Wolf woke feeling as if he had actually gotten enough sleep. Rolling out of the rack, he checked the time. He had gotten a solid six hours and had been awakened due to an urgent ping from Ni’lan. Sending a return, he connected to the man, who was silent aside from unintelligible grunts whenever Wolf spoke.

  Recognizing the grunts as a sign Ni’lan was in a semiconscious sleep state, he waited a moment to let him fully wake up. While he waited, Wolf checked for any updates to their intel. He was unsurprised when there was no new information. That’s not entirely true, he mused. The fact that all deployed drones were either destroyed or disabled before they could send back any actionable intel was, in itself, valuable.

  It told him the imps had specialized equipment, either designed to destroy or disable their drones. Since the interface included a line-of-sight laser link capable of using other drones as relays. They had to have a combination of either highly effective anti-drone weapons or, thinking back to an obscure reference in an old history book, oddly enough, a fog machine.

  He couldn’t remember the specifics about the fog, but couldn’t think of anything else that could disrupt the drones the way he was seeing. “Sir, I see you have returned my ping. Sorry for not responding immediately.” Ni’lan said.

  Feeling a grin tug at the corner of his mouth, Wolf responded with a Horonak colloquialism specific to this situation. “The honored watchers cannot be rushed,” he attempted in Horailn, the Horonak common language, completely butchering the pronunciation to the point that it was almost unintelligible.

  Ni’lan burst out laughing at the unfortunate attempt, taking a few moments to regain control. “Sorry, sir. If you wish to learn Horailn, I can tutor you. For now, I will simply say thank you.”

  “I will gratefully accept the tutoring, but you sent an urgent ping. Give me a sitrep,” Wolf said.

  Ni’lan paused before asking, “Have you checked on the attempts to gain more intel?”

  “I have. It seems they’re using something to disrupt the drone’s laser-link. I remembered one of the lower houses had trouble with rebels using a fog machine to disrupt drone surveillance.” He said.

  “That would explain what we’re seeing now.” Ni’lan said, sending his helmet feed to Wolf.

  Wolf focused on the feed and saw that Ni’lan’s position would soon be enveloped by a dense fog bank. Shit! The thought was only half-formed when Wolf queried Delta-Two. “What is the composition of that fog?”

  “One moment,” Delta-Two said as it scanned the approaching obstruction. “It appears to be forty-five percent titanium dioxide nanoparticles, twenty-five percent carbon nanoparticles, fifteen percent aerosolized metallic salts, ten percent aerogel microparticles, and trace amounts of propylene glycol, likely the dispersal agent.”

  When the AI finished, Wolf asked, “How would this affect line-of-sight laser links?”

  “Based on the chemical analysis, the suspended particles at the current density would adequately disrupt both radio and most laser based communications. The pod’s more powerful equipment would allow the use of far-infrared radiation, though it would only be able to send information as the current suit models are incapable of transmitting in that spectrum. The current densities would also be hazardous to the health of unprotected lungs.”

  Wolf sent a short message to all of his NCOs with the AI’s findings, emphasizing the need to keep everyone buttoned up in their armor. Then he switched back to speaking to Ni’lan. “I just sent you and the other sergeants info on that fog. Expect communication breakdowns between suits. Both transmitting and receiving. According to Delta-Two, the pod can utilize FIR gear to punch through the interference, but I don’t know how well it will work. In the meantime, have everyone in the field use their suit speakers with the preloaded audio scrambling encryption turned on. It’s not the best solution, but it’s at least workable considering the situation,” Wolf ordered.

  “In the meantime, we can use the micro-drones as runners to send messages, using the trenches as a pre-programmed path both between the pods and pillboxes.” Ni’lan didn’t respond, and when Wolf looked at the small box where the feed was displayed, only to find a black window with a diagonal stripe, the words SIGNAL INTERRUPTED moving across the stripe from left to right.

  “Delta-Two, is Ni’lan receiving? What is his last known location?” Wolf barked at the AI.

  ***

  While Wolf tried to establish comms, Ni’lan cycled through different sensor overlays, finally settling on a combination of the acoustic sensor overlaid on the motion sensor. It made the fog resemble fine sand, with periodic bursts of detailed clarity that would dissipate into the uniform grey-black background as sounds traveled through the haze.

  Activating his suit’s speakers and setting the output to the pre-programmed scrambling scheme that the suits would auto-decrypt, he trusted it to prevent the enemy from quickly intercepting their comms.

