Cavalier's Gambit -ch 15- (Patreon)

Wayne had been quickly shipped off the station, transferred to a Cruiser military ship, taken elsewhere, and now was sitting in an audience hall.

He was surrounded by Walker pilots from what he could only guess was “all corners of the Confederation”. He saw men, women, old, young, and even those who looked like they’d only completed the most basic of Walker training.

“—squad three will proceed across this line, and enter the lower levels through this maintenance bay,” droned the old man standing in front of the holographic projection.

As he spoke, it spun around, zoomed in, and then started spewing out information.

Then his eye wanted to remind him of all the specifications of the projector.

Grimacing, Wayne looked at his boots instead.

Thankfully his own briefing had occurred before this one.

As a Cavalier, he was expected to lead a small squad of people. His orders had been simple and direct. Though he was sure that it’d go sideways as soon as they started.

Despite his limited experience, his lacking credentials, he wasn’t stupid.

They weren’t the military.

Everyone here were thrown together and they weren’t going to perform at the likely expected levels the planners had put together for the mission.

Because the mission had originally been built for a division of armed forces.

The only reason he knew that was the presenter made a mistake. In one of the slide transitions, unit listings had been accidentally left in.

Only for the presenter to delete them quickly and act as if it wasn’t an issue. Then typing in all the squad leaders one by one as the orders were given.

“Boring for ya Mr. Cavalier man?” growled a woman next to him.

Glancing at his neighbor, Wayne saw it was a square-shouldered, dark-haired, brown-eyed, Walker Pilot, that was maybe a year or two older than he was.

Her arms were corded muscle, and she had a visible bulk to her, surprisingly. She had an extremely muscular and athletic look.

Didn’t hurt that he felt like she was as tall as he was, either.

Though she exuded a presence that spoke to having been doing work with her life on the line for a while.

“No, just feeling sick,” Wayne offered in a quiet whisper. His eyes locked to hers as she stared back at him.

Then she grinned at him.

It felt as if he were looking at a feral animal in that moment. One that found him amusing. There was a mild handsomeness to her that he couldn’t help but notice.

He grinned back at her.

She was as opposite to Tink as she could be.

“I’m Wayne,” he said, and stuck his hand out to the woman.

Chuckling, the woman stuck her hand firmly into his and squeezed.

“Michelle. I’ve got the line next to yours on approach,” she murmured, reminding him to the fact that she’d been in the previous meeting as well. “I brought two noobers with me that I hired on.”

“Just me,” Wayne said, answering the unspoken question. “Which means I guess I’ll be working with a bunch of people I don’t know, who I can’t trust.”

Michelle snickered at that, her nose wrinkled, and she shook her head a bit. Giving his hand a final squeeze, she let go, then partially turned toward him.

“Well, good thing we’re just doing perimeter work,” Michelle answered. “The bigger companies are the ones going into the middle.

“You watch me, I’ll watch you?”

Wayne was momentarily confused before he figured out her question.

“Yeah, you got it,” Wayne agreed. It’d be nice to have someone he could reach out to. He’d look up her coms channel before he set out just in case.

“Looked like you were gonna say no there for a second,” Michelle accused him.

“Nah, just had the wrong thought at first. Legit thought you were asking me out after this,” Wayne blurted out before his brain could catch up.

Michelle guffawed at that, realized she was loud, and settled back into her seat, looking straight ahead. No sooner than it seemed like everyone had gone back to the presentation, she looked his way.

“That’s a cute way of asking me out, without asking me out,” she murmured.

I mean, I wasn’t, but… why not?

Better than focusing on Tink, since she’s my employee.

“I’ll try again when it’s over,” Wayne offered in exchange.

Michelle grinned, nodded her head, then looked ahead once more.

Wayne glanced back to the projection.

They were attacking a large platform built with massive cannons used to knock things out of space as they approached. All the way up to capital ships.

While the enemy had taken the facility, they hadn’t turned around the ability to fire.

Yet.

