The Reclamation and the Lioness

by Robert D. Armstrong

  Luther began to pace back and forth. He stopped, looking into the crowd. “Behind me waits a parasite that has slithered its way into our home, leeching and sucking the Legion dry for years. A monster, a murderer responsible for countless lives through manipulation and deception. She speaks of greed and conquest, two supposedly innate human qualities that destroyed our planet. She claims she can eliminate these desires through the Mave. But I say this: who among you will trade one evil for another? Even if I did believe in her cause, I wouldn’t submit to her path of deceit, murder, and madness, and I certainly won’t bend the knee! Neither would any of you, or else you wouldn’t be standing here,” Luther said to the sea of deadpan faces. “I say this. We do what the Legion has always done. We fight. Every man and woman, every knight, every soldier,” he added.

  “How? Tell us how, Engineer. We’re ready,” a young man said, holding a metal pipe in his hand.

  Luther scanned his surroundings for a moment. He stared at the train, nodding slowly.

  “Knight Renheart, do we have any firearms the men can use to defend their families?”

  “Two dozen or so,” Luther said.

  “Good, collect them and extend the firing squad across the length of this tunnel. I want sixteen shooters kneeled in front of them. Forty paces behind that, I want the strongest males with melee weapons forming another wall to protect the women and children, just in case.”

  “In case what, my lord?” Renheart asked.

  Luther walked around to the front of the train. He looked up and pointed at it. “In case they get past that. Corporal Dinu, we’re going in. I want four snipers shooting from the roof, including you,” Luther said.

  “Yes, sire,” he answered.

  “Fire at targets dead ahead on the ceiling and track. I want you and your men to funnel the Mave to the sides of the train,” Luther directed.

  “My lord, but won’t this give them safe passage along the sides?” Renheart asked, leaning in close to Luther.

  “I want them to think that. Renheart, I need seven knights on each side of the train, hanging on the outer pedestals. Space them evenly. Tell them to hold on to the rails with one hand and swing with the other. The train is wide enough that the hostiles will be at sword’s reach. They’ll be forced to run through a gauntlet of fire on both sides. All aboard,” Luther ordered, priming the individual diesel engines. He clambered into the engineer’s cabin and checked both sides of the train as his knights loaded up.

  Luther started up the diesel engines after they were primed and flipped on the headlights. They flickered before beaming down the vacant corridor. Luther released the turn-style parking brake to his right. He sat down, staring through the forward glass. There were cracks and nicks all over the windshield.

  He looked up at the ceiling. “I haven’t asked you for help in many years, but if there is a God listening to me, give us the strength to help spare the innocents. Let us... die well.” Luther slumped his head.

  “Everyone’s in place, sire,” Corporal Dinu shouted from above as the snipers positioned themselves on the roof.

  Luther pressed in his earpiece. “No matter what happens, keep fighting and do not abandon your position unless this train stops,” he ordered.

  “Understood, sire,” several voices replied.

  “My Lord, this is Knight Oliver. Both my left forearm and right shoulder are injured, but I’ll hang on as long as I can,” he said in a gravelly voice. Oliver was a retired knight reinstated after the Elders were killed by the Architect.

  Luther paused. “Understood. Do the best you can,” he said.

  Luther selected first gear and released the primary brake. The wheels screeched and the cabin rocked back and forth before lurching forward.

  “Leo,” Luther said, pressing in his earpiece. “Victoria... Neona, come in.”

  “Sire, it appears our communications have been disrupted. Only people in close proximity can hear one another,” Renheart said.

  “We need to keep trying,” Luther said, shifting into second gear. He leaned forward to look out the side view mirror. He noticed Renheart was the closest knight to the cabin. His cape was whipping in the wind as they picked up steam. A small hole in the windshield whistled in the wind as Luther stared at it for a moment.

  Luther peered ahead and into the blackness. To the right there was a middle-aged woman leaning against the wall, her face buried in her hands. She was wearing bloody fur garments. As the headlamps shined on her, she looked up. The woman snarled, revealing a bloody mouth full of metal fangs.

