War Wagon

by Al Shield

  A few minutes later Unit M finally joined the conversation.

  ‘Sensors indicate a strong contingent of vehicles nearby to the West, unit suggests exercise extreme caution.’

  ‘Notion noted and ignored!’ Dar'kannag laughed again as he punched down on the throttle and the Warwagon roared in approval. ‘We have a commander to question!’

  ‘LOOK SIR, I’M GOING to pretend that this is a bad line and I misheard your command just then so would you mind repeating that?’ Lieutenant Colonel James Acra was a veteran of many battles and an officer who had been in a position of command long enough to not accept anything at face value. Especially when it was a command not to engage oncoming enemies, arriving right here on his very doorstep.

  ‘You heard me just fine Lieutenant Colonel.’ The cold voice on the phone replied. ‘Do not engage. Defend and retreat slowly. But do not actively engage, that’s an order.’

  ‘With all due respect sir, that’s a crock of shit. These bastards destroyed one of my units over in Coffesville - satellite’s telling us they’re coming right at us and now you’re telling me that we just put our heads up our asses and backtrack slowly?’

  ‘You have your orders Lieutenant Colonel. Leave it to us, we are not far away. Understood?’

  ‘But what-’

  ‘Understood?’

  ‘Yes...understood sir.’

  ‘Good, now get your men out of there. You’ve got less than 10 before they hit. And cover your own ass too. God only knows what they’re looking for so the last thing you want is to get in their way.’

  The phone clicked dead and Lieutenant Colonel Acra punched a button on his desk. His aide rushed through the door.

  ‘We getting out sir?’

  ‘We sure are son. But not before we put out the welcome mat. Hit the alarm and get everyone moving. Get word to Walsh too that I want him here pronto and to bring the sisters.’

  ‘The sisters sir?’

  ‘He knows what I mean, now go tell him. Once you do that, I don’t want to see your face back here understand? Get everyone as far back as possible.’

  ‘You will be behind us won’t you sir?’

  ‘I’ll give it my best shot son, now run.’

  The aide rushed off to find the armourer and the Lieutenant withdrew his sidearm to check and recheck the pistol’s bullet load. From the hazy and terrified reports he’d received from Coffsville he knew the gun would be of little use against the supposed monsters on the way but it was still a comfort to him as it had been time and time again in the thick of things. And with a bit of luck the two automated cannons known as the Sisters in the armoury might just buy him and his men a little more time to make good their escape.

  He didn’t know from where in hell they had come from but he wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to help send them back there.

  It wasn’t long before Walsh the base armourer came racing in with a fully loaded trolley stacked with boxes and a pair of destructive guns on top. The big man looked nervous as he barrelled in but got straight to business.

  ‘I know what you’re planning sir and can I say, it’s a fucking terrible idea’ he spoke without looking up, fumbling with the lock boxes and unloading things quickly. They had served together in more than a few battles so with impending doom marching in, Walsh had more than an inkling of what the older man would try to do to buy the rest of the base enough time to escape.

  He would have more than likely have done the same were the roles reversed.

  ‘We don’t have a choice. Someone needs to make sure those fuckers are in the hall and wide open before we open them up. I don’t want to chew through all our ammo just because they work out how to throw things through the window.’

  ‘I thought of that too.’ Walsh grunted as he thunked a heavy flat screen on the desk. ‘So lets make sure we get them to stand right where we want them.’

  As he hurriedly connected up thick cables, fired up an armoured laptop and positioned the guns on the desk it finally dawned on James exactly what the armourer was planning. He laughed loudly as he pitched in and in no time their trap was set. Now they just had to find cover and wait..

  AT HIGH SPEED THE WARWAGON smashed through the wire fence, the chainlink barely slowly it down and once again Nex smoothly rolled out of the window gracefully rolling to her feet as she touched the ground and sprinted to the nearest building. As it screeched to a stop both K’Dian and Unit M sprung out and took position while Dar'kannag provided cover from the driver’s seat with his pistol. Even though a piercing alarm wailed in the distance, so far nothing had emerged to investigate the disturbance. There was no whine of gunfire, no barking of orders or positions taken, no movement of any kind. Only the wailing alarm that filled the air between the many buildings.