Hence the mission to go in and fix it.

Wayne would be responsible for approaching from the south, knock down a bunker, then hold the perimeter from counterattacks.

Taking in a short breath, Wayne let it out, then looked back ahead as well.

***

Fuck man, I’m no squad leader.

“What-do we keep going, Cavalier?” asked one of his squad-mates.

He’d been given a group of seven to lead.

Every single one of them were in a Combat class Walker.

Wayne was in a Heavy sized Combat class Walker. The extra needs of being the squad leader and the commo gear had gotten him a “command Walker”.

“Ayup,” Wayne confirmed. “Straight ahead till we find the bunker, blow it up, then hold it.

“Our job really is that simple. Don’t worry over it too much. Just stay in formation, keep your heads up, watch for anything that might be out of the ordinary.”

“Like what?” asked someone else.

Wayne had been staring at a white box that’d appeared beyond his vision. A white box that was telling him that someone was watching his group from a ridgeline to the east.

Technically speaking, it wasn’t in a position that he could get to easily.

“Oh, anything at all. A flash of light off something reflective, bunch of bad guys laying in a trench watching us on top of a hill.”

“I-what?” asked someone else.

Wayne didn’t respond, but instead reached out and dialed into the coms line for Michelle.

“Hey,” he said.

“Heeeeey, Cavalier. What’s up?” Michelle asked.

“Oh, you know. Decided I want to try and flirt it up with you. How’s that harness fitting you? Wanna send a picture to me? I made a bet with myself that it probably either crushed your boobs together or split them in half to either side,” Wayne got out with a chuckle.

The military grade harness was wonderful for what it did, but it was uncomfortable.

Michelle laughed loudly at that and then she sighed.

“Hmph. Alright… really… what’s up?” she said.

“Got a quick flicker of something off to my east. Ridgeline. Grid coordinate is… forty-six point two and one-hundred and three, point three,” he read off after looking down to his map display to the left.

The cockpit on this Walker was satisfying to him.

There were multiple displays, an actual heavy-duty fan blowing air on him, a heater, a great seat, a HUD on the interior that gave him a great deal of information, and a wonderful field of view.

There was even an AI that was helping him work the controls that handled a number of functions.

He was a little concerned that he’d end up frying it if he wasn’t careful.

Thankfully though, it wasn’t a very high-grade AI, if something did happen.

“What? Alright. I’ll take a look at it. That’s more or less on my line, just a bit to the side,” Michelle grumped.

Wayne nodded his head, then disconnected the live communication.

She didn’t respond to him flirting, so he wasn’t going to push it further.

“Is that something?” asked someone in his group. “Straight ahead. That uh… rocky… stuff. My spectrometer threw a spike of something right there.”

Wayne focused his attention on the point that’d been called out. There weren’t any white outlines, which meant if there was something there, it was low-grade, or lacking in electronics.

Or they’d just turned it off.

“We’re already weapons free. Two, dump missiles on that spot. One launch please,” Wayne ordered. He didn’t feel like fooling around.

There was a clack, followed by a dozen rockets shooting off from the Walker on Wayne’s left. He didn’t know the name of the model, but they were the type that were churned out by the hundreds.

It was unlikely they had a name, but they’d most certainly have a number.

The same was true for the command model he was in.

Wayne glanced at his map, the marker, the IFF readings for his people, and his speed. If they kept at the rate they were going, they’d likely hit the bunker at the exact time they were expected to be.

As the missiles detonated, chunks of rock were sent out in nearly every direction. Splattering the surrounding area in debris.

Stomping to the location at a steady speed, Wayne didn’t see anything that looked out of the ordinary on approach. Just a blasted-out rock formation.

In reaching it, Wayne stepped right over it.

Only to have his implant throw up a white box as he did so.

With a grunt, Wayne brought his Walker to a full stop, turned, and looked at where the rock had been.

Holographic screen.

Well.

Reaching out with the left hand of the Walker, Wayne pushed the barrel of the laser cannon against the screen. There was a crunch as something broke against his prodding.