  He was about to speak when a sharp crack sent a ripple through the world, the grey sands shifting into a fleeting moment of clarity. Ni’lan didn’t let the enemy’s mistake pass. His rifle snapped to his shoulder, and he sent a burst of suppressed fire at the fading sight picture, the soft pops of the rounds barely registering on the acoustic sensors. As the rounds struck the imperial soldiers, several cried out, revealing the enemy line once again, a line just twenty meters away. “CONTACT! WEAPONS FREE!” he bellowed, his external speakers set to eleven, the output enough to deafen anyone without hearing protection.

  In moments, the fog lit up with weapons fire, short-lived flashes of light piercing the all-consuming grey. The fight for the LZ had well and truly begun.

  ***

  As Wolf worked to punch through the interference, an alert pinged through his implant. “Weapons fire detected,” intoned the emotionless voice of Delta-Two.

  “CONTACT! WEAPONS FREE!” came the ordered bellow, followed by a sudden fusillade of fire from both inside and outside the trench line.

  Looking around the cramped pod, Wolf spotted O’gren as he flopped out of his bunk, hitting the floor with a metallic ring. “No time to lay on the job, Private! Get your ass to that weapons panel and open up on the imps!” Wolf ordered, even as he moved to the sensor console to plug in.

  “On it, LT!” O’gren grunted as he leapt to his feet, the armor barely keeping him upright as he stumbled to the chair and plugged into the weapons systems. Just before Wolf plugged in himself, he heard the roar of the pod’s kinetics opening up, spitting eight-point-five mill tungsten slugs. Moments later, Wolf dropped into a top-down view, mostly obscured in a dense fog with intermittent flashes of clarity.

  “Delta-Two, begin cycling through the sensors individually as a visual overlay, starting with radar and lidar,” Wolf ordered, hoping to get a better picture of what was going on. He wasn’t surprised when the radar detected several vehicles between one and two hundred meters out. He figured the vehicles held whatever was producing the fog. While dismayed, he wasn’t shocked when the lidar overlay came up blank.

  As he cycled through the overlays, he came to the same conclusion that Ni’lan had. “Delta-Two, use a combination of radar, acoustic, and motion sensors to map the current situation,” he ordered. The field came into focus with periodic splashes of detail as explosions or shouts reached the sensors. Unfortunately, the detail faded quickly past forty meters into little better than vague silhouettes.

  “Delta-Two, send this data along with a request he assault the enemy vehicles to Lieutenant Nickelson. I need them taken out before they can find a weakness in the line,” Wolf ordered, hoping his friend could do what he asked.

  ***

  Nickelson was plugged into his own pod’s systems when the ping from Wolf came through. Opening the data packet, he adjusted his sensors and confirmed the intel. Cursing, he opened a channel to his first sergeant. “Send two fire-teams to take out whatever’s making this fog by any means necessary.”

  ***

  Ni’lan crouched in the trench as his position was raked with fire. They had been repelling the assault on and off for almost four hours. Taking a steadying breath, Ni’lan lifted his rifle over the berm, using acoustic sensor data to direct his fire toward the enemy line.

  A figure rushed down the trench, appearing so suddenly that he almost shot them. “Ta’lek? The hell you doing out here without a rifle!?” he hollered, pulling his weapon back to his side as the return fire came in at an almost predictable interval.

  “I gave it to Inulb when I checked on them. Her rifle got hit, almost took her hand off. A quick dose of narc and my rifle and she was back on the line,” she replied, placing a hand on the side of his helmet to establish a link with his suit.

  “Besides, I’ve got my sidearm, and the rifle was getting in the way,” she said, finishing with, “Vitals are good. Though I’m seeing a heavy buildup of adeno-GABA. You’ll need to get some actual rest within the hour or risk making fatal mistakes. You’ve been on watch too long, Sarge.”

  Ni’lan chuffed at the statement. “Doesn’t matter. I can sleep when I’m dead. Move along, Corporal. I’m sure there are others who need you more,” he replied, using another lull to rake the enemy line.

  Ta’lek shook her head and sighed, but didn’t argue. “I’m stopping by Delta-Two to resupply. You have a message for the LT?” she asked instead, taking out a hypo and pulling him back into the trench, slotting it into a port on his neck. Neither of them reacted when a burst of fire raked the trench’s berm, dirt raining down on them as chips of cured quick-crete bounced off their armor. With casual ease, she depressed the button, injecting a dose of what the other troopers called Stay-awake into his system.

