp to Alpha Phi, rearm and warp back. We’ll rinse and repeat this till we have destroyed the enemy fleet or they warp away leaving us to directly support our ground forces.”
There was silence for a good minute. Dave could see his subordinates all focussed on the prospects outlined. Aubrey glanced around the room at the others and decided to lead off. “Even with the extra marines we won’t have enough boots on the ground. Assam is twice the size and area of Niku.”
Dave responded with the same argument he made on Klaster.
“Even so, how are we going to locate and then deploy to defeat the enemy. We don’t have any AFVs. We don’t have any ground transport.”
“Good point” admitted Dave. “If we wait until we have destroyed or forced the enemy fleet away then we can use our warthogs to ferry our teams around and our fighters to provide the necessary fire support.”
Aubrey gave a shrug with just her right shoulder. “That could work but it’s a big if, isn�
�t it - just this one ship defeating an entire enemy fleet. We were pretty lucky last time I reckon.”
“I think we can do it” said Crsytal. “They have no answer to our cloaking. Our biggest limit is the number of missiles we can carry. Imagine if we had had three of these ships.”
“I agree” said Chase but I’m still worried we don’t have enough ground forces. We won’t have an effective reserve. One team isn’t going to cut it.”
“It depends on the situation in Niku doesn’t it” said Ivan. “If that’s all quiet we can transfer some of the forces from there.”
“If things are quiet?” asked Aubrey. She started feeling like she was the lone opposition.
“Anyone got a better idea or two” asked Rihan.
Aubrey looked around the room and again no one was proffering anything. She admitted to herself that she didn’t really have a better alternative. “OK Sir, leave the details to us. We’ll work up the op plan for your review for say 1330.”
“Thanks you Aubrey. Where would I be without you?” and he gave her a warm smile.
“Oh one thing” said Aubrey “who will be the ground force commander?”
“That will be me” said Rihan before Dave could reply.
Aubrey looked first at Rihan, whose eyes were full of steely determination. Aubrey knew that look. She looked to Dave. He nodded.
“Right you are Maam” said Aubrey. “We can take it from here.”
Chapter 5. Assam 0540, 23 May
“Are you sure about this spot?” asked Art.
The predawn light was only now providing some assistance. “Over there” said Jade pointing to Art’s left. She was craning out of her seat, her harness unfastened, one hand holding onto the surface in front and the other grasping her console. Her head was almost touching the roof of the cockpit.
Art scanned over to the east but still could not see this farm. “I can’t see it. We’ve passed it now. I’ll have to come around.” He lowered the throttle back. It was now just above stall speed at 210 kph. He banked left into the brightening sky and then left again. As he cruised northward Jade again rose in her seat. “There it is.”
“Right” said Art. “Got it. OK buckle up. Hey Buster, Akos, we’re going in.”
“Roger” said Buster. He instinctively tapped the energy pack on his rifle, something he had been doing now for over ten years. He looked across at Akos, who nodded back that he was ready. Akos had both his normal sniper rifle and a pulse rifle. He would exit with the pulse rifle in hand and the sniper rifle slung. The pulse rifle was much better at shorter ranges and in the dark any contact would be at short range.
Art brought the vertical retros in pretty abruptly. Jade had to grip the surface in front of her. She gave a worried look at Art but he was looking westward trying to guage the location of the big barn they were landing next to.
Art glanced at the altitude and at 10m hollered. “Opening hatch.”
Buster and Akos both hit the release on their harness. Akos slung the sniper rifle as he stood up and then lunged to the hatch frame grabbing the edge as the air rushed first out and then back in again before the pressure equalised. He was scanning now but found it difficult with all the dust swirling about because of the retros.
As soon as the first surface made contact Akos was out and running. He made the side of the barn and went to ground. Buster broke forward and went prone out in the open about ten or so metres from Akos. He scanned quickly left and right, determined that there were no immediate threats. He then got to his feet and checked around the barn. He glanced over to the farm house. There were no lights but that was to be expected well at least that was what Jade expected.
Akos went for a look in the other direction. They met in the middle of the other side and then made their way to the big barn and opened its doors. Buster then held up his left arm as agreed.
Art was waiting for the signal. He used the retros to manoeuvre the craft and entered the barn. It was a big barn. Art estimated it could probably take two warthogs end to end. As soon as the cameras indicated he had cleared the entrance he powered down, did his post diagnostics and then powered off.
Jade waited till they were outside before drawing her pistol. It had been two years since she had been at this farm. It was her husbands before they killed him. She felt a pang of regret and remorse. She still felt guilty. She was the reason he was dead and she couldn’t change that.
