***
Simms crouched low, exiting a hole dug out of the ridge to find Colonel Jones waiting for him. He stood straight but the two-meter-tall woman towered over him.
She swung her rifle onto her back. “Is everything ready for the First?”
“It’ll be tight, but it’ll do the trick.” He looked her up and down and smiled. “Especially for you.”
“Just try to not hide behind me when the shooting starts. I’m not your mum.”
He chuckled. “Hard to believe this is it. After all those years and missions, this is where it will end.”
She slapped him on the shoulder. “You’re not going soft on me, are you, major?”
“No, sir.” He fidgeted. “It’s just, we’ve had a lot of fun over the decades, busting each other’s chops. Given what’s coming, I wanted to say it’s been an honor serving with you, and you’re the toughest damn warrior God ever saw fit to put on this world.”
She was motionless for several seconds and nodded. “Simms, the feeling is mutual. We’ve had a lot of fun at each other’s expense, but I’ve always thought of our friendly banter as a welcome relief. If you haven’t noticed, I tend to be a spit-and-polish kind of officer.”
“No, really?”
She grinned. “What I’m trying to say is, however this adventure of ours concludes, I’m damned glad you were a part of it.”
She stuck out her hand and he took it.
Their handshake done, she crossed her arms. “Now check these stations again. They’ll be coming soon.”
“Yes, sir.” He gave her a crisp salute. She returned it.
***
Frost scouted the open land ahead of the first defensive line, studying it to better direct his companies’ fire. “This is a good piece of ground. Couldn’t ask for a better kill zone except for that dip five hundred meters out. It won’t give ‘em much cover, though.”
Wyatt scuffed. “I feel like I’ve seen this movie before.”
“This time is different. We’re not just buying time, we’re gonna take the fight right down their throats.”
“Think we’ll make it?”
He stared into her doe-sized eyes. “Hey, kiddo, don’t we always?”
“This time is different, though. You said it yourself. There’s no retreat. It’s victory or death, and I can guess which one is more likely.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. He pulled her close and hugged her. “You can’t think about that. We’ve gotten this far and we’ll get through this.”
She sniffled. “There’s something I need to tell you before, before it starts.”
“I’ve been wanting to tell you something as well.”
“You do?” She looked up, wiping her face with her arm.
“Yes.” He swallowed. “I never had much of a family growing up. My mother was a bad drunk and my dad...well, it was complicated with him. Point is, I was on my own. When I left home, I chose a life that demanded solitude. I was lonely. I didn’t know it then, but I can see it now.”
A bright smile formed on her face.
“I’ve treasured getting to know you,” he continued. “Becoming good friends has shown me a part of life I’ve been neglecting.”
“Friends?”
“More than that.” He squeezed her, unaware of the hurt the word had carried. “We’re family, Madison Wyatt. You’re the little sister I wish I’d had all my life.”
“Oh, thank you. I feel the same way.”
He gazed off into the horizon. “Was there something you wanted to tell me?”
She backed away, using her sleeves to dry away the tears and compose herself. “You’ve already said it. You’ve made these terrible years bearable. I wanted to thank you.”
“No, thank you.” He scanned around them. “Let’s get back to the line. I want to make a couple of adjustments.”
“Yes, let’s.”
***
Private Tanya Lee slapped Corporal Jeb Braun on the back. He was inside his Super Heavy running system diagnostics. “Get your ass out of there. I got somethin’ for ya.”
He hopped down and punched his short and feisty friend in the arm. “What’s that?”
Reaching inside her coat pocket, she glanced from side to side. “Just a little somethin’ I’ve been savin’ for a special occasion like this.” She produced a jar of clear liquid. “This here is honest-to-God Tennessee moonshine. My last bottle, in fact.”
“Wow. I’m impressed you managed to keep it this long. I thought you ran out a while ago.”
