Chapter 2

"Incoming!"

Everyone dove for cover as the call came over the platoon's channel. The shell missed, but not by much.

"Get some fire on that battery!" Lieutenant Burke shouted to anyone who was listening.

Combat in a vacuum is a strange thing compared to combat in atmosphere. Contrary to what is portrayed in the holos, there is no sound. Just flashes of light and blips on radar displays. It's very surreal. Death comes out of nowhere.

Burke saw Ski spraying the oncoming Federation troopers with his rail gun. Juggs was pumping micro-missiles out of her shoulder-mounted launchers as fast as the auto-loader would feed them. The barrel of Bunny's particle beam cannon glowed white-hot.

Wonder Boy was down, his severed left arm lying on the ground next to him. Zipper stood over the still form, forearm blasters blazing, while Crispy desperately patched the hole in the chestplate of Wonder Boy's armoured suit before he died of decompression. Traylor's headless body lay in one of the small moon's many craters along with the five rescued hostages who huddled together in their vacuum suits.

The rest of the platoon had fanned out and was trying to fend off their pursuers.

Burke switched channels, "Control, this is Katana Six. Where the hell is that retrieval boat?"

"Katana, Control. Retrieval boat inbound. ETA thirty seconds."

On his HUD, a new channel suddenly opened and a face he hadn't expected to see appeared. Lieutenant Burke's jaw dropped. All of his fears instantly evaporated, and he knew at that moment everything was going to be fine.

"Katana Six, this is Archangel. Find some cover. LZ Bravo is about to get hot."

An instant later, four drones passed overhead, flechette rounds pouring out of their electromagnetic rail cannons and into the Federation troops. On his radar, Burke saw two more drones coming in, just ahead of the retrieval boat. They peeled away, leaving two smaller blips heading his way.

"Everybody, down!" he said over the main channel and then ducked.

The ground around him shook as the pressure bombs exploded. A wave of shrapnel and dirt flew over his head. He looked up and saw that their pursuers were having second thoughts about coming any closer.

"Thank you, Archangel," Burke said with a smile that he had never shown on a battlefield. She blew him a kiss and then the screen closed. He switched back to his platoon's channel. "SOLARs, we ... are ... LEA-ving."

The transport flared right behind him, gun pods blazing. Then it gracefully set down. Marines poured out of the side hatches, sending the remaining Federation troops into a frantic retreat. Archangel's drone fighters strafed those who weren't smart enough to turn tail.

Burke fired a short burst of grenades towards the enemy as the fifteen surviving SOLARs and five former hostages boarded the boat, the able-bodied carrying the wounded and the dead.

Looking around, he spotted a Marine gunny waving her men back into the boat. "Got everyone, sir?"

"All present and accounted for," he replied as the last of the Marines boarded. Right on the gunny's heels, Burke stepped into the open hatch, pounded twice on the bulkhead and the pilot took off before the door closed.

While waiting for the compartment to pressurise, he plugged into the intraship comm system. "Pilot, contact Control: The package is secure. Then get us the hell out of here."

"Aye, sir," the young woman replied, the grin on her face evident even over the voice-only channel.

Burke surveyed the other men and women in the bay. All of the surviving hostages were alive. One of his men was wounded, one woman killed. Some of the SOLARs were slumped in their seats. Others fidgeted, the adrenaline still pumping through their bodies. Just as soon as the pressure was tolerable, the interior doors opened and the room was swarmed with medics.

The platoon leader popped his suit open and breathed the ship's recycled air that was only slightly less stale than his suit's. One of the hostages came up to him.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," she said, tears in her eyes. "To all your men and women."

"Just doing our job, ma'am," his voice was deep and gravelly. You had better be worth the price we paid to rescue you.

She patted him on the shoulder before being led away along with the four others the SOLAR team had rescued. He was more worried about Wonder Boy and the rest of the platoon than being thanked. A flight surgeon plugged his monitors into the wounded man's power armour and began taking readings. The rest of the Team was looking on, dread and anticipation on their faces. They were looking for any excuse to hope.

After an eternity, the doctor spoke, his voice grave. "He's going to live. Leave him in his suit until we can get him into a sick bay. The nanobots have him stabilised."

