For a Few Credits More: More Stories from the Four Horsemen Universe (The Revelations Cycle Book 7) Read online

  “Sunray Minor to Sunray, CP Gamma? Over.”

  “Sunray to Sunray Minor, I know we’ll take fire, and maybe casualties, but there’ll be a bunch of Sidar civvies in here. The Zuul might use them to hide behind. We can’t fire at every bit of movement.”

  “Sir, this is technically a battle zone not initiated by us. According to the rules of the Mercenary Guild, civilian casualties are expected.”

  “We’re the Foresters, Master Warrant. We’re going to avoid civilian casualties even if the law says we aren’t at fault.”

  “I get that sir, but we don’t have all that many casualties to take.”

  “I know. That’s why your sections are CP Alpha. Take it to them in the mining area. They already fired on 31b. Also, the mining suits should reduce civilian casualties out there.”

  “Roger.”

  * * *

  “To clarify, Lieutenant, you instructed your troops to fire only when fired upon?”

  “Yes, Peacemaker. Contingency Plan Gamma anticipated a conflict where civilians were present or likely to be. Our instructions were to hold fire until a target shot at us, set our rifles to single-shot, not three-round bursts or full-auto, and to limit use of powerful lethal area-effect weapons like K bombs to situations where multiple targets presented a clear threat to our troopers. I think it’s also important to note that we are a poor unit.”

  “So?”

  “I wanted you to be aware that what most of our suits were firing were 12.7mm cannon rounds, usually loaded with high-explosive anti-tank rounds. We couldn’t afford MACs for our suits, so we relied on the HEAT rounds.”

  “Ah. Then what happened in the Sidar quarters?”

  “I’ll get to that soon enough.”

  “Very well.”

  “The sweep through the common areas was a grim and slow process. You’ve got the raw footage. Initially, we thought we were only fighting the Zuul, but as you can see, the Sidar fought hard…”

  * * *

  “41b to Sunray, we’re taking heavy fire!”

  “Sunray to 41b, location?”

  “Mainpa—”

  My ears rang from an explosion and brief, sharp screech.

  “Sunray to 41b, say again!”

  “41b to Sunray, still taking fire. The corporal just bought it.”

  “How many Zuul?”

  “None, sir.”

  “None?”

  “Sidar in mining suits. Their lasers don’t kill immediately, but they’ve got us pinned down. The corporal hid behind a corner, but a Sidar just bored through it, and he didn’t realize until it overloaded his CASPer.”

  “Sunray to all sections. Contingency Plan Beta on all Sidar in mining suits. I say again, CP Beta on Sidar in mining suits.”

  “Sunray to Sunray Minor—”

  “I heard, el-tee. Good call on changed CP. We’re now facing suited Sidar here too. Looks like low-powered lasers; we’ve got 20-25 seconds to get them off us before they burn through. It’s fucking with our cameras, though.”

  “Roger. And the Zuul?”

  “Their rockets penetrate about half the time. In these tunnels, though, we’re often too close to the Zuul for their rounds to even arm. We’re taking it to them since they don’t have armor. And to be honest, they are not near as organized as I expected.”

  “OK. Let’s use that. Hit them fast, then, and keep moving.”

  “Right in one, sir.”

  “Sunray to all sections. Rush them. Use your CASPer’s speed. Fire according to your CP, but you are free to push ‘em down with your armor.”

  I led 41a into the large shared gym. A Zuul det waited for us, but our rush took them by surprise. A rocket hit me, but it glanced off to send its tungsten rod into a rock wall. I shot a doggie, and the half-inch HEAT round provided me with a satisfying blue spray when it exploded.

  Two of my troopers had followed in fast. They also left blue patterns on the rock wall with their shots, but the third hesitated at the door and let a Zuul get a good shot with his rocket launcher. The trooper was blasted back into Farpath. I fired at the doggie before he could aim again. One of his paw-feet landed on a treadmill standing up, as if exercising without the rest of its body.

