by Brown, Ryk
“I guess Falcon one attracted a bit of attention,” she mused. “How long until our second flight intercepts them?”
“Now that they are returning to their base, it will take a few minutes more than we originally estimated to reach them. However, they should still overtake them before they make it back to the airfield.”
“Nevertheless, as soon as Falcon one finishes up down there, have him jump out, just in case. Shooting at ground targets armed with rifles is one thing. Air-to-air combat is quite another.”
“Yes, sir, it is indeed.”
“Sir, Jumpers two and three have departed. Four and five are touching down now.”
“Good,” Cameron said. “We need to get reinforcements down to that airfield as soon as possible.”
The next time Lieutenant Commander Toral opened his eyes, he was being carried into the back of a jump shuttle by four members of his platoon. His abdomen still hurt, but the pain had somehow become bearable. His head was swimming, and his vision kept slipping out of focus. He was covered with something as well. “What’s going on?” he asked in a raspy, strained voice. He realized that his mouth felt quite dry.
“Don’t move, sir,” he heard a voice say.
The lieutenant commander ignored him, turning his head to his left, toward the sound of the voice. He could make out the image of a field medic, a bag of reddish-brown fluid hanging from his shoulder with long tubing coming out of the bottom of the bag.
“You’ve got a bad belly wound, sir,” the medic told him. “You lost a lot of blood. We’re taking you back to the ship for emergency surgery.”
The lieutenant commander realized why his belly didn’t hurt as much. The tubing with the reddish-brown fluid running through it was attached to him. His vision was blurry, and his head was swimming because of the pain medication the medic had undoubtedly given him. He rolled his head to the right, looking up at the man carrying him on that side. “What’s our status?” The man looked down at him as they continued up the ramp and into the shuttle. He was a sergeant. Lieutenant Commander Toral recognized him. He was in charge of the second wave.
“The garrison is secured, sir,” the sergeant assured him.
They reached their position inside the shuttle and placed him on the deck along with the other wounded. As the men carrying him were about to leave, the lieutenant commander grabbed the sergeant’s arm with his free hand. “How many?”
“Twenty-eight dead, thirty-two wounded, sir,” the sergeant answered before pulling away to return to his duties.
The sergeant’s words hit the lieutenant commander like a hard slap in the face. “Twenty-eight men,” he mumbled.
“Go to sleep, sir,” the medic instructed as he pushed another dose of medication into the lieutenant commander’s IV line. “When you wake up, you’ll be in recovery.”
As he fought to hold back the tears for his dead and wounded, he could feel the shuttle begin to lift off. Once again, his vision failed him, and everything went black. As his consciousness faded into darkness, he could hear someone ask “Is he going to make it?” The medic replied “Doubtful.”
* * *
Two Kalibri gunships flew overhead as they patrolled the area of the airfield, keeping an eye out for any combatants that might have escaped capture and could be hiding in the open fields nearby.
“Give me the numbers,” Lieutenant Waddell ordered the sergeant as they walked across the tarmac toward a waiting Kalibri airship.
“Sixty-five dead, twenty-eight from A company, thirty-seven from B. Thirty-two wounded from A, and twelve from B for a total of forty-four wounded. Total strength of A company is one ninety. B company is down to one hundred forty-one.”
“That means we’re down by more than a quarter of our overall strength.”
“Yes, sir. They did not want to give up that airfield.”
“No they did not,” Lieutenant Waddell agreed. “How’s Toral?”
“Pretty bad, I hear. He’s in surgery right now. You know what that means, don’t you?”
“Don’t say it.”
“Sorry, sir, but that makes you our battalion commander.”
“I told you not to say it.” They continued walking across the tarmac as another cargo shuttle touched down nearby, sending up a lot of dust and small debris. “How long until all our resources are on the ground?” the lieutenant asked.
“The Aurora just jumped back to Darvano again,” the sergeant explained. “She’ll be back in about thirty minutes with the next batch of shuttles. I believe she’s got one more trip after that, and then we’re set. We should be able to start hauling stuff out of here at that point.”
“Any trouble from the locals yet?”
“None yet, but I’m pretty sure they’re still afraid to approach. It has only been an hour since the last shots were fired. I hear they’re pretty upset about their power being out, though.”
“I’ll suggest that the Aurora add some generators to her next jump. That should help.” Lieutenant Waddell sat down on the edge of the open passenger compartment of the Kalibri airship. “I’m heading over to the garrison for now. You’re in command here until I return.” Another gunship buzzed over their heads. “And keep those birds on the lookout. If anyone so much as throws a rock in our direction, take them out.”
“Yes, sir,” the sergeant said, following with a salute.
The lieutenant returned the salute as the Kalibri airship leapt up off the tarmac and turned toward the garrison, only a few kilometers away. It had been an ugly morning for them all, but they had achieved their objectives with what most would consider an acceptable number of losses. His men had fought well, exactly as he had expected. The Corinari were obsessive about their training. When forced to protect your world with minimal weapons, training was all you had. Every shot had to count; no single movement could be wasted. Despite the superior weaponry of the Ta’Akar, the Corinari had still managed to rule the day. He only hoped the weapons they recovered would be worth the lives that were lost in their capture.
