Operation Breakout

  —Book3 of The Sleeping Legion—

  Copyright © J. R. Handley 2017

  Developmental Editor: Corey D. Truax

  Copy Editor: Thomas Weaver

  Published by Human Legion Publications

  Also available in paperback. And coming to audio in 2017.

  All Rights Reserved

  HumanLegion.com

  Contents

  Table of Organization and Equipment (TO&E)

  — Chapter 01 —

  — Chapter 02 —

  — Chapter 03 —

  — Chapter 04 —

  — Chapter 05 —

  — Chapter 06 —

  — Chapter 07 —

  — Chapter 08 —

  — Chapter 09 —

  — Chapter 10 —

  — Chapter 11 —

  — Chapter 12 —

  — Chapter 13 —

  — Chapter 14 —

  — Chapter 15 —

  — Chapter 16 —

  — Chapter 17 —

  — Chapter 18 —

  — Chapter 19 —

  — Chapter 20 —

  — Chapter 21 —

  — Chapter 22 —

  — Chapter 23 —

  — Chapter 24 —

  — Chapter 25 —

  — Chapter 26 —

  — Chapter 27 —

  — Chapter 28 —

  — Chapter 29 —

  — Chapter 30 —

  — Chapter 31 —

  — Chapter 32 —

  — Chapter 33 —

  — Chapter 34 —

  — Chapter 35 —

  — Chapter 36 —

  — Chapter 37 —

  — Chapter 38 —

  — Chapter 39 —

  — Chapter 40 —

  — Chapter 41 —

  — Chapter 42 —

  — Chapter 43 —

  — Chapter 44 —

  — Chapter 45 —

  — Chapter 46 —

  — Chapter 47 —

  — Chapter 48 —

  — Chapter 49 —

  — Chapter 50 —

  — Chapter 51 —

  — Chapter 52 —

  — Chapter 53 —

  — Chapter 54 —

  — Chapter 55 —

  — Chapter 56 —

  — Chapter 57 —

  — Chapter 58 —

  — Chapter 59 —

  — Chapter 60 —

  — Chapter 61 —

  — Chapter 62 —

  — Chapter 63 —

  — Chapter 64 —

  — Chapter 65 —

  — Chapter 66 —

  — Chapter 67 —

  — Chapter 68 —

  — Chapter 69 —

  — Chapter 70 —

  — Chapter 71 —

  — Chapter 72 —

  — Chapter 73 —

  — Chapter 74 —

  — Chapter 75 —

  — Chapter 76 —

  — Chapter 77 —

  — Chapter 78 —

  — Chapter 79 —

  — Chapter 80 —

  — Chapter 81 —

  — Chapter 82 —

  — Chapter 83 —

  — Chapter 84 —

  — Chapter 85 —

  — Chapter 86 —

  — Chapter 87 —

  — Chapter 88 —

  — Chapter 89 —

  — Chapter 90 —

  — Chapter 91 —

  — Chapter 92 —

  — Chapter 93 —

  — Chapter 94 —

  — Chapter 95 —

  — Chapter 96 —

  — Chapter 97 —

  — Chapter 98 —

  — Epilogue —

  AFTER ACTION REVIEW

  MATERNAL VENGEANCE

  NO MARINE LEFT BEHIND

  * * *

  This novel is lovingly dedicated to my parents, two of the feistiest buggers I know! The ones who caused the Universe to suffer my presence. The ones who screwed up so bad, I ended up enlisting into the Army just to get even with the Sailor I call Dad! If that wasn’t enough, they’re the ones who chased me into the arms of the cruel mistress known as Plebe Year. And of course, lest I forget and therefore suffer, my mother. The one who suckled insanity and presented the heartless wonder who spews pulpy insanity into the ether! This one’s for you!

