As far as Shaun was concerned, the tour was a blast. He found himself getting very comfortable making short speeches to reassure banquet guests that the Hokliss 34th was ready, willing and able to defend them at need, and that they had the full backing of House Calvert.
Several times Alissa was approached by gentlemen who seemed interested in having a more intimate conversation, but Shaun would always step up and politely fend them off. On occasion it would be young ladies approaching Shaun, and while Alissa seemed mostly amused by this, she was willing to help Shaun discourage them.
Kenny, however, did not seem amused. He spoke to Shaun later. “If you and Alissa aren’t hooking up, then what’s the real reason you keep turning down all these gorgeous ladies?”
Shaun rolled his eyes. “What are you suggesting? That I go alley-catting around over half the galaxy with women I’ll never meet again? I don’t think so. We even know we’re going to be leaving here to go back in their past: how irresponsible would I be to start something up right now?”
Kenny sighed. “I suppose you’re right. That wouldn’t work out too well in the long run. But hey: it would be fun while it lasted.”
“Yeah, yeah: always looks greener on the other side of the fence. No, I am not taking that kind of advantage of anyone.”
They had jumped through five star systems, each of them friendly and welcoming, when they arrived in orbit over Perseus 6. As was generally the case when making a hyperjump, they were all seated and strapped in as they arrived. Before they had a chance to undo their seat belts, a warning claxon sounded.
“Attention, all passengers! Please remain seated and secure at this time. We have encountered a Cheung cruiser parked by the hyperjump gate. We are preparing for combat.”
With no further notice, the Close Quarters veered off of their trajectory and into maneuvers. At times Shaun thought he could hear through the hull the sounds of lasers firing, but it was hard to be sure. What he did know was that Alissa was gripping his hand tightly as the ship slammed about, jostling them like a roller coaster. Occasionally Shaun felt a jolt that he believed was from something impacting against the ship instead of from their own engine reactions, but he couldn’t be sure. He held his breath, just hoping they weren’t about to be vaporized or the ship hulled and suffocated.
“Got ‘im!” The Captain’s voice came over the speaker. “The Cheung ship is now so much debris riding down into the atmosphere. But they were a Juggernaut transport, so that means troops on the ground. We don’t know what facilities they control on the ground, so we don’t dare attempt to land in case they have taken over the AA batteries. Sorry, guys: looks like you’ll be doing a combat drop.”
Shaun sighed. Their first real mission after training, meant to be a milk run, and they would be dropping from orbit straight into battle? Thank goodness for their veteran fighters! From everything he had heard of orbital drops, they would tend to be quite disorienting. He, Alissa and Kenny would probably take a minute or two regaining their balance before they were combat-worthy.
At least the drop pods he had seen here had actual portholes they could see through. Many versions he had seen illustrated at home did not. He suited up quickly and mounted into his Jug, alert for instructions or at least information.
“That Cheung Firecat could only carry eight Jugs, so your worst estimate is one on one, just who knows what scale. From satellite images, looks like they all converged on the city of Palatine and its surrounding areas. We will try to bring you down within five klicks of the city, clustered landing to keep you close together. Good luck.”
Shaun couldn’t help but sigh in relief. In practice they generally cleaned up at two on one, and fared well even three on one: one on one should be easy pickings.
“A word to the wise,” the Captain’s voice came back on: “the natives generally don’t appreciate it when your missiles tear up their power plants, water plants, anything vital. Whenever possible, lure the enemy out into clearer spaces where you can do less collateral damage.
“And finally: once you’re down on the ground I can relay you some satellite intel, but during drop is comm blackout. Just can’t hear through the friction and static. But it won’t be long and we’ll be back on the air. Good hunting!”
Shaun stepped the Jug into the drop pod, felt the support tethers anchor him in place and heard the massive blast doors close behind him.
“Dropping in three, two one: mark!”
It was a sickening feeling to have his stomach leap into his throat as the pod shot out from the bottom of the ship, starting a drop fifty miles straight down. For several seconds his vision went blurry before he was able to focus and look out the porthole.
More than any other sight he had seen so far, this one confirmed to him the fantastic scale of the universe into which he had arrived. He was literally in outer space, and yet in half an hour he would be back on the ground. And on the way down he would be encased in a fireball. What in his old world could possibly compare?
And for maybe the first time since his arrival, he found himself completely alone. The radio had shut down due to the blare of static caused by re-entry, and he was left to contemplate his thoughts. But all it seemed he could think of was Alissa’s hand in his a half hour ago. He knew she had needed comfort and he had gladly given it to her, but he was just beginning to see how much comfort she had given him.
What did he want? She was wonderful company, and if it weren’t for Kenny he would date her in a heartbeat. In fact, they kept finding themselves in situations that felt remarkably like dates, and that had been going on for some time. But there was Kenny, and there was no getting around that. And so he remained in a quandary.
