Alaya and Tavia were with Ian’s group and worked their way through the tunnels to get to their target as soon as possible. Once there, they would set the charges they carried. The other demolition group was on its way to the two bridges that spanned the river from the administrative centers, being used for command and control, and the southern portion of the city, where the legion would enter. This would also disrupt any movement to join the Petrov forces that were deploying through the streets of the city. They intended to contest the ground on a street-by-street basis. Ian led his group through the underground utility tunnels to the basement of the main administrative building. When they reached the basement, they found the entrance blocked by a newly installed grate. They must have thought Sly came in this way when she saved the Slones. They must still be missing their governor who was rotting in the escape tunnel. Well he would soon have company.
“We have to cut through this,” Ian said and waved one of his men forward. The man had a cutting torch and began rapidly burning through the steel hinges of the grating. This was not without noise and the Petrov guard stationed in the basement came over to investigate. The grate hinges were almost cut through when the guard came around the corner and saw what was going on. He did two things; he pushed an emergency call button on his communicator and raised the muzzle of his weapon, firing into the grate. Some of the bullets hit the metal of the grate and bounced off, but several went through and hit the man with the cutting torch square in the chest. As he fell back, another bullet hit the woman behind him in the thigh and a third grazed Ian’s left forearm. No other bullets came through since Ian shot the guard in the head before he could fire again. Ian picked up the torch and made the final cuts. The grate fell into the basement with a loud clang. No use being quiet now, the alarm had been sounded.
The resistance fighters entered the basement and the demolition crews went to work setting charges while the rest stood near the entrances to the basement with weapons ready. Alaya and Tavia had their pistols and short swords at the ready. The demolition crews worked fast but had to do their work carefully. Only some of the basement columns needed to be destroyed. The plan was to destabilize the building and implode it by placing charges on the main support columns and enough of the secondary columns to allow gravity to do the rest. Twelve columns had to be set with explosives and the crew was rapidly placing them. Four columns were set when the first guards entered the basement. They came in with weapons up and firing into the large open area of the basement. Several resistance guards went down but the rest returned fire and the Petrovians went down rapidly, since they could only pile in through narrow doors. However, there were five doors and soon they were coming through each of them. The demolition crew now had to fight and set charges as the resistance fighters started falling. The charges were tamper proof by all but experienced bomb disposal techs, so once set the charges stayed, but they could only set on eight of the twelve columns needed for an implosion. It would have to do, since the Petrovian guards were crack military and the resistance fighters had been civilians only a few months ago. It was no contest and Ian ordered them back to the tunnel. As many as possible got out that way but they left their dead and wounded behind. They all knew, if this worked, the wounded would be crushed by the falling building. Some of the wounded were immobilized but could still fire a weapon and they protected those who could make it to the utility tunnel. Tavia and Alaya stood outside the tunnel firing their pistols until all of those who could reach the tunnel, made it. Of the 30 who had gone into the basement, 17 made it back to the tunnel.
As they went through the tunnel, Alaya could hear the ongoing firing in the basement as the wounded continued to fight as long as they were able. In time, the firing became more sporadic but by then the surviving group made it clear of the administrative area and climbed out of a hidden manhole. As they came up in a small side street, they could see the Petrov military forming up in the streets facing the south. Overhead there were large numbers of hovercraft. They ducked into an adjacent building safe house and awaited their orders. Alaya reported all ready. A few minutes later, they heard hovercraft screaming over the building heading south and this was followed by the unmistakable sound of explosions. The bombing had hardly started when Alaya was sent the signal she was awaiting. She looked at Ian and simply said, “Do it.” Ian pressed a button on the remote detonator and the area was rocked by an explosion. They looked out of the window at the 20 story administrative building and nothing happened. Alaya looked back at Ian who signaled her to keep watching. Suddenly the building began to tilt.
