Starfist: Firestorm (22 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Lieutenant Colonel Farshuck listened to his communications man as the sergeant relayed Corporal Thorntrip’s message. “Wall, gull durn it, he’s a scout, fer cryssake! Whyn’t he get his ass out thar an’ do sum scoutin’, fine out if’n anybody’s thar?”

“Suh,” the sergeant on the comm said, “wi’ all due respec’, suh, if’n they’s Confed’ration Marines out thar, Scout Thorntrip won’ be able ta see ’em, cause’n their invis’ble uniforms. But they’ll sure ’n’ shit be able ta see
him
!”

“If’n.” Farshuck snorted. “An if’n they’s Confed’ration Army, ain’t nothin’ goan stop him fum seein’ ’em. Dang scout should get out thar an’
scout
!” He turned to his operations officer, who’d been listening intently to Thorntrip’s report, and the exchange between Farshuck and the comm sergeant. “Ain’t I right, Major Applegrate.”

Applegrate cleared his throat. “Sir, I believe Sergeant Weyover is right.” Major Applegrate had been educated offworld and affected a Standard English accent, rather than the patois common to the worlds of the Coalition. “The sketchy report Division received said that it was Confederation Marines, not army, that took out the 7th MPs. If it is indeed Marines that Thorntrip is sensing, he most certainly will not be able to see them unless he trips over one of them. Even at that, he won’t be able to see the Marine, but rather merely
feel
him when the Marine takes him prisoner.”

Farshuck cocked a suspicious eye at his S3—a Standard accent wasn’t Applegrate’s only vocal affectation. “Uh-huh. So’s how’s he goan know if’n thems Mo-reens out thar?”

“Confederation Marines are visible in infrared, sir.”

“So he should look fer ’em in inf’red!”

Applegrate cleared his throat again. “Ah, sir, we don’t
have
any infrared glasses in the battalion Table of Organization and Equipment!”

Farshuck shot Applegrate a look that Sergeant Weyover was glad wasn’t directed at him. But the S3 wasn’t affected by it. Either that, or he didn’t notice.

“Suh,” Farshuck snarled, “this hyar is
mah
b’talion, I
knows
we don’ have any inf’red glasses in arn TO ’n’ E. But the scout is fum
Division
, and Division do have inf’red equipment.”

“Yes, sir, I, too, know that. However, Sergeant Thorntrip is assigned to Brigade, and I don’t believe he brought any Division equipment with him.”

“Wall, he shoulda.” Farshuck turned to Weyover. “Aks thet scout he got hisself any inf’red ’quipment.”

“Yes, suh,” Weyover said, and bent to his comm. After a moment he looked up helplessly, swallowed, and said, “Suh, Scout Thorntrip says he ain’t got no inf’red ’quipment.”

“Dang it all t’ blazes!” Farshuck swore. “How’ns we s’posed ta see if’n Confed’ration Mo-reens is out thar if’n we ain’t got no inf’red cap’bil’ties?”

Weyover swallowed again and said, “Suh, Scout Thorntrip, he say he do believe the lead el’ment of thet Marine unit mus’ be at the south end of the killin’ zone. And gettin’ closer, suh.”

“He do?” Farshuck suddenly looked interested rather than annoyed. “Wall then, I thinks it’s ’bout time we sprung this hyar ambush on them Mo-reens. Git me Cap’n—”

But before Farshuck could give the name of the commander of Easy Company, the company on the west side of the box formation, gun and blaster fire broke out along that front.

The Coalition forces lying in wait for the Marines had good cover in visual, but as the Marines approached closer to the enemy positions, they began picking up traces of them in the infrared. By the time Lance Corporal Schultz reached the far end of the ambush’s killing zone, he could see the infrared signatures of three of the soldiers almost completely.

Schultz reported, “At the end.”

