Wolf was dropped back into the sensor field though his total access had been limited to only his section plus pods Delta-Three and Alpha-Two which flanked him to the east and west. With a mental shrug he pinged the sergeants leading each pod for status reports and a quick inventory of combat munitions and specialized weapons. Wanting the list to be both available and comprehensive he quickly did a digital inventory of his own. He compiled it into a spreadsheet and posted it over his pod requesting the other pods under his command do the same.
He also highlighted locations on each of the trench-lines connecting the pods that would be good locations for heavy weapons teams to post up and ordered the pods to work with their neighbors to get those set up and manned. This included highlighting several locations along the trench-line between his pod and bravo-six and delta-two. Sending Ni’lan a ping with an order to coordinate with Nickelson’s staff-sergeant to do the same thing he wanted his other sergeants to get done.
A few moments later he could see that pods alpha-four, and delta-one had seen some combat Delta-One had used six of their assigned twenty AT rockets. “Boom, really likes to use overkill” Wolf muttered to himself. Deciding to consolidate the more limited and critical weapons he issued another order designating pods Bravo-six and Alpha-four, being in the middle of his sector, as supply dumps allowing for quick distribution of munitions.
Each pod would maintain a minimum of two and max of four AT rockets for Immediate use. Wolf knew it was a risk but as he didn’t know when or what would attack his sector it was a better trade off than a pod on the far side running out of something that he had in abundance. He could feel the familiar headache he associated with being logged into the system too long and quickly setup a rotation so each of his squad leaders, including himself and Ni’lan, would take a shift monitoring the network in six hour rotations.
Once that was done and he was scheduled for a rotation in around twelve hours he logged out of the sensor feed slowly coming to himself as he was sitting at the sensor console in his armor. Checking the time he realized that six hours had passed from the point he had switched with O’gren.
He groaned as the headache he knew was coming seemed to start hammering into his skull with every heartbeat. “Here you go sir. I know you still haven't fully adapted to using the full neural interface.” Ta’lek said offering him a couple pills in one hand and a canteen in the other.
“Thanks Doc.” Wolf said taking the pills and canteen as he mentally popped his face plate for the first time since they landed. He wrinkled his nose at the acrid smell wafting in from the open hatches. “I hate the smell of fresh quick-crete.” He said as he quickly downed the meds and resealed his suit.
Ta’lek held in a giggle, she was glad that her suit wouldn’t transmit any sound without her intending to. Though she had learned the hard way that intent wasn’t always conscious until the suit AI’s learned to tell the difference. She still thanked the gods that she already had a nickname when her suit AI decide to transmit her singing on the all hands channel as she sorted. Amusement still thick in her voice she said, “You should get some sleep within the next hour sir, it would help your brain adjust to the data flow faster each time.”
“Will do Doc… Or should I call you ‘Siren’ instead?” He teased, the smirk clear in his tone. “Be sure not to call the imps here before we’re ready.”
“Sir, the last thing I want is to be reminded of that day.” She deadpanned, the faceplate on her armor masking the smirk she fought to suppress. She released a dramatic sigh adding, “besides if you had been there you’d know my singing would send them running not call them here.” Wolf chuckled and nodded in acceptance.
“Understood Doc, I want to check in with Ni’lan to give him some final orders before grabbing that rack-time.” He continued all business.
She nodded and gestured to an open cooler nearby. “I’m consolidating our medical supplies. Alpha-Four took a hit to their med storage during their descent and lost most of their supply of synth-blood—both human and Horonak.” She explained as she began taking several of the precious bags of the substance into a cooler for transport.
“Based on your last order, I assumed you’d want the medical supplies consolidated as well.” She finished as she picked up the cooler.
“Good thinking.” Wolf said before he checked the roster for his section. “I have a perfect opportunity.” He said emphasizing the word. Ta’lek cringed, nothing good ever came from any so-called opportunity. “You are the senior medic in my sector so I need you to coordinate with the other medics to get a basic medical ward set up. I don’t care where or how you do it just that you get it done.”
