Blood War 1: Last Stand of the Legion: Rift (32 page)

"Did you hear my order
, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, Captain I will head to the lifeboat as soon as I check below. That last missile did a lot of damage and as far as I know there still may
be survivors down there. We had no more repair crews to respond."

"Very well. Lieutenant
, don't wait too long. She won't last much longer."

"Aye, aye ma'am."

Lieutenant Tmesgen turned and headed below.

"Helmsmen go ahead and get to a POD or lifeboat
," Ririsa said.

"Captain
, I intend to leave when you do. I can keep her under control for a little longer."

"I need to make sure to destroy some files and other sensitive equipment since no one else seems able to do so
. If you can stay at your station it will give me time to make sure I get done."

"Aye, ma'am. Just earning my pay this month."

Ririsa smiled.

"Ain't that the fucking truth."

She turned and headed to her quarters to destroy the files and other sensitive equipment.

LYTEN SYSTEM

SWIFT BOAT TS 111

HEADING 234.556

"
Wa Cao!
"

"What is the matter
, Odaka?"

"Chief
, I fucked up."

"What?" Chief Warrant Officer Kim said.

"I forgot to recalibrate the navigation system before we launched. We are way off our intended course. I just realized it when I double checked a waypoint."

"How far?"

"I don't know. Let me reboot and see if I can get it right this time."

"Relax Odaka
, I should have thought of it too. So just slow down and get it right."

Kim eased back on the throttle and slowed the Swift Boat to half speed.

"111 to 112."

"I was just getting ready to call you Chief
."

"Yeah I know
, we are way off course. Odaka is rebooting the navigation system. We will be back on course soon."

"Negative Chief. I am getting a huge amount of readings across the spectrum just outside of our sensor range. Comm, targeting frequencies,
and what appear to be the remnants of massive explosions. I think there is a battle going on just outside of our sensor range. Large enough for us to pick it up even this far out."

Kim had been in enough battles during the Breed Wars, but if what Lee was saying
was saying this would be much bigger. None of those battles would throw that kind of signature this far out. Something big was just ahead. It looked like they had found the war after all.

"Standby Lee."

"Odaka, did you hear that?"

"Check Chief. Do you want me to set a course for the readings
?"

"Check."

Kim switched his communications to  ship-to-ship.

"Lee
, start your counter measures and send out some drones. It looks like we are about to go to war."

"Aye, aye Chief."

While Lee and Odaka carried out his orders it gave Kim time to think. If the battle was that big then they might just be able to slip in and get a chance at some real payback. With Lee providing cover  if the battle was as big as Kim thought they could very easily get lost in the mix. They would not need long to launch their Long Lances then run for Rift.

"Ready Chief
," Odaka said.

"Counter measures have begun and we have just launched our drones."

"Alright. Heads up. If I am not mistaken, my guess is we are going to be one of the smallest vessels in this fight except for fighters. Ok, all ahead full until we get more info."

LYTEN SYSTEM

RIFT

FLEET HEADQUARTERS

SIRIUS

BRIGADE COMMAND POST

ARMORED EXPEDITIONARY  BRIGADE

COMMAND GROUP

Dasan hinged his helmet down as explosions grew closer. The news from the Admiral had been good  but he was going to have to find a way to hold out until the reinforcements arrived and the way things were going that was going to be a real trick. They had fought off almost constant attacks by the aliens probing for weaknesses in their defenses. Dasan had been able to use the moveable defense strategy with squads or platoons moving to the newest threat then returning to their original position once the aliens had been repelled. It had been a dance of attack and defense all day. Dasan had manned positions more than once for lack of bodies. It was wearing on all of them and he wondered how long his Legionnaires could keep this up. He looked down at the situation panel his command group was using to follow the battle.

He
still held on to the Wolf, Sirius and Ceti buildings. The aliens now held Rigil Rigel Kent, Bernards and Ly. Dasan felt good about the disposition of his troops in Sirius and Ceti; it was Wolf that was worrying him. It sat on his right flank and was the closest to Sirius, his headquarters building and the location of the Fleet's command post below him. If they were able to capture it they would have control of buildings on three sides, in addition to the scattered units out in the dunes behind them.

