“Wait a moment.” Haju set down the seat he’d just snatched out of the vehicle. “I need to be in the first buggy through the gate.”
“No way,” Taylor said. “I’m leading.”
“No, I should be first,” Haju insisted. “I have the mass to help break down the gate if needed, and besides, whoever is in the first vehicle will be exposed to the greatest amount of enemy fire. Do you have the ability to shrug off an enemy MAC?”
Taylor scoffed. “No. Do you?”
“Well, no, when it comes right down to it,” Haju said. “However, my hide is thicker than yours, and it can shrug off glancing laser beams, and I’m more likely to survive a direct hit from either a MAC or a laser than you are.”
“You’re also a whole lot bigger target, in case you hadn’t noticed,” Torrio added.
Haju walked to the large door—a roll-up-style metal covering—reached up, and yanked it from its mounting drum. Then he ripped several pieces from it and draped them over the front and sides of his buggy. He shrugged his massive shoulders. “A little less room inside for me, but a bit more protection.”
“All right, fine,” Taylor relented. “You can lead.”
“Assuming the buggy can move with all that weight in it,” a River Hawk said.
Haju looked down his trunks at the private and patted his belly. “I’ll have you know, this is all muscle.”
“Enough,” Taylor said. “Haju, if you can still fit in that damn thing, you can lead.”
“Better hurry,” Jack said. He fired a couple of rounds. “Big swarm of the KzSha inbound.”
“Let’s go!” Taylor said. “Everyone but Jack, mount up!”
“Come on, River Hawks!” Torrio yelled. “We’re leaving!”
Taylor stopped at Haju’s vehicle as the Sumatozou got in. He’d broken off the roll bar on the back, which let him keep the makeshift armor draped over the other roll bars. He stepped onto the back of the vehicle, and the front wheels came off the ground. Taylor winced, but Haju worked his way forward, and the vehicle righted itself and the shocks held. Somehow.
He worked himself into the vehicle, shrugging his shoulders and immense bulk from side to side, and was just able to squeeze himself into it, although his head stuck up above the roll bars.
Taylor shook his head. “Good on you, Haju.”
Jack fired again, but then his rifle clicked empty. “Last battery, Chief,” he said as he reloaded.
Taylor threw himself into the driver’s seat of one of the vehicles. “Get in, then. We’re out of here!”
Jack jumped into the passenger seat, and Frank and House took the back seats.
With Haju in the lead, they rolled out the door, took a right, and raced away from the approaching KzSha.
* * * * *
Chapter 22: Firing Line
Although the vehicles’ motors were strong—they were meant to tow trailers of ore, after all—they were built to operate in mines, not the highway, and they were anything but swift. The KzSha charged toward them and were almost able to keep up with Taylor’s group, until they made it to the first intersection and turned right. Putting a building between them and their pursuers cut down on the fire they were taking from behind, but Taylor could see the flashing lights of KzSha communicating in nearly every direction.
As they passed the first cross street, they again took fire from their pursuers.
“They’re paralleling us!” Frank yelled. “Go faster!”
“I’ve got the fargin throttles almost maxed out!” Taylor yelled back. He nodded to Haju’s vehicle in front of them. “Besides, if I go any faster, I’m gonna pass ol’ Speedy up in front of us.”
“Maybe we ought to,” Frank grumbled.
Haju made another right at the next cross street, which got them pointed in the direction of the dome exit. It also got them headed back toward their pursuers.
“Heads up to the front!” Taylor yelled as the KzSha began to appear in front of them and take them under fire.
The escapees returned fire as the KzSha poured into the intersection. The firefight was nearly equal; the KzSha and the vehicles dodged back and forth, both trying to evade fire while simultaneously returning it.
Jack fired at one in front of Haju’s vehicle, but it was a glancing blow that reflected off the insectoid’s carapace. It dodged out of the way of Haju’s vehicle and turned to fire at Haju from the side, but Taylor swerved and slammed into it. The KzSha was thrown to the side by the impact. “Woohoo! Take that!” Taylor yelled as they made it through the intersection and left their pursuit behind.
