CHAPTER 14 - DAWGS
1358 hours Dunan time
We run through the outer doorway and onto the open bridge that will take me to my DAWG and Mirana, to her MAV. The guard assigned to us leads her to the hangar across another bridge-way and I watch until she disappears indoors.
The air is stifling…too much dust. How do Keds live in this?
I shove my helmet on, suck in a deep breath of the pure air and move toward my waiting machine.
“Alpha…”
“Hound..?”
But his words are cut short as a peeling clap of thunder shakes the platform under my feet making me stumble. Regaining my footing, I look out across the desert. The Dreadnaught, minutes from touching down, explodes and begins to disintegrate as hundreds of long-range heavy missiles continually tear into it. The sound of the titanic battleship breaking up, is like mountain sized boulders being split apart and grinding against each other.
“Alpha I’m beginning to think we should not be on this ledge...”
Akita is right, so I run to the opening cockpit and while I slide into the brace, the onboard computer tells me that Mirana’s MAV is now walking out of her hangar. The world around me goes black for a moment as I am sucked into the DAWG and synced up. In that split second of suffocation and nothingness, I feel the Neural Link joining me to the rest of my team. Everything is at my mind’s disposal now. I open my eyes from my new height and instantly, before the thought barely registers, I connect with the Commander.
“Mirana…you with us..?” Two seconds pass and “Yeah I’m with you...”
Her voice is a bit muted. The Kedenian mechanics that interacts with our Galactic Nine Technology creates a slight rift in our connection. She sounds a bit nervous. I want to ask if she’s sure about going through with this, but I don’t. Yet I can’t help but worry. I have never thought of her as a MAV pilot but then again, no one gets to be Commander of any Earthfront base unless fully trained in combat and combat operations.
I think it and my DAWG links up with her. In a few seconds, her Neural is connected to ours and now I feel her, somewhere in my gut; at least it seems that way.
“Okay guys, look alive…”
I open the digital menu and select ground and air combat
“…Let’s get low for a while, five hundred on deck...on me.”
In my head, my engines burn for lift off and in reality, so does the DAWG. Then I jump and it does the same. The vertigo brings a natural high while the city of Dunan dangles below, but I break free of Keden’s gravity, push into the air, over the edge of the landing pad, and down to five hundred feet above immediate ground level.
“Dunan Control, Captain Richard Gant requesting linkup and relay to General, Al-Jair.”
A rusty male voice comes back after a second or two
“Iron-Five, you have linkup and are to report to General Al-Jair at the Forward Command Center on Nalas...squawk code is, nine-nine-four-two-five-zero.”
“Copy, report to Nalas with squawk nine-nine-four-two-five-zero. We’re on our way...”
The com goes quiet and instantly an image of Dunan’s landscape flashes through my head as the computer sends the information in a millisecond.
“Okay team…tight formation. Let’s stay five on deck and bullet to location on link. Speed sync-up in five, four…”
And as we synchronize our thrusters for formation flying, I feel the other Mecha in my group increase in power and with relief, Mirana is right on the ball with us.
“…three…” I lean forward and the team follows “…two…” I am aware of my heart hitting my chest, one thump after the next, with the whine of my engines about to blast off “…one!”
My DAWG jumps into flight and I’m pushed forward weirdly as the cushy interior holds my body firmly in place.
We rocket toward Nalas; an Island base, twenty miles from the shoreline of the Minera, Keden’s ocean-lake and the only body of water on the entire planet.
“Huski…” Pitbull is on the com “…I’m picking up a dozen battle cruisers entering atmosphere. Their projected drop-zone is forty clicks south east of us.”
“They’ll most likely set up shop there. The sooner we get to Nalas, the better.”
An indicator in the lower right of my sights tells me that we are on course at two hundred miles per hour.
How did General Al-Jair get out there so fast?
The onboard computer projects our time of arrival somewhere in the back of my skull and based on the way the information feels, we will be there in ten minutes.
“Mirana…”
“Huski…”
“How’re you doing?”
“I’m keeping pace if that’s what you mean...”
“Yeah that’s what I mean. Do you have a call sign?”
“Yeah, they used to call me Gunner back in flight school...”
