by Scott Moon
Like Kin needed the attention of Earth Fleet.
He circled the area, found nothing of interest, and resumed his pursuit of Rickson. The boy could move. Kin should have caught anyone unassisted by an FSPAA. When the trail went cold, Kin crafted a sniper hide in the side of a hill and watched the valley, checking for unusual movement or clues pointing toward Rickson, Orlan, or William.
Time passed and he almost fell asleep in his armor.
He moved back from his concealed position, thinking of Rickson and what kind of trouble the young man would find in the Valley of Clingers. Droon’s Reapers were out there somewhere and many strange creatures prowled the wilderness, beasts Kin had never seen in his years of exploration.
He stopped and zoomed his helmet lens. Twelve of the wheeled battle machines were on the move. Each contained at least five companies of deadly Imperial troopers. Eight of the war machines initiated an advance straight for Captain Raien’s hiding place. Within an hour, there would be a battle.
“Roland to base, do you copy?”
Static filled his earpiece.
“Roland to base.”
An earsplitting screech cut off his words as the Imperials jammed communications.
Kin faced the mountain pass and thought of Rickson alone in the wilderness with only a quirky guard dog to protect him. He thought about Laura, Raien, and the others scrambling to escape the Imperial attack.
Sorry, Rickson. I’m going to be delayed.
Thoughts of the shepherd’s resourcefulness did nothing to ease his anxiety, but he couldn’t abandon the others. Rickson’s danger was probable, while imminent danger threatened the Fleet troopers and Crater Town refugees. He knew what he had to do. He knew every second counted.
With weary sadness, he paused to collect his thoughts. There would be no time later. He spent a few moments visualizing success. He threw obstacles in his path, anticipated injuries that would stop a normal man. Then, he saw himself standing up, readying his weapons, and fighting on. The Reaper contagion in his blood both blessed and cursed him. Was there a price for unnaturally rapid healing? For understanding the mind of Reapers? For the bloodlust he felt during combat? There would be a reckoning for his failure at Hellsbreach. He only hoped it came after Rickson and the others were safe.
Captain Raien’s troopers led civilians from the indefensible hiding place. Imperial machines launched aircraft — whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. The compact fighters raced over the terrain, laying down suppressive fire against the few remaining Earth Fleet troopers. Raien’s 11th LRC fell back from the assault.
Ramps dropped from the war machines. Imperial troopers swarmed out, armored feet banging on metal, and charged through the hills.
Kin ran as fast as he could push the FSPAA, circling the airborne assault force and joining Raien’s lead element.
“Corporal Pax,” Kin shouted when he was close enough to break through the radio jammers.
“Good to see you, Roland. We have a bit of a fight here.”
“You have to break out. There is an Imperial Division charging your base camp.”
Pax didn’t hesitate. “Understood. Not a problem.”
“What?”
“The Wingers are fighting a delaying action. Captain Raien is bringing every trooper we have to open a gap in the enemy line.”
Rebecca led half the remaining Mech units at the Imperial containment force. She charged into the middle of the battle, firing rockets and heavy plasma rifles. Randal led the rest to a hill where they engaged the aircraft with surface to air missiles and portable flak cannons from the Mech units. Captain Raien took a strong platoon of troopers, flanked the Imperial containment units, and destroyed them with enfilade fire.
“Roland, get the refugees out of here,” Pax said.
“Roger that.”
Kin found Laura with the others. She formed the refugees into groups, keeping families together and placing able young men to guard each.
“Help me take a head count,” Laura said. “There should be ninety-four–not counting you and me.”
Kin confirmed her numbers. The frightened, disheveled people hadn’t arrived at Crater Town in time for Commander Westwood’s evacuation. Many were injured. All seemed hungry and sleep deprived.
“Laura, they can’t carry so much. Food, water, and weapons. Everything else is extra weight.”
“I know, Kin. Do you think I haven’t told them?” She wore combat fatigues and a leg-holstered pistol Kin gave her on the first day after Westwood’s Retreat.