“I did.” She stared at the ground. “This is probably it for us. You’ve been a good friend and I wanted to share one last drink with ya.”
He touched her shoulder and took the jar, screwing off the lid. “I’d like that too.” He took a big swig. “Whoop Ass!” His eyes shot wide open.
Lee laughed. “I saved the best for last.”
He coughed. “You suuurrre did.”
She gulped a mouthful down like it was sweet tea. “You reckon this is it?”
“Yep.”
“Me, too.”
The two friends didn’t say much more, just sipped moonshine and enjoyed each other’s company until the storm arrived.
***
Trent went down onto one knee, setting the butt of his rifle on the ground. Placing his palm on the rocky surface, he could feel the thump, thump, thump of the approaching army. In the distance was the pyramid, hovering a hundred meters off the ground. It grew larger by the second.
It’s time.
Amanda walked up to him. “What are you doing?”
He gazed downfield. “They’re coming. Now. I can feel them. It’s like an earthquake that gets gradually stronger. It’s like a force of nature.” And how are we going to stop it?
She squatted next to him and pulled his hand up, putting it over her heart. Thump, thump, thump. “That’s a force of nature and you have seventy-five thousand more just like it behind you. All of them, every single one is willing to literally follow you into hell itself, if that’s what must be done to save their families, their people, their world.
“Our enemy is soulless, machines fulfilling a program. Nothing more than the sum of their parts, software and hardware. We’re more than that. We fight for something greater than ourselves and the men next to us.” She gripped his arm and looked deep into his eyes. “If you lead us, we will follow, and we will win.”
He caressed her face. The soft, smooth skin made him feel at peace. “You are my rock. Whenever I’ve doubted myself, you were there to give me strength. I love you and thank you.”
“You know what they say, behind every great woman is a great man.”
Their laughter blended together,
Thump, thump, thump.
The mass of the enemy approach vibrated tiny pebbles on the ridge.
She stood. “It’s time for us to make our stand.”
“Yes.” He took in the cool morning air, savoring the moment. His thoughts drifted to his childhood, when he was a boy playing war on the farm. Childish dreams of martial glory filled his head back then. He often imagined himself fighting desperate battles on which the fate of the world rested. Of leading fanatically loyal soldiers who looked up to him as a demigod.
Fiction had become reality.
Years of experience and brutal battle after brutal battle had taught him that war held no glory, just duty and those who lived and don’t. Still, he reached into the past, took hold of the young child’s fantasy and made it his own once more. Today he would play the part, the role destiny or dumb luck had tossed into his lap. He would be Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and George S. Patton, all rolled into one. Not because he yearned to be, but because that’s who his soldiers needed him to be.
Dawning his war-face, he set his helmet upon his head. “This will be our finest hour.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
The Last Charge of the First Legion
Frost dropped low to check his tac-map. “Third Platoo
n, keep your fire up! Lay it on ‘em, straight ahead!”
A steady chorus of explosions bathed the field in concussions. The noise was deafening. Smoke and kicked-up dirt blanketed everyone.
He rose to unload a full rifle magazine and another of grenades before ducking back under cover. Crouching, he ran up and down his small portion of the line. A private was on the ground in the fetal position. His CAL wasn’t registering an injury.
Frost grasped him under the arms, yanking him to his feet and slamming him against the wall of the natural trench. “Not this time, private. You have three seconds to start fighting or I’ll shoot you myself and give away your ammo.”
“But, but...sir...”
He trained the barrel of his MRG on the private’s helmet. “Two...”
“Okay!” The man was sobbing. “Don’t shoot! I’ll fight.”
Turning him around, Frost jabbed his rifle into the man’s back and held it there until the private opened fire. “I’ll have my eyes on you.”
Frost moved on and found a spot to aim downfield. A solid wall of silver was coming toward him like an unstoppable glacier. The Keeper ship hung in the air five klicks back, crawling closer with its soldiers.
My companies won’t hold much longer.