  Luther pressed in his earpiece. “Right side, infected.”

  “I see her,” Renheart replied, igniting his sword. He pointed the fiery blade down, etching a trail of fire and smoke on the ground as the train approached the lone Mave.

  She got up in a hurry and scampered away from the train. A gunshot erupted, and light flashed above Luther. The creature stumbled and rolled. As she rose to her knees, Renheart lopped off her head.

  “That’s one down,” Corporal Dinu chimed in through his earpiece.

  “Only a few thousand to go,” another soldier replied.

  “Remember what the Engineer said: only fire at targets in the middle. Force them to us,” Renheart stated.

  “Understood,” Dinu replied.

  The headlamps flickered for a moment and went out. “Eyes forward!” Luther yelled. The lights came on to reveal a wall, not of brick or stone, but of flesh and machine. A wall of bloody fur clothing and cybernetics packed together. The Mave were stacked on top of each other to the ceiling, spilling onto the ground as they jockeyed for position and waited for the Architect’s order.

  Hundreds of white eyes fixed on the train. Instead of scrambling away in retreat, they froze. Luther peered forward. “My god,” he muttered. The wall was made up of those recently infected. They were civilians from the Legion. People he knew.

  “Sire,” Corporal Dinu said.

  “There’s nothing we can do,” Luther replied, speeding forward. His hand shook on the throttle as the mass of flesh approached to within three hundred meters. Dinu and his snipers opened fire, pelting the top portion of the flesh wall as several bodies tumbled down, smacking lifelessly onto the ground.

  “Knights, get ready!” Renheart yelled.

  “Three seconds until impact,” Luther said. His grip tightened around the throttle as he braced. As the train approached the wall, Luther stared ahead at the people he once protected. “Ahhh!” he yelled. The trained slammed into the wall, shattering it. Bodies were splattered, crushed, and flung in all directions as Luther held the throttle forward.

  The left pane of glass shattered as blood sprayed inside, covering part of the interior. One of the Mave was hurled over Luther’s shoulder. Both the creature and Luther stood up, facing off in the small cabin. Luther reached for his sword as the creature lunged forward, clamping down on his hand with its claws.

  Luther headbutted the monster, knocking it back. He ignited his sword and cut his foe in two with a diagonal slash. Dark gray ash filled the cabin. Gunshots from the roof echoed through the tunnel as the train pushed forward. Orange sparks from the wheels ejected into the air as the train ground the mass of cybernetic bodies beneath it.

  Behind the wall were hundreds more Mave. Most were rushing the train while others retreated.

  “Dead ahead, sire,” Renheart said, slashing his sword while he panted.

  The Mave shrieked as they charged. As the lights from the train strobed, glowing white eyes filled the pitch-black tunnel, giving the shooters a beacon.

  Dozens of Mave scaled the walls and ceilings as Dinu and his snipers concentrated their fire on them. One after the other, they came crashing to the ground, tumbling and rolling as many of them were either smashed by the train or cleaned up by the knights with a swift slash.

  One of them scampered past the hail of bullets, leaping onto the roof of the train. An agonizing scream erupted as the Mave climbed down the cabin door and stoppe
d, staring at Luther through the side door glass. The creature was holding one of the snipers by the neck, like a hunting dog clutching its lifeless kill. Luther lunged toward the creature with his sword, but just before he swung, a firestorm of bullets pelted the Mave from above, knocking it off the train. A loud shriek came from under the side of the train as its metallic body was crunched under the track.

  “Man down. Down to three snipers,” Dinu said from above.

  The gunfire was forcing the Mave to the outer walls on both sides. “That’s it!” Luther said as he glanced in his side view mirror. His knights whipped their swords back and forth, cutting the Mave down like grass.

  In front of the train, a mound of corpses two meters high had accumulated. The sparks from the grinding metal started a small fire. Smoke and ash drifted into the cabin as Luther locked the train at full speed ahead.

  They kept coming. The Architect’s voice echoed down the tunnel, an electronic battle cry that rallied the horde. Luther stood up as the front of the train burst into flames. The fire spread down both sides of the cabin.

