Forged by War (Jack Forge, Fleet Marine Book 9) Read online

  The moment the attack began, Laidlaw’s position and the positions of all the Marines of Boa Company would be revealed. This would have to be a swift and powerful attack, followed by an immediate retreat. Another hit and run attack, just what he had been tasked to do.

  Laidlaw scrambled back to the street where Boa Company was waiting. He called in the squad leaders. They sat in a huddle at the smashed double doorway.

  Laidlaw whispered, “We attack the Hydras.”

  The squad leaders looked at Laidlaw with grim determination. No one was going to avoid this battle.

  Laidlaw drew an outline of the Chitin position in the dirt on the ground as a simple circle, then a line in front of it to represent the building.

  “We attack from cover in this building.” Laidlaw pointed along the line. “We each attack the nearest Hydra.” Laidlaw drew a line from the right side of the line in the dirt to the side of the circle opposite, then drew on the other side to indicate the lines of fire.

  “Set demolition charges in this building to cover our retreat. When we retreat, we take positions across the street.” Laidlaw pointed to the opposite side of the street and the buildings there.

  “Send word to me that the demolition charges are ready and then wait for my first shot. That is the signal to attack. We take out three Hydras in one hit. Then we fall back.”

  Laidlaw drew another line in the dirt, marking the fallback position.

  “Once we are all in position across the street, blow the charges in this building here. Hopefully we’ll take out their counter-attack and cover our retreat. After the demolition, fall back and regroup. Questions?”

  The group of squad leaders remained calm and focused. None spoke.

  Laidlaw nodded.

  “Go,” Laidlaw said. The squad leaders moved away, low, fast, and silent. Laidlaw watched them move into the dark.

  Once out of sight, he moved into the building and found a firing position in front of the circle of Hydras.

  The Chitins were moving around freely, circling the Hydras. There seemed to be a pattern to the movements as they moved in squads of three. Whatever they were doing, they were about to be interrupted by a sudden, and hopefully devastating, attack from Boa Company.

  The runner approached Laidlaw silently.

  “Sir. Demolition charges set. All squads report ready.”

  Laidlaw nodded. He felt the knot in his gut. He looked out of the hole in the wall at the Chitins below.

  “With me, Marine,” Laidlaw said. He raised his pulse rifle to his shoulder. The runner picked a position in the rubble and took aim.

  “I’ve got a grenade, sir,” the Marine said.

  “Toss it,” Laidlaw said. “See if you can get it in the opening of that nearest Hydra.”

  The Marine pulled the grenade off the straps on his chest. He pressed the charge activation button and tossed it through the hole in the wall.

  Laidlaw watched the grenade fly. He counted down the fuse. Before the grenade landed, he gave the order.

  “Open fire.”

  Laidlaw let off a burst of pulse rifle fire aimed at the nearest Chitin Hydra. The rounds slammed into the hull, creating small, superheated spots on the dark material.

  Then the grenade detonated at the ship’s opening. The interior lit up with a bright, incandescent flash. Laidlaw sent a burst of fire into the Hydra as the occupants, a group of Chits, came rushing out, burning with white fire from the grenade blast. They fell at the base of the Hydra as Laidlaw poured another burst onto the target.

  The line of fire poured away from the side of the building and peppered the Hydras with pulse rifle fire. Laidlaw counted the detonation of half a dozen grenades and then he heard the rumble of a demolition charge that had been thrown on the left flank of the Chitin position.

  The first Hydra exploded from the demolition charge, then as Laidlaw fired another burst at his target, that too exploded.

  The Marines’ fire held steady and a third Hydra exploded, sending burning fragments scattering across the plaza.

  The attack had lasted for a few seconds. The three targets were destroyed. The company knew to fall back, their work done. Then the return fire came, and Chitin soldiers let loose with their plasma spears.

  A spear lanced through the hole Laidlaw was positioned at. The spear slammed into the Marine next to him, throwing him backward and slamming him into the rubble-strewn ground.

