Chapter Seven
0413 Hours, July 11, 2555 (Military Calendar)
Unnamed farming region
Tabah Region, Planet Leka, Katami System
The two Falcons swooped in low across the darkened earth, running lights deactivated and the pilots relying solely on their low light optics to see, as they raced towards their target now just a few klicks away. In the troop compartment, Cobb pulled out the first of many bricks of C12 plastic explosives he would be detonating in the next twenty minutes.
'Three minutes,' the pilot warned over SQUADCOM. 'Repeat, three minutes to first waypoint.'
'Acknowledged,' Cobb said.
He braced as the Falcon dropped closer to the ground, below tree level, following a winding river of blue that started behind them, up in the mountains the Marines called home, and ended somewhere a few hundred kilometres further south. Between the two, though, lay thousands of acres of farmland built on top of the floodplains, taking advantage of the fertile soil. Crops not dissimilar to wheat were planted there, alongside equivalents to rye, oats, peas and barley, though Cobb wouldn't have been surprised if they turned out to be exactly the same as their Earthly counterparts.
'One minute,' the pilot said.
On cue, the Falcon came to an abrupt halt two metres above the surface of the water, right where the levee system began and the river's course became subject to the control of others. Either side of it were vast fields of crop awaiting harvesting swaying gently in a pre-dawn breeze.
Cobb took hold of the first brick of C12 and primed the timer.
'On my mark,' he said. 'Mark!'
He let go of the brick and the Falcon surged forward at full speed, nearly two-hundred kilometres an hour, and seconds after it moved the water erupted in a great geyser of foam and dirt, the sides of the levee blowing apart as the C12 detonated. Free of its prison once more, the river surged out through these two new breaches and dumped hundreds of gallons of water onto the crops in the blink of an eye.
Those closest to the banks were washed away in an instant as tens of thousands more gallons followed the initial surge, spreading out quickly enough that within ten seconds both fields were underwater.
By this point, Cobb was dropping a second brick of C12 half a klick further on to produce similar results. An explosion of spray and dirt preceded a total failing of the levee systems by milliseconds, torrents of muddy water bursting from the banks to sweep away the crops that had been so dutifully planted by the local farmers.
He repeated this a third and fourth time, and by this point what had once been fertile farmland was lost beneath a rapidly expanding body of water that swept away everything foolish enough to stand before it. For the most part this was hedges, fence posts and the occasional shack, plus an unlucky tree that collapsed in a single motion before getting washed away.
'Shall I move on to the next waypoint, sir?' the pilot asked.
'No,' Cobb said. 'Not right now, at least. Overwatch, how is it looking?'
The second Falcon was holding position a kilometre up and out, orbiting Cobb's Falcon as it dropped the explosives to monitor the progress of the floodwaters.
'Wet,' Overwatch said. 'Breach points are continuing to expand. Estimate water is now one klick out from the river and continuing, and sixty percent of the crops are gone. Current does not look like it's abating yet.'
'Acknowledged,' Cobb said. 'Assume position over the fifth target.'
'Wilco,' Overwatch said.
The Falcon sped off with Cobb's close behind, and soon both were hovering a few hundred metres above their next intended target. It was the main dam for this region, helping to control water levels and provide water. From his height Cobb could see the numerous streams and aqueducts branching out from it to nearby towns and villages, plus the settlement built along the edges of the reservoir. It was home to the various farmers and engineers that kept everything running and already lights were being lit, people coming to investigate the four explosions that had just occurred.
Below, the water was starting to flow the opposite way towards the newly made breaches, slowly at first but over the next few minutes the rate began picking up.
'Sir, what's the call?' the pilot asked. 'Are we go/no go?'
'We're go,' Cobb said after a moment to consider. 'Proceed to the insertion point.'
The pilot responded by crabbing the Falcon sideways until it was hovering over the bottom of the dam, right above where the main spillway terminated and the river continued. Up until a few minutes ago water had been flowing over it, but thanks to Cobb this was no longer the case. He tossed a descent line out then followed it, one hand grasping the line whilst the other held a satchel full of C12. He landed on the spillway and placed the first brick, arming it, and started climbing up to the top.
