Clouds Of War, page 15
part #3 of The Descendants War Series
"Cancel it out," Renz said. "Shut it out and see what's really going on."
"We can do that," Vhel replied. "I'll help."
"Excellent." Renz clasped his hands in his lap. "Take us in as soon as you're ready, Porth."
I wondered if we might have the opportunity to enter combat when we arrived. I'm thrilled this won't be a complete waste of time after all. Even if we had walked away with our prize, it would not have offered much glory without some form of competition.
And against a worthy foe as well. Thank you, Barnes. Your death will make this trip a grand exercise after all.
***
Vesper made the passage where Hans and Alon had been not too long before. The enemies on the opposite side found themselves distracted with the strange eel monster, giving her a relatively easy time crossing. The new faction of indigenous people kept the rest busy so she barely took any fire on the way across.
As she made her way under the awning, screams from the place she'd left filled the air, competing with the report of firearms. Blaster fire caught her attention, weapons from her companions. She picked up the pace, breaking into a sprint. An entrance at the end of the path led to the building on her right but she didn't know if going in made sense.
"Can you guys hear me?" Vesper asked. They lost contact with Gunny but he gave them a rendezvous point. The dot on her map took them back the way she came to an alley on the opposite side of the combat zone. Getting there promised to be a nightmare though she figured with three of them, it wouldn't be so bad.
The shuttles still approached. Reinforcements might make it all a lot easier though she had no idea exactly how many people they were contending with. With the new faction seemingly on their side, they all showed up as enemies. Which made it difficult to know who to shoot. Or even to get air cover.
And now we'll have a lot more of us down here to cause trouble. If they got trigger-happy, they might start a real incident. We have to find a way to settle down, to make this work. Unfortunately, their two translators were no longer answering the comm. Wherever they were, they'd been cut off. Or they're dead.
"Vesper!" Alon's voice sounded from around the corner, not through the comm. "I heard you, can you hear me?" That last part crackled in the helmet. As she drew nearer, the interference lessened. "I think the mossy crap is getting in the way of our tech again. We're going to have to do... something."
"I'm here!" Vesper shouted. "I'm about to round the corner. Is it safe?"
"We've got some cover, but we're keeping our weapons on standby. No one seems to be paying attention to us at the moment."
Vesper reached the door. As she passed the threshold, a heavy blow struck her from the right, dragging her out from the cover of the awning into the courtyard. The attacker attempted to tackle her and take her to the ground. They lifted her off her feet. With her left arm free, she struck them on the side of the head, directly in front of the ear.
Their grip loosened. She wriggled free, dropping in a crouch as they stumbled away. The man dressed in a beige hooded coat and blue pants. Not black-clad, so you're fair game. She drew her pistol, popping him twice in the chest. He dropped as another came outside with their rifle held in her direction.
A snap shot made them dodge to the left, disrupting their aim. They fired, but the shot hit the ground several feet to her left. Vesper rose, blasting him in the head before redirecting to the doorway again. Before anyone else could come out, she fired several shots inside, lighting the room up with quick flashes.
No one came out directly so she hustled to meet the others. As she rounded the corner, she broke into a jog. Alon waved at her to hurry before opening fire. Vesper winced at the sound of his weapon, risking a glance over her shoulder. He and Hans brought down three men in pursuit.
Vesper returned her attention to her destination, eyes widening. They seemed to have put themselves in a blind alley. She grunted, "What the hell is this, guys? Are we stuck down here?"
"Nah," Hans replied, "we found a manhole. We can go into what looks like an ancient sewer system."
Thank God for this armor. The thought of trudging around an ancient sewer touched on every nerve she had left. While most of the waste should've been long gone, she didn't want to think about what sort of contagions might be down there. Maybe our enemies will feel the same way. It would be nice if this deterred them.
Vesper moved past their debris cover, turning to join them. The manhole in question sat open less than ten feet off, uninviting darkness filling the gap. "We don't even know how deep that goes, guys."
"I scanned it," Hans replied. "Twenty feet. Ladder's intact. Metal. It's secured into the wall. We should be more than fine."
"I'll even go first," Alon added. "Watch my back while I crawl in. I'll secure the area. Make sure no one gets too far or you're in trouble."
I can't believe they banked on this. They don't know for sure there's even a way out from down there. We could be going from one dead end to another. But she had to admit, it was better than running overland with so many enemy forces darting about. The scream of the creature she saw echoed in the distance.
"That thing's still rampaging?" Hans huffed. "He's got some stamina. Or she, I guess."
"I'm not worried about gender roles," Vesper replied. "Whatever those things are, they're territorial as hell and become aggressive pretty much instantly."
A voice at the end of the street began shouting; a bunch of words their translators didn't catch. That made the whole situation all the more difficult. Vesper had learned the Vorkas programmed the universal translators they used. However, some of the more obscure languages took the device some time to work through.
And that was if it had some reference point.
Vesper assumed it would be like the modern version of the Kahl language, which meant they'd eventually have the ability to communicate with the people. Until then, they were stuck with aggression.
