Decker's War Omnibus 1

by Eric Thomson

  “Got it, captain.” Aran nodded.

  “Good man.” Decker slapped his shoulder and rose from behind the fallen tree trunk. “Come on, Nik. Time to get us some Shrehari.”

  Terkis, the remaining platoon leader, was waiting for them just inside the tree line, crouched beside Cyone.

  “It’ll be quick and dirty, folks,” Decker whispered. “They know we’re here, we know they’re there, but I’m pretty sure what’s sitting on the other side of the bend is a small screen, half a platoon at best, and none too experienced. There’s not much room to deploy so we’re going in column. Nik, since your folks have seen the enemy position, you’re in the lead. Ker, your platoon’s in support, ready to either pass through Nik or do a flanking on the left if Nik gets pinned down. Sal will provide cover on order. Once we’re through the screen, we don’t stop until we meet up with Kidder and his folks. Lora, you move the HQ folks up one tactical bound behind the rest. You’re my only reserve. I’ll be up with the lead platoon. Questions?”

  The officers shook their heads, knowing that time was no longer on their side. They had to hit fast, hit hard, and do it now.

  “Off you go, Nik.”

  *

  The jungle was eerily green in their night vision visors, parts dull and parts glowing, and somewhere among the trees, the foe waited for them to walk into their cross-hairs. Contact, when it happened, was as unexpected as it was violent.

  Closed terrain made this a platoon leader’s battle, and Zack kept out of Vulin’s way as the latter leap-frogged his sections forward to push the Shrehari back. As he did so, the heavy machine guns on the far side of the river bend began chewing through the vegetation, forcing their enemy to keep his head down.

  Decker didn’t want a hand-to-hand battle their adversaries were sure to win by dint of their larger size and greater strength, but it would have to be a melee nonetheless. Between the soupy darkness of the forest and the starless, moonless night, soldiers would be almost on top of each other before they figured out they were in contact.

  The volume of return fire told Decker that the Shrehari weren’t going to make this easy so he quickly found Ker Terkis and grabbed him by the arm.

  “Take your platoon twenty meters to the left and pivot ninety degrees to roll them up from the side. Make damn sure your IFF beacons are on because you’ll need Nik’s fire support until the last minute. I can’t have the heavies continue. As soon as you’re away, I’ll be shifting their fire right and the moment you’re on the attack, I’ll be moving them up to join us.”

  “Got it, captain.”

  “Once you’re through, which you’ll know when you’ve reached the river, pivot left and head downstream towards the bridge.”

  With a final, nod, Terkis jogged off through the thick ferns to where his section leaders were waiting for orders. Shortly after that, they were off, gliding through the undergrowth noiselessly and hopefully unseen by the Shrehari. Decker had joined Vulin up front and briefed him on the change in plans while the troops in contact kept exchanging fire with the enemy to keep them occupied. Suddenly, shots rang out behind him, and the radio came to life for the first time in many hours.

  “Decker, this is Cyone. We’re about to be squeezed in a vice. My people just took out four Shrehari scouts, and we can hear their main body pushing through the forest. They’re getting really close now.”

  “Understood. Aran, this is Decker, time to pull out. Cyone will cover your withdrawal and then follow.”

  “Aran here, understood.’

  “Cyone, understood.”

  It meant lifting the covering fire early, but he needed the heavy platoon too much to risk having it cut off. Terkis would just have to move faster, and to Decker’s everlasting joy, he did.

  “Terkis here, boss. Situation understood. Stand by. We’re pushing through now.”

  A barrage erupted to Decker’s left, streams of plasma cutting through the night. Terkis’ flanking wasn’t a perfect ninety degrees, but it would do. Caught between two fires, the Shrehari screen collapsed with surprising quickness.

  Within minutes, the company’s front was clear of enemy soldiers and Decker, all too cognizant that he was about to be caught between the main body behind him and whatever enemy was facing Kidder at the bridge, pushed through the last of the triple canopy jungle and into the low brush fronting it.