Everyone's gaze went to the other suit that lay on the deck. The blood that had frozen in the cold vacuum of space was beginning to thaw into a pool on the deck. Chief Hayes placed a towel in the neck to sop up the blood and covered the still-armoured body with a blanket.

No one offered to help, and she didn't ask.

Sixteen out. Fifteen back. Three of the hostages had been killed by their captors before Burke and his team had been able to free them; they were left behind. It was a hell of a price to pay.

"Good work out there, people. There's nothing like infiltrating a base full of bad guys and shooting our way out, huh?" Burke said to the company. After having just lost one of their own in battle, they were in a fragile place and Burke needed them under control. And quickly. There would be time to grieve later. "Chief, secure all weapons. Mister Tran, upload all the combat film and telemetry. Prepare the platoon for debriefing. Everyone else: check your gear for micro-fissures and vacuum breaches. You all know the drill. I want this done quick and by the book. Go."

They both nodded. He pulled his AOIC and LPO aside as the rest of the platoon began their familiar operational rituals. "Keep them busy, especially Zipper. Don't let them bother the docs and keep them away from Wonder Boy and Traylor."

"Hoo-yah," they both nodded the familiar SOLAR affirmative response.

Burke stripped out his armoured shell and went about his post-mission tasks. Two images from the mission were burned in his mind: The flying chunk of debris that had taken Traylor's head clean off, and Archangel, the love of his life, whom he had not seen in over a year.

The trip back to the Dreadnaught took a little over two hours. Then it would just be a short hyperspace jump back to the sector base, Citadel Firestorm.

Wonder Boy was blissfully unaware of everything going on around him. The wounded SOLAR had been moved to a medical bunk in the back of the boat, along with the other hostages. Traylor's body was left where she was. As the transport settled into its berth in the battleship's hanger, Burke addressed the thirteen men and women who had gone on the mission with him.

"Folks, listen up," he said and they fell silent. "Once again, you all kicked ass and took names. You should be proud of yourselves. This is the finest platoon I have ever served in and you have showed me once again that you will never let the Alliance, the Navy or the Teams down."

He paused for a second, looking around the room. "Things are going to get out of control very quickly once we get back. Stick together. Stay humble. You're still SOLARs. You will not talk to the press until you have been debriefed by Commander Stickle. Is that clear?"

"Hoo-yah, Lieutenant Burke," they replied together. The transport settled on the deck. They could hear the docking ring lock around the hatch.

"Get Traylor on that stretcher. We take care of our own," Burke said. She was still in her armour and would stay that way until her burial in space. Four of the SOLARs gently laid her on the gurney while the others lined up on either side, Lieutenant Burke in the lead. On the other side of the ship, the wounded man and the hostages were taken to sick bay for treatment, but the living had one final duty to perform for their dead.

The hatch opened and some sailors rushed in to greet them. The euphoria at the successful mission disappeared when they saw Burke and the other SOLAR's hard expressions. They parted as the honour guard carried their fallen comrade to her final rest.

After taking Traylor to the morgue, Burke and his platoon returned to the small corner of the Dreadnaught assigned to SOLAR Team 6. He let out a sigh, knowing that he still had to face a mountain of after-action reports, inventories and other paperwork for the mission to be considered complete. The SOLARs headed towards their quarters, trying not to think of the empty spot in the platoon. Some would shed their tears now. Some later. Burke's had to wait. His job wasn't quite over.

He went to the debriefing where he recounted everything he could about the mission while it was still fresh in his mind. The intel people picked his brain for the tiniest details, hoping to glean any useable tidbits of information. Then he had a brief subspace chat with the Team 6 CO, who warned him not to talk to the press.

The war wasn't going so well for the Alliance. The systems that made up the Federation of Free Planets were fighting a holding action. The Alliance had them outnumbered and outgunned. Yet, all the Federation had to do was prolong the war for as long as possible. The war was draining the morale and the economy of the Alliance.

