Pegasus in Chains (RF VI), Chapter 15

Spoiler Alert: This is a new entry into the Reckless Faith series. The prologue may be found here: https://devonai.wordpress.com/2021/10/26/reckless-faith-vi-prologue/

The cargo bay aboard the Rastaban was a blur of activity.  On Marcon’s orders, Tereis had called upon 1st and 2nd platoons assemble with their weapons and equipment.  They were still getting organized when he arrived at the cargo bay, with both team and squad leaders double-checking their subordinates to ensure all of their items were ready to go.  Tereis was familiar with the process; before he was second-in-command, he was a grunt like them.

After several minutes, everyone formed up in front of him.  In all, fifty-two soldiers were there.  First Lieutenant Bellenshed saluted him, and he returned the gesture.

“Sir, first and second platoons present or accounted for,” he said.

“Is anyone on sick call?”

“No, just a couple of stragglers.  They’re on their way.”

“Here.”  Tereis handed him a small bag.  “Element 79, for incidentals.”

“Understood.”

“As you were.”  Tereis raised his voice.  “Listen up, people.  Captain Marcon and his ground team have called for reinforcements.  Situation: Enemy forces, approximately eighty irregulars, armed with projectile weapons, no greater combat capability is known.  Most likely course of action is to engage immediately using standard small-unit tactics.  Friendly forces, Marcon’s team on the ground, nine troops; and first and second platoons.  Terrain, high desert plains, followed by urban.  Mission: link up with his team on the surface and provide combat support.  Execution: both platoons will take shuttles to the perimeter of the Saffron Exclusion Zone, and proceed on foot.  At a position to be determined by platoon leaders, first platoon will head to the canyon entrance to the north and await further orders.  Second platoon will head to the south and link up with Captain Marcon.

“Service and support: Prisoners of War, if captured, will be guarded by Bravo team, third squad, in each platoon, until the mission ends, at which time they will be released.  Casualties will be treated in the field; due to airspace restrictions, evacuation of wounded will be limited to the entirety of both platoons becoming combat ineffective.  In other words, we’ll only have one shot at evac.  Similarly, logistical support will be limited to whatever you bring with you.  Command and signal: communication on the ground will be in accordance with S.O.P.  Communication with the shuttles or the Rastaban will have to go through an intermediary transmitter at the southern tip of the canyon, as our portable radios won’t penetrate the energy shield that covers the city.  So, any of those messages will go first through your lieutenants, then to Marcon.

“That’s it.  Questions will go through your chain of command.  Dust-off is in thirty minutes, arrival with be at 0300 local time.  Lieutenant Bellenshed, find those two stragglers and drag their asses down here, or find replacements.”

Tereis and Bellenshed saluted each other again, and everyone began to make last-minute preparations.  Tereis headed back to the bridge.  He had mixed feelings about staying behind.  While his job on board was obviously important, he sometimes missed the action, and this mission sounded extremely interesting.  He might have been able to go, if Marcon didn’t always insist on being on the ground himself.  After twenty years of friendship, he knew there was no convincing him otherwise.

When he returned to the bridge, the sergeant of the watch turned to face him.

“Good timing, sir,” he said.  “We’ve got someone from Vastus orbital control waiting to speak with you, audio only.”

Tereis sat down in the command chair.  “All right, put him through.”

“…off duty in two hours,” someone was saying.

“This is Commander Tereis of the independent vessel Rastaban.”

“This is Vastus orbital control.  We were wondering when your away team was planning on returning to your ship.”

“When we’re done with our business.  Why, is there a problem?”

“It has come to our attention that your shuttle has been sitting at the spaceport unoccupied for over one solar day.  The flight plan you filed indicated that your visit would be one day or less.”

“So?  If you need me to, I’ll revise the plan and send it back to you.”

“Your people wouldn’t happen to be visiting the Saffron Exclusion Zone, would they?”

“There was no ambiguity about your automated warning.  No, we have business elsewhere on Vastus.”

“That’s fortunate.  You wouldn’t want any of your people to be fired upon by our interceptors.”

“Of course not…”

“They’ve terminated the signal,” said the sergeant.

“Well, fuck you too.  Sorry, I meant those guys.  See if you can get in touch with Captain Marcon at the frequency he left for us.”

“Aye, sir.”

A few moments later, Marcon’s voice could be heard through a bad transmission.  “Go ahead, commander.”

“We just got a call from Vastus orbital control, strongly implying that they knew we had people in the forbidden zone.  I just wanted to know if you wanted to modify the mission at all.”

