A Greater Duty (Galaxy Ascendant Book 1)

by Yakov Merkin

  Nayasar ordered Tofermier forward, and Nayasar’s mounted honor guard maintained position around her as she headed toward the fighting. She was still not close enough to be directly involved, but was monitoring the comm chatter closely, listening for anyone who needed help.

  It wasn’t long before she heard something: A small group of soldiers, mostly Felinaris, was trapped inside one of the larger buildings by enemy fire, and they had spotted an armored Legion attack force headed their way.

  “Hold on,” Nayasar replied. “Help is on its way.”

  Nayasar ordered her honor guard and the rest of the cavalry unit to advance, and their mounts bounded swiftly toward the trapped soldiers. The cavalry force was not particularly large, both because it was not used a great deal, but also because their training was costly and the number of shurafil was limited. However they were well-prepared for modern combat, literally armored to the teeth, and shielded. In addition to the weapons the rider wielded and the natural weapons of the shuraf, which could easily wreak havoc on infantry groups, a single heavy laser cannon was attached to the armor with enough power for a dozen shots, allowing the cavalry to go claw-to-claw with even enemy armored vehicles. Plus of course the cavalry was much more mobile, Nayasar noted as Tofermier easily climbed over a destroyed building.

  Fortunately there had not been too much destruction; there was not a great deal of high-explosive weaponry deployed as of yet. If the battle continued for long enough that would undoubtedly change, but for now Nayasar was grateful for fewer reminders of Selban.

  Moments later, Nayasar and her unit arrived at the building which, according to her armor’s heads-up display, was the one the soldiers were trapped in. When she didn’t initially see any enemy forces, she led her soldiers slowly around the building, where she finally sighted the enemy infantry unit, around thirty soldiers, and three tanks.

  “I want shots lined up on those tanks!” Nayasar ordered through the battle network. “Everyone else, follow me!”

  Less than ten seconds later, several of the shuraf riders fired on the enemy tanks, which were still unaware of their presence, and Nayasar led the rest of the riders at the infantry unit. Nayasar remained focused as she fired at the surprised and likely terrified legionnaires, making each shot count as Tofermier attacked the others with her armored claws, teeth, and the multiple blades attached to the armor.

  When the melee was over several minutes later, all of the enemy forces were down, as were a handful of Nayasar’s own. It was lucky that they’d been able to take out the tanks as quickly as they had; otherwise the death toll would have surely been higher.

  “You still in there?” Nayasar asked the trapped soldiers over the battle network.

  “Still here, Srei Felitzvah.”

  Nayasar smiled. It was a small victory, but they were all worth savoring.

  “We will hold this position for now,” Nayasar ordered. As more reports of Legion pushes began to come in, it would be less advisable to fully press onward at their current pace. If the battle was fought to its conclusion, Nayasar was confident of victory, but there was no need to hurry when a slower pace could mean less dead.

  Then a pair of explosions rocked the ground. “How far away was that?” she asked, wheeling toward the sound.

  “Less than eight kilometers away,” replied Captain Gildas, the officer in charge of the cavalry unit replied after conferring with another soldier. “The enemy has begun deploying artillery, and they don’t seem concerned about damaging the buildings here.”

  Nayasar was silent for a minute. That changed things. Sitting back and taking it slower would make her forces easier targets for the Legion gunners, but allow for her own artillery to catch up and assist. But ordering a full advance could prove as costly. An aerial attack would be ideal, but just about all of the Snevan forces, aerial Tyrannodon forces, and fighters were deployed elsewhere. “We have no air support at the moment, correct?” she asked just to be sure.

  “Correct. We’re on our own here.”

  Whatever she decided, lives would be lost. “Send word to the infantry; they are to deploy portable shields and bunker down here until the heavy vehicles arrive. All shuraf units are going to go after those guns.”

  “As you command,” Gildas replied. “Relaying orders now.”

  A short time later, as Nayasar was overseeing the final preparations for the push amid the increasing volume of artillery fire when she began to feel strange. It was like she had sat up too quickly, except that the dizziness was multiplied a hundredfold, and her head hurt. She put a hand to her head as she tried to at least ease the discomfort. What could be causing it?

