Free Fleet #03 No Rest for the Wicked

by Michael Chatfield

  “We got the message a few minutes ago, the location as well as plans for the entire underground base of the Daestramus secret military,” In Sook reported to Rick.

  “We are planned for entry into the atmosphere. All ships report readiness,” In Sook said, adrenaline making her nervous she'd forgotten something.

  “Thank you, In Sook. Now it's about time we got our people back,” Rick said as there were nods, grunts and various movements associated with the individual races way of agreement.

  “Brace yourselves. I haven't done this in a hundred and twenty years,” Resilient said, not making In Sook feel any safer.

  Resilient shook like all hell as she descended.

  “Corvettes are following,” Walf said, “The other ships are moving so they will be in overhead position over the co-ordinates,” He continued.

  “Braking!” Milra said as the massive ship applied thrusters to the ground, stopping its continued falling and jerking everyone slightly in their seats as the inertia compensators took bare seconds to adjust.

  “They're launching fighters!” Walf said.

  “Vort, have Heston's fighters give us support. In Sook, get our troops on the ground. Marleen, give them cover,” Rick said in a rush.

  In Sook looked to her job, barely registering Heston and Xing's fighters as they interposed themselves between Resilient and the defensive fighters, which were having to fight their way out of the planet's gravity well.

  The Corvettes might not be the strongest ships in a space battle, but in atmosphere they were one of the few that could bring the majority of their weapons to bear. As they opened up with their rail batteries and lasers, Resilient's PDS came online, their massive rounds smashing into the oncoming fighters.

  “Impacts!” Krat said.

  “Calm down, Shields,” Rick said as the shields chief looked practically apoplectic without his protection.

  “Get the Corvettes to take cover behind us,” Rick said.

  In Sook kept checking that everything was running well, casualty reports coming in, as well as major issues.

  “Daisy skimmer has got limited maneuverability,” she said, immersed in the information stream of goings on.

  “Understood,” Rick said, acknowledging details, even as he devoted his concentration to the bigger picture.

  “Assault shuttles are away. Sealing the bay,” In Sook said.

  “Protective fire for the shuttles. The fighter's priority is to get them to the surface,” Rick said as Vort parsed out the orders.

  In Sook had to fight the want to communicate with the CAG's on Pandora and FengFang. Shuttles and defensive fighters came together and Resilient mowed through them like the Dreadnought she was.

  Chapter - Devil's Express

  Santos dropped to the planet amongst semi-organized chaos. Shuttles disgorged Commandos as they secured the immediate area. Squads that came down after the first couple moved to the area where Bok Soo had laid a marker on everyone's maps, but it looked no different than the rest of the scarred and frozen world.

  “Bok Soo, I'm not seeing any entrances,” Santos sing-songed.

  Craters appeared in the ground as Resilent's railguns bellowed.

  “That should do it,” Bok Soo said, sounding all too pleased with himself.

  Santos grunted as he changed channels. While Bok Soo wanted to be on the ground Rick had put an end to that plan.

  “Move it, Commandos!” Santos said as he tagged the holes, using the finger-balls in his mecha to designate units to each breach as he moved.

  Weapon systems sprouted from Daestramus' frozen ground and troops came out to meet the Commando's charge.

  “Pepper potting!” Santos called out as squads covered one another, pinning the enemy down as they advanced each half at a time.

  The defensive troops were getting steam rolled. They might be organized and trained, but they had been used as bully boys their entire time in the military. They were used to going up against opponents weaker and without support. None of them had been in a fight with organized forces other than in a simulation. Now they were up against the veteran Commandos and their lack of training and ability showed.

  Bok Soo was acting as Combined Arms. He organized support for the Commando's fighters, his gunners raked the trenches and embedded positions with their railgun rounds. Felix's penetrators worked with devastating results. Fires sprouted from the frozen ground as Santos jumped into a ditch, covering his team member as they joined him. Santos checked his map and found that the breaches opened into the living quarters and armouries of the Daestramus military. Anyone that had been in there was dead, or dying.

  “Dreckt, I want you and yours to secure our people. You'll be moving into territory without support.”

  “Understood,” Dreckt said, pride in his voice and the tone promising that he would get them back or die trying.

  Santos looked over the ditch, and saw some of his Commandos get cut down by a late rising turret. He swore under his breath.

  “Sir we're in the compound,” a squad commander said as Santos considered if he should race through the fire to support them. No.

  “Secure it and clear out the bastards shooting at us. Send scans to Resilient and Eddie. They can tell us which power lines to cut. We need those turrets off,” Santos said, cutting the channel.

  He kept the location of where the Free Fleet personnel were being held to himself. Dreckt and his brother Kreum would be enough. Santos didn't want his people racing through the compound and not clearing it completely in their hurry to get to their buddies. Kreum and Dreckt had made their people experts in close quarters fighting. Santos just hoped it was enough.

  “Moving!” Santos said to his team member, who laid down fire as he dashed to the next piece of cover.