There was a pause.  “No, proceed as planned.  The only thing I want you to do differently is turn off the IFF transponders on the mission craft, and send another shuttle, with IFF activated, to another spaceport.  Then, have the pilot take a circuitous route to get there.”

“I’ll have to file another flight plan for the third shuttle.”

“That’s the idea.  Make it happen, commander, and keep me updated.  Are the troops ready to go?”

“Yes, mission dust-off will be on time.”

“Good.  Then I’ll see you on the other side.  Marcon out.”

__________

The alarm on Talyn’s PDA woke him up at 0500 local time.  Several hours earlier, trying to get to sleep on one of the couches in the spaceship suite, his chest pain had interfered.  Fortunately, after a couple of hours his exhaustion caught up to him, and he slept solidly after that.  When he awoke, he found that only Vecky remained asleep on a nearby couch; the rest of his team was already chatting softly by the fireplace or milling around in the kitchen.  He sat up and stretched his arms carefully.  He already knew where the guest bathrooms were, so he grabbed his rucksack and went into one.  This particular bathroom was obviously used by multiple people, all males by the looks of it.

After he relieved himself, he undressed and set to work on personal hygiene.  Part of his routine was the use of an electro-comb, a device considered indispensable by most Kau’Rii.  Unlike a regular comb, one of these had a small electrical current running through the tines when activated, attracting dirt and debris, and using it was the next best thing to a full shower.  Not having time for that, or the time to dry off afterward, he chose the comb.  That done, he put his clothes back on and exited.

Moving to the kitchen, he found Marcon, Cane, and Eva, each with a mug of hot liquid.

“Morning,” he said groggily.  “Is that yutha?”

“Close enough,” replied Cane.  “How are you holding up?”

“As long as it’s a stimulant.  I’m fine, thanks.”  He found the decanter and a mug, and helped himself.  “Any changes to the plan?”

Marcon said, “No, everything is going well so far.  My troops are in place just outside the canyon, north and south.  Second platoon, the one to the south, reports that they’re ready to enter once we can meet them at the bazaar.”

“Cool.  Should I wake up Kitsune?”

“I’ll do it,” replied Eva.

She put her mug on the counter and walked out.

Talyn tried his drink, and was pleased with it.  “Where’s Praxis?”

“His wives had a problem with this plan,” said Cane.  “He took them into his quarters to try to mollify them.”

“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

Cane and Marcon laughed, which was the first time he’d seen the latter man do so.

“It’s understandable that they’d be concerned,” said Marcon.  “I’m sure he’s pitching it as a peaceful meeting.”

Talyn raised an eyebrow.  “That’s the desired outcome, right?”

“Of course.”

“Okay.  What’s the time hack?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I mean when are we stepping off?”

“We’ll head to the bazaar in one hour.  EVA suits and combat armor.”

“I take it we’re not worried about spooking the locals any more?”

“Praxis will be with us, that will allay any concerns.  At least until we get into IP territory.”

Marcon fired down the rest of his beverage and went into the common area, so Cane and Talyn followed him.  Vecky had presumably gone into one of the bathrooms, but everyone else was there.  Alsade came up to them.

“Helvetios and I are ready to go, sir, just need to suit up.”

“Good.  Mister Venator, Mister Talyn, please see to your people.  I’ll check on Jim and Mister Laurent.”

One hour later, the team was assembled on the southern edge of the bazaar.  Praxis had spoken to several locals on their way there, assuring that word of their operation would spread.  Still, fully geared up, they were getting a lot of hard looks from people.  It was for this reason that Vecky and Praxis had already agreed to divert one block around the central square once they linked up with 2nd platoon; that and it would be a lot easier for a larger group if they avoided the crowds.

Talyn had his helmet off at the moment, and aromas from the many food vendors were driving him crazy, after his meager breakfast of dry wafers and nut spread.  Despite providing excellent accommodations and beverages, Praxis hadn’t offered them any food.  He was sorely tempted to grab Cane and go buy something for himself, but his next meal would have to wait.  2nd platoon had arrived.  They had traveled down the canyon road in the same wedge-style formation that his team was using, and as the full group came into view, he counted 27 men or women (their armor made that distinction impossible).  Marcon moved up to talk their commander, and Talyn was just close enough to overhear them.

“No problems on the way in?” he asked.

“There seems to be an increase in aerial patrols over the valley, sir,” the man replied.  “We had to deploy the insta-screens twice when both a manned vessel and a UAV wandered too close.  We also lost contact with first platoon as soon as we got into town, but that was expected.  Other than that, and a small bribe to the guards at the rim of the canyon, no problems.”

“Good.  Our host has supplied me with a transceiver that works in the city, I can relay any messages to first platoon through the Rastaban.  Any questions on the mission briefing?”