  Something about this small firefight bothered me, but I didn’t have time to realize what.

  “Sunray to Sections 11 and 41, status report.”

  “41b to Sunray. Stable now. Just killed four Sidar. Mainpath covered, but there’s only two of us. One down, one headed back to the medic.”

  “Hold in position as long as you can, but retreat at a serious push. We’ll be there soon.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the damaged trooper staggering past, his gun arm truncated and clearly suffering from shock.

  “Sunray to medic. If you got a walking wounded with a clear head, send him down Farpath to help another one back.”

  “Wilco.”

  “11b to Sunray, plants and bunkers clear.”

  “Casualties?”

  “Two CASPers damaged by lasers, but more pissed off than hurt.”

  “Sunray to 11a. Casualties?”

  “One gone to a rocket. Another headed back. His cameras took some laser hits, and he can’t see.”

  “Roger. 11a and 11b, leapfrog forward. I want the rest of Nearpath clear. Hold at the shuttle bay.”

  “Wilco.”

  Sections 11 and 41 had started with fifteen troopers, down one from the TOE. I’d lost three dead, two more out of the fight, and at least two others wounded. Was rushing them the right plan? I shook away the doubt. Time for that later.

  “Sunray to 41a, let’s finish clearing Farpath.”

  No Zuul or Sidar were in the first long-term storage bunker we got to. Not surprising, given its long layout with shelves on either side but no good ambush spot. The same was true for the auditorium, but the next room, the vehicle garage, would be a bitch if Zuul occupied it.

  “41a, there’s only three of us, so let’s be smart. We’ll each toss in a flash-bang, go to the left, and get behind the best cover we find. Remember, the Zuul visors won’t be dampened for but a second so hustle.”

  “Roger,” they chorused.

  I pulled the door open, and I took the tail end spot as we went in under cover of the flash. One of the Zuul was quick on the trigger, and a rocket caromed off my ass. It’d probably hurt to sit later, but at least I still had my ass.

  As I had guessed, several forklifts and pallet movers sat in that corner, giving us decent cover. A Sidar miner lay crumpled in the corner, his suit’s chest crushed where a CASPer fist had punched it in the rush. He had hoped to enfilade us with his laser, I guessed, but I would never get to ask him as deep as that dent in his breastplate was.

  A quick succession of Zuul rockets impacted on the heavy vehicles. Several lasers flashed above us. We had about two seconds before the Zuul flushed us with grenades.

  “Sunray to 41a, on my count, toss concussion grenades and flash-bangs then advance along the wall. I’ll cross to the other side and see if we can create some angles.”

  * * *

  “Again, to clarify, you used grenades, not knowing if there were unarmored Sidar civilians in the room?”

  “Yes, Peacemaker. To be honest, I never really thought about it at the moment. We were taking significant fire. There was at least a Zuul section and several Sidar miners. Our tactical advantages were speed and coordination. The light grenades we used wouldn’t really do much damage, not like K bombs, but would give us time to maneuver. If I’d have waited to check, we’d have been dead before I could have used them.”

  “Yet your suits were resistant to the lasers and small grenades available to the Zuul. Would that have given you the time to look?”

  “I couldn’t take the chance. You’re right; Zuul grenades needed to hit us directly to do much damage, but we were crowded in a tiny spot, and their odds were too good. And frankly, I assumed with all the lasers passing over us, all the Sidar were in their suits.”

 
“And were they?”

  “No. My grenade landed among three without armor, an adult and two immature apprentices.”

  The Cochkala contemplated the moment with his slow tail movements, before snapping it to me in a gesture to continue.

  * * *

  The quick rush got the three of us to decent firing positions giving us crossfire. The other two had reached their spot first, so several of the Sidar had focused their fire in that direction. I switched the selector to three-rounds and fired several bursts at their exposed flank. All three went down. Another Sidar had an angle on me, though, and hit my canopy with a laser I was barely able to turn away from. It stopped when a HEAT round from the other side went through its head.

