“They’d better hope their foam deploys,” Barne said. “They’ve slowed, but they’ll still dig a hole.”
The ship passed below the buildings, and the three members of team Basilisk didn’t see if the foam systems deployed or not—though there was no visible fireball or debris cloud.
“Might have made it,” Barne allowed.
“They’re close to our route,” Rika said. “We could take a look.”
“I’d like to,” Leslie said. “Marauders don’t leave one another on the field.”
“No objection here,” Barne said. “We’re here to help their push into the city. Seeing if we can help out a platoon fits the bill.”
<Captain Ayer, we’re going to check out the site of a crashed bird. It’s just a few blocks off our route,> Rika proposed.
<Acknowledged,> Ayer responded. <Report your findings to Major Weston; that’s his platoon that was just dropping.>
<Will do,> she replied.
Her response was punctuated by another drop ship exploding midair, and she watched as starfire rained down on four locations in the city.
No more SAMs streaked out from the ground, and the remainder of the Marauder ships touched down.
Four minutes later, Barne pulled the boat up against a pier and Leslie leapt onto the dock, tying off a mooring, and Barne leaned out on the port side of the vessel to balance it as Rika stepped off.
He snorted as he jumped onto the pier. “Gonna need to get you some lighter limbs if we ever take you to Innoa for some water sports. They have these crazy caverns under the ocean that get huge waves you can surf on underground. Fun times down there.”
“It’s beautiful,” Leslie nodded. “All the lighting is bioluminescent. I—” She didn’t complete the statement and instead began moving down the pier.
<The team went there a few times, she and Jerry made some memories,> Barne said. <I’m an idiot for bringing it up.>
<Sadness is how we cope. We can’t hide from our memories,> Rika replied.
<Maybe not, but we sure can try.>
The trio spread out with Leslie in the lead, Rika in the center, and Barne bringing up the rear. Twice, Leslie spotted Nietzscheans, and both times, Basilisk made short work of them.
As they walked, Rika approached Leslie and gently touched her arm.
<We haven’t had time to talk—well, we have, but I didn’t know what to say. I’m really sorry,> Rika said. <Somehow I feel like it’s my fault.>
Leslie sighed. <It’s no one’s fault. It just is…. I’ll tell you what’s nuts, though. Jerry killed Thebans, and they killed him; but now we’re fighting together against the Nietzscheans. How fucked up is all that?>
<Seriously fucked up,> Rika replied. <Like what happened with the president.>
Leslie glanced at Rika. <You haven’t shared that yet—well, other than the sentence you wrote for the mission brief. How was it that you didn’t kill their president? From what I could tell, she let you onto their net—that means you had already decided not to kill her before our orders changed.>
Rika nodded. <I couldn’t do it, Leslie. She was begging for her life, and I wondered what in the stars I was doing. I may be a killer, but I’m not a murderer. I know it’s a nonexistent distinction to some, but it’s a big one for me.>
<You know…> Leslie said after a moment. <Even though that means you defied an order…it sure makes me like you a lot more. I don’t know if you know this, but you’re scary, girl—damn scary. Knowing that you couldn’t kill in cold blood? Well, that makes you a lot more than human in my book.>
<Umm…thanks…I think?> Rika replied with a chuckle. <She forgave me before the end.>
<The president?> Leslie asked.
<Yeah, Ariana. She said, ‘I forgive you, Rika’.>
<You keep that close, Rika. That’s the real deal.>
They walked in silence for several minutes before Leslie spoke again.
<You were out for a long time, Rika—four years at least, right?>
<I was in the camps for a year after the war,> Rika replied. <So, three.>
<Have anyone special?>
Rika wondered why Leslie was asking. Maybe she just needed something to talk about that would keep her mind off Jerry—though conversation about Rika’s love life seemed like an odd choice.
<Maybe? How’s that?> Leslie asked.