  “Srei Felitzvah, are you alright?” Captain Gildas asked, concern plain in his voice.

  She was about to assure him that she was alright—the strange feeling was alleviating gradually—when her personal comm unit began to beep; it was Praetor Keeneye, Darkclaw’s subordinate, contacting her through an emergency channel.

  “What is it?” Nayasar asked tersely. Her head still throbbed.

  “The—the High Lord, Grand Admiral,” Keeneye said hurriedly, as though he was panicking. “He has been destroyed.”

  Nayasar smiled despite her headache. They had done it! Darkclaw’s plan had actually worked. Though that did beg the question of why he had not contacted her himself; he would probably like to pull back now.

  “There is more.” Keeneye paused before continuing. “The Hudecar has been shot down; it has crash landed on the outskirts of the capital city. There had been no word from the executor. And our forces have been… negatively impacted by these events. Many have collapsed, others have simply been lightly affected, but we cannot fight effectively.”

  This was not good. None of the other Tyrannodons knew about Darkclaw’s plan. Without him, they would follow their last standing orders and continue the war to the end, or all die here.

  “A rescue operation must be mounted at once!” she replied sharply. Darkclaw could not be dead, not after everything he had done. The Omnipresent would not allow that. Nayasar heard shouting nearby and turned to look as she awaited Keeneye’s reply, and saw that the Tyrannodon soldiers that she had rescued were stumbling, being helped along by her own forces.

  “That is impossible. Once the ship landed, enemy forces surrounded it. There will be no getting to it without very heavy casualties. But the call is yours to make. Darkclaw is our leader now that the High Lord is dead, and he left instructions that you were to assume command of the allied fleets here in the event that he could no longer command. We need orders; I do not know what to do. Please.”

  Please. Nayasar did not think she’d ever heard a Tyrannodon so desperate. “I’ll do what I can. Send the order to your forces to fall back. I will have my soldiers and the Snevans assist. Once the armies are safe, then we will see what we can do about getting to the executor.”

  “Understood, Grand Admiral. And thank you.” Keeneye ended the transmission.

  Nayasar then contacted everyone through the battle network. “Listen up, everyone! This is Grand Admiral Khariah, and I am assuming command of all allied forces. All forces are to fall back immediately; return to the fleet and await further orders. Many of the Tyrannodons may be impaired due to recent events.” Hopefully they’d see what was happening and be able to help appropriately. Now was not the time to explain the whole High Lord story to them. “All Felinaris and Snevan soldiers are to assist the Tyrannodons in the evacuation if needed. I want all available fighters providing air support for the evacuation. The fleet is to remain on standby should the Legion Navy return. You have your orders; Nayasar out.”

  Nayasar closed the channel, and felt a huge weight settle itself upon her. It wasn’t enough that she was responsible for an entire army and people? Now she had two, three counting the Snevan forces.

  She turned to her cavalry unit, which had already helped the still addled Tyrannodons and the Felinaris infantry onto their shurafil. “We are ready, Srei Felitzvah, Gi
ldas said.”

  Nayasar nodded. First she’d confer with Felivas; she needed someone with which to share this burden, plus it would be wise to coordinate with his force, which contained a higher percentage of Felinaris and would have more soldiers fit to fight and assist.

  He didn’t respond to her call. She tried again, and when he still did not answer, she contacted Felivas’s second in command, Vice Admiral Hanasesh Arael. “Vice Admiral, why can’t I reach Felivas—Admiral Kharitzon?” Nayasar demanded, not bothering with a greeting.

  “The admiral is missing,” replied Hanasesh. We lost contact as he was commanding a forward operating base that came under heavy artillery fire.”

  Nayasar’s heart nearly stopped. “Why wasn’t I informed?” she demanded, just barely keeping her voice at a normal tone.

