The Conscripts: Fight or Die (Blood War Book 3) (13 page)

“Okay, look. I will be leading you into combat. I will be standing by your side. I need to know who and what you are.”

Dieter and the others looked at one another, afraid to say anything.

“Okay, I will start it off. I didn’t expect to have a platoon as well trained as any in a regular Von Fleet military unit. I was expecting some real shitbirds, and what do I find? I find a bunch of well-trained and tough soldiers. Now I am a Von Fleet career-military type for the same reason most have a job. It was the only thing I was qualified to do, and Von Fleet offered better pay and benefits than the Confederation. I didn’t want the stigma of joining the Legion, so I became a private-military-corporation soldier. It has paid well and I have good benefits. I volunteered for this job for one reason and that was the money. They are paying those of us who volunteered a big bonus as well as double our normal salary. When I took the job, I pictured myself having to train you as you have already been trained. We are both ahead of the game. Now who are you?”

“Not all of us trust anyone who works for Von Fleet,” Ardan said.

Striker moved closer to Ardan. He looked down at him. Dieter and Minga exchanged a glance. They were ready to defend Ardan if needed. Ardan hesitated and looked over at Dieter. Dieter hesitated too, not knowing what to say, then thought,
Fuck it
. He nodded.

“Because two Von Fleet security types raped me the night I was arrested.”

Striker took one huge hand and put it on Ardan’s shoulder.

“Son, those of us in the military arm of Von Fleet hate those fucks as much as you do. They are chosen because of their mental profiles. I am sorry, but I am not a security type and that is all you need to know.”

Dieter was surprised at his candor. He had not expected it from a Von Fleet military NCO. He decided he would tell him as much as he thought he could.

“Former Legionnaires were our drill instructors in boot camp,” Dieter said.

Striker turned to him with a surprised look on his face. “Why would they do that?”

“They said they had been sentenced to the Legion and knew how it felt to be in our position. They said it saved them and they wanted to make sure we had a chance to survive.”

Striker’s big, tough face broke out into what looked like the closest thing to a smile Dieter had ever seen from him.

“Well, I’ll be fucked. You never know with those Legionnaires. They are some crazy mothers. There is absolutely no telling what they will do.”

Striker looked at them with new respect. Then he said, “That explains it. Now I know where to start training you. I was just informed that your Von Fleet occupational specialty will be 03. In other words, you are going to be grunts. The people who carry guns and kill people. You’ll receive your VFOS tattoo tomorrow. It means the best food, and you will be paid more, but it also means you will have a greater chance of getting killed. It is my VFOS thought, and I’ve survived this long. Listen to me, and between what the Legionnaires taught you and my own experience you just might live through this.” Striker paused his eyes going from person to person making sure they were listening.

“The Legionnaires had time to make you tough and good shots. I’m going to take you to the next level. We will work on tactics. Now get your gear out of those bags. The only storage you have is under your mattresses. It may be lumpy, just like your heads. I will give you half an hour to get squared away, then I will come back for you. We will start your training immediately. We only have a couple of weeks before the landing. There's a lot to learn. Now get to it.”

Sol System

LSD Tarawa

Hangar Bay

Hu and Nani were standing next to one another in a battalion formation. Hu looked over at Nani. “Looks like they're going to finally tell us where we're going and what we're going to do.”

“Okay, I’ve got Ceti in the pool. What did you bet on?” Nani said.

“Too early for Ceti. I took Indi. I heard the Xotoli have invaded it so they can have another crack at Rift from a system they control. Don’t forget it has a wormhole passage directly to the Lyten system.”

“Bullshit. We need to retake Ceti,” Nani replied.

“You’ll make a lousy general.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Attention on deck!” Major Gad Regen shouted.

Hu, Nani, and the assembled Raider battalion came to attention. General Sand strode into the bay and stepped up to the podium. He looked out at the Marines standing at attention for a long moment before he spoke.

“At ease.”

The Marines all relaxed.

