The Conscripts: Fight or Die (Blood War Book 3) (22 page)

“Heavy, sir. A casualty collection point has been established and some of the wounded are already being evacuated.”

“Very well. LZ Rift.”

Again the display switched, this time to Landing Zone Rift, where the Rifts and Wolfs had landed. It too showed units meeting stiff resistance but slowly moving forward.

“Sir, we too are facing strong resistance,” the young Wolf lieutenant reported. “We have the 1st Wolf and the 1st Rift Battalions both down on the ground, but they are closest to the ridgeline where the fire is coming from and are having a hard time moving off the LZ. The defensive fire is heavy and accurate.”

Sand could see the fire from the ridgeline when LZ Rift was shown. It was intense and deadly. The Wolf and Rift troops were returning fire, but it did not seem to be making a difference. It was obvious that the pressure was coming from fortified positions in the ridge. A trooper on the screen fired one of the shoulder-fired scram rockets at the ridge. It struck and the display showed the white blossom of an explosion. It blew debris out from the ridgeline. The fire from that area stopped, then almost immediately began again.

Sand was hugely frustrated. He had troops in armor that allowed them to move at close to thirty miles per hour all day long, yet he could not get them off the ground. When one would try and stand they were immediately cut down. He was in another slugging match with the Xotoli on their terms.

“Can you get me a drone view of that ridgeline?”

“Yes, sir. The units have several up, but the Xotoli keep knocking them down. I’ll find a good feed.”

It was several moments before he got an aerial view of LZ Rift. As he watched, a destroyer-fired five-inch rail struck the top of the ridgeline creating a huge plume of rock and sand, but it did nothing to slow the fire. Then another struck just in front of the line. Again, a tremendous explosion sent debris flying, but there was no change in the fire.

“Naval gunfire, are you seeing this?”

He had a naval gunfire liaison who was coordinating the destroyers and other ships as they supported the landing. She stood at her station. “Yes, sir. I’m on it. Let me see if we can get at that.”

Lieutenant Chuto, the commander of the Naval Special Warfare Squadron, stood.

“Sir, I might be able to break away some of my Mike boats at the port to make some runs. They would be able to get in close without too much trouble.”

“Sounds good. Get on it. But I can’t afford to leave the Raiders hanging without them. Let me know what you come up with soonest.”

“Yes, sir.” Chuto sat back down at his station and got busy.

Sand needed to get an overall view. He was getting into the weeds. “Display. Pull back and give me a real-time view of the spaceport and surrounding area.”

The tech running the display switched to one of the satellites they had placed in orbit around Chika for aerial reconnaissance. The spaceport sat on a football-shaped escarpment that was raised anywhere from a hundred to three hundred feet above the surface of the planet. It was now obvious why the Xotoli had put the port on the escarpment—they had turned it into a huge underground fortress. He guessed that in addition to defenses there were warehouses, communication centers, and anything else they might need to run the spaceport.

They are too fucking smart, Sand thought. They had simply expanded the space port to create this huge fortress. It was the reason that none of the flybys had shown anything military, yet the electronic signature from Chika was huge. There had been heated arguments during the planning process, and it looked like those arguing for a much tougher defense were right. By placing everything underground, the Xotoli had made it so there was simply no way to tell how many aliens and hybrids they had defending this planet. It also meant Sand had no way of knowing if there were other fortresses hidden on Chika.

“Sir,” a tentative voice said.

Sand looked up to see the Von Fleet captain standing.

“Sir, the Von Fleet armor and armored infantry have just left their ships and are headed for the surface.”

Sand glanced at the mission clock. They were right on time—he had to give them that. Now he would see if they could take a heavily defended beachhead, because if they couldn’t, he would have two LZ’s cut off. He would have to commit his reserve regiment if things did not improve soon. If the Xotoli decided to, they could overrun one or both of them before he could get enough people on the ground. If he committed his reserves, he would have nothing left for taking the rest of the planet. It looked like it was now up to the logo soldiers.