  I looked up again. Another CASPer was down, but the remaining member of 41a was pumping out rounds on full auto. They must have thought I was dead because the Zuul and Sidar had all turned towards him. I went down the line like it was a shooting range.

  The other trooper on that side went down as I killed the last Zuul.

  “11a to Sunray. The observatory is clear. Killed a Zuul det and two Sidar. No casualties for us, but there are four Zuparti and two Pendal dead.”

  “Sunray to 11a, confirm the Pendal are dead.”

  “Caught in the crossfire, I guess. Lasers clean through ‘em.”

  “Roger.”

  * * *

  “What were Pendal doing there? According to my records there were only supposed to be Sidar and Zuparti, along with such guards as they hired.”

  “Your records don’t show the Cartography Guild sent someone, Peacemaker?”

  The Cochkala waved his tail back and forth in a gesture of negation not unlike a human shaking its head. “The Cartography Guild?”

  “The mining station was the only habitation in the Cimaron-283133 system, so the Sidar and Zuparti put an observatory out there. About a month ago, the Pendal arrived flashing all the credentials and arrogance of the Cartographers. The four dead Zuparti in the observatory were the scientists assigned to the station.”

  “Ah. If it has only been 30 Earth-days since arrival, then they would not be in my records.”

  “Let me guess, Peacemaker. None of the guilds share their records promptly with each other.”

  “You are correct.”

  * * *

  “Sunray Minor to Sunray, the mining section is clear.”

  “Sunray to Sunray Minor, how many Zuul did you face?”

  “Eight.”

  “Confirm one eight-man doggie section, Master Warrant!”

  “Confirmed. Eight doggies total. And about twenty Sidar miners.”

  “Damn it! No wonder we’re facing so much fire. Get back here on the bounce.”

  “Can do. Out.”

  I skated over to the two troopers. Corporal Leeman would never again eat a Coffee Crisp wrapper, what with the laser hole in his breastplate, but Private Manning had crawled up the wall to lean in a mostly vertical position. A Zuul rocket had crushed her shoulder.

  “Manning, what’s your status?”

  “Fine, sir.”

  “Bullshit. Can you get back to the medic?”

  “I’m tenacious and versatile, sir. I can do it,” she gritted out. If there was ever a time for the regimental motto, this was it.

  “Right. Let me clear the hall, and you get back to the infirmary.”

  A huge, sharp crack sounded near the Sidar section.

  “Sunray to 11. What was that?”

  No response.

  “Sunray to 11, I say again, what was that noise?”

  Again, nothing but static.

  “Sunray Minor to Sunray, it sounded like one of our K bombs.”

  “That’s what I thought too.”

  “El-tee, if everything is that fucked up, don’t rush to find out. That’d fuck things up even more. Be there in two mikes.”

  “Roger that. I’ll send 41b up to get eyes on the situation and wait on you to advance.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Sunray to 41b. Get to a spot where you can see the Sidar checkpoint. Do not, I repeat, do not go any farther.”

  “Roger, Sunray. Advance to observe, but no farther.”

  I covered them as they went past my position down Farpath. Up ahead, they settled in place, with Sergeant Mueller leaning past the corner to take a peek.

  “41b to Sunray. In position. The Sidar checkpoint is blasted apart. One CASPer down in front of it. I can’t see the identifier from here. Shall we advance?”

  “Negative, 41b. Hold there. Be there with sections two and three in a mike.”

  “Roger.”

  * * *

  “This was the first you knew about your soldiers going into the Sidar spaces?”

  “Yes, Peacemaker.”

  “And you did not order it?”

  “No. I did not.”

  * * *

  When Russell and the other sections arrived, we advanced to where I could lean past the corner to see the damage myself.

  “Sir, we’ve seen nothing move since we got here, but I’m pretty sure 11’s been involved in a firefight. I heard HEAT rounds exploding. Lots of HEAT rounds,” said Mueller.

