A Pale Dawn Read online

  “Holy shit,” Xander Opal, their TacCom, hissed.

  “Steady,” Paka said.

  “No other ships in our threat box,” Flipper reported.

  “Drones in the black,” Drone Control said. Immediately, the big Tri-V began to fill with more data, slowly growing outward as data arrived.

  They’d known where the planet, stars, and other regular stellar phenomenon would be. All of that was recorded in the ship’s database. What they needed was information on enemy presence or new navigational hazards. The first thing Alexis noticed was the debris.

  “There’s a debris field,” Flipper confirmed. “An unknown number of ships. Looks like the Frost navy put up a fight, at least.”

  “Maybe a few less for us to deal with,” Xander suggested.

  “Maybe,” Alexis said, “but let’s wait and see, shall we?”

  “Fleet is coming into formation,” Abby confirmed. “We are matching velocities toward the planet Frost and escorts are in position. Manticore has her drones in the black.”

  The Tri-V began sporting red points to indicate the enemy presence above Frost. Alexis noted at least thirty markers.

  “I show thirty-seven total enemy ships identified in-system,” Abby said, and the markers started to have distinguishing identifiers. “There are five battlecruisers, eight cruisers, three light cruisers, eleven escort frigates, five frigates, three carriers, and two transports.”

  “About what we were expecting,” Paka said.

  Alexis nodded. The data Jim’s little friend gave them looked to be almost dead on. They’d shown 40 ships assigned to Frost. The system was rich in resources.

  The system was home to a set of binary stars, one a main sequence G, and the other an aging Y-class super giant. Frost was tidally locked facing the G-class star, with half of her surface a freezing hell, the other half a hot hell. Three cities perched on the interglacial zone between hot and cold. Two hundred thousand people were more or less evenly divided between the cities, with another fifty thousand at various mining towns or on the three eccentrically orbiting moons.

  The Izlians tried to make a go of establishing a shipyard there. After nearly 1,000 years of failing at it, the Humans had bought the lease for a song, much to the Izlians’ chagrin. Now Frost’s manufactories were turning out ever-increasing parts shipments and had completed their first ships just a year ago. It was the most strategic target of Peepo’s war. After taking Golara, if they could take Frost as well, it would really kick the rat bastardess in the ass.

  “Paka,” Alexis said, “detach Secretariat and Excalibur on a high-G intercept to the stargate. If they don’t find a highguard, they are to assume that position. If there is one, neutralize if possible, interdict if not.” Paka nodded and began issuing the orders. “Hoot, fleet-wide.” The Buma comms officer nodded his head, and Alexis spoke. “This is Hussars Actual, we are advancing toward Frost. Prepare for combat.”

  * * *

  CIC, EMS Bucephalus, Talus System Emergence Point

  “Emergence in 3…2…1…” A brief sensation of falling, and Jim was in the Talus star system. The Tri-V in the center of the CIC updated the area around the cruiser, including the G-class yellow star. Talus was a lot like Earth—in the system’s goldilocks zone with regular climates—only the world was twice the size, with a lower gravity due to a small core. Despite the planet being all but perfect for most humanoid life in the galaxy, it was also mineral poor. Humans were one of the few races willing to try to turn a profit with agriculture.

  Talus was founded just eleven years after first contact, when Human mercs still regularly got their asses kicked. It was the only truly intentional world planned by children of Earth. Funded by agricultural concerns, the initial population was largely environmentalists, back-to-basics types, and some wilderness survivalists. It was an eclectic mix, which resulted in infighting almost from day one.

  Nobody in Earth’s government really gave two shits about the colonies beyond what good stuff they might bring back, which proved to be foodstuffs from Talus’-adjusted strains and its dissidents—the latter because the government of Talus quickly evolved into an authoritative oligarchy that would have been right at home on 20th century Earth. It only got worse from there.

