Stark's Crusade (31 page)

"Ethan, they swarmed all over that bunker when it fired on them. Maybe if you open up from the new positions, they'll come after you."

"That's not a bad idea. Lamont, tell your hogs I'd like them to see how many of those bugs they can squash from here."

"That's a roger! Let's see how they like heavy incoming." Fire erupted from a dozen points along the new defensive line as Lamont's tanks opened up with their main guns. The Jabberwocks seemed to watch the large shells coming, then stepped aside rapidly to avoid impact points. A few fired back, the tracks of anti-armor missiles blazing in toward the tanks. Given the range, Lamont's tanks easily took out the missiles with their own point defenses. "They ain't coming, boss. And I can't nail 'em from this distance. Maybe if I mounted particle cannons as my main batteries, but not with a shell's time of flight. Those Jabberwocks just dodge too fast."

Great. We never figured the stupid bugs would just sit there. Am I going to have to attack? I could lose a lot of people that way, but I can't leave the Jabberwocks in possession of the front line. Sooner or later, some of the human soldiers from Second Division will move in there, and then I'll have a major headache figuring out how to retake the positions.
"Vic, I'd really appreciate another idea. The faster the better."

"Fine." Stark knew her anger was directed not at him, but at the Jabberwocks. "Let's think through their programming. Our old officers handled it. What would they have told us to do?"

"Ummm, lessee. Take the position. Hold the position. Exploit . . . that's it. Vic, if those bugs see us running they'll come after us."

"That's risky, Ethan."

"I know. Get new positions drawn as fast as you can. Fall the front back to where the reserve forces are."

"Which puts you on the front line again. Did you plan this?"

"Vic, damnit—"

"Don't worry. You've got your positions. Here's the download."

Stark took just a moment to glance at the new line Vic had thrown together.
Man, she's good.
"All units. This is Stark.

We've got to let the Jabberwocks see us retreating, so they'll try to chase us. You're getting new positions downloaded now. On my word, I want all the designated units to stand up, wave their arms, and start falling back fast. No panic, understand? If anybody tries to run past their assigned positions I will personally find you and kick your butt into orbit. Now, go!"

All along the back arc of the new front, soldiers stood up in plain sight of the Jabberwocks, turned, and began running. Stark fought down a chill of apprehension.
That looks entirely too real to make me comfortable. Stop when you reach your new positions, guys. Stop.

Down on the old line, the Jabberwocks seemed to be watching, then abruptly surged into motion all at once like a school of fish.
Alright! Come to papa, you little monsters, you.
"It's working. They're coming. All reserve units, you're part of the front now. Let's take 'em."

Stark felt a presence nearby, turning to see armored figures lying on the slope to either side. His old squad, ready to defend him. He had to resist the urge to review their positions personally.
Not my job anymore. Let the squad leaders do their job, let Anita be the platoon leader.
He felt a separation, not for the first time, from the people and command position he'd always loved.

Stark had delegated control of the artillery to Vic, leaving her the authority to call in missions and removing a major distraction from his own job of overseeing the defense. Now he watched as his HUD highlighted a barrage arching in from his rear. The Jabberwocks were still hard to individually spot and track as they scurried among every bit of possible cover, but the general movement and location of the robotic combatants could be discerned from the trend of brief detections.

Defensive fire blasted out from the Mixing Bowl base, trying to screen the advancing Jabberwocks from the incoming shells, but it was unable to penetrate far inside the Colony's own perimeter. Most of the shells made it through, falling with deadly force among the attackers.

The artillery fell toward the middle and rear of the area covered by the Jabberwocks, herding them forward even as concentrated blasts of gasses from exploding shells battered the robots, fragments of metal sliced into them, and individual submunitions sought out the fast-moving Jabberwocks to sting them from above. Torn mechanical spider shapes staggered forward or in dizzy circles, while others became briefly mobile torches as ammunition or fuel supplies caught fire. The Jabberwocks left a plain littered with wreckage as they swarmed forward, unheeding of their losses.

