“You two!” I shout to the legionnaires attending to Guffer. “Do your best to stabilize him until the basics can send down a litter for him.”
The rest of the squad looks to me for orders. I survey the battlefield as the koob machine gun spews in our general direction. There’s a channel between piles of rubble—probably was the center of a narrow alley before the buildings around it collapsed. If we stay low, we might be able to flank the machine gun nest undetected. “Masters, you’re with me. We’re moving through there to get at the nest. Staying undetected is key, so I want the rest of you to stay in place, watch your angles, and keep them busy with suppressing fire.”
Keeping low, I move quickly through the rubble and debris. My nose is clogging with the thick, lingering dust of the collapsed stone buildings. That might not be such a bad thing. Judging by the number of Kublaren appendages I see half buried and blown to pieces, the dust is filtering the fishy scent of alien gore. I bury questions of how many of these dead koobs are Annek warriors and how many are women and hatchlings—not that those are any less deadly.
My heart pounding, I hold up a clenched fist to signal a halt. Masters and I are hidden by the shadow of a six-meter pile of rubble that used to be a two-story stone structure. The steady brrrp! brrp! brrp! of the machine gun nest is louder and closer. I judge from the intensity of noise that the koobs are up on the opposite side of the crumbled structure.
“What’s the game plan?” Masters whispers over our comm channel. “My HUD shows about five koobs spotted in the nest. All yellow, so they might have spread out…”
I look to the top of the pile of debris hiding us from the enemy gunners. “I’m climbing to the top of this mound. I want you to swing around behind the koobs as a diversion. Stay covered, keep safe. I’ll open up on them from above once you grab their attention. Questions?”
“No, Lieutenant.”
Masters moves to the end of the debris pile and cautiously crosses a cobblestone intersection as he heads deeper behind the enemy. I look for sturdy hand- and footholds. It takes a while, as the stone fragments tumble down around me. Finally I see an exposed wooden beam and reach up to grab it. It doesn’t give as I pull my weight up. I climb the rest of the way as fast as I dare, thankful for the echoes of blaster and machine gun fire that drown out the clattering of loose stone from my ascent.
When I reach the summit, I lie on my belly, trusting in luck that all this rock isn’t resting on top of a ground floor that might go crashing down into a basement at any moment.
“Masters,” I pant, “I’m all set up. You ready?”
“I can see the nest, but I don’t have eyes on any koob targets. I’m gonna toss a fragger inside, so keep low.”
“Copy. Go for fragger.”
I hug the broken stones beneath me and wait. The machine gun fire abruptly stops, replaced by frantic koob yelling. The fragger explodes, my cue to pop up. I jump to my feet and aim my N-4 down into the nest. The grenade only caught one koob; the rest spill outside and are just now getting up from their cover. I rain down blaster fire, dropping three koobs before one breaks away.
The survivor moves out of my line of fire, running in Masters’s general direction. “Squirter coming your way,” I announce.
“Copy.”
I see a glimpse of the koob just as it reaches an intersection. My rifle is at my shoulder when I see a burst of blaster fire shoot down the avenue and eat up the alien’s back.
“Koob down,” Masters calls out.
“Gather at the MG nest,” I call into our squad channel.
Masters meets me there as I slide down the pile of debris. The nest wasn’t pre-planned, just a hollowed mound in the destruction that lent itself to a good firing point.
It’s eerily quiet on this side of the village. The only sound reaching us is a firefight between the koobs and Specter Squad way over in the eastern half. I’m guessing the majority of surviving koobs rallied to where the legionnaires made their first push.
“Doomsday, we need to push in until we join up with Specter. Masters and I will move ahead on point, while the rest of you catch up. What’s the status on Guffer?”
“Dead, Lieutenant.”
I clench my jaw. “Copy.”
Masters and I move out of the machine gun nest and into the war-torn streets, stepping over split stones and shattered body parts. We’ve advanced perhaps a thousand meters when the distant shooting comes to a stop. I key in Wraith.