Ensign Charlie Bass relayed the message to Captain Conorado, who replied, “Tell him to go twenty-five meters beyond the end of the ambush, then open fire on the nearest target. That’ll be your signal to hit the ambush.” He then contacted Ensign Antoni, whose first platoon followed third platoon, and told him to open fire to his left when third platoon opened fire. Second platoon’s orders were to move briskly to the left and swing around to take the ambush from its flank.

Schultz got his orders seconds after giving his final report. He’d gone another five meters in the interval, so he picked a spot twenty meters to his front. When he reached that spot, he pivoted left, leveled his blaster, and fired two plasma bolts at the closest heat signature. He got off another bolt, at the next closest signature, before any of the other Marines got off their first bolts. The first soldiers of the 319th of the 222nd Brigade didn’t get off their first shots until all the Marines of two companies were firing at them. By which time their strength was already down by almost twenty percent.

The ambushers fired fléchettes wildly, many of their shots going too high to hit the Marines even if they’d remained on their feet. But the Marines hadn’t remained standing, they’d dropped to the ground as soon as they got off their first bolts. It did the ambushers little good to fire where they saw the bolts come from, because the Marines moved after nearly every bolt they fired. But the Coalition soldiers
didn’t
move after firing, and their rifle barrels were warm enough to show in infra, which gave the Marines better targets to fire at. Casualties mounted.

Lieutenant Colonel Farshuck may have acted a buffoon when he received the first report from Corporal Thorntrip, but once the battle was engaged he demonstrated that he knew his business. The sounds of fire told him the company being engaged by the Marines was in serious trouble and suffering heavy casualties. The first thing he did was order Fox Company, his reserve, into the line to bolster Easy Company, which was having anything but an easy time of it. Then he ordered George Company, facing east, to send a reinforced platoon around the north side of the box to hit the Marines from the flank.

After that, all he could do was report the contact to Brigade, and sit back to listen to the sounds of battle and the stream of communications from his company commanders—and hope the movement along the west side of his box wasn’t a diversion, and that a larger force wasn’t coming along the Ashburtonville road.

Second platoon got into position to rake the flank of the ambush, but held its fire, waiting for Captain Conorado’s order to open up. That’s what saved it from being hit by the reinforced platoon from the 319th’s George Company when it came barreling through.

Corporal Patricus, whose fire team held the left of second platoon’s line, was startled to see Coalition soldiers running past, just a few meters in front of him. But he recovered almost immediately, and reported to Ensign Molina. “It looks like a reinforced platoon,” he answered when his platoon commander asked how many there were. “And they aren’t in a straight column,” he added as he took a step back to avoid one of the soldiers running by.

“Second platoon,” Molina said laconically, “take them out. Grab a few prisoners if you can.”

Patricus looked to his left, saw more soldiers running his way, took a step forward, and stuck out his foot. A running soldier ran into the extended foot and went flying, to land heavily on his face. Patricus turned to face another onrushing soldier. Holding his blaster across his body, he slammed it into the soldier’s abdomen below his arms, which were holding his rifle at port arms.

While Patricus was dealing with that soldier, one of his men used wrist ties to secure the soldier Patricus had tripped, and his other man tackled another surprised soldier. In seconds, Patricus’s fire team had taken three prisoners. The fire team leader then ordered his men to open fire on the soldiers still coming their way.

When Lieutenant Colonel Farshuck heard about the trouble the platoon from George Company ran into, he commanded Sergeant Weyover, “Fine out if’n the scout wit Jojeh Comp’ny got hissef any sign a Confed’rates.” Then to Major Applegrate, “If’n nobody’s comin’ on thet side, I wan’ the res’ a Jojeh Comp’ny ta go roun’ the noth flank a Easy Comp’ny, an’ go through shootin’!

“In a meantime, ah’m goan for’ard, take a look-see fer mahsef.”

Major Applegrate watched his commander head west, with three riflemen for security. If the S3 knew his commander, those three riflemen would shortly join their fire to that of Easy and Fox Companies. Not that three extra rifles would do a lot of good if the Confederation Marines were seriously hurting the battalion—and from the changing gunfire he heard, it sounded like they were. When Farshuck was far enough away, Applegrate looked at Weyover, who was just finishing talking to the other scout.

