Frontier's End: A Seth Donovan Novel

by Jim C. Wilson

  “How did they find us?”

  “I’m not sure, could be chance.”

  “Can you hold them off?” I said, noting with concern the sound of small arms fire in the distance. I glanced over at the Heavy. It seemed to have noticed the sound and was getting excited, pacing back and forth across the plaza.

  “We outnumber them, but we’ve taken civilian casualties. I think the raiders just opened fire when they saw us.”

  “We need to focus on this Heavy, can your forces handle the threat for now?”

  “We should, I’ll keep you posted.”

  “Negative, I’ll need radio silence until we’re in position for this strike. I’ll radio you when I’m available. I’m tasking recon drones to your location, drones 1-3 and 1-4.”

  “Copy that, Rego out. Good luck!”

  “You too,” I turned to the squad, “Let’s go, we need to take care of this beast before it decides to investigate that sound.”

  We dispersed, and I lost sight of the others as Kekkin and I crept around through the ruins. We had to move fast, but maintain stealth, as we could see the Heavy start to take an interest in what was going on. If it decided that barging in on the firefight was more excitement than standing guard, we would have major problems on our hands.

  When we were within twenty metres of the elevator entrance, Kekkin popped his head up slightly and flashed a laser light toward Harris’ sniper perch. We received a flash in reply and then waited for our chance to pounce.

  In moments, a bright flash of hardlight lanced out from the ruins and struck the pacing Ghantri. Half a second later the report from the rifle rang out over the plaza. Before the Ghantri managed to turn to face the threat, several other shots flew from around various points in the ruins. Momentarily confused, the Ghantri started to cycle up the twin cannons on its shoulders. The first shots boomed out of the cannons, detonating against a wall on the far side of the plaza as if carpet bombing the place. A great clang sounded, as the damaged cannon seized rotating. The Heavy roared, tearing at the cannon as rounds peppered its armour.

  After a few seconds, it managed to rip the gun off its mount and tossed it aside. The Heavy resumed firing, demolishing a building. It tracked its fire across another building face, shelling another wall before I was forced down into cover due to an explosion at close range.

  I pulled myself back to my feet and peered around my cover to see the Ghantri picking itself up off the marble floor, a smoking ruin where its left shoulder cannon once was. That was our queue.

  Kekkin slipped from his cover and advanced nimbly towards the reeling Heavy, but I simply envisioned my destination and translated.

  I appeared above the enemy, dropping deftly onto its broad shoulders, lurzak blade in hand. With one hand gripping the edge of an armoured plate, I stabbed down repeatedly between the gaps. A metallic roar bellowed from the Ghantri as it swivelled about trying to throw me loose. Kekkin slipped in, while it focused on me, and started to slice into the backs of its knee actuators.

  I ducked a reaching gauntlet the size of my torso, then let myself slide down its back a metre. I caught another armoured plate edge and continued my assault. I heard a meaty crunch and saw Kekkin sliding across the marble landing, blade skittering away on the smooth ground. It appeared to ignore me and started to turn towards Kekkin as he struggled to get to his feet. Another flash of hardlight smashed into the side of the Ghantri’s helmet, causing the Heavy to recoil. I let go and landed on my feet, striking a solid blow to the left knee. I saw it snap the leg back to kick me, as it must have done to Kekkin, but I translated around to face it.

  Before it worked out where I had gone, I lashed out with a lunge towards the right leg, driving my blade into the turret above its thigh. The electrical burst from the blade caused the turret to explode. I translated again, behind it once more. Another sniper round struck the helmet, eliciting a roar of frustration.

  “Kekkin!” I called, not taking my eyes off the Ghantri.