The units in the dunes had been easily controlled since the battle had started.  They had to cross so much open space that Pugin
, his Sirius commander and Gass in Ceti had easily fended off their repeated attempts with just a fraction of their troops. Rigil Kent, three hundred yards to his right front was the main problem. It was where the attacks down the tunnel had come from and it was closer to Wolf than Sirius. Cribbe had reported a number of attacks down the tunnel complex and across the plaza. Dasan knew he did not have enough troops to attack Rigil Kent. If he pulled his units out now and consolidated his units just in Sirius it would be too easy for the aliens to focus their forces on one building. He needed to reinforce Cribbe in Wolf with whatever he could scrape up.

"Sir
?"

It was his communications sergeant.

"Yes, Havel."

"Sir, Captain Cribbe just went down. He is alive but he is a red."

"Shit. Thank you Sergeant."

"Aijuba."

She was working on resupplying Ceti. Aijuba came over to stand next to Dasan. She was looking as tired as he felt, almost constant combat was taking its toll even on Aijuba.

"I just got good and bad news. The Admiral just advised me that the Tarawa is inbound with our reinforcements. She is planning to attack the alien fleet at the same time we hit them down here with reinforcements. Hit them as hard as we can across the board and see if we can drive them out of the system."

Aijuba thought for a long few seconds then said,

"It may work if the Navy can hit
their fleet hard. It will depend on the Navy; we are just a sideshow to distract their attention. We can't drive them off the planet but if the Navy is able to hurt them badly enough then it may force them to retreat."

"Just what I thought
, but we have to last until the reinforcements arrive."

"How long?"

"Unknown at this point. Hours or more," Dasan said.

"That is a long time. If that is the good news, what is the bad?"

"Cribbe just went down, he's a red."

"
Kak
he is a good man, the only reason they were holding on in Wolf was his tactics. There are no more officers."

"I know."

"I was going to try and hold Wolf, Sirius and Ceti but without Cribbe I don't think I can ask that of the troops, no matter how good they are. They have no command structure left at all. They had done more than anyone could have expected with just Cribbe leading them. Do you agree?"

Aijuba
stared at the situation board for a long moment then said,

"Yes. It is too much to ask."

The loss of Cribbe changed everything. With no command structure in place in Wolf, it was too much to ask the remaining troops to do it on their own. He knew what he had to do, even if he didn't like it.

"Sergeant Major
, have the remaining troops in Wolf evacuate with their wounded to Sirius. Have them blow the tunnel and as much of Wolf as they can as they evacuate. Notify Gass in Ceti the same thing. Have them evacuate to here and work with Pugin to find out where they plug in their troops. We will make our stand here."

"Sir."

"Aijuba, get me our four brig rats. I have a job for them.

"Sir."

Dasan was still staring at the situation panel
when the Sergeants reported to him.

"Sir, you asked for us
," Taro said.

Dasan turned and faced them. They were four of the finest soldiers he had ever had the privilege to have under his command. Elias still looked as if she had just seen Padma killed
; he was asking a lot of them.

"I need four volunteers
," Dasan said.

The four glanced at one another before Taro said
,

"I guess that is us."

"You haven't heard what the assignment is."

Taro looked at the others and said
,

"It doesn't matter. What do you need
, Colonel?"

Dasan looked at the four men and women in front of him. Their faces were grim but unafraid.

"Reinforcements are inbound but they will not be here for several hours. We are going to make our stand here in Sirius. We are evacuating Wolf and Ceti. The last troops out will blow the tunnel to Sirius. We have been patching our lines with any troops I can find. I need a real Ract Team that I know is full of the best and most experienced hands I have. You four meet the criteria. I will use you in the most dangerous situations and as soon as you’re finished with one I will turn around and use you in the next one. Everybody still want to volunteer?"

The four of them just stared at him. Elias shrugged and
Taro said,

"We're your volunteers." 

