Chapter Fourteen: Leading from the Front
The troops had been marching for what seemed like hours. The ground was rocky beneath their feet, and the sun had gotten worse. They didn't see any plants or animals in the craggy wastes, either. No one else seemed to mind, but Valerian was used to lived in worlds. Places where there were lots of people to lose yourself in. He missed Umojan, he hadn't been back there in years.
As they walked, the men began to talk. Valerian listened without speaking, doing his best to get lost in the crowd. His armor was that of a standard marine, so it wasn't hard.
"So any news about Prince Valerian?" asked Mora, Charles' Lieutenant.
"The Commander says he was delayed." said Charles. "Still, that's sounding a bit weak to me. I think he would have gotten here by now. Maybe he got captured, and they're keeping it a secret."
"Yeah right." scoffed Mora. "The spoiled rich kid is probably just hanging out on a resort planet somewhere. Planning to take all the credit once we do the work. Mengsk is damn competent, but he's still former Old Families."
Why did everyone always assume the worst about him? Valerian hadn't even had a chance to establish himself. Though not showing up on time had probably left a bad first impression. "He might have a good reason for not showing up." said Valerian.
"Maybe he's dead." said Charles.
Valerian looked at him in surprise.
"It was just a thought, Iran." said Charles.
"Nah, probably not." said Mora. "If I nabbed a family member of the Emperor I'd want him for bargaining."
"It doesn't really matter now." said Charles. "We're here. The hive is just around this bend."
Yamanov called a halt and moved forward. "All right people, form up! Safety's off, guns down and eyes on the horizon! We've got a hive to burn!"
An affirmative came from the men. Valerian lowered his gun. However, as they assembled he suddenly found himself in the front. There didn't seem to be any organization for how troops were assembled except luck. Though brainpanned troops had their own formations.
He lowered his gun and marched with the rest. Rapidly he found it hard to keep with the formation. Even so, he managed it, and soon they rounded the bend and came before the zerg hives.
It was the first time Valerian had seen the zerg with his own eyes. He hated the sight of it — the pulsing structures of flesh, with bloated drones going in and out like ants. Then there were the thousands of zerglings and hundreds of hydralisks. They were swarming around the broken corpse of something. A sunken colony, Valerian guessed.
The zerg charged.
"Open fire!" said Yamanov.
Valerian obeyed as guns were set over his shoulder. The phalanx launched a massive barrage into the zerg as they charged. Blood and guns exploded like chunky salsa as the monsters rushed at them, slavering. For a moment Valerian thought they'd all die before they reached them.
But the zerglings kept on coming. The hydralisks launched their barbs. A soldier near Valerian was caught by them and sent falling to the ground. One of the barbs sank into Valerian's shoulder pad. He didn't feel anything though, as he fired into the oncoming ranks.
The man who had fallen was dragged behind the lines, and another took his place.
The tide of zerg slackened. The hydralisks were gunned down. At last, the firing stopped. Valerian's ears rang as he realized his gun had clicked empty. Drawing out another clip he replaced his.
"Advance!" said Yamanov.
And they advanced.
As they did, Valerian felt more like a cog in the machine than a person. Just one more expendable unit to be sent in waves to die. It disturbed him. And then the zerglings emerged from the ground near them. Several men were bowled over and torn apart. Others were mowed down by friendly fire as their comrades tried to shoot the zerglings.
But ultimately the zerg were beaten.
Or were they?
The zerg were like ants. Individuals had no will of their own. But every marine had a family. Friends. Hopes and dreams. Even the brain panned ones. Now all those were just dust. Wasn't that the greater loss?
"Wax them men!" said Yamanov. "Aim for the hatchery!"
They opened fire on the hatchery. But everyone else fired bright rounds that caught flame as they struck the form. Valerian shuddered. He remembered his incindiary rounds and set them up, before firing with them.
Then, suddenly, some of the men were torn to bits by a tentacle that emerged from the ground. The others scrambled backward in fear.
"Sunken colony!" someone said. "We've got a sunken colony here!"
"I see it." said Yamanov. "They've got one behind the hatchery. Stay out of range and blast the hatchery down. Once it's dust, we'll handle the sunken."
So the battle went. The hatchery was destroyed, and the drones gunned down. Then they charged the sunken colony. Valerian saw half a dozen men torn to bits by the tentacles before they destroyed it. Three more were ripped to shreds by zerglings and hydralisks that came from the flank.
But in the end, they won. "Lieutenant Charles," said Yamanov, "give me an estimate of casualties."
"A dozen men dead in my group, sir." said Charles. "Half a dozen wounded. Some of them won't make it. The hydralisk poison got into their blood. We've given them painkiller and are treating them as best we can."
"I see." said Yamanov. "We've done well today. "Only fifty or sixty casualties in total, not counting convicts."
"How many convicts?" asked Charles.
"Seventy-eight." said Yamanov. "It's the cost of doing business."
They spoke of it so easily. Was this what Dominion Marines put up with daily? Valerian had seen some of Serena Calabas' recruitment videos. He'd thought they were morbid. But if this was what was done every day…
A small hive.
This had been a small hive. What would an attack on a large one look like?
"Captain, we've got some serious stockpiles of resources over here." said Mora.
"Secure them at once." said Yamanov. "Then get in contact with Captain de Santo, tell her we can use this areas as a mining location. Charles set up a perimeter and watch for any more zerg."
"Yes sir." said Charles.
Valerian tried to put on a bold front as he walked to stand with Charles. "That… that wasn't so bad."
"That was the easy part." said Charles. "Captain Yamanov broke the main defenses with the opening assault. Most of the brain panned marines died for that 'not so bad' victory."
