War of the Exiles

by Michael G. Thomas

  Few defenders remained in front of the wall as the combined weight of two clans washed over the bastions. The initial wave might have been beaten back. But with all of the transports and ground vehicles in position, their entire strength was unleashed. They quickly broke into the bastion, with many small groups running to the safety of the trench, sweeping away the defenders with ease.

  The few brave warriors that did stand their ground were cut down in the crossfire; Byotai, Khreenk, Helion, Human, and Anicinàbe cut down indiscriminately by the massed guns of the advancing enemy. The Kolchan were undisciplined and rushed straight ahead. The waves of Zuni soldiers marched as though on parade, only breaking into a run when close enough to see their targets. In just ten minutes they'd secured the ground in front of the trench and most of the bastions, leaving just the Blood Pack like rocks jutting out from waves crashing along a beach.

  While hundreds engaged the Blood Pack, many more streamed past to reach the last few Red Scars. Rather than wait for the end, a single cry rang out along the trench. Yunn heard the cry, twisted to avoid a blow from a Zuni soldier, and then blasted his head cleanly from his shoulders. He looked back and laughed as the Red Scars rose from the trench and charged out. They crashed into the loose wave of Kolchan clan warriors and creatures.

  "Yes!"

  Yunn turned back to his own fight, but many more of the defenders continued streaming back through the sally ports or up the rubble, to make it through the great breach blown through the wall. They moved, desperate to escape being trapped outside. Far off to the left three squads of Black Widows flitted about, holding back the tide as settler soldiers retreated. Before they could be engaged, they rose from the air and moved to the next location, dancing about like bugs around a carcass.

  Nice moves.

  "Yunn, ahead, fifty metres."

  Yunn rotated his torso and spotted the problem, six Kolchan soldiers taking cover behind the body of a fallen Blood Pack warrior. One was tugging at his firearm.

  "Get off him, you animals!"

  Yunn put an entire magazine into the group, tearing two apart and sending the rest fleeing in panic. He looked back and quickly found the group of Zuni soldiers moving to the wide-open sally port. The last Byotai to enter had left it open, and it provided the perfect way inside the defences. He took aim just as a creature crashed into his back and sent him sprawling.

  "Sally port!"

  He hit the ground and automatically rolled, avoiding the large paw reaching for him. Yunn rested the stock of his Thumper on the ground so that its muzzle pointed directly up and pulled the trigger. The large calibre rounds hammered into the animal’s belly. As it hit the ground dead, Yunn was back up and looking for targets. Then he remembered the sally port. He looked for it and found the horde already there.

  Dammit!

  Yunn took aim, squeezed the trigger, and then found his view obscured as ten Black Widows crashed down around them.

  Beautiful!

  Arana hit the ground with a crash. Her fuel supplies were running low, and by her calculations had just enough fuel to make it back over the wall. Nine more Widows landed around her in a loose crescent. Ahead of her was what remained of the bastion, and coming right at her was at least a company of the Zuni soldiers who had breached the trench. They were heading for the open sally port behind her.

  "Drive them back, Widows."

  Their matched brace of pistols at this range were devastating. The fully automatic fire unleashed a swathe of fire ripped apart Zuni soldiers with ease. Dozens were cut down from defenders higher up the wall. A few foolishly stood their ground, but the rest turned and ran back, desperate to avoid the guns.

  "See, hit them hard and they run. Now, back to the wall. Spartan needs help."

  A series of small flashes rippled along the wall as the ten accelerated up the wall. Yunn looked back and took aim just as his brother and Jax were pinned to the ground by a massive four-legged beast, their armour cracked from its massive weight crushing then into the rock.

  "Drive them back. Use everything we have! They won't stand."

  The gunfire unleashed a terrible sound, but no matter how many shots were fired, the number of clan warriors in front of the wall never seemed to diminish. Yet with every second the defenders held, the resolve of the attackers seemed to decrease proportionately.

  Yunn jumped past two Zuni soldiers and swung his Thumper, catching one in the face. The second turned to run, but was picked off by sniper fire from the wall. More of the clan soldiers scattered, some moving to the wall, and just as many fleeing back to their vehicles. Yunn could feel the enemy beginning to break, and he was sure his comrades could as well. He looked up and spotted the tiny shapes of Khan, Arana, and Spartan, all clustered around the Byotai standard. Khan lifted the pole high into the sky and roared, and all along the wall shouting broke out.

  "Yes!" Yunn yelled.

  At that very moment the first wave of Spires dropships screamed overhead, and a new bombardment of shells crashed all around the battlefield. Most struck low along the wall, but a good number made it to the already wide breach. The ground shuddered, and Yunn glanced back. A section a hundred metres-wide collapsed, along with a tower and the standard flying alongside Khan and Spartan. It was a massive breach, and as it opened, a great howl echoed out along the open plain from the enemy clans.

  No!

  Many more dropships came in low and fast in front of the wall, depositing squad after squad of Spires soldiers. Some even carried black banners that he did not recognise. They moved with speed and efficiency, shouting to those that might be retreating and stabilising the line. As Yunn watched in horror, the numbers of retreating clan warriors slowed down, and small groups of them turned back to watch the collapsing wall. More shells struck the damaged sections, and the battle completely reversed in a matter of seconds. The sound of the defenders’ cheers was drowned out by the combined voices of three clans.