  “Nothing other than we need either bots or runners to start bringing ammo down the line,” he said, waiting for her to release him so he could shift position before returning fire.

  “Copy. That stim should keep you going for another four hours. After that, you will get some real sleep, or I’ll tranq you and leave you to sleep it off in the trench,” she warned, releasing him and watching as he shifted a couple of meters to the left.

  “Copy, Doc.” Ni’lan sighed, defeated, knowing better than to argue when his medic gave him an ultimatum.

  “Good. I’ll pass your request to the LT when I see him. Don’t enter the oasis before I get back,” she said, taking off down the trench. After another minute or so, she was under Delta-Two. Climbing the ladder, she spotted Wolf once again plugged into the command station. Grunting, she moved over to him as she double-checked his vitals, glad the blasted fog hadn’t penetrated the pod.

  “His brainwaves are a bit erratic. He’s tachycardic and mildly dehydrated.” She muttered to herself, shaking her head. “Lieutenant, log from the sensor feed or risk permanent brain damage,” she said, directing it to the lieutenant’s suit.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Doc?” he asked, mildly confused, drawing out the word. A beat later he said, “Understood, logging now.” Ta’lek kept an eye on his vitals as the other watched his seated form. She caught him when he stumbled trying to stand, his suit helping to compensate but unable to override the movements of its operator.

  “You’re going to lay down and stay there for the next hour.” She admonished, forcefully guiding him to his rack.

  “Can’t… need to…” He slurred, only to have Ta’lek cut him off.

  “I wasn’t asking. I was telling.” She stated with forced calm, belatedly adding, “Sir.” She could almost feel as her words sank in. His suit grew heavier for a few moments before the integrated systems took over and it moved with automatic precision. Glancing at his suit’s biometric suite, she saw his vitals had stabilized, though she would need to start a saline drip to rehydrate him.

  Guiding his suit, Ta’lek was able to get Wolf laying down and secured just as several explosions rocked the area. “Delta-Two, the fuck was that?” she asked, spinning toward the empty sensor station.

  “Several explosions originating from the locations of detected enemy vehicles.” The AI said.

  Ta’lek released a sigh and nodded, before noticing the pod was eerily quiet. It took a moment to realize it was because the kinetic weapons had stopped firing. Looking to the weapons console, she spotted O’gren just sitting there. “Private, why did you stop shooting?”

  O’gren shifted uncomfortably in the seat. “Ma’am, if my feeds are right, the enemy is falling back. The kinetics are down to half their full load. I thought we might need those rounds when they come at us again.” He explained.

  “Good thinking, Private.” She said before she could issue an order, Ni’lan’s voice came in over the all hands circuit.

  “All hands, we have repelled the first wave. Our neighbor to the west was also able to take out the fog dispensers. We shouldn’t need to worry about that fog again for a while. I want a minimum watch rotation to maximize the number of soldiers getting rest. Priority goes to the Horonak that have been acting as watchers. Other than that, your sergeants will assign watch as they see fit. That is all.” He said.

  Turning to Wolf, Ta’lek rechecked his vitals and found they had completely stabilized, returning to more normal levels. After instructing his suit to keep him sedated for another four hours, Ta’lek pinged Ni’lan for a private channel. A beat later, she heard the man growl, “What is it, Ta’lek?”

  “Sergeant, the LT is sedated due to overuse of the full immersion system. And he will remain that way for the next four hours,” she stated.

  She could almost hear the man grimace before he responded in a teasing tone, “Understood, I’ll make sure your Gi’toll doesn’t come to harm.” Before she could bite back, he continued more seriously, “Get your ass over to the wounded and get as many as possible back on the line. I don’t know how much longer we got before they hit us again.”

  Ta’lek sputtered for a moment before nodding. Then, realizing Ni’lan couldn’t see her, she said, “Copy, Sergeant,” and rushed out of the pod to get to Bravo-Six.

  Ni’lan sighed and pinged Sergeant Park. “Grey-mane, I’m going to grab some sack time. You’re in command. Wake me if anything happens,” he said. Moving down the trench line, he cast a final glance out into the battle-scared field outside their perimeter before shaking his head and climbing into the pod to get some much needed sleep.

  ***

  Major Reginald Hernandez Bezos, the third, was berating his junior officers for cowardice. They had called for a retreat, claiming heavy losses. “Those common scum are only there to soften those blasted rangers up for us to exterminate what’s left. They aren’t even human, just filthy beasts. Now the fog is gone, and we lost the initiative. This is all your fault! You are to reorganize and assault their position with a full frontal charge, while my sister does the same from their opposing flank. Is that understood?”

