"Are you joking?" he said more to himself than anybody else, "We're here for one reason only. I will not lose the few soldiers we have left just to take a tank."
Krotox made a few unintelligible noises, but he could see it would be a foolish thing to try. Even if they succeeded, how would a single vehicle, or even two have any difference on the war? Their ability to fight came from their skills and experience at hiding and performing hit and run attacks. An armoured vehicle would simply make it easier for the enemy to find them.
"One day, Krotox, one day. Today we live to fight another day."
He grunted again but this time seemed satisfied with the answer.
Something emitted a gentle beep. Knaro swallowed uncomfortably and pulled his long rifle from his shoulder. He looked to his squad, and then double-checked the other two were in position on the flanking ridges overlooking the silos.
"It is time."
Krotox moved closer and looked at his comrade.
"We cannot do this. Once the confusion is over, they will come for us."
"It does not matter. Follow my orders, Krotox. It is time to put on your best show."
He placed his left hand on the old Byotai's shoulder and tried to look positive.
"Let us show these animals how Byotai fight, brother."
Knaro placed his weapon on the ground and pulled it to his shoulder.
"Ready your weapons," said Krotox.
The Byotai signalled to the other two squads to do the same. They were barely visible, their tan coloured clothing and armour making them look almost the same as their surroundings. Moments later he looked back to Knaro.
"They are ready, Commander."
"Good. Give them the count."
Krotox lifted one hand slightly upwards with all of his fingers extended. Then slowly he bent each one until just one remained. As he pulled down his final finger, he whispered, "One."
"Fire!" Commander Knaro ordered.
The volley was far from impressive in terms of light or noise, but that was exactly as Knaro had intended. If they were to fight for more than a few seconds, it would be critical to stay hidden. All ten militia took careful aim and pulled their triggers. These were not the heavy weapons of the Khreenk, or even the fully automatic weapons used by the Alliance. The bizarre mixture of Jezzail rifles fired single shots, but more than half hit the mark before a single sound even reached the Red Scars who continued to wander about. Two fell down, and another pair looked around and started to laugh.
"Keep firing," said Krotox.
A militiaman rose up to get a better view, but Krotox yanked him back down to the top of the ridge.
"Stay down, or be knocked down, you fool!"
The cajoled Byotai nodded several times and then lifted his rifle back to his shoulder. Dozens more shots rang out as the unit worked the bolts on their aged, manual weapons. So confident and cocky were their Red Scars officers, two rose to their feet atop the armoured personnel carrier and surveyed the city back to the North. Another bent over the fallen warriors and shouted. The effect was obvious, and some were already drawing firearms or ducking behind the heavily armoured Alliance Bulldogs. Knaro had fired four shots, and as he aimed his fifth, he wondered had the Red Scars leader seen him. His comrades were cut down, and the rest grabbed weapons and fired in all directions at their unseen assailants.
There...can he see me?
The officer removed his red tinted goggles, and Knaro could tell it was a female leader. Their eyes met for a moment, and at that very moment, he knew they could see each other. The officer looked like some kind of apocalyptic wasteland warrior, with long flowing clothes, dark tattoos, and curved blades hanging from her flanks. Just seeing the tattoo face slowly contort to rage sent a shiver down Knaro's spine.
Shoot her!
So intrigued and fascinated, he hadn't even fired yet. He pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. To his horror, the robed figure lifted a hand and pointed to the North, to their hiding place along the ridge. Knaro glanced down at his rifle; the clip was gone.
You fool!
He pulled back as a burst of fire hit the ridge. The aiming was way off, but still close enough to cover them in dust.
"What's wrong?"
Knaro shook his head. "Nothing. Keep firing."
He crawled back into position and grabbed for another gel clip. It was a rookie, but not particularly uncommon mistake. He pushed in the clip, snapped back the bolt, and took aim again. This time when he squeezed the trigger, the rifle kicked back into his shoulder. His shot was off, and the bullet struck into the distance, causing no discernible damage.
