by Scott Moon
“He’s afraid of her,” Becca said. “She threatened that if she took the Fleet through the wormhole, she would send us to a quadrant far beyond the reach of Earth Fleet.”
This made sense to Kin. He hadn’t thought the commander would believe such a threat, but going beyond the reach of the Fleet was a fear every person held. Commander Westwood wanted to survive the war and return triumphant. Being lost in an unknown corner of the galaxy would be intolerable for such a man.
“The Imperial vanguard will be within view in fifteen minutes. They would have already been here if Captain Raien and her company were not harassing them in the pass,” Becca said.
Orlan slapped Kin on the back. “Can you believe that? Her entire company stayed. That’s leadership.”
“It’s a bunch of fools,” Becca said. “They’re giving the Imperials and their battle-slave Reapers hell, but she reported three times the Imperial’s number of wild Reapers approaching from the south.”
“Three times the numbers of Imperial Reapers or three times their entire force?” Kin asked.
Becca looked down on him with her face shield transparent. Her expression was controlled. “Three times their entire force.”
“Who will get here first?” Kin asked.
“They’ll arrive at the same time, thanks to the 11th LRC slowing the Imperials in the pass. She’s a real battle bitch.”
Kin moved forward and surveyed the battlefield. The area between Crater Town and the mountains was broad and open. The fields sloped into the foothills. Mountains loomed in the distance with breaks in several places. Each pass could admit a large force, but most were narrow. A good commander would choose either the northeast pass or the tamer mountains to the south.
The Imperials entered the field from the largest pass on the northeast corner of the battlefield. The wild Reapers came through the foothills to the south, just as he had predicted, bounding across the ground and gathering near Stone Forest. Kin surveyed the teeming mass of killers and thought briefly of Hellsbreach. He had witnessed a larger army of Reapers, but only once, and only before he detonated the warheads.
Many of the wild Reapers were armed with blades, clubs, or flaming whips. A few rode reptilian creatures the size of warhorses. That was new. Kin had never seen them fight in alliance with another species or use mounts. Droon wasn’t the only Reaper who had learned to adapt and innovate.
The two armies saw each other and halted. Kin and his companions waited in silence. A gust of wind blew across the battlefield, flattening patches of tall grass near the foothills.
“Will they fight?” Laura asked.
“I think they will,” Kin said. “Each force came to attack the Fleet for its own reasons but won’t tolerate each other.”
“They could join forces.” Orlan’s tone was both belligerent and unconcerned, as usual.
“It’s too late for that. Reapers don’t parley. The Imperials should understand the Reapers are the greater threat,” Kin said.
“That’s good news,” Rickson said, hopeful.
“It could buy us time, but make no mistake; we will be the only real losers today,” Kin said.
The Imperials sent their Reaper battle-slaves against the Reaper center, while armored vehicles sped toward the distant right flank and Imperial troopers moved to the left. Soon the battlefield would be crowded with death.
“They’re holding Tanks and a Stryker force in reserve along with most of their troopers,” Orlan said.
Kin agreed. “I see that, but it’s not what I’m worried about.” Three companies of Imperial troopers had separated from the main force and headed toward Kin and his companions. On open ground, Raien’s company couldn’t hold them. He watched as she supervised the retreat, gave final orders, and rushed back to the Crater Town perimeter.
“Three to one odds aren’t the worst I’ve faced,” Raien said. “But they have unlimited reinforcements. If you have a plan, Kin, now is the time to hear it.”
Kin turned away and moved to Clavender’s side where she knelt. “You must release whatever barrier is keeping your people out of this area. They are going to come anyway. The difference is how many die before they get here.”
Clavender nodded. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Kin waited for something to happen, but Clavender did nothing.
“You have not seen what war does to my people. They become uglier than the Reapers. Their battle lust is horrible,” Clavender said. She looked up and gazed across the land toward the Imperials. “They made us like this.”