  It's going to be a long day, he thought as he put two rounds into a rising turret, the thing blowing out in sparks and plasma. He checked the advance of the Commandos. The shuttles were providing area support from their landing zones, as four thousand Commandos were spread across a two kilometer long frontage.

  Not one Commando faltered as they charged towards the enemy.

  No one who took the Free Fleet's own should expect to survive.

  ***

  Min Hae watched as Resilient broke atmosphere, Corvette's and fighters covering her as she covered the forces on the ground. The ships in orbit lay waiting for whatever Rick decided he had use for. Min Hae had done his job but he could see on the faces of his crew that they, like him, still felt bad as they fled the system as the other traders were doing. Min Hae used his station to shut down the main screen showing the battle.

  There was a small outcry and Min Hae looked to them.

  “I know you want to be there, helping your friends to get back at the bastards. But this is our job. To get the information that can save their lives, then disappear again. We don't take credit or thanks. We work in the shadows to protect the Fleet and those we care about.” They all knew what their job entailed, though he doubted any of them had thought it would be this hard to swallow the reality of what it would feel like doing it.

  “All of you have done an outstanding job. We've created contacts, and started to bring changes to the Daestramus government. We've brought hope to these people that the Free Fleet is a group that they can trust, not just another band of pirates. Hell, look around us, we're in a convoy of traders going to Parnmal!”

  That made a few of them nod and make grudging displays of agreement.

  “The more we know, the better prepared the Fleet can be when we come to these planets again,” Gogs said, surprising a few in the room, even Min Hae.

  “It'll take time but we've seen how much people need the Free Fleet,” Gogs went on "we just have to vet them to make sure the Free Fleet can trust them. Here we failed, but we built up contacts that will be here when we, or one of the other Q-ships returns. Lady Fairgate has pushed the planets away, not caring what happens on them, she’s blinded herself from what happen
s in the shadows.”

  Determination filled Min Hae's crew as they listened. It would be slow and arduous work, but he and his growing group of Q-ships, informants, contacts and operators would be the eyes and ears of the Fleet. It was as daunting as it was exciting to Min Hae.

  “I want full reports from everyone before we exit the system,” he told them. “Also a check of all goods and trades so we can pass that on to further crews.

  ***

  I felt explosions as my chains swayed me.

  Savrare applied her KaaOrv to my legs, eliciting screams from me as guards rushed into the room.

  One, a Slevaran, looked at me, his body color telling me he was disgusted and nauseous at the sight of what Savrare had done to me. They quickly looked at a wall, as the one behind them threw up outside.

  “What?” Savrare said, her voice calm but threatening.

  “The Free Fleet has their forces moving into the compound. We're to remove him and his people to another facility.”

  Hope bloomed in my chest just as Savrare's kaaOrv stabbed into my ear.

  Pain, unlike anything I had ever experienced lanced through my body, it blurred through my vision as nothingness slowly embraced me. Cold fierce pain ran through my body as my throat tried to scream, but my voice was long gone.

  My thoughts returned to the days of pain and frustration of being recruited. They won't let me die. They'll just bring me back like they did with the ones who couldn't take the pain implants.

  The first guard had excreted their version of bile onto their scales, a natural defensive measure against predators. The smell barely affected me as I hung on my chains, each of them pulling my body in painful ways.

  “Gather him, we will depart immediately!” Savrare said. Anger seemed to radiate off of her as the guards moved to me and she stormed out of the room as the guards released my chains.

  I fell to the floor. My muscles were weak and atrophied, and any type of movement sent lancing pain through me. Guards tried to beat me into movement, clearly panicked. It was nothing compared to what Savrare had done.

  “Carry him. We need to link-up with the seven others and get the hell out of here,” the first guard said.

  The others wrestled me onto a table, they didn't bother to tie me down as I sprawled on it, as weak as a newborn.

  Seven, I thought, hiding a small smile’ before it could cross my face. At least some of my people had survived. Now I had to figure out a way to get ourselves free of our captors and into the hands of my people. I moved my hands and feet slightly, feeling the weakness in them. It felt as if I was disconnected from my body. I opened my eyes, my face hurting from the movement as I looked at the guards around me. They were decently armed with a mixture of weaponry and armour. None of it was powered, but it would stop anything but a direct hit.

  I remembered the video of Janice, thinking of the guards that she had taken down and the one's that had captured her. They had made one mistake, they had shown me their tactics and way in which they operated. Something that I had learned long ago to turn on my enemies. I could feel the impacts of heavy weaponry hitting the compound, but the guards looked confident. They knew they were getting out of here, and they were relaxed. They knew the battle wouldn't come to them. They'd be long gone by the time it got into this area. That illogical confidence would make them slower to react. Fear was always a great motivator, but confidence was an immobilizer.

  I moved my hands and feet erratically again.

  “Fucking Orv's always leave them fucked up. I don't know why they don't just kill them,” One Guard said as I continued my antics. It hurt like damned hell, but I could take stock of my injuries and mobility.

  ***

  Krom felt sluggish, as if his entire world was fogged. He was in it, but he kept floating out of his body. There was no sense of clarity. He knew he was being moved and that there was thumping in the background but he didn't know why. He took a breath, remembering the teachings of the awakeners.