“Well, Sergeant?” he asked.

“Suh, ain’ nobody comin’ on a east side,” Weyover reported.

“Get me the George Company commander.” Applegrate held his hand out to receive the comm unit. He’d accompany George Company on its movement.

Commander van Winkle, the commander of 34th FIST’s infantry battalion, had his command element located between Company L and Mike Company, with Kilo Company trailing. Unlike the companies, which weren’t able to use their UAVs while on the move so far from their home base, his UAV squad rode in a Dragon, so the controllers could operate their birds.

“Pull one of them back. I want to see what’s happening on the north side of the enemy force,” van Winkle told Ensign Qumell, the UAV commander.

“Aye aye, sir.” Qumell looked at the monitors to see which UAV was closer to the north end of the action, then told its operator to head north and sweep to the east.

“Coming up.”

Van Winkle examined the monitor over the operator’s shoulder. “Head east, toward the road,” he said once he’d seen the dead and captured Coalition soldiers who’d run into Company L’s second platoon. “I just know there are more troops in that direction.”

In little more than a minute the UAV, swooping through the tree-tops, disguised as a local avian carrion eater, found the rest of George Company forming on line to sweep through the area held by Company L’s second platoon.

“XO,” van Winkle said to his executive officer, Captain Uhara, “alert Conorado that his flanking platoon has a superior force assembling to advance toward it.” As Uhara said, “Aye aye, sir,” van Winkle turned back to the UAV operator. “Swing to the south, let me see where they came from.”

The UAV operator did as van Winkle said, and came across the command post of the 319th Battalion.

“Good work, Marine.” Van Winkle clapped him on the shoulder. “Keep an eye on those troops assembling to the east, let me know when they start moving.”

“Aye aye, sir.” Van Winkle next watched the UAV that was prowling above the ambush line that Company L was fighting and saw the south end of it was completely out of the battle. He turned to Uhara again and said, “Contact Conorado. Tell him to have his point squad start rolling up the flank of that company.”

Sergeant Kerr listened to the orders from Ensign Bass, then relayed them to his men. “Second squad, listen up. According to higher, there’s nobody facing us now. We’re moving in to roll up their flank. Everybody, use your infras. Hammer, lead the way one hundred meters to the right, then circle in. Questions? Let’s do this thing.”

Lance Corporal Schultz rose to a crouch and headed south at speed, leaving it up to the others to keep up with him. They did but not all were able to move as fast while crouched. It didn’t matter, as none of the ambushers had infra glasses to see them with—and the Coalition troops were too busy shooting at the Marines firing at them to notice one squad moving away anyway.

A hundred meters to the south of his fighting position, Schultz slowed enough to make sure Corporal Claypoole, the next man in line, saw where he was turning, then swung right to head for the flank of the ambush. When he reached a spot where he heard firing from the ambush line, he paused briefly again to look back. The whole squad was trailing him.

“Go beyond?” Schultz asked on the squad circuit.

“Five meter intervals,” Kerr said. Hammer, go twenty meters farther. When we’re all on line, I’ll give the word to go forward.”

Kerr’s position was in the middle of the squad’s line. When he reached the midpoint of the sound of fire from the ambush, he looked to his right and left, along the line of the squad, then ordered, “At a trot, go! Watch your dress.”

Second squad moved out as commanded and quickly came in sight of the former south end of the ambush. Farther ahead, they heard battle sounds suddenly reach a crescendo.

“Ignore that, people,” Kerr ordered. “That’s probably reinforcements at the far end. Mike Company’s taking care of it, let’s worry about doing our own job.” Seconds later he saw the red splotch that marked an enemy soldier and called the squad to a halt. “Three Actual, three-two is in position,” he said on the platoon circuit.

“Stand by,” Staff Sergeant Hyakowa said.

Kerr told second squad to hold in place and hold their fire. He waited impatiently for orders to advance.