Richard sensed a line of energy pass by him. The enemy cats were scanning in an attempt to pinpoint his position. But they weren’t having any luck in the heavily-forested area Richard had chosen as his current hiding position. A high concentration of magnetic ore in the rock below the forest floor was playing havoc with even the Warcat’s advanced sensory equipment. Richard figured the technicians in the Leviathans were having an even harder time of it.
I’m glad I’m in a Warcat, Richard said. This model might be old, but Sergeant Ron’s got it equipped with the best stealth equipment he could scrounge. I think they’ll probably have to spot me visually before they can get their weapons targeted.
The lightly-armored Warcats were designed more for stealth than they were for fighting. Under normal circumstances, the most advanced equipment had a difficult time detecting a Warcat. Even wizard scouts had a tough time spotting a stationary Warcat. Richard was lucky he had Sergeant Ron to maintain his equipment. For some unknown reason, Sergeant Ron had taken it upon himself to tag along with him after the demise of the Academy’s wizard scout program. As a result, his Warcat was very well maintained.
Well, said Nickelo, it’s going to take more than stealth to get you out of this one. I calculate you have six minutes before the quad of cats coming up the west ridge spots you even if you remain stationary. After a pause, Nickelo asked, What do you want to do, oh greatest of wizard scouts?
Richard wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard a muffled laugh from his battle computer. For some reason, his battle computer had a strange sense of humor during combat situations. Richard usually chose to ignore it. He decided to do so this time as well
Plot me a route with the minimum chance of detection to one of the medium cats in that nearest quad, Richard said. I think we’re going to have to narrow the odds before we can get away.
Plotted, said Nickelo as a green line appeared on the heads-up display of Richard’s battle helmet. May I ask what you’re going to do when you get there?
I haven’t quite figured that part out yet, Richard said. Don’t rush me.
Without waiting for a reply from his battle computer, Richard got the Warcat moving along the path Nickelo had plotted. Although the Warcat was three-meters tall and weighed a little over two thousand kilos, it moved relatively soundless through the undergrowth. Unlike its larger cousins, the Warcat had no control panel. Instead, the Warcat’s pilot was submerged in a thick gel which sensed its pilot’s movements. The Warcat was more a large suit of armor than it was a vehicle. Inside the tight confines of the Warcat, Richard was dressed in his battle suit and battle helmet. They made for a self-sufficient environment which provided everything his body needed including recycled oxygen and nutrients.
From the data in his shared space, Richard saw the four cats working their way along the west ridgeline. The closest cat was two hundred meters away. From the orange dot on his heads-up display, Richard knew it was a medium Long Cat. A red dot denoting a heavy Leviathan was following a hundred meters behind the Long Cat.
I’d advise stopping by that set of trees to your right, said Nickelo. I calculate the Long Cat will pass ten meters to your front. I’m activating the Warcat’s camo shield; with your permission, of course.
Of course, Richard said. Permission granted.
A flow of energy enveloped the Warcat. While the Warcat’s camo shield didn’t make it totally invisible, it did a decent job of blending the Warcat into the background. Richard hoped the camo shield would buy him enough time to do what needed to be done.
The lead Long Cat moved into Richard’s field of view. The Long Cat was seven meters high and walked on two massive legs. A 200mm phase cannon protruded from its chest. A circular pod with twenty-four anti-armor missiles sat on each shoulder. A set of four barrels protruded from the Long Cat’s left appendage. They appeared to be 40 megawatt plasma rifles. Its right appendage held a 30mm chain gun.
Richard noticed the version of the Long Cat approaching him was wider than normal. He made out two pilots through the cockpit window.
Wow, Richard said. They’ve got that bad boy loaded for bear.
A more accurate statement would be it’s loaded for Warcat, said Nickelo making no attempt this time to hide his laughter. Growing more serious, Nickelo asked, So what’s your plan?
Hmm, Richard said trying to think of some kind of plan on the fly. If I got inside that thing, could you work the controls?
If you gave me control of your battle suit, I could,” said Nickelo. But, you’ve piloted a Long Cat before. You should be able to do it yourself.
