The Genevian Queen: The Complete Series, page 35
Rika nodded. “Rajiz and the ViperTalon are long gone, but they would have been an excellent option.”
“Who?” Kora asked.
“Oh no.” Kora shook her head. “You want me to team up with Becky of all people? That woman doesn’t know her ass from her elbow.”
“I find that hard to believe.” Rika winked. “From what I can see, she pays a lot of attention to her ass.”
“This is cruel and unusual punishment.” The cop pursed her lips. “Granted, no one would expect a person infiltrating an organization to use Becky as part of their cover.”
“This is less ‘coming around’ than ‘no longer outright rejecting’.”
“Where would you start?” Rika asked, deliberately leading the other woman toward looking at the issue from a problem-solving viewpoint.
“Chad, I suspect. They’ve had a win there, so the PLI will distribute leadership and resources to other at-risk systems. I can go with news of what happened here as my way in, and then move to a more active role from there.”
Kora nodded silently for a moment before saying, “Well, if Rachella is going to be out of commission for a bit, I may as well go talk to Becky, see if she knows anything that could be useful.”
“Cut off?”
“Alright,” the cop nodded. “Sounds like a good start. And what if I fail to find Rajiz? Becky alone does not make for a good team.”
“An AI would be excellent,” Rika suggested. “Do we know of any who would be willing to help, Niki?”
After Kora departed, Rika stood in the observation room a few minutes longer before walking to the lift on the hospital’s roof. Her skyscream awaited her there, and she quickly divested herself of her limbs and slid into the machine’s comforting embrace.
The AI sent a feeling of understanding.
Rika felt tension build in her body, and released a long, slow breath, willing it to leave her.
A snort came from the man.
The AI laughed.
Rika chuckled, imagining Shoshin’s reaction to being left behind.
Five minutes later, the trio was aloft, passing over the eastern fringes of the city. Mount Genevia was to the east, it and the range it fronted silhouetted by the light of the system’s rising star.
It looks so peaceful, Rika thought.
With the western slope in shadow, the destruction spread by the Overwatch’s rail shots was hidden in darkness. Soon enough, though, they’d be too close to ignore it.
Her thoughts inevitably turned to the carnage wrought in her name.
Rika shook her head inside the confines of the skyscream’s protective shell.
Niki’s tone was resolute, and Rika decided not to debate the issue. It might be that she’d never taken any such action in recent years, but she’d wanted to. Frequently.
I suppose judging myself by what I wanted to do but didn’t because of my better nature isn’t exactly fair.
She ended up not responding to Niki, falling into silence for the remaining ten minutes of the journey.
When they set down on the one undamaged pad atop Mount Genevia, Tremon was waiting for her, a troubled look on his brow.
“Oh, this doesn’t look good,” Rika said as she reseated her limbs and climbed off the back of the skyscream.
Keli was at her side a moment later, with Shoshin materializing before she reached the former president.
“How is she?” Tremon asked, falling in with Rika as she strode across the pad.
“She’ll live, but Niki is worried she may not have all her mental faculties,” Rika replied. “Either way, we’ll ferret out the rest of the PLI in Genevia.”
“The system, or the nation?” he asked.
“Both? Most worried about this system, though,” Rika replied. “I’d like to leave you with as little mess as possible.”
His troubled expression deepened. “So you’re really going to do it? Leave me here while you go off to Pruzia?”
Rika laughed, gauging the man’s reaction to see how serious he was. “You say it like I’m doing it to wound you.”
He opened his mouth to respond, then tilted his head, a look of introspection in his eyes. “Maybe. I guess it feels that way. You know I never wanted to be president again, yet here you have me operating as such in all but name.”
“It’s not exactly the same,” she said as they reached the palace entrance, stepping through the portal as it slid open under the watchful gaze of two AM-4s. “Before, it was all on you. With me, we’re a team…a team where you can pass the blame on to me as needed.”
“She’s right.” He nodded. “You are far more important to Genevia than I. I would gladly fall on my sword if it meant that you would be able to continue.”
She stopped and looked down at him. “I appreciate that, but it’s not necessary. I can own up to my mistakes. But perhaps….”
“Perhaps what?” Tremon prompted, after Rika’s silence had stretched a few moments.