“Looks like a tunnel network,” Wayne hissed as soon as the holographic screen failed. There was a hatch that led down into darkness below. “Three, stay here and keep an eye on it. Just shoot anything that pops its head out.

“Everyone else, form back up into a wedge. We’re speeding up a bit.”

Wayne dialed his coms back into the command line and got everyone moving once more. He pushed his speed up to arrival slightly ahead of the original plan.

“This is squad eighteen,” Wayne said into the line. “Need to make a report.”

“Go ahead eighteen,” came a response over the system.

Wayne recharted his approach and adjusted his mission timer for the arrival. He’d now reach his destination three minutes ahead, assuming they didn’t actually encounter resistance.

“Found a tunnel. I’ve left behind squad member Three to watch it in case it’s a fallback position from the bunker we’re taking,” Wayne reported. “This wasn’t on the blueprints or the map layout for the platform. Please advise.”

“Received, continue with orders. Three can remain in position for locational needs,” advised the command line.

Wayne shook his head and kept moving.

He was getting nervous now.

Things had already felt off before the mission had even started, now things were turning up that were certainly giving him an ill feeling. Information was different than presented in the mission briefing and they hadn’t even reached the facility yet.

“You were right!” blurted out Michelle on his coms line suddenly. “That ridgeline had an observation post. We wiped it out but-but this isn’t… it didn’t feel right. They had a lot of comms equipment.”

“Alright. Thanks Michelle,” Wayne muttered after opening the channel to her. “Just found a tunnel over here. Reported it up.

“Feels like shits going sideways. Real fast. Tunnels weren’t on any of the-of anything.”

“Great. Well, get this. The little observation post was set up weird,” Michelle continued as Wayne ran on. “It had no view of my group at all. It was entirely set up to watch your approach.

“The equipment it had was also something that they couldn’t carry up on their own. They were here to watch, and they expected you to be here.

“Makes me think there’s another group watching my own approach somewhere.

“Fuck, now you’ve got me all jumpy. Damnit.”

“I mean, I could tell you that if you’re jumpy, take a picture for me, but I’d just be trying to get a view of you in the harness again,” Wayne offered, trying to redirect the conversation.

He didn’t think she was wrong, but he certainly didn’t think discussing their fears to one another would help.

“Wait, really? Ha. You’ve got a one-track mind,” choked out Michelle in a strangled laugh. “Err… later, maybe. Anyways. Thanks for the heads up. Going to shift my approach. It’ll be closer to you for a while.”

“Yeah, that’s fine I—”

Wayne paused in his words as a rumbling sensation bled through the exterior of his cockpit and to him.

The exterior of the moon they were on was subjected to space. Sound didn’t travel in space, which meant something had just hit the ground, or was making the ground vibrate.

Quick as he could, Wayne dialed back into the command frequency.

“Squad Eighteen, I’ve got vibrations,” Wayne blurted into the comms.

Even as he said it, he could hear his squad mates noting the same thing around him. Asking him what to do.

“I hear it-er, feel it. Hold on,” he ordered after swapping back to his squad’s channel.

“Enemy contact confirmed. Enemy reinforcements moving in by drop-ship,” reported the communications officer on the other end. “Expect the possibility of running into a squad of Walkers. Not sure where they’re touching down, but I’ve got twenty plus dropships coming in.

“If possible, proceed with the mission, if not, go back to it after dealing with the reinforcements.”

In other words… no retreat.

Great.

“Received,” growled Wayne, not really happy with that order.

No more military contracts. To hell with them.

The pay is good but I’m just too—

Distantly, Wayne could see a drop ship.

It had a similar look to that of the Cougar he’d earned as a prize, but was larger from front to back.

A drop ship zoomed toward him, then banked hard and away.

Only to make a hard turn up around a shattered rocky cliff and just about slammed into the ground with how fast it stopped.

