Joined In Battle Read online

  Joined In Battle

  Wolfpack Book IV

  by

  Toby Neighbors

  Joined In Battle: Wolfpack book 4

  © 2017, Toby Neighbors

  Published by Mythic Adventure Publishing, LLC

  Idaho, USA

  All Rights Reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any print or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  Copy Editing by Julie Duke

  Table Of Contents

  Table Of Contents

  Dedication

  Toby Neighbors Online

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Author’s Note

  Jack & Roxie

  1

  2

  Books By Toby Neighbors

  Avondale

  Draggah

  Balestone

  Arcanius

  Avondale V

  Wizard Rising

  Magic Awakening

  Hidden Fire

  Fierce Loyalty

  Crying Havoc

  Evil Tide

  Wizard Falling

  Chaos Descending

  Into Chaos

  Chaos Reigning

  Chaos Raging

  Controlling Chaos

  Killing Chaos

  Lorik

  Lorik the Defender

  Lorik the Protector

  The Vault Of Mysteries

  Lords Of Ascension

  The Elusive Executioner

  Third Prince

  Royal Destiny

  The Other Side

  The New World

  Zompocalypse Omnibus

  We Are The Wolf

  Welcome To The Wolfpack

  Embracing Oblivion

  Jack & Roxie

  Dedication

  To Sunshine, Samuel, Andrew, Thomas, and Bella,

  You help me more than you will ever know,

  And I will always love you.

  Toby Neighbors Online

  www.TobyNeighbors.com

  www.Facebook.com/TobyNeighborsAuthor

  Instagram @TobyTheWriter

  On Twitter @TobyNeighbors

  Chapter 1

  The Apache drifted into the dock so smoothly that no one would have guessed she had been captured by an alien race, boarded, and after a prolonged battle, had escaped to return safely home again. Messages had been sent ahead of the new ship, which had taken a circuitous route back to Sol after engaging humanity’s newest enemy, just in case the hostile aliens were tracking them. No one was ready for the Kroll to show up suddenly in Earth’s orbit, and Admiral Bradley Masterson had taken the proper precautions.

  Dean had spent the last six weeks mentally preparing for what he knew was only minutes away. His orders had come through almost as soon as the Apache entered the solar system. He was to report immediately to a competency hearing in debriefing suite eight on the space base upon a successful docking maneuver by the new ship. Dean had given orders to his platoon, made the proper arrangements with Admiral Masterson, and was the first person through the air lock once the ship was secured to the rotating space station.

  Grooms Lake—affectionately named after the secret government installation rumored to have housed alien remains for decades on Earth—was officially Space Base 13, EsDef’s primary base in Earth’s orbit. It was essentially a spinning city, utilizing centrifugal force to mimic gravity. Dean felt the strange yet familiar sensation of being pressed down and stretched at the same time as he passed through the Apache’s artificial gravity field. As he stepped onto the space base, he felt a moment of weightlessness and then a steady downward pressure, as if a giant, invisible hand were smashing down on him from above. He shook the sensation off and hurried into the base.

  “Captain Blaze?” a lieutenant in the O&A section of EsDef called out to Dean.

  “Yes?”

  “This way, sir,” the man said.

  Dean followed the Administrator. He was younger than the lieutenant, who was slightly overweight with thinning hair and stooped shoulders, yet the older man showed no respect for Dean’s rank. As a captain in the EsDef Recon Division, he was usually shown a degree of deference from the other divisions; his Planetary Medal of Honor for capturing an Urgglatta spaceship afforded him respect even from higher-ranking commanders. Dean was still getting used to the way he was treated outside of his platoon. In many ways, he still felt like a rookie fresh out of OTA, which had begun on Space Base 13, and he wondered if perhaps that was why he suddenly felt like a child being sent to the principal’s office.

  They went down a series of hallways to a small room. Dean expected the competency committee to consist of talking heads on a video conference, the way most debriefs were taken. Occasionally there were people present during a debrief, and of course after his return from the Alrakis system the debrief had been a large affair, with several members of EsDef brass in attendance. A competency hearing was something brand new to Dean. Someone, somewhere, had filed a complaint against him. Dean had plenty of enemies and any one of them could have charged him with misconduct. Captain Parker had tried to reassure Dean, but he couldn’t help but feel a sense of impending doom as he made his way to the debrief suite. He was surprised to see three people already in the room. There were two O&A administrators…and Rear Admiral Grayson Chancy.

  Dean felt his heart drop into his stomach at the sight of the rear admiral. Dean’s former demolition corporal was the rear admiral’s son, who was not only deficient as a specialist, but he was delusional as well. When RA Chancy urged Dean to amend his report of their action on Rome Three, Dean had refused—and the rear admiral had sworn to end Dean’s career. It appeared that the naval commander was serious.

