The Borrega Test

by James Vincett

  A holographic image of a map of the region appeared in the air. “The target is designated 665 Alpha, one of the Elders of the Pnatch Clan. He and his harem occupy a warren of tunnels located in the ville, here,” a glowing point appeared on the map, “twelve kilometers south of the checkpoint. Intelligence says he is responsible for insurgent attacks on mining outposts in this entire region. You see the vidcasts last week? Those geologists strung up in trees near the Chinlee River? Forensics said the lopers skinned them alive after gouging out their eyes. Not pretty.”

  He paused. “This is the tough part; Division wants him alive.” The soldiers stirred in their seats, some swearing softly. “This mission is to escort a loper elite envoy and his retinue into the village so the elite can speak with 665 Alpha directly. Division hopes that the envoys can either convince him or force him to give up for the good of all the lopers in this Native Zone. Once we have custody, we’ll bring him back to the checkpoint for later delivery by air to Division HQ. They want to ship him up-orbit so the eggheads can study him, maybe learn something more about the lopers so we can stop the insurgency. Division seems to think this is the best way to stop the bloodshed short of nuking the entire region from orbit. We’ve done that before on other worlds, but the expense of extracting resources increases a hundred-fold, so it’s not in the cards. Besides, we’d be out of work on this shitpile if that happened.”

  Lieutenant Po paused and waited for the soldiers to quiet down. “One more thing. We have no air cover on this: no skimmers, and no gun platforms. Just boots and treads on the ground, and three WizEyes flying above for tactical intel, plus standard satellite uplinks.” The soldiers groaned. “The loper elites are trying to negotiate a peace agreement with the minor clans, so they don’t want overwhelming force. Division is going along with it.” Matthias heard hard whispers and quiet profanity from the soldiers. “But tonight both moons are full, unurik, they call it, so they’ll be drunk on moonshine, bangin’ gongs, and talkin’ to their dead relatives. Besides, these Alphas are territorial; he’ll be reluctant to leave his harem when some other swingin’ dick can steal his hard earned cunny.” He stood straight. “Questions?”

  “Why are we going after him, sir?” Sergeant Krupp asked. “Why don’t we just set a trap like we did for the others?”

  “He’s too clever for that,” Po replied. “We’ve set a dozen traps, but he never takes the bait. It’s like he knows we’re there.”

  “Tipped off?”

  “Division does not allow any loper envoys in the ranks,” Po said. “They cut that shit out after insurgents infiltrated the auxiliaries attached to Beta Company a few weeks ago. If he’s being tipped off, it’s gotta be one of our own. If that’s the case, then we’re all fucked.” The soldiers laughed. “Any other questions?”

  “How many we expecting?” a voice called out.

  “The ville is known to have a hundred males with harems. According to the eggheads, these guys are risk-averse; they’ve already lined up the holes they’re gonna poke, so they have more to lose by participating in the insurgency. As usual, it’s the young males we need to worry about here. They need to prove themselves to attract mates, and the insurgency provides ready opportunity. The eggheads think the old Alpha bastard uses the insurgency to cut down the number of young males that can threaten his sizable harem. Intelligence figures there are at least a hundred young males, but they are harder to track because they’re nomadic. There could be twice that number, or half.”

  Matthias raised his hand. “Rules of engagement?”

  Po smiled and sighed. “Ah yes, now we get to the meat of it: only fire when fired upon, and no firing on non-combatants. Division doesn’t want any unnecessary casualties, theirs or ours. We’re just going to roll in there and pick him up.”

  “That easy, huh?” Matthias said. “So, what makes Division think he’s just gonna give up without a fight?”

  “That’s why the loper envoy is tagging along, Sergeant. Division thinks that if we just roll into his house with the bigwig he’ll go quietly. The eggheads say the males are fiercely protective of their harems and do not want to see any of the females hurt. If he doesn’t want to put his harem in danger then he won’t fight back.”

  “Is that so?”