Stark smiled again, baring his canines as he saw Vic's artillery mission had herded the Jabberwocks toward the minefields. More giant bug shapes shattered as antitank mines ripped them apart. The Jabberwocks began firing, clearing the minefields by the painstaking tactic of shooting at every rock in their path. Humans couldn't have maintained that accurate a barrage while moving that fast, but the Jabberwocks could.

Clear of the minefields, the Jabberwocks came on. Stark caught his breath as he totaled up the numbers still in motion.
Good Lord. How much did the government spend to buy all these things? Better not let 'em get any closer before we start hurting them serious.
"All units. Ladies and Gentlemen, let 'em have it. Open fire."

An arc of fire blazed to life on three sides, hitting the Jabberwocks from the front and both flanks. Most of the fire missed, the mechanical bugs moving so quickly that combat systems couldn't correct aim points fast enough. But so many weapons were firing that the front ranks of Jabberwocks collapsed into frozen uselessness.

Despite the volume of fire pouring from three sides into the indentation in the front, the Jabberwocks kept coming, their scuttling shapes passing over the bodies of fallen robots like a horde of alien monsters.
I wondered what it'd be like to meet something that wasn't human. Well we've met 'em, and we're fighting 'em. Figures.
He checked his scan, watching the wave of Jabberwock symbology closing swiftly on the improvised defensive line. "Vic, watch for any penetrations."

"I'm watching. They're too close to you now for more artillery. I don't want to risk a short round hitting our own line."

"Understood. We'll take 'em one-on-one." Stark raised his own rifle, watching aiming points spring to life on his HUD as the linked targeting system activated. He fired carefully, picking his targets from the highest hit probabilities, cursing at the number of shots that missed as a Jabberwock used its inhuman speed to dart forward. The Jabberwocks were firing back, blasting off aimed shots without pausing, their accuracy still fortunately confused by the human soldiers' active and passive defensive systems and by the amount of explosion-generated noise created by all the weapons being fired.

A wave of Jabberwocks hit the center of the improvised line, running straight into a massive barrage of fire that dropped every one short of contact. But more scuttled forward, laying down rapid shots that forced Stark's soldiers to take cover or die.

One of Lamont's tanks, its massive beetle-shaped carapace almost invisible against lunar shadow, found itself confronting a pair of Jabberwocks. The first opened fire immediately, its small-caliber rounds glancing off the tank's armor in a brilliant cascade of sparks. The second Jabberwock, slightly back and to the side of the first, paused for a fraction of a second while a heavy anti-armor weapon dropped from the robot's internal magazine onto a firing rail.

The tank's secondary cannon roared, cutting the first Jabberwock in half with a hail of shells. Its turret was swiveling to target the second bug when the anti-armor missile shot out. Point defenses opened up, not scoring a direct hit but diverting the missile slightly. The tank staggered as the missile hit home in a non-critical area, spraying fragments of armor. Then the tank's main gun steadied and fired. This close, even the Jabberwock's speed didn't allow it to dodge the heavy shell. The robot simply vanished as the shell penetrated its armor and exploded inside, leaving the stumps of eight metal legs falling into dust littered with the wreckage of war.

"Hey, you ground apes! How about a little covering fire here! It's gonna take me forever to fix the hole in that tank!"

Stark fired again even as he called out orders. "Ground soldiers. Screen Sergeant Lamont's armor. You can nail the Jabberwocks while they're trying to target the tanks."

A Jabberwock reared up nearby with shocking suddenness, dull metal and rapidly moving limbs rendering it a vague shape out of a nightmare, as it loomed against the endless black of the lunar sky. Stark was still bringing his rifle up when the soldier nearest him screamed in a combination of pain and rage, her suit broadcasting multiple penetrations as the Jabberwock fired a burst into her. Still screaming, the soldier fired on full automatic, her rounds winking in wild pyrotechnics off the head and carapace of the Jabberwock. The bug staggered, wobbling as other soldiers and Stark added their fire, its legs hunting frantically like a spider caught under a boot heel, then froze and fell over in a slow-motion collapse.

Stark reached the wounded soldier first, her fingers still spasmodically tightening on the trigger of her empty weapon. "Take it easy. It's dead."
Billings. Damn.
He scanned her medical readout, then tagged her symbol for high-priority response by the medical teams. "Looks like you'll make it."
If the medics get here quick enough.
"Hang in there."
Please.

