The Gates of Hell

by Chris Kennedy

  “Third Squad, move to meet First Squad at the cliff. Use the boulders back from the edge as cover.”

  The red, blue, and green of the forest shook violently as the disturbance approached the front. At the base of the cliff, maybe sixty feet down, a rock outcropping extended a hundred yards to the tree line. A deluge of rodents broke out from the forest and charged straight at the rock wall.

  “Light ‘em up!” Hex shouted. First Squad unloaded on the Avaka with chain guns, MACs, and lasers. Within fifteen seconds, Third Squad ambled into position and added their firepower to the massacre. “Hold back on the missiles and K-bombs until things get a little hairier, pun intended.”

  The furry mass of Avaka absorbed the incoming fire indifferently. Almost immediately, the forward edge of the flood disappeared from view below them. The hair stood up on Hex’s neck.

  There’s a rock wall here, and they’re still coming straight for us.

  He cautiously moved the CASPer closer to the edge and leaned forward. A laser pulse from somewhere below barely missed him, and he drew back instinctively. Then he leaned forward again to confirm what he thought he’d seen. Subconsciously he pointed the MAC on his left arm directly to his front. An Avaka appeared below him, mere feet away. It caught Hex’s first round in the face. The head splattered, and its corpse tumbled backward toward the forest floor and a snarling mass of Avaka.

  “First Squad, back!” Hex shouted. He brought up both hand cannons and carved across the front rank of rodents. On the command net, he reported, “Hammer, Ghost One, they can climb vertical walls.”

  “What? That wasn’t in the brief,” Lemieux protested. “Are you sure about that?”

  “Bound backward, guys,” Hex told his squad. In practiced, prearranged pairs, First Squad fired their jets and jumped back. “Well, Hammer, I’m watching them do it as we speak.”

  “Okay, Ghost One,” Lemieux responded. “Lucille’s confirming your report.”

  Good to know you trust me now that your computer agrees with me.

  After a short pause, Lemieux kept talking. “There’s three prongs to their attack.”

  I already told you that.

  Lemieux paused again. Hex imagined the gears of his commander’s mind clunking into space. “You guys try to slow that group down and fall back toward Panzer Platoon. Panzers, find some open space and set up a firing line with Third Squad. Second Squad, keep moving forward toward the middle column and try to draw them to us. We’ll deal with the northern column once we’ve stopped the southern two.”

  “Panzer Lead copies.”

  “Ghost Two copies.”

  “Ghost Three copies.”

  Hex fired controlled bursts with his chain gun into the approaching furry, toothy blanket. When the first two pairs were clear, he and Private Fronczek jumped back. The jets provided great displacement, but they’d run out of juice quickly if they continued to retreat in that manner. He directed them to make a walking retreat as much as possible, and to only jump if they came up against a dropoff.

  He heard Maya report in.

  “Hammer, Ghost Two. One KIA, withdrawing…” Hex missed the last bit as his mind wandered. Maya’d witnessed one of her privates getting taken down. It was all part of the business, but he couldn’t shake an intense anxiety, which overpowered his other thoughts.

  If the rats are close enough to take one down, they’re close enough to take them all down. Move faster, Maya.

  “One, watch your step!” Fronczek made the call just as the ground gave way beneath Hex. Lost in concern, he’d backed up against a wide ravine.

  Stupid! he thought as he tumbled backward. Attempts to catch his fall and right his balance failed. The CASPer struck rocks at the bottom with a crunch, and he blacked out.

  * * *

  “Hammer, Ghost Two requests to begin a recovery effort on Ghost One,” Maya stated, doing her best to keep the urgency out of her voice.

  “Denied, Maya,” Lemieux answered, intentionally using her name instead of her callsign. “Third Squad can handle it after we deal with that southern prong. Head north and drag that group toward me so we can repeat what we did here. I’ll search for a better site to line them up from this direction. You go catch me some Avaka. That’s an order.”

  Was it her imagination, or was Lemieux intentionally messing with her emotions? Was it a stupid test of her subservience to his orders? He knew about their relationship, and he had to know what this was doing to her. Was he taking some sick satisfaction in this?

  “Yes, sir,” she replied in the coldest voice she had. She immediately switched to the private channel she’d set up. Simultaneously she moved as directed and tried to pull up diagnostics on Hex’s CASPer. No link came up, and no data populated in her feed.

