‘Charges in the roof here,’ said Mkoll, indicating the second service-way.
‘Clear them,’ said Gaunt. ‘I’ll drop back to move the rest in. If we’re getting alternative routes, we need guidance.’
He started to walk back towards the borehole. Larkin began lining up on the third device.
Gaunt used his link to signal to Strike Beta. The first few units met him in the service-way.
The first clearance team to follow them in was led by Criid, with Leyr as scout and shot-caller, Banda as marksman and Mklaek as sweeper. Their flamer was being lugged by Domor’s adjutant Chiria. The second was led by Mktass, with Preed as scout, Raess as shooter and Brennan as sweeper. Sairus came in support with a flamer. Gaunt gave them instructions to proceed, and to link with Mkoll’s squad before dividing to open up the alternate access points. He underlined the need for caution, discipline and constant vigilance.
They listened carefully, and then moved up.
Sergeant Ewler appeared next, leading in the first of the combat troops from A and K Companies. Ezra was with them, and so was Kolding, carrying a medicae pack. Curth, as acting chief medicae, had insisted on riding with the Strike Alpha deployment, where the highest casualty rate was anticipated.
Behind them came the Suicide Kings.
Rawne had allowed Mabbon to lose everything but the manacles. The foot shackles had gone. Around the pheguth, Varl, Bonin, Brostin and the others stood ready.
‘How far have you got?’ asked Rawne.
‘Not far, and three devices disarmed already,’ replied Gaunt.
‘That’s good,’ said Mabbon.
They looked at him.
‘It’s what I would have expected,’ he explained, ‘so it suggests things haven’t changed much since I was last here. Also, it suggests that they’re relying on unmanned defences for these layers of the Reach.’
Gaunt nodded. This had been Mabbon’s assertion all along. The main Archenemy strengths guarding Salvation’s Reach were positioned around the primary docking areas and facilities. Subsidiary levels of the colossal structure, most of them unused, and many of them uncharted, had been mined and booby-trapped then left as unpatrolled deadzones. The Archenemy expected any significant attack to come from the front, which was why Gaunt had sent Strike Alpha in to knock on the main door and attract as much attention as possible.
The Archenemy did not particularly anticipate anyone having the patience, discipline, skill or technique to cut through the hull of the Reach and attempt an insertion through the mined levels. Even with the requisite levels of skill and discipline, such an undertaking would still be doomed to failure.
Unless you also had inside information. Unless you had reasonably accurate experiential data that told you where to cut, where to insert, and what to expect when you did.
Unless you had an etogaur of the Sons of Sek.
‘Let’s move forwards,’ said Gaunt. ‘Show me the way you’d take.’
They headed back in, overtaking the waiting troop advance and crossing the bridge. Mkoll’s squad had begun to clear a significant distance along the second service-way, neutralising three more devices in the time it had taken Gaunt to backtrack and lead the rest in. Criid’s team had begun to disarm bombs in the split vault. Mktass’s team was crossing the corroded gantry into the chamber full of dead machinery.
‘I think your man Mkoll has the best idea,’ said Mabbon.
‘He usually does,’ Gaunt replied. ‘It’s a gift.’
He turned to Rawne.
‘We’ll follow Mkoll’s team, but the other two routes may be viable. Let’s divide the troop force here and spread out.’
‘Maximising our chances?’ Rawne asked.
‘Minimising our losses,’ Gaunt replied.
‘Strike Beta is deployed,’ said Beltayn over the vox. ‘Full strength inside the Reach structure, though moving slowly.’
‘Understood,’ said Daur. He was pacing in frustration. The drill was taking forever to make the second cut.
‘Can’t they increase the rate?’ he asked Major Pasha.
She shook her head.
‘They say it would burn out the cutters,’ she replied.
‘It’s burning out my patience.’
She laughed, but there was a serious look on her face.
‘Please try to stabilise your mood, captain,’ she said. ‘Once we’re inside, we’re going to be moving through an environment loaded with improvised explosive devices, most on trembler or pressure switches. Patience is going to be our greatest virtue.’
‘I know, I understand,’ Daur replied. ‘But if we don’t cut in soon, we will be badly behind schedule. If Strike Beta reaches an impasse or hits opposition, and we’re not advancing as an alternative, then this mission is going to be a failure.’
‘Sometimes missions are failures,’ said Pasha. ‘That’s the nature of war.’
‘Forgive me, no,’ said Daur. ‘I mean no disrespect, and I understand a decent officer needs to keep a philosophical perspective on such matters. But you haven’t served with Gaunt before. You need to appreciate what he expects.’
Major Pasha frowned and nodded.
‘I also believe,’ said Daur, ‘that when a mission is this critical, it can’t be a failure.’
Nearby, behind the baffles and bombarded by the hideous screech and rattle of the working drill, Merrt rubbed at his neck.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Maggs.
‘It’s… gn… gn… gn… wearing off,’ said Merrt.
He’d shot the numbing agent into his jawline when the drill started up, so he’d be ready to take a shot the moment they were through. But the drill had been cutting for almost forty minutes, and the numbness was ebbing away.
‘You got another?’ asked Raglon.
‘A couple. Three I gn… gn… gn… think.’
‘Don’t waste them,’ said Maggs.
There was a sudden bang from behind them.
‘What the–?’ asked Merrt.
‘I think we’re through,’ Nessa mouthed.
‘You sure?’ asked Questa.
‘We’re through. We’re through!’ Hark called, ushering the strikeforce back to position. ‘Ready, now. First team up and ready!’
Major Petrushkevskaya was to lead the first clearance team. Her days in the scratch company had taught her plenty about booby traps and bomb disposal. Nessa, Zel, Marakof and Raglon moved up with her. Raglon had the sweeper broom ticking ready. Nessa checked her antique rifle. Marakof, one of the new Verghastite scouts, took a deep breath and winked at Major Pasha. They’d served together on the Zoican War and knew how one another worked. Zel was another influx Verghastite, hand-picked by Pasha. He jogged over to join them, his flamer lit.
‘Steady and wait,’ Pasha told her clearance squad. The artificer crews were removing the baffles and protective screens while the drill team prepared to disengage the drill.
‘Hurry it up,’ cried Daur. ‘Places, please! Major Pasha, you’re up first. Pollo, you’ll follow them in when I give the word. Then Haller, your team. I repeat, clearance teams first! Commissar Hark, if you please. I know we’re all eager, but get the troop elements back out of the way. We need room to move!’
Hark barked some orders and herded the waiting troop sections back. Haller traded knuckle slaps with the members of his squad.
Daur turned to look at the drill.
‘What’s taking them so long?’ he asked Pasha.
‘The artificer there says the cutting teeth have bitten in, caught on something,’ she said. ‘They’re just freeing it.’