Night Song (The Guild Wars Book 9) by Mark Wandrey (best ereader under 100 .txt) 📕

“Yes, sir,” she said. Ears drooping and tail dragging, she turned and walked out.

“It’s okay, sis,” Sonya said as she went by.

“Glad you’re on your feet,” Shadow said.

“We got this,” Drake said. “Piece of piss.”

“I’ll bring back a Pushtal head for you,” Rex said. He got the barest hint of a flickering grin from Ripley as she walked out. He watched her go, partly annoyed at his father for being a hardass, and partly glad Ripley would sit this one out. She clearly wasn’t healed. Still, he felt for her. Halfway across the galaxy, trained to use the first ever CASPers made for non-Humans, and she was flying a desk for the first battle.

“At least she won’t have to fight our own kind,” Drake whispered to him.

Rex nodded in agreement. “Fuck me dead, it sucks.”

“Alright everyone, time to get our game faces on,” Sergeant Bana yelled at the troopers. “Five minutes to muster in the CASPer bay. Grab a meal bar and move your asses, shovel heads.”

Five minutes later to the second, Rex was finishing the power-up on his custom modified Mk 7 CASPer. As the computer finished its checklist, he scanned the status board to ensure all the links were in place on his haptic suit. Without those feedback connections, the suit wouldn’t act like a part of his body. The powered armor had been the critical edge Humans had enjoyed for more than half a century. Without them, the hominids were among the weakest and most vulnerable merc races. Tenacious, yes, just not physically up to their own natural ferocity.

“How’s your board?” Sergeant Bana asked in Rex’s ear via the individual privileged circuit.

“Look’s good, Sarge,” Rex replied. He knew the sergeant would know this as well. The same circuit allowed all the people above him to see the status boards of every CASPer in their command. He also knew the direct comms had a quality all their own, and served as a way to reinforce comradery within the unit. His own feelings on the matter suggested Zuul didn’t get as much from such small talk. Still, that was how he’d been trained.

“Excellent.” There was a tiny click, meaning the channels had shifted. “Second Squad, stand by.”

There was a woosh! as cold air rushed into the bay, and the doors began to roll up into the roof. He’d originally been a private in Second Battalion, A Company, Second Squad. But since First Squad were likely prisoners of the Zuul and Pushtal, the designation hadn’t made sense anymore. Instead, he and his siblings were rolled into First Battalion, A Company, Second Squad, to replace combat losses.

On E’cop’k, Silent Night had lost more suits than operators. Rex was glad his suit was unsuitable for a Human to operate, because there were highly experienced Humans sitting out the battle for lack of a functioning CASPer.

“Roll out!” Bana called, and Rex pushed his suit forward.

Internal systems had been programmed with E’cop’k’s fractional gravity. They would compensate for movements to some degree. As long as he didn’t get crazy, it would let him keep his feet under him. The jumpjets were likewise dialed back. The operators could override them and end up at escape velocity if they screwed up.

The Tri-V display in front of him and wrapping to both sides of his cockpit made it look like he was standing without a suit. It was the first time he’d done a formation in gravity, and in the open. There wasn’t nearly enough room on Paku for such things. Plus there’d only been 24 CASPers on Paku. Now he was in the midst of an entire battalion of a little over 100!

It was exciting and terrifying at the same time. Exciting because it made him feel like one of the Four Horsemen, amidst a crowd of powerful machines of war that could take on anything. Terrifying because Captain Anderle had had a battalion at her disposal for months and had been unable to secure victory.

They waited in the cold atmosphere, Rex listening to his suit’s heaters work against the bone-numbing chill. The CASPer’s hybrid fuel cells registered the load and told him how much long-term power use the heaters were consuming. His suit had a shoulder-mounted MAC—magnetic accelerator cannon—which drew a staggering 2-megawatts at peak charge. Compared to the weapon, his heaters were insignificant. Then his father, their commander, came on the all-hands circuit.

“The Lumar report they’re advancing on two flanks. All CASPers forward, quick step.”

Quick step called for a jog, no jumpjets. The enemy had radar, but with the dwarf planet’s tiny horizon, as long as the powered armor stayed more or less on the ground, they wouldn’t be detected until the attack force was almost on them.

“If we do this right,” his dad had said during the briefing last night, “we can quickly overwhelm their defenses and force a capitulation.”

Rex and his siblings weren’t so sure. From what they’d learned about their race, Zuul didn’t give up. It was a matter of honor to not surrender. He fell in with the rest of his squad as they advanced across the frozen, rocky landscape.

* * *

Ripley fumed as she entered the defense command post deep within the bowels of the Engineering Guild facility. I can’t believe Father did that! She was growling and chuffing all the way there, at one point nearly bowling over a phalanx of elSha who had a huge power distribution panel open. Exposed circuits hummed with megawatts of power as the elSha literally climbed the walls to get out of her way, watching from the ceiling as she passed.

“Excuse us,” one of the braver lizards snapped. Ripley didn’t look back. She was afraid if she did, she’d have elSha blood on her muzzle, then she’d really be in trouble.

The control room was manned by three Zuparti sitting at stations. Tri-Vs showed data being