by Alex Guerra
The battle was in full swing, and I hoped that the civilians that had seen us earlier, had escaped in time.
"Pay attention,” chimed Seya, snapping me out of the brief trance.
The bodies of enemy soldiers lie around the entrance to the building. One of our squad members rifled through their pockets to find a key, while the rest of us stayed alert. The trooper produced a silver disk, which he held up briefly for us to see. When he tried swiping it over a pad on the door, nothing happened. He continued to try, but still nothing. The pad didn’t even blink, giving no indication as to whether or not the pad was even reading the card.
“Power outage?” I thought out loud.
“No, there’s still energy humming through the walls. The building must be in lockdown, meaning we need to blast our way in,” said the trooper. “The door is too thick for the same breach charge as before; we need a bigger explosive. The weapons inside, however…”
“They'll be destroyed as well,” replied Norto, with a curse as he kicked the foot of the door.
“Sir, a soldier ran inside the building, closing the door before I could get a shot. He’s still inside the building at this moment,” came the voice of Trooper 3, the sharpshooter.
“Someone’s still inside?” asked the squad leader. “Let’s see how much this imperial wants to live.”
He strode back, placing himself immediately in front of the door and pounded it with a fist, as a small transparent section slid open.
“Imperial! The compound belongs to the conglomerate! Open this door immediately or prepare to be vaporized along with the rest of the building!” he shouted at the opening while looking around but appearing not to have seen anyone.
Just then, a scaly, reptilian head rose slowly from beneath the door’s opening. Large yellow eyes shot a glance at the leader and the rest of the squad.
“Lies, why should I believe you!? The empire will be back with reinforcements soon enough! Just wait right there and find out,” he spit out, practically laughed at us.
The leader turned to the explosives specialist, giving him a nod as the specialist fished out a large device from a separate bag and handed it over. The leader held the device up to the viewport just inches away from the imperial’s face.
“We know reinforcements are coming, but we can destroy the building with you inside of it before they get here! The choice is yours!” He set the timer for exactly seven minutes and twenty-four seconds, then held it up for the enemy to see. The soldier’s eyes went wide, and he immediately slid the small slot close.
What would the imperial choose, I wondered? Save his own skin or fulfill his duty? I understood the conglomerate wanted to capture the weapons more than anything, but if that was not possible, the backup plan was to destroy the items instead. I thought about how the rest of the squads were faring, as I continued to listen to the ongoing battle in the city.
We backed away from the building and watched the entrance for any movement. The specialist showed us the timer of four minutes thirteen seconds left. Norto was currently giving a situation report back to command and getting an update on the overall mission. It turns out the operation was widely successful so far, but it was still too early to mark it as a victory.
Seya said very little during the operation and was currently studying a tablet that displayed a map with objectives on it. She noticed me staring at her and positioned herself in a manner so that I could see the map clearly as well.
“You see, once we’re done here, we have a secondary objective to help out this nearby squad in securing their area. We will await further orders from command later, depending on the situation. As of right now, there seems to be no indication that the empire has called in heavy reinforcements. There is a chance they still don’t know what’s going on,” she said, with a hint of hope in her voice.
“And if they do know about the current situation?” I asked.
“Then even more reason to secure these weapons, assuming this soldier does something stupid enough to allow us access to them,” she muttered, shutting off her dataslate.
“Are you saying that you would go down with the weapons cache if it were you?” I cocked my head towards her.
“Of course, I would. I would never allow the enemy to get their hands on something that is going to hurt my allies. Also, you wouldn’t have to suffer for very long. That soldier is in there praying to his god as we speak or coming to terms with his current predicament. In less than three minutes that building is going to be a crater,” she said sternly. “I would prepare to move out as soon as that happens. We will be ahead of schedule, although, with the loss of the weapons.”
Norto nodded in agreement with the assessment.
Damn these people are hardcore, I thought.
I had to admit, she seemed very serious about her convictions, and I had to agree with her. There were similar situations just like this back on Earth during wartime.
“Movement,” one of the troopers tapped Norto on the shoulder and pointed their rifle at the door.
We all peered over the edge of the barricade we were at and looked on. The figure walked out with their hands up.
“Don’t shoot! I surrender; I’m not armed!” the reptile shouted, tiptoeing around the bomb we planted.
“I suppose we should be lucky not everyone is as serious as you when it comes to fulfilling their duty, eh?” I nudged Seya.
Norto shouted orders at the soldier to turn around with arms out and walk backwards towards our position. After having him drop onto his stomach and spread-eagle, the squad leader motioned to one of the troopers to secure him. He approached the soldier with his weapon drawn, tying him up and patting him down.
“He's clean,” the trooper reported back to us.
The explosives specialist halted the countdown remotely and we moved back towards the building.
“Watch that prisoner,” ordered Norto, as he walked passed the reptile. Seya scoffed at the soldier lying in the dirt with disdain.
The prisoner managed to look up briefly before having the squad member put a knee into his back and push his face back down into the dirt. I couldn’t tell by his features if it was shame or disgust I saw.