  Nestled in the center-rear of the fleet, Bucephalus took advantage of a lot of firepower. The Cavaliers’ cruiser might be considered a warship, but it had been stripped down and converted into what was commonly called a “mercenary cruiser.” Weapons and ammo storage were sacrificed for dropship storage, armories, and troop billeting. The ship was of the latest generation of Human mercenary cruisers, and thus more capable than most. But that didn’t mean Captain Su was interested in getting into a scrum, as the late Captain Wilson would have called it.

  “Captain Jormungd on Phaeton is calling,” the comms officer said.

  “Put him on,” Captain Su ordered. The comms officer pointed at the captain to tell her they were live. “My regards, Captain Jormungd.” The Tri-V displayed the other commander and Jim blinked. What else would one do when confronted with a five-meter-long cobra with clusters of tentacles for arms. The dark strip around the front of its head was a thermal and motion detection organ he used for eyes.

  “Captain Su,” Jormungd said, the ship’s built-in translator rendering the alien’s speech into English. “Please maintain alert status. Our escorts are dealing with some pickets left by the enemy here at the emergence point.” The Kaa were uncommon because they weren’t a merc species. They were often found in space, though, and their serpentine biology was arboreal in nature so they were comfortable in zero gravity.

  “Understood, Captain,” Su replied.

  “You should be getting fleet-wide sensor data now.”

  On the Tri-V, the system began to populate with enemy ships, remains of other ships, and the planet’s own defenses. Two cruiser-sized hulks floated nearby, evidence of the earlier battle. A considerable debris field was being mapped around the planet Talus as well. The locals hadn’t given up without a fight. However, as enemy ships began to be noted, it was obvious the defenders had no real chance.

  “Enemy forces are tallied,” the Bucephalus TacCom reported. “The intel from Golara was accurate. They have a battleship, four battlecruisers, two cruisers, eleven frigates and escort frigates, and five transports.”

  Jim found those numbers disconcerting and again wondered why Alexis sent the forces they had. The Hussars’ fleet had the other newly added battleship, an Egleesius battlecruiser, one of the Hussars’ native Steed-class battlecruisers, a standard cruiser and a light one, four escort frigates, four standard frigates, and two carriers. They also had seven merc companies, six of which had their own cruisers. The other was aboard a Hussars-loaned transport. To him, it didn’t seem even; it appeared to favor the aliens.

  “Is this going to be a serious fight?” Jim wondered to Captain Su.

  “Possibly,” Su said. “It depends on how the Hussars handle it. They’re known for unconventional tactics, something that drives the aliens nuts. Jormungd is one of their best strategists. As I understand, Phaeton is his first major command.”

  “What does that say about his ability?” Jim asked.

  “It means Alexis Cromwell is confident in Jormungd’s ability,” she said simply.

  With little more to do than observe, Jim watched as the Hussars began to maneuver. He was surprised to see the light cruiser, Marmoset, and two frigates, Lobera and Carnation, begin accelerating rapidly away.

  Captain Su noticed his eyes darting to the ships. “They are racing to the stargate,” she explained. “General Peepo is expecting us to move against the colony’s attackers; we don’t want to make it easy on her by telegraphing our moves.”

  Jim nodded and used his pinplants to access the data himself. He examined the stargate, four light minutes away. Ships that would guard a stargate during an assault to keep enemy from escaping were commonly called highguard. Holding a system depended on controlling the
stargate, and a good highguard was essential.

  As the fleet formed up and began moving toward the planet, Jim watched the enemy highguard units which appeared to be composed of two escort frigates and a destroyer. He knew surface navy destroyers were ships tasked with sinking submarines. He checked the computers and found out space navy destroyers were used to run down enemy frigates and escorts, which made them perfect for defending stargates.

  The three enemy ships immediately began moving toward the planet, likely with the intention of joining the main enemy fleet orbiting Talus. Captain Jormungd didn’t appear to be interested in allowing that. The three ships he sent after them already had a fair amount of velocity, and they used it to cut off the other ships.