Every ten or so metres he placed another brick and when he reached the top of the dam, Cobb grabbed hold of the descent line tight and flashed his green status light twice. The Falcon pilot then fed power to the engines and gained altitude. There was a brief, sharp tug and soon Cobb was airborne.
'You're clear,' Overwatch said.
'Acknowledged,' Cobb said.
He brought up a detonator and activated it, causing the C12 on the dam to explode all at once. The surface was immediately covered in dust and smoke, and then it was blown away as another surge of water, the biggest Cobb had seen yet, erupted from behind the weakened stone and earthwork as the dam's ability to retain its shape failed.
Countless millions of gallons of water flowed outwards to sweep away the dam in the blink of an eye. Technically speaking, such an attack was outlawed according to the conventions of war due to the very real chance of inflicting massive civilian casualties though exceptions did apply. Namely, if the dam's usage contributed to military operations in some way and the only feasible means of removing said support was to remove the dam.
The food grown here no doubt helped feed the troops responsible for capturing Tranquillity's crew, and the wider army they belonged to, and lacking sufficient incendiary devices to remove this support meant flooding them was Cobb's only real choice. It was the same for limiting the available drinking water for the towns. Besides, beyond the dam was nothing but a series of valleys and gullies covered in wild, untamed forests. Nobody would be living there. At least, not in any great numbers.
'Let's go home,' Cobb said.
0945 Hours, 28 Ostermon, 1065 (Fifth Age of the Empire)
Town of Blackstone
Tabah Region, Planet Leka, Katami System
'This can't be right,' Ather said as he reread the parchment's contents for a fifth time in a row, refusing to believe the words written on it. 'They should be here.'
'Who should?' Saria asked. 'The Spor-Ten?'
'Yes,' Ather said before handing the parchment over to Saria, allowing her a chance to read the contents.
They and the rest of the Order, plus a full complement of troops, had been holding position in the frontier town of Blackstone for the better part of a week by now, lying in wait to spring their trap on the Spor-Ten. But this morning, a messenger from High Keep passed along a report that stated they had instead struck out against Lake and the surrounding farms by breaching the ancient levee system and collapsing Lake Dam.
Almost all of the fields were washed free of their crops, roads and trails were a distant memory, and the reservoir at Lake was gone, depriving more than a dozen other towns of their much needed water supplies. Casualties from the flooding were surprisingly low, less than fifty, but the longer term effects would see that number spike drastically. Lake might have been small with a population to match, but it managed to help feed just over thirteen percent of the Empire by itself.
'Two days after we left?' Saria said.
'So it would seem,' Ather said. 'Did they miss us?'
'I don't see how they could have,' Saria said. 'Almost ninety wagons followed us up.'
She glanced at the world outside the tent Ather and the Order was staying in, where almost 1,500 troops of the Empire were garrisoned in and around Blackstone. Even without a telescope, the mass of bodies could be seen from afar. It was a juicy target that Ather felt, knew, the Spor-Ten could not hope to pass up. So why had they?
'The report says loud explosions were heard prior to the levee breaches,' Saria added, returning to the parchment. 'And the dam's destruction.'
'Did anyone see them planting the explosives?' Ather asked.
'No,' Saria said.
'Impossible,' Ather said.
The amount of explosives needed to destroy the dam amounted to dozens of barrels of black powder, cumbersome and heavy items to move into place. Even in the pre-dawn, guards would have been out on patrol in Lake and they should have noticed the required number of wagons to haul the barrels. The fact they had not meant either they were lax in their duties, or the Spor-Ten was better. A single person could, in theory, move the barrels into position but it would take hours to accomplish.
'Does the report mention anything of use?' Ather asked. 'I feel every time they rear their heads, the Spor-Ten leaves us with more questions than answers!'
He sighed in exasperation and covered his face with one hand, trying to once more get inside the head of his foe and get a grasp on their capabilities. Beside him, Saria reread the report in the hopes of finding a clue they could use but, as before, they were far and few between.
The only thing of note was a report of a persistent, rhythmic beating that appeared right before the dam exploded, and maybe a sighting of something flying above the town.
'A ramjo, perhaps,' Ather said. They were an uncommon creature within the Empire, sticking mainly to the lands of the Jirul, but flocks of them had occasionally flown south. The flapping of their four wings could easily be the source of the noise, and be the flying something that was spotted.
