Song of Redemption Read online

  The shuttle hit turbulence, and Rev clutched at the harness that was keeping him in place, glad he’d taken the antiemetics. The angle of attack increased as the Ibis hurtled to the ground.

  “This is—” Tomiko started to pass when she was cut off.

 

  Rev shook his head. It still rankled him that with two Marine regiments, almost five thousand Marines, facing from two to three hundred Centaurs, that they could still lose comms. They’d had thirteen years to figure this out, and still, the Marines were going to be reduced to hand-and-arm signals and runners to communicate.

  The shuttle flared out, flattening every Marine into their seat. The back ramp started opening before they hit the ground. It was a sunny, too-bright day, the planet’s sun an orange dwarf. Rev deployed his face shield, darkened to protect his vision.

  His harness snapped off, and the crew chief started yelling, “Go, go!”

  Rev was the closest to the ramp on the starboard side, and he began to run down the ramp before it had fully lowered. He jumped while the edge was still a meter or so up and immediately started looking for the red-patcher, a logistics Marine with the traditional red patch on the outside of each knee.

  But no red-patcher came out to meet them. Rev started to slow down, and the Marines behind him started to pile up. A captain rushed forward instead, gave a wary look at Pashu, and asked, “Where’s your commander?”

  Rev turned and spotted the captain coming down the ramp. “That’s him. But we’re supposed to be being led to our assembly area, sir.”

  “No time for that, Sergeant. You’re being sent out right now.”

  The captain hadn’t been kidding. Nine minutes after Rev stepped off the Ibis, Third Team was on the move. Bravo Company was pinned down by a single Centaur. The tank that had been in direct support of the company had been destroyed.

  That, and the company’s location, was about all the team knew, but that was enough to get them going. Bravo was over fourteen klicks from the LZ at the base of the scraggly mountain range that was the prime terrain feature in their AO. The area between the LZ and the company was supposed to be secure, and Bravo needed relief, but Staff Sergeant Delacrie was minimizing the risk as they jogged forward by keeping them in a team wedge, Rev in the middle. The terrain became rougher the closer they got to the company, but they made good time, reaching the beleaguered force in just under an hour.

  The guide met them at the designated spot at a bend in a stream and led them into the company CP while the intermittent whooshes of Morays echoed off rock walls to their front.

  “Glad you could get here,” the company commander said, shaking the staff sergeant’s hand while warily glancing at Pashu. The IBHUs were no longer secret, but most Marines hadn’t seen one yet.

  “Sorry it took so long, sir,” the team leader said.

  “I’m just glad you’re here now. This is the situation. I’ve got a squad pinned down inside that box canyon. I tried to extract them, but it’s a shooting gallery in there. We had an attached Avenger, and it went to cover their withdrawal, but the bastard got it.”

  “One Centaur? What kind?”

  “A riever, I think. We’re not sure. No comms, of course.”

  “And the squad, they’re still effective?”

  Which was a polite way to ask if they were still alive.

  “They keep yelling out to us to let us know they’re still kicking.”

  “And you tried to get them out? I mean, after the tank?”

  “Twice,” the captain spat out, her eyes blazing. “Lost six Marines.”

  “And you sent in drones?”

  “No. I thought I’d keep them tucked away in their holsters, all safe and sound, Staff Sergeant,” she snapped.

  Staff Sergeant Delacrie blanched. “Of course, ma’am, I know you would have. Sorry about that. I was just going over my checklist.”

  He looked over at Rev for rescue. “What do you think, Sergeant Pelletier?”

  Rev had been looking to the top of the box canyon, listening to the Morays being fired.

  “That’s a lot of Morays, ma’am. But since your squad hasn’t come out yet, we’ve got to assume the riever is still alive. Any idea why?”

  “One of my PFCs said he got a look at it, and it’s dug in.”

  Rev couldn’t hide his surprise. In all of his battles, he hadn’t heard of Centaurs digging in a position.