<His name was Chase. He was definitely interested in me—for quite some time, too. But I was too wrapped up in my own head to notice—well, to act on it, at least.>
<What happened?>
<We…I…The night before I was auctioned, I finally…>
Leslie sighed. <We always wait too long, don’t we?>
Rika nodded silently. That they did.
Their conversation was interrupted by Barne, who was signaling that they were approaching the crash site.
* * * * *
“Looks intact—mostly,” Barne said, as he crouched with Rika on the south corner of a dormitory. Leslie was circling around to the north, checking the buildings for hostiles.
“No beacon on it,” Rika replied. “I’m going to move in.”
“Could be trapped,” Barne whispered. “Wait for Leslie to finish her sweep, then you can go play steel hero.”
“Drones don’t see anything. No comms, though. Going to send one up to see if I can Link with Major Weston’s company HQ.”
Rika directed a drone to fly up over the site, and once it reached three hundred meters, it made a line-of-sight connection with the drop ship’s original landing site.
<Major Weston, this is Lieutenant Rika. We’ve reached the crash site. No enemy, but it appears empty—barring two casualties.>
<Sorry, Lieutenant, you were off comms for a bit. The platoon survived, and has been proceeding toward our rendezvous. They’ve run into some trouble a klick to the west of your position, though. I’m sending you their location now.>
<On it,> Rika acknowledged. <Any further details?>
<No, we just lost contact with them around the city’s museum. Drones have picked up the sound of combat in the area, but the few that tried to get closer got hit by EM fields.>
<We’ll find them and get them on their way,> Rika said.
<Good, keep me informed. I might be able to send a B’Muth your way, if it’s needed.>
<I’ll let you know if that’s necessary.>
<Good. Weston out.>
Leslie appeared on the far side of the courtyard. <North and west side clear,> she announced.
<I hooked up with Major Weston. The platoon is a kilometer to the west, pinned down in the museum and out of comms’ reach,> Rika said to the team.
<Well, let’s get moving, then,> Barne replied.
The team moved out of the courtyard, heading west through the university campus. Scenic walks and buildings of all shapes and sizes surrounded them, and Rika wondered what it would have been like to have the time and leisure to spend years in such a place.
She barely remembered her childhood, or much before the war had started when she was twelve. When she was fourteen, her parents had been in an attack on Hollis; Rika had somehow managed to get offworld on a refugee boat. From there she had been shuffled around by the Genevian government until she reached the age of sixteen—when she was able to get out of the camps.
That was what she mostly remembered: fear of the war, fear of the Nietzscheans, and then fear that she wouldn’t survive on the streets.
She had only been nineteen when the cops picked her up for stealing food. Never had a chance to attend a school like this, to enjoy her youth.
To relax.
She wondered about visiting Innoa and enjoying its caves. If Basilisk had been there before, maybe they could go again. Perhaps she could find out what it would be like to just live for a while.
Before the next time they were in the shit.
Rika pulled her mind away from her reminiscing and back to the present. Distractions like
those would be a fantastic way to never see the caves of Innoa.
They neared the edge of the university and could see the stone façade of the museum rising above the surrounding buildings five blocks away. The team formed up behind a high wall with drones monitoring their immediate surroundings.
<I can hear the weapons fire from here,> Rika said. <Sounds sporadic, but I can make out Marauder guns. They’re still in there.>
Barne dropped a holoemitter on the ground, and the museum rose up before them.
<Looks like it has seven entrances. From the sounds of it, the Niets are still outside, which means they have all those sealed; Marauders must be positioned well enough to keep them from breaching. My guess is that we’re looking at between sixty and a hundred Niets, if they can cover all those entrances.>
<More, I’d wager,> Leslie said.
<Well, if there were too many more, they’d go in through all the windows at once,> Barne responded.
