The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3)

by Kocho Trajchevski

  The weapon and all its accessories are carried in an M7 bandolier. The mine is detonated as the enemy approaches the killing zone. Controlled detonation could be accomplished by use of either an electrical or non-electrical firing system. The mine could be detonated by any mechanism that activates the blasting cap.

  The claymore was the most widely used anti-personal mine back on Earth. It was used in just about every conflict, humanity had back on Earth. This was the first time to be used against aliens. Jenkins didn’t know for sure how it would react with the armor the dacarians wore but considering the speed of armor piercing ammunition and the speed of the metal balls that the claymore used he was pretty sure that the result would be a massacre.

  As the entire group was inside the perimeter he activated the mines. Moments later he was rewarded with the loud explosion as the four mines detonated simultaneously.

  Each mine as it detonated lunched 700 metal balls that had a perfect killing field of fifty meters. That was against a human foe. Right now the four mines detonated and lunched 2800 small 3.2 millimeter metal balls against twenty three dacarian legionaries covering area of just thirty five square meters. As the balls hit them some bounced of their armor but many went through. Their armor was tough but it was made for resisting plasma and laser weapons. Not armor piercing projectile ammunition. In less than a second where just moment ago Jenkins saw twenty three legionaries he now saw twenty three shredded bodies. Some still moved about but they were all already dead.

  Jenkins rose from his hiding spot and with fast steps started moving away and heading towards his next position. The first enemy platoon was eliminated. As he moved he knew that soon the second one would follow.

  As the sounds of the explosion reached them, Krongar and his men stopped and after failing to establish any contact with their second team they started hastily moving towards their last position. The second platoon was supposed to inspect the enemy camp position.

  He already lost five men to ambushes so he and his men moved quickly but carefully watching for any traps. It took them half an hour to cover the distance and when they reached it he was shocked by what he saw. In a small confined space the torn bodies of twenty three more legionaries lay dead. All around them the plants were cut down and the trees had huge holes in them probably by the same weapon that massacred the legionaries. As he approached he picked up a small metal ball covered with blood and as he scanned the area he noticed hundreds more. The other praetorians noticed them too. He was amazed by the ingenuity of his opponents.

  “They used mines and these were their murder weapon.”

  “I’ve never seen anything like it before. Not on this front, on this world and especially not being used by advanced races. This is primitive.”

  “Primitive…Gunar? It might be primitive but it is very effective and deadly.”

  “Yes it is. Whatever speed they were moving they pierced the armor easily, like it was not even there.”

  “Our armor will deflect energy weapons but not projectiles and not ones moving at the speed that these small balls moved. Inform command that we need more men and inform them that we are targeted by projectile weapons.”

  He turned and watched as the rest of the legionaries gathered the bodies of the twenty three dead. They worked slowly and he could see the anger on their faces. This was the third platoon pursuing this group of slaves that was wiped out to the last men. He knew that four of the slaves, six in total since they escaped the camp were dead but that was nothing compared with the sixty two legionaries that died so far. Ten to one ratio in favor of their enemies was something he wasn’t accustomed to and it never happened with missions like this one. Something was off.

  “Ask for more men I want three more platoons joining us and tell them I want the bodies of the dead examined closely something is not right here. I want them to check the ammunition they are using, we need clues.”

  The legionary followed his order immediately. He got confirmation in several moments.

  He used the break while the bodies of the dead ones were wrapped to look at the munitions he could see. He carried one of the projectiles that killed one of the first two platoons. He looked at the strange coned shell. He couldn’t learn anything about it by its markings. They were strange, but as he looked at it he knew that it couldn’t come from a railgun. It was an explosive round and considering the fact that it penetrated the armor of the legionary that it killed. It was extremely powerful, but it was fired from a weapon that he couldn’t imagine. The empire had a chance to fight against several races that used projectile weapons and he knew that they were dangerous. There was armor that the legionaries could use in situations like that but none were present here. Only the specialized units of the legions had armor that was both effective against energy weapons and projectile ones. That armor was heavier and bulkier than the armor most of the legionaries wore. He wondered if he should call one of those units. They were rarely used considering that the Illians used energy weapons. As he could remember even their ships used energy weapons and lasers and not projectile weapons. The empire’s fleet still had ships that had rail guns and coil guns that were utilized for point defense but most of them were old ships that were slowly being replaced. If the Illians started producing this kind of ammunition it would be going backward in their weapons tech and it was hard to imagine that they could had enough production capacity for weapons like this that required special metals.

  He turned to Gunar.

  “Call two teams of the special forces of the legions. I want them in full armor suits and dropped in front of us. If they have projectile weapons it is time we took them out of the equation.”

  “Yes sir.”

  He noticed the relief after hearing his order on Gunar’s face. It was a move that would require explanations but he hoped that the results from the ammunition test would prove him right and give the answers to his superiors.

