Duty from Ashes (21 page)

“No, thanks to all of us.” She smiled and laid a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I need you to go with the first wave, Luce. You are my best intelligence specialist and your experience and instincts may be needed over there.”

“All right.” Ortega didn’t like it but she wouldn’t argue.

At least not until after the mission. Then she’ll give me an earful
.

“Take MJ with you. You guys coordinate but leave it to the COs unless you have to step in.”

“Understood.”

“Luce, you’re my eyes and ears over there. Keep the battle net open. I want to know what’s happening at all times.”

“Understood.”

“Then go. I’ll check with the LAC crews and then report to the Admiral.” She paused, this time reaching for her friend’s hand. “Good hunting, Sorceress.”

“You too, Angel.”

*     *     *

“Hang on! We’re going in hot.”

The pilot’s voice remained calm even as the attack shuttle banked sharply. Lucinda Ortega felt the slight shudder she long ago learned to associate with a shuttle returning fire. Frowning, she quickly checked to make sure they had sustained no damage before leaning forward, straining to see into the cockpit.

“Report!”

“Platform weapons online, ma’am, and trying to zero in on us.”

Ortega quickly keyed her comm. “We’re taking fire, Viper, move your LACs in.”

“Roger that, Sorceress,” Lt. Burton “Viper” Iverson replied. “We’ll clear you a path.”

“We do this by the numbers, folks. The LACs will get us in close enough to make a hole. Once the shuttle gets into the bay, everyone out. Secure the bay and hold it as the second shuttle comes in. Then we will hand off the guard duty to them and begin clearing the station.” Nichols spoke calmly, confidently and Ortega nodded slightly. Ashlyn had been right to put him in command of the company.

“Captain Ortega?” Now he looked at her, waiting to see if she had any other orders.

“This is your show, Captain Nichols. I’m just along for the ride.” She fought a smile as Adamson snorted softly at her side. They both knew Ortega would not hesitate to step in if she felt it necessary.

Ortega focused on the reports coming in over the battle net as the LACs made their runs against the defense platform. Viper kept up a running commentary. His tone ranged from amused to insulted. According to him, whoever was manning the platform defenses had never taken a single tracking course, much less tactics or programming. Not that Ortega minded. She much preferred the inept weapons tech who couldn’t hit the broad side of the proverbial barn than one who actually knew what he was doing.

“Platform defenses neutralized, Sorceress. Ramjet, get in the bay before they get back online,” Viper said.

“Roger that, Viper. Stay sharp.” Ortega let herself feel a brief moment of relief before nodding to Nichols.

“Take us in, Ramjet,” he ordered the shuttle pilot.

“Roger that, Cap. Hang on.”

The shuttle banked sharply as it began its approach. As it did, Ortega prayed the bays were still accessible. The Devil Dogs were prepared to make entry via the emergency hatches but the bay would be much quicker and less dangerous. No one liked making a space entry. Too many things could go wrong and there were already enough unknowns about the mission to worry about.

“Ma’am, you will stay put until the bay is reasonably secured,” Adamson said softly over a closed channel.

Ortega opened her mouth to respond and then snapped it shut. Whether she liked it or not, Adamson was right. Besides, unless she was badly mistaken, Ash had told the blonde to make sure nothing happened to her. It was exactly the kind of order she had been giving both Adamson and Talbot since Ashlyn’s return from Tarsus.

More than that, by hanging back, no one would think that she had any concerns about Nichols’ ability to do his job. That was important. The last thing they needed at the beginning of a mission was for the rank and file to think the brass lacked confidence in their CO. Besides, any qualms she might have had about him had disappeared weeks ago.

“You can assure Angel that I’ll be good,” she answered.

For a moment, Adamson looked as if she didn’t believe her. Then she nodded. As she did, the pilot warned them to be prepared to land.

