by Mark Rounds
Taol watched Sergeant McIntyre drop several shells trying to get the offset and he was rewarded by a sound hit on the front hull. After the dust cleared, he looked at the TD. Taol could see no holes indicating a penetration. There was apparently little damage for the TD fired again.
This time the HE round dropped right into one of the half-tracks from the headquarters section. It was one of the supply carriers and filled with extra ammo. It went off with a heck of a boom. It was so loud that while Taol could see some smaller secondary explosions he couldn't hear a thing, even with his head set the radio chatter was undecipherable
Then he heard a sound like the crack a rifle makes, and he got his field glasses up in time to see another round impact the hull of the tank. There was a tremendous amount of dust this time. It took a few moments for his concussion addled brain to realize that what was obscuring his vision was not dust but smoke.
Taol’s thoughts were interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. Sergeant Svoboda and a couple of troopers had entered the command track. She was shouting, but Taol couldn't make out the words.
The colonel pointed to his ears and shrugged. A frown crossed her face and then the light dawned. She smiled one of her gruesome smiles and slapped his head set back on his head and flicked a couple of switches on the radio. Then she turned the volume way up. Suddenly, he could hear the radio after a fashion. All the high tones were gone but he could still make out most of the words.
"What happened?" Taol asked with some confusion.
"We're OK Colonel," said Jeffy. "They dropped a high explosive round in one of Harm's supply tracks. The crew was out of it at the time. There are a couple of troopers down from blast, fragments, and secondary explosions."
"Right," said Taol who had gathered that Jeffy expected some kind of acknowledgment, even though he still wasn’t tracking very well.
"Colonel, what's next?" asked McIntyre. "They're under the smoke but they'll come out soon."
"Ok,” said Taol finally gathering his wits, “if they come forward, switch to Armor Piercing ammo. If they back up, keep smoking them."
"Sar Major,” said Taol over the radio after a moment’s thought, “can you see that infantry half-track escorting that TD down there?"
"I surely do Colonel," said Jeffy.
"Get the firing correction from McIntyre,” said Taol, “and pound that sucker with some 20mm fire. Grab one of Jarl's armored cars if you have to. We need to get him to back out too."
"Colonel,” said Jeffy, “Haloran and Svoboda are running the show. Jarl took off with Dietz. He is somewhere out there among the Krasni. I thought you knew."
“That was the last thing I needed,” thought Taol miserably. He was interrupted as Taol pondered Jarl's irresponsibility by the hammering of Jeffy's 20mm. The first shots were wide but Jeffy walked the tracers on target.
The halftrack was armored against small arms fire only. The 20mm AP tracer rounds punctured the halftrack in a dozen places before it blew up spectacularly. The infantry who had disembarked from the spent track began to scramble toward the tank destroyer. Every machine gun on the south side of the hill opened up. Jeffy's weapon was right on target. The rest were wildly off but corrected quickly. At this range it was doubtful that they hit more than two or three of the enemy, but the effect on morale was worth it. The troops scrambled back onto the TD which was retreating backwards through the smoke.
#
"Igor?" whispered Nuntov.
"Yes Comrade," he replied.
"It looks as though the north side of the hill is the least heavily defended,” said Nuntov as he sat down next to Igor. ”I spotted several cadets moving around, but I failed to see any vehicles. There has been quite a bit of construction going up there also."
"How so corporal?" asked Igor.
"There were lots of prepared fortifications,” said Nuntov,” for both vehicles and infantry. Only about twenty to twenty-five percent were manned."
"How many would you estimate?"
"No more than two squads, sergeant."
"I think it will be valuable to harass this southern flank,” said Igor after some thought. “Hopefully, our actions will encourage the cadets to reinforce it. This will mean that there will be less of everything to defend against whatever tactics are selected by our side."
"Very good Sergeant," agreed Nuntov. "When do we move out?"