Kin doubted her conclusion. He had never met a creature without the capacity for murder and war. He said nothing to Clavender. This wasn’t the time for an honest, academic discussion of her people’s base nature. He sensed Rickson moving quickly toward him.
“We have to hide her,” Rickson said. “Commander Westwood said the Imperials were coming for her.”
“Where? Don’t think I haven’t been racking my brain…” Kin stood in alarm. The marching Imperials accelerated, advancing double time. A moment later, they began to run, holding formation despite the headlong rush. The precision of their movement startled him.
“Now, Clavender. It must be now.”
She nodded but didn’t look up.
The barrier around Crater Town and the area from the sea to the foothills was now visible — a dark wall of energy-charged clouds ringing the battlefield like a thousand-foot wall. The wormhole writhed in the sky. On the launch field, Fleet ships initiated blastoff. The rumble of booster rockets firing and smoke blasting toward the earthworks deafened Kin. He knew he should look away and take cover but watched with desperate intensity. As soon as the ships were gone, he would lead Clavender and the others toward the sea.
“Will you look at that,” Orlan said, and Kin realized his enemy stood beside him watching the launch. One ship lingered longer than the others in its formation. He saw cargo bay doors open, but his view was quickly obscured.
From the smoke and flame of the ship’s rockets came the remaining Shock Troopers. They began to fire rockets from shoulder mounts, though they were not in line of sight with the enemy. The rockets sped above Kin and the others leaving smoke trails toward the Imperials.
Much larger smoke trails arced toward the upper atmosphere. Fleet ships veered from the wormhole and toward space. Apparently, the Armada would orbit the planet before entering the wormhole. Commander Westwood wasn’t a fool. He would want his battle formations set before encountering the Imperial space fleet on the other end of the opening. Another series of launches began. Kin backed away.
Becca summoned the Shock Troopers to her. They came, firing rockets and screaming, “Becca’s Brigade!”
The Imperial Reapers and wild Reapers clashed near Stone Forest. The vocal and psychic howls of the monsters struck Kin and his party with violent force. The Imperial Reapers had advanced in good order, obeying the training of their masters, but when the fight started, they reverted to Bloodlust. Kin had never seen Reapers fight Reapers. The savagery of the confrontation couldn’t be measured or described.
Kin lifted his binoculars and surveyed the carnage, seeing a Reaper unhinge his jaws and stretch them over another Reaper’s face. The image was brief, because other Reapers smashed them aside to kill each other. He lowered his binoculars, scanned the battlefield, and raised them to check the Imperial companies advancing on his position. A moment later, he put the binoculars away. They were coming fast and the Fleet ships were still blasting off. Kin and his companions were trapped.
Becca’s Shock Troopers formed a line and launched rockets in sequence from right to left. They could have used a single volley, but this tactic maintained a constant barrage on the charging Imperials who were forced to suffer through the damage or retreat. He saw Captain Raien divide her company into three equal units, one for the center and one for each flank.
“Kin,” Clavender said. He hadn’t realized she was at his side. “I cannot allow my people to make war.”
“You are as stubborn as your father.”
“What did you say?” she asked.
He hesitated. “I encountered him in the mountains. We didn’t hit it off.”
“Was he alone?” she asked.
“He was, although he said others were coming.”
“Kin, I spotted Droon,” Orlan said.
Kin followed his gaze. Droon was at the head of the wild Reaper army, shredding through enemies so fast that his warriors struggled to keep up with him. He had found more Clingers to armor himself, and Crashdown wolves followed him just as the wild Reapers did. He reached the top of a hill and pointed toward Crater Town. The horde of Reapers turned and advanced toward Kin, suffering increased casualties on their right flank but not seeming to care.
Kin made a decision and faced the others. “Leave me here with Clavender. Retreat to the coast after the last ship launches and the way is safe. Follow the coast to the south. There is a cove two days’ travel where you can hold up and develop a new plan.”