Explosions erupted from the other side of the hill. Mortar rained down short of Laura’s position.
“Time to move, people. Stay together. Keep track of your group. Quickly now.” Laura moved among the refugees, encouraging them.
Kin turned to face the pursuing Imperials. Warriors of the Ror-Rea bounded into the air and flung themselves at the advancing army.
CHAPTER FIVE
LAURA disappeared behind an explosion of earth. Kin rushed toward her, but a platoon of Imperial troopers swarmed through the burning trees, gunning down winged warriors, Earth Fleet troopers, and civilians.
Kin engaged, firing his rifle. Despite the increased ammunition capacity, he ran dry, snapped it to a magnetic holster on the back of his armor, and began shooting handgun equivalents from each arm of the FSPAA. The close-range weapons devastated enemies within fifteen meters better than his pistol ever had.
Two Imperials reached hand-to-hand distance. Kin punched the first several times, twisted, and lashed out with a vicious knee strike. The Imperial staggered. Kin disengaged and fell back. He moved, reloaded his rifle, and hustled through the smoke, unable to rejoin the others. Captain Raien’s Light Reconnaissance Company remained scattered and the Shock Troopers were surrounded, fighting determinedly as the Imperials focused on eliminating them as the greatest threat.
Warriors of the Ror-Rea dropped from the sky, attacking random targets, overwhelming small Imperial units, and vanishing into the smoke. Many died.
Kin stepped on a wing torn from a body. He looked down when he noticed the damaged appendage move. The sight alarmed him, until he realized Sophia was underneath it, struggling to rise.
“Sophia.”
The woman’s eyes rolled. Kin thought she would pass out, but in the next moment, she gazed at him with surprising calm. “Roland. Have you seen Laura? I was in her group.”
“Can you walk?” Kin knelt and checked her injuries. An ugly gash marred the side of her face.
Sophia struggled to her feet. Barefoot, clothing scorched and torn, the old woman rose to her full height, resembling a proud child unable to admit she had been hurt.
“I’m sorry. Laura told me to stay by her. Everyone is running too fast for me. Why must we run in circles? We go left, and encounter Mazz gunmen. We go right, the same thing. It seems unnecessary to run when we never get anywhere.”
Kin had to laugh. “I’ll carry you.” He scooped her up, took three steps, and dropped her to fight a squad of Imperials. They retreated as he hammered their armor with well-aimed bullets.
He watched the smoke for another attack, glanced at Sophia, and back at the hazy chaos before him. “The Imperials are falling back to regroup. Hasic and his warriors have saved us.”
Sophia’s sadness stretched her face. “At what cost, Kin?” She knelt over a fallen Ror-Rea woman and closed her lifeless eyes.
Kin turned in a circle, rifle ready to engage enemies. None came, but he heard Imperial team leaders rallying their men a short distance away.
“This smoke won’t hide us for long. We need to find the others and move out.”
Sophia nodded and stood.
Kin moved close to pick her up with one hand, but she shook her head.
“I will walk.”
“You don’t have any shoes.”
“I won’t have a face if you drop me again.” She wiped blood from her nose and lip.
Kin stepped into the smoke, keeping himself between expected
threats and Sophia. “Roland to Captain Raien, can you send me rally point coordinates?”
“Negative. My FSPAA is damaged. We are en route to Maiden’s Keep. Meet us there or link up on the way. Raien, out.”
Kin squatted, trying to decide which way to move. He didn’t want to silhouette himself when the light changed. For a moment, he marveled at the swirling mixture of gray and orange mist. He checked his sensors, worried the Imperials had deployed gas or nerve agents. The FSPAA field computer analyzed the environment for what seemed hours. Kin let out his breath when the results were negative. No chemical weapons, not yet, but he wasn’t going to bet Sophia’s life on Mazz honor.
Cowards.
Sophia patted him on the head. In his current posture, they were almost of a height.
You’re a brave woman, Sophia.
“Where are we going? You have to remember, Kin, I cannot hear what you hear.” She pointed at his helmet.
