"Big goals, eh?"
"That's right. If we don't break through, it's not like we can dig in."
"I like it."
Colonel Clarke smiled and sent the map along. "Review it, then pass it to the COs. I want everyone's input. We'll halt forty kilometers out and get some rest. Then we go in."
He spent the next hour speaking with Arap and the company commanders. They reviewed the plan, adjusted the route, and added some contingencies. By the end he felt better about the operation, and then the realization hit him. They were a solo unit, driving into an entrenched enemy, without any support. There was no second chance, no opportunity to do a second strike. Either they liberated Reach, or they died.
They stopped forty kilometers out and the armor parked in a shallow ravine. Colonel Clarke exited his vehicle and could smell the sea. A second later the echo of distant artillery sounded out. Then again, and again. It didn't stop and he knew the fight was on.
The sun was just on the horizon. It peeked through the clouds and then was gone again.
"Sounds like a proper beating, sir," Private Cummingham said.
Colonel Clarke nodded and listened some more. It was almost time to cross those last forty kilometers. It was almost time to show the Vasilov what proper armor could do. Or, he thought, it might be time to die.
#
Chapter Forty-One
Lishun Delta - Mackinof Front
"Everyone to cover!" Karl shouted. He leaped down from the edge of the trench. His face smacked into something and he could taste blood.
The first bombs fell on the line and detonated. The falling snow twisted to the side and for a brief second the snow stopped.
A Sigg anti-aircraft tank opened fire a second later but couldn't connect.
A second Cion flier blasted over the top of the trenches. Karl rolled over just in time to watch it streak by.
Silence, he thought. Then the roar of the shockwave struck.
This time the Sigg unit sent a stream of rounds right up the ass of the Cion aircraft. It tumbled in mid-air and suddenly shredded apart as the air velocity caught up with it.
"Check the line," he yelled.
Rifle fire cracked out and then was quiet. A distant rumble on the horizon announced more artillery. The umbrella system opened up a second later and a nonstop stream of projectiles danced in the sky.
Karl stood and adjusted his helmet.
Sedan looked back at him with her mouth open. Her dirty yellow teeth stuck out in stark contrast to the whiteness of her face. "Why don't they attack?"
"Because they think we're going to attack," Karl said.
"Are we?"
"Nope," Karl answered. He tucked in tight to the trench wall.
Shrapnel tumbled down from above and clanged harmlessly into the defenses. The smell of baked steel rolled in the wind.
Karl stepped out and glanced down the line. He was satisfied with what he saw. His entire line was huddled under cover and waiting with weapons at ready. Even the replacements were doing it right.
A horn sounded twice.
"Stand down," Karl yelled. He helped Sedan to her feet and walked to the nearest bunker access. The warm air condensed on the outside and a layer of frost coated the door. He greeted each of his soldiers as they descended. Some looked scared, others tired, most smoked dirty cigarettes. A few he greeted by name, those who had survived out in the no man’s land.
Any thought he ever had of being a hero died on that plain. He wanted nothing to do with his own barony, or county, or anything. Now he just wanted to get home alive. Even the thought of going out again made his stomach turn. Done, he just wanted it done.
"Sergeant Sigorski!" a woman’s voice yelled from the end of the trench. "Colonel needs to see you!"
"Shit," he said. "Keep tight, folks, you know the drill. Corporal Sedan has command."
Karl jammed his hands into his pockets and made his way to the command bunker. He didn't want to talk to the Colonel. Maybe it was just a routine meeting, he thought. By the time he arrived at the command bunker he felt a bit better.
Baron-Colonel Devos leaned over a console. His heavy jacket was unbuttoned and almost falling off his back.
"Sergeant Karl Sigorski reporting, sir!"
"At ease, Sergeant," Devos said. He turned and shrugged his shoulders so the jacket wouldn't fall off. "Do you have everything you need? Your replacements are acceptable, yes?"
"Very much so, sir," Karl replied.
