Assault on Ambrose Station: A Seth Donovan Novel (29 page)

Breathe in, breathe out.
I am in control, I am the one they should fear.

“Move out.” I whispered.

47.

Renthal’s fireteam lowered themselves lightly over the edge, still ensconced in shadow far away from the enemy. Harris’ team, their rifles configured for marksman shooting, was to remain up high providing covering fire. Kekkin, Art and I moved further down the concourse, until we were past the last group who were fiddling with the comms node. Kekkin and I lowered ourselves down to the level below, then slipped over the edge of the railing to hang below the two Ghantri. I watched the other teams get into position through helmet cams superimposed on my overlay.

Hand over hand, we shimmied across until we were directly below the two node handlers, while Art remained behind in the cover of some discarded debris. When we were in position, I sent a double click over the suit comms.

Art popped the pin on a thermal grenade and tossed it at the group by the vehicle. The sudden motion cause them all to turn in the direction of the grenade as it bounced to their feet. The Jaani were the first to react, screeching in alarm. With a chuffing
whoosh!
the explosion blossomed into a fiery ball of gas, knocking them all off their feet and engulfing those nearest the grenade.

At that moment, Renthal’s fire team opened up on the first group, their backs to the oncoming fire as they turned to face the explosion.

Kekkin and I used the full strength of our suits to catapult up and over the railing, drawing our
lurzak
blades as we went. In a split second, we were upon our enemy, hacking into their blubbery flesh. The staccato fire of automatic weapons echoed through the concourse, bright flashes of hardlight munitions lancing across the air to hammer against the aliens. As I slashed my blade through a flailing limb, I caught a solid blow across my helmet, sending me skidding sideways. I spun as I slid, bringing my legs up and kicking, the momentum launching me into the air to land on my feet. The wounded Ghantri swung a large handgun in my direction, but I kicked off a wall with one foot and activated my Spatial Translation Paradigm. I launched myself into his chest, knocking his gun from his hand.

With a roar, the beast flung himself backwards, almost knocking the comms node from its perch near the railing edge. I used the momentum to drive my blade into his chest again, twisting the edge and pulling sideways. With the added strength of the suit, I easily tore the blade through half a metre of flesh and bone. The roar swiftly became a gurgle as the Ghantri died. With a lunge, I dashed forward and caught the node by an antenna before it slipped over the edge. I had a feeling our tech guys would learn something from it.

Kekkin had already finished off his opponent and was racing towards the debris where the grenade had gone off. One Jaani had managed to scurry far enough away from the grenade to survive, and two Ghantri were pulling themselves free of the wreckage, one alight with flames. Without breaking stride, Kekkin flicked his blade out as he passed the Jaani, removing its head. The remaining Ghantri shrieked in rage, scrambling to get to their feet. The cumbersome prosthetics were proving a burden, and by the time Kekkin reached them, they had not yet regained their footing.

I quickly surveyed the skirmish. The first group was down to two Ghantri, both were wounded but holding out having fallen back towards cover. Renthal and his men were forcing them to keep their heads down, but as I glanced up at the level above, I heard and saw the loud report of the battle rifles of Harris and his team. Bullets slammed into the pinned Ghantri, overpowering their shields in moments.

Kekkin, in the meantime, had finished with his two opponents and was cleaning his blade with a cloth before putting it away. He scanned the area as well, then looked my way and nodded.

The sudden quiet was deafening, the only sound the crackling of the flames by the vehicle. I joined up with Art and Kekkin, and we made our way over to Renthal. We had almost gotten there when we heard the challenging roar of more Ghantri above us, several floors away. I quickly checked my blueprint.

“Harris, stay there and cover these access points.” I sent him a flash on his overlay, indicating which areas I meant. “Renthal, you and Rego cover this walkway, Masters and Triptych, climb up to that walkway and cover Renthal. Art, move over to that pylon, Kekkin and I are going to pull that vehicle to the walkway over this span and set up a trap. Harris, you’re to cover us.”

Everyone leaped into action, shifting their positions. I could see two distinct groups of Ghantri making their way down. One group, I could make out about five to ten strong, were leaping down the levels onto bridging walkways. The other, no idea how strong, was wending its way down a stairwell further along the concourse.

The second group had multiple access points they could come at us from, while the first clearly was aiming to engage us directly. Normally, tactically mindful soldiers would never give up the higher ground. I knew that Naga Team would have remained on an upper level and fired down upon us, but the Ghantri considered such tactics weak and cowardly. They had superior numbers, and we had clearly slain their beloved Jaani. This was enough, I knew, to drive them into coming at us as quickly and as forcibly as they were able. Each would be eager to tear us limb from limb for killing their
pets
.

The plan to counter them was unorthodox, I will admit. It reassured me, though, that none of my team questioned my placement. They instantly assumed I knew what I was doing. I just hoped I actually did.