“Once more, my brothers and sisters in arms, we are about to enter into combat. I wanted to say a few words before Major Regen gave you your detailed briefing. Most of you have been with me since the very beginning, when we proved the value of ground troops in the Corporate Wars. Then on Rift and most recently on 703. You have endured much, but more awaits us. We are about to make a landing on a fortified planet held by the Xotoli, and this time we are going to take and hold it. No human has ever done that before. We will be the first, and you Raiders will be at the tip of the spear. You will land before the rest of the invasion. Your mission is critical to the success of the invasion as a whole. That is why I assigned the Raiders. I know I can count on you to capture your objective and hold it no matter what.”

Hu glanced at Nani and whispered.

"Great, we get the shitty job again."

Nani just smiled.

“You are Raiders. As I said after 703, you honor those we lost by how you live your lives. I expect nothing less than your best because I know that you will give it. That is how Major Aijuba trained you and that is the way you will conduct yourselves. Of that I am sure.”

Again he paused, then he thrust his fist into the air and shouted, “Aijuba!”

The Raiders as one thrust their fists into the air and repeated their new war cry.

“Aijuba! Aijuba! Aijuba!”

Sand stood staring at them, and they continued the chant until he raised his hand. As one the Raiders went silent.

“The planet you will invade is called Chika. It is Rift on steroids.”

Hu glanced over at Nani, and she just rolled her eyes.

“It’s colder, windier, and more inhospitable than Rift. Think of Mars before it was terraformed. Your training on Rift will serve you well, because this is not a raid. No smash, grab, and get out this time. We go down, hold our ground, and dig those fucks out of their holes and kill them. We will not retreat. We will either take this planet or die trying.”

Nani glanced over at Hu this time. Her face serious, their eyes met and she said.

"Know any jokes now?"

"Nope." Hu replied. "No jokes now."

Sand touched the podium and a holo of Chika appeared. The holo zoomed in to the surface, seeming to fly just above it as Sand began to describe the planet.

“It is winter on Chika, so we will miss the summer sand hurricanes that have winds of well over two hundred miles an hour. Some of the storms can become planet-wide, but the winter ones are less violent. There is little water on the surface, but beneath the surface there is plenty in the form of ice. Von Fleet will drill and bring it up for our use. There are no active volcanoes—Chika is too old—but old calderas dot its surface. The largest is six hundred miles across and over twenty-five-thousand feet high. About fifty percent of the surface is a maze of canyons and craters. There are large plains cut by dunes, hummocks, knobs, and other surface features shaped by the winds. In other words, it is an ideal place to defend against an invasion. The Xotoli showed us on 703 that they like to dig in to defend. Expect the same thing here. If given the opportunity, they will counterattack as soon as possible after the initial contact.”

Hu stared at the reddish surface of Chika. It did look much like Rift from space.

“There are no known lifeforms except lichens and some hardy plants. So if something moves, kill it. You have been given the mission of taking and holding the spaceport currently under construction. All of you were on Rift and some of you were at the spaceport. You know how important it is for us to take and hold the port. One of the main reasons we were able to hold off the Xotoli invasion on Rift was the fact that some of the men and women standing here held it until relieved. We expect the same this time. You will be dropped on the port itself. There are hybrids working on building the port. So this will be a combat drop. Expect resistance when you hit the ground.”

Hu and Nani looked at one another. They both had been at the spaceport on Rift and knew trained defenders could make this a very costly battle—they themselves had against overwhelming odds. The Xotoli had thrown thousands of hybrids at them, but Hu and Nani, with the other Legionnaires, had been able hold the port until reinforcements had arrived. It had been very close, but they had held. Both had barely survived. So they knew how difficult this mission was going to be. General Sand didn’t need to elaborate on it. They also remembered how many of the Xotoli hybrids they’d killed as they were dropped on the port. Now it was their turn to be aerial targets.