  They stayed down, to avoid giving the enemy too good a target, and took stock of the situation. Gunfire flashed over the vast open space around the old stone bridge, between Kidder’s platoon, already on the far side of the river and the Shrehari hidden among the trees by the overgrown road.

  “Decker, Kidder here,” the radio came to life again, “about time you showed up. We were starting to get bored trading pot-shots with guys whose aim isn’t much better than the Gwangar’s slugs.”

  “We had a little argument with a flank guard, and we’re about to have a bigger discussion with the main body coming up our behinds. Any suggestions?”

  “Yeah. Suppress the enemy on either side of the road and send the heavies across. Have Aran deploy them on the right side of the bridge to cover the remainder of the company. I’ll keep an eye on whatever might pop up behind you.”

  “Works for me.”

  He turned to his other platoon leaders, waiting patiently behind him.

  “You heard Tran. When the heavies are in position to suppress, Lora, you take HQ platoon over. Once you’re across the bridge, keep going until you’re at the next ridge. Cover us from there. Sal, you can use a couple of mortar rounds to suppress the Shrehari, but don’t expend all of them. As soon as the heavies open fire, Nik, you lead your platoon across and take a position to the left of the bridge. Ker, you’re last. Once you’re across, join Lora on the ridge directly. We do this on the run, folks. I aim to break contact cleanly this time. With any luck, the Shrehari will see the river as the natural boundary to their claim and leave us alone.”

  “What about the casualties?” Terkis asked.

  Decker swore under his breath. He’d forgotten to account for any injured after they punched through the screen. Being a company commander wasn’t without its drawbacks.

  “What’s the butcher’s bill?”

  “Larkat’s dead. We left him there after taking his weapons and ammo,” the platoon leader replied emotionlessly. “I have two walking wounded and one barely walking.”

  Zack looked at the others in turn.

  “No dead,” Vulin said, “one non-walking wounded and three walking.”

  “No casualties.” Aran shook his head.

  “Okay. Ker and Nik, hand your casualties over to HQ. They’re going straight up the ridge with them.”

  The platoon leaders nodded and, at Zack’s signal, melted back into the night.

  “Ready,” Aran transmitted after a minute or two, during which Kidder and the Shrehari traded desultory shots.

  No sooner had the heavy platoon leader spoken that the gunfire increased to a fevered pitch and Decker saw three dozen shadows jog out of the brush in extended line, headed for the bridge.

  For a few tense moments, he expected a previously hidden enemy unit to spring into action, but Aran and his men made it across unscathed.

  They had the mortars set up and firing within moments and, as the first round hit the wood line to the left of the road, Lora Cyone, and the HQ folks sped across the open ground, over the bridge. They quickly disappeared up the road leading to civilization and their way off the planet.

  Vulin’s silahdars sprang up the moment the last of Cyone’s troops were across and ran like the devil was on their heels, which, as it turned out, he was – in the form of an infuriated Shrehari company stomping through the jungle behind them.

  “We’d better move now,” Terkis’ alarmed voice broke through the crescendo of gunfire as Vulin’s platoon joined Kidder and began to shoot into the brush at Decker’s back.

  With that, Zack got to his feet up and ran towards the bridge, suddenly co
nscious that as company commander, he should have crossed with Aran’s platoon so he could direct the covering fire.

  A sharp cry rang out behind him just as his feet touched the granite of the roadway and a stray shot grazed his helmet: the pursuing Shrehari had arrived. He made it across and joined Kidder.

  “How many?”

  “Hard to say. Two platoons’ worth at least.”

  “Aran, this is Decker. Put some rockets on the wood line we just left. Fire when ready, two canister rounds.”

  “Roger.”

  Just as Terkis and his troops were at their most vulnerable, crossing the bridge, the heavies opened fire. Both rounds passed close enough to the platoon’s tail-end charlie to singe his battledress, but the devastation they caused when the warheads exploded over the shrubs, sending thousands of sharp steel slivers into the night, was worth it.

  Inhuman screams of pain drowned out the continuous machine gun chatter as a swath of forest, and the Shrehari it hid were transformed into a cloud of shredded organic matter.