  “Hex! Hex! Godsdammit, you son of a bitch, answer me!” Maya shouted frantically into her comms. Still she maneuvered according to Lemieux’s orders and found the highest terrain to establish a line of sight.

  “Hex! You miserable bastard, you answer, do you hear me?” She switched to her squad. “Second Squad, I’m setting a rally point. Lam and Bennett, move right and set security. Conserve jumpjuice as able. If you make contact, move back immediately, I know we’re all short on ammo. Carlin, Branch, with me.”

  She watched the other two march off into a lower area, probing for a good way through. She led her pair up to another hill crest to attempt another call.

  “Hex, if you’re fucking with me, I will straight up kill you!” Maya tried to blink away the tears that built in her eyes. A few dripped down anyway. “You said you loved me, and I heard you. I’m sorry I didn’t say it back. I just, it’s just…I love you too, Hex. I do. You’re amazing and wonderful, and you’re the one I want, but I don’t want to ruin things. That’s stupid, isn’t it? I should’ve let you die knowing that, and now I can’t. Why is it the fucktards like Lemieux get to live long enough to screw up a good thing with someone as incredible as Jessica, but when people like you and me find something real, fate destroys it immediately? The universe really is a shitty place, isn’t—”

  “I’m fine, Maya,” Hex grumbled. His position suddenly popped up on her digital map. “Just took a tumble into a ravine. I’ve been a little distracted, I guess.”

  “Oh, thank gods, you big dumb asshole,” she said, exasperated. Her data feed pulled up information on his system’s status. A few reds, but nothing critical. The clouds in her head parted, but she continued to tremble for a while. “I’m sorry I picked now to talk. Just focus on getting out of there.”

  “I know I’m supposed to say something witty,” he said, “but I’m a little too nanite-addled to think of anything.”

  “If I wanted clever banter and double entendre, I’d be banging Lemieux by now,” she quipped. “I prefer my grumbly bear.”

  “Well, I appreciate that imagery,” he replied. “Speaking of imagery, is Lucille tracking the northern approach? I have a theory.”

  “Can we dwell on the fact that you’re alive, and I love you for a moment?” Maya asked as she pulled up the imagery Lucille fed into Lemieux’s command tank.

  “Ghost Two, ma’am?” Private Branch called. “Is there a reason we’ve stopped?”

  Maya realized she’d stopped moving her CASPer forward. The other pair in her squad had stopped, following her standing order not to space out too far.

  “Yes, you love me, and I love you, it’s awesome, and we can discuss this in more detail later,” Hex said in a tired rush. “I’d better check in with Lemieux.”

  While Hex reported in to his boss and gave a personal sitrep, Maya kept Second Squad still as she checked the feed on the northern assault. Whereas the southern two approaches had climbed up and over anything and everything to get at the Marauders, the northern one funneled along a network of valleys. The path of least resistance. The difference, she quickly deduced, was that there were no Marauders up there.

  “Hex?” Maya called out.

  “Maya, look, I’m sorry
I was short with you, but—” Hex started.

  “Shut up. We’ll talk about that later,” she quipped. “Was your theory about the northern attack that they stayed in the low spots? ‘Cause if so, you were right. They really are mammalian Tortantula, they charge at whatever enemy they can find, and since there wasn’t one up there yet, they took the easy path.”

  “I knew it,” Hex shouted. “Crap, uh, I’m getting busy down here, can you relay to Lemieux?”

  “Yeah,” Maya said. “But take care of yourself, you got something to live for, remember?”

  “Can’t forget,” he answered. “Love you.”

  “Love you, too,” she replied. Despite being low on both ammo and jump juice, Maya grinned as she marched her troops toward the next horde of armor-rending murder rats.

  “Angel Three’s run’s complete,” LeCrone reported to Lemieux on the command channel. “We naped as much tree line as we could, but the Avaka were already through. We’re Winchester, RTB for rearm.”

  Winchester. Out of ammo. Our fault. Our idea to nape the tree line, and now they’ve spent their ammo when they could be naping the Avaka.

  “Angel Three,” Hex called, “en route RTB, get a visual recce of the northern group. Scope out how easy they’d be to strafe?”

