Valkyrie Burning (Warrior's Wings Book Three) (16 page)

“Blasted arrogance. What have they gotten us into?” Reethan ground out.

The worst of it was that it didn’t matter. His directives were clear: This sector had to be cleared of the alien intrusion and returned to the Ros’El for development. Even if he wanted to do something else, there had been no hint of communication on any known channels with the aliens, and it was unlikely that they could get a dialogue going in any reasonable period of time.

“Master Parath?”

The ship’s master looked over to the young female manning the communications station. “Yes, Beccai?”

“Contact from the planet ahead,” she said. “Lucians, Master.”

He grunted, unsurprised. Lucian Sentinels were like Hord Bugs, almost impossible to wipe out no matter what you tried. “What do they have for us?”

“They’re on low power, sir,” she answered. “Short burst transmission, for stealth and power economy reasons. They advise that they will time a strike from the surface to match our arrival, then go on to request either retrieval or resupply, as dictated by mission objectives.”

Reethan clicked in amusement. One thing the Sentinels were was to the point and dedicated to their mission. Still, that decided his next action.

“Very well,” he said, opening a channel to the flotilla. “All ship handlers, prepare for engagement of hostiles. Cargo handlers, prepare to dispatch resupply drones to ground forces in case we’re forced to withdraw.”

“Master?”

He looked over at the junior apprentice, who was clearly surprised by the order that implied they might have to pull back before accomplishing the task.

“Never underestimate the enemy, Apprentice,” he said calmly. “They are called the enemy for a reason. They will do anything they can to make our lives harder, and an intelligent enemy will never show his full strength until it is too late for you to react.”

“Yes, Master.”

Reethan opened the comm channel again. “All ship handlers…we go.”

*****

Jungles outside the Beams, Hayden

“That’s time then,” Kris said. “Begin mission.”

The Sentinel Prime had split his squad into three-man teams, each with their own mission, and by sending that signal he had unleashed them on the enemy.

Five three-man teams against an army did not seem like much, on the surface of things, but if they accomplished their individual tasks, Kris was well aware that the cumulative effect would be far beyond their individual tasks.

From where he and his team were preparing for their own task, he could hear the first explosions in the distance that sounded the opening shots in the latest battle for the world on which they stood.

That will be the enemy energy fences going down. With fortune, that should distract them while the other teams focus on the real target.

The thick jungle that surrounded the fortress that sheltered the anchor point of that impossible sky thread was the perfect cover, a lesson he hadn’t needed but one that both the Ros’El and these aliens seemed determined to forget.

Still, even with that protection, Kris and his team were loath to close any more on the defenses ahead of them. Being undetected was a simple matter when you were merely observing the enemy, but they were about to do far, far, more than just observe.

“Are you ready?” he asked the Sentinel setting up the weapon.

“As ready as I’m likely to be, Prime,” the other Lucian said, frustration in his voice. “That thread is all but invisible to optical gear, and completely undetectable by everything else. Even the active scans can’t see the damndable thing!”

“Just do what you can.”

“Always, Prime.”

Kris glowered, not at his Sentinel, but at the distant thread. “Engage when ready.”

“Engaging.”

A thumb brushed an activation stud and the weapon hummed from its supports, charging. A few instants later, it pulsed, a silent action that nonetheless kicked up dust and sent a thrill of power down the bones of those standing around.

Traveling at nearly the speed of light, affected only by the density of the planet’s atmosphere, the pulse reached its target almost instantly and detonated in the air over the enemy base. At the range they were standing, they saw no visible effect on the thread.

“Adjusting,” the Sentinel droned automatically as he tracked the target as best he could on pure optics.

“Engaging.”

*****

Tether Car, Descending Over Hayden

They were just entering the atmosphere when the occupants of the tether car heard, and felt, the single more horrific sound any of them had ever encountered. It began low, deep in their bones, and quickly climbed to a tooth-rattling whine that had them cupping their ears and cringing in a futile attempt to block out the sound.

“What the
hell
was that!?” Dean yelled over the sound as it finally faded.