“Gunner..?”
“…to do with my last name”
“Iron Five…we’ve got a Tag-along…Call sign, Gunner… Owwooooo..!”
“Hilarious…” there is laughter in Mirana’s voice.
“Okay Gunner, stick close to us and be ready for anything.”
“Roger that Alpha...”
She is not a part of Iron Five but I like the thought of her being with us. At least this way I can keep an eye on her. We blast past the shoreline and are now over the open lake. I look down at the crystal clear water. Keden’s ocean lake is entirely made up of mineral water. It is the only body of water on the planet and all of Keden’s water supply comes from here, be it by direct pumping or deep wells along the coast.
“Boss…” Its hound and he’s on a secure channel. He has said very little thus far so I’m a bit anxious to hear what’s on his mind.
“Hound..?”
“Let’s do this for Terrier…”
“Terrier betrayed us?”
Hound comes back as though he’d been rehearsing it all day “They must have brain wiped and re-informed his mind. Think about it Alpha…we’ve all known him long enough and you, better than any of us.”
“I don’t know Hound…I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“All I know is that I feel it in my gut, and I always trust my gut.”
I have mixed feelings about this, and the funny thing is that I can’t put a finger on any of them. It is like a jumbled mass of unrecognized emotions flooding me.
“We’ll see how it goes Hound…”
The communication ends and the rest of my thoughts have gone with it just as I see the island. It is actually one very huge, flat, grey rock formation with a few patches of shrubbery here and there. The base is in sight too. Blending into the surroundings, it is an interconnected rectangular Evercrete complex with runways and landing pads everywhere.
“Nalas Command…Iron Five on approach, request guidance on link. Approach code, nine-nine-four-two-five-zero”
“Iron-Five, you are cleared for approach. You have guidance. Follow digital to Landing Zone four and contact on touchdown.”
Other than Keden’s royalty, this is the first clean Kedenian voice I’ve heard in a while. He is either always indoors or always wearing face-gear.
“Roger that Base...”
I open up every speed-brake on the machine and let the Magnatech do the rest. The sensation dazes me slightly but is nothing to worry about. The team follows suit and I stay on course along the computer generated lines that will lead us to Landing Zone four.
We pass over an Evercrete runway and drop to twenty feet above it. Approaching the designated landing-pad, I notice many Hover Tanks and a weapons carrier parked nearby. Almost every landing zone and runway has MAV’s and Sky Fighters in motion, at the ready and on standby. But I soon forget what I see outside and concentrate on landing this thing. With a slight thud, Iron Five touches down and I let the cockpit lower and spit me out. There is no time to waste.
Walking briskly toward our escort, I am aware of the rest of my team behind and on either side of me. I return the salute of a young, wild eyed lieutenant and follow him into the center of the hangar where twenty or more Holoscreens illuminate the space. General Al-Jair is standing on a raised platform in the midst of the Holos, and lined up in groups below and around him is a few hundred of Keden’s Elite.
“Welcome Iron Five...fall in. The situation is, as you see here, Jackal one, Jackal two and here, Jackal three…” He manipulates the screens so they show us what he wants us to see “…Three Raiku battalions have entered Kedenian airspace and set up bases on three fronts outside of Dunan…”
The Holoscreens show us enlarged satellite images of the enemy ships and their positions along with live streaming visuals from drone flybys.
“…They will hold their locations until all of their battle groups have landed, by which time, Dunan would have been boxed in on all fronts. Our objectives therefore, are to stop this from happening. We have a defensive line with a thousand forward command posts on the borderlands outside the city. It is our first line of defense so we cannot let them overrun the lines and converge on Dunan.
Objective one: I will lead Raider One in a concentrated attack on Jackal three. It is the best strategically placed outpost of the Dynasty’s forces thus far. Raider two…”
I find the unit he’s referring to, about a hundred men and women on my right
“…You will proceed to outpost Two Six and clear the air around Jackal Two. Dunan has been evacuated and so have the surrounding towns and villages. Our heavy missiles and Hunters are doing damage but not enough. Iron Five…”
I acknowledge him and await our fate.