"Now," said Igor. With a wave of his hand, he brought his little command together. "Remember the plan. Begin with a little sniping. As soon as they wake up and begin to return fire, pop your smoke, empty your magazines and get back here as fast as you can. Georgi here will need our help to get his contraption ready to fire."
Igor turned to the wounded trooper and said, "I am sorry we couldn't wait this first effort until you were ready to use this thing. But we have to make some move soon or this contest just might be over."
Georgi nodded and waved as they left their hiding place. He too was a first-time trooper and understood that if any of them had a chance of making this a profession, they would have to make a noticeable contribution before the game was decided. Being wounded, he knew that he couldn't just attack gamely to get noticed. His 'invention' was his only hope.
Georgi looked at what he had built using the rest of the troopers as his arms and legs. They had spent nearly fifteen minutes gathering materials for him. This spoke well of their loyalty, but he would be a fool to think that they would jeopardize their chances any further to help him. When he scrutinized his project, he saw a crude platform constructed from logs and web belts. There were two green saplings placed a meter apart at the base. They were tied together near the top and in the V that was formed by the branches rested a cut down first aid pouch. It looked to be a crude but serviceable catapult.
He was having trouble anchoring the saplings. A couple of his test shots had gone over a hundred meters but had pulled the saplings out of his log platform in the process. He was currently splitting the bottom of the saplings after they had been pounded through the logs for yet another time.
This time, he was fastening some larger chunks of wood inside the 'V' formed by the split sapling. Using strips of aspen bark, he was attempting to tie it into place. He hoped that this improvement would help his creation last long enough to launch their meager supply of grenades. He worked grimly, hoping that the mission his comrades were on wouldn't be their last. Their help was needed to complete this thing. It had to work, or it was back to the dole for him.
#
It took only a few seconds to cover the intervening terrain between Georgi's work site and the cadets’ defensive perimeter. Igor used the heavy ground cover on the north side of the hill to sneak up near the cadet positions. He was a little less than a hundred meters from the nearest occupied fox hole. This was really too great a distance to be effective with the forty-five automatic pistol that he carried, but the mission was to make this action seem to be at least a squad sized probe and for that, the pistol would make just as big a bang as the submachine guns the other troopers carried.
Igor had his other troopers spread at intervals of fifty yards working to the east from his current location. He hoped that the large area from which they were firing would help conceal their small numbers. He looked at his watch. There was another forty-five seconds to wait until they would begin firing.
Off to the east, he heard the muffled thump of someone falling in the brush. It must be Nuntov or that trooper with him. Igor carefully scanned the cadets’ front line. It was obvious they had heard it too.
In order to retain the initiative, Igor began firing thirty seconds early, using carefully aimed shots into the cadet positions. Nuntov and company responded in kind. He heard the cadets fall into their holes. There was some shouting and then came the fire storm.
There were at least eight automatic weapons firing and some grenade blasts as well. It was obvious the cadets had learned that grenades went downhill much better than uphill. He held his fire until he heard his
three other troopers cook off their clips. He then dumped the three remaining rounds in his weapon down range at no particular target and popped smoke. He was pleased with results. The fact that the cadets had used grenades indicated that they thought the probe was serious. He hustled back to the rally area to see how Georgi was coming along.
Chapter XIII
"Colonel Sokolov," said Sergeant Duntov, Victor's orderly.
"What?" shouted Colonel Sokolov, he was none too pleased at the way things are going.
"Lieutenant Ustinov's patrol has reported the loss of its infantry carrier plus several troopers," said Duntov.
"Any word on Svedlov's patrol?" asked a more subdued Sokolov.
"No sir,” said Duntov. “However, some of Ustinov's troopers spotted smoke coming from behind the hill. It suggests that their last experience was not peaceful."
"Have Ustinov bring his patrol back in. We will begin planning for a frontal assault on his arrival."
"Some of his infantry will have to walk sir,” said Duntov diffidently.