Behind him, the storm reached across Crater Town and tumbled a Fleet ship that struggled from the platform. The new trajectory sent it over the ocean, where the weight of gravity drove in into the water. Huge swells of water moved toward the beach. Thunder boomed and the wall of clouds that surrounded the area lost cohesion and spread across the battlefield. Wind and rain added to the confusion.
“I have a better plan,” Orlan said. “We assault straight toward Droon, kill him, and fight our way into the mountains. You know as well as I do that if you surrendered to them, they would still run us down. Your plan is shit.”
“Reapers can hunt and fight in the mountains as easily as on the battlefield,” Kin said.
Clavender stood and screamed at the sky. She clenched her fists and opened her hands, spreading her arms toward the carnage as though wanting to gather it all to her. “I gave you so many chances for peace! Why must you make war?”
She raised her hands and summoned the wrath of the wormhole. The anomaly tore in many places and meteors showered the battlefield. No artillery barrage in history had been as fierce or as deadly, but the battle raged on as Imperials, Reapers, and the creatures of Crashdown died. Kin watched the last wave of Fleet ships struggle for altitude. Several were pierced by meteors and tumbled into the sea, mountains, and foothills.
Clavender slumped. Kin went to her.
“I saw you on Hellsbreach, Kin. I saw what you did and what you did not do. That was when I knew what I had done was right, and I loved you for it. I swore never to allow this.” She looked tired and beaten.
“Call your people,” Kin said. “The battle is only growing worse. You can’t stop it.” He stared at Clavender, not doubting her at all.
Captain Raien ordered her troopers to fire. The Shock Troopers supported them, facing three Imperial companies who attacked with powerful weapons. Kin saw the clash and knew it would not last. Raien’s people were brave, but many Imperial commanders had decided the Reaper battle was too fierce and had turned toward Crater Town, intent on racing the Reapers to the finish rather than fight them. The lightning attack was becoming a battle surge.
“My people are coming. I would stop them, but I cannot. The wormhole is hungry. She thirsts for blood just as you do,” Clavender said.
Kin struggled with the knowledge that Clavender had witnessed his ordeal on Hellsbreach during her wanderings. He vividly recalled how she had torn pieces from the wormhole to use against Droon at Stone Forest. She was more a creature of magic than reason, and he wanted her to save Becca and the others. “You took Droon out of Stone Forest. Take us out of here.”
“I moved an army once, and it resulted in eons of war,” Clavender said. “And knowing the danger, I tried to do it at Hellsbreach, but the only portal I could open went to Earth.”
Kin stopped and looked at her. What did she know of Earth? Why would she care?
The thought of this battle going to Earth evoked a primal fear that he didn’t understand, even though he had never been there. “Good thing you didn’t share that with Westwood.”
“The Imperials interfere with my access to the wormhole. They learned their lesson. As soon as it became closed to me, I knew they were going to attack,” Clavender said. She lowered her head and trembled. “My people have arrived.”
Kin looked at the top of the earthworks and saw a winged man. The warrior surveyed the approaching Imperials and screamed a war cry. His face trembled from the exertion of his battle rage, shaking not only his face, but his shoulders, arms, and fists as well. He leaned forward, ready to spring into the air. What looked like blood was forced out of his eyes, spreading down the white fur and whiskers of his face until Kin thought the winged warrior would pass out if he didn’t take a breath. His brightly colored wings darkened to black. He displayed his sword in one hand and shield in the other, arms flexed, muscles and veins bulging, in the universal gesture for “come and get me.” Dozens more landed and rushed to his side. They bellowed like fierce animals, and as one, launched themselves into the fray.
Thousands more of the Ror-Rea began to land and form a line. They spread their wings, forming a screen that concealed the movements of those behind them. The larger reserve force moved quickly toward their right flank and straight into the side of the battle. Reapers, Imperial troopers, and the people of the Ror-Rea died by the thousands.
Kin activated his FSPAA unit and charged toward Droon.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CAPTAIN Raien led Kin across the mangled bodies and blood-soaked ground. Smoke, ash, and the smell of rocket fuel plagued him as it had during the battle, but the sense of it was more pronounced now that he had time to look around. Raien spotted a Reaper rising from a pile of carcasses a hundred meters away. She paused, aimed her rifle, and fired a single round.