“…While we push their deployed forces back, you are to advance and take out their Command Platform. Each battalion has one of these and if we can destroy the platforms, we will scatter their units. You are to also keep a lookout for any Cyclone activity. Go after them once you make contact. The Cyclones are your primary responsibility. You may request assistance when engaging them but they are your sole purpose outside of the platforms.”
I remember fighting one Cyclone and not being able to even dent it, but that was before, and that was with a light MAV. This time however, I’ll be more than ready.
The General is still speaking “…Re-loading will be done via Hawk, in flight. Co-ordinates will be given as you go…”
The Hawk he is speaking of is a High Altitude Weapons Carrier; HAWC.
“…And when we have destroyed these three command posts, you will receive further orders…Men…” The General’s voice is louder now “…through vicious trickery, these Raiku Dogs have come to take our resources. But by our triggers, let us give them hell..!”
The army around us erupts in cheers and shouts and Al-Jair goes on. “…Fly brave..!”
The men and women in flight-suits everywhere shout in return. “Fly strong..!”
The General can barely be heard now as he issues his final words.
“Gear up and await launch!”
There is nothing to do but go back to our machines and prepare. As I exit the hangar and my Dee’s adjust to suit the extra-bright sunlight out in the middle of nowhere, a heavy hand palms my shoulder and I spin around to see the General standing close.
“Fly brave, my brother...”
With all hostilities aside, I smile in return. This is their custom. A blessing before the battle and so I place my hand on his shoulder all the same “Fly strong General...”
And with a nod he releases me and walks off to his Mecha.
********
1443 hours Dunan Time
We are in the air and moving south-west across the Minera at the speed of sound, twenty one thousand feet above the sparkling water. We will be approaching Jackal Three, high and from the west. They would have already picked us up even with our Lizard Skin Tech but this is not a problem. This battle is inevitable and stealth is of no use.
Anxiety mixed in with the calm before the storm, doesn’t hit true this time as it often does; at least for me that is. It’s strange, the way I’m focused on what is to be done while thoughts of Mirana and her Kedenian MAV linger in my head. I hope to God that she can keep up in that thing. I listen to the chatter over the coms and smile as Hound retaliates and fires a nice response to Akita’s taunting. It’s good to hear the team in good spirits again.
I check my weapons. Three hundred Cats; short for Catalysts, these missiles bring the heat; enough heat to incinerate a Heavy Mecha in a second. I have also got four hundred thousand rounds of tracers, fifty pops of Chaff and Magnetic Decoys, and two Supernova Heavy missiles. The Supernovas are there to add the finishing touch to our primary target; the Raiku Weapons Platform.
“Okay guys…Coast line in twenty seconds. Kill the chatter. We’re now weapons hot and five minutes from the fireworks, ready up…”
Akita now “Aye-aye Cap...”
I continue “Remember…anyone pick up any Cyclone activity, do not engage alone...”
Pitbull joins in “Copy that Alpha…”
“We’ll take it down to angels fourteen and do a three-way split. Help the General clear the air and then meet up at our point of entry…”
“What about me?” Mirana now
“Three-way split means three teams of two. You’re with me.”
“Copy that Alpha”
“…Now we came as Iron Five, so we’re leaving as Iron Five. I don’t want any heroics. We stick together and bring the rain on these Cyclone bastards…are we clear?”
“Clear as air boss...” Akita once more
We rip past the shoreline of the lake and the dusty expanse of The Jeraka, Keden’s Mineral Desert, slips by far below
“Gunner..?” I connect with Mirana’s MAV on a secure link.
“…Huski…”
“…You ready for this?”
“…As ready as I’ll ever be...”
I like her voice. The idea of her life being in my hands is a bit unnerving and I wish that she was piloting a DAWG instead of a Ked Mecha. At least she has a few Catalysts on board. I still see Terrier’s machine in pieces on the ice. I can’t help the flashbacks.
I’ll be damned if I let that become her fate…or anyone else’s
“…Keep your eyes open and stick with me…”
“…Alpha…I’ll be okay...”
Pitbull cuts in on our open channel “Alpha, we’ve got hostiles five miles out and closing at angel’s fifteen...”
“I’ve got tally…” Dane confirms it “…Flight of eight coming in hot...”
