The Black Guard

by C. R. Daems

  "Yes, sir," Elijah and Ceder said, while the rest nodded.

  "Last chance. If any of you see someone you can’t recognize instantly, now is the time to introduce yourself." I looked around and didn’t see any blank stares. "Okay, Lieutenants, let’s go see if we can join the game." As we left the building, I clicked on channel six. "Colonel Feber, this is Captain Sapir. Would you notify your troops you have Guard dressed as civilians moving towards the Assembly and Presidential Building. Lieutenants Elijah and Ceders are in charge."

  "Good hunting, Captain. Keep me appraised of your whereabouts," Feber said.

  We jogged through quiet streets of destruction: shattered windows, doors off hinges, small fires, and dead bodies, which we partially stripped to replace the new clothing we had taken from the store. We were challenged twice, but waved on after Elijah identified herself.

  "Halt and be identified," an army sergeant called out. He was only partially visible behind a burnt out vehicle. Another eight or nine weapons were visible within doorways and windows. I let Elijah take charge as it was her group and no reason for me to interfere, and it helped for me to get to know her.

  "I’m Lieutenant Elijah, Black Guard," she said, halting the group with a hand.

  "Lieutenant, from here to the Assembly Building is rebel territory. And this area is going to be jumping before too long." He smiled. "If you’re caught out there, I doubt either side is going to stop to ask for identification."

  "Thanks sergeant, sounds exciting. Have fun," she said, and waved her group on, laughing as we continued on down the street. "Any preference, Captain?"

  "I thought we’d swing wide of the Assembly Building and come around from behind it. Colonel Feber said the rebels controlled access between the buildings. If we could insert ourselves there before Captain Letner attacks, we might be able to join the rebels that will be fleeing toward the Presidential Building and enter with them."

  "If the commando can flush them out."

  "They will. But the cost will be high, so let’s make sure it isn’t wasted."

  She nodded. She put out two scouts ahead of us as we made our way pass the building and to the rear of it. Then she had her team moved in twos, leap-frogging between hedges, trees, and statues, with orders to shoot only with lasers and to avoid confrontations if possible. The going was slow. We encountered two small groups of three and four men sitting around small fires eating but gave them a wide berth. We had reached positions behind the Assembly Building when all hell broke loose. Explosions from grenades and small missiles shattered the quiet of the morning—probably the rebels because of the contract restrictions. The rebels behind the Assembly Building immediately took up positions to block any incursions into the area between the three buildings. Since we were already inside that area, we settled down to wait. Watching the windows, I could follow the progress of the battle as it moved from the center of the building outward—left and right. The struggle went on for hours with periods of intensive fighting followed by long periods of quiet. The rebels were well armed and led, judging by the slow progress the commandos were making. Just as the light of day was fading, rebels began leaving the rear entrance and heading for the Presidential Building. Elijah smiled at me. I held up a finger to wait. When the next group of five exited, I nodded.

  "Just one group," I said, and she pointed to Mintz, her senior sergeant, who followed with his five team members. Ten minutes later another eight left the building, and I signaled Elijah to follow and drew my hand across my throat. She nodded. Halfway to the Presidential Building she said, "Now." Their deaths were quick, silent, and over in seconds. I turned to the rear and saw three following us. I killed two and Elijah the third before they realized what had happened. Two minutes later we reached the building and found the door open and Corporal Markov smiling. Beyond him, bodies lay scattered around the floor of the medium-sized room used as a security entry and exit for employees. The door to the hallway was closed, which I assumed meant no one was aware we were in the building.

  I clicked my Mfi onto channel thirteen. "Ceder, this is Sapir. Where are you?"

  "We’re wide of the Presidential Building facing the open area between it and the Administration Building."

  "Within the next hour or two, I believe there will be rebels leaving the Presidential Building and heading for the Administration Building. It would be nice if you could join them."

  "Yes, sir. I’d like that." He clicked off. I clicked onto channel six. "Colonel Feber, this is Sapir. We are in the Presidential Building. I’d appreciate it if you could send someone to guard the entrance between the Presidential and the Assembly Buildings so I can free up the people I have securing it."