Taylor’s excitement was short lived as he approached the next intersection, where the road ran uphill to the mine on the left. Two pairs of lights were rushing toward them.
“Vehicles from the left!” Jack called.
“I see ‘em.” Taylor grunted. “Can’t do anything about—”
The first truck entered the intersection at the same time as Haju and swerved to the right to avoid him—putting him right in front of Taylor.
Taylor swerved to the left to avoid the truck and caught a passing view of several KzSha in the back of the truck as it whipped in front of him a few feet away. They looked as shocked as he was sure he felt.
The truck driver steered to the left to chase Haju, and the truck went up on two wheels.
“Jack—”
“On it,” the cowboy said. He was already aiming his laser, and he fired. The front wheel of the truck blew out, and the truck rolled over twice, then slammed into—and through—one of the buildings along the road.
A second truck screamed into the intersection behind them, a little slower than the first, and was able to negotiate the turn. The mercs took it under fire, and someone from Torrio’s vehicle shot the truck’s driver from beside it. The truck careened sideways and crashed into a building.
The front windshield exploded, and Taylor flinched away from the flying debris.
“Ya gotta be kidding me!” Taylor yelled when he could see again. “We’re still two blocks from the gate!”
“Lucky shot,” Jack said with a huff. “Tuck in behind Haju…but not too close, in case…”
“Got it,” Taylor replied. He worked his way to the right, and the fire coming toward him slackened. The other vehicles lined up behind him in the rear view mirror.
Which left Haju’s vehicle as the only one the KzSha could shoot at. Haju ducked beneath the piece of garage door on the front of his vehicle. Pieces flew off as the KzSha’s weapons tore into it.
“Shoot back!” Taylor shouted. “Keep their heads down!”
“How can he see from there?” Frank asked.
“Maybe through the slits,” Jack replied. “Beats getting shot in the face.” He leaned out and fired off another battery of shots, then slid back into his seat to slap in another charge.
Haju sped up slightly and charged forward, but Taylor was able to keep up with him.
Why wasn’t he at max the whole time? Taylor shook his head. One block to go.
They began taking fire again, although Taylor couldn’t tell if it was directed at them or just errant shots at Haju.
“Ouch!” Frank flapped a wing. “I’m hit!”
“That’s nothing!” House said. “It’s just a singe.”
“It still hurts!” Frank cried.
“Focus!” Taylor yelled. “Keep shooting!”
A rocket exploded on the right side of Haju’s vehicle, and the section of garage door shattered into a million pieces, like a shotgun blast into Taylor and Jack’s faces.
Taylor ducked away, but several pieces hit him on the cheek and neck. “Son of a—no!”
Haju’s car swerved to the left, overcorrected back to the right, then settled down on target again with the gate. The engine was now screaming, and Taylor could hear a grinding sound in his own motor. Something in the blast got it.
The enemy fire intensified, then they were at the gate. The tow tractors were heavy and packed a lot of momentum,
especially when driven by a six-ton Sumatozou, and Haju’s vehicle crashed through the gate. The chain holding the gate closed exploded, and the gate doors blew off their hinges.
Several more shots slammed into Taylor’s vehicle as he passed the guards, then they were out into the open snow.
* * *
The vehicles made it half a mile outside the dome—almost to the narrow passage through the rocks where they’d caught their rides into it—before Haju’s quit entirely. Taylor’s and the one carrying some of Torrio’s men didn’t sound like they’d go much further, either. Taylor risked a glance behind them while Haju extracted himself from the vehicle, and Taylor’s stomach sank. A group of about forty KzSha came through the gates of the dome, led by a squad in their KzSha CASPers.
“What do you think?” Torrio asked. “Keep running for the hills?”
Taylor looked at Haju as he stumbled up to them. The Sumatozou was a mess. The left side of his body had stopped a couple of lasers, and the right side was bleeding in a score of places.
“Haju ain’t gonna make it much farther without serious medical treatment,” Taylor said. “He certainly ain’t gonna be able to run alongside the vehicles.”
