The pod’s burn lasted around twenty-five seconds, just long enough to let it to hover for a few seconds before dropping onto the soft loamy soil. As soon as the G-forces dropped to just over one G, the racks securing Wolf and his troopers rotated upright. With several loud pops, the straps auto-released, dropping the platoon onto the deck. Their suits guiding them to a standing position, preventing them from falling or stumbling.

  Ni’lan immediately barked orders. “Nakamura, Henderson, take your fire-teams outside and start digging earthworks. Ta’lek, send your team out with them, but I need you to stay behind with the Lieutenant.”

  A flurry of activity erupted as troopers grabbed rifles, shovels, and other equipment. “Get your firing positions dug first before starting on the trenchworks. Can’t dig if you’re dead,” Ni’lan barked as the troopers rushed out of the pod.

  Wolf ignored the organized chaos around him, focusing on his virtual battle board. With a grimace, he confirmed the captain’s report. They had lost five pods to the unexpected enemy action. There wasn’t even supposed to be any real imp resistance on planet. He thought with an internal groan. With a slight shake of his head, Wolf refocused, realizing he was alone with the platoon’s medic and an unconscious O’gren. To her credit, she didn’t ask questions and instead moved straight to O’gren’s motionless form. She pulled a wired connector from a recessed slot in her forearm and plugged it into a port just behind O’gren’s helmet.

  Almost instantly, O’gren’s vitals popped into the blank space below O’gren’s name in Wolf’s HUD, relayed from Ta’lek’s suit via a secure laser link. “His vitals are stable, but I’m seeing signs of a concussion. Likely due to the suit and bunk failing to compensate for a sudden localized impact.”

  She tapped something on an integrated display on her forearm before retracting the cord. “I gave him a mild stim. It should wake him up and get him moving. His suit won’t be able to use comms or send his vitals, so I recommend he hard-line into the pod’s dedicated server. He can monitor the sensors for enemy activity until we can get his helmet patched up.”

  “Copy that, Doc,” Wolf said, glancing at O’gren, who was slowly returning to the land of the living. He activated his external speakers, setting them to just above a whisper. “Your suit comms are compromised. Until we get those patched up, you’re on sensor duty. Understood?”

  It took a moment for O’gren to respond, as he had to switch to his suit speakers. “Understood, Lieutenant,” he said, moving to the central console.

  Wolf switched off his external speakers and turned to Ta’lek without waiting for O’gren to patch in. “Keep an eye on him. I’m moving out to dig.” Ta’lek nodded and began taking stock of the medical supplies, reorganizing them as she worked.

  As soon as Wolf stepped through the door, Ni’lan stopped him with a quick sit-rep. “We got four prone firing positions dug out. I have Hissorak and Helba on heavy weapons, Henderson’s on over-watch with a clicker.” Ni’lan shook his head, “Still can’t believe those eggheads fixed the battery and cooling issues with those laser rifles.” Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, “How’s O’gren?”

  “O’gren’s starting to come to I left him with the doc. Unfortunately his helmet needs some kind of patchwork repair. He’s currently manning the pod’s sensors and can use its laser-link to keep us in the loop,” Wolf replied. Then, hefted a shovel. “Take me to the trenches. No point standing around when what we need is another shovel.”

  Ni’lan’s face was hidden by the suit’s featureless faceplate, but Wolf had worked with the man for long enough to know he had a slight grin. “Copy that Lieutenant. Per the plan, we are digging towards the right-hand pod. Delta-Three according to the tac-map.”

  “Good to know they made it down safe,” Wolf said, thinking about his harebrained idea.

  “They did, only fifty meters off target. Well within the margin of error we had discussed with the engineers before the drop.”

  “Copy, sergeant. How’s progress on the trench coming along?” he asked, knowing that even with the suit’s aiding them, there was a limit to how quickly they could get trench works finished.

  “We’ve dug two meters of trench, four meters deep, with a firing position half a meter above the trench floor.”