We approached the opening with weapons drawn.
Dotty spoke up, “Allow me to look inside to see if it is clear of any traps.” The squad turned to look at me. I shrugged and obliged.
I poked the barrel of my rifle around the corner of the entrance and swept from left to right but did not see anyone else inside.
Proceed slowly.
I took a few slow steps inside and looked all around. There were many crates and weapons lining the shelves and floor. I could see a wave of light sweeping over the surroundings from my helmet like a scanner. I continued further inside, making sure not to trip any wires. I made it to the end of the building and turned around for another sweep on the way back out.
“All clear,” I said upon reuniting with the squad outside.
“Secure all the weapons and ammo you can,” ordered the squad leader. The rest of the squad gathered what they could, swapping positions with those still on guard.
We loaded up weapons of all varieties within the next ten minutes. I heaved two extra packs over my shoulder and slung what I could only assume was a rocket launcher across my chest. We still needed to make a trek to our next objective, which came up as a waypoint in my HUD over two miles away.
The team regrouped outside the makeshift entrance we made to get into the compound for a moment, before moving on. Our prisoner had a bag placed over his head, as we lugged him along with us to the next objective. Our sniper proceeded to reposition itself along the rooftops next to us. It would stop for a moment to scan the surroundings, as we advanced up the zigzagging streets. Once we had gone far enough ahead, it would continue to progress ahead of us a bit and repeat the process.
“You won’t get away with this. The empire will crush you as soon as reinforcements arrive,” hissed the prisoner, as he
stumbled along.
The guard smacked him in the back of the head, shutting the reptile up. “Keep talking. We run into trouble and don’t think I won't put a hole through that thick skull of yours if you slow me down,” said the trooper.
It was obvious that the townspeople deserted the streets hours ago. No one was going to stick around while a war was going on in their backyard. We passed by a small restaurant and I touched one of the bowls on the counter. It was still warm—its sloppy contents swirling on its own. I hoped it wasn’t some civilians last meal.
At about the one-mile mark, the point man shot a hand up and held it there. We all froze and dropped into cover. A low rumble grew louder, as imperial forces came out from the corner of an intersection we were approaching. Three armored vehicles rolled into view with at least two dozen more soldiers on their flanks.
We held our position and stayed silent as they rolled past us. Luckily, none of the soldiers that checked in our direction spotted us. Instead, it looked as if they were going in the direction of our next objective.
Norto opened a communication link with the squad we would be rendezvousing with to give them a heads up. Hopefully, they already reinforced their positions within their compound and would be ready to face the incoming threat. This also gave us the upper hand as we could now close in behind them, attacking from their exposed rear.
We received the signal to pursue them and we stalked our enemy all the way to our objective. This compound was much larger than the one we raided a half an hour ago. The squad in charge of taking over this position was about two and a half times greater than our own, according to Seya.
Dotty displayed a schematic of the rocket launcher I possessed, showing a small diagram in the corner of my HUD. I ran through the animation five times before I thought I could operate it. I let it continue playing, choosing not to dismiss it so I could at least have a cheat sheet if, or when, the time came.
We kept up the pursuit a while longer until we saw them stop outside the compound and begin setting up for the attack. We proceeded to take up our own positions when both sides started to engage each other. We needed to avoid getting hit by our own troops and set up at an angle that would offer protection from both directions. The armored vehicles shot large rounds into the compound, producing blasts that washed over areas in blue flame.
I pointed to the launcher and received a nod from Norto. He pointed to the other squad member marked “6” who also possessed a launcher and readied the weapon.
Dropping the extra packs I was lugging around, I took a knee and started loading the launcher with a small missile according to the animation still playing. At least I would be shooting it in the correct direction, I thought.
A heavy machine gun was set up off to one side, ready to engage the unsuspecting targets. The rest of the squad would fight with their current weapons as to not spend all our ill-gotten weaponry as soon as we received them unless needed.
Walking up in a crouch to a good position near Trooper 6, we set our sights on the armor. “I've got the one on the far right,” I said.
“I’ll go far left then,” he replied.
We launched the barrage at the marked vehicles, hitting them square in the rear. They went up in huge balls of flame, throwing the surrounding soldiers to the ground or into the air.
I immediately started to load another missile for the remaining vehicle while the rest of our squad was opening up on the enemy. The heavy machine gun tore into the exposed soldiers, catching them in a panic. I was in the middle of reloading when the remaining vehicle lowered its rear ramp, and a hulking figure stepped out from the exit.
It stood over ten feet in height and looked like a heavily armored bipedal robot. It turned in our direction, raising its arms. The trooper next to me tackled me down to the floor as incoming fire screamed over us.
Had he not acted so quickly, I would be dead. I crawled in a prone position to pick up the launcher once more and finish reloading while I turned onto my back. I looked in the other direction, the giant machine was pinning down our machine gunner. It was obliterating his cover almost completely and wouldn’t last much longer.
