by Rod Carstens
“I think two. The first to get close enough to make a jump to the third floor, where our friends are hiding.”
“Jump into the middle of them.”
“Yeah, go immediately hand to hand. Always use overwhelming force.”
Hu looked at the holo, then at the building. It had windows on the third floor. They should be able to punch through them easy enough, but they would have to be in the street for one bound before they could make the jump. Still Nani was right. It looked like quickest and best way to cross the street.
“I agree. It sucks but it’s the best way.”
Nani turned to the rest of the Raiders and the Von Fleet troops. “Okay, folks. Here’s the deal. The hybrids are directly across the street from us on the third floor. Take one bound to a spot you can jump and make entry on the third floor. I’m going to have some of the heavy minis and Basso and her friends give us cover, but we are still going to have to cross that street. Don’t take long out there. Make sure you calculate your first bound carefully so you can jump into the building without hestiating. I suggest you only carry hand-to-hand weapons. I don’t think we’ll have time or room for rifles put them in their racks on your armor. We all go at once. That way there are more targets and it gives us a better chance at surprise. Get ready.”
The Raiders began snapping their rails onto their chests and pulling out their pistols and axes. Hu pulled the shovel off his leg and locked and loaded his rail pistol. When he was ready, he glanced over at the Von Fleet troops. They seemed to be hesitating.
“Get ready. You don’t have long.”
One of the Von Fleet soldiers close to Hu was frozen. With a quick, sure movement, Hu snapped the soldier’s rail into his armor’s rifle rack and pulled out his pistol.
“Where’s your ax?”
“We weren’t issued any.”
“Sounds like a personal problem.”
Hu turned away and had begun to calculate his bound when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Two of the Von Fleet troops were standing behind him.
“We’ve never trained for combat in our armor. How do you calculate your bound?”
Hu was at a loss for words. How was he going to explain it was all feel after thousands of hours in your armor?
“Okay, look. Bound as far as you can so you land below the window you are going through, and jump up and forward as hard as you can.”
They nodded but didn’t say anything. Hu almost felt sorry for them, but he had more pressing things to worry about. Like the hybrids across the street.
“Get on line,” Nani snapped.
Hu and the others got in line in front of the windows. Hu counted five Von Fleets plus the captain. The more targets, the better chance he had of making it. It was the terrible, simple math of war, one that Hu had learned the hard way.
The third floor across the street suddenly erupted in explosions as the minis and snipers poured fire into the windows and through the walls.
“Follow me! Raiders forward!” Nani said as she jumped out the window.
Hu and the others followed Nani through the windows and bounded out and over the street. The minis and snipers were keeping return fire to a minimum, but there were a few shots from their right. Hu hit the ground, his legs bent so he could immediately jump again. He landed exactly where he wanted to and jumped hard toward the third-story window that was his entry point. As he left the ground, he saw that the Von Fleet captain had fallen when he landed and was scrambling to stand. He never made it. A hybrid rail cut him in half.
Hu crashed through what was left of the window and found himself in the middle of a number of wounded hybrids. He shot one then another through the faceplate before they could get to their feet. He was raising his pistol to put another round in a hybrid when sparks flew off its chest. Hu shot the hybrid through his faceplate. He looked to his right to see that it had been a Von Fleet trooper who had fired at the hybrid.
“The faceplate! The faceplate is the weak point!” Hu shouted over his speaker.
The Von Fleet soldier nodded, then took a blow from a hybrid that had just entered the room, knocking him to his knees. Hu spun and caught the hybrid in the side with his shovel. It bit deep into its armor and held it until Hu could bring his pistol up for a kill shot through the faceplate. Then Hu was knocked to his knees by a blow to the head. He knew the hybrid would be following up on its advantage, so he thew himself to the right, making the hybrid miss with a shot from its pistol. It drew its laser knife and dove on top of Hu before he could react, mounting him and pinning his arms with its legs. Hu watched helplessly as it raised the knife for a killing blow, but it was pulled off of him and thrown against the wall. Before the hybrid could react, the Von Fleet soldier put his pistol into its faceplate and pulled the trigger. The faceplate blew apart and the hybrid slumped down to the floor and was still.
The Von Fleet soldier put a hand out and helped Hu to his feet, then reached down and picked up the hybrid’s laser knife. Hu and the Von Fleet soldier moved together to the next room. Raiders and hybrids were in a tangle of hand-to-hand combat. They immediately joined the fight. Hu shot and cut down two more hybrids before the fight was over, and only the Raiders and the one Von Fleet soldier were left standing.
The Raider and Von Fleet armor medical started going off, as soon as the fighting stopped. Hu checked his tactical display. Flavia and Lena were both down and their status was red with a number of other Raiders yellows but they were still standing. The Von Fleet trooper who had been with Hu was the only one left alive. All the others were blacks. Flavia and Lena were critical and would need to be carried back to the CCP. The yellows could move—their suits were already treating their wounds and filling their veins with enough Go Juice to keep them in the fight. Their medical systems could complete the treatment of their wounds even as they moved.
“Okay, we are out of here. Who can carry Flavia and Lena?” Nani barked.
