his mess. It would be a cold day in hell before she let him know she had in fact been worried about him. Thoughtless bastard.
“Are the rest of the troop carriers with us yet?” Vas asked Xsit once she got to the bridge.
“Aye, Captain. The whole group is here. ETA six hours. We were supposed to be there in three hours.” Xsit bobbed her head quickly. As a Xithinal, she shared a long-lost bird-like ancestor with the Wavians. However the two lines were as diverse as a massive bird of prey verses a small bird kept in a cage. Xsit’s bobbing was her inherited way of asking a predator not to eat her. She wasn’t aware she did it, and Vas had learned to ignore it.
“I know. Deven’s errand ran longer than expected.” Vas turned to Mac and Jakiin, “Without losing the rest of the ships, can you shave any time?”
Jakiin shook his head, but Mac nodded. “No problem, Captain.”
****
Four hours and one harrowing trip later, Vas glared up into the cloudy sky on the planet of Lantaria as she set up her command console. Deven’s little stunt cost them some ground; they were still at least an hour behind schedule. Not to mention that the two smaller troop carriers had to run like hell to keep up with Mac. After this, she and Deven would be having a long, ugly talk. She said she’d leave him alone, but she hated being behind schedule.
All of her ships would land near each other, but their late arrival put them a few miles from the other merc companies and the side they would be fighting for. There were supposed to be four other companies fighting alongside them for this side. It looked like all were full complements and in place.
Not only were they far away from the rest, the ragged ground made it difficult for the two smaller troop ships to find a clear landing. The rest of the troops had disembarked from the larger two transports and were jogging toward her command center. But interestingly, no one from the paying side had shown up yet. Usually folks wanted to meet her and her officers. You didn’t build the reputation she had without gathering a few awe-inspired fans.
The clouds grew heavier and she considered ordering bad weather gear. With a few choice swear words, she glanced up to determine how nasty the weather would get.
She froze.
Those weren’t clouds.
Silent ships filled the sky above the battlefield, lurking in massive cloudbanks that may have been created by the ships themselves. The ships were still too high to fire in the atmosphere, but wouldn’t be for long. A dozen things flashed through her mind: this was a ground battle—no ships; she’d never seen any ships that size hanging as low and silent as these were trying to do; nor had she ever seen anything with those markings. Heavy and gray, they did look like lumbering rain clouds at first, especially with a steady outpour of controlled exhaust to mask them. Electronically, they still didn’t show on any scan. No one would know they were there unless they glanced up. This had to be a trap; she just wasn’t sure for whom.
She opened the main comm, keeping her voice low and calm. “We have a scatter situation. Retreat to ships and blast off when full. I repeat, we have a scatter situation and need a full evac of this site immediately. Retreat to ships and bug out. Closest ship will do. We’ll meet at evac point four. The others may be compromised. Don’t wait. Go now.” The chill building in her gut branched out to the rest of her body. There could be a rational reason for those ships hanging there. The screaming cold in her belly told her otherwise.
At the most, her people had a few minutes until the ships started firing. The other mercenary companies had to be unaware, judging by their continued prep for a ground battle that wasn’t going to happen. But she couldn’t do anything to help them; tipping them off could tip off the gray ships as well. She’d be lucky to get her own people out intact.
Deven jogged over and nodded to
“Are the rest of the troop carriers with us yet?” Vas asked Xsit once she got to the bridge.
“Aye, Captain. The whole group is here. ETA six hours. We were supposed to be there in three hours.” Xsit bobbed her head quickly. As a Xithinal, she shared a long-lost bird-like ancestor with the Wavians. However the two lines were as diverse as a massive bird of prey verses a small bird kept in a cage. Xsit’s bobbing was her inherited way of asking a predator not to eat her. She wasn’t aware she did it, and Vas had learned to ignore it.
“I know. Deven’s errand ran longer than expected.” Vas turned to Mac and Jakiin, “Without losing the rest of the ships, can you shave any time?”
Jakiin shook his head, but Mac nodded. “No problem, Captain.”
****
Four hours and one harrowing trip later, Vas glared up into the cloudy sky on the planet of Lantaria as she set up her command console. Deven’s little stunt cost them some ground; they were still at least an hour behind schedule. Not to mention that the two smaller troop carriers had to run like hell to keep up with Mac. After this, she and Deven would be having a long, ugly talk. She said she’d leave him alone, but she hated being behind schedule.
All of her ships would land near each other, but their late arrival put them a few miles from the other merc companies and the side they would be fighting for. There were supposed to be four other companies fighting alongside them for this side. It looked like all were full complements and in place.
Not only were they far away from the rest, the ragged ground made it difficult for the two smaller troop ships to find a clear landing. The rest of the troops had disembarked from the larger two transports and were jogging toward her command center. But interestingly, no one from the paying side had shown up yet. Usually folks wanted to meet her and her officers. You didn’t build the reputation she had without gathering a few awe-inspired fans.
The clouds grew heavier and she considered ordering bad weather gear. With a few choice swear words, she glanced up to determine how nasty the weather would get.
She froze.
Those weren’t clouds.
Silent ships filled the sky above the battlefield, lurking in massive cloudbanks that may have been created by the ships themselves. The ships were still too high to fire in the atmosphere, but wouldn’t be for long. A dozen things flashed through her mind: this was a ground battle—no ships; she’d never seen any ships that size hanging as low and silent as these were trying to do; nor had she ever seen anything with those markings. Heavy and gray, they did look like lumbering rain clouds at first, especially with a steady outpour of controlled exhaust to mask them. Electronically, they still didn’t show on any scan. No one would know they were there unless they glanced up. This had to be a trap; she just wasn’t sure for whom.
She opened the main comm, keeping her voice low and calm. “We have a scatter situation. Retreat to ships and blast off when full. I repeat, we have a scatter situation and need a full evac of this site immediately. Retreat to ships and bug out. Closest ship will do. We’ll meet at evac point four. The others may be compromised. Don’t wait. Go now.” The chill building in her gut branched out to the rest of her body. There could be a rational reason for those ships hanging there. The screaming cold in her belly told her otherwise.
At the most, her people had a few minutes until the ships started firing. The other mercenary companies had to be unaware, judging by their continued prep for a ground battle that wasn’t going to happen. But she couldn’t do anything to help them; tipping them off could tip off the gray ships as well. She’d be lucky to get her own people out intact.
Deven jogged over and nodded to
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