  "Do you need help, Captain?"

  "No, thank you. I’m sure Captain Letner’s troops have earned a rest. Just someone to guard that entrance into the building." I clicked off and turned to face my team. "Does everyone remember the leap-frog technique you learned in training and never used again?" I asked. Slowly blank looks turned to smiles and nods. "This building has two hallways. This one runs to a blank wall. It is intersected halfway by a longer hallway which runs from the front foyer to a rear door which provides access to the Administration Building. The foyer has stairs which lead to the personal sleeping quarters of the residents. We will use that technique to clear first this hallway then the other. I’m hoping a few of the rebels will flee by the rear exit and Lieutenant Ceder and his team will be able to slip into the Administration Building with them. If he can, we will leave the second floor to the army and will join him. Everyone strip down to your body armor." I stood by as Elijah set up the leap-frogging positions. Solow’s team would go first. Four of the Mintz team would provide them cover from the doorway: two standing, one on each side, and one kneeing next to each of them. They would shoot anyone in the hallway or peeking out of a door. Sergeants Judt and Catz would begin the attack. I nodded to begin.

  Elijah opened the door, and Judt and Catz began running down the center of the hallway, ensuring the shooters could see anyone looking out a door. Multiple hisses and two men fell dead at the other end of the hallway as several laser strikes seared through their heads. As Judt and Catz approached the first two doors, they threw flash-stars into the room and continued a few meters past before stopping to watch the hallway for anyone to appear. By now, Corporal Cerff and Private Polak were running hard. As they reached their assigned door, they slid on their asses into the room firing. Privates Toch and Alpert were now sprinting past Judt and Catz on the way to the next set of rooms where they threw flash-stars… beginning to repeat the next set of leap frogging. Lieutenant Elijah followed with three of her team, checking the evacuated rooms to ensure no one had been left alive. I waited with Senior Sergeant Mintz and the remaining two members guarding the entrance. Ten minutes later, Captain Letner arrived with ten commandos. He looked like hell: his uniform torn and smeared with blood, dark circles under dead looking eyes.

  "Bad?" I asked. He nodded.

  "They are more like a well-trained army than rebels. And they are well armed. I have twenty-nine down. Hopefully, ten will live. What’s your status? Do you need help?" he asked, hesitantly and holding a breath while he awaited my answer.

  "No, just watch this door for us," I said, and waved for the others to join me as I jogged down the hallway. Elijah and her three were waiting at the intersection and Solow’s team had now reached the last two doors.

  "The tenants are awake," Elijah quipped as I neared and Mintz took her place watching the right side of the hallway leading to the foyer. Corporal Narkis had the left side, and Privates Markov and Reti had the right and left side of the hallway facing to the rear.

  Feeling a vibration from my Mfi I clicked it on.

  "Captain, I’m in place," Ceder said in a whisper.

  "Good, they should be exiting in the next fifteen minutes or less." I clicked off.

  When Solow’s team made it back to the intersection, they replaced Mintz’s hallway shoot
ers, so he and his team could organize their leap-frogging teams down the hallway to the foyer. I didn’t want the hallway to the back cleared, hoping some would flee to the Administration Building, so I had ordered the shooters not to shoot anyone running for the exit. Ceder would need people to follow into the Administration Building.

