by M. D. Cooper
Korin pushed the thoughts from his mind.
The balustrade. Reach the balustrade.
A moment later he was there, crashing into it and dropping prone as rail shots slammed into the other side. The balustrade was a waist-high wall meant to provide protection to the mansion’s defenders. An added bonus for the Adders was that its strength meant it could hold back significant weapons fire.
At least for a little while.
Seven other members of his squad reached the balustrade’s temporary safety a moment later. All that was left of the twelve who had set out from the forest’s edge less than a minute before.
“Korin!” one of the Adders wailed. “This is suicide! We can’t take the mansion!”
“We have to,” Korin screamed back as another heavy rail shot streaked overhead, this one drawing a line into the woods where an explosion marked the end of one of the Adder’s crew-served railguns.
Katrina…if you sent us here to die….
A shot from the woods lanced across the lawns and hit the large railgun, where it sat atop a low tower on the house’s southern corner. A grav shield flared around the tower, and the Adder rail shot was deflected, sparks showering down across the lawn.
“We gotta take that gun out!” Korin screamed and began to move alongside the low wall. He rounded a corner and saw four Kurgise soldiers approaching.
Both groups froze for a moment, until Korin remembered his grenades once more. He tossed one and ducked back around the corner, relief flooding him as a body flew over the balustrade in the wake of the explosion.
He slid around the corner, firing wildly on the enemy’s position, only to find that they were all dead.
“Easy now, Korin,” one of the Adders on his squad laughed as they advanced past him.
Korin reloaded his rifle. “Yeah, that’s right, you go in the front, then, if you’re so hot to trot.”
The speaker—Cami, he realized now—gave him a rude gesture and led the way along the wall until they reached another corner. She unhooked a grenade from her belt and lobbed it over the wall, flattening herself as the explosion sprayed dirt and debris in the air.
Korin noted that the Adder rail fire from within the tree line had ceased. He didn’t blame them. No one wanted to make themselves a target. Luckily, it seemed that his squad was beyond the firing angles for the railgun in the southern tower.
“Let’s move,” he ordered, and peeked up over the wall, sweeping his rifle across the garden, while Cami leant around the wall to ensure there were no live enemies waiting.
Both areas were clear, and the Adders rushed across the patio to the mansion. Korin watched another team a hundred meters to the west also reach the house, and gave them a thumbs-up.
Cami had shot out a window and was firing on something inside the mansion while Korin moved closer to the tower housing the railgun. It appeared to be on the third floor, and he gestured for his squad to follow him to the ground floor window.
Sure enough, it was unshielded, and he broke the plas and tossed a flashbang inside.
He crouched back against the wall and saw Cami, still shooting into the mansion.
“Shit!” Korin swore. He glanced at the other six members of the squad and gestured at the window behind him. “Secure the ground floor of the tower, we’ll be back in a moment.”
He didn’t wait to see if they’d followed his orders before moving back toward Cami’s position.
Kinetic rounds sprayed out of the window, creating a no-man’s-land of deadly weapons fire that Cami’s armor could not hope to deflect.
Korin grabbed the last HE grenade off his belt and held it up, gesturing for Cami to do the same. She nodded, grabbed a grenade, and he signaled a three count before they both tossed their grenades through the window.
The flames hadn’t finished pouring out of the window before Cami was racing toward Korin, screaming as she ran.
“Nice battle cry,” Korin said with a laugh as she whipped past him toward the window at the base of the tower.
The rest of the team had already disappeared inside, and she stopped next to it and glanced back at Korin. “I know, I scream like a man. It’s demeaning.”
“Har har.”
She looked inside the window and appeared satisfied with what she saw, jumping through a moment later. Korin followed without checking and found himself next to Cami in a darkened room with two dead Kurgise guards on the floor, the bodies surrounded by his squad.
“You all circle-jerking over them, or something?” he asked while pointing at the stairs. “Let’s get up there. Those asshats are tearing our people apart.”
The kachug kachug of the railgun thundered above them, and Korin led the charge up the circular staircase, firing wildly as soon as he reached the second floor—which was empty, save for racks of tungsten rounds.
Before going up the last staircase, he grabbed his final flashbang and tossed it up, rushing up the stairs a second later.
When he reached the third floor, he found two stunned men and the railgun. One got a bullet in the head from him, and Cami put down the other.
Now they just had to find that bitch, Lady Marion.
TURNOVER
STELLAR DATE: 02.04.8512 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Inner Ring 11
REGION: Nesella Station, Regula, Midditerra System
“I need backup, Odis, you flaming dink. Today,” Norm called out over the audible comms. “We’re pinned down, taking heavy fire.”
A pulse grenade sailed through the air and landed on the dock next to Norm. He dove behind a crate a second before it went off, and let out a string of curses that even he almost blanched at.
“Well, I don’t think they got the memo!”
