by M. J Kreyzer
“How bad is it?” Hendrick asked.
“Bone deep.” Sable replied amidst a jolt of pain. Immediately, though gradually, the wound began to close. “I’ll live.”
They continued on, slashing and burning any Legionnaire that came close enough. There were countless fights they could have picked but they didn’t have time. They had to find Tess and the more they ran the more apprehensive Hendrick became of her survival. Trey was right; this wasn’t a simple conquest. The Legionnaire had taken Luke’s tactics to heart and now took those methods on a larger scale. They were running through a part of town that had already been decimated and was now void of the First Legionnaire. All that remained was the bloody remains of the dead civilians and Darks that were unable to escape still dressed in their pajamas. Bodies with their arms and legs ripped from their bodies. People stuck messily on the frames of broken windows, bodies stretched across the pavement with their heads smashed and broken jaws biting the curb.
A radio voice caught Hendrick’s attention. Slumped in the entrance of a nearby house a Legionnaire commander’s radio buzzed. Hendrick went over, snatched it up and held the radio to his ear. Sable went about checking for any survivors, her spirits falling as she realize that there were none. Hendrick motioned for her to start running again. They both did and kept pace with one another.
Hendrick’s face was getting more and more frustrated as he listened to the radio chatter. Not wanting to interrupt but anxiously waiting for a response Sable continued running. Seeing the dramatic change in his expression though Sable had to interrupt.
“What is it?” She asked.
“Only a few sections of the city are still in Dark control.” Hendrick said. “We aren’t winning this one.”
“We knew that though.”
Hendrick kept listening. “And… Wait a minute.”
A Legionnaire was panicking. He cried into the radio for help. Amidst his cries a deep, booming voice could be heard: You can’t crawl from me ya scrawny bastard!
Hendrick smiled proudly just before another voice came over the radio.
“We’ve lost the west gate!” Said the radio. “A Berserker and a vampire have taken control of it! Requesting reinforcements now!”
Hendrick looked at Sable who was already smiling back at him. He shrugged. “We won’t hear the end of that one.”
They came around a corner and Command came into sight. It was crawling with Legionnaires; battering rams had been fashioned and every weapon they had was being used to create some sort of an entrance. Hendrick and Sable ran to the next street to find an alternate way in.
“Still holding strong.” Sable said of the fortress.
The next street contained a regiment of Legionnaires similar to if not larger than the one on the previous street. And more Legionnaires were coming. Entire companies ran down the street, soldiers that hadn’t even entered the battle yet set aside for the sole purpose of taking down Command. Hendrick began looking around for an old timey corner bread shop by the name of ‘Burnie’s’.
“Where…” He trailed off as he looked for it. “It was somewhere around…”
“Right there.” Sable said, pointing across the street. Hendrick gave her a pat on the back.
“Good girl.” He said, pressing his back to the wall and watching more Legionnaires march past. “After this company passes by, run. Don’t ask, just run.”
Sable nodded.
“Alright then.” Hendrick said. The company was almost past, marching in formation, line after line moving into and leaving view. Hendrick’s eyes followed them as they passed, finding the exact right moment.. “And… go!”
Sable sprinted through the gap between companies. Immediately she went under heavy fire. Hendrick burst around the corner and lit the next company up like a gasoline soaked cigarette. They yelled while their commanders ordered immediate attack. The soldiers tried to scatter. The company that had passed turned around and took aim at Hendrick. Hendrick raised his other arm and opened up.
He was invisible behind his walls of flame. Glowing bullets shot through and barely missed him every time, grazing his armor, buzzing arms and legs. With both arms outstretched Hendrick walked calmly towards the bread shop. Through the window he could see Sable opening up a cellar and climbing inside. Hendrick reached the door and stopped flaming. He grimaced with satisfaction and turned around towards the Legionnaires.
There was an entire mess of charred soldiers, some screaming with burns that caused their extremities to crumble and fall off while others were merely piles of smoldering flesh. Hendrick raised his arms and yelled.
“Ladies, it’s been a pleasure!”