Maybe they don't even want to be fighting with us. Vesper couldn't get fully behind that thought because they had started shooting first. Okay, so that's probably nonsense. I guess they're willing to talk because they've seen our weapons... and some of us take shots without going down.
The sheer number of them made the enemy dangerous. Five or six rounds from their weapons had the power to punch through the armor or at least cause enough concussion damage to kill one of them. Especially a headshot. Thoughts of the threat those Kahl out there posed made her particularly vigilant while aiming down the alley.
Keeping her eyes on the corner she'd come around, she poised her weapon to where the average person's chest would be. One of the enemy leaned out. Vesper's finger twitched, chewing part of the cement while grazing the target's face. He let out a horrifying scream, stumbling back.
The sounds continued until a rifle blared, ending his sounds.
"Holy shit," Hans said, "they executed that guy for getting hurt?"
"For making noise," Alon replied. He'd already plunged into the manhole. "I'm halfway down. Get ready to join me. I'd say another... fifteen seconds."
"You'd better hurry," Vesper said. Scans flickered, partially working again. The spores in the air, the interference must've been dying down. At least eight of the combatants gathered at the end of the alley. They seemed to be stacking up. "We're about to have a real bad day."
Though we've probably got this.
"You go next," Hans replied. "I'll cover you."
"I've got it, sir," Vesper said. "You can head down."
"Did I make that sound like a request?" Hans shook his head. "Make yourself scarce, Williams. That's an order. Besides, I think I'm a better shot than you are. We need precision once these guys charge. And if they do in the next five seconds, you make your way to the hole anyway. Understood?"
Why the hell would he want to stay like this? Vesper bit her lip, offering a curt nod. "Of course, sir. I'll make it happen."
The dots moved. Three men darted from cover, spreading out. They were joined by their companions moments later. Six... then eight, all charging while opening fire from the hip. Bullets ricocheted off the ground, the debris, and the walls behind them. Vesper shot back, putting down a sweeping pattern of energy blasts.
At least one of the attackers took a hit to the leg. He went down while the others continued on. Hans shouted at her to go. Another half dozen red dots appeared on the scan, another group charging them. "Get down that hole! I'll be right after you!"
Vesper grunted, ducking behind the cover. She scampered to the manhole, lowering herself into the darkness. Hans kept at it without faltering for even a moment. She watched him until she couldn't. The sounds of gunfire reverberated around her, forcing her helmet to suppress the noise.
"Get after her," Alon said, "move it, Hans!"
"If I do," Hans replied, "they'll just come up to the hole and blast us. Let me know when you're all the way down. I'll jump in and take my chances."
"Take your..." Vesper sighed. "It's a twenty-foot drop! You can't do that. I'm coming back up!"
"No!" Alon and Hans shouted at the same time.
"Get your ass down here!" Alon grunted. "Make it fast! Clear a path for him now!"
Vesper picked up the pace. The helmet showed her depth. She needed another few rungs and she could let go. A drop of eight feet wouldn't be bad. The light suddenly disappeared above her. She glanced up at Hans... he wasn't wearing his helmet. He stared at her with wide eyes... waved at her.
"Move." He spoke the word in a calm voice, surprisingly so considering the situation. Crawling forward, he pressed his torso over the hole. Gunfire exploded above. Blood splattered her helmet. She let go of the ladder, dropping to the ground in a crouch.
Alon yanked her away as he spoke. "Hans, she's clear! Let's go."
"He's..." Vesper swallowed hard.
"What?" Alon turned to her. He tried again, "Hans, get moving! She's out of the way! If you land, try to roll to the left."
"He's..."
"What is wrong with you?" Alon grabbed her shoulders. She pointed at the hole. "What..." He moved over, peering up. "Oh God."
Vesper nodded. "He put himself over it and they opened fire. I have... his blood on me."
"Calm down." Alon pulled her away. "The passage leads this way. We need to move out."
"But... but Hans."
"He's gone," Alon said. "Now we have to work if we don't want to be the same."
I don't know what he was doing. Vesper stumbled after Alon. She struggled to wrap her mind around those final few moments with the sergeant. The look in his face. The softness of his voice. The final command. Did he know he was sacrificing himself when he told me to go first?
If I stayed, that might've been me. No one could hold off that horde. How many did he kill? I hope he gave them a real ass beating. Vesper fought back emotion, drawing several deep breaths. She hadn't even considered her environment or what they were doing. Alon led the way, keeping a brisk pace. No sound behind them seemed to indicate they weren't followed.
I have to focus. Get my head back in the game. Vesper straightened her shoulders. The passage appeared surprisingly intact. The stone walls were smooth, the floor covered in dirt but solid. Scans attempted to build them a topographical map, but it wasn't happening quickly. At least we've survived another encounter.
Providing they didn't stumble on a nest of the monsters, she felt confident they made the right decision. For the moment, at least. Seems like our fortunes change fast these days--and often for the worst.
Chapter 9
"I've lost contact with the ground party," Rhys said, "even the shuttles we sent down. Andrews pinged to let me know he's on the way to orbit now."
"Did he say anything else?" Titus asked. "What happened?"