“Doomsday-1 to Vic-1. Enemy cleared in west village. Moving element to join Specter Squad.”
“Copy,” answers Wraith. “Enemy cleared in east village. I think that’s going to be most of the koob force, but keep your eyes open for snipers and stragglers.”
“Will do. Doomsday-1 out.”
We patrol in silence, save the crunch of rubble beneath our boots. Masters looks behind us and whispers, “I can see Rook and Exo back there. Main force is catching up.”
I nod.
“Lieutenant, I think we got them all. I think—”
A koob comes running from around a corner, dangerously close to Masters. “Leej—” it begins to scream. I double-tap the trigger of my N-4 and send two blaster bolts into its chest. The alien drops face first into the street.
“Oh, shi—” Masters straightens himself, cutting himself off. “T-twice. Lieutenant… that’s twice you saved me.”
His voice is jittery. The kid’s shaken up. But I’m too busy watching for more koobs and thinking about the one I just dusted. I’m not an expert on Kublaren physiology or expressions by any stretch, but something about the way that koob looked while it was yelling… was off. I’ve seen angry koobs. This one seemed… different. I don’t see a weapon anywhere close to the body.
“Everything okay?” Exo calls out.
“Yeah,” I answer. “Lone koob. I think—”
“Stop firing!” Another figure clambers into view. I spin to meet the surprise and watch as a burst of uncontrolled blaster fire eats into its target. “Stop fi—”
My stomach drops.
Masters holds his smoking blaster rifle in shock for a moment, then drops it clattering onto the ground. He rips off his helmet and throws up his morning rations.
“Friendlies in the combat zone!” I yell over L-comm. “Use extreme fire discipline. Repeat, friendlies in the combat zone!”
I rush over to the woman Masters just killed. She’s Republic. Wearing the white jumper of a planetary scientist. I have no idea why she’d be here, but the evidence is right before my eyes.
“Oh, God.” Masters walks up next to me. His face is pale and sickly. “Lieutenant, I—she just… jumped up. I thought she was a koob.”
“Vic-1 to Doomsday-1. What’s going on over there?”
“Captain Ford,” I say into my comm, “I have a confirmed kill here. Human female wearing Republic-issue planetary science gear. We thought she was Kublaren. Thinking she must have been a captive.”
“Copy. All squads. Exercise extreme caution. Koobs will use hostages as personal shields in a firefight.”
Exo and Rook come running forward, leading the rest of the squad.
“What the hell happened here?” Exo says on arrival. “Who dusted the chick?”
Masters, who is sitting on a pile of stones, buries his head deeper into his hands. “I thought she was koob.”
“War zone in the middle of a firefight,” I say evenly. “It happens. Keep your head straight.”
All the helmeted legionnaires swing their blaster rifles toward the area the woman and koob appeared from. My ears catch up later and hear a heavy tromping of footsteps at a run. “Easy,” I caution.
A bearded man bursts from around the corner. He’s wearing the same uniform as the woman. He looks at us, stunned, as though his mind doesn’t comprehend why legionnaires would be in the middle of this. His eyes move to the woman.
“Kalla!” The scientist runs over to the woman’s body and drops to his knees. He cradles her in his arms
and presses his head close to hers. He’s crying. “Kalla… Kalla.”
I approach him tentatively, motioning for Rook to come as well. “Sir, I’m Lieutenant Cohen Chhun, Thirty-First Legion, Victory Company. I need you to go with this legionnaire so he can get you to safety.”
“Kalla…” the man moans. He looks up at me, tears in his eyes. “My wife. She’s dead.”
“I know that sir, and I am sorry. Truly. But this village belongs to a hostile tribe, and we need to keep you out of enemy hands. Are there any more prisoners?”
“Prisoners?” The man’s reply is distant, like he heard the word in a dream. He furrows his brow a moment and then begins to stroke the face of his deceased wife.
“Okay, Rook, pick him up and escort him to the drop zone. We’ve got to clear out whatever’s left of this village.”