It went as practiced in all the sims Ashlyn had ordered the battalion to run. As soon as the shuttle was down, the hatch cracked and the first members of the assault team poured out, weapons at the ready. For one moment, the only sounds to read those still inside the shuttle were those of the assault team moving across the decksole of the bay. Then the unmistakable sounds of a railgun being fired filled the air. It was followed by a curse and, almost instantly, the order went out to return fire.

The fight was brief and ended exactly as Ortega expected. The shooter was dead, his light armor shredded by the rounds fired from the Marines’ battle rifles. By the time Adamson allowed her out of the shuttle, the Marines had secured the bay, guarding the various entrances, ready for any attempt to retake the bay.

“Let’s get the other shuttles onboard,” Ortega ordered as she glanced around. “Do we have a terminal I can tie into yet?”

“Over here, Captain,” Nichols said.

By the time the other shuttles had landed and the Marines had off-loaded, Ortega had managed to hack into the station’s computer system. The ease with which she had done it had her shaking her head. It was one indication that the Callusians hadn’t completely changed their tactics from the previous war. This time, just as then, they came in, took over and assumed no one would push them out of the system. Because of that, with only a few exceptions, none of the security codes had been changed from what they’d been before the invasion. It would take her a bit longer to break the other codes, but the information she had already accessed would go a long way to helping them retake the System.

But first they needed to retake the station.

“It looks like there is a minimal presence onboard,” she said as Nichols and several others gathered around. She punched in a command sequence and a map of the station appeared before them. “Here are our goals.” Another command punched in and the command center, three defense platform control centers as well as environmental control where highlighted. “Comms has a backup control console here.” A fourth area was highlighted.

“Defenses?” Sergeant Fabiano, Nichols’ senior NCO, asked.

“Not quite as heavy as we expected in some ways and more so in others.” She punched in another code and a series of red and green dots were added to the display. “Green represents flesh and blood defenses. Best guess based on the data is that we have two squads patrolling and then fire teams stationary at our targets. Red represents automated defenses. They are live but we should be able to bypass them. The question is can we do it quickly enough to keep them from destroying the station?”

“Sorceress, don’t wait. Let the heavy armor go first into the areas where automated defenses have been noted.” Ashlyn’s voice came over the battle ‘net.

Agreed
. She tapped her response into the virtual keyboard that was part of her left gauntlet.

“Listen up, everyone. We aren’t going to wait. The Old Lady says to send heavy armor into the areas where we know the automated defenses are active. Captains, I leave it to you to make any adjustments to your assignments. We move out in two minutes.”

*     *     *

Ashlyn stood to one side of the flag bridge, her eyes never leaving the plot. She had been waiting to see a response to their LACs launching. It had taken longer than expected but it finally happened. Part of her wished she could have been there to see the look on the face of the Callusian commander when he realized he couldn’t call on the defense platforms. The reliance on the platforms was the only reason she could think for why the Callusian ships still in system had not instantly gone weapons hot and moved into position to intercept the taskforce.

Now those ships were moving in – finally. Collins had brought the taskforce to ready stations and it was now just a waiting game. As soon as the Callusian ships were in range, the fight would be on. It was a fight Ash felt out of place in. Marines should either be in their fighters or have their boots on the ground, doing what they did best – fighting the good fight. This waiting as others did the fighting cut against the grain.

At least Beta and Delta Companies had managed to secure the station along with the controls for the defense platforms. Even better, there had been no major losses doing so. Now they held the station and Ortega and the other Devil Dogs used the defense platforms to help protect the incoming taskforce.

“Sir, enemy ships are almost in range.”

“Open a channel.”

Collins leaned back and crossed his legs. As he did, Ash had to marvel at his presence. She knew he couldn’t be as calm as he appeared. Yet, to the casual eye, he looked relaxed. She recognized what he was doing. He wanted the crew to believe he had no doubts about the eventual outcome of the mission. If they thought he was convinced of a successful outcome, they would be as well.

“Channel open, Sir,” the comms officer said a moment later.