As the first group was dropping down, Harris was going to start shooting at them. Kekkin and I would present a more viable target for their rage but just before they reached us, I planned to drop a grenade each and fall back. I was hoping the vehicle would add to the carnage. Renthal and Masters, who I’d set up on two of the ingress routes to this area, would delay the second group for as long as needed for us to deal with the first. Harris and company would have clear lines of fire for both groups as they approached. Any of our teams that needed to fall back would be moving towards another team and could receive support from them. Eventually, if we all fell back, we could funnel both groups into the widened platform we had just done battle on, surrounding the group on all sides.

Kekkin and I grabbed the vehicle and started to slide it onto the gantry between platforms. Art’s thermal grenade had damaged it, but mostly it was just superficial. We were five metres from the spot when I heard the crack of Harris’ rifle team overhead. An answering roar directly above us told me we would have to hurry.

When the vehicle was in place, we set grenades on a delayed timer and jammed them into the vehicles engine and near a power cell. I turned to high tail it out of there, when something slammed into my shoulder, sending me sprawling. Kekkin, light on his feet, scooped me up as he ran passed me and pulled me to my feet. I stumbled a few steps but managed to remain upright. Art was yelling at us, while firing madly above us.

Bullets were landing all around me - one clipped my suit leg, nearly knocking me off balance again. I saw Kekkin take one in the small of his back, which made him stumble, but we both kept on running. I slid the final few yards, turning as I did to fire my rifle at my attackers.
Shit,
I thought,
more of them than I guessed.

Nearly a dozen were dropping down from an outcropping directly over the gantry we had just left. Another eight were pausing at the railing to fire down on us, the rest were leaping with glee to our level, and almost all had cybernetic blade tipped limps extended. The sight made me think of spiders, rearing up to pounce. As I tucked my legs into cover and braced my rifle on the side of a pylon, I hazarded a glance towards Masters and Trip, who was just within sight. They were firing, although did not appear they were being rushed as we were.

Our grenades went off, blowing a large section of the walkway apart. The vehicle scattered debris in all directions, blasting several Ghantri off the walkway into the lower levels. The initial blast also caught two as they passed the vehicle to run at us. They flew towards us, knocked off their feet. Kekkin, Art and I hammered at them until their shields flashed out and our fire cut them down.

Harris was keeping the group on the level above us busy, and the two opposing groups were trading fire. More were coming along the gantry, though, and my attention turned to them. One of them shoulder barged the burning wreckage, pushing it aside. Art shot him in the head with her rifle and his corpse fell forward onto the flames. The way was clear, though, and two more came bounding over the walkway towards us. Their shields winked out, but their armour protected them from the worst of our fire. My clip ran dry, but instead of reloading, I flung my hand up and activated my Stun Paradigm. The one on the left flew his limbs up in the air and roared, electricity playing out over him. The electricity must have done something to his Augs, because they seized up and caused him to tumble to the ground, rolling as if a spinning top knocked over. Kekkin and Art focused on the remaining one, but it dove towards Art. At the last minute, Kekkin whipped his rifle butt out and smashed the Ghantri on the side of the head, snapping its neck. The body bowled into Art, sending her flying backwards into a wall.

“I’m okay!” she yelled.

I reloaded, saw there were no more charging Ghantri, and looked around at the others.

Renthal and Rego were falling back, although were moving calmly while sending a torrent of bullets towards the passage they were guarding. Masters and Triptych had moved to another vantage point and were firing across the concourse at the last of the Ghantri above us, where Harris and team had whittled their numbers down to three.

“Kekkin.” I said, pointing my rifle towards Renthal. I went over to where Art had fallen. She was pinned below the dead Ghantri, so I helped free her and pulled her to her feet. She nodded her thanks, then reloaded her rifle.

Renthal and Rego reached us and Kekkin had joined in the sustained fire. A mass of Ghantri were trying to push through the passage further up, but they were taking a beating to get through. First one, then two, managed to dash through the fire and in to cover before we could take them out. I glanced above and saw that Harris was still engaging the first group, but they had them pinned.

“Masters!” I called, “Flank them!”

He instantly diverted his aim towards the group trying to charge through the passage. Taking stock of the situation, he dashed further along the concourse, practically dragging Triptych with him. When they were in position, they began unleashing on the Ghantri again. Caught in a crossfire, the pair went down in seconds, while three more tried to get out but were cut down. No more came through after that.

A final gunshot from Harris’ battle rifles echoed throughout the concourse, followed by a wet thud as the last Ghantri fell from the upper level to the concourse floor nearly forty metres below.

My ears were ringing, but I heard all the fire team leaders calling “Clear!”

48.

“Clear!” shouted Denno over the intercom by the rear airlock.