  “That’s right, Sergeant,” Po replied. His face broke into a smile and his eyes twinkled. “And if you believe that, I got some nice swampland on the southern continent to sell you.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant Po,” Cerny said and stood. “I need to impress on all of you the importance of this operation. Vanyirvon is the best base in the region for more than five thousand light years in every direction. Not only does it provide valuable resources for the Sixth Fleet, it is the hub of colonization and exploitation for the entire Coreward Frontier. The ongoing loper insurgency has been a serious obstacle to the full exploitation of this world for more than twenty years, and the Ministry for Colonization and Development is losing patience. The Consul is losing patience. This is the last chance for the xenosociologists in the Exploration Service to prove they have the means to pacify the resistance. If this fails, the Union will need to take more drastic measures. This makes things more expensive, which makes everyone unhappy, from the Consul on down to me.” She paused. “That’s right, folks. Shit flows downhill.”

  The MA-2260 Anti-Infantry Vehicle was a squat, sharp-nosed wedge with a top mounted 1-megajoule laser turret, and ten 16-kilojoule anti-infantry lasers, two each mounted on the front and back, and three on each side. If that wasn’t enough, pop-up grenade launchers, one each for frag, smoke, and stun grenades, could emerge from the top rear of the vehicle to launch bombs at anything within a hundred meters. A commander, driver, turret operator, laser gunner and grenadier crewed the vehicle.

  “Keep your distance, Benny.” Matthias sat in the commander’s cupola and scanned the surrounding jungle. Ahead of him on the muddy track Sergeant Krupp’s AIV took the lead, followed by an armored personnel carrier. Two more APCs followed Matthias, with Sergeant Denola’s AIV bringing up the rear. The APC behind Matthias carried the loper envoy and his retinue of followers.

  “Why don’t we get the lead out, man?” Benny asked.

  “Shut up and drive, Benny.”

  Matthias felt better when they emerged from the thick forest. The track took an easy slope up the side of a hill covered with rough brush. Matthias glanced at his console: the three drones flying above gave him a good view for several kilometers, and the satellite uplink provided a view of the entire route to the ville.

  Infrared and cell sensors on the drones revealed a large number of the lopers on the ridge of the hill above them. They moved around in small groups of perhaps five to eight individuals. “You seein’ this Krupp?” Matthias asked over the radio.

  “Yep. I count about forty-to-fifty at a range of a hundred and fifty meters. Whaddya think, Matty?”

  “I think so. Those are the males Lieutenant Po was talking about. Let’s keep an eye on ‘em.”

  “What the hell are they doing?” Sergeant Denola asked over the radio. “Picking coffee?”

  “They’re moving the same direction as we are,” Lieutenant Po cut in, “along the top of the ridge. Keep an eye on those fuckers. Assume they’re up to no good.”

  The convoy continued up the slope and topped the ridge. The track took an easy slope down toward the ville; Matthias could see the shacks and huts at the bottom of the ridge on the drone and satellite feeds.

  Just as the last vehicle topped the ridge, a powerful explosion rocked the front of the column. The force of the explosion blew Krupp’s AIV back over front; the vehicle landed on its top and exploded. The explosion also gouged out a huge crater in the track. Clumps of mud and bits of wreckage rained down on the convoy.

  “That’s the biggest blast I’ve ever seen them set off!” Lieutenant Po cried. “Pull off the track and stop the column! I’m going to check out the wreck.”

  An instant later small arms fire erupted to
the right of the column, from several spots along the ridge. Matthias heard the ion blasts and projectiles sizzle and ping off the AIV. Matthias looked at his console and changed the sensitivity of the sensors on the drones above. It seemed there were two-dozen or more lopers on the ridge to the right side of the convoy.

  “Give us some cover fire!” Lieutenant Po cried over the radio.

  “Why didn’t we see them?” Maggie, the laser gunner, cried over the headphones. Laser beams erupted from the mounts on the right side of the AIV toward the attackers. Matthias saw the APCs and other AIVs also return fire.

  “Tunnels,” Matthias replied, “I’ve seen this before.”

  Streams of smoke shot out from either side of the APC ahead of Matthias. The rear door on the APC in front of him descended and a squad of troops moved toward the burning wreck using the smoke as cover. As the soldiers moved out, the two laser turrets on the top of the APC sprouted red lances of light to either side of the vehicle.

  C’mon! C’mon! Matthias knew that as long as they sat here motionless they were prime targets.

