by Gregg Vann
“Twenty-five meters,” she whispered over the comm.
Down below her, a surgical strike team was hiding in an alleyway—invisible from the street—waiting for Tana to issue the order to move out. The group was comprised of twenty soldiers total, including Olin and Exile warriors, and a couple of Wardens—all sworn to follow Tana’s orders to the letter. And so far, much to her surprise and relief, they’d done just that.
Tana’s unit was running into Collective patrols with alarming frequency as they made their way toward the Central District—some police, some military. So she’d taken to the rooftops to spot trouble before the group stumbled into it. The strategy had proven very successful so far, preventing their discovery at least a half a dozen times. Including this most recent incident.
From the darkness of her perch, Tana watched the patrol pass the alley where her unit was hiding, headed off in the opposite direction. So she gave the all clear and stepped out into the light.
Tana ran as fast as she could and leapt over to the next rooftop, rolling into a ball as she struck the ground. She sprang back up in one seamless motion, jogging over to the edge of the building to look out further ahead. Tana searched for more Collective patrols, but discovered only empty streets.
“Keep going,” she instructed her unit. “But duck back into hiding when you reach the hospital. I’ll move into a better position so I can look around the bend up ahead.”
“Affirmative,” came the terse, yet professional reply.
Tana appreciated having a couple of Wardens along for this mission; it made things efficient. If she told them something, it just happened. No questions or arguments, only immediate action. But she also knew that if they did have something to say it was important, and she’d be damned stupid not to listen. The Wardens were smart. And they were also lethal—Tana got a chance to see that combat proficiency up close during this mission. The Olin and Exiles were deadly as well, proving themselves against the few Collective patrols they’d been unable to avoid when first starting out. But while Tana knew they wouldn’t have made it this far without them, she’d still prefer a Warden at her back, any day.
Without question.
She also enjoyed having a few people around who knew what the real mission was—to rescue Barent. The others still believed they were making a move at the leadership of the Collective, and if the opportunity presented itself, they would. But the primary mission was to rescue the Great Betrayer and the Alpha of the Exiles. Barent would be vital in their effort to rally the people of Le’sant to their cause…and to control the Exile army. Tana knew that without him, those vicious warriors would eventually devolve into a ravaging horde. And the last thing they needed right now was another enemy. So freeing Sergeant Barent from the Collective was an essential mission—maybe even the most important of the war.
Of course, Tana had her own reasons for wanting him back.
She watched her unit dart under the covered entryway leading to the hospital’s garage—where the emergency medical vehicles were usually kept and maintained. Usually being the operative word, however, because from her position above, Tana could look down through the upper windows and see that all of the ambulances were gone. She wasn’t surprised, though. As they were making their way through Le’sant, they’d spotted a number of the vehicles staged throughout the city—positioned at different locations for a rapid response due to the ongoing emergency.
At least there’s no one in there to catch us slinking around, Tana thought, smiling because the professional thief in her approved.
She leapt over to the next roof and landed atop the building’s rubbery water cistern. Then Tana slid off of it, running over to the edge of the structure to peer past the sharp curve in the road.
And her breath caught in her throat.
There was a large Collective roadblock directly ahead of them, with soldiers stationed down all of the nearby side streets and alleyways as well. Two mobile guard towers had been erected in the middle of the avenue, with just enough room left between them for a single vehicle to pass through. Floodlights from the towers swept out randomly over the entire area, allowing Tana to count at least fifty heavily armed soldiers—along with a dozen APCs lining both sides of the road. She noticed that a few of the vehicles had large plasma rifles mounted on top of them, and could only speculate about their destructive potential. Tana had expected more security as they neared the Central District.
But she hadn’t expected this.
Her unit would never be able to reach the city center following this route—not now. And Tana reluctantly realized that they’d have to backtrack and find another way. A quick look around revealed that all of the surrounding buildings were taller than the one she was standing on, so Tana would need to go down to the street level first, and then take a lift up to the roof of one of them before she could begin scouting out another route.
When working in this part of the city, Tana carried a hoverlift with her for just such an occasion. But gliding up and down the side of a building was often far more obvious than just going inside and taking the lift—even if you had to pick a lock to gain entry. And the hoverlift was always an emergency option anyway, because when Tana plotted a heist, she planned the route out well in advance. These types of complications simply didn’t happen.
Damn it all, she thought. Then Tana spun around and walked toward the roof’s access door so she could enter the building.
“Hold where you are,” she instructed her group over the comm. “There is a major Collective force directly ahead of us. I’ll need to come up with another rout—”
Tana abruptly stopped speaking as the sound of a loud explosion filled the air behind her. When she turned back around, she saw that one of the guard towers in the middle of the road had disappeared. A moment later, the second one vanished in a blast of fire and black smoke. Then a wide plasma beam swept out across the street, moving side-to-side. It took out nearly half of the Collective soldiers before the rest dove for cover behind whatever they could find.
“What the hell is going on?” a Warden called out over the comm.