  “Sire! Retreat!” Renheart yelled. The Mave scurried toward the cabin as the snipers opened fire.

  “Incoming!” Dinu yelled. Two Mave got past the shooters and leaped through the broken front glass. Luther sliced the first one’s head off and front-kicked the second, knocking it outside. It dropped into the flames below, squirming and squealing.

  “Man down. Knight Oliver fell off!” Renheart yelled. Luther looked at his side rear mirror and noticed the elder knight on the ground behind the train. One of the creatures was on his back as he swung about. He fell onto his stomach and reached out for his sword. The creature bit into his neck, tearing into his flesh.

  “Eyes front!” Dinu yelled.

  Luther peered through the smoke and flames as creatures scurried toward them, trampling over one another to get to the train. This time, they ignored the sniper fire and focused on the middle of the track.

  “Sire, it appears they’re targeting you,” Renheart said. Despite the hail of gunfire that dropped dozens of Mave, they used the pile of flaming corpses in front of the train like a ramp, funneling inside.

  Luther slashed his sword as the Mave threw themselves at the cabin. Some of them were engulfed in flames as Luther stood his ground in front of the window, looping his fiery blade in an X pattern. Limbs, heads, and torsos were flung about as he killed dozens of Mave.

  But there were too many. They flooded inside, unconcerned with their survival. Eight Mave rushed the cabin at once. They dove atop Luther, some targeted his sword arm, biting his wrist and forearm and forcing him to drop the blade. He stumbled as the weapon rolled across the floor.

  The Mave wrapped up Luther’s legs as his massive frame crashed backward against the cabin door, shattering the glass. “Argh!” he called out. They pinned him down to the ground, attacking all four of his limbs.

  “Sire!” Renheart yelled.

  “H-hold your... positions!” Luther roared.

  Luther, buried beneath the pile of burnt and rotted flesh, felt his arms, shoulders, and legs being punctured by several sets of metal fangs. The Mave were snarling in excitement and heckling in their disdain as they battled for position like a pack of starved hyenas drooling in anticipation to kill the Legion’s lion.

  They ripped at his mask and helmet as he fought back furiously. From the bottom of the pile, he snapped one of their necks and used its lifeless head as a weapon, smashing their faces with tremendous impact, breaking noses and jaws. But they felt no pain.

  Luther used his thick legs to some create distance. From his back, he kicked one of them and it sailed out the front window. Luther plunged his powerful armored hands into a Mave biting his chest, digging his metal fingertips into its eye sockets. Luther drove his fingers through its skull, cracking through the bone and piercing the brain. It collapsed lifelessly.

  One of the creatures tore off his mask. Luther’s fangs plunged through his gums. He snarled, biting them back, tearing throats out and poking holes through their skulls in a primal display of cybernetic savagery.

  Luther reached across the floor for his ignited sword, but it was just out of reach. From his back, he shifted his weight and dug in his heels, scooting the entire pile across the floor as the Mave continued to bite and claw him, looking for weaknesses in his armor.

  He stretched his hand toward his sword. “Ahhhh!” His fingertips grazed the sword handle as he struggled for it. Then a blaze of gunfire riddled the cabin, peppering holes through the Mave as black blood spattered across the walls.

  The snarling stopped. The creatures slumped over. Luther was able to push the remaining lifeless creatures off of him. Corporal Dinu was standing outside the cabin door, aiming a submachine gun inside as smoke wisped from the barrel.

  “Sire, I know you said to hold our positions, but...” Dinu said, looking at the Mave corpses littered throughout the cabin.

  Luther leaned up and peeked outside. “They’ve slowed their assault?” he asked Dinu, panting heavily and looking forward.

  “A temporary lull perhaps,” he replied.

  Dinu raised his eyebrows as he took notice of the Engineer’s ferocious appearance. Luther felt his bloody fangs slowly retract into his gums. He was covered in Mave blood and puncture wounds. His cape was shredded and there were claw marks all over his armor.

