Steel Walls and Dirt Drops (12 page)

Chapter
Fourteen

Misha cursed under her breath. She knew deep down that she was in the tri-wave simulator and had been for less than an hour of real time. Every sensation was being fed into her brain through the connectors around the shaved part of her head. Electrical relays or not, everything felt real, smelled real, and even tasted real. She knew from the uncomfortable pressure across her midsection that the plumbing in a combat suit was uncomfortable and that she had been attached to the suit for too long. She had itches she hadn't scratched in what seemed like hours. It felt like three days sealed into the armor with the face shields in place. All she wanted was to brush her teeth. She could taste the scum build up. She swore if someone figured a way to improve dental hygiene in combat armor, then she would have their baby, whether it was man, woman or those weird Altan Thumbtaskers.

"What did you say, Trey?"
DeLaPax asked.

"Nothing,
Peace, I was just thinking out loud, I guess," Misha said.

"
Must be thinking too loud, Third," Singletary said. "I agree this is a bitch. So, why do we have to stay sealed up? I mean, all the scans show clean air with no biological or chemical contaminates." Almost as an afterthought he added "sir."

"You are and
you will stay sealed up until I say so. And we are doing it because I don't trust the Binders to use biological and chemical juices that our suits can detect. All suits received the new software upgrades after Guinjundst, but even that doesn't guarantee the Binders haven't come up with something new."

After a few more
grumbles, Misha said, "All right, APES. That's enough. I have spent a week in a suit and it didn't kill me. This little outing won't kill you either, unless you get distracted. Our HUDs aren't showing enemy contact, but we know they are around here somewhere. Chill and get icy cold, people, we’ve got work to do. Slezak, take Ottiamig, use your skid plates and move to the ridge I have marked on your TAC maps. Keep a low profile."

"Roger that, Third
," Trooper Aimee Slezak replied. "Come on, rookie. Let's move." The two slid along the ground like surfers on some unseen wave. Their skid plates were four-foot metallic discs sliding effortlessly through the air at grass top level.

"Park, you and Bear Cutler scoot to these points. Juarez and Metzler
move to the points on your TAC maps. That should give us an open line of sight across all cardinal points. On the bounce troopers, as the quicker we locate the enemy the quicker we can go home and get out of these suits. Everyone, keep your skid plates low to the ground. Let’s avoid being spotted by the enemy."

Misha mentally ticked off her troops. She had just paired off three veterans: Trooper Six Aimee Slezak, Trooper Two Jem Li Park, and Trooper Five Miguel Juarez with rookies Trooper Eight Tuamma Ottiamig, Trooper Seven Bear Cutler, and Trooper Eleven Oouta Metzler. More importantly, she had split up those three veterans from Trooper One Singletary. The four seemed almost joined at the hip. She was sure they formed a core of one problem subset for the 1392nd. She did not like putting rookies with troublesome troopers, but she did not have any other choice.

Ottiamig might not want favoritism because of his family connections, but the tall man did come from a family with a deep history of service to the Allied Systems. He was probably a better trooper than the veteran Slezak. The only other veteran she had was Peace DeLaPax, a tall stunningly beautiful woman. DeLaPax always seemed to be smiling and was supremely confident. That left the rookies Trooper Nine Israel Steinman and Trooper Ten Tammie Qualls. Both APES were exceptionally weak, neither given to extending themselves beyond what was required.

Using the squad wide comm
unication net Misha said, "Okay, APES. Everyone set your scans to the maximum passive range. Let's see if we can pick up some sign of where the enemy is hiding without giving our position away."

Misha check
ed the tell-tales of her squad on her HUD. Everyone seemed to be dragging a bit, but not enough to order meds. Qualls was showing some dehydration. Misha knew some rookies took time adjusting to the fact that their water supply was usually recycled from their own waste and sweat.

Misha toggled her comms for
one-on-one. "Tammie, you had better drink some more water. You need to get another three liters down before sunset." Misha heard the trooper sigh, but saw the water consumption level start to inch up.

