Commonality Games (The Gladiator Cycle Book 1)

by Mark Rounds

  "I feel a whole lot better Colonel," said Jeffy winking mischievously. "I was beginning to think our Business Agent here was perfect!"

  For a moment there was a stunned silence. Then laughter crowded out all other emotions.

  "Sergeant Duewekscu, what's the Intel situation?" said Taol trying to regain the serious mood of the meeting. It did little good. Even the normally taciturn Sergeant Tierney was grinning.

  As Anton Duewekscu walked up to the map, Taol remembered the small man's background. His mother's family was originally Czech, his father's side, Krasni. This mix avoided the over muscled appearance of the Krasni and hid his physical strength. But his physical strength did not hold a candle to the strength of his hatred for the Krasni.

  Born on the Krasni home world, he was regarded as a weakling in a society that prized physical strength above all else. As a result, he had developed a talent for misdirection and guile. In a society of paranoids, these skills were honed to a high art. He was one of the best intelligence operatives in the Games. The only reason he was with the new mercenary company was to hit the Krasni any way he could. Jeffy had said the new mercenary was lucky to have someone with his qualifications and ability. He also said that Anton was a loose cannon and bore scrutiny.

  "The Krasni detachment we will face has been making some interesting purchases considering their predilection for Russian equipment," said Duewekscu as he keyed his presentation. He spoke with a slight Eastern European accent, but his English was better than most native speakers.

  "This means they have undoubtedly received considerable advice from their financier and overall commander, Warlord Montgomery. The last report I received from some of my connections in the offices of different supplier’s gives me the following force structure for the Krasni. They have between eighty and eighty-five effectives in uniform, plus some noncombatant, nonKrasni support personnel. I feel that the nonKrasni troops will not be involved in the fighting. I have no way of knowing how many temporary troops they will hire for the battle. You can be sure, however, that they will all be of Krasni extraction, as ethno-centric as the Kiev Guard is.

  “I also have it on good authority that they have purchased at least three M-18 Hellcat tank destroyers."

  "Could you describe the capabilities of the M-18, Sergeant?" asked Taol. He wasn't about to let some details slip in a show of false confidence.

  "Certainly sir," said Duewekscu. "The M-18 was developed in the latter half of World War II as a fast tank destroyer. It carried limited armor but, with its 76mm gun, was capable against many German targets. It can certainly punch through anything we can field. The Pak 40 75mm, however should be more than adequate against them. They have a top speed in excess of a hundred kilometers per hour over level ground. Cross country performance is also very good, even at high speed."

  That got everyone's attention. The motorcycles the Condor Legion had were faster, but not by much. They would be arriving at the top of the hill within a minute of the Legion’s lead elements.

  Sergeant Duewekscu continued the rest of his briefing in the same vein, thus sparing Taol from having to ask further embarrassing questions.

  "They have also purchased at least one Sherman Jumbo mounting a 75mm weapon," he continued. "This vehicle has about half the speed of the Hellcat but considerably more armor. And while the 75mm weapon the Sherman carries is inferior both to the Hellcat's 76mm and our own Pak 40 75mm, this weapon does possess a superior High Explosive capability. A likely role for this vehicle would be infantry support."

  "They have also purchased numbers of M-3 halftracks and jeeps sufficient to motorize approximately fifty infantry soldiers. The M-3 mounts an M-2 fifty caliber machine gun which is superior in range and penetration to the MG-34's we mount on our Sdk 251 halftracks. Our machines however, mount two MG-34's to the Krasni's one fifty caliber."

  "There is one disturbing note to all of this,” said Duewekscu. “The Krasni have also purchased limited stocks of 90mm ammunition. This could be used by a 90mm anti-tank gun or an M-36 tank destroyer. The M-36 mounted a 90mm turreted weapon on a medium tank hull. This weapon has a great range advantage over anything else in the field; however, the Coriolis Effect should negate most of that advantage. It will however, penetrate any armor we have at any range we are likely to encounter it."