  “Good work. I’ll be slinging dirt if you need me.” Wolf said, heading towards the trench. Ni’lan shook his head before turning back to the drop pod to check in on Ta’lek.

  Wolf reached the far end of the trench, where Nakamura was carving out the trench’s main thoroughfare. Rodriguez focused on shaping the firing step while Inulb was using a specialized applicator with two nozzles. The first nozzle sprayed a binding agent that hardened in the dirt forming a solid yet permeable membrane, allowing water to drain out of the trench while preventing it from seeping back in. The second nozzle applied a liquid compound that hardened into a semi-permeable concrete layer a few centimeters thick within thirty seconds. Wolf knew they would need several more passes to reinforce the trench, ensuring it could stand up to any near misses from imperial artillery.

  Wolf surveyed the trench comparing it to the updated scans of the surrounding terrain and sighed. “Rodriguez, Inulb, raise the step height by thirty centimeters to adjust for the taller berm outside the perimeter.” He ordered.

  The pair exchanged a glance before replying. “Yes, sir.” Inulb doubled back to use the spray to add the necessary height while Rodriguez took off less material as he made the firing step. Wolf gave them a final once-over before dropping into the trench.

  “Corporal Nakamura, where do you need the extra hands?” Wolf asked, knowing the Corporal was already organizing the group, and other than the minor modification, he trusted Nakamura enough not to micromanage.

  Nakamura hesitated for a moment before nodding towards the pod. “Sir, I need someone digging out a section under the pod so we can access the trenches from the lower hatch if needed.” Wolf nodded and got to work.

  He had just cleared out enough under the pod to begin applying quick-crete, adding stability against erosion and firmly anchoring the pod. Naturally, just as he was about to ping Inulb a call came over the all hands channel. “We have incoming aerial and ground-based assault drones. Laser PDCs are firing in five,” O’gren called.

  Wolf heard the hum of capacitors as the PDCs prepared to fire. He focused on visualizing an aerial view of the area, pulling up a virtual battle-board he saw markers for ground based drones coming from an oblique angle close to pod delta-three. The aerial drones were already being targeted by the PDCs. He estimated that the group of assault drones would pass by Delta-Three a few minutes before they would be within weapons range of his pod.

  “O’gren, do you have coms with delta-three?” He asked as he stepped out into the trenches, finding that the trench-works were well underway. According to his map, they had made alternating turns to keep enemies from being able to clear a trench in one go.

  His external mikes picked up on weapons fire coming from pod delta-three’s direction. “Lieutenant Nickelson says they are engaged with the drones and could use some backup if available.” O’gren replied.

  “Understood, private.” Wolf said, switching channels to speak directly with Ni’lan. “Ni’lan, send whoever we can spare to assist pod Delta-three in the perimeter defense.”

  “Copy sir.” He said. Wolf used his command authority to maintain comms with Ni’lan to be sure he knew who the man sent. “Henderson, take your fire-team to back up delta-three. We will be right behind you with the trench, so don’t go making us dig any of you a grave. We ain’t got time for that.”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Henderson chuckled darkly. “Copy,” he said, quickly organizing his fire-team to move at a run to engage the approaching threat.

  Henderson’s team had just gotten out of sight when O’gren called again. “Incoming missiles, PDC’s firing watch where you’re looking.” Wolf then got an alarm that O’gren was pinging him directly.

  “Go ahead, O’gren.” Wolf said as he began moving to pick up one of the dropped quick-crete applicator as Inulb was a member of Henderson’s fire-team. He checked his suit to be sure of where Inulb left off and continued the pass down the trench.

  “Sir, I have an update from Nickelson. He advises we break out the anti-armor weapons. Some of those ground based drones are heavily armored and are shrugging off small arms fire like it’s just a light rain.”

  Wolf cursed before acknowledging the info and calling Ni’lan. “You get the updated info on the drones?”

  The sergeant was confused for a moment before growling. “Yes, sir.” He then called, “Hissorak, run a pair of launchers to Fire-team bravo.”

