The Catherine Kimbridge Chronicles #4, Retribution (8 page)

There was a pause as Ken checked his readouts
.“
It appears that there are two Modos frigates in the Lagrange point between the planet and its largest moon
.
”

“
Excellent. Proceed best possible speed to a low planetary orbit just outside of the exosphere. W
e’
ll use the bulk of the planet to hide our troop deployment
.
”

“
Very good, Admiral. We should be in low orbit in ten minutes. Kirkland, out
.
”

Lieutenant Commander LeAnder stood, patiently. The Admira
l’
s raised finger signaled the pause in their conversation while she responded silently to a separate commlink conversation. Finally, Admiral Kimbridge focused her attention on him once again.

Grabbing his arm and moving the Commander away from the others, she said, quiet
l
y
,“
Pete, I have another mission for you
.
”

He raised an eyebrow, but he knew she could not see his face through his Mark Six faceplate
.“
Admiral
?
”

“
This one is strictly off books
.
”

“
Tha
t’
s always the best type, m
a’
am
,
” he said, with a grin that split his face.

***

“
Back
!
” Sigul yelled, while hopping over a ruined hover sled. Smoke and flames shielded his view of the others. The sound of kinetic rounds impacting on the stone wall behind him caused him to duck lower.

“
This position is being overrun. Regroup at the beta site. Drop your weapons and try to blend in with the general population
.
”

His team of twenty East-Tree irregulars had been the last to flee the headquarters building. His was one of three teams that had jointly taken over the facility less than twenty-four hours ago with very little effort. He should have known it was too easy. The irregulars had taken over similar facilities all around the planet. For the first time in more than a generation, it had seemed the planet was once again free. Freedom, such as it was, lasted less than a day.

Somehow, the Modos had gotten wind of their plans. That was the only way they could have responded so fast. Several ships carrying shock troops, aircraft, and armored vehicles arrived in orbit several hours earlier. The better armed and trained Modos soldiers made quick work of the Naanac irregulars. The rebels had been routed. In some cases entire city blocks had been turned to rubble. Fires swarmed the city unabated, as fire suppression crews were unable to respond because of the fighting.

Sigul heard a moan from behind some debris to his left. He went to investigate. It was Moto
e
… a friend of his from the distillery where he had been assigned to work. Copper green blood oozed from a cut on his forehead. He went to help his friend up. They had to clear this area before the Modos took the square on foot.

The task was not easy. Smoke stung his eyes. The ground was littered with bits of broken stone and sharp metal. They made it about half a measure when kinetic rounds again began to pepper the walls behind them. Sigul tried to duck but he felt the tug of Moto
e’
s body as a round slammed into the wounded man. At the same time a burning sensation exploded in Sigu
l’
s right leg. He collapsed in pain as he realized he too had been shot. The last thing he remembered before falling unconscious was a great wind blowing through the square.

***

Private Stone was sweating inside his Stark. He knew the systems; AI kept the internal temperature at a constant 23 degrees Celsiu
s—
but for the life of him it felt hotter. His teeth rattled as the transport he was in worked its way violently through the thick Naanac atmosphere. He looked at the others nearest him. All were holding on to cargo straps as the ship bucked wildly in the turbulence.

His platoon sergeant kept up a lively banter to keep everyon
e’
s mind on something other than the fact that they were essentially free falling tens of kilometers toward a hard rocky surface in a metal bucket built by the lowest bidder who was most certainly not on board the transport at this particular moment.

“
’
Join the Marines
!
’ my recruiter said
!
” the Sergeant quipped
.
“
’
See the universe
!
’” he continued
.
“
’
Meet exotic races. Take the opportunity to shoot at them
!
’
‘
Hu-rah
!
’ I said
!
”

“
Hu-rah
!
” the platoon echoed.

“
I said hurrah!”

“Hurrah!”

“
I said hurrah!”

”Hurrah!
”
Private Stone yelled, along with thirty-eight other marines

“
Now, tha
t’
s more like it, girls and boy
s
… Remember, you signed up for this
!
”

The buffeting suddenly stopped, as the transport leveled out and hovered a few meters above a square in the middle of a combat zone in the capital city of Harromog.

“
This is it, boys and girl
s
… look sharp
!
”

Private Stone inched forward in his seat. As soon as the transport touched down, the rear ramp would drop and the marines would be given the order to deploy. He knew that the first few minutes a landing craft hit ground were the most dangerous. Soldiers were concentrated and comparatively vulnerable. Their training emphasized getting up and out before bad things could happen. It was not a lesson he wanted to learn the hard way.