“Hang on to something!” called Max over the ship’s PA.

As the last pinion was blown clear, Hergo slapped the airlock controls and the pair raced to latch onto some strapping. With a thunderous roar felt through the soles of their feet, the Dreaming of Atmosphere launched off the surface of the dig site.

Up in the command module, Max, Crege, Fel and the Votus were pushed back into their seats as the ship lurched into space.

“Fel, give me an update – where is it?”

“Nine thousand kilometres and gaining, Captain. If they weren’t aware of us before, they certainly are now.”

“Crege, try and keep as many asteroids between us and them. I don’t want to give the bastards a clear shot as we accelerate.”

“Aye, aye,
kitrak!
”

Crege took the ship into a corkscrew pattern, weaving around several asteroids as they went. Fel cried out in alarm when Crege brought the ship in too close to a pair of rocks the size of a corvette.

“Easy! They’re not shooting at us yet!” cried Max.

“This is incorrect, Captain.” came the calm reply of Melafenaseance, “I have detected an energy signature conversant with Ghantri drone signals.”

“Drones! Can you give me a reading on what kind of capability the ship has?”

“I will need to analyse the energy patterns more closely, Captain.”

“Then do it!”

“Captain!” called Fel, “I believe I recognise the class of ship. Before we launched I took several magnified images of the craft on the optical sensors. It appears to be a modified Esper Monarchy drone frigate.”

“A Calliope Class?”

“If I’m not mistaken.”

“Modified how?”

“Large sections of the hull have been replaced.”

“A salvaged wreckage from the Push,” suggested Mel, “It is a common encounter in the system.”

“Right, send me the stats on the Calliope, Fel. Put them up on my console.”

“Sending them now.”

“Crege, keep it up, I want as much distance as we can get before we hit open road, and as much acceleration as we can spare. Don’t take us below thirty percent thruster fuel, though.”

Crege answered by kicking the ship’s acceleration up a few gravities. Fel started to breathe in hissing gasps, but continued operating his console.

Max studied the data as fast as she could, wishing that Seth was here with her. He was always good at finding weaknesses in enemy vessels.

“What is destination,
kitrak?
” asked Crege, sounding like he was merely taking the ship out for a shakedown cruise.

“We’re going to have to get line of sight to the Astral Spider. We can’t outrun a Calliope. Not all the way to the Jump Gate, that is. Unless those modifications made her slow as a Junker, which I doubt, we’re going to have to deal with it sooner or later. I’m going to transmit a tight beam message to Garner, hopefully they can help.”

“Warrior needs waypoint.”

“Mel, need you to find a good spot to transmit line of sight to the Spider. Fast as you can.”

“Calculating. It is difficult with such primitive systems, however…”

“Stow it, Mel. Just get it done.”

The Votus ducked his head and started tapping out commands on his console, muttering words in his native tongue.

“Captain,” called Fel between clenched teeth, “Multiple contacts detected, nine kilometres directly astern, ten degrees south.”

“Can you get me a visual?”

A small window appeared on Max’s console, showing the optical sensors at the rear. She manipulated the image to zoom in and focus on a swarm of drones.

“Anti-ship drones, standard configuration by the looks of it. Fast buggers. Damnit! We’ll need to launch our interceptors.”

“We may not be able to recover them if we do,” warned Fel, “not unless, through blind luck, the Calliope hits an asteroid and blows up.”

“Can’t be helped, those drones will be on us in less than a minute if we don’t do something. Remind me when we get the chance to outfit the Dreaming with a Class 1 weapon.”

“I believe we already have that order.”

“Well, make sure. I’m getting sick of losing all my interceptors.”

“Waypoint sent.” declared the Votus, “Time to intercept – eleven minutes, forty-two seconds.”

“Good job, can you operate a DonCrest Simul-Cast Mark 12 drone operating system?”

“I am familiar with its controls, yes. Launching interceptors. Link is good. Deploying defensive screen pattern.”

“I count eighteen drones, think you can take them all out?”

“Not before they begin their first attack run, however I should be able to disable them all eventually.”

“Good luck.” Max reached over to the comms panel, “Cuts, don’t worry about feeding the beamer. Work with Hergo and Denno to shut down all non-essential compartments and drain their power. Put the extra juice into the shields. And I want all of you in light duties space suits
now!
”

“Interceptors engaging. Assault drones ignoring our first intercept run. Four destroyed! Bringing interceptors around to re-engage, should catch up just as the drones reach us.”

“Evasive manoeuvres?” asked Crege over his shoulder.

“Please. Sorry, Fel. Remember to flex your shoulders, calves and thighs.”