"As long as I killed that bastard," Billings spat, then collapsed from the load of drugs being pumped into her by her suit. "Ethan."

"Yeah, Vic."

"I'm getting individual Jabberwocks breaking through on the left. I'm moving APCs to intercept."

"Get some tanks with those APCs." Stark fired again as he lay near the badly wounded shape of Private Billings, determined to guard her. "They can't take the bugs alone. The Jabberwocks are too tough and too heavily armed."

"Roger. I'll have to pull the tanks off the line. Everything's committed."

Before Stark could answer, another Jabberwock jerked into view not far away, firing with four of its arms as it skittered toward them. Two brief bursts caught it on the head and side, then a lucky shot with a grenade knocked off two legs. The Jabberwock wove back and forth for a moment, firing erratically, then dropped.

"Good shooting, Caruso." Corporal Gomez, all business. "Chen, get yourself a couple meters over so you can cover the
Sargento
and Billings better.
Dios!
Here's another one."

Stark cursed as the nearby soldiers engaged another Jabberwock, pulling his scan back so he could see the entire situation again. The dancing symbology that marked split-second detections of Jabberwocks made it hard to evaluate how many were left, but the number of kill symbols indicated they'd knocked out or destroyed scores. "Go ahead and pull the armor, Vic." A sudden chill ran over him as he realized the move might be misinterpreted. "All units. Armor is being pulled off the line to reinforce a reaction force. We are not falling back."

His fear that the movement of the tanks would be misunderstood appeared misplaced as some unknown soldier immediately replied. "Hell, no, we ain't!"

Stark focused back on the immediate area, noting the absence of close-in targets. Symbols marked a half-dozen disabled Jabberwocks scattered close to his position. The nearest soldiers were prone in the thin dust, firing single, carefully aimed shots at Jabberwocks still advancing against other portions of the line.
Like those things that went after the blockade runners. Single-minded. Keep going after the target until it's destroyed.
The flickering detections were few now, most on the left, some behind the line. Infantry was scrambling off the line, alarming Stark until he realized they were moving to target the Jabberwocks who'd made it through the defenses.

APC symbols converged on one of the Jabberwocks. Stark switched scans to view the action through the APC gunner's view. On the APC's targeting system, he could see the hunted Jabberwock's symbology flash there/not-there as the bug dodged rapidly among the rocks. A moment later, a nearby APC shuddered as the Jabberwock poured fire into it, the armored vehicle sliding to the surface while broadcasting damage alarms.

The other APCs fired, raking the area around the Jabberwock even as it continued to fire at the wounded APC. The robot sidestepped too fast to follow, trying to avoid the defenders' fire as it maintained a fanatical focus on destroying the APC it had targeted.

A tank hove into view, its weapons searching for the Jabberwock, then locking on. The Jabberwock, finally satisfied with the damage wrought on the stricken APC or perhaps sensing a new threat, spun to attack the tank, but as it did so, several rounds hit home from different angles. Staggering to one side, the Jabberwock frantically tried to regain its balance, temporarily unable to evade the incoming fire. A moment later, the bug was riddled by APC fire, then its broken carcass was slapped to one side by a cannon shell from the tank.

Stark pulled his view back again, breathing heavily from the stress of action. One or two Jabberwocks were still moving, still coming onward, but first one and then the second froze. A final burst of fire into the immobile remains followed, then silence fell as the defenders vainly sought new targets.

We did it. Good God in Heaven, we did it. Human soldiers, one. Jabberwocks, zero.
"Vic, I read the attack stopped dead."

"I concur. No movement apparent. I'm deactivating the minefields so our forces can reoccupy the front line."

"Roger. Get those units moving." He paused, tasting something bad in his mouth. "I'll need a casualty count."

"You'll get one."

Stark spun to see where he'd left Private Billings, sagging with relief as he saw her being carried to a waiting ambulance. "She gonna make it?"

One of the medics answered without halting his careful maneuvering of the mobile stretcher. "Yes, sir. She'll be stabilized within a couple of minutes."