  Several soldiers in the squad provided covering fire while the others knelt beside the wreck. After what seemed like an eternity, the soldiers stood and carried three figures back to the APC as the others provided covering fire. The squad made a second trip back to the wreck, retrieved two more figures, and then entered the APC and the back ramp closed behind them.

  “All vehicles!” Lieutenant Po cried. “Lay down smoke for cover and increase speed to fifty klicks!”

  “You heard the man!” Matthias said. “Lay down a smoke screen twenty meters away on either side! Benny? Get this tub moving!”

  “Yeah, baby!” the driver replied, and the vehicle lurched forward.

  Matthias heard the fwump of the grenade launcher and a moment later white smoke sprouted from the landscape from multiple points. It billowed up to a height of several meters. The bad thing about smoke is it obscured his vision as well as the enemy’s line of sight. The convoy continued along the side of the track, and Matthias hoped they wouldn’t hit another mine.

  “Lieutenant Po! Did Sergeant Krupp make it?”

  “I’m sorry, Sergeant. There were no survivors.”

  God damn it! Matthias tried to fight back the hollow feeling rising inside, but soon gave up and let it wash over him. Fucking lopers!

  “Keep moving and keep alert!” Lieutenant Po said and Matthias renewed his concentration.

  The shrubbery grew thick and stood one to two meters in height. The AIV bucked up and down as it drove through the vegetation. The sizzle and pop of small arms fire lessened somewhat, but it was still more than Matthias cared for. The vehicles laid down another screen of smoke every twenty meters or so. The sensor feed from the drones and the satellite showed the lopers on either side of the convoy had fallen behind. In another few minutes, the convoy would be at the ville.

  “That may have been the worst of it,” Lieutenant Po said over the radio.

  The sensor feed lit up with a few hundred more signals, all on either side of the convoy or ahead among the structures of the ville. An instant later several streaks of smoke crossed Matthias’ vision in both directions. Two explosions bloomed from the APC in front.

  “They got rockets!” Lieutenant Po said. “Platoon! Exit the APCs and engage the enemy!”

  Matthias heard a huge clang and a force pushed him sideways.

  “Cocksuckers!” Benny screamed.

  Matthias glanced at his console. There were a few flashing lights, but everything seemed okay. “Maggie, lay down some grenades where those rockets are coming from. Keep up the laser fire, Serene. Dom? You open up on anything that looks good.”

  “You got it,” Dom said. Matthias heard the whine of the turret as Dom targeted the enemy. An instant later, a loud whiney pulse sounded through the vehicle along with the thwump fwump thwump of the grenade launchers.

  Matthias saw two more rockets hit the APC in front of them. “It looks like they’re making a run for the envoy,” Lieutenant Po said. “All APCs group up with the elite envoy in the middle. Sergeant Matthias? Move and engage the enemy to our left. Sergeant Denola? Move to the right.”

  “Fuckin’ eh!” Benny said, and the vehicle lurched to the left and picked up speed.

  “Right ahead of us Benny! There’s a group of ‘em!”

  “Yeeeeehaw!” Benny cried. Streaks of smoke shot out from the vegetation, but the projectiles flew over the AIV. The sizzle and pop of small arms fire filled the vehicle along with the sound of the vehicle’s weapons. The AIV bounced up and down as it drove forward. Matthias saw the lopers scatter out of the way.

  “Keep turning left, Benny,” Matthias commanded. “We’ll come around and head back toward the APCs. The rest of you keep up your fire.”

  The three APCs sat side-by-side only a few meters apart. Matthias saw the platoon of soldiers spread out around the vehicles; the soldiers looked disciplined as they fired at the enemy.

  An explosion erupted beside the APCs, and Matthias saw several soldiers blown into the air. A moment later, another explosion blew even more soldiers into the air.

  “What the fuck is happening, Lieutenant?”

  “…eep firing on that fucker! Sergeant? They’re running at us with packs of explosives!”

  A third explosion erupted, but this time a little further away from the APCs.

  “What?”

  “Suicide bombers!”

