Hunt for the Saiph (The Saiph Series Book 3) (20 page)

"RSM, here’s the plan. You and Preuss take up sniper positions on this roof, it should give you a good angle onto the side of the Operations Building facing us. Semple, you’re with me. Hope you remembered your flash bangs."

With a small chuckle, Semple patted his suit’s leg pouch. "Never leave home without them, sir."

Inside his helmet, Egnorov grinned. "Good man. Suit. Command channel. Black Six. Black Six. Egnorov."

The frustrated voice of Captain Barshai, Black Team’s commander came back. "Go for Black Six."

"In thirty seconds I want you to lay down covering fire on the north and west aspects of your target. Watch for friendlies approaching from the east."

"Understood thirty seconds."

"Egnorov clear... RSM?"

From the tone in his voice, it was obvious the RSM was unhappy with the way things were unfolding. "Overheard, sir. We've got your back."

"I would expect nothing less, RSM."

A fusillade of plasma rifle fire from Black Team told him it was time to move. Crouching low like a sprinter, he burst out of cover and ran for all he was worth for the Operations Building, Semple by his side. The Deres standing guard at the windows caught sight of him and brought their weapons up to fire. Still ten meters to go. He wasn't going to make it. The Deres heads exploded in a fountain of blood and bone as single, precision shots from the RSM and Preuss serviced their targets. Breathing heavily, Egnorov crashed into the wall of Operations Building. The actual Operations Room was located on the upper floor of the building, so Egnorov was hedging his bets that that was where any hostages would be held. Keeping a wary eye on the nearest window, he called to Semple.

"Breacher!"

Semple was ahead of him. The staff sergeant was already pulling the coil of explosives from his left leg pouch and was pressing it hard against the wall in a rough oval, large enough for a Wraith-suited person to fit through. When he was finished laying the breaching charge, Semple reached into his other leg pouch, extracted two grapefruit-sized objects, and passed them to Egnorov. Another two appeared and were duly attached to his waist. Flash bangs. The weapon of choice when entering a room that contained both X-Rays and Yankees, the flash bang was a type of concussion grenade. Flung into a room, it exploded with a blinding light and a high-pitched sound, which blinded, deafened, and disoriented anyone in the room. The effects, though instant, were also temporary, so no permanent harm was done, but it did give assaulting troopers a window of a vital few seconds to enter a room and deal with any threats.

"Ready, Semple?"

"Just like old times, sir."

"Let’s do this!" Egnorov activated the link to Black Team and the RSM. "Breaching lower level now, switch fire to upper floors."

Semple tapped a command into his suit and the breaching charge went off, rocking the two troopers back on their heels. With the debris still flying through the air, Egnorov was through the breach and into the smoke-filled room beyond. Two Deres soldiers were on the ground, trying to struggle to their feet. Egnorov's rifle barked twice and they stopped moving.

"Two X-Rays dead, east room, ground level."

Semple moved past him to the open doorway. Flattening himself against the wall, he stuck his rifle barrel around the door frame and swept the corridor in both directions.

"One X-Ray at either end, sir. Stairway to the right. Door to another room to the left."

Egnorov stepped over to him, placing himself so they were now standing back to back.

"Three. Two. One. Step."

Like a well-practiced dance team, Egnorov and Semple took a single side step, placing themselves square in the middle of the corridor, weapons already lined up on their targets. The Deres were too busy concentrating out the windows to even notice that the reaper was ready to take them. Egnorov and Semple fired simultaneously.

"Two X-Rays dead, corridor, ground level."

Flash bang in hand, Egnorov approached the closed door to the remaining ground floor room. Semple braced himself, and with a kick the door flew open. His mechanically assisted kick actually took the door clean off its hinges, sending it flying into the room and into a hapless Deres soldier waiting to target anyone coming inside. With a deft lob, Egnorov sent the flash bang into the center of the room. Prepared for what was coming next, the two troopers had their visors dimmed and their external audio turned down. The Deres weren't so lucky. The blinding flash and high-decibel scream caused them to drop their rifles as hands flew, too late, to protect ear drums and eyes squeezed shut to no avail as black spots continued to dance on their retinas.