The Jug began to shudder around him as they began to hit resistance from the thin air of the upper atmosphere. The vibrations were greatly reduced by the elastic tethers holding the Jug in place, but Shaun could still feel his teeth chattering as if he had hypothermia. And now he could see nothing outside but fire flashing across the porthole.
And gradually the shuddering grew until it invaded every corner of his being. Could he escape a concussion? He began to wonder. And then came the voice over the monitor.
“Prepare for deceleration: 10, 9, 8…”
He sighed in relief as the countdown moved on, and suddenly he felt himself slammed back down into his body as the thrusters came on. From floating up towards the ceiling he switched to three times his normal weight weighing him down towards the floor. He gritted his teeth and stood up in the cockpit, ready to activate jump jets.
“General release in 10, 9, 8…”
He braced himself as the tether snapped loose, and suddenly the pod fell apart around him until he was standing on nothing but the base. He flexed his feet and jumped away from even that, still a little high up for his tastes, but the ground rose quickly to meet him.
His landing was a bit shaky, and he realized he was having a hard time keeping his balance after all the battering he had taken in drop. He took a cautious step, then another, then eased into regular walking. And then the radio came back on.
“Attention, ground forces! Two more Cheung cruisers have dropped in! We must retreat: you may have about 30 minutes before three more squads land. I’d mop up the first group fast! Will call when we are back in orbit.”
Shaun groaned. Wow: from a walk in the park to a four on one? Was it a Friday the 13th today? He started running in the direction of the city, and called out on the radio.
“Gold Squad: report!”
“Kenny here. Think I landed pretty close to the city. May be a good thing: this bucket of bolts can’t move too quick, so I needed a head start. Just, I could sure use some backup before I get there.”
“Li Min reporting in. I’ve got Kenny on my scope: will be there in three minutes.”
The rest of the squad reported in in turns, acknowledging their arrival and positions. Soon they were coordinated into two half squads approaching the city. Then a new voice broke through on the radio.
“Yes, yes, this is the frequency they gave me -- hello? Is that Hokliss coming to our rescue?”
Shaun smiled. “Hokliss 34th, on our way. Can you give us any intel on the attackers?”
“We think there are eight Jugs out there, and they’ve already attacked our power grid. If we didn’t have a generator I wouldn’t be getting to talk to you. They are patrolling the city, but I think when they hear you coming they may come out to fight. We wish you the best: please don’t wreck the city too much?”
“We’ll be as careful as possible. If they come out it won’t be a problem. But if they stay in the city, I’m not sure what we can do. There are more coming in just a few minutes, so we have to fight them quickly.”
Shaun realized that if the enemy dug in, they would have an impossible situation on their hands. He gave it a moment’s thought.
“Squad, we’re going to have to break up, and half of you are going to have to virtually shut down to avoid detection. We need four smaller jugs to come out and pose as the only rescuers until we can draw them out of the city, so we don’t do extensive civic damage.
“Alissa, Lorenzo and Michael, please join me. Tanya and Li Min: please guard Kenny and Leonard. Be prepared to pop up as soon as we have drawn the enemy out of the city.”
There was a chorus of assents over the radio, and Shaun continued to move towards the town. He was used to the map being projected on his screen, but without the cruiser in high orbit there was no way to obtain the data that fed that map. He looked around the field he was passing through and spotted Alissa and Lorenzo on the same course that he was, towards the city. He couldn’t tell where Michael’s Tiger had gone, but hoped he was on the way hidden in the tree line or elsewhere.
As he approached the city he saw other Jugs moving among the buildings. At first they seemed to be taking shelter behind the buildings, but once he and the other two Jugs moved out and became visible, six Jugs from the city stepped out and approached.
The radio popped on again, this time with a heavily accented voice on the other line. “Hey, Bobbaloos! You sure you want to do this? We got hairy big Jugs here happy to meet you, squash you!”
“Oh, yeah? Come on out and put your metal where your mouth is!” Shaun challenged back. And indeed, the enemy Jugs started coming out of the city towards the three standing in the field. Shaun could see they did indeed have some big Jugs: he recognized two 95-ton Bullies, Jugs with Popeye arms loaded with missiles, a 140-ton Zhan-shi very much like Theresa Calvert’s, a pair of medium-class 75-ton Wu-shi, each with a long-range electro laser and cannon and certainly their fastest opponents, and a 150-ton Dreadnought bristling with weapons barrels.Yes, indeed, these were some well-armed bandits.
The Chinese voice continued. “Thank you for bringing us these nice, shiny toys for our babies to play with. We will try to be careful not to scratch them up too bad when we hose you out of the cockpits.”
Alissa chimed in. “You know what they say about ‘a bird in the hand?’ Gets you crapped on every time!” She boosted closer as Shaun began moving towards the enemy. Before the bullies and the Wu-shi had a chance to fire, Shaun locked on, fired and jumped. Four bright blooms of missiles had launched at his location, but he was no longer there. Alissa was still far enough off not to be caught in the blast, and Lorenzo suddenly jumped into a run at the same time.