  They must be bunkering down Dar'kannag believed, having been warned in advance. They would only fire when the four got close. They would have to be careful as to not encounter well hidden and potentially well armed pockets of resistance.

  ‘Unit, scan for enemies.’

  ‘Searching....searching...hostiles detected. Position approximately 300 yards. Numbers, many.’

  ‘Excellent!’ Dar'kannag cheered. ‘At least one of them should hold the answers we seek.’

  ‘Position change. Position approximately 310 yards.’

  ‘What? They are backing away?’

  ‘315 yards. Distance increasing. Confirmed, retreat in action.’ he replied.

  ‘They are fleeing!’ he quickly turned to K’Dian. ‘They flee their base as one? This doesn’t make sense. You don’t desert your castle when enemies show at the door. You.’ He pointed at his son. ‘Hunt one down and bring them back to me, I need answers! And make it quick!’

  K’Dian shot him back a look of utter disgust.

  ‘I am not your hound! Do it yourself!’ he spat back and with that he morphed back into the form of the soldier he had taken back at the town of Coffesville. Before Dar'kannag had a chance to stop him, he ran off into a cluster of nearby dwellings.

  ‘He defies me? He dares?’ Dar'kannag couldn’t believe his son’s actions, especially where they were and right before battle. He quickly tapped his communication crystal.

  ‘My love, it seems our boy has run off like a snivelling little coward.’

  A vicious animal like snarl was all he got back in reply, one that even sent a shiver down his spine. He was thankful that both she and her blade weren’t standing directly in front of him. ‘I will deal with him later. For now our enemies are fleeing en masse and I need you to hunt one down for answers.’

  ‘I have a better idea’ she spoke back through the crystal before grabbing the chain it was on, ripping it off her neck and dropping it off the side of the roof where she had taken position.

  ‘Nothing personal, but I will operate far better without your nagging intrusions my love’ she said to herself. She had spotted the rear guard retreating through her scope and had thought about taking a few out but what would the point be if they weren’t going to fight back or try to defend the base? Something was definitely amiss here.

  What were these creatures hiding?

  That question would have to wait because as soon as she took position, she had picked up someone or something shouting, the sounds coming from a nearby building. Someone was yelling to themselves but about what wasn’t entirely clear, still it was worth investigating. Possibly it may just be someone who would hopefully be screaming some much needed answers about how to get home soon..

  AS SHE QUIETLY SKULKED through the outer doors with her weapon raised, the mad screaming of the voice suddenly changed. With her entrance it was now far more boastful.

  ‘Ahh! There you are! I’m looking forward to skinning you alive and turning you into a rug!’ it called out from a room down the hall. ‘I’m going to have big bbq’s and invite the entire neighbourhood to talk a walk on your pathetic hide!’

  There seemed to be nothing special of the building Nex now found herself i
n - a long hall with rooms on either side and each filled with a few chairs and an area to scribe on. There were also strange flat square like objects on stands on top of the desks. Some showed very small words she couldn’t understand when she stepped around and looked at them directly, some showed nothing but black. Some kind of found knowledge recording implement? If they had time she would bring Unit M to see if what he could learn. But for now the voice had to be investigated.

  ‘You are one ugly looking fucker, you know that?’ it jeered from the end of the hall. ‘I’ve seen ugly before but you are positively hideous! How about I cut your head off and improve your looks a thousand fold?’

  Her intense training meant the strange but challenging insults bounced right off her as she maintained an iron grip on her focus. But a curiosity was brewing - most of these creatures fought in packs and were gripped in intense fear when they saw any of the four directly. Who was this one who stood alone and invited death so willingly?

  If they lasted long enough she would ask how it was that they came to be so brave.

  ‘I’m going to scoop that shit you call your brains right out of your skull and have it as container on my desk here for cigars. You’re going to look great with some fat cuban’s sticking out of your eye sockets!’

