Chapter 35

DAY 56 – ALPHA SITE – PETROVA

Petrova ran, feeling the slugs passing back and forth above her head as much as she heard them, the sand crunching beneath her boots. The compound wall was in sight, the defenders cowering behind barriers of sandbags as shells and grenades impacted all around them. There was a wonderful clarity in war – something that she had sorely missed during her captivity. All of the politics and subterfuge ceased to matter, supplanted by the simple, primal truth of killing or dying. Perhaps feeling at home on the battlefield was only further proof of her deteriorating mental state, but there was no need to ponder morality now that she had clear orders to carry out, and there was no room for guilt or self-pity.

She had feared that the other agents would not accept her as Ruza had, but they charged in beside her all the same, Brenner leading the pack. At least for a while, they didn’t care what she had or had not done. They wanted her, even if it was only for the value she provided, and it was like having a family again.

His prosthetics allowing him to control the recoil and keep his weapon stable, Silverback slowed from a run to a jog, shouldering his XMR and unloading at the nearest PDF. His rifle was configured as a squad support weapon, with a long, heavy barrel and a drum magazine that could hold a hundred rounds. His coils glowing red-hot beneath the barrel’s shroud, he covered the rest of the team as they dashed in, leaping over the low defenses and into a shallow trench.

A few troopers were already lying dead nearby, having fallen victim to shells or slugs, more of them turning their weapons on the newcomers. Whether they were motivated by courage or fear, the outcome would be the same. A hail of slugs cut them down, Petrova and Brenner firing first, sending three more of the troopers toppling over.

Wasp wasn’t far behind, vaulting over the sandbags and landing directly on top of an oblivious trooper, knocking him to the ground and dispatching him with a swift punch. More of the Marines were piling in, engaging the enemies further along the wall, fighting to secure the gate. Silverback caught up, firing off a few more violent bursts before leaping into the trench, slinging his XMR over his shoulder.

“Ladies first,” he declared, leaning down and extending his crossed hands. Wasp stepped daintily into his palm, and he lifted her, his bulging prosthetic muscles allowing him to toss the woman almost high enough to send her sailing over the ten-foot wall. She caught the top, hauling herself the rest of the way with a single hand, already brandishing her machine pistol in the other.

Petrova followed, stepping into Silverback’s hands and letting him throw her, sailing up towards the top of the wall. Her new height gave her a brief glimpse of the battle unfolding all around her. To her left, more Marines were crossing no-man’s-land under volleys of covering fire, piling into the trench to dispatch the last of the defenders. They were moving to capture the gate now, advancing behind the sandbags. Over the wall to her right, more troopers were rallying to reinforce the defenders, squads of PDF running from the direction of the outcrop under the orders of SWAR agents. She could see several PCEs already lumbering closer.

She caught the lip of the wall, then pulled herself up the rest of the way, dropping down onto the other side. Wasp was waiting for her, having already secured their ingress point, a pair of PDF lying dead at her feet. There was a large wall of gabions rising up to shield them from view – one of many that broke up the base.

Petrova landed beside her, dropping to a crouch and shouldering her rifle to cover the opposite angle. Brenner dropped down behind her with a thud, readying his weapon. Silverback was too heavy to climb the wall – he’d have to go through the gate and find them on the other side.

The CIWS guns had begun to fire, their telltale buzzing filling the air, streams of glowing slugs drawing wavering trails above their heads as they intercepted the mortars.

“Our targets are the enemy SWAR agents,” Brenner declared. “Take out anyone who gets in your way.”

“Harlequin is tagging targets,” Wasp added, raising a hand to her helmet. “We have four PCEs inbound to the gate and six enemy VIPs.”

Petrova turned her head, peering through the obstacles that stood between her and the PCEs, watching ghostly red representations of the four suits approach at a lumbering run.

“Doesn’t feel good to be on the wrong end of those things, does it?” Wasp chimed.

“They’re not our concern,” Brenner replied. “Move out.”

