Reason For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 1) (4 page)

When the Dictators came into power and started to build up their military forces, the leaders of the Pantheon knew they would be a threat.  The various Dictators would fight amongst themselves, but they would also come after those who had the resources they needed so desperately.  The Pantheon struck first, under the guise of protecting the populations from these brutal regimes, and sent the Legion in. 

Technology on Earth and the original colonies had stalled, and in many cases reduced, their capabilities to manufacture it falling into disrepair.  It may have taken the Legion years to complete their mission, but the Dictators forces hadn’t stood a chance against the Pantheons superior training and equipment.

Valerie remembered flying her Vector into combat against multiple enemies.  Even discounting her personal advantages, they couldn’t stand against her.  She’d destroyed enemy tanks and gun emplacements before they knew she was there.  It hadn’t been a war, it was a slaughter. She lost friends and comrades, but the butcher’s bill for the Legion had been slight in comparison, to the millions of combatants on the other side.  It hadn’t been reported in the Pantheon, the number of civilians who died ran into the billions.  Many directly from the fighting, but most from the breakdown in infrastructure, causing disease and famine.

Valerie shook her head to clear it as she entered her quarters.  A holopic of Tom, Daphne and Bobbie sat on a shelf directly in front of the door.  The three of them smiled back at her.  She felt the same feeling of love for them she always experienced when she walked in.

She activated the com on her VI screen and waited for Tom to answer.  He didn’t take long.  He was expecting her to call and his clear blue eyes soon showed on the screen.

“Hi, Ell.  I assume you’ve got another trip come through?”

“Yeah sorry, Tom, it’s going to be a long one as well.”

Tom paused and frowned.  “Are you going to make it for Daphne’s cup final?  Her team is really looking strong for going all the way this year.”

“I hope so, love, but you know I’m not allowed to say anything more.”

“I know.  I know, love.  Don’t worry, I signed up knowing the score.  I’ll make sure she knows you’ll try your best.”

“Thanks, Tom.  Are they there?”

“Of course they are, hang on.”  Tom pulled back from the screen and called off to one side.  “Daphne.  Bobbie.  Your Mother’s on the line!”

It didn’t take long for Tom to be replaced by a bouncing, blond, six year old girl.  “Mummy!”

Daphne was quickly crowded on the screen by her four year old brown haired little brother.  “Mama!”

Valerie smiled broadly.  “My babies.”

“I’m not a baby, he is.”  So saying, Daphne shoved her brother out of sight.

“No I’m not.”  He replied indignantly, bundling quite happily back into view.  He was well used to being shoved about by his sister.

“You’ll both always be my babies.  How was school, Daphne?”

“It was great, Mummy.  Mrs Chopra told us about the Algae that make planets so we can live on them.”

“Do they make planets, Daphne, or do they create air on the planets so we can live there?”  Valerie questioned gently.

“Oh yes, they make the air.” Daphne corrected.  “They spray the whole planet with the algae.  It eats sunlight and makes water and air!”

“Yes, that’s right.  What happens after they make the air?”

“We plant seeds that grows into grass, flowers and trees, but I can’t remember how they plant the seeds,” Daphne frowned.  “It would take forever to plant all the seeds.  It took all afternoon to plant the flowers.”  Valerie remembered fondly the afternoon she spent with her family in their garden.  Both of the kids ended up covered in mud, which meant Tom and herself were also covered.

“You’re right, it would take too long by hand or even by machine.  They release the seeds for the plants high in the sky.  The winds then send them all around the surface of the planet.”

“Oh that’s right, Mrs Chopra said they’re sent down from the Space Stations in orbit.  Once the plants are all grown up, they release birds, cows, horses, bees and even spiders.  Bleh!  Why would anyone have spiders?” she asked with a shudder.

“Planets are very complex places.  They need all kinds of creatures to work, even spiders.”

“Mama.  Mama.  Ask me!”  Bobbie looked thoroughly bored by this point.

“Oi, Bobbie.  I’m talking to Mummy!”  Daphne exclaimed.

“It’s OK, Daphne.” Valerie said and tried not to smile.  “It’s your brother’s turn.  What did you do today, Bobbie?”

“We made ships.”  Bobbie said and dashed off to one side out of sight.  Presumably to get whatever he had made that day at nursery.

Daphne rolled her eyes at her vastly younger brother.  This time Valerie could not help smiling as her daughter continued matter of factly, as though her brother hadn’t interrupted her.

“After the Herbies...”

“Herbivores.”

“Right Herbores.”  It wasn’t worth correcting her a second time, she was after all, only six years old.  “After the Herbores have grown up, they release the carnores and people go and live there.”

“That’s right.  How long does that all take?”