“First, we’ll check the area for survivors. Then it’s Maiden’s Keep.” Kin beckoned her to follow, moving in a crouch, weapons ready. “Quickly, before the Imperials rally.”
“Always in circles. I leave Maiden’s Keep because a brave young man said I should escape Crashdown with Earth Fleet. Before I have time to rest my weary bones, it’s back to the keep.”
Kin raised a finger to his helmet’s mouth speaker as a squad of Imperials scouted the area just beyond the hill.
Sophia waited, then spoke. “I miss my waterfalls.”
“Follow me. I’ll take you to them.”
Kin took the quickest path he could find away from the battlefield, stopping frequently, always placing himself between Sophia and the direction he expected the next attack. Sporadic fighting broke out as Imperials located elements of Clavender’s people or Raien’s troopers. Sophia stopped when he told her to and moved when he urged her to hurry.
“Dax will never be king again,” Sophia said.
Kin replied but continued to look elsewhere. “How do you know that?”
“He came to Maiden’s Keep after you left. I think the waterfalls remind him of his home.”
Kin paused in his reconnaissance and knelt beside her, allowing her to lean on him and rest.
“The most dangerous thing for the Ror-Rea is victory. Dax understands this. His people have forgotten everything but vengeance. His wisdom makes him unpopular with the High Lords.”
Kin checked the time remaining before sunset. “I don’t understand their obsession. If they were so peaceful, why didn’t they go back to their old way of living after the Imperials left? There must be more to the story.”
Sophia shrugged. “Perhaps they were never as peaceful as they claimed. Maybe they secretly dreamed of glory.”
Kin thought of the days before Hellsbreach. Troopers and generals had been drunk on the glory they expected to find. Their dreams ended during the first assault on the Reaper home world. His hopes had been more pragmatic. He wanted it over so he could return to Rebecca and tell her she was safe. Tell her she could banish the nightmares of her brothers’ and father’s death.
He wondered where she was now. It seemed unlikely the Shock Troopers could survive the main thrust of the Imperial attack.
Rebecca, why didn’t you stay where it was safe?
“None of the High Lords of the Ror-Rea can become king,” Sophia said.
“That doesn’t make sense. If they depose him, it must be for a new king.”
“Dax spoke of creating a republic. The High Lords want equal power. They do not wish to bow to a monarch.”
Kin hurried her through a gully and into a clearing. He saw a trail through the tall grass and guessed Laura and the others had come this way. None of the tracks possessed the distinct impressions made by armored soles. “Sounds like you and Dax, the never-again king, had quite a conversation.”
Sophia smiled. Weary as she was, she remained Sophia, the wise woman who found beauty wherever she could. “He danced with me. Swept me off my feet quite thoroughly.”
“I would like to have seen that,” Kin said. “If we hurry, we can catch Laura and the others. Do you want me to carry you?”
Sophia bowed her head and closed her eyes for a moment as she spread her arms to accept him.
Kin scooped her up and hurried toward the mountain pass. He knew it was the fastest way to Maiden’s Keep, but he also understood the confines of the narrow road eliminated alternate escape routes. Flight from the Imperials was now about speed.
And Laura’s people are on foot, unaided by powered armor or vehicles.
“Everything will be okay, Kin.”
Kin passed the first picket line Raien left to await the advance of the Imperials. He gave the password three times as he approached, although there was little chance the troopers would mistake him for a Mazz Imperial strike force.
“Who goes there?”
“Kin Roland with one refugee.”
Sophia snorted.
“Who’s there?” Kin asked.
“Mayfield and Johnson. We’re light on defense. Did you bring reinforcements?”
Kin shook his head at the joke. The trooper’s lighthearted tone reminded Kin how Earth Fleet troopers lived; always in danger, always ready to die fighting.
“I’ll come back to help once I get Sophia to Laura.”
“Roger that.” Mayfield returned to his concealed position. His armor was intact but covered with surface damage.
Sophia imitated a spoiled child. “I thought you would stay with me.”
“Nothing would make me happier.”