Baron-Colonel Devos's eyes unfocused for a moment. He snapped back and smiled warmly at Karl. "You've done well for yourself, Sergeant. With a record like yours, I could see offering a title when we clear all this up."
Karl's heart skipped a beat. He replayed the words and saw the bait. "Sir?"
"We know the Kadan are down assaulting Reach. They sent that circus of criminals down South to help out. Now there are some opportunities here. The Kadan forces are weakened and well, we could use some first hand intelligence."
Karl stood silently. Dread filled his stomach and he tried to speak but couldn't.
"You have the experience, Sergeant. You've proven yourself a capable combat team leader. Most importantly I understand that you've been to the Kadan base once before. Pick a team, draw your supplies, and during the next storm I want you to infiltrate the Kadan stargate facility."
"Sir?" Karl couldn't believe it. Not just the lines, not just a basic recon, but the Kadan base itself.
"We need proper intelligence, Sergeant. We'll not have a better time than now. The General is quite keen to know what the Kadan are up to. Your role here could save this entire front from disaster. Upon your return you'll train other teams. This will, with any luck, become a regular occurrence." Baron-Colonel Devos turned and plucked up a black case from a table.
Karl was locked where he stood and couldn't have moved if he wanted. Fear on one hand was balanced by a sense of duty. He could save lives, do the right thing, make a difference.
Baron-Colonel Devos opened the box, it contained a set of Lieutenants bars. "Once you return, these will be waiting, and," he smiled, "the General may grant me new territory on Kursikov III. If that happens, I see a county in your future."
Karl smiled back weakly. "Thank you, sir."
"Keep me appraised, Sergeant Sigorski."
"Yes sir," Karl said. He walked out on numb legs and couldn't believe his absolutely horrible luck.
#
Chapter Forty-Two
Deep Space
Umi stood in the airlock with the pendant locked firmly in his grip. He stared at a red light and waited for the pressure to equalize. His ears popped. The light blinked green.
Riga and Vik squatted down and picked up the heavy case.
"Oof!" Vik said.
The freighters airlock slid open and showed a time stained alloy panel. A moment later it opened. The air smelled old, dry, like sand in a bottle. Inside the space was narrow, tight with equipment, conduit and wiring. From the outside it looked massive, from the inside it felt like a closet.
Lady Atli marched in first with her chin held high.
Umi followed right behind. The place reminded him of a salvage yard. It had taken a day to reach spot somewhere in the middle of absolute nowhere. The floating hulk sat in the midst of deep space. Two systems were near, one was an empty white dwarf and the other Lishun Delta.
They stopped at a wall of tarnished metal. The surface had a waxy look, like it was polished too long.
Lady Atli spoke in a clear, strong, voice. "Ken-Ashi."
The tarnished plate shifted and an image appeared. It was a being of sorts, but wreathed in smoke like a shadow of a thought.
"Lady Atli."
"We require your services."
"I do not offer charity."
"Nor do we ask for it. I have payment."
The image turned slightly and for a second it looked almost human. "You have nothing I want."
Lady Atli waved Vik and Riga ahead. The two sol
diers lugged the case and set it down before the screen.
"Open it," Lady Atli said.
Vik popped the latches and folded the cover back. It creaked and a blue glow bathed the screen.
The image on the screen instantly sharpened. It was razor crisp and most definitely not human, though it was close. The proportions were wrong, the eyes too wide, and the mouth a narrow slit. "You finally retrieved it... What do you need?"
"We have a Ken-tek designed data storage device that we need to access."
"Stolen?" The thing on the screen never took its eyes off the case.
"Damaged."
"I get the datacore, regardless if I can access the device."
"Very well."
A robotic arm shot out from the side of the screen.
Umi set the pendant onto the robot's palm.
The arm snapped up. A second later a robot wobbled out from the wreckage and grasped onto the case. It drug it away into the maze of junk and disappeared.
"The matrix is cracked, integrity is 87%. It's old, that doesn't help. They should be replaced every hundred years," the image chided. "I can only salvage some of it. There is a visual that I cannot decode."