“Two hundred years.”  Daphne replied just in time, as her brother came barrelling back in.  He proudly held out a blocky shape made out of glued together carbonfibre.

“Look, Mama, it’s a Jester!”

“Wow, Bobbie.  It looks just like the PLN Rustler.  I saw it this morning, so I know what I’m talking about.”

“Thanks, Mama.”  The three of them continued to talk for over an hour about all the things that they did and their friends, until Bobbie began to get quiet.  Valerie could tell he was tired and Daphne seemed to be struggling as well, though she was doing everything she could not to show it.

Tom stepped in from where he was sitting quietly to one side, watching the kids talk to their mother.  “OK, I think it’s time to get ready for bed now.  Come on.”  Tom picked up Bobbie who grumbled, but didn’t really put up much of a fight.

Daphne was made of sterner stuff though.  “No, Daddy, I want to tell Mummy about the transport we saw!”

“Come on, Daphne, you can tell her next time,” Tom said.  “It’s past your bedtime as it is.”

“Listen to your father, Daphne.”  Valerie admonished.  “Now come and give me a kiss and go get ready for bed.”

“OK, Mummy.  I love you.”  The little blond girl leaned forward and kissed the screen.

“I love you too, honey, and you, Bobbie.”  Valerie said.  “Give me a call when you’ve got them all sorted, Tom.  I’ll be here.”

“I will do, love.  It shouldn’t be long.”

Valerie switched off the com and picked up her datapad.  There were numerous reports she needed to fill out and sign off before Shadow Company departed in the morning.  A number of them she was able to pass on to Captains Gibson, Forlani and Benz.  It still left her with plenty of work to be getting on with before Tom called her back.

Over an hour and thirty-three reports later, her com screen beeped quietly.  Valerie put down her datapad and gladly accepted the call.  Tom’s face looked out of the screen at her.

“The terrible two are now both fast asleep, though of course neither of them wanted to wash their faces.  I think I’ve got more water on me than they did between them.”

Valerie laughed softly.  “I so miss them, Tom and I miss you.”

He sighed.   “I know you do love, I miss you too and so do the kids.  What about that transfer to Olympus?  Surely you can fly something other than diplomats around?”

There was no chance of a transfer, the Legion had too much invested in her, and Shadow Company was too good, for her to be replaced.  She couldn’t tell Tom that and he couldn’t understand why ‘Eleanor’ couldn’t get a transfer to a different assignment.  Valerie’s cover story had her flying shuttles for over ten years and it was due to her lack of Family influence denying her advancement.  Tom thought Valerie’s family had died and she used all of her inheritance to pay for a good university education, allowing her to join the Legion Officer Corp.  Since then, with no patronage, she hadn’t been able to advance any further than Lieutenant.

“I’ve tried, Tom, and I spoke to my Captain this morning but there is nothing available for me.”  Valerie lied.  “This is a job they need experienced pilots for, but isn’t a job that people want.  Boring shuttle runs, with long trips across space in a tiny cubbyhole of a berth.  All on a Diplomatic Courier that’s built for speed, with the only comfort available going to the Diplomats.  Who’d want that?

“Come on, there’s no point crying over something we can’t change.”  It hurt Valerie to lie to her husband and she changed the subject.  “How’s work going?  Is that promotion in the offering?”

“I think so, Ell.  Aamir wants me to run the accounts for the regeneration project out at Sandy Shores.”  Tom said.  “If I can get the numbers how they want them, and we keep it within budget, it’ll be good news all round.”

“That’s excellent...”  The two of them chatted long into the night, each wishing they had more time.

Five Helos and the support shuttle sat on the deck of Bay Fourteen, men and women bustling around the six vehicles.  The Helos were black, squat, sleek and lethal, with two engines that looked too big for them, strapped to either side of their short tails.  Two powerful Plasma Cannons pointed out from the flat nose, with anti-personnel Blasters on short turrets to either side.

The snub wings under the engines were currently bare.  They could be fitted with a range of ordnance depending on the mission profile.  The two flight wings at the top of the fuselage were swept back out of the way.  Designed for orbital space flight, fast re-entry and ground support in an atmosphere, the Windsoar class Helo, was the best Assault Drop ship in the Legion.

Each Helo could carry a platoon of twenty soldiers in full armour and would get the combat troops out to the PLN Wishart.  Captain Gibson’s Operations squad of ten, would be in the much larger Scarab class shuttle.  All the personal gear and the Company’s Fully Powered Battle Armour would go with them.

Valerie saw Captain Benz off to one side with Lieutenant Penty and headed over to them.  Benz and Penty seeing her approach, saluted.  Valerie returned their salutes.

“How are we looking, Captain?”

“All good, Major.  The Helos are checked and flight ready.”  Captain Benz answered.  “I’ve already been in touch with Captain Tsoutsouvas on the Wishart.  She’s ready to receive us.”

