Gates of Cilicia bls-1

by Michael G. Thomas

  “Rexor, Arcadian heavy infantry, retired,” was all he said.

  The bulk of the others grabbed equipment, most opting for the shields and carbines, but a few took the rifles instead. Xenophon stepped to the table and examined the gear. It looked like the weapons were loaded with tranquiliser shells, a common training bullet that would cause no more than a bruise, but stun the victim for several minutes. He looked back to Roxana who was speaking with several of the volunteers in her group. He counted eleven people include him, not many.

  “Listen, this is a built-up area with lots of cover. I suggest we go light, ditch the heavy shielding and sneak forward to the tower.”

  Rexor laughed at her.

  “Alliance cowards. We take the shield and big guns. Push through the main streets and directly to the tower. We have protection if they try and stop us. You stick together as one group.”

  His comrades around him cheered in agreement.

  “One group or one target?” said Roxana before turning to her much smaller team. A boy, barely a teenager, waved a pulse carbine in front of her.

  “If we’re quick, we could grab the tower before their heavies get in. I bet I could run the entire way if I just take this,” he suggested.

  Roxana smiled at him, impressed by his confidence but also wary of throwing away people too quickly.

  “A good idea, but if our reinforcements are held up, you’ll be trapped with smaller numbers and lighter weapons. I suggest we form two groups and make for the tower. The first will rush it,” she turned to the teenager. “You can be part of that group.”

  She then looked to the rest. “We’ll all follow them with the heavier weapons and watch for infiltrators. We will provide the backup ready for when the heavies get there. What do you think?”

  The small group appeared to have little to say other than a woman of similar age to Roxana.

  “The name’s Erika, I’ve got some experience in private security, escort and protection work. What gear do you suggest?” she asked.

  Xenophon held up a selection of the weapons.

  “Anything other than the shields. A mixture is probably a good idea.”

  Roxana nodded in agreement. The group split off to select their weapons, and Glaucon and Xenophon pulled out several items of interest. Glaucon picked one of the plasma launchers. It was a big weapon, but in his hands looked more like a large rifle. Xenophon, on the other hand, was torn between the carbine and the Laconian Asgeirr-Carbine. He looked to the soldier.

  “Where is the spare ammunition?” he asked.

  “On your enemies,” answered the man in a curt tone.

  He looked back to the weapons and pulled an Asgeirr-Carbine onto his right arm. He looked at it with admiration. He paused for just a second, and then grabbed second one.

  “What are you doing?” asked Tamara who was busy checking the carbines.

  “Well, the ammunition is limited, so I might as well take two. Double the blades and double the firepower.”

  Roxana stepped between them and examined the weapons. She spotted Xenophon and his odd choice.

  “ Let’s just hope a few of them get close enough for us to hit them and take their ammo.”

  “Thanks,” answered Xenophon in the most sarcastic voice he could manage.

  The teenager moved to the front of the group and called out to Rexor.

  “We’ll go ahead. You back us up!” he shouted.

  The large group of mercenaries burst out laughing at the high-pitched voice of the youngster. With his carbine held in his hands, he looked woefully inadequate compared to some of the burly, experienced soldiers in the group.

  “Do what you like, little man, and we’ll try not to trip over your feet!” he bellowed.

  “Hey, kid, what’s your name?” asked Glaucon.

  The teenager spun around and glanced at him. “Kid? I’m no kid.”

  Roxana tried a softer approached.

  “No, you’re not a kid. But what’s your name? I’m Roxana. This is Xenophon and Glaucon, two of my close friends.”

  “Does it matter? Just call me Jack for now,” he said as he turned his back on them.

  Xenophon checked his weapons. They were lit as inactive on the side readout. He just hoped that would change at the start of the exercise. He nodded to Glaucon.

  “You know once we start, most of them are going to make for the tower. If they’re anything like our bunch, they’ll come up through the middle.”

