No Mercy (Blood War Book 4) Read online

  No Mercy

  By

  Rod Carstens

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

  Copyright 2016

  by

  Roger C. Huder

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

  Read other Rod Carstens books:

  Blood War Books

  Last of the Legion: Rift

  Marine Raiders: Strike Back

  The Conscripts

  Free Fire Zone Series

  Free Fire Zone

  Stand Alone Books

  Dispatches from a Future War

  Salvaged

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chpater 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 1

  CVN Phoenix

  Sui-Ren Wormhole

  Bridge

  The wormhole was closing faster than anticipated. Rear Admiral Ririsa Grogan could almost feel the sides closing in on the ship. She tried not to watch the countdown clock as she sat in the command chair on the bridge of the Phoenix. The colors of a wormhole passage flashed by on the command display. The display stretched the width of the bridge, making it impossible to ignore. Each time she glanced at the clock, her stomach tightened. The minutes were going by like hours and the hours like days. She knew the Xotoli were trying to close the wormhole on them. She could only hope that they had time to make the transit.

  The Phoenix, with as many of the ships in her task force as could make it to the entrance, had entered the wormhole in the last moments of the Sui-Ren portal’s existence. She had seen the sides of the wormhole closing as the Phoenix entered. Ririsa had no idea how much of the rest of her fleet was behind her. She would have to wait until the transit ended to find out. With no communication or sensor readouts during a wormhole transit, she could only sit and wait and try not to let the crew see her nervousness.

  The Von Fleet contingent of the task force had left before her Confederation vessels and had made it through the closing wormhole. She had been ordered by Admiral Raurk to leave thousands of Marines stranded on Chika. Her task force was the only thing that stood between Earth and an invasion by the Xotoli. By closing the wormhole, the Xotoli were trying to trap her task force in the Sui-Ren system with no way back to Earth. If the Confederation lost Earth it lost its center and the birthplace of all the human breeds. The Confederation would splinter into independent systems and breeds. Just as it had been until the formation of the Confederation. The Xotoli could then take their time and capture systems as they wished.

  She noticed that the colors of the wormhole on the screen were changing. Instead of the white and yellow streaks of light of a normal passage, the lights were a kaleidoscope of colors that seemed to be drawing nearer to the Phoenix. Ririsa could hear a murmur of voices expressing concern across the bridge. Instead of the normal calm exchange of information between stations, the voices were filled with fear. The bridge crew too had noticed the changing colors and shape of the wormhole.

  “Stand fast!” Ririsa snapped.

  She glanced at the countdown clock. They were finally in the last stage of the passage. Forty minutes left. The bridge remained silent, everyone’s gaze focused on the main display. The wormhole opening was noticeably narrower. Thirty minutes to go. Ten minutes. The colors were merging into multiple shades of red, something Ririsa had never seen before. Ririsa’s stomach knotted with real fear, but she could not show it. Her hands gripped the arms of her command chair until her knuckles were white. Five minutes to go. The wormhole was completely red now, and the exit ahead even narrower.

  “Have the pilots man their ships.”

  “Aye, aye, ma’am.”

  “As soon as we clear the wormhole, I want them launched.”

  “Aye, aye, ma’am.”

  Ririsa watched as the wormhole continued to constrict. How the Xotoli were doing this was beyond her. All she knew was they were trying to trap or destroy the Confederation’s largest fleet. She would be damned if she would let those aliens trap her command; she wanted another fight with them. At Rift she had only been able to react, and she wanted to be the one on the attack. She wanted to see the Xotoli scrambling to defend themselves against her vessels. This time would be different.

  ”One minute, Admiral.”

  ”Very well.” Ririsa worked at making her voice sound relaxed.

  ”Thirty seconds,” her helmsman said.

  The wormhole was a solid red-ringed tunnel now. Ririsa could see the black void of space ahead. They were so close. It looked for all the world like an iris closing. The reds were getting deeper.

  ”Fifteen seconds,” the helmsman said.

  Ririsa tried not to look at the countdown clock, but it was almost impossible. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six.

  ”Five seconds.”

  Three, two, one, and they were clear. The narrowing red tunnel was replaced in the blink of an eye by a huge expanse of jet-black space covered with millions of tiny, brilliant white stars. Ririsa had never been so glad to see open space in all her years in the fleet. She breathed a sigh of relief, then glanced over at her helmsman. He had been with her since Rift.

  She smiled and said, “Looks like we earned our pay again, Chief.”

  The young helmsman looked over at her, smiled, and said, “You ain’t said shit, Admiral.”