  “Decker, this is Cyone. We’re in position and can cover the whole area.”

  He tapped Kidder’s arm.

  “Off you go. I’ll keep Nik and Sal to hold them until you and Ker are over the ridge.”

  Zack had the other two platoons shooting continuously to prevent the enemy guessing about his dispositions, but the moment Cyone confirmed that both Terkis and Kidder had joined her, he gave the order to pull out.

  “Aran, this is Decker. Break contact.”

  He turned to Vulin.

  “When his last trooper’s past the bend in the road, pull out. Cyone’s got the bridge and the wood line beyond ranged in. Anything moves, she’s got your back.”

  After the platoon leader had nodded his understanding, Decker slithered backward and out of his firing position before running towards the side of the road, bent over at the waist to make himself as small a target as a man of his bulk could. He joined the heavy platoon’s ranks as they jogged uphill, panting at the exertion after a long night of marching and fighting.

  Gunfire erupted from the crest and Decker swirled back, going down on one knee, as he tried to see what Cyone was shooting at.

  The enemy seemed to have figured out he wanted to break contact and were trying to rush the bridge the moment Vulin’s platoon stopped firing in preparation for their withdrawal. A few smoking bodies later, an unnatural silence fell over the valley, punctuated here and there by the sobs and gasps of wounded Shrehari.

  At the top of the ridge, he dropped to the ground beside Cyone, his head buzzing with adrenaline and the exertion from his hard run uphill.

  “Any more movement down there?”

  “None. I have Sal ready with another canister round just in case, but I think we gave them enough of a bloody nose that they’ll likely count their blessings and leave us alone.”

  He called the platoon leaders together in a quick huddle.

  “Casualties?”

  “Ulian bought it as we were rushing the bridge. We didn’t have time to recover his gear.”

  “You’re sure he was dead?”

  “If anyone can live with a fist-sized hole in the chest, it’s news to me,” Terkis replied dryly. “A few nicks here and there. Nothing that’ll keep ‘em from moving.”

  “Same here,” Vulin added. “Rudy caught one in the arm, but the way he’s cursing, it's not a big deal.”

  Decker nodded. Two dead and a dozen wounded meant he got away cheaply, especially compared to the rest of the battalion.

  “I know we all desperately need rest,” he said. “But we can’t afford to hang around too long, in case our friends decide that chasing us south of the river wasn’t enough to heal their wounded pride, and believe me, a Shrehari battalion has enough pride to equip a whole human division.”

  “Sal,” he tapped the heavy platoon leader’s arm, “set up your rocket launchers and mortars to cover the bridge and its approaches. The rest of you, have your folks eat, take care of the injuries and grab a few minutes of shut-eye. We’re leaving in two hours. By then, it’ll start getting light, and we’ll be able to move faster. Once we’re out of the Gandabegs, we’ll stop for a longer rest. With any luck, we’ll be able to raise the XO on the radio and get the battalion skimmers to start ferrying us back.”

  “And then what?” Kidder asked the question they’d all held back during their frantic escape from the Shrehari trap.

  Cyone glanced at Decker, intrigued by how he’d handle the situation. She was the only one who knew his intentions, and since Aran and Vulin were both Nelvans, his goal to head for the Commonwealth might not go over too well.

  “Then we find ourselves a nice ride and get the hell out of this part of space.”

  “Home?” Kidder asked, hope barely masked in his voice.

  “The Commonwealth. It’s not necessarily home to everyone in the company.”

  Aran stared at him wordlessly for a few heartbeats.

  “Nelva isn’t really home for most of us so-called Nelvans either. We show up there as escapees, we’ll just get handed over to the Atabek or someone like him and then beware the juluk pits.”

  Zack started in surprise.

  “Your own people would do that?”

  “It’s either deliver the strongest children to become slave soldiers or suffer a worse fate,” Vulin replied, anger hardening his eyes. “It’s not just the Danjorans. Plenty of predatory societies around here. I figure if we put it to a vote, nearly all of the Nelvans would rather follow you to Earth than return to our supposed home.”