  * * *

  TABLE OF ORGANIZATION AND EQUIPMENT (TO&E)

  HUMAN LEGION MARINE CORPS: Operation Breakout

  TASK FORCE KEITA

  CO: Field Marshal Grigonna

  XO: Colonel Lance Scipio

  — 6907th TAC RGT (COL Lance Scipio)

  — 828th TAC RGT (COL Cresil)

  — 1209th Sangurian RGT (COL Folta ip Daiyna of the Hidden Dale Clan)

  — 2405th Sangurian RGT (COL Marcin ip Daiyna of the Arctic Glen Clan)

  — 2298th Sangurian RGT (COL Petra ip Daiyna of the Dark Gorge Clan)

  TASK FORCE CITY BUILDER;

  MagLev DET

  CO: Lieutenant Colonel Blake Escombia

  XO: Aux Colonel Marybeth Hobank

  — 428th MER RGT, Det (Lieutenant Colonel Blake Escombia)

  —— 3rd & 4th Battalions

  — 2nd AUX RGT (Aux Colonel Marybeth Hobank)

  — 3rd AUX RGT (Aux Colonel Dale Fargo)

  TASK FORCE CAREX

  CO: Field Marshal Tirunesh Nhlappo

  XO: SGM Paco Ortiz

  1st Division, 1st Army, 1st Army Group, New Detroit Regional Army (GEN Zinnia Barker)

  — 1st RGT (COL Gunner Reyes)

  — 2nd RGT (COL Carina Schroder)

  — 3rd RGT (COL Hans Delaney)

  — 4th RGT (COL Cedrych Bolvin)

  2nd Division, 1st Army, 1st Army Group, New Detroit Regional Army (GEN Hiram Aella)

  — 5th RGT (COL Danika Toran)

  — 6th RGT (COL Godwyn Poppell)

  — 7th RGT (COL Byers Rygan)

  — 8th RGT (COL Farrah Menzer)

  — CHAPTER 01 —

  2601AD

  Early Evening, Post-Revival Day 7

  Human Marine Corps Outpost Sierra 4, Serendine

  Regimental Staff, 6907th TAC RGT, Task Force Keita, Human Legion

  Major Hayley Mason was pissed, although she knew she had no right to be. As the aide-de-camp to the regimental commander and a major, she should be above it, but at her core she was still a sixteen-year-old girl experiencing her first crush.

  Lance is mine, thought Hayley. Sashala better stay away.

  Hayley slammed her SA-71 carbine down onto her temporary rack. Lieutenant Sashala Kraevoi was an expert in bladed and hand-to-hand combat and had been assigned as Lance’s personal bodyguard. On the surface, Hayley was glad Sashala had been assigned to Lance. He needed protection. After Sashala had saved Lance from a sentry robot when they all arrived at Outpost Sierra 4, the two were suddenly inseparable. Lingering touches, whispered conversations: it was infuriating.

  To add insult to injury, Lance had ordered Hayley to fetch Sashala a cup of coffee. A cup of coffee! Grinding her teeth, with feet shoulder-width apart, Hayley surveyed the private room she’d claimed for herself and tried to calm down. At some level, she knew her former squad leader, Colonel Lance Scipio, wouldn’t romantically acknowledge her existence until she was older. Regardless, she still chaffed under the restrictions. Just when she was getting good and riled up, her AI, Chax, broke in.

  Hayley, you can’t have him until you’re older, so be patient, Chax said through the speaker on her Aimee. Let him spill himself into the unworthy, and know when the time comes, you will be together.

  Chax delivered his advice in a coaxing manner, full of ego-stroking and congratulatory praise. Sometimes Hayley hated that her AI was gifted to her by Lance, fully developed. Had she been able to mold the personality of her AI, maybe it would be less frustrating.

  Pulling her helmet off and sitting down on the rigid makeshift bed, Hayley stared off into space. She tapped a couple buttons on her Aimee, and Chax linked into the holo-display of the only desk in the polycrete room. Blue light projected a holographic video of a memory, one of her favorites. Chax had procured the file from Xena, Lance’s AI.

  There she was with the rest of 1st Squad, Whiskey Company, standing at attention as Senior Sergeant Lance Scipio paced in front of them. Though it was only a year ago, Lance had risen all the way to colonel since then, being one of the first humans to obtain officer status.

