by Sid K
Ten minutes later the soldiers came back and informed him about potential crossing points.
“One a few hundred feet to the south is around sixteen feet wide,” one of them said.
“I saw one that is around seventeen to eighteen up north,” another one said.
Finally Jolvyt decided to make the crossing at the southern point where the creek was only sixteen feet wide. He assembled his capitans and the sub-officers and pointed to a spot on the map.
“Roughly here we are going to cross,” Jolvyt said. “Leave about a thousand troops all around the front to keep firing. We don’t want to give them an indication of our intentions to cross. Assemble the other two thousand troops there.”
They hurried back and the troops assembled just behind the trees at the crossover point. The trees covered their hustle and bustle. Capitan Jolvyt stood in front an addressed them. He did not use a megaphone because he did not want the Rangers to get even a whisper of what was going on.
“Keep your heads down, run as fast as you can and fan out both ways when you reach the other side,” Capitan Jolvyt said to the troops in front. His message was passed back. He got out of their way and gave the order to charge.
Suddenly to the Ranxians surprise, a massive number of Starfirian troops poured out from behind the trees, jumped three feet down into the creek, splashed into the water that was roughly two feet deep, and ran to the other side firing their ATR rifles. Rangers were able to stop the first few waves, but more and more poured out from more and more trees fanning across the creek. Starfirians staying behind came out from hiding and fired their rifles to support the troops crossing the creek. The creek ran red with blood, but eventually at one place a few Starfirians managed to reach ground on the other side. They quickly established a position there and rest of the Starfirians crossed behind them. Now the Rangers were on the defensive and as more and more Starfirians crossed over, they started to pull back. Soon all of them had pulled out and beat a hasty retreat back towards Coldwoods with the Starfirian warriors in hot pursuit. The storm overhead picked up strength by the minute.
* * *
Sthykar’s helicopter buffeted to and fro, but as they got closer to the compound it suddenly stabilized; the hard gale became soft breeze and the rain turned back into drizzle.
“Looks like we are in the eye of the storm now,” Sthykar said.
“I see the compound wall,” Pelyett said. “What do I do?”
“Fly over the wall towards the gate,” Sthykar said. “Keep moving in a circle while I take out the gate rangers.”
“There are four of them,” Tulkar said. “Get some help from Colonel Jontvyk.”
“Sthykar can do it; he is the best sharpshooter in the country,” Relkyett said.
“I didn’t spend thousands of hours of my life practicing marksmanship for nothing,” Sthykar said and clutched his rifle with determination. He opened the helicopter door slightly as it crossed over the wall of the compound flew towards the gate. Tulkar tied the rope they had to two of the seats and took out explosive sticks as instructed by Sthykar earlier.
As soon as the helicopter hovered near the gate, Sthykar pulled back the door and aimed his rifle. The four Rangers patrolling the gate looked up, thinking that it was their own helicopter that had gone to drop off the police chief. Sthykar opened fire and shot two of them dead with his first two shots. The other two who were standing on the other side of the gate scrambled to aim their rifle at the helicopter as Sthykar quickly swung his rifle towards them, took aim and fired two more shots, dropping them dead as well. He had been practicing shooting regularly since he was eight years old and his efforts were not in vain.
“Pelyett tell Jontvyk to be ready,” Sthykar said while tugging on the rope to make sure it was fastened securely. “Relkyett, Tulkar, provide me with cover from your side if anybody comes.”
Sthykar took the explosives, along with his rifle, and quickly rappelled to the ground. He looked towards both the barracks; they were quite a distance away for the sound of gunfire to reach them in the midst of the whirling wind and the pattering rain. Unfortunately, his explosives were getting wet; he hoped the rain would not pick up enough to drowse the fuse.
“Colonel Jontvyk,” Pelyett spoke on the radio. “Prepare to attack.”
