Cold Planet: A Gateway Universe Story Page 16

  “There’s probably fifty or more troops on that transport,” said Shara. “We’re gonna have to hit them pretty hard.”

  “They should be spread out a bit to cover a wider front until they make contact, so we just need to thread the needle,” replied Yates.

  “Let’s move,” ordered Martin, throwing her pack over her shoulder.

  Taking point, Martin scanned the forest as she loped through the muck. She and the others continued to move fast, on the lookout for the enemy. After a few kilometers, Martin noticed Daemon stop, his ears at first rigid and erect as the dog’s senses tightened. Suddenly Daemon’s ears shifted backwards, tight against the massive dog’s head, as he let out a low, deep growl. She went to one knee and warned the others with a hand signal. “Daemon, conceal,” she ordered with a whisper. The war dog lay flat, almost buried in the muddy water, its body taut, ready to explode into action.

  Martin’s pulse quickened as she pressed the butt of her rifle to her shoulder. Peering down the barrel, she saw a slight rustle among the evergreens and ferns to her left. Then a snap of a branch echoed in her ear.

  Going prone, she centered her rifle on the movement in the underbrush. She took a slow controlled breath to steady herself as a Terillian soldier emerged from the dense growth of ferns and tree limbs. Another emerged to the left of the first soldier, then a third. Her sights centered on the first Terillian, Martin watched in her periphery as two more Terillian regulars came into view. The swamp was silent save the occasional sound of the Terillian regulars slugging through the muddy water.

  Martin glanced toward Daemon—the war dog’s body was tight, like a loaded spring.

  It was time. Martin slid her finger inside the trigger guard and slowly squeezed.

  The Terillian, no more than eight meters away, tumbled backwards as Martin’s shot tore through the calm of the swamp. Martin saw Daemon flash past her position as the swamp erupted with gunfire.

  “Moving!” she shouted, jumping to her feet and rushing forward.

  To her right she saw Daemon crash into a Terillian at full speed. Moving past the war dog as it sank its teeth into the enemy soldier, she again dropped to one knee. A glimpse of movement to her right drew her attention and she fired toward a Terillian taking cover behind a large evergreen. “Shift right!” she yelled as Shara rushed past her.

  The Terillian stepped from behind the large tree, taking aim at Shara. Martin swung her rifle toward the enemy. Her sights stopped on the Terillian’s chest and she fired, toppling the enemy before he could fire on Shara.

  “Moving!” yelled Martin after Shara took cover behind a felled tree. She pushed hard with each stride as she slogged through the swamp, her feet partially sinking with each step. A Terillian jumped from cover to her left but a blast from Yates’s rifle slammed into his torso as she rushed past the dead Terillian and threw herself to the ground as she reached a small outcropping of dry land.

  As she scanned the area, she heard Yates yell, “Moving.” He soon took up a position to her right. Within seconds, Shara had taken cover to her left.

  “Clear forward!” she shouted.

  “Clear right!” added Yates.

  “Clear left!” said Shara.

  After a deep inhale to catch her breath, Martin again rose to her feet. “Let’s hustle. We might be able to get behind them.”

  “Almost done,” replied Yates, activating an anti-personnel mine and rising to his feet. “We’re set.”

  “The first clearing should be a hundred meters or so ahead,” said Martin. “We need to get there before them.”

  Chapter 13

  The hum of turbines combined with the snapping of limbs and saplings drew Martin’s attention. Looking through the scope of her rifle, she scanned the opposite side of the opening two hundred meters away. An evergreen tree shook and then fell forward as the sound of it cracking at its base echoed across the swamp.

  As the tree slammed into the swampy water, sending a muddy wave of water and mist into the air, a Terillian hover tank came to the edge of the forest. It stopped partially hidden in the underbrush, it’s double-barreled turret swung from left to right.

  She glanced toward Shara. The Guardsman was kneeling, concealed behind a large fern with his rifle over his shoulder and his hand on a detonator panel.

