She was about to issue the command for Niki to dive after it, when the Marauder dropship detached from the destroyer’s hull and began to boost upward.
“Comms?” Rika asked aloud, eyes fixed on that ship.
<Linked.>
<Chief Charles, come in. Are all aboard?>
<Captain! Fucking awesome to hear you. Uh…yes, Sergeant Chase said all Marauders are back aboard, but two are KIA.>
Rika clenched her teeth as guilty tears of relief flowed down her face. She wanted nothing more than to talk to Chase at that moment, but she needed to find out what was happening on the two cruisers that were still holding in the clouds. If she started talking to Chase, she might lose her edge.
<Understood. Tell him I’ll see him soon.>
<You got it. Mad Dog out.>
<Have you been able to reach those two teams?> Rika asked Niki.
<Yes, Potter has helm and is a minute from firing engines. Lauren is on the other one; she never got the updated hack, but I’m sending it to her now. She should be good to go in a few minutes.>
Niki sounded relieved, and Rika felt the same way. The entire time they had been fighting through the Fury Lance, the fear that the other teams had all failed had lurked in the back of her mind.
One company assaulting ten cruisers with a total complement of over ten thousand, and winning? This would be the stuff of legends.
“Wait…” Rika said as she reviewed the scan holo and the raw data that was scrolling in a panel to the right. “Vargo Klen. I don’t see him. Did he make it out?”
<I have a Link to the SAF, let me check,> Niki replied.
Rika glanced at Aaron as he approached and gave his update.
“We are secure, Captain. There may still be some Niets holed up here and there, but based on the numbers that the cryo systems show, all but a few of their soldiers are dead.”
Rika clasped a hand on his shoulder as the second-to-last cruiser fired its engines and began to climb out of the clouds.
“Almost there,” Rika whispered.
<They didn’t pick Klen up,> Niki reported. <I’ve scoured the logs. He took weapons fire on the way back to the Fury Lance.>
Niki highlighted the location where Klen’s dropship had last been seen, and Rika scowled at the scan display. “I don’t see anything.”
<Compensating for winds—it’s a killer storm out there…>
Rika bit her lip. She’d been the one who sent him out there—granted, she’d sent everyone…but he wasn’t a mech. He couldn’t handle what they could.
<Got him, he’s two hundred kilometers down. It’s not crush depth…but there’s a huge low-pressure zone moving in beneath us.>
Rika felt her breath catch. “Which means he could fall like a rock.”
<I can take us down. We can grab him with a grav beam, and draw him in.>
“Do it. We’re not leaving anyone behind.”
<He could be dead…> Niki said quietly, for Rika’s ears alone.
<Niki, no one gets left behind. He saved the day. Armens will not be his grave.>
<Aye, Captain Rika,> Niki replied on the combat net. <Chiefs Ferris and Tanya, I’ve opened up a shuttle bay that looks to be clear of Niets. I advise you to get inside.>
Rika watched the feeds from the two dropship pilots that were still attached to the hull of the Fury Lance as they pulled free and eased around the starship toward the bay Niki had indicated.
The moment they were within, the bay’s doors began to close. Three kilometers behind them, the Fury Lance’s engines roared to life, and Rika felt a small shudder beneath her feet.
<Dampeners are running at low power. Trying to keep things cool,> Niki said. <Cooling vanes are all the way out.>
Rika pulled up a view of the clouds around the ship on the forward display, as they turned and began to fall through the gas giant’s atmosphere. All around the vessel, lightning flared, striking the shields and the cooling vanes with increasing intensity.
“Is that normal?” Aaron asked.
“Nothing we’re doing is normal. But the ship can take it; she’s rated for a lot deeper than this.”
“After spending weeks down here heating up like a toaster?”
<She’ll hold,> Niki replied, her tone filled with more determination than confidence.
A shudder began to run through the deck as they dropped, and then suddenly they all felt a moment of weightlessness as the ship fell faster.