  Laidlaw retreated. He checked the Marine’s neck for a pulse, but he was dead, a cavity burned through his chest.

  Laidlaw ran as plasma spears burst through the walls of the building and sliced through the air above his head.

  Scrambling down the pile of rubble in the building and out into the street, Laidlaw saw the Marines of Boa Company pouring out. Plasma spears blasted clear through the building and into the walls of the building opposite.

  Laidlaw took cover and watched the Marines move. Then he heard Chitin soldiers scurrying through the building in pursuit. He threw himself forward and sprinted across the street. The flash out of the corner of his eye momentarily distracted him. A slight glance to his right confirmed his suspicions. The Chits were moving on his flanks, firing plasma spears at the fleeing Marines.

  He pushed himself faster. He made it to the next building and flung himself through a smashed window as plasma spears sliced through the air around him. He landed heavily on the floor of the wrecked building, turned, presented his pulse rifle, and gave fire to the Chits already streaming out of the building he had just abandoned.

  “Blow it!” Laidlaw shouted. He was about to call again when the ground shook. It was a low rumbling at first and then a terrific roar as the demolition charges exploded. Dust fell from the walls and from the ceiling of the building Laidlaw was currently occupying. An orange flash of fire burst out of the building opposite and engulfed the emerging Chitin soldiers. Then the building began to collapse in on itself. Slowly at first, and then in a sudden rush. He turned as the dust cloud poured in through the broken doors and windows. Laidlaw ran, bursting through an interior doorway to the next room, leaping through a hole in one of the walls and then rushing out of the far side of the building.

  He could hear the Marines running as the company fled the scene of the attack. The city was ruined and cloaked in darkness, lit only by the plasma spears that chased them. The number of plasma spears dropped away as Laidlaw ran in through the doorway of another building and picked his way through rooms and hallways to emerge on the far side, a number of streets away from the burning Hydras.

  Laidlaw leaned against a wall and caught his breath. He would have to keep moving and regroup with the company. Then he would weigh the result against the cost.

  But whatever the cost, Laidlaw knew that, before dawn, they would attack again.

  11

  The distant sounds of battle spurred Jack on as he ran through the city. Somewhere to the east, someone was on the attack. He knew that was where Stuart Laidlaw and Boa Company were, and he knew that Boa Company was doing their job.

  Jack also knew the danger Stuart Laidlaw was in, but he hoped Laidlaw knew that his actions were opening space for Jack to work. He needed to produce the chemical cloak. Reyes had left instructions for hundreds of gallons to be produced, and he would never be able to do it with Chits all over him. He hoped Boa Company had enough fight in them to let Jack complete his part of the plan.

  The buildings around Jack changed from commercial and residential to industrial. He knew he was getting close. Somewhere ahead of him, just a little further west, was the chemical plant that Reyes had told him to head for. Her message had been clear, and Jack knew what he had to do. He saw the towers of the chemical plant against the dark sky. The towers were still standing, but Reyes’s message had assured Jack that as long at the bulk synthesizer was operational, the process would work.

  Then in the sky above the distant towers, Jack saw a flash high in the night sky. Then another. And another.

  “Wh
at do you make of that, Jack?” Torent said. “Is the fleet still putting up a fight?”

  Jack shook his head. Any fleet craft that had not left the system would have been destroyed by now for sure. He watched the bright sparks in the sky grow larger. That was no space battle, it was something of a re-entry flight.

  Then the burning spots grew even larger and Jack could tell that something was heading directly toward Cobra Company at terrific speed. He pulled up his field scanner and looked at the fire in the sky.

  Jack could see a dark core to the flame. The black core tumbling and burning. A huge collection of tumbling, burning debris.

  “It’s something falling back to Eros,” Jack said, putting his field scanners away. “Destroyed spacecraft, Chitin or Fleet, I don’t know which, but it’s heading straight for us.”

  “Should we fall back?” Torent asked.

  And then the first piece of burning debris slammed into the ground just ahead of Jack and Torent.

  “Take cover!” Jack shouted.

