Incursion: Merkiaari Wars Book 5

by Mark E. Cooper

  The general raised a hand. The huge hangar doors behind him split in half and rolled back. Lights flared to life and the towering twelve-metre-tall war-machine stepped out and into the open. Eighty tons of armoured death wasn’t exactly stealthy. Its giant clawed feet hammered the plascrete apron as it moved. Ecclestone didn’t flinch or turn to watch its approach.

  The Titan was a monster resurrected from a barbaric time in Human history, and unease swept over the audience at the sight of it bearing down on them. Eric noticed the Shan contingent looking around in confusion. They didn’t have the context to understand what the Titan meant to their Human allies. They didn’t know that long ago, before first contact with the Merkiaari necessitated the creation of the Alliance, wars had been fought by automated drones and machines just like this. On colony worlds far from Earth and any other government oversight, resources were plundered by corporations using flying death machines, and private armies equipped with weapons just like this one.

  “Imagine for a moment, thousands of Titans dropped on a Merkiaari infested planet,” Ecclestone said, his voice reverent and booming from the speakers. “Imagine surgical strikes from orbit. Overwhelmingly powerful strikes that will save Human lives. Raids that will rid our galaxy of aliens forever, and make it ours for the taking. Imagine a time when our people are safe to go where they wish, and take what they wish. That time starts now.”

  The applause was fitful, and Eric didn’t add his support to it. Automated warfare had been tried in various guises throughout history. It would lead to an arms race with all sides frantically producing counters to its enemy’s counters. It never ended well for any but those selling the weapons.

  Eric wondered what the Shan thought of Ecclestone’s exhortations. He’d bet they weren’t keen on the idea that the galaxy they shared with Humans was apparently ripe for the taking. By Humans. Especially now when they’d recently learned there were a multitude of races out there to be contacted. Ecclestone was hinting at a future of never-ending war. Pandora Atomics would love such a boon to its bottom line.

  Eric listened to the general gush about how the Titan program was the future, and how the resurgence of drone warfare would be the saviour of the Alliance. He hoped Ecclestone never held strategic command of any battle Eric had to fight in. The man needed to brush up on his history if he thought Titans were the future. They were the past.

  Literally.

  The general’s speech wound down, and the Zelda marketing machine swung into action. She was in costume again, complete with huge pistol on her hip. Bad Penny’s crew came with her to pose with the Titan for the media. Eric wasn’t interested in the show. He rose from his seat with many others of like mind, and headed for the open hangar.

  Inside he found the other variants of the Titan weapons platform. He had no names for them as yet, but he was careful to examine all of them. They weren’t all the same. He’d expected different weapon configurations on a universal chassis, but that wasn’t what he found. The one outside was bipedal with a hunch-back profile and reversed knee joints. It had interchangeable weapon pods instead of arms. The first one he found inside the hangar had four legs. He studied it and a tactical overlay descended over his vision. Weak points decorated the digital representation of the Titan. He wasn’t surprised the hip and knee joins were its weakness. If he wanted to bring it down that’s where he’d concentrate his fire, but his scans suggested it wouldn’t go down easily. It was heavily armoured. Scans suggested using artillery might be necessary to halt one of these things. It didn’t have arms, and its weapons were stored internally when not in use.

  Eric saved the data and moved to another variant. This one was bipedal again and did have arms, but it had a strangely shaped head. He didn’t know what its manufacturers called it, but it looked like a hammerhead to him. He tagged it as one for now. Unlike the others, this one had three-fingered claw-hands. He couldn’t see the point... climbing maybe? Its knee joints were more natural looking and Human-like. Weapons were varied—large calibre PPCs and AARs were its primary ordnance for short and medium range targets. Long range was covered by missile launchers. There were two boxy-looking installations on its shoulders. They seemed a little vulnerable to Eric. He wondered what would happen if one or both detonated. Could the chassis survive that?

  Eric checked the time. He needed to get going. The rest of the company would be landing soon. Captain Riley had scheduled four drops using her assault shuttles. They were only large enough to carry a single platoon with its gear. Hammer was a destroyer not a troop transport.