“I’m good,” said the Von Fleet soldier.
“You sure? Because carrying somebody in armor in a jump-and-bound is not easy.”
“Our suits are more powerful than yours, and I’m the biggest in the room.”
“Okay, you got Flavia.”
“I got Lena,” Hu said.
Hu went to Lena’s body. She was unconscious. She had been hit badly on 703, now this—she was running out of luck. Hu picked her up and draped her body over his shoulder. The Von Fleet soldier did the same with Flavia. Nani went to the window and jumped into the street. The other members of the platoon who were not wounded did the same. They formed a rough circle, firing at anything that moved as they raced across the street.
“Remember to bend your knees more than usual to let your suit compensate for the extra weight,” Hu said, then jumped.
The Von Fleet soldier did the same and landed hard but on his feet. Hu looked over at him. He was keeping up with Hu even though he had never done a rescue carry of an armored-up trooper before. After saving Hu’s life and now keeping up in a tough spot, this guy had begun to impress Hu. He joined Hu and they ran across the street and back into the Rockefeller building.
Chapter 47
City-State of New York
Phase Line Yellow
Rockefeller Center
1st Conscript Battalion
Alpha Company
Fenes stood at the door to the stairwell and made sure all of the company had made it up the stairs to the rally point. Once he did, he had Minga and Ardan do a head count. When they finished, Fenes couldn’t believe what they told him. There were only fifty effectives left. The rest were either still trying to make their way to the phase line, missing, or dead. When he had taken over the company it had almost been full strength—one hundred seventy-six men and women. Now he had a quarter of that who could still fight.
The rally point was an old, cafeteria-like store with seats and food printers along the wall.
“Break it down. Ardan, Minga, have them get some water and chow while I check in
with Ura and see where they want to plug us into the line.”
Fenes saw that Ura’s company command post was down the hall to the right. He hinged his helmet back and took several deep breaths. If Striker had been alive, he would not have lost that many people. He would have figured something out. All Fenes could think was that he had failed his troops. God, three quarters of them gone.
He had to stop himself outside of the CP, and he took several more deep breaths to compose himself before he went in. Ura was standing behind his electronics tech, staring at the holo of the building and his positions in it. He looked up and saw Fenes.
“Good, glad you made it. What’s your situation?”
Fenes found he couldn’t just spit it out. He couldn't bring himself to say it. Finally, after a couple of painful moments, he said, “I’ve got fifty effectives. The rest are either still making their way back or are gone.”
“Damn fine job, Fenes. Striker would have been proud of you.”
“What are you talking about? I lost three quarters of my command. How in the fuck is that a fine job?”
Ura walked up to him, grabbed him by the arm, and shoved him into another room where they could be alone. Then, using the voice that Fenes remembered from boot camp, he said, “Now you listen to me, Fenes. You did a damn good job. You held the line so Ardan and Minga were able to move to safety. That included stopping a flanking movement by the hybrids. They dropped at least three times your strength on top of you and Striker, but you still did your job. You held them up for as long as possible and have now organized what troops you could find and gotten them back to the rally point.”
Ura paused, his face close to Fenes. “This is fucking war, Fenes. People die in war. Especially people like us. The command fell to you and you stood up and did your best. I doubt Striker or anybody else could have done any better. It was a shitstorm out there and you did what you had to do. You don’t have time to question those decisions. You’re the commander of a unit, and you will shake this shit off and do your fucking job, because those men and women under you depend on you.”
Ura poked his finger into Fenes’s chest hard enough to make him step backward. “I trained you. I gave you the foundation you needed and Striker did the rest. You were as prepared as anyone who ever fought a battle and found themselves thrust into a command. You didn’t ask for it, but you got it. Now get your shit together. I never want to hear that kind of shit come out of your mouth again. You just joined a very exclusive club—the club comprised of men and women who make decisions that can and will get other people killed no matter how well you plan. It’s called combat leadership. It comes at a cost that you are learning, and it will leave you with a lot of ghosts.”
Ura turned to leave, but he stopped at the door and looked over his shoulder. “Take a moment to get your shit together, then come out when you’re ready. I’ve got your assignments from battalion.”
Fenes stood there for a moment. He knew Ura was right, but that didn’t make it any easier. He had proven himself to Ura, Striker, and the Raiders. It was time to absorb all that and begin to act like he was no longer a new guy. If he didn’t, he’d get himself and a lot of other folks killed. He stepped through the door and when he did, Ura looked up. Their eyes met and Fenes nodded.
“Look, we’re all in the same shape as you. Sand mobilized two battalions of Von Fleet infantry, and they are now moving into positions.”
“Von Fleet!”
“Yeah. Talk about a shitty decision to have to make. That one takes the cake. Battalion wants you to fill in between these two Von Fleet positions.”
Fenes looked at the holo. That put him and his command on the eightieth floor. “If I had to make a guess, I figure that's about where the Xotoli will try and pull the APC-crashing-into-the-building trick, given the size of the buildings across 51st.”
“No shit. That’s why we are being moved up to the same floor and will be on your right flank, just past the Von Fleet position. How are your troops?”
“I have them getting food and water. We had a couple of hours’ rest yesterday.”