  “Thank you, Sergeant.” No time to curse. “21a and 41b, on my mark put a flash bang into the doorway. Russell, you take 21b and cross to the far corner. Try to get eyes down the corridor past the checkpoint.”

  “Roger.”

  Once Russell had gotten into position, he waved us forward.

  “41b, remain here. Cover our tail. 21a, stay with me.” When I got to the checkpoint doorway, Russell was pointing at all the impact spots where HEAT rounds had shattered the doorframe. “They blasted the hell out of this, sir.”

  “Gotta keep going, Master Warrant.”

  “That we do.”

  * * *

  “You led your remaining soldiers into the Sidar section?”

  “Yes, Peacemaker. We advanced with my remaining detachments leapfrogging to give us cover, but there was little need. It was only in the last part of the Sidar quarters that we found anyone living.”

  “And you killed them?”

  “They gave us no choice. We tried to get them to surrender, but they just kept firing.”

  The Cochkala waved his tail back and forth. “That makes no sense. I suppose I can see why the Sidar might continue to fire on you, but the Zuul should have surrendered. Mercenaries don’t fight to the death.”

  “That wasn’t the only thing that didn’t make sense.”

  “Oh?”

  * * *

  Russell and I stared down at the bodies of four different races in front of us.

  “Well, I think we know why 11 came in here,” he said.

  “Yes.” Six Zuparti bodies lay shredded by rocket fire, lasers, and HEAT rounds. I’d have minded that much less if four of them weren’t Zuparti wardlings. The blood of the weasel children mixed in a purplish kaleidoscope with the blood of the two doggies laying on top of the pile, almost as if they had died to protect them. Three of my troopers and four Sidar encircled them.

  “Master Warrant.”

  “Yes, Lieutenant?”

  “Before we go any farther, I think we need to take time and think.”

  He cocked his head, clearly listening for more fire. “And the rest of 11?”

  “Dead already. This was a trap, and I let them fall into it.”

  “No, sir. I heard you try to keep them out.”

  “Why didn’t they hear me?”

  “I don’t know, sir.”

  “And that’s why I—” My comms cut out.

  His CASPer tilted, then he popped open his canopy. “Our comms are gone.”

  I opened my canopy in response. “Yes. Just like Section 11’s.”

  “Our systems are compromised.”

  I nodded and looked at the rest of my troops. “Shut your comm systems down completely. Hand signals from now on.” I looked by at Russell. “Warrant Officer, you lost two members of 21 in the mines, right?
”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “We’ll retrieve them in utilities. No armor. As soon as we’re secure, I want the CASPers off and into storage.”

  He tilted his head again. “A virus.”

  “I’d guess. Something that can’t penetrate the walls here.”

  * * *

  “You say it was a virus?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s extremely far-fetched Lieutenant.”

  “I know. I would show you the data…”

  “But there is none.” He rapped his tail on the table. “I find this lack of records most inconvenient.”

  “I thought so too at the time.” I chuckled grimly.

  “What happened?”

  “Believe me, both Master Warrant Russell and I wanted to know at least as much as you do and we had time to figure things out. We first tried to pull the footage from Section 11’s CASPers. The data cores are tiny and hardened. Even if our CASPers get destroyed, the cores have a good chance of surviving.”

  “But there’s no data, Lieutenant. Almost like you erased it.”

  “It’s harder to erase than you think, Peacemaker. The Regiment relies on that data. Before you ask, for that same reason, it’s impossible for a trooper to halt the recording.”

  “And yet, there’s no data,” the Cochkala repeated. “I must say, Lieutenant, this does not look good for you.”

  I laughed. It was a long laugh. Harsh and bitter. “I was a dead man the moment you arrived here.”

  “Lieutenant, I can indeed make that happen!”

  “And you will.” I laughed again as his tail wavered in confusion. “Anyway, we then looked at the arrangement of all the bodies and their wounds. Since we realized almost immediately all of our CASPer’s were compromised, we hand drew sketches of the bodies. We gave copies of those sketches to your forensic team.”