Sorilla automatically unlocked the restraints holding her in the seat and kicked off, sending herself to the back of the car. “No idea! Stay put!”

Tether cars were generally fully automated, except for a few on Earth that provided for the comfort VIPs expected even for the few hours needed to safely ascend or descend a tether. This one was a military model that Sorilla was marginally familiar with, since it used the same high efficiency electric motor as just about everything else.

She reached the terminal ports and logged in quickly, breathing a sigh of relief when everything checked out as working perfectly.

Being trapped in a failing tether car was one of the most terrifying things she could imagine. She’d voluntarily jumped and fell from orbit more than once, but doing so in a vehicle that had zero chance of surviving the impact with the ground scared her like nothing else.

“We’re fine!” she said over her shoulder. “I don’t know what that was but—”

Whatever it was hit them again, causing the pathfinders to pitch over while holding their ears. Sorilla cast around, her implants filtering out the sound as she touched a hand to the wall.

“Everything is vibrating!” she called. “The whole cart! The motors are fine, that just leaves…”

Sorilla paled, mouth suddenly going dry.

“The tether…”

She dove across the car, plastering herself to the viewport, looking up and down, but saw nothing, of course.

“Station Liberation, Aida,” she commed.

“Go for Liberation, Aida.”

“What the hell is going on? The tether just made like a piano wire. Is the station under attack?”

“Negative, Sergeant. The attack is groundside.”

Sorilla swore. “Status of forces Hayden-side?”

“Security is putting down the attacks on the beams.”

“What about the attack on the tether!?”

“Unknown location. We’re looking into it,” the voice said calmly.

Looking into it? We’re on this damn merry-go-round!

Sorilla took a breath, “Understood, Liberation. Keep me apprized.”

“Affirmative, Sergeant.”

She scowled, thinking hard for a moment.

Like hell.

“Dean!”

“Yeah, Sarge?” the young man asked, twisting in his seat.

“Front and center, pathfinder,” she growled. “I need a pair of hands.”

Dean struggled to get clear of his restraints. “Be right there, Sarge!”

By the time he got loose and made his way over to her in the low gravity environment of the descending car, she was already pulling a large crate clear from the cargo strapping. He grabbed a handle and helped her pull it into the clear, the weight of it not being so much a problem as the mass. Together they got the crate centered on the floor and he held it in place as best he could while she unsnapped the lid and flipped it open.

“We’re in deep shit, aren’t we, Sarge?” he asked as he recognized the OPCOM armor nestled within the case.

“Not yet,” she said as she pulled her shirt off and tossed it aside. “But we will be if someone doesn’t take out those bastards shooting at the tether.”

Dean’s eyes bulged with emotion that had nothing to do with the rather fit woman stripping down to her naked glory a meter away from him. The idea of what would happen if the tether was snapped sent shivers down his spine the likes of which he’d never felt before.

Best case, in that event, was the car falling to a terminal velocity and plowing into the planet below. At least that way they’d die fast and relatively painlessly. If they got pulled up into orbit by the station and couldn’t get the car back on board somehow, death would be a lot slower in coming, but it would be just as final.

Those thoughts running through his mind, Dean barely noticed when Sorilla tossed her panties aside and pulled the armor out of the case, piece by piece. She put it on in order, from boots moving up, snapping it into place with magnetic seals, until she finished sealing the armor on her arms and clad her hands with the gauntlets.

“Go get yourself strapped in,” she told Dean as she picked up the helm. “I’ll get this secured.”

He nodded but glanced back at her. “What are you going to do?”

Sorilla picked up her rifle and slung it over her shoulder before answering, “Going to practice my long shot.”

Dean gulped, eyes wide, but nodded as he dove back for his seat. She quickly manhandled the crate back into the cargo straps, using the increased strength provided by the armor, and secured it tightly.