Norm peered over the crates at the two entrances to the Verisimilitude. One opened up into its larger cargo bay, and another, on a gantry above, opened up into its crew decks.
Both were filled with the ship’s crew, firing down on the Adders below.
So much for brothers and sisters in arms, Norm thought as he fired a round into the lower bay while moving into better cover.
They were all Adders, but the ‘Tude’s crew didn’t seem to care—not that many of Jace’s loyalists did. He supposed it didn’t matter. His team’s job was to keep the ship’s crew busy, and ensure no station security came to provide backup, while Odis’s team did their part.
Even though the directive for Odis to take the ship had come from Katrina, it rankled that it was not Adders boarding the vessel. A part of him worried that once the MDF had their hands on it, they wouldn’t want to give it back.
Of course, they all—Adders and MDF alike—answered to the Warlord, and Norm was certain she’d have her way. Though he’d only known her a few days, he was certain that Katrina was not a woman one would cross. At least not more than once.
Norm had moved into a new position and was firing into the open doors when he saw one of his teams advancing toward the lower entrance and waved them back.
“Sherry, what the hell are you doing?”
“I just saw some of them pull back further inside,” she replied, leapfrogging her team forward.
“Yeah, but—shit! Behind you!”
Six station security guards had just rounded a corner behind Sherry’s position, rifles leveled. Norm rose and fired at them, driving them back, but not before Sherry took a pulse shot to the head.
He watched her drop like a sack of rocks, and hoped she was just stunned…the sta
tion guards were not known for keeping their rifles on low-powered settings.
“Stand down!” Norm called out. “We’re here on the Warlord’s business.”
Two of the station security guards took a step back, but another raised his rifle and fired a shot at another member of Sherry’s team.
“Fuck!” Norm swore.
He wasn’t going to dick around with the security asshats any more than he had to. He lobbed a conc grenade at them and got ready to shoot at anyone who didn’t bugger off.
* * * * *
Kruger swore, and Gunter glanced at him in alarm. She noticed that the other diners in the restaurant were giving them cautious looks. Not the looks she’d expect to see from bystanders witnessing an argument, but rather the cautious glances of people waiting for the signal to move.
“What are you doing, Katrina?” Kruger said, shaking his head. “That ship is under my protection!”
“And you’re under mine,” Katrina replied to Kruger, before turning to look at Gunter. “Not his. Gunter can’t give you the Verisimilitude, and you can’t claim it for yourself. The ship is mine.”
“You don’t need to do this,” Gunter said to Katrina. She couldn’t tell if he was worried for himself, or worried that Katrina had made a terrible blunder.
Given that he had hidden the fact he was on the station, she could come to no other conclusion than that he was acting duplicitously.
“Who does Leon answer to?” Katrina asked. “You, Admiral, or you, Stationmaster? Tell him to stand down.”
Katrina sighed as she regarded the two men before her.
“Leon’s deal is with me,” Kruger said after a moment. “He traded me the ship for a healthy sum—though the transaction hasn’t been completed yet.”
“And how did you think that I wouldn’t notice you flying around with my ship?” Katrina asked.
Kruger laughed softly. “Well, in all honesty, I didn’t expect you to last this long—or to learn of its presence this quickly. Congratulations.”
“What was your part in this, Gunter?” Katrina asked, turning to the Admiral. “Were you offering Kruger security while he made his play?”
“It’s mutual,” Gunter ground out the words. “No way a canton is running Midditerra—especially not some slave from Malorie’s sithri fields. The Verisimilitude is payment to Kruger for his support and financial contribution in overthrowing you. I was planning on bringing in my fleet to kick you off Farsa Station, but you’ve made things a lot easier. Thanks for that.”
Katrina shrugged. “Just trying to help. Out of curiosity, which of the cantons was going to take the lead in supporting you for my job?”
Gunter’s lips drew a thin line across his face.
“It wasn’t…Marion of Kurgise, by any chance, was it?” Katrina asked with a cruel laugh. “I mean, it’s not Wills or Troan, that’s for sure. Armis is too principled. But Marion would be just right. Not too much to lose, a lot to gain; plus, she’s fucking Kruger, just like you, Gunter.”
She had suspected that Gunter didn’t know that particular detail, and his widening eyes confirmed it.
“Why, you little rat,” Gunter said, glaring at Kruger.
Kruger only shrugged. “I like added insurance.”
Gunter rose from his chair and pointed at Katrina. “Arrest—” he began to say, then his words cut off. He tried to speak, but failed, eyes bulging as he glared at Katrina.
All around them, the other diners rose. From what she could see in Gunter’s mind, half worked for him, and the other half for Kruger. There was only one couple in a far corner that was actually present for the dining experience.
Naturally, they looked terrified.
Katrina saw that Kruger tried to keep a cold look on his face, but it was wavering as Gunter struggled to speak.