  "It seems as though we will reach the hill first but the Krasni will have a definitive fire power advantage when they do arrive," said Taol. "That means a supported infantry assault. Sar Major, do you think we can hold out against an infantry assault by Krasnian troopers?"

  "If we are emplaced and have some time to get our machine gun and anti-tank teams set up, we should do quite well,” said Jeffy after a moment’s thought. “It all hinges on the speed with which we can reach the hill."

  "That’s my department," said Tierney. "You will have as much speed as can be extracted from this equipment. The motorcycles in particular are replicas of the BMW R75. Many of them are equipped with side cars. Even so equipped, they are capable of over one hundred and thirty kilometers per hour."

  And so they planned on into the night. At midnight everyone headed for bed. As they headed to back to the common area, Taol dawdled along. Jeffy wheeled up behind him.

  "How did I do, Sar Major?" asked Taol.

  "Pretty good Taol," he responded. "Asking Duewekscu to amplify on the weapons won his respect."

  "How so?” said Taol quizzically, “I thought I showed ignorance about some very elementary weapons knowledge."

  "Nobody is perfect. He would have thought you a fool if you had tried to pretend you knew what he was talking about. This way, he is sure you are interested and motivated. If you intend to command, all of your subordinates must know that you are motivated and care about what happens to them. I think you did just fine tonight."

  Chapter VII

  "Warlord Montgomery, Wake up," shouted Colonel Sokolov.

  "What is it you want at this infernal hour?" mumbled a sleepy Monty.

  "We have our first report from our operative in the cadets' camp."

  “Couldn't it wait until morning?"

  "You left standing orders that you should be awakened if anything important should come in. This is important," rumbled Colonel Sokolov.

  "Well, what is it then?" grumbled Monty.

  "The cadets have arrived at the habitat. They have approximately one hundred and twenty cadets and five training NCO's.

  "As many as that," mused Monty thoughtfully. "What kind of equipment did they arrive with?"

  "The preliminary look our man got at their equipment indicates that they have no heavy armor," responded Vicktor. "They have only two anti-tank guns of any size; they are estimated to be PAK-40 75mm's."

  "How is young Ubner handling things?" asked Monty.

  "It's a little early to tell yet, but his staff meeting was well done. He has apparently been watching his father."

  They both chuckled at that.

  "The young man didn't do too badly, all things considered," said Monty after the laughter died down. "This may be more interesting than we anticipated. Is there anything we can't handle Colonel?"

  "He is only a boy," said Colonel Sokolov. "That, combined with our little surprises should make all the difference."

  "Do not be overconfident Colonel," said Monty sternly. "It is the short route to defeat. When do we begin training?"

  "Our equipment is here now along with the advance party. New troopers who need basic training arrive tomorrow; veterans will arrive in a weeks’ time on the shuttle."

  "Good enough,” said Monty as he rolled over to go back to sleep. “I hope nothing else will disturb my rest this evening. You may leave."

  As Vicktor left the room he spoke quietly in Russian to Yosep. "One day we will be rid of that British relic. Until then, be patient, we still need him."

  #

  0400 comes awfully early, especially when you haven't had enough sleep for the last week or so. It is even more unwelcome when it's S
ergeant McIntyre providing the wakeup call.

  "Wakey wakey, boys and girls, time to play!" shouted McIntyre as he ran through the berthing area. To emphasize his point, he carried a metal garbage can which he beat with a wooden baton.

  "Wakey wakey, Colonel, officers may not sleep while troopers play!" he hollered about three centimeters from Taol’s ear.

  With no further warning, he dumped the Colonel and his cot on the cold plastic floor of the berthing area. There was some laughter over this exhibition, but Taol noticed that quite a few others had overturned cots as well.

  As Taol shook his head and collected his wits, Jeffy silently wheeled into the berthing area.