* * *
“How did we do?” Nathan asked as he entered the command briefing room.
“It looks like we captured thirty-eight fighters,” Cameron reported. “Twenty-five of them are configured as deep space interceptors and will be easily adapted for operations from our flight deck. Major Prechitt tells me they are even more advanced than the ones the Corinari are currently flying. He will need some training time to get his pilots accustomed to the features of these fighters. He plans to put his best pilots in the cockpits of the captured fighters.”
“That’s great,” Nathan exclaimed. “So we got another thirteen orbital interceptors as well?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What about ordnance for them?”
“The Takaran fighters primarily use plasma cannons. However, we did acquire about fifty ship-busters and a few dozen air-to-surface rocket pods along with several hundred rockets. That should come in handy in support of any ground actions.”
“What about weapons?” Nathan asked Jessica.
“Lieutenant Waddell seems pleased enough with what he recovered from the garrison’s armory. The energy weapons the Ta’Akar forces currently use are significantly more powerful than that used by the Corinari. Medical reports several cases where direct blasts penetrated the Corinairan armor like butter. The Corinari that attacked the garrison said it took about a dozen shots to bring down properly armored imperial troops with their weapons. Waddell conducted an impromptu field test of the Takaran body armor using Takaran weapons. As suspected, they worked a lot better.”
“How many weapons are we talking about?”
“Enough to arm about a thousand men. We also recovered enough Takaran body armor to equip at least half that many.”
“I’d say that’s a pretty good start,” Nathan surmised.
“Waddell seems to think so. However, he was also quick to point out that it is probably about a tenth of what would be needed to invade the Takar
an homeworld.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Nathan said as he turned to Tug.
“How many comm-drones did you and Mister Dumar recover?”
“Six standard comm-drones,” Tug reported.
“That’s it?” Nathan wondered. “I thought those platforms held about twenty drones.”
“That is true,” Tug agreed. “The rest of them were probably in transit. Ancot is a financially active world which requires regular communication with the banks on Takara.”
“I guess six is better than zero,” Nathan commented.
“I should point out, Captain,” Cameron interrupted, “that there are also a lot of other resources to be gathered. Medical supplies, parts, intelligence… all of these things will be of use to us. Even the bunks they use in their dormitories could be of use to us if we decide to carry a large invasion force on board. These things should not be overlooked.”
“It may be impossible to properly inventory and haul all of that up to the ship, Commander,” Tug warned.
“We’re already getting reports from the surface about clashes with the people of Ancot, sir,” Jessica warned. “Seems they’re not happy about what the Corinairans have done. I think they’re afraid the Ta’Akar will come and punish them for the actions of the Corinari.”
“Have they taken any aggressive actions?” Nathan asked.
“Nothing more than throwing a few rocks and bottles and the like. I’m pretty sure the people of this world are not armed.”
“You would be sadly mistaken,” Tug warned. “Do not believe for a moment that just because you do not see them carrying guns in the streets that they are not armed. Jalea and her team found it quite easy to purchase any type of weapon they desired on Ancot, including shoulder-launched guided missiles.”
“Good to know,” Jessica stated.
“Sir, regardless of how many Corinari we put on the surface, we cannot hope to hold back the entire population of a planet should they choose to take action.”
“Indeed,” Tug agreed. “It appears that, in attacking the Ta’Akar forces on Ancot, we have inadvertently stirred up a lotee’s nest.”
Nathan stared at Tug. “What the hell is a lotee?”
“A small, flying insect,” Tug explained. “Harmless for the most part until angered. They live in large ball-shaped nests that hang from tree branches. Their bite is quite painful.”
“I think he’s saying we stirred up a hornet’s nest, sir,” Cameron pointed out to him.
“Yeah, I got that.”
“Sir, the sooner we get the Corinari off of Ancot, the better,” Jessica reminded him. “If the people of Ancot start to riot, we could lose them all.”
“We need time to haul everything up to the ship,” Cameron reminded Jessica.
“How much time are we talking about?” Nathan asked.
“At least a day or two,” Cameron guessed.
“We’re going to need to bring in reinforcements from Corinair,” Jessica resigned.
“I’ve got a better idea,” Nathan told them.
* * *
Being closer to Ancot city, the garrison received the brunt of the attention from the angry citizens of Ancot. Several thousand of them now gathered outside the walls of the garrison, occasionally hurling stones, bottles, and even the occasional burning ball of cloth that had been soaked in flammable liquids. The guards on the wall had been instructed to avoid firing at the crowd unless it was necessary to defend the garrison against a breach by the people of Ancot.
The airfield had been a different story. Located on the opposite side of the garrison from Ancot city and lying several kilometers out into the country side, fewer protesters had been willing to travel so far from the safety of their homes. Also, the airfield’s fence line was considerably far away from the base itself, making it impossible for anyone to hurl something into the middle of the compound from beyond the perimeter. That, combined with the constant patrols by the Kalibri gunships, made the airfield a much safe environment.