Shaun’s long-range missiles came down on one of the Wu-shi, causing them to stagger backwards. Lorenzo took his cue from Shaun and launched mid-range missiles, then bathed the Wu-shi in laser fire. The Wu-shi’s side exploded and it went down.
“First blood, and not the last!” Shaun declared. “Try that on for size!”
As he was speaking he heard the thunderous crack of two railguns firing, and saw the sizzling rays of two PPCs just narrowly missing him in the air. The Dreadnought was now in range, but fortunately had missed him completely. He landed and sprang into a run.
From behind he heard the whine and crackle of Alissa’s electrolasers. She had focused on the second Wu-shi, and was blasting it hard.
Now swarms of missiles from all directions began descending on the team. Shaun tried to jump again, but the missiles rained down so fast and heavy that he was not able to get off the ground. He kept moving forward, hoping to get out from under the barrage, but he was taking a pounding.
And then he stepped out from under the shower of missiles, just in time to see Michael’s Tiger bearing down on the Wu-shi and smashing it to the ground with two blows from the Tiger’s claws.
Then came the crack of the railguns again, followed immediately by the PPCs. Again the railguns missed, but this time he was slammed backwards by the force of the PPC hitting in his chest. He stumbled, but stayed on his feet.
The original plan had been to draw out the invaders and then squash them with the combined firepower of the full squad. Shaun was crossing his fingers now, hoping the other half of the squad would be moving in quickly to assist.
With both Wu-shi down, the Bullies were the next priority target. They were closing, firing missiles as they came. Shaun tried to focus and fire, but the missiles slamming into his Jug prevented him from getting a lockon. He stumbled back, nearly falling, but somehow regained his feet. Then he heard the welcome crackle of railguns from behind him, and satisfying crunches in front.
“Lafayette, we are here!” Kenny’s joyful voice cut through the static. “Let’s give’em what for!”
In a few seconds the smoke cleared and Shaun could see again. It was a beautiful sight: all the trails of missiles fired from here to there, the Wu-shi on the ground, the Bullies backing up under continuous fire. But Shaun had a secondary concern: what if they chased the big guns back into the city? That would be the bad they were trying to avoid. He started dashing forward, just taking time to add his firepower to the assault on the Bullies.
“Welcome to the party! Nobody leaves early! Especially not that Dreadnought or Zhan-shi!”
Overhead, missiles were putting off enough smoke to darken the sky, creating an eerie dusk-like effect. Missiles were flying from both directions, from the Lion and the Zhan-shi and to a lesser extent from others. Shaun kept a close eye on the Dreadnought, very wary of its railguns and PPCs. He kept on running that way, and when he saw the guns pointing in his direction, he jumped. The guns shifted, and apparently chose to fire at someone else. Fortunately it was too busy firing to realize it was about to be overrun.
Shaun was in the sweet spot now, not too close for long range missiles, not too far for mid range missiles. He fired his full arsenal, holding back only on his lasers. As his missiles pummeled the Dreadnought he jumped and watched as Alissa fired her boosted electro lasers and blasted off additional chunks of armor.
The Zhan-shi pilot was evidently getting the idea, and had started backing up, but they kept firing a withering barrage of missiles at the battlefield. Apparently they were trying for Lozenzo in his Cheetah, who was charging across the field in a serpentine line and handily evading the shower of missiles.
Shaun caught a quick glance of Michael’s Tiger ripping one huge arm off a Bully, and grinned. There would be a moment to remember when they were next chatting around the table.
In front of him the Dreadnought blossomed into a fireball as almost 100 missiles slammed into it. Leonard had focused all four of his missile launchers on the one target, and Kenny followed up with railguns. Incredibly, the massive Jug remained standing and even fired back. Railguns and PPCs all hit Kenny, who stood firm on his quad legs.
“Yeoch!” Kenny exclaimed, “Those were some nasty hornet stings! Give’em hell for me, will ya?”
Meanwhile Michael was making short work of the Bullies. He knocked the one he had not disarmed to the ground, and a quick punch of his claws to the head ended the fight for good. Everyone else focused their fire on the Dreadnought. Shaun almost jumped in surprise as Li Min fired off ten boosted electro lasers, frying the big Jug from head to toe.
Taking a cue from Michael, Shaun grabbed his sword and sprang towards the Dreadnought. He swung straight down as he landed, smashing the head and cockpit on the great Jug and taking it out of commission.
In the background Shaun saw the Zhan-shi turn tail and run toward the city, the last Jug standing on the enemy’s side. It was a desperate move, trading armor protection for speed. Generally speaking the armor on the rear of a Jug was about one third of the mass that was on the front, and thus far easier to get shots through. Shaun intended to take full advantage of that fact.
He fired all his midrange and long range missiles at the Zhan-shi’s retreating form and began running to catch up. “Nice job, everyone! Now, one more!”
