Resilience (Warner's World Book 6) (31 page)

Chapter 10. Whiskey 7 over Lewista 1950, 21 September

Sgt Sarah Libisik, the pilot of the Phantom’s Whiskey 7, was leading the stick of warthogs down to land at Echo 1. She had lined up the end of the freeway as her landing zone and was descending in the dark. They had come in fully cloaked but even so she was wary of being spotted visually.

Aubrey was right behind her and peering out through the cockpit. “What’s that?” she said loudly.

Sarah saw it too, a stream of vehicles heading straight towards them some three kilometres away, with dimmed lights. To her best knowledge there were no friendlies on this road. That they were enemy was confirmed when Tango 1 opened fire destroying the first vehicle. Sarah immediately hit the retros to hover. She was now only two kilometres away and very vulnerable if these enemy vehicles had any heavy ordnance.

“Light ‘em up” ordered Aubrey.

“Jason” hailed Sarah “activate and engage those vehicles.”

“You got it” said Cpl Jason MacNamara.

Jason activated his turret, which decloaked the craft. Sarah trained the landing lights on the now scurrying column of vehicles. They were taking evasive action. Some were now abandoned by their crew while those in the rear were reversing back hoping to gain safety at the cross street some 100m back.

They didn’t make it though. Jason commenced firing his 30 Pulse canon down the road. One by one the vehicles were destroyed. Some burst into flames but none would be driving anywhere again. It was all over in a minute.

By the time Lizzy had come forward to take a look at what Tango 1 had fired at she was treated to quite a spectacle. The area was now brilliantly lit courtesy of Whiskey 7, not to mention the burning vehicles. She peered through the sight on her rifle and could clearly see bodies hanging out of vehicles and crumpled on the road. She would eventually sweep the area with one of her teams and discover that one of those bodies was Ciantus Melnar.

With the brief engagement over, the warthogs and droid pod landed and Aubrey assembled her force outside Echo 1. Argha told her not to bother getting comfortable and soon they were marching along the tunnel towards Casement.

Chapter 11. Lewista 1955, 21 September

The battle for the spaceport was well underway. While the forces initially committed were no longer attack capable both sides had now committed fresh troops.

Jeb had responded to Felis’s request for support by committing half of the flotilla’s fighters, now re-armed, to support the ground attack by the 3
^rd
Ecrustian Bde. Ivan had not been too happy about that but Jeb, being the senior officer, held sway.

While Ivan maintained a CAP of four fighters with another four in reserve, Li coordinated the strikes by committing a pair of fighters at a time. In this way there were always two fighter on call, ready to respond to the Ecrustian’s requests.

The 3
^rd
Ecrustian had launched a two up assault to clear the western side of the airport. The 1
^st
and 2
^nd
Ecrustian’s held the south and east sectors. They made good initial progress till the enemy’s 3
^rd
Endosian force began streaming into the battle from the city. It was their movement that was now being targeted by Li’s fighters.

The 3
^rd
Endosian lost its few AFVs in the first string of strikes against it. But they retaliated against the fighters by launching missiles from their specialised fire support vehicles. These looked anything but impressive, being a basic oblong shape with an armoured cabin at the front. The back comprised twenty hardened silos each containing a missile. All twenty could fire at once if need be.

But Major General (MajGen) Julsian Dovorst, the division commander was very careful to preserve his most formidable fire asset. So as the fighters made their run one or two missiles would go up, forcing the fighters to fire off some of their missiles to deal with the threat. So far, no fighter had been downed but this strategy had reduced their offensive effect.

Julsian was a veteran soldier and a long-time friend of Meeka’s. He had agreed to this venture because he didn’t want to die in an alien system. But right now he was starting to have second thoughts. He didn’t want to die in a friendly one either if he could avoid it. And avoiding it was now becoming increasingly difficult.

He knew he could not keep this up much longer. Yes, his troops were now deploying into the service building that lined the western side of the spaceport. But that would provide little cover against fighter missiles once he ran out of his own.

