Fallen Empire: A Military Science Fiction Epic Adventure (Born of Ash Book 1)

by Marc Alan Edelheit

  Her hands were rock steady. That was something. Her heart, however, was a different matter. It was hammering away in her chest. In the confines of her helmet, her breathing was overly loud.

  They had worked their way steadily down the train and now were more than halfway. There were three cars left and then they would be at the end and out in the open. That was where Chris thought the enemy would spring their ambush. Keira began counting the steps she took, more to take her mind off the worry.

  While she counted, Keira glanced over at MK, who was moving along the platform to her immediate right. He was, she supposed, proof she was not going insane. Keira had woken him from his long slumber. No one else had been able to do that. She mentally cursed the new ability she could feel within herself. It seemed her best friend died because of it and their pursuers were making every attempt to kill or capture her for it, jeopardizing everyone she loved in the process.

  From ahead, Vex flashed a series of rapid hand signs at Chris, then continued moving forward toward the end of the train. Keira wondered what she had said to him.

  Five steps counted, then ten … fifteen.

  “Keira,” Chris said in a low tone, without looking back at her as they continued forward. He had slowed his pace slightly, to the point where he was just ahead of her. So focused had she been on her inner thoughts, she hadn’t noticed until he spoke, drawing her attention. “Vex has spotted movement off to our left.”

  How could he be so steady and calm at a time like this?

  “The enemy are preparing to spring their ambush,” Chris continued. “When I give the word, you jump down onto the tracks. No hesitation, just jump. Are you ready?”

  “Yes. I’m ready.” Keira felt anything but.

  “Wash,” Chris said, raising his voice just a tad, “soon as this goes down, haul ass. I want those charges set as quick as you can.”

  “I’ll get it done.” Wash’s tone was filled with confidence. “All I need is five minutes, likely less. Then we let the plasma charges do their work and make a hole for us.”

  They reached the second-to-last car. Keira’s heart was now pounding even harder, racing away. She was still counting each step and was now up to thirty.

  Thirty-one, thirty-two …

  “Keira,” Chris said in a curt tone, “go now.”

  Before she could react, there was a loud bang to the left, followed almost immediately by a crack to the right as something smacked into the train. Someone off in the direction of track one gave an outraged shout that sounded suspiciously like, “Fucking idiot.”

  There were several more scattered bangs, followed rapidly by cracks against the train.

  They were being shot at.

  As she moved to jump down onto the tracks, large metal hands gripped her, lifted her up into the air. It was Chris. He tossed her down onto the tracks. Pain shot up her shoulder and hip as she landed hard.

  The world around her went mad. There was a loud concussive bang. She felt an intense wave of heat as flame rolled overhead. In a moment it passed and the light went dim again. Something solid landed hard next to her. Keira caught a glimpse of armored feet, a moment before they started sprinting away down the tracks. There were two more heavy thuds as Vex and Chris jumped down.

  A hammering of repeated rifle fire from above brought her head up. MK was still up on the platform, militia rifle in hand, shooting in the direction of track one. The weapon flashed with each shot, illuminating the toxic fog.

  All around, the station echoed loudly with firing, as it seemed dozens more rifles joined the fray. Several rounds hit MK in rapid succession. Each impact sent brilliant sparks flying as they ricocheted off his armored exoskeleton.

  MK staggered back a step from a particularly large impact that made a solid thudding sound. A red glowing spot was left on his chest. A heartbeat later, something brilliant flashed by just overhead, flying by MK’s right shoulder, almost close enough to brush it. The rocket, trailing a contrail of smoke, moved so fast, Keira almost missed it before it hammered into the train. There was an impressive explosion, from which the entire station rocked. Keira covered her head as debris showered down around her.

  A heartbeat later, MK jumped down into the tracks, landing heavily next to her. He ducked to avoid enemy fire. Chris and Vex were up against the platform, rifles aimed over the edge toward track one. Chris was firing short two-round bursts. Aiming carefully, Vex’s rifle barked single, heavier shots.