  “Jack!” Roxana called out. She waved for him to join the other two to listen to the plan. At first he stood there, but eventually he wandered over with a sullen look on his face.

  “We’ll take the right. Light weapons ahead, second team twenty metres behind. Don’t stop till you’re inside the tower, got it?”

  Jack nodded but said nothing.

  “Okay, people, you have ten seconds, get ready…” shouted the soldier.

  Rexor pulled back the bolt on his carbine and faced the ruins. His left hand was extended out, ready for when the shield activated.

  “Behind me!” he roared. The rest of his group formed up in a dense block, the shielded warriors on the outside and the rest inside. It looked impressive, but Xenophon could easily see the problems they were creating for themselves. He looked back to see Roxana shaking her head.

  “Fool, just one plasma charge, and they’re all gone.”

  A loud whistle blasted from the soldier, and at the same time the weapons and shields activated for each of them.

  “Go!” shouted Roxana.

  Jack and his comrades rushed ahead and to the right of the large band of warriors led by Rexor. They all moved to the rubble around the outside of the simulated warzone and entered the main street. Rexor’s mob moved up through the middle of the road, but Jack leapt over the nearest wall to the right and vanished from view. The street looked remarkably realistic with buildings on both sides and a smashed military vehicle in the centre. At the end of the street were a series a barricades and behind them the lower levels of the mound that led up to the tower and the objective. Xenophon reached the wall and stopped to help the rest over. It didn’t take long until their small group was over the wall and moving at a quick jog along the parallel street.

  “They’re nearly there!” called out Glaucon, spotting Jack and the rest working through the barricades to the tower. There was no sign of Rexor and his mob as the buildings obstructed their view.

  “Spread out!” called Roxana, perhaps becoming nervous at the lack of action. Xenophon moved to the right and looked down to check his weapons as he moved. They were lit as active, and he was tempted to fire off a shot to see what happened. With a limited number of rounds, he just couldn’t do it; not that firing off rounds for no reason was a good idea anyway.

  They reached the open space in front of the barricades and were now able to see part of the street to the left. There was another ruined vehicle but no sign of the rest of their team.

  “Keep moving, we don’t want to get pinned down out here,” called Roxana.

  Xenophon nodded and leapt over the first barrier and through the rubble. He landed hard and straightened himself only to see a man of similar age and build to himself. The most obvious difference was that he was carrying a red marked rifle and an active shield in his left hand. He tried to move it, but in the confines of the damaged walls, Xenophon was able to duck to the side and lift up his left arm. Without even bothering to pull the trigger, he stabbed forward instead. The blunted training blade shot out, and he punched the man in the chest. The impact didn’t seem great, but one of the tranquiliser darts must have been triggered because the man staggered and collapsed to the ground.

  “Nice work!” said Roxana as she moved past him. She didn’t stop and pushed through the debris to reach the winding path running around the base of the tower. The rest of the group did the same, leaving Xenophon looking at his first kill of the scenario. He was about to move when he spotted movement in the buildings behind the tow
er. A flash was all he needed to throw himself to the side. It wasn’t a moment too soon, as a volley of six projectiles clattered uselessly against the wall behind him.

  Close! he said to himself.

  The quiet was broken by dozens of rifles and carbines opening fire. Xenophon kept low and pushed ahead, only glancing briefly over his shoulder to try and assess what was happening. He rounded the next corner to find the rest of his team pinned down.

  “You okay?” asked Tamara.

  “Yeah, what’s happening?”

  “Most of their team are heavies. They spread out in a wide skirmish line and are putting down fire all around the end of the street and the base of the tower.”

  “Jack?” he asked.

  “I’ve not found any bodies. Either they got lost, or they made it up there,” she answered, pointing up to the top of the turret.

  More sound came from below as both forces clashed, each trying to hit the other team with a mixture of training rounds. The shields seemed highly effective in this environment. The one side effect was they were now distracted by the arrival of Rexor and his group.