  She passed more rooms with labelled doors open, more of the writing areas and squares on stands evident. One smaller room was full of strange containers full of green liquid with a strange smell and a pair of long sticks with many long strands at one end. They looked too flimsy to be weapons albeit practise ones...but then again there was much she didn’t understand about these creatures.

  Now she stood just outside the door where the yelling voice had emerged. It has changed it’s tone once more and was now singing, terribly.

  ‘I’m gonna bag me an alien...I’m gonna bag me an aliiiiieeeeeennnnn.’

  She crouched down, ready to roll through the doorway and surprise anything that may be aiming at her at head and chest height.

  ‘Oh I’m gonna bag me an..’

  She closed her eyes breathed in deeply and aligned her focus. Concentrating on the voice, it’s location in the room.

  ‘...aliiiiieeeeeennnnnn.’

  She sensed a location. Somewhere central, towards the back of the room.

  ‘I’m gonna skin me...’

  Slightly towards the left. But also slightly on the right at the same time? Wait, were there two voices?

  ‘...an aliiiieeeeennnnnn!’

  Were they singing in perfect harmony? Two voices in one? Perhaps this creature was similar to the beast she has once hunted on the outskirts of the Endless Wastes? The one born of sorcery that spawned not one but two mouths. That foul twisted creature made a fine trophy and this one undoubtedly would too.

  ‘Ooooh I’m gonna..’

  She released her breath, opened her eyes and rolled. In in an instant she emerged in the room, crouched with her rifle raised up and aimed at...one of the squares on a stand like the other rooms. It was situated in the middle of big stacks of tomes, haphazardly piles on top of each other. However rather than it full of small words like the others she had seen so far, this one had a face. A face with some kind of green cloth behind it. And the face moved as it spoke, the words emerging out or rectangular boxes on either sides of the screen.

  ‘Ahh there you are. I was right about you being ugly. Where the fuck did you come from exactly?’ The Lieutenant Colonel spoke through the video relay. Sensors had informed him when Nex had entered the building and he made sure to make enough noise not only goad her into investigating further but to keep them on the base for as long as possible to give his men time to escape and for other forces to show up.

  ‘What sorcery is this!’ she hissed as she stood up to full height and aimed her rifle at the screen. Even though he was a couple of kilometers away and seeing things through a video screen, Nex was still a terrifying sight with her bone white skin, curled horns and razor sharp teeth. She was like nothing that he had ever seen or imagined in his fiercest fever dreams. He took a brief moment to steel himself and continued on.

  ‘Before you die, I want to know why you are here. Why are you on this planet? What are you trying to do here.’

  ‘I do not answer to your little creature. Now show yourself!’

  ‘Well I did ask, so be it. You had your chance. Burn in hell bitch!’

  He flicked a button on a panel in front of him which sent the signal to the two auto cannons positioned behind the book stacks. Nex’s sharp senses kicked in immediately and time slowed down dramatically as the book piles exploded outwards from the force of the fire. However as quick as her leap was she still took a few rounds to her side and crashed to the ground screaming.

  ‘Yes! We got one!’ Private Young cheered to himself as he heard the loud scream. One of the last off base his curiosity had caused him to stray far from the rest of the retreating force, hoping for just a glimpse of what had caused such mass panic. In the rush out everybody had said different things. The announcement over the loud speakers had said it was “overwhelming enemy forces” where some of the other soldiers had suggested terrorists. Crew trainer Roberts had even suggested extraterrestrials, given that in his twenty years on base there had been nothing like this quick evac ever seen before. The old idiot Private Young thought, everybody knows there was no such thing.

  But whatever it was, he was still determined to sight as least one of the enemy before he caught up with the others to share his story. He grinned as he thought of the free drinks he’d be getting for months on account of the story “Tell us again about the terrorists. Were they carrying AK-47’s? Were they chanting as they looked around the base, only to find it empty? Did you really see aliens? Was Elvis one of them?”

  Anytime now he’d hopefully see one and then silently slink back into to the woods.