Stay calm, reload, and fire again.
He pulled back the bolt and slipped in another round, but before he could fire, a new volley struck from the East. The effect was much the same as the shooting from Knaro's 1st Squad, and the officer took three, perhaps even four shots to the torso. The impact was so great she flew from the top of the vehicle and landed flat on her back.
Beautiful, just beautiful.
It wasn't the violence he was so thrilled about, it was the relief at no longer being spotted and observed by that one officer. The ridge was a good hiding place, and there were other outcrops, boulders, and rocks strewn about the immediate area to retreat to if need be. With the officer gone, he felt they might actually retain the initiative.
"Keep firing!"
More shots struck the crawlers and armoured vehicles as twenty long rifles did their terrible work from two different directions. This went on for a full fifteen seconds, though to all the Byotai militia it felt like an age. Rifle fire quickly scattered the Red Scars warriors in a loud panic, though a good number continued firing toward the sporadic muzzle flashes to the North and East. One large squad scattered behind the vehicles, sheltering from the accurate long-range gunfire of the two squads.
That's it. Now you're in just the right place.
As expected, the third Byotai squad opened fire from the West. The Red Scars finally broke in panic, some throwing themselves to the floor, others rushing off into the distance while firing their weapons impotently at their unseen assailants.
"Keep up your fire!" Commander Knaro yelled.
More Red Scars fell to the hail of fire, and with each shot the confidence of the Byotai increased. Something caught fire behind a crawler, and then an explosion ripped apart the rear of a small transport. Red Scars fighters leapt of it, their clothes burning as they fell. Knaro wanted to yell with excitement, but the Red Scars were fighting back. Some had retreated to a wrecked vehicle and were putting down accurate bursts of fire to the West. Knaro tried to hit them, but the angles were all wrong, and each shot simply glanced off the metalwork of the heavy transport.
The ambush felt like a victory until several Red Scars survivors clambered inside the vehicles at the front of the group. The crawlers and transports turned around to form a defensive laager, and the passengers fired from behind the protection of the armour plate. The two Bulldogs pulled away thirty metres to the North and away from the others.
"What now, Commander?"
He kept firing, but his tone suggested he wanted an answer, and fast. That was when both vehicles discharged small rocket devices a hundred metres about the Red Scars’ position. For a second, Knaro thought they were weapons, but then they flashed white and covered the immediate area with smoke.
"Everybody down."
A few more shots rang out, and the Byotai dropped back down behind the ridge. This part of the fight reminded Knaro of their last raid, where they'd waited too long in one place and then paid the price.
"With me."
He didn't check if they’d heard and scrambled off to the right, to a position on a slightly lower adjoining ridge. It took nearly half a minute to reach the spot, but he slid down behind a large boulder and checked his pouches for ammunition. Once he'd checked there were enough left, he glanced back in relief. The entire squad had followed him and now spread out among the rocks and boul
ders to continue their attack.
"The smoke is clearing. Be ready," said Krotox.
The Byotai waited patiently until the smoke dissipated, and the Bulldogs appeared.
"Hold your fire."
They could do nothing just yet, other than give up their position. The mobile gun variant still pointed to the East, and then without warning, it opened fire with its main gun. The muzzle flash was massive, and a small explosion struck the distant ridge, followed shortly afterwards by a tremendous noise. Then it fired again and again, its terrible crack echoing through this lower part of the city. The second Bulldog joined in, using its remote turrets to pepper the distant targets. The gimbal-mounted L56 Mark III gun system fired long bursts of 6mm ammunition in a buzzing sound, much like that of a powered saw. Gunfire from the West glanced off their armour, but they'd have no chance of penetrating the layered plating. The smoke settled lower until the entire area was now bathed in a low lying fog that covered the clan warriors up to the waists in the slowly dispersing layer of white smoke.
Damn it! Just a few more seconds and we'd have stopped them controlling those vehicles. Krotox was right.