She groaned even as she gave him a curt nod. “Will do Lieutenant. Now I need to get this blood to Alpha-four or the next engagement might see us losing more than ammo.”
Wolf simply gave her a nod and used the ladder to slide down to the bunker under the pod before looking for Ni’lan. He knew he could have pinged him, but after sitting for several hours, he felt the need to move around.
Checking the map, Wolf spotted Ni’lan on the far side of the trench connected with Pod Delta-Three. Wolf jogged along the winding trench, looking over their work. He slowed near the middle of the trench and watched as four soldiers worked to make a rudimentary pillbox using a combination of dirt, limbs from some of the local trees, and the quick-crete to do so.
He would have been impressed by their ingenuity, if it actually worked. As the quick-crete cured the heat charred the wooden supports. The quick-crete fractured along the lines of the charred, and weakened supports. “Private Inulb, whose idea was this?” he asked, sending a ping to Ni’lan. Letting him know he wanted to discuss something with him. Being sure to tell them he would be there in a minute.
Inulb tensed comically, almost as if she had been caught with her hand in the cookie-jar. “Sir, It was my idea.” she said, stepping forward. The others began to speak up but stopped when Wolf held up a hand.
“I see. Good initiative,” he said, watching as the soldiers seemed to inflate. “Though the execution could use some work.” When they deflated Wolf shook his head. “I suggest using some of the lower rear paneling from the pod as a base when building the berm. If you use three quick layers of quick-crete, it will hold and won’t crack. Do that, and you’ll have a pillbox up in around thirty minutes.” He advised in a conspiratorial tone before turning. “Though I would never officially authorize such use of Ranger equipment… if you understand, Private First Class Inulb.” He finished emphasizing the bump in rank.
Inulb froze for a few seconds before nodding furiously. “I understand, sir. If I remember right, we have some repair tools in the pod for emergencies.” She mused. Her suit kept the line open even though Wolf suspected she was talking more to herself.
“We do. Just ask Delta-Two for the info. I hope to see the pillbox built in the next forty-five minutes,” He said seriously. He knew the paneling he had suggested they use was the easiest to remove and all but unnecessary once they had the underside of the pod dug out and reinforced with quick-crete.
He knew because he had been in her shoes before, though he was told about the workaround by Corporal Nickelson. How that man could yo-yo in rank so much without getting discharged was beyond him. Shaking his head, Wolf started his jog back up and reached Pod Delta-Three in only a few more minutes.
“Well, Pup, you’re here. What took you so long?” Nickelson huffed.
Wolf suppressed a sigh at the nickname, a quick glance at Ni’lan told him nothing—as, with the suit on, that man was nigh unreadable when he didn’t want to be. “I needed to do some mentoring like you did when I was a private on my first drop.”
Nickelson chuckled. “So you had someone trying to use the foliage as supports for quick-crete, and you wised ‘em up. I suppose you don’t need me here then. I have other business I need to take care of.” He said, giving the pair a dismissive wave, quipping, “Keep your head on a swivel, Pup. I don’t want someone getting your pelt,” as he clambered up into his pod.
“What did you wish to discuss with me, sir?” Ni’lan asked.
“I wanted to check in to see how we’re doing,” Wolf said turning back towards their own pod. “Let’s walk and talk. Doc told me to get some rest, but I needed to stretch my legs after being plugged into the sensor station for three hours.”
Ni’lan kept pace with him as Wolf moved through the trench at a trot. “The trenches are complete and fully reinforced. Once they finish with the pillbox, I ordered a pair of them to begin digging a supply depot just behind the pod bunker. Once it’s built, I want to move the explosive munitions inside so if the pod gets hit, it won’t risk them cooking off. The other two are to set up the HMG580 for converging fields of fire with the adjacent pods and pillboxes.”
Wolf nodded at the explanation, “Have the other pods do the same especially the ones I tagged to act as munitions depots.”
“Copy. Then I should be off, sir. Ping me when you’re back up and moving. I could use some rack-time myself.” He replied as they got to delta-two.
