The salvo slammed into the post in a much tighter pattern. As soon as the
shock waves had passed, Major Tiyan N’Komtosse, gritted his teeth at the thought
a pro artilleryman was now in charge of the pieces firing down from those three
times damned hills. Whoever laid this post out hadn’t considered the surrounding
slopes as a possible menace to the garrison assigned here. Tiyan watched
through the bunker’s slit the roiling smoke and dust cross the post. The thud of
explosions rumbled from other areas. There had been counter-fire attempts.
Though they had gotten weaker, it seemed to Tiyan. Add to it the torrential rain
of small arms fire that stitched a lethal web across the post coming down from
the hills and now, damnit, thought Tiyan, the ‘Mall’. That was where the NCO
club, the Post Exchange, the cinema, and the private vehicle refueling center
were. That meant Jona had been driven from it.

A blood and dirt covered young officer came into the command bunker with
news to verify that thought. “Sir!” It was Ensign Cam of an old military family.
Right now the youngster didn’t look parade ground. “Captain Sabo and
Lieutenant Escraline are both dead. Lieutenant Braxx is bringing what’s left of the
company back across Berchanu Avenue to Thoand Way! The attackers? They
were mostly ‘Indigs’ sir, but somebody’s been schooling them, and doing too
freaking fine a job of it, too!”

An even more battered messenger came in after that. “Sergeant Moquro says the
road to town has been cut again,” the trooper huffed out. “The gaddamn bully
boy military cops can’t take a straight up shoot out! The bastards bolted before
the rebels came on ‘em! We tried to take the f-ing bridge back but the rebels said
‘Hell No”! It was all we could do to keep ‘em out of our position! Sir!”

Across the planet a revolt had taken place. Indigs, or the semi indigenous people
of this world, humans bio-morphed to amphibian type beings and the immigrant
miners the Corporation had shipped in were amongst the participants. But it also
included well-armed and trained bands of colonists, security forces and several f-
Ing turncoat outposts like the one on Danever Island. The Comm center in the
capital was blown to smithereens so there would be no call outs to other worlds
or ships.

The rebels had shown the skill to jam interplanetary communications, like they
were doing so well at this place! Before that skill had been exposed, the
planetary governor had managed to get out the order for the various control
outfits to unite under the main garrison command.