"How do you motivate people to launch an assault when don't have brainpanned marines." asked Valerian, trying to stay focused. Clear mind. Clear thoughts. Don't let your emotions get between them.
"Make heroic speeches, I guess." said Charles. "Usually there is some kind of bonus at the end. It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it."
"The forlorn hope." said Valerian sadly.
"What?"
Valerian paused. "The forlorn hope. Back on Old Earth armies would have to assault a fortified position. The ones' who were first in the assault usually all got killed. So to motivate them they made it, so everyone who volunteered for the job got promoted."
"Sounds like a good idea. Might want to run it by Commander Calabas." said Charles.
"Iran, something wrong?" asked Charles.
"I'm surprised she never set up incentives for this kind of thing." said Valerian.
"Well, Calabas doesn't really like giving out incentives." said Chalres. "She expects people to do their duty."
"Why does anyone listen to her?" asked Valerian.
"Well she isn't an armchair General." said Charles. "During Mar Sara and Antiga Prime, she led charges on zerg defenses. She fought at Tarsonis too.
"People respect her.
"Plus she is really good at her job. That counts for a lot with the men. I'd much rather have an unpleasant general who wins, than a nice milksop who gets my men killed."
"Unpleasant generals sometimes send their men to die." said Valerian.
"Not the competent ones though." said Charles. "Competent bad people don't waste resources, even if they don't care that the resources are human."
Commander Calabas. No wonder she'd been so vicious with Valerian. She'd personally led this kind of operation. And Valerian had come in here with his fancy cape and uniform. He'd assumed that because he'd been on the run from assassins most of his life, he knew about the ugly side of the universe.
He'd been wrong. Most of those assassins had never made it anywhere near him. He'd never had to get in their line of fire. He'd never had to watch his close friends die horribly. When he came out of that dropship, he'd tried to seem confident. Instead, he was smug. It must have been like he'd spat on the graves of every marine to die for the Dominion.
Valerian felt more ashamed by the minute.
Charles pointed. "Ah, there it is. The new command center."
Valerian looked up. Sure enough, a Command Center and several other structures were floating toward them. He blinked. "Did they construct that just now?"
"No, see… ah…" Charles paused. "See during the Guild Wars the whole point of the conflict was to make money. It all happened because the Kel'morians organized to fight off Confederate piracy. So when ground was taken, you wanted to start exploiting it as soon as possible. And you wanted to be able to withdraw just as quick. "That's why we have portable command centers. It allows us to start exploiting new resources quickly. Standard practice is to keep some in reserve to capitalize on any gains."
"Captain Charles, get your men together." said Yamanov over the radio. "Commander Calabas has ordered that we merge with the reinforcements. We'll launch an attack on the zerg to the southeast of here. She doesn't want them to be able to keep expanding."
"Who will take over garrison duty?" asked Charles.
"Reinforcements are coming with the Command Center." said Yamanov. "We'll fill out our ranks with some more neurally resociolated troops. Then we head out in three hours."
Charles sighed. "Understood, Captain." He paused. "Are you coming?"
"I've seen all I want to of this." said Valerian. "But yes."
This was a war that was being fought constantly across the sector. Valerian owed it to the people he might rule one day to understand it. So he wasn't going to stay here. He'd stay with the army, fight with it.
Even if no one ever knew. It was the least he could do.
The battle continued for a full week. Yamanov led one assault after another against entrenched zerg forces. Hundreds of marines were traded for thousands of zerg lives. Four full hives, in the end, were reduced to ashes.
There was no media story about it. No reporters were here to chronicle the events. Why would they? You didn't do media stories on everyday events. It all passed in a blur for Valerian.
And then, when it was over, Commander Calabas arrived. She landed in an ordinary dropship and the troops assembled. They saluted en masse, standing tall as she marched toward them. Yamanov met her.
"Commander Calabas," said Yamanov, "the region has been secured."
"Well done, Yamanov." said Serena. "Well done all of you. Your heroic actions have secured this region of Antiga Prime for recolonization. Our fleets will have no shortage of fuel. That fact alone may save entire worlds.
"Unfortunately something very important has come up. I'd like you to bring forward an Iran Mccord. He isn't who he says he is."
Yamanov motioned.
It then occurred to Valerian that it would be very easy to frame him as a spy. Calabas had probably sent him out here planning to get him killed. He couldn't die here.
But before he could do anything, he was pulled forward. He peeled back his faceplate and hoped his instinct was wrong. "Commander, what seems to be the problem.
Serena raised a set of papers sarcastically. "Forgeries to the last.
"Don't pretend otherwise. They weren't even very good. And the timing of your arrival was far too convenient. Do you expect us to believe that you just happened to arrive after such a high profile disappearance?" She raised an eyebrow. "Prince Valerian I presume?"
There was a stunned silence.
"Don't try to deny it." said Serena. "I've already gotten all the data. So, would you kindly explain to me why you decided to show up here under an alias? Leaving me to do your job for you?"
Was she dressing him down for something she ordered him to do? What was he supposed to say to this? Oh yes, he was supposed to pretend like he planned this. "There isn't much to say, Commander." said Valerian. "I felt I hadn't earned the position and that you were more than capable of handling it.
"So I entered under and false identity. I wanted to see how things worked."
"Good." said Serena. "Don't let me catch you marching off into the front lines without consulting anybody again?"
"Understood, Commander." said Valerian.
There were cheers. And a lot of them. Valerian realized that this was genuine. He'd earned this for himself. He wasn't sure whether to be pleased. Or annoyed at Calabas for forcing it on him.
He settled for both.
Author's Note:
I have no idea why it took so long to write all this. I guess I just lost enthusiasm. Enjoy.