“Don’t work too hard, Sergeant.” Wolf said as he climbed into the pod, flopping into his berth and falling into a dreamless sleep.
***
What felt like mere moments later Wolf was jolted awake by an air-raid siren blaring inside his helmet. Rolling out of bed, he looked around searching for threats. A few moments later his brain registered what was going on and he pinged Delta-two while silencing the alarm. “Sitrep!” he demanded.
The AI responded in two ways. First, it pulled the map of his sector, and overlaid it with a more limited version that showed the entire perimeter. “We are currently under an artillery barrage. The PDCs are maintaining a protected perimeter. However, the sheer volume of fire is straining the system and it is unable to protect more than the pods and connecting trench-lines.”
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The complete lack of emotion from the AI contrasted with the hum of the laser capacitors as they were in a near constant state of use. Artillery rounds cracked in the air as the high energy lasers of the PDCs vaporized them mid-flight. The rounds the pod AI’s decided would land a safe distance from the trench-works slammed into the ground with a heavy thud only to blow dirt, grass, and brush high into the air when they exploded covering everything in the reddish brown earth.
“Can you ping the fleet and get them to hit those sites from orbit?” he asked pinging Ni’lan at the same time to give him an update on the state of the defenses in the section via text.
“The enemy is jamming radio traffic and there is significant cloud coverage blocking the line-of-sight laser link.” Delta-Two informed him.
Wolf cursed, racking his brain for a solution when he heard the Captain call out over the all-hands circuit. “I need one pod to volunteer to use their PDCs to burn a hole in the sky so we can get a link to command. Any takers or better ideas?”
Before anyone could answer, Wolf spoke, “Do you have any emergency transponders and either sub or super-orbital missiles?”
When Captain Ult’an answered, it was with a clipped tone, “Yes, we’ve got two transponders in my pod, as well as a selection of sub-orbital missiles for air defense.”
“We can use one of the pods to launch a missile with the transponder, exactly like what we use to set up quarantine buoys on known plague worlds.
Once the transponder is above the cloud layer, it can begin transmitting on all frequencies, calling for a strike on the artillery. Hopefully, they can either hit the positions or burn through the cloud layer to reestablish coms. If that doesn’t work we can use your original plan, sir.”
Wolf waited for Ult’an’s reply by reading Ni’lan’s report on the trenches. The first report noted the HMG580 positions were now reinforced with fully covered pillboxes and, that a Corporal Higgins found that specific trees were heat-resistant up to at least two-hundred Celsius. Wolf figured that Ni’lan found a more successful group of privates constructing the pillboxes with the local flora.
The next report stated that, using the heat-resistant wood, Ni’lan had the soldiers fabricate quick-crete roofs to the trenches, reducing or eliminating the effectiveness of air-burst antipersonnel munitions. “Lieutenant, I think your plan is worth a shot. Our PDCs should be able to hold off the assault for another twenty minutes. The buoy will be ready in two minutes and will take another thirty seconds to at most two minutes to clear the cloud layer.”
“The PDC lasers from one of the pods would need at least four minutes to burn through the cloud layer before we can reestablish comms with the Chattanooga. To ensure we have time to act, we can only spare seven minutes for a response from the buoy,” Captain Ult’an warned.
“In the meantime, I want you to plug in to the network and over-clock with us in the planning lobby so we can get ahead of the incoming assault,” he ordered. “I’ve never seen the imps shell a target without charging in afterward, claiming the glory for taking it.”
Wolf sent a quick ping, knowing it would trigger a blinking indicator on Ult’an’s HUD, and moved to the sensor station. “O’gren, patch into the weapons station. We may need you firing the side-mounted kinetics,” Wolf sent as O’gren rolled out of his rack.
“Copy,” he slurred groggily. Once on his feet, he stumbled over to the weapons station, plugging into it. “What’s the ROE, sir?” he asked as he settled in, just before Wolf was able to get plugged in.
“Don’t open up until you have a clear line of fire on confirmed enemy combatants,” he said, then inserted the plug into the base of his armored helmet.