  Eric reached the spaceport a little late and missed the first couple of landings. 2nd and 3rd Platoons had already debarked and were checking their gear. Live ordnance was banned from the games for obvious reasons. Getting that wrong would be bad. Shooting friendlies was definitely frowned upon. The Titans would be armed with live munitions for testing, but they weren’t officially part of the games. Pandora Atomics had simply piggy-backed their launch on the war games as a marketing tactic.

  An inbound shuttle blinked onto Eric’s sensors. He queried its IFF and it came back as one of SDF Hammer’s assault shuttles. It should be carrying Gina and the rest of 1st Platoon.

  “Those weapons better be training safe, Lieutenant,” Eric said.

  Brice looked up from his work. “Hey Kamarl. Do you trust me?”

  “No. I don’t lend money to friends.”

  Brice fired his rifle, and a splash of red ruined the pristine black of Dolinski’s nanocoat. Armour used in the Alliance reacted to simunition rounds by changing colour. Low energy impacts, whether that be caused by mass drivers or energy weapons, had that effect for training purposes.

  Dolinski looked down at the damage over his heart and scowled. “Very funny,” he said and reset his armour to black before getting back to work.

  Eric nodded. “Good.”

  “You!” a familiar voice roared.

  Everyone paused in their work at the distraction.

  Eric turned to find a Marine with a familiar face bearing down on him. Major Stein hadn’t changed much in the years since their fight on Thurston. Except he had a serious mad on, and he was aiming it squarely at Eric. Gina’s shuttle landed and taxied as Stein made his way across the field. He looked mightily determined and ready for a fight. The shuttle parked and its cargo ramp descended. Gina dismounted first.

  “Where is she?” Stein snarled, getting in Eric’s face and projecting absolute fury.

  Ah so that was it. Gina. From a certain point of view he had stolen her from Stein. Recruited her rather, but Stein wouldn’t see it that way.

  Eric looked over at Dolinski. “Get that gear checked and stowed. I’ve got this.”

  “You haven’t got shit.”

  “Calm down, Major. You’re scaring my kids.”

  Stein snorted.

  “Gina,” Eric said over viper comm, keeping his words private.

  Gina raised a hand to one of her men wanting her attention. “What’s up?”

  “I have an old friend of yours waiting here. Delegate what you’re doing and come say hello before he tries to kill me.”

  “Kill you!” Gina said. She was already on her way. “I can’t leave you on your own for five minutes.”

  “Fuentez is fine,” Eric said to Stein. “In fact, she commands my 1st Platoon.” He nodded toward the approaching figure.

  Gina removed her helmet, came to attention, and saluted Stein. “Good to see you again, sir.”

  “Likewise,” Stein said after returning her salute. He glanced at Eric. “Some privacy?”

  Eric nodded and stepped away. It was a gesture only. He could hear them perfectly well, and planned to eavesdrop shamelessly. He would’ve raised the gain on his hearing if it had been necessary.

  “What the hell happened to you?” Stein said. “You disappeared. I tried to find out where you were, but HQ blocked me. My security clearance wasn’t high enough they said. Need to know and all that bullshit. I was your d
amn CO, Gina. I needed to know!”

  Gina nodded sympathetically. “I arrived at HQ for the weapon’s testing thing. You remember?”

  “I’m guessing that was a lie?” Stein glared at Eric. “He recruited you?”

  “Not really. They tested a bunch of us, and asked for volunteers. I was one of those who passed.”

  “Of course you did. You were one of my best. I don’t understand why you volunteered for this. You were Corps. all the way, Gina. As hardcore as any Marine I’ve ever met. Why did you abandon your team?”

  Eric winced. If there was anything guaranteed to hurt her more than being accused of abandoning people, he didn’t know what it could be.

  “I didn’t abandon anyone. When Grace and Pags died, I started wondering why people I cared about were dying in the mud for nothing.”

  “That’s the job.”