They had presented themselves far enough out in the field that the Zhan-shi had virtually no chance of making it back to the city, but they were sure trying. Shaun spotted Lorenzo’s Cheetah moving in fast to blast them up close with lasers and missiles, and saw Alissa’s long range lasers score definite hits. The Zhan-shi apparently had a couple of rear-mounted lasers, which it fired at the Cheetah to little effect.
But suddenly ahead Shaun saw shards of concrete and glass flying out from a newly-appearing hole in one of the buildings closest to them, and the same phenomenon repeated five more times from two different buildings. He heard a crackle like thunder repeated four times in half a second, and from one hole in each building the sizzling blast of a PPC struck out, one striking him and one striking Lorenzo. He also felt two large shells from railguns strike him, one in the leg and one in the chest. The combined impact was quite enough to knock him flat.
“Enemy inside buildings, guys! Watch your range!”
What had happened was clear enough. Two Jugs had smashed out the back sides of two buildings, stepping inside the remaining shells and aiming through windows to use the buildings as pillboxes. To hit the Jugs, they would first have to level the buildings.
Technically that wouldn’t be on them. The buildings were already reduced to shells; it wasn’t like they would be responsible for making the damage worse. But if they didn’t blast the enemies quick, they would just shift to another building and start over. If the Zhan-shi joined them they would have missiles to hurl as well as shells and particles. That would be a tough combination to overcome.
With a great effort Shaun sat up and fired his midrange missiles at the back of the fleeing Zhan-shi. He heard the crack of Kenny’s railguns, and suddenly the Zhan-shi stopped dead in its tracks. Slowly, it toppled over.
Good: first things first, and they had achieved their most important objective. Now, to prepare for the next. Shaun stood and hobbled back towards the others, hoping he was getting out of range from the enemy. Then he saw Lorenzo.
Lorenzo had also stood up, apparently trying to do the same thing as Shaun. But he was still in range and not running yet. The enemy opened up with full fire on just him. The Cheetah was struck at least by the rays of the two PPCs, and from the way it was smashed backwards, presumably by more than one of the railguns.
“Omigod, Lorenzo! Are you still there?” Alissa called out over the radio.
“Cut the chatter! He’ll talk if he can.” was Tanya’s terse reply.
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He didn’t. Shaun spoke up. “He’s probably out. Don’t worry, we’re going for him. But everybody line up: we have to charge their line all at once.”
The full squad gathered with him, Kenny pulling up last. “Did everybody see where the shots came from?” asked Shaun: “We don’t want to be firing on empty buildings willy nilly.”
All the squad replied that they had, so Shaun continued. “Kenny and Leonard: you’ve got the longest and deadliest reaches, you’ll probably be their primary targets. We’ll try to close fast enough to make them think twice about that. So expect heavy fire at first, but for it to ease off soon.
“Tanya, you get to Lorenzo and see if he needs medical attention. Drag him out of range if you can.”
“Check.” Tanya continued to be a woman of few words.
Shaun grinned. “Feels like a football huddle here. Let’s not do the hand thing: everybody, charge!”
It wasn’t until he tried running again that he realized how messed up his leg was. He fell behind with Kenny and Leonard almost right away. Kenny chuckled over the radio. “What’s the matter, old man? Need a cane, there?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Shaun retorted, “Laugh it up, fuzzball!”
Kenny did laugh. “Wookie reference, huh? You _have_ seen my hairy backside!”
Then Kenny fired, and the time for conversation seemed over. In the distance one of the buildings partly crumbled. Lorenzo fired shortly after, sending a deluge of missiles on the same building just as the enemy fired again. The building crumpled, and under the debris they could see a very large centauroid Jug, a Qi-shi standing in the wreckage. The Qi-shi immediately backed towards another building.
Shaun had been right: they fired everything they had at Kenny. Their shots were very accurate this time thanks to Kenny being a slow target. PPCs and railgun shells all hit, some smashing into the chest, one in the leg, one on an arm. From the arm came a flash of light and smoke.
“Damn! That’s half my firepower gone!” Kenny exclaimed in irritation.
“If you lose the other half, retreat,” replied Shaun. “You won’t do anyone any good sitting there as a disarmed target.”
“Roger. Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that.”
“Anyway, fire at him now before he gets to cover again.”
“Of course.” Kenny lined up and fired again as Leonard shot off another bloom of missiles. The rest of the Jugs had already rushed forward trying to reach the city as quickly as possible. Those who were in range opened up on the Qi-shi. Meanwhile, Tanya and the Leopard had reached the downed Cheetah.
“Talk to me, Valentino. Let us all know you’re good.”
Lorenzo did not reply, and Tanya began dragging the smaller Jug back towards the field.
