Jupiter's Halo Book One: The Lies

Chapter Sixteen "The First Loss"

Lelo charged down the exit ramp of the Peregrine, hot on the heels of Lanad as she stepped onto the deck of GS-114.

His feet were heavy with the magnetic clamps in his boots and he deactivated them to make his steps more nimble. As soon as he did so he realised his mistake. Lelo’s left foot came down against nothing. His body rose in a straight trajectory as the vacuum of the loading bay gripped him and made him weightless.

He cursed himself as he sailed over the shadow of his Captain, seeing her glance up briefly to watch him fly. Her helmet hid her features, but he knew she would be smiling smugly at his error and his hatred for her flashed brightly.

>“Gravity is out.” She sent on an open link and he knew she was revelling in his embarrassment.

Lelo bit back a curse. The mark three armour was void safe and equipped with micro guidance thrusters, but they were meant for manoeuvring in open space. The loading bay was large, cavernous even, but it was enclosed and filled with the detritus such places attracted. It was also shrouded in total darkness.

If he fired the jets while inside he was as likely to crash into a piece of equipment as he was to fire himself straight out through the entrance and into the open void. If he got the angle right but misjudged the power he would be fired against the deck with enough force to break every bone in his body.

No, the only choice was to keep floating until he could grab a stanchion or a wall and then guide himself back down to the floor. He switched his helmet to night vision and saw the crowded bay depicted in shades of green and black. He was heading straight for the outstretched arm of an industrial cargo loader; the huge machine would not make for a soft landing if he hit it at speed.

Lelo tried to judge the rapidly shrinking distance and held his arms out to grasp at the loader and arrest his ascent.

Suddenly his comm-link filled with urgent messages from the command channel. A Peregrine was issuing its distress signal; damage to the starboard wing and engine block leaving it floating in the void without sufficient control to land.

Lelo sneered at the pilot’s ineptitude. Despite all their supposed skill they’d obviously hit some floating piece of debris and beached themselves outside the mission arena. That meant forty marines of First Company left floating in the void and completely ineffective.

He turned his head, all thoughts of the approaching loader forgotten as he tried to spot the disabled drop-ship through the loading bay’s vast opening.

A bright flash in the darkness caught his eye, relatively close to the station, but still too far to make out the detail of what was happening. Lelo zoomed in his view, remembering to change the night vision filter as his sight of the space outside the station accelerated through the distance to bring the shape of a Peregrine to his eyes.

Another voice cut through his comm-link, the tones urgent, almost panicked.

>“Pride Two is down! I repeat Pride Two is down!”

Lelo baulked at the words. He watched with mounting horror as the ship broke up, its whole cockpit section pulling away from the main body in a welter of silent sparks and ejecting atmosphere.

Bodies tumbled out as the front end of the two parts of the drop-ship separated, accelerating into the void on currents of escaping air. They were dark, matte black and almost impossible to see clearly against the blackness of the background, but one caught his attention.

A flash of colour in the monotone; the pale pink of exposed human flesh. Someone had gone helmetless into the void. Someone on that ship had been unprepared and was even now feeling the cold bite of the vacuum as it crystalised their features, freezing them into a grizzly death mask.

Lelo's head jerked forward from the hard impact against the forgotten loader. He spun with the force, his whole body turning on its axis until he flattened against the rear wall of the loading bay. The collision forced his breath from him.

His vision swam, the blackness of his helmets view peppered with tiny purple explosions. Behind them, warning icons flashed in bright orange denoting damage to his armour and warning him its integrity had been compromised.

Two minutes since their breach of GS-114 and already they had lost two squads to the void and had one lieutenant short of full combat effectiveness. That was a poor start to any mission. It would make this one near impossible for Lanad to complete and despite his dizziness, Lelo managed a smile at the thought. It was all good news for him, well, with exception of his armour’s integrity and the pounding ache growing in his head.

The marines from the stricken drop-ship would likely be fine. Their void safe armour would protect them from the cold vacuum of space and the in-built manoeuvring thrusters would allow them to halt whatever wayward trajectory their expulsion from the Peregrine had caused. If they reacted quickly enough most, if not all, would be able to alter their course back to the station and let their momentum carry them into the loading bay, exactly where they were always meant to arrive.

The pilot and co-pilot of the drop-ship were gone though. Casualties of a combat mission before any combat had even taken place. The destruction of their craft was clearly down to their own lack of skill or poor judgment, so it seemed fitting they would be the ones to pay the price.

Not the only ones though. Someone else was out there unprotected. There was only one way a situation like that could end.