  "All cots will be repacked in a neat and tidy manner in five minutes," he said. It was as if the words had exploded from the bottom of a barrel. "Everyone will then muster for showers. You will have three minutes of water before showers will be complete and the water shut off. At that point you will shave. Those of you young ladies and younger gentlemen who do not shave, will do fifty pushups so that everything will be fair. Five minutes after showers are complete, I expect every one of you to be in combat uniforms to include your basic weapon load, in the training area."

  Getting his bunk put back together was easy, but by the time Taol got to the shower, he barely had time to get wet before the water shut off. The next task was shaving. Taol’s facial hair was rather thin so he felt he got the better end of that deal, even shaving dry. Sergeant McIntyre patrolled and made sure the non-shavers did their pushups. Taol hit the training area with about thirty seconds to spare.

  In the training area, Sergeant Svoboda was waiting.

  "All right troopers, let's exercise!" she said with her grisly smile.

  She began a series of mild calisthenics and stretching exercises. After about fifteen minutes, when everyone was warmed up, the group began to run, this time in step and to cadence. Svoboda set an even faster pace than the day before. As they ran, Jeffy followed in his powered chair with his cane. But this time, no one dropped out.

  This run was followed by a couple of hours of brisk exercise. It was then time for breakfast. The troops were allowed fifteen minutes to eat. The food itself was standard field rations, eaten cold. Again, the NCO's made sure it was all eaten.

  After breakfast, the recruits were broken up into nine man squads. Because time was short and Harm, Jarl, and Taol had little in the way of command experience, they were made squad leaders. In the other teams, the job was shifted around to see who had any leadership potential.

  The squads were then sent to one of four different training stations. At the first station, there were six squads. They were met by Sergeants McIntyre and Mason to begin tactics training. The mercenary company’s weapons were fitted with blank adapters that coupled up with a low power laser. Each trooper was also given a sensor. When a laser hit on or near a sensor, the target was considered were dead and the weapon wouldn't fire any more.

  As soon as this was complete the NCO's began to walk the recruits through some basic field maneuvers. One side would set up a hasty defense while another would assault it. Then the roles would be reversed. The six squads also practiced ambush and counter ambush drills. In the first drills the NCO's actually commanded the units. Later, squad leaders were given a chance to excel.

  "Awl right Ubner," hollered McIntyre. "You've seen how it is done, set up a hasty defense at the top of that knoll over there. Take Haloran's squad with you. The rest of us will assault in two minutes."

  Two minutes was hardly enough time to get over to the site before the attack began. Taol set up his troops in what looked like a reasonably good formation at the crown of the hill. He had just hit the ground when the firing began. His team lasted about thirty seconds.

  "No!" said Sergeant McIntyre at a volume which could cross your eyes at ten paces. "Not that way, Ubner. Stay off of the crown of the hill. Get back a meter or two on the down side of the slope so all that shows over the top of the hill are the weapons, heads, and shoulders of your troops. That way the attacker has to show most of his body and fire on the move while you'll have some cover even when none is apparent, and you will be firing weapons from a rest which is considerably more accurate."

  "Ubner and Haloran, bring your squads with me," he continued. "Jarl and Mishoda, see if you can do it any better."

  Then Taol’s group assaulted the same position. Jarl had listened and profited from his mistakes. In about thirty seconds all Taol had left was Haloran and that was because she was hiding behind the only bush for a hundred meters.

  "You can't hit the broad side of a barn if you fire when you are running," said the good sergeant more calmly. "Split your force into two teams. Have one remain stationary and provide covering fire while the others move up. Be sure not to cross the two teams or you will be shooting your own troopers.

  "Now Jarl, you and Ubner get up that hill. You have forty-five seconds to get set."

  This time, the fire fight lasted almost two minutes. At the end, there were two team members on each side left alive with nobody able to move without coming under serious fire.

  "Better," said McIntyre. "Haloran and Mishoda, get your squads up the hill. The rest of you, see if you can take it from them."