  A number of officers turned their heads at the familiarity in the voice of the helmsman. Ririsa simply raised her hand before any of them could speak. It had become something of a tradition between herself and the helmsman since Rift. She looked at his young face. It had aged much in the couple of years since Rift. He had grown since that first contact with the Xotoli.

  ”As soon as the rest of the task force reports in, I want a list of who made it. How long before we can launch the fighters?”

  ”Ten minutes.”

  ”Very well. Have all Confe
deration and Von Fleet vessels report their conditions. As soon as all have reported in we will assume our combat stations until further notice.”

  ”Aye, Admiral.”

  They still had several days before they were back in the Sol system. She would approach it on a war footing. There was no telling where the Xotoli might decide to launch their attack. Her new artificial-intelligence-controlled combat drones would lead the way, but she wanted humans out there also so behind them would be her fighters. While AI combat drones had been developed after Rift, they had yet to prove themselves in battle. Ririsa wanted to rely on experienced human pilots who had beaten the Xotoli before. She would be ready with her fighters out and her task force in combat formation.

  Chapter 2

  Landing Ship Dock Tarawa

  General Dasan Sand’s Quarters

  Dasan slowly opened his eyes and knew immediately it was going to be one of the bad days. His head pounded with each heartbeat, and when he tried to move his head it felt as if it would explode. There were light flashes in his vision. He lay there afraid to move, the pain was so great.

  The headaches had started after they had left Chika. He had gone to see Dr. Zhao, who had run a battery of tests and found nothing wrong physically. He told Sand that it was the stress of command. He had been through battles for so many years that leaving those men and women behind on Chika had been the last straw. He should have been on the ground leading from the front. If he had, he would be there with most of his command instead of escaping like some armchair general. It had started on 703 when he had lost Aijuba. He had run the raid from the Combat Information Center instead of the ground. Oh, he’d gotten on the ground, but not at the head of his command the way it should have been. He vowed never to lead from the CIC again. He would be on the ground with his troops. After Chika he had formed a mobile command group so he could fight from the ground the way he had on Rift. None of these realizations or changes stopped the headaches. They would not stop until he fought alongside his troops. Now facing a battle for Earth itself, his body had simply said enough.

  “I don’t have time for this, Doctor, and you know it. There is no one else who has my experience and the trust of the troops to fight this battle. I’m going to need both for this one.”

  “Dasan, your body can only take so much before it will begin to fight back. Stress is a funny thing. It can show up in any number of ways. Your body chose to give you debilitating headaches to try and stop the stress. Your body is a wonderful instrument. It will always try and bring itself back to normal if it can. You can’t fool it.”

  “Doc, you’ve got to give me something. I don’t have time for this. Please.”

  Zhao looked at him for a long moment before he said, “Okay, but you know these won’t stop until the stress is relieved. If you’re not careful, you will become addicted to what I give you. That will put you out of service as quickly as the headaches.”

  “Doc, I can’t be seen coming in here to get drugs. What if you assigned a corpsmen we can trust to come and administer them? That way it won’t seem that unusual and you can monitor my usage by not giving the meds to me but to the corpsman.”

  Zhao looked at him closely.

  “Doc, you were in the garage on Rift, you were on the ground with the Raiders on 703 and Chika. What we are about to face will make all that look like child’s play. I think this will be it. Either we defeat them or the Xotoli win. Please, Doc, you’ve got to help me. This is what I have trained for and fought for over thirty years. I have to be able to lead and I can’t with these headaches.”

  “All right. Wait here.”

  Zhao was gone for almost a half hour before he came back with a small gold plug for the I/O port behind Sand’s right ear.

  “Okay, what I’ve done is created a bunch of our little nano friends who will enter through that I/O port you used to fly those ships in the Legion. They will follow those wires to the right parts of the brain to relax the muscle spasms and relieve the pain. They will also relieve some of your stress without affecting your cognitive abilities. But my little friends have a half-life, and they will have to be replaced periodically. That way we can keep a watch on how much and when you use them. Agree?”

  “Yeah, Doc.”

  Zhao inserted the plug behind his ear and the I/O immediately activated the plug. Dasan closed his eyes as the nanos began to work. The spasms in his neck and scalp relaxed as the nanos traveled down his central nervous system and blocked the signals that caused the muscular tension. As that was working, Zhao give him an injection of something that made Dasan take a deep breath and relax.

  “I’m not going to tell you anything about what I just administered, either nano or drug. That way you won’t be able to ask someone else to do it for you. We’ll just call it my little special formula. We clear?”

  Dasan, feeling like himself again, said, “Yes, Doc. Thanks.”