<Hit the low-pressure zone, compensating. I have a visual on Klen’s dropship.>
The secondary holotank came to life, showing the front half of the dropship. It was spinning wildly, but Rika saw that the cockpit hatch was sealed.
There was a chance.
Niki spun the Fury Lance so that its engines were facing down toward the planet core, and let them fall until they were within one kilometer of the dropship.
The shuddering in the deck plates had intensified, and Rika couldn’t help but notice that they were now more than five hundred kilometers below the cloud tops.
Lights began to flash on several consoles, and an alarm sounded. The bridge’s forward display flashed a warning that the hull of the ship was over 700 degrees kelvin.
<Got him!> Niki cried out. <Pulling him in…same bay as the other ships.>
Rika turned to the feeds from the other dropships and watched with dismay as the red-hot ruin of Klen’s dropship was set on a cradle.
The moment the clamps wrapped around the wreckage, Rika shouted. “Go! Go!”
The deck lurched under them, and Niki cried out. <All Marauders, hold onto your hats. Dampeners failing!>
Rika ran to the back wall of the bridge as the dampeners and artificial gravity cut out at the same time. Suddenly the ship’s engines were ‘down’, and 10g of thrust slammed everyone into the rear wall.
Commander Kiers fell down the bridge, hit a chair, and then flew out the open door, into the atrium beyond.
Ben peered around the door at what was now a sixty-meter drop. “Oops.”
The Fury Lance bucked like a wild horse in the gas giant’s winds, but Rika could see that their descent had stopped, and they were rising once more.
<Shit, we’re dancing close to thermal shutdown on the reactors,> Niki warned. <I’m decreasing our angle and burn.>
The 10g dropped to only 8, and Rika felt a small lessening in the tremendous pressure on her chest. She wondered how the squishies must be feeling. She suspected that their ascent was going to kill as many Niets as the attack had.
The minutes dragged on as the ship crept out of the planet, kilometer by kilometer. Then they passed into the troposphere; the heat warnings began to fall silent, and the shuddering decreased to a mere tremor.
A minute later, the blessed blackness of space filled the forward viewscreen, and the bridge erupted with cheers.
<Niki, you deserve a promotion.>
Rika was surprised to hear a tremor in her AI’s voice.
<Tell me about it.>
<How close?> Rika asked.
<You really don’t want to know.>
CAPTAIN RIKA
STELLAR DATE: 05.02.8949 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Fury Lance
REGION: Within Armens, Hercules System, Septhian Alliance
Rika sat in the Fury Lance’s command chair, reviewing the after-action reports and damage assessments that were flowing in from her teams.
All-in-all, it was better than it could have been, but worse than she’d hoped. Twenty-seven of her Marauders had died, and fifty more were seriously injured.
Vargo Klen, by some miracle, had survived—though there wasn’t much of him left. Someone had found his last will, and in it, he asked to be turned into a mech if he was seriously injured.
Rika didn’t want to think about that just yet. He could be kept in a medical coma for the time being.
There was nothing wrong with prosthetic limbs in and of themselves,
and should the receiver be willing, there was no moral dilemma.
But mechs were more than mods and prosthetics—they were made to kill. An arm that helped you pick up your cup of coffee or caress your lover was one thing. An arm that was purpose-built to kill everyone in sight was a different thing entirely.
Rika pushed that concern from her mind as a call from Major Tim came in.
<Captain Rika! I have to hand it to you. I…that’s quite the victory.>
<He was going to say that he didn’t think we could pull it off,> Niki said privately.