Egnorov and Semple entered the room on the heels of the detonating flash bang, methodically working targets from opposite corners in toward the center of the room. It was all over in a matter of seconds.

"Three X-Rays dead, west room, ground level. Moving to upper level. Black Team, check fire! Check fire!"

With the check fire order, both Black Team and the RSM would stop firing on the upper level of the Operations Building, leaving only Egnorov and Semple to deal with any Deres they encountered.

The two Thunder troopers moved back into the corridor and headed for the stairwell, reloading their spent rifles’ charge packs as they moved. Switching to thermal vision, Egnorov scanned the stairwell and the ceiling directly above him. The brighter red of two heat sources showed up plainly against the cooler blue permacrete. Two Deres were in ambush position covering the top of the stairs, waiting to greet the unwary.
Well, two can play at this game,
thought Egnorov. Throwing the image across to Semple's suit he raised his rifle and aimed at the ceiling. Taking his cue from Egnorov, Semple also took aim at the ceiling.

"Full auto on three. Two. One. Fire!"

The narrow corridor filled with the ear-shattering sound of two plasma rifles discharging superheated rounds into the permacrete roof as fast as the weapons systems could cycle. The plasma tore through the permacrete, the waiting Deres soldiers, and carried on through the roof of the building. Egnorov plunged into the thick dust, relying on his thermals to guide him up the stairs. With the threat now negated at the head of the stairs, he leapt over the two large holes in the floor, which had just held the Deres waiting in ambush for him. On his right was a partially open doorway. Slowing his head-long dash, he palmed a flash bang through the gap. Semple saw Egnorov's action and held himself at the stairwell for an extra second before bounding forward. As he cleared the demolished floor, the flash bang detonated and Semple took the door at the run, Egnorov swooping in behind him. Plasma rifles spat and more enemy soldiers were sent to meet their fate.

"Two X-Rays dead, west room, upper level."

That confirmed it. The hostages must be in the Operations Room. Egnorov was out of flash bangs, so it would be his turn to be doorman. Bracing himself, he raised his leg and smashed it into the door, which splintered and fell off its hinges. Semple was ready and two flash bangs followed the door. But whoever was in the room must have had the reactions of a cat. Egnorov didn't have time to get clear of the doorway as machine-pistol rounds hammered into his chest armor, knocking him off his feet. Semple saw him go down as the flash bangs detonated. He didn't hesitate. Rifle up, he flung himself into the Operations Room. Standing directly opposite the doorway was the biggest Deres he had ever seen. Grasped in one large hand was a compact machine pistol. The other hand rubbed at his eyes to clear his vision. Semple didn't give him the chance. His finger caressed the trigger of his rifle. One round took the Deres in the center of his chest, punching through his rib cage, and exiting his back, taking the contents of his chest cavity with it. The second round removed his head from his shoulders. Spinning in place, Semple’s rifle sighted on his next target. An older Deres in a more flashy uniform was trying to push himself behind a human female while struggling to pull a pistol from its holster. Two paces forward and Semple grabbed the Deres by the throat. The Wraith suit’s motors whined as the unfortunate Deres was picked up and flung across the room. Egnorov regained his footing and was entering the room, searching for targets. The sight of the flying Deres in uniform was enough as his combat instincts kicked in and his rifle seemed to fire of its own accord. The Deres was dead before he hit the ground.

The suit’s external audio pick-up came back on following the flash bang’s detonations and the unmistakable sound of a screaming human female’s voice came to him.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

Turning his head toward the sound, he was confronted by the scene of Semple in his Wraith suit trying to grab another Deres from behind a Nilmerg, who was punching and kicking out at the trooper while a human female was hanging off his back with one hand while punching at his armored shoulders with the other.

"Stand down, Semple, I think this particular Deres is our missing November."