  “This is our chance, come on!” called out Glaucon.

  He lifted himself up and rushed ahead. It was a narrow path that led to the tower, but they covered the ground quickly and made their way into the lower level. Without stopping, they pushed on towards the side and a staircase that led up to the high level floor. Glaucon moved first with Xenophon following. Roxana was next and Erika last. They moved as quickly as possible, but Erika didn’t make it in time before the first group of the red team. They spotted her and blasted her with a dozen rifle rounds. Roxana barely avoided the impact before rolling inside.

  “Stop them!” she called out, still disorientated by her scramble inside.

  Xenophon spotted them approaching, but from the higher floor, he could do little except add what limited firepower he had into their number. He aimed his right hand carefully and pulled the trigger. The metal fist shook slightly as it released the training rounds. He loosed off six in total and spotted at least two of the attackers fall. Glaucon lifted his plasma cannon over the edge of the turret and aimed it down at the group. They were already spreading out when he fired. Unlike the real weapon, this one fired a single round that burst upon impact. It sent a cloud of quick evaporating gas around the target area stunning four more of the enemy. Xenophon did his best to try to avoid thinking about what an actual super-heated plasma projectile would do.

  “Good timing!” called out Jack, as he and his group emerged from the top floor and joined them out on the low battlements. Each pointed their weapons over the edge and fired at any enemy that came close.

  “Okay, Commander,” said Xenophon sarcastically. “We’ve secured the tower, what now?”

  Roxana smiled and nodded towards the approaching enemy forces on the other side. The odd impact from a rifle or carbine round bounced off the wall ineffectually.

  “Well, I’m surprised we’ve got this far already! I suggest we dig in and hold them off until Rexor and the rest make it to us.”

  “When? You mean if?” laughed Glaucon.

  From their raised position, they could just about make out the glowing shapes of the body shields as the two large formation of fighters met all around the tower. It looked like they had met head on, and both sides were trying to outflank each other. Rexor and his group were still fifty metres from the tower, and it seemed they were pinned down by heavy weapons fire. Jack turned around and called out.

  “Two groups are moving in from the left. They’re between Rexor and us. I think they are trying to outflank him. What do we do?”

  “If we stay here, we’ll hold the objective, but Rexor and his team could end up cut down. It looks to me like they are content to leave us here, so they will finish him off and then come looking for what’s left of our force.”

  Roxana nodded in agreement and lifted her carbine to check the state of her ammunition. She was already down to less than a half, and the enemy had not even started their main assault yet.

  “Alright, here’s what we will do. I will stay with the long-range weapons and help defend the turret. Xenophon, Glaucon, Tamara and Jack, you will climb back down and work your way behind their team. Do not assault their positions unless you have the advantage, but try and catch them in a crossfire. If you can break them up, it will give Rexor a chance to break out to the tower.”

  Glaucon and Xenophon nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing on the plan. They were already moving to the steps when Roxana grabbed Xenophon’s arm.

  “Grab the ammunition from the ones downstairs, you’ll need it.”

  He smiled and then disappeared out of view.

  The small group moved down the tower and did their best to keep in the shadows. Glaucon was the only one of them carrying a heavy weapon, so he stayed further back, constantly on the look out for enemy movement. At the bottom, they found the semi-conscious bodies of the enemy, still panting from a mixture of exhaustion and probably the drugs they had been induced with. It took seconds to strip the magazines from their weapons, and they were on their way. The sounds of the main battle were coming directly ahead, and it sounded terrible. A mixture of gunfire, shouting and the crump and flashbang grenades rumbled through the streets. They made it to the damaged outer wall of a ruined home and stopped. Jack kept low and glanced through the gaping hole in the walls and out into the street. He watched for a few seconds before slipping back.

  “There are dozens of them, looks like a melee.”