<Yeah, that was my suspicion, as well,> Rika said to Niki before replying to Tim. <Five ships for the Marauders, three for the SAF, and a whole pile of dead Nietzscheans. It’s a good day to be a Marauder.>
<Do you think the SAF will let us keep that dreadnought?>
<The Fury Lance? They’ll pry it from my cold, dead fingers. We’ve saved their bacon twice this week.>
Major Tim laughed and began to speak, when Cora interrupted him <Major, Captain! A ship just jumped into the system broadcasting an alert. The Albany System is under attack! Half of it has already fallen to the Nietzscheans!>
<What the fuck!?> Rika exclaimed. <What about Pyra? How long ago?>
<When the ship jumped out, Pyra was still holding on. Intel is nine days old.>
Rika rose from her chair and looked at the dreadnought’s bridge before her.
<Give me all ships, Niki.>
<You’ve got it.>
<Marauders. This is Captain Rika. Today, we saved the Hercules System. But now the Nietzscheans are back in Albany. Crews on SAF-claimed ships, get off those vessels and make for the Fury Lance. We are boosting for the Albany jump point in thirty minutes.>
<Rika!> Major Tim shouted into her mind. <What? You can’t!>
<Major. I am not under your command. In fact, in matters such as this, you are under mine. My mechs are going to need the supplies on your ships; I order you to accompany us.>
<Rika—>
<She’s right, Major,> Cora interjected. <She’s in charge of where the force deploys. General Mill was explicit in his orders, and made no mention of remaining in the Hercules System.>
Major Tim didn’t respond for almost a full sixty seconds, but Rika could feel his anger spilling across the Link.
Finally, he replied. <Very well, but I’m in command of fleet formation. I’ll provide vector and burn before we depart.>
<Understood,> Rika replied and closed the connection.
“Rika!”
She spun to see Chase entering the bridge, and leapt over the command chair as she rushed toward him. She stopped short when she saw that his left arm was missing.
“Chase! Again?”
“It’s OK, Rika. It’s just an arm.”
She wrapped her arms around him and gave a gentle squeeze. “Seems like a habit. Vargo Klen wants to be a mech; maybe we should just get it over with, and do it to you, too.”
Chase raised an eyebrow and gave her a tired smile. “You know, I wonder if that wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”
“Really?” Rika couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice.
“Yeah I’m losing limbs on nearly every engagement. Would be a lot more useful if they could just bolt on a new one.”
Rika took a step back and gauged Chase’s size. “AM-3?”
“Hell no!” Chase exclaimed. “If—and this is probably just the post-battle adrenaline talking, plus the wonderful drugs my armor is injecting me with…where was I?”
“ ‘If’,” Rika supplied.
“Right! If I become a mech, I’m keeping my man-bits. No two ways about it.”
Barne snorted as he walked onto the bridge with Leslie at his side. “A mech with a dick. That’ll be the day. Then once you get your bits back, Rika, you two can finally fuck and make little mech babies.”
“Barne!” Leslie exclaimed and smacked the First Sergeant on the back of the head. “That’s…I’m not sure what. Inappropriate at least!”
Rika couldn’t help but notice that Leslie’s hand had been clasping Barne’s before she’d pulled it free to hit him.
“It’s OK, Leslie. Asshole is part of Barne’s charm.”
“He’s a man made of ass,” Chase added.
Barne nodded. “And I make it look good.”
Chase turned back to Rika. “So, what’s this about Albany?”
“Niets hit them nine days ago,” Rika replied. “We’re jumping out there to lend a hand.”
“On whose orders?” Leslie’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Rika.
“Mine,” Rika replied.
Barne sat at a duty station and placed his feet on the console. “Fine by me.” He leaned back and interlaced his fingers. “If that’s where the Niets are, then we’d best get going. They’re not going to die on their own.”
Rika grinned and slapped Barne on the shoulder. “I like your attitude, Top.”
“Who said you could call me ‘Top’?”
TANIS RICHARDS
STELLAR DATE: 05.05.8949 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Jersey City, Pyra
REGION: Albany System, Septhian Alliance
Tanis sagged against the crumbling brick wall, praying it would hold up long enough for her to catch her breath. She looked down at her rifle, shaking her head at the energy readout.