  As soon as the "bad guys" got up the hill McIntyre handed Jarl and Taol each a smoke grenade. Taol learned later that the smoke was not formed from combustion, which might overload the air purification system. Instead, the grenade held a highly compressed form of mineral oil which, when sprayed into the air, reacted with carbon dioxide to form a heavy mist. The vapor eventually precipitated out of the air, removing some of the carbon dioxide, which helped purify the atmosphere. The residue left on the ground from the smoke was an essential nutrient for the genetically tailored plants here in the habitat.

  "OK, Ubner," he whispered conspiratorially. "You toss this at the largest concentration of fire power on the hill when you get within ten meters or so. Then rush through the smoke and fight with them on their side of the hill."

  Taol and his squad attacked just as soon as McIntyre would let them. Everyone fired pretty wildly and burned up a lot of blanks but not many hits were made but soon, Taol was within about seven meters and tossed the grenade followed shortly by Jarl’s. In seconds about a third of the hill was covered in dense smoke. The attacking squads rushed the smoke and soon Taol’s squad was standing over Haloran's team firing at them as they struggled to their feet.

  Think, troopers," McIntyre said when the troops had all gathered around him. "When you see smoke, the odds are, something is coming. Back away from it and set up an ambush to cross fire the edge of the smoke. Then shoot the poor bastards as they come through.

  "Now Ubner and Mishoda, you will report to the Sar Major. The rest of you, go see Svoboda."

  #

  Jeffy took one squad at a time and let the other watch. His station was a lesson in the fine art of firing accurately under combat conditions. First, the squad being trained practiced basic marksmanship to familiarize themselves with the recoil of live rounds. After each of the recruits had fired a couple of clips, the real training began.

  "All right troops, that's how the weapon shoots on the firing range," he said. "Now let's see what happens in combat. I have a special machine gun mounted in an automatic bunker. The bullets are plastic and fired with a special low velocity charge. It's just powerful enough to cycle the weapon."

  Without warning, the weapon opened up from a concealed position and sprayed the two squads of recruits. Everyone in that group took multiple hits in various parts of the body. Every place that was struck by one of these plastic bullets stung horribly and left a welt.

  "You are all dead," shouted Jeffy. "Now take cover and see if you can't take it out. If you manage to put a round anywhere within one meter of the weapon, it will cease firing and a tone will sound."

  Behind the squad being actively trained, there were some barricades constructed from some old cargo capsules that had been set up. As
the recruits began to walk toward them, the machine gun opened up and hit them all again.

  "You make me sick," roared Jeffy. "When cover is available, you run. Do you understand?"

  "YES, SAR MAJOR."

  So the squad got up and sprinted to the cover. This time the machine gun only got one. That unlucky individual got to do pushups until the rest of his squad got the bunker. After each of the recruits had expended about two hundred rounds, a lucky shot finally found its way to a spot near the weapon.

  "Well kids," said Jeffy sarcastically. "If that machine gun had any kind of support at all, you would be dead again. Don't spray the weapon like a fire hose. The more wildly you swing the weapon, the more distance there is between the rounds when they get down range.

  “Go ahead and use the tracers to walk rounds onto the target, but at least start out firing in the general direction of the target. Watch how it's done."

  Jeffy wheeled behind one of the barricades and then triggered the bunker. Before the machine gun could fire five rounds, he had hit the target. His method made sense. He began by aiming the weapon; then he used the tracer stream to do the final correction.

  "Now try again," said Jeffy.

  This time, the squads were able to hit the target before any of the recruits had expended one clip.

  "Better, try again!"

  Soon either squad was able to hit the target with the first seven or eight rounds out of all the assembled weapons.

  "That's about all I can expect on the first day,” said Jeffy. “Report to Sergeant Svoboda."

  #

  Sergeants Svoboda and Duewekscu were teaching hand to hand combat. They started out with a few basic instructions and then they let the troops hammer on each other.

  "OK, boys and girls," said Svoboda with her hideous grin. "We don't have time to teach you anything but a few basics. Pay attention! Your survival will depend on your being able to surprise the Krasni."