<No one ever said the Niets were smart.>
<Leslie, Barne,> Rika said after staring at the holo for a moment. <I want the two of you to circle around the south. Make a hole on the southwest corner when you get the signal. I’m going to hit the Niets right at the front door. That will pull them back—I hope.>
Leslie turned her helmeted head to Rika, and shook it slowly. <You be careful. No more of Basilisk dies on Pyra. Got it?>
Rika nodded, sending Leslie a warm smile over the Link. <I got it. No dying. You two need a little mech in your lives.>
<What’s the signal?> Barne asked.
<You really gotta ask?> Leslie replied with a laugh.
* * * * *
Chase leaned around a column and fired his JE34 rifle at the Niets. He didn’t think that he’d hit any, but at least they weren’t trying to come up the stairs anymore.
<Anyone have any ‘nades left?> he asked fireteam three.
<I got one HE,> one of his soldiers called out.
<Toss it here,> Chase replied. <I have a good angle on a few asshats behind that truck out there.>
The soldier tossed the grenade to Chase, who caught it and primed it. Chase then pulled a feed from one of the platoon’s few remaining drones—most of which had been destroyed by the Niets’ EM fields—and looked for the best angle for his toss.
There was a building with an awning across the street. If he could get the grenade to hit it, the ‘nade would roll off and land right on top of the enemy troops behind the truck.
Chase pulled his arm back and swung with all the strength his powered armor lent him. From the drone’s feed, he saw that the grenade’s trajectory was true. It hit the awning and fell out of view.
Two seconds later an explosion flipped the truck over, and Chase assumed the Niets behind it were dead. That had to put the count of enemies at the museum’s front door at less than thirty.
Of course, he had only two fireteams at the front; his first was at a side entrance, and the rest of the platoon was spread even thinner.
He’d also had casualties; two dead, and seven others across the platoon in some state of serious injury. Without comms he didn’t expect that they’d hold out much longer. He was considering telling the platoon to amass at one of the south entrances and break out of this deathtrap. He could maintain a fiction of a defense at the front door for a few minutes, at least.
So much for finding Rika in the Marauders. Chase shook his head. What a fool’s errand this had been. After searching for her for half a year, the only thing he was going to find was a shallow grave on some distant world.
Still, if he could take out a few Niets before he died, that would be something he could accept. If it saved his platoon, that would be even better.
A group of Niets appeared down a side street with a heavy slug thrower. The kinetic weapon had more than enough firepower to tear apart the columns at the front of the museum.
<All fireteams, fall back to squad one’s position. At the five-minute mark, make a push out to the memorial building one block to the southwest!> Chase ordered.
Confirmations came over the link and behind them, the two fireteams began to fall back through the museum’s entrance.
<You coming, Sarge?> the corporal leading fireteam two asked.
<Yeah, gonna be right behind you guys. Just want to keep them out here a bit longer,> Chase replied.
He could tell the corporal hadn’t moved, and Chase looked back at the woman. <Move, soldier! That’s an order!>
<Yes, Sergeant Chase. Thank you.>
Don’t thank me yet, Chase thought.
The fireteams retreated through the museum’s entrance as Chase fired from his position; then he moved to another and fired again. He knew the enemy would see some of the Marauders leaving, but with luck, they’d think that the defenders were just falling back through the doors and no further.
He pulled back, closer to the entrance, aware that alone he could be easily flanked amongst the columns. As he slipped behind one, he heard the whine of the slug thrower discharge, and a column exploded five meters to his right.
Another pillar exploded, and he ran toward the door, dodging behind whatever cover he could find as the slug thrower tracked him.
So much for luck, Chase thought as he glanced over his shoulder
At which point he saw the slug thrower explode.
The Niets crewing it were thrown wide as the weapon blew apart in flames and shrapnel. He knew that shot hadn’t come from his troops; he tried to raise whoever was out there on comms, but got nothing.
More shots rang out, ballistic rounds that hit half a dozen Niets in rapid succession. An HE grenade exploded where a group of Niets was clustered, and then a car partway down the block flew into the air.