The fire of over three hundred high-powered rifles nailed the store. Hendrick was quick to duck inside and hop into the cellar while the shop was shredded by the whistling onslaught of hot metal. He closed the door behind him and it was pitch black. In the corner, though, he could see two blue brightly glowing eyes looking at him. He grinned at her.
“So can you see in the dark with those things or is it just something pretty to look at?”
“Yeah, it’s like I’m wearing a pair of blue nods.” Sable said playfully. “And everybody thinks my eyes are beautiful, you jerk.”
“So you found it?” Hendrick asked.
“Right here.” Sable replied. “It’s a little crawlspace beyond this heating grate.”
“You sure that it isn’t just a heating duct?” Hendrick said with a chuckle.
Sable removed the grating and climbed in. “I’m sure.”
Hendrick smiled, got to his knees and crawled in after her, pulling the grating back into place behind him.
It was a long squared tunnel. The ceiling sloped upward until they were able to stand up and walk fully erect. Most importantly was that there was light at the end of the tunnel. With smug satisfaction on her face Sable looked at Hendrick.
“Who was right?”
Conceding his defeat, Hendrick grinned and they reached the end of the tunnel.
Inside the complex was chaos, though this chaos was different than it was outside the base. Dark soldiers ran everywhere, loading everything that they could into Battlecrafts to be whisked off before the Legionnaire battle cruisers made it into place. Machbikes were taking off and every piece of Dark military equipment was being deployed. The only problem was that the First Legionnaire had the compound surrounded. They wouldn’t be able to get anything out into a position to make use of it.
Nobody regarded the two. Everybody was too preoccupied with the escape that they no longer cared if friends of Luke Semprys were walking in their midst. Hendrick and Sable didn’t pay anybody any mind. They didn’t have time to organize the retreat; they had to find Tess.
After climbing down several sets of stairs they reached the main command center. More Darks scrambled to and fro with computers, weapons, and Dark intelligence stacked high in their arms. Tables that once served as a resting place for an army of military technology were now littered with loose wires and hastily cut cables. Standing at the head of the room was Samuel Alighieri, his hands behind his back and peering hopelessly at the massive screen in front of him. It was the only working piece of equipment left in the room. On it were dozens of panels of various images being collected by video cameras placed around the city. Each one showed the same thing: death and defeat; smoking, flaming, and collapsing buildings, people running through the streets as Legionnaires pursued them. The most common visual, though, appeared to be still images, images depicting fields of dead bodies littered throughout the streets. One by one the cameras were going off line. At the center of the screen was a larger panel with an entire view of the city. In the distant sky large dark objects could be seen piercing through the smoke.
“Sam.” Hendrick said. “Get out of here now. And tell me where Tess is.”
Alighieri didn’t move. Hendrick and Sable exchanged looks before Hendrick stepped closer.
“Sam, listen to me.” He said. “They’ll have t
he city soon and they’ll just be mopping up and once those cruisers get here we’re all screwed. Now get to a Battlecraft and tell me where Tess is!”
“There was no way they could’ve known.” Alighieri whispered in a bemused voice. “Perimeter sensors kept them from getting any surveillance on the city and because of the planet’s dust belts they can’t launch any satellites because they’ll get blasted to pieces by the thousands of tiny-“
“SAM!” Hendrick yelled, tearing Alighieri away from the video screen and clutching his shoulders. “Get a grip! Grow a pair, grab your crap, get on a Battlecraft and live to fight another day! Now tell me where Tess Semprys is!”
Alighieri’s face was vacant, his eyes were lost in shock. Hendrick asked again, calmly and slowly.
“Listen… Where is Tess.”
Without a change of expression Alighieri shook his head. “…she’s gone.”
Hendrick’s eye twitched and he ground his teeth. “What the hell do you mean she’s gone.”
“With Rush… the secret operation… they ran.”
“Secret op… where did they go!”
Alighieri was distant and didn’t reply immediately. “…I don’t know.”
