We charged into the portal.

  CHAPTER 19

  It was more than a little tempting to stay in the void. There was no war here. No struggle. No pain. The pull of the chaos energy held my attention like the newest triple-A video game, and for a moment I almost forgot why I had entered the void in the first place.

  It was Sheri who pulled me out of it, shouting at me to wake up like we were still in high school together and late to catch the bus. The memory snapped me out of the seductive malaise, bringing the other end of the portal into focus. I pushed us to it, stepping onto Fireline’s drop bay and quickly moving forward to allow the others to come through. Tsu was strapped in at the front of the bay, and she looked at me, impressed but not surprised.

  “Just in time, Captain,” she said as I stopped playing and closed the portal behind me, confident now I could regain the chaos energy quickly enough to give myself a break. “Two more seconds,” she added, “and you would’ve been left behind. Better grab a harness, I expect a bumpy ride.”

  “Do you have the slab?” I asked as Ki, Sheri, and the others quickly moved into the available stations, which matched the ones they had just left on Head Case. Ixy affixed herself to the deck with webbing.

  Tsu raised her left hand, which held the slab. Tapping the screen, she turned it to face me, holding it steady with her other hand. Fireline’s camera feeds appeared, showing me space directly outside the dropship.

  Prestige’s hangar doors opened in front of us, the battle raging in space just outside. Streams of energy blasts zipped past from every direction, the largest and heaviest from Prestige’s batteries, which had been firing non-stop for over three minutes now. We were the last dropship out of the gate. The first three would hopefully reach the planet, but they were also intended to draw nearby enemy starfighters away from us. As much as I disliked using them that way, I was precious cargo. As much as it turned my stomach, I needed to make it to the surface more than any of the Royal Marines fighting alongside me.

  “Hold on tight!” Tsu cried just before Fireline’s pilot hit the mains, sending the dropship rocketing forward across the hangar bay. I had seen the ships from outside while we were on Privilege. Similar in shape to the Sanguine gunship but nearly four times the size, they held up to a hundred Marines in anything from scout armor to full exoskeletons, plus a squad of a dozen mechs.

  Our dropship only carried a quarter of the foot soldiers, but a full complement of the heavy humanoid machines. Their job was to get us from the landing site into the installation’s entrance alive. And of course, the dropships weren’t lacking in armament, though their load-out was optimized for atmospheric use over a zero-g environment.

  We hadn’t even reached the hangar doors when an enemy fighter swooped in, vectoring toward us in an apparent kamikaze run. Reacting almost instinctively, I ripped off a chord on my guitar, not even trying to play anything. The sound keyed me into the resonance of chaos, and I pulled it in, activating my construct just in time to separate the incoming fighter. It tore in half just ahead of the dropship, each side spinning out of control and slamming into the armored sides of Prestige.

  “What the…” the Marine closest to me said, able to watch the slab almost as closely as I could. “Whoooo. Rock ‘n’ Roll forever. Hell yeah!” He grinned widely when I glanced at him, offering a thumbs up.

  I planted my eyes back on the slab as we cleared the hangar, making a hard turn to starboard and dropping into the atmosphere. Checking the rear-view feed, I caught a glimpse of Head Case in the distance, pinpointing it by the gout of immolating fire bathing a nearby corvette while the damaged sigilship struggled to close the gap between itself and Head Case.

  “Nice shooting, Duchess!” I applauded through my comms. “Commander Volker, Fireline is away. Don’t stay any longer than you have to.”

  “I’ll see you safely to the ground, Captain,” Volker replied. “Thank you for easing up the traffic out here. You and yours have already rebalanced our tonnage disadvantage.”

  “Glad to be of service,” I said. “Two more minutes, and then you’d better be on your way.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  “Captain Murdock,” Major Nori said. “Dropship Alfa’s reached the lower atmosphere, maneuvering on the target. Beta and Charlie aren’t far behind us.”

  “Copy that,” I replied. “All dropships, stay alert!”