There were reports of shots fired in the basement. General Fedin ordered two squads of guards to go down and find out what’s happening. They lost contact with the basement guard just after he signaled an emergency. With the line open, they heard shots and then the line went dead. The general had a lot to worry about and now there was this problem in the basement. He knew it had to be the resistance, but they were a small, weak organization. True they had gotten lucky at evading and even killing the squads sent after them, but his sources told him that on the entire planet there were not more than a thousand of them. His men had taken the precaution of sealing off the upper three floors of the building and that is where his command and control was. From here he had the monitors and control systems to watch the battle. He finally discovered from that coward, Admiral Perminov, that the enemy calls themselves the Romani and are part of an alleged federation called Nova Romae. They claim no affiliation with any corporation, yet look at the resources they have. No one has even one dreadnought, let alone ten, without the backing of a corporation. If he could only find out who was behind them, he could discover who released the genocidal plague on his people. The enemy was now moving towards the city on the main highway from the south. They were moving rapidly and would soon be at the city limits. His troops were still assembling and not quite ready yet, but he had no doubt they would crush these people. He had an idea on how to slow them down. Turning to his communication tech, he said, “Order Air Marshal Simonov to attack the enemy column.”
“Yes general.”
The order went out and, within ten minutes, the hovercraft gunships began to assemble above the troops, awaiting their orders to attack. Just as this was happening, reports began to arrive from the squads in the basement indicating an active firefight with a large group of resistance fighters. His troops were getting the better of them but they were also finding explosives in the basement. Since they never told the general exactly where the explosives were located, he remained unaware of the danger and relegated the basement fight to the background to focus his attention on the impending battle. He watched as his gunships flew off in formation to attack the Romani. The air marshal sent 40 of his 80 gunships on the mission with orders to disrupt the column. The enemy was just visible to the long-range optics, as the few camera drones they had sent out were shot down. Now he would finally be able to watch them through the cameras on the gunships. He watched with interest as they flew closer to the enemy. The battle in the basement was over and only a few wounded resistance fighters were captured. An unknown number had escaped but they would be rounded up later, when they had a chance to interrogate the prisoners.
“Tell the men to leave a squad in the basement and bring the prisoners up here for interrogation,” he ordered.
The general once again turned his attention to the screen and the lead gunships were now two kilometers from the enemy. The Romani had stopped and their squares had changed into a circular formation he had never seen before. From the flanks of the enemy, two groups of gunships flew out to meet the Petrovians. Both sides started to fire missiles and the Gatling guns in their turrets. Thanks to the cameras on the various hovercrafts, Fedin could watch the action and see the pieces breaking off craft from both sides as the bullets stitched across their surfaces. Then they started to fire missiles and several hovercrafts on both sides began to drop from the sky. He saw a few of his gunships breakthrough the en
emy and head for the infantry. The enemy troops were covered with what looked like scales of some kind that were entirely unknown to the general. As his craft got closer, the Romani anti aircraft hovers opened up and his ships took a withering fire that started to wear them down. Of the five craft that broke through the enemy gunships, four crashed into the jungle and the fifth managed to launch all of its missiles into the second infantry circle before also succumbing to the enemy fire. General Fedin was just trying to see what damage the missiles did against the unknown scales when there was a rumble and the entire building shook for a second and then stopped. The shaking was so violent; the techs grabbed their monitors to prevent them from tumbling off the desks. A little plaster came down from the ceiling. As the general was brushing the plaster dust off his shoulder, his coffee cup suddenly slid off the table as the building lurched to one side and kept going, picking up speed. There was no time for the understanding of what was happening to enter the minds of those in the room and more than one went to their deaths with a quizzical look. The entire building came crashing down and the Petrovians lost both their command and control along with their general. The brigadiers were in command now, and they did not like each other.