“That’s it for my ammo,” she said.
Kin didn’t offer his ammunition. He had quite a bit left. He had fought hand to hand for most of the battle, using fallen weapons. The swords, axes, and mauls had been heavy, but eventually broke. He tried to use one of the Reaper flame whips, but it tangled around his arm and seared the surface of his armor. Pain throbbed in his shoulder despite his efforts to massage it. Thirst overpowered the pain just as anger and desperation had overpowered fear during the long, vicious battle.
“Here it is,” Raien said. She backed away and allowed Kin a moment alone.
He approached Becca’s mechanized unit and looked down on the shattered ceramic and steel. The armor had been cracked open. She had been dragged out. Kin knelt and placed one hand on the edge of the hole. He sensed Clavender watching him and faced the distant circle of Ror-Rea warriors that sat cross-legged around her. A gentle wind moved her hair and dress where she stood, her wings dusted with ash. She fluttered them briefly. Much of the grime fell away.
“My men will search until they find her body,” Raien said.
Kin nodded. Raien’s company now consisted of less than thirty troopers, most of them wounded badly.
Laura and Rickson were alive at least. They made it to one of the fallout bunkers after the last Fleet ship blasted off and sheltered there with the door barred.
He saw Orlan standing on the berm, laughing and making jokes as other troopers gathered to him. The man’s demeanor surprised him — relaxed, generous, and reassuring. Even battle hardened soldiers needed reassurance after a day of killing. Troopers were drawn to him. Kin watched as Orlan waved several winged warriors into his circle and shared his good humor with them. The strangers were reserved but welcomed the interaction with curiosity.
“Have you ever seen Reapers flee?” Raien asked.
“Never. But they never faced Imperials. Commander Westwood must have known no Fleet force could ever beat them.”
“We beat them.”
Kin shook his head. “They chased the Reapers and left us, probably because they know they can take us at any time.”
“I’m counting it as a win. I expect a medal,” Raien said. “I
’ll contact you as soon as we find Becca.”
Kin didn’t watch her leave. He sat near Becca’s unit and checked his weapons. Night came and he didn’t move. The last several days had depleted his reserves, both mental and physical. Without Becca, or at least the idea of Becca, he wasn’t sure any of it was worth the trials of soldiering on. He thought he would sit on this field of death until the end of time.
The troopers and the warriors of the Ror-Rea eventually left to make camp where the stink of death and scorched earth was less severe. Kin watched them without thinking. He was tired, hungry, and thirsty but didn’t feel like moving.
“Kin-rol-an-da.”
Kin stood and faced the night.
“Last man on Hellsbreach. Last man on this battlefield,” Droon said.
“The Imperials hunt your people now,” Kin said.
Droon made a sound similar to a laugh, but it consisted of throat clicking and growling. “My kindred led them away so I can come to you.”
“Are we going to kill each other?” Kin asked. He didn’t care.
“No. No. No. You have no fear. It wouldn’t be good for me,” Droon said.
“Something’s changed.”
“Something. Everything,” Droon said, moving to one side, seeking advantage if there were to be one last fight. He tapped the side of his head. “Many changes.”
Kin took a step closer. “You have to kill me, just like you have to kill Clavender. That’s how it works with Reapers.” The night was darker than any night had ever been on Crashdown. The moons had waned to slivers and the wormhole could be sensed somewhere over the ocean, but not seen.
Something had changed in Droon. Kin sensed the danger but didn’t attack. The Reaper seemed ready to kill him but only glared menacingly. Kin studied the shadow of the Reaper and saw his eyes were no longer yellow, but orange, gleaming as strongly as those of any Reaper he had ever fought.
Something was on his back, but not a Clinger.
Kin drew closer, unable to believe what he saw. Arms were tied under Droon’s throat like the clasp of a cloak. The comatose form of Becca hung on his back.
