Cassandra Kresnov 5: Operation Shield (55 page)

Because she already knew how Sandy would react, the ruthlessly logical tactical side hitting the powerfully emotional side and freezing. But her own tacnet sensors were showing her the same thing, the link coming from somewhere within a hundred-meter radius, maybe five possible buildings over two kilometers ahead…and crap, if Operation Shield decided to put a round in there, she was in no current position to stop it.

“Blue 3, push hard on grid-31, draw some counter-fire and light ’em up!” Because the usual catch of infantry combat still applied here—in order to see the enemy, you usually had to get them to shoot at you first. The smart ones would hold their fire until they wanted to shoot, not when you wanted them to.

She grounded hard behind another building and didn't like doing that because these were residential and occupied, but if people were clustering in central stairwells and basements as advised…tacnet showed her Blue 3 drawing fire ahead, grounding now and returning fire, several of the enemy displacing under cover from farther back…and suddenly there was magfire hitting the ground directly in front of her, huge eruptions of dirt and grass from gardens showering her armour as she pressed herself to the wall and tried to ignore it—it was a warning that enemy tacnet knew where she was, knew it couldn't hit her but wanted to delay her. She couldn't delay, not here.

“Go go!” she shouted. “Two by two, next cover!” And half of her squad displaced, running and leaping, Vanessa jumping straight over the line of fire from incoming mag rounds, they were taking two seconds to reach this location, if she didn't fly in a straight line for longer than two seconds they couldn't hit her. Theoretically.

Here a rooftop raced up, she made as though to land on it, then as it raced up she kicked again, a mid-air burst of thrusters as a mag round tore pieces from the rooftop where she would have landed. And here it was, two Ks off, airbourne and moving as it fired, and Vanessa put her own magfire onto it, then kicked sideways in mid-flight behind a taller resi tower, saw fire skipping and racing at other targets ahead…a flash as Blue 5 went down, no telling what did it, Gs crushing her as she kicked again and thrusters red-lit across her vision as temps reached critical, land or burnout.

An out-positioned enemy hopper tried to run, was blown spinning into a towerside by one of Vanessa's squad, as Vanessa hit, stumbled, and slid on knees to slow, then up and running for building cover, realising only as she
reached it that she was in a school yard, and her cover was a classroom building. One K to target, and tacnet showed her fire passing Blue 7 that could only have come from behind a particular tower…she fast-programmed a missile, fired, saw it loop high, and said to her man with the best angle, “Blue 4, watch for fast target behind tower grid H-98.” As tacnet highlighted that point. The missile searched, found, and dove, the enemy hopper dodged, firing frantic countermeasures, and was blasted into a backward spin by Blue 4.

“Good call, Skip,” said Blue 4, and Vanessa jumped as incoming magfire began to shred the school building. Damn, there was going to be a damage bill. And now she could see an A-12 at long range, seven Ks ahead, firing a whole spread of missiles that did not appear to be directed at specific mobile targets, but the bigger warheads for taking out building floors…and her heart nearly stopped. Oh, no.

“Danya!” Kiril shouted. “Danya, they're firing at us!” They were at the back of the huge room, by the big bed farthest from the windows, but that wouldn't save them here. Ragi stood in the middle of the room, no doubt seeing everything that they saw.

“Ragi!” Danya shouted. “You can suicide if you want, but you don't have the right to take us with you!”

And then on his own glasses, he could see the onrushing missiles suddenly turn upward, five of them, fanning out like the petals of some flower. And continuing onward, streaking into the night. Ragi turned to look at them resentfully.

“You're a very manipulative boy,” he told Danya.

Danya stared, heart thumping. Ragi could turn missiles around. He hadn't known that, but he'd been hoping. Surely Ragi would have run somewhere else if he couldn't, seeing what Danya was doing, drawing attention to this spot.

“You haven't seen anything yet,” he told Ragi breathlessly. “Because Operation Shield just saw that, and they'll guess what did it.” Ragi sighed and muttered something under his breath. “Svet, put the gun down. Ragi's on our side now whether he likes it or not.”

Her back to the wall by the bed, Svetlana lowered the pistol but kept both hands on it by her side. And Danya found time to marvel that hyperstrung
Svetlana seemed the calmest one in the room. It was the gun that did it, he knew. Some kids liked a safety blanket, Svet liked an automatic…or even better, Sandy.