  “Cap, I have bogeys closing in on you from orbit,” Matt warned, breaking through the comms. “At least twelve enemy starfighters working their tails off to get on your six.”

  “Tsu, get me a visual,” I said, unable to spot the fighters. She turned the slab slightly, tapping on the rear-view and zooming the image. The enemy starfighters came into view, sleek and angled as they dove down through the atmosphere to reach us.

  Multiple launchers tucked into the fuselage of each enemy starfighter fired missiles toward us, the orange-blue glow of their thrusters quickly growing larger as they approached. Fireline’s pilot launched countermeasures, the flares and chaff, cutting down half the leading projectiles. The rest snuck through our defenses, quickly driving toward the dropship’s burners. I pumped out the opening chords of Voodoo Child, excite detonating the first missile. The sudden disruption sent the other projectiles off course. I pulled one into another and pushed the last one too far off its vector for it to recover.

  “Take it easy, Boo,” Emerald warned from behind me. “You don’t want to burn out before we reach the ground.”

  It was good advice. My brow was already sweaty, and I knew things were only going to become more chaotic and challenging. Fortunately, the enemy missiles had all fallen short. Unfortunately, the enemy starfighters remained on our tail, sticking like glue despite everything the pilot tried to shake them off.

  Ion fire peppered Fireline’s aft, the energy blasts hitting the shields close to the vulnerable thrusters. The dropship shuddered and rolled, the frame popping and cracking as the pilot continued hard evasive maneuvers. I started playing my guitar again, sending chaos energy to my construct, ready to wrap the ship in a shield of reflect. Without the sigibellum, the action would burn me up within a minute, but what choice did I have? It wouldn’t matter if we didn’t make it to the ground.

  Before I could engage the action, Dropship Charlie appeared in the forward feed, pulling out of the dive. Charlie drifted perpendicular to our dive, offering the trailing enemy a whale-sized profile. Charlie opened fire with plasma and bullets, spraying the lane behind us once we were clear. The enemy starfighters returned fire, catching Charlie broadside and smashing into her shields. Still watching the rear feed, I lost sight of the starfighters behind the dropship, save for the glow of their launched projectiles angling toward the Royal Marine dropship.

  “What is Charlie doing?” I whispered, jaw clenched as a pair of fireballs appeared where two of the enemy fighters had been.

  “Saving your bacon, Captain,” Tsu replied, glaring sternly at me. “You’d better make it worth their sacrifice.”

  A series of bigger fireballs enveloped Charlie, the projectiles all hitting their mark and punching through its weakened shields. One second the dropship was there and in the next it was gone. Obliterated.

  “Damn it!” I shouted, slamming my fist against the body of the guitar without ill effect. “They didn’t have to do that. I could have—”

  “—used up all your juju before we hit the dirt?” Tsu finished for me. “I don’t care if I live or die today, Murdock. But I’m damn sure I want to win.”

  Her statement turned my distress into desire. “Copy that,” I replied. “So do I.”

  “Alfa had to abort their landing,” Major Nori announced, voice rough over the dropship’s comms. “The ground defenses are heavier than expected. “Beta, Delta, prepare for HALO. Alfa’s deploying now, but…” He paused. “We just lost Alfa.”

  Two dropships down, and we hadn’t even come close to landing. My heart started pounding, suddenly nervous we wouldn’t make it to the surface.

  “HALO?” I heard Sheri ask.

  “High-altitude, low-opening,” Quasar replied. “Don’t worry, the whole thing’s automated. The floor’s going to open up beneath the columns and drop us out. Just hold on tight and enjoy the ride.”

  “Captain, you need to strap into a pod,” Tsu said to me.

  “What about Shaq and Ixy?” I asked.

  “They won’t fit in the restraints. They’ll have to stay behind.”

  “Fitsss,” Ixy said, moving to one of the upright restraint systems and wrapping her legs around it. She began webbing the seat, securing her place in it. “Shaqsss. Comesss.”

  “Go ahead, bud,” I said when he hesitated. “I’ll meet you down there.”