The computer shows me the eight MAV’s, Light-Class, heading our way at fifteen thousand feet.
“…Well let’s introduce ourselves…Weapons free, light em’ up!”
“Cat one…” Maria alerts us of her missile launch “Cat two…Cat three…”
Damn she’s out for blood.
I lock-on to two Raiku MAV’s headed my way. Warnings of missile launches flash in my head but my tracers cut them down in no time. In the background of everything going on, I hear my Vulcans roaring. The barrels, at one hundred rotations per second, sends streaks of superheated, armor piercing rounds toward my enemies and shreds the first machine into a million particles of twisted, jagged metal shards.
Flying by what is left of the wreckage at over six hundred miles per hour, it disappears off to my side and I rotate my torso and enter backward flight…
Feels like ice skating
…as I lean to the left and force the machine into a hard high-gravity turn. The sensations of flying like this takes my breath away and I make every effort to remain focused as the engines scream to give me the power I desire. I raise my hands while tracking my prey, still flying backward, and the robotic arms on my DAWG move with me. The second MAV is in my sights, I squeeze the trigger and the evasive Mecha takes a few hits before exploding into a cloud of flying parts and burning dust.
“Gunner has tally on objective…ten miles. Alpha, call it”
Mirana is suddenly on coms. She’s excited.
I run a mental scan and in a millisecond, the onboard AI tells me that there are no more hostiles in our space.
“Wedge formation, sync up…”
The Command Platform is now in sight. I lean forward and enter a steep dive. The ground dangles eighteen thousand feet below, one eye filling, brown, barren platter of sand and dust.
I tear out of the dive at fourteen thousand feet and hear-feel the enemy tracking and targeting systems reaching out to me. At this altitude I see, digitally enhanced, as far as the other battalion, code named Jackal two, a hundred miles away. But warnings of incoming Sky-fighters draw my eyes to what’s happening below. The Weapons Complex here, Jackal Three, is nothing more than a grey, mile wide, disk shaped saucer with the red and black, Raiku emblem on its upper surface. It is like a hive surrounded by angry bees and some of those bees are headed our way. The airwaves light up with mad chatter and in the distance, General Al-Jair and his forces have engaged the hostiles and the war has now begun.
“Okay guys, angels fourteen and three-way split. Rendezvous at point of entry…”
I drop off to the left and feel Mirana move with me. The rest of the team splits away and my AI alerts me of a group of Sky-fighters inbound at two thousand feet and rising. They are coming in at the speed of sound, loaded with hammerheads and armour piercing rounds.
“Gunner…it’s gonna be a close quarters…”
“Not a problem. I love a good gunfight…”
“Target Sync and let’s go suicidal.”
“Syncing…”
I cut the communication as my targeting module automatically selects three of the five incoming hostiles. Mirana’s MAV would have already locked on to the other two by now, so I roll over and enter an insane plunge at over a thousand miles per hour.
Mirana’s voice comes over the com “…Cat one!”
“Gunner what are you doing..?”
“One of my targets has me locked…I’m not gonna give him a chance to fire!”
“…just watch the missiles up here. We’re close quarters...”
“Copy that...”
My dive is increadible. All of my muscles and tendons, everything, right down to my bones, have come together to form a runaway freight train in my chest and throat. My head drifts in the moment as the Minera Desert rushes up to meet me.
Ten thousand feet
Nine thousand feet
Eight thousand feet
I squeeze off the first round and my tracking computer steers the flow of red hot streaks away from me and into the first of the three Sky-fighters, devastating it in an instant.
Speed brakes...
The thought brings the desired reaction and I spin with the passing fighter, guns rattling and ripping him to shreds. The third target turns hard to get a bearing on me.
“Cat one!”
I unleash the missile and watch it track and kill my opponent. Instantly I turn my attention to Mirana but the mental flash that comes shows her a mile away and returning without any hostiles. I must say…she’s impressive.
What the hell?
Every warning light comes alive in my cockpit and the AI burns the image of a Cyclone to my eyes, imprinting it in my head. He is ten miles away but moving fast and if I head south-east, we will intersect in forty seconds.