  Wolf turned away and focused on his job, keeping one eye on the incoming drones on his map. Nearly an hour passed before Wolf received an update, though the weapons fire ended about twenty minutes ago. By that point, Wolf had finished one full application of quick-crete on the initial portion of the trench near the drop pod and had moved on to the rest of the trench.

  “Lieutenant, we have an update from Delta-Three. They successfully repelled the drone assault with only minor injuries. They are now completing their trench to Alpha-One. We should also see the trench crew from Bravo-Six in four minutes if they maintain their current pace.”

  “Understood, Private. What’s the status on your helmet repairs?” he asked, wanting to get as many guns on the line as possible before a full assault hit their position.

  “Ni’lan is working with the pod AI, tweaking the fabricator to remove the damaged components and print some replacements. It should be ready in another thirty minutes,” O’gren replied, his tone uneasy.

  “Copy. Let them know the initial bunker under the pod is dug out, and quick-crete is applied. We’re ready for the comms wire from Bravo-Six,” he said, then pinged Nakamura. “I need an ETA for completing the trench and getting that com-wire hooked up.”

  “We have another forty meters until we’re linked up with their under-pod bunker, sir,” Nakamura said, huffing even with the power assist from the suit.

  “Understood. Once you’re done, check in with Ni’lan for watch assignments… though I’d say catch your breath first, don’t want him deciding the platoon’s fitness has taken a hit,” he said, shuddering at the supplemental training he had been forced into because of that man. Closing the channel, he consoled himself with the fact he had never seen one of the platoon’s LTs join those hell marches, aside from the ones new to the outfit. Climbing into the pod, Wolf watched for a moment as Ni’lan fiddled with the fabricator, only pinging him when he took a step back.

  “Sergeant, have you figured out the fix?” he asked, stepping up beside the man.

  “I think so, sir. We’ll see in a moment if it works,” he replied, gesturing at the helmet.

  “Understood. I’ll take over working with the AI for a fix. I need you to create a watch rotation for our position. Put me on first watch.” He ordered.

  “Copy, sir, I’ll get it done,” he replied, moving over to one of the communication consoles to coordinate with their neighbors.

  Pinging the pod’s AI, he said, “Delta-Two, give me a quick rundown on the repairs.”

  “There was severe damage to both the comms array and the external sensor suite on the helmet. Using components from the coms array, I can repair either the sensor-suite or the comms array. Sergeant Ni’lan was unsure which would be best at this time and directed me to extract the components in preparation for a final decision,” it replied.

  Thinking about it, he asked, “Could the sensor suite be modified to act as a rudimentary receiver for a laser link? If so, while he would have to use the external speakers, he could at least maintain coms without sacrificing his sensors.”

  “Checking required specs… one moment.” Delta-Two said. After a few moments, it responded, “I am capable of implementing the needed modification without a large degradation to suit’s sensor capabilities. Is this option the one you wish to pursue?”

  “One more question. Can the suit use the pod sensors for targeting via the laser link? If so, implement the fix. If not, we’ll have to deal with using external speakers for the duration.” Wolf said, waiting for the AI to respond.

  “One moment… According to projected simulations, the fix would allow the use of pod sensors for targeting, with only a degradation in accuracy beyond seven to nine hundred meters, when not using pod sensors. Suit sensors would also lose clarity for a moment when receiving directed laser communications.”

  Turning to Ta’lek, he asked, “Corporal, how is O’gren’s condition?”

  “He’s tough. He’ll be ready for duty as soon as his helmet is fixed. Any complications from his concussion can be mitigated with limited medical intervention, though he’ll need proper medical attention once we get the FOBS on the ground,” she said.

  “What kind of complications are we looking at?” Wolf asked, suppressing the urge to glance at the man in question.

  “Nothing too severe. Headaches, light nausea, possibly some mild weakness. All of that can be managed with either medication or his suit,” she replied, unconcerned.

