Stars & Empire: 10 Galactic Tales Read online

  “Displaying requested data now.” The AI’s voice was calm and somewhat mechanical sounding. It had some type of slight accent I couldn’t quite place. No doubt some task force spent a long time figuring the ideal combination of cost-effectiveness and psychology. Or something like that.

  The default projection area was just above eye level, so the data didn’t obscure a Marine’s ability to see through the visor. But rolling my eyes upward always gave me a headache, so I’d reconfigured the system to project information below, so I could look down rather than up.

  I scanned the blue holographic symbols as my AI cycled through reports of each member of my expanded squad. Everybody looked good. Two had minor damage to their armor, but nothing serious and, just as relevant, nothing we could do anything about. One trooper was running a slight fever, but if it got any worse his suit would automatically medicate. All weapons checked out and were loaded and fully functional.

  I knew things were about to get started when other units began moving up and taking position around us. It looked like the whole battalion, or what was left of it, was forming up. I didn’t have access to the command frequency, so I didn’t know exactly what was going on. But the best I could figure, there were about 300 troops supported by 6 light tanks, about to attack along a ten kilometer front.

  Just before dark on our second day manning the trenchline I got my answers. Captain Junius, who was running the whole battalion at this point, came through the comlink. “Squad leaders, prepare to assault the objective.” He paused for a minute—probably interrupted by his own message from higher up—and then continued. “We’re going to hit the place with a fast, hard bombardment, and then we advance. I want the lead units—Cain, Warren, Stanton, that’s your squads—to move fast. Use the torn up ground for cover the best you can, but don’t let it slow you down. Get your asses up there ASAP! You’ll have supporting units right behind you, so if you get bogged down you’ll stall the attack, and we’ll get bunched up.”

  He went on for about ten minutes, giving instructions to each squad leader and reminding us at least five times that speed was the key to taking the objective. After he was done, I spent a few minutes staring out at the terrain for the thousandth time, punching up my visor to amp 10 to compensate for the failing light. Then I gave orders to my team leaders.

  Half an hour later the barrage began. We were too close to the enemy for orbital bombardment, but we had several ground-based artillery batteries as well as the company mortar teams, and they all unloaded at once.

  The night sky was instantly illuminated as rounds impacted all along the front edge of the objective. We knew the enemy was there in some force, and it was a good bet they had some ordnance of their own, but they didn’t return any fire.

  After about five minutes of firing conventional munitions, the batteries switched over to incendiary and smoke, and as soon as they did we got the order to advance. The field ahead of us was a maelstrom of fire and dense clouds of smoke. The dusky darkness and clouds of smoke obscured visibility, and the incendiary rounds interfered with heat and infrared guided fire. We’re going to be pretty blind out there, I thought to myself. But there wasn’t time to worry about it.

  “Let’s go!” I snapped out the command, surprised at how cool and calm I sounded, and jumped over the edge of the trench. “All teams advance 500 meters and grab some cover … whatever you can find. Remember, zigzag approach—no straight lines! And move it, but keep low.”

  After I finished issuing orders, I focused on getting myself up 500 meters. I ran an irregular pattern, trying to move as quickly as possible while staying crouched. The ground was a little more rugged than it looked, but it was no big deal in armor, and it took us less than two minutes to reach the first position.

  There was heavy fire, but it was random and not aimed. The enemy had started up with their mortars, but they weren’t doing a lot of damage. Our bombardment was doing its job, disordering the defending troops, at least for the moment. Still, a quick glance at the unit status display showed I had two troopers down. The data showed both as flatline, but that didn’t mean they were necessarily dead. Maybe their armor was just damaged and not transmitting life scans. Maybe.

  As I moved forward I spotted a good-sized crater and headed for it, diving in as an enemy mortar round exploded way too close for comfort. The crater was about ten feet deep, and the high water table meant it was half full of watery muck. I slid down the muddy edge and into the water, head first.

