The Constant Star (40)

THE STORY SO FAR

Bear pulls the pins on two smoke grenades and drops them at either side of his position, then lobs two flash-bangs toward the voices. He hears them go off then makes a break for the woods nearby, diving between the trees as gunfire finds him again. He rolls and runs through the foliage, the flickering darkness and his black suit making it difficult for his pursuers to pinpoint him. He follows the pathway in his visor as it gently curves back toward his main target, the guards pick up on where he is going and split up: one team keeps up pursuit and the other makes a bee-line for the hack-site. Bear drops motion triggered stun grenades then ducks into a ditch for cover. Two of his pursuers take the brunt of the blast, a third is knocked on his back, and a fourth is protected by a tree. Bear shoots the fourth in the femur, and rams her head into the tree, knocking her unconscious. The third is turning to shoot but Bear leaps on him and pins him to the ground. He takes the man’s gun and strikes him with the butt, knocking him out also. The other two are groaning and trying to get up, Bear quickly disarms them and ties them together, “I told you. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Fuck you…Ghost…kill-team do it…for you.”

“No. I didn’t know about them. I’m not calling this in.”

“Fuckin’…Slaver…”

He takes off running again, back on target. Now they know he’s coming they are the ones behind cover, but he knows their aim is shaky at best. Bear decides to risk it and sprints from the tree line across the grass to get behind a rock wall. Gunfire comes close but the distance is still too great for his opponents to be accurate. He sprints again to where one of the guards is hiding, managing to leap over their cover and put a gun to her head. He pulls her to the other side of the wall before her friends start shooting again, “What are you doing, slaver? I’d rather they kill me than your kill-team.”

“Just shut up. I seriously have no intention of killing you.” He ties her hands and feet, “And no, I’m not going to call it in. I just have a mission to do.”

He tosses a flash-bang and circles around the cover. Now they don’t know where he is, he prepares his EMP grenade and tosses it to the target. The explosion hits the hack-site and his visor shows a successful disabling. Bear sighs in relief and heads back to the Pegasus hearing shouts of the guards fading away, looking for him in the dark.

32

Intelligence gathering. That was his specialty. That’s what helped him rise through the ranks. Knowing is half the battle, and Jupiter always made sure to know as much as possible. Even now he studies his team’s movements as they work their way undetected behind enemy lines. He picks out how each one moves, noting any indicators of injury or weakness. He notes how they talk to one another, how their body language shows what they truly mean. He sees how their enemy are positioned and what kind of training they are likely to have. He sees their weaponry and technology and reads their morale by their attentiveness and communication.

Intelligence gathering. Insert yourself into the area you want to investigate and be invisible. Or, better yet, be an accepted part of the group with your intentions invisible.

They move silently through buildings and under streets, circumventing guards and lookouts. The rebellion training is not much to speak of, but their weaponry is adequate and in some cases imaginative. Modifications made for greater range or damage. There are definitely gifted inventors and engineers among their ranks. But how did they get the weaponry they have? And how are such ill-trained people able to hold out against Mars’ security forces?

They pass over bodies in the streets. Starting to rot, the stench is disturbing. One of the troops stops over a man wearing a security uniform, a gunshot wound has removed most of his face but he recognizes his dead friend. His captain speaks quietly, “Keep moving soldier. Avenge his death by fulfilling the mission. Move.”

The young man reluctantly passes over the body as Jupiter follows at the back of the troop. Siff had cried about ‘Brainers’ and wearable tech. If anything could be affecting their minds…could she have been referring to the protocol chip? He checks the body and finds the chip still intact at the back of the man’s armor. Jupiter quickly removes it and puts it away in his gear before following the team to the artillery line.

Their captain splits them in teams of two and sends them with explosives to plant on the underside of the artillery. They set out moving silently between ammunition storage and rubble, fulfilling their mission as if they were invisible, completely unnoticed as they cross the enemy lines. With the explosives set, they begin their journey back to base, checking out sniping positions and marking them for the coming assault. The ones in their path they silently kill by garroting and leave in position, to make it look at worst that they have gone to sleep on duty. It is invigorating to be out on the field and put his training to use, but it is heartbreaking to kill so many and to see so many dead because of this war.

By the time they make it out of enemy lines and across no-man’s-land, they have killed eight snipers and marked eight more. Not to mention the explosives they have planted on the artillery. There are cheers and smiles when the team enters the base. The captain smacks Jupiter on the back, “I wasn’t sure what to expect of you, Sir, but that was some damn fine work. Will you eat with us before

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