  “Good, I have a feeling we will need as many guns on the line as possible before the FOBS lands,” Wolf confided in her.

  “LT, we have the comms cable from Bravo-Six and Delta-Three hooked up. Sensor feeds from six other pods were confirmed a few seconds ago,” O’gren reported before muttering, “Looks like we’re a bit more scattered than planned.”

  Wolf held up a hand to forestall Ni’lan’s reprimand and said, “This your first drop, O’gren?” Wolf already knew the answer but had found that asking usually put the boot at ease.

  “Yes, sir. I barely finished my training in the ship’s sim room before I was assigned to your platoon,” he replied.

  Wolf grimaced, glad that his helmet had a fully enclosed faceplate. “Follow your training and listen to Sergeant Ni’lan, and you should make it out of here,” he said.

  Before O’gren could respond, the fabricator chimed. “The repairs to Private O’gren’s helmet are complete and ready for final adjustments.” Wolf moved over to the fabricator and grabbed the helmet, bringing it over to O’gren.

  “Put it on and work with the AI to work out any bugs before you take a watch on the line. I’ll take over the sensor console while you’re busy,” Wolf said, gesturing for him to get up. Taking the vacated seat, Wolf used the recessed wire in his suit’s forearm to form a wired connection with the pod’s systems, transmitting the sensor feed directly into his mind via the implant.

  It took him a few moments to adjust to the veritable tsunami of information being shunted through his brain. The first time he had used the system, it felt like trying to force an ocean through a garden hose. In the end, he was laid up for almost twelve hours. When he asked about it later, he was told that it was similar to having a seizure but without the same detrimental effects. Somehow, the implant helped to regulate the neurons. So even if the brain started to overload, it would just knock you out. At least, that’s what he understood. The doc had used more technical language that went way over his head.

  Turning his attention to the sensor feed, he felt the connection of each pod. The newest addition gave off a satisfying feeling he couldn’t quite describe. Once the thirteenth pod was linked, the group formed a dome of sensor coverage extending one kilometer for precise monitoring and two to three kilometers for early detection. He was also tracking the soldiers from all the other pods, as well as spotting several drones just on the edge of the sensor’s range. Tagging them in the system, Wolf let the pod AIs designate which pod would engage what targets.

  After a moment, he got a ping from the command pod, and the sensor feed cut off. He materialized sitting at a conference table with two other lieutenants and Captain Ult’an, the man in overall command of the operation. Sitting up a little straighter, he waited for one of the other lieutenants to plug in and join the briefing. To Wolf’s surprise, Ult’an didn’t wait, beginning the briefing four short.

  “We are already down seven pods, and the imps have probed our lines before we were ready. To answer what all of you are wondering… yes, four of those pods held section leaders. Unfortunately, one also held my XO,” he said with a hint of exhaustion.

  “I think Intel dropped the ball. The imps obviously have a more permanent presence than we thought,” he continued. “In that regard, I want someone in your sectors plugged into the sensor net at all times to coordinate the defenses.”

  With a wave of his arm, a three-dimensional map of the LZ materialized on the table, divided into three mostly even slices. “Wolf, you are in charge of Sector Charlie,” he ordered. “Copy,” Wolf replied, clenching a fist as he focused on the map. His implant highlighted one of the slices, where four pods were slowly strobing.

  “Yak’eln, you’re in charge of Sector Bravo. Delamd, you have Sector Alpha. I will coordinate between all sectors as needed to ensure personnel and supplies are used as efficiently as possible. We won’t be getting any more ammo or fuel until the engineers land with their equipment, so make every round and watt of power count,” he said, then looked at every person at the table.

  “We have another thirteen hours before the engineers drop, so I want those trenches reinforced, with hardened firing positions built between pods for the heavy weapons teams. Make sure they can coordinate with the pod PDCs and anti-personnel kinetics. You should all know how hungry those systems are, so make sure they are used as little as possible. If there are any questions or concerns, send me a ping with them and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Dismissed.”