  "They are rallying," cried out another of his kin.

  Spires dropships swept in low, and large numbers of Spires warriors leapt out to join the flagging ground troops of the Kolchan and Zuni clans. The hundreds outside the wall soon found their number doubling in size. Smaller numbers landed on the wall, taking the fight to the mercenaries and soldiers defending them. Yunn fired his last shots, and then lifted his Thumper like a club before charging those trying to reach the breach.

  "With me!"

  * * *

  The last barrage had shattered the wall, and to his stunned surprise, Spartan found he was still conscious. For a moment, he thought he'd passed out. It wasn't him, though, just the armour that had failed. He fumbled with both hands and deactivated the broken visor. The unit broke away as he pulled on it, leaving his face vulnerable to the elements. The stench of burning flesh and smoke from firearms filled his nostrils.

  "Khan?"

  The smoke obscured everything, and he staggered about the rubble, trying to find Khan. The pair crashed into each other, both battered but little worse for wear.

  "What's happened?"

  Khan pointed to his left.

  "The wall is breached; we have to hold them back while the others get to the settlement barricades."

  The mention of the barricades filled Spartan with dread. They were a last line of defence, the only thing that could stop the enemy from making it inside the three underground settlements.

  "Do it."

  Spartan clambered down to the lower part of the broken wall, roughly halfway down from its full height. The last bombardment had torn open another three sections, and the work crews had been pulled back. It revealed a wide breach that once climbed, would allow any attacker inside the city. It was so big he suspected a spacecraft could actually land there, if there was a pilot crazy enough to try it. All that remained in the forward defences were the Blood Pack and the Red Scars, and most were withdrawing through the sally ports.

  Spartan could see from the overhead drone footage that all their positions
were completely overrun now, including the trench and the bastions. The skyline was a junkyard of burning vehicles and wasteland, but their ground troops no longer filled the open space. It wasn't much, but it heartened Spartan, even just a little. At key points a number of smaller groups of enemy troops were already falling back.

  They might have numbers, but not resolve.

  He called out to Khan.

  "That is their entire strength at the walls. If we can shatter this last assault, I think we might drive them off. We will have won."

  Khan shook his head and lifted his arm to point at the large mound of debris marking the point where the wall had collapsed. It rose up like a small hill and at its peak a large group of Byotai. They ran as fast as their legs would carry them, some even falling to get back inside.

  "They're broken," said Khan.

  His voice was grim, but Spartan was having none of that.

  "Get everybody you can find here, and fast. I need them back there."

  He looked backwards and towards the barricade. It was a modest affair, constructed from stone, rubble, sandbags, and discarded furniture. The structure was nearly three hundred metres wide, and the last barrier between the enemy, and the myriad of tunnels and entrances to the city. One person stood up tall on the barricades, and in her hand she held up a battered and clearly improvised metal pole, from which flew a civilian Byotai flag.

  "Syala?"

  * * *

  Nakoma circled overhead, watching the battle below. The city was burning, exactly as she'd hoped, but a large number of her clan warriors were fleeing, plus almost all of the creatures brought by the Kolchan.

  The fools. There is a reason we stopped using those beasts centuries ago.

  Only two large contingents of Zuni, numbering about five thousand, were now at the breach and trench works, along with nearly three thousand Kolchan. Almost the same number of Spires warriors were spread along the wall and moving to join the others to enter the breach.

  Three times that number of the three clans was now embroiled in numerous skirmishes along the many small breaches in the wall. Though the Byotai had withdrawn, the heavily armed mercenaries were defending the small gaps in the walls with surprising success. As she watched, a group of black armoured soldiers launched from the walls and crashed down amongst a group of Kolchan soldiers. Bodies were blown apart, and the Kolchan soldiers broken and fled, leaving the unknown soldiers to blast away again and back behind the wall. Nakoma snarled upon seeing the successful counterattack.

  "Why are my soldiers running away? Are they insane? Perhaps they fear the enemy more than me."

  She had been tempted to withdraw her forces now that the city defences were in ruins, and to bomb the last survivors into submission. After seeing the success of the mercenaries, she could see how brittle the clan warriors were, and there were already enough of her forces fleeing from battle. She looked to Senior Centurion Siwili positioned opposite her on board the heavy assault gunship.

  "How many Spires troops remain uncommitted?"

  "Approximately a thousand are still in the air, the rest wait at the forward deployment area. They can be here within the hour."

  "Good. Land the thousand here, a kilometre from the wall and form a line. Send the aircraft back and bring in the reserve."

  Senior Centurion Siwili looked confused.

  "A kilometre from the wall? Should we not combine with the rest of our forces to take the city?"

  Ogimà Nakoma's expression changed in an instant.

  "Why? There are more than fifty thousand warriors fleeing from battle, while our own kin rally those at the breach."

  She nodded towards the wall.

  "If they will not fight, they will be shot on sight."

  "As you wish, Ogimà."