A red laser reached out overhead, striking the attacking monster of a machine and ceasing its fire. The round had come from our sniper, who charged up another round and fired again. Peeking over our cover, I saw that one of the arms was disabled, but it was aiming its remaining arm in the direction of the sniper. Trooper 6 and I popped up from cover, pointing our launchers at the machine when it paused and swept gunfire over our position.
This time my savior wasn’t so lucky. He caught a round square in the chest and his upper body exploded in a rain of dark blood. His launcher fired simultaneously and went wide of its intended target, taking out the side of a building. Dotty marked the trooper’s “6” as a red “X” briefly and pulsed a few times before wiping it from the HUD.
“Shit!” I yelled as I backed away from the bloody mess covering me.
I looked back at the squad still taking pot shots at the armored machine. Their rounds were ineffective. I knew that the enemy would target our sniper once more and needed to act.
I shot up from cover and prayed that I could fire the rocket before it killed me. Quickly setting the sights on the machine, I launched the rocket, striking the enemy center mass.
It exploded with a satisfying thud. Secondary explosions erupted from the site. We pushed forward upon seeing the enemy champion go down and continued the assault on the enemy flank.
The soldiers were swinging back and forth between firing on the compound and our position. They knew that it was hopeless. The only thing they could do now was take out as many of us as they could before we killed them, causing them to fight with even more tenacity.
The machine gun was back up and firing. Seya crawled out of her position and up to me. She dug through Trooper 6’s remains, flipping the body over until she found what she was looking for. Grabbing a pack of grenades, she loaded the rounds into her weapon. She adjusted her aim up at an angle and released a quick volley of four grenades in the direction of the enemy.
The enemy was not going to give up. They sent back a response of their own grenades, striking the machine gunner’s position, evaporating him instantly. The number “10” pulsed with a red “X” as it did before with Trooper 6, disappearing from the HUD once more. Luckily, the other grenades fell short or missed entirely, but it stopped our fire momentarily.
I sighted the final armored vehicle and launched the remaining rocket into the open rear hatch from where the robot had come from. The explosion rocked the inside of the vehicle and launched it a meter off the ground before landing in a shallow crater.
Seya slapped me on the back and pumped her fist. I flipped the destroyed enemy the bird, slinging the launcher over my back and switched to my rifle. Norto moved up and ordered the squad to start finishing off the remaining soldiers.
Our battle was over. We came out of our positions and stepped over the bloodied remains of the imperials. Stopping to look at the robot that claimed the life of Trooper 6, all that remained was a flaming husk.
“Damn, I didn’t even learn his name,” I muttered, looking back at the bloody mess.
Norto placed a hand on my shoulder. “We will honor the dead once this is over,” he said. “You handled yourself well today, despite my initial doubts.”
“Thanks…” I turned, giving him a weary nod.
When we met the other squad in the compound, there were a few casualties in their group as well. It was difficult to look at the remnants of these Conglomerate personnel around the area.
I saw medics hovering over the wounded and patching them up as best as possible. Some writhed in pain, while others sat motionless. I hoped they were drugged, but my gut feeling told me otherwise.
I sat on a crate and retracted my faceplate. Smoky aroma filled the air. I wiped my sweaty face with a cloth from my pouch and heaved a sigh of relief. Soft blue lit up the compound along wit
h floodlights, and I overheard the squad leaders speaking to one another.
“Intel reports minimal imperials remaining at other compounds and fleet informs of zero starlane anomalies. It looks like we have completed the operation successfully,” said the other squad leader. “We’re lucky you showed up when you did with those weapons, we may not have fared so well without them.”
“Today has been surprising,” said Norto, turning to gaze at me over his shoulder. “We’ve also secured a prisoner. We are going to bring him back to base for interrogation, but I doubt we will get much information.”
“A prisoner? You’re getting soft,” they replied, slapping the leader’s arm.
He shrugged, “The opportunity just presented itself. We were facing the possibility of needing to destroy the weapons cache. Thankfully, that was not the case.”
They continued speaking for a while, but I stopped listening.
Seya walked over to where I sat and took a seat alongside me. “You did well today,” she said.
“Just earning my keep—speaking of which, I hope Nura doesn’t forget about our deal. I’m still going to need that power core like we discussed,” I reminded her.
“I haven’t forgotten, and I will make sure Commander Nura stays true to his word. I have to say though, if you were not a warrior back on your home planet, you would not still be alive today. I’m glad you’re still among the living, Art. There’s not a lot of room or time for charity these days. Especially, after a victory like today, we can only expect things to become harder from here on out. The empire won't overlook this incident,” she said, setting her rifle down alongside the crate. She pulled off her helmet and ran a hand through her white hair a few times.
“Do you think they will be sending a fleet to retaliate?” I asked, slightly concerned.
“Hard to say. I don’t believe there will be an immediate threat. Our ground forces gained a significant force multiplier today. Our fleet will need to grow first—something we hope today’s victory will help us out with,” she said with a hopeful, yet exhausted tone. “Once the civilians see the empire's military can be defeated, we can give them hope again.” she clasped her hands together in her lap. “We need to fight on other worlds before that happens.”