  “Teams one and three, move forward 500 meters and take cover. Team two, hold 90 seconds and advance 500 meters.” I still sounded like a rock. I was scared to death, but I’d learned how to sound calm, even when I wanted to piss myself. It’s amazing how much of command really boils down to some type of bullshit.

  We continued to advance, and we started firing once we were within 1,500 meters. Our fire was as blind as theirs, and they had the cover of the town besides, but we wanted them to at least give them something to worry about.

  They’d dug a decent trench just outside the built up area, but our artillery had really hit it hard, and when we reached it there were only two defenders left standing. Two of my teams ran up to the edge and tore them to pieces with fire.

  With all my troopers in the trench I did another quick check and was stunned to see we hadn’t lost anyone else. That was good luck … but I doubted it would last.

  I took a few seconds to look into the complex. I could see Stanton’s squad advancing on my right, moving toward a cluster of small buildings that looked like some type of storage. I couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked like they’d taken more losses on the advance than we had.

  There was a forest of piping and tubes in front of my squad—some type of refinery or industrial facility. Visibility was poor. The scattered fires provided some light, but they interfered with infrared scanners. My suit’s AI combined the infrared and visual data to give me a computer-generated enhanced image. It wasn’t great, but it was a hell of a lot better than anything my eyes could have produced.

  I couldn’t see any enemy positions, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any. There was a small metal shed that looked like some kind of control building about 200 meters in. I didn’t know if it was occupied, but I wasn’t going to chance it. I sent team one to take it. The rest of the squad stood fast, providing covering fire and scanning for any enemy movement.

  Team one moved up out of the trench and started toward the building. There was some scattered fire from deeper in the complex, but nothing heavy, and within two minutes they reported back that the building was empty.

  “Team two, advance to the storage tank to the left of team one. Team three, on me!” I knew there were units right on our heels, so I leapt out of the trench and ran toward a dense collection of vertical pipes that would offer decent cover and a vantage point to get a look farther into the complex. The fire was very light, and I couldn’t see any enemy troopers until I was almost up to my objective.

  I saw him half a second before he saw me. He was running across my field of fire, clearly separated from his withdrawing unit. I whipped around my mag rifle and fired on full auto, hitting him with at least ten projectiles just as he was launching a spread of grenades in my direction.

  My shots ripped through his bronze colored armor and tore the top half of him to shreds, but not before the first two grenades were loosed. I paused for an instant to confirm that I’d hit the target instead of diving for cover, and I felt myself flying through the air as one of the grenades hit just off to my left.

  I could hear the fragments impacting on my armor, making a dull clanging sound . My training took over, and even before I hit the ground I was watching the electric blue numerals of the damage display projected in front of my eyes. Good … nothing penetrated my armor. I was unhurt and everything seemed to be fully operational. Damn lucky. Stupid, but lucky. If I’d have hit the deck sooner, rather than waiting to see my shots hit, I’d have dodged the impact enti
rely.

  I ended up face down about three meters from where I was, lying pretty much out in the open. There was a small crater about two meters away that would make a decent foxhole. I twisted my body and rolled into my makeshift cover, and then I scanned 360 degrees to get my bearings.

  The grenades had ripped up the piping where I had been standing, and one torn off section was billowing a vast cloud of sickly green steam, blocking my view of the rest of the team.

  “Team three, sound off! Condition and location!”

  One by one all four of them responded. They were all unhurt and in position. That’s good at least. Apparently I was the only idiot to walk into enemy fire. I ordered team three to hold fast while I checked on the rest of the squad.

  “Team two, report!”

  The second team ran into a few defenders at the storage tank. They’d taken them all out, but Anderson had taken a hit. She wasn’t badly wounded, but her suit took a lot of damage, and she wasn’t going to be able to keep up when we advanced. I prompted my AI to display the diagnostic. No … no way she was going to be able to keep fighting. Not without major repairs to her armor.

