EPISODE 7
Assault at Apis
I looked out the windows of the shuttle as we got close to the ship, not caring to play it cool like some of the guys. I’d always loved space and I’d always loved warships, and I wasn’t going to miss a chance to see a classic. The Ridgeback hung in orbit over Kantillon, lit up blood-red by light of the sun shining through the atmosphere, looking just like the model I’d had as a kid. It was a Vladivos-class starcruiser design which had remained almost unchanged for five decades. Bristling with lasers, EMP pulse cannons and long-range smart torpedoes, plus reactors large enough to power a moon and space in her belly for a multiple troop transports, she was more than able to deal with any fighters or pirates that might threaten our safe passage to Ulixis.
There was a shuddering clang as our transport docked with the Ridgeback, then a hiss of equalizing pressure and the swish of an opening airlock.
Needless to say, the trip to Ulixis was uneventful. We mostly played cards, and I lost a month’s pay to Four-Eyes. Even if someone had gotten wind of our mission and wanted to interfere with it, no one in their right mind was going to mess with a Vladivos-class cruiser.
We hit orbit and loaded onto our armored transport by troop and company. Our armored ground vehicles would be following in a second craft, right after us. Our space-to-ground troop transport was an old school chunky behemoth, with all of us strapped in rows and rows. This Tech 10 thing was messing with my head, but it was a helluva lot better than the Lightning-class transports. I’ll take walking off of a ship over being fired out of it like a champagne cork any day. I sat between Jock and Four-eyes, who was looking strangely attentive without his AI to keep him company. Everyone loaded efficiently, level by level, company by company; 30 companies, 3600 mercs total, plus at least another 500 support personnel, all heading down to the surface. We were suited up in our dumb armor and uniforms, baggage stowed under the seat in front of us. Like passengers on a spaceliner, except they weren’t stowing rifles and packs under the seats. And no cute stewardesses.
CLANG—CLUNK—I heard the transport disengage and begin its fall to the planet, like a big tortoise. No antigrav on this thing. My stomach flopped as we left the Ridgeback’s field, then started our descent through the atmosphere to the planetary surface, the big transport engines kicking in to control our gravity-assisted fall.
There are no windows on an armored transport, for obvious reasons, so it felt rather like being strapped inside a big trashcan. The pressure in my ears made it hard to hear, so when I heard the first impact I thought it was just turbulence. Then there was another impact. Park swore and thumped me in the ribs. “We’re taking fire!” he yelled.
“Fire?” I yelled back. “They said we were supposed to be landing in friendly territory!”
THWACK! Something hit us like a punch in the face, rocking the ship violently. The lights dimmed for a second as we swung about. My head jerked back and my chest hit the straps so hard it felt like they’d cut my chest. “We’re going in hot!” someone yelled. We ducked into defensive crouches in our seats as best as we could and waited... then I heard the most beautiful sound in the world. The crack of thunder!
“It’s the cruiser! Listen! That sound is lasers burning through the atmosphere!” Jock cheered.
He was right. It wasn’t the transport ship, which was armored, but wasn’t armed. It was the mighty Ridgeback. CRACK! CRACK! There were multiple concussions as the ship’s powerful targeting AI’s tracked incoming missiles and fried their sensors before they could hit us. CRACK! What a beautiful sound! I don’t know if the captain of the Ridgeback figured being outside the atmosphere gave him immunity to the planetary tech regulations or if he figured that he could get away with it so long as he stuck to defensive measures, but I didn’t care. I was just really glad I wasn’t going to get blown apart with my friends inside a perforated tin can.
The transport captain had no choice but to go in fast and hard. When I felt us slam down to the ground and heard the hiss of the settling hydraulics, I finally took a breath again. My relief didn’t last long, though. I could hear the pinging of small arms fire and the thump of mortars even from inside the armored ship.
“Great,” Jock muttered. “Nothing like a hot LZ. Looks like our hosts aren’t quite as friendly as we thought they were.”
We unstrapped ourselves, grabbed our packs and Katzers, and waited for the company in front of us to debark. We were next. Then “Ears in, boys! Now!” yelled Captain Marks and we complied. The earpieces were devices that hooked around the ear and you had a box on your chest that was the radio itself. You actually had to depress a switch to talk. Ridiculous! We hadn’t even seen the colonel running this operation yet. I figure he’d been sent ahead, along with some support guys. Then his voice came over the radio. He sounded pretty chill, which helped calm my frazzled nerves.
“Listen up, Wardogs. Colonel Emerson here. Looks like they had a welcome party waiting for us. Stay cool and we will get this all sorted. 1st and 2nd Battalions, head directly to the southern perimeter and assist the Ulimbese units now defending it. 3rd, 4th, and 5th Battalions, you will unload the incoming transport and defend the ships. We need that gear yesterday. Work with local ground ops—and get a move on!”