“Prepare for Walker combat,” Wayne ordered. He cycled the round in his rifle after selecting armor piercing rounds. The unfired HE round was ejected and hit the ground. The less than normal gravity caused it to skid away and keep moving. “Keep mobile, try to use the terrain, watch your placement. Follow my targets as I designate them.

“Our firepower isn’t low, but it isn’t great either.”

“Oh shit,” someone whispered.

There was movement below the drop ship as the contents were disgorged. Wayne could see some of it through cracks in the cliff, but it didn’t give him much of an idea of what was going on.

No sooner than it was done, the Blood of Dashi dropship shot away. Practically shooting straight up into the air before zipping off to the side and zooming further away.

I need a pilot like that.

In fact, hell, if I’m going to do this Cavalier thing, I can hire myself out to merc companies and other things. I should try to put together a small group.

I have my armorer, so I’d need a… errr… attendant? Squire?

I dunno.

Definitely need a pilot.

Maybe a manager.

I’ll bug Michael later.

Or see if Tink knows anyone.

No idea though about—

Several Assault Class Walkers trundled out from behind the stone formation.

They were all Heavy classed and painted in red and white colors. Blood of Dashi symbols were splattered across the Walkers.

He couldn’t identify the weaponry, but the one he noticed first, had more than a few kinetic weapons pop up in the white window his implant provided him.

“Oh fuck! Oh shit!” someone yelled.

“Everyone focus on that first fucker out!” Wayne ordered, turned his Walker to the left, and began sprinting to the right. “Try to hit that frelking cockpit!”

Fuck I should have made a move on Tink after all.

Gonna die here without having had a girlfriend in years.

Even as he ordered it, Wayne levered the crosshair for his heavy kinetic rifle in the right hand of his Walker upward. Dropping it on the first Walker, he pulled the trigger.

At the same time, his fire control system, or FCS, pinged the target and locked on. Wayne instantly dumped the entire first load of missiles that were loaded on his back shoulder.

The recoil caused the Walker’s rotation to max out briefly. Dragging his crosshair away.

Though that did cause the crosshair that lined up with his laser cannon to get closer to the target. Which Wayne was more than happy to use and launch a beam out.

The missiles, heavy kinetic round, and laser, all struck the Walker just about on top of the cockpit. The rest of his squad were also firing on it.

Though their aim wasn’t very great.

Someone managed to strike the Walker’s right arm instead, which didn’t seem to do much at all.

The other two Walkers were now in view and training weapons for only a second, before returning fire. They were outfitted differently than the one in front.

A mix of weapons fire streaked out at Wayne’s squad.

One of his people hadn’t moved at all and was standing absolutely still as they fired. In doing so they’d made themselves a perfect target.

Wayne couldn’t pay much attention to them and instead was still firing on the Walker he’d targeted. His rifle belching out round after round as soon as the crosshair returned to target.

There was a scream on his comms, followed by a ground rattling explosion.

Nearly at the same time, the cockpit of the Walker Wayne had been hammering blew out. Spewing its pilot out into the vacuum of space.

Apparently they hadn’t been ready for that possibility, as they weren’t wearing a helmet.

“Shift targets!” Wayne shouted and quickly surveyed the two Walkers. One was sprinting straight at his group while the other was hanging back and firing missiles. “Get the runner!”

His choice had been simple.

Missiles were problematic, but they weren’t nearly as dangerous as a Walker with a melee weapon.

The one running toward them was wielding a large heavy sword.

Wayne knew that the weight of it alone would easily crack a cockpit without an issue.

“Leg him!” Wayne shouted, lining up his kinetic rifle on the knee actuators of the Walker. He fired the laser cannon and the kinetic rifle at the same time.

It caused some strange feedback, but he had already noticed the AI was working to counteract it all. Not to mention the lock-on with the FCS had been quite swift.

Munitions began to slam into the legs of the Walker. Armor broke off and shattered. Dropping to the ground and hanging brokenly on their attachments.

Except the Walker didn’t halt.

Wayne saw then that he’d lost one of his squad-mates.