“This is Admiral Richard Collins, Fuerconese Space Navy, to the commanding officer of the Callusian ships illegally attempting to hold this system. You are ordered to stand down. Drop your shields and take your weapons off-line immediately. Your unconditional surrender will be accepted only if you do as I order and if you do nothing to wipe your databanks. Any act of aggression, no matter how minor, will result in the destruction of your ships. You have two minutes to give me your answer. Collins clear.”

He sliced his finger across his throat, signaling for the comm to be cut off.

“Colonel Shaw, have your people ready to board. I doubt the enemy will be so cooperative as to do as I ordered but, just in case they surprise me, let’s not give them time to change their minds.

“We’re ready, Sir,” she assured him. “Teams are waiting with the assault shuttles and LACs are ready to move into position.”

“We have incoming, Sir!”

Ash swung to face the plot even as Collins did. Dozens of red dots lit the plot, moving in the direction of the taskforce. Each dot represented a missile, perhaps even a missile cluster depending on what sort of armaments the ships were carrying. Collins didn’t hesitate. He ordered counter-measures launched to intercept the incoming missiles. Then he ordered the leading ships of the taskforce to open fire. It was time to end this and Ash couldn’t agree more.

B
OOTS
ON
THE
G
ROUND

C
HAPTER
E
LEVEN

A
NTON
K
ASUN
,
OCCUPATIONAL
GOVERNOR
of the Cassius System, raced across the green outside the main administration building. Around him, others raced here and there. Some would be going to their posts. But some, too many he knew, would be going to ground, hoping to keep their heads low and pass unnoticed as the damned Fuerconese retook the planet. Much as he wanted to do the same thing, he couldn’t. He had one job he had to do. He had to make sure nothing existed to tie what happened here to anyone besides the Callusians. The agreement his government had made with their so-called benefactors would bring ruin on them all if it were to come to light.

Damn it, he’d really thought this was going to be a good day.

The doors slid open and he burst inside. Instantly, his ears were assaulted with the blaring of the alert signal followed by someone, probably some low level rating, ordering all persons to their posts. The fact that the order sounded like it was meant for soldiers and not a bunch of bureaucrats and paper-pushers would have been funny under other circumstances. But not now. Not when he knew he was probably one of the very few with more than the minimum required military training left in the build.

But there should be others and, by the gods, he would make sure those left did their duties. They would hold this building and take as many of the enemy with them before they died.

“Peltier!” The head of security ought to be in his office by then. “Captain Peltier, get your worthless ass in here now!”

He turned and moved to the far wall. His hands shook as he punched a code into the almost hidden keypad at shoulder level. There was a soft snick and part of the wall slid away, revealing a safe. It took two tries to get through not only the biometric security level but the old-fashioned combination. His frustrated mumbling as he spun the dial right and then left before slamming his palm against the safe door filled the room.

He paused and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. He had to slow down, calm down. He didn’t have time to panic. The Fuerconese were the enemy, yes, but they also played by the rules. His employers, on both sides, did not. So if he wanted to get out of this alive and with some chance of living after the war, he needed to calm down so he could do what needed to be done.

Finally, the door to the safe swung open. Without hesitation, he reached inside. His fingers closed around a stack of data chips and a single sheet of old-fashioned paper. Leaving the door to the safe open, he carried the items to his desk. As he did, he listened to the latest report coming in. Damn it, time was running short.

He hadn’t believed it at first when his chief of staff woke him with news that the defense platforms were off-line. He’d actually been foolish enough to assume it was nothing more than a technical glitch, probably caused by the few members of the Resistance they had yet to round up. Then reports of the Fuerconese ships being spotted – well inside the System – came in and he knew time was up.

That had been half an hour earlier. Since then, he hadn’t stopped. He couldn’t stop. He’d thrown on some clothes and made his way to the office. Now he had to destroy the databanks and make sure there was nothing to lead the Fuerconese to the puppet masters pulling the strings in this new war.