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

by Kocho Trajchevski

  He turned towards the swamp and started to yell at the same time ducking down.

  Jenkins noticed the mixed group of rebels rushing the lines of the legionaries. Several of them fell but more than thirty clashed with front rank of the legionaries. He and Doc aimed and fired. He killed the legionary that killed the Lacarian soldier while Doc killed another one fighting with a human. As he did that he noticed one of the dacarians turning towards them and ducking. He noticed him yelling and just moments later several dacarians started firing towards them. They were far from hitting them but it was obvious that they are closing in. He guessed they had a way to track the bullets.

  He took aim and fired another shot at the dacarian that he assumed was the commander.

  He cursed as another one stepped in front of him. And then he activated the first set of mines.

  Krongar cursed as he noticed Gunar jerk the moment he stood in front of him. He felt an impact in his stomach as the projectile that hit Gunar exited and hit him. As he watched his second in command he knew he was already dead. Gunar tried to say something but only gurgled sounds came out and he coughed blood and fell on the ground.

  Before he could give another order the world around him exploded. He felt the impacts of the shrapnel tearing through his body before blackness took him.

  Arn was stunned as the entire line of Dacarians was shredded in front of them. The only ones that remained unscathed were the ones fighting with his men. Three of them fell just moments later as the same ones that activated the mines shot them. He looked towards the swamp but saw nothing. As the last two Dacarians were killed the survivors rushed towards the water. From the forty three just sixteen survived and two of the humans fell just moments later hit in the back. Their pursuers had reached them.

  “Don’t stop run!!! RUN!”

  He yelled but even as he did he knew that not all would make it. The last human fell as he was shot in the leg and he and another wounded Illian turned and opened fire on the legionaries that were hunting them.

  By the time they reached the swamp only nine of them remained. He didn’t turn but jumped in the water. He heard Mors yell as he was hit in the back. He fell, head first in the water. They moved quickly and he said a silent prayer that the ones who gave them this chance would have some other miracle up their sleeve.

  As they went deeper in to the swamp they turned and fired not really aiming just trying to make the Dacarians cover their heads.

  Jenkins and Doc watched as the last eight survivors passed the mines they placed in the water.

  On the bank the human and the Illian were felled by dozens of shots and the Dacarians passed them running towards the swamp. As Jenkins watched he noticed that this group had more men than the previous one they had eliminated.

  As they started nearing the bank passing the shredded bodies of their comrades, some of them still alive and screaming in pain with torn limbs, he activated the second line of explosives. He and Doc and before them Luis and Singer, placed several pounds of C-4 among the trees and the open ground as a second defensive line.

  And now as he pressed the button the most powerful plastic explosive showed its destructive power. The entire jungle simply exploded and the legionaries were simply torn apart. The luckiest ones died immediately. The others simply lay there bleeding to death missing various parts of their bodies.

  G’kan survived the explosion and so did fifteen others. He was shocked and angry and now he understood what Krongar was trying to tell him.

  Whoever they were hunting was just as capable as the best the empire had. They were merciless just like the Black Guard of the emperor and just as deadly.

  He indicated for the medics to stay and help the wounded and then he and the rest entered the water. He could see the rebels moving in the distance. The first legionary took aim but before he could fire he heard the sound of gunfire. He recognized it immediately but before he could react two of his men fell dead in the dark water, blood spreading from huge wounds in their bodies. He activated the scope of his helmet and he noticed a strangely dressed human looking at him. He just nodded as he realized that they were all dead.

  A moment later the last two mines and c-4 exploded tearing them apart. Moments later the last three dacarians helping the wounded fell dead with holes in their heads and chests.

  Jenkins looked at the dead bodies of the last dacarians as they slowly sank in the water. He came down from the tree and moments later Doc emerged from his spot. He had a cut on his forehead.

  “They came close with one or two shots. Caught some shrapnel the second time.”

  Jenkins smiled.

  “Don’t worry, you look better like this. Pretty boy…”

  “You’re an asshole.”

  They both smiled.

  They noticed the small group of rebels coming towards them and waved.

  Jenkins turned to Doc.

  “You go I will wait for them. The Cap might need you.”

  Doc nodded and headed towards the group that was now well ahead.

  Jenkins closed in on a wooden branch hanging in the water and sat waiting for the rebels to come. There were no human survivors among them. Four were Illians, and two of them looked like the one Lacarian they had in their group. The other two were from races he didn’t know.

  A smile appeared on his face as he remembered a line he once read.

  “Become a marine, see new places, meet strange new people, visit new worlds, and kill aliens.”

  “I wonder who the hell wrote that. He must have been a prophet.”