“Maybe we should look into elections. At the very least for system president. That would make your life easier.”
Tremon snorted. “That’d depend a lot on who it is. Also, no. We’re not ready for elections. Based on recent events, it’d be too easy for a radical faction to take over. Once we have more intersystem commerce established, and things settle down, we can start down that road.”
“You sure?” Rika’s brows crept up. “I would have thought you’d jump at the chance to offload some responsibility.”
“Let me appoint a pro-tem system president, and you’ll find me on board. Then I can ensure they work with us and not against.”
She shrugged. “That seems fair. I hereby grant you permission to appoint a system president.”
A smile settled on Tremon’s lips. “You’ll probably need to put that into an official decree and add your ident to it. You know, so that when you leave, people won’t challenge me on it.”
“You almost make it sound like you think I won’t be coming back.”
He resumed walking. “I have to prepare for all possibilities.”
“Not that one,” Keli chimed in. “Rika’s making it back. That’s a promise.”
He shot the SMI-4 a measuring look. “If by that, you mean a promise you have no way of keeping, then sure. Don’t get me wrong.” His gaze shifted back to Rika. “There’s nothing I want more than to see you return—and as soon as possible—but like I said, I still have to prepare for other possibilities.”
“That’s fair,” Rika said. “Just like I have to prepare for that within the Marauders—or, did. With Barne in command, they’ll do just fine without me.”
“Barne?” Shoshin snorted. “Competent, yes. A natural-born leader like you? Not a chance.”
“You’re so hard on him,” Keli chided. “Jealous?”
“Stars no. Barne’s worked himself out of all the fun responsibilities. I’ll stay where I am, thank you very much.”
Rika reached out and clasped Shoshin’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to keep the job of guarding me as interesting as I can.”
Keli barked a laugh. “You mean you’ll keep up your current level of effort? Because if you have plans to make this more ‘interesting’, I’m not sure I can handle that.”
A snort slipped past Rika’s lips. “You can try.”
STORMING PRUZIA
STELLAR DATE: 06.13.8950 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: GMS Marauders’ Lance, approaching Outer Pruzia
REGION: Pruzia System, Nietzschean Empire
Outer Pruzia was in a state of utter chaos when the Marauders’ Lance passed within half an AU of the station.
“They must think you’re just going to blow it, no questions asked,” Karen said from next to the main holo, where she stood shaking her head.
Heather nodded in silence, observing the massive, multi-toroidal station.
Outer Pruzia was the sort of station that one only found in systems that had reached late-stage imperial expansion, when surrounding systems were already so densely populated that migration slowed to a crawl while the system’s population growth continued unchecked.
While Pruzia was nowhere near as overcrowded as Sol, at five trillion humans residing within the realm of its stellar influence, the Nietzscheans were making a solid play for the gold medal.
Outer Pruzia was similar to Sol’s Cho in many ways. It began its life as a series of rings around a small planetoid, growing until the central mass was entirely obscured by what amounted to the homes of a trillion residents.
Heather shook her head. “I’m starting to wonder if they even have that capability. Sure, thousands of ships have boosted out, but even if each one was crammed with people, it’s not even a drop in the bucket of their total population. Maybe I was being overzealous when I thought we could clear the station and blow it.”
“Out of curiosity, ma’am,” Ona began, pausing to consider her wording. “What made you pick Outer Pruzia to begin with? We could keep on pounding military targets for weeks if we wanted.”
Heather shook her head. “That doesn’t send the message we need, though. If we only hit military targets, the population will grow complacent, think this conflict is something they can weather with no impact to their daily lives. We need to push them into a crisis.”
Garth raised his hand. “Can I just say that I kinda hate that? Do we want to be those people? So far, we’ve been the liberators. We show up, people cheer. This…this feels a lot different.”
Heather’s lips drew into a thin line. He was right, of course. Jumping into a system to become the dreaded enemy didn’t feel nearly the same as having the populace take to the streets in celebration of their impending salvation.
“I’m open to other options,” she finally said. “Now that we’re watching people flee the station like their lives depend on it—which isn’t really that far off—I’m losing my appetite for blowing the place…even if it is vacant.”