Everyone knew that unless there was a quick and decisive end to the fighting the Alliance would be forced to sue for peace in the next few months. That is, except for a handful of ideological extremists who took the sector prelate and her family hostage. Instantly, public opinion turned against the Federation. There's nothing like kidnapping a five year-old that makes people line up against your cause.

To rescue the hostages, Fleet Admiral von Luck turned to her best special operators, SOLAR Team 6. Once the hostages were located, Burke and his platoon were sent in to rescue them, along with two other SOLAR platoons and a company of space marines in support.

Losing one of his SOLARs was not part of the plan, but he knew that they had inflicted far heavier losses on the Federation than they had taken. It was little consolation, but losing people from his platoon was nothing new to Burke. That didn't make it any easier, but that's why they paid officers the big bucks.

After going through the debriefing and inspecting all their gear, they arrived back at the sector base. The platoon retired to their wardroom while Burke, his AOIC and the platoon's "third-O" met with the prelate, a couple of the other hostages and some public relations officers from the sector force command. Burke was not happy with the political side of the operation but the meeting didn't last long and he only felt like strangling someone one time.

Then they left and went in search of the rest of the platoon. The officers found them a short time later, lounging around in the platoon's common room. The SOLARs were talking amongst themselves, re-living the mission step by step, comparing notes. A cloud hung over the room.

"Hey, Lieutenant," one of them called as they walked through the door, "You want some hooch?"

"Not if you brewed it, Whitey," he replied with a smirk.

"This shit is Anne's mix, not mine," she replied. "You can't blame me this time, sir."

Burke grinned. "The last time I drank one of Annie's concoctions, I was on sick call for a week."

"I can't help it if your stomach went soft at OCS, sir," Anne Rhodes slurred. Obviously, she had been sampling her brew for some time.

"Pass me a glass." He took it and went to the middle of the room. Everyone's eyes were on him. "To Wonder Boy and a speedy recovery."

All the others raised their glasses. Burke took a deep pull on the moonshine. It burned his throat.

"To Traylor," he continued. There was no sense in putting off the inevitable. Everyone would grieve in their own way. For Burke, that meant celebrating her life. "The only person I know who can get lost in a hedge maze and the only one of you sorry motherfuckers I'd want at my back in a knife fight."

"Traylor!" the assembled platoon saluted their teammate. Burke took another swig. The burning wasn't quite so bad the second time around.

As part of their post-operation rituals, there was some other business to take care of.

"Who was the number one shooter today?" Burke asked.

Chief Hayes paused a moment for dramatic effect. "That would be G-M-Three Andrea Stanley, sir."

There was a chorus of groans from the assembled troopers. Burke let himself smile just a little.

"Juggs? Again?" someone said with mock disgust.

"Give me the dragon and I'll rack up as many kills as she has," another SOLAR said teasingly.

"Killing friendlies doesn't count, Crispy," Martin countered. That brought a round of chuckles, even among the melancholy.

"What can I say, boys and girls? I was just born with the gift," Juggs said in a voice that was meant to taunt the others.

"Yeah, you were born with something," one of the men said from the back of the room.

"You'd better get back in the weight room, Easter Bunny, or your boobs are going to be bigger than mine. You're starting to get fluffy." Inwardly, Burke smiled to himself. The taunting and the teasing were part of the platoon's normal interaction and he was happy to see that the death of their teammate hadn't completely taken that away.

"Juggs, the first round is on you, after that you drink for free until you pass out or the MPs kick us out again," Chief Hayes said before the insults devolved further. She turned to the platoon leader.

"Once again: Good job, Team," Burke nodded to his SOLARs. "There will be a memorial service for Traylor once we get back to Citadel Firestorm followed by burial in space. Doc Atkinson says Wonder Boy is going to get a nice new arm and will be good as new in a couple of months. Maybe then I'll have someone to arm wrestle. He's not taking visitors yet, but should be sometime tomorrow. Lieutenant Kato? Mister Tran?"

Both of the other officers shook their heads. They had nothing to add.

"Chief?"

"Martin is taking up a collection for Traylor's family. If you want to send a holo to her husband or kids, we'll put everything in the mail next week. Some of us know her parents, and I think they'd appreciate a note as well," Hayes said. "After-action reports are due by tomorrow at fourteen hundred. I don't want to see any of that sloppy shit some of you turned in last time. Kellerman, Brock: I'm talking to you ... Sir?"