“I'm not sure you quite realise what you've done,” Ragi said somberly to Danya. “This choice is far from optimal.”

“Ragi,” Danya retorted. “There's no good and bad choices. Just bad and worse. Deal with it.”

“Oh, I'm dealing with it,” said Ragi, exasperated. As one after another, five distant A-12 combat flyers were hit by incoming missiles and exploded.

“Woah!” Kiril shouted. “Danya, that was Ragi! He turned their own missiles around on them and…”

Crash! as something big and fast-moving plowed through the big glass windows. Danya grabbed Kiril with his good arm alongside him on the bed, as Svetlana dropped to a simple crouch and aimed…it was an FSA hopper, brutally armoured and protruding with cannon, launcher, and antenae, thrusters and power train howling and now a metal chank! chank! chank! as it ran across the floor, half as tall again as a regular person.

The visor popped, and here was Vanessa, alarmed and out of breath. Ragi, Danya saw, hadn't even flinched, had probably seen her coming. “You guys okay?” Vanessa asked.

“We're fine,” said Danya, as Vanessa noted the sling and foot cast.

“Guys, you gotta get out of here, you're targeted! Get in the central stairwell and…”

“They're in no danger,” said Ragi, as Vanessa stared at him.

“He turned their missiles around!” Kiril explained. Vanessa blinked.

“Vanessa,” said Danya, “can that suit generate a com net? Kiril's uplinks are working just enough to pick that up; you can transmit it on the net and…”

“Don't bother,” Ragi said quietly. “I'll do it. The best way to save lives now is for one side to win quickly, negotiations and deals will only prolong the conflict and increase suffering. Kiril, close your eyes.”

In ready room one by the landing pads, Captain Arvid Singh, acting Commander of CSA SWAT, watched the feed pouring in. Rami Rahim's voice narrated, a surreal counterpoint if there ever was one for those more accustomed to dirty jokes on a Saturday night.

“
…okay, we understand Detective Sinta and Special Agent Ruben were nearly killed in that big explosion Operation Shield blew in the L35 freeway four days ago
—
and here we can see what they were trying to get back to HQ past the net blockers, and what Operation Shield doesn't want you to see. Folks, this is a brand-new GI production facility in the League, we don't know where, but we're talking to some experts here who can tell you it's genuine…Harley, jump in here…
”

And Rami's newly linked expert proceeded to tell them what they were looking at. There were a lot of vats, a lot of sealed units, machines lining walls, white and sterile. Bio-synth growth and fabrication, even the average Tanushan citizen knew them to look at them, they'd featured in enough news vids and bad movies over the years, and a few good ones. The handheld camera moved down corridors, past sealed doors marked “secure” and “sanitised,” and the narrator continued to explain why a biosynth full production facility would be laid out like this and not like something else.

“Sinta thought they had Idi Aba killed for this.” Arvid turned on Chandrasekar, leaning against the wall by a display. SWATs One, Five, and Six were here, the rest in the other ready rooms or sitting against the walls in hallways, waiting. The place was crowded with clattering, whining armour, even as they tried to keep still. “She's awake and talking, says she has a clear evidence trail that goes back to Operation Shield. Idi Aba was meant to get this footage.”

“I know,” said Chandrasekar somberly, arms folded.

“And he would have used it for the emancipation cause, and that's the end of the amendments, because obviously once the public learns the League is back mass-producing GIs again, possibly higher-designation ones, there's no way they'll allow amendments that will handcuff the Federation's response.”

“They've been trying to keep this quiet until the amendments pass,” the Director agreed. On their separate tacnet feed, they were now receiving an overview of FSA tacnet, showing the general location of the front, and defensive forces. It showed them arriving at CSA HQ in several minutes. “We can't do anything about the Grand Council, it's not our jurisdiction. But President Singh's administration is plugged into the current GC network; all Callayan civil service and government apparatus, including us, are at least nominally supporting Operation Shield.”

“He has to stand down,” said Arvid with a direct stare. “Tell him to stand down.”

“He's not responding,” said Chandrasekar. “The entire administration's gone autistic. I think they're panicked.”

