BALADA: When My Eyes Are Weighed With Sleep I Quench The Evening Candle's Glow

by Solea Razvan

  “They’re so many…….and so powerful……..” he said to himself between gasps for air as he continued his desperate jog for life and limb; when he found himself on ground level and in one of the back alleys, he finally felt that he had lost them………. at least for now.

  He stopped for a moment to catch his breath and after wiping the sweat of his brown, he took out a flask from inside his coat pocket and took a big gulp of its content to calm his nerves and as he was about to repeat the process movement from his right caught his eye and he quickly bolted and aimed his crossbow in that direction.

  But after getting a good look at the ‘enemy’ he realized that what he saw was in fact a large window and it was his own reflection in it that had caught his eye a moment earlier.

  He took several tentative steps towards it and as he looked at the glass he started to wonder.

  “Who is that man with the long unkempt hair, with his unshaven face, and dirty skin?”

  “Who are you? You who drinks hard spirits like its water, you with the weapon in your hand, with blood on your conscience? “

  “Are you really me?” he asked himself as he moved the fingers of his right palm towards the glass, to touch it, to confirm if the image was real and not just something in his mind.

  His hand was a hairs length away when a loud explosion jolted him out of his reverie and he quickly glued his back against the wall and raised his crossbow to once more look for the enemy.

  “The Empire’s on my tail, fire and brimstone everywhere and instead of running I take the time to touch a window………I really am not suited for this….” he bitterly lamented to himself, as he carefully peered out of the exit from the alley and after assuring himself that it was clear he continued towards a safer location, well as safe as it can be since a galactic superpower’s army was here and searching for him.

  Back on the rooftop a squad had been sent to take the now vacant roof, after a short but tense sweep, they quickly reported back to their command, a few minutes passed and they received the order to hold their position.

  While others advanced they all sat down to take a breather and have a meal, not the most hygienic thing to do with corpses all around, you but that was war for you and if things got rough they did have some fresh supplies.

  This particular group of soldiers where a unit composed of different species, from different planets and they all had different forms, but they were all humanoid in shape and where in their first form.

  “Looks like one of them got away ma’am.” the corporal said to his sergeant.

  “Bully for him then! This isn’t battle, it’s a slaughter!” the sergeant said to her squad.

  “Well, the enemy’s just irregulars and we’re professional soldiers.” one of the privates said as he was using a piece of destroyed rooftop as an impromptu table to prepare the squad’s lunch.

  “It’s slaughter all right, but for us not them.” the sergeant said and upon seeing the confused looks on her troopers face she added the following:

  “The enemy is using this whole neighborhood as a fortress, why haven’t we been given any siege equipment, like chariots, or artillery to level this place?”

  “Well HQ probably doesn’t want to admit that the enemy has such a strong position within this city.” the other private of the squad who was using a different fragment of the destroyed rooftop as an improvised chair replied.

  “Then don’t admit it and give us the kriffing heavy equipment!” the sergeant added and got a good natured chuckle from her squad.

  “But ma’am that would make us hypocrites!” the trooper at the table said in mock outrage at the idea.

  “Imperials being hypocrites, what a shocker!” the corporal added and another round of laughter came from the squad.

  The sergeant joined them as well, her mouth moved to give way to some laughter, when a spear came out trough it. While she fell to the ground, she managed to catch a glimpse of the enemy that had slayed her and as life was leaving the sergeant’s body she managed to witness the fate of her squad before her time was up.

  The attacker moved fast, slashing away at the group of soldiers who did not have time to properly react to the situation.

  It took only a few seconds and the squad was all dead.

  Who where they, what was their life’s story?

  Would anyone remember them, cherish their memory? That was something that war didn’t know, nor did it cared, thus there they rested as the battle continued all around the district, in the name of war, of this insatiable force that looked on with indifference to the lives that were given to it as tribute for each moment of its existence, and only continuing to rage on as more meat was put in the grinder.

  Maramanakama Imperial field command center.

  9:07 Local Planetary Time

  Prince Gelios, the governor of this sector of the Occupied Territories looked over the map of the district he was attacking. His troops were highlighted in green on the map and a large portion of it was covered with shaded areas that represented zones outside their pulsar’s line of sight.

  “Who would have thought that the terrorists would be capable of making a shadow field around this area!” General Bartolommeo, a Carunian whose race was humanoid with a bulldog-like appearance and brownish yellow skin said to the prince.

  “Well, they’re main strength is stealth, so I guess it makes sense that they would focus on it.” Gelios replied as he rubbed his chin in contemplation of his next move.

  “My lord, we have just received the following: ‘Count Luper has been hit by an ice arrow and has been taken to the field hospital!’” one of the staff officers informed him.

  “Serves him right! Him and his lead from the front attitude, a lord does not do the work of a common soldier, and this battle has been going on long enough! Order the troops to initiate an offensive into the area!”

  “But my lord the enemy is heavily entrenched here; if we order a charge we will suffer heavy casualties! We should at least wait a little while until the heavy armor is ready!” Bartolommeo said to him.

