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  She smacked him on the arm.

  14

  “All doctors and nurses in the vehicles,” Andy called to everyone. “The Marines on the ground. Alpha Squad will be on point. Theta at the rear. Beta and gamma on left, with delta and epsilon on right. Keep your eyes and ears open and stay alert. We know that the Arkana are almost on this point, and we could all run into one another at any moment.”

  Everyone moved into position and Andy did one last check of the line of the trucks, before holding up her arm and motioning for everyone to start moving.

  The trucks had to go slow over the rough terrain, since they didn’t have a clear road to travel on. They also had to go slow so that the stalking, guarding Marines could keep up. They were capable of running alongside a faster moving vehicle, but it lowered the effectiveness of their defense.

  If Andy had thought that moving along would ease her tension, she had been very mistaken. The noise that the trucks made as they crunched their way along the forest floor—covered by trees on one side and exposed by hilly plains on the other—just aggravated her nerves more.

  For the first ten minutes of their trek, she had reports coming in from the shuttle pilots. They had found reasonably safe places to touch down and were using their sensors to keep a watch on the enemy’s movements as best they were able. Since the ships were spread out, they were able to get decent coverage, and they kept warning the major about the Arkana moving in on the hospital.

  Their little parade was moving too slow and too loud, and she couldn’t change either.

  The edge of tree line curved, and the convoy slowed even further as they had to take the turn one by one. Andy watched the hills and the trees, looking up and down like she expected the Arkana to drop out of the treetops, even though that wasn’t really their usual style.

  As they continued on, the trees on the one side grew thicker while the hills grew a little higher. All Andy could think about was the fact that it was giving better cover to those who might attack them.

  Off in the distance, they began to hear the concussive force of heavy weapons fire and Andy looked off in that direction. She saw small shapes zooming through the sky, and she realized that there were fighters in the atmosphere. They had to be doing strafing runs against the enemy.

  For a moment, it made her wonder who it was. The Star Chaser didn’t carry fighters, and she hadn’t thought that any ESS ship would come into orbit while the enemy carriers were there. Maybe the fighters had come down the same way her Marines had. This was making for a lot of hit and run, she thought. Large-scale guerrilla tactics.

  “Those shots are awfully close,” Anath commented as he walked beside his sister, looking off in the direction of the fighters.

  “Yes, they are,” Andy replied tightly. “We can’t do much about that, though, now can we. We’ve got at least another thirty-minute walk until we reach the bunker, and we have to make sure that we all get there in one piece.”

  “So, just hope that those shots don’t get any closer…”

  “Yeah. That.”

  The thirty minutes felt closer to thirty hours, but there was no attack. They heard the fighter’s attacks and the surface-to-air response draw closer, but never too close.

  “Up ahead,” Doctor Kyt said out of the driver’s side window of his truck, where Andy was walking alongside.

  “Good. Thanks, Doctor,” Andy called back. She pressed her ear communicator. “Be ready, folks. We’re just about there.” She didn’t want anyone to become complacent, and as they began to move toward the edge of the tree line, she was glad they didn’t.

  There ahead of them was the bunker, built into the side of a mountain, and in front of it was a big group of the enemy, glinting like snow and ice in the afternoon sun.

  15

  “They’re like an infection,” Doctor Kyt said with a sigh, having come out of the truck to survey the situation alongside Andy. “Problem is, I don’t know any antibiotics big enough for something like that.”

  “I suppose that’s what we’re trying to be,” Anath commented. “The ESS. The Marines.”

  “I suppose so,” Kyt said sadly. “I wish you didn’t have to be.”

  Anath put his hand on Kyt’s shoulder and to the doctor’s credit, he didn’t flinch when a man with the face of the enemy touched him. “We wish that too.”

  There was at least one of those white metal vehicles that were the Arkana’s answer to the tank. It was situated within the array of soldiers, although nearer to the edge to provide the most coverage of the tree line, precisely where they were all standing and if they went just a few meters further, they would be spotted and shot at.

  Andy wasn’t going to count them, but she determined there had to be at least fifty soldiers all stationed around the bunker door. They obviously couldn’t get in, but were determined to make sure no one else did either.

  “One of our top priorities has to be to take out that tank,” Andy said, staring down into the shallow valley covered in white. “That thing can blast really big holes in us if we reveal ourselves.”

  “We can’t go straight in,” Roxanna said. “They’ll see us, and we can’t go as a full group to try to get close, because we can’t hide that number. There’s not enough cover.”

  Dan walked up to join them. “These forests and hills are familiar, even if I didn’t live here,” he said. “I can lead a small group around that back way and get behind some of them.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Jade asked. Andy noted a hint of worry in her voice, but she managed to cover it for the most part. Andy certainly wasn’t going to call her on it, because it was a valid question.

  “I can’t,” he replied honestly, “but we don’t really have the time or resources for anything to be sure, right?”