Fel managed a faint whimper, dreading the horrible g-forces about to assail their bodies. With an almost gleeful chuckle, Crege began to randomly juke and dive, spinning the ship in tight curves. The internal stabilisers strained to counter the extra forces applied to the ship, and a grinding, metal on metal sound revibrated over the din of the thrusters. In moments, Fel collapsed like a ragdoll, held in place by his crash webbing. Max started to lose vision, trying to force air against her glottis by making a ‘hic’ sound.

“Interceptors reengaging. Five destroyed. Drone swarm breaking off attack. Several shield hits detected. No damage.” came the monotone voice of the Votus. Max had time to wonder why he was unaffected by the g-forces, then she too passed out.

She blacked out for no longer than a few seconds, before Crege halted his mad astronautical acrobatics. Fel came around moments later, wiping drool from around his mouth.

“Are we good?” Max asked frantically.

“We escaped damage, but the remaining swarm has broken into separate patterns. Regardless of which swarm the interceptors go for, the other will have a clear run at the ship in approximately forty-seven seconds.”

“Why didn’t you black out?”

“A biological augmentation. I thought it prudent to obtain such modification when I decided to assist the Protectorate in their fight against the Ghantri.”

“Might I inquire about receiving one,” asked Fel weakly, “if we survive this mission?”

“I will forward you the specifics of the Aug once we have left this combat, Fel’negr.”

“What’s the likelihood of stopping the attack if we split our interceptors as well?”

“Unlikely, the assault drones are too numerous to be destroyed so efficiently. I fear we will lose our interceptors, while still giving the enemy a clear attack run.”

“Okay, hang on Fel. Just pick any swarm, Mel, and take them out. We’ll deal with the last swarm after it gets a free shot. What’s the status of our shield?”

“We took some hits, but none penetrated. Shield should hold for a few more hits, but I doubt it will withstand another sustained attack like the last.”

“Crege, got another high gee evade in you?”

“Warrior is insulted
kitrak
had to ask. Warrior did not black out, either. Warrior has no implant.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re a tough sonofabitch. Punch it!”

Fel started to curse, but was cut off sharply when the g-forces got too much. Both Max and Fel strained against the added gravity, but it was pointless. First Fel, then Max blacked out.

“Engaging swarm alpha. Swarm beta firing.”

As Max regained consciousness, she was aware of several indicators flashing on her console. Melafenaseance glanced over at her, then began delivering his report.

“Damage to Deck 1 and Deck 2. Hull breach detected Deck 1, unknown damage to Deck 2. I have alerted the deck hands to assess Deck 2 and have sealed the upper decks. All drones destroyed in swarm alpha, interceptors attempting to acquire swarm beta. We have lost one interceptor, another two received minor damage.”

“Uh. Can our drones catch them before they make another run?”

“I believe so, yes.”

“Will we be able to recover them?”

He performed some calculations, then turned back to Max. “If I avoid engaging the drones directly, instead swing them around on this vector, I should be able to recover them once the enemy drones are dealt with. We cannot perform any more manoeuvres, however, and the enemy drones will get within a few hundred metres of being able to engage us once more.”

“Think you can take out the last of them?”

“If they focus on lining up for their attack run, yes. If they turn to engage the interceptors, there is a slight chance they could destroy the remaining drones.”

“Slight chance? This is the first time I’ve heard you speak in anything other than absolutes.”

“Even my grasp of mathematics has its limits, Captain. I give it a 17% chance I will fail to destroy all enemy drones.”

“I got a feeling we may need those interceptors before we get out of this fucking star system. It’s a risk we need to take.”

“I agree. Time to intercept - three minutes, thirteen seconds.”

While they waited, the Argen reported in. They had found that there was very little damage on Deck 2, but an emissions port was malfunctioning. Cuts reassured Max that it would be a simple EVA repair job, so she ordered the two deck hands to plug the hull breach on Deck 1. Since they would not be manoeuvring, it was safe to rove about the ship performing damage control.

“Interceptors approaching targets.” reported Mel, “Ten seconds.”

“All hands, brace, brace, brace!” called Max over the PA.

“Drones turning to engage interceptors,” Mel called out, “Targeting individual drones…lost one more interceptor but all targets neutralised. Correction – one got through! One drone broke away from the swarm. Unable to engage, all interceptors occupied.”

“Crege!” called Max. Fel madly griped his console and groaned.

“With pleasure,
kitrak
, the Dreaming is
yendag!
”

With a slight jerk of his flight yoke, and a kick against the lateral thruster controls, Crege swivelled the ship to point ninety degrees directly up from their previous heading, then pulsed the thrusters. As the final drone came swooping in, it was unprepared for the sudden shift in aspect on its target. It hastily tried to adjust its heading, but it was simply travelling too fast.

With a clang, it collided with the hull of the Dreaming and disintegrated.

“Seth was right,” said Crege as he nodded sagely, “Drones are
kak
.”