RITZA ACADEMY
LIEGEDEN, EMPORIA
FEDERATED SUNS
7 APRIL 3150
2305 HOURS
What if Jasper’s right and this is a stupid idea? What if this all goes sideways and I get everyone killed?
Nadine stood on the darkened fire escape outside her dorm room as the part of her that had gotten them through everything on Hoff and every test to get into the academy answered her. If everyone’s dead, either you’ll have no one to blame you or you’ll be dead, too, and it won’t matter. Stop procrastinating. You’re already late to meet the sergeant major. He won’t like that. This last bit spurred her into motion, and she ran down the rest of the iron stairs on light feet that made no noise.
They met outside the vehicle bay. Vale wore a generic set of black coveralls usually worn by mechanics and cleaners. With his work boots, standard issue combat knife clipped to his belt, and name tag, he could’ve been a civilian, military, or retired military. It was the perfect disguise for his mission.
Much to Nadine’s surprise, her least favorite sergeant, Sergeant Marjorie Placket, stood by Vale’s side. Nadine said nothing, but the sight of them together made her check her uniform to ensure it was within regs: boots tied and bloused; hair in a French braid, tucked under with nothing touching the bottom of her collar; every button buttoned; helmet in hand.
“At ease, cadet.” Sergeant Placket, as always, sounded like she disapproved of the world. She was a tall, whipcord-lean woman with short, black hair. “We’re so far out of propriety’s bounds that what you look like doesn’t matter. It’s not like I’m going to give you demerits now.” She glanced at Vale. “Or later, if this outrageous plan works.”
“Yes, Sergeant.” Nadine tried to force herself into the at-ease stance, but couldn’t make her body unlock. The sergeant, who had a habit of making unruly cadets clean vehicles—inside and out—with toothbrushes, eyed Nadine’s locked knees. Nadine snapped her right knee out of lock, leaving her left leg as it was. At least she wouldn’t pass out from blood constriction.
Sergeant Major Vale Auger ignored Nadine’s discomfort. “Sergeant Placket is your lead ground crew on this. She’ll keep anyone else from interfering. Especially the cadre. Cadet Hayton has already talked with the sergeant, and is setting up the four vehicles as you requested. Take me through your thoughts on the vehicles you’re going to use for this mission.”
The sergeant major beckoned. The three of them walked together. Nadine next to Vale, with Sergeant Placket behind. They entered the bay with the four vehicles at the ready. Lyric and Benjamin Delamere were inspecting the last of the vehicles, going down a checklist. The two groups ignored each other.
Before them sat a Goblin II Infantry Support Vehicle, a Fox Armored Car, and two Vedette Medium Tanks.
Nadine, well aware of her nemesis at her back, remained formal. “The two Vedette tanks are V7 models with modifications. They both have heavy ferro-fibrous armor and cellular ammunition storage equipment. For weapons, they have a pair of forward-firing magshots. But instead of the bombast laser on top, it has a set of heavy harpoons to pull down ’Mechs that have been entangled by bolas. Each harpoon can be released from the tank to prevent it from becoming a ’Mech-powered flail. With the Vedette’s weight and speed in conjunction with the bolas, we should be able to pull down two or three ’Mechs before they get wise to the tactic.”
She glanced at Vale. He nodded and gestured for her to go on.
“Next is the Fox Armored Car, bola variant. This vehicle is fast and accurate. For weapons, it carries a single Magna 200P small pulse laser, mostly for defense. Its main mission is bola throwing. It’s got the thrower in the turret.”
Vale considered it. “How many bolas can it carry?”
“Right now, four. Cadet Cobb is the thrower. He’s our best shot with these.”
“How far can each bola shoot?”
Nadine knew that he already knew the answers to the questions he was asking. She wasn’t sure what his point was. “A couple hundred meters. On average, based on static target testing, 150 meters is the sweet spot, but three hundred is still an acceptable outside range.” She paused. “We haven’t tested them on moving targets yet.”
“Something to remember.” He nodded and gestured for them to continue.
Nadine risked a glance at Sergeant Placket. The woman studied the two cadets making sure the vehicles were properly outfitted. Nadine was certain the sergeant was also studying her.
She turned back to the last vehicle. “The Goblin II Infantry Support Vehicle. Holds twenty-eight soldiers. It’s got an ER medium laser and LRM 10. Most of the missiles are training rounds and smoke, designed to cause confusion rather than damage. We’d like to be able to use the spaceport after we’re done. But we do have some live ammo to throw at any ’Mechs following us as we escape. This vehicle is mostly to evac our people who aren’t escaping in the ’Mechs from the spaceport hangars. That’s why there’ll be a few extra machine guns in the back. I’m driving this one during the operation. I’m also going to be doing the jailbreaking, along with Cadet Hayton.”
Sergeant Major Auger nodded. “You thought it through.”
“It might even work,” Sergeant Placket said. “If it does, I might have a bit more respect for you and your out-of-the-box ideas, Cadet Roux.” She eyed Nadine. “I don’t think it will work. Prove me wrong.” With that Sergeant Placket nodded once to Vale, turned on her heel, and strode toward Lyric and Delamere.
Nadine gave the retreating sergeant’s back a salute, even though the woman didn’t see or acknowledge it. When Sergeant Placket was out of earshot, Nadine turned to Vale. She didn’t say anything, but her face said, “Placket? Really?”