  Chapter Seven

  Arcadia

  Arcadia Star System

  Kelley looked at the face of Ellis. His XO returned his grim look. They were heading towards the rendezvous point with Alpha team when all hell broke loose. He knew that somewhere in this part of the jungles were Delta and Gamma. They were heading towards the rendezvous point as well after they managed to research the known locations they were assigned too. They would be headed back soon again but the teams were following a prearranged schedule as to avoid detection by using communications.

  And he could see on the face of Ellis that like him, he was also worried. During their time ground side in the past few months they were sure that there were rebels present on this planet from the indigenous population as well from escaped slaves from the camps. It was obvious that they were hiding deeper in the inhospitable jungles. He knew that Rivers suspected it too even before they made the landing and he planned to search for them. He planned to propose they do it now by using the combined four teams for extra security and in order to cover more ground.

  But that was the plan from before. The last two days all they could do was hide and stay put. They were moving only at night all the time hearing the firing in the distance. They could even confirm at least two kinetic strikes from orbit. It was obvious that a major offensive was on the way by the Dacarians or maybe the rebels although he doubted that. Now after two days of constant fighting today they could only hear sporadic skirmishes and what was worrying was that whoever was firing was heading their way.

  “It seems that the fighting subsided.”

  The comment came from Ellis.

  “Let’s hope that we’ve passed the worst and that our friends are safe. Do you have any news from Fly and Rabbit?

  “They should be here soon. We will know more then. I sent Dickens to watch our rear by that time.”

  Kelley nodded. He looked at the faces of the rest of the team. The three remaining members that were here were spread out, resting but alert, constantly watching. They were all professionals but he knew that they were all tired. They had managed to escape any serious injuries so far but they all had cuts and bruises.

  He was about to give the order to rest when he noticed Fly coming back. As he saw his face he knew it was serious.

  “We have trouble.”

  “How many and how much time do we have?”

  Fly sat before them and drew a small sketch
on the ground.

  “We have large group of rebels running towards us. At least thirty maybe more Dacarians are following in pursuit and my guess is that there are others closing in as well.”

  “The shuttles from before, it seems they’re boxing them in.”

  “And us with them.”

  They all nodded at the remark from Flint.

  Kelley pulled the map from his pocket. They all had one made from the scan Excelsior did before landing. It was a good map not the most accurate but enough to give them a direction and knowledge of the territory they were walking in.

  He looked at their position and at the territory they were in. It was deep jungle. They were in a small valley. He knew that the scans showed several settlements in the area ahead of them but considering all the fighting he wondered if any of them were still standing.

  They were heading on a path that would take them away and hide them but it seemed that the fighting moved both the rebels and the dacarians towards their path.

  “I don’t see a way we can avoid them.”

  He pointed towards the map and the pinpointed positions. There were several positions showing the positions of the rebels and the Dacarians. They were spread out. Their deployment looked thin and inefficient but it covered a wide area effectively cutting them off from any clear way to exit and considering the fact that they were hunting exhausted rebels and didn’t know about them it was a good setup. He had no doubt that stronger Dacarian troops and in far larger numbers are somewhere behind.

  “The road ahead is blocked and I think that we can be sure that we have troop deployments in the back as well. Probably at the entrance of the valley, that would be a perfect setup.”

  “We are under orders not to engage sir. We should look for any chance to avoid contact.”

  “I know Erik. And we will try but if there is no way to avoid it we could use some friends. We move in five, we will head parallel with the rebels my guess is that they are heading somewhere and know of a way out of here.”

  They all nodded at that and started preparing.

  “Flint, inform Dick that we are moving I want him here.”

  Flint just nodded and disappeared in the jungle behind them.

  He came back two minutes later together with Dickens.

  Three minutes later they all moved out silently.

  Arnes looked at the bloody face of Angora. The general was dying. The fighting was constant throughout their retreat. He was part of the council delegation that came from Ksamona to check the forward deployments. He and the other members from the delegation were not soldiers but they carried riffles and knew how to defend themselves. From the twenty members and the guards they had only five remained and he knew that soon there would be only three. Omar and Grog were wounded and they wouldn’t survive the next few hours. They would have to leave them behind same as the others they’d already left.

  They joined the troops led by Angora that tried engaging in a fighting retreat, leading the pursuing Dacarian troops away from Ksamona. He knew that they had a chance if they could reach the tunnels that were dug into the mountains surrounding this valley that came out on the other side. It was a forlorn hope. They were supposed to meet with several battalions that were coming from other bases here in case of a situation like this but as time passed and the size of the offensive became obvious he knew that most of those battalions were either destroyed or running for their lives.

  He looked at the soldiers those that remained alive taking positions as the two that were acting as rear guard ran to join them.

  He knew the information they would bring. Before they could reach them the first ones chest simply exploded as he was hit by a plasma rifle from behind. Shots started coming in from everywhere and the soldiers returned fire. The jungle erupted as the two sides clashed red and green beams flying on both sides.