'Perhaps,' Saria said. 'Should we go to Lake? See just what the Spor-Ten did and speak with the locals ourselves?'
'There'd be no point,' Ather said, sighing. 'It would take a week of solid riding to reach Lake. By that time, details will have been forgotten or muddled. And to leave here would be the same as admitting we were outsmarted.'
They had spent a week in Blackstone now, diverted 1,500 veteran troops from their postings on the border, tied up valuable resources on what was supposed to be a certain thing. What did they have to show for it? Almost two-thousand troops and their attendant units sitting idle for a full week, doing and accomplishing nothing.
Maybe this was the Spor-Ten's plan instead. Time, effort and resources had been thrown into this that couldn't be reclaimed. Time, effort and resources that could have been used in a more active search, and gave the Spor-Ten an opportunity to strike out against a vital agricultural region of the Empire.
'No,' Ather said, quietly at first then louder. 'No. I will not be outsmarted by a barbarian.'
He stood and made for the tent's doors, pushing them aside to step into Blackstone proper. Nearby was the senior officer after Ather himself, conversing with his subordinates, but on catching sight of Ather emerging from his tent all four snapped to attention.
'Sir,' the officer said. 'Do you have new orders for us?'
'Yes,' Ather said. 'We're returning to High Keep. The Spor-Ten isn't coming here.'
'As you wish, sir,' the officer said. He turned to his subordinates. 'Give the order. We're returning to the capital.'
The three subordinates saluted crisply and ran off to their tasks, the officer following shortly after to leave Ather alone with Saria, his gaze fixed in the general direction of Krag Peak as the mountain rose from behind the horizon.
'We'll resume our search at the base,' Ather said after a moment. 'Our foes must be operating nearby, or at least must pass by it at some point. Too many routes converge there for them not to. Whatever they have planned next, we will stop it.'
1107 Hours, July 21, 2555 (Military Calendar)
Marine Camp Rory
Tabah Region, Planet Leka, Katami System
Cobb was stood before the entrance to one of the many mineshafts that filled and surrounded the Marine's camp, built on the remains of an old mining operation, peering into the gloom lying just beyond the ragged hole. Even with his augmented senses and low light optics he was having trouble seeing more than a few metres inside.
Next to his was Corporal Mercer and his fireteam, all of them carrying SMGs and peering into the shaft as well.
'And you're certain you heard right?' Cobb said. 'No chance you misheard airflow or water?'
'No, sir,' one of the Marines said, O'Brien according to his IFF. 'I know what Jackals sound like. A group of them chased me and my family back on Earth, for sport. I know what they sound like.'
'Okay, then,' Cobb said. 'We've already got an unexplained colony of humans here that use ancient Elite and Brute script. Why wouldn't there be Jackals?'
He shrugged in resignation and hefted an SMG, extending the stock ahead of tucking it tight against his shoulder. Next to him, Mercer and his fireteam did the same before following Cobb into the tunnel. They snapped on the lights affixed to their weapons and helmets, ten beams of brilliant white appearing to beat back the darkness and paint jerky shadows on the walls.
The tunnel wasn't exactly a massive affair. It was just big enough to accommodate a person pushing a wagon with space on the sides for people to flatten themselves against when it went past. The four Marines were short enough that crouching down wasn't much of an issue, but Cobb was over seven feet tall and wearing heavy armour that exaggerated his proportions.
He grimaced every time the top of his helmet, or the back of his suit's power pack, scraped against the tunnel's ceiling and forced himself to bend even more to the point he was almost shuffling along on his knees. If an enemy came at them in numbers, his ability to retreat was severely hampered.
'Which way?' Cobb asked when they came to a fork in the tunnels.
'That way,' O'Brien said, pointing down the leftmost tunnel.
'Okay,' Cobb said. 'Mark it.'
Mercer nodded and brought out chem light. He cracked and shook it, then dropped the light on the floor once it was working. A sickly green glow filled the tunnel that did nothing to take away from the oppressive feeling inside, but add to it.