***
Amanda whipped her head up. “They’re breaking! The first line has collapsed.”
Trent could barely stand in the excavated command bunker; his helmet brushed the ceiling as he turned toward her. “Then the militia is proceeding according to plan. They gave those silver bastards a bloody nose, though. More than I’d hoped for.”
She sighed. “They did a fine job, I guess. I just hate playing defense in depth. It always feels like we’re losing.”
“Everything is going according to plan. Even their rout serves our purposes.”
He reviewed the flow of the retreat and sent messages to unit commanders to guide them where he’d need them later in the battle. Accessing a video feed, he zoomed in on the target. That’s right, keep coming closer, you bastard. But first I need to bleed you some more. This next line won’t be so easy.
***
The enemy was having a hell of a time with the second line, and Sergeant Luke Xavier was loving every second of it. This was where they were supposed to really hurt them, make them pay dearly to take the position. A Pyrrhic victory was all they would gain.
A Super Heavy swept the small plain ahead with KKC rounds, shattering drones in their path. Pink goo leaked all over, lubricating the rocky surface.
The majority of the army’s heavy and Super Heavy units were on this line, throwing merciless fire at the foe, who had difficulty with the terrain.
That’s why Xavier figured he and his big hitters were here. This ground wasn’t made for armored troops. Whatever Maxwell had planned, he’d probably have to move fast, and that meant featherweights in a twisted wreck of an area like this.
He didn’t mind. He was here to kill the enemy and no place was better than right here, right now. A soft click signaled fresh magazines were in. Slipping his arms over the edge, he sent salvos of two grenades per target. When they were exhausted, he hosed down the wounded drones with hypersonic BBs, busting open cracked armor until those, too, ran dry.
Click.
A warning flashed in his head. “Ammunition reserves down to twenty percent.”
“Call for a runner!” We’ve got plenty to burn and a round not fired is a round wasted. He rose once more and poured death onto the plain. A wicked smile crossed his face.
The battle raged on as the enemy threw themselves against the barrier, only to be cut down by the bushel. Pink slime dripped onto Xavier’s armor. The clumsy beasts were slipping on the guts of their fallen comrades. It was a glorious sight, almost comical.
Heck, we might win this thing right here.
“Incoming!” someone yelled.
He looked to the sky, where squadrons of enemy wing-shaped fighters lined up with the ravine and dove. Automated air defense batteries lit up the heavens, reaping a heavy toll on the attackers.
It wasn’t enough.
Crap, we did too good.
Invincible rays raked the surface, vibrating impacted atoms so violently that they generated incredible heat. Steam burst from the ground as the ooze instantly evaporated. The haze rolled closer and closer to Xavier, like a cloud of acid melting everything it touched. A sickening, sizzling sound and the screams of the dying emanated from the fog.
Diving behind an outcropping, he curled up into a ball.
The wave of death broke around him. The line fell dead silent as the mist stubbornly hung in the air.
Thump, thump, thump.
Climbing back to his feet, his vision cut through the haze. The plateau had been cleared by the strafing run’s friendly fire. The slick gel was gone and the debris that had hindered the enemy’s advance was reduced to minor obstacles.
“Retreat!” rang in the heads of every soldier on the line. He knew it was too late, though. The enemy was nearly upon them with overwhelming force.
Unflinching, he unleashed every round he had. Ammo depleted, he extended his blades and stood his ground. He wasn’t alone.
Drones dropped from the edge. He charged, wielding his blades like a samurai. Silver arms fell to the stone floor in pairs. He never quit, but in the end, his luck ran out.
Multiple beam strikes hit Sergeant Luke Xavier, heating his armor beyond its breaking point. He died in that trench, but only after he took more than his armored weight in enemies with him.
***
“Admiral.” Commander King stared at DeWalt. “It’s time. General Maxwell has sent the signal for us to begin our attack.”