  “I got the rocket launcher,” Chris said as he ducked down. Less than a fraction of a second later, there were a series of hard impacts on the platform just above his head. Composite particles rained down around him. “They had the operator perched above on a service catwalk. The rocket contrail gave away his position. He won’t be bothering us again and I don’t see anyone else up there.”

  Vex took a quick look before crouching back down. “They’ve dropped the masking field. They’re not bothering to hide their numbers anymore.”

  Chris moved three meters to the right, passing behind Vex, popped back up, and started shooting again. Vex stood and resumed firing a heartbeat later. MK joined them, his captured rifle spitting rapid bursts toward the enemy.

  “Reloading,” Chris said, dropping back down. He ejected the magazine from his rifle, pulled one effortlessly from his suit, and slapped it in. He armed the weapon, then looked over at Keira, while pointing down the tracks. “Keira, start moving for the tube. Go, now.” He did not wait for a reply as he popped back up and fired a short burst, then ducked down again.

  Keira was still lying on the tracks, dazed. The firing was incredibly loud, battering at the ears and body. The dust around her vibrated with it. Even the toxic haze on the air was disturbed, swirling about.

  “Go, damnit,” he shouted at her, amplifying his voice. “Get on your feet and go! Now.”

  That snapped her into action. Keira pulled herself first to her knees and, being careful not to expose herself, then to her feet. Wash was already at the far end of the tracks. Despite his injury, he was moving incredibly fast, inhumanly so. Keira’s right shoulder hurt from where she had landed, but she could still use the arm with no trouble. She picked up her rifle and started moving in Wash’s direction.

  “Fucking lot of them,” Vex called to Chris after she ducked back down. “Reloading.”

  “Yeah,” Chris said. “More than I expected.” He took another shot, then dropped under the cover of the platform. “They’re bound to come at us shortly.” He looked over at the mech. “MK, go with Keira. Be ready to repel an assault.”

  “I’m on it, Gunny,” MK said, ducked, and started following.

  Keira began running. She could hear shouting from the direction of track one. Much of it was lost in all the noise, but some of it she caught snippets of.

  “Medic,” someone called. “Lieutenant Richards is hit. I need a medic here.”

  “Oh, god, I’ve been shot.”

  The firing around the station intensified. There was a solid and flat bang behind her and Keira was thrown forward. She landed hard again, this time on her chest. A moment later, she felt herself being bodily picked up before MK set her back on her feet.

  “Keira, you must keep moving.” MK had crouched down next to her so no part of him showed over the top of the platform. “Your continued survival depends upon you reaching the tube.”

  There was a burst of rifle fire close at hand. MK turned away, raised himself a little higher, and opened up, shooting at something she could not see over the top of the platform.

  Keira began moving again. After three meters, she glanced back. Having ducked back down under cover, MK had started following again. Chris and Vex were about ten meters up the track, moving slowly in her direction, stopping periodically to pop up and shoot before moving once again. They were leapfrogging each other.

  A mass shout came from the direction of track one and momentarily drowned out the sound of the shooting. Chris and Vex stopped moving. They leaned forward ag
ainst the wall of the platform and began firing over its top, single shots and small bursts. Their movements seemed mechanical to her, their firing controlled. MK was at the wall doing the same, banging away with his captured rifle.

  The amount of firing around the station increased dramatically. It was deafening. About to start running again, Keira stopped, stepped up, and peeked over the platform.

  It took her a moment to understand what was before her. She went cold at the realization. Out of the gloom and haze rose up a mass of militia, moving toward them, screaming, shouting, and shooting as they came.

  Some were still climbing up out of the bed of track one, following close after those who had stepped off before them. The militia were assaulting their position, and there were a lot of them. All thoughts of following Wash left her mind. She brought her rifle up, picked out one of the enemy, who was slowly advancing, and carefully aimed. She was preparing to pull the trigger when she found herself hesitating.

