Ronin (The Pike Chronicles Book 3) (19 page)

She stumbled as the bullet caught her leg. At the speed she ran, a stumble was not easily corrected and she crashed into the ground. Bullets pinged off her suit and she checked her HUD. Her suit’s integrity had already dropped by twenty percent.

Breeah jumped to her feet and took off again. This time she ran in a random zig-zag pattern, trying to make herself a harder target to hit. She heard the bullets sail by her. She managed to reach the building without taking another hit.

She burst through the entrance and raced toward the window. She spied a door and felt sure the shooter was hiding in the room behind it. She kicked open the door and stepped aside. Bullets instantly strafed the doorway. Analyzing the gunfire, she identified the shooter’s location. When the shooting paused she rushed into the room, weapon firing. A uniformed woman returned fire, but missed. She didn’t wear any armor, making Breeah’s fire lethal. Blue energy bolts burned through her chest, then face. Her weapon dropped and she fell to her knees. Pausing briefly, Breeah had a clear view of the smoldering corneas the energy bolts had left behind. The woman then fell to the floor.

Breeah caught her breath and then ran out of the room and back onto the street. The Reivers continued to push forward. She joined them. It seemed as though the other side was retreating. Perhaps they were the only troops close enough to deal with the landing.

The Reivers chased the defenders down a narrow street. Breeah targeted one of the men and squeezed off a couple of rounds. One missed, but the second crashed into his back, dropping him onto his face. They had been successful, so far. Then the ground began to vibrate like a beating drum. Breeah slowed in time to see two giant mechs running down the street, straight for them.

The line of Reivers stopped in their tracks. Without wasting a moment they all laid down a wave of energy bolts. The mechs were unphased, maintaining their pace. They opened fire into the column of Reivers, toppling them like dominos, the huge rounds heavily damaging their combat suits.

Breeah found cover behind the corner of the nearest building. Poking out her energy weapon, she opened fire at the behemoths. The mechs slowed as they reached the fallen line, taking their time to mop up the remaining Reivers.

“Get out of there,” said her father over her comm.

Large chunks of the building began to hit her suit as one of the mechs targeted her position.

“I can’t,” she said, clinging to the wall, making herself as small as possible.

She felt the ground shudder underneath her and heard the stomping sound of giant metal feet. To her horror she realized the sound was getting louder. The mech was coming to finish her off.

She then remembered the powerful grenades stored in her suit. She released one from its clip and tossed it out at the coming mech. A frightful explosion followed. As the shockwaves dissipated she peeked out from around the corner. The mech was stumbling backward. Was it hurt? Disoriented? Breeah let loose a barrage of fire for good measure, but it didn’t fall. Energy bolts hit it from behind, causing it to whip around and return fire with one of its giant guns. The assault from behind was easily suppressed. It then turned its attention back to Breeah.

She ducked back behind the wall as more heavy rounds crashed into it. Soon the wall wouldn’t provide much protection at all, but she figured the mech would reach her before that. The ground shook as the footsteps resumed. Out of options she grabbed another grenade. If she threw enough she might be able to kill the thing. A grenade in both hands, she prepared to throw.

She hit the ground as more heavy weapon fire erupted, but the wall didn’t break apart as she expected. The munitions must be coming from a different direction. The street beside her exploded in a deafening symphony of explosive rounds.
Oh no
, she thought.
More mechs
.

But what were they shooting at? She decided to risk a look and peered around the corner. She saw the two enemy mechs, but their guns were firing erratically. They were taking a considerable amount of fire. She swung around to see the two Chaanisar mechs charging up the street, guns blazing. The Chaanisar rounds pounded the enemy mechs, penetrating their armor and launching huge metal shards into the air like flying guillotines. The mech that had been coming for her staggered a few steps, spun around once, and crashed into the ground only a few meters from her position. The other mech resembled a giant drunk attempting to remain standing, then collapsed in a heap.

The two Chaanisar mechs strode up the street and inspected the fallen machines. Breeah warily came out from behind the wall and scanned her surroundings. The street filled with soldiers as the Reivers advanced again.

Jon’s voice came through on her comm. “Breeah, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Where are you?”

“I just hit the ground a few minutes ago. Stay with the mechs. I’m coming to your location now.”

Eyeing the two giants that saved her life, Breeah had no problem staying right where she was.

Colonel Bast stood on the bridge of what was now known as the Ronin. Prime Minister Sallas stood beside him. The last of the ground assault force had just jumped out of the hangar bay. On the viewscreen he watched the battle taking place in a higher orbit between the coup forces and General Calledonius. The coup forces had more ships, but Calledonius had a carrier. Normally the only carrier would be a big advantage, but in this situation the extra ships would offset it.