Wolf pinged Ni’lan, ordering him to make a rotation for each of the pod weapons station. Saying, “I want them manned at all times. Having a trooper working the controls, should allow the AI’s to focus their limited processing power on the PDCs rather than running both systems.” Wolf pushed Ni’lan’s response to the back of his mind and relaxed, allowing the computer to over-clock his synapses. The world slowed, periods of calm broke through the constant cacophony. As soon as he registered several seconds of silence between the explosions, the system pulled him into the artificial construct of a conference room.
The quiet of the room was jarring, a stark contrast to the cacophony that had nearly made Wolf’s bones ache. “I wish I could give you a minute, Wolf, but we need to get started. Recon drone flights before the shelling identified at least two company-sized elements of mechanized infantry advancing on our position. One from the north, the other the south.” He brought up a three-dimensional map of the LZ, orienting it with a compass in the lower-left corner. A shiver ran down Wolf’s spine as he realized his sector alone faced north.
Wolf muttered a curse through clenched teeth. This looks like Delan Two—the same kind o’ shit my company had to pull Nickelson out of… only this time we’re on our own until the sappers hit the dirt. Wolf mused before snapping back to attention when Ult’an said his name.
“Wolf, you’re getting the short end of the stick here. I need you to hold the line until the sappers hit the dirt and finish the pad. After that, the FOBS can land and deploy all assets within the hour. If you need reinforcements, talk to pods Delta-Three and Charlie-Two. They’re on either side of your sector and should see the least action.” Wolf nodded and raised a hand to request permission to speak.
“Go ahead, Lieutenant.” Captain Ult’an encouraged.
“Captain, unless there’s anything else, I’d like to coordinate with my sergeant to organize our defenses.” He said.
The captain raised an eyebrow but nodded. “I’ll ping you and pull you back into the meeting if anything new comes up. Dismissed, Lieutenant.” Then, with a dismissive gesture, he ejected Wolf from the briefing.
Wolf once again floated over his sector, watching red flashes burst across the 3D rendering of his command. occasional splashes of red geysered up, none landing closer than fifty meters from his trenches.
“Ni’lan, when can you plug into the system? We’ve got an imp company inbound. I want you and the other sergeants online ASAP for a planning session. I need to know what their troopers can and cannot accomplish. Also give me a Sitrep on the Trenches.”
“Copy. Trenches are clear, aside from the few pillboxes with finished roofs. There’s too much shrapnel flying around out there to risk anyone without a damn good reason. I’m in pod Alpha-Four, I’ll be signing in via the auxiliary console.
There was a short pause before he continued. “Sergeant Park is logging in now. I signaled Sergeants Kuro’va and Nura’Fang. They should be online momentarily.”
Wolf was soon joined by four sergeants who appeared and sat in folding chairs set around a holo-table. With a wave, a three-dimensional map of his sector flickered to life, hovering over the center of the table. “Drone recon identified a company-sized force advancing on our position.” Wolf said, red triangles marked the suspected enemy locations.
Wolf scanned the sergeants before he spoke, pausing briefly to examine each. Sergeant Park was a walking contradiction, he was shorter than all of them, yet his broad shoulders and powerful build made him seem like he could wrestle a bear… and win.
Next to him sat Sergeant Nura’Fang. She was born on an old colony world originally settled by Russian and Chinese pioneers before earth was lost to the void. She was a slight woman built like a dancer. Despite her diminutive size, her presence commanded respect, easily cowing towering Horonak and Human troopers alike.
Across from her sat Sergeant Kuro’va. He was built like a bear and nearly as hairy. His cybernetic eye glowed a soft bluish-grey. Rumor had it he lost it in a training accident that nearly wiped out his entire class.
“I want defense plans for each of your pods as well as half of the trench-work on either side of it. Currently we don’t have a confirmed composition of the opposing force, so assume a normal imp mechanized infantry structure.”
Wolf turned to Ni’lan and asked, “Did you get the supplies distributed before the barrage started?”
Ni’lan nodded. “Each pod has at least two Dragon multipurpose launchers, and enough medical supplies to stabilize all but the most critical injuries. All other supplies have been consolidated between pods Delta-One and Bravo-Six.”