  The Hussars’ frigates were built around forward firing missiles, and the former Maki light cruiser was also a missile boat, though with considerably more launchers; all of the ships were designed to project power in an attack. The enemy frigates were an old Izlian design that were intended to screen larger craft and were as ill-suited for this encounter as the destroyer was. The Hussars ships engaged as they closed, the two groups passing quickly. In eleven seconds, it was over. All three enemy ships were gone, all three Hussars ships were alive.

  The light cruiser sustained some damage, but not enough to reduce its combat effectiveness. The three ships came about and began slowing. In a few minutes they would take up position next to the stargate as the highguard, keeping Peepo’s ships from escaping and getting word out.

  Jim used his eyes for the first time since the start of the engagement to see the fleet was approaching range to the planet. He gawked in surprise, not realizing how long he’d been watching the drama near the Talus stargate. Around Talus, enemy ships were moving out of orbit to intercept them.

  “It would appear they don’t want to use the orbiting defense platforms,” Captain Su pointed out.

  “Then I guess we wait to land,” Jim said. Su nodded in agreement. The plan anticipated the aliens might use one or all of the Talus orbiting defense platforms if they were intact. Sensors showed three of the four were operational and manned by enemy forces. The platforms could have supplemented the enemy fleet’s firepower considerably, but at the cost of leaving Jim and the other merc units free to land; it looked like keeping the Humans from landing was a higher priority. “Are the Hussars going to be able to handle this?”

  “No problem,” Su said.

  Jim shook his head in amazement and concern. He had to trust Su; this was her specialty. While she did her thing, he used his pinplants to call his XO.

  “What’s up, boss?” Hargrave answered right away. “We gonna get in the shit soon? Your little friend just came through. She’s going to get into trouble down here.”

  Jim grinned, figuring Splunk would be messing with every CASPer she could get her little hands on. Not having Adayn around anymore meant there were fewer eyes to keep track of the little Fae. “It’s going to be a bit,” he told the older merc. “I wanted to let you know the captain said we have to slug it out with the aliens first before we can land.”

  “Same shit different day,” Hargrave said. “I’ll let Major Alvarado and Captain Wolf know what the deal is. You still want to keep Alpha Company in the tubes?”

  “Yeah,” Jim said. “We’ll be making the HALD drop on the defense headquarters with Gitmo’s. As for assaulting the other targets, we’ll see after the fight develops.”

  “Right it is, Boss,” Hargrave said.

  Jim glanced over to see Splunk sail in and catch the back of his seat. She was looking at the brightly moving objects in the Tri-V and seemed to be examining the map with interest. Jim was about to sign off when he stopped. “Hey, Hargrave?”

  “Yeah, kid?”

  “How long ago did you say you saw Splunk?”

  “It wasn’t me,” Hargrave said. “One of the guys from Charlie Company, younger kid, said he’d spotted her. Musta been five minutes ago?”

  “Right, thanks.” Jim looked at Splunk, his eyes narrowing. Even with the speed and ability Splunk had displayed in zero gravity, there was no way she could have gone from Charlie Company’s area at the back of the ship to the CIC in only five minutes. While they were in Condition 3—ready for battle—all the pressure doors were sealed. It took time to open and close them. “Splunk?” She looked at him, her big blue-on-blue eyes gazing into his. “How many other Fae are onboard?”

  She grinned.

  Fuck.

  * * *

  Dropship One, Main Continent, Chislaa

  Sansar watched as First Sergeant Muunokhoi “Mun” Enkh walked to the ramp controls and pushed a button.

  “All right, you jalaplar,” Mun said as the ramp came down, revealing an unbroken expanse of treetops just a meter below the belly of the dropship and the line of dropships strung out behind them. “Here’s where it gets fun.” She picked up a coil of carbon nanotube rope, checked it was attached to the craft, and tossed the weighted end off the back of the ramp. “Just like we discussed. Every ten seconds, the next person in line picks up the rope, slides down to the end, and then drops. When you hit the ground, clear the area. Any questions?”

  The light next to her went green.

  “Let’s go then. With alacrity, but no hurrying. Jacobs! You’re up.” Staff Sergeant Yvonne Jacobs stepped up to the rope, took it in both hands, and stepped off the ramp, allowing the rope to slide through her CASPer’s hands. Crashing could be heard as she hit the trees below them.