Misha toggled her comms again. "Slezak, is that all the farther your passive scan can set? Crank it up,
trooper. Max it out."

"Roger that, Third
," Slezak replied.

Misha watched the comm channels. She did
not want to become one of those commanders who listened in on personal chatter among her troops, but she did want to see the activity levels. A four-way comm between Singletary, Slezak, Park and Juarez had been going on way too long.

Misha said. "Okay,
troopers. Let’s cut the chatter and-"

Before she could finish, Ottiamig
interrupted on the squad channel. "I have hostile markers at the edge of the TAC, Charlie 16 by Whiskey 354. I have hot marks!"

Misha checked her
TAC. Ottiamig updated the map with his scan data. It did indeed look like a large concentration of Binders, crawling up through the canyon between Slezak team and Park's teams.

"Good job, Tuamma
," Misha broadcast. "We should be able to squeeze them together and take them in the canyon."

"Trey!" Ottiamig shouted
in excitement. "They aren't moving like Binders. Look at this scan. They are bouncing forward. They are moving like humans in combat suits."

"What the hell is that
?" Singletary asked. "Slezak, what kind of scam are you trying to pull?"

"
I am not doing anything, honest. Check the scans, the kid is right," Slezak said.

"Okay, Third. What gives?" Singletary demanded. "Are we linking up with another squad? I thought we were the only
APES here?"

Ottiamig said, "It is not just a squad. That looks like we got almost a dozen squads in armor."

"Can the chatter, you APES. Slezak, can you read IFF?" The Identity: Friend or Foe was an active scan and would alert the new contact to her squad's presence and let any enemy know who was there.

"Roger, blipping now. Oh, shit
! We are taking fire. Damn, get me out of here," Slezak shouted.

"Stay put. I can't
analyze what I can’t see. Tag your signal to the squad net. Tuamma, confirm under fire from APES," Misha said. Her HUD interpreted the incoming fire at Slezak and Ottiamig as red streaks with definite overtones of angry.

"Yes,
sir, it is max range for mass driver fire. We aren't taking any damage and won't for a minute or two yet. But, I don't think they are APES. Check this magnified image," Ottiamig said.

Misha stared at the visual. "What do you think
, Singletary?"

"The kid is right. That ain't our suit config
uration. Look, the legs are too long and the arms are too short," Singletary replied.

"Sir,
DeLaPax here. That is an Orion Confederacy suit. I've seen scans on them in the armory repair bay."

"Are you
sure, Peace?" asked Singletary.

"Damn right
. I am an excellent armor repair tech. I know my scoobies. They are more mobile than our old v 2.0A, but they are not as well armored. Our mass drivers will punch a hole through two at a time, if we can get close enough," DeLaPax said.

Misha used the conversation between Singletary and
DeLaPax to lay in a new battle plan. She quickly uploaded it onto Able Squad's net. "Okay, APES. I have a new tactical plan. Follow what is on your HUD. Break into teams one, two and three as marked. Slezak and Ottiamig, hold there until I give the word."

"Come on, Third
," Slezak whined. "That is going to expose us to more fire. Hell, that puts us in H.E. range."

"It is barely within H.E. range, Aimee
," Misha said. "I don't see any indication they have skid plates. Your skid plates will move you out of range before you get hit. You are the bait. We need you to draw them in and draw their fire until we can catch them in the open. Now enough chatter people. This isn't up for debate."

Misha watched as Singletary slid his skid plate along at grass top height as he moved into position with Park and Cutler on the left flank.
Qualls skirted wide to join up with Juarez and Metzler as they scooted up the back of a sloping hill on the right. She wasn't happy about using skid plates after Guinjundst. But, she had been assured that Bambi and Boozer, infected with Binder biological and chemical agents, drove their plates into the ground on Guinjundst and not the other way around.

A single comm request blipped on her HUD. It was Singletary asking for a one-on-one. She toggled her
comm unit.