  “Yeah, I know,” the captain said.

  “And he’s sure?” Rev asked.

  “Yeah. He’s sure. And I’m sure. But I’ll let him show you in person.” She turned to a corporal and said, “Get Weems.”

  “We’ve got to get a better look to see what we’re up against, Staff Sergeant,” Rev said as the PFC was being fetched.

  Rev still felt weird telling the team leader what he needed. The staff sergeant was in command, not him. Rev wasn’t even the senior sergeant with Nix and Hussein in the team. But considering that Pashu was the tactical focus, the team’s tactics had to maximize her capabilities.

  PFC Weems came running up.

  “Show him,” the captain said, pointing at Rev.

  A company commander didn’t have the authorization to tell a Marine to jack into another, nor tell another Marine to accept it, for that matter, but the PFC didn’t hesitate. He pulled the extendable jack out of his sleeve and offered it to Rev. His eyes widened when Rev’s end slid out of Pashu.

  “OK, send what you saw,” Rev said after he made the connection.

  There was a brief flicker, then Rev was “seeing” what the PFC had seen. And it sure looked like the riever was dug in almost like an ancient pillbox, back up against the rock face. Not much of it was visible, and something exploded behind the riever on the wall. The recording was barely three seconds long before the PFC had turned away.

  Rev disconnected, then offered it to the team leader. He waved it off.

  “Thank you, PFC Weems,” Rev said. Then he turned to the staff sergeant. “We need to get closer.”

  “I’ve got a fire team ready to lead you up.” She paused, looking at Pashu again. “You really think you can take that thing out when an Avenger couldn’t?”

  “I’ve done it before, ma’am.”

  She shook her head and said, “I hope you’re right. And whatever we can do, you let us know.”

  A fire team, led by a corporal, guided Rev, the staff sergeant, and Nix forward, the last fifty meters on their bellies.

  “If you pass the boulder there, you’ll be in the fucker’s sights,” the corporal said.

  Rev turned to the staff sergeant. “I’m moving forward.”

  Delacrie hesitated, then nodded. Rev knew the staff sergeant had been told not to risk losing him, but he also knew that Rev had to know what he faced.

  Still on his belly, Rev low-crawled forward. For all of Pashu’s power, she was not made for low crawling. Rev made a mental note to pass that onto Daryll or Doctor Chakrabarti. This was one of the many issues that hadn’t been considered until the field trials revealed them. The problem was that the “field trials” were actual combat, not back in the rear surrounded by techs.

  After another ten meters, the still-smoking hulk of the Marine Avenger came into his view. Rev tried to push the thoughts of Bundy and Ten out of his mind. That was easier said than done as the hulk could be one of them right there, thirty meters away.

  But it also became evident why the tank had been destroyed. As he crept up closer, he could see that the tank had been canalized into a kill zone. It couldn’t maneuver, which took away one of its most effective capabilities. It had been a sitting duck.

  Rev crept up to the boulder the corporal had indicated, then studied what he could see of the terrain. Ahead of him was a typical box canyon, about twenty-five meters wide and a hundred meters long. The bottom was strewn with boulders. Cliffs, maybe forty meters high, rose above.

  Several bodies were in his line of sight, while five Marines were hugging the backside of a particularly large rock. They had spotted him, and one was pointing to his right, signaling “Enemy, ninety meters.” Rev acknowledged the information.

  At ninety or a hundred meters, Rev couldn’t pop up and try to take it out with Pashu’s cannon. It was out of her effective range. And while the boulders on the ground could give him cover, they would also both slow him down and limit his ability to change direction to maneuver closer.

  He looked up, but it was pretty obvious that even if they could get word back for the Navy to hit the canyon, the monitor would have to be in orbit directly overhead to get a hit.

  As he was looking up, however, a plan began to coalesce. But he needed to know exactly where the riever was.

  “No way around it. Punch, record, wide-angle.”