As he watched a coup destroyer broke away from the group and headed toward them. Since the coup forces were larger than the forces of General Calledonius, they felt they could spare one of their ships. They were fools. Fools for sending only one ship, and fools to destroy each other in this ridiculous civil war. The destroyer opened fire and hit the Ronin with an energy blast. The ship shuddered and Bast accessed his tactical display. The ship’s armor held.

“Prepare to jump,” said Bast. “Place us directly above the attacking destroyer’s stern.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The destroyer fired into open space as the Ronin disappeared. They landed as expected, just above the destroyer’s stern.

“Fire all weapons,” said Bast.

Energy weapons and rail guns hammered the coup destroyer, while missiles raced toward it, homing in on their targets. The coup destroyer returned fire, but it had clearly been caught off guard. The missiles struck causing explosions and hull breaches throughout the enemy ship. Dozens of people streamed out of the gashes and into the certain death of space.

Sallas looked horrified.

“This is war, Prime Minister,” said Bast. “These are the people who overthrew your government, and who now attack us.”

“I understand war, Colonel. It is just very wasteful.”

“Of that we both agree.”

“Most of those casualties are just people following orders. They do not necessarily support the coup. Yet they are the ones dying for it.”

Bast nodded in agreement and looked back to the viewscreen. The destroyer still returned fire but began to list. The next wave of missiles would finish it off. “Do not destroy the enemy ship,” he ordered. “Target weapons and propulsion only. I want it disabled, but not destroyed.”

“Thank you, Colonel,” said Sallas.

“I see no need for further loss of life on that vessel,” said Bast. “You are correct, Prime Minister. Those soldiers are following orders, and they’ll be needed after this civil war is over. Why kill good men and women unnecessarily?”

The Ronin began picking off the destroyer’s turrets and took out the ship’s propulsion system. In short order the threat was eliminated, but the ship itself had not been destroyed. It merely floated helplessly in space.

Bast turned his attention back to the raging space battle. “Your General Calledonius is not doing well,” said Bast, almost to himself.

“Do you think he will be defeated?” Sallas said in a worried tone.

“Most definitely. He is outnumbered and outgunned. His forces fight bravely, but the odds are against him.”

“Then all is lost,” said Sallas, lowering his head in defeat.

“Nothing is lost.”

Sallas looked up at Bast and said, “I don’t understand. You just said the odds are against him.”

“I did, but I intend to even them. Helm, jump us directly above the last coup destroyer on the right flank. Get us as close as you can without colliding. Once landed, initiate a second jump one light day away.”

“Yes, Sir,” said the helmsman.

The Ronin jumped, landing on the far side of the coup armada, practically on top of a coup destroyer. The destroyer was busy firing on Calledonius’s ships and hadn’t noticed the ship hovering above it. That would soon change, but it would be too late. The Ronin jumped again landing one light day away, in empty space. The destroyer had tagged along and remained directly beneath the Ronin.

“What just happened?” said Sallas, a bewildered look on his face.

The ship shook as the destroyer opened fire. “Jump us back to our original position in low orbit around New Byzantium,” ordered Bast, and in seconds they were orbiting the planet again. Bast turned to Sallas and said, “Our jump system works in part by creating a field around our ship, similar to a FTL bubble. We discovered that the field can be stretched around other objects in very close proximity to our position. When close enough, the other object, in this case the destroyer, makes the jump with us.”

“That’s incredible,” said Sallas, looking awestruck.

“The destroyer will no doubt plot a course to return to the battle, but that will take some time, even at FTL speeds. The battle will be over by the time it returns.”

“That’s brilliant,” said Sallas. “But can removing one ship from the battle turn the tide?”

“Actually, we have removed two ships from the battle, Prime Minister. But perhaps we should tip the odds a little further in our favor,” said Bast. “Helm, repeat the maneuver, but this time land above the last ship on the left flank. On your second jump take us one light day away in the opposite direction.”

“Yes, Sir,” said the helmsman.

They jumped, landing just behind the warship on the far left flank. As before, the enemy ship didn’t notice them until they jumped again. They landed one light day away and the Ronin jumped back to low orbit around New Byzantium. Seconds after landing the ship shook under the weight of enemy fire.

“It seems our friends do not like playing our little game,” said Bast. “Helm, repeat the maneuver. Target a ship near the center now. For the second jump take us to a different location from the other two.”

They started taking fire within seconds of landing.

