Night Shriekers Read online

  ‘Sir,’ Yakleva said, ‘surely we can move in ahead of the t’au to pick her up?’

  Rathven turned. ‘Squadron Leader Yakleva, you may be an ace in the air but do not for a moment overestimate your part in this conversation. In fact,’ he turned back to Groneva, ‘this is not even a conversation. The rescue mission is scrubbed.’

  ‘Sir,’ Groneva said, ‘we are losing too many pilots. We need to rescue all those we can.’

  ‘That’s right, wing commander,’ Rathven said, ‘you are losing too many pilots in this conflict. The Imperial Guard will engage the t’au on the ground without air support. The Navy will keep out of the way.’ And without further comment, he turned and left the office.

  Groneva stared at the open doorway. ‘Crotchety old bastard,’ she said. ‘He’s just frustrated because the Guard are essentially neutered in this campaign. His pride is what’s really keeping this battle on the ground, and trying to fight on Raskova without air support is stupidity.’

  ‘Ma’am,’ Maranova said, ‘permission to speak freely.’

  ‘Oh please,’ Groneva said, ‘spit it out.’

  ‘Matlova died protecting me. It’s my fault Nazoya ejected. I don’t want to be responsible for another KIA, especially not my friend.’

  ‘You heard the colonel,’ Groneva said, sitting in the high-backed chair behind her desk, ‘the mission is scrubbed. We will not be rescuing Nazoya. There’s nothing I can do.’ She picked up a dataslate from her desk and began reading.

  ‘That’s right, ma’am. There’s nothing you can do.’ Maranova looked at Yakleva, who was watching her carefully. ‘Perhaps there’s something we can do.’

  Groneva lowered the dataslate. ‘What are you suggesting, pilot officer?’

  ‘Ma’am,’ Maranova said. ‘Nazoya is expecting a Valkyrie to come and pick her up. Perhaps we can,’ she thought carefully about how to phrase her words, ‘ensure one arrives.’

  Groneva leaned forward in her chair and made solid eye contact with Maranova. ‘Are you telling me you’d like to steal a Valkyrie, pilot officer?’

  ‘No, ma’am.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘We’d only be borrowing it.’

  Groneva’s mouth twisted in contemplation. ‘It has been a while since the base garrison had an attack drill. They’re probably due for one, especially if an enemy attack could be imminent. Still, you understand I have to order you not to do this?’

  ‘That’s fine, ma’am,’ Yakleva said. ‘She’s not particularly good at following orders.’

  Raskova had no moon and that, together with the density of dust in the atmosphere, meant the nights were incredibly dark. The enormous eyes of the nocturnadons were perfectly adapted to the low light; they could spot movement on the ground even from high above and swoop down before their prey even knew they were there. And just like a true night shrieker, Maranova would use the darkness to her advantage. When she’d returned to her barracks, she’d found a note left discreetly in her footlocker. It had stated only a time.

  Maranova waited beside a Munitorum warehouse. From there she could see the hardstand where the lines of Valkyries waited. The front row were plugged into power carts, engines already primed, ready for the scramble call to protect the airbase. Maranova crouched and waited for the heavy sun to sink below the horizon.

  When darkness came the lumen towers around the airbase lit up, but the dusty air meant light diffused quickly. The Valkyrie hardstand sat between two towers and there were plenty of shadows to move through.

  Maranova was sure she could make it to an aircraft and climb in undetected – of course, that would change once she fired up the engines. She’d never flown a Valkyrie and had to hope she could get airborne and away before the base’s garrison of Imperial Guard decided to shoot her out of the sky.

  Two hours after the fall of night, when the skies of Raskova had well and truly been given over to the nocturnadons, the wing commander’s distraction was revealed. Vox-casters mounted high on towers around the airbase began to blast a rising and falling siren, and then an announcement. ‘Alert – all active troopers to sector west three – alert.’

  Maranova watched the Guardsmen ambling along the line of Valkyries look at each other and jog away.

  As soon as they had left, Maranova made to move forward, but a sudden grip on her arm stopped her. She started and turned to see Yakleva.

  ‘Wait,’ the squadron leader said. ‘This is a response drill. They know it’s not a real attack and the troops won’t be in a rush.’