“He's complicit in a coup. He's helping them now, and he was involved from the beginning. At the least it warrants arrest.”

“A coup against the Grand Council,” Chandrasekar countered. “A federal crime. We enforce Callayan law, not Federal.”

“He allowed a foreign force to occupy Callay and take over its security,” Arvid retorted. “That's treason. That foreign force has since assassinated, or attempted to assassinate, members of Callay's security forces and civil service whose interests the President is supposed to protect. At the very least it presents Callay with an immediate security emergency, which the Callayan government can't respond to because it's partially the cause. This administration must be removed as a matter of immediate security emergency. If they won't go quietly, we'll kick them out loudly.”

Chandrasekar thought about it. On the incoming tacnet, FSA forces were advancing fast now. “Caretaker administration,” he murmured. “Opposition leader heads, CSA Director as deputy, new election immediately following full and public investigation.” And he nodded, once and firmly. “Wait a few minutes and FSA will have forced Shield back enough you'll have a clear space. Then you can fly to the Parliament.”

Arvid gave one hand gesture, and everyone moved to their flyers, in determined, orderly lines.

“Go go go!” Sandy yelled, and kicked herself onto a high trajectory through uncovered airspace that would have got her killed a few minutes ago. But not only had Operation Shield's own missiles been turning back on themselves to destroy their point of origin, her own side's missiles were now getting through the defences, destroying airbourne and ground units and leaving Shield units without support. Those were now running, falling back in disorganised flight, and if ever there was a moment to drop everything and charge, this was it. If she'd had bayonets, she would have fixed them. “Max speed advance, kill everything!”

She drew fire on this trajectory, or attempted fire, but with her reflexes most of those were dead before they could pull the trigger. Still she had to land, thrusters were reactor-powered, so fuel was no problem, but temperature
was. She landed atop a residential with a running thud, coolant gens running at a howl that nearly rivaled the engines, took a knee and pumped mag rounds after an escaping hopper at fifteen hundred meters’ range—it dodged once, twice, and she guessed with the third, a flash as the ammo ignited, then a flare of falling debris. Missile fire ripped past her, but from behind heading forward, all one way at the moment; Shield were scared to fire. And now, their networks were disintegrating, though whether that was the same thing that was turning their missiles, or local hackers, or something else again, she had no idea.

“…
ssandra?
” The link told her it was Hando, from FSA HQ. “
Cassandra, can you…
”

“I hear you, Hando! Situation?” Temp readings touched blue, and she jumped. A UAV targeted her from behind a building, and she put a round through it at six Gs acceleration.

“
The compound's a smoking mess, Cassandra, but we're all in the bunkers, so we're okay! The Director and Amirah are still pinned down in the GC!
”

“I copy that, I'm…nearly twenty minutes away.”

“
He's not going to last five by the sound of it!
” Hoppers weren't equipped for sustained long-range flight. Ahead, tacnet showed an A-12 hit, spin, fall into buildings and explode.

“I'll get there. I've got an idea.” And flashed over onto main net again, as an announcement came through. It was Li Shifu, Grand Council chairman himself. The closest thing the Federation had to a President.

“…
Federation Grand Council is currently under attack!
” The picture setup was not professional, a bit lopsided, the lighting poor. Li looked scared. That would freak people out, they weren't used to seeing the GC Chairman genuinely frightened and hearing that authentic wobble in his voice. “
I urge all Federation patriots, including all available elements of the Federation Fleet, to defend your capital with your lives. We are under attack by League GIs, synthetic soldiers who have declared war on their organic creators. All who value their freedom must defend the Grand Council from this new wave of tyranny that descends upon us
.”

Sandy slowed her cannonball descent, braked hard across some trees and rooftops. “Hando, put me on main net!” Flicker of static connection, and she was on. “This is FSA Commander Kresnov to the Grand Council.” Roar and thud, as she landed on a suburban street with a jolt, no longer worried about
incoming missile fire, and now uplinked in search of automated taxi services. “Any individual directly assisting Operation Shield will be killed, by me personally if necessary. Federal employees are advised to sever all network connections at this time and assume an unthreatening posture. We apologise to Federation citizens for this temporary break in Federation democracy. Normal service will resume as soon as possible.”