  He was on his side, having given up trying to stand. He was moving, although clearly in pain, trying to drag himself towards a toppled marble pillar. I ducked under a swinging blow from the Ghantri as it pivoted about, rolling clear of its grasp. A mechanical whirr warned me I was within the firing arc of the last turret, so I translated over to Kekkin. I quickly grabbed him under the armpits and hauled as hard as I was able. He called out in pain as I dragged him to cover, shots from the Ghantri landing all around me. When I sure Kekkin was in cover, I translated over the Ghantri again, dropping to stand on its shoulders. Balancing precariously, I could see the side of the Heavy’s helmet was open, cracked by two blasts from Harris’ rifle. I gripped the mangled cannon on its shoulder and swung down across its chest, thrusting my blade into the gap offered by the damaged helmet. I struck meat, falling to the ground as the blade was torn from my grasp.

  I stumbled back, looking up at the Heavy as it gurgled and gushed blood from the side of its head. Hardlight started to strike it again from multiple angles, all trying to hit the wound. A few managed to score it, wounding the creature further. I caught sight of Kekkin’s lurzak in the corner of my eye and dashed over to it. I scooped it up, jumped and translated at the same time. I appeared above the Heavy once more, dropping to its back as it bucked and swayed. The firing stopped, so I climbed up and over, holding the lurzak in my left hand. I thrust the blade deep into the opening, pulled it out and thrust again.

  The roaring stopped and the Heavy went motionless. As if a puppet with its strings cut, the Ghantri collapsed to the ground, sending me tumbling head over heels. I lay there for a few moments, catching my breath.

  9.

  Renthal was the first to reach me. I waved my hand as I heard them running over, in case they thought I was dead. Renthal kneeled, checking me for wounds.

  “I’m okay, just the wind knocked out of me. Kekkin?” I said as he helped me sit.

  “Geko and Cohen are with him.”

  I sat up and looked around. The Ghantri lay ten metres away, greyish blood still oozing from the head wound. I could see my lurzak sticking from the hole.

  “Help me up,” I said, and with Renthal’s assistance stood. I hobbled over to Kekkin’s cover, where Alexander was tending to him. He was conscious, nodding to me in thanks as Alexander struggled to remove an armoured segment. Geko stood over them, watching.

  “Warrior’s wing is clipped,” said the Garz’a, wincing in pain.

  “Broken arm,” said Alex, “We’ll need to set it.”

  “No need, we have a nanite injector for bone mending,” I said.

  “Here,” said Kekkin, pulling a pouch from a utility hook.

  “Where’s Harris and Triptych?” I asked.

  Renthal started to look around. When we couldn’t see them immediately, we started to call their names. Harris answered, calling us to his location. When we reached him, he was kneeling over the broken form of Triptych. Several large pieces of a wall had half buried him and Harris was struggling to remove them.

  “What happened?” I said, climbing down into the rubble to help.

  “Didn’t get away from the cannons fast enough,” said Harris, “Saw him go down and here he is.”

  “Is he alive?”

  “No.”

  I heard Renthal swear, then he too joined us. When we had him free of the debris, we could see the extent of the damage. His helmet was shattered, and the whole left side of his body was traumatised. I took his rifle, having lost mine at the university, and shared the cells with the others. Renthal unhooked the reactor from Triptych’s suit, slinging it to his back and hooking it onto his webbing. Harris pointed out the damaged drone controls on the left arm.

  It was macabre, but with our resources stretched thin, we needed all the gear we could salvage. With reverence, we carefully removed the few armoured segments that were undamaged and then retrieved the rest of Triptych’s tools.

  We broke the news to the others, Kekkin nodding solemnly while Geko sw
ore under his breath.

  “It was worth it, right?” asked Alexander.

  “I hope so,” I said, “Many people have died to get us this far.”

  “One more objective achieved,” said Kekkin, “Next one is before us. Warriors know the risks, know what is at stake.”

  I nodded to him. “Time to check in with Rego.”

  I pulled out the radio I had taken from the university and keyed in the frequency of the others. Rego answered immediately.

  “We’ve taken casualties – about twenty civilians were gunned down during the initial assault and we lost two soldiers during the counter attack. We’ve fought off the raiders, but some got away. No telling how far away the main body of the marauders is. We lost drone functions about ten minutes ago, any chance Triptych can get to a higher altitude? Maybe the space elevator is causing interference or…”

  “Rego, Triptych didn’t make it. His drone rig was damaged when he took a blast from the Heavy.”