  ‘Ma’am,’ Maranova said, ‘what are you doing here?’

  Yakleva cocked an eyebrow. ‘You think the wing commander only sent you that message? Please, rookie. If we’re doing this, I’m flying the damn Valkyrie.’

  ‘Ma’am,’ Maranova said, ‘you are far more important to the war effort than I am. You shouldn’t be doing this.’

  ‘I’ve made my decision, pilot officer, and I won’t be second guessing it.’

  Maranova smiled. ‘I didn’t think you had it in you to be reckless, ma’am.’

  ‘You think this is reckless?’

  ‘We’re about to steal an Imperial Guard Valkyrie so we can disobey orders and rescue a downed pilot out from between two converging ground forces. That seems reckless to me.’

  ‘There’s a difference between being reckless and being daring,’ Yakleva said. ‘That difference is the reason I have shot down thirteen t’au aircraft and lived. Air combat is a balance between daring and control, Maranova. Too many pilots come in hot-headed and get themselves killed. You’re a good pilot, but so is everyone who flies a Thunderbolt. If you want to be great, you need to learn when to be restrained and when not to be. The reckless thing is not stealing this Valkyrie – the reckless thing would be letting you do it alone. Come on.’

  The pair of them kept low, Maranova following Yakleva’s lead as she moved across to the hardstand, keeping to the darkness as much as possible. They slid in between two of the aircraft and crouched down. Yakleva peered out to check their surroundings.

  ‘Those troopers will be debriefed after responding to the drill but they won’t stay gone for long. I’ll get prepped, get the power cart going for air-start.’

  Maranova checked the thick cable coming from the starter cart to the side of the Valkyrie and switched it on. She looked up and saw Yakleva through the canopy. The squadron leader strapped herself into the pilot’s seat and threw a thumbs up. Maranova returned it. The Valkyrie’s turbojets began to spin. With a loud pop the combustion chambers burst to life, puffs of black smoke shot from the exhausts and the engines began to roar. Maranova pulled the starter cable out from the connection in the fuselage and slammed the hatch shut. She climbed in the open side door and moved through the troop compartment to head for the co-pilot’s seat. Even over the turbojets spooling up to full power, Maranova could hear shouting, people alerted by the sound.

  She was going to take the co-pilot’s spot but Yakleva waved her back as she pushed up the throttle. ‘Get on a door gun,’ Yakleva said. ‘Last reports are the t’au are close to Nazoya’s position. We might need the cover.’

  Maranova stumbled as the Valkyrie lurched, the vertical vector thrust forcing the aircraft up into the air. Maranova grabbed on to the nearest floor-mounted heavy bolter to catch her balance. The Valkyrie rose high enough that Maranova saw Imperial Guard troopers and Imperial Navy ground crew pounding down the runway towards them. Yakleva rotated the Valkyrie’s engines for forward flight and rolled the aircraft deftly as its forward momentum took over. They roared away from Lipka Airbase, and those on the ground could do nothing but watch them go.

  Yakleva flew the Valkyrie fast and low over the rough terrain. Sitting in the open side door, even at such low altitudes, Maranova could barely make out the ground. It flashed by as a greyscale blur broken only by some lighter sections of raised rock an
d the deeper darkness of crevasses and canyons.

  ‘I’ve got a strong lock on Nazoya’s tracking beacon, thirty seconds out.’ Yakleva’s voice came through the headset Maranova had grabbed off the wall; it was hardwired into the Valkyrie’s internal vox-system for crew-to-crew communication. ‘She’s moving fast. I’ve also got massed movement on the sensors – the t’au ground force is nearly on her. We’re coming up on the friendly Astra Militarum force now.’

  Ahead, with their lumens bright to guide them over the dark and treacherous terrain, close to thirty Chimera transports and a dozen battle tanks tore over the ground in an extended Aquila formation, long plumes of dust billowing out behind them. Maranova leaned out of the door to look down at them as they approached.

  ‘Unidentified Valkyrie, this is Operations. You are ordered to deviate your flight path and return to base.’ Maranova heard the all-channels vox transmission over her headset and knew Yakleva would be hearing it in the cockpit, as would the Imperial Guard units thundering along below them.