He nodded. “All ships, execute Attack Plan Zulu.” The end is here. God help us.
***
“The sixth line is falling back, maintaining heavy contact with the pursuing enemy.” Amanda looked up at Trent. “The lead enemy force will be passing overhead in two minutes. We’ll be behind their main line soon.”
Trent locked eyes with her and nodded. “All units, prepare to spring Jack-In-the-Box. This is it, hold nothing back.” He studied his tac-map. Confirmations flooded in from ground units and the Avengers circling over Antarctica.
All eyes tracked him as he walked to the back of the command bunker and took the Pills. Stuffing the all-important device into a sack, he did an about-face, holding the bag up.
To everyone in the bunker, he said, “I am the Running Back. If I should fall, one of you will pick this up and take my place. If that person should fall, another will step forward. Then another and another, as many as are necessary and not one less.”
He scanned the room knowing they would not fail for lack of courage.
“Suit up! We’re taking the fight to them!’
“Hooah!” The staff pumped their fists and rushed to the weapons rack.
Trent donned his helmet, lowering it slowly onto his head as he gazed at Amanda as she did the same. She handed him his rifle and personal anti-grav sled, a thin plate that fixed onto the back of his battlesuit. It was a product of the eighty-plus years of R&D during the exodus after Black Marble. It was rarely used, and he’d never found the time to get checked out on it.
She tugged on it to make sure it was securely attached to his back. “Reminder, just set the nav point and let your CAL do all the driving.”
“I think I got it.”
She lifted herself onto her tippy-toes to touch their helmets together. “I love you.”
“I love you. See you inside the ship.”
***
“Attack!” Jones kicked out the repurposed shuttle ramp that concealed their dugout cut from the ridge with Super Heavy lasers.
The remnants of the First Legion, much of it already consumed in the battles of Kitright Prime and P-1425X, charged out from the collection of small caves. A blood-curdling battle-cry blasted out of the holes like a hundred Viking war-horns of old sounding off.
She mowe
d down a score of the enemy, taking full advantage of their thinly-armored backs. Swirling around, the legion continued the surprise strike by swiftly clearing the enemy off the edge of the ridge.
Heart pounding, she ran up the slope, tossing herself onto the hard surface near the top. The enemy was thinner this deep in their formation. This time, the tables were reversed. Humanity was on the attack and would have to pay the hefty price of assaulting across inhospitable ground.
She dispatched another drone and gave a full body wave toward the target. “Come on, you bloody apes, no one lives forever!”
She swung her rifle from side to side, her fire never letting up. Slapping in fresh ammo, she advanced. It was the only direction Colonel Nina Jones knew.
***
Gabriel emerged from the hillside, gun blazing. The gentle vibration of the MRG gave him a sense of security.
His egress point was lined up with a cavity in the other side of the ridge, giving him a view of the larger battle. The bulk of the enemy force was in that direction. If they did a one-eighty, the First would be fighting on two fronts.
From what he could see, however, that wouldn’t be an issue. Tens of thousands of legionnaires and militiamen were attacking like demons, driving a knife into the enemy’s belly, hugging them close and twisting it.
The push to the pyramid was a chaotic mess, a mad dash to the goal line. Nothing mattered more than getting inside the ship through the passage where it unloaded its soldiers.
Gabriel’s squad crested a peak, an unending wave of grenades preceding them, plowing a path ahead, though not without cost. Troopers on both sides convulsed and collapsed. No one stopped to check on them. Anyone not able to keep up was left behind. They had to hit the shield as a group. Nothing else mattered.
***
Braun surged up a ramp made just for him and Lee. Shoulder to shoulder, the lethal pair trotted with their swifter comrades. They weren’t going to keep pace, but they were never expected to.
“Cluster on the right!” Braun’s massive hand pointed at four drones coming together to make a stand.
The Last Charge of the 1st Legion (The Last Hero Trilogy Book 3) Page 27