The Niets must have decided that whoever was left at the museum entrance was far less dangerous than whoever was hitting them from behind, and a dozen of them rushed up the stairs and took cover behind the columns. Chase considered hitting them from the rear, when the remainder of their force rose from cover and raced toward the museum’s main entrance.
“Oh, shit!” Chase cried out, and ran into the museum, thirty Niets hot on his tail.
* * * * *
Rika was just settling into position when she saw the Marauders begin to fall back through the museum’s entrance. She tried to raise them; they needed to stop. A hammer and anvil didn’t work nearly as well if there was no anvil.
Shots came from amongst the columns atop the museum’s stairs, and Rika prayed that enough Marauders were still present to hold back the Niets.
She eased her weapon over the edge of a building and was about to fire on a pair of enemy soldiers when she saw an a-grav pad float into view—a large-bore kinetic slug thrower resting atop its platform.
Niets never fight fair, Rika grumbled. Good thing I don’t either.
She repositioned on the rooftop and took aim with her GNR-41C, switching its mode to fire one of her last few uranium sabot rounds, and mentally pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened.
The weapon’s jam notice was flashing on her HUD, indicating that the sabot round wasn’t seated properly in the chamber. Rika cycled the round out and back into the chamber, and the warning disappeared.
She took aim again while the Niets fired the gun, blowing a pillar apart. Rika fired once more, and the jam notice reappeared.
FAAAWK! she shouted in her mind, and unlatched the chamber cover, sliding it aside. The round was seated properly and the accelerator was aligned.
Then she saw that the jam sensor was cracked. No wonder.
Rika quickly sealed up the chamber, disabled the jam sensor, and fired on the Niets’ weapon.
The uranium rod flew true, and its sabot dropped off a moment before it hit, tearing the gun apart. Rika moved down the rooftop, firing her ballistic rounds on a dozen other Niets who were hiding behind a stone wall, and then lobbed a grenade at another group behind a car.
Thanks to her two-seventy vision, she saw one of the Marauders still
alive in front of the museum’s entrance. She tried to signal him, but he turned and raced inside the building.
Fuck…no! Rika swore. Then she saw why—the Niets were all fleeing into the building, apparently far more fearful of her than whoever was still inside.
Rika leapt down from the rooftop and into the street, firing with her JE78 at two Niets who weren’t fast enough. Then she lobbed another grenade amongst the columns, trusting its blast to clear a path for her.
Seconds later she was up the marble stairs. Cowards though they were, the Niets would be waiting for her inside the door; even her armor and reflexes couldn’t withstand concentrated firepower from twenty weapons.
She glanced at the high windows along the front of the building then ran and jumped through one; shards of glass and steel rained down as she fell into the museum’s large foyer.
As expected, the Niets were waiting with weapons trained on the front entrance. She fired a few more rounds from her GNR into their midst as she raced to the dubious cover of some strange twisted sculpture.
Once crouched behind the sculpture, Rika lobbed another grenade out to where her HUD showed the highest concentration of enemies to be. She didn’t wait to see if it hit anyone before rushing to a column, which she climbed using the same trick as she had in the bunker—hanging from the capital at its top.
The Niets were firing at the pillar’s base, and Rika leaned out and shot a uranium round into the base of a different pillar, then another one. Both stone towers fell as their bases crumbled, raining chunks of marble onto nearby Niets.
Rika had hoped the roof would fall, too, but it seemed to be holding. She was about to take out another pillar when part of the ceiling finally came down. Many of the Niets had retreated back toward the entrance, but the debris still caught a dozen of their number.
She scanned the foyer and saw no movement other than the enemies clustered near the entrance. Rika jumped down from the pillar and clambered over the debris, firing wildly at the Niets, forcing them out of the museum.
Then something hit her back, and Rika spun to see a Niet half-buried by the fallen ceiling firing on her. Before she had a chance to put him down, a trio of shots rang out from further back in the foyer, killing the Niet.