  “It is not protocol,” the vice admiral replied. “Furthermore, we were otherwise occupied, first with the fighting and now with your new orders. We tried to send a unit in for search and rescue, but they were forced back under heavy fire. The admiral no longer appears on the battle network. I’m sorry, Srei Felitzvah.”

  “Proceed with the evacuation,” she ordered blankly. Sending soldiers into a den full of claws would accomplish nothing. All the same, she could not leave Felivas behind, not when he had come for her, even when she had been in trouble due to foolish actions. And he sure as hell was not dead.

  But on the other hand, she was the commander of the allied forces now. She couldn’t just run off into the line of fire, even for Felivas. But if she didn’t go, and she couldn’t order anyone into such a dangerous situation, then no one would go after him. And she was not about to lose Felivas, not after everything they’d been through.

  “As soon as you’re ready,” she said to Captain Gildas, “lead the unit and my guards back to the landing zones. I have to go after Admiral Kharitzon, who is missing in action.”

  “I can’t agree with that, Srei Felitzvah. You can’t make that attempt on your own, you’d never make it! And if we lose you, then we’ll have lost two of our highest ranking officers.”

  “The command structure will survive, Captain. This is the type of thing the loose structure was designed for. We don’t leave anyone behind, and I don’t believe that the admiral is dead.” He could not be dead. Felivas always had a way out. “But I won’t order anyone into such a hot zone.”

  “Then take volunteers. There are more than enough of us to help the infantry here; we can certainly spare a handful of riders to escort you.”

  “Fine.” Volunteers she would be okay with, though she would warn them in full beforehand.

  “Attention,” she said to the assembled forces. “I am going to make an attempt to rescue Admiral Kharitzon from an enemy-infested zone. I will not order anyone to accompany me, but I will accept volunteers, provided you are not already assisting anyone already.”

  Within seconds, six of the riders who were not already burdened approached her. “We are with you, Srei Felitzvah,” said the highest ranking of the six, a lieutenant. “To the end. Felikhar ad-melkhan!”

  Felinar fights on. And they would.

  Nayasar turned back to Captain Gildas. “Captain, see to it that you all make it back to the ships and that everyone gets out. And leave ships for us. We won’t be long. I hope.”

  She then turned to her escorts. “We ride now! Stop for nothing until we reach the admiral’s last known coordinates!” They gave a cheer and followed as she ordered Tofermier to run. Even at top speed, it would be at least fifteen minutes before they reached Felivas’s position.

  At first, things went smoothly, and they did not encounter any Legion troops. But before they’d reached the halfway point Nayasar’s combat scanner picked up enemy forces and she spotted them a moment later. Fortunately, they were somewhat scattered, owing to the rapid pace of the Legion’s advance as Nayasar’s forces fell back.

  “Don’t stop!” Nayasar ordered as they came within optimal weapons range. “But I’d rather not leave them all to come after us!” She picked up the fully automatic rifle that was strapped to Tofermier’s side, and opened fire while moving. She couldn’t quite count how many they’d taken out, but the important thing was that they made it through safely.

  As they approached Felivas’s position through a much more damaged neighborhood, things began to get really difficult. Artillery fire began to fall, and anti-armor rockets were fired in their direction. One of their number was killed and another rider wounded, but there was no time to stop. The wounded soldier could press on, and nothing could be done for the dead now.

  Finally, almost twenty-five minutes later, they were through the worst of it. Fortunately, the Legion forces had already passed through the area. While that meant getting out would be a project, Nayasar was at least grateful for the reprieve, though her heart rate didn’t slow.

  In fact, it sped up once she saw where she was being led. The building had been an apartment complex, but was now a towering pile of rubble. Felivas’s shuraf, Khoshekh, was crouched down next to the pile, attempting to dig through it. The night-black shuraf had several wounds, but he did not seem to notice, all his effort focused on finding his partner.

  “There!” Nayasar ordered, indicating the location to her escorts.

  As they slowed to a stop, Nayasar learned through her connection to Tofermier that Khoshekh was sure Felivas was still alive, but trapped beneath the rubble.

  “You two, keep watch!” Nayasar ordered the wounded rider along with another. “Everyone else, dig!”