  Andy sighed. “Yeah, fair point. Alright, three-point plan.” Andy folded her arms as she turned to Alpha Squad. “Thomas will take a small group around to get behind them, and we’ll hope he’s right about every rock and tree looking the same. At the same time, another small group will move around the other way. You’ve got to get into that tank. Anath and Martin will be part of that group. Between the two of you, you should be able to take it over and control it.”

  It wouldn’t be the first time that it had happened, and Jade had been the one to figure it out back then. She’d gotten more chances to work with Arkana technology since, and Anath was the obvious choice beyond that.

  “What’s the third point of the plan?” Roxanna asked.

  “Distraction tactics,” Andy said with a half-smile. She pointed at Anallin. You're our best sharpshooter . We’re going to use a few well placed shots to get the enemy riled up and looking a direction other than the convoy, Thomas’s team, and Martin’s team.”

  “Will there be any directions left, sir?”

  “We’ll find one,” Andy assured them. “We’ll take part of the fighting force to that area for when the Arkana undoubtedly push forward, and then the rest will stay here to guard the convoy. This is going to spread us thin, but we only have so much time, so many resources, and so many choices.”

  She made quick work of doling out the specific assignments for each Marine, and how she wanted them to be divided.

  Each group heading out would notify her when they were in their best position but prior to actual engagement. Andy sent Roxanna with Anallin, to lead that group while the Hanaran focused on its shots. Andy took the group that would be remaining with the convoy.

  Standing around with Alpha Squad, she looked at everyone. This was not one of their best thought-out plans, but it was as good as it was going to get.

  “Everyone clear on what the plan is?” They nodded. “We know what our objectives are and when to call in? Wait for the order?” More nods. She took a breath, hesitating for a moment, before giving a single nod. “Get to it. You have standing orders to not die out there, got it? Good. Go. Oorah.”

  “Oorah,” they echoed, before hurrying off to their tasks.
r />   Andy watched everyone move off, trying not to feel unsettled. Dread still poked at the center of her gut, but she worked hard to ignore it. Neither of these were feelings that she could afford to indulge. There was a job here, and various things needing to get done just to achieve that.

  Once they had moved away, she turned and walked back over to the lead truck of the convoy. She’d already ordered everyone to stay in their vehicles, in case the trouble hit and they had to beat feet out of there. Andy came up next to the driver’s side door, where Doctor Kyt was looking down at her.

  “I suppose you didn’t expect to have babysitter as part of your list of duties when you became a Marine, did you?” he asked through the open truck window, looking down at her.

  “I tried to not have any expectations, Doctor,” she replied with a half-smile. “I go where they tell me and do what needs doing. Protecting you and your staff, your patients and your equipment are pretty important things to be doing. I’m not having to feed you or put you to bed, so it’s hardly babysitting.”

  He laughed. “I suppose that’s true. Still, your people are going to go out there and do some dangerous things and you’re going to sit here with me and my trucks. Not much excitement.”

  Andy stifled a long sigh. “I worry for them. I don’t want to lose any more Marines to them out there, but every job is important and I won’t shirk it. Besides…” She laughed softly, mirthlessly. “I’ve had enough excitement for one lifetime.”

  16

  Jade and Anath, with two others from beta squad, made their way around to the west. This brought them through the trees, although they seemed to get sparser as they made their way forward. She grew nervous to think that they wouldn’t have much by way of cover before too long, but they kept low and moved on.

  By the time they reached a point where the trees thinned too much, they stopped and hunkered down to look at what stood between them and the tank. It was closer to the edge, rather than being dead center, which was a good thing for their cause.

  “I count…six on this side of the tank,” Anath said, pitching his voice low as his bright blue eyes flicked from one side to the other. “It’s backed up kinda close to the edge of the mountain so I don’t see any behind. One in front. I don’t know how many might be on the other side.”

  “So we have to take out seven without anyone else noticing and then managed to get inside the tank to subdue the ones inside, again without anyone noticing,” Jade said flatly.

  Anath shrugged slightly. “Basically, yes.”

  Jade felt that weird cold sensation poke at her nerves like it always did when she began to get scared. Although it wasn’t something she admitted to anyone except Dan, she got scared a lot, but she had heard Major Dolan say often enough that it wasn’t about whether you were afraid or not, but what you did about it.

  Did you let it stop you?

  Jade refused to let it stop her.

  She almost had once, back in the early days of her time in the Marines, but she hadn’t let it, and now she was proud of the work she’d done. Yes, her job was often hurting and even killing people, however she defended others who couldn’t defend themselves. She protected the ESS and its planets and people.

  That was worth being proud of.

  “I’m open to suggestions,” Anath said.

  “Go back and get Anallin?” They met gazes and she shrugged with a faint smile. “It was just a thought.” Turning back to the scene, she looked over the six as they stood beside the tank. None of them looked particularly alert, and she wondered just how long they had been there waiting.

  Four Marines versus seven Arkana. The former had the element of surprise, but the latter had the element of ‘if we shout, all fifty soldiers are onto you.’ That was not something to dismiss too easily.

  “Do you think we can draw any of them away?” she asked, still staring at them.