"That will be all."

The lieutenant watched his platoon unpack from the mission. The platoon split up into smaller groups. Traylor was not the first SOLAR from the platoon to be killed on this deployment. Some of the others had known her for several years, others for just a few months. Each SOLAR accepted that some of them would be wounded or killed in the line of duty.

It wasn't easy when one of the dead was a teammate, especially as close as the special operators were, but they knew that dwelling on it wouldn't solve anything. In each of their groups, the platoon talked about Traylor and Wonder Boy, sometimes at length, sometimes just briefly. Each was dealing with the losses in their own way.

In one corner, Juggs and Martin had teamed up on Bunny and were taunting him for having the biggest gun but a kill count that was half what theirs was. Crispy, Brockelbank and Kellerman were losing a fair amount of money to Walgroski in a card game. White and Rhodes were manning the still.

The other two officers mingled with the rest of the platoon. They were a tight-knit group, and Burke knew all of their nuances and idiosyncrasies. Much of their activity was routine or at least familiar.

"I'm worried about Zipper." Chief Hayes came up to Burke as he fixed himself a cone from the soft-serve ice cream machine. He decided that one full helping of the moonshine was enough.

"Me, too, Chief," Burke said softly. If there was anyone who had a finger on the pulse of the platoon it would be Hayes. After all, that was her job.

Zipper and Wonder Boy were the closest of any two SOLARs in the platoon. They had grown up together, enlisted together, went through BUD/S together and were inseparable. Zipper had been standing right next to Wonder Boy when the blast went off. "Have you or Martin talked to him?"

"I have, Martin said she'd see him later," she replied. As the senior enlisted SOLARs in the platoon, it was the chief's and the LPO's jobs to act as the intermediaries between the officers and the other enlisted troopers. They executed the officer's orders and at the same time were the advocates for the enlisted.

"What do you think?"

"I'm gonna get Brock and Crispy to take him down to see Wonder Boy as soon as medical clears him for visitors," Hayes said softly.

"Good idea," the lieutenant said. "I have a feeling we'll get to cash in some of our leave pretty soon and if Zipper has a lot of free time, he'll spend it thinking about stuff that's only going to make it worse. Maybe call Doc Walker and see if someone from psych will have a chat with him, too."

"Roger that, sir."

"What about Whitey?" Burke asked. White and Traylor had been roommates for two deployments and were very close.

"I think she'll be okay," Hayes said softly. "Alisha and Annie have been pals for a while. I'll talk to her, though. What about you, sir?"

"It probably won't hit me until the service. I'll be okay. You need anything, Chief, you call me. My door is always open for you."

"Thank you, sir."

"Hey, Lieutenant," Bunny called from across the room. Togo Easter was the least likely SOLAR in the bunch. He was a big guy, and not just muscular or tall. Samoan, he carried a lot of mass, almost too much to fit into the Valkyrie power armour. He wasn't the fastest runner, nor was he the strongest. But he was death on two legs with virtually any heavy weapon. "Can you settle a bet for us?"

Burke and Hayes smiled at each other. Lieutenant Kato had joined the group there and liked to give Bunny a hard time. This was probably going to be good. "What is it, Bunny?"

"El-Tee says that the greatest sportsman of all time is Shinobi Tam. I say it's Neva Caruso."

"Oh, that's easy, Bunny," Burke said deadpan. "It's Shinobi."

"Caruso's won twenty seven majors!" he protested.

"Which is very impressive ... Too bad golf isn't a sport."

The other man began to turn red in the face. Lieutenant Kato started to laugh, "Pay up, big boy."

The rest of the platoon got a chuckle at Bunny's expense. Even Zipper managed a smile.

Burke settled down in one of the chairs next to the card game.

"Want in, Lieutenant?"

"Not if you're dealing, Ski."

"Aw, c'mon, sir, I promise not to clean you out," Walgroski said with a sly smile. "Again."

Burke started to say something else when the comm buzzed. Rhodes was the closest and she answered. "SOLAR Six Alpha. What the hell do you want?"