Meanwhile the Qi-shi and the other Jug, which Shaun strongly suspected was another Qi-shi, opened fire again on Kenny. The PPCs smashed through the armor on his chest, one of the shells struck his damaged left leg and another struck the left hip. The leg buckled under him, and if Shaun had not been close enough to grab him Kenny would have hit the ground.
“That’s it, Shaun! I can’t move now. Just lay me down and I’ll wait it out. Go get’em, killer!”
Meantime Leonard had moved past them and fired again, darkening the sky with his missile smoke. Tanya had almost gotten Lorenzo out far enough to be safe, and the rest of the squad were closing in on the city.
Shaun sighed. “You’re right. We’ll be back for you shortly.”
He laid the centauroid Jug down gently on the ground and stood. As he tried to hustle towards the action he realized just how damaged his own leg was. There was no chance he would catch up with the others, but he might get close enough to do some damage with long-range missiles. As he stopped and considered, it seemed like the majority of his squad were equipped with nothing more substantial than that: missiles and midrange lasers were about it, except for the Eagle’s Claw’s two long range lasers. That would be a dangerous flaw, he considered: something to look into later. For now he observed the combat as he limped towards the scene.
Mid and long range missiles rained down on the Qi-shi, preventing it from firing and bringing it to a dead halt. Alissa fired her electro lasers into the melee, but the Jug was so obscured by smoke there was no telling whether she hit anything or not.
Suddenly there was another blast from the building where one of the Jugs was still in hiding. This time the Tiger took the brunt of the damage. Michael’s Jug was struck three times and knocked off its feet, just as he was preparing to charge the Qi-shi in the open.
“Michael! You okay?” Shaun couldn’t help but be concerned.
“Been knocked about worse. No worries!”
Shaun sighed in relief. It occurred to him in a flash that Michael had been targeted largely because he was making kills with headshots from his claws, which left the Jugs easily repairable. But never mind the reason: they needed to wipe out the Jug in the open and then tackle the hidden one as fast as possible. Shaun limped forward, now firing both long and mid range missiles at the Qi-shi. He was too far away to use his sword.
“Alissa! Any chance you could manage a head shot on our guest?”
Her voice came back over the radio. “I can sure try…”
He saw the Eagle’s Claw land and line up her shots. Then he realized what a target she was painting on herself. Desperate to stop the enemy Jug from firing, he unloaded all his missiles at the building that still hid a Jug. Most of the building’s front collapsed, revealing a second Qi-shi as he had expected, and apparently interrupting its attempt to fire.
Alissa fired her long range lasers. Both hit, one in the head. The first Qi-shi collapsed amid cheers from the 34th. But there was not a moment’s delay: all missiles available were then fired at the last Jug, under the ruins of the building.
The building collapsed, but the Qi-shi backed out in time. It fired once more, this time at Alissa, who had just jumped. The PPC took a bite out of her right leg and caused her to spin in midair, suddenly losing altitude before she got both feet under her again.
“Time to end this!” Michael growled over the radio as he rolled over, regained his feet and charged the Qi-shi. Two green mid range lasers struck him as he closed the distance, but nothing daunted him. He practically climbed the larger Jug, swiping for the head. Seeing the threat coming, the pilot ejected before Michael could make good his strike. The virtually undamaged Jug slumped to the ground, and Michael hopped off.
“Grab the pilot, reconnect the pod, and ye’ll have a new Jug for Kenny boy, there.”
Shaun couldn’t have been more pleased. “Outstanding! Way to ace the shot, Michael!”
Then his mind turned to unfinished business. “That was eight Jugs: think we got the full squad and that’s all that were in the first wave. But we’ve got to get ready fast for a second wave of three squads coming down on top of us. We may have less than half an hour. I’m calling the locals: they may have supplies available, missiles at least.”
He switched the radio to loudspeaker mode. “Attention, local citizens. This is the Hokliss 34th, and you have been liberated. But we need your assistance; more enemy squads are on the way, and we’re low on missiles and armor. Any help you can offer will be much appreciated, and help us to defend you in the battle to come.”
A voice they had heard before the battle came over the radio again. “Hokliss 34th, we read you. We have no idea how you got here so fast, but you are a godsend. Yes, we will assist: we have armor repair crews, spare missiles and loaders available at once, who were called out when the enemy first arrived. We’ll meet you in the field in ten.”
Shaun called out a thank you to their benefactor, then turned back to the private frequency for the 34th. “Alright: we need Jug triage asap. Check your own Jugs for damage, check downed Jugs for ease or difficulty of repair, then report in sequence by seniority. You have five minutes plus.”
While waiting for them to report, Shaun examined his own diagnostics. The results were not good: he had suffered a lot of armor damage plus double damage to one leg, and was almost out of both mid and long range missiles. Then he remembered the headless Wu-shi in the field. With a long range laser and mid range cannon, and only missing a couple of shots of ammo, it would be a perfect replacement for him if it could be repaired fast. It was the same weight and speed as his Duo-shi, just didn’t have any hands that would allow him to use his sword.