  With five massive shuraf working as a team, the debris pile began to quickly shrink. But even as they got closer, Nayasar was filled with dread. Felivas was still not showing up on the battle network at all.

  “Movement!” shouted the lieutenant who had come with her. Nayasar quickly spotted it as well. A Felinaris pinned beneath a heavy reinforced concrete wall. His helmet looked severely damaged, which would account for the lack of connection with the battle network.

  “We need to lift it!” Nayasar said. She and three of the others positioned their shuraf and found locations where they could grip it securely. Khoshekh moved as close as he could to the Felinaris—Felivas—and began to try to both lift the wall and pull his partner out.

  “Lift!” Nayasar ordered and slowly, agonizingly, the wall rose a third of a meter off the ground. Khoshekh seized the moment and dragged Felivas out, and Nayasar and the rest dropped the wall back down.

  In an instant she was by his side, removing his battered helmet, hoping for the best but fearing the worst. When she finally wrested it off, Felivas, his face bruised but otherwise whole, looked up at her. “What in the fifty levels of hell are you doing here?” he asked weakly.

  “Returning the favor.” Nayasar reached for a first aid kit on her belt, but it seemed to have disappeared somewhere along the way. She called for one, and another rider dismounted and handed her a kit. A quick check of Felivas with a medical scanner brought good, almost miraculous news: He had no serious injuries, only severe bruising.

  “Got lucky,” he said. “The wall didn’t really fall on me, just trapped me. That and the good armor. I just had to go in once more to check if we left any Tyrannodons behind.”

  “Don’t worry,” Nayasar said, resting his had in her lap. “Everything’s fine now.”

  “We should probably move,” Felivas said. “The enemy won’t care that we’re having a moment.”

  Nayasar had to laugh. “I see your head wasn’t too badly damaged, no more than it was already, anyway. Can you ride? That’s the only way out of here.”

  “I won’t enjoy it, but I can.”

  Nayasar helped Felivas to his feet and then onto Khoshekh’s back. Once done, she got back onto Tofermier and contacted their primary base of operations.

  “This is Grand Admiral Khariah. I’m about forty kilometers away from your position. There are seven of us with shurafil, two wounded. Any chance of a lift?”

  “Won’t be easy,” came t
he reply, “but we’ll get to you. Hold fast.”

  Nayasar readied her weapon and arranged her small force with their backs to a wall. It wouldn’t do much, but it was better than nothing.

  “Enemies inbound!” one of the riders shouted in warning a few minutes later.

  “As soon as they’re in range, fire at will,” Nayasar ordered. “Hold nothing back!”

  Almost a hundred legionnaires were approaching, along with two dozen light assault vehicles. Good odds.

  As soon as the enemy was within range, Nayasar’s line let loose with their heavy cannons, ripping holes in the enemy force and taking out most of the vehicles before they could even fire, but all too soon the cannons were out of power, and they were severely outgunned.

  In the distance, Nayasar could see the transports, with their fighter escorts, hurtling toward them. And she could see the legionnaires setting up an anti-aircraft battery. They would have to attack.

  Her decision was made for her when an artillery round exploded not ten meters from their position. “Forward!” she ordered, and as one the group charged, firing as they went.

  The charge itself lasted barely three minutes, but it felt far longer with all of the weapons fire flying back and forth. It was only thanks to their heavier shield generators that they weren’t completely slaughtered, and even so another one of the riders and his shuraf were killed with three more injured, two severely enough that they couldn’t continue. Fortunately, they managed to take out the battery, and the fighters took care of the rest as the transports landed.

  “Everybody in!” Nayasar ordered as more artillery fire exploded around them. She saw Felivas and the other wounded in first, then dismounted and ordered Tofermier inside as she ran to help the last of the wounded riders, who was having trouble walking.

  They were almost at the second transport; the other, already full, had departed, when a sound she had hoped not to hear filled the air. “Go!” she shouted, bodily throwing the wounded soldier toward the ship before running. She chanced a look back, and the last thing she remembered was the artillery round exploding.