Richard Fox [Fox - Til Valhalla

Til Valhalla

An Ember War Novel

by

Richard Fox

Contents

Chapter 1

The girl slumped against a battered wall, her rifle clutched in dirty, raw hands. The scratch of dried sweat crusting her uniform chaffed her skin, but clean uniforms and showers werent part of the Australian Home Guard.

She shifted a satchel off her lower back and onto her lap, her fingers touching the latch, ensuring it was still closed. She gave it a quick pat and stuck her shoulder into a corner to stay propped up as her helmet came off and loose strands of sweat-soaked hair fell across her face.

The sound of machine-gun fire in the distance sent tension through her muscles. She glanced over at her squad leader, Roberts, who put a handset to one ear and shrugged. The rest of her squad grumbled, half on watch at the windows of a bombed-out house, the other half doing what they could to rest.

Nothing from the company yet, Roberts said. Some local bloke shooting at a dingo. Probably.

Need me to send him out for a look? the girl asked.

Save the batteries, Bailey, Roberts said. Better

safe than sorry. You turn Tyke on, it might get the Chi-coms attention. Intel says theyve got the better scanners in our sector now.

Yeah, yeah. Bailey shut her eyes, but her exhausted muscles twitched, keeping sleep away.

A pair of explosions rattled the walls and sent a spike of adrenaline through Baileys body.

Fuck me. The squad sniper, Kenny, hefted his rifle to one shoulder, stepped back from a window frame, and brought the scope up to his eye.

Wasnt our artillery. Roberts tapped the radio handset against his collarbone and put it to his ear.

Thought the Chi-com werent anywhere near here, Bailey said, wiping sweat from her eyes and glancing out a window. Short trees and peanut bushes swayed in a breeze as dust blew across hot asphalt. There wasnt much left of Kingaroy but wrecked buildings and dead cars.

They care what you think? Kenny brushed dust off his rifle.

Piss off, Bailey took a pack of cigarettes from a breast pocket and shook one out. She

pinched her lips around the butt and fumbled for a lighter.

Got something, said another soldier with binoculars at his eyes as he waved to Roberts. Beetles. Couple of them.

Shit. Bailey tucked her unlit cigarette back into the pack and looked at Robertss waist, where three grenades with wooden handles hung from his belt. Then she looked out to where the binoculars were pointed and saw a half-dozen squat aircraft lift up from the tree line. Turbofans within the Beetles hulls roared with effort as the wide transports flew north, away from the Australians position.

They empty? Roberts asked the sniper.

Kenny, his rifle tracking the departing aircraft, swallowed hard. Empty, Sergeant. Theyve got cargo hooks, not troop bays, he said. Looks like they landed on the rugby field.

Bailey let off a string of expletives and looked back out of their position for a quick way out. Cargo hooks meant vehicles. Armored personnel carriers, tanks. Or worseDragons.

Roberts, the handset to his ear, nodded quickly. Heard. Squad Blue moving out. He snapped the handset to a hook on his fatigues and raised one palm up quickly. The scouts got to their feet and moved to the wall with the exit door.

Company wants eyes on whatever the Beetles dropped, he said. Bailey, bust out Tyke and be on the bounce. We take a gander, then we get the hell out of town.

What if its Dragons? a soldier asked. If its the suits, were dead meat.

If its Dragons, then the company definitely needs to know. The whole Brisbane sector needs to know, Roberts said, his face growing paler by the moment. Probably isnt. Shouldnt be. Last word was all their Dragons were on the Derby front. Just keep it together until we get eyes on, yeah? he added before he stepped through the door and hurried down the street at a crouch.

Bailey followed out Roberts, her battle buddy, and the pair fell to the back of the squad as they made for the enemy landing zone. The squad of nine moved fast and quiet in their simple uniforms of fatigues with light equipment attached to belts and chest harnesses. Bailey, the shortest of the team, moved a pouch off her lower back and pulled out what looked like a small brick with tiny bits of electronics stuck haphazardly against the top.

As the other Home Guard soldiers took cover around her, she slid next to a wall, snapped four rubber wheels to the brick, and flipped a switch on the underside.

You have Tyke ready yet? asked Kenny, peeking quickly over a rock and concrete wall.

His batts arelow. Bailey glanced at the back of the drone and grimaced.

Theres a bottle shop between us and the road to the rugby field, the squad leader said. Just have him get a look.

He runs dry out there, Im not making the pickup. She put the drone down and pulled a small tablet from a thigh pocket. Its the Ruperts turn.

Kiss my arse its my turn, a soldier hissed from the corner of a wall. I picked him up that one time, remember? Its Robertss turn.

The sniper tapped the stock of his long rifle. Im overwatch, not trash pickup. The rev of engines carried over them, tamping down the bickering.

Not too close, Bailey, Kenny said, tapping her shoulder. Get some pics for command.

Thats all we need.

Bailey nodded quickly and swiped a fingertip across her screen. The small drone lurched forward and a tiny metal bar swung up, a cluster of lenses and cameras scavenged from old cell phones wired to the tip.

Tykes worth more than Robertss lazy arse. She snapped her gum and the drone whirled around the corner, kicking up loose dust. Im just saying.

Did your toy drill a Chi-com at a hundred and fifty meters back in the bush and save your ungrateful arse? Yeah, nah, didnt think so. Roberts wiped sweat off his forehead, then took a sip of water from a line attached to his shoulder harness.

Yeah, yeah. Bailey scrunched her nose as the feed on her tablet screen bounced around as the drone sped down the road away from the team. Audios out again. Shouldnt matter too much.

The feed zoomed in on a beige wall and a low pile of old trash against the base. Bailey drove Tyke into the garbage and stopped the drone. She tapped the screen several times and the feed changed as the camera boom extended upwards.

The rugby field had seen better days. The aluminum stands were crusted in grime and partially collapsed from neglect, and a line of holes from high-caliber bullets splintered the scoreboard, letting rays of light through the broken score panels. Just who won the game between the Red Ants and Dingoes was lost to history.

Shit, Bailey whispered and held up the tablet to Roberts.

How many? Kenny asked. Is it Dragons or not?

Mengshi utility vehicles and three APCs, Roberts said. Armored-up trucks have radios and electromagnetics detectors all over them. Theyve got a sat dish already set upcamo nets going over it now. Its a scout force.

Couple of them in decent body armor, Bailey said. Not their normal expendable scrubs. She tapped and swiped the screen, capturing and storing images, then paused and squinted hard.

Roberts, that patch they got, she said. It look like the Chi-coms special recon unit?

A single crack broke through the air and Baileys screen went blank, then flashed an error message. Her jaw fell open and she touched the screen gently, with no change to the error screen.

It did look like their special recon, Roberts said. Douglas, dont send the burst to the company yet. He squeezed his rifle hard and looked back the way theyd come. They must have picked up Tyke. We transmit again, theyll be all over us.

The parts Bailey shook the tablet. I need parts to rebuild

Roberts put a heavy hand on her shoulder. Later, he said, looking up at the squad, all growing more anxious as the sound of heavy diesel engines grew louder. Back to the last stop, then hop from rally point to rally point back to the company. Send the data soon as weve got another half klick between us and the Chi-com. Lets go.