Sthykar took one look at the gate and figured out where its weak points were. He began putting the explosives on the gate. He had done far more complex demolitions in the army and this was simple. In less than two minutes, he had arranged all the explosives, lit their fuse and was climbing back up the rope. As he was almost near the helicopter, he saw two Rangers run towards him from the central road that led to the tower. They were probably assigned to guard the road and hence were not in their barracks.
Sthykar quickly grabbed the rope tightly with his left hand, curled it over his wrist, crossed his feet over it, flicked his ATR rifle to ‘auto’ and fired at them with his right hand extending the rifle. Relkyett and Tulkar had also opened up from their side. The Rangers were hit and both dropped down on the ground as Sthykar climbed up in the helicopter.
“Pull back over the wall,” Sthykar said. “We have less than a minute.”
Just as they were hovering a slight distance away, a massive explosion tore the gate apart. Colonel Jontvyk and the twenty-one gunmen with him quickly charged out of the woods and stormed through the shattered gate towards the two barracks on either side before any Rangers managed to come out.
“Put the helicopter down just outside of the gate,” Sthykar said and Pelyett grounded it there.
“Shall we join them?” Relkyett asked.
“Relkyett and Tulkar, you go join Jontvyk,” Sthykar said. “Pelyett, fly me to that tower in the middle.”
“We can come with you there,” Tulkar said.
“I can’t ask you to, its too risky. We don’t know its layout from inside; we don’t know how many Rangers are in there,” Sthykar said. “If it wasn’t Slyntya as a hostage in there, I would have gone with the rest of you from land.”
“We will take the risk,” Relkyett said.
“I know you would,” Sthykar said laughing. “But I have to move fast and move in the shadows. Better I go alone.”
“We won’t be long,” Relkyett said. “You take care, Colonel.”
Both Relkyett and Tulkar saluted Sthykar and he returned their salute as they ran into the compound. Pelyett put the helicopter into the air.
“How do you want to do this?” he asked.
“Go as high as this helicopter can be taken while you still see the tower, then lower down slowly on top of it. I don’t want them to see us coming.” Sthykar said.
Pelyett further increased the elevation of the chopper.
Meanwhile Ex-Capitan of 999th Reserve Army, Yytar was the first one to the door of the eastern barracks. The barracks in the compound were two rectangular single floor buildings with four windows on front and back and one window each on the side. The doors for the barracks were to their extreme left. The walls were made with solid brick but the doors were a wooden. Normally each barrack housed sixteen Rangers, including the ones who patrolled the gate, the wall as well as the front of the road. The Starfirians had already dispatched six of them, and ten additional Rangers had been sent out to fight, leaving behind eight in each of the barracks.
They had not heard the gunshots, but the sound of the explosion did not escape their attention. In both barracks they were debating whether it was a particularly loud thunder like they had been hearing for quite a while now or an explosion. A few of them looked out the window just in time to see the Starfirians with rifles and shotguns storming their barracks. They scrambled to pick up their own rifles.
Yytar kicked the door that was not locked and it hit the side wall. He opened fire with his ATR slaying two Rangers instantly and forcing others to take cover under beds or tables. He turned away as soon as his rifle was empty. Surprisingly, old man Zyf had beaten his younger companions and had reached a
window next to Yytar. He stood on a stone ledge under the window, shattered it with the stock end of his shotgun, turned it around and let loose a blast into a Ranger who had just stood up from under the bed after Yytar had retreated. The Ranger was blown hard and hit the opposite wall. Zyf himself was jerked back by the recoil and fell on the ground. A young man rushed up to him and helped him to his feet.
“One more shot like that,” Zyf said, “and I will have to be carried back.”
Colonel Jontvyk had hit the western barrack at the same time, kicked in the door and let loose his entire 25-round ATR magazine into the startled Rangers who were scrambling for their guns. The rest of them, Sthykar’s friends as well as Coldwoods townsmen, opened up into both barracks through the windows, shooting up the buildings with tens of rounds, before they stopped to take an appraisal of the situation. By the time Relkyett and Tulkar had caught up to them, the battle was over; all sixteen Rangers were dead, and only a few had managed to get off some rounds of their own. Colonel Jontvyk counted his numbers, all had lived, a couple had been shot, but not fatally. Zyf had perhaps broken a hip bone, but he was refusing any help and was waving his shotgun in the air.