The corporate military structure consisted across human space of brigades having 5000 troops with support air wings and tanks. Unfortunately, due to an ill-conceived desire to save money, Petrov Corp neglected to send tanks to its invasion force. They also lacked the antiaircraft weapons of the Romani and relied on their air arm to take out enemy aircraft. There were three brigades in Penllyn and they were under the control of three brigadier generals who suddenly found their central command gone. There were two female brigadiers, who got along well and a male brigadier who did not think women should be in command. The Petrovians still held many antiquated views, and with the sterility plaque raging in Petrov space, all women should be kept out of danger, as far as males were concerned. Brigadier Alexi Volkov was of the old worldview that should have died with the earth. He was the wrong man in the wrong job and held his rank through patronage and not ability. General Fedin was the control on him, and now he was lying under tons of rubble. He immediately demanded full command of all brigades. Brigadier Alisa Golov and Brigadier Maya Zyagin looked at him and almost laughed. Zyagin said, “We all have command of our brigades. If we don’t work together, this battle will not go well. Now let’s go and take down these Romani.”
Volkov was ready to explode, but he bided his time. There would be opportunity to humiliate those annoying women in time. “Very well, let’s discuss plans.” Just then, the air marshal tried to communicate with command and control but Volkov intercepted the message. “General Fedin and command and control are gone, taken out by the resistance.”
“We are taking a beating up here. They are using weapons and tactics that are taking down our gunships. Request permission to withdraw and regroup.”
“Stay and fight,” Volkov almost shouted into the communicator.
Zyagin grabbed the communicator and ordered the air marshal to use his discretion and retreat back to the city if he felt it was necessary. Volkov looked shocked and stalked off the command platform like a petulant child and in a flash, the Petrov forces were reduced by one third. Having the resistance take out command and control was working much better than the Romani could have hoped, but they were still outnumbered by 4000 troops. What was left of the Petrov air attack withdrew after losing half their number. The Romani did not come out unscathed. They lost four gunships and two antiaircraft hovers. What really cost them was the hit on the fifth cohort.
The legion covered half the 10-kilometer distance to the city limits when 40 Petrov gunships took to the air and moved towards their position. From her command ship, the Legatus ordered her air arm into action. The thirty gunships to the right of the column moved forward rapidly while those to the left of the column moved in behind. Romani air tactics when dealing with an attack on a legion in column called for half the gunships to engage and the other half stay behind to get any who come through the line. All Romani tactics were based on attack and defense in depth. As soon as the Romani gunships flew off, the Legatus made a quick tactical assessment and spoke into her communicator. “All cohorts form the testudo.”
Testudo is the Latin word for tortoise and the formation as used by the ancient Romans was a small unit of men forming a square with two layers of shields on the outside, one above the other. Over top was a layer of shields in such a way as to protect all inside from projectile weapons. Since the Nova Romae carried body shields, they could also use this formation. When the cohorts were ordered into testudo formation, each cohort formed concentric circles with the outer rank dropping to one knee and locking their shields in front of them. The second rank remained standing and placed their body shields above the first. All of the remaining ranks held their shields over their heads to form a roof over the cohort. This is what the Petrov air wings thought were scales. They pushed the muzzles of their automatic weapons between the shields, turning the testudo into a massive weapon’s platform. When the formation was complete, the legion consisted of 10 stationary circular formations in the same order as before. As the final touches were put on the testudos, the air wings collided over the jungles south of the city. Both sides fired missiles when in range and then their turret gunners started putting the Gatling guns to good use. Three Petrov ships fell into the jungle almost immediately but so did two Romani ships. After the first volley, the lines broke up and started to intermix.