She made her way up to the farm house and went straight for the secret hide-away, where she lifted the pot plant and secured the key. She took out her torch. It was still too dark to wander through the house unaided. She felt the dust on the kitchen table. It must have been several millimetres thick. That was a good sign she thought. If it had been clean she would have bolted.
Art entered after her and followed the light source while Buster and Akos stood guard outside. As per agreement they would say nothing inside the house. Art thought that a tad paranoid but he was prepared to humour her. Jade went to the bathroom and resurfaced with a plastic bag. She took out a backpack from the hall closet and stuffed the plastic bag inside it except for a communicator which she stuffed into her trouser pocket. They went back outside and she locked the door and placed the key back in its hidey hole.
Art sat on the door step while Jade made her call. It had lasted a good ten minutes so far. The sky was getting lighter and dawn would soon be here. Art was keen to be oscar mike. He came toward her and she put up two fingers and then pointed to the garage.
He didn’t understand until she waved him towards it. ‘Ah’ he said to himself and he opened the unlocked garage and found the utility vehicle. Buster came over to find out what was happening. Art tried the driver’s door and it opened. “Country folk, they’re so trusting” he whispered to Buster. He got in and checked under the seat and came up with the key device.
He fired it up, checked the fuel. It spluttered a little at first but then idled just fine. He drove the vehicle out of the garage and parked a few metres from Jade. She hung up and came over and jumped into the front seat next to Art. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 6. Niku 0550, 23 May
Sue took the command mech for a brisk jog. Dawn was twenty minutes away and she wanted to be back before then. So she stretched it out and was now racing at full speed west past terminal 3. It took her only two minutes to reach the missile battery site destroyed in the opening salvoes of the rogan attack.
She used the strength of the mech’s arms to lift the debris away from the entrance. She dismounted with her rifle in hand and entered the code Jade had given her before she left. The system responded and the blast doors opened. She walked down at an angle of about twenty degrees for about ten metres till she came to the next set of doors. The code again opened these and also turned on the lights along the big wide corridor that led to the bunker system that would have provided protection to the battery crew had they sought it on that fateful day.
She walked quickly. Time was her enemy now. She glanced into each of the ten rooms. Estimated their holding capacity and then began to run back up to the inner doors. She hit the control to close them and ran up the steep ramp to the outer doors and did the same.
She was puffing now as she climbed onto the seat and it swivelled her in. The rear hatch closed tight and she had the bracelets on in no time. She smiled at her proficiency and with a definite gesture caused the metal beast to again propel itself at top speed back to Terminal 2. She arrived as the sun crested the horizon and was soon back in the terminal.
“So how many Sue?” asked Jim.
“I reckon it was designed for 200 but we could double that at a pinch. I didn’t have time to check the air conditioning though.”
Jim just nodded. “We can use the busses to ferry us across. But even with everyone crammed in there’s only capacity for about 120. I mean that’s fine for us here but it’s not going to help the town folk.” He paused and then asked “How much warning do you reckon we’ll get?”
&nb
sp; “Ten minutes at best” said Sue.
“Shit, that’s going to be tough. Do you really think they will do it?”
“They did on New Hammersley and Klaster. So yeah they have form.”
“Have form for what?” asked Justine.
Sue was heartened by the sight of her spritely frame up and walking. “A nuke attack.”
“Oh…yes they do. But look I have been thinking” said Justine. “We need to get the word out to the people here. There is a media centre in Terminal 1. We could use that to broadcast. It’s powerful enough to reach Assam from here.”
“Are you up to that Justine?” asked Sue.
“I mightn’t look all that pretty but I’m up for it. I’m not going to let that bastard Chagnu and that bitch Shriver get away with this.”
“I’ll see what we can do” said Jim.
Chapter 7. Assam 0620, 23 May
The utility purred along the roads now. The dusty roads were far behind. The guard at the checkpoint had taken a full five minutes to verify their credentials. But Art was glad in a way. It meant that the Alliance were not taking chances even in the territory they claimed their own.
The display showed another five K to the RV. As Jade had predicted her old boss had survived and was at the Alliance Field HQ Bravo. There were two working in relays – Alpha and Bravo. One was moving every 24 hours or so, which must have been a pain in the arse for the HQ staff but essential if they were to survive. The Bravo one they were heading to would still be in the process of stepping up.
“Over there” said Jade, pointing to what looked like a light industrial complex.
Art turned into the entrance and was immediately met by four guards, one with a rizstorm, one with a quanto and another who ran scans around, under and over the vehicle. The fourth asked each person to get out one at a time and he scanned them individually. Only when all this was concluded was Jade able to get directions.
Insurrection: Book 3 of Warner's World Page 26