  The lieutenants nodded vigorously, not wanting to risk further angering the heir to house Bezos. Instead, they accepted the tongue lashing, hoping it would only go that far. “My sister will be attacking the enemy in a little under an hour. I want you to have already taken the enemy positions by the time her men have fired the first shot. If you fail and return alive, you and your families will wish you were dead.” He growled. “Dismissed.”

  The group bolted for the door, making no attempt at decorum, instead planning to get the beast-kin under their command to charge right into the enemy lines. Any of the mongrels that didn’t obey would be killed, along with their mates.

  ***

  Rorrghal, a beast-kin that, to the humans, looked like an anthropomorphic tundra wolf, was huddled up with several of his pack-mates. Grall, who appeared like a fennec fox. Ggoroll, who looked like a tall, lithe panther, and Hissak, who was shorter than all of them, appearing like an otter. Each of them were the leaders of their hunting groups only because they were the oldest that survived the last slaughter. “I recognized the insignia on those pods. It’s the rangers.” Hissak mewled fearfully.

  Rorrghal shook his lupine head. “We only have one choice. We try to get as close as we can and surrender to them,” he said.

  “Surrender to humans?!” Ggoroll hissed. “They can’t be trusted. Even if they can, the masters have our mates and pups. If we surrender, they will kill them.”

  “They will kill them, or worse, even if we don’t.” Grall sighed. “I’ve seen it before. We can’t win against the rangers and even if we do, there will only be another fight. This is the only chance we have to save our people. You know, we all look the same to them.”

  “I have heard enough rumors about the rangers to know that they have free kin serving within their ranks. I’ve even heard that they have entire communities that have never known human oppression.” A young beast-kin that looked like a grizzly and stood taller than even Rorrghal, though was barely out of adolescence, chimed in from the door.

  “Braal, shut up and keep watch. We can’t risk the handlers thinking we are conspiring.” Rorrghal growled.

  The boy, chastened, nodded and once again poked his snout out of the hastily constructed kennel. The one the humans had forced them to build. “Braal is right, my cousin was able to smuggle a letter to me through the bugs telling me as much,” Grall said.

  The rest of them looked from Grall and turned to Rorrghal, the man being the oldest and strongest fighter amongst them. “Then that is what we will do. We will charge and once we are close enough, throw down our weapons and attempt to surrender to the rangers.” He said, as confident as he could.

  “The handlers are coming!” Braal warned, and they broke their huddle, taking positions around the kennel, sitting with their hunting parties. Braal sitting with Rorrghal. “So, are we going to join the Rangers?” He asked excitedly.

  Looking at the hope in the boy’s eyes, Rorrghal couldn’t bring himself to douse them. “I’m sure we will, pup. For now, be ready for a run.”

  ***

  A half hour after taking command, Park was writing reports while plugged into the system when an alert of movement to the north. Sending a drone, he spotted a large group of beast-kin marching toward their line. He sent messages to the other sergeants, ordering them to ready for an assault.

  After that was done, he debated whither or not to ping Ni’lan for a few moments before deciding it would be best to do so. “Sitrep?!” came the groggy, growling reply.

  “The imps are massing for another assault. We are preparing for the assault, but I don’t know how long we’ll be able to hold. Looks like they have more than a company of beast-kin massing across the entire line,” he explained.

  Ni’lan cursed. “I’ll let the captain know. Hopefully, we can get some backup from pods Delta-Three and Alpha-Two. But I think we are out of luck there. I checked in just before hitting the bunk and he expected an attack within the hour from the south by a similarity sized force.”

  There was a pause before Ni’lan suggested. “We could request a danger close orbital strike.”

  Park sighed, “no joy. The Chattanooga was called away from the planet to assist in the space battle. They are taking a bit harder of a pounding than they expected. We are on our own. Also, the sappers have been delayed until they finish securing the system.”

  “Gor’ka’s breath. We’re in the sands without water.” Ni’lan mumbled.

  “Gor’ka?” Park asked, confused.

  “Doesn’t matter. We hold or we. Die, there’s no in between.” Ni’lan said before cutting the channel. He pinged Ta’lek “I need all the walking wounded, anyone capable of holding a weapon, in the trenches. Now!” He barked as soon as the channel opened.

  “Ni’lan, I can’t…” she began to protest.