  Xenophon pointed to the right but said nothing. They moved around the building and picked their way past the wrecked vehicles until they were in a position right behind where the red team should actually be. A number of cracks and explosions made them drop to the floor. They came from behind, but it was impossible to tell whether the reds had made it into the tower, of if they were simply engaged in a major firefight.

  “There!” called out Glaucon.

  Behind an upturned truck were about twenty member of the red team. They were behind cover and pouring fire into a similar number of blues who had been caught out in the open. Most of the rounds were bouncing from their body shields, but every now and then a shot made it through. As Xenophon and his own team took up position, a powerful blast from a plasma cannon hit the centre of Rexor’s formation. The gas charge put half a dozen fighters on the ground and disrupted their formation, making them even more vulnerable to attack. Xenophon double-checked his Asgeirr-Carbine and pulled Glaucon down to his level.

  “On my command, you hit the centre of the line with everything you have. The rest of us will move out and hit them at close range. Understood?”

  He nodded in agreement. Tamara and Jack were both armed with carbines and stood waiting.

  “Ready?” asked Xenophon, and they nodded instantly. He turned back to Glaucon, “When you’re ready!”

  He lifted his heavy weapon and rested it on the damaged wall. From their position, they had a perfect view of the rear of the red team. Glaucon aimed the weapon carefully and fired all his rounds, one after the other. He only had four left, but the effect of all four was devastating. He dropped the weapon and chased after the other three who were already charging at the team. Jack and Tamara blazed away with their carbines while Xenophon fired single shots from his own weapons. They only brought down a small number of the enemy, but the effect of being hit at close-range from behind shattered their formation.

  “Get back!” shouted Tamara. A dummy round barely missed the two of them as Jack and Tamara took cover behind a metal container. More rounds clattered against it, but for now they were safe. While the gunfight continued, Xenophon rushed in, his bloodlust up. At close range, he was able to use his two Laconian weapons to perfection. His first bursts of fire cleared a path through their position, and then he was amongst them. Ducking and leaning, he avoided their clumsy attempt to shoot him while he stabbed and fired at close range.

  Glaucon moved as quickly
as he could, but he was forced to slow down as targets of opportunity arrived. A small group of four of the enemy had taken refuge behind a wall and were putting down considerable gunfire. Glaucon fired twice and dropped low to avoid their fire. He kept shooting, as well as moving closer to them, and could see Xenophon jumping about in the middle of the group. He seemed to be causing more confusion than casualties, but that was fine, disruption worked in their favour. He moved to the left to try and work around the group, but his left leg gave way.

  “Great!” he cried in irritation, as he stumbled and collapsed to the ground. One of their projectiles had struck him above the knee and put him out of the fight. He tried to watch the rest of the training scenario, but the drug on the round started to kick in, and his vision quickly blurred.

  Glaucon might be down, but there were now less than a dozen of the red team remaining. Only the handful that had turned on Glaucon were left, and they stood to try and run, only to be cut down by the renewed weapons fire from Rexor’s own advancing position. It was a devastating crossfire from all involved, and as the gunfire stopped, Xenophon found himself in the middle of the defeated red team’s position. Rexor moved out from the centre of his unit to look at Xenophon and Glaucon, both of whom were dripping in sweat. He was about to speak when a single remaining red team member lifted herself up and aimed her plasma cannon directly at Rexor. The expression on his face showed that he knew his time was up. Two flashes from the container further away was the only signal that Tamara and Jack were still in position. Their carefully aimed shots hit the woman in the back and knocked her to the ground.

  “Not bad,” he said with a forced smile.

  A loud siren filled the arena, and the lights on the training weapons switched off. Large flood lamps flashed on, and for a few seconds all of those involved felt almost blinded by the bright lights. From above, a round platform of perhaps ten metres in diameter was lowered. It took almost twenty seconds to reach to the ground. In the middle stood an Arcadian senior officer plus an entourage of warriors, each dressed in full combat attire. A group of medics and technicians stepped down from the platform to tend to those that had fallen and to administer the drugs to allow them to stand.