  Just moments later he noticed one of the advance scout parties coming back in a hurry. At the same time he got a radio call from one of the forward teams that were coming this way from the camp they destroyed chasing some refugees.

  He answered immediately.

  “What is it G’kan?”

  “We have a visual on several escaped Illians and several slaves. They are about half an hour before us heading towards the swamps. You and your team will be able to reach the swamp before them and cut them off at that side while we hit them from the back.”

  “Be careful G’kan, we lost three platoons already chasing these ones. Any humans among the ones you are chasing?”

  “I don’t know for sure but there might be there was a large group in the rebel camp we attacked. Some managed to escape as well as several slaves of the other races.”

  “We’ll cut them off.”

  “And they will pay for the legionaries they killed Krongar. I swear it.”

  While he spoke on the com with G’kan, Gunar received the report from the scouts of the other group.

  A moment later he came to Krongar.

  “He says that they have the track of the escapees heading towards the swamps. His team is already on route.”

  As they spoke another explosion was heard in the distance. A moment later they could all hear the sound of plasma fire.

  They reacted immediately running towards the sound of fire. The scout was running fast and as he watched him Krongar knew that it was his team that was trapped.

  Before they got there the fire stopped.

  As they got there he saw several legionaries checking the dead bodies of nine of their comrades. He noticed his counterpart their commander lying in a pool of blood together with two other legionaries. Two of the legionaries were missing parts of their face and as he looked at them he felt disgusted.

  “Where are they? Who were you shooting at?”

  The legionary he asked pointed towards the swamps.

  He looked at the direction and then thought about G’kan and his plan.
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  He turned towards Gunar.

  “We are following a different group than G’kan.”

  As he spoke he pulled out a map of the area. He thought for a second looking at it and then he spoke again.

  “Tell the shuttles I want those two teams placed deep in the swamp. He pointed two points on the map.”

  The two spots were represented a small rocky area inside the swamps, two small islands placed five milliarium’s ahead. The swamps were deep around them but between them they were about one meter deep and his guess was that the slaves would head in that direction.

  “You know that they won’t be able to pursue them. The ground in the swamps acts like quicksand and considering their weight even where it’s just mud they will drown and be swallowed by the swamp.”

  “I know it is dangerous Gunar but we have to stop them. There is something strange with these ones something doesn’t add up and we need to know what it is. Send the order.”

  Gunar nodded and he sent the message to the shuttles.

  As he did he heard Krongar giving the order to the legionaries to leave the bodies of the dead. He knew they would hate it but they had to hurry if they wanted to catch their prey.

  The legionaries moved quickly when the order was given. They hated it but they were soldiers and they knew that time was of essence. The group moved quickly constantly moving towards the swamps ahead of them.

  Rivers looked at the two snipers as they approached. They both came from different sides Doc arriving just seconds before Jenkins.

  “How far are they?”

  “We have ten- fifteen minutes max before they reach us. And we have at least a platoon of them ahead. Two shuttles went that way.”

  Rivers looked at Jenkins and then he turned towards the Illian. The smaller creature stepped forward as soon as Rivers looked at him.

  “You have question?”

  “Yes. There are two shuttles heading forward in the swamps. Is there a place where they could ambush us?”

  The Illian thought for a second and then nodded.

  “There are two islands ahead.”

  Rivers looked at the map he had. It was crude but it showed two small patches of land in the middle of miles of water and trees. He looked at the distance and he guessed that they were about five miles ahead.

  “We need to move sir.”

  Rivers looked at Kelly. He nodded and indicated to him to lead the group that was with him.

  Kelly just nodded and without saying a word he turned and went in the swamp. The others followed.

  As they did Jenkins set seven claymores at different points creating a wide killing field. As he watched him he noticed several patches of C-4 placed between the trees in the back. They would all be triggered from distance. All except the five land anti personal mines of their own design. They were trip wired and couldn’t be distinguished from the trees and bushes were they were placed. They had a wooden shell and were filed with small metal balls that Stinger and Luis always carried with them they also had animal teeth, and small sharp stones. He didn’t know how much damage they would do but they were worth the try. There was no time for any traps like the ones they prepared before so this would have to do.

  “Sir we have a large group of Illians moving in this direction. They are pursued by at least two teams’ maybe more.”

  Rivers looked at Sosar as the Illian was trying to understand what they were saying.

  “A group of your people is approaching.”

  The eyes of the Illian spread with surprise and hope. But as he looked in the eyes of Rivers and the others he knew that it was false hope.

  “I’m sorry Acura but we can’t wait for them. If we do we will be cut off and overwhelmed.”

  “And you can’t allow any of us to stay and help them because we know of you, because I know of you.”

  Rivers nodded.

  As he did Acura watched Jenkins who was covering the mines with leafs, earth and branches hiding them from sight.

  “Kill as many as you can human. Avenge mine and your brothers.”

  “That my friend we certainly will.”

  The Illian stepped in the swamp and joined the others.