  She had drawn a bead upon him, only, she could not pull the trigger. The enemy soldier she was aiming at gave a violent jerk. As if drunk, he made a stumbling step, dropped his rifle, and collapsed to his knees. He jerked once more as he was hit again. A bolt round tore his chest armor open near his heart. He tottered a moment before falling backward, where he lay still.

  There was another violent bang to her right. Keira was thrown to the ground again, hard. For a moment, she lay there, dazed, wondering what had happened. Feeling a sharp sting in the side of her leg, she rolled over onto her side and groaned. Pressure alarms began sounding in her suit, harsh and loud. Her suit was losing its integrity. With a touch to the panel on her arm, she silenced them.

  “Oh my god,” Keira breathed in alarm. There was a small hole in her suit on the upper thigh. A jet of clean air was streaming forth, shooting out into the toxic soup that was the atmosphere of the underground. The hole was not large enough to allow much of the toxic atmosphere in, but she’d need to deal with it soon. She checked the monitor on her arm. The pressure release was minimal. It was not a major leak. Despite that, her ears were popping.

  Wondering how bad she’d been wounded, she felt her leg through the suit. It did not seem all that bad. She could still move it with only a little pain. She relaxed a tad. It must have been a small piece of shrapnel that hit her and likely was a minor flesh wound. Keira would have to remove the suit to make certain, but she couldn’t do that down here in the underground. She would have to wait until they made it to the Beast.

  Something landed to her left six meters away. It bounced once, then came to a stop. There was a flash of fire, followed by a wave of intense heat that blasted against her suit. She ducked involuntarily as debris showered down around her. A moment later, the deadly rain ceased. Keira was amazed she had not been injured again.

  “Reloading,” Vex shouted.

  “Grenade,” Chris hollered.

  Before Keira could even look, there was another cacophonous bang. It was close and incredibly loud, blasting at the ears. More debris fell around her. Keira screamed. Yet another bang followed after that one.

  She looked up as a soldier appeared at the top of the platform just above her. MK twisted and fired a burst into the man’s chest, the rounds stitching into him, hammering hard and penetrating his armor. He tottered for a moment, then fell forward, landing heavily next to Keira on the tracks.

  His eyes were open, impossibly wide, as he stared at Keira for a moment before breathing out his last in a gasp. She recognized Corporal Lang Ho, one of the men she’d had the confrontation with outside of Li Sung’s home. The corporal gave a single twitch, then lay still as his lifeblood pooled around him.

  Another of the militia came into view above, firing downward at near point-blank range at MK while the mech was shooting at someone else out of her view. Keira seemed in a trance, just staring as everything unfolded around her. It was like she wasn’t part of what was occurring but a detached spectator.

  MK’s rifle clicked as it ran out of ammunition. The mech’s arm jerked as he threw it at the man shooting at him. The weapon impacted with a solid-sounding thud, hitting the soldier in the neck and shoulder. Surprised by the blow, he staggered to the side and almost fell into the tracks and on Keira.

  Without a moment of delay, the mech’s gravity blade, humming with barely contained power, extended from his arm. MK lunged forward and slashed, cutting right through the soldier’s thigh with a disturbing ease. The blade cleanly sliced the leg off with a precision only a surgeon could admire. Screaming in shock and agony, the soldier fell back and out of view.

  That broke her paralysis. Knowing she had to go, Keira dragged herself to her feet as more militia appeared on top of the platform. Three of the enemy jumped down onto the tracks, landing between her and Chris and Vex, who were farther down the tracks.

  Recovering from their jump, they brought their weapons around to bear on the unsuspecting marines. Keira’s heart stopped. Both marines were engaged, shooting over the platform, and clearly did not see them.

  A warning shout died in her throat. The words would not come. Keira had lost her rifle. In the confusion, it had fallen somewhere. There was yet another powerful bang. It startled her to the point where she jumped. Then Keira realized the bang had come from her, specifically her pistol. Without even realizing it, she had drawn her personal weapon, the 255-SE4, and fired. It had been more reflex than anything else.