"Then damn it, dispatch some transport to do a pick up. Do I have to do everything myself?" He shouted as Duntov retreated. Victor thought hard about a frontal assault. Those cadets had shown him that they were well trained by someone. Their morale was good too.
His own troops were not doing as well. After watching two patrols get thoroughly annihilated and the third severely mauled, they were beginning to doubt their own abilities. Victor realized that he was going have to wait until after the break to conduct his assault. It also meant that he was going to have to pump up his troop's morale by any means available.
"It would be well to have a scape goat", he mused. "Someone who is old and quite possibly senile. It wouldn't hurt that this someone was not Krasni. Monty was just going to have to take the heat if this little charade was going to work at all."
#
"Colonel Ubner," shouted an out of breath trooper. Taol turned around and saw one of the troopers belonging to the squad holding the north side of the hill.
"Calm down trooper. Now what is on your mind?" asked Taol with what he hoped was a soothing voice.
"Sir," said the trooper as he gasped for air. "Sergeant Mishoda asked me to report that our positions along the north side of the hill were probed."
Taol’s ears were still ringing from the battle with the tank destroyer. He could hear fine on the radio since Svoboda boosted the volume but hearing anything clearly in the open air was going to take a few more days.
"Could you speak up a bit trooper?" asked Taol. "My ears are still ringing from the last action."
"YES SIR!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Not quite so loud trooper," said Taol wincing. This trooper was almost as loud as the explosions.
"The south side of the hill has been attacked sir," continued the trooper at a slightly reduced volume.
"How many Krasni do you think there were?”
"Sergeant Mishoda estimated a reinforced squad,” said the trooper who had regained his breath. “We received fire from at least two automatic weapons and there was some supporting rifle fire as well. Sergeant Mishoda requests reinforcement."
"Right, tell her I'll get back to her on that as soon as I can," said Taol
"Jeffy, Mishoda just got probed by a squad of infantry,” said Taol on the command net after the trooper had left. “She is a little antsy about it and wants some reinforcement."
"What do you think we ought to do Colonel?" asked Jeffy
"I think we need a radio over there,” said Taol. “I didn't know anything about the action until the runner came up to my track and that is way too slow. How about if we send one of Harm's 250's over there with those vehicle crewmen that Ortiz impressed into the infantry? Mishoda will feel better since she will get another machine gun and a little infantry. I'll feel better because we will have some communications with that flank."
"Sounds good sir,” said Jeffy. “That won't affect our defense in any way that matters. I'll get it rolling."
Taol listened to the interplay between NCO’s as Jeffy got things going. Ortiz wanted to hang on to the forces that were being reassigned, but Jeffy convinced him that they were needed elsewhere. Taol thought it was interesting that they discussed it rather than giving orders. Jeffy made sure the track went into one of the prepared vehicle positions. Taol didn’t want to lose that radio as he had few enough to begin with. He had just settled back into his track when the loudspeakers came on:
"CEASE FIRE, CEASE FIRE, ALL COMBAT AND MOVEMENT WILL CEASE. BREAK TIME"
Taol couldn't believe that two hours had already passed. From where he sat, he saw the camera crews shake out of their camouflaged bunkers. He had no idea that there were so many of them. Upon close scrutiny it appeared that some of them were Refs. The films they were taking were to back any calls they might have to make.
There were also some ground crews and automated earth moving equipment begin to clean up the shell holes near the edge of the battle area. Taol had been briefed that they might come out if too much soil had been disturbed. The dirt cushioned the walls of the habitat from repeated blasts with high explosives. Taol didn't think they had dug up nearly enough dirt to warrant that kind of clean up but they were probably erring on the side of caution.
Taol saw at least twenty of the Refs grav sleds roaming around the field. They were making pickups of dead and severely wounded troopers. One of them touched down within two hundred meters of the Condor Legion’s north flank. Taol noted that he would have to watch that side closely. It became more curious when, sometime later, the same Ref grav sled took off empty. Taol figured that whatever forces were on that side of the hill were short of troopers and the local commander had convinced some of their wounded to stay on. Stoltz's action probably saved the Legion’s bacon on that flank.