“I cannot emphasize enough just how important it is for you to take and hold the port. The rest of the invasion will be on an open plain approximately five miles from the port. It was the closest area that non-drop-qualified troops are able to land. Once their landing zones are secured, a forward operating base will be established there as both a strongpoint and a place for supplies. You will land first. Naval gunfire will try and take out any defenses they can without destroying the port. It must be captured as intact as possible for immediate use. I will be with the units on the plain. I am personally counting on you. Aijuba trained you, and you have more combat experience than any other unit in the entire Confederation. You are the only ones for the job.”

Sand glanced at Major Regen, and who shouted, “Attention on deck!”

The battalion came to attention. When General Sand had exited the bay through a hatch at the front of the Bay, Major Regen said, “At ease. You will now break up into your individual platoons to get specific details of your part in the mission. Dismissed.”

Hu glanced at Nani. “Fuck,” he said.

“You wanted to be a Raider. Don’t look at me,” Nani replied.

“No, it was your idea,” Hu said, laughing.

“Fuck me,” Nani said.

“I have. And I think the Marine Corps just did too.”

Nani punched him in the arm. Laughing together, they headed for where their platoon was gathering.

#

They found Lieutenant Regen their company commander in a corner of the compartment where Lieutenant Taro their platoon leader and Staff sergeant Elias their platoon sergeant were already organizing the first platoon. Most of the rest of the company had gathered; Hu and Nani were one of the last to join their company. He had a holo up of the spaceport.

“Glad you could join us, Hu, Nani. Now we can get started,” Regen said with a smile.

Hu and Nani found places where they could see the holo.

“Okay, as you can see the port has two landing strips in roughly a V shape, like old airports. The center of the V is filled with warehouses, hangars, repair shops, and the administration building and control tower. Intel from the latest sensor flybys of the port show that it is still under construction, with a number of robotic fabricators and builders at work. None of the images showed hybrids or Xotoli, but you can assume they are there. There are four laser towers here, here, here, and here.”

Regen pointed to four circular towers between the buildings in the center of the V created by the landing strips.

“We don’t know if they are online yet, nor do we know if they are only for anti-ship protection.”

Hu and Nani exchanged a glance. What you don’t know oftentimes gets you killed.

“Yeah, I know, but it's all the intel we’ve got. I have a feeling there's a lot more we don’t know and will only find out once we're on the ground. The battalion is going to be dropped in three areas. Down each of the landing strips and on top of the buildings in the middle.”

“Let me guess. Alpha has the buildings,” someone said.

“How did you guess? I’m not sure which will be better—to land out in the open with no cover on those landing strips or among the buildings.”

“Why do they have landing strips like old atmospheric airports had?”

“We’re not sure, but the intel guys seem to think it’s just their way of organizing shipments. Land them on the strip then unload them and take the stuff to the warehouses that line the runways.”

“Do we know anything about the defenses besides those laser towers?”

“Negative. We need to go expecting stiff resistance. Our main mission is to take out those laser towers as well as to begin clearing the buildings from inside the V while the rest of the battalion clears from the outside.”

Hu and Nani looked at one another. Being dropped in the middle of a complex of buildings with no idea of what they were going to face was not the best formula for success. In fact, it was a formula for getting your ass kicked.

“One big change from 703. We now have enough special-operations craft for them to loiter for close air support. The new designs for the SOCs will allow them to fly in the atmosphere instead of having the flight characteristics of a rock, as one of the pilots told me.”

“What about the weather? That screwed up the drop on 703 and got some of us killed,” Nani said, remembering how close her drop had been to being the last one she ever made on 703.

“The weather will not be a problem. The planners have been able to track it for some time. In fact, they planned this invasion with the best weather in mind. Speaking of the atmosphere, you can breathe it, but it would be like being at eight thousand feet. It will take weeks to become completely acclimated so be smart and use your armor's systems.”

“How long before we're relieved by the main landing force?”

“Unknown. They know we're stuck out on a limb, but just like us, they're not sure what they're facing, so expect and plan for the worst, and if it doesn’t happen all is good.”