There weren't any windows in the back of the troop carrier, not that I'd have been able to see much anyways since it was nearly midnight. I figured we were probably staying close to the ground though, to avoid showing up on anyone's sensors.
We'd only been under way for a couple minutes when the mission leader's voice ca through my helt speakers. She was seated sowhere near the front of the carrier, maybe in the copilot seat next to Ensign Murphy.
"This is Lt. Maguine," she announced. "All mobile units check in."
Rebecca's voice ca through next, "Falcon-1, right here with you lieutenant."
"Condor-1 in formation with Falcon-1," Murphy spoke up next.
An unfamiliar man's voice ca through next, "Condor-2 is en route."
"Falcon-2 in formation with Condor-2," a woman's voice reported in.
Finally Tanya Nieves spoke up, "Falcon-3 checking in."
"All units confird," Maguine responded. "Radio silence from now until engagent."
That was still a good thirty-five to forty minutes away, and with nothing to do and nothing to see in the back of the carrier I ended up starting a conversation with my bodyguard. There was a detail I'd been curious about for a while, and I figured this was as good a ti as any to ask.
"There's sothing I've been wondering about sergeant," I said as I leaned a little closer to him so we could talk semi-privately. "Sorry if this is offensive, but it's about the nas of quite a few of you folks from Vysalis-4. It feels like half the people I've t have last nas that start with 'Mag'. Like yourself and Gwen, captain Magoda, Lt. Maguine, commander Magnel, even Rebecca's grandmother Queen Isabella Magrethe. Is there sothing special about the 'Mag' prefix?"
By the ti I was finished Sean had a sort of wry smile on his face. He nodded, "Yes ma'am, you could say there's sothing special about it. It's pretty old, maybe even a bit archaic? It's part of our history though. Last nas that start with Mag- belong to noble families. So all of the people you've ntioned are nobility back on Vysalis-4."
"That doesn't necessarily an that much back ho," he added. "And it ans even less out here. Like I said, it's an archaic practice. So folks think it's important though."
I nodded slowly, "I should have asked this earlier, but if you're nobility should I be addressing you as Lord Magniveen? Or Sir Magniveen?"
He laughed and shook his head, "Not at all. As long as I'm in the service I'm just a soldier. And I'd be addressing you as ma'am no matter what rank I had. As I understand it, you're part of the royal family. Even if that's not official yet, it's as good as."
"Ah," I blushed slightly. "Thank you sergeant, for explaining about the nas."
Unfortunately I couldn't think of anything else to talk about, and Sgt. Magniveen didn't have any questions for either so the conversation ca to an end. Instead I spent the rest of the trip quietly looking around at the other faces in the back of the carrier. In addition to myself and Corporal Sheehan there was one more dic, he was another corporal but I didn't know his na. Everyone else was ard, and it looked like they were all ntally preparing themselves for the battle we were about to join.
Radio silence was broken about five minutes before we were due to land. I could hear the adrenaline in Tanya Nieves voice as she announced, "Falcon-3 on station and raising hell! Both power plants are down, but their air defences have back-up power."
"Going in for another pass now," she added a mont later. "I'm lining them up Pots, you take 'em out!"
A mont later the other fighter pilot's voice ca through the comm as she comnted, "Holy shit that woman's insane! Did you see that?!"
Our carrier's pilot responded, "I didn't even know those fighters could move like that! Not in atmo anyways."
Lt. Maguine stated, "Murphy, Donnelly, cut the chatter. All units stand by."
Another tense minute or so passed before Nieves announced with a whoop, "Hell yeah! That's the last of them. Door's open and the sky's clear, now go get those fuckers!"
"Condor 1 and 2 move in," Maguine ordered. "This is it people, stand by. Falcons you're on close air support."
Our pilot responded, "Thirty seconds to touch-down."
The plan had Condor-1 with the VDF soldiers and I landing on the south-east side of Sidex's stronghold, while Condor-2 would deliver the Deveronian contingent to the north-west side. Rebecca and Jenna would be circling overhead in the Deter's fighter, providing air support to the Vysalis troops. Lt. Kate Donnelly and her copilot Ensign Todd Regan were in Falcon-2, doing the sa for the Deveronian forces. Tanya and Pots were there in the third fighter, they'd pitch in and help out wherever they were needed.
Sheehan looked to and the other dic as she reminded us, "We stay with the carrier until soone calls for help."
"There's additional dical supplies in lockers on either side of the loading ramp," she added for my benefit. "That includes four folding grav-assist stretchers. Take one with you when you're called out."