  “Captain Blaze,” said one of the administrators. “Thank you for coming so quickly. We will begin your debrief momentarily.”

  “Very good,” Dean said, taking a seat and trying not to let his angst show.

  RA Chancy was watching his every move, studying him like a professional fighter before a bout for any signs of weakness. Dean was determined not to show any signs of weakness, and even though Captain Parker had assured Dean he had nothing to worry about, he still felt as if his career was suddenly in jeopardy.

  “I’m Major Stevens,” said the administrator. “This is Captain Bosworth and Rear Admiral Chancy.”

  “He knows who I am,” Chancy said, his eyes never leaving Dean’s.

  “Let’s get started,” Stevens said.

  The questioning began just as Dean expected. All EsDef resources in the system had been focused on the outcome of the Apache’s miss
ion. Their reports and the data from his platoon’s battle armor had been sent ahead of the new ship, giving the scientists, researchers, and administrators plenty of time to study the information even before the Apache returned to the Sol system. Dean didn’t have to give an account of his actions, but rather an explanation of his mindset during the engagement with the Kroll.

  “May I just say,” RA Chancy spoke up after the initial round of questions, “I’m a little disappointed that more efforts weren’t made to reach a diplomatic solution. That was the mission, if I’m not mistaken.”

  “We were attacked,” Dean explained. “The Apache came under attack, and it was captured and boarded. Our diplomatic options were limited.”

  “We’ve seen the reports,” RA Chancy said. “My concern is your haste to engage the enemy. You left your ship to seek out a fight.”

  “That isn’t true,” Dean said. “Our purpose for moving aboard the alien ship was to buy time for the engineers on the Apache to repair the damage to our airlock so that we could escape.”

  “It seems like a more reasonable position would have been to wait and see what the Kroll would do once you had established your military dominance. Perhaps they would have been open to diplomatic relations, but due to your warmongering, Captain Blaze, we shall never know.”

  “Sir, with all due respect, I’ve fought the Kroll, and I have a good sense of their tactics. They attack in waves, and we couldn’t risk a firefight near the hull of the Apache where we were setting charges to break us free from their ship. It was the only way to ensure that the Apache had a chance of getting back home.”

  “We’ll have to agree to disagree,” Chancy said, with a knowing smirk that made Dean furious.

  Holding his temper in check during a debrief was always difficult. He didn’t like defending his actions to people who had never been in combat. It was insulting, but he understood the point of it. He needed to be forced to consider his own actions and ensure that he didn’t become too stuck in a singular tactical response to every situation he faced. Likewise, the EsDef brass needed to ensure that Recon commanders were in fact acting in the best interests of the service. The accountability of explaining one’s actions in a debrief was essential in keeping powerful military units in line, even thousands of light years from home. But answering Rear Admiral Chancy’s questions was more vexing than normal. Dean had no doubt that the rear admiral was planning an ambush of some kind, and there was nothing Dean could do but brace himself for whatever might be coming.

  “On Rome Three,” Chancy continued, “it was your failure to secure the elevator shaft that almost cost us the mission. In fact, it was this tactical failure that led to your use of unauthorized lethal force that cost the colonists dozens of lives.”

  “Why didn’t you secure the elevator shaft, Captain?” asked Bosworth.

  “I didn’t realize this was a debrief of our actions on Rome Three,” Dean replied.

  “A good officer is never afraid to explain his decisions,” Chancy shot back.

  “My decisions during the operation on Rome Three have been explained,” Dean said. “I was debriefed following that action, and as I said then, sealing off the elevator shaft did not cross my mind at the time. My priority was to get the Pope to safety and ensure that my commanding officer had the opportunity to stop the fighting on Rome Three. At the time, I had not slept in almost forty-eight hours, was wounded, and had wounded specialists to see about. In hindsight, we should have secured the shaft.”

  “It didn’t cross your mind?” RA Chancy asked.

  It was obviously a trap, but Dean had no choice but to answer it.

  “No, sir, it did not.”

  “And did it cross your mind that you had an unprecedented opportunity to make diplomatic contact with the Kroll?”

  “I would not say that was the case,” Dean said.

  “I’m not sure your opinion is accurate, Captain,” Chancy said. “Your mission parameters were clear. You were to protect the diplomats and ensure they had every opportunity to make contact with the Kroll. Nothing more. Why is it that we see a pattern of disregard for orders with you, Captain Blaze? Every tour you’ve been part of has involved a breakdown of the chain of command or blatant disregard for mission parameters. Would you say that is because you are unfit for command?”

  “No, sir,” Dean said.

  “Would you say that your orders were wrong?”

  “No, sir,” Dean said, feeling his options disappearing as the rear admiral boxed him in.

  “Then why do you have such trouble following orders, Captain?”

  “I have no trouble following orders,” Dean replied.

  “Your record does not bear that out,” Chancy snarled.