  “Damn…” he was silent for a few moments before continuing, “We went through tech training together.”

  “I’m sorry. How is the morale of the others?”

  “It’s…it’s okay. I think. A lot of crying…”

  I waited for a few moments, giving him time to grieve. “We need to keep moving. It’s a straight march to here, clear of enemy.”

  “Right. I, ah…”

  “Rego. Get them moving. Care about the living first.”

  “Roger. We’ll see you soon.”

  I hooked the radio onto a utility loop on my armour and approached the giant elevator doors. I looked over at the controls, a simple panel embedded into the wall of the spire. It looked just like every other mass transit elevator control panel the galaxy over. A quick check told me that the elevator car was at the other end of the shaft, so I keyed in the commands to bring it down. I was half expecting the thing to bleep an alarm at me, telling me it was locked, but the Ghantri had no need of locks when the entrance is guarded by a Heavy, I supposed. A countdown started, telling me we had just over an hour to wait for the car to arrive.

  We took the time to rest a little, checking over what little gear we had left. A few of us replaced damaged armour plates on our M4 MAELs and swapped out battery cells to charge.

  I was dozing, leaning against a collapsed wall when Harris called out to us.

  “I see them.”

  We got to our feet and waited as the refugees started to arrive. We tried to smile at them, but even I could tell it was put on. Only a few more objectives to go, I told myself. The civilians stared, wide-eyed, at the Heavy’s corpse and I berated myself silently for not thinking to move it out of sight.

  I checked on Kekkin, who was sitting by himself quietly while the procession entered the plaza. I’d had broken bones before, using the same nanites to mend them, and I knew they took a lot out of your system.

  “You going to be okay?” I asked.

  He nodded, not opening his eyes.

  “Take a stim if you need the boost, those nanites can make you feel lethargic.”

  “Warrior will medicate when the elevator arrives. Need rest for now.”

  “Good enough for me. You know your own body better than I.”

  I found Rego with Renthal, Harris, and Geko. They were all talking with their heads bowed, probably remembering Triptych, so I left them alone and went to see what I could do by myself. I found Alexander and Merade, and asked them about the civilians.

  “They’re holding it together,” said Merade, giving me a tired smile, “Seeing this spire so close has given them hope that you might actually get us to safety. It’s given me hope.”

  “This will take several hours to get everyone up to the docking sphere,” I said, “So we’re not out of danger yet. The car can only carry a few hundred people at a time, so I’m sending up half of the soldiers and most of Naga Team with the first car. I’ll go with them and secure a safe place to gather the civilians. With those raiders getting away, they could be leading a larger force here right now.”

  “What do you want us to do?” she said.

  “Be ready to move, but also out of the plaza – it’s too open.”

  “A lot of people are tired.”

  “I know, but we can’t have them getting too comfortable. We need to be able to defend against an attack at a moment’s notice.”

  “Can’t we send scouts?” said Alexander.

  “We can, but we can’t afford to reduce our forces here too much. If that car comes down loaded with Ghantri, we’ll need all the soldiers we can spare to fight them. We’ll need two lines of defence – one facing the outer plaza in case the raiders attack, the other facing the elevator. Once the first car goes up, we shouldn’t need to worry about attacks from that direction, but I’m still worried about those raiders.”

  “I can organise the troops to dig in, or at least use some of this rubble to form defences. Where can the refugees go?”

  I turned to Merade. “There are several, mostly intact buildings on the sunward side of the plaza, the Heavy didn’t fire off in that direction. Take ten soldiers with you to secure the buildings, then move them into there.”

  I waved over a pair of older soldiers, gave them orders to gather the other eight and told them to do as Merade asked. Alexander, I charged with building the defences, and I roped Geko and Renthal in to help. Harris, I got him doing what he does best – finding a high perch to snipe from and provide some measure of overwatch for our meagre defences.

  After half an hour, refugees were still milling about in the plaza. This is taking too long, I thought. I sought out Merade again, asking her if there were any problems.