  “Not to rain on your parade,” Terkis sounded unconvinced, “but how do you propose to seize a starship and force the crew to sail us hundreds of light-years through the Coalsack and beyond. As far as I know, we don’t have anyone in this outfit that can do astrogation worth a crap.”

  “One thing at a time.” Decker squeezed the other man’s shoulder. “First, we rejoin the XO and the rear echelon. Can’t leave ‘em here. They’re just as much junk for the Atabek to hide as the rest of the new model battalion.”

  “And what if we just go back to the Kashdushiya?” Terkis asked. “No harm, no foul.”

  “Do you really think the Atabek will welcome us with open arms?” Cyone’s voice was soft, but no one could miss her contempt for the suggestion. “He made his profit with our lives. That we failed to deliver is the Gwangar’s problem, not his. He might raise another new model battalion, or he might just forget about the whole idea. Us showing up will just annoy him. I say the CO’s right. We try for the Commonwealth.”

  “Or die trying,” Terkis sighed. “I guess you’re right. What a mess.”

  “One man’s mess is another man’s opportunity.” A hopeful smile creased Decker’s tired face. “But the only way we’re going to make this opportunity work for us is if we stick together just like a good Marine company, discipline and all.”

  “Are you going to rustle up colors and a band too?” Terkis didn’t quite sneer, but he still seemed to be wavering. Zack examined the man’s face in the growing light of dawn. His platoon had taken the most casualties and perhaps he was merely experiencing the shock that sometimes overtook men once the shooting stopped.

  “If I had a way to do it, I would,” he replied. “In the meantime, I’m counting on all of you to keep this outfit together and operating at maximum military efficiency. Otherwise, we might not make it at all.”

  He caught each officer’s eyes in turn, and they nodded, even Terkis after a brief moment of defiance.

  “Talk to your folks, make sure they understand what I intend. Anyone not wanting to come along can either stay here or leave us anywhere along the way. But they have to be clear that as long as they’re in this company of fools, they’re subject to all orders. I may not have a portable juluk pit, but I know a couple of field punishments that’ll do just as well. We leave in two hours.”

  *

  Decker had barely fallen asleep when he felt a firm hand grasp
his shoulder.

  “They’re stirring down by the river,” Cyone whispered.

  “You’d have thought the dumb buggers would know when to quit,” he grumbled, stretching his tired limbs as he rose to his feet.

  He quickly made his way up to the observation post and peered over the ridge. About two dozen Shrehari, easily recognizable by their bony, ridged skulls, were cautiously crossing the bridge. They wore dun-colored uniforms of a type Decker had never seen before and carried plasma rifles that looked strangely archaic to his master gunner-trained eyes.

  “Another bunch of lost colonists for sure.”

  “Sir?” The sentry sounded surprised.

  “Shrehari colony ship that went off course, got sucked up by a wild wormhole and spat out near this system. A bit like your Nelvan forebears, son.”

  “But we’ve been on Nelva for thousands of years, and we’ve been told you Earthers didn’t make it into space until a few centuries ago.”

  “Mysteries of the universe.” Decker shrugged, eyes fixed on the advancing enemy. “Now why is it that they’re sending a platoon’s worth across when they know damn well we’re a full company?”

  “They’re dumb?” The silahdar ventured.

  Zack’s chuckle sounded cold and harsh to the young man’s ears.

  “Shrehari are a lot of things, but never dumb. Not when it comes to fighting. The only reason our last war with them ended was that they had a rather forceful change of government, not because we beat them. I guess that the bunch down there is a recon patrol sent to make sure we actually buggered off. I think we should oblige them.”

  He flicked on his radio.

  “Decker to all, rise and shine. We’ve got visitors coming, and I’d like to be gone when they get here.”

  Within moments, the soldiers were up and ready to move. Zack took one last look over the ridge, to gauge how much time they’d have before the Shrehari reached the top, then jogged off to join the already moving column, trailed only by the two men from the observation post. Getting out last because he wanted eyes on the enemy was becoming a bad habit.