  “It’s possible,” Anath agreed. “They look bored and like any soldiers, boredom can be dangerous.” He was quiet for a moment and then snort-laughed. “Let me do the luring. If they don’t see my face too clear, they’ll mistake me for a fellow Arkana soldier and I can draw them out.”

  “Good call,” Jade said with a half-smile. “And let’s not forget our favorite blue eye-clicker with a rifle. Let me call the major.”

  Dan had been right. It wasn’t hard to navigate one area of this planet when you were familiar with another. It wasn’t exactly the same, of course, but it was close enough that Dan led his small group of three fellow Marines the very long way around. It took a lot of crouching, some Marine-style crawling, a lot of navigating hills, and start-and-stop moments, but eventually they came around the other side of the mountain.

  The four pressed themselves near to the rocky face of the hill, sliding around until they had a clear view of the back of the Arkana.

  It seemed that none of them worried much about someone coming from the back, since every one of them was looking forward, if they were watching much of anything at all . Dan couldn’t see the tank from this angle, but he knew it was there. He hoped that Jade and Anath were doing alright, but he couldn’t let himself think of that too much.

  Focus.

  “What’s the plan from here, Corporal?” a private behind himself, sounding a little anxious.

  “We call into the major and let her know we’re in position. Once everything starts , we move in and take out any we can who don’t see us coming.”

  “The major has gotten calls from the others,” Roxanna reported, touching her ear and listening to the report. “Are you ready, Anallin?”

  “Ready, Sergeant,” the Hanaran replied without even looking up from the scope on its rifle as it laid out on a small incline. It had been getting ready and then just laying perfectly still since they got into position. Roxanna admired the Hanaran’s patience, although every Marine had experienced that hurry up and wait real still moment often enough.

  “On my mark.” Roxanna waited for the major.

  “Go,” Dolan said.

  “Go,” Roxanna repeated.

  Within a heartbeat, Anallin was pulling the trigger. Once. Aim. Twice. Aim. Cool and methodical, but the clicking of its eyes revealed the true level of its tension. “Enemy is on the move,” it reported in between gunshots.

  “Enemy is on the move,” Roxanna reported back to the major. “It looks like Martin and Anath have engaged their targets. We can see them from here. I don’t know about Thomas, but I’m sure he has as well. The enemy force is splitting up. I don’t see any coming your way yet, sir, but we have some coming our way.”

  “Hold the line, Sergeant,” Andy ordered.

  “Holding the line, sir.” Roxanna brought up her rifle. “Holding the line.”

  17

  As it turned out, their plan to lure the Arkana away from the tank proved unnecessary after all. The soldiers who had seemingly been meant to guard the tank weren’t all as interested in that duty as others and half of them moved off. Seven went down to three in an instant, all because boredom was—as Anath had said—dangerous.

  Anath and the other Marines took aim, and took out the remaining guards without anyone being the wiser. Beyond them, they could hear the Arkana already opening fire on the distraction side of the force.

  Jade hustled forward. She slung back her rifle and pulled her sidearm, holding onto that as she scurried up the ladder on the side of the tank. She flattened herself against the top of it, inching forward to make sure that no one on the other side was watching the top half of it .

  When she felt safe that she was in the clear, she wiggled carefully back to the hatch and then pulled it open.

  At this point, she didn’t waste time with moving carefully. She had to move fast. With the hatch open, she dropped herself inside without the aid of the second ladder. When her boots hit the floor, she felt the shock jolt up through her knees, but she ignored it.

  Just behind her, there were two tank officers in a state of complete shock.

>   Once upon a time, ESS protocol would have said to attempt to disable and capture them, but recently, a new order had gone out to not bother. The Arkana prisoners always committed suicide. No matter what, if they did not believe there was a quick chance of escape, they killed themselves.

  The ESS still hadn’t figured out how they did it, so they didn’t know how to stop it.

  She shot the first one and backhanded the second with her gun before he could pull his own weapon.

  “Anath, I’m in,” Jade called as she dragged the bodies out of the cockpit and into the small space in the back. She had to step over them to reach the front. As soon as she did, she started going over the controls. It was a lot easier this time than it had been the last time.

  A moment later, Anath dropped in to join her.

  “Check those guys in the back,” she called over her shoulder as she worked. “I only smacked one and I don’t want him waking up and shooting me in the back of the head.”

  “None of us want that,” Anath agreed. She heard him stepping and rustling around behind her, so she figured he was doing what she’d asked. Within a few moments, she had control of the tank.

  Dan’s side of the hill wasn’t going quite as easily.

  It had started out that way, with them picking off a handful of the enemy before they’d even turned around, but then they did turn around, and a new handful came to go up against them. One of the three Marines with him went down to a bolt of energy fire almost immediately, and Dan didn’t have time to find out if she was dead or not.

  Turning back to the fight, he got a rifle butt across the face and stumbled back. He could feel blood running down his cheek, but he brought his rifle back up in a hurry and got off a shot at the one who’d charged him.