Not well enough for what I need done, Richard said as he activated the battle suit’s override. He had no problem admitting his shortcomings. At one time he might have, but no longer.
With the override on, his battle computer could do anything it wanted with the battle suit. Most wizard scouts refrained from activating their battle suit’s override except in dire emergencies. Some wizard scouts refused even then. Richard was not one of those. He trusted his battle computer completely. Nickelo was not just his battle computer. Nickelo was his friend.
Just as the Long Cat drew even with him, Richard noticed the top of the Leviathan appear above the tree tops a hundred meters behind the Long Cat. The Leviathan was staying close enough to provide cover for the Long Cat while remaining far enough back to stay out of any possible ambush. As Richard watched, the top of the Leviathan disappeared from view as it stepped into a dip in the forest floor.
Taking advantage of the momentary window of opportunity, Richard dashed around the large tree he was using for cover. With two long strides, he was at the base of the nearest leg of the Long Cat. Jumping up, Richard got the Warcat onto the back of the Long Cat before its crew could react. After clamping the claws of his Warcat onto the supports for the Long Cat’s missile pods, Richard wrapped himself with Power.
All wizard scouts had a specialty. Some wizard scouts were healers, while others were defenders, diviners, projectors, or shifters to name a few. Testing during Richard’s freshman year at the Academy had determined he possessed all specialization abilities. Richard used his shifter specialization now to shift into the void between dimensions. Although he was now in the void, Richard could still see his surroundings, and of course, his enemies could still see him.
Once shifted, Richard used telekinesis to propel himself forward. He passed through the metal skin of both his Warcat and the Trecorian’s Long Cat. Once inside the cockpit of the enemy cat, Richard dropped his Power and shifted back into the physical dimension. The Long Cat’s cockpit was crowded. Two humans sat in cushioned seats in front of a control panel containing a complex array of computer readouts, buttons, and levers.
Richard’s appearance didn’t go unnoticed. One of the pilots turned in his seat as he grabbed for a handgun in his shoulder holster. Richard didn’t give the pilot time to finish his maneuver. Richard sent a thought of what he wanted to do into his shared space. He felt his battle suit move as Nickelo took control and made the battle suit reach out with both hands and club each of the pilots on the side of the head. The strength of the battle suit could easily have caved in the pilots’ skulls, but Richard purposely weakened the blows to incapacitate instead of kill. His current mission was recon and data recovery. It wasn’t to kill needlessly. While Richard wasn’t adverse to killing, he had no desire to take a life without cause. Besides, the Empire wasn’t at war with the Trecorian Alliance. He preferred not to start one.
The Trecorians were part of a loose alliance of star systems which had thus far remained neutral in the war between the Empire and the bat-like Crosioians. However, the Trecorians’ home world of Trecor was located near an asteroid belt containing an abundant supply of brerellium as well as other valuable minerals.
Both the Empire and the Crosioians needed the brerellium to feed their militaries’ appetites for raw materials. The Crosioians had been successfully acquiring large shipments of brerellium by using Balorian pirates as th
eir proxies to rob the Trecorians. The Empire also wanted a share of the Trecorians’ brerellium, but they were limited to legal means of acquisition. The Empire wanted to set up a trade system. So far the Trecorians had refused the Empire’s overtures.
In any regard, Richard refrained from killing the two pilots. After knocking them out, he wrapped the pilots in Power and shifted them into the void. Using telekinesis, Richard lowered the pilots through the floor of the Long Cat. As soon as they were through the Long Cat’s skin, Richard shifted the pilots out of the void and back into the physical dimension. He then continued to use his telekinesis to lower the pilots downward until they were safely on the forest floor.
That was inefficient, said Nickelo. You know dimensional shifting is Power hungry. Your Power reserve is down to eighty-four percent now. You could have saved four percent Power by just dumping them out the hatch.