“I can’t tell yet,” Tana replied.
She was unable to keep the shock from her voice, but Tana didn’t care. “Stay where you are,” she said. “There’s some kind of plasma beam slicing through everything in sight.”
When she looked back down again, Tana witnessed an APC mounted with a plasma gun smash through the flaming wreckage of the towers. It drove straight down the middle of the road, entering a gauntlet of similar vehicles parked on either side of it. From her position on the roof, Tana could see that no one was actually manning the plasma turret; it was just automatically sweeping back and forth, covering the full width of the avenue.
The Collective APCs targeted the devastating weapon with their own guns and it exploded, sending metals shards and smoke high up into the air. But the vehicle itself continued moving forward, crashing harmlessly into the building directly ahead of it. That also happened to be the building Tana was standing on, and she got an up-close view of the aftermath. The impact threw the side of the vehicle open, just before it erupted in flames. And Tana looked down inside the APC, surprised to find it empty.
But she was even more astonished when she saw Sergeant Barent running down the road, dodging his way through the charred debris of the two guard towers. He bolted toward the closest APC and shot the soldier manning the plasma turret, and then Barent clambered up the side of the vehicle and dropped a grenade down inside it. He leapt away just as the explosion went off.
“It’s Barent!” Tana yelled over the comm. “Get out there and help him!”
She watched as her unit slid out of cover and began engaging the Collective troops. The Olin were using a combination of arrows and plasma rifles in an attempt to neutralize the turrets, while the Exiles went straight at the soldiers in the streets, relentlessly slicing their way through the enemy with their longblades. But despite the element of surprise, and th
e losses the Collective suffered from Barent’s attack, the coalition troops were still at a disadvantage. Tana saw several of the Exiles go down as the Collective started to regroup, and then one of the Wardens fell as well, hit in the waist by a plasma blast. Tana took one last look before leaving the rooftop, but she couldn’t locate Barent anywhere in all of the chaos. So she ran inside the building to take a lift down to the street.
When the door opened up on the first floor, Tana ran past several of the building’s frightened residents—watching the battle unfold through the broken glass at the front of the structure. Tana ignored them and bolted straight through the front door, shooting the first Collective soldier she saw with her pistol. As the enemy noticed Tana’s arrival they began to target her, and then she heard a familiar voice yell out, cutting through the din of weapons fire and the agonized screams of the wounded.
“Get behind the damn APC, Tana!”
The fire triggered by the impact with the apartment building was already petering out, so Tana dove behind the wreckage of the personnel carrier as bullets struck all around her. She placed her back up against what was left of the APC, working to catch her breath, and through the vehicle’s broken body she saw the rigging Barent had fashioned to send it crashing through the Collective blockade. Barent came sliding around the corner to sidle up beside her, and several plasma beams just missed him, striking the front of the building instead. As more of the glass-front shattered away, the residents inside went running.
“I can’t leave you alone for a minute,” Barent said.
“Believe me,” Tana replied. “I’ve been thinking the exact same thing about you.”
They took turns firing, shooting from both sides of the APC. But it was all purely defensive. The coalition forces were facing much greater firepower now as the Collective troops stationed down the side streets began rushing out to the main road, replenishing the forces decimated by Barent’s attack. He knew they wouldn’t last long trying to fight a battle like this, not against these odds.
“Cover me,” Barent said.
Tana nodded, and then she leaned out to fire, laying down a heavy barrage that hit almost nothing. But it did force the soldiers shooting at them to take cover, relieving some of the immediate pressure. Barent used that opportunity to sprint over to the closest APC and hop on top of it.
It was a target he’d chosen for two specific reasons. The first was proximity. With this many people shooting at him, the less time Barent spent out in the open, the better. But the second reason was even more critical. The turret gunner on this particular APC was already dead, sagged over the side of the vehicle with an Olin arrow jutting from his neck.
Before Tana was forced back behind cover again she saw Barent toss the gunner’s dead body into the street, and then he leaned down inside the APC and fired off two rounds. Tana had just enough time to see Barent take control of the turret before a hail of bullets sent her flying back behind the wreckage. When it was safe to look out again, Tana observed Barent ignoring the bullets bouncing off the carrier all around him, and using the plasma gun to mow through the Collective troops with alarming accuracy. When the enemy realized what was happening they tried to respond with their own plasma turrets, but Tana’s unit targeted their gunners before the beams could swing in Barent’s direction.
Momentum is everything in battle, often enabling smaller forces to win as more powerful enemies lose their drive and confidence. And that’s precisely what happened when Barent commandeered the turret. The tide turned in their favor, and the coalition troops began pushing through the streets—almost with impunity. With Barent’s support from the turret, the battle was over in minutes.
As the smoke from the fight began to clear out, Barent leaned down and triggered the release latch on the APC. Tana walked over to join him as the side of the vehicle opened up, and she saw Barent drop down inside it to throw out the bodies of two dead Collective soldiers.
“Everybody inside!” Barent yelled.