“Colonel Jontvyk.” Relkyett rushed up to him. “Sthykar has gone alone to the tower to rescue Slyntya. He will need our help.”
“What are we waiting for then?” Jontvyk then turned to the crowd. “Patch up the wounded and help them walk. We will take the central road down to the tower; we don’t want to get lost in the maze. We might encounter resistance so be ready for the firefight; it’s not over yet, not till we capture that tower and their leaders and not till our reserve army arrives.”
Colonel Jontvyk and Relkyett led their team towards the central road. It was a one lane concrete road. There were maze bushes on either side and they used them for cover. They ran from one bush to the next, while those on other side provided cover and looked out for the enemies. They had gone half way down the road and now could see the tower better. Suddenly a few Rangers rushed out of the tower and towards the road.
chapter 23 – the battle of tower
The Boss Hantex Rut was rubbing his hands with glee while enjoying the display screen and the storm in progress. The technicians were furiously, turning knobs, flipping switches on or off, changing dials, shouting questions and yelling commands. These were all Ranxian scientists or technicians; on top of that, they were also members of the Ranx Rejuvenation Party, more importantly they had joined before the party had come to power. Their loyalty could be counted on. Their belief in the ideology of restoring the mighty Sanguine Empire of yore, or more likely creating a powerful Ranxian empire in the image of the old empire was driving them. A few Ranxians who weren’t party members had been amongst the kidnapped scientists, and Boss Hantex had ruthlessly liquidated them along with the foreign scientists. He did not want some saboteur to gum up his plans, or one of them to escape in the future and provide details of his weapons. He did not like the idea of killing innocents in cold blood, but he also knew that no empire was built on the backs of war dead alone. It was not for nothing that the old Sanguine Empire was known as that, it was an empire built on blood. He would be a benevolent emperor, he told himself, but first he had to become an emperor, and that mission had to be ruthlessly executed. As the Boss Hantex was lost in his thoughts, Suka’s radio chirped; he stepped out of the room to answer it.
“Boss,” one of the technicians spoke up while Suka was gone, “The hurricane wind speed has reached seventy to eighty miles per hour; in a few minutes it will reach over a hundred and it will be impossible for any man to walk against it.”
“Wonderful,” Boss said. “How high can we go?”
“Theoretically, two hundred miles per hour wind speeds can be created,” the technician said. “But I wouldn’t want to push it that much. This is our first time using the machine and we don’t have everyone who built this with us.”
“Quite right,” the Boss said. “What is the safe maximum wind speed we can push the machines towards without breaking?”
“One hundred seventy-five miles per hour is safe,” the technician replied.
“Push it to that then,” the Boss said and went back to his earlier thoughts.
Slyntya had sat down on an empty chair and Sayett was standing next to her. She had recomposed herself and sat stone-faced. Sayett was observing all the action as much as he could comprehend it.
Suka Manx returned, walked up to the Boss and tapped him on the shoulder, startling him out of his dreams of future power and grandeur. “Boss, I need to talk to you.”
“Yeah,” Hantex replied.
“Privately.” He motioned towards Slyntya and Sayett, that he did not want them to hear. Hantex and Suka stepped outside the room.
“What’s going on, Capitan Suka?” Hantex asked.
“We got trouble at the barracks,” Suka replied. “One Ranger just radioed me about a firefight breaking out there, but he was cut off, perhaps hit with a bullet. No one is answering now.”
“That can’t be their warriors.” Hantex looked puzzled.
“No way. Corporal Montex told me they are still in a fight against the Starfirians,” Suka said.
“Must be paratroopers,” Hantex said. “You assured me that nobody can drop paratroopers in the midst of a hurricane.”