Julsian was a competent commander. He was not the most daring or lucky commander but he had sound battlefield judgement and that was telling him that he would not succeed here. With the enemy controlling the space above and no fleet to rescue them he came to the inevitable conclusion that they would be crushed if not tonight then tomorrow when their ammunition ran out.

He realised too that there was no way they could just run away and hide. No, such a large body of troops could not just melt away. He was not a sentimentalist or one to get too close to people but he genuinely cared for the warriors that served him and shared the hardships with him. He was a true soldier in that regard.

“Get the commanders here” he directed his aide. A large chain of explosions ripped the air outside the warehouse he was sheltering in – another air strike. It took his subordinate commanders a good five minutes to gather.

Julsian looked at them like a father in some cases and a big brother in others. “You have fought well but our position is hopeless. We will not win here. We have no fleet, no transports and no escape. The Confederate cause is lost. My days of fighting for the Imperialists are over. However the Republican star is rising and I am of a mind to offer them our services. What say you?”

In the background the noise of battle continued as the surviving senior commanders of the Endosian Division pondered their fate. Eyes sort out reactions from others. They were answered in most cases with a physical gesture. Colonel Mienna Pankaton suspected that many wanted an answer to the one question. “What happens if we don’t care to support the Republicans?” she asked.

Julsian nodded. “Then you had better go now – side arms only. No one will think worse of you. Choosing to fight on would not be wise.”

“Fair enough” said Mienna. “My loyalty is to you Sir. If you choose to support the Republican cause then I will too.”

Of the twelve officers present only two declined to follow Julsian. They both indicated they had had enough of fighting. One was Julsian’s logistics officer, Datim Lucrosium. He offered his hand to Julsian but Julsian hugged him instead. “Go safely my old friend. You better hurry. Head back the way we came.”

With the farewell over Julsian hailed Lt Col Frenti Felsun, the commander of the 9
^th
Bn, now travelling with Meeka towards Casement. But he could not get through. He eventually got through to the commander of the rear guard left by Frenti at the top of the tunnel entrance. Julsian sent him a message and asked him to personally give it to Frenti as soon as possible.

Julsian knew his best bargaining chip was Sallusam. With an offer to deliver him up he could bargain for good terms. This was not an easy decision to make but Julsian came down on the side of the greater good – one life for many. Like so many times before he put the emotional attachments aside. He was already a hard rogan. Twenty five years of command in the rogan empire did that.

It was obviously going to take some time to arrange and he wanted to stop the killing now. He switched to an open channel and hailed whoever the Republican commander was with an offer to seek terms.

It was a good five minutes later when finally he was put through to Felis. “Admiral Draag I am…”

“I know who you are General” interrupted Felis.

“Really. You wouldn’t have served on the Kunter by chance?”

“Indeed I did. So what is on your mind General?”

“I wish to offer you the services of the Endosian Division.”

“In exchange for?”

“Only that we be treated fairly and paid regularly.”

“I see…given the current situation, your force will be crushed soon enough. Do you not have something to offer?”

“Like the good Admiral Sallusam for instance?”

“Can you deliver him?”

“I believe I can. Do we have a deal Admiral?”

“We do, provided Sallusam is handed over to us, preferably alive, and your forces stand down in their current positions. No movements without authorisation. Is that understood?”

“Understood.”

“Now where is Sallusam?”

“In an underground tunnel complex under the city. My 9
^th
Bn is with him. I will arrange for his detention. Where do you want him handed over?”

“Do you know the Ripple Building in downtown Lewista?”

“If you give me the coordinates I will see to it that he is delivered there. I am at your service Sir” said Julsian.

“Very well” replied Felis and he terminated the call.

Chapter 12. Lewista 2030, 21 September

Meeka was still in the back of the utility vehicle when Frenti took the call from his company commander who had descended the elevator into the tunnel system. Down there he got comms and wasted no time in conveying the Divisional Commander’s orders.

“I see. Thank you” said Frenti. His first impulse was to call off the attack, but then he thought better of it. He did not want to signal Meeka that something was afoot. So with a sergeant he made his way back down the line of vehicles.