  They moved along the wall, staying low and out of sight of the defensive weapons of the city. The occasional gun fired at them, but with so many Spires soldiers now in the field, many parts of the wall had been taken, and only the majority of the towers still in the hands of the Byotai and their mercenaries.

  "Put us down, Senior Centurion. It's time for you to earn your place in the clan."

  Siwili looked to his master with an expressionless face.

  "My place?"

  Nakoma smiled.

  "Of course. When Tahkeome returns, I will take my place at his side. I need somebody I can trust to take over the running of the Spires. Take the city for me, and that place is yours."

  The craft moved lower, and Siwili leapt out, hitting the ground and rolling forward before standing upright. More of the Spires soldiers dropped down to join him. They were heavily armoured and carrying Jezzail rifles. He called out via the unit communicators to those already on the ground.

  "All units converge on the breach. We take the breach, and then the city."

  * * *

  Spartan and Khan waited in front of the barricade with what remained of the Blood Pack. Khan at his left, Syala, Arana, and Kanjana positioned at his right-hand side. Kanjana looked almost identical to Spartan, sporting her XC1 Carbine. The two Black Widows were even bulkier, protected by their reinforced and customised armour. Syala had discarded her pistols in favour of a Blood Pack Thumper that looked ridiculously big on her.

  "Nice gun," said Khan.

  Syala smiled but looked to Spartan.

  "I thought we were winning this thing."

  Spartan shrugged.

  "They are civilians. They can't be expected to hold forever."

  As he spoke, the last few hundred defenders clambered atop the defensive structure. At the centre were Governor Nak Sekieki and his entourage. Spartan had expected to never see him again, but for some reason he was here.

  "Governor, this is likely to be the last battle. You should go back with your people."

  Kanjana repeated his words, but the Byotai noble was already shaking his head.

  "We will fight and die here."

  Spartan looked back to Syala.

  "He's got a serious death wish, hasn't he?"

  More people flooded to it every few minutes, but most were still running from the wall. Spires soldiers had secured several towers and were firing down into those moving throughout the city. Spartan was sure he could count hundreds, perhaps even thousands of the civilians looking for a safe place to hide. Even the Exiles had given up and abandoned their posts.

  "Stop running. Stand or the city falls!"

  Kanjana called out to them in their own tongue, but as clan soldiers took section after section of the wall, they ran. The city was vast, and if they made it underground, they might survive for days before Nakoma reached them.

  "This doesn't look good, does it?" Khan asked.

  Spartan shook his head.

  "You're not wrong, old friend."

  One contingent to the left slowed and then for some reason stopped. There were four hundred, perhaps more, and an equal mixture of Byotai and half-bloods. It was now almost impossible to tell them apart, their odd mix of weapons and gear covered in dust.

  "Look," said Kanjana.

  Tenskwatawa appeared brandishing his staff, his face still bare. He spoke in Byotai, and as he said his words, more of the settlers stopped to listen. Some even grabbed weapons from the fallen and aimed them at the massive breach. Then came a great lull, as though it was nothing more than a piece of entertainment and somebody had pressed the mute button. Gunfire continued, but it was light and sporadic, with only the occasional explosion.

  "What's going on?" Syala asked.

  Spartan glanced at the overhead view from the drones, but with the smoke of battle still littering the field, there was little to see. If he'd been wearing his Maverick armour, he could have launched his own network drone.

  "Look," said Khan.

  They all turned their gaze to the mound of rubble and the shape of the Anicinàbe warriors. The bizarre mixture of clan fighters reached the peak and then spread out in a massive formation. Spartan hadn't quite appreciated how much o
f the wall had collapsed, but the lines were easily two hundred warriors wide, and increasing. All were heavily armed, and one in particular pushed to the front. He was bigger than the rest and carried no firearms, just a halberd shaped weapon. He lifted the weapon high and shouted down via an electronic translator in the Byotai language.

  With his visor and electronic suit damaged, Spartan looked to Kanjana for help.

  "What is he saying?"

  Kanjana shook her head and sighed, clearly angry at what the Spires officer was saying.

  "He is Senior Centurion Siwili of the Spires. He offers terms, if we surrender."

  Khan by now could hear what Kanjana was saying.

  "What terms?"

  "He will let us walk out of the city without our weapons, if we surrender."

  "And if we don't?" asked Syala.

  In answer to the question, a pair of the massive four-legged creatures clambered over the top of the rubble. Scores of the other clan warriors moved down to make space for it. The occupants took aim with their firearms, and then at the call of Siwili, every single one of them took aim at the barricades, and those waiting in front. Then four of the Zuni soldiers pushed the shattered metal form of a Blood Pack warrior to the front. His armour had been breached in a dozen places, and his helm was ripped open.

  "Jax," said Khan, the anger and bitterness pouring out.

  Both sides faced off against each other with their weapons raised and ready to shoot. The Anicinàbe commander moved closer to the badly wounded Jax and held the edge of his halberd style weapon at his throat. More of the soldiers clambered over the mound and down the other side into the city. They moved cautiously, while Senior Centurion Siwili remained at the peak so that all could see him and his prisoner. He called out the demands once more, and a number of the Byotai dropped their weapons and fled the barricades,