“Iron Five…” I open our secure com “…Alpha team has Cyclone visual…engaging…need lookout for others…”
Akita and Dane comes back “Copy that Alpha…”
Then Pitbull and Hound “Gotcha Boss…”
“Gunner…”
“I’m on you at a hundred oh’…”
Mirana is thousand feet above and behind me so I have room to play. My systems indicate the Cyclone locking me up with its missiles but I push toward it.
“Gunner..?”
“Alpha..?”
“Keep your distance, and eyes open…”
“Copy…”
Our rate of closure is too fast so our missile battle is now a gun fight. The Cyclone slices by me at seven hundred miles per hour, guns blazing. We both turn at odd angles, trying to get a bead. Scratch that…our battle is now a knife fight. The engines on his machine light up. He knows that I have the kill shot, so while I take aim, he skyrockets and I follow a split second later.
He has gained some distance and altitude but I still have him in my sights. My altimeter runs through the numbers. The Cyclone rolls over at twenty five thousand feet and launches under me, trying to get behind, but I am not the helpless MAV pilot back on Solace anymore. I turn with his maneuver and open fire. Arcs of red hot metal, trace a path in the sky between us but he is running so I take off after him and we break the sound barrier, twice.
“Alpha I’m having trouble following you and now I’m dancing with a Sky-fighter and a MAV…” Mirana is worried but focused.
“Can you handle them?”
“I’ll be with you in a sec...”
I like her attitude “Then do what you must. I’ve got this. Meet up with the rest of the team when you’re done and clear the air…”
“Copy...”
She didn’t question me or hesitate; impressive again
“Akita..?”
“Alpha..?”
“Get up here!”
“On my way...”
This Raiku pilot is good...and fast…but my mind is quicker. I see what he’s about to do and in this instant, as his air brakes begin to deploy, the onboard AI reads my mind and my DAWG’s Magnatech kicks in, slowing me down to a crawl in a matter of seconds. My insides become like liquid and then compresses but I stifle the urge to vomit. The Cyclone, slowing rapidly, no more than fifty feet away is like a blur to me. The effects of this flight is demanding as I stop, move to the right, arms up, guns online, he’s turning, I squeeze both triggers…
RHEEEEEEEEEEEE!
My Vulcans revolve and the Cyclone takes the hits until there’s nothing left for its pilot to do. He ejects, twenty five thousand feet above Keden, but the DAWG’s auto tracking system sees him as hostile and turns the helpless Earther into spray and vapor.
“Target critical…proximity warning…target critical in four…three…”
My DAWG’s computerized voice echoes in my ear. I let go of the Magnatech holding me in place and cringe as my stomach reaches through my throat and I drop out of the sky, roll over onto my back and push for maximum thrust. It is the quickest way I know to escape the blast. The falling Cyclone above breaks apart and mentally, I shut of the Vulcans still tearing into it. The shockwaves from the explosion shake me but I am clear, and the once sleek machine becomes a brilliant ball of fire and burning, spinning parts.
“Alpha..!”
“Akita?”
“I’m in trouble. Cyclone on my six, I can’t shake him, help me!”
“Hang on buddy!”
Desperation is in my voice and Terrier’s MAV, in pieces on the ice, is in my eye.
“…Iron Five…Get that bastard off Akita!”
“It’s a full court press boss. We’ve got incoming Cyclones too!” Bull comes through first.
“Mirana…”
“Huski…”
“...How are you on ammo?”
“Low but I’m coming to you…”
“No…get to the Weapons Carrier and wait for us!”
She pauses, only for a split second and then “Don’t keep me waiting…”
“I’ll be there, go!”
This is not good. There are six of those bastards and six of us, one of which is no match in this fight. We’ve destroyed three so far and added to the six that are here right now, that leaves one unaccounted for.
Terri, where are you, you bastard?
I think of Akita and the tracking system finds him thirty miles away at three thousand feet above ground. I fall from the sky head first and ask the AI for more power; and my DAWG responds.
Mach one…I push for more…Mach two…Faster…Mach three…I’m sixty seconds away, ten thousand feet and leveled out.