Tana, one of the Wardens, and two Olin warriors, hopped up into the APC. None of the Exiles survived.
“Is this it?” Barent asked.
“Yes, sir,” the Warden replied. “Everyone else is gone.”
“All right, then,” Barent said. “Let’s go.” He placed his hand on the young Warden’s shoulder. “Can you drive this thing?”
“Of course, sir.”
“What’s your name, Warden?”
“Ennis, sir. Corporal Ennis.”
Barent smiled, remembering another Warden named Ennis. The man who’d saved his life from a Collective plot five hundred years ago.
A man who’d been dead for half a millennium.
“Take the wheel, Corporal. It’s time to join this battle. And this time, I intend to finish the damn war.”
“Yes, sir.”
Corporal Ennis slid into the driver’s seat as the pair of Olin dropped onto benches in the back of the APC. Then Tana followed Barent up through the hatch in the roof, and they stood together on the small platform used to control the turret. When everyone was safely situated, the vehicle lurched off in the direction of the Common Ring—where the main battle raged on.
“I thought you were dead,” Tana said.
“Then that makes twice you were wrong.” Barent chuckled.
“Yeah, but this time was a hell of a lot scarier than when I first found you in the tomb.”
“It was close, all right. But luckily, I escaped. How goes the war?”
“Rough. The reports I’ve heard over the comms say we’re holding on, but just barely. There are just so damned many Collective soldiers. And they have much better toys.”
“Who’s running the show?”
“Sergeant Dura.”
Barent grinned. “I’m glad to hear he made it out. That was quite a fight back at the breakdown yards.”
“So I heard,” Tana said, and then she punched Barent hard in the chest.
“What the he—? What was that for?”
“Don’t you ever do that again, Barent. I told you not to go there alone. We’re a team…from here on out. No more hero bullshit.”
Barent reached down and cupped Tana’s cheek in his palm. “I promise you, Tana. From here on out, we do it together.”
“Good,” she replied. “Live or die.”
“Agreed.”
They both fell silent and stared out at the skyline, noticing the distant glow of fires sprouting up from the ongoing battles. Billowing clouds of smoke drifted out across the city, indicating flare-ups in several different parts of Le’sant. Barent knew from his own experiences that plasma weapons often ignited those types of fires—frequently causing more collateral destruction than anything suffered during the actual battles. And it led him to wonder just how intense the fighting had become.
The majority of smoke appeared to be coming from the Common Ring, but there were bright walls of flame even further out, stretching across the horizon in both directions. Barent peered through gaps between the tall buildings as they travelled down the road, gazing down some of the long side streets as well. And to him, it looked like the entire Outland was ablaze.
The APC sped up a bit as Corporal Ennis led them past the scene of a skirmish between coalition and Collective forces. And then a large explosion nearby, well within the Middle District, caught Barent’s attention. He saw flames rising up into the night sky as another fire sprang to life, adding itself to the host of growing infernos already dotting the southern half of the city. Sergeant Barent just shook his head.
Le’sant was burning.
And he knew that if this war didn’t end soon…
They would all go up with it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Fire
“What’s the situation, Sergeant Dura?”
“Sergeant Barent? Is that you?”
Barent heard the relief in Dura’s voice over the command channel. He also heard the sound of intense fighting in the background, blaring from the s
peaker. It was the all-too-familiar refrain of bullets and shouting…of people dying. And from the sound of things, it was a heavy engagement.
“It’s me,” Barent replied. “Report.”
“Things could be better, sir. We’re currently engaged with the main Collective force in the Middle District, just north of the gates to the Common Ring. They started pulling back to protect the inner rings when we blew open the side gates to the city, and it’s been a running battle ever since. S’to is missing, and may well be dead. And in his absence, it’s been hit or miss trying to control the Exiles. Several groups of them disobeyed my orders and went off on their own, moving deeper into the city. Then a few of the Collective units broke away to go after them, spreading the fighting in all directions. I have reports of skirmishes taking place in every part of Le’sant now, except for the Central District.”
Sergeant Dura paused to catch his breath, and the sound of fighting in the background grew more prominent, rising to the forefront. It subsided again when he resumed speaking, pushed aside by the strength of his voice.
“Fortunately for us, Sergeant Barent, Renik and the rest of the Olin have proven to be much more reliable. They are valuable allies. But between the heavy losses we’ve suffered and the insubordinate Exiles, we weren’t able to surround the Collective army as I’d hoped.”
“It sounds like an absolute clusterfuck to me,” Barent said sharply. The disappointment in his voice was obvious.
“Sir?”
“Nothing,” Barent replied, softening his tone. “You’ve done remarkably well, Sergeant Dura. Especially given the circumstances.”
Barent knew that Dura wasn’t the source of his frustration—the Warden was actually doing an outstanding job with the forces he had available. Barent’s dissatisfaction stemmed from the situation itself, because it all seemed so far beyond their control.
“Where are you now, Sergeant Barent?” Dura asked him.
“On our way through the Middle District, heading south. We’re on the west side of the city.”