  Mintz signaled and Narkis and Geller began running. As they did, several rebels stepped out from doors along the hallway and others appeared in the foyer, all firing with automatic rifles. Geller’s forward motion stopped as several slugs hit her, and Narkis’s head exploded as bullets scored a direct hit to his head. At the same time, rebels were dropping one after another as the Guard’s shooters switched to projectiles and were firing in bursts. Markov and Behr rushed to replace them, racing down the hallway which was now clear of live bodies. Flash stars flew into the first two rooms, and they took up positions a few meters past, watching for anyone to show a face down the hallway or in the foyer. Mintz and I followed right behind them. I shut my eyes and slid into the room on the left. The room was filled with the sound of automatic fire. I opened my eyes to see several men firing at where they thought the door was located, which in most cases wasn’t close. They shot two of their own as I began killing silently with my laser. I killed five. A sixth man had dropped behind a massive wooden desk while waiting for his eyes to clear. I lay in the middle of the room with no cover. I loosened my whip, freed it as I rolled towards the desk, and lashed out just as the man rose. I was a half-meter off, but the crack of the whip as it hit the top of the desk and sent splinters flying as it recoiled back caused him to jump backward, spraying the ceiling with projectiles. My next slash caught the rifle and came away with the weapon and half an arm. A laser to the head finished him. I jumped up and headed for the door.

  "Corporal Cerff," I shouted as I dragged Geller into the room. Cerff was the team’s trained medic. She flew through the door seconds later. I pointed to Geller as I exited the door into the hallway looking for something to shoot. Nothing. The leap-frogging team was just attacking the next to last set of doors. Toch and Polak had just thrown flash-stars into the rooms as they passed and Reti and Elijah were beginning their slide into the room when I reached it. I continued running past the last two doors, which were shut. Short of the foyer I stopped, flung a flash-star into each staircase, shut my eyes, counted to five, and then rolled into the foyer towards the left staircase. Men were lining each staircase, rubbing their eyes, shooting blindly, and shouting. I switched to projectiles and sprayed the stairs on the right side. Hearing the sound of my weapon, several started blindly shooting in the direction of the sound and succeeded in killing a few of their fellow rebels, who began shooting back towards the sound. I felt two hits, one to the arm and one to my side. The body armor stopped it from penetrating but I’d have a nasty bruise if not internal damage from the impact. I slid back into the hallway and waited, using my laser to kill those I could see on the lower steps. As their eyes cleared and they could see the carnage, there was a mad rush up the stairs to the second floor.

  "The hallway’s clear, sir," Elijah said from behind me. I nodded and we made our way back down the hallway collecting the members and checking status: Narkis was dead; Geller was in serious condition, and Behr and Toch, who had replaced Narkis and Geller, were wounded but functional. Most, like me, had taken one or two hits and were favoring some part or another.

  "Sir, Solow, Catz, and Judt have checked the back hallway. They report the area is clear. We let about twenty flee out the back." Mintz said, smiling. "A good number were from the second floor."

  "Good," I made my way back towards the side door, lost in the pain of losing Narkis and maybe Geller and searching my mind for what I could have done differently to avoid Narkis’s death and Geller’s near fatal injuries. Latner jarred me out of my mental brooding. He and a lieutenant stood in the doorway leading to the rear exit.

  "Captain Sapir, what’s your status? Lieutenant Dische has just arrived with four squads ready to help you." He nodded to a lean lieutenant with a long narrow face, who was smiling. He bowed low.

  "Captain Sapir, I have forty troops available to you. Where do you want them?" he said, looking eager to get involved.

  "The bottom floor is clear of rebels; however there might still be some upstairs. I don’t know how many, but I’ve been told that a number of them fled down the back stairs and out the door. I’ll leave whoever is left upstairs to you, since they aren’t going anywhere soon. I have one dead, and three wounded. I’m taking two of the wounded who are functional, but I’d appreciate if you would have someone see to the others’ needs. Lieutenant Ceder has gained entrance to the side door of the Administration Building, and I need to join him. He’ll need help clearing the building."

  "My God! How?" Latner said. Dische stood staring at me, shaking his head in disbelief.

  "We each have our expertise, Captain. Please let Colonel Feber know the status here and that I’m on my way to the Administration Building." I trotted down the hall, still wondering what I could have done differently. Lieutenant Dische followed with his men and deployed a squad down each hallway to check each room and secure the stairs. I joined everyone at the back entrance.

  "Strip their clothes," I nodded to the dead. "We’ll need to cover our black body armor to cross that field to the Administration Building." I waved to Dische. "Lieutenant, could you have some of your troops shoot at us as we make our escape to the Administration Building. We will shoot back of course." I smiled. He gave me a blank look which turned into a smile and then a laugh.