Lelo’s brain reached a conclusion at the same moment the comm-link confirmed it for him. Not just ‘someone else’…

>“Lieutenant Cassini, report status.”“Lieutenant Cassini, report status!”“Lieutenant Cassini, repeat last.”“Lieutenant Cassini,”“Aitkin…”“Lieutenant Cassini was not void-ready, Captain.”“Sound off, marine.”“Sergeant Imtel Johs, sir.”“Sir, Lieutenant Cassini wasn't wearing his helmet when, when the drop-ship… crashed. He went out right in front of me but I lost him. He isn't responding to comms, sir.”“That is a terrible loss, Sergeant,”He sent, >“But right now I need you to confirm the status of your marines. How many are unaccounted for? How many can make it to the mission area without pick up?”

There was a pause before Sergeant Johs replied.

>“All squad members accounted for, sir. No response from the Peregrine pilots, assume they’re KIA.”

Lelo clapped his hands together and held them up in front of his chest.

>“Very good, Sergeant,”He sent back, ready to exert his dominance and take charge of the mission. He knew Lanad was done, her statuesque silence marking her as another casualty of this small disaster, albeit one still technically able to serve the Deorum. He would do his best to see she was not drummed out or court marshalled. If she lived.

She was a good marine, not fit for captaincy granted, but a strong fighter and a loyal servant of the Board. Maybe she could serve as his aide. Yes, that would be a fitting role where she could really do something of value.

>“Guide your marines into the primary loading bay. I'll keep the Peregrines in situ until you arrive in case anyone needs collecting. We'll secure the beachhead so be ready to move when you get here. I will be taking command from-”“That won’t be necessary, Lieutenant Timonny.”“Sergeant Johs,”She said, her tone commanding and confident. >“Bring in your marines as the Lieutenant advised. We are sealing the bay and breaching the station in four minutes so get your arse in here or I’ll leave you waiting in space for our extract.”

Lelo was shocked at her sudden turn. One moment she had barely been there, unresponsive, all but a ghost in her armour. The next she was barking orders with calm confidence as if the past few minutes had never happened.

Her tone through the comm-link was assured, even hinting at levity and it didn’t make sense. He knew of her relationship with Cassini. Was she really so cold? Did his loss mean nothing at all? If so, why had she frozen like that?

Lelo felt the anger rise within him but he quelled it. There was still plenty of time. Lanad might be harder to break than he had originally thought, but she had faced nothing yet. There was more to see in GS-114 and he doubted her feigned composure was strong enough to get her through it.

>“Yes, sir!”“We’ve suffered a loss, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to give up and go home. Save your grieving for after the job is done.”She stopped short of the line, a tiny dot in the cavernous expanse of the loading bay.

>“I want breaching charges on the doors there and there,”“I want confirmation the station is still pressurised and if not I want an accurate assessment of the atmosphere and gravity we’re facing. Timonny, get me two engineers on the bay door. I’m not having any air left on the other side sucked out when we breach. If there are still people alive in there it’s our job to get them out, not asphyxiate them because we’ve opened the bloody door without thinking.”She turned back to face Lelo, >“You’ve got three minutes so I suggest you get your hands off your balls and get to it.”

Lelo bit back a retort. He was dazed by her sudden change, angry that the opportunity he’d been ready to grasp had been snatched away from him. He didn’t know for sure if it was all a front, but he’d bet anything his hunch was right.

>“Sergeant Johs,”She sent on the wideband, letting every marine hear her words.

>“Yes, Captain.” Came the instant response.

>“Just to be clear, those are your marines until this situation is resolved. Understood?”

>“Yes, Captain!”“Good. Now get them inside or you’ll be cleaning their latrines for the next month.”

She was joking with him. Throwing banter out into the void to hide the pain he knew she was feeling inside. It wouldn’t take much to let it overwhelm her, he was sure. Maybe he could tip the scales and bring this mission back on plan sooner rather than later.

A thought hit him. It was unpleasant, evil in its intent, but it danced out of his mind almost the second it entered, leaving via a channel direct to his Captain.

>“Are you sure the Sergeant is ready to take Aitkin’s place, sir?”The use of his name was a nasty little detail. It would drag her thoughts from professional to personal, changing the perspective of what Johs was replacing and pulling hard at her emotions.

Lanad stood straight, her bearing still confident, her body language still that of someone in complete control.

>“It really is a great loss,”he added. >“Are you sure he can cope when it’s still so immediate, still so raw?”

Lanad took a step towards him, coming in close and tilting her head to look up at him.

>“He’s a marine of the Deorum, he’ll do his duty.” She sent back and Lelo felt the conviction in her words through the link.

>“If you’re sure, sir.”“It’s your mission after all. Your loss above all of ours.”

Lanad turned away without response and he knew he’d broken through. Inside his helmet, Lelo allowed himself another dark smile.

As she stepped away he saw her stop and turn back.

“You’re right about that, Lieutenant. It is my loss.”

There was a fragility to her words and Lelo’s smile grew wider. He tried to keep it from infecting his reply.

>“If you would like-”He started.

>“And it’s my mission.”“Try to take it again and I promise you will not enjoy what happens next.”

Lelo’s smile disappeared.

>“Now you’ve only got two minutes to get those doors closed.”She added as she strode away from him.