FIVE troopers led survivors up the steep trail toward Maiden’s Keep. Captain Raien and Corporal Pax moved with Laura and the Crater Town refugees, each carrying a pair of young children.
Kin followed with six troopers and watched for signs of pursuit. Physically, he was tired but not exhausted. Damage to his armor reduced its efficiency, but he remained stronger than a man without armor. Once the suit reached less than ninety percent mobility, he would abandon it. Not even Orlan could bear the weight of a FSPAA once it started to fail.
“Sergeant Mayfield, do you see anything?” Kin asked. The trooper had taken a position on their line of retreat to track enemy movements.
“I see them. They’ve stopped. Seem to be taking a short break. Two grunts are performing basic maintenance on their assault armor and weapons.”
“How many are combat ready?” Static crackled in Kin’s earpiece after he asked the question. Several moments passed.
Mayfield grunted. “Shit. It looks like two companies are moving up the trail to join the platoon that has been dogging us.”
Kin calculated the distance to Maiden’s Keep. The place wasn’t a fortress but could be defended. “Don’t wait too long to move. And don’t engage. That will only confirm our position.”
“Roger that,” Mayfield said. “Oh!”
“Mayfield, come in.” Kin counted to twenty. He turned to the five remaining troopers. “Two hundred meters, on the double. Prepare to engage two Imperial companies pursuing.”
Kin retreated last, grateful to see Mayfield returning from his clash with the Imperial vanguard. Kin’s squad never made it two hundred meters. The Imperial forces charged, bounding in squads, launching rockets and small-arms fire as they advanced.
Captain Raien and the rest of the 11th LRC joined Kin on a ridge overlooking the trail. Battling desperately, Kin wished they hadn’t been separated from the Shock Troopers. Mech units could have held this position a long time.
The Imperials drove Kin and the others into a clearing where the trail meandered around a small lake and several streams. The ground sloped into a valley on one side and toward a cliff on the other.
“Here they come,” Kin said.
Captain Raien stood close to him, but didn’t answer.
“What do you see, Raien?”
She shook her head in disbelief. “I see Commander Westwood.”
Kin followed her gaze and saw the commander racin
g across a meadow in full parade uniform. Orange flowers dotted with red and white spots shifted as wind buffeted the scene. The Earth Fleet officer created a wake in the sea of color as he ran.
Two-thirds of the Imperial force diverted and pursued the Earth Fleet Commander.
“I don’t know what the hell he’s doing here, but if the Imperials get him, the war is lost,” Raien said as she began to move.
“Raien, stop.”
“Hold this position. Mayfield, Johnson, come with me. Westwood needs us.”
“Raien, that’s not Westwood.” Kin tried to grab her.
“Mayfield,” Raien said, her officer’s radio link overpowering Kin’s. “If Roland interferes, neutralize him.”
“Roger that. Stand down, Roland.”
“That’s not Westwood. That’s a shape changer!”
Mayfield moved backward several steps, watching Kin. With a look that felt like a final goodbye between comrades, he turned and ran after Captain Raien and Johnson.
“Raien!” Kin shouted, accomplishing a greater distortion of his voice without a real change in volume. He cursed the communications override of Raien’s unit. He had two options: go after Raien and risk Mayfield carrying out his orders, or stay and protect the Crater Town refugees as they fled headlong toward the caves of Maiden’s Keep.
There had to be something he could do. He considered sending his FSPAA forward on a suicide mission while he attacked from the flank. The armor would follow a program to march, and he learned long ago how to rig a FSPAA in medical evacuation mode to fire weapons at random. He sought a better plan, because unpiloted, the FSPAA wouldn’t last ten minutes. And he didn’t have time to set the route and remove ordinance he would need for a sneak attack.
And you know you’ll die without the armor. Reapers don’t have ranged weapons. This is worse than hunting Droon.
He needed time. He needed ammunition. He needed reinforcements.
Where are you, Becca?
Kin looked to the sky, hoping for Dax and his warriors.
“What can I do to help?” Laura said as she came behind him.