Vale ignored her and continued walking. With no other choice, Nadine followed.
He led her away from the lit part of the vehicle bay toward the darkened side. The car that sat there, a Meretz Mountain Terrain Jeep, was nothing special, just an old civilian vehicle preferred by retired military and hunters. It was inexpensive, hardy, and easy to fix. She suspected it was his personal jeep, but didn’t ask. From her perspective, Vale had a few private words for her, and she was going to give them all the attention they were due.
The first thing he did was dig into one of the side compartments and come up with a battered envelope. He offered it to her. “Hand this off to one of the sergeants. It’s instructions, in case I don’t return.”
Although he spoke matter-of-factly, as if he were just talking about a shopping list, it hit her in the gut, and Nadine almost dropped the envelope.
Vale ignored the bobble. “Yes, I could’ve just left it on my desk or handed it to Crusett, but then I’d have to walk all the way over to the ’Mech bay, and I don’t have time for that.” He looked back the way they’d come at the lit part of the vehicle bay. “I want you to understand something. I might not come back from this. None of us might. We could all die in the attempt.”
Nadine’s stomach dropped ten meters as her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, and her mind spun in a train wreck of denials. She didn’t say a thing. She didn’t know what to say.
“Do you understand?”
She nodded with her head, but not her heart, and looked away.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but you have to. If not from me, then from the battlefield.” Vale leaned against the door of the jeep. “Give me the courtesy of listening.”
Her attention snapped back to him. “Of course, Sergeant Major. Advise me.” It came out more formal than she wanted, but she relaxed when he smiled, sad and paternal.
“In my mind, you’re too young for this, but there’s a lesson they don’t teach until you’ve been in battle. It’s not a formal lesson. It’s something that someone, a superior officer maybe, will say. Maybe not to you. Maybe to someone else. But you’ll overhear it. And since this is a rescue mission, it’s better that you hear it now.” Vale didn’t look away. “It’s the lesson of ‘acceptable losses.’ It means sometimes you have to let some die to save a greater whole.”
Nadine shook her head. “I’m not leaving anyone behind.”
Vale shook his more firmly. “With that attitude, you’re going to get everyone killed, including the people you’re trying to rescue.” His voice was low and savage. “If you try to save everyone, you’re going to lose everything. Realize it. Know it. Accept it. Remember your mission. You’re rescuing not only the nobles, you are rescuing our future: our leaders, defenders, parents, and teachers. It’s better to rescue some than none.”
She took a step back from his blunt words. Part of her knew he was correct. Part of her swore she was going to save everyone anyway. Part of her wanted to cry. She did none of those things. Instead, she listened.
Vale softened the intensity of his voice, but not his determination. “You have to know this and understand it. Please, Nadine, tell me this. You’re the one who’ll have to make that decision if you have to leave wounded and dead behind. You’re the one in charge.”
Why can’t you be in charge? she thought, but already knew the answer. This was her mission, and he had other duties. “I understand the concept of acceptable losses. I…I will keep that in mind.”
“I understand that I’m telling you that you will need to leave people to die or to be captured and tortured. Even if everything goes perfectly, you’re going to remember this conversation. You’re going to remember how it felt. If…when…you have to leave people behind, you’re going to be haunted by it. Forever. Hoff may have been easier for you because you didn’t know those people you left behind. But you know these people. Every single one, from the barons and knights to the cadre and the cadets. You know them, and their deaths will weigh on you until you think you can’t breathe anymore.
“Figure out a coping mechanism. Write their names in a book and remember them on a meaningful day. Wear a prayer bracelet and recite their names each holy day so they’re never forgotten. Try to do better next time, and understand that you may not be able to. It will hurt. Let it hurt when you have time for it. Then get back to work. Promise me this.”
Tears streamed down Nadine’s face by the time Vale was done speaking. She dashed at them with clenched fists. “I promise.”
“I need to get going if I want to make it into the capital in time to break into the Black Box when you hit the spaceport. If luck holds and there are any guards, they’ll be distracted by the comm traffic. What time do you believe the attack on the spaceport will begin?”
The question gave Nadine the focus she needed to regain her equilibrium. “2345 for go, 0055 for arrival. Plan for fireworks at 0100.”
Vale opened the jeep and got in. “Any last orders before I go, Senior Cadet Roux?”
Much to her surprise, she had one. “Yes, Sergeant Major Auger. Once you succeed with the Black Box, see if you can do anything about the communications blackout…or get a message out over the emergency broadcast system. Let Emporia know it’s time to fight. Openly and with great malice.”
He suppressed a grin. “Yes, ma’am. I had thoughts in that direction as well. Don’t expect me back for at least a day. Maybe two, based on the enemy’s response. I’ll do what I can.”
“One other thing, Sergeant Major…”
“Ma’am?” Vale raised his eyebrows, impatient to get going, but he waited.
“Don’t die. That’s an order.”
They both smiled at each other. “That’s the plan.” He gave her a salute and waited for hers in return before he dropped it. “Get to work, Roux. We both have a job to do.”
Nadine watched him drive away in the dark with his running lights off. She didn’t watch him for long. He was correct. They both had jobs to do. Hers was leading the Ritza Academy cadets in a rescue mission for the fate of their planet.