  “I give the orders, Ghost One,” Lemieux interrupted. “But yeah, Angel Three, do that. Angel’s Five and Six, you ready to launch?”

  “Affirm, Hammer,” Lieutenant ‘Coop’ Livingston replied. “Fired up, on standby.”

  “Hammer, Angel Three,” LeCrone reported. “They’re lined up nicely right now. Rats in a barrel.”

  “Great news!” Lemieux called. “Okay, Coop, you two heard him, go rake the bastards.”

  “Wilco, Hammer,” Livingston answered. Maya resumed the march through the hills, intentionally keeping a slow pace. Things would go much better if Second Squad could hold off long enough for a strafing pass. Angel’s Five and Six called airborne. Third Squad reported their final jump past Panzer Platoon. Lou argued Panzer Platoon’s line appeared poorly oriented, and Lemieux chastised the complaint. Maven requested permission to do a follow-up run on the northern group, which Lemieux approved.

  “Maya, Hex on private,” her very-much-alive man called. “Do you think our honey trap worked out?”

  “Shouldn’t you focus surviving your way back to the lines?” Maya scolded. “Why didn’t they tear you apart like they did Andrews?”

  “They really are mammalian Tortantula, Maya,” Hex answered. “Fronczek dragged the little devils away from me. Burned up serious jumpjuice doing it, but the rats stayed focused on those who shot at them. Anyway…honey trap?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Maya responded. Earlier discussions had led to the conclusion they might use Maven to influence Lemieux. Their boss was a decent manager, average tactician, and horrible leader. “They’re kindred spirits in terms of baggage, and both masters of the casual merc relationship. Yeah, I’m certain Maven won that whole exchange. We can trust her.”

  “Angel Five, commencing run,” Livingston called. “Wow, this is just like a gunnery sim, they’re all lined up.”

  “Copy, Angel Five, happy hunting,” Lemieux said.

  “Leave some for Angel One, Angel Five,” Maven called. A half second later, she screamed, “Missile launch! Break right, Angel!”

  The lead flyer exploded in a tiny ball of fire. Angel Six broke sharply away from the cloud of debris, banked away from the valley of Avaka, and dove to terrain mask in the hills.

  “Angel Five’s down! Angel Five’s down! Six is defending!” Angel Six, a new female hire named Jocelyn, shouted. “Fuckers got PADs!”

  So far the Marauders had witnessed few weapons amongst the hoard of crazed rodents, but there had also been little interaction between the horde and the Marauders’ flyers. Complacency had led the flyers to believe their enemy wouldn’t have Portable Air Defense capabilities. Maya pulled up the flyer’s unit frequency, something she rarely did, and listened in.

  “Angel Two, take the lead,” Maven ordered. “You’re going in first, gun the first few ranks, break south, and hit the deck. Six, hook back, beam the valley, time to rejoin Two. Two, Six, you’re my decoys so I can make a full pass.”

  Maya’s ground-pounder brain processed the guidance. Maven had directed her wingman to shoot a little and then turn south to draw fire. Angel Six would also fly perpendicular to the valley and give the Avaka another target, but Six would pass over fast enough they wouldn’t have time to shoot. Maven planned to use the distraction to strafe the valley.

  “Second Squad, forward on jets, reform on me,” Maya directed. Two good bounds and they’d be overlooking the valley the horde flowed through.

  “Maya, that you moving in?” Maven asked.

  “Yeah, give me an ETA, and we’ll work on sniping whatever PADs we ID,” Maya answered.

  “I knew you listened in on all the freqs, you crafty bitch,” Maven said. “Appreciate the support. If I don’t die, I’m naping the whole damn valley. ETA is two mikes plus fifteen.”

  “Sounds good, Maven, we’ll be there,” Maya answered. She held the last jump and watched her clock. Two minutes, fifteen seconds. Jump in one plus forty-five, we’ll be there waiting without alerting them too early. “Second Squad, when I move forward, focus all fire on any anti-air you ID.”

  “Angel’s One and Six, and Ghost Two, say posit,” Hammer said.

  For the love of gods, Marc, shut up and let us do our job.

  “Stand by,” was all Maven replied.

  Sure as hell, Maya thought, she’s got Lemieux pacified. He would have immediately reprimanded anyone else for a “stand by.”