“Good, I want each of you to draw up plans while I check on the current situation,” He ordered, backing out of the lobby. Then, he pinged Captain Ult’an’s pod AI, requesting an update on the buoy.
He got an immediate reply stating the launch was successful and the missile penetrated the cloud cover exactly thirty seconds ago. Wolf grimaced as he checked his sector’s PDCs. They were running dangerously hot. The lenses hovered just below their rated maximum, and the coolant system was already struggling. If this continued for more than eighteen minutes, things would begin failing. First the coolant system, then the lenses, effectively disabling the PDCs.
Wolf pinged his AI. “As soon as there’s an update on the situation, inform me immediately.”
“Confirmed, Lieutenant,” it replied.
Rejoining the planning session, he turned to Ni’lan. The sergeant stood and outlined the defensive strategy they had worked out.
Once Ni’lan finished, Wolf nodded. “That sounds solid. I don’t see a reason to make any adjustments at this time. Just be ready for me to issue changes on the fly once the imps hit us,” he said.
He was about to continue when Delta-Two pinged him. “The Chattanooga has burned through the cloud cover and established contact with Captain Ult’an.” A few moments later the artillery barrage slowed before petering out completely. Several rumbles echoed from the northeast, the vibrations rippling across the three-dimensional display like waves.
“Looks like we got support from upstairs. Cycle back to IRL and get your men situated. I want you ready when the imps get here,” he ordered. One by one, the sergeants dematerialized, leaving only Wolf and Ni’lan in the simulated space. “Any concerns?” Wolf asked, finally allowing his weariness to show.
The Orion shook his head. “No, sir. I wanted to check in. How you’re holding up?”
Wolf gave him an exhausted smile, instinctively straightening before sagging into the chair. “I feel like I just finished a twenty-mile ruck in full unpowered kit,” he sighed. “I know I need to give you time to rest before the imps show up.”
Ni’lan sighed. “Sir, even after all the time we have served together, you still forget that my species doesn’t need much in the way of true sleep?”
“The Horonak evolved to shut down half of our brains at a time similar to your sharks and dolphins. I’ve had our Horonak soldiers act as sentries. We can go for several days without true rest before cognitive decline sets in.”
Wolf sighed, nodding. “Sorry, Ni’lan. I keep forgetting about that. I don’t see you or your people as any different from my own.” Before Ni’lan could respond, Wolf raised a hand. “We’ve had this discussion before, Ni’lan. You know I meant that you and your people are just as important as any human soldier. Unfortunately, that means I tend to forget the differences between our species.”
Ni’lan nodded “I just want you to remember to utilize every advantage.”
“I know, Ni’lan. Since you and your people are able to take care of the watches I’ll grab a few more hours of rack-time,” Wolf said, feeling like he should be doing anything but that.
After disconnecting from the console he saw Ta’lek leaning over him. “Here you go, sir. This should allow you to sleep for a few hours without leaving you groggy if you’re needed sooner,” she said, a hint of concern in her voice.
Wolf hesitated for a moment before getting up, Ta’lek stepping back to give him the needed space. Popping his faceplate, he accepted the meds, ignoring the nagging guilt churning in his gut. Wolf popped the pills into his mouth washing them down with the offered canteen.
“I appreciate it, Corporal,” Wolf said lifting the canteen before handing it back. “but I could just use the hydration nipple in my helmet.” Wolf said as he handed the container back to her.
“It’s something culturally significant for my people. Sharing of personal water is a deep sign of trust and camaraderie. But on a more practical note, you should also save the suit water for when you can’t to safely open your faceplate.” She replied.
“I’ll have…” He began, only to let out a jaw-stretching yawn. “Aaahh. Sorry. I’ll need to ask Ni’lan about it later.”
The silence was palpable. Ta’lek stood like she was waiting for her turn at inspection, before turning in a stiff almost mechanical way, back to her work. Too exhausted to care, Wolf just resealed his faceplate and settled into his rack.