  ‘Unidentified Valkyrie, this is Operations, respond or you will be declared rogue.’

  Yakleva did not reply.

  ‘Astra Militarum Strike Force Defiance, this is Operations, you are cleared to engage unidentified Valkyrie.’

  ‘What? They’re actually going to fire on us!’ Maranova said. ‘So much for friendly.’

  ‘Hold on,’ Yakleva said from the cockpit, ‘they’ve got Hydra flak tanks. This is going to get bumpy.’

  The Valkyrie roared over the Imperial Guard forces and Yakleva immediately banked hard, Maranova grabbing on to the handrail to keep from being thrown out the open door.

  True to their orders, the Hydra flak tanks spun their roof-mounted autocannon turrets and began firing. The air around the Valkyrie erupted with bursting anti-aircraft shells.

  Maranova was almost thrown from the Valkyrie again as they began plummeting towards the ground. ‘Are we hit?’ Maranova yelled over the rushing wind and bursting flak fire.

  ‘Negative. I’m taking us into that ravine to get us cover. We’ll come up near Nazoya.’

  ‘You’re going into a ravine?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘At night?’

  ‘We are Night Shriekers, Maranova, this is when we hunt. It looks like Nazoya is deviating from the path of the t’au force. When I bring us up, hit the searchlights and get ready on the gun just in case.’

  The Valkyrie turned as it dived, descending towards the barely visible landscape, dropping below the eruptions of fire from the Hydra tanks. Maranova felt a flutter of fear as they plunged towards the dark ground but had to remind herself that Yakleva, with the instruments in the cockpit, would be well equipped to avoid collision with the rocky ground. Through the side door Maranova saw the horizon and the sky disappear, replaced by the dark wall of a ravine whipping past at frightening velocity. She was about to call out and ask if Yakleva could see where she was going but stopped herself. She had to trust; besides it might be better if she didn’t know.

  But Maranova had little to fear. She may have been piloting an unfamiliar aircraft but Yakleva expertly manoeuvred the Valkyrie along the twists and turns between the narrow walls of the ravine.

  ‘Auspex shows the two forces are just about on each other,’ Yakleva said over the vox. ‘They’re going to meet either side of the ravine. Stand by. We’re approaching Nazoya’s location.’

  Maranova felt the Valkyrie slow. Yakleva rotated the engines vertically and brought the Valkyrie to a hover in the ravine. Now that the wall was no longer whipping by, Maranova could see the sheer face of it broken up by cracks and occasional rocky ledges. It was closer than she’d imagined. Yakleva really was a hell of a pilot.

  Maranova could hear the reverberating boom of the battle cannons on the Astra Militarum’s Leman Russ tanks. They had engaged the enemy. The darkness of the night was lit up with flashes like horizontal lightning and it was clear the t’au were firing back.

  ‘Tracking beacon is approaching. Ready?’ Yakleva asked.

  ‘I’m ready.’

  Maranova leaned to the wall beside her and flicked a switch. Intense lumen lamps on the Valkyrie’s fuselage ignited and the darkness of the ravine wall was suddenly illuminated. The bright light momentarily overwhelmed Maranova’s vision; she felt the upward acceleration of the Valkyrie, and as her eyes adjusted, the rock wall disappeared as they flew up and out of the ravine. Through the purple afterimages across her vision, Maranova saw the dry, flat plain beyond.

  In the middle distance she could see the approaching t’au ground forces. Hammerhead tanks skimmed across the ground using the t’au’s accursed technology, firing bright beams from their ion cannons. Devilfish armoured personnel carriers roared along with them, constantly changing direction, making it difficult for the Leman Russ tanks to score direct hits. Columns of rock and dust exploded into the air as a Devilfish slid sideways with movement impossible for a tracked vehicle like those of the Imperial forces.

  ‘Do you see her?’ Yakleva shouted over the vox.

  Maranova pulled her eyes away from the battle taking place in front of them and searched the ground. Then she saw Nazoya, appearing at the edge of the light, sprinting at full speed towards them. And as if she’d known all along that a Valkyrie would rise like a blessing from the Emperor out of the canyon, she didn’t even break stride. She continued to run for the edge of the ravine.

  ‘I see her,’ Maranova called back.