“Alpha..!” It’s Pitbull “…got a breakaway, I think he’s tracking you…”
I maintain my mad dash toward Akita and scan the skies for the incoming Cyclone. The Computer shows me what I am looking for like the blink of an eye and its speed, altitude, angle of approach and arsenal, embeds into my brain like a leech.
“Bull, can you get it?”
“Would love to Cap, but we’re two on two right now…”
“Dane..?”
“…Estoy tratando pero estoy demasiado lejos!”
“Keep coming to us…”
By the looks of it, I have a minute-and-some to kill Akita’s pursuer if I want to be ready for the demon behind me
“Akita, I’m on my way, hang on…”
“I’m hanging!”
His guns are blazing in the background. He is backwards flying. I slow to suit the rate of approach as the distance between us closes in seconds. I boost my Magnatech to full power and resist the vomit once again; I doubt that I can fight it a third time. The Cyclone is on Akita like lightning, jinking and turning with him like it was nothing but I am here, four hundred feet behind, six hundred above and closing still. Images of my battle on Solace Five flicker in and out of sight but I push them away. My weapons system locks on to him but the enemy drops to the desert floor and makes his final line-up on Akita. If I don’t do something soon, Akita will be battling, God-knows-how-many missiles.
The enemy is seconds away from launching while the brown dusty ground rushes up to meet me. I hit the dirt running, plant one foot forward and the other behind, I have got to be steady, raise both arms, focus, and open fire.
The hyper-rattle of both Vulcans erupting fill the air as I release a barrage of twenty Catalysts that streak away and toward the Earthfront Mecha five hundred feet out. I may have overdone it with this attack. My enemy rotates in my direction and my Dees immediately adapt to the wicked glare that expands and blossoms into a mushroom of superheated death and again, my warning systems come alive.
I turn in time to see another Cyclone on the ground a hundred feet away, Auto-cannon spitting at me. My armor takes the hits but I am going to have to do something about it soon or he will tear into me.
“...missile lock...missile launch imminent...” But…One…two…three…four…five…six…seven…and still more Catalysts rain down on him as bullets slice through his armor, reducing the advanced technology to bent, twisted, burning and torn apart scrap metal. The Mecha bursts open in a hail of fire and debris.
“…Whooooooow!” Mirana flies by and leaves a row of rising dust in her wake.
“Nice save Gunner...”
“Anytime Alpha…”
“I thought I was supposed to meet you on the Hawk?”
My DAWG lifts me into the air and I join her as she comes around for another low level fly-by.
“I owed you one...”
“Iron Five…”
Akita is first in my ear “Alpha…”
Pitbull now “On our way boss...”
“Estoy Aqui...”
“Get down here…” I switch to Mirana “Gunner..?”
“Alpha..?
“Get to the Hawk, re-load and wait for us there...”
“Copy that…”
I watch her peel away from our holding pattern, gain altitude and shrink to a dot in the brown sky. Through the Neural, I get a flash of my team approaching and after we are all in sync, I take us to a thousand feet at the speed of sound. With the majority of the Cyclones out of the way, we might actually have a fighting chance.
“Okay guys, there’s no room for error here. I’m on point, Pitbull and Akita, you’re the second wave. Hound, Dane, you guys finish what we’re about to start.”
“Boss…I have visual on Jackal Three…”
“I see it Bull, follow me in and let’s do it clean the first time...”
I accelerate and lead the team to three hundred feet above Immediate Ground Level. The desert floor whipping by looks like a never ending smudge as we close in on our target.
“Raider One…”
The onboard computer projects Al-Jair’s call-sign and his voice hits me like a slap in the ear. He is in combat. I can tell by the wildness in his words and the chatter-chatter of gunfire behind them.
“Alpha I have you on scan, bring the fire!”
“Clear out…”
“Copy, clear-out…”
We rush toward the monster saucer with sixty seconds to impact and at the speed of thought, I select my Supernova’s, launch them both, and climb into the heavens like a rocket.
Keden’s dirt floor shrinks within seconds and the indicator passes two thousand miles per hour as the first heavy missile detonates, and one by one the rest of my team deliver their blows.
At fifteen thousand feet, I roll over as the rapidly rising and churning cloud of fire and smoke erupts. The Raiku Command Platform br