A Little Rebellion: Crimson Worlds III by Jay Allan

Author:Jay Allan [Allan, Jay]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: System 7 Publishing
Published: 2013-01-20T00:00:00+00:00

“General Sanders, I need a report. Any activity in the center?” Will hadn’t been happy when Gregory Sanders insisted on taking an active role in the new army, but the old man was simply too influential to refuse. It wasn’t cronyism like in the Alliance on Earth; it was respect. Greg Sanders was one of half a dozen people who had virtually built Arcadia from the ground up. If he thought his place was in this fight, no one – not Will, not Kara, not any of the other officers – felt they had a right to refuse him.

In spite of Thompson’s reservations, Sanders had proven to be a gifted commander, and now Will was glad to have him in the field. In fact, he’d made him second in command and put him in charge of the center.

“They’re shelling us, Will, but that’s about it.” Sanders sounded solid as a rock. “We’ve had some long range sniping, but even that’s calmed down.”

Fuck, Will thought, they’re not taking the bait. “Greg, they’re being cautious, not falling into the trap.” Thompson was thinking as he spoke, trying to decide what he wanted Sanders to do. “They are hitting us hard on the flanks, but we’re holding for the moment.” He took a deep breath, still thinking. “They are going to try to clear the ridges before they hit you…unless we force the issue.”

“You want us to attack?” Even Sander’s voice had been stone cold, but now he sounded surprised. There were 7,000 troops in the center, deployed in four supporting trench lines and protected by a mine belt. The entire formation was designed to hold out against superior enemy forces, inflicting enormous losses…as long as those forces were attacking. Once the enemy was heavily engaged and softened up, the flanking forces would sweep down and rout the exhausted federals, or at least that was the plan. But an attack by the rebels in the center would be suicide.

“Of course not.” Will was tentative, trying to put his thoughts into words. “But I do want you to make them think you’re attacking. Do you think you can mount a spoiling attack without committing too deeply?” Thompson paused. “They’re sitting on their asses, and we need to do something to get them moving.”

Sanders was silent…a bad sign. Usually the old man was quick with a response to any question. Finally, he said, “I don’t know, Will. We can attack, but I don’t know how easy it will be to pull back. We might get caught up in something we can’t get out of too easily.” He paused again, and Will could hear his heavy breathing. “And if those tanks catch us out in the open…”

“I know.” Will was frustrated. Damn Merrick, he thought…we have to get the one good general in the whole fucking Alliance army. His comlink buzzed with an incoming message flashing urgent. “OK, stand by, Greg. I’ve got Kyle Warren calling in.”

He flipped the switch on his headpiece. “Thompson here.”

“General, we’ve got a firestorm here.

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