The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) (43 page)

___________________________

09:37 Hrs

“
Looks like they finally plan to put in a full assault, sir. The Northern Quadrant is taking a beating,
”
Captain Gillum said quietly. With Four C’s main holo set for ground display, the Captain’s observation was hardly necessary. The whole sector was blinking red. For three weeks the Nameless had probed the outer ring of defences, mostly with small groups of infantry attempting to infiltrate their way into the line, occasionally backed up by short but intense artillery bombardments. All of these attempts had been halted well short of the frontline. Maybe the Nameless had finally lost patience or maybe it had all been part of the original plan. Either way they were finally putting in their first proper assault.

“
Our laser batteries don’t seem to be as effective as they were,
”
Eulenburg replied pointing up at the display.

Four white overlapping circles were visible, each centred on one of the four hills that marked the corners of the base. The two centred on Death and Plague were fairly static, the ones over War and Famine though were in constant motion. The laser defence batteries on the top of each hill were completely automatic units. Their computers tracked and prioritised each of the incoming missiles, but it took a measurable length of time for the lasers to destroy each one. If the salvoes were too dense then the batteries didn’t have time to burn through them all. When that happened, the computer had to make priority choices, reducing the size of the area protected, leaving missiles aimed at less critical parts of the base to get through.

“
The computers have already run an analysis. They’ve changed the launch pattern for their missile batteries, sir. They’re launching from further out, so by the time the lasers see them, they’ve gone ballistic. The lasers have to either set off the warhead or foul the aerodynamics. They weren’t really designed to handle this level of fire.
”

Eulenburg grunted a reply as he continued to stare up at the display. They were designed primarily to prevent someone dropping an atomic weapon on them from orbit. Stopping ground fire was very much a secondary objective.

“
Sir, have you eaten today?
”

The question was so unexpected it actually got Eulenburg’s attention.

“
I ate
…”
he had to pause for thought,
“
last night.
”

“
I’ll contact the canteen sir. Get them to send up something.
”

“
There are higher priorities, Captain,
”
Eulenburg replied sharply.

“
Respectfully sir, there is nothing we can do for the time being,
”
Gillum replied undaunted.
“
You still have to eat though.
”

“
We don’t know how much of an attack they’re going to put in, or how badly the Northern Quadrant
’
s been hurt. We’re going to have to be ready to order up our reserves if there is any sign of them breaking through. Contact Colonel Motter. If they bring up armour we’ll have to match. Instruct the Indian battalion to be ready to move in to support the Northern Quadrant line. Order that small American detachment we have to link up with the Indians.
”

Gillum paused before answering:
“
Yes sir.
”

“
Also Captain
…”
Eulenburg hesitated for a long moment before continuing,
“
order the laser batteries to withdraw protection from the frontline.
”

“
Sir?
”

“
The front is too wide for them to stop enough to make a real difference. They are to protect themselves, the artillery and the deep dugouts. Order the artillery to concentrate on counter battery fire.
”

“
Yes sir. I’ll also contact the galley and get them to send something down,
”
he said before leaving the command platform.

Eulenburg turned to stop him then shrugged.

For two solid hours the base’s northern frontier was pounded. There was no attempt at precision targeting by the Nameless. They simply saturated the entire sector with wave after wave of missiles. By the end of the first hour, eighty percent of the hard lines to the front were cut. The only information that was making its way down to Four C was from the drone aircraft they
’
d put up. From an altitude of two thousand metres, all the drone
’
s camera could see of the Northern Quadrant was a mass of explosions, dust and flying debris while beyond, on infrared, it detected a warm mass gathering at the edge of the tree line.

___________________________

16:03 Hrs

The explosions weren’t by any means constant. It might have been a bit easier to bear if they had been. Instead salvoes seemed to roll up and down the line, steadily getting closer before bursting directly overhead and receding again. Someone, perhaps several people in the shelter, had soiled themselves and the resulting smell was terrible. Sitting at the back of the shelter, Alice had pulled out the one centaur book that was still in her possession. She’d half thought that working on it might provide some kind of a distraction, but instead she found herself staring at the battered cover feeling sorry for herself. Sitting in a cold hole in the ground listening to explosions wasn’t a place she had ever expected to be. The book now seemed to be a symbol of what she
’
d lost. When the field telephone rang, even the calmest individual jumped. Lieutenant Avedon answered it. Alice was too far back to hear his side of the conversation. As soon as he hung up, Avedon turned to them all.

“
Listen up. Airborne recce have observed enemy forces massing, so we will be making contact shortly. Sergeant Medvedev, I want you and your gun team up and out first.
”

“
Sir,
”
came the reply from somewhere near the entrance.