They began to stalk deeper into the base, walking along the narrow alley between the wall and the gabions, heading East with the gate at their back. Wasp led the way, extending her arm and peeking her machine pistol around one of the sand-filled gabions, using the small holo sight to check the corner. She raised her other hand in a gesture for her teammates to stop, then plucked a grenade from her belt, tossing it out of view. It exploded into a billowing cloud of smoke, and quick as a flash, she stepped out with her weapon braced in both hands. A series of short bursts followed, the smoke no obstacle to her helmet’s optics. When Petrova followed her through the cloud, she found herself stepping over three dead troopers.

As they cleared the haze, a carbcrete depot with a sloping roof rose up in front of them – probably a reinforced structure where ammunition was stored. As Wasp dropped the magazine from her weapon to reload, another trooper in PDF camouflage emerged from his hiding place, leaning out from behind the building ahead. He brought up his XMR, aiming it at them.

Without so much as a word of communication, Wasp dropped into a low crouch, and Brenner fired over her head. His slug hit the trooper in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

They pushed up, approaching that corner cautiously, but found that the shooter had been alone. Some of the less hardened PDF must have found themselves scattered about the compound when the battle had begun. The defenders were disorganized, which worked in their favor, but it also meant that hostiles could pop up practically anywhere.

“PCEs!” Wasp hissed, putting her back to the building.

Petrova could see them tagged on her HUD, the suits nearing their position as they walked across the open compound. A shot rang out, Petrova recognizing the telltale report of an AMR, and one of the PCEs stumbled. A jet of bright flames erupted from its power plant, the pilot dropping his weapon reflexively and trying to reach over his shoulders, reacting in the same way anyone would to being set on fire. His nervous system was connected via the shunt, and there was no barrier between them, the suit mimicking his reflexive movements. His struggling ceased – either because he was dead or his suit was unpowered – and the PCE collapsed to the ground like a falling giant.

A second suit fell, this time to a SCPEL, its beam lancing through the layers of armor like butter. Petrova had been briefed on the experimental weapons, but she had never seen one fired before. It looked like someone was shining a narrow, flickering flashlight beam, erasing anything in its path. The AMR shot had been difficult to place, but the beam drew a straight line right back to the shooter, guiding her eyes to the top of the outcrop that rose up above the compound. That was where Ruza and his team must be perched.

The other two PCEs and the nearby troopers scattered for cover, more gunshots ringing out as they tried to engage the snipers above.

“This is our chance,” Brenner said, waving them forward. “The VIPs will be distracted. Let’s flank around behind, and maybe we can get the drop on them.”

They moved on, marching up the East wall of the compound, heading towards the rocky cliff face. Another bright beam lanced down from the outcrop, a third PCE vanishing from Petrova’s HUD. The fourth thundered over to their side of the courtyard, the three agents leaping into cover behind the back wall of a depot as the suit ducked into the alley barely a stone’s throw away. Another AMR round took it out when it tried to return fire, punching through its canopy and sending it crashing to the ground, close enough that Petrova could feel the impact shake her augs.

“Damn, that Rask can shoot!” Wasp cackled. “No wonder Barbosa has been demanding his head on a plate.”

“Eyes up – left side!” Brenner barked as he raised his rifle.

A small group of three PDF were running in from the courtyard, passing by the downed PCE at the end of the alley between the depots, glancing down at the smoking hole in its canopy in disbelief. They were taking cover from the gunfight that was happening out in the open, one of them watching the corner behind them as the other two swept towards Petrova and her team.

“Wait!” Petrova whispered, raising a hand to stop Brenner and Wasp when she saw the prosthetics beneath their rolled-up sleeves. These were her recruits. Wasp clearly wanted to engage, but Brenner shook his head, giving Petrova a moment.

She switched to her helmet speakers, announcing herself by barking an order.

“Stand down, recruits!”

Like a dog hearing a command from its owner, the men stopped in their tracks almost by reflex, keeping their rifles at the ready as Petrova stepped out of view at the opposite end of the alley.

“Lieutenant Commander Petrova!?” the nearest recruit marveled. “What are you doing at the base? We didn’t know you were here!”

“Damn, we almost shot you, Ma’am!” his neighbor added with palpable relief.

“We haven’t seen you since the carrier, Ma’am,” the first man added. “There are rebel snipers up on the cliff,” he continued hurriedly. “We gotta...”