“I don’t believe they are paratroopers,” Suka replied. “Air transport planes can’t fly that high over the storm, only the fighter planes can. And they aren’t jumping in the middle of a damn hurricane.”
“Then who the fuck can they be?”
“I don’t know,” Suka replied. “Your storm was supposed to stop anyone coming in from the outside.”
“Your Rangers were supposed to take care of the stragglers,” the Boss nearly yelled. “Do you think these intruders are the hunters from earlier?”
“Might be,” Suka said. “There are six Rangers underground guarding the prisoners, and six with us here. I will take the six that are downstairs and deal with whoever it is that decided to drop in unwelcomed.”
“What about those prisoners?” the Boss asked. “Will they try to make a run for it?”
“They are locked behind iron bars,” Suka said.
“You do that then,” the Boss said. “Tell me who they were and take an extra radio for the barracks rangers. Theirs might be shot up.”
“I was thinking the same.” Suka took Hantex’s leave and rushed down stairs.
Hantex walked backed into the room, peeved at this intrusion, but still confident that it was a minor annoyance. He forced a grin to avoid his prisoners from getting wrong ideas about being rescued.
Suka went underground where they had built a large number of dormitory-style rooms for Ranx Rangers to stay hidden. If Starfirian police or investigators had shown up in force while their project was still under construction, they would have kept all the Rangers down below with a false floor to hide the rooms underground. Now these dorm-style barracks doubled as a prison for Coldwoods policemen and the SPASI guards. Suka collected the six Ranx Rangers that were on guard duty and took them upstairs after properly locking the exit door.
Suka and the Rangers checked their Ranx rifles, loaded up on ammo and walked outside. They heard faint noise of firing in the distance.
“We will go straight up the central road,” Suka said. “It is unlikely that the intruders will bother to find their way through the maze.”
“Who are they, Capitan?” one Ranger asked as they walked towards the central road.
“Our boss thinks they are the hunters who stumbled upon us earlier,” Suka said. “But our Rangers in the barracks would have easily handled some hunters. We will find out soon enough.”
As Suka had finished his sentence, they reached the beginning of the road and saw a large number of strangers armed with guns walking down from the other end. Suka let loose a volley of fire and quickly dived behind a thick maze bush. He would have preferred a harder cover, but the bush was thick enough to stop
the bullets. In the next few moments, both the Starfirians and the Ranxians scrambled for cover behind the bushes and soon thereafter an all-out gunfight broke out along the road.
* * *
Pelyett had taken up the helicopter as high as its manual recommended, flew it over the tower that looked like a small blip below and slowly lowered it. Sthykar threw down the rope and as soon as the rope nearly touched the roof of the tower, he told Pelyett to stop lowering.
“You are going to be alone, Sthykar,” he said.
“Not unless you want to let the helicopter hang in the air by itself and come along,” Sthykar replied.
Pelyett chuckled, “Take care.”
Sthykar took his rifle and the remaining explosives and grabbed the rope. “Just circle around in the air over the tower till Jontvyk and company gets here, then land near them. We will need the helicopter to evacuate the wounded.”
Then Sthykar slowly descended the rope and quietly landed on the tower roof . He tugged the rope to indicate for Pelyett to fly away. Pelyett untied the rope and pulled away as Sthykar rolled the rope around his shoulder, in case he might have use of it again. There were a lot of antennas, rods, machines, wires and connections on the roof. He had to be careful to avoid getting electrocuted as the atmosphere was very humid; the air was laced with water vapor that Sthykar could even taste on his tongue. Fortunately, he knew his way around the wires and the sockets. He quickly examined the roof while walking tiptoed. There were two stairways that led to the doors, each of them opposite to the other. Sthykar put the rifle on the roof and took out his pistol that would allow him the quickness of movement. This whole mechanical-electrical setup must be the storm machine, he thought. He could deduce that such a machine would have to be outdoors to interact with the weather, and he hadn’t seen another setup like this anywhere else in the compound. What better place to put it than on the roof. He started wiring the explosives around the machines.