“Excellent.  I’ll check in with Joss and we can get this show moving.”

“Yes, Ma’am.  I believe he’s over by the Scarab.”

“Thanks, Hans.”   Valerie left them and walked over towards the shuttle, where it was parked on the other side of the Windsoars.  The soldiers of Shadow Company were busy checking and loading their gear, so didn’t come to attention as she passed, but did acknowledge her with a nod or casual salute.  She returned them, often with a smile.  It was only the Company in the Bay and there was no need for formality.

Valerie found the tall, broad shouldered Captain behind the Scarab.  More than twice the size of the Windsoars, it had heavier armour and was armed with only anti-personnel Pulse cannons.  Like the Windsoars it was atmosphere and orbital space flight capable.  Gibson was standing with his number two, Lieutenant Sylvia Hoeks.  Valerie could spot his bald head a mile off and it made her smile to see the bay lights reflecting off it.  With his heavy dark beard and deep voice he always made Valerie think he would be more at home fighting ancient pirates on the high seas of humanity’s home world, rather than directing combat platoons sitting in a chair.

His back was to her and he was studying a datapad so intently, he didn’t see Valerie approach.  The Lieutenant stood opposite him and did see her.  The young dark skinned Sylvia Hoeks had only been with the Company for three months, she jumped to attention and saluted smartly.

Captain Gibson turned round and Valerie returned the salute with a smile.  “At ease, Lieutenant.  It’s only us in here, so you don’t need to salute me every time.”

“Of course, Ma’am, sorry.”  The young officer replied.  A slight blush warming her face.

“Heh, don’t worry about it”.  Valerie said with a light shrug and a grin.  “Joss, Hans says that Captain Tsoutsouvas and the Wishart are expecting us.  Are we all ready to go?”

“Yes, Major, just about.  The FPBA’s are loaded along with the troops gear.  The Companies Tea Chests are going onto the shuttle now.”  Tea Chests were the name everyone in the Legion used for an officers personal arms crate.  Valerie didn’t know why.  Many years ago she tried to find out, but hadn’t been able to get a satisfactory answer.  There were many ideas and speculations, none with any basis in hard fact.

“Excellent.  I’ll get the troops on the Helos then.”  With a nod to the two officers Valerie turned around and sought out Bickerstaff.  The Sergeant Major was half way down the line of Windsoars.  He stood off to one side, keeping an eye on the soldiers chatting amongst themselves in their platoons.

“Sergeant Major.”  Valerie called clearly across the deck.  “Let’s do it.”  She emphasised the order by twirling her finger in a circle above her head.

“Yes, Ma’am.”  Bickerstaff called back and raised his voice to a parade ground bellow.  “Shadow Company.  Load ‘em up!”  There were more efficient, electronic means of communicating Valerie’s orders.  None had the impact of a properly enunciated order given at the appropriate volume.

Shadow Company stopped milling about immediately and moved with a single purpose.  Years of dedicated training and experience came into play, as they boarded the Windsoars and Scarab smoothly.  No jostling or getting in each other’s way was evident.  Within two minutes, Valerie was strapping herself into her acceleration chair set slightly behind the cockpit of Helo One.  As soon as she was secure, a green light would show to the co-pilot.  Almost instantly, Captain Benz’s voice came through her com.

“You are the last one, Major.”  He reported.  As the senior officer she was always the last to board.  “Everyone is secure, all systems are green and we are cleared by Furioso Control for departure. ”

“Thank you, Hans.  Launch on your order.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”  Valerie could see on the board in front of her, the Captain switching channels from a one to one with her, to a channel connecting all the pilots of the six space craft and their platoon commanders, including her.  “We are cleared to go.  All craft to launch with Helo One and come to formation Alpha One.”

The screen on Valerie’s command board showed the view from one of Bay Fourteen’s cameras.  She watched the five Helos and single shuttle lifted on their anti-gravs.  A faint hum could be felt through the Windsoars hull.  The two oversized engines spooled up and Shadow Company smoothly left the bay in unison.

Switching the view over to tactical, she saw the icons move into a standard five pointed box formation, with the Scarab at the centre and Helo Three leading the way.  Manipulating the controls, Valerie brought the view out further, the six craft becoming one icon. The icons of Furioso and all the ships and small craft surrounding it came into view.  A quick query highlighted the PLN Wishart and another calculated the estimated time of arrival, to show a short twenty minute flight.

Relaxing back into her seat Valerie switched the view over to the forward camera mounted on the Helos nose.  The stars spired as Captain Benz manoeuvred the craft around, to take it through the traffic moving around Furioso.  After years of traveling in space, Valerie still found the blackness empty of life, to be soothing.  It gave her a sense of peace only bettered by time with her family.