Some of the Legions troopers found out the hard way that the Refs meant what they said about not moving around. Several troopers attempted to improve their positions by digging in and were promptly hit with pressor beams. They were held down and not allowed up until after the break was over. As the break lasted fifteen minutes, there were some very cramped troopers.
#
Igor had just returned to the clearing where Georgi was building his catapult when the buzzer sounded. Boris and his two troopers were already there.
"Comrade sergeant" said Boris speaking quickly, "please accept my apology for stumbling during the approach. It nearly cost us the action."
"There is nothing to apologize for Boris," said Igor in an expansive wave of his arm. "That little stumble actually helped our cause. I bet they are over there now congratulating themselves on their vigilance. I'm sure they think there were enough of us to be careless. We couldn't have planned it better. In fact, when the Colonel and that British stooge of his are watching the post-game films, I'll tell them we did that on purpose."
Igor watched as Boris relaxed. He had plainly thought that he was in deep trouble. His relaxation was cut short by the landing of a Referee's grav sled. A tall Ref stepped out he strode confidently to where they were hiding.
"Great!" thought Igor, "Every cadet on that hill will now know where we are. But maybe that’s not all bad?"
The Ref went over to Georgi and slapped several sensors on different regions of his body. He paid careful attention to the leg that had taken the shell fragments and placed extra sensors around the wounds themselves. The Ref then scrutinized his pocket computer for several long seconds. The set of his jaw indicated that he didn't like what he saw.
"Ok trooper," the Ref said to Georgi, "the game is over for you. I'll get a grav litter and you will be in the infirmary in two minutes. That wound has got to hurt."
"No sir," replied Georgi. "If it is all the same to you, I'd like to stay and finish the game."
"Listen trooper,” said the Ref, “I know how important this is to you, but these sensors don't lie. You are in a lot of pain. Not only that, the stim tab you took has your heart r
ate and blood pressure up dangerously high. If the action gets hot and heavy, you just might have a coronary. I won't be able to make a pick up during the game, and your brain might be without oxygen for an hour or more. The Regens might be able to bring you back, but you would be limited to stuffed animals and blocks for recreation."
"I don't care sir," said Georgi in a somewhat frightened voice. "It is not as if I had a lot to live for."
"Maybe you don't understand me," said the Ref in a louder voice. "You might end up a mindless vegetable. Come with me son, and with a little help from the Regens you'll be back to this in no time."
"Sir, could I say something?" said Igor quietly.
"Go ahead," said the Ref rather resignedly.
"First, if you are here rather than a Regen, Georgi has a choice in the matter."
"True enough," admitted the Ref.
"If that is the case, tell sir,” said Igor rather blandly, “where do you go when this is over."
“I don't see where that has any bearing..."
"Please sir, humor me," interrupted Igor.
"Oh, very well," said the Ref. "It's no secret anyway. I've got an apartment on one of the Commonality habitats."
"Is the food good?" queried Igor.
"I can't complain," answered the Ref quizzically.
"You're damned right you can't," said Igor suddenly angry. "Georgi here, will go back to a tiny apartment that he shares with at least three or four others. The food is mainly synthesized proteins and reconstituted sea kelp and there is NOTHING to do. A bone numbing boredom that someone like you who is lucky enough to have a position can't possibly fathom. You and I both know that if he goes with you, he’ll probably never get another job as a mercenary in the Games."
"I can understand that this is a desperate situation but..."
"You understand nothing!” said Igor vehemently. “You say that Georgi might become a mindless vegetable. I say that if he goes back to his little apartment to watch holo, take drugs, play little mind games and otherwise just tries to stay alive, he will be a vegetable. And that bondage is worse than the one you threaten because he will be aware of the waste of his life. Sir, please, give him his chance."