  “Cover!” Torent repeated.

  And then a chunk of flaming debris the size of a ground transport hit the ground next to Torent, throwing up a shower of dust and rock.

  Jack hit the ground. Pieces of broken spacecraft poured across the sky. Some larger pieces roared overhead. He could feel the heat from the broken ships, the composite hulls charred and molten, tearing across the sky overhead. A huge piece of debris, the size of a small family home, struck the ground five hundred meters behind Jack and Torent. The ground shook, and a huge plume of dust was thrown skyward, heat radiating out from the impact.

  The dust poured over Jack. He held his head to the ground and heard the clatter of pebbles and small jagged rocks bouncing across the already broken ground. The night was shot through with fragments large and small cutting through the dust creating small shooting stars that lit up before slamming into the ground all around.

  “I hope that was a Chitin craft falling out of space,” Torent said as the clatter of falling debris subsided.

  “Probably,” Jack said, but he knew it was just as likely, if not more so, that they were the remnants of Fleet ships mixed in with that shower of broken material.

  Jack looked to the sky in the west. It was clear of falling debris, for now.

  “Let’s get moving, Sam,” Jack said, clambering to his feet. He noticed a smoking rip on his jacket sleeve.

  “You okay, Jack?” Torent said.

  Jack pushed his finger through the hole. It came out bloody.

  “Just a cut,” he said, wiping the blood on his sleeve.

  Torent pulled a medical package out of his jacket and held it out. “Patch it up, Major.”

  Jack slipped his jacket off. The cold night air chilled his sweaty skin. He was dirty, and his left arm was covered in blood from a deep but mostly cauterized cut on his upper arm.

  “Lucky that was burning hot when it cut you, Jack,” Torent said. “Look, it’s sealed the wound.”

  Jack pressed the package over his cut. It fixed itself in place. He felt the burning of the wound a moment before the anesthetic in the package took effect. Jack pulled his jacket back up over his shoulders and carefully slid his left arm back into the sleeve.

  “Thanks for the med pack, but what are we going to do if you get hit?” Jack said.

  Torent took a knee. “I’ve got another, but I’m not going to be stupid enough to get hit.”

  “Good plan,” Jack said as he looked at the towers of the chemical plant against the night sky. They were close. So close. “Keep the company moving.” Jack fastened his jacket, keeping the shivers from taking over. “And do it quietly, Sam.”

  “Copy that, sir,” Torent said and walked off into the dark.

  Jack moved carefully around the fragments of burning wreckage littering the ground. He noticed a large fragment of a Chitin craft. It gave him confidence to see a smashed enemy ship, but his mood was returned to ground when he saw the smoking, charred piece of hull from a Fleet craft. The markings on the dark composite showed clearly it was from a Fleet frigate. The lettering was impossible to read fully, other than a white O for Overlord and the remains of a number. This was a frigate from the Overlord Carrier Group. The battle in space had been costly, and here was a part of the bill.

  The chemical plant outer fence loomed out of the shadows. The dark chain-link fence was the first barrier to prevent trespass. Jack looked to his right and saw a Marine halt in front of the fence. The same on his left. He sent a message with a hand signal to the Marines on either side to cut their way through.

  Jack fired up the electron blade on his pulse pistol and sliced downwards, the thin metal links parting easily. A two-meter slice in the fence was more than enough for him to step through.

  All along the line, Jack saw the electron bayonets of Cobra Company light up and slice the fence. Jack instantly recognized his mistake. The bright bayonets would be visible for hundreds of meters around. If any Chitin ground forces were operating nearby, they would have a fight on their hands very soon.

  The only option now was to advance with speed. His hand signals to the Marines on either side of him were passed along the line and in moments, Cobra Company was moving forward, low and silent, watchful for enemy movement.

  The ground inside the perimeter fence was rough scrubland that had been chewed up by the falling space debris. Jack moved forward quickly and came upon the inner perimeter, a high wall of dark composite. This would not be breached with a simple slice from an electron blade.