Rook reaches down and takes the man by his arm. “C’mon, here we go.”
“No!” The scientist wrenches his arm away and clings to his wife. “I’m not leaving Kalla. I’m not going anywhere!”
“Get your hands off him!”
The voice comes from another human female. Younger than the man and his wife—not much older than the legionnaires around me. She, too, is dressed in the white jumpsuit of a planetary scientist. Was some sort of survey team captured?
She strides fearlessly into our heavily armed midst and stands in front of the weeping man. “Not one of you trigger jockeys puts a hand on him.”
This is something we don’t have time for.
“Look, miss,” I say, doing my best to sound even and diplomatic. “I appreciate your wanting to protect your friend right now, but we’re here to help.”
She gestures at the village. “Help? You call this help? You call shooting Kalla help?”
Wraith’s voice comes over the comm. “Lieutenant Chhun, what’s your ETA?”
“Found another survivor, Captain.”
The woman stands up, anger hot in her eyes. “No thanks to you bucket-heads.”
Wraith picks up the comment. “Sounds like something is up. I’m bringing Specter over your way. Find out what’s going on.”
“Copy.” I turn to the woman. “I’m Lieutenant Cohen Chhun. The legionnaires with me are part of a diplomatic element seeking to gain support for Republic Senator Greggorak of the tribe Innik. We were attacked by hostile warriors from this village. We’re not here to hurt you, Miss…”
The woman stares off into the distance as though she’s deep in thought. She shakes her head, causing a dirt-matted ponytail to leave a dry trail of dust. Her anger transforms into what I would call a reserved hostility. “Andien,” she says, and I can tell it’s only out of a forced sense of shared duty to the Republic that she even gets the name out. “You can call me…” but she doesn’t finish the thought. “Which tribe, exactly, controls this village, Lieutenant?” she asks.
I hesitate. “The… Annek tribe. They’re in league with the Mid-Core Rebellion. We came here to destroy their base of operations before they could launch further strikes against the Republic. This was their tribal seat.”
There’s a quiet moment when all that can be heard is the quiet cries of the man over his wife.
Andien erupts.
“Is that what you think? Well you’re wrong, and I can’t even tell you how many beings are dead because of it!”
“What’s she talkin’ about, LT?” Exo asks.
“I’ll tell you what I’m talking about. Yes, this is an Annek village, but it’s not a tribal seat. The Annek elders are at least thirty kilometers away. This village is—was—a site designated by Senator Greggorak for a small team of Republic scientists to work on a plan to develop Kublar’s natural resources. And now they’re all dead. Dead!”
A part of me desperately hopes this is just a rebel who’s taken possession of some surplus uniforms. But with the way we were able to roll up without being noticed, and Kreggak’s behavior when we refused to commit our entire element into this death trap of a valley… I know where this is headed.
“Look,” I begin. But I’m at a loss. “I don’t… I need to call this in, okay?”
“A fat lot of good that will do.”
I don’t take the time to reply, walking off and keying in my comm for Captain Ford instead. “Doomsday-1 to Vic-1,” I say into the private channel.
“What’s up, Lieutenant?”
“Sir, we have a major problem on our hands here. Survivor is claiming to be a Republic scientist working on a project per Senator Greggorak’s orders. She’s claiming that this is not the Annek tribal seat. I thought we were the only ones the Republic sent to the planet.”
“That was my understanding. Let me check with Captain Devers. Wraith out.”
I turn back to find Rook kneeling, his head tilted to one side as if listening.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“Shh.” Rook places a finger against his helmet, shushing me. “I think I hear someone in the rubble. Trying to dig out.”
We all stand stock still before another legionnaire says, “I hear it, too.”
Andien turns slowly on her heels, looking at the rubble around her. “This is where most of us were sleeping before the attacks came.”
“It’s coming from right beneath me,” Rook announces.
I set my N-4 down against a pile of tumbled stone and timber. “Okay, I want three guns on the perimeter. Everybody else, dig.”