The screen shimmered and the image of the Ken-tek disappeared. It was replaced by the face of a woman. Behind her was the close confines of a cheap hotel. She leaned away from the screen and scratched her chin.
Umi knew her. It was the woman who saved him.
"If you're seeing this, I'm dead." She paused and nodded. "Well, not how I hoped to spend my retirement. But here it is. Get this to Vasilov Command."
She leaned close and peered into the camera. "Lishun Delta is a chokepoint for the Kadan armies. The Emflife are calling the shots now, in a few months they're going to push an army through big enough to overrun the entire Vasilov sector. That can't happen."
She sat back and scratched her chin. "The only way to hold that planet is to secure the gate to Sebring 435, blow it up, and hit the Kadan while they're transit sick. All the supporting movement data is on this device. Find Lady Atli, she can make this happen. If Lishun Delta falls, the Kadan are gonna make a run that'll destroy a third of all human space."
Umi watched her and wondered what she was like. Her eyes were intense, they sparkled with life.
She scratched another itch and gave a crooked smile at the camera. "I hope I died doing something awesome. If you can, bring this to Terra someday."
The video feed dropped away. The Ken-Tek looked back. "The data packets are being transmitted to your transport. I've extrapolated the date since this was made. You have about five days until that Kadan force enters Lishun Delta."
Umi was at a loss for words. Five days. It wasn't enough, not nearly enough. The Vasilov hadn't been able to break the Kadan in 35 years, how could they do it in five days. "How far are we from Lishun Delta?"
"Three days."
Lady Atli laid her time worn hand on Umi's elbow. "We must go. Now." Her eyes were hollow and her voice cracked.
Umi took two steps then stopped. "I'd like that back."
The robotic arm snapped down and the pendant swayed on the golden chain. Umi grasped it in hand. It felt warm. He looked at the creature on the screen. "Thank you."
It said nothing and the screen went blank.
"Five days," Umi whispered.
Good god, how can we do this?
#
Chapter Forty-Three
Lishun Delta - Reach
They rode through the steppe and sheared drifts of snow and plowed a path close to the mountains. Low foothills drifted up against the massive mountain range and in those they rode. Past collapsed glacial deposits of gravel and stone. Through rivers of chalky white silt and on until the taste of salt was heavy in the air.
When the ocean was almost in sight the lead tank, Elation, suddenly dropped through the ice and disappeared. The rest of the tanks halted. The Engineers raced out and tossed leads into the water but the glacial cut was so deep that no trace was found. They waited for a short time, spoke some words, and cut a new path around the hidden lake. The snow could no longer be trusted, the air was warming.
Lieutenant Torori came on the comms and spoke in a low, level voice. "Full crew comms, crank it up for everyone."
Tomi leaned over and tapped the open comms button. The speakers in Bulldog crackled to life.
"This is how it's going to roll. We're covering the Northern edge, right up next to the mountains. We're the hammer, the fucking noose, you got it? Everyone else draws them in, pinches the Kadan against the Vasilov line and then we sweep down that fucker. Don't stop moving. You must advance, no one stops. You all hear me? If we stop, we die. There's no turning back, no bunkering down, no trench to crawl into. Don't dismount, not unless your tracks are blown off."
Tomi's heart pounded in his chest. He listened and felt the excitement rise. It rose up and at the same time the fear was crisp. This is it. This is it.
"I've sent each unit a map. Follow the course set out, once we get inside just wrap up that flank. It's time to prove all those sons of bitches wrong."
Tomi keyed his display and a map overlay danced across his viewscreen. The topographic was clear, he was to follow the rise close to the mountains until they were almost on top of the isthmus leading to Reach. Then, and only then, would he sweep to the sea.
"Order is," Lieutenant Torori said. "Bulldog, Bodacious Bastard, Blowtorch, Badger, Beowulf, Baptism. Point artillery is not live until we reach the Northern edge. Then Baptism is going to set up and cover us. Nearest anti-air is Delta company, they're on our flank. Ride so close to that mountain that you scrape the paint. Tomi. Lead us in."