Knaro reached down, pulled out another gel pack, and pushed it into the ammunition feed. With a practiced hand he pulled back the bolt, snapped the seal, and seated the round ready to fire. He took aim, but as he looked for a target, he spotted something truly terrifying. It wasn't the moving turret of the Bulldog Mobile Gun vehicle, but the return of the dark aircraft bristling with weapons.
"Ma'heen!" cried one of his soldiers.
Knaro looked at the dark shape and felt a thump in his chest. There was nothing so terrifying as the flying machines used by the Anicinàbe. The Byotai civilians outnumbered the warriors of the Spires and Red Scars clans ten to one, but they lacked the training, equipment, vehicles, and the will to fight and maim.
This is it.
Knaro threw himself down to the dirt behind the boulder and lifted his arms to shield his face.
"Get down!"
The others in the squad scattered, but a few remained on the ridge and opened fire with their rifles.
"You heard the Commander, get back!" Krotox yelled.
Bullets bounced off the smooth edges of the large aircraft as though little more than rocks. Knaro peeked around the corner, ducking right back upon seeing it facing directly towards him.
May the Emperor be praised; it is the end.
There was no more time to panic, as the weapon hatches opened to deploy guns and missiles. The Ma'heen was much more than just a large, atmospheric flight capable transport. It was one of the deadliest gunships in the Anicinàbe inventory. The pilot wasted no time unleashing a veritable arsenal against the ridge.
"Incoming!" Krotox shouted.
Those on the ridge turned to run, but they'd already lost their chance. As Krotox ducked down, three were obliterated in the violent maelstrom. First came the guns, but what truly put the fear of the gods into him were the unguided rockets. The powerful weapons blew apart soldier, rock, and metal with ease, and it wasn't just one or two rockets. The barrage was incessant and hammered the area North of the silos, right where Knaro and his friends hid.
In those few moments, the hunters became the hunted. None dared to show their faces as the flying machine moved ever closer, blasting the area with every weapon in its arsenal. One panicked and screamed at the top of his voice as he rushed out from cover. Miraculously, the gunfire missed him, and he ran the full length of the ridge, still screaming at the top of his voice. Just as he reached the far side, and not far from the road, he vanished. More than a dozen rockets exploded around him, erasing his existence in a single moment. Two broke ranks and tried to escape, but Krotox leapt at both, forcing them against the boulders and back to the ground, just as the flank-mounted guns on the Ma'heen blasted nearby as it circled overhead.
Knaro tried to move, but his body was frozen in abject fear. By keeping still he might have a chance to live, but perhaps not for long. The aircraft moved away for a few seconds as it circled for another pass, but the Anicinàbe warriors merely used that as an opportunity to put down more fire from their transports and the two captured Alliance transports. One shell struck the ridge and sent a great plume of dust into the air.
"Uktakki...save us!"
Knaro knew this was the critical moment, and as the guns continued blasting the nearby area, he began to doubt they would survive.
Surely Uktakki would have helped us by now, if he were able. What if he's been killed, or the glint of light at the power station was nothing more, and no help is coming.
"We're doomed," he said.
Krotox heard him and moved in closer.
"What?"
He grabbed Knaro's head and twisted it to face him.
"What did you say?"
The sound of their voices was obliterated by the powerful screams of the overhead Ma'heen. So arrogant were its pilots, they slowed and halted the huge gunship in front of the ridge at a distance of no more than a hundred metres away. The engines let off a fearsome sound, almost as frightening as the weapons the craft carried.
"I said..."
"Commander, look!" yelled a militiaman.
Knaro moved nervously to the edge of the boulder, expecting to be shot at any moment. The gunship sat like an angry bug, its weapons facing directly at them, and yet something had happened. As he watched, a great puff of black smoke belched from the rear, and the Ma'heen dropped ten metres before righting itself.
"What?" Krotox said.