  Rev took three deep breaths, then popped up over the boulder and dropped back down an instant before energy washed around him, the air crackling with ionization.

  “Show me.”

  The image PFC Weems had shown him had been focused on the riever itself, with not much else noted. But with Punch’s help, Rev now had a snapshot of the scene. He studied it for a minute as a plan—an audacious plan, but a plan nonetheless—came together.

  He crept back to where the others waited.

  “You had to expose yourself?” the staff sergeant said, his eyes blazing.

  Rev ignored the question.

  “Here’s what we’re going to do.”

  “Come on, Miko. Those Marines need us,” Rev muttered.

  High above him, Tomiko was climbing the rock face, a rope dangling from her harness. Rev had planned on making the climb himself, but the staff sergeant had nixed that.

  Rev had been annoyed, but he had to admit that the team leader was right. At l
ess than half his weight and with two regular arms, she was having a far easier time climbing than he would have. And just like Pashu was somewhat of a liability in crawling, she would have been the same in climbing. Just one more thing to add onto the list to tell Doctor C.

  Tomiko finally disappeared over the top. A few minutes later, she leaned back over the edge and gave them a thumb’s up.

  “That’s me,” Strap said. He snapped his climbers into the cable and started up, the climbers automatically supporting most of his weight. Within a minute, he was at the top.

  “Radić, you’re next,” Nix said on belay, the running end of the line wrapped around his waist. The private scampered up like a monkey, even quicker than Strap had.

  Porter followed, a little slower than Radić. Rev watched until she disappeared from view.

  “You ready, Rev?” Nix asked.

  “Let’s do it.”

  Rev attached his climbers to the line, then to his harness. He gave it a tug, and the tiny light turned green.

  “Kick some ass, OK?” Nix said.

  “You just be ready to light the thing up and give us some cover.”

  “Will do.” Nix gave him a pat on the shoulder, and Rev started up. He could have just stayed still, letting the climbers raise him without effort on his part, but that was a recipe for getting banged around the rocks, something he didn’t need. So, like a rappel in reverse, he essentially walked up the hill, but let the climbers do the heavy lifting. He wasn’t as quick as the other three, but he crested the top where the element had formed a hasty defense and unhooked.

  They pulled in the line, which Strap attached to his harness, and Tomiko said, “Let’s go.”

  It had taken a bit of map study, but Rev had selected to climb at a spot four hundred meters from the Centaur and the trapped squad. Now they had to walk along the top of the ridgeline. It was a little rougher than it had looked on their maps, but they were augmented Marines. This wasn’t going to stop them from reaching the box canyon.

  Strap had point, and he held up a closed fist to stop everyone. He pointed down, then gave the signal for enemy. If they were at the right spot, below them should be the riever and a trapped infantry squad. Farther out, the staff sergeant and First Element should be with some more Bravo Company infantry, waiting for Rev’s signal.

  Up on top, Rev and the four Second Element Marines got down on their bellies and crept forward, using a twisted evergreen growing out of the rocks as their landmark. He couldn’t see the riever, but it should be directly below. The rocks protruded out a good five meters, which was probably why the riever had chosen its spot. The Marines didn’t have comms with the Navy, but if the monitors could break through the visual and electronic jamming, they could possibly target the riever, so the overhang could give the Centaur more overhead protection.

  The staff sergeant had favored simply blasting off the overhang and letting it fall to crush the riever, but several quick simulations indicated that would not be a sure thing, nor even a probable thing, and it could end up crushing the Marine squad instead. So, they had to go back to Rev’s plan.

  “We ready?” Rev asked.

  “It’s on you,” Tomiko said.

  Rev turned over to his back and motioned to Strap for the line. This time, there would be no climbers. Rev didn’t think he could control it and still do what he had to do. He attached the running end to his harness and waited for the rest.