  Even back then, Hayley admired him. He was a hard frakker who could be pleased only by stern discipline and intense work, but there was more to him. A subtle sense of humor and softer side hid behind those icy blue eyes.

  The holo-display flickered for a moment, and Lance was now standing in front of her in the video. This was the moment she treasured. Lance grabbed her hand, opened it up, and placed a tiny black chip in her palm. Then he spoke. The holo-display speakers distorted his voice, but the words were what mattered.

  “Cadet Sergeant, you’ve come a long way. You’re doing well and deserve an AI that complements your intellect. I’m going to give you an AI that has the full command package, because I believe that you’re going places. This is Chax, the AI of my former fire team leader, Lance Corporal Ishrat Runser. He was a by-the-book Marine, like you. Let your service with Chax honor my friend and the Marine Corps.”

  Hayley’s hand instinctively went to her own shoulder as the holo-display showed Lance patting her shoulder and walking away. The blue light above the desk flickered out of existence, and Hayley let out a heavy sigh as she fell back onto the bed. She had been fifteen back then, but now she was sixteen. Why couldn’t Lance see her as the woman she was growing into?

  Shaken out of her revere by Chax stating this was the one hundred twenty-fourth time she had viewed the video, Hayley put her AI into sleep mode. She stood and began removing her combat armor so she could lay down and get a few hours of sleep. The moment she was out of the armor, the cold air of the underground polycrete walls touched her skin. After jumping into bed and pulling an itchy wool blanket over her body, she closed her eyes. Then Lance walked in.

  From her prone position, she marveled at her commander. He was tall and commanding at six-foot-three, but gone was the youthful exuberance that he arrived to 1st Squad with. In its place was the hardened, tattooed man who was now squatting next to her. He wasn’t just a sergeant anymore; he was a colonel, and countless lives depended on him and his decisions. The weight of this responsibility had darkened those bright blue eyes of his.

  “Can I help you, sir?” asked Hayley.

  “Hayley, I’ll have Xena send you our battle plans as soon as they’re made,” said Lance. “We’re still heading south to capture the Hardit Incubation Station. We can’t let those vermin multiply like roaches.”

  The Hardit Incubation Station was a high-priority target the New Order was utilizing to create Janissaries. Hayley had heard during briefings that the Sangurians hoped to utilize the incubation station to repopulate their numbers. The thought of more of those crazy rabbit-looking warriors was frightening, but not as scary as dealing with endless Janissaries. At least the Sangurians were allies.

  Lance continued speaking while Hayley tried not to focus on the nightmarish stories she had heard about Sangurians when she was a crècheling.

  “We’ll move quick and hit those monkey Hardits hard. While I’m busy at the planning sessions, I need you to lead a team to investigate this outpost until we move out. My gut tells me that there is more here than we know. I’m banking on resources and information, which could bolster our forces.”

  “Roger that, sir,” said Hayley. “How much prep time do I have?”

  “You move out in five hours. Pick your team and send your plans to whichever NCO you snag. Make this happen, and keep me informed every step of the way.”

  The moment he finished speaking, he patted her rack, stood, and left the room.

  So much for getting some sleep, Hayley thought.

  — CHAPTER 02 —

  Late Evening, Post-Revival Day 7

  Human Marine Corps Outpost Sierra 4, Serendine

  Regimental Staff, 6907th TAC RGT, Task Force Keita, Human Legion

  Hayley opened the 6907th TAC Regiment’s TO&E from her Aimee and looked at the sprawling list of names. Her eyes jumped from the list of names up to the holo-display above the desk in her office. The multi-colored display projected the most up-to-date blueprints they had for Outpost Sierra 4, but much of it was incomplete and speculative. Lance’s orders seemed simple, but knowing exactly how many Marines to bring on the excursion was a guessing game. Then inspiration struck. She ordered Chax to set up a comms link to Sergeant Major Caelius Thorn.