Hendrick swore and pushed Alighieri against the screen. He gave Sable a hard shove towards the entrance of the room and started walking. He stormed out and yelled back to Alighieri.
“It’s your ass, Sam! If anything bad happens to her… and get the hell out of here!”
They left Alighieri standing there, standing in his mussy suit and dumbfounded. Several soldiers came along and helped him towards a Battlecraft.
Hendrick and Sable were running now, throwing anybody who got in their way to their backs. Hendrick fumed.
“We need to stay here and wait for the Ditrinity to regroup. It’s gonna be a matter of minutes before the Legionnaire breaks through those walls.”
They reached the main level and were in the massive central hangar. All vehicles were being directed outside to repel the Legionnaires. Hendrick and Sable made their way to the open area where Dark tanks, Razes, and heavily armed soldiers massed for a defensive.
Hendrick appeared confused. “What’re they…”
“Hendrick!” came a deep gravelly voice. Hendrick saw Pontious outside the hangar dripping with blood. They ran over to him and saw that he was hurt; he had a massive gash in his side and a split eyebrow. He was breathing heavily but the wild in his eyes was more intense than ever. But there was a sadness that Hendrick had never seen in Pontious before.
“What happened to ya?” Hendrick asked. “How did this-“
“We held the east gate for nearly twenty minutes.” Pontious said as blood dripped from his mouth. “They couldn’t get past us. Trey hijacked a set of Raze armor and-“
Pontious coughed up a glob of coagulated blood. He shook it off his hand and wiped his mouth. He looked at the ground as anger boiled inside of him. “Dammit!”
“Pontious, wha…” Sable began, the realization setting in on her. “…where’s Trey?”
Pontious looked her in the eyes and she knew the answer. Her eyes began to water.
“Oh god… please no…”
“They’re gonna have this place overrun before Morlo and Vyvyr can get back.” Hendrick said immediately. “You can still fight, right?”
Pontious nodded.
“Alright then. Spread yourselves along the outer wall.” Said Hendrick while putting a hand on Sable’s back. “We stay here til Morlo and Vyvyr get back. After that we’re out of here. If these guys wanna stay here that’s dandy but we’re getting out and finding Luke. “
There was a deep explosion sounding like a spectacular burst from a massive sub-woofer that shook through the ground. A sudden urgency spread across the base. Hendrick knew what was coming.
“Particle charges.” He said. “Morlo and Vyvyr better get here quick.”
Another deep boom like the one before. As soon as it reached its loudest there was a chain of sharp explosions that erupted across the outer wall of the compound. Flames shot up and curled around the tops of the walls. Everybody near the wall jumped back and some fell to the ground, scrambling away and getting their distance. Cracks shot up through the crumbling brick and sagging steel and showered the men below with pebbles and dust. The Darks formed up along the wall wielding every weapon they had, raising them with uncertainty and aiming them at the wall and the yells, jeers and frightening commotion that came from the other side.
“I give it two minutes.” Pontious said.
“Bet ya twenty steele they can do it in one.” Hendrick said, raising an eyebrow at Pontious. With anger on his face, Pontious shook his head, picked up a nearby rifle on the ground and moved towards the wall. Taking a few steps with Pontious, Hendrick stopped and turned back to Sable, her arms folded while one hand covered her eyes. Hendrick went back to her and put a hand on her waist.
“Hey,” He said quietly. “You know how it is. We all go sometime.”
“But we haven’t lost anybody since Ayla.” Sable said emotionally. “And that was twenty years ago.”
“I know.” Hendrick said, the name drawing a faint albeit noticeable reaction. He was quick to shrug it off, drawing Sable’s sword from its sheath. “But we’re in the war business and crap like that happens.” Taking her wrist, Hendrick pulled Sable’s hand towards him and placed the hilt of the sword in her hand.
Sable looked up to Hendrick’s face. She saw his complete, unflappable confidence and she suddenly felt stronger, more able to move on. And, from somewhere inside of her, she gave a short, reassured smile. Hendrick looked back towards the wall where the tops had begun to break off and fall. He turned to Sable and held out an arm towards the imminent battle.