  “Well, isn’t that what soldiers are supposed to do? So let them do their duty and die for their country.” Gelios said with a disinterested wave of the hand.

  “As for the armor, we cannot risk it being caught in an ambush; the heavies will follow the infantry, who will act as bait and spotters for it.” The prince added.

  Bartolommeo had no choice but to carry out the orders and so the general gave the command to attack.

  After gazing at how his troops were preparing to charge the rebels, Gelios turned his gaze towards the ceiling and saw that a spider was hanging down from it.

  “You know that today many will die so you’ve come to feast on them, didn’t you my eight legged friend? Well if that’s true, just wait a minute and you will not be disappointed!” he thought to himself as he raised a glass of wine in the gesture of a toast to the spider as a wicked smile formed on his face.

  The Dukhym district.

  10:56 Local Planetary time.

  Ahmaianos reached the headquarters of his resistance cell, which was an old warehouse, there he saw that like him, his surviving comrades were all red in the face from exhaustion, this was evident even though the marans had red skin as their defining characteristic, from that you could tell just how much of a struggle it was to just reach their hideout in one piece.

  “How are things on your ends?” he said to what was left of their forces, which was not much when compared to what they started out with.

  “The north side is blocked.” Tubarin said to him, he was a man with spiky red hair and a voice which would fit on some street punk.

  “So is the south side.” Karamus added.

  “The east path is guarded, along with the west path.” Duburius said to Ahmaianos.

  Usanthus, Paiamara, Barathamas, Daiamar and Maiamar also gave they’re reports, which they all mainly consisted of such elegant words like: ‘we are taffed’, ‘we’
re kirffed’ and of course ‘crap’ was a very popular choice for such an occasion.

  “Do we have enough strength to break through and escape?” Ahmaianos asked them.

  At this nobody said a word and Ahmaianos had his answer.

  Just then the doors slammed opened and the red battle armor which had earlier killed a whole squad of Imperials entered the warehouse.

  It raised its hand and slammed a heavy metal box right in front on them, the box opened to reveal energy crystals and some enchanted weapons.

  “I managed to take this from a few scouting parties I killed.” the voice of Kalynka was heard from inside the armor.

  “Good job Kalynka!” Ahmaianos said with a soft smile on his face and this managed to lift some of the grim atmosphere that was present in the room.

  Just then a small beep was heard from one of their crystals, it was a sensor alarm indicating that the enemy had entered the outer perimeter of their street.

  They all activated an old farview crystal that they had and looked at the area where the alarms went off, and were shocked to see a force of about 500 infantry preparing to enter the district, behind them at least 80 cavalrymen and two dozen war chariots where being prepared.

  “This is crazy! I thought that more than three fourths of their soldiers where on a holiday furlough! Just how much firepower does one local patrol have?” Tubarin said in a burst of anger at just how great the difference in strength there was between them and the Empire.

  “What do we do now?” Kalynka asked nobody in particular and silence reigned as the answer to her question. They were desperate people, trapped in a hopeless situation. They needed a miracle to escape with their lives and unknown to her Ahmaianos thought the same thing.

  “Guys, I will use this armor as bait and draw them to me and while I keep them busy you all can slip away.” she said and this surprised them all, they didn’t know how to respond to this, that is until Tubarin showed them the ropes.

  “Like hell you are! I for one am not going to let you go alone! We all knew that this may be how we would end up and I say we give those cursed Imperials hell before we let the-”

  *BOOM*BANG*BOOM*BANG*BOOM*BANG*BOOM*BANG

  He was unable to finish his sentence as the sound of a heavy bombardment of fire and earth projectiles was heard in the distance and fell near their position. Akanthos then pressed a few commands on the control runes and the image changed to another part of the city, one where artillery units where positioned.

  There they saw a squad of TRH ‘Earth Breakers’, machines that had eight spider like legs and on each leg was a wide flat disk on its tips to help distribute the weight of the vehicles over as wide a surface as possible.

  They’re main bodies were also disked shaped and positioned with their flat side horizontally, there were two seats on the right and left backsides of the main body where the operator and the gunner sat. Between the two seats was a third one which was slightly more elevated and housed the spotter and behind him was an even slightly higher raised forth seat where the commander sat. The whole disk was engulfed in a cage that emitted an energy that could take the form of any element in order to create a protective shield against any enemy attack.

  In front of the seats there was a circle formed out of crystals and runes with small pillars coming out from the circle’s diameter, which leaned inwards to form a conic shape nicknamed the ‘cooker’, whose tip ended with the starting point of a long and thick cylinder that extended for several meters from the front of the ‘Earth Breaker’ and was at a almost 60 degrees angle and aimed towards the rebel’s estimated location.

  When the commander gave the order to fire, a small vortex of energy formed in the ‘cooker’, which after shifting into an appropriate element or combination of a several, it was transmitted through the tip of the ‘cooker’ and into an ammunition shell.