  Strap was going to be the anchor. He found another tree about five meters back, attached his harness to it, then ran the line around his back. Radić was the end man, there to take some of the stress off Strap but also to make sure the line couldn’t run free. Tomiko stayed closest to Rev. She’d handle any maneuvering required as well as shoulder part of Rev’s weight. Porter was security, ready for a drone-eye or anything else.

  They’d all trained with this type of descent, but never together.

  Shouldn’t matter, right? We’ve all done it before.

  He looked at Strap as the Marine settled into place. He was the key that would keep him from freefalling to the bottom of the canyon.

  “Hey, Strap. I did say I was sorry for punching you in the face back in Swansea, right?” he whispered.

  Strap smiled and said, “I do seem to remember that little incident. Sucker punch.”

  “Well, just remember that I apologized.”

  “I never said I accepted that.”

  Rev gave Strap a little salute, then got to his knees.

  “All systems green?”

 

  He pulled out a flare from his cargo pocket, took off the cap, then hit the bottom on the armor over his knee. The little rocket took off and climbed a hundred meters before exploding into a green starburst.

  Within seconds, Morays and Yellowjackets were being fired into the canyon. Without being able to see the riever, they weren’t coming in expecting to hit it, but rather catch the thing’s attention.

  “Remember what I said about firing too high,” Rev muttered as he stood up, ran a couple of steps forward, and jumped out over the edge.

  He twisted around as the three Marines let out five meters of line, then he looked down, and immediately spotted the riever, just as its cannon glowed from firing. It wasn’t exactly dug in, but it had stacked rocks all around it as if it were inside a little castle.

  With Rev swinging in to the side of the rock face, engaging with a Moray would have almost been impossible until his feet were planted. But Pashu was think-and-fire. As he was swinging in on the line’s moment arm, he twisted and pointed, “thinking” it to fire. Pashu blasted, and with the riever only thirty or thirty-five meters below him, it didn’t stand a chance. Its pedestal seemed to tip over, and then the self-destruct took over, and the thing exploded.

  The shock wave rolled over Rev just as his feet hit the wall, knocking him sideways. Instead of a nice, solid absorption of the hit, he was flung off-kilter and smacked his right arm and head against the rock face before he bounced back off.

  He didn’t care. He hadn’t been sure this cock-eyed plan would work. He hooted as he swung back out, his feet dangling in the air.

  “Stupid thing never even looked up, Punch.”

  He twisted his body again as he started to pendulum back the other way so he could get a better look at the shattered hulk beneath his feet when the sharp, unmistakable discharge of a Centaur cannon reverberated between the canyon walls. He tried to whip his body around, which caused him to drop another couple of meters before Strap and the others could stop the fall.

  He didn’t notice the sharp drop. Directly across from him, from behind a finger of stone, a paladin was emerging, but sideways, like some vast spider crawling along the wall. Rev didn’t know they could even do that. A paladin was huge, but as far as he could see, it had no support other than its twelve legs keeping it on the vertical face.

  The paladin fired its self-defense belt, and bits of the rocks on the ground disintegrated into dust.

  “Range!”

 

  “Shit!” All Rev heard was the fifty-nine meters as he checked his cannon. The red light was blinking as it recharged.

 

  “What, you just said . . .” Rev started before his swing brought him back into the wall one more time. Instinct took over, and he kicked wildly, trying to push off. He didn’t get much of the wall, but he got enough to put some force back into the swing.

  Punch kept relaying to him as Rev swung back out. Rev lifted Pashu, but she was still red as he reached the far side of the swing.

  The paladin fired again, crawling out just a little farther, but Rev lost sight of it as he twisted at the end of the line and swung back.

 

  “Rev, what the hell are you doing?” Tomiko yelled from over the top. “We can’t hold you.”

  Rev blocked her out. And this time, as he swung into the wall, he was ready. He hit it flush, bent his knees, and then pushed off with all his strength. The line jerked down another meter, but he’d put his augmented strength into it.

 

  Rev pointed Pashu at the paladin, but she was still red.

  Punch said just as he reached apogee. The push had gained him two meters in range.