  “I’ve also assigned Petty Officer Borges as your new administrator. You know she will do exactly what I told her and won’t take any shit from a general.”

  Dasan laughed. Borges was the most respected corpsmen in the unit. She took no shit from anybody no matter their rank when it came to her medicine. She could also keep her mouth shut. She was the perfect choice.

  A few days later, he needed a new plug and shot. Dasan reached over and touched the bulkhead. From overhead, control lights came on, giving him a virtual set of controls for comm, displays, and messages. He touched the comm button.

  “Have Petty Officer Borges report to my quarters immediately.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Dasan closed his eyes and tried to relax as he waited what seemed to be hours for Borges. The pain was more intense than usual. Finally his hatch slid open and Borges came in. He had added her palm print to the list of those with access to his quarters.

  “Morning, sir.”

  She came over to Dasan’s bunk and gave him an injection, then put the medical plug into his I/O. It wasn't long before the nanos and the injection took effect. He smiled up at her and stood. No dizziness or flashing lights in his vision. He was normal again.

  “We good, sir?” Borges asked.

  “Yes, Borges, thank you.”

  Borges looked at him as if she were deciding if she was going to ask him something.

  “May I speak freely, sir?”

  “Spit it out, Borges. You look as if you are about to explode.”

  “Sir, you know I keep my mouth shut. I have to ask you something. The scuttlebutt underground is going crazy with rumors about how we are going to defend Earth. Nobody can figure a way that we could do it. They think it is a suicide mission for people who the Sols don’t give a shit about. We’re just pawns in their game. You know how Sols treat us on liberty. It’s like we don’t belong in the same space. Now we’re going to save their asses. It’s already affecting morale.”

  “That bad?”

  “Yes, sir. You know how few of us are left. They can count. They need something or it is going to get ugly. There is real resentment that we will be fighting for the Sols.”

  Dasan knew he needed to put something out there. He and Admiral Grogen had been doing intense mission planning for weeks. He was not ready to address the command because he didn’t have all the mission details completed, but he could put out the basics. Who were they going to tell? Operational security couldn’t be tighter.

  “Borges, you were on Rift. You were in the garage with me, right? You saw how we could hold off a vastly superior force with the right tactics and troops.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Well, you can tell them that I intend to use our stand on Rift as a model. It will be bigger, but we are going to use the fact that Earth is one big urbanized world. It is a big advantage for defenders. With our combat experience, newer weapons, and our lessons learned from Rift, it can be done. It won’t be easy and we’ll lose more of our friends, but we can do it. Just like Rift, while we make a stand we will depend on the navy t
o chase the Xotoli fleet out of the system. That is about all I can tell you at this point.”

  Borges looked down. Dasan could tell she was thinking about Rift. It had been a very near thing, but they had driven the Xotoli and their hybrids off the planet with heavy losses. They had been outnumbered there too, but they had held. The armored infantry had been brand new and not battle tested. Now it was battle tested and filled with hard-core veterans. He really did believe that between the navy and the Marine Corps they could defend Earth. How long was the real question.

  “Sir, if anyone can figure it out you can. We all will follow you to hell and back. You know that. But I’m sorry your explanation sounds like an officer trying to blow smoke up a petty officer’s ass. Earth is a damn big place with billions of people, and with just us and whatever Admiral Raurk can scrape up to defend the whole place. Give me a break, sir.”

  Dasan had to suppress a smile. Borges did not mince words, as usual.

  “Borges, I wasn’t blowing smoke. If you want to look at my computer history you’ll see I’ve been studying urban-warfare tactics through the centuries. We can do this, especially with the navy on our side. If you want to talk about going against the odds and living to tell the tale, you go talk to Admiral Grogen. She was the captain of the Cappella, and you know what they did. We have no choices here. We’re it.”

  Borges gave him a look as if she wanted to believe him. “Sir, I’m not sure...”

  “Borges, that’s all I’ve got. That means it’s all you’ve got. You keep me vertical with Zhao’s special and we’ll get this thing done somehow. We don’t have any choices.”

  “Yes, sir. Is it finished?”

  “Yes, I think so.”

  Dasan pulled the plug out of his I/O port and handed it to Borges. She would dispose of it in sick bay. She took it and walked to the door. Before leaving she stopped and said, “Sir. The Sols never gave a shit about us and now we’ve got to save their asses.”

  “That’s about it. You’re a professional. You signed up for this and now the bill has come due for all of us. We raised our right hands and swore to protect the Confederation against all enemies foreign and domestic. So that’s the name of that tune.”