“What about neutering it?” Karen asked. She waved a hand, and the holotank focused in on one of the outer rings. “These outer bands are loaded with defensive emplacements. We could get in close and trash them? That would make things ‘hit home’ for the populace, but not see us create a massive humanitarian crisis.”
Heather rose and walked to the holotank, nodding slowly. “I like that…I like it a lot. Only thing is, that station has enough firepower to overheat our stasis shields, and I’m certain I don’t want to trust the Lance under those conditions.”
Karen barked a laugh. “I’ve always liked the way you think, Potter. That would be perfect. We get up close, and once they realize we’re there to take care of business, it’s too late to stop us.”
Heather ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head as she played out the scenarios in her mind. “I’m not sure that’ll work. Even if we sent all eleven ships in our escort, it would take them some time to destroy OP’s defenses. That outer ring is literally bristling with weapons. As soon as they grok that we’ve lied to them, they’ll open fire.”
“Then we’re going to have drop boots on the station,” Karen said, rubbing her hands to together with a gleeful expression on her face. “We can take out their main powerplants, and the ships can destroy the ring’s weapons at their leisure.”
“Alright, that’s what we’ll do. I’ll get on the horn with whoever runs that joint and tell them we’re coming in for supplies, and if they fuck with us, we’ll use them for target practice.”
M Company’s captain nodded. “I’ll ready the troops. Oh…one more thing….”
“What’s that?” Heather asked.
“Can I borrow the starcrusher?”
The colonel laughed and shook her head. “I’d love to offer it up, but I think Carson would have my limbs. They’re still fixing it since the last time Yig used it.”
Karen nodded. “Figured. Was worth asking, though.”
“Sure, I would too. Don’t worry, though, it’ll be in the fight.”
“Excellent. I kinda want to see that thing walking across Outer Pruzia.”
Garth flashed a grin. “If it does, there will be feeds of it from every angle.”
“There’d better be.” Karen winked at the chief before turning to Heather. “Permission to leave for the Undaunted.”
“Granted,” the colonel replied. “Let me know your primary targets before you begin the engagement. I want to be in position to hit the ring where I won’t accidentally blow away our own people.”
“You got it, ma’am,” Karen said. “We’ll make these Niets rue the day they ever set foot on a Genevian world.”
Heather gave her a smile and a nod before returning to her seat, hoping they’d made the right choice, and that striking a balance between offensive action and mercy didn’t teach the Nietzscheans that the Marauders weren’t ready to do what they had to.
Because if push came to shove, Heather was more than ready.
* * * * *
“You miserable bastards ready to roll, or do you need some more sack time?” Alison hollered at her squad as they loaded gear onto four of the sixteen assault shuttles lined up in the Undaunted’s midship starboard bay.
“Could we?” Kor asked from behind the crate he was carrying. “I feel a bit peckish, too. Can I run and get second breakfast?”
Alison turned toward him, a sneer forming on her lips. “Don’t test me today, Private, or I’ll cram second breakfast right down your throat.”
“That’s not all he’s crammed down his throat lately,” Jenisa said with a laugh as she walked past with arms full of skittermines.
The lieutenant shook her head, trying to think of something else to say, but after an hour of haranguing her soldiers, found herself running dry. Instead, she turned to the platoon sergeant who was observing from nearby. “Chauncy, you have any words of wisdom?”
The staff sergeant shrugged. “Easy. Any of you want to bitch, you can stay behind. When we get back, we’ll tell you all about how you missed out on the first battle on Nietzschean soil in decades.”
“It’s not soi—” Kor stopped midword as Chauncy’s baleful glare bore into him. “Uh…yes, Sarge.”
The platoon sergeant grunted in approval, sent a wink Alison’s way, and moved on to glare at the next group of mechs.
Despite her urgency, the departure window wouldn’t arrive for another twenty minutes, and her squad was nearly ready. Even so, Alison wanted ample time to check gear and supplies.
Hitting Outer Pruzia wasn’t like a strike on any other station; more like trying to subdue a dozen planets all at once.
With only a hundred and fifty mechs.
Not only that, but orders were to minimize civilian casualties to the fullest extent possible. The problem was, everyone knew that the only real way to meet their objective was to cut into the Niets with maximum prejudice.
At least the goal has changed, and we’re hitting specific targets, not trying to pacify and clear the entire station.