  “They don’t want to go inside,” she said, indicating the throngs still outside in the plaza, “they think if they wait out here, they’ll get the first seat on the elevator.”

  “Don’t they know they’re in danger?”

  “They’ve been in danger for a long time. I think they’re sick of huddling in the shadows.”

  “If we’re attacked, many will die.”

  “I’m trying. I just don’t know how to convince them to get inside.”

  “Maybe if we had a system for determining who rides in which car, they’ll be more willing to step aside?”

  “Maybe, what did you have in mind?”

  “Alphabetical order?”

  “Families will be separated. They won’t agree to that.”

  “Based on only the eldest family member’s name, then.”

  “I’ll talk it over with the other community leaders, find something that works.”

  I had matched my overlay to the elevator controls, so I knew when the countdown was running out. I called out to Naga Team and joined the defence line facing the giant doors. There were still civilians in the plaza, but when they say the soldiers moving into action, they knew something was up and they began to scatter and file into the buildings.

  I watched the timer fall into single digits, then with a musical chime, a light above the door lit up.

  “Hold your fire!” I called, as everyone on the line braced themselves.

  A hydraulic hiss accompanied the doors opening, slowly peeling back to reveal the darkened interior of the elevator car. A single Jaani wandered into the light, shielding its eyes from the glare.

  “Fire!” I called, making a chopping motion with my hand.

  I almost felt sorry for the small rodent-like creature. Hundreds of hardlight bullets tore the alien to a pulp and the soldiers jeered at the hapless creature’s plight. It was an easy win.

  Extreme, but these people needed it.

  10.

  The elevator platform was wide and deep, built to transport large amounts of supplies at once, or vehicles. We cleaned off the remains of the Jaani and started to load the first passengers into the car. With half of our remaining soldiers riding, just over a hundred men and women, we managed to fit another six hundred refugees with us.

  I did the maths. With over four
thousand people needing to evacuate, it would take us six round trips to get everyone to the docking sphere. It would take us nine hours to fully assemble at our destination.

  The control panel for the car platform dutifully displayed a timer for the journey, as we ascended into space. The higher we rose, the less the centrifugal force of the station’s spin pushed into us. After ten minutes of climbing, when the simulated gravity had dropped to barely half a gee, the car’s stabilisers kicked in and gravity returned to normal. Many refugees cried out in alarm. It was easy to forget that many of them had never felt real gravity, artificial or otherwise. It almost made me smile. The car rumbled gently as we passed the switch, rotating to match the receiving compartment’s plane of reference.

  With less than a minute left before we reached the top, I assembled the soldiers with Naga Team. When the doors opened, they were to fan out into the receiving compartment and engage any hostiles immediately. The plan was to draw fire away from the civilians who would be huddling in the rear of the car.

  I checked the charge on Triptych’s rifle and rolled my head across my shoulders as I stretched, watching the countdown fall. With a chime, we reached the top and the doors languorously began to open. When the space between the doors allowed, the first of Naga Team slipped in and I followed behind.

  The compartment was a large loading dock for the elevator. It split into three levels – the main floor, and two mezzanines – and was crawling with Ghantri. I was prepared for this, though, and activated a scrambler that Rego had constructed for me. We caught them off guard. They were curious as to what was arriving, but they had not thought that an enemy would get past their hulking sentinel below. Renthal and Geko took point, gunning down three Ghantri approaching the doors. I broke right with Harris and opened up on a pair rising from a console.

  I quickly took in the surroundings, identifying enemy placements, and counted roughly thirty Ghantri on the first two levels. I had no idea how many were on the upper mezzanine.

  Recovering quickly, the surviving aliens dove into our ranks with whatever weapons they could improvise. Many were unarmed, tearing fixtures from the bulkheads or laying into us with their fists and cybernetic claws. We were too many, even for them, and quickly cut down those we could see. I ordered Naga Team to storm the upper levels with two squads of soldiers, ordering the rest to secure the lower sections and tend to our wounded.