“They’re adapting,” Bast explained. “They know we have a delay between jumps. It gives them time to locate us.”

They jumped again and landed in a different region of space, again one light day away.

“Helm, jump us back outside the armada’s weapons range,” said Bast.

“Yes, Sir.”

“No point in taking unnecessary damage.”

“Sounds reasonable,” said Sallas.

They landed and Sallas said, “That’s four ships. Is that enough?

“It’s better, but we can try a little harder I think.”

The Ronin performed the tactic three more times, taking each ship to different locations. They succeeded in removing a total of seven warships from the battle, significantly degrading the coup’s effectiveness. The tactic came at a cost, however, as the coup fleet continued to adapt. The Ronin now took heavy fire each time it jumped into the armada’s ranks. Bast knew that the tactic had been used up and it was time to change.

“Randomize our jumps,” said Bast. “The only thing I want constant is that we land at the edge of our weapon’s range. Focus on one target at a time. Time the jumps so we have enough time to fire two volleys at the enemy before we jump again.”

“Isn’t it better to keep jumping ships away?” asked Sallas.

“They have adapted to the tactic. We have to jump into their ranks which allows them to hit us hard. Now we have to adapt. By keeping our distance it will be harder for the enemy to locate us, and even when they do, by the time they target us we will have already fired and jumped away. Since they cannot jump we can continue to harass them, diminishing their effectiveness.”

“Does that mean General Calledonius will win?”

“Perhaps. The odds are certainly more even now, and we will continue to help. The rest is dependent on the ground assault. Unfortunately, while we are engaging the coup fleet, we cannot support our soldiers on the ground.”

The battle thundered in the distance, and Jon knew they were getting close. They were encountering stiffer resistance as they advanced, and had to deal with more entrenched forces. Fighters attacked in increasing numbers too. Their three mechs effectively dealt with most of them, but the odd fighter still managed to break through and strafe their ranks. The moved in three columns with one mech each, advancing down three parallel roads. Up ahead the sky blazed with the flashes and explosions of battle.

He had ensured that Breeah was okay when he landed, but had to leave her to command his own men. Breeah fought with the Reivers, who were commanded by Jonas, her father. Jon commanded the Hermes Marines, and Lieutenant Jarvi commanded the Chaanisar. The best he could do was to have Breeah’s vitals and suit statistics displayed on his HUD. Of course, he could also communicate with her if necessary. But his responsibility right now was to his men.

“Fighters,” yelled Henderson.

Jon looked up to see a squadron of fighters streaking across the sky towards them. His mech responded instantly with missiles streaking off its back up into the sky to greet the fighters. Anti-aircraft missiles were also launched by the two other mechs as well. The fighters broke formation and immediately launched countermeasures. To Jon’s dismay, the first missiles were already going after the decoys.

The mechs continued launching missiles and the fighters launched more countermeasures, but they were also streaking down to attack their positions.

“Take cover,” ordered Jon, and his men scrambled to get out from the open street.

The fighters didn’t try and strafe the soldiers this time, however. Instead they targeted Jon’s mech, firing missiles of their own at it. The mech broke into a run and launched its own countermeasures. As it ran it continued firing anti-aircraft missiles, but also turned its massive guns toward the sky. The mech’s torso swiveled around furiously as it targeted the attacking aircraft. Its guns blazed into action spewing forth blinding white light as it fired a torrent of heavy ordnance into the sky.

The countermeasures proved to be somewhat effective against the missiles, but they did nothing against the powerful mech guns. Between the missiles and its guns, the mech successfully shot several fighters out of the sky, but more came.

“Chan, Reynolds, Burke, Patel. Support that mech!” said Jon.

“Yes, Sir,” said the men and sprang into action. Their team was equipped with handheld anti-aircraft weapons. The weapons fired smart projectiles which behaved almost like missiles, but were intended for use against lower flying attacking aircraft instead.

The four men shouldered their weapons and let loose a rapid fire barrage against the attacking fighters. As each aircraft swooped down to engage the mech the Marines backed it up so that the fighter had to face four anti-aircraft guns instead of just one.

The other two mechs now ran into Jon’s street firing their own guns into the sky, along with their missiles. A fighter coming in for a close assault was shredded by the combined firepower and lost control, crashing into a nearby building and breaking apart, spraying the street with hundreds of smaller pieces. The fighter fragments turned into shrapnel, causing Jon to duck as a large shard narrowly missed his head.

Lifting his head he heard something coming not from the sky, but from the ground. “Shit,” he muttered, and yelled out to his men, “Tanks!”