The person on the other end paused for a moment, taken aback by Rhodes's drunken straightforwardness. "Secure call for Lieutenant Burke."

He got up and sighed. Usually, the Team CO gave him a couple of hours before starting in with the full debrief. "I'll take it in the briefing room."

It was just a short walk down the hall and he flipped on the secure comm screen. After scanning his retina, the channel opened. Commander Stickle's face appeared and Burke was back to business.

It was about 0300 when Burke finally returned to his cabin. He had been up for close to 34 hours straight, kept awake by coffee and stims. He managed to catch a quick shower on the Dreadnaught but now he was crashing.

The door opened and he stepped inside. He didn't bother to turn the lights on. Dropping his duffel by the door, he stripped out of his BDUs and threw them in the direction of the chair.

Burke had a single room, a luxury for junior officers. Of course, it helped that he was a war hero. Reaching for the covers, he was surprised when his hand brushed someone's body.

"Lights!" He instantly shook off his stupor, unsure whether the other person in his room was a friend or foe.

The body in the bed stirred.

"Lights out," a familiar voice yawned. "It's about damn time you got back."

The room once again faded into darkness and Eric felt a hand take his and pull him into the bed.

In the briefest second that the lights were on, all of the emotions that Eric had buried for the past year came to the surface. He fell into the bed as Maylene's arms wrapped around him.

His lips went to the first patch of skin they could find, her shoulder. Her skin was smoother than he remembered, but that didn't matter.

She was back in his arms.

Her hands pulled his undershirt over his head and pushed his civvies down. Their naked bodies pressed together. As soon as he felt her touch, Eric's cock was erect, but he was not in any hurry.

Eric pulled his lover close. Her breasts were mashed flat against his chest.

The rough texture of her burn scars felt soft against his skin. Her hands brushed his back, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand up.

Just having Maylene in his arms again made him feel whole again.

At first, Eric had tried to forget about her. A part of him wanted to believe that they just had a wild fling. That their shared loneliness and shared needs had brought them together. The way she left him hurt.

He never got a chance to say good-bye.

But after some time, he realised that if Maylene had told him she was being redeployed, he would have had a hard time letting her go. Her whereabouts (as well as his) were classified and he had no need to know.

They had exchanged a couple of holos over the past year, but never talked over a real-time subspace channel.

To take his mind off her, Eric threw himself into his new platoon. Fleet Admiral von Luck had selected him to be the ranking platoon leader in a new SOLAR Team. They had a good CO and a strong master chief, but also lots of kids who had never seen combat and whose shooting stars were still shiny.

Eric sublimated all of his energy into training the fifteen young men and women under his command to work together as a team. He took some of the younger officers from other platoons in the Team under his wing and showed them the ropes of being a good leader.

All of that was in an effort to forget about the emptiness he felt every night he went to bed alone. He and Maylene only had a few nights together, but he found that he missed her touch. Her smell. The press of her body.

He wondered if he would ever see her again.

Now, there she was, in his bed. Her arms pulled him close. Her lips found his and they kissed desperately.

Eric mentally dialed down the power in his cybernetic limbs so he wouldn't crush her in his embrace.

He was unshaven but it didn't seem to matter to Maylene. Her bio-mechanical fingertips brushed his back, sending a chill through his body.

"I've missed you," she whispered in his ear. Eric kissed her cheek and tasted a line of salty tears. "I'm sorry for the way—"

"Shhhhh," he kissed her lips gently, stopping her from saying anything else. The warrior within him gave way to the lover. His hardened exterior, built up by years of training and killing, seemed to disappear as the woman in his arms pulled his body to hers.

Maylene spread her legs and Eric fell into her embrace. They kissed for a long time. The touch of her cybernetic hands made his skin crawl.

He bit her gently in all the right spots. She cried out softly when he cupped her breasts.

Eric could fell the heat radiating from between her legs.

"I need you inside me," she said desperately.

She was already slick.

His cock brushed against her slit. They both moaned.

Pushing forward, Eric entered her slowly.

Maylene arched her back as he slid his entire length into her.

"Gawd, you feel good," he said as he bottomed out.