15
The pile of cracked stones and debris I’ve stacked up beside me is almost as tall as I am, but Exo swears he can still hear someone beneath the ruins, so we keep prying away more pieces of shattered buildings. My fingers feel raw even with the protection of my synthprene gloves. My shoulders ache with each new deadlift and heave. But we’re making progress. Specter Squad cleared the village and has joined in the recovery.
I’m worried about Masters, though. He’s sitting on a mound of sand-colored bricks, staring off at nothing. The kid hasn’t said more than two words to anyone.
Wraith takes a seat next to him. “Tough day.”
Masters looks at Wraith, then down at the small piece of rubble in his hands. “Yes, sir.”
“Remember your training. These things happen, and it’s a shame, but don’t let it get in your head.” Wraith stands and kicks a brick off the pile. “We’re not out of this by any stretch. I need you focused on keeping the men around you alive, and not on the ones it’s too late for.”
Masters manages to look at the new widower. He still hasn’t left his wife’s side. I’m not sure a part of his brain didn’t crack, to be honest.
“Understood, Captain.” Masters stands up as well. “I’ll be ready. I just… just needed some time to think.”
Wraith nods and walks to me. I straighten my back and feel the vertebrae pop. My arms fall slack, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to rest them. We walk a few meters away, not wanting to be overhead.
“What did Captain Devers say?” I ask. “Did he know there were Republic scientists set up here?”
“Not here. He didn’t know where the place was. But he knew the Senate sent in a group of scientists to convince the Kublarens to start getting some of the planet’s natural resources into the trade lanes even before they’re formally brought into the Republic.”
“And?”
Wraith sighs. “This was avoidable. But I don’t think Devers is worried about anything other than the Moona koobs leaving.”
I look back at the surviving female scientist—Andien. She’s still pulling away whatever her slender arms can lift. Her hands are bleeding from the effort. “So these Rep scientists. Wrong place, wrong time? Chain of command just forget to look out for them?”
Wraith looks down. “As difficult as it might be to hear, that’s what I’m hoping. The alternative doesn’t bode well.”
There’s a flurry of motion at the dig site. Shouts of excitement begin to relay from one helmeted voice to the next. “That’s a leg!”
The speed of the
dig intensifies as the legionnaires find a new reserve of strength.
“C’mon,” Wraith says before sprinting toward the pile. He’s already pulling away rocks by the time I’m halfway.
“Quigs.” I call the medic, still up top and seeing to the wounded in the converted sleds. “We might have a few wounded to bring up to the med-sleds.”
“Copy, Lieutenant.” There’s a hint of exasperation in his voice that even the comm can’t hide. I can’t blame him. This op has been a disaster, and as hard as we’ve fought, I think he’s worked twice as hard to keep the wounded alive. I doubt he’s slept since we left Camp Forge. “I’ll try and make some room. Things are tight, though.”
“Understood.”
The legionnaires pull what is obviously a lifeless body out of the pile. Another Republic scientist. Andien turns away and begins to cry bitterly. I fight back a sense of helplessness, replaying the events that have brought us to this point.
“I still hear something, though.” Exo is insistent. He’s still digging. “Nothin’s changed, man. I hear ’em.”
“Yeah,” Wraith agrees, scooping up an armful of splintered timbers. “I hear it too.”
I spring up to the work site and join in. We pull everything away until we uncover a solid wood door. It’s featureless, any handles or fasteners sheared away in the village’s collapse.
Thump. Thump.
Even I can hear that.
As many legionnaires as can fit in the excavation site are working. Gone is the reckless tossing of stones. Each handful is picked up deliberately and delicately handed over to waiting hands, removing it from the site. We’re close, and the last thing we want to do is further injure whoever’s under us.
More of the wooden door is revealed. We try to lift it up, but it isn’t budging. Exo leans down and knocks on it. “Hey, can you hear me?”
Every legionnaire falls silent.
A muffled shout cries, “Help us!”
Again we try to lift the door, but it won’t budge.
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