War Criminals by Gavin Smith (ereader for textbooks .TXT) 📕

‘Nye!’ she snapped. ‘Down here!’ He broke eye contact and looked down at her, smiling.

‘I punched the platoon commander,’ he told her. Miska stared up at him. She felt her ‘command headache’ worsen and decided that she could go off people quickly.

‘Why did you do that?’ she asked dangerously.

‘He’s a wanker,’ he told her. ‘I didn’t kill him, though.’

Thank God for small mercies, she thought.

‘You’re his platoon sergeant,’ Miska managed through gritted teeth.

‘Not any more,’ he said. He was grinning now.

‘Let me guess, you were busted down to private again?’ Miska asked. Nyukuti nodded. ‘Major Cofino?’ Miska asked. Nyukuti nodded again. ‘And what were the good Major’s orders?’

‘CP.’ They both said it at the same time. Close Protection. It seemed she now had a bodyguard. She struggled to think of anything more pointless. She wondered if her dad had a hand in this. Being an NCO had never sat well with Nyukuti but the sad thing was he had been good at it, perhaps because of his own military service before he had become a stand-over man. Though he had been dishonourably discharged.

‘Stop being a pain in the ass, or I’ll blow your head up, understand me?’ Miska told him. He looked confused. He never seemed prepared to acknowledge he had a bomb implanted in his head. ‘Fuck’s sake, get your gear, and get in the shuttle, but I tell you you’re going to be bored. I never get to have any fun any more.’

Nyukuti just smiled, grabbed his daypack and his MMI Xiphos gauss squad automatic weapon. Miska noticed that he’d added a 30mm grenade launcher to the under-barrel mounting rail. He shouldered the pack, slung the SAW and headed for the shuttle.

‘Hangman-Actual to Hangman-One-Actual.’

Oh good timing, Miska thought.

‘Uncle V, just the REMF I wanted to speak to,’ Miska subvocalised back over the comms link. REMF stood for rear echelon motherfucker. It was a little unfair, after all Vido had thrown down with the rest of them on Barney’s Prime, and she herself was supposed to be a full bird colonel, a REMF rank if ever there was one. Vido Cofino had been the consigliere, or adviser, to one of the most powerful Mafia families on Barnard’s Prime before he had been sentenced to the Hangman’s Daughter after being prosecuted under the RICO statutes. Now, recently promoted to major, he was putting his skills to good use as the Legion’s intelligence officer, civilian liaison/negotiator and, if she was honest, her acting XO or executive officer. Her father may have been the Legion’s second in command in all but name, but he was too involved in the training, and now, with his new war droid body, he would presumably be more hands-on operationally as well. That left Vido in the rear, handling things, always happy to help, as he built his own empire.

‘You’re pissed about Nyukuti?’ Vido said. There was a bit of lag as the signal reached her from the Hangman’s Daughter docked at Waterloo Station.

‘And with you.’

‘Want me to take him off combat duty?’

‘No, that’s just one less competent gun down here. I’ll find something for him to do.’

‘Best lesson I ever learned about leadership, you don’t have to make the right decision, you just have to make a decision,’ he told her. Miska spent a moment trying to decide if there was a hidden message in his words.

‘What do you want, V?’

‘Triple S and New Sun have lodged a complaint with Salik about the attack, citing theft and claiming that you executed prisoners … again.’

‘I didn’t …’ Miska started. ‘Theft? Haven’t they ever heard of the spoils of war?’ She knew it was part of the game but she found the politicking exhausting. Uncle Vido, however, seemed to love it. ‘Fine, anything else?’

‘Yeesss.’ He sounded uncharacteristically hesitant.

‘I don’t have the time, V.’ The Offensive Bastards were already making their way onto the two shuttles.

‘The network security officer for the mech base we just attacked …’ Vido started. Miska already had a sinking feeling. ‘… Was found brain-dead in a sense booth. That’s going to land on you.’

Miska looked around. She found Raff leaning against a poured concrete wall. She guessed he wanted to get on the shuttle at the same time as her to reduce his chances of ending up as footstool again.

‘I want to know what happened,’ she told Vido.

‘You sure?’ he asked.

‘I didn’t do it, V.’ At least not knowingly.

‘Okay, I’ll get onto it. What do I tell Triple S? I’m guessing they’re not getting their gear back any time soon.’

Miska started heading back towards Pegasus 1.

That if they liked that, they’re going to love this, she thought.

‘Tell them to go and fuck themselves,’ Miska said, smiling.

Chapter 4

This time Miska had bagged herself a bench seat in the back of Pegasus 1, Nyukuti next to her. The Cyclops was balancing on four of its six limbs above the heads of the Offensive Bastards.

I’m spending entirely too much time in the back of assault shuttles, she decided. It wasn’t just the boredom factor. The two Pegasi had seen a lot of action in the two months they’d been in-country. They weren’t just doing the work of assault shuttles, they were also working as gunships and transports. McWilliams had been speaking to her about maintenance. They were robust, well-engineered vehicles, but everything was subject to wear and tear. These were the kinds of things that she had to worry about now. She preferred worrying about getting shot.

She checked Pegasus 1’s external lens feed. Both shuttles were hovering above the Turquoise River, so named for its iridescent algae. Leaning trees, which seemed to defy gravity, formed an arched tunnel of greenery and multi-coloured moss over the deep river. The shuttles were holding back, hopefully beyond the sensor network that surrounded Port Turquoise. Waiting. She couldn’t tell if the Offensive Bastards were nervous or eager but then reading people had never been her