A mont later the carrier set down with a thump, and the loading ramp swung down. As soon as it was open the rest of the troops headed out with their weapons ready. Jaycee and Private Duffy were among the last to exit the craft before the other dics and I made our way to the doors.
Sheehan opened up the two lockers she ntioned earlier, then pulled out a rugged-looking datapad from one of them. She remained focused on that while my attention was on the area around us.
The night sky was already lit up with a few isolated fires burning around the area, and my ears twitched to the sound of small arms fire. So of that was nearby, while more fighting happened further off in the distance. My tail twitched a couple tis in frustration as my ears folded back, and I found myself gripping my dkit a little tighter.
Sean Magniveen obviously noticed. He leaned down a little closer and comnted softly, "You look like you'd rather be out there with the front-line troops."
"Not really," I grimaced. "But I've gained a lot of combat experience over the last year or two, so it's hard sitting back and waiting like this."
There was another prolonged burst of gunfire sowhere off to our left, then the sergeant comnted grimly "I doubt we'll be waiting on the sidelines much longer."
Sure enough it was only another half minute before the first call for dical help ca through our comms. Sheehan sent the other guy though, a corporal nad Jas aney. He and a private set off at a run, aney with his dkit and the private with one of the folding stretchers.
"How do you know where to send them?" I asked the corporal.
Sheehan gestured to her datapad, "Tracking units built into our body armour, along with the integrated comm sets. When soone calls for help I can see their location and who else is with them."
That was all the ti we had before the next call for help ca in, and I recognized Jaycee's voice through the comm.
"We need a dic here!" they called. "I've got two people down!"
Sheehan grimaced but looked to as she showed us the location on her datapad, "You're up ma'am. Can you take two stretchers?"
It looked like Jaycee and three VDF soldiers were stopped at so kind of courtyard, facing the main entrance of the bunkers Sidex was using as his hideout. The datapad even indicated which two of the four signals were injured, with a red circle around one of them and orange on another.
"On it," I nodded as I grabbed one stretcher and Sgt. Magniveen took the other.
That left both of us with our hands full, since I was also carrying my dkit while the sergeant had his weapon. We managed it though, and the two of us set off at a run. My bodyguard took the lead, and managed to keep his carbine ready while we made our way past other signs of fighting, including a handful of bodies. They were all bandits though, n who'd died trying to defend their criminal boss.
The two of us did our best to stay out of the open, but the last stretch had us moving up a wide 'street' between two structures. We stuck close against the wall nearest Jaycee's location as we approached, until all hell broke loose just before we reached the courtyard area.
We heard Jaycee shout a warning from sowhere up ahead, and a mont later the air seed to rattle and shake to the cacophony of a prolonged burst of fully automatic gunfire.
Sean and I both hit the deck as tracer rounds tore through the wall above our heads, showering us in dust and bits of concrete. The shots continued on their deadly path across the road where they chewed through the walls further down the lane behind us, spraying more dust and concrete debris over the way we'd co.
"Son of a bitch!" Magniveen swore after the shooting stopped. "Forget HVPs, those are anti-materiel rounds! That'll go right through through us like our body armour's not even there!"
Instead of responding to him I reached up and hit the transmitter by my left shoulder and asked, "Jaycee can you see where that's coming from? Let Falcon-1 know we need air support!"
"Already on it," Rebecca's voice ca through my helt speakers. "Hold tight love, this'll just take a mont."
I couldn't see the fighter from where the sergeant and I were huddling by the base of the wall, but I heard it roar past overhead. The noise of its engines was accompanied by the staccato cracking sound of air being superheated by its pulse laser turret, and that was followed a mont later by an explosion that shook the ground below .
"There you go Amanda," my girlfriend added over the comm. "Jenna's cleared a path for you. Be careful though, there's still - shit where'd that co from?!"
My gut clenched at the sound of surprise and stress in Rebecca's voice, which was accompanied by a different roaring noise overhead.
A half second later Tanya Nieves was swearing on the comm, "Fuck , they've got more air-defence batteries! Hidden and shielded from scans! and Pots are on it!"
"Rebecca are you ok?!" I demanded into the comm.
Fortunately she responded imdiately, " and Jenna are fine, but we've still got a job to do."
"Right," I nodded as I pulled myself upright.
I gestured to Sgt. Magniveen, then the two of us dashed the rest of the way to where that group of VDF soldiers had been pinned down. Unfortunately the situation there was worse than we thought. Instead of two casualties all four of them were hurt by that point. Jaycee was still on their feet, along with one of the VDF soldiers. The other two were in much worse shape.
"Shit," I cursed as I got to work with my dkit.