The transport touched down with a deafening crunch. At first the ship was not quite level, but then ,with a grinding noise, it settled the rest of the way. Private Stone tried not to think about what it was they might have landed on and why it was suddenly much flatter.

“
GO GO GO
!
”
The sergeant yelled.

Private Stone found himself rushing out the rear of the transport and into a scene from an apocalyptic nightmare. Buildings were shattered. Everywhere he looked he could see signs of violent and brutal fighting. Smoke and flames emanated from burned-out vehicles and piles of rubble that once had been small buildings.

“
Get a move on, so
n
… this ai
n’
t no sightseeing tour. Secure a parameter one hundred yards out
.
”

Private Stone felt a shove on his shoulder as the sergeant backed up his command with a not-so-gentle shove. It was less than fifty feet away that Private Stone found the first of the bodies.

Chapter Seve
n
– Total War...

General Moss scanned the readouts from the bridge of the
Redclaw
. Try as he might, he saw absolutely nothing. None of the scanners gave any hint of other ships within the Naanac system. How in the Great Shell had so many GCP troops and short range support craft suddenly appeared?

He had just been forced to send an FTL message with orders for several ships scheduled for the invasion task force to redeploy to his position in the Naanac system. He was taking a great risk in doing so. The chairman himself had ordered their participation in what the he was callin
g“
The Grand Undertaking
.
” Still, the general had no choice. Losing control of Naanac after the chairman had ordered him to suppress the uprising would almost certainly ensure his early retirement in the form of a very public execution.

He turned his attention back to the planet below.

“
Redeploy and focus all our troops on Harromag. We must retake and hold the Capital. Inform Captain Breakwater that I will be arriving shortly to take personal command of the ground situation
.
”

“
As you order, sir
,
” his executive officer answered
.“
If I may as
k
… what are your orders for the other cities where we are seeing slave uprisings
?
”

General Moss looked deeply into his executive office
r’
s eyes. As was often the case in the Modos senior command structure, his exec reported his activities directly to the Chairma
n’
s office. This insured elements of the military were not tempted to stage a hostile takeover. He was not going to give his exec an excuse to question his commitment.

“
Send them a message
,
” he said, quietly.

“
Sir
?
”

“
Nuke them
.
”

***

“
Reports are starting to come in, Admiral
,
” Commander Ken Kirkland said, from his station as first officer aboard the GCP
Yorktown
.
“
Our troops are only encountering resistance in a couple of location
s
… most notably the capital. All other locations had minimal Modos presence and our people essentially just walked in and setup shop alongside the Naan resistance
.
”

“
Very good. Have Commander LeAnder focus his attention on the Syndicate Headquarters district. Any action by those two Syndicate Frigates in orbit
?
”

“
Negative. Combined they are not as big as we are, so the troops they deployed on the surface may be all they have to send. They are actively scanning the space surrounding the planet. My guess is they are trying to figure out how and where our forces came from. Since we are cloaked, it must have seemed like they appeared out of thin air
.
”

Lieutenant Zimmerman, the
Yorktown
's communication officer, tapped his ear and glanced up.

Cat noticed his sudden start, and asked, "What have you got, Ziggy?"

“
A message coming in from WhimPy-101, m
a’
am
.
”

“
Put me through, Lieutenant
.
”

The communications officer tapped his keyboard and nodded an acknowledgment when the channel was open.

Cat smiled as she sa
i
d
,“
Wha
t’
s up, my friend
?
”

A slightly metallic and yet warm and strangely compassionate voice filled the bridge.

“
Admiral, so good to hear your voice. I have missed our little talks
,
” the sentient weapons platform said over the loudspeaker.

“
I do, too, 101. Perhaps when this business with the Modos is done we can find time to continue them. Can I assume your call is not purely social
?
”

“
Indeed, it is not. I have been monitoring ENO traffic, as requested by Admiral Faragon. The commander of the ground forces on Naanac is a General Moss. He has sent a request for additional ships.
I’
m afraid you are about to have a lot more company
.
”

“
Any chance you can intercept and or block the message
?
”

“
I’
m afraid not, Admiral. The General used a hyperfold communications conduit to route his message directly to ships awaiting their turn at the trans-universal jump point. There are four more frigates and a destroyer
en route
to you now
.
”

“
ETA
?
”

“
Thirty minutes to jump into system, then another hour until planetary orbit
.
”

“
Thanks, 101. Advise the Admiralty board and request reinforcements. We ma
y
…”

“Admiral!
”
Ken Kirkland yelled, as he stood up and pointed toward the main view screen. Even from hundreds of kilometers above the surface, Cat could see the formation of mushroom clouds in many of the larger cities.