  “Are you in reference to the success rate of my missions?” Dean asked.

  “I’m in reference to your lack of discipline. You are aware that critics of the service accuse us of being too quick to violence, yet you disregarded orders to avoid non-lethal force, put your platoon at unnecessary risk, and apparently jump at the chance to slaughter anyone or anything you encounter at every turn.”

  “That isn’t true, sir. My focus is always to complete the mission.”

  “Even if you have to cheat to do it?”

  “Combat isn’t a game,” Dean declared. “The purpose of Off World Force Recon is to have men and women capable of adapting to unexpected situations and make split-second decisions in order to ensure mission success. My actions on the Apache were to save lives.”

  “Human lives,” Chancy declared. “But you seem to have little regard for alien lives.”

  “Again sir, with all due respect, I believe the Urgglatta we rescued from the Kroll would disagree.”

  “So you admit to having xenophobia?”

  “I do not,” Dean said. “But my experience with the Kroll, which I understood to be the reason I was selected for the mission, has been that they are a violent race, intent on capturing our technology and people.”

  “Sounds like xenophobia to me, Captain. And I would venture to say there’s no place for that kind of racism in EsDef. Your prejudice, along with your failure to act in accordance with your orders, is why I am renewing my recommendation that you be removed from duty.”

  Dean felt the trap close around him, but he knew there was nothing he could do to stop the angry rear admiral. Chancy had sworn to ruin Dean’s career, and it seemed he was intent on following through with his threat.

  Chapter 2

  Before Dean could respond, the door opened and Colonel Davis came into the room. He had a look of fury on his face that made Dean’s blood run cold. It was as if the commander of the entire Off World Force Recon division of EsDef was there to seal Dean’s fate.

  Behind Colonel Davis was Admiral Masterson and Captain Parker. Dean felt a spark of hope but didn’t dare show any emotion. If he was being drummed out of the service, he was determined not to let them see how wounded he felt.

  “Why the hell do I see a recommendation from this committee that Captain Blaze be removed from command?” Colonel Davis shouted, holding up his data pad with the evidence of his fury on it. “Chancy, I ordered you to inform me of this hearing in advance.”

  “I don’t answer to you,” Chancy argued. “In fact, you have no authority here. This hearing is under O&A’s authority as division oversight, not Recon.”

  “That may be true, but as the commanding officer of Off World Force Recon, I’m entitled to be present and to speak to the committee,” Davis snapped. “And no matter who is in authority, no one in EsDef has the right to make a career decision for another officer without a hearing.”

  “We haven’t made any decisions,” said Stevens.

  “Strange, then, that his status is now suspended,” Davis continued, dropping his data pad onto the table in dramatic fashion. “Captain Dean Blaze is a hero, a recipient of the Planetary Medal of Honor, and has successfully completed every mission he’s been given.”

  “Not without b
ypassing mission parameters,” Chancy growled.

  “Which is exactly why OWFR exists,” Davis said. “Good officers improvise; they adapt to local conditions and make life-and-death decisions in an instant. Surely you’ve all seen the reports from his latest mission.”

  “Yes,” Chancy said. “He left his ship undefended and ignored orders so that he could pick a fight with a race we know almost nothing about.”

  “That isn’t correct, sir,” Captain Vanessa Parker said. “Captain Blaze used his platoon to draw the enemy away from the Apache, which was under duress. But I was also on board that ship, and with select members of his platoon, entrusted with the defense of the Apache.”

  “That mission had very specific orders,” Chancy argued, with just a note of panic in his voice.

  “Orders that I issued,” Davis said.

  “Had he waited on board the ship and given the diplomats an opportunity to do their job—”

  “We would all be dead, and all the information in our reports would have been lost forever,” Admiral Masterson declared, cutting off his superior officer. “We were attacked without provocation. I gave Captain Blaze the go-ahead with his plan, which I found not only daring, but also extremely courageous considering the circumstances. His actions enabled us to escape. God only knows what those devils would have done to us had Dean failed. The Urgglatta they capture are routinely slaughtered and devoured, according to the refugees I had the chance to speak to over the weeks we spent returning home.”

  “All of that is beside the point,” Chancy said. “No one has the authority to disregard orders. Captain Blaze is responsible for the deaths of nearly two dozen colonists on Rome Three, not to mention propelling us toward war with a race we barely know anything about.”

  “It’s my understanding that Captain Blaze’s actions on Rome Three not only saved our mission there twice, but also enabled the rescue of several Recon platoons that had crashed onto the surface,” Captain Parker said coolly, as if she were discussing the weather. “Those colonists killed were firing live ammunition at our troops. And we lost highly trained specialists and officers to their jamming tactics that caused the Recon drop shuttles to crash. In fact, more specialists died just trying to get onto the planet than the colonists lost due to the lethal force Captain Blaze was forced to use to ensure mission success.”