The five troops set off again with Cobb on point, following O'Brien's directions deeper and deeper into the mine. When the Marines weren't out on a mission they spent it exploring the area surrounding Camp Rory, primarily the old mineshafts, and it was in this one that Mercer's fireteam had heard the unmistakable hiss of a Jackal. More than one, actually, which posed a very serious threat to them all.
It also posed the very serious question of if there were Jackals on Leka, could there be Elites and Brutes as well? The presence of their ancient script seemed to suggest this but nowhere Primo Victoria had scanned suggested their presence. Of course, the corvette had limited her scans to a select part of the planet's surface.
Cobb's mind flashed to the caravans that had set out from Canterlot eleven days ago and returned the day before, and in full force. Eighty-four wagons in total had made the journey back to the walled city, making for enough bodies to fill out a full sized battalion with troops left over for a company or two.
Had they gone to fight against Elite forces, or maybe Brutes? He made a mental note to check the region out as soon as possible. Right now though his attention was fixed on finding these Jackals.
They had been moving for the better part of fifteen minutes, following the tunnel as it wound up and down, left and right, seemingly at random as the miners sought out whatever it was they were extracting from the ground.
'Just how far in did you go?' Cobb whispered over TEAMCOM as they came across yet another fork.
'Far enough, sir,' O'Brien whispered back. 'Come on, it's not every day you get a chance to explore an old mine, is it?'
'That's not my point,' Cobb said. 'What if you had gotten lost? Or stuck?'
'I... guess so,' O'Brien said.
Not for the first time, Cobb found himself thinking that the stereotypes of Marines being crayon and glue eating knuckle draggers was quite accurate. They had used up a dozen chem lights already and there was no telling how many more would be needed before they reached the Jackals. It only took one mistake to put them all in danger.
It also only took one more fork before the faint hisses of Jackals could be heard. Cobb held up a fist to halt everyone and doused his lights, saying, 'Switch to IR,' over TEAMCOM. All at once the tunnel was plunged into darkness as the Marines switched to infrared as their choice of navigating the mine.
'Noise discipline from here on out,' Cobb said. Lacking full face helmets typical of ODSTs, anything the Marines said could be heard and Jackals were notorious for their sharp hearing.
Four green lights winked at Cobb on his HUD as he resumed moving forward in an awkward crouch, making his steps as quiet as possible. It was an almost impossible task to do, though, the tunnel floor replete with loose chunks of rock and stone ready to clatter away at the slightest provocation. Every time Cobb or the Marines nudged one they would freeze and wait, listening to see if the Jackals heard them or cared enough to come check it out.
They didn't, and eventually Cobb held his fist up again when the tunnel widened slightly and ran straight at a relatively flat angle. Ahead he could see maybe a dozen forms shuffling one way and the other, all of them hunchbacked but unmistakably Jackals. One was tearing into a hunk of something which another wanted, hissing at them every time they tried to take it away.
Before long it became too much and the first Jackal lunged for the second, sinking their teeth into its throat and ripping it out, then swiped at a third Jackal that thought it could use the opening to get the food whilst the first was distracted. On the floor around them all were simple looking tools made of bone, stone and wood, plus a random assortment of junk that was probably spoils of war.
'Mercer, O'Brien, front and centre,' Cobb said, pointing for the Marines to kneel in front of and on either side of him.
They paused then nodded, understanding what his plan was, and moved into position as quietly as they could. Mercer knocked a stone as he did, the clattering making the Jackals snap their heads in his direction as they hissed.
'Illuminate!' Cobb yelled, chinning the controls for his suit's lights on their maximum output.
Mercer and O'Brien did the same to bathe the tunnel in glorious light, bright enough to make the Jackals with their dark adjusted eyes scream in pain right as all three opened fire with their SMGs. 180 rounds tore into the Jackals who, lacking armour, were cut down in the same amount of time it took to empty the magazines.
They reloaded and tensed up, ready for any more Jackals to appear. The gunfire had echoed up and down the mines and Cobb wasn't certain they were empty, but beyond the stifled breathing of the Marines there was nothing. Cobb motioned for them to lower their weapons a moment later and moved towards the Jackals.
'Bag the two most intact ones,' he said. 'And gather up everything they have. Maybe Maher or Garza can make sense of it.'