She pulled Eric in and kissed him. It was a deep, wet, sloppy kiss. Eric held his cock inside her, buried to the hilt for a long time, savouring the feel of her body against his.

His lover wasn't in any hurry either. They just wanted to be close to one another. To make up for all that lost time.

"Make love to me," she said finally.

Eric began to slowly rock his hips back and forth. Maylene began to match his slow strokes.

The two settled into a familiar rhythm. It was as if the previous year had never passed. Their movements were perfectly in sync.

Neither was in a hurry. Neither wanted anything more than just to feel close to the other. Neither spoke.

When their coupling ended, it wasn't because their sexual desire was fulfilled. It was because they fell asleep in each other's arms. Their loneliness was forgotten. Their need for each other sated, Eric and Maylene held each other all night, not wanting the morning to come.

"General, I think you should see this."

"Thank you, captain." Taking the report in his hands, Lieutenant-General Aleksandr Kravchenko scanned the sit rep. Cursing under his breath, the general turned to his aide. "Mickens, send a message to Fleet Admiral von Luck with my compliments. We're going to lose Iridian and Mombar unless we reinforce them now.

"Aye, sir."

"Colonel Pauley, begin drawing up two plans," Kravchenko said to his chief of staff, then emptied his coffee mug. His voice was grave. "One is for reinforcing the Levari Six system and one is for abandoning it. I want both on my desk in four hours. In either event, I want the Seventh MEF at condition two tomorrow morning. Either we're going to rescue Three MEF or we're about to be the new front line."

She had expected this response and had already instructed the staff to begin working on such contingencies. "We're not just going to leave them out there, are we, sir?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Kravchenko replied.

"Sir," one of the communications techs interrupted, "Fleet Admiral von Luck for you."

He picked up the handset, not wanting this conversation broadcast over the HQ speakers. Colonel Megan Pauley was privy to only half of the conversation. On one level, she liked what she heard. It meant that they weren't going to be hanging Marines out to rot. On another, though, she thought about how many lives this rescue mission would cost.

When General Kravchenko hung up, she could see the warrior's fire burning in his eyes. He barked orders and the Marines around them eagerly jumped to obey. "Cancel the plans to abandon Levari Six. There will be a meeting for all Seventh MEF and Task Force 114 staff at 1530. The first units will depart at 0800 tomorrow. Sergeant Major Ellis!"

"Aye, sir!"

"Tell the kids it's our turn to kick some asses."

"Ooh-rah, semper fi!"

The room began to buzz. After sitting around on the sidelines for close to a year, the VII Marine Expeditionary Force was about to see action. Amidst the excitement, Colonel Pauley saw dread on the faces of the older officers and NCOs. They knew it wouldn't be long before they would be ordering young men and women to die.

She saw it in General Kravchenko's eyes as he stood before her. He spoke softly so only she could hear him, "Look over the intel reports, Megan. The Alliance is moving the Fourth Army into this sector and they are probably headed to Levari Six. That's four corps and probably half the ships they have in this sector. If we don't get dug in there soon, we're going to be up to our armpits in the shit and the cavalry will arrive just in time to keep them from looting our corpses."

"Aye, sir."

"Sector command is giving us the 11^th Infantry Division plus two brigades from the 127^th Armoured Division, but we'll still be outnumbered on the ground. I'll establish a forward command post on Iridian. You and General Ibrahim will be our eyes in the sky from the Gemini." His eyes darkened. "Sector command thinks this might just be a diversionary attack, but we're not giving up that system. We've got to hold until the Second Army and the sector fleet can reinforce us and drive them back."

"How long?"

"I don't know," the general replied. "But we're going to pour ships and Marines into that system until either they break or we do."

"So what do we do now?" Eric asked softly.

Maylene's head rested on his shoulder. Her hair, which had grown out and was just barely regulation, tickled his chest. He turned and kissed the top of her head.

The question hung in the air for a long time. Neither wanted to think about it, yet it was something they could not ignore.

What do I want? Eric asked himself and the answer wasn't obvious. What he knew was that he didn't want Maylene to disappear on him like she had before. But what were the alternatives?