"I'm not sure." Rhys turned to Violet. "Does this have anything to do with that energy buildup from the town square?"
"I'm looking," Violet replied. "Um... whoa. They... do have some tech left." She swallowed hard, putting an image on the viewscreen. Beams of light came from several points around the area, holding the shuttles as they dragged them to the ground. "Those are defensive tractor beams. There's no way the shuttles are getting free from those."
"How the hell did they get those?" Titus asked. "What's going on down there?"
Rhys checked his own terminal. "Looks like they have all of our reinforcements tied up by those things."
"Can we take them out?" Titus asked. "If we target the sights, can we free our ships?"
"Perhaps the cannons themselves," Violet replied. "Though they are shielded. It may take more than one hit to bring them down. However, this is old technology. While the equipment is obviously functional, chances are good we might cause a chain reaction through the power system."
Rhys winced. "What would that do exactly?"
"Calculations suggest we could level half the city as generators all over the place exploded."
"Including the temple," Titus said. He sighed. "Okay, well... get the report from Andrews. Find out what he's got and we'll go from there." He shook his head. "What do you think they want with our people? What can they possibly even do? Our weapons alone should be more than sufficient to take them out."
"When they land, certainly," Rhys agreed, "and I'm not sure our enemies know that yet. They're about to find out."
"I'm sure that won't be pleasant." Titus rubbed his eyes. "Nothing can ever be simple. Jane, ETA to our targets?"
"Two minutes," Jane said. "Calculations suggest they'll be just out of range of attack."
"Probably to deploy soldiers," Sam muttered.
"What was that?" Rhys asked. "What did you say?"
"They want what we do," Sam replied. "They're going to send people down to the surface the hot second they can."
"We can stop that," Rhys turned to Titus, "with the shuttles. Send them after their drop vessels. Ensure they don't get to the surface at all. Distract them with that."
"Okay, go for that. We can hang on with the larger ships at first. Especially..." Titus pointed at Jane. "Buy us twenty thousand kilometers toward the enemy. Course heading... six-two degrees."
"Aye, sir." Jane engaged the main thrusters.
Titus said, "This should get us near to one of their destroyers. Maybe, if we're lucky, we can wipe one of them out before they have the chance to get their defenses online. Knock them down to two ships and go from there." He checked the area scan Violet had provided earlier. "Then we move to the asteroid field here. Get them chasing us..."
"Create a barrier they have to shoot through," Rhys replied. "Rely on maneuverability, is that it?"
"Pretty much, yeah. Use everything you can in a battlefield to keep yourself alive, right? Some of the pirate fights made this necessary. They were faster so we had to make them slow down."
"We used mines," Rhys said. "Too bad we don't pack any on the Triton."
"That's more of a destroyer deployment." Titus checked his terminal. "This should be a good position, Jane. Be ready to move forward when I give the word. We'll be hitting them hard. Shields at full."
Andrews reached out. Rhys leaned toward the comm. "Come in, I can hear you. What happened?"
"I've lost contact with our ground crew," Andrews replied. "Just before those tractor beams grabbed our ships, comms dropped. Last known positions are marked on the map. Quick note, when those tractor beams deployed, their power source knocked out transmissions as well. I happened to be low enough to avoid capture."
"Lucky they didn't fire another one off when you left," Rhys said. "Get yourself away from us so you can support the ground crew as needed. We'll figure out the tractor beam so you can make a safe approach. We're about to engage an incoming vessel. You'll want to stay out of that."
"Roger that, sir. Let me know if I can be of any help. I'll monitor the situation on the surface."
Rhys turned to Titus. "There's that then. At least one of them got out of there."
"The ground team is clever," Titus said. "If anyone could survive, it's them."
"I hope you're right." Rhys looked at the scans from the surface. Violet continued working on the tractor beams, the source of the power. It came from those generators they called out before. Dormant. And the population knew how to use them too. Tribal understanding? I wonder if we'll ever find out.
The enemy ship fast approached. Rhys turned his attention to the problem at hand. General Renz came off as an overeager buffoon but the danger he represented couldn't be downplayed. Then again, the Triton genuinely had the firepower to fend the guy off. Perhaps even end the threat once and for all.
We'll know in a hot minute.
***
Kivda clenched his fist in anticipation of their arrival. The moment they dropped out of warp, he intended to launch their ground forces to hit the target. Even light speed felt slow sometimes. He held a dread of the human commander, a private worry that Renz might be outmatched.
And Porth, for that matter. The man had commanded starships for years. He rarely went up against enemies that were his equal. Griel may have been the best. That man definitely put some fear into the Kahls though they never would've admitted it. Something about the way Barnes operated reminded Kivda of the Prytin leaders.
They have a lot in common. Kivda wondered why they hadn't become involved in the conflict sooner. We must have probed their defenses at some point, touched on the edges of their space. If they acted with half as much competence we would've categorized them with the other cultures we're at war with.
But he hadn't heard of them. Had the Lord Marshal? When they finished there, Kivda intended to reach out to high command for an update. Did they have information about ships like the Triton? Were they out there mustering their forces for an assault on Kahl territory and if so, when could they expect a briefing?