Richard’s Achilles’ heel had always been the small size of his Power reserve. His main TAC officer at the Academy had often delighted in telling Richard and anyone around him that Richard’s Power reserve was the smallest of any wizard scout to ever attend the Academy. While Richard was well aware of his shortcoming, he wasn’t heartless enough to kill someone just to save a little Power.
It’s over five meters to the ground, Richard said. The fall could’ve broken their necks. Besides, I didn’t want to waste time fumbling with the hatch.
Richard strapped himself into one of the pilot seats and stared at the complex set of controls to his front. He had enough training in the larger cats to make them move and shoot. But, he wasn’t skilled enough in them to fight experienced opponents.
Turning the Long Cat a hundred and eighty degrees, Richard spied the top of the nearest Leviathan just as it popped back out of the treetops.
I could use some help, Nick, Richard said sending the thought into their shared space.
That’s what I’m here for, replied Nickelo. Just think what you want done, and I’ll do my best to make it happen.
Richard sent his plan into his shared space as a series of images. The arms of his battle suit began to move on their own volition. The battle suit’s gloves became a blur as they moved across the Long Cat’s control panel touching buttons and moving levers. The Long Cat hunched down and began running at a forty-five degree angle towards the side of the approaching Leviathan. A glance at his heads-up display confirmed the other two cats in the quad were a good four hundred meters away.
Why hunch over? said Nickelo. They know where you’re at. By your actions, they’re bound to assume this cat is no longer in friendly hands.
As if confirming his battle computer’s analysis, a feminine voice came over a speaker on the control panel.
“Long Cat 26,” said the voice. “Stand down immediately, or we’ll open fire!”
The voice sounded no nonsense. Richard had no doubt the owner of the voice would do what she said. However, he kept running anyway. His only chance was to keep moving.
They should have fired first without taking the time to give a warning, Richard thought. I would have.
I suspect they think their two friends are still onboard as prisoners, said Nickelo. They probably don’t want to kill their own soldiers unless absolutely necessary.
Richard was grateful the Leviathan pilot was concerned for her fellow soldiers. But at the same time, he knew it was going to cost her. The precious seconds she’d lost giving her warning was all the time he needed to complete his plan.
Shifting directions, Richard rushed his Long Cat directly at the Leviathan. The tops of the trees hid the upper part of the heavy cat. But it didn’t matter. Richard wasn’t interested in the upper levels anyway. Even the Long Cat’s 200mm phase cannon would have trouble penetrating the thick armor around the Leviathan’s upper areas. Not to mention the upper levels had the heavy cat’s strongest force fields protecting its sensitive areas. The lower levels on the other hand were a different matter.
Hunched over as he was in the Long Cat, Richard could just make out the front two legs of the Leviathan a hundred meters away. Richard almost thought the command to fire, but he stopped the order before it was out.
Wise decision, Rick, said Nickelo. You need to take out at least two side legs to do any good. The Leviathan could remain upright even with both front legs out of action.
Richard sidestepped the Long Cat in an attempt to get a simultaneous shot at two of the Leviathan’s side legs. He was pretty sure if he tried to take them out one at a time, the crew would avoid his second shot.
Their weapons are charging, said Nickelo. They’re going to fire.
A second later, the tops of the trees exploded in a blaze of red as the Leviathan’s plasma and phase weapons opened up on the Long Cat’s position. Fortunately, Richard’s Long Cat was no longer there. He’d thought the command to activate countermeasures, and Nickelo had jumped the Long Cat to the side and switched on the cat’s electronic jammers.
Without being able to visually sight the Long Cat, the Leviathan’s targeting systems were fooled long enough for Richard to evade most of the heavy cat’s fire. Even so, a few rounds of phase energy found their mark. Thankfully, the Long Cat’s force field held. The few phase and plasma rounds able to penetrate his shields glanced harmlessly off the sides of his Long Cat.
The initial broadside from the Leviathan’s energy weapons had cleared a path through the tops of the trees. Richard could now see the top of the Leviathan.
Unfortunately, said Nickelo intruding into Richard’s thoughts, that means the Leviathan’s gunners can now see you as well. They’ll be firing everything they’ve got including missiles in another three seconds.