  Jack sent a hand signal along the line. Cobra Company would scale the obstacle by squads.

  The squad next to Jack assembled and two Marines linked arms to provide a stable base for the next Marine to leap up and reach the top of the wall. Jack walked over and watched the Marines perform the operation in silence with absolute accuracy and determination. The first Marine on top of the wall reached down and hauled the next Marine up.

  Jack stepped up in front of the Marines of 9th squad and took his turn to climb the wall. The men at the base let Jack step on their cupped hands and then shoulders before he was hauled up by the Marine on top of the wall.

  He sat astride the wall. In both directions, Marines were reaching the top and then dropping over to the other side. Jack reached down and held a hand out for the next Marine to climb up.

  “Sir,” the Marine sitting atop the wall with Jack whispered. “Climb down, sir. We’re targets up here.”

  He knew the danger, and this was exactly why he was assisting the Marines to move quickly over the wall.

  “Sir, please. I’ve got this,” the man said.

  Jack reached down and pulled another Marine over the wall who dropped quickly to the other side. Jack reached for the next.

  The next up was Sam Torent. He reached the top of the wall, swung himself over, and hung, elbows on the top of the wall. He looked at Jack.

  “What the krav are you doing, Major? Get down.” Torent turned to the Marine. “What are you doing letting the major sit up here?”

  The Marine reached down and pulled up another. “I told him, Commander, but the major isn’t taking orders from me, sir.”

  Jack looked at Sam. “You are in the way, Sam,” Jack said.

  Torent grabbed Jack by the collar and pulled him down off the wall. He whispered harshly, “Get down. Who is going to lead, if you get hit? Me? Get down, now.”

  The Marine nodded at Jack. “It’s okay, sir. I’ve got this.”

  Jack slipped over the other side of the wall and hung by his fingers, then let himself fall. The drop was significant and the ground hidden in darkness. Jack looked up and saw Torent still hanging there.

  “Sam, get down.”

  “Is it far?” Torent said.

  “Far? What’s the difference? Get down here.”

  Jack jumped up and grabbed Torent by the foot, tugging him off the wall. Torent let out a muted panicked cry. The two hit the floor and landed in a heap.

  Jack laug
hed. “You really don’t like drops do you, Sam. Never thought you were afraid of anything.” Jack stood up and offered Torent a helping hand to stand up.

  Torent batted the offered hand away. “I’m ain’t afraid of nothing,” he said harshly.

  Jack laughed quietly. “Course not. We’ve been friends a long time now, Sam, and I never knew you were afraid of heights.”

  Torent started walking. “What are you not afraid, ever, Jack?” Torent said bitterly.

  “I am afraid, Sam,” Jack said. “I’m afraid of letting you guys down.”

  Torent muttered something to himself. Jack patted him on the back.

  “To be honest, Sam, you are the most frightening thing I’ve ever come across, and now I know you don’t like heights, I think you are even more terrifying.”

  “Don’t mind heights,” Torent said in a dark muttering. “Just don’t like dropping into the dark. Don’t like not seeing the ground.”

  “Fleet Marine is probably not a great choice of occupation then, is it?” Jack said

  Torent moved away from Jack. “I’m going to check on the company.”

  “Sam,” Jack whispered, “we’ll be at the plant in a few minutes. Noise and light discipline. Copy?”

  Torent made a hand signal to confirm the order.

  Jack carried on walking forward, the outer pipework of the chemical plant looming out of the darkness just ahead. He took a knee and pulled his jacket over his head then looked at the holomap on his wrist-mounted holostage. The bulk synthesizer was located at the near side of the plant and a few levels down.

  Jack deactivated the holostage and pulled the jacket back down.

  Then the plasma spears came racing out from the plant.

  The return fire from the Marines of Cobra Company was immediate and fierce. Jack rushed along the line of Marines, all dug in behind any cover they could find.

  “Advance, Cobra,” Jack said. He ran at a crouch, plasma spears racing around him, slamming into the ground and throwing up clumps of dirt.