“Draw your sidearm,” Katrina ordered the Admiral.
Without hesitation, Gunter followed her directions.
“Put the barrel in your mouth.”
Gunter complied, and Kruger’s face drained of all color.
“Stationmaster Kruger,” Katrina turned to the man. “Tell your people to stand down. If you don’t, Malorie will tear your head off.”
“I’ve been itching to kill someone with this body,” Malorie whispered, edging closer to Kruger.
Kruger opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped. He gasped, trying to get a word out, but was only able to grunt.
“What are you doing?” Malorie asked, swiveling her head toward Katrina. “Let Kruger speak before his flunkies kill us.”
“I’m not doing that to him,” Katrina said, looking around at the confused undercover MDF soldiers and perplexed station personnel. None had drawn their weapons yet, though more than a few hands were resting on pistol grips.
“Everyone stand down,” Katrina called out. “If you don’t, these two fools both die. My ships have key sections of the station in their sights, and we’ve taken the Verisimilitude.”
Katrina stretched a foot under the table and touched her ankle to Kruger’s thigh, passing a large dose of nano into his body.
He winced as she did it and then a moment later went limp, his head hitting the table.
The shock of seeing Kruger drop pushed the onlookers over the edge, and she could see that the room was hers.
“Stand down now!” Katrina cried out as she rose, glaring at the guards and soldiers around her. “I want everyone’s guns on the floor.”
As she issued the order, the MDF soldiers that had waited outside the restaurant rushed in, adding additional enforcement to her order. The station guards and MDF soldiers slowly complied, and Odis’s troops began to round them up.
Katrina glanced at Gunter and nodded at the man, releasing her control over him.
“It’s done. More importantly, you’re done.”
His eyes were wide as he pulled the gun partway out of his mouth, staring at Katrina with undisguised fear.
Then he pulled the trigger.
CAPTURING MARION
STELLAR DATE: 02.04.8512 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Lady Marion’s mansion
REGION: Canton Kurgise, Persia, Midditerra System
Korin raced through the mansion, coordinating with the other Adders who had breached the building. Some focused on taking out the remaining defensive emplacements, while others focused on the hunt for Lady Marion.
“Cami!” he called out. “Take Bart and Friz and check down that hall. Rumsey and I are going to check out the top floor.”
“You got it, Boss,” Cami called back, and disappeared around the corner, following the route to what his map referred to as the ‘family chambers’.
He was split on what Lady Marion would likely do. She seemed like the ‘run away’ sort. The question was, would she run to her bedroom, like the fool she often seemed to be, or attempt an actual escape?
There was a shuttle on the roof, and the scan feeding down from the ships above showed that it was still in place. If he were fleeing a sinking ship, that’s the route he’d take.
Rumsey was in the lead, and checked around a corner before signaling to Korin that the coast was clear. They rushed down a passage, and then turned into a staircase.
“Hate stairs,” Rumsey grunted.
“Wanna take a lift?” Korin asked with a laugh.
“Fuck no.”
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They hugged the outside wall, Rumsey’s gun trained on the landing above, while Korin kept his aimed at the doorway they’d just come through.
A second later, a figure appeared, and he almost fired until he realized it was Cami.
“The fuck, woman!” Korin whispered over comms. “Don’t do that to me.”
“Bob’s team has that wing covered, I figured you’d probably need me to save your ass again.”
“I distinctly recall saving your ass last time,” Korin shot back.
Bart and Friz—all that remained of the initial twelve in his squad—followed Cami into the stairwell, and they continued to work their way up, passing the first landing, and then the second, finally stopping at the third.
Knowing that half his squad was now dead or injured on this cursed mansion’s grounds angered Korin in a way he hadn’t felt before. That Katrina could send him on this mission in such a rush…she had to know he’d suffer losses like this.
“And toooooop floor,” Friz announced, his frequently ill-timed humor still in place despite the night’s events. “Please watch your step getting off the li—”
A shot came through the door and ricocheted off Friz’s armor.
“Smooth move,” Cami said, and dove to the other side of the doorway at the top of the stairs, firing out into the hall beyond.
“I was just drawing them out,” Friz retorted.
Cami laid down more fire, while Korin and Rumsey got ready to dash to cover on the far side of the hall.
When Cami paused to reload, they made their break, reaching the far side of the hall and stacking up behind a column.
Cami fired again, but no return shots came, and Korin peered around the column to see three Canton Kurgise soldiers, dead in the corridor.
“Sad little fuckers,” Cami said as she strolled out from behind her cover.
A shot rang out and hit Cami in the right leg, tearing it clear off her body. Korin saw the shooter, and let fly with a barrage of bullets, taking the enemy out as he rushed down the corridor.
Korin reached the end of the passage, where he confirmed that now the Kurgise shooters were all down before turning back to see Rumsey bent over Cami.