  “I’m stuck,” she transmitted after a couple of seconds.

  “Give it about a one second blast on your jumpjets,” Mun replied.

  “That worked,” Jacobs said a few seconds later. “I’m down. Tell everyone to be ready on their low light sensors…it’s darker than you’d think down here.”

  Corporal Matt Horan stepped up, took the rope, and stepped off. There were fewer crashing sounds this time. He made it down quicker, and the process sped up as the mechs tore a hole through the canopy for the following CASPers to exploit. Soon, it was only Mun and Sansar remaining.

  “You’re next,” Mun said. “Unless you want to be last?”

  “No, thanks,” Sansar said, taking the rope. She stepped off and immediately went through the first level of foliage. She squeezed the rope, slowing her fall, and guided herself through the second and third levels. She reached the end of the rope about ten meters above the ground and dropped, using a blast of her jumpjets to land softly.

  It was a lot darker down on the ground, and Sansar turned her optics to their low light setting.

  She looked up and saw the rope being drawn back up; it wouldn’t do to have the dropship get snagged. Both pilots were busy holding the craft in place, which left the jumpmaster to retrieve the rope and then do the drop without it. After two squads had gone down, though, Mun was able to navigate through the branches with short taps on her jumpjets and soon was standing next to Sansar.

  “We’re not getting paid by the hour,” Mun said over the company net once all the platoons had checked in. “Let’s get going. We’ve got ten miles to go to get to the city, and it’s going to be full dark in a few hours. Scouts out, and let’s move, people!”

  The CASPers began moving east, crashing through the forest, and Sansar realized her perception of the terrain—primarily based on Tri-V movies—was all wrong. The floor of the jungle wasn’t the vine-strewn maze she had expected; instead, it was relatively clear of vegetation, probably due to the darkness created by the 40 meters of vegetation above them. Although there had been some wind above it that the dropship had to fight to remain in position, the canopy blocked it out and the jungle below was still…aside from the giant machines that would never be able to negotiate it quietly.

  In the primary forest, she found her low light optics were more useful than the arm blade she thought she’d have to use to cut her way through. Instead of the choking vegetation she’d expected, she found large tree trunks and plenty of saplings trying to fight the
ir way to the light. A handful of ground plants that looked like small Earth shrubs completed the picture.

  She flipped one of her monitors to thermal, and it wasn’t long until she saw some flashes at the edge of her vision.

  “Hey, Mun,” she transmitted on a private channel, “is it just me, or is there something following us?”

  “No, there’s something out there,” Mun replied. “A number of the troops have reported them, and I’m catching hints of them, too. They aren’t much hotter than the ambient temperature, so the thermal displays are having a hard time with them. It looks like they’re tracking us, but I didn’t think there was supposed to be any intelligent indigenous life on this planet.”

  “That’s what I’ve got, too,” Sansar replied. “Tell everyone to keep an eye out for them; I want to know what they are.”

  “Roger, Colonel,” Mun replied.

  “I’ve got something!” Jacobs transmitted. “There’s something…strange here.”

  Sansar checked her monitor, found where the squad leader was, and hurried over.

  “What have you got?” Sansar asked as she approached, Mun close behind her. In addition to Jacobs, two other CASPers stood by. Judging by the way they were positioned and continued to pan their cameras back and forth, they were worried about some sort of danger but weren’t really sure which direction it was going to come from.

  “I’m not really sure,” Jacobs replied, pointing to a large square patch of ground that was slightly higher—about a meter—above the rest of the jungle floor. “I didn’t want to disturb it until you got here to see it. I was trying to get a better look at whatever was following us, and I jumped onto that…thing…because it was a little higher. When I landed on it, though, it made a funny noise, as if there was something metal under there rather than just dirt.”

  “Any ideas?” Sansar asked the group.

  “I’m not getting any readings on whatever it is,” Mun replied. “The area is a little cooler than the surrounding terrain, but that’s the only thing I can see.”