“Shall we?” He said.
Sable’s smile laced with emotion, she regripped her sword and together the two walked towards the wall.
Around the entire compound the Darks had set up Forge tanks with their sights set squarely on the lower part of the wall. Lined up in tight formations in front of the tanks the Dark soldiers waited for the inevitable breach. Hendrick, Pontious and Sable made it to the front line and squeezed in.
On the landing pads on the other side of the compound Battlecrafts took off ferrying supplies and people. Machbikes zipped away and darted around the city shooting at anything dressed in white. Just behind Hendrick a soldier in Raze armor joined the line with a massive cannon clutched in its robotic hands. The line thickened up as every Dark in the base hopped into the formation.
“Hey,” Hendrick said to a nearby tank pilot getting ready to climb into his vehicle. “Just as the wall’s about to open up fire your cannon.”
The pilot was confused and some nearby soldiers heard the request.
“You insane!” One said.
“Doesn’t matter.” Hendrick said. “But we’ll get the first shot off and we’ll take out quite a few of the Legionnaires if we do. I would bet my life on them having two full lines of thick-armored Monoliths that’ll be coming in first and making our guns worth crap.”
Hendrick spoke again to the tank pilot. “Listen for my command and fire when I say. That good?”
The walls were crumbling fast. Several grenades were lobbed over. Some Darks tried to lob them back over. One Dark hesitated, unsure of whether he should try it. He picked the grenade back up, went to through it and his arm disappeared as the grenade exploded in his hand.
“Ready!” Hendrick yelled.
Another chunk of the wall fell. Only fifteen feet of the wall remained. Hendrick pounded the side of the tank and shouted “POWDER ‘EM!”
The two tanks jolted back beneath the incredible force of their blasts, sending a quake through the surrounding ground. The wall disintegrated and there was a mess of pained yells that came from the other side.
“Shoot, you morons, shoot!”
Gunfire exploded from the lines, starting with Hendrick’s section. Glowing streaks of lead pierced the smoke and buried the
mselves into the enemy they couldn’t yet see. After a few seconds the fire was returned. The retaliation was stronger and more numerous.
All the tanks opened fire. What was left of the walls tumbled and everything was passable now. But the Darks had Forge tanks firing at point blank range. The Legionnaires had only soldiers.
“Move back behind the tanks!” Hendrick ordered, seeing the damage that they were doing and cheering. “They can’t get past this!”
The rest of the city must have been secured because it seemed that every Legionnaire was outside these walls waiting to get in. Their white armored figures filled the streets, jostling and shoving, anxious to get a piece of the last of the Dark population.
The entire compound was exposed now; not a single wall remained standing and along its entire perimeter the situation was the same. Legionnaires were getting pounded by the Dark Forge tanks.
“Hold em off til the Battlecrafts take off!” One commander yelled. “Fall back to your own Battlecrafts by squads and-“
There was an explosion. The Commander was quiet.
“Hendrick!” Said a woman.
It wasn’t Sable. This voice was barely passable as a woman’s. Hendrick turned around and saw a Battlecraft pilot running towards him.
“Price! How’ve you been!”
“Hendrick, I’m takin’ off!” She cried, ducking as a grenade went off nearby. “The Battlecruisers are almost in range to attack! Grab the Ditrinity and come on!”
“Not all here yet!” Hendrick replied while taking a quick look around. The Legionnaires weren’t in range of his Blazers so he broke away and spoke to Price face to face. “Morlo and Vyvyr still have to get back and I’m not sure how long they’ll be.”
Price nodded disappointedly. “So,” she said “what’re you gonna do?”
Hendrick pointed his thumb back towards the battle. “Kill some guys, wait for the others. We’ll need transport out of the area though. Could you wait for us somewhere in the forest?”
Price gave an immediate nod.
“Perfect. I’ve, uh, got my radio here.” Hendrick said holding it up and shaking it. “And as soon as we’re out of here I’ll call you, you give me your coordinates and we’ll get there and take it from there.”