Despite the repeatedly broadcast announcements by the Corinari, and the explanation that their conflict was with the Ta’Akar and not the people of Ancot, the angry shouts and hurling of debris continued. Occasionally, a shot or two rang out from the crowd, but as none of them had even come close to injuring one of the Corinari on the walls, Lieutenant Waddell had managed to keep his men from taking any aggressive actions against the Ancotans gathered outside the garrison’s walls.
Lieutenant Waddell watched the scene outside from the central control room of the garrison. Now that portable reactors had been setup to provide power, the garrison’s basic systems were operational once again. He would’ve liked to have produced enough power to operate his weapons turrets as well as the garrison’s defensive shields, but most of the few generators the people of Corinair could spare had been sent to provide limited power for Ancot city, which had been without power for more than twelve hours now.
“How are things at the airfield?” the lieutenant asked the corporal as he entered the room.
“All of the aircraft have been flown up to the Aurora, sir. They shuttled down pilots and mechanics to fire the birds up and fly them out. They’re working on getting the ordnance out as well, but it’s a much slower process to move rockets than rifles and body armor.”
“How about our armory?”
“It’s just about empty, sir. A few more shuttle loads should do it. Then we start on the medical supplies in the infirmary.”
“Lieutenant!” one of the technicians in the control room called out. “I think you’d better take a look at this.”
Lieutenant Waddell rolled his chair over next to the technician to get a better look at his monitor. The view was from the cameras mounted farther down the approach road that led from Ancot city to the garrison. There were a thousand more people marching up the road, and most of them were armed.
“Corporal, call the Aurora,” the lieutenant ordered. “Tell them we’ve got trouble coming our way.”
A minute later, the lieutenant was standing on the wall above the main gate to the garrison. Through his visual scanner, he could see the armed mob coming toward them.
“How long, sir?” the sergeant next to him asked.
“No more than ten minutes, I suspect.”
“What are we going to do, sir?”
“We call in all six gunships. Have them hold the incoming mob at the last bend.”
“They can’t fire into them, can they?”
“If they are fired upon, then yes, they can.”
“Sir, those are civilians down there,” the sergeant protested.
“I’m aware of that,” Lieutenant Waddell stated. “But they are also civilians with guns, Sergeant, and our orders are to hold this garrison until ordered to withdraw. If that means we have to mow down a bunch of angry farmers, then so be it.” The lieutenant turned to face the sergeant, staring him straight in the eye. “No one, I mean no one, is to fire without my express orders. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir,” the sergeant responded.
“Good. Now you pass that on to the men. One slip of a trigger finger and this could turn real ugly, real fast.”
“Lieutenant, Comms,” the voice called over his comm-set.
“Go ahead.”
“Sir, the Aurora just arrived. She’s dispatched four cargo shuttles carrying four hundred men.”
The lieutenant looked at the sergeant. “Where the hell did they find four hundred men so quickly?”
“Beg your pardon, sir,” the sergeant began, “but they could send four thousand men, and that still might not be enough. I mean, what if this is just the tip of the iceberg? What if the whole damn planet decides to come at us? We can’t kill them all, sir. That would make us no better than the Ta’Akar.”
The lieutenant sighed as the gunships flew overhead. The sergeant was right, but he was being left with few alternatives. One way or another, something momentous was about to happen.
> Kalibri gunships swooped low over the approaching mob, but not one of them raised their weapons to fire. They knew that drawing the fire of the circling gunships prior to their arrival at the garrison would only serve to ensure their own deaths. Instead, they continued to march forward. When one of the gunships parked itself in a hover in the middle of the road, its turret tracking ominously from left to right, they simply went around it. The only way the gunships would stop them would be to open fire on them. If the statements being broadcast by the Corinairans holding the garrison were truthful, the gunships would not fire first. So far, their assumptions were proving to be correct.
As the approaching mob reached the garrison, the crowd encircling the base quickly tripled in size. Soon, the unruly mob had grown to nearly ten thousand, and more were spotted making their way up the road from Ancot city. Only now, the number of weapons in the crowd had nearly doubled, and the words being shouted at the Corinari on the garrison walls had become angrier and more impassioned. The crowd had reached an ignition point, and the slightest spark would set it ablaze.
Lieutenant Waddell watched as the crowd continued to swell in ranks. He felt as if the sheer force of the crowd could break through the garrison’s walls at any moment. “How long until those shuttles get here?” he asked over his comm-set.
“Ancot garrison, shuttle two-four. Time to touch down: one minute.”
“Shuttle two-four, Waddell. What’s your compliment?”
“Four hundred men, sir. Captain Scott orders you and your men to stand fast. You are ordered to hold your fire unless you receive direct orders to fire by Captain Scott himself. Please confirm.”
“Waddell confirms. Standing fast. Will not fire without direct orders from Captain Scott.” The lieutenant turned to the sergeant, who looked just as confused as he was. “What the hell is going on here?”
The crowd’s attention suddenly began to turn away from the angry protestations directed at the garrison and toward the approaching shuttles in the sky behind them. Within seconds, the entire crowd was looking in the direction of the approaching shuttles.