"Taro, tag you’re it. You are in charge. Anybody got anything to say about that?"

None
of the other sergeants said a word.

"Good. See if you can find enough troops for a squad
-sized unit over there and take whatever weapons you need. Any questions?"

Elias looked at Dasan and said
,

"Is there a limit to the number of
kak
s that we can kill?"

He tried to suppress a smile but couldn't.

"No, sergeant there isn't," Dasan said.

"Good. We need to get going
," Taro said.

Dasan watched the four walk over to the reinforcements that had been sent down by Pugin to reinforce the command post. He could see Taro say something and all the hands in the group went up. Where did they get men and women like these? Dasan turned back to the situation panel.

Taro looked over the group and saw there were a number of old hands among the group. Since everyone had volunteered he could have his pick.

             
"Stine and Weening," Taro said.

             
"Basso and Marais," Yu said.

             
"Wakiza and Hakau. They are both Rift's and I was on Humboldt with them. They are good to go," Masa said.

"That's makes ten of us. That is good enough. We don't want to get too big. I want at least three sniper
rifles; three minis and three grenadiers in addition to anything else you want to bring that can kill. Any questions?" Taro asked.

No one said a word
; they just set about gathering what they would need. Five minutes later they stood ready. Taro looked at them and hinged his helmet down.

"Let's get this thing done."

The ten troopers walked up to Dasan.

"Sir, reporting as ordered."

Ten old hands with a lot of experience and several Rifts - a good selection.

"You will be React 1. First assignment is assist
in the evacuation of Wolf. Those guys are hurting and they need some help."

"Sir," Taro said.

Taro closed his helmet and the ten members of React 1 trotted toward the tunnel that led to Wolf.

LYTEN SYSTEM

RIFT

SPACE PORT

PARKING GARAGE  7

CHARLIE COMPANY

WARDOGS

2
ND
PLATOON

FIRETEAM 3

"We need weapons and supplies
, do you know where the supply stash is?" Hu said.

"Yeah, I've got it on my heads up
," Nani said. "All the corporals and sergeants have them designated."

They were running down a tunnel under the Parking Garage. Nani had sealed their scoot exit with explosives before they took off down the tunnel. The grey metal tunnel was lined with all types of cables running overhead as well up the walls. They were protected by clear plastic so technicians could read the screens that monitored their performance. Railings and protrusions as well as hatches were painted yellow to warn personnel. Some hatches had pressure doors with wheels that opened the dogs that held them shut
; others had locks requiring a hand or retina scan to open them. The lights were flickering as they moved down the tunnel. Sections were dark with only a few monitoring panels giving off a soft grey light.

The two of them seemed to be completely alone. Hu's heads up showing lots of green arrows moving but it was hard to orient yourself, units seemed to above, below him and to
the right but no one was using comm. They ran at a jog, they could not run full out because the tunnel's ceiling was too low. Finally Nani stopped in front of a hatch with a wheel, she spun the wheel, entered the room. An overhead fluorescent light snapped on as they stepped into the compartment. It was a simple storage area with shelves and bins but instead of normal supplies it was piled full of rails, mini rails, ammunition, tactical vests and all manner of supplies.

"Dump your vest
, it will be quicker than trying to refill it. Just  grab a new one," Nani said.

Hu shrugged out of his tactical vest and grabbed a new one. That is when he saw a stack of canteens. He grabbed one
and it was full. Without hesitating he hinged his helmet back and began drinking thirstily.

"The suits can never keep up with the water you need
," Nani said grabbing one of her own.

Hu finished the first one then grabbed another. He looked at Nani. She was gulping down the water
, her eyes met his, and she wiped her mouth with the back of her armored hand.

"What?"

"You alright? I mean you and Sim were..."

"No, I'm not
alright but what choice do I have?"

"Yeah."

They both downed another canteen, then Nani said,

"What's your name again?"

"Hu. It's Hu. You called me Hu back there."

"
I forgot. Hu you are no FNG anymore. I will be fucking sure to remember your name now."

Hu just smiled.

"Why didn't you leave me? You should have."