  “But what did they die for? Thurston was still a basket case at the end of the campaign. We leave smoking ruins behind us more often than not. Win or lose, my Marines still die.”

  “So you opted out? Left us to carry on without you?”

  “I didn’t opt out. I re-evaluated. I stepped back and tried to see where I could make the biggest difference. The dying has to mean something.”

  “So you took reassignment without a word. Fifteen years in the Corps. and not a word from you. No goodbye, no see-you-later it’s been fun. Nothing. I tried to contact you, but you’d vanished. A year later an honourable discharge appeared on your permanent record. It tripped my alert, but there was still nothing to find. No explanations, and your current location was marked unknown.”

  Gina shrugged. “I’ve been on deployment pretty much the entire time. There was enhancement and training, and then the Shan thing. After that... well, other missions. The point is, before this I couldn’t talk to anyone.”

  Stein sighed. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just tell you. Your team took it hard. They may give you a hard time when they find out you’re here.”

  “They have a right to be pissed. I can see what it looks like.”

  “It’s worse than that. We were deployed to Lyra and lost Hollings there to an IED. Frankowski said she wasn’t the same after Pags died and you disappeared. She lost focus. You broke my Eagles.”

  “That’s enough,” Eric said and rejoined them. He wasn’t letting that go. No freaking way. “My lieutenant was up to her neck in mud and blood fighting Merkiaari for the Shan when you lost your man. When you did, not her.”

  “She was a damn good Marine. She didn’t deserve to go out like that,” Gina said sadly.

  “Back on mission, Fuentez,” Eric said, still glaring at Stein. He needed to put distance between them. “You have work. Go.”

  Gina started to argue, but then she deflated. She put her helmet back on and left without saying a word.

  Eric watched her go then rounded on Stein. “Stay away from her, or I’ll make you wish you had. Briefly.”

  “Is that a threat, Captain?”

  “A promise. You of all people know the sort of person she is. Do you really think it’s a good idea stressing her out over things that can’t be changed? Do you want another Hollings on your conscience?”

  Stein frowned.

  “Hollings died on your watch, not hers,” Eric said. “You want someone to blame? Look in a mirror.”

  Eric went back to work, and Stein walked stiffly away.

  * * *

  31 ~ Live Fire

  Area 21, Pandora, Kalmar Union

  Eric’s plan to keep Gina occupied instead of brooding upon Stein’s accusations were tested a few days later. The idea until then had been to limit her exposure to Marines in general, and Stein in particular.

  Easy, or so he’d thought.

  He should’ve known it wouldn’t work. He’d kept Gina busy during the day all right, but she hadn’t needed to meet them physically. Everyone had net access and her nights were free. There was nothing he could do to prevent her talking to her old squad online. She was such a girl scout. Of course she would go behind his back and contact her old buddies. He should’ve known she’d find a way. She’d been recon for most of her time in the Corps. and wasn’t exactly shy about looking for trouble.

  And so she’d found some.

  That’s what happened when you cared too much.

  Eric had put all that behind him long ago. Caring too much got you killed in this business. When nothing mattered, nothing hurt. All is programming.

  Gina was tight-lipped about it, but Eric knew her attempts to explain things to her old team hadn’t gone well. She was normally all smiles. Unlike some, she didn’t brood. She was the chatty sort. Suddenly she was all frowns and dark looks. It was time for an intervention, but not by him. He needed to wheel out the big guns for this one.

  As part of his ‘save Gina from herself’ plan, he reached out to Zelda. She would never admit it, but Gina was a Zelda fan-girl. Eric found the actress surprisingly approachable. He’d expected to go through agents and flunkies acting as her personal firewall, but her PA transferred him the moment she heard there was a viper on the line. When Zelda learned the woman who’d translated for the Shan at the convention was a viper, a huge fan, and in need of a little help, she was in. What Eric didn’t anticipate was Zelda’s own playful nature.

  Eric stood with his LTs and watched the Titans performing to impress potential buyers. They had good firepower and range. Accuracy was fine. He watched at X3 as they obliterated their targets without fail. The targets weren’t firing back of course, so the test was of limited value, but it was still impressive from a layman’s point of view. The media were certainly enjoying the show, but then, big flaming detonations always did impress them.