  At that instant three lopers stood up just in front of the vehicle. Before Matthias could command Benny to stop, the three lopers exploded in black smoke. The force of the blast cracked the cupola’s polymer windshield and threw Matthias back into his seat. The blast was powerful enough to lift the front of the vehicle off the ground over two meters. With a crash the vehicle slammed back down onto the ground

  His ears ringing, Matthias called out to his crew. “Everyone okay?”

  “God damn motherfuckers!” Benny screamed.

  “I’m good,” Dom said.

  “I am, too,” Serene said.

  “I’m a little shaken up, but okay,” Maggie said.

  “Can we still move?” Matthias asked.

  “My console’s completely lit up!’ Benny said. Matthias heard the vehicle’s motor whine. The vehicle shuddered but didn’t move anywhere. “We’re not goin’ anywhere!”

  Shit! “Okay. We’re going to move on foot to Lieutenant Po’s position. Get ready. On my command, we’ll exit the vehicle. Keep low and move fast. The lopers can’t shoot for shit so we’ll make it.” Matthias pulled a short-barreled ion rifle and a belt of grenades from a compartment and then checked his belt holster for his sidearm. Like all AIV crews, Matthias and his team wore a cerametal breastplate, greaves, and helmet.

  “All right, team. Let’s get out of here.” Matthias popped the top of the cupola and scrambled out over the vehicle. Enemy fire hissed and whined as he jumped down and knelt on the ground. The rest of his crew exited the AIV through the side hatch.

  Matthias looked at his crew. All looked wide-eyed and scared, except for Benny; the driver looked crazy, with a mean grin and wild eyes. “You ready, Benny?”

  “Let’s do it!” Benny leaned inside the vehicle, pressed a few keys on a console, and then pulled a lever. “Go!”

  Matthias led his team toward the APCs. He kept low and weaved in between the clumps of vegetation. Twelve seconds after they began moving Matthias heard a large explosion; he didn’t need to turn around to know the AIV was now a smoking pile of wreckage.

  “She’s cooked!” Benny said.

  Hostile fire flew over their heads as they moved through the brush toward the APCs. Matthias tapped his pockcomp. “Lieutenant Po? We’re coming at you from the east. I’m tossing red smoke.” Matthias dialed the color on the smoke grenade, pulled the pin, and lobbed it toward the APCs.

  “We got ya!” Po replied. “Come on in!”

  Matthias and his team ran toward the APCs as hostile fire whizzed around
them. They rounded the back of the nearest APCs and then leaned against the vehicle, panting.

  “This is a shit show!” Lieutenant Po cried. Dark blood covered Po’s chest and arms.

  “We got more incoming!” a soldier yelled.

  “Sergeant? Could you deploy your people there?” Po pointed at the front of the vehicles. “I’m gonna talk to Captain Cerny.”

  Matthias ordered his crew to take defensive positions. He listened to Po while he scanned the vegetation for the enemy.

  “That’s right, Captain. We’ve only got one operational APC and one AIV.”

  Matthias heard another explosion and turned to see a plume of fire and smoke appear in the sky.

  “Make that just one operational APC. That’s right, Captain. We’ve got untold wounded and dead. We’re stuck and receiving fire from all directions. Even the females are attacking us. Yes, that’s what I said.” He paused for several moments. “All right, Captain, we’ll be watching for it.” Po strode to the front of the APCs. “Okay folks; mark your positions with green smoke. We’ve got incoming.”

  Matthias pulled out another smoke grenade, dialed it for green, and tossed it several meters away. He crouched down and took a position beside the APC. For several minutes the small arms fire continued.

  A pink cloud erupted several hundred meters in front of the APCs. A second later the sound and heat of the blast buffeted Matthias.

  “Woo hoo!” Benny cried. “Plasma bomb! Crispy fuckin’ critters! Awesome!”

  There was another, then another, and then another of the blasts. Clouds of pink, white, and black rose into the atmosphere, and a fine ash began to rain down on the APCs and soldiers.

  Lieutenant Po crouched beside Matthias. “These stone age fucks have kept the Union at bay for over two decades.” He drank from his canteen. “We’ve tried everything to pacify them: bribes, medicine, building schools and villages, and singing songs around the fucking campfire. The harder we pushed, the harder they pushed back. The only thing we did was make them smarter.” He paused and held out his a hand to catch the falling ash. “You know what?”