“Rules of engagement?”

“Do not fire unless fired upon.  We’re hoping for a peaceful negotiation with the people we’re traveling to meet.  Captain Kitsune,” he pointed at her, “is acting in the place of our employer.  She has ceded control of any combat operations to me, but she’s still the one calling the shots.  If I should be killed, you will take your orders from her.”

“Understood.”

“Do your troops need to take a break, or are you ready to go?”

“We’re ready.”

“Okay.  I’m going to have the platoon run a comm check with our friends in the EVA suits, then we’ll move out.  Tighten up the formation until further notice, I want no less than twenty-five meters between squads, and no more than fifty.  We’ll be continuing traveling overwatch.  My squad will be on point.”

“Aye, sir.”

Talyn put his helmet on so he could participate in the comm check with everyone.  There were no issues, so his team got in their place in formation.

Contrary to what he had been told, they ended going two blocks east, two north, and two back to the west before they returned to the wide boulevard he was familiar with from their first attempt to travel north.  Once there, Marcon directed them to return to the wider wedge formation before continuing.  As before, random foot traffic dropped off drastically not far from the bazaar, and it soon became dead quiet.  Suddenly shattering that silence was a strange noise from the north.  It sounded like a loudspeaker broadcast, but the words were too garbled and indistinct to make any sense of it.

“What the hell is that?” asked Laurent.

“IP’s call to worship,” said Praxis.  “At least I think that’s what it is.  I have no idea how often they do that, or what their ‘services’ are even about.”

“Keep moving,” said Marcon.

When the first squad had passed through the roadblock where they’d been ambushed, Praxis reached into his jacket and pulled out a telescoping rod.  He extended it to its full length of two meters, then attached a large piece of blue fabric to the end.  It was the same color as Shining Beacon’s armbands.

“A flag of truce?” asked Marcon.

“Essentially,” Praxis replied.  “Years ago, when we still had occasional peaceful contact with IP, this is how we would signal our intentions.  Let’s hope they still honor it.”

Once they passed the block that contained the Z’Sorth shop, the terrain once again became unfamiliar.  The size of the buildings continued to increase, as did the amount of garbage and other debris on the street.  Also more prevalent was yellow dust, which seemed to have been haphazardly swept into random piles.  Since there was no wind in the city, it was impossible to tell how long they’d been there.  When they reached the former financial district, the buildings had become so tall that they pierced the energy shield.  Dark rooms lay beyond hundreds of smashed windows.

“It’s a sniper’s paradise,” muttered Eva.

They turned east for two blocks, and Praxis gestured at a skyscraper.  What used to be an alabaster and gleaming steel façade was now an almost uniform shabby gray.

“Here it is,” he said.  “Executive tower, the tallest structure in Saffron Canyon City, and home of the Illuminated Path.  We should have run into some of them by now.”

“That’s either good news or very bad news,” said Vecky.

“Maybe they’re still all at church,” suggested Cane.

“What do you want to do?” asked Marcon.  “Knock on the front door?”

Praxis said, “It’s either that or stand around until lunchtime.”

Marcon keyed his radio.  “Set up a perimeter.”

One of the squads stayed on the west side of the road, one moved to the east, and one spread out around the base of the building.  Alsade and Cane posted up on the left side of the double-doors, and Talyn and Eva stood on the right.  Praxis walked up, and rapped on one side of the door with the end of his rod.  Nothing happened.  After a few moments, he tried the handle.

“It’s locked.  Can I get a scan of the mechanism?”

Alsade pulled out her PDA, and pointed it at the door.  “It’s a mechanical lock.  No traps that I can detect.”

Praxis knocked again, with the same results.  “They won’t take too kindly if we kick the door down, but I don’t know what else to do.”

Marcon said, “Anybody here an expert on…”

Vecky aimed her ancient Earth carbine at the lock, and fired, causing Praxis to duck to the side.

“What the fuck?”

“Try it now,” she said.

“Fuck you, you do it.”

Vecky shrugged, and pulled on what was left of the handle, and the door swung open.  “Can’t argue with results.”

The fact that there was now a gaping aperture into darkness seemed to be lost on her, so Talyn grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the side.  Everyone else kept their weapons pointed squarely ahead.

“If you feel I’m no longer needed,” said Praxis, “I’d be happy to return home.”

“Shut up for a second,” said Marcon.  Everything remained quiet, so he gestured ahead.  “Alsade, Helvetios, Adeler, you’re up.”

Alsade set herself up on the left side of the door, followed by Marcon, Helvetios, and Eva.

“Ready,” Alsade said.

“Go.”