“
The trenches will have taken damage,
”
Avedon continued. Outside the thunder of explosions gave his words extra emphasis.
“
Find the best cover you can, but do not bunch up!
”

All around the shelter marines rolled onto their feet and primed their weapons. There was a final flurry of explosions outside, then abruptly it stopped. Everyone made a collective move for the entrance.

“
Wait for it!
”
Avedon shouted.

A final salvo landed close enough to send dust and debris cascading into the shelter.

“
Go! Go! Go!
”

Marines were already piling out of the shelter almost before the Lieutenant had managed to enunciate the first letter. Alice and the rest of the half dozen support personnel surged after them.

“
Hold it, damn it! Hold it!
”
Dennison shouted at them. It was too late though. Rationally they were all safer in the shelter than they were out there, but after God only knew how long sitting there in what felt like their own tombs, rationality was taking a back seat.

As she dashed up the steps Alice expected the trench above to look much as it had when she went down. Reaching the top, her foot slipped in the loose soil and she went nose first into the dirt. As she tried to get up, a foot in the middle of her back forced her back down. The next person coming up at least attempted to hurdle her, not successfully though, as a heavy army boot clipped the back of her head, again sending her back into the dirt. As she finally staggered back to her feet, Alice got a chance to take a look around. The trenches, the fruit of thousands of man-hours, were in ruins. The walls had collapsed in most places, reducing them to deep ditches. The steel sheeting that had been supporting the walls was either gone or scattered. There was an overpowering smell of smoke, dust and what she could only assume were explosives. Then a hand clamped onto her shoulder and dragged her back down to her knees.

“
Damn it,
”
Dennison snarled,
“
what is it with you idiots? You were safe down there!
”

Alice made no reply since the question wasn’t particularly directed at her.

“
We’ll just have to try to make the best of this. Grab a partner and head to Number Three Section’s piece of the line,
”
the Corporal shouted.

“
Yes Corp,
”
Alice replied as she started to move away.

“
And for God’s sake, keep your bloody head down!
”
Dennison shouted after her, before hurrying away to bellow at the other auxiliaries in sight.

As she made her way down the ruins of the trench line, Alice collared another auxiliary. Some marines were positioned on the remains of the firing step, their weapons already trained out into no man
’
s land, while others frantically tried to clear trenches. Alice was just trying to wriggle over a blockage when there was a shout from further ahead.

“
Contact! Infantry two hundred metres!
”
A burst of gunfire followed and the Marines who were digging abandoned their shovels and snatched up their rifles. Within seconds the rest of the front erupted and whoever or whatever was approaching responded in kind. Alice and her new partner both rolled over the blockage together as bullets whistled overhead.

“
Christ, you could get hurt doing this shit,
”
he muttered as they untangled from one another.

“
Take cover!
”
came a voice from behind them.

There was a bang behind the blockage they’d just rolled over and they were both pelted with bits of soil.

“
No bloody kidding! Let
’
s keep moving,
”
Alice snapped back at him.

Another ten minutes saw them reach the remains of Section Three’s position. Alice wouldn’t have believed it but this part of the trench line was in even worse condition than that immediately outside the shelter. The marines were now firing from what amounted to little more than a deep ditch.

“
Now what do we do?
”
her partner shouted into her ear as they both sheltered in what was left of a traverse.

“
Sit tight until we have someone to evacuate I guess!
”
she shouted back at him. To keep their heads below the trench parapet, the two of them had to remain crouched. After only a few minutes Alice’s back and legs were starting to object to the awkward position.

“
I wish we could see what was happening,
”
he said after a few minutes, half rising from a crouch. Alice dragged him back down.

“
Please don’t get shot. I don
’
t want to end up dragging your arse out of here!
”

“
Nice to know you care.
”
he replied before offering a grimy hand,
“
I’m Damien Demolder.
”

“
Alice Peats,
”
she replied, returning his handshake.

“
I’ve seen you around. So, come here often?
”

“
I came here on leave. Didn
’
t expect to be here for more than a couple of weeks,
”
she replied.

“
Tough break.
”

“
Oh, I don
’
t know. My ride out of here was one of the ones they got at Baden, so believe me it could be worse.
”

Several bullets whistled over their heads, but in which direction was anyone
’
s guess.

“
You just keep saying that and you might make me believe it.
”

“
What about yourself?
”

“
Oh long term planetary resident,
”
he shrugged.
“
I decided to come up here for the season,
”
he shouted over a particularly long burst of fire.

“
So you decided against taking up residence in one of the luxury subterranean apartments then?
”

“
Yes I wanted somewhere with a bit more of a view.
”

Alice looked around. Inside the trench they couldn’t see more than three metres in any direction bar straight up.