An excellent pilot, like all of those Valerie handpicked to fly Shadow Company’s support vehicles; Benz’s control was smooth and unhurried.  There was no discernible movement from inside the craft, the compensators working perfectly, as the Captain guided the Helo with its accompanying drop ships and shuttle.  Stars and the pinpoint glares, from the drives of numerous different craft of all sizes, moved on the screen as Benz re-orientated the Helo and the PLN Wishart came into view

Six hundred metres long, its carbon steel battle armour painted the standard Legion Navy light blue.  With her running lights on, the ship gleamed in the dark of space. The slight blue haze of her shields encompassed her entire length.    Sealed gun and missile ports ran down the two sides visible to the Helo.  Her engines glowed a dull green, speaking of her readiness to depart. 

As the Wishart grew in her screen, Valerie was able to pick out the landing bay sitting above the gun ports and she heard Hans over the ships intercom.

“Now on approach, all craft come to landing formation Alpha four.”  The shuttle accelerated ahead of the Helos and they took up positions behind it.  Designed to deliver supplies and troops in a combat environment, the Scarab was still the most vulnerable craft within Shadow Company’s flight of six, so it was always placed in the most protected position.

The bay had been completely cleared for Shadow Company’s use by Captain Tsoutsouvas.  Despite that, it was still a tight fit as the Scarab and Windsoars landed smoothly.  The moment they touched down, Valerie activated the override on her command panel and walked through the troop bay.  In its standard safe mode, the ramp lowered unhurriedly, rather than the fast wrenching movement it was capable of in combat.

Stepping off the ramp when it touched the deck she walked confidently around the still whining engines of the Windsoar.  As she passed the cockpit, she saw Captain Benz shaking his head at her, so she gave him a wave and a smile.  It really was against the rules to leave a space craft before the Pilot gave the go ahead.  This was to ensure the engines would not vaporise an unsuspecting person, who strayed too close, and there was a breathable atmosphere.

Valerie could see the same information as Benz on her panel.  She knew it was safe to leave and she knew exactly how much room to give a shutting down engine.  If there was the slightest sign of a problem, she would have stayed in her seat until Hans had done his job.  Sometimes it was good to be the boss and break the rules.

The real reason she left the Windsoar early was entering the Wishart’s boat bay, along with a junior officer and a non-com.  The brown haired, lean shape of Captain Tsoutsouvas strode towards Valerie, her long legs covering the distance quickly.  At more of a saunter, Valerie smiled at the older woman and held her hand out as they met.

“It has been a while, Mariya.  I got a good look at the Wishart on the way in.  She looks in lean and mean shape.”

“For an old girl you mean.”  The Captain replied with a smile as she shook Valerie’s hand.  “You’re right, it has been too long.  What was it?  That mess in Wolfram?”

“That would be the one.  You pulled my arse out of the fire that day.”  Valerie said with a chuckle.

“Let’s hope this one won’t be like that.  I’ve only got orders to get you to Concordia, wherever you are going after that, we won’t be there to back you up.”

“We’re Shadow Company.  We don’t need back up!”

“Of course not and you didn’t need an entire task force at Wolfram to do just that.”

Valerie shrugged.  “I just thought you were all a bit bored sitting out there beyond the grav limit.  Time must have dragged when you only have hide and seek to keep you occupied.”

“That was plenty to keep us entertained, trust me.  The Wolfram Navy had just enough tech to know something was out there and they did everything they could to find it.”  Mariya changed the tone to a more serious one.  “Now I understand we are on a tight timetable to get you to Concordia, so why don’t you come with me to the bridge and we get this old girl underway.”

“Good idea and in perfect timing, here is my XO.”  The tall Captain stepped up beside her.  “Captain Tsoutsouvas, this is Captain Joss Gibson.  If you can point him in the right direction, he’ll get Shadow Company squared away and out from under your feet.”

“Welcome aboard Captain Gibson.”  Mariya indicted the junior officer and non-com who entered the bay with her.  “This is Lieutenant Oehlmann and Petty Officer Langhorne, they will make sure you all find your berths.”

“Thank you, Captain.”  Gibson said, and then nodded to the two Navy personnel.  “PO, Sergeant Major Bickerstaff is back at the lead Helo, co-ordinate with him.  Lieutenant, why don’t you come with me and make sure I’m pointed in the right direction?”

“Of course, Captain.”  The Lieutenant replied before turning to her CO.  “With your permission, Captain?”

“Carry on, Lieutenant.”  Captain Tsoutsouvas ordered and turned to Valerie.  “Shall we head up to the bridge, Major?”

“Excellent idea, Captain.”  The two commanding officers headed out of the bay as everyone else got to work.