  Luther buried his face in his hands for a moment and sighed. He reached out for his mask and put it back on.

  “Any word from the population?” Luther asked, pressing in his earpiece.

  “I just checked. They’ve encountered several Mave stragglers, but they were able to repel them without losses,” Renheart replied.

  “Any word from Victoria or Leo?” Luther asked.

  “Negative,” Renheart replied. Luther slumped his head briefly.

  The train’s wheels began to screech loudly, and it slowed as flames entered the cabin. Luther stood up and attempted to push the throttle forward. “There’s nothing left. There’s too much debris on the track.”

  In front of the train, the mound of bodies was stacked half to the roof.

  Luther glared at Dinu and pressed in his earpiece. “Knights, soldiers, we’re on foot from here. Muster in front of the cabin.”

  Luther kicked open the cabin door. Before exiting, he looked back at Corporal Dinu. “Thank you, soldier,” he said.

  Dinu nodded. “Of course, sire.”

  The wheels squeaked as the train came to a stop. He jumped down. On the ground beside him was a Mave against the wall, squirming and on fire. Its back appeared to be broken.

  As the knights and soldiers hurried to the front, their eyes widened at Luther’s appearance. “Sire, are you... alright?” Renheart asked.

  “I’m better than I look.” Luther did a headcount. “Eleven? We lost three knights?” he asked Renheart.

  “Yes.”

  “And one sniper. Four total losses,” Luther said, clenching his fist tightly as he glanced away from his troops for a moment.

  “Sire, the vermin were too many. Some of them scaled the train and threw their bodies at our knights to knock them off,” Renheart replied.

  Knight Clovess stared at the mound of bodies in front of the train. “We’ve killed five hundred of them, at least. How many more can there be?” he asked.

  Luther turned and faced down the tunnel. “Only one I’m concerned with. If we kill her, the body of the Mave will die. How much ammo do we have left?” Luther asked Corporal Dinu.

  “We’re down to submachine-gun ammo. Eight magazines between the three of us,” Dinu replied.

  Knight Renheart put his hands on his hips. “That won’t last long.”

  Howling sounds came from deep within the tunnel.

  Clovess shook his head, turning toward Luther. “My lord, I served almost twenty years as a knight and loyal servant to you. You know I’m no coward, but I don’t see a reason for us to commit suicide by marching down this tunnel ag
ainst her hordes.”

  “Then what is your suggestion? We turn back? Speak freely, Knight,” Luther asked Clovess as he stared at the ground.

  “Sire, it’s just... I wanted to be with my son and wife before we died. This is precious time we will not get back,” Clovess replied.

  Luther stepped close to Clovess. “Then why didn’t you stay? I’ll be the first to admit we don’t have much chance of killing the Architect, but if we’d stayed with our families until the last moments, we’d have no chance of stopping her,” he said.

  Clovess nodded slowly as Luther backed away. “We move on the Architect—now. Soldiers, use your machine guns to cover our rear flank in case any of the Mave stragglers make their way behind us. Knights, triangle formation, three-meter spread. Only draw swords when they get close,” Luther ordered.

  Luther stood at the tip of the spear-like formation as the knights hurried into position. “Forward, march,” Luther said as the knights moved in unison with the soldiers in tow.

  Behind them, the train cabin burst into flames as the fire quickly spread to the passenger area. The Legion warriors never looked back. They marched for several minutes until they could hear a strange sound in the distance.

  “A child?” Dinu asked.

  “Sire,” Renheart grumbled.

  “I hear it,” Luther replied.

  “It must be some sort of trick,” Clovess said. The sound grew louder and was clearly distinguishable as coming from a young boy.

  “They left me!” the child called out.

  “There’s no way anyone survived along this path. Thousands of Mave have traveled through here,” Dinu said.

  Renheart panned around. “I find it odd the Mave have all but retreated. It’s too quiet.”

  “Swords,” Luther ordered. The burst of light from the plasma blades igniting lit up the dark corridor.

  There was a boy sitting alone on the train track. He must have been around seven years old. His hair was dark and curly, and his face was covered in grime.