Naero's War: The Citation Series 2: The High Crusade Read Free Page B

you are, you’re no rook. How about me? Am I good?”
    Naero finished her prepcheck on his suit. “Everything checks out. Thanks, Lakota.”
    He nodded at the others. “Go meet the rest of Squad 1 while there’s still time. Sergeant Vaughn, Allen needs an intro here. She’s swapped out with Borelli in Squad 2 for this jump.”
    Vaughn was tallish and all muscle with a doughy face and roundish features, sandy hair and brown eyes.
    “Let’s make this quick, Allen. Get ready to lock and load. I’m Sergeant Selby Vaughn, leader of Fireteam 2. Meet Suki Lii, Josh Elkins, and Whip Konrad. Corporal Parsival Patton leads Fireteam 3, with Luca Abraham, Razor Wilde, and Keesha Aztec.”
    Miranda Naero nodded to them all. “Hey, guys.”
    “Good luck, rook,” Suki said.
    “Yeah,” Razor added. “Don’t get your dumb ass killed.”
    Miranda-Naero grinned. “Copy that. Death is to be avoided. And, thanks for the vote of confidence.”
    She glanced over at Konrad, who was sweating and looked wired.
    “Hey, Marine…Konrad,” she said. “What’s with you? You sick or something?”
    He ignored her and muttered to himself, “I’m gonna get it this time. This time they’re going to get me, I’m sure of it. I’m already a dead man…dead man.”
    Suki grabbed Naero’s arm. “Don’t worry about Whip, gungirl. That’s how he does it. Every time we jump, he rambles on about how he’s going to die, he’s already dead, and all that whiny shit. Haisha. Bastard fights like the rest of us and never gets a damn scratch. I say it ain’t fair.”
    “2 nd Platoon,” the Anaconda said. “Lock in and prepare for gravwing insertion. Green in ten minutes. Mark.”
    All four squads of 2 nd Platoon fell in line all around the drop bay hatches, in ready order.
    Each of them conducted their final checks.
    Second Leftenant Wilde shouted out once more, “Prepare to shoot in on target. Insertion in five. Activate stealth mode. Fixers up in same. Everyone online. We drop and slip in to cover the objective in spiral-6 sweep and scan approach. Paint, ID, and double confirm and lock all targets in our combat area.”
    They dropped in on the lead elements of ten invader divisions, tightening their bloody noose on the northern arc of the gigacity of Elaris, capital of Ovedar-3. Home to nearly a billion people, spread over a hundred square kilometers.
    The Marines penetrated the enemy jamming and scanning fields without a glitch. The enemy jamming field kept the Spacer Naval fleets in orbit blind, unable to properly scan and target the invader forces on the ground.
    Once the forward observing units scanned and painted each enemy target with nano-trackers, all targets and objectives could be computed and prioritized in an optimal CPA. Commanders and battle comps would dispense orders and modify the CPA as the battle developed.
    An excellent combat plan of attack normally guaranteed a near complete pacification of enemy forces. Often up to ninety-eight percent. Most enemy forces were taken out completely within minutes of the initial engagements. The overwhelming, interlocking firing profiles were that devastating, efficient, and effective. No foe could stand up to such levels of intense, coordinated indirect and direct fire for very long.
    Especially when those waves of destroying fire were unleashed suddenly and without warning. The initial engagement was often the only engagement, and became the deciding factor in most battles. In many instances, the local landers could move in and take over the cleanup in the aftermath, once the main groups of invaders were crushed and obliterated.
    Couple these amazing tactics with Bravo’s elite night fighting abilities, and the combination made for a furious, one-two punch that the invaders could not survive.
    The Ejjai did what they did, with ruthless efficiency. They were already pounding and shelling the gigacity of Elaris with heavy waves of massed rockets and artillery. These violent attacks