  Within moments of Hayley sending out the request for comms, the old sergeant major was on the line.

  “Sergeant Major Thorn here. What do you need?”

  Despite Thorn being somewhere else entirely, Hayley swore she could smell coffee and gun oil.

  “Sergeant Major, have the regiment standing by to go. We leave in two hours to explore this facility, as per Colonel Scipio’s orders. He ordered me to pick a team, notify the senior NCO, and search for anything useful. I’m borrowing his regiment.”

  “Major, I doubt the colonel meant you should take his regiment on a scavenger hunt through–”

  “You’re just the man to make it happen,” Haley interrupted. “You know that old Marine Corp rule: if one fire team is good, a battalion is better! Major Mason, out.”

  Hayley didn’t bother to wait for him to sputter a denial or question her liberal interpretation of the colonel’s orders. Instead, she severed the comms line. In person, she would have been more hesitant to refute the advice of the most senior Marine in the regiment.

  Feeling like she’d gotten one over on her commander, she had Chax set an alarm so she could get a few more minutes of rack time, but the moment she lay down, she knew it wasn’t going to happen. She was too keyed up, curious about the secrets this base had for them and excited to show her worth to Lance. Maybe she could snag his favor from that drenting Sashala.

  “What does he see in her, anyway? What has she done that I haven’t?” she muttered as she scanned the polycrete ceiling.

  Completed puberty, quipped Chax.

  Realizing sleep would elude her, Hayley spent her time going over her gear with a fine-tooth comb and studying everything Xena had sent her in the way of building blueprints. Hayley could see the outpost was like a series of habdisks, underground compartments linked together. But the size and makeup of the various spaces seemed to vary wildly. Clearly, the outpost was designed to store and house equipment and Marines, but it was non-standard in its layout. Of course, Hayley had never been to one of these outposts before. Her belief was if they could figure out the layout for this outpost, any others they located on Tranquility or beyond would be pretty much the same.

  Vibrations from her Aimee told her it was time to move. After putting on her helmet and grabbing her SA-71, Hayley left her office and started moving through the dimly lit passageways of the outpost. Although she only had a vague idea of where she was going, Chax provided directions to the staging area through her helmet reticle. She rounded a sharp corner and came to where two large hanger-bay-type doors opened into an expansive space with high ceilings.

  The gruff voice of Sergeant Major Thorn organizing the Marines in the 6907th TAC Regiment told her she was in the right place.

  “Listen up, Marines!” said Thorn. His helmet’s voice amplification shook the walls. “Blueprints of the outpost are spotty, at best. Our tasking today is to move out in squads and explore, secure, procure, and record any equipment or resources that would serve the Legion. NCOs and team leaders. I’ve linked into your Aimees areas of responsibility for you to focus your Marines on. If you find something, report it up and stand by for orders. If you get to the location, and there’s nothing, update the blueprints, then move to the nearest squad and join them. Major Mason, do you have anything to add?”

  Hayley did her best to sound commanding and authoritative as she spoke.

  “Some of you already know–”

  Thorn stopped her and tapped the side of his helmet. Hayley had forgotten to turn on voice amplification. Flush with embarrassment but hidden from prying eyes by her reflective helmet visor, Hayley smacked her Aimee and turned on her voice amp.

  “Like I was saying, Colonel Scipio encountered some sort of sentry robot when we came to the outpost from the maglev line. It was programmed by those New Order frakkers, and it was armored and resistant to standard EMP grenades. We don’t know how many more of those blasted robots are lurking around in the outpost. If you encounter one, fall back and attempt to access a terminal. Colonel Scipio’s AI has uploaded an override code that will hack the robot. Sergeant Major Thorn, get them moving.”

  Command still wasn’t coming naturally for the sixteen-year-old child who’d prematurely graduated from cadethood to Marine status a little more than a week ago. Human officers were still a new thing, and if it wasn’t for her connection to Lance, she’d likely be only a squad leader, if that. She knew she had to learn. Failure as a Marine meant death, and you didn’t always go out alone.

 

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