Lyten System

Rift

Internal Security Headquarters

Commanding Officer’s Office

“We were required to learn the history of the Xotoli in detail. In fact it was the majority of what we learned. The Xotoli believe that their god Engai gave them all the resources that exist. In the beginning there were other races besides the Xotoli on Breon, their home planet, but because they believed Engai gave them all of the food, water, and land, the Xotoli exterminated all of them through a series of wars that lasted hundreds of years. With only Xotoli left on the planet, they began to fight among themselves. Then a leader emerged: the Great Bilri. He brought the clans together and led the Xotoli off world toward the conquest of what was theirs in space. He taught them that Engai did not mean for them just to have Breon but to have all of the universe. So the Xotoli began to move off Breon to claim other worlds. Some were unoccupied, but others had large populations. The Xotoli simply killed them and took what they felt had been given to them by Engai,” Netis said.

“So this is a religious war to them. Their god gave them all of our resources. It is simply a matter of them taking what is already theirs.”

“Yes. They feel that you occupy and use resources that are not yours but theirs. So you are seen as thieves, and enemies of Engai.”

“The worst type of enemy, one driven by religious beliefs,” the Anjin Mother said. “There is no reasoning or negotiating with them. You can only kill them.”

“Why did they choose the Confederation and the human race? We are not an inconsequential foe, as you have said. We have resources, and they have seen that we are capable of violence close to being equal to their own.”

“That is why. The Xotoli culture is run by a council of elder males and some retired elders. Every fifty years a new individually named generation of warriors is initiated into manhood. This latest group of warriors is headed by a leader who is very ambitious. His name is Askars. He wishes to go down in history as being as great as Bilri. To do so he must have as large an impact on the Xotoli as Bilri did.

“Each generation of warriors decides on what raid or war will define their generation. Askars has convinced them and the elders that they must destroy the human race. It is the only spacefaring race as numerous as the Xotoli in a nearby area of the galaxy. In the Xotolis’ eyes, you are judged by how powerful your enemies are, and the human race is the only race as powerful as the Xotoli in this part of space.

“By leading this generation of warriors into a war that will more than double the size of the Xotoli empire, he will be able to claim his place in history. He has convinced the elders and his generation of warriors that the fate of the Xotoli rests on the destruction of the human race. It is the only race that could threaten the Xotoli. If he is able to destroy humanity, when he reaches elder age he will be seen as being as important as Bilri. He will become the supreme elder. He will go down in Xotoli history as the one who led the Xotoli to their greatest heights.”

Istas was silent as she contemplated the ramifications all of what Netis had told her. Someone whose ambitions were that great, with the power of the Xotoli behind them, would be a very, very difficult foe to defeat. With religion behind the beliefs of the warriors and their leaders, the only way to stop the Xotoli would be to kill them. This would truly be a blood war—a fight to the death between two races used to using violence to settle disputes.

“If this generation of warriors is to be defined by their foe, why are they not fighting us? Why are they using hybrids like yourself?”

“It was Askars’s idea. His argument is that we can weaken the Confederation for the warriors. When they feel it’s time, they will emerge and do the fighting.”

“It would seem that letting hybrids do their fighting would not cement the reputation of this group of warriors.”

“Yes, if they felt they had to do all the fighting. The Xotoli, while relishing combat, also respect guile and innovative tactics. Hybrids, as you know, have been very successful in bleeding the Confederation. I have a feeling they will continue to use them for some time.”

“Where will they come from? It takes years to grow and train one. Can they use hybrids to breed other hybrids?”

“No. We’re sterile. They did not want us reproducing because we might be a threat long-term. Since we know their culture and have Xotoli genes, they did not feel they could trust us.”

“So where do they get the needed eggs and sperm to grow more hybrids?”

“They have captured Ceti and its system. It should supply them with more than enough breeders, I suspect.”

“How do you know all of this? They would not teach you the motivations behind their actions—they contain too many details that could give us strategies and expose possible weaknesses.”