The Walker was a wreck on the ground. A great majority of it was simply gone. As if it’d blown outward.

The charging Assault Walker reached the remaining five members of his team. They’d spread out some, but now the sword wielding Walker was amongst them.

Though it did also clearly make it harder for the missile laden Walker to keep firing on them. Wayne realized he’d likely be the next target for such things since he was the furthest away.

Targeting the knee joint of the Walker amongst his people, Wayne kept firing.

Even as it handily tore off an arm of one of his Walkers, then slammed a fist into the cockpit and blew it out, Wayne fired on.

Turning, the Dashi Walker charged at the nearest enemy. Even as everyone else continued to lay fire on it.

One of Wayne’s armor piercing rounds hit at the right angle, or just the right position, and blew out the armored actuator of the left leg.

Sending the Walker to the ground on one knee, though the sword it’d been wielding ended up spearing right through the cockpit of Wayne’s subordinate.

“Mother-fucking-frelking-piece-of-shit,” cursed Wayne as he planted down a foot, threw the brakes, hard rotated the opposite way, and began swinging his weapons around on the last Dashi Walker.

Wayne had chosen the right moment to pivot, as a swarm of missiles slammed into the spot he would have been.

Lining up his rifle on the cockpit of the enemy, Wayne fired both of his weapons, then launched a barrage of missiles as the FCS locked on.

As if realizing this wasn’t working out for them, the Walker turned away and began rushing back toward the rocks.

Bastard you put your back to me.

If I just… I bet… your cockpit should be—

Wayne put every bit of his mind to the situation. To figure out where the cockpit would be on the other side of the Walker.

The rear armor was often one of the weakest points. Often the plating there was minimal, as putting your back to the enemy wasn’t an optimal strategy.

His mind sped up with the intensity of it all and he felt himself suddenly unable to think very well. That his thoughts were sluggish and churning in a quagmire.

Gritting his teeth, Wayne tried to fight through it. He only had a few more seconds to lay in a shot if he was going to.

Errors flashed up on the inside of his cockpit. Warning him repeatedly about connection errors and that resources were maxed out.

Wayne forced himself in that moment. Allowing nothing to hold him back or down.

Then he pulled the trigger.

The laser cannon and the kinetic rifle both fired.

As the Walker reached the rocks, the laser hit the back armor.

In a second, it flashed to a bright orange color, but didn’t bore through.

Then the armor piercing round struck and went right through the weakened metal. A hole was created as the Walker trundled on.

There was an explosive decompression and the remains of a cockpit canopy rained down, but the Walker went on.

“Frelk me, that thing’s gonna keep toddling along till it runs out of juice or hits something,” complained Wayne. “Damn zombie Walker.”

Spinning in place, Wayne looked back to the melee Walker.

Three of his own squad members remained undamaged. The other three were destroyed outright. A quick glance and turning a display to life-support readings confirmed for him that they were all dead.

The Dashi Walker was down on the ground with its own sword sticking up through its cockpit.

“—could use a hand!” screamed Michelle over his coms line. “Got two different squads hitting me!”

Wayne hesitated.

His orders were to return to his predetermined attack.

Turning toward Michelle’s last known position, he flicked into the open coms channel. One that’d give him what everyone that wasn’t encrypted was saying.

Which given how this had been thrown together, he imagined it would be a number of people who forgot what the command channel was in an emergency.

“— help—”

“Burning down. We need—”

“—proceeding onward. Heavy losses, though.”

Wayne turned it right back off.

The situation was fucked.

He didn’t think anyone would care if he made changes.

“Arrange on me, we’re shifting lanes,” Wayne ordered. “Full speed. Max it out. Straight east of here. Follow on me.”

“What about me?” asked someone.

“Who are you?” Wayne asked even as he realized it was Three. The one he’d told to stay behind. “Oh. Three, fall in with us. Catch up when you can. Staying there is just asking to be picked off.”

Wayne flicked it over to Michelle’s com channel.

“En route,” he promised.