  She just might be my first girl crush since Jessica.

  “Second Squad, forward!” Maya shouted. “Target all anti-air. Hammer, Ghost Two, we’re in line above the valley covering the run.”

  “Good copy, Ghost Two,” Lemieux replied, his tone diffident.

  Yeah, Maven’s our girl.

  * * *

  “Time to bring her in, Maya,” Hex stated. “They’ll be back, and we need a better plan.”

  The northern column turned out to be the smallest of the three, and Maven survived several runs until she roasted the last of them. Panzer Platoon, Third Squad, and First Squad chewed up the southern column almost as easily as Second and Command Platoon had. Big Lou’s tank took the worst damage, suffering a broken track. When the fighting subsided, Lemieux had repair crews race up to fix the immobilized tank. Further, resupply trucks loaded with ammo, fuel, and jump juice rolled up just as quickly. Of all the bad things Hex might say about Lemieux, their boss was good at logistics.

  “Copy, Hex,” Maya answered. “Here we go.”

  Maya and Second Squad regrouped where the hills met the plains, at the back edge from the assault. A few moments passed while Hex organized his thoughts. A larger wave of Avaka would swarm much further than the three columns had, likely faster than the tanks could respond. Hex brought the concern to Lemieux, who told him to leave tactics to the experts.

  “Maven,” Maya said, “still up?”

  “Yeah, just landed,” Maven answered. “Wait, what channel is this? I didn’t set this! You do this, Maya?”

  “Yes, Maven, I set up a private channel with Hex, and we brought you in,” Maya explained.

  “Oh, you guys set up a line to whisper sweet nothings to each other; that’s cute,” Maven said. “And now you want a threesome? Things get stale already?”

  Hex chuckled to himself. She works really hard at this image, doesn’t she?

  “No, Maven,” Hex said. “We want to talk strategy.”

  “Doesn’t our illustrious boss believe that’s his realm?” Maven asked sarcastically.

  “Yeah,” Maya said with heavy snark. “How do you think that’s gonna work out for us? We’ve got a different plan, and we want to ask your advice, and then, hopefully, your help.”

  “Okay, but let’s make it quick,” Maven said. “I gotta go tal
k to Jocelyn about seeing her lead blow up.”

  “Understood, Maven,” Maya said. “First question, what’s the difference between you guys flying over those hills and flying over the plains?”

  “Well,” Maven started, “over the hills we can terrain mask, but we can also crash into the hills. Over the plains, we can stay down low, so by the time they see us, we’re already tearing them apart and speeding off again. What are you thinking?”

  “My biggest concern is our tanks,” Hex said. “Though Lou has given up trying to argue with Marc, it’s obvious the Panzers have horrible mobility where Marc’s put them. We get a bigger group of Avaka in our faces, and they’ll overrun the tanks before we can get them out of there.”

  “You want to fight on the plains,” Maven said, “but Lemieux wants to hold ‘key terrain.’ Got it, now what can I do? As much as I can blow him off and do what I want, I can’t give him any ideas, either.”

  “Yes, you can,” Maya said. “Just do it the way we girls do it. Give him offhand suggestions, lead him to ideas, and make him think they’re his.”

  Maven snickered. “I’m guessing you have ideas on what exactly I can say?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got a few,” Hex continued. Hex and Maya alternated speaking until they’d fully spelled the plan out.

  “You guys really are too cute, finishing each other’s sentences,” Maven joked in her flat, sarcastic tone. “Agreeing with each other, supporting each other. It’s kind of disgusting.”

  “Okay, but do you think you can do it?” Maya asked.

  “I’m not sure if we’ll make it through this otherwise,” Hex added.

  “Better place to kill rats, anyway. Now let me go talk to my pilots. We gotta discuss what happened, and how it’s not gonna happen again. Then I’ll get to work on Marc.” There was a hint of a smile in Maven’s voice.

  * * *

  With a grunt, Maya loaded a final magazine onto her CASPer. With her jumpjuice refilled and power cells recharged, Maya deemed the CASPer ready. Lemieux sat on the hull of his command tank, where he sipped coffee and chewed on a protein bar. A few minutes prior, she’d wandered over to attempt a casual conversation about how to handle the next assault. Thanks to their success with the first assault, the commander of the Marauders had become more convinced of his strategy.