As he approached Meeka’s vehicles he slowed down but his sergeant continued past, rounded the vehicle and came up to the other side, his rifle drawn and pointing at Meeka

But Meeka had half suspected this might occur and he fired first hitting the sergeant square in the face. But he was too slow to avert the punch from Frenti. It jerked Meeka’s head back with such force, his pistol falling from his grasp. Meeka was out cold.

“Restrain him” ordered Frenti to the driver. Then Frenti hailed his company commander and ordered him to cease firing. The second battle of Cheklin was over.

Dave got the hail from Argha and immediately stopped his column. He got out and commandeered the rear vehicle while the rest continued on. He was driven back to the Casement entrance in time to see Kong carrying the limp body of Ginty back out of the tunnel.

Dave got out as Jim ran over. Together they lay down Ginty’s body. For the first time in living memory a tear was seen rolling down the cheek of Kong. Jim was visibly distressed. Like just about everyone in the company he had become attached to this young officer, who had given so much. He turned to the remaining marines at the entrance. “Come on we’re going to make these bastards pay for this.”

But Dave used his big hands to grab and turn Jim around to face him. “It’s over Jim. They’ve surrendered. I just got the news.”

Jim slumped to his knees. “Fucking war” he raged.

Dave collapsed next to Jim. His foot was killing him. Emotionally he was spent. He put his arm around Jim and they sat there together looking at Ginty’s body for a good five minutes without saying anything. Finally Dave said “Come on Jim, let’s get out of here.” Jim nodded, stood up and offered Dave his hand.

When Aubrey finally saw Dave topside at Echo 1, she was shocked by his state. She had seen him after numerous battles but this time as he limped his way towards a seat she realised just how much a physical toll this battle had taken on him.

She came over to him with a concerned expression. “What happened to your foot?”

“Antenna stay…stabbed in through the top” managed Dave as he shifted his position to get more comfortable.

“Ouch…nasty. I’ll get the Doc.”

“No he’s already had one go at me. It can wait till I get back on board.”

“Sir” hailed Jeb from Neeblo.

Five minutes later Dave finished up his conversation with “bloody hell…OK I’ll be there but tell ‘em I won’t be pretty.” Aubrey gave him one of her ‘And?’ expressions. Dave responded with “our new best friend, the Republican President, insists I attend some media event where our irksome friend Sallusam is being handed over.”

“My whiskey’s will be here in a minute, want a lift?”

“Yeah that would be good. By the way, nice work upstairs” said Dave with the best smile he could manage.

“It’s Ivan who deserves the praise.”

Dave nodded. “We all deserve praise. Not least of all those that have perished. I am mightily sick of all this killing Aubrey…mightily sick.”

Those words surprised Aubrey. Of course it was natural for someone to feel that way, especially after a battle where so many had died. But this was Dave Warner uttering them, the man who had for so long personified optimism and positiveness. Here he was now looking and sounding haggard and low in spirit.

As Aubrey was mentally appraising Dave’s state, Dave’s mind was thinking about this media event. He knew why Meelanda had insisted on this happening straight away. It was the tonic needed to sustain public support and not just here on Cheklin but throughout the rogan systems. ‘No, it’s a good call’ he said to himself.

With that he stood up ignoring the pain in his left foot. He cast an eye around the dozens of troops now gathering around the entrance to Echo 1 as their NCOs martialled them into their serials ready for boarding the warthogs that would take them back to their ships. Doc was with several medics arranging for the wounded to be taken back on the first run. Jim was harrying his subordinate commanders to ensure their troops were all ready. Buster was staring out into nowhere in particular. ‘I need to do something about that’ thought Dave. But that was not why he stood up.

“Jim” he yelled out in a strong voice “change of plan. Except those in need of urgent medical attention, we’re all going on parade in downtown Lewista. It seems we’re being honoured.” Dave looked into the eyes of the marines looking to him and smiled. “We might not look pretty but we will look like victors.”