“Askars was my Xotoli father. He spoke openly about this and had many meetings with other members of his warrior generation in his home. I was treated as a servant and as if I didn’t exist. So I just listened. It filled in the history I learned in school.”

Istas sat back in her chair. There were a thousand other questions that she could ask, but she had the core information about the Xotoli she needed. This was a religiously driven race who would not stop or negotiate until they satisfied their goals. A leader was driving a whole generation of their warriors and his society. It was a normal state of affairs for this race. The Confederation just happened to be the target. Askars was the key.

“What would happen if Askars was killed?” Istas asked.

Netis paused for a long moment.

“I don’t know. As far as I was taught, that has never happened in their history. The leader of the generation is never put into danger until the last battle, when they know they have won. From what I can tell, it is more for show than battle honors.”

Then the question that Istas should have asked long ago dawned on her. How could she not have asked the most obvious question needing an answer.

“Netis, you said that you wouldn’t be able to tell another hybrid by sight, correct?”

“Yes,” Netis replied, looking puzzled.

“Yet you just told me that you went through years of school with other hybrids. Would you recognize one of them now?”

“Of course. They did not try and change our appearances before they embedded us. So I would recognize the ones who went through the schools with me.”

Istas tapped her bracelet and brought up a picture of Raina White. Her 3-D holo showed her at the party where Istas had met her. Istas watched Netis for a reaction. It was not what she expected. Her face went white.

“Do you recognize this woman?” Istas knew she did, but what could possibly affect her this way?

At first Netis could only nod her head. Then she cleared her throat and said, “That is Raina. She was several classes ahead of me. She was one of those chosen as an alpha.”

“Alpha?”

“Yes. Someone who would be a leader among the hybrids. She was a favorite of Askars’s. She, uh, she.…”

Istas reached out and took her hand. “Go on.”

“The alphas were encouraged to let their Xotoli side take over. Raina was the worst. She would come for me at night. She…she would hurt me over and over. One time she got in trouble because I had to be taken to the hospital. She likes to hurt, and then she would do sexual things to me and make me do things even when I was too young. She is a true Xotoli and likes it.”

Istas could read the fear in her, and beyond that were the memories of the terrible things that had been done to her as a child.

“She called it playing. She would come for me and say ‘Let’s go play.’ Sometimes she brought other alphas and they took turns with me. It was.…”

“That’s all right. You can stop. I get the idea. You’ve told me what I needed to know.”

Netis’s face changed. She wasn’t a young girl remembering something terrible. This was the woman who had defeated another hybrid in a battle to the death.

“Where is she?”

“I can’t tell you now, Netis. But I promise to tell you when the time is right,” Istas said.

“So she is embedded here.”

“Yes.”

“Will I be used to eliminate her?”

“Possibly.”

“If I see her in person, nothing will stop me from killing her,” Netis said in a cold voice. Somehow, despite the hold Raina had once exercised over her, this young woman had overcome it. Those past fears would do Raina no good if they met again. Netis had just become an even more potent weapon. Istas could use her hatred and thirst for vengeance, but she was not sure how yet.

“Promise me, Istas. You said I could trust you. Promise me.”

Istas searched the woman's face. She would need that closure. It was the only way to end the nightmare and release her from those fears and memories. It would also bind her closer to Istas. She needed to see if she could make it happen. It would be helpful on several levels.

“At this point I can’t promise you anything, but if at all possible I will see to it. I understand your need. I have felt it myself at times.”

Netis looked at Istas closely, as if she were trying to read the truth of her words. Then she said, “I believe you,” Netis finally said.

Netis sat back in her seat and looked at Istas for a long moment before she continued, “What will happen to me now?”

Istas smiled one of her rare, small smiles and said, “Nothing. Oh, the intelligence types will be asking you thousands of questions, but it will be like this. The medical people will want to poke and prod you, but nothing you couldn't handle. You will not be harmed nor mistreated. You are under my protection from now on, and that means the protection of the secretary general.”