"Okay, Singletary. What
’s up?"

"Look, Third.
Are we supposed to fire on humans? I mean, we are not at war with the Orion Confed, are we? Besides, there are too damn many for one squad to handle. That must be a full second sized unit."

Misha toggled her comm to the squad's open channel. "Okay you
APES, our IFF marked the incoming suits as hostile and they fired at us. I don't need any more justification than that to shoot back. We are going to draw these A-holes into a trap and pound them into mush."

De Le Pax shouted, "Incoming, check your upside, eleven o'clock high. I am reading what looks like rocks with
those weird Binder markings."

"Hold your positions,
APES," Misha commanded. The trajectory of the incoming was definitely unguided. The signal showed it to be native chunks of rock. Sure enough, there was evidence of Binder activity. Peculiar and unreadable vegetation marked the edges of the rocks. The rocks were arcing toward them as if tossed from a long distance away, yet still coming in suborbital.

"Slezak and Ottiamig, take off no
w. Lead the hostiles to us," Misha ordered. "Team one, keep it cold you APES, and stay in position." They would expose her ambush if they moved to avoid the incoming rock barrage.

Misha watched the indicators on her HUD gr
ow closer as the rocks curved toward her. She felt the ground complain as large rocks and boulders began to rain out of the sky. One rock the size of a two-seat flitter smashed into the ground a few meters from her. The shockwave flipped her thirty meters before she plowed back into the dirt. Keeping as low as she could, she crabbed backward to the crater caused by the rock's impact. Now she had cover.

She heard a
high-pitched scream over the comms. It sounded like Qualls. However, checking her command HUD, she saw a large boulder hit Steinman. His telltale on her HUD showed severe damage to his legs. They were probably crushed. Even a hardened combat suit can only provide protection from some levels of damage. These rocks were coming down with less than terminal velocity, but they were hitting the ground with force enough she could feel the ground quake and churn.

"Hold steady,
APES." She hit the command override on Steinman's voice comms. She checked his vitals. He was still alive, but the suit had automatically sealed off his legs and pumped him so full of meds that he was unconscious. She noticed Able Squad medic Cutler's comm signal also logged in to check on Steinman. Misha thought, "Good check for a rookie. I need to remember to give him an attaboy."

Misha was tossed out of her crater with
the thump from another near miss. She ducked back just in time to miss being smacked by Slezak's skid plate as the trooper zipped past. Ottiamig dove off his skid plate as it shot by. He flew into Misha's crater. Without a rider to guide it, his skid plate slowed to a walk and furrowed its way into the ground.

"Welcome to my hole, APE
," Misha said.

"My, my, my, s
ir. I do love what you have done with the place." Ottiamig's voice cracked in a smile.

By way of reply, Misha called,
"Hostiles in firing range. Team one, fire at will. Make sure you use plenty of tracers, so they know where we are. Keep them bunched up and coming through that little valley. Shoot any high bouncers moving up the slopes of the hills. I want them coming straight at team one. Teams two and three, check fire until they are well and truly cornered."

She stepped up to the edge of the crater and opened fire with
high-explosive rounds that fell on the rear of the Orion troops. It had the effect of pushing the Orions forward into her mass driver fire.

Ottiamig took careful aim with his mass driver at an individual target. The figure blew backwards and crumpled to the ground. Misha toggled her comm for one-on-one with him and slapped the side of his helmet to get his attention.

"Negative, rookie, this isn't sniper school. Open it up. Fire controlled bursts of one to two seconds. Shift and fire again. Point at clusters, don't aim."

An H.E. round exploded in their faces, knocking both Misha and Ottiamig backwards into the hole.
Misha could not tell if the red was the HUD interpretation of hostile fire or the explosion itself. She rolled with the blast and came up on her feet. Bounding forward she targeted the back side of the enemy troops and let loose with another barrage of return H.E. She sprayed the oncoming forces with a long sweeping burst of mass driver fire.