“Remember the Seventy-Two Hour Rule?”
“Yeah, your effectiveness begins to degrade rapidly after seventy-two hours in armor.”
“I think we’re going to find out if that rule is true,” Ura said with a crooked smile.
“You ain’t said shit. I need to get back and check on my troops.”
Ura smiled the first real smile Fenes had ever seen from him in all the time he had known him. Fenes turned and went back to the company.
Fenes was walking the positions with Holman, checking on the troops. They reached the end of their lines and moved down a hall to the Von Fleet positions. It was the first time Fenes had seen Von Fleet infantry since Chika. These guys were different. They were all big with new armor, not like the infantry he had seen on Chika. They’d been pros. These guys did not look right somehow.
“Look what we got here, some of those conscripts. You know, the ones sentenced to a penal battalion,” one said when he saw Fenes and Holman.
The Von Fleet troops turned and looked at them.
“Fuck you, salaryman,” Holman said.
Several of the troops turned toward Fenes and Holman.
“Boys, she and I’ve killed more hybrids in the last twenty-four hours than you’ve ever seen, and that doesn’t count Chika. The dings and creases in our armor come from hybrid weapons. You all look like you just got issued yours yesterday. Your job is to impress those hybrids and Xotoli out there, not me. And if I were you, I wouldn’t stand in front of a window like that.”
As if on cue, a sniper round broke through the window and buried itself inches from the head of the man standing in front of it.
“Where’s your officer in charge?” Fenes asked.
The man who had almost been killed pointed to the next room. Fenes and Holman walked into the room and found the guy with lieutenant’s bars on his helmet. He turned around when he saw them walk in.
“Who are you?”
“I’m the company commander of the unit to your right flank.”
“You’re no officer.”
“No, I’m not. But I am the senior man left, and that means I get to play officer until I get killed.”
“Where were you?”
“We were in Central Park.”
“Shit.”
“I got just over a platoon left, and that's all you’ve got on your right.”
“Okay.”
“Look, from what we saw at Phase Line Green, the Xotoli are crashing APCs full of hybrids into buildings to gain a foothold. If you look out the window, you'll see we’re at the best height for that little trick. Lower and they would have to weave between the buildings. If I were you I’d make sure you had a plan for what you would do with an APC full of hybrids in your lap.”
Fenes turned and walked back toward their position. Holman walked backward the first few steps and shot the Von Fleet troops a bird before she turned around and followed Fenes.
“Holman, you’ve got to remember I made you a sergeant. You’ve got to start acting like one.”
“I told you not to. Remember?”
“Holman, I need good NCOs, and like it or not, you’re good and you will act like it from now on.”
Minga’s image popped up on his faceplate. “Fenes, we got incoming APCs.”
“Roger. On the way.”
Fenes and Holman started running down the short hall to the company’s position.
Chapter 48
City-State of New York
Phase Line Yellow
Rockefeller Center
1st Raider Battalion
Alpha Company
First Platoon
After taking Flavia and Lena to the Casualty Collection Point, Hu and the Von Fleet trooper returned to the platoon’s position.
“Come with me, Von Fleet,” Hu said.
“I’ve got a name, you know.”
“Good. Maybe I’ll
learn it later. We don’t learn new guys’ names. If you live long enough, we might take the time.”
Nani was replenishing her vest with mini-grenades and rail rounds when they walked up to her.
“How does it look for them?”
“Flavia is touch-and-go. Lena won’t be back. She can be saved, but the doc had her out on the next evac to the hospital.”
“That bad? I need both of them.”
“Yeah.”
“That means we’re two down, and some of the yellows are still getting nano treatment.”
“I got somebody.”
“Him?” Nani said, jerking her head toward the Von Fleet soldier. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”
“Nani, he saved my life. He pulled off a hybrid who had my back and he took down at least three more that I saw. He also carried Flavia. He’s got potential.”
Nani stared at him, her eyes hard. “You got what it takes to run with us? We will be going into nothing but the worst of it.”
The Von Fleet soldier hesitated before he said, “I don’t know, but I do know I want to try. I saw you guys fight. I want to learn how.”
A small smile crossed Nani’s face. “Good answer, FNG.”
“What’s a FNG?” he asked.
“It stands for Fucking New Guy. Most don’t last long.”
The Von Fleet soldier just stood there. Hu could see the meaning of what Nani had just said sinking in.
“Okay. I’ll let you stay, only because Hu vouched for you. So you do what he says, and when he says it. Follow him around like a little puppy dog and you might survive for a day or two. Am I clear?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Until further notice your name will be FNG. Hu, get him a decent combat rack for his armor and find him a good weapon. And for God’s sake get him a fighting ax.”
Hu turned and led him toward a corner of the room where weapons and gear were stacked. “Before we do anything, I need to see how your armor is configured.”
Hu hit the panel on FNG’s chest and the readouts for his armor appeared.
“No fucking wonder. Your armor is all fucked up. It might do you good on the parade ground, but not in battle. No wonder your captain got whacked. I’ll bet his armor wasn't adjusted for combat either. It’s a fucking wonder you’re still alive. This has got to be hard to move in.”