Semple stepped back and his sudden change of direction caught the human female unawares. She fell ungracefully to the floor. Egnorov approached her as his suit automatically ran facial recognition on the red-faced, sweaty form. The name “Sarah Boone” flashed up in his HUD. The Nilmerg still lay prostrate over the last remaining Deres as they both eyed the unmoving Semple warily. The suit identified the Deres as Gils Sarar and the Nilmerg as Ull Fors, giving their roles as co-expedition leaders.

"Two X-Rays dead, Operations Room upper level. Two Yankees and one November alive and well. Black Six, send a couple of troopers in here to escort our guests to the mess hall. Break. Suit. Naval channel. Send mission successful. Signed Thunder."

#

BRIDGE - TDF NAM RIVER

"Commodore. Signal from Thunder. Mission successful." The call from the comms officer broke the tension that had subsumed the bridge ever since the first Buffalo launched nearly two hours before. The sensors of the
Nam River
had been able to follow the approach of the Buffalos carrying the Thunder troopers only intermittently, due partially to the terrain, but Vusumuzi Mkhize suspected it was mainly due to whatever adaptation the eggheads at Zarmina had made to the assault shuttles. The Deres Q Ship was still in geostationary orbit directly over the base and Mkhize was prepared to blow it out of space if he got even the slightest suspicion it had detected what was happening on the planet’s surface and made any move to intervene. When the Buffalos reached the landing zone and went to minimal emissions, the
Nam River’s
sensors had lost them completely, so it had been a pensive wait for Mkhize. Every minute he waited for Thunder to complete their mission was another minute the Deres fleet had gotten closer.

The tactical holo showed how close it actually was. Half an hour earlier, the surveillance drones he had ordered to keep a watch on the remainder of the Deres fleet reported all the remaining ships had formed up and were heading his way. The original fleet of Deres destroyers was only three minutes from entering his weapons range. Mkhize extended his arms out before him, fingers interlocked, and cracked his knuckles, allowing a smile to break his lips as he caught the inevitable wincing of some members of the bridge crew. The Deres might be three minutes from weapons range, but they were already well within range of Mkhize’s four Lynx cruisers, as he was about to make them realize.

"Tactical. Highlight the fleet flagship."

In the holo cube, a single Deres destroyer was highlighted.

"OK people, time to remind the Deres we are here to enforce the ceasefire. Tactical. The squadron is to go active on all weapons systems. Make the flagship your primary target."

"Aye-aye sir. Weapons systems are on line. Electronic Counter Measures are active. Ready to engage on your command."

"Very well. Comms. Hail the Deres flagship audio and video."

#

Aboard the
Volar
Fleet, Admiral Toro fought to keep his face impassive as the computers shouted out their warnings. Looking around his bridge, he could see barely concealed panic in the eyes of the crew. Toro had promised them that the Commonwealth ships would withdraw from the system rather than risk the lives of the hostages held by the marshall. As the distance between his ships and those of the Commonwealth reduced with no sign of Commonwealth ships maneuvering from their blocking positions, the first shadows of doubt clouded his confidence. Now though, not only did they have the impertinence to lock weapons on his ship, but they were jamming his communications with Marshall Poll on the planet’s surface and his ship in orbit. With a mental shrug, he dismissed the Commonwealth ship commander’s actions for what they could only be: a final act of defiance to save as much face as possible before he turned tail and ran back to his worthless Nilmerg allies.

Lieutenant Rana was once more seated at his post in front of the Communications Section, so it was he who alerted Toro to the incoming signal from Mkhize.

"Fleet Admiral. The Commonwealth commander wishes to speak to you directly."

Toro face reflected his unconcealed pleasure.
A-ha! So the mighty Commonwealth have rattled their sabers and now wish to inform me that they are going to accede to our demands. This is a moment to savor.
With a flourish, Toro said, "Please put him through. I have business to complete and I have had about enough of this Commonwealth game of bluff."