  Focus your mind, center yourself and evaluate. Do not think with the senses, but with the mind, evaluating that which you perceive as sense.

  He focused on a single point on his forehead, forcing his mind, which kept seeming to yo-yo around, to concentrate on that point. He didn't allow himself to give in to frustration, as he realized that he remembered the sound of one of the noises.

  A Free Fleet PDS system, he thought. Remembering the weapon, he focused on the information surrounding it, grounding himself in the knowledge. His mind became focused as he assessed why he heard that weapon, whether it was real or not. It wasn't just one it was tens of them firing. He felt the ground around him moving. The area was being bombarded.

  He fought his excitement down they had found him, they would save him. He had another purpose to fulfill. He must find his Battle Master. To do that he had to control not only his mind but his body.

  He twitched his body. Drain the poison with circulation. He flexed muscles, his hands, to his forearms, to his upper arm, then chest and back, abdominals and lower back, then legs, calves and feet. He did it again and again, gaining more control of his body each time as he cycled the inhibitor from his system. He checked his implants, and found they were down except for short-range transmissions. He was about to activate his beacon when he paused.

  Save the beacon until I'm with James, he thought as his implants connected with another.

  “Calerd?” His implants picked up his subvocals so he didn't have to move his mouth.

  “Krom? Are we dead finally?” The relief in Calerd's tone made Krom's anger flare.

  “No. brother. We are now given a chance to fight. What do you know?”

  “Commandos coming for us. They're trying to hide us away in another base,” Calerd said, sounding subdued.

  “Good, rest. We will have a chance soon,” Krom said, testing his mobility and finding bindings around his hands.

  “Krom, I... I don't know if I can fight anymore,” Calerd said.

  “Calerd, you must, if not for yourself then for Dave and Janice,”

  “But they're dead, dead because we were too blind to listen to the facts. We killed them!”

  “No, they killed them. They lured us here under the pretense of peace, and future trade and betrayed us. We will create an honor guard for Dave and Janice from their ranks. We are Commander Salchar of the Free Fleet's protection detail! We will carve Dave and Janice's names into this planet!” Krom said, fury building in him.

  “We're a protection detail? We failed. I can't pick up Salchar at all! They probably granted him mercy,” Calerd sounded relieved.

  Krom realized that Calerd was no longer a warrior, that torture had driven him away from the sword and into self-pity. Krom would have only himself to rely on in this fight. At one time that had been his way. Now the Free Fleet had taught him the importance of working with others. Now it felt foreign to be preparing for a fight with no one to rely on.

  ***

  Dreckt fired down another hallway. He moved to the side as an Avarian with a beader fired down the hall, ripping the whole passageway apart. The walls were too thick for plasmid weaponry to be effective and the place was a damned maze, even with the maps that they'd gained from somewhere. Kreum was covering the rear as Dreckt forged ahead with brutal fire power and a lack of any real tactics.

  The Avarian advanced, another two waiting on either side to add their fire if needed. A mixed squad followed them, posting sensor balls, a new invention from Felix and the late CAMC, Henry. Teams would stack up and clear the rooms as they went. Backrooms were the way to go. Dreckt took every passage that didn't connect to a main passage to get to his target. He couldn't get bogged down with a long fire fight. He just needed to get to his target area and hold for the other Commandos to link up.

  “Kreum, pull up,” He said, getting a green light as Kreum moved his forces closer to Dreckt.

  The whole thing was too slow for Dreckt's liking, but he knew charging ahead would only get his
people killed. Something he would never forgive himself for.

  ***

  “What in the Dashro is going on?” Marhtu demanded from Jelum, the commander of his armed forces, who was clearly busy, dust and debris falling around the command centre he was located in.

  “They've dropped their Commandos on the surface. They're in the bunker compound that Salchar and his people are in. I'm getting them moved to another location,”

  “How did they find out? I want the perpetrator found and sent to my KaaOrv's!”

  “Sir, we have more immediate problems!” Jelum said, Marhtu's colors showing his annoyance at his commander's lack of the deference due his position.

  “You dare use that tone with me! Our fighters will be victorious. We will still take their ships.”

  Jelum bowed his head, clearly cowed.

  “I am sorry, master, for my words. They too have fighters, one's that are better than our own,”

  “Bring in more from other compounds,” Marhtu said, infuriated with the lack of ability in Jelum. He would have to have him replaced after this fiasco. “What about the traitor who sent the Fleet information before they descended?” He would not breathe the traitors’ name, to do so would grant him some small kind of victory.

  “He has been dispatched as per your orders. The city is in disarray. It looks like a faction has begun rising up. They have been organized by some unknown group into cells. I do not know how they operate but they are taking over the city rapidly, and other cities have shown a similar uprising,” Jelum said as Marhtu's head swam.

  I am surrounded by traitors, all of them creatures that give me smiles, and take from me everything.

  He looked to Jelum, his body shaking in anger as his colors flashed into new spectrums.