Richard decided not to give the gunners another three seconds. All three of the Leviathan’s left-side legs were now visible. Richard noticed the Leviathan’s left-front leg was just being raised as the heavy cat started to take a step in his direction.
Target the ground two meters to the side of the middle-left leg, Richard said. Fire everything the Long Cat has at that spot.
Are you sure? came Nickelo’s anxious thought. I calculate a forty-two percent probability at least a few of our Long Cat’s weapons will penetrate the force field around the legs if you concentrate your fire on them instead.
Just do it, Richard said sending the thought into the space he shared with his battle computer.
Despite his battle computer’s calculations, Richard had a hunch his Long Cat’s weapons wouldn’t be able to overcome the Leviathan’s force field before the heavy cat’s return fire took him out.
Since the exchange between Richard and his battle computer in their shared space was near instantaneous, the Long Cat’s weapons began firing almost at the same moment Richard thought his command. The ground around the base of the Leviathan’s middle leg exploded in a blast of flying dirt, rock, and other debris. The force field protecting the leg prevented any damage to the Leviathan’s leg. However, the ground under the middle leg’s footpad disappeared causing the Leviathan to slip to the side.
The slight shift in the Leviathan’s stance threw off the aim of its gunners. Since Richard was still running for all he was worth in his confiscated Long Cat, most of the gunners’ return fire hit the area behind him. The Long Cat’s force field continued to hold against what little fire was on target.
You need to take out more than one leg, said Nickelo. Should I shift fire to the rear leg?
Negative, Richard said as he pictured an image of the bottom of the Leviathan’s left-front footpad. Since the Leviathan was in the middle of taking a step, the bottom of the footpad was completely exposed.
Understood, said Nickelo as he shifted fire to the front leg.
The bottom of the Leviathan’s footpad was also protected by a force field in case of landmines. However, as Richard well knew, the force field around the bottom of each footpad was weaker than the force fields around the rest of a cat. The force field had to be weaker in order to allow the footpad to gain traction in slick te
rrain. By shifting fire to the underside of the footpad, Richard hoped to take advantage of one of the heavy cat’s few weak points.
Once again, every weapon on Richard’s Long Cat concentrated fire on a single spot. The force field around the bottom of the Leviathan’s left-front foot held against the initial volley. Even the 200mm phase cannon round glanced off. However, a quick follow-up volley blew a hole in the force field large enough to allow two of the Long Cat’s anti-armor missiles to pass through. Pieces of brerellium steel flew in all directions as the Leviathan’s footpad was turned into a mangled mass of metal.
Once the Long Cat’s phase cannon completed its half-second reload time, another 200mm phase round completed the footpad’s destruction. The bottom third of the Leviathan’s left-front leg disappeared as the combination of plasma energy and solid creallium in the 200mm phase round did its job. Unlike a plasma round which was composed entirely of energy, a phase round was a solid chunk of creallium surrounded by phase energy. Since creallium existed simultaneously in both the physical dimension and the void, even a fully-functional force field had a difficult time resisting the blast. The force field around the Leviathan’s footpad was anything but fully functional by the time the second 200mm round hit.
As what little remained of the Leviathan’s left-front leg continued downward, the heavy cat shifted left and forward. The other four legs on the cat scrambled for a hold as the pilots tried to compensate for the loss of their cat’s two left legs. As the pilots desperately tried to keep their cat upright, the aim of the Leviathan’s gunners was again thrown off. Streaks of phase and plasma energy passed all around Richard’s Long Cat, but none struck home.
The pilots of the Leviathan were good. They almost saved their cat. Richard suspected if the pilots had the full use of five legs, they could have prevented a fall. But the middle-left leg was still slipping into the hole Richard’s initial blast had created. The Leviathan suddenly reached its point of no return and began tipping left and downward. Richard decided to assist the planet’s gravity by shifting his fire to the Leviathan’s left-rear leg. His fire didn’t penetrate the leg’s force field, but the force of his plasma rounds was enough to hasten the Leviathan’s fall.
Wizard Omega (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 4) Page 2