There was a pause, the Lieutenant took a breath. "Don't fire until the other edges engage. I'm proud of you all. Go."
"You heard the man!" Sergeant Nikov said. "Hammer this fucker!"
Bulldog raced ahead and down into a gravel bottom. A thin glacial wash trickled down and a cloud of mist rose up behind them. Tomi kept the mountains straight ahead and rode through the river bottom.
A fog dropped down from the mountains and the vehicles were coated in rime. The gray paint and mud gave way to a ghostly sheen of white. They were like arctic wolves coming down from the hills.
Tomi climbed until the trickle disappeared into the hill and cut his vehicle hard to the South. He steered hard and drove right on the track that the Lieutenant sent. He drove up a hill and felt something in his stomach. Excitement. Then he was over it and the sight took his breath away.
The isthmus darted out into the sea. The sky was illuminated by explosions. Tracers darted out from both lines and ricocheted up into the sky like angry fireflies. Massive explosions rocked the shores. The entire Kadan line was almost on top of the wrecked island. The fires were so intense that everything glowed an amazing shade of orange.
The armor pulled up in a line.
"Bravo Company!" Lieutenant Torori shouted over the comms. "Charge!"
Bulldog pushed ahead with the others just behind. They rolled down the massive slope with a sheer rock wall just to their right. The main cannons hummed to life and danced with the motion of the tanks. The autocannon turrets spun from side-to-side.
The crew inside of the Bulldog called out diagnostics checks. "Ammo clear!", "Fire suppression ready!", "Reactor is green!".
The railhead was illuminated a few kilometers away. Huge piles of stores and equipment were heaped near it. Columns of troops raced away from the waiting railcars. All were headed down one path, toward the line.
"God, look at it," Sergeant Nikov said.
Tomi raced faster and grinned. Sixty kilometers an hour on open ground. He loved it.
"Acquiring targets," Sergeant Nikov said. She lit up a large vehicle that was dead ahead. It wore a dome on top. Next she lit up artillery positions and a heap of mortar ammunition.
"Let's go. C'mon!"
Sixty five kilometers an hour. Track alerts started to blink. The lines were dead ahead and coming clos
er.
Tomi stared and could pick out individual Kadan drones. Did they know? Did they have any idea?
An enormous mushroom cloud rose into the sky, its entire core a rolling mass of flame. The railhead disappeared in a raging inferno. An axle tumbled through the air and battered itself against the mountainside.
"Fire!" Lieutenant Torori called.
The main cannon opened up. The first three rounds hit the vehicle with the dome. The main gun automatically tracked to the next targets. When it reached the ammo dump it sent one shell and then a wall of white shot into the sky. Titanium white balls shot into the sky and tumbled slowly down. The Kadan drones fled, burning, and stumbled toward the tanks.
The autocannons fired and sent out a stream of traceless ammunition. The rounds stitched into the fleeing drones. They fell in droves and tumbled to the open ground. There were no trenches in the rear, nowhere for them to flee to.
In the rear of Bulldog the infantry tended to the weapons and watched the crates of ammo disappear.
"Driver right, take us up!" Nikov ordered.
Tomi steered ahead and drove the tank right over the smoldering hulk of the odd vehicle with the dome on top. There was a satisfying crunch and then they dropped down low. The Vasilov line was less than a kilometer away.
"Punch it!"
Bulldog rolled down the last slope and plowed right into the Kadan line. Waves of infantry raced away only to be greeted by the autocannons lacing fire everywhere.
"We got comms! Holy shit, we've got Vasilov comms!" someone cried out.
Tomi ignored everything and only focused on the path ahead. Shapes loomed up in the darkness and he steered around anything that was big. Anything that looked small, he crushed and continued ahead. Orange light illuminated everything ahead of him and the fighting still raged on.
Bravo Company plowed through the rear of the Kadan lines and hammered everything in sight. The main cannons chattered out round after round until Torori finally told them to conserve ammunition.
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