23
Rev never even made it back to the barracks for orders. They were told to arm up, and for Rev, that meant getting to the IBHU armory. He left the others and ran, dodging Marines as they tried to get to their posts.
He wasn’t the first one there. McAnt was getting hooked up by Daryll and the new tech while Pierson waited his turn.
“What’s going on, Corporal Pelletier?” Pierson asked.
“You heard the announcements. The tin-asses are invading.”
“But New Hope? Why us? What do we have here that they want?” he asked, his voice cracking.
“Hell, Pierson,” McAnt said from the donning station. “Does it matter? They’re coming, and it’s going to be up to us to stop them. And no matter what, there are a lot more of us than there are of them. Two Marine divisions and a Navy squadron, not to mention a whole shitload of leeches who’ll fight if it comes to that.”
McAnt was probably right about the numbers. The Centaurs were always outnumbered, but they succeeded in most of their invasions. They always seemed to just have enough to defeat the local forces.
It was that “most” that gave Rev hope. Some planets were able to throw back the invasion. That was usually because the local Navy made the cost too high for the Centaurs to bear, and they gave up, but several times, it was the local militia, army, or Marines that threw the Centaurs off the planet. And not just by holding them off until reinforcements could arrive, but by defeating the Centaurs in battle.
Yellen, a Manifest Destiny Sphere world, for example, sent the Centaurs running about five years before. And if an MDS militia could do it, Rev thought that New Hope, with trained Marines, could do it, too.
“Can the Navy hold them off?” Pierson asked.
“I don’t know,” Rev said.
He wasn’t going to blow smoke up Pierson’s ass. It was possible that the squadron could turn back the Centaurs, but already suffering losses in the battle in null space, several more ships had been detached to fight in other systems. The last he’d heard, they only had three ships at the planetary station. Human ships had an advantage in system fights, but that could only account for so much.
“Pierson, you’re up,” Daryll said as the new tech ran McAnt’s checklist.
The big private hesitated a moment, and Rev had to say, “Just like training, P4. Just like training.”
The private nodded and stepped into the station. The recovery arm scanned Pierson’s retina, then whipped over to Pierson’s slot, extracted his IBHU, and ran it back where the separate application arm took it and held it place at the private’s shoulder. Daryll stepped up and started manually making the connections to attach it.
Rev looked down the armory slots. There were twenty-four of them, but Pashu was the only IBHU still in one of them. Three IBHUs in the regiment. Three out of four with Wheng’s loss.
Fifth Marines in First Division had five IBHU Marines, with Randigold the most experienced. That meant nine of them on the planet. If they were supposed to be the ace in the hole for the Marines, nine of them weren’t going to make much of a difference.
But we aren’t the ace in the hole. That’s our gats . . . hell, Tomiko’s got me calling them that now.
“OK, Pierson, get Taneesha to run your checks. Rev, you’re up,” Daryll said.
Rev shook his head clear and stepped into the station. It still wasn’t as automated as the mech donning stations, but it was a far sight better than having a couple of strong backs horsing it into position.
“Hey, Rev!” McAnt shouted as he started to leave. “Keep your head down, and I’ll buy you a beer when this is all over.”
“Not if I buy you one, first!”
McAnt gave a salute with his IBHU, then was out the door. Rev couldn’t help wondering if that was the last time he was going to see the corporal. Morbid thoughts better left buried, but he couldn’t help it.
He was barely aware of Daryll making the connections. “You’re done. Go get checked.”
Rev stepped off the station. “So, what’s going on with you?” he asked.
Daryll shrugged. “Don’t rightly know, to be honest. Hang around here, I guess, in case I’m needed.”
Rev lowered his voice to just above a whisper. “It’s likely that Nguyen’s getting targeted. It might be safer if you and Taneesha wait it out somewhere else.”
Daryll put his hand on Rev’s right shoulder. “I appreciate the thought, but we’ll see how things go. We’ll be where we’re needed.”
Pierson had just finished up his checklist. He waited as Taneesha jacked into Rev and started running the tests.
“What are you waiting for, Pierson? An engraved invitation?”
“Just . . . I wanted to ask you . . .”
“Pierson. You’re trained. You know what to do, and you’ll do fine. You get to your team, and if you see Sergeant Reiser, tell her I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Sure, corporal.” He started to say something else, then stopped.
“What, Pierson?”
“I just wanted to say, thank you. I appreciate your help. I know I’m not much of a—”
“You’re a Marine, damn it, Pierson. That’s what matters, and not everyone can say that. Now get to your team because they’re waiting on you.”
The big private didn’t say anything else, but he nodded and took off at a jog.
“Nice pep talk,” Taneesha said as they went through the readings.
Pep talk for Pierson or for me?
“OK, I’ve got you all green. The Mother be with you.”
Rev stepped off the testing station, waved to Daryll, and ran out the door.
“Run a full check.”
<Roger.>
Taneesha might have given him the green light, but it was the smart Marine who didn’t take anyone else’s opinion on something like that. It wasn’t her life on the line, after all.
<All systems green. Full combat load. Power at ninety-eight-point-seven percent.>
At least he didn’t have to go to the ammo locker to get armed. The IBHUs were kept maxed out in power and munitions at all times.
“I guess we’re a go, then. You ready to take down some tin-asses?”
<I was programmed ready.>
“Is that a joke? As in born ready?”
<I think it was. Bad timing, given the circumstances?>
“No, good timing. It was even sorta funny.”
Punch wasn’t constantly asking to tell jokes anymore, but his timing was getting better. Instead of worrying about Pierson, instead of wondering whether he’d see McAnt again, he needed to focus on what was coming.
They may not have been born ready, but the three of them had been given an amazing weapon, and they’d received the best training the Corps could give them. Now it was time to put all of that to work for them, and pity the Centaur who was in their way.
As he ran outside the building, he could see the tops of the downtown buildings of Swansea in the distance. He couldn’t imagine the panic that must be happening as evacuation plans were dusted off and put into action. Beyond those buildings, his family would be gathering their go-packs, and he felt the pull to go to them, but he knew the best thing he could to keep them alive was to stay with his team and fight.
Take care of them, Dad.
Rev had to dodge vehicles and people, but within minutes, he was coming to a halt outside the barracks. “Where’s Tomiko, Hus-man?” Rev asked Hussein as he came running out of the building.
“She’s right inside,” Hussein said. “She’s looking for you.”
Rev bounded up the steps and through the front doors. Tomiko was telling Strap something, and the older but junior Marine nodded and ran back down the passage.
She looked up and saw Rev. “You ready to go?”
“Pashu’s green, but I need my assault pack. It’s in my room.”
“Then you better get your ass in gear and get it. We’re moving out in three minutes.”
“Three minutes?” They were about to be invaded, but still, they should have a little more time than that, he thought.
“The Amethyst is gone, Rev. All hands lost.”
Rev felt a jolt. The Amethyst was the first ship he’d been on. He knew many of the crew.
“The other two ships aren’t going to last much longer,” Tomiko continued. “The captain says we can expect the first wave in just over forty minutes, and Nguyen could be targeted before that. So, yeah, three minutes. We need to get out of here and disperse so we can hit the bastards hard as soon as they set foot on New Hope soil.”