dropping gear to lighten the load, I can't think of anything, and you know we can't leave any gear behind."
"You thought of using the belts to get our casualties back to hospital," Ezra said.
"My idea for the year. Somebody else's turn now."
"If we could just use the AG belts to neutralize the weight of our gear, it'd help."
Joe hesitated for a second before he answered. The idea was tempting, but he quickly came up with a number of arguments against it. The one he mentioned was the gyro stabilizers. "Be hell trying to go flat in a hurry," he said. "Staying vertical in combat is a fast way to get dead."
The break was needed, desperately by many of the men. While most of them rested, keeping as much of their bodies off of the hot rocks as possible, those men with Vrerch rocket launchers or Dupuy RA rifles kept up the pressure on the Schlinal defenders in front of them. Those were still the only weapons the Accord infantry carried that could effectively reach the enemy. Their splat guns, heavy automatic wire throwers, had an effective range of no more than two hundred meters.
Joe switched to the channel that connected him with all of his squad leaders and assistants. "Get a good check on all of your men," he said. "Talk to everybody, make sure they're okay. I don't want anyone going woozy at a bad time."
The reports he got back were not heartening. While no one seemed to be in immediate trouble, everyone was feeling the effects of the heat and the "oppressive" nature of the air. Joe passed that on to the captain.
"Tell me something I don't know, Joe," Keye replied, sounding exhausted himself. "We just have to cope with it. Another five minutes and we make the big push. You might tell the men that it'll be a few degrees cooler in the shade of those warehouses up there. Maybe that'll help sustain them."
Joe glanced at the buildings. There were three visible from his position, and he knew from the briefings that there were a lot more—warehouses, barracks, a couple of small factories, hangars, and repair facilities—beyond the few he could see. And there were at least two regiments of Heggie infantry to guard them, men who had been on Tamkailo for weeks or months.
"I hope it gets easier once we get used to the heat," Joe said. "It ever rain here?"
"Who knows?"
Joe took a long drink of water. He had already emptied one canteen and started on the second. Then he checked his rifle: full power pack, full wire spool. The barrel was too hot to touch, even though he hadn't fired it since landing. Even the composite stock was getting uncomfortably hot to the touch.
He warned his squad leaders how much time they had left, then took another, shorter sip of water. The water no longer simply tasted warm; it was hot . "Hot enough for coffee," Joe mumbled as he screwed the lid back on. He considered dropping an instant coffee packet into the canteen. That might make the water more palatable. But then he shook his head. He could always put coffee into the water, but once it was in, he couldn't take it back out.
Joe looked up. What appeared to be two full flights of Wasps were approaching, ready to hit the Schlinal lines while the infantry advanced. Joe heard, but did not see, the Havocs as they opened up again. For the last hour or more, there had been very little action from the artillery. Now they were starting to hit the nearest line of buildings again.
Hit 'em good, Joe thought. Make it easy for us.
Time was running out. The five minutes were gone. First Sergeant Walker relayed the order for the attack.
—|—
Colonel Stossen was in a trauma tube suffering from concussion, dehydration, and fractures of the nose and skull—the latter injuries from his second fall. The medical nanobots did their work, replacing fluids, transferring heat, reducing swelling, and starting to knit the fractures. In the 13th's command post, Dezo Parks was in command.
"We'll move Alpha and Charley companies forward on belts," he told Teu
"You thought of using the belts to get our casualties back to hospital," Ezra said.
"My idea for the year. Somebody else's turn now."
"If we could just use the AG belts to neutralize the weight of our gear, it'd help."
Joe hesitated for a second before he answered. The idea was tempting, but he quickly came up with a number of arguments against it. The one he mentioned was the gyro stabilizers. "Be hell trying to go flat in a hurry," he said. "Staying vertical in combat is a fast way to get dead."
The break was needed, desperately by many of the men. While most of them rested, keeping as much of their bodies off of the hot rocks as possible, those men with Vrerch rocket launchers or Dupuy RA rifles kept up the pressure on the Schlinal defenders in front of them. Those were still the only weapons the Accord infantry carried that could effectively reach the enemy. Their splat guns, heavy automatic wire throwers, had an effective range of no more than two hundred meters.
Joe switched to the channel that connected him with all of his squad leaders and assistants. "Get a good check on all of your men," he said. "Talk to everybody, make sure they're okay. I don't want anyone going woozy at a bad time."
The reports he got back were not heartening. While no one seemed to be in immediate trouble, everyone was feeling the effects of the heat and the "oppressive" nature of the air. Joe passed that on to the captain.
"Tell me something I don't know, Joe," Keye replied, sounding exhausted himself. "We just have to cope with it. Another five minutes and we make the big push. You might tell the men that it'll be a few degrees cooler in the shade of those warehouses up there. Maybe that'll help sustain them."
Joe glanced at the buildings. There were three visible from his position, and he knew from the briefings that there were a lot more—warehouses, barracks, a couple of small factories, hangars, and repair facilities—beyond the few he could see. And there were at least two regiments of Heggie infantry to guard them, men who had been on Tamkailo for weeks or months.
"I hope it gets easier once we get used to the heat," Joe said. "It ever rain here?"
"Who knows?"
Joe took a long drink of water. He had already emptied one canteen and started on the second. Then he checked his rifle: full power pack, full wire spool. The barrel was too hot to touch, even though he hadn't fired it since landing. Even the composite stock was getting uncomfortably hot to the touch.
He warned his squad leaders how much time they had left, then took another, shorter sip of water. The water no longer simply tasted warm; it was hot . "Hot enough for coffee," Joe mumbled as he screwed the lid back on. He considered dropping an instant coffee packet into the canteen. That might make the water more palatable. But then he shook his head. He could always put coffee into the water, but once it was in, he couldn't take it back out.
Joe looked up. What appeared to be two full flights of Wasps were approaching, ready to hit the Schlinal lines while the infantry advanced. Joe heard, but did not see, the Havocs as they opened up again. For the last hour or more, there had been very little action from the artillery. Now they were starting to hit the nearest line of buildings again.
Hit 'em good, Joe thought. Make it easy for us.
Time was running out. The five minutes were gone. First Sergeant Walker relayed the order for the attack.
—|—
Colonel Stossen was in a trauma tube suffering from concussion, dehydration, and fractures of the nose and skull—the latter injuries from his second fall. The medical nanobots did their work, replacing fluids, transferring heat, reducing swelling, and starting to knit the fractures. In the 13th's command post, Dezo Parks was in command.
"We'll move Alpha and Charley companies forward on belts," he told Teu
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