The moment of panic deserted Knaro, and he left his position of cover to look up at the Ma'heen gunship. A thin white trail of smoke dropped down from behind it, only to be joined by a much fresher one that then connected with the left engine assembly. As it struck, an entire section of the engine ripped off, followed by a series of small explosions, and then great gouts of flame. Krotox lifted his rifle in the air and shouted with glee.
"Yes! It's Uktakki. It must be!"
Two more missile trails reached out from the power station, and with great speed and agility, they lifted up and down to avoid defensive turret fire before slamming into the gunship’s hull, sealing her fate. The flamed craft banked to the right and moved away as the pilots desperately tried to right her. They might have succeeded had the engines survived the terrible series of explosions. The great bulk of the gunship proved to be its undoing, and with the engines gone, it dropped like a stone and crashed into the approach road. The aircraft vanished inside a large fireball, disintegrating in a long series of explosions.
"Beautiful!" Krotox exclaimed.
The seasoned warrior struck Knaro in the shoulder with a gleeful expression about his face.
"What now?"
Knaro gulped, still stunned by their minor victory, but more so that they were still alive. Even the clan warriors at the silos lost their will to fight, as those on both sides watch the advanced gunship burn. He looked to his comrade and lifted his goggles. The young Commander's face was filthy dirty, yet a smile had formed, and his confidence had returned. He reached out and grabbed Krotox's arm.
"We attack with everything we have, my friend."
Krotox grinned. "Yes!"
He then rose to the top of the ridge, ignoring the first three rounds that struck centimetres from his body. He waved and gave the signal all the surviving Byotai had been waiting for. At the same time, he shouted at the top of his voice.
"No mercy. Attack!"
He looked back towards Knaro and lifted his rifle even higher above his head.
"Today we show them who rules Karnak."
The survivors of the squad moved to the top of the ridge, lifted their weapons, and chanted the name of their hero. Knaro stood alongside his deputy and joined in, adding his voice to the growing crescendo.
"Uktakki, Uktakki, Uktakki!"
CHAPTER TEN
Hyndla Deep Core Mine, Southern Depression
Spartan and the others waited in silence as the g
roup of Jackals moved in to their final position. Each craft still flew just metres from the ground, long trails of dust following them like angry serpents. The engines pulsed with barely contained energy as they travelled at supersonic speeds. These were the most advanced and powerful dropships in the entire Alliance arsenal, and their pilots pushed them to their absolute limits. As they passed between two hills, they left a great thunderclap behind, a noisy reminder of their speed.
All of this seemed little more than routine to Spartan. Like about every single mission he'd ever been on, the waiting proved the more tiresome. The stress had long gone for him, and even a mission as risky as this held little fear for him. The final battles against the Biomechs and their legions had taken that part of his soul from him. That didn't mean he was no more than a mindless killer, but the little things that could turn most to fear and uncertainty had left him.
The engines pulsed and then increased in power on the final stage of the trip. Spartan instantly recognised the change in power and took that as an opportunity for a final glance at the battle mapping data. He compared the blue schematic of the Deep Core Mine with the very limited intelligence they had on the area. The name was perhaps the biggest misnomer he'd ever come across. This place was no more a mine, than his Jackal was a ground hauler. It was a fortified city and command post for the Red Scars. Nevertheless, for any strength it might offer, it was also the keystone of the Red Scars and controlled the entire Hyndla sector.
Lose this facility, and we can put Hyndla itself in a real hurt locker.
He licked his lips, anticipating the bloodbath to come. His mind showed columns of enemy soldiers as he and his comrades hacked and blasted their way through.
Moreover, if we can cause enough trouble in Hyndla, we can encourage others to do the same in the other nine cities.
His eyes narrowed as he checked the lower levels of the deep core installation. Two tunnels moved out horizontally, adjusting their heights as they connected to the primary Maglev hub that joined the cities together. A third, much larger tunnel travelled even deeper and ran to the East of Hyndla and carried on to the North.
Battle for Karnak (Star Crusades: Mercenaries, Book 4) Page 15