  Nazoya had managed to avoid the main conflict and the enemy appeared not to have noticed the single Valkyrie that had flown in under cover of the ravine to pick her up. Maranova silently cursed Colonel Rathven and the Imperial Guard brass. They would have left Nazoya out here to die. They’d just proven there was little risk in a search and rescue mission.

  As Nazoya approached, Maranova’s attention was drawn to movement in her peripheral vision, something in the rocky darkness just beyond the Valkyrie’s searchlight, but when she glanced over there was nothing. Nazoya was almost to the ravine and yet a feeling of unease was growing in Maranova’s chest – a feeling that proved well founded when the air at the edge of the searchlight shimmered, almost like heat haze. Maranova had seen this before in the fight against the Barracudas. The air itself seemed to solidify, and then suddenly there were three t’au stealth battlesuits standing in a row, facing the hovering Valkyrie. The red lenses in their bulbous helmets glowed eerily as the elite warriors lifted the enormous burst cannons fitted to their arms and levelled them at the assault carrier.

  ‘Throne!’ Maranova called as the multi-barrelled burst cannons opened fire and the night was lit up by the blue-white glow of superheated plasma. Maranova took cover, the blasts causing the metal of the fuselage to bubble and evaporate away. One shot hit an engine nacelle and melted it. A second shot penetrated the engine itself and the Valkyrie lurched; flames shot in an orange tail from the exhaust until Yakleva shut down the engine. The Valkyrie dropped dangerously close to the ravine floor as the single remaining engine fought to keep it aloft.

  Maranova grabbed the cocking handle on the side of the heavy bolter and pulled it back. Grabbing the dual handles, she pivoted the weapon to aim at the stealth suits and squeezed the trigger. The bolter erupted with a deafening chatter of fire as it sprayed mass-reactive rounds across the t’au troops. The recoil of every round reverberated with an intense kick through Maranova’s arms, her vision bouncing with each shot, but she kept her finger planted down on the trigger. The gun chewed through chain-guided rounds like a hungry beast.

  As Maranova tracked the weapon across the t’au they ceased firing, the air around them shimmered again, and the active camouflage of their stealth suits caused them to vanish. Dirt and rock chips flew into the air as heavy bolter rounds slammed into nothing but the ground.

  Maranova ceased firing. Nazoya had dropped to the rocky floor when the stealth
suits had opened fire but she took the opportunity to clamber to her feet again and sprint for the Valkyrie. She reached the edge of the ravine and was preparing to jump for the open doorway when shimmering air announced the reappearance of the stealth suits.

  Maranova flinched as a plasma shot struck the internal roof. She swung the heavy bolter back towards the repositioned t’au but she was too slow. As Nazoya took her final steps before throwing herself over the edge of the ravine, a burst cannon shot tore through one of her legs. Her leap towards the Valkyrie became a stumbling fall and she dropped off the edge of the ravine.

  ‘Naz!’ Maranova leaned forward to look down. A short distance away she saw Nazoya, lying on her side on one of the rocky ledges protruding from the cliff face. She was rolling from side to side, gripping the leg that had been all but sheared off. She was still alive but her ruined leg was creating an ever-growing pool of blood around her.

  The t’au battlesuits continued to pepper the Valkyrie with burst cannon rounds. It was an extraordinary amount of firepower to be unloaded by just three enemy troops.

  ‘We can’t stay here!’ Yakleva yelled from the cockpit.

  ‘I can get her,’ Maranova replied.

  ‘I have to pull us out!’

  ‘No!’ Maranova replied. ‘I’m not leaving her!’

  ‘Five seconds and I’m flying us out of this shit.’

  Maranova scrambled across the Valkyrie, trying to avoid the continued enemy fire. She reached up and pulled a standard-issue Imperial Guard medical kit from the wall and tore it open, ignoring the supplies that spilled across the floor. She only needed the tourniquet. She took it and shoved it into her pocket before sliding back across the compartment and grabbing a rope from a nearby hook. She tied it off to a load ring on the floor before, estimating how much she’d need, wrapping the other end several times around her waist. Tying the makeshift harness off as tightly and securely as she could, she moved out from cover into the doorway and, without hesitation, she jumped.