As the Legatus watched, she could see the intent of the Petrov air arm. A tight group of 10 intentionally passed through the Romani ships and attacked the second line. These ships shot down five of the Petrovians but lost another Romani gunship. It was becoming evident to both sides that the Romani ships had heavier armor and could hold up longer in battle. This did not bode well for the Petrov forces. They were persistent though and three made it through to the infantry column. The first two were shot down by antiaircraft hovers, but not before, they took out two of the guns. The third ship did the damage. It flew over the sixth cohort testudo as the automatic weapons of the infantry fired on it. The enemy gunship was dealt a fatal blow by the antiaircraft guns between the sixth and fifth cohorts, but in its death throes, it fired its two forward missiles at the testudo of the fifth cohort. The missiles both hit the edge of the formation as the gunship heeled over and crashed into the jungle. When the missiles exploded on impact with the formation, the shield walls and roof deadened some of the effect, but testudos were designed for protection from bullets and shrapnel, not missiles. It was pure luck that the missiles both hit the same spot at the edge of the formation. Seventy-three Romani lay dead or wounded, but the discipline of the legion was so great that the wounded were quickly pulled into the center of the formation and the testudo was reformed smaller with the dead outside. As quickly as the air phase started, it was over with the retreat of the Petrov forces.
The Legatus ordered the cohorts to reform for the march and the wounded were taken to the medical hovercrafts that were following the legion, and were marked with a big, red cross to signify it was not to be attacked. For over a millennium the red cross on a vehicle protected it. The dead were placed in drop ships that were down for that purpose. They would be cremated along with the dead from the space battle and taken back to Nova Romae. The march of the final five kilometers to the city was uneventful and they reached the city limits in good time.
“Send the sixth cohort in for a reconnaissance in force,” the Legatus ordered. Slone was standing next to the legion commander and kept his eye on the threat board and the live feed coming in from the drones. The air battle was exciting and he came to realize that the command ship was a prime target. The Romani gunships outnumbered the Petrov wings and scored a resounding victory with minimal loss. The Petrovians retreated with just over half the number they came with. “Slone, for your education, when we do a reconnaissance in force we send in the lead cohort, always the
sixth along with its six hover tanks,” the Legatus pointed out. “Our drones tell us the disposition of the enemy forces, but they cannot tell us their resolve. That is what the cohort will do. The sixth will probe their positions and let them know we are willing to die to take them. What we want to know is, are they willing to die to keep them?”
As Slone watched the drone feed, he could see muzzle flashes coming from both sides. The Petrovian infantry barricaded all of the streets entering the city from the south. It looked like two brigades were manning the various barricades with one brigade staying behind in reserve. The Legatus had no idea of the animosities at play on the enemy side. She was gratified that the resistance had lived up to the trust given them and the Petrovian command and control was gone. Now they awaited the report of the sixth.
On the ground, things were not quite as clear-cut as from the air. The cohort entered the city between two buildings that acted as a de facto gate. The checkpoint booths were abandoned and the crossing gate was raised. The position was too easy to flank from side streets, so the Romani could understand why it was abandoned. They knocked down the gatehouse with a hover tank and the tanks moved in and fanned out. Next was the infantry with their guns and body shields forward. The cohort entered a large open square and fanned out from the center to form a semicircle anchored on two buildings with double rows of 300 troops each. Behind the second row and ready to adapt to whatever was coming, stood the six centurions, each behind their century. The tanks went ahead and started firing at the barricades blocking six of the major streets. Each tank had a turret with a cannon and Gatling gun slung under it. First, they laid down a withering fire from their Gatling guns and several of the defenders were literally shredded. The barricades had hovercraft behind them and these now rose up and returned fire on the tanks. The Romani tanks took evasive action and the missed shots passed over the heads of the cohort, all the troops of which were now down on one knee to cover up behind their shields. The cohort was also firing between its shield wall and the Petrovians were returning the fire. Several troops on both sides fell to wounds as the firing continued. The tanks now fired their cannons. Two shots took down two hovercrafts, which did more damage to the barricade defenders than the crafts had done to the Romani. The other four cannon shots hit the barricades they were aimed at, but did little harm. The barricades were made of dirt and rubble. They absorbed cannon shots. The barricades would have to be stormed and overrun. The six Romani tanks stayed in front of the infantry and slugged it out with the Petrov forces on the barricades. Long distance firing between the infantries also kept up at a steady pace. At the Petrov field headquarters, the battle was intently watched.
Nova Romae (The Adventures of Christopher Slone Book 2) Page 18