  Anderson and Luis followed him.

  Rivers looked at Jenkins and Doc.

  “Sir we can’t wait for them but me and Doc can help them. We can help at least some of them to reach the water.”

  Rivers looked at them.

  “You know the risk you will be taking. It is dangerous. And the range of their weapons is still unknown. It’s too risky.”

  “We will be well hidden and inside the swamps. These babies have a long reach.”

  As he said that Doc patted the Barrette XM500 he was holding. The rifle was quite possibly the strongest weapon in human arsenal. At least until the new version, a copy of the weapons the Alterans used would enter production. Some of them should be in the hands of the marines that were on their way here but that wasn’t sure.

  The fifty caliber cartridges it used, even the old models could easy penetrate any armor the Dacarians would be using. And in the hands of a trained and expert sniper like Doc or Jenkins they were a deadly weapon at a distance of one mile and even more.

  “I want you to place yourself well away from any danger. Activate the mines give them some support if you can but get your asses to us as fast as you can. There will be enemies upfront and I want you there when we meet them. If we can take the bastards from a distance...let’s say it’s a chance we won’t miss.”

  “Yes sir.”

  He nodded and went in to the murky water slowly moving towards the rest of the group.

  As he did Jenkins took out the last two claymores he had in him and two more fragmentation grenades. He placed them on the bank covering the most likely places the dacarians might be using to ambush the coming escapees and Doc placed two of his claymores in the water.

  After this they both entered in the water and with quick strides moved ahead. It took them a good five minutes to reach the best positions that they scouted even before they planted the mines.

  They climbed the tall trees that even in the swamps rose hundreds of meters in to the sky all around them. They were different from the trees on the dry side of the jungle. It was obvious they were from a species that was well adapted to survive in this environment. As they watched they could see several predators moving in the water. They resembled the earth crocodiles. Those creatures seemed to be able to adapt anywhere.

  The positions they took gave them a clear field of fire and good cover.

  It didn’t take long for the Dacarians to arrive. They came out slowly, spread out over a large area obviously careful to avoid any traps.

  The first group didn’t activate any of the wired traps. As they came to the bank they stopped four of them facing towards the swamp the rest turning to cover the rest of the legionaries that followed them. This group wasn’t as lucky as the first as they activated two of the wooden mines. As the mines exploded they threw away metal balls, stones and teeth that hit six legionaries. Most of the stuff bounced of their armor but enough penetrated to kill or maim four of them two survived the explosion but fell dead to two precise sniper shots that blew huge holes in their chests. Both Doc and Jenkins used the confusion to each make one kill.

  The explosions angered the legionaries but it also made them cautious. They moved quickly trying to reach the safety of the bank. As soon as they reached it the sounds of weapons fire reached them and they turned back.

  Arn looked behind as he heard the sounds of the plasma weapons fire. The small group of humans, Acadians and Illians who were too wounded to continue stayed behind allowing the rest of the forty three to escape. Ten of them faced more than sixty legionaries. He knew they wouldn’t last long but it would buy him and the others the few precious minutes to reach the safety of the swamps. At least he hoped they would be safe. There was a big chance there might be legionaries up ahead as well. He had the leftovers of an entire bri
gade. They were the only ones that managed to get this far. He guessed that there might be other groups hiding in the jungle but he knew it was a fore lone hope.

  He moved as quickly as everyone else. The sound of firing could still be heard in the distance.

  He looked at the group. Most were Illians but there were also humans, Acadians, Mag, and Macassi. All united against a common enemy. And all without much hope.

  They were almost at the swamps when the dacarians sprang their trap. He lost all hope as he noticed the first seven members of his group go down. The rest took cover and opened fire. But he knew their time was up. The enemy was closing in from every side.

  “Kill as many as you can. At them…”

  He could hear the roar of approval from the others as he rose and rushed up front.

  Krongar cursed the gods for his luck as the second group of slaves the ones G’kan was chasing opened fire on his men. He had three more platoons that joined him before he reached this position. One of them was half the predicted strength considering the trap they fell in too. But he still had seventy legionaries. He had enough men to go in pursuit of the ones he was really after and leave men here to trap this group. But it all depended on having enough time and they arrived before he could divide his forces. And he lost six men to another trap as soon as they reached the swamps. As the legionaries moved to covering positions constantly firing at the approaching slaves, three more bombs exploded causing havoc among their ranks and killing three more. Two were wounded but could still fight. Then he watched the rebels rush his men. He knew that it was desperation but he also knew that it was their only chance. And it was a move he valued. As he watched the front ranks collided, the huge Macassi warrior easily killing two legionaries one with his rifle the other with a knife. He fell a moment later as a legionary blew a hole in his chest firing at point blank. He was about to turn and give an order when he noticed something strange. The legionary that killed the Macassi was about to open fire on an Illian when his chest literally exploded and then another one fighting with a fallen human lost his head at almost the same moment.