  The moment it was ready the Earth Breakers fired its load and the projectiles flew on a high arching trajectory towards their target.

  The light from the explosion was what the Maran rebels saw first, a moment latter it was followed by an ear shattering noise that was accompanied by a small earthquake, the Earth Breakers certainly lived up to their names!

  They stood there for a moment just gazing at the site of the impact before a second blast jolted them out of there stupor and with dread now firmly gripped in their hearts they all started taking weapons from the box Kalynka acquired and headed off to face the enemy, knowing that they were most likely marching to their resistance cell’s final battle.

  Ahmaianos turned to his comrades and with a voice that was filled with regret at how they’re end was near said:

  “At least we go out fighting.”

  They all made their way out of their makeshift lair and onto the streets, taking up ambush positions.

  Everyone was gazing towards the direction where they expected the enemy to come from and they were all mentally preparing themselves for the end.

  Some prayed, others thought of their life’s greatest joys, others of their loved ones, a few just gritted their teeth in fear.

  Kalynka, who was the youngest amongst them copped by thinking of the armor she was wearing, which was an stolen old Imperial model, namely the BGY- 11 standard ground forces armor. It was painted red instead of the standard dark green color intended for use in the open country, the front and back sides of it where made into an angle pattern of about 40 to 45 degrees which ran from the neck down to ankles and the arm pieces where a sort of triangular shape across the forearms that was also designed to deflect arrows, swords and blows from any attacker.

  The helmet was an elongated double pyramid shape with a short top, with one angle in the front and one in the back and the remaining two situated approximately over each ear, the first two where the sharpest angles of the bunch, the helmet covered the neck all the way down to the base, connecting it with the chest armor.

  The eye slots where situated at about the middle point of the structure where the two halves of the pyramids met, it was just below the angle and this helped shield the eyes from the sun when necessary.

  The interior was also designed with a double wall skeletal frame which created a sort of interior second wall that was what actually covered the user’s body, creating a small empty space between the wearers flesh and the true body of the armor. This not only increased the chances of survivability if the armor was pierced but also provided thermal insulation, keeping the wearer cool in the summer and warm in the winter, a fact which she was grateful for whenever she looked at her sweating teammates.

  ‘Say what you want about the damn imps, but they know how to make good war gear!’ Tubarin had once boosted after they had obtained the armor and the majority had all given reluctant nods of approval, that is except for Kalynka.

  “Nothing good ever comes out of the Empire, they are pure evil!” was her reply.

  After all, why would they be here in someone else’s country, stealing other people’s resources, forcing their will on another nation and beyond the Maramanakama system where dozens of other star systems all of which had been stolen by the Empire from their rightful government!

  But she quickly banished her anger, for as they looked out towards the street in front of their hidden positions they could see a convoy approaching. It was composed out of an Defender Mark 11 war chariot, flanked by what looked like a platoon of soldiers numbering about 20 in strength, and although each soldier was wearing a newer and deadlier model armor than Kalynka’s, the chariot was the real terror.

  It’s body was grand, at least five meters wide, fifteen meters long and three meters in height, it was a towering war machine, design for mid to mid long combat, it’s front had a sharpened arrowhead shape and in the case of this particular model spikes where coming out off its lower side, to help remove any obstacle in its path, on the top of its body laid a dome encrusted with magic runes from where it could launch shells like the Earth Breakers.

  On both
its side where a pair halftracks that moved this great beast forward and across any obstacle.

  It was a weapon designed for frontal assaults and breakthroughs, though it was vulnerable against cavalry, since it was slow to maneuver and its dome had a low firing rate when compared with a war horse’s speed, that could charge it before it got too many shot’s at the enemy.

  That little fact was of no consequence for Ahmaianos and his rebels who had no cavalry.

  They did however have a few select words about the chariot’s (and the troopers accompanying the vehicle) parentage and preference for bed companions, but no cavalry.

  Ahmaianos took in a deep breath and was about to give the order to attack, when suddenly a powerful barrage of spears was hurled from the second floor of a building that was on the right side of the street the convoy was on, it hit the Defender right on the one area where it’s armor was weakest and namely it’s top.

  The spears where all fire spears that exploded on impact, turning the mighty behemoth into a blazing coffin for its crew, the ones that did not hit the Defender where hurled at the infantry, killing almost half of the platoon in a fiery inferno.

  The survivors quickly rallied on the other side of the Chariot from where the attack came and quickly started a counter barrage of arrows and spears, but as soon as they did that from the left side of the street a burst of magic struck them.

  Earth golems emerged from the ground; these unnatural killing machines quickly struck the troopers from behind. The soldiers being distracted with the floor from where the attack had come from, did not notice them and where quickly cut down from behind, after completing its mission the golems expired as their magic was depleted and they crumbed into rocks and dust.

  10:56 Local Planetary Time.

  The rebels all stared eyes wide and mouths open at the carnage that happened before their eyes, but the so called ‘silence’ which was a word used loosely in its proper meaning since this was a battlefield, was broken by Tubarin.