  A second crack shot across the swamp and another tank drifted to the edge of the opening.

  Turning back toward the clearing, she watched as Terillian infantry emerged from the undergrowth. ‘Ten…fifteen…twenty-two,’ counted Martin to herself as enemy troops emerged from the cover of the forest. “Daemon, hold,” she whispered, not wanting the dog to rush across the open ground when the firing started.

  She continued counting. “Thirty,” she mouthed when the last Terillian stepped into the swamp.

  Scattered and in staggered waves, the infantry slowly made their way through the clearing. With the infantry fifty meters into the clearing, the engines of the tanks revved and the two tanks, followed by two personnel carriers drifting over the surface of the swamp.

  She glanced to her right to see Yates, resting his rifle over a felled tree. There was no way they would take them all out, but if they could hit the infantry hard and slow down some of the armor they could make another run for the next clearing. If they could wear them down enough, the regulars might break off to regroup.

  Peering through her scope, Martin could clearly see the faces of the lead infantrymen, who were now only a hundred meters away. The Terillian sergeant at the point of the formation was focused and alert, but completely unaware he would be her first target. Setting her sight on the chest of the Terillian, Martin let her body relax, feeling her heartbeat and taking in a slow breath. She felt the pressure of the trigger against her finger give way and the recoil against her shoulder as the Terillian sergeant disappeared from her scope. Before she selected her next target, she saw debris cloud her vision as Shara detonated the anti-personnel mines.

  The blast wave of five explosions rushed across the clearing, causing Martin to turn her head away as it struck her. Quickly moving her rifle back into firing position, she saw one of the tanks had been too close to the blast. Its internal engine had been damaged, causing it to slam into the muck and sink several feet into the swamp. Unfortunately, the guns were still operational and it began to belch out 20 mm rounds from its twin barrels as the remaining infantry scattered for cover under the fire of Shara and Yates.

  “Time to move!” shouted Martin as she rose to one knee. “We—” Martin paused as movement on the left edge of the clearing drew her attention. Bringing her rifle to the firing position, she saw a flash of movement. Adjusting her scope she looked again, to see more movement, and then the form came into view. “Rangers on the left flank!” she shouted. “Fall back!”

  “Damn it!” cursed Shara as he shifted his fire toward the Rangers.

  “Daemon, retreat-guard,” she ordered and the war dog, stationary for the entire firefight, leapt to its feet. Martin turned back toward the opening, found another target and fired before she turned and exploded into a full sprint. The whizz of the occasional round from a Terillian rifle was suddenly punctuated by the thud of 20 mm rounds impacting around Martin and the others as they raced through the underbrush.

  A round impacted an evergreen close to Martin, sending splinters flying in her direction. Peppered on her right side by splinters, she pushed on. “We can’t let those Rangers outflank us!” she yelled toward Yates as rounds flew past them and impacted into the trees and ground around them.

  Martin saw Shara, a few meters in front of her, spin to his left and fall.

  “Shara’s hit!” she yelled and rushed toward him.

  Sliding to the ground next to Shara, she grabbed the Guardsman’s shoulder as he was pushing himself up from the muddy swamp.

  “Where are you hit?” she asked.

  “I…I don’t know,” answered Shara, breathing heavily.

  Martin quickly scanned Shar
a’s back. “Where—” She paused as she saw a hole in Shara’s pack. She quickly shoved her hand between Shara’s pack and his back. “You’re good,” she exhaled. “Your pack stop—”

  A burst from Shara’s rifle interrupted Martin, causing her spin to her left as a Terillian fell to the ground twenty yards away. Another enemy soldier burst through the forest and both Martin and Shara opened fire. “They’re right on us!” shouted Martin. “Grenades!” She pulled a grenade from her vest. “Frags out!” she yelled as she flung the grenade into the forest, followed by Shara and Yates.

  “Let’s move!” yelled Yates, turning back toward their escape route.