“Arnold here. Got some armor damage is all, need reloads. Qi-shi 1 is toast from all the missiles, Qi-shi 2 is as sweet as it gets.”
“Colfax here. My Jug is fine, just need more missiles: Esteban’s Cheetah, not so much, and Esteban may have a concussion. He’s in no shape to pilot with us right now.”
“Marlowe reporting in. No damage to the Lion, just need a bucketful of reloads. Your Wu-shis: one looks very good, just lost its head; the other took an ammunitions explosion in the chest. That won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.”
“Chun here. Jaguar good, no armor damage, no reloads. One Bully dismembered, one Bully head shot, good recovery.”
There was a pause before the radio came on again. “What, is it my turn? Kenny Winston reporting in. I’m all shot up and going nowhere. Hope you can get that Qi-shi in shape quick.”
“Reynolds here. Minor armor damage, no reloads required ever. The Zhan-shi and Dreadnought are both dead as doornails. Might get some ammo out of them, but that’s it.”
“Thank you all,” Shaun replied. “FYI, the Duo-shi has severe armor and leg damage. If we can get either the Wu-shi or Bully up and running I’ll claim it for now.”
He raised his eyes from the console to look out the windshield and see almost two dozen trucks and flatbeds approaching from the city. One flatbed carried three cockpits, four carried missiles, three carried armor, and he couldn’t recognize the contents of the other three flatbeds. The trucks were even greater mysteries, at least until they stopped and their sides were folded down. Then it was clear that five were repair beds for Jugs, and the others were support functions for the repairs.
The smallest vehicle, a panel van, pulled into the middle and five men piled out, all carrying clipboards, wearing hardhats and radios. One also carried a bullhorn, and raised it to speak.
“Your attention, please! This is Master Chief Sergeant Muldoon. If you have a Jug that needs repair or reload right now, get it to one of the beds we have provided. I am asking for your Commanding Officer or his representative to step up and tell us your priorities as quickly as possible.”
Shaun was impressed. These guys were making it look organized and professional: not what he had expected from a backwater planet, but he would take good news any day. He approached the circle of trucks, knelt and dismounted using the drop ladder provided for such occasions.
“Matthews here: I’m the CO. Thanks, you guys, for showing up so soon and looking good.
“We have three Jugs with headshots that need cockpits and such replaced. Three need missile reloads, both mid and long range. And we need some armor repair, but not much right now: we’re replacing the most damaged Jugs with the headshot cases, if you can manage those in time. Of course, each pilot can tell you exactly what they have going on.
“We also have a pilot who was knocked unconscious. If you can offer any medical aid, it would be much appreciated. And if you can repair all three of the Jugs with headshots, we’d be open for another pilot.”
Muldoon nodded. “I believe we can accommodate all that, sir. Our teams can work side by side and accomplish miracles faster than a jackrabbit. I’ll put in the call: you’ll have our best pilot here in fifteen. Anything else?”
“Not at the moment. Thanks again.”
Muldoon saluted, and all five men departed in different directions, each to a repair truck. Shaun realized that at the moment he had nothing to do, and probably his fellow pilots were in the same boat. He decided to go look for the rest.
Apparently Alissa had the same idea. He saw her first, walking and looking around. He waved and caught her eye. She came running up and hugged him, and he hugged her back.
“Can you believe it?” she said, “Our first big battle as Jug pilots, and we came through without a scratch. Well, all that is except Lorenzo. Is he going to be okay?”
Shaun nodded. “I am sure he will be fine. They’ve got a medical team here as well; they have everything covered. Now, just hope they can finish the repairs and reloads before the next squads land.”
“Yes, the next squads.” Alissa nodded. “Shaun, what are we going to do? They said we might have three more squads dropping in! Even in practice, we get pretty bunged up going three on three!”
Shaun took her hand and squeezed it. “I have some ideas on that. I need to talk to someone in the know, see what we can manage. Meantime, where’s Kenny?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Around, I am sure. He probably had to walk in from the wreckage of his Jug. He’ll be here when we need him.”
Shaun frowned. Alissa was so cavalier about the whole thing with Kenny. It really seemed like she didn’t care anymore. He cast his eyes around the circle, finally seeing Kenny walking in with Li Min. The two were having an animated conversation. He breathed a sigh of relief.
“There he is. Looks like he’s okay. We should really go check on him.”
She evaded his eyes. “If you want. But I’d say he’s doing just fine.”
Gritting his teeth a bit, Shaun led the way over to Kenny, who looked up and waved.
“Hey, Shaun! I tell ya, you’ll never get a view from the cockpit like you do hanging off the side of a Jug! Li Min gave me a ride in: it was wild!”
Li Min bowed. “It was an honor. Someone needed to: he had no ride in from where his Jug went down.”
There was a tone of reproach in Li Min’s voice, though she seemed to be trying very hard to smooth it over. Shaun decided it would be best for him to be the one to reply.