That done, Sorilla pulled her helm on and let it seal against her head. The HUD lit up, the armor automatically checking all seals and systems as it booted from its dormant state. As all systems checked out green, Sorilla mentally initiated final activation orders and shuddered as the armor was filled with cold oxygenated gel, ensuring that all gaps were filled by the thick fluid that served both as protection against being battered around inside the armor and as a first defense against injury and infection should anything perforate the armor, and herself, of course.

A few moments later, with the gel already warming to body temperature, Sorilla slid her pistol into the thigh holster and made her way over to the emergency door.

“We’re in the atmosphere,” she told the others over the armor comm, “but it’s not thick enough to breathe. When I pop this door, the oxygen masks will drop. Put them on, breathe calmly, and hang tight. Once the atmo is blown out, one of you is going to have to unhitch and shut the lock, I’ll be a little busy.”

“Jesus, Sarge!” Dean swore at her. “Put on a chute or something!”

Sorilla paused to glance back, then shook her head. “We didn’t pack any.”

With that, she popped the door and held fast against the decompression of the car. Behind her she heard the faint sound of alarms and the masks falling but gave it little thought as she climbed out of the car and pulled herself up to the roof.

After she was out of sight, and the wind stopped roaring through the depressurized car, Dean took a last gulp of oxygen from his mask and unstrapped himself. Staggering to the door took only seconds, but the terror made it feel like hours as his lungs began to burn and his eyes felt like they were going to pop from his skull. He wrenched the door shut, not daring to look out at the surreal landscape below, and collapsed on the floor as the air pressure began to slowly build once again.

Glancing up above him, he spared the Sarge a thought and a wish good luck, but that was all he had time for as he crawled back to his feet and went to check on the others.

*****

The curvature of the planet was clearly visible as she propped up one knee to rest her rifle against and leaned back against the motor housing on the top of the car. Above her was nothing but black sky; no stars could be seen due to light from below making it look even deeper and more terrifying than one might expect. Sorilla wasn’t afraid of heights, of course, though she had known one or two fellow Operators who had been. What she did have was a healthy respect for what happened to a body that impacted
anything
at terminal velocity, especially since it had once happened to her…or close enough.

That first visit to Hayden had been a miraculous event, as one normally didn’t walk away from that sort of fall…not even in OPCOM armor. Oh, possibly ‘miracle’ was pushing it. People had lived after falls of that nature even without the protection of armor, though
those
events were certainly miracles. In armor, statistics gave her about one chance in eight of living. The fact that there
were
statistics for that gave her shivers every time she thought about it, but those were the numbers.

She’d had a drogue chute part of the way down, which slowed her descent, and then crashed through the canopy and into pretty soft ground. That was about the best case scenario for a survivable impact and not something she could reasonably expect to reproduce. Particularly not when she was sitting at
ANGELS Two Hundred
over a bedrock plateau with no chute of any sort, drogue or otherwise, to count on.

Sorilla carefully opened the shoulder bag she’d pulled from her supplies and reached in to draw out a handful of plastic spheres. They were about the size of golf balls, even had the dimples in them, but they weren’t used for any type of game. She activated them with a short-range RIF pulse and casually tossed the handful over before reaching into the bag and repeating the actions.

The portable accelerometers lit up on her HUD as they began falling toward Hayden, clearly showing the presence of Hayden’s gravity well on her HUD. Sorilla ignored that, she knew the planet was there and that it sucked quite firmly. She was more interested in what else down there was generating a noticeable gravity well.

The little sensors were already hundreds of feet below her and falling fast, leaving her to wait as the seconds counted down. Another deep
twang
sounded through the tether even as she was thinking that, and Sorilla watched as the sensors reacted to the draw. She clambered across the rooftop of the car as it continued to descend, kneeling on the northwest corner as she brought her rifle to her shoulder and activated the targeting optics.

From almost two hundred thousand feet, the precision of the accelerometer sensors left a lot to be desired, but she got a vector that tracked the gravity pulse and gave her enough to start looking. Her rifle included HARD, Handheld Anti-Radiation Device, capacity that let the rifle’s computer track and zero in on electromagnetic emissions, so she activated the system and boosted it to maximum power as she scanned the terrain below through the optics.