  Martin turned and started to run. As she did, a form to her right caught her attention. “Contact right!” she yelled as she opened fire. “Rangers!”

  “We’ve got to beat them to that next clearing!” yelled Yates.

  “Go!” shouted Martin, firing again before she turned to join the others.

  Martin focused on the ground in front of her as she sprinted through the swamp. Looking for small outcroppings, felled trees, and thick ferns, she used anything solid to get more traction. Her left foot had just splashed into muddy water when a stinging sensation tore through her thigh. She collapsed into the mud with a splash. “Damn it,” she grumbled, pulling herself back to her feet. Martin placed her hand over a small tear in her pants where a Terillian bullet had grazed her flesh before again breaking into a sprint. A few more strides and Martin could see the forest begin to clear to her left. “Stay right!” she ordered, wanting to move along the edge of the clearing instead of out in the open.

  “Rangers!” shouted Yates just as the forest to their right and front erupted with gunfire.

  Martin instinctively shifted her stride to the left and away from the gunfire. Focusing on the ground again, she burst through the underbrush and was into the open before she realized it. “Shit,” she growled as she continued to run; being in the open was bad.

  “We won’t make it across in time!” huffed Yates as he ran alongside Martin.

  “Over there, at 1 o’clock… cover!” replied Martin, pointing toward a tangled nest of evergreens and rocks.

  Alternating between kneeling and firing and a dead sprint, the three Guardsmen made their way to the natural redoubt of rock, wood, and mud. Martin, the last to reach the cover, leapt over a moss-covered rock into the muddy water on the other side. Shifting her body, she swung her rifle over the rock and took aim at a Scout Ranger at the edge of the clearing. She fired and the Ranger ducked back into the forest.

  “We can hold them off for a little bit from here,” said Yates, shoving another clip into his rifle and pressing the bolt release.

  “Until they move around to our rear,” added Shara. “Then they’ll—”

  Martin curled her body as 20 mm rounds from a Terillian hover tank slammed into the rock in front of her. “Or until the armor zeroes in on us,” she said sarcastically.

  “What’s the plan, LT?” grunted Shara, his left arm bleeding from a shrapnel wound.

  Martin jutted her head above the rock and quickly took cover again. The hover tank was now joined by the two transports and several infantrymen. She knew Scout Rangers were on their left flank and probably moving to attack them from the rear. And they would be picked off easily if they made a run to their right. They were trapped.

  As Yates fired a burst into the forest where the Rangers were positioned, Martin looked down toward Daemon. The dog returned her gaze, waiting for an order. “Daemon, defend-close,” she said before looking back toward Shara.

  “LT?” he asked again. “What are we going to do?”

  She could tell he knew the answer. “Face death with joy, for we will become immortal,” she said with determination. “Our shining glory never forgotten.”

  “So much for that free retirement buffet,” replied Shara. “But let’s go out big,” he added with a smile.

  “No other way,” replied Yates.

  Martin was almost overcome with emotion. It wasn’t fear or apprehension but a paradoxical combination of frustration and pride. She was frustrated she had failed to keep her men alive and at the same time, proud she would die with them. “Let’s make some noise.”

  Martin stood to take aim at her first, and maybe last, target.

  A line of metal and fire streaked across the swamp from Martin’s right to left as an anti-tank weapon slammed into the Terillian hover tank, jarring the machine. A second shot followed, boring into the tank with an ear-piercing metallic screech. The tank stopped and a massive explosion consumed the armored vehicle. The burning hulk tilted to one side, burying its gun barrels into the swamp.

  Martin spun to her left to see five more gas trails rocket across the clearing as bursts of small arms fire flashed from the edge of the forest. As the Terillian personnel carriers were engulfed in explosions, Martin turned toward the position held by the Scout Rangers. Quickly scanning the edge of the forest, she looked toward Yates. “Where are they?”

  “Who the fuck took out those Ters?” asked Shara.

  “The Phel?” asked Yates, his jaw tightening at the thought of fighting the warrior class.