  He hopped off my shoulder, joining Ixy and letting her web him in under one of her pedipalps. “Don’t eat me,” he buzzed in decent English.

  “Spoilsssportsss,” Ixy replied, clacking in laughter.

  “Captain, next to me,” Tsu said, pointing to the pod. I slipped past her, lifting my guitar away from the bar as it lowered in front of me.

  “I’m going to hate this,” I said as she tucked the slab into a pocket on her armor and secured herself in the pod beside me.

  “I can’t say I won’t enjoy that after you stole my armor and locked me in a cell,” she replied. “I am sorry about giving you crap over Privilege though. Commander Volker set the record straight. You seem like a good guy, Murdock. Maybe once this is over, you and I can get a drink somewhere.”

  It was a strange time to be hit on. I glanced at her, hunting my mind for an excuse. “Let’s survive this first,” I said.

  She laughed out loud, likely because of my burning face. “You’re adorable, Captain. And a badass. It’s a good combination.”

  A series of tones played in the compartment as the dropship shook violently. I didn’t need to see outside to know the ship was taking fire.

  “What do the tones mean?” I asked, just before the system recognized I didn’t have a helmet and dropped a mask over my face, pumping in oxygen.

  “It’s a countdown to drop,” she replied, announcing each sound. “Five. Four. Three.”

  Even though she hadn’t reached zero, the floor vanished beneath me and I started to fall.

  CHAPTER 20

  I had never liked roller coasters, and for as much as flying Head Case felt like being on one sometimes, it was still different enough that I enjoyed the experience. It was all about control. Not necessarily my own, but the control of someone I trusted, like Matt. Plummeting from the belly of a dropship from ten miles up with no ability to control my descent scared the hell out of me, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.

  I screamed, maybe a bit like a girl, as I fell, my screams matching Sheri’s, our combined wailing drowned out by whooping from George and Emerald. The two of them sounded like they were on the Splash Mountain ride at Disney World. In direct opposition, Marines on the other comm channel calmly passed coordinates and targeting information back and forth as if they were strolling through the park.

  I couldn’t transit onto Gloin because I had never been there, and had no idea what the area I wanted to access looked like to visualize it in my mind. The same wasn’t true in the opposite direction. As long as Prestige made it to the chosen coordinates and I kept enough fuel in reserve, we could get out much more easily than we would get in.

  “All assets are away,” Nori announced over the officer’s comms. “Dropships are transitioning to air support.”

  “Prestige is falling back,” Volker added. “T-minus one-thirty to egress.”

  I lifted my head, trying to see back up into orbit. The debris from Dropship Charlie floated overhead, falling with us but spreading out around our group as it descended. Beyond it, I could make out the massive form of Privilege, still spewing ion fire at the nearly thirty remaining corvettes. Now that the enemy had failed to stop the ground assault, they concentrated even more on the Royal Sentry, pounding every part of the powerful warship. I got another glimpse of Head Case, still in the fight, when another corvette erupted in flames.

  “Matt,” I gasped, sucking in the oxygen filtering through my mask in such huge gulps it exacerbated my headache and made me feel a bit lightheaded. I paused to calm myself before I hyperventilated enough to pass out. After a few seconds, the feeling of imminent death subsided enough to leave me with a strange sense of peace and freedom. Was this why people liked skydiving? It was actually kind of fun. Sheri’s cries had also died out as she’d obviously come to the same conclusion.

  “You still there, Cap?”

  “Yeah, sorry. Just a little out of breath. You need to retreat.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Matt replied. “We’ve got two more targets to clear, including that damn sigilship. Their commander’s decided the Sentry is a better target. I think they suspect you aren’t on Head Case anymore.”

  That made sense. Dryka could use the sigibellum, but not with the same energy I had. I was willing to bet Kritchek made regular check-ins with his contact, and when he didn’t keep his appointment they probably suspected we were on our way. They didn’t have enough time to bolster their defenses, but they did have time to prepare them.