  As before, General Ecclestone was in attendance with his favoured officers. All of them stood together and viewed the test through field glasses to bring the action closer. The officers out of favour or less willing to suck up, like the vipers, stood apart to watch the show. The Marines, including Major Stein, were in the latter group. The Shan contingent was stuck with the former.

  Ecclestone was army as were most of those close to him, but not all. The navy’s representatives, dispossessed of their admirals, hung on the outskirts of Ecclestone’s group. They looked out of place and a little forlorn. Eric noticed them checking out the Marine contingent as if nerving themselves to join them. They had more in common with them.

  A big screen had been set up to one side to give a Titan’s eye view. Most were ignoring it, but Eric found it quite useful. The screen was split into quarters to display the HUD of each variant. There were four Titans on the field at present. The four displays revealed the similarities and differences in each Titan’s target acquisition and response.

  Hissssss-craaAAAckkk!

  Hissssss-craaAAAckkk!

  Eric evaluated the strike. The duel PPCs did a good amount of damage per shot, and had zero risk of collateral damage. He thought of this particular Titan as a sniper, and confirmed his earlier thoughts about its deployment. It would do well in an urban environment.

  Eric watched a quadruped machine gallop across the field in an unneeded sprint. Fast sucker. By design it was more stable than its two-legged brethren. Its weapons were all stored internally for protection, and relied upon its LRMs for offensive punch. Long-range missiles were an area effect weapon, which meant this version of a Titan would fit best into a classic artillery role. Not a good fit for urban warfare; not even combined with spotters for targeting. Collateral damage would be high. It carried a pair of auto-cannon for point-defence. Those protected against rocket attack, but were also useful in an anti-personnel role.

  Eric had a grudging respect for the designers. They’d tried to give their babies teeth. What he didn’t like about them was their backward-looking philosophy. Drone warfare still had a place. Hell, the navy used them all the time as decoys, and the Marines liked them for surveillance, but in offensive ops they were too vulnerable to spoofing. The Merki we
re particularly good at jamming.

  General Ecclestone beamed at the interviewers gushing over him. He lost them for a moment when one of the Titans employed its jump jets. It fired and nailed an aerial target at the apex of its flight. The newsies turned back to the general with more questions, and he went back to answering them.

  Eric didn’t share their appreciation. Oh sure, it was an impressive looking feat, but it wasn’t a practical manoeuvre. Why jump and fire at an airborne target? Potting it from cover would be safer and less likely to draw return fire. The media had liked it though, and that was the only reason to do it. They wouldn’t be interested in how resilient or stealthy the Titans were. That took a more personal stake in a Titan’s performance. The operators would certainly find its IR and radar signatures of interest, as would any poor grunt in the field relying upon a Titan for fire support.

  Eric had to admit their abilities were pretty good. In essence, Titans were 80 ton 12 metre tall walking tanks. Dainty they weren’t. Despite that, their manoeuvrability was surprisingly good, and they could fly. Sort of. Their jump jets weren’t underpowered as he’d theorised. Not at all. If anything, the opposite was true, which had its own challenges. A heavy hand at the controls could compromise them in battle, and they were big targets at the best of times. The best of times would be using terrain or buildings for cover, but not if hothead operators turned them into targets by leaping about the place.

  Eric glanced over at the current operators. Four men and women wearing glossy-red armour manned the Titan’s controls. All four wore VR headsets and spoke quietly to each other to coordinate their manoeuvres and fire. Colonel Jubb was in command there. They belonged to Cooper’s Commandos, a crack mercenary company out of Arsenal. A famous outfit in certain circles.

  “Good grief, what’s that?” Lieutenant Brice said.

  Zelda and company were incoming with a convoy of vehicles following her on the approach road. Good grief was right. It looked as if she’d brought her entire production crew with her. She was supposed to drop by to give Gina’s mood a lift, not bring her entire dog-and-pony show with her.