  “They either die with their spears or on their backs, Ta’lek. I also need all the medics in the trenches. Stabilize who you can then get out and prep for a full assault from overwhelming force.” He ordered, interrupting her.

  “It’s that bad?” she asked.

  “The gor’ka’s are waiting on a feast and we look tasty.” He replied.

  “May we meet at the entrance to the eternal oasis.” She sighed in resignation.

  ***

  Braal fidgeted with nervous energy, the rifle clasped tightly in his hands. “Loosen up or you’ll snap that in two.” Rorrghal joked, jostling the boy with his shoulder. Braal nodded, loosening his grip on the weapon.

  “Do you think this will work?” he asked.

  “If it doesn’t, then we’re fucked, anyway. May as well go for it.” Hissak told him, appearing as if from thin air. Grall turned toward Rorrghal, lower his voice so Baal couldn’t hear, “The packs have all been informed and any dissenters silenced.” The last he said with a heavy sigh.

  Rorrghal nodded, keeping his eyes on the line they needed to reach. A line most would die before getting to. “Baal, stay on my tail. Walk on it if you have to.” He ordered before he howled the signal and the entire line of beast-kin threw down their weapons and charged.

  ***

  Major Bezos was furious. “What do you mean those mongrels threw away their weapons?!” He raged.

  A cowering corporal stuttered as he answered. “Ss-sir, from the rr-reports we got the bb-beast-kin leader howled and threw dd-down his weapon before charging on all fours. The others in the company following suit.”

  The major continued to rage, eventually drawing his sidearm and shooting one of the beast-kin wait staff. “I want them all dead. String up their families and use them as shields for our conscripts. The worthless handlers too they can share the same fate as the mutts.” When the corporal only nodded, Major Bezos roared, “get it done NOW!”

  ***

  Wolf awoke to growling and cries of pain. Rolling out of the rack, he came face to face with a beast-kin twice his size that resembled a bear. He instinctively drew his sidearm and was about to fire when Ta’lek stepped in front of him and shoved his arm up.

  “Lieutenant, they requested asylum and unfortunately, the captain is hit. His final order before he was put under for surgery was to put Nickelson in command and he put this on you. We need orders on how to deal with the kin that have surrendered as well as their wounded.” She explained as she gently guided him back to sit on the rack, taking the pistol from his hand.

  “Alright.” Wolf muttered, then shook his head to clear the cobwebs. “How many are there?” he asked.

  “At last count, there were little over a hundred that survived our fire before Ni’lan ordered a ceasefire. Of that, only twenty aren’t wounded. Most of those seem to be adolescents.” She coughed, hiding the fact that she was choking up.

  “The older ones shielded them with their bodies.” She explained.

  Wolf grimaced, “keep the kids inside the pods and their bunkers. We’re not the imps. I’m… We are not going to let them fight if we can help it. Any of the adults that are able to fight can choose if they want to be on the line.” He said.

  Looking to the beast-kin he had almost shot, he asked, “what’s your name?”

  The bear looked at him, its eyes glistening, the fur around them wet with tears. What he had first thought was growling. He now recognized as sobbing. “I-I’m Baal.” He choked out. Before the beast-kin turned to Ta’lek. “Is Rorrghal going to be ok?”

  Ta’lek cringed visibly even within her armor. “I’m sorry Baal. There’s nothing we can do. He’s lost too much blood.”

  Wolf then noticed a lupine form laying on the ground just behind Baal. Their breathing ragged and wet. “Do we have any compatible synth-blood?” wolf asked Ta’lek over their shared comm.

  “Sorry Lieutenant, their biology is just too different from Horonak and humans to make at work. A few have offered to donate their blood, but…” She sighed and shook her head. “He’s losing it too fast to make a difference.”

  Wolf stood and knelt next to the bloody mess that was Rorrghal. “Protect the children.” He choked out one ragged breath at a time.

  “I promise as long as I am alive they will be safe,” Wolf said, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

  “Good. Your Horonak mate says you can be trusted even if you’re human. Don’t disappoint me.” He rasped before going limp. His eyes glazing over in a way wolf had seen too many times before.

  Baal shouldered wolf away from Rorrghal and let out a howl loud enough to break through the helmet’s sound canceling systems.

  With a grimace, Wolf looked to Ta’lek, who shook her head and gestured to the ladder. The pair made their way out of the pod and into the trenches, the howling being contained inside the pod once the hatch was closed. Wolf leaned heavily on his suits gyroscopes as he unsteadily moved beside her. The excess strain from overusing the system’s neural interface still affecting him.