  “Be careful,” I said, nervous about the Duchess’ ability to overcome the sigilship sigil-to-sigil. At least she had Matt to keep Head Case flying circles around the larger, less nimble vessel. Who would have guessed two months ago that he would become a better pilot than me? Especially considering his disinterested performance in Star Squadron!. “And good hunting. Let me know when you’re clear.”

  “Aye, Cap. Stay safe down there. See you soon.” He paused. “And, Ben.”

  I didn’t like his tone of voice. “Don’t,” I replied.

  “Whatever happens, you’re the best brother I could have ever wanted.”

  “Damnit, jerk. Don’t make me tear up while I’m HALO jumping into a war zone. But same back atcha, brother.”

  Sheri drew my attention away from the Hallmark moment when she started screaming again. It had a different tone than last time. Fear. But not of falling.

  An energy blast flashed past me, missing me only because the drop pod kicked in a vectoring thruster at the last moment, shoving me out of the way before slowing my descent. Ground fire suddenly enveloped the entire field of falling Marines, mechs, and Team Hondo as most of the enemy defenses worked to pick us out of the sky. Motion to my left drew my attention to a number of enemy starfighters launching missiles as they approached our flank.

  The drop pods released chaff and flares, creating a fireworks display all around us as Dropship Beta screamed past underneath, absorbing the ground fire while taking aim at the incoming fighters. Chainguns belched fire and metal, cutting through the enemy’s shields and taking out three of the fighters in one quick burst. Most of the missiles hit the decoys, exploding too close for comfort. Even closer, one hit the pod just below me, instantly killing the Marine.

  My fear over lack of control made a major comeback, my breathing tightening and accelerating as I continued to drop. We were still three or four miles from the surface, and judging by the burning splotches near the landing zone, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go there either.

  “We’re all gonna die!” Emerald shouted gleefully through the comms.

  For the first time, I started to believe it. Somehow, her lighthearted take made a violent end easier to accept.

  Dropship Delta roared past overhead, engaging the enemy starfighters, while Beta circled back around, attacking enemy assets on the ground to support the first group of Marines already on the surface. Marine gunfire flashed and echoed across the terrain in a fierce assault meant to distract enemy ground forces from us as we neared our LZ. Mechs and infantry pounded the defenses, which returned just enough firepower to hold back the Blue tide on the ground while they continued concentrating skyward, hoping to knock a few of us out of the sky while we were still vulnerable to attack.

  A strafing run by our own starfighters destroyed a few mobile ion cannons and scattered units arrayed among the rocky terrain, but didn’t fully succeed in protecting us. Rockets screamed up from the surface, streaking toward the mechs spread out above us. A loud, low thud from above pulsed painfully through my ears, and a few seconds later one of the armored mechs fell past, free-falling to its doom below.

  “Almost there,” Quasar said, her voice tight but calm. “The dropships are in support position, and the mechs will be in firing range any second. Hang in there, Team Hondo. We’re going to make it.”

  “To the ground maybe,” Sheri cried. “Then what?”

  “Then we save David,” Quasar answered, with so much conviction I believed it, no matter how impossible it seemed from up here. I got to enjoy that feeling for a few more seconds before fate turned it into a total jinx.

  The enemy units below fell silent. The energy blasts and rockets faded away. The starfighters pulled back. Dropship Beta approached the landing zone at low altitude, vectoring for a strafing run that should have created havoc on the ground. Instead, I watched in horror as the ship seemed to fall apart in mid-air, the nuts and bolts that held it together appearing to simply dissolve as it neared the enemy forces. From a kinetic mass of metal and energy, the dropship exploded outward into thousands of smaller parts, most of which continued on their trajectory to the rocky surface below. The rest hovered momentarily before they were pushed upward toward us, a sudden sea of projectiles peppering everything in their path. Within seconds, the entire front line of Marines was torn to shreds, their destroyed drop pods falling to impact the terrain below.

  Fortunately, only fragments struck my pod, pinging off the metal cage and ripping through the rear above my head and between my legs. A loud beeping and the loss of oxygen through my mask told me the pod was dead as my descent suddenly picked up speed.