  “Anderson, fall back toward the aid station. Stay low until you get back to the trench. The fire’s pretty light, but don’t get careless on me now.”

  She paused, just a second, and I knew she wanted to argue with me that she could stay with us. But if there is one thing they beat into your head it’s that you don’t argue with your commander in the middle of a battle. Right or wrong, you keep your mouth shut while the shooting’s still going on.

  “Yes, Corporal Cain.” Her tone was dejected but firm. “On my way.”

  -o0o-

  Team one’s report was straightforward. They were deployed around the control building and were taking sporadic and ineffective enemy fire from a ridge outside the complex, just within small arms range.

  We were spread out in a semi-circular arc running about 120 meters from the storage tank, past the control building to the section of pipes behind me. I was ten meters ahead of the line in a makeshift foxhole in the middle of what had once been a street.

  The refinery had taken a lot of damage, and up ahead of us there were a number of tanks that had been ruptured. One of them was burning fiercely, pouring a dense black smoke into the air.

  There were some structures that would provide moderate cover, but the approach to the ridgeline was completely exposed for the last 1,000 meters at least. If they were going to defend that at all—and it was the best spot to put up a fight if they weren’t going to just turn tail and run—they could give us a tough time.

  Team 3 had the SHW, and I had given team 2 the SAW. I had a good view of their position from my foxhole. There was a walkway around the top of the tank that was high enough to provide a great firing position against the ridge.

  “Jax, get Himmer up on that catwalk with the auto-gun. You see that spot on the northeast end? There’s some type of heavy equipment right there that should make pretty good cover. On my command I want that ridge hosed down with fire. Put one other trooper up there too, and you position yourself on the far side. Find yourself a decent spot, and make sure to keep an eye on the position of squad 3 over there. We don’t have time to sweep this place carefully, and I don’t want any surprises on either flank. I’m covering the right and you’ve got the left.”

  “Understood, sir,” came the crisp, clear reply. No hesitation from Jax. He was a good soldier, probably better than me. He’d just joined the squad, and I liked him already. I had the seniority, so I ended up taking over when the sergeant got hit, but I knew if I went down, Jax could handle the squad every bit as well as I could.

  I had team one advance from the control building toward the edge of town. They had a row of low structures providing good cover, and it was only 90 seconds or so before they were in position. I was leaving team two in place to provide supporting fire from the top of the storage tank. Once we advanced on the ridge they would follow and form a reserve to plug any holes.

  I scrambled up out of my foxhole and dashed across the open street area to the cover of a large building, some type of storage shed or garage. Once in place I ordered team three to follow me, and we made our way cautiously down the street in ten meter intervals, hugging the buildings on our left for cover. The structures were ugly as hell, dull gray plasti-steel mostly—drab, industrial, and half blasted to hell besides. The entire place was utilitarian and shoddy, and now it was a burning wreck as well.

  I was a little nervous because we really didn’t have the time to properly sweep the complex. We’d scanned the whole area, of course, but between the fires and the leaking chemicals we couldn’t be sure we hadn’t missed anything. I didn’t relish the thought of being ambushed from behind just as we assaulted that ridge.

  “Jax, I’m a little worried about what might be hiding out in these buildings. I’m going to keep your team back for an extra 15 minutes. If anything we don’t know about shows itself, it’s your responsibility.”

  “Yes sir!” Damn, Jax always sounded so cool and under control. I wondered for a minute if he’d ever thought that about me, and if Jax’s calm were as fake as my own.

  I had 8 troopers lined up along the edge of the complex and another 3 positioned to provide supporting fire. I coordinated with the squad leaders on each of my flanks, and we synchronized our actions. We each had our heavy auto-gun positioned to put the ridge under fire, and we’d give the order to start shooting 30 seconds before we jumped off.