Her left arm was gone—the flowmetal it was made of long ago consumed to build nano—and a hole was blown clear through her right leg. To top it off, her reactive armor was failing.
Overhead, just beyond the burning towers of Jersey City, another Nietzschean ship drifted into view, beam fire glowing brightly as it fired on…something.
<Stars, those things just keep coming!>
Angela sighed, the AI also somehow sounding weary. <They have at least ten thousand…maybe more.>
Tanis felt her eyelids droop, the last of her energy nearly gone, when the sound of heavy footfalls came from a nearby side street.
Her eyes snapped back open, and Tanis pushed off from the wall, wincing each time she put pressure on her injured leg. She collapsed behind a pile of rubble and swung her rifle up onto the debris, aiming it in the general direction of the side street. Her breath was loud and ragged in her ears as she waited for whatever was next.
There was no backup to be called, no ship to save them with starfire. They were alone.
<Is this how it all ends, Angela?>
<I don’t know, Tanis, but I know one thing for sure: we’re going to find out together.>
Tanis felt a smile grace her lips. <Together. That’s how we’ll always be.>
Above them, more Nietzschean ships drifted over the city, their beams raking the ground as far as the eye could see.
On the ground, the first Nietzschean soldier came around the corner, and Tanis opened fire.
She’d kill as many as she could before they got her.
THE END
* * * * *
The adventure continues in Rika Commander, coming out April 19th, 2018.
But first, Rika has a date with destiny in the Albany System. Find out how Tanis ends up not far from where Rika was re-united with Chase in: Attack on Thebes.
Read on for details about the different types of mechs, and the members of Rika’s Marauders.
MECH TYPES AND
ARMAMENTS
While these are the standard builds and configurations documented by the Genevian Armed Forces (GAF), many mechs reached the field in mismatched configuration, or were altered after deployment.
Sometimes these alterations were upgrades, sometimes downgrades, as repairs were often made with whatever spare components were available at the time.
The mechs in the Marauders generally align with the stated configurations, though many have altered themselves over the years.
K1R (Kill Ranger – Generation 1)
This mech is more of a two-legged tank than
a mech. The K1R sports a central ‘pod’ where the human is situated. None of the limbs utilize human material.
K1Rs often had mental issues due to feeling as though they had lost all sense of humanity. When the Nietzscheans won the war, they did not release any K1Rs from their internment camps. It is not known if they kept them, or killed them all.
Until the discovery of the mechs in the Politica, there was only a single K1R in the Marauders (who had been under General Mill’s command at the end of the war). That mech has joined Rika’s company to assist the four K1Rs Rika freed from the Politica in re-integration.
K1R mechs have a variety of heavy armament, including massive chainguns, railguns, missiles (with and without tactical nuke warheads), electron beams, and proton beams. They also sport a variety of suppression devices, from pulse, to sonic, to portable grav shields.
K1R mechs were not made later in the war, due to their cost and mental instability.
There were rumors that a limited run of K2R mechs were made, but no credible reports exist.
Sub-Models:
All K1R models could be outfitted with interchangeable armament, excepting the base model, which could not carry the tactical nukes.
K1R – The base K1R model was made in the early years of the war, and lacked the coordination and reactive armor of the later models.
K1R-M – The ‘M’ K1R added in the reactive armor, and included upgraded railguns with more advanced scan and target tracking systems. These mechs carried two missiles in launcher pots in their backs. They could be (and often were) upgraded to support the tactical nuke warheads on the missiles.
K1R-T – The ‘T’ model was a similar configuration to the ‘M’, but came standard with tactical nuclear warheads. Instead of the pair of launchers the K1R-M sported, the ‘T’ model carried as many as twelve missiles.
AM (Assault Mech)
The AM mechs represented the bulk of the GAF’s mechanized infantry program. It is estimated that over ten million AMs were created during the war, and over one hundred thousand are known to have survived. Many joined mercenary outfits or the militaries of other nations.