He paused when he saw Brenner and Wasp step out from cover, their rifles shouldered, but not pointing at the recruits just yet. The troopers seemed to sense that something was wrong, sharing a glance behind their visors.

“Sir, Ma’am,” the first recruit said as he greeted them with a nod. They had no way of knowing every one of Barbosa’s SWAR agents, especially with their helmets on – they simply recognized them as their superiors. Brenner and Wasp remained quiet, watching and waiting silently, poised to strike.

“You need to go take cover, recruit,” Petrova ordered. “Get somewhere safe and keep your heads down until the fighting stops.”

“All due respect, that’s not what our CO said, Ma’am,” the first recruit replied. There was more tension in his voice now, and she could see him fidgeting with his rifle, his grip growing tighter. “We’re supposed to stop the insurgents – that’s what you trained us for.”

“Do we have new orders?” the third man asked, walking over to join his two friends as he picked up on the tense exchange. “Who’s in charge? Maybe I should call my-”

As he lifted his prosthetic hand to his helmet, Brenner raised his rifle and snapped off a shot, Petrova feeling the slug pass by her close enough to rustle the fabric of her sleeve. It struck the recruit in the visor, shattering it and killing him instantly, a second shot echoing down the alley before any of them could react. A burst followed from Wasp’s sidearm, and the two remaining troopers dropped, dead before they had any time to process what was happening.

“Move up,” Brenner ordered, Wasp following him as he left the scene behind.

Petrova waited there for a few moments longer, staring at the bodies as the constant exchange of gunfire faded into the background, the world outside her helmet becoming distant and muffled. She could only focus on the sound of her own breathing – her own heartbeat as it pulsed in her ears. It lasted only a few seconds, but those seconds seemed to drag on forever, until she finally snapped out of it.

“I tried, guys,” she murmured to herself as she wheeled around to join her team.

As they passed another depot and came upon some prefabs covered in camouflaged netting, they abruptly found themselves staring down another squad of a dozen PDF who were taking cover behind the elevated structures. The fog of war once again caused the troopers to hesitate, unsure of whose side the agents were on, and it was all the time Brenner needed to open fire. Half were cut down in the opening salvo, the slugs overpenetrating and passing through multiple targets, fragments of shattered ceramic and bone turned into shrapnel as deadly as any grenade. Petrova joined him, stray rounds sparking as they tore through the metal facades of the prefabs, leaving holes ringed by glowing slag in their wake.

Even as she fired her sidearm with one hand, Wasp prepared a grenade with the other, rolling it beneath the prefab where several of the survivors were rushing for cover. It went off with a thud, cries of pain and surprise ringing out as a puff of dust blew back out from between the building’s outriggers. The agile agent leapt, kicking off the structure’s wall and scaling it in a single stride, landing on the roof. It gave her a vantage point above the PDF still in the alley, the rapid bark of her machine pistol ringing out as she dumped another magazine.

Leaving herself exposed for only a moment, she bent over backwards, curving her spine into a perfect arch. Her free hand gripped the edge of the roof even as her boots remained planted, then she lifted one slender leg like a gymnast, the second following behind it. She backflipped down from the prefab, landing on the near side with all the poise of a ballerina, dropping her spent mag to the sand.

“Showoff,” Petrova muttered.

The team passed more prefabs, moving along the row of buildings as the chorus of battle enveloped them from every direction. It was hard to tell exactly what was going on in the chaos, but the attackers seemed to be gaining ground, more friendly IFF signatures breaching the gate and flooding through the base. Four PCEs were down, but the enemy SWAR team had vanished from their scopes. As she glanced up at the outcrop, she saw that it was under fire, more troopers peppering the rock face with slugs from the courtyard.

As they passed another prefab, they suddenly came face to face with a squad of PDF who were coming towards them down one of the alleys, the agents leaping back into cover as the enemy took a few potshots and yelled out warnings.

Brenner was already ducking into the alley, closing the distance before the enemy could fire off any more shots, leaving them little choice but to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Petrova had fought beside Brenner many times in the past, and she knew that close and personal was the way he liked it.