  As Arnes ducked he saw Agora die as two beams struck him in the stomach. The Dacarians and the rebels intermingled and the fighting became hand to hand and it was a battle that he knew they couldn’t win. He tried to retreat but a legionary reached him and the last thing he remembered was a strike to his head and the sudden turning of the legionary as he and his friends were attacked from the side.

  Kelley and his team reached their hiding positions just as the two sides intermingled. The Dacarians were almost finished with the first smaller group when a second group of rebels, consisting of several races including several humans, numbering more than fifty attacked them from the side. Soon more Dacarians arrived. The two sides fought mercilessly but as the fight progressed it was obvious that the Dacarians had the upper hand. They were better trained, stronger and better armed than their opponents. They took heavy casualties but in the end managed to kill all but several of the rebels. In just several minutes the area in front of them was littered with the dead or wounded bodies of more than hundred and seventy aliens and a dozen humans. In the end nine Dacarians dressed in their black armor and five rebels remained. Three were aliens and two were humans. As they dragged them one of the humans managed to break free and using a knife he had he attacked the dacarian. He managed to strike one before he was gunned down by the others. The other human was obviously dying from the wound in his stomach. The three aliens had no armor just torn clothes. They were five feet tall with blue skin and three tentacles on their humanoid faces. They had some superficial wounds and several nasty cuts and burns but none was seriously wounded. They would all live.

  As he watched from his scope Fly and Rabbit returned. They went ahead to scout.

  “This engagement caused quite a stir. Everyone in this area is either headed here or died here. We have a clear path towards the mountain. It is a rough terrain but it is our safest bet.”

  “Sir we could take out the bastards.”

  Kelley turned towards Flint. The black thirty year old seal was always eager to fight. He followed orders but he was waiting for the order to kill the aliens. He knew that he lost his family in the attack on Earth. He’d become more closed and darker since then. He even managed to hide the information from Rivers because he knew that if Rivers knew there was no way he would take him. He had the support of his team in that even from Kelley. He might be filled with hate but he could channel it and he was a man he trusted, they all did.

  He turned towards the two snipers.

  “Are there any patrols near here?”

  “None sir, the closest one is more than five miles away. And they are all in the opposite direction from us. We have enough time and we need to kill them just to be sure.”

  “That will spark another search for whoever killed them.”

  The comment came from Ellis. Before anyone could react Rabbit joined in.

  “Yes but we still have some rebels hiding and fighting in this area, as you can all hear from the occasional shots. My guess is they will think that they were killed by some of those forces.

  “By the time they realize otherwise we will be far away and out of here.” Fly finished the discussion.

  Kelley thought for a second and then nodded.

  “Spread out. We fire on my mark”

  He turned to the two snipers.

  “One shot one kill. We know where their weak points are.”

  “Shouldn’t we leave one alive for information?”

  He turned to Dickens.

  “It’s too dangerous. And we have little time. Let’s hope that those aliens will know something.”

  That ended the discussion. They all spread out closing in on the unsuspecting Dacarians.

  Fly and Rabbit took positions in the back and waited for the order to engage.

  The Dacarians gathered the prisoners taking the human away from the three aliens. It was obvious that they knew that he would die.

  Arnes, Miur and Hars watched as the legionaries dragged Demetrios. His face showed the great pain he felt as they moved him blood spilling from his mouth and from the wound to his abdomen. The wound was cauterized from the heat of the
plasma gun but deadly as it caused internal bleeding. Arnes knew what would happen next. The Dacarians were serious even as they poked him he could see that they planned to give him an honorable death. He still admired the way they treated human warriors. Even if they were cruel conquerors they were still an honorable race. At least they showed that honor towards some of their enemies and the humans had a special place among them. He knew of the stories from the few surviving Ksand, the race that rightly called this world home, about the ancient wars thousands of cycles in the past and about the ancestors of the humans, the Alterans. He knew the stories about how they fought with them and in the end lost not because the Dacarians were more powerful but because they were betrayed. This human knew nothing of that past but he knew that somewhere out there among the stars his race still lived free. It was a story known among all slaves spoken often about how their ancestors were bought from their conquerors back in ancient times and brought here by another race. They often called them sky demons but from the few drawings the Illians saw some of the older ones thought that the race was the Zerg another of the enslaved races.

  All humans believed that one day their descendants would free them and the funny thing was that together with them many others believed it too. It was a planetary legend one that the fighting Illians supported because it made everyone fight harder.

  One of the legionaries placed Demetrious on his knees and spoke something. Demetrious just spat at him in defiance. Arnes didn’t know what the exchange was about but it didn’t seem to make the Dacarians angry. They just laughed. The one in charge took out his sword and stood behind the human who raised his head and looked at the jungle. His look was dazed and lost but it was a look filled with pride, pride that he would die a free man.

  The Dacarian started to strike but he never got the chance.