"You don't leave teammates behind."

"Yeah, I know all that but there was something else. You knew what you were doing back there. It was like you had been in a cave-in before."

"I have. I came from Von Fleet 69. I'm a mongrel engineered to be a miner by Von Fleet. I was put in the mines as soon as I could hold a shovel. One of the first things they taught us was how to get out of cave
-ins. So it was sort like old home week except with people coming to try and kill us."

Nani smirked.

"Yeah I guess it was."

"What about you?"

"We don't have time for this shit. We need to keep moving."

"You didn't even know my name
. If we are going to die together I want to know who you are," Hu said.

"It's not a nice story."

"That was the rumor."

Nani looked at him with those hard beautiful eyes. The long hair of her
Mohawk was plastered to her forehead. Her mouth twisted into what Hu thought was a hard smile.

"You gotta point. Not much to tell really. I'm a mongrel too from the Automatous Zone
, a little place call Sophocles. Got some Ceti, Ross, Cygni and even supposed to have some Sol in me. Parents died in a plague when I was thirteen. Not much good medicine out there. I went to live with an aunt but she did not have the money to take care of me so she sold me to a brothel."

"At thirteen
?"

Nani was taking  another long drink out of her canteen
and her eyes flashed at him over the canteen.

"Boy
, you are a FNG after all. Yeah, people like kids. Where there are no laws, shit happens. Why do you think they let the Zones exist, so people can go out there and get anything they want."

"Fuck."

"Yeah, as a matter of fact that was my job. I had been there about five years. I was popular. I did my job and kept my mouth shut. Then a Von Fleet big wig comes in on a private yacht. I was too old, so they sent him a brand new girl. I had taken her under my wing and was trying to ease her into the life but he had enough money that the Madam gave him the girl. He almost killed her. She was never going to be the same after what he did to her. So I said I would take him on."

Nani paused
, her eyes on Hu's.

"I cut off his
langun
then slit his throat. He screamed a lot before I slit his throat."

Hu didn't know what to say. What could you say to that?

"Even out there, Von Fleet has reach. It took a while but their security came for me and brought me back into the Confederation for trial. I was guilty, no doubt about it, but get this. The judge was an old client. He liked me. So he gave me a break and sentenced me to life in the Legion."

Nani's hard eyes were watching Hu for any sign of
judgment or revulsion at her story; she saw nothing but concern.

"Look I know I'm just a FNG but
whether you believe it or not I come from a rough place. Not that rough but enough. The mines are not easy. People died every day. That fuck had it coming. It took a lot courage to do what you did for someone else. No wonder you’re a hard ass."

Nani smirked. It was the closest thing to
a smile that Hu had seen since she met her.

"You ain't so bad yourself there
, miner boy. I saw what you did with that shovel; you’re a bad ass yourself. . Now let's get our battle rattle and get moving. You get a mini and I'll get a snipers rifle and grenade launcher."

Hu began gathering up all that he would need to for the mini and loaded two canisters of ammunition on his back
, then hooked the feed tube to the mini. He had caught Nani glancing at him as she grabbed what she needed. Finally she looked him and said,

"Look Hu
, do you know what it means if I tell you that I owe you one?"

Hu looked at that hard beautiful face and with those fierce eyes and thought he actually saw them soften around the edges. He knew what it meant if a female Legionnaire said that she owed him one. It meant that they owed you a memorable time in bed off duty and on her
dime. .

"You, you...don't owe me anything. I..."

"That is for me to decide, not you. You saved my ass twice already and I think you deserve a piece of it for your trouble. Now do you accept?"

"Yes, uh yes I accept."

This time Hu did see a small smile.

"Good. I've never said that before
, I would have hated to be turned down. You know a girl with my background might be able to show you a thing or two."

Hu tried to answer but he kept getting pictures of what Nani looked like in the shower with her tattoos and perfect figure. Nani actually laughed at this inability to answer.

"Now let’s get the fuck out of here and see if we live long enough for me to pay off on my offer."

Hu followed Nani out of the hatch and down the long darkened passageway.