“My apologies. They asked for me pretty much right away, and I didn’t think of Kenny’s situation. I should have; I’ll try to keep that in mind next time. Thank you for getting him this time.”
Alissa cleared her throat. “Sooo… you didn’t get too shook up in the battle, did you? That’s good. I guess if you’re getting the Qi-shi, it’s a step up, right? I mean, two railguns and a PPC, that’s one more really big weapon you’ve got. And maybe more armor?”
Kenny nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. And you’re right: a 50% boost in firepower is nothing to sneeze at, for sure. And fifteen more tons has to go somewhere, so more armor is pretty likely. And it’s no slower than the Undertaker; I wasn’t about to win any footraces either way.”
Even though Alissa had brought it up, she seemed quite disinterested. But she perked up as she switched her attention. “Shaun, what about you? You’ve got a choice between the Wu-shi and the Bully. Which do you think you’ll pick?”
“That’s a good question,” Shaun replied. “The Bully is the same weight as the Duo-shi, but she’s slower, and like the Duo-shi, she’s just a missile boat. We’ve got too many people peppering the enemy’s armor, and not enough really jabbing home. The Wu-shi has a cannon and long range electro laser like your Eagle’s Claw: I think those pack a bit more punch, even if the Wu-shi is about 35 tons lighter than the Bully. I know, it’s less armor, but I think it’s also a lower profile. A Bully gets a lot of notice and people trying to blast it: a Wu-shi, I think not so much.”
Now she was concerned. “Couldn’t you try something else with a cannon or laser: something with a bit more weight? Mostly big Jugs get cannons anyway, you know?”
“No, no!” replied Kenny: “Don’t you remember in game how the smaller, faster Jugs always seemed to come out on top? He’s right: maneuverability plus it packs a punch: the perfect combo!”
“This isn’t the game, Kenny! And it’s not David and Goliath! The smaller Jugs always won in our games because Drake set them up that way! Don’t you get it?” She turned back to Shaun, almost pleading. “Please tell me that you get it?”
Shaun sighed and nodded. “I know. But this is what we have available right now. When we get home I’ll ask about scaling up. I am just thinking about getting through this battle right now.”
About then there was an interruption. A man in a pilot’s uniform approached and saluted Shaun.
“Sir! Lieutenant Mark Cameron reporting for duty. What can I do for you today, sir?”
Shaun returned the salute. “Tell me, Lieutenant: we have an excess of Jugs at the moment. Which would you prefer: a Bully or a Wu-shi?”
“No question: a Bully, sir. More stamina in the field, more damage from her weapons. Sure, she’s a little slower, but makes up for it in raw power. Is that the Jug I’m getting today, sir?”
Alissa caught Shaun’s eye, her face twisted in exasperation. He chose to ignore it. “Yes, Lieutenant, it is. They’re swapping in a new head right now. Go ahead and check it out.”
“Thank you, sir!” And Cameron followed the wave of his hand to the Jug repair pad indicated.
“What?” Shaun replied to Alissa’s silent glare: “He’s just a Lieutenant, pretty much the same as us. He’s not some grizzled veteran telling us his best tips. And like I said, I’ll see about scaling up when I can.”
“As long as you don’t get yourself killed right now? Some comfort that’ll be!” She stormed off towards her Jug, leaving the three of them behind.
“She should not care what he does. She should be happy for you and your new Jug. She is not good girlfriend.” Li Min voiced her opinion to Kenny.
“Yeah, well, she’s been a ‘not good girlfriend’ for a while, now. But she’s what I got, and I have to love her even when she pulls crazy shit.” Kenny threw a brief glare in Shaun’s direction, but his expression softened quickly. “I know you aren’t encouraging this. But damn: she is just so into you…”
Shaun blushed. “I’m sorry. I never meant to come between you two. I wish you could recover what you had. But for your own sakes I hope even more that, if you two are going to end it, you do so as friends and try not to rip each other apart. Not that I think you need telling that like she does, but there you go.”
Kenny paused, then shook his head. “I can’t bring myself to end it. I really do love her, and if we could just get on the same page again--”
Shaun could almost feel Li Min’s frustration rolling off of her in waves, but she remained silent.
“Bud... “ he tried again, “Just want to remind you there are a whole lot of fish in the sea. Maybe she was your first or maybe so far she was your best. But if you’re going to lose her, just rip that bandaid off. I think in your heart, you know I’m right.”
Now Kenny glared at him for real. “What: so she can go running to you? Is that what you’re after?
“No. I’ll find a way to turn this around. Now, I’ve got a Qi-shi to get ready for.”
As Kenny turned and walked off, Li Min in tow, Shaun sighed in discouragement. But there really wasn’t time to focus on this relationship right now. He looked around for someone with a radio, and commandeered it.
“Attention: this is Lt Commander Mathews of the Hokliss 34th gold squad. I need to talk to somebody about your defenses.”