Unfortunately it only took a mont to confirm there was nothing I could do for Private Duffy. He'd taken a direct hit from that big gun and was probably dead before he even hit the ground. The corporal sprawled in a heap next to him was missing a chunk from her side just above her left hip, but she was still breathing. I did my best to stabilize her while Sean unfolded one of the stretchers and got it ready.
By that point Jaycee and the other soldier were ready to press on, but I made them wait until I could check them both over. Neither were badly hurt, so I patched them up with wound sealant then administered a quarter shot of painkiller each. Then they set off into the bunker, while I double-checked my other patient's status to see if she was stable enough to move.
"How's she doing?" the sergeant asked.
I shook my head as I stuffed my portable scanner back into my dkit, "Not great. It's a risk moving her while there's still fighting going on. Then again it's not exactly safe leaving her here either."
He started to say sothing else when the sky above us suddenly lit up, as a loud explosion almost knocked the air from my lungs. I looked up in ti to see one of our fighters belching flas as it spiralled down towards us.
"Shit!" I swore as I leaned forward to try and protect the unconscious woman with my body, while Magniveen did his best to shield with his.
The fighter sailed past just over our heads then slamd into the courtyard area only about twenty ters from us with a deafening blast that left my ears ringing and my bones rattled. Fortunately its trajectory ant most of the flas and debris were thrown further away rather than towards us, but it still took a few seconds to shake off the shock of the near miss.
My gut lurched and my heart almost stopped as it finally dawned on what just happened, and I turned to stare at the burning wreckage to try and figure out which fighter it was.
"Amanda are you ok?!" my girlfriend's voice ca through the comm speakers a mont later, and she sounded as shocked as I felt. She added a half second later for everyone else's benefit, "Falcon-2 is down!"
I let out a huge sigh of relief as I reached for the transmit button and responded, "I'm ok. It just missed us."
Unfortunately from what I could see of the wreckage there was little hope that either Donnelly or Regan survived the crash, so I turned my attention back to my patient to check on her again. The close call was enough to convince we couldn't just wait until after the fighting was over. I ended up with my dkit hanging from one shoulder and the spare stretcher tucked under my left arm, while Sgt. Magniveen had his weapon slung from his right shoulder. Then the two of us carried the injured corporal back to the troop carrier, where Cpl. Sheehan had a small triage area set up.
The battle continued on around us, but by that point it sounded like the fighting was actually starting to taper off. There were two more calls for dical aid, but neither were as serious as the first one. Sean accompanied while I patched up a couple minor gunshot wounds, one in an upper arm and the other in a leg.
Sergeant Magniveen and I had just finished helping that last soldier back to the carrier when we heard the good news over our comms. One of the Deveronian troops announced, "We've broken through into the bunker! We got the enemy commanders!"
That was followed by a few cheers, both on the comm and from so of the folks around us.
Lieutenant Maguine quickly put a stop to that as she ordered over the comm, "Knock it off! Do we have confirmation?"
"Confird!" soone else replied. "We've got Major Lewis, confird dead. Major Coleman, confird dead. Captain Soto, confird captured. He's injured though, so who knows how long he'll last. And Colonel Welch, confird dead."
Magniveen frowned at as he comnted quietly, "That's four."
"What about the other two?" Maguine demanded. "Do we have confirmation on Captain Hines? And what about Sidex?"
There was a long pause before Jaycee's voice ca through the comm, and their frustration was evident. "They're not here! There's no sign of them!"
Almost on cue the commlink in my pocket crackled to life. Jenny sounded worried as she reported, "Ganvis Station is under attack. The bandit prisoners have been released and re-ard. I believe their objective is either the Deter or the Artemis."
Without a word one of the fighters overhead peeled off then gunned its engines, as Rebecca and Jenna started racing back towards our ship. And I needed to do the sa thing.
I looked at Sean and stated, "I have to get back there! Now!"
The sergeant didn't question that, and he didn't bother trying to change my mind. Instead he asked, "Do you know how to fly a grav-sled? We passed one bringing that last casualty back here."
Just like that the two of us were racing off together once more, but we weren't carrying stretchers this ti. I still had my dkit in hand, and he was holding his weapon at the ready as he guided to the nearby vehicle.
That turned out to be another gun-sled, a standard sled with a large recoilless rifle mounted in the rear compartnt. I tossed my dkit in the back as I jumped into the pilot seat, while Sgt. Magniveen dropped into the passenger seat next to . I was just firing up the small craft's engines when my bodyguard suddenly raised and aid his carbine off to the left, but he lowered it just as quickly.
A mont later Jaycee was with us. They hopped into the back next to the big gun as I slamd the throttle forward, and our stolen sled took off like a shot.
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