  “They didn’t have that kind of tech,” replied Martin, turning her rifle toward edge of the forest where the unexpected fire had originated.

  “Then who the hell is—”

  “The Guard!” shouted Martin, interrupting Yates when her scope brought the uniforms of her fellow Guardsmen into focus. Her legs weakened and she stumbled slightly as the weight of the last week was suddenly released from her body.

  She was halfway across the clearing before she realized it.

  Slowing her pace, an uncontrollable smile came to her face when she saw Major Tyler Stone step from behind a group of Guardsmen.

  “Seems like you’ve had your hands full down here, Lieutenant Martin,” said Major Stone with a smile.

  Her first thought was to run to him and wrap her arms around him. But she wouldn’t do that. “Sir,” she replied. “How did you know—”

  “We received some garbled electron spin message. It had an old Terillian sub-structure but was on our frequency. All we could retrieve was Fallen Eagle and gym champ.” He paused as a smile came across his face. “It was a shit message but told us what we needed. The battalion landed yesterday and Mt. Castra and two other frigates chased off two Terillian vessels this morning.”

  “I’m sorry, Sir,” apologized Martin. “I—”

  “The message was perfect, Lieutenant,” interrupted Stone. “There’s clearly Terillian activity here.”

  “They are running a mining operation about twenty kilometers from our current location,” replied Martin.

  “That would explain it,” concluded Stone. “What’s your status? Where are the others?”

  “It’s bad, sir,” replied Martin. “Draxius went down. Attacked by three Terillian ships. We made it off with most of my platoon and some from Lieutenant Cresius’s, but the transport was attacked and we lost…” She paused. “We’ve taken heavy casualties.”

  “What’s your strength?”

  “You’re looking at it, Sir,” she answered, looking toward the ground for a second before continuing. “Except for the prisoners taken when Varus surrendered the camp while I was on a scouting mission.”

  “Prisoners?”

  “Yes, Sir. Captain Jackson and three men.”

  “Jackson was taken prisoner?”

  “He was injured by a lancecat because I…he was incapacitated.”

  “And the others?” asked Stone.

  “Lieutenant Varus surrendered them when the base camp was attacked by Scout Rangers.”

  “There’s no Varus in the Guard,” replied Stone, clearly confused.

  “Yes, Sir. The Draxius CO ordered us to take him along…” She paused as she weighed the lives of the brave crew of Draxius and her men against the First Family traitor. Her face grew hot and her hands clenched. “He surrendered and then gave the Te
rs our fucking comms data.” She let out an involuntary grunt. “When I find him, he’s going to pay—”

  “It’s a good thing we shifted to alternate frequencies,” replied Sergeant Major Hays, standing next to Stone.

  “Where were you when the camp was attacked?” asked Stone, his expression displaying a hint of anger ready to be unleashed.

  “Sir…I was…”

  “She went to scout an old Ter base for intel and to look for medicine for our men wounded by the lancecat,” interjected Yates, standing next to Martin. “While the Scout Rangers were attacking us, she was fighting Phelian warriors.”

  “What!” exclaimed Stone. “There are no more Phel.”

  “No, Sir,” shot back Martin before she could stop herself. She wanted to bury herself in the swamp and let it consume her. She looked on, frozen, as Stone shifted his gaze from Yates to her. After a few, agonizing, seconds, he spoke.

  “Sergeant Major Hays,” he shouted, still looking at Martin. “Get this place policed up and get the company ready to move out…Lieutenant Martin,” he added, “come with me.”

  “Yes, Sir,” she replied.

  Walking alongside Major Stone, Martin fought to maintain her bearing. No doubt her career was over. Her thoughts, horrible thoughts, began to explode like gunshots in her head. Everyone would say it was a mistake to have allowed her into the Guard. How would her father live with the shame? Taking heavy breaths, she waited for Stone to stop and tell her exactly how gloriously she had failed. A few meters from the unit, Stone stopped.

  He turned so that Martin had to face away from the others.