  "We’d be honored to help." He collected a squad who took up positions near windows and the door. I sent Ceder a message on my Mfi, "Hold the door open," as I ran out followed by sergeants Catz and Judt. After a few meters, we turned and began firing at the building as the rest of my detail poured out the rear door. The army opened fire as we ran, and we occasionally fired back. As we did, the rebels on the second floor of the Administration Building opened fire on the Assembly Building. I smiled. People tended to see what they wanted to see, or alternatively, what they expected to see: their friends escaping the enemy and the opposing army shooting at the fleeing rebels.

  Ceder was smiling as we blew through the door into the side entrance. There were ten or more bodies piled up against the wall. "Masquerade parties are fun," he said as I stood catching my breath.

  "Sure are," Elijah said, but her smile was weak and her eyes sad. I looked at the building diagram on my Mfi.

  "Two stories with very similar floor plans—a long central hallway with five intersecting ones. The entrance we are in is considered an employee’s entrance. It runs through to the front of the building, which is the main entrance. The last I’d heard, the army on the first floor controlled up to the first intersection and the offices on both sides, and the back stairs to the second floor. There are approximately three offices down each side of the hallway, a total of sixty on each floor—a building total of one hundred twenty offices."

  "That’s a lot of offices. Are we going to use the leap-frog technique again?" Elijah asked. I had been considering the problem. That would work but would tend to get harder as the residents became aware of what was happening via communication devices. Injuries—deaths—could eventually reduce our number to where the technique wouldn’t work.

  "What’s our mission here on New Keif?" I asked, looking at Ceder and Elijah.

  "To help—" Elijah said, emphasizing the last word "—clear the rebels out of the government buildings."

  "I agree, to advise and help to remove the rebels," Ceder said, to general nods.

  "Not to kill the rebels?" I asked, as an idea began to take shape.

  "Well, you have to do that to get them out," Mintz said, again to general nods.

  "Only if they won’t leave." I smiled. "Lieutenant Ceder, is there a building intercom at that station?" I asked, looking over at the reception counter, which seemed to have video monitors.

  "Yes, sir. I don’
t think they monitor the rooms but there are cameras in each hallway and speakers throughout the building, most likely for emergencies or public announcements."

  "Sergeant Zinn, release two of your team to join Sergeant Mintz’s team. Sergeant Wahle, release two from your team to guard this entrance along with the two wounded and one from Sergeant Solow’s team. That will leave each of the four teams with five members, and provide a five person team to hold this entrance." I waited as the reassignments were made and the members of the new teams formed up. "Lieutenant Ceders, you will take your two teams to the second floor and secure the two intersections to our left, which I believe is the east end. Leave one team at each intersection. That should give you sufficient shooters to control all four directions. Kill anything that enters the hallway. Lieutenant Elijah, you will do the same for the two intersections on the west end. Keep your party clothes on and try to get into those positions with the least amount of killing. Let me know when you are in position and then strip down to your black body armor and put on your head caps. Go!" I waved to the stairs. Ceder was at the steps first with his ten following and then Elijah with her ten. I waited, mentally hoping if the space gods were watching, they would sprinkle a little bit of common sense down on this building. My Mfi vibrated. When I looked, Ceder had sent "Ready," and a few seconds later Elijah did. I clicked on the building intercom.

  "Attention, Attention. This is Captain Sapir of the Black Guard. We now control all the hallways on the second floor. You are trapped. Your friends who were in the Assembly Building will tell you we killed everyone on the first floor and those that came to help from the second floor in less than thirty minutes. We will clean out the second floor in the same time if necessary to get you to leave. However. I repeat, however. If you will leave peacefully, we will allow you to exit the north entrance, which I believe your people still control, and you can join your comrades and live to see your families. I give you ten minutes to decide. After that we will begin the killing. Caution. Don’t step into the hallway unless you have no weapons on you."