“Go on…without me…” Haju gasped.
“Not happenin’,” Taylor replied. “Hey, House, see if any of the vehicles have a medkit or two, and give Haju a hand, would ya?” He looked back to Torrio “We’ll meet them here. If we can turn the vehicles on their sides, we can use them as cover to fight behind.”
“Circle the wagons?” Torrio asked.
“Somethin’ like that, yeah,” Taylor said. “This is as good a spot as any; at least we have a little terrain we can use in our favor.” He arched an eyebrow. “Had any luck raisin’ anyone on the radio?”
“No. You?”
Taylor shook his head. “Doesn’t appear the cavalry’s comin’. I had hoped to make it to the APCs—or at least get to where we could call them—but I can’t get them on the horn. No response from the Osyrys, either.”
“Looks like they outnumber us four to one,” Torrio said, looking at the group of KzSha at the gate as they moved forward, “and about a quarter of them are in CASPers.”
“Ever wanted to fight a desperate battle against incredible odds?” Taylor asked. “Now’s the time.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Torrio said. “You keep trying to call the cavalry; I’ll work on the defenses.”
Taylor nodded. “You got it.” He called Sergeant Ballou with the APCs and Lieutenant Ruiz on the Osyrys, but once again had no luck. They were still within the effective zone of the jammer.
Meanwhile, the River Hawks maneuvered the five tow vehicles into a “U” shape and flipped them on their sides for maximum protection.
“There was only one medkit,” House reported, “so I did what I could. Haju isn’t going to die on us. Not from the wounds he’s gotten so far, anyway.”
Taylor turned and shook his head. The Sumatozou was helping mount the MAC on top of the center vehicle, with the ammo drum on the ground next to it. “Danged Sumatozou can take a lot of abuse.”
“Yes, sir,” House agreed. “Glad I never had to fight them.”
“That makes two of us,” Taylor admitted. “I always thought they were annoying as gate masters; they’d be a real pain in the butt to meet on the field of battle.”
* * *
Another round slammed into the vehicle Taylor was hiding behind, and he risked a glance over it. They’d been waiting until the KzSha were in range. With limited reloads, Taylor didn’t want everyone wasting rounds. He’d seen several glance off the KzSha’s carapaces in their flight from the dome, and the CASPers would be equally tough.
“Now?” House asked.
The crack of a MAC round as it went past Taylor’s head at four times the speed of sound made him duck back down. He took a second peek. “Yeah, they’re in range. Fire!”
Ten men, a Buma, and a Sumatozou stood as one and returned fire. The KzSha, not having been shot at as they approached, had grouped up, and they exploded into motion to separate. Several went down in the initial barrage, but then—as one—all of them surged forward.
“Haju! On the CASPers!” Taylor called. The suited KzSha warriors hadn’t gone to ground in the initial barrage; instead, they’d charged forward with a hopping motion that covered five meters at a time. It wasn’t quite the jumpjets of Human CASPers, but it gave them limited 3D maneuvering capability.
The ten CASPers attacked the left side of the Human defense, held by the River Hawks, in an arrowhead. That wasn’t the way Humans used CASPers—they were better when they were spread apart—but with limited defenders on that side, Taylor could see the River Hawks were going to be overrun. He ducked behind the vehicle and tapped Jack on the shoulder. “C’mon. The Hawks need help!”
The two duck-walked to the left end and took the place of one of the River Hawks who was lying on the ground, missing his right arm.
“Farthest CASPer on the right,” Taylor said. They both fired at the incoming CASPer. Working together, they disabled one of the incoming KzSha, but the last shot fizzled out of Taylor’s rifle. “Reloading,” he said as he slapped in a new battery. “Only got one more after this one.”
“Me, too,” Jack said. “We’re gonna have to make these count.”
Taylor popped up and took an aimed shot. Shrapnel from a near miss peppered his face, and he dropped back behind the cover. “This aiming thing is for the birds.”
“We’re not going to have enough ammo, otherwise,” Jack replied.
And maybe not even then.