  However as he waited, it suddenly dawned on him that these so called “overwhelming forces” were keeping very quiet. He expected to have heard movement from many vehicles where he only heard one. There was no sounds of running, no barking of commands, doors being kicked in or any of usual sounds of combat other than the scream. Were the forces silent assassins? This didn’t make any sense.

  He was about to creep closer to hopefully get a better look when a noise nearby startly him - the sound of someone snapping a twig. He spun around with his rifle aimed.

  ‘Identify yourself!’ he said nervously.

  ‘Do not shoot! I am also a soldier!’ the voice called back.

  ‘Identify yourself I said!’

  ‘I need help! I’ve been blinded! I got away from those...things...but I lost my sight! Can you help me?’

  ‘Are you armed?’

  ‘No I am not. I can’t see!’

  Warily Private Young stepped through the bushes to find a uniformed soldier crouched down with his back to him. He seemed to be breathing heavy with one hand covering positioned on his face.

  ‘Can you see me now?’ the crouched soldier asked.

  ‘I can see you. Now no movements until we work out what’s going on here okay?’ something felt terribly wrong to Private Young and he wasn’t going to lower his weapon until he got to the bottom of it.

  ‘What’s your name soldier?’

  ‘My name...my name is...Benjamin.’ He strangely said the name in syllables as if unfamiliar with it’s pronunciation.

  ‘I don’t know any soldier called Benjamin’ Private Young said suspiciously. ‘Where are you from?’

  ‘Not from here. We got called in...when they hit the fence.’

  ‘Oh you’re the support they called in! Why didn’t you say so?’ he said relieved. He lowered his weapon and stepped forward.

  ‘What do they call you soldier?’ the man asked.

  ‘Young. Private Mark Young.’

  ‘Excellent!’ the man on the ground beamed ‘That’s very useful!’ He moved out his other arm, the one concealing the handgun and quickly fired three bullets into a very sur
prised Private Young’s chest, toppling the soldier. As he lay on the ground dying, K’Dian still in his latest soldier guise got to his feet and removed his glasses, exposing the two pits of deep blackness that marred his otherwise perfect disguise.

  ‘I’d stay and talk to learn more about this fascinating world of yours but first I need a bit of a distraction. You don’t mind do you?’

  Private Young just gurgled something as a trickle of blood escaped his mouth and then was still.

  ‘Didn’t think so. Don’t worry though, you’re going to be far more useful dead than you ever were alive...’

  WHEN DAR'KANNAG HEARD the scream from his beloved Nex he flew into a violent rage and furiously clawed and raked at anything and everything within reach as he raced from the other side of the compound to get to her. Frustratingly there were none of the pathetic little creatures to crush so far on his search, just a confusingly empty base full of signs that it had be used recently. Not even a home guard? None of what these creatures did made any sense.

  He burst through the door to the building where he thought the scream had come from and noticed her arm protruding for through a doorway towards the end. Fearing the worst he sprung forward and as soon as his huge frame emerged in the doorway, the sounds of furious machine clicking filled the air.

  ‘Damn! Used all my rounds on the smaller one!’ the face of the Lieutenant Colonel said disappointedly as the automated guns continued to try to fire their now spent loads.

  ‘I will crush you all!’ Dar'kannag roared mightily and before the face on the screen had the chance to say anything, it was destroyed in a shower of sparks as his clawed fingers smashed through it.

  Dar'kannag scooped up the wounded and heavily bleeding Nex in his giant arms. Thankfully she was still breathing, just. But without attention, how long could she hold on? He barrelled out of the room and headed straight for Unit M.

  While Unit M had registered the scream, his processing commands had instead kept him focussed on the more important threat - enemy forces on his long range scanner. They were coming in from the north, 6 large dots appearing in his computerized mind and moving far quicker than the speeds of the retreating soldier vehicles. Their quick progress seemed unhampered by the surrounding terrain - either they were ploughing through obstacles without a second thought or, his logic circuit buzzed - they were flying. An aerial attack inbound?