  I counted the last few seconds and gave Jax the order to commence firing. I could hear the distant high pitched whine of the auto-gun and see the stream of fire as it raked all along the ridge line. The auto-gun projectiles became superheated by the atmosphere and glowed a reddish yellow. I knew the fire was a stream of tiny iridium and depleted uranium darts fired at enormous velocity, but it looked like vaguely like some sort of death ray from a space opera vid, especially in the darkness.

  My AI gave me a five second warning and I braced myself. Four, three, two, one. “Squad … attack!” We all leapt to the top of the trench and ran toward the ridgeline as quickly as we could without jumping too high and offering the enemy a tempting target.

  I could hear the auto-gun fire as the stream of projectiles passed over my head moving to the right. I resisted the urge to scrunch my head down away from the deadly fire. But I needn’t have worried. Our unit was well trained, and the gun operator knew perfectly well we were advancing below his field of fire. Still, it’s an unpleasant feeling.

  The support fire was doing us a world of good. Whatever enemy troops were on that ridgeline were more worried about grabbing cover than shooting at us. My troops made it almost to the top before we took a casualty, and I think the other squads moving forward on out flanks had similar luck.

  That changed as soon as we reached the top. The enemy fire was still sporadic, but I had a trooper wounded almost immediately. Wells. Her armor was holed and she had a pretty serious leg wound, but the suit had patched her up enough to stabilize things. She wasn’t going to walk out of here, though, so I told her to find cover and wait for evac.

  Then the command coms went crazy. First it was Major Greene, who had taken charge of the entire assault brigade. Her voice was calm and firm, but I could hear the exhaustion in it. “Enemy activity south of the complex. Infantry with armor support advancing. Cain, Warren, Stanton—I’m commandeering your support elements in the town.”

  Great. So I’d just lost Jax’s team and my fire support. I had seven troops left, including myself.

  Next on the com was Lieutenant Gianni, who was now in command of our company. “Activity on the right. Large numbers of infantry advancing from the wooded areas.”

  I looked over, and at first I couldn’t see anything. But then I could make out the figures moving forward in the darkness. I cranked up my visor to amp 20 and told my AI to clean up the blurry image as much as possible.

  It was infantry, all rig
ht. Not powered infantry, just troops wearing simple body armor. Probably militia. Hundreds of them. Charging the ridgeline off to the right of my position.

  And dying. Dying in huge swaths as our troops raked their lines with fire. Their armor, weight constrained by the limits of what their unassisted muscles could manage, was no match for the high velocity fire of our nuclear-powered mag-rifles. Our shots tore them to pieces. I even saw a couple who virtually disintegrated as they walked into multiple fields of fire.

  They returned fire, of course, but their guns didn’t have the atomic power source ours did, and they needed a perfect shot to penetrate our armor. Still, I suspected some of their shots were finding their mark … and there were a lot more of them than us.

  I had my six troopers deployed to receive an attack, and we were just waiting for the enemy to reach our fire zone when I got the fallback order from Sergeant Barrick, now commanding the company. So whatever damage the enemy had managed to do, they must have taken out Lieutenant Gianni.

  “Alright, let’s move. We’re pulling out. Odds fall back 500 meters, evens cover.” I was the second in line, so I stood fast and took some very long range potshots at the approaching militia, while the odds followed my order and scrambled down the ridge.

  “Ok, evens. Let’s go. One thousand meters. Now!” The other two evens and I raced down the ridge, stopping when we reached the edge of the town. We scrambled into a few shell holes and deployed to give cover to the odds.

  I wanted us back in the town as quickly as possible, so we would be screened from any serious fire from the militia while we withdrew. But the squads on each flank were lagging us, so once I got everyone back to the edge of the complex I formed a firing line so we could provide support as they continued to pull back.

  The squad on our left made it back a couple minutes after we did, but it was clear the troops on our right had been heavily engaged along the ridgeline and were having a tough time breaking off. I was just about to request permission to move back up and try to flank the militia attacking them when the recall signal came.