Taylor rose and fired. As his shot landed, he could see several other rounds hit across his target, holing the machine. It stopped and fell onto its face.
“What the—” Taylor turned.
“Looked like you boys could use some help, Chief,” Sergeant Reigns said as she joined him next to the vehicle. Several other troopers took positions, augmenting the defense.
“You have no idea, Sergeant,” Taylor said. “Where’s everyone else?”
Reigns nodded to some of the rocks to the right of their position. “Over there.” About 20 people were firing at the KzSha. She nodded to the left. “And over there.” Another 20 troopers were blazing away at the aliens.
“Dang good to see ya, and that’s a fact.” Taylor stood to fire, but there were no more targets.
“Unfortunately, we were just a stopgap,” Reigns said. “We’re here to evacuate you before the next wave hits.”
“Next wave?” Taylor asked.
Reigns motioned to the dome. Five companies of KzSha were marching out of the gates. As the pair watched, the wasps began to jog forward, using their wings to assist them.
“We gotta get y’all out of here before those things arrive,” Reigns said.
“I wish that was possible,” Taylor said, “but they’ll be on us in a couple minutes. Better to stay here behind cover where we can group up than let them hit us strung out as we flee back to the mountains.”
“You see the next group coming?” Torrio asked as he came to join them.
Taylor nodded.
“What’s the plan?” Torrio asked.
“We stop them here,” Taylor said. “If they hit us in the open…”
“We’ll be slaughtered.” Torrio turned to the Eagles’ sergeant. “Got any extra ammo?”
“We’re low, too,” Taylor said.
Reigns nodded. “I’ll see about redistributing what we can.”
“Better hurry,” Taylor said. “We’ve only got a minute or two.”
Reigns ran off, calling to her corporals.
Taylor nodded to Torrio, then walked over to Haju. “How ya holdin’ up, big guy?”
“I’ve been better,” Haju said. “Most times in my life, if you really want to know the truth. There are many more KzSha coming, and I was never one for the mercenary lifestyle. Still, your reinforcements gave me another couple medkits, and I’m getting my second wind, as
you call it.”
“Here they come!” House shouted.
Taylor slapped Haju on the flank. “We got this.”
“I don’t want to be a pessimist,” Jack said as his CO took position to his right, “but I hope you’ve got something else up your sleeve.”
“Whaddya mean?” Taylor asked.
“I don’t think we can win this fight,” Jack said. “If we do, it’s gonna be pretty pyrrhic.”
“We can’t run, and we can’t surrender,” Taylor said.
Jack shrugged. “We don’t have any other choice but to fight. I just hoped you had something else up your sleeve.”
“I’ll try to think of something,” Taylor said.
Rounds began impacting on the vehicles they were hiding behind.
“If we’re in range of their guns…” Jack began.
“They’re in range of ours,” Taylor finished. “Fire!” He jumped up and fired a couple of rounds at the approaching KzSha. They had spread out enough that it was almost like watching the redcoats coming in the revolutionary war. The Humans firing couldn’t miss…but there were so many, they wouldn’t have time to shoot them all, and the incoming fire from the mass of KzSha was wearing holes in the Humans’ cover.
One of Taylor’s men fell back from the vehicle. A round had gone through the vehicle, then Jon Simpson’s stomach. The result wasn’t pretty.
Taylor fired again. The KzSha were almost to the point where they’d make their final charge. For the first time, thoughts of surrender ran through his head, but it was too late; there was no way he could stop the wave of giant wasps, and no way to stop the slaughter once they breached the Human positions.
He fired again, and the center of the KzSha advance erupted in a tremendous explosion.
* * * * *
Chapter 23: Horde
A second explosion threw KzSha into the air on the right side of the line, then a third detonation occurred on the left. Over the sounds of chain guns in operation, three APC engines could finally be heard as the armored vehicles swept in from the left, mowing down the KzSha in front of them like wheat before combines. A second round of explosions ripped through the KzSha lines as their main guns fired again.
The Street Survivors (The Guild Wars Book 12) Page 18