  Hit by her first shot, one of the militia spun violently around to face her. He blinked, clearly surprised that he had been hit. Keira ignored him, aimed at the next man, and pulled the trigger again. The pistol bucked powerfully in her hand. The round hit him in the shoulder, throwing him forward and against the platform wall. His weapon clattered to the ground.

  Her pistol tracked to the third enemy. He had just raised his rifle and was bringing it to bear on Keira. Without taking time to think, she squeezed the trigger again, and then pulled it a second time. The powerful weapon bucked violently in her hands. Both bolt rounds struck her target square in the chest, almost in the same spot. The enemy soldier spasmed as the rounds tore great gaping holes through his chest armor. Dropping his rifle, he fell backward over the tracks.

  Alerted by the shooting, Chris turned, brought his rifle up, and fired. The two militia on the track that Keira had shot but not killed went down in rapid succession, each having taken a single round to the head.

  Without bothering to survey his work, Chris started moving toward her, even as Vex kept up a continual stream of fire over the platform. Keira found herself frozen, pistol still pointing at the third man, who had crumpled to the ground. Breathing heavily, she stared at his body. She could not believe what she’d just done. Keira had taken everything from him.

  She was a killer. It was something she could not take back. She now understood why the pistol was called the Widow Maker.

  Chris put a hand on her pistol and pushed it down toward the ground. “It’s all right. You did good, real good, princess.”

  A burst of fire made her jump. MK had found another rifle and was shooting over the platform again.

  “I killed him. Oh god, I killed him.”

  Chris glanced briefly at the body. “You killed him stone-dead, all right.” He placed his face in front of hers. “Now understand this: Given the chance, he would have done the same to you. You got him first, is all. And most important, he had what was coming to him.” His voice became hard and unforgiving. “Keira, you need to focus. The enemy are pulling back. We’ve beat back their first assault. Time to get moving, before they try again, or the other prong of their ambush comes at us.”

  Keira noticed that the shooting had died down.

  “Vex,” Chris called, “time to move. MK, grab Keira’s R35.”

  “On it, Gunny,” the mech replied.

  There was the bang of a grenade behind them. Whoever tossed it had thrown it too far. It exploded on the platform. Keira saw the orange glow of fire in the direction of the train.
Something was burning, and furiously too.

  “Keep your head down and run.” Chris pointed down the track and gave her a rough shove. “Now run, damnit. Do as I say.”

  Keira broke into a run, glancing over her shoulder to see Chris had stopped. He popped up and fired a burst in the direction of track four. She suddenly realized they had moved beyond the train, and the platform to either side was now open ground. He ducked back down and began following her in a crouching jog as several rounds snapped and zipped by overhead.

  The tube entrance seemed a long way off. Keira ran, hard, throwing everything she had into it. Her body ached, her thigh stung, and her breathing was hard. Behind her was more shooting, followed by several more bangs from grenades.

  Then she was there, inside the tube. Safety was at hand, at least a temporary shelter. She stopped just inside the entrance and looked back. Chris and Vex were right behind her. MK was a few steps behind them. The mech crouched down and came to a stop. In his hand, something oblong appeared. It began to glow brilliantly, like a miniature sun.

  “Grenade out,” MK called. He threw it in the direction of track one, then turned and sprinted for the tube entrance.

  “Get down,” Chris shouted to her. “Don’t look toward the station.”

  She dropped and covered her face, closing her eyes tight. There was a flash of light so brilliant, she could see it through her hands covering her face and closed eyes. A thunderous rumbling followed. The rumbling lasted for what seemed like an eternity, but Keira knew was no more than three or four seconds. The light died away and, with it, so too did the rumbling.

  Then Chris was there, helping her to her feet.

  “What was that?” Keira asked, blinking.

  “A plasma grenade,” MK answered as he joined them. The mech sounded pleased with himself. “It is a weapon only mechs are armed with. I have been saving it to buy us additional time while Wash worked. Impressive, was it not? I estimate that it terminated at least twenty of the enemy who were out in the open and incapacitated perhaps ten more. The rest over on track one are likely stunned and rethinking their vocational choices.”