The reply came back quickly. “Lt Commander Mathews, we’ll have a man out to you in twenty.”
Shaun glared up at the foreboding skies. There was nothing in them yet, but any time now…
“Better make it fifteen, if you can. Somebody who can coordinate attacks with us if possible. No telling when enemy units are going to start raining down on us. Surprised they haven’t arrived yet.”
“Sir, yes, sir!” the reply came over the radio. Shaun smiled. It was good being a Lt Commander, he decided.
So, he had fifteen minutes free. He strode down to the station working on the Wu-shi. The tattered remains of the previous cockpit had been pulled out of the way, and a crew was hard at work attaching the cables from the Wu-shi to the new cockpit. Two other crews were replacing bolted-on panels of armor. It was amazing how quickly the teams were working. Somehow he was put in mind of a pit crew at a racetrack. Same basic principle: unbolt the panel, take it off, replace it with a fresh panel and bolt it on. Sometimes the blast damage took in some bolts: then they either had to jackhammer or drill out the existing bolts to make room for new ones, or abandon that particular panel until some other time.
He looked up to see a vehicle very much like a Humvee headed his way. It came to a stop, and three men jumped out. Two were carrying what looked like portable desks which they set up quickly. The other man was unencumbered, and as soon as he saw Shaun he approached and saluted.
“Sergeant Detwiler, reporting for duty, sir! You wanted to coordinate attacks on our new enemies?”
Shaun saluted back and nodded. “Correct. They will most likely be landing in pods. Do you have any antiaircraft capability that could hit a fast-dropping pod, send it out of control?”
Detwiler considered. “Lasers won’t do the trick. Pods are too heavily shielded from heat, and heat is how lasers do damage. Our two choices are the MagnaPulse Particle Projectors and the XtraMass Railguns. Both are designed for bringing down transorbital ships, but if we could lead down on the pods, we might be able to blast a few out of the sky for you.”
Shaun nodded again. “Can you coordinate that from here? Is that what your equipment setup is for?”
“Yes, it is,” replied Detwiler: “That and we have some artillery pieces. Provided you are not directly on site when and where they land, we can probably take out a few more for you on the ground.”
“Good thinking! Better than I had hoped.” Shaun was curious now. “So, how does a little backwater planet like yours have such snap repair crews and great defensive systems? And given you have them, how did a single squad of bandits get into the city without a single loss?”
“Perseus 6 is right on the border with Cheung. At one point they invaded, then set up a depot here from which to attack other planets. They protected the new base pretty well; we only recovered the planet thanks to much sabotage on the part of the locals.
“Muldoon was a local who went career military. When he retired, he came back here and found our repair systems in a deplorable condition. He took over and whipped the crews into shape.
“What we don’t have is any heavy or massive Jugs. Our biggest Jug is a 65-ton Damascus with a cannon and some missiles, and we have two 50-ton Tomahawks that can do a little damage. The rest are picayune.
“As to the enemy: they didn’t drop in pods. Their transorbital landed, well out of our firing range, and they walked in. As soon as we saw the Qi-shi and the Dreadnought, we sent everything we had into the hills to hide. No point getting them all smashed like bugs if we could live to fight another day.
“So: if you need a scouting squad or a mop-up crew, we’re your men. Just, no way we’re going toe to toe with the big boys.”
Shaun considered all that he had just been told. “We could use a few fast bantam weight Jugs to give us intel on the enemy numbers and positions. With our ship not being in orbit, we’re getting no map feeds. And against the number of Jugs we’re expecting, even that Damascus and those Tomahawks could help fill out our line. A little poke-and-run, that’s all we’d need to get them distracted and unsure where to fire. Besides, if they’re sending three whole squads they are almost certainly going to have a few bantam weights themselves. No bandits can afford four squads of just massives and heavys.
“As a matter of fact I have to wonder at how well these guys are equipped. For what should have been a simple smash and grab, they sure used a sledgehammer to swat flies. Only thing I can come up with would be if Cheung were supporting them in hopes of starting another invasion. I have no idea how likely or unlikely an idea that is, but I think it bears looking into.”
Detwiler nodded. “The political climate doesn’t look ripe for that, but politics are always fluid. There could be some reason we don’t know about why Cheung would want a foothold back in the Union. But there is an alternative.
“What if this particular bandit group have worn out their welcome, so to speak, on the Cheung side? Maybe Cheung has sent somebody to take them down, and they figure if they set up on our side of the line, Cheung won’t follow and the Union won’t mass against them for a while: buying time for a bit? Bandits generally seem to live day to day: they wouldn’t necessarily need a long-term plan to choose to do this.”
Shaun considered. “It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. You’re right: that could explain why they came in on you all hard and heavy. If so, they may be desperate: desperate, but ill-equipped for another big battle. We might wipe the floor with them this time.”
“One can only hope.” Detwiler grinned. “I guess we’ll find out.”