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

by Kocho Trajchevski

  “We have four snipers in that group Jen. Take them out first.”

  His partner didn’t answer but there was no need to. They knew each other well and worked as a team. Moments later they both opened fire.

  Otkart noticed the survivors spreading out and taking some cover. He smiled at that. It was obvious that they were suspecting something. He wasn’t surprised considering how many legionaries were lost hunting them. They were good. He was about to give the order to fire when he heard two poops were two of his snipers were positioned. A moment later he heard two more. Before he could react all four of his snipers fell from the branches that hid them with large holes in their visors.

  “Snipers!!! Fire at them and move. Don’t give them easy targets.”

  His legionaries obeyed him instantly and they opened a hail of fire as they started moving from cover to cover. Two of the Illians fell at once hit by several well placed shots that literally tore them apart. But the rest of the group managed to find some cover and returned fire almost immediately. The plasma weapons they used couldn’t penetrate the armour with one shot but four or five could and as he watched two legionaries fell with holes in their chest and another followed as one of the Lacarians blew a hole in his visor. And three more were killed from the hidden snipers that fired constantly obviously knowing where to shoot. But the battle was not one sided. Half the rebels were either dead or dying by now and four of his legionaries opened fire in the distance towards the positions of the snipers the enemy used. As they did the sniper fire stopped and he guessed that they are either dead or forced to move.

  Hi cursed the situation he was in considering that he and his troops were stuck on the islands thanks to their armour. He called in the shuttles and he received conformation that they were on route. He smiled knowing that this battle will be over soon.

  As he did that he jerked as he felt several impacts on the joints of his shoulders. The pain hit him just a second later as he felt the bullets tearing his flesh. He noticed several more of the legionaries jerking. He turned but he still couldn’t see anything. He activated all the scans his suit had and he noticed three humans concealed and firing on his soldiers. Before he could say anything he felt several projectiles penetrating his visor and jerked back. By the time his body fell his head was already blown to pieces.

  Doc heard Jenkins scream and a moment later curse as several plasma shots hit his position. Moments later he was forced to duck as several shots aimed at him as well. He immediately moved away towards his second spot. As he did he noticed Jenkins moving as well but he was clutching his left hand and from the bloodied uniform it was obvious that he was hit. Before he could ask Jenkins turned and smiled. His face was pale but it was obvious that he can still fight. He nodded and took his position. Moments later they both started firing again.

  The other legionaries divided in to groups one maintaining constant fire on the rebels in the swamp the others rushing towards the humans in their rear.

  Anderson noticed Singer taking first one then two more hits by the powerful plasma weapon of the legionaries. The first two hit him in the torso and it was obvious that the new Kevlar suits that had reflective armour plates in them managed to deflect the shots. But the third one hit him on the side and penetrated the already weakened armour. He was dead before he hit the ground. Anderson took aim and fired at the legionaries advancing towards them. He got one before he felt the impact as one of the legionaries hit him in the stomach. The Kevlar took the brunt of the force but he still gasped from the heat and the force. He fell on the ground and even in pain he fired again. This time his aim was right and he noticed the bullets hitting the visor of his enemy. The dacarian lurched back and then simply dropped. His rifle fell by his side.

  Anderson took cover behind a tree and kept on firing. As he did he heard Gordon scream, and Flint cursing and throwing several grenades one after the other towards the advancing dacarians.

  Gordon was pinned to a tree. It was amazing that he was still alive but it was obvious that he doesn’t have much time. He had holes in his stomach and chest and one in his right leg. As he noticed Anderson watching him he smiled weakly and nodded. Anderson nodded back and they both started firing again. The dacarian ranks were thin now with just three more survivors on this island. He just hopped that Rivers is doing better.

  Ugara noticed Otkart falling and as he watched his body he knew his commander is dead. He ordered his group of legionaries to rush the humans in their rear. They were using some kind of stealth uniform that absorbed the light and made them hard to spot but thanks to their weapons he and his men knew where to fire.

  He noticed one of the humans jerking back as one of the legionaries shot him and then literally crashed in to him. The human was thrown several feet back and as he fell the legionary shot him again and turned towards the others. As he did he was shocked to see the human aiming at the other legionary. Before he could react he fired and the legionary fell dead. He aimed and fired a continuous burst at him he was satisfied to see the human jerking back as the shots hit him and blew holes in his body. It was obvious that their armour can’t take more then two or three hits.

  Rivers noticed as Luis was hit several times by the legionary. The last two hits finally penetrated the Kevlar and the reactive armour was breeched. The wound was instantly cauterized by the heat of the plasma weapon and even though Luis was still alive he was obviously out of the fight for now.

  He fired at the dacarian who shot Luis but the enemy ducked and fired back. As he did he noticed Kelly leaping and crushing in the armoured dacarian. The dacarian lost balance and fell but with his armour he was strong enough to throw of Kelly and stand up fast. As he did he pulled a knife and moved towards the Seal. Rivers shot the last dacarian in the visor killing him instantly and then started firing towards the dacarian advancing towards Kelly. The dacarian ignored him even though several bullets obviously penetrated his joints. Rivers pulled out his C-4 and jumped on him. As he hit him the dacarian lost balance and fell on the ground. Rivers managed to stick the explosive on his suit and roll back. The dacarian didn’t notice and tried to stand up. As he rose from the ground Kelly crashed in him and threw him in the water and then ducked behind a tree as Rivers activated the explosive. The dacarian managed to stand before the C-4 detonated. As it did pieces from him flew all over. Rivers ducked and tried to protect Luis but as he did he was hit by a piece of tree in his head. He crashed on top of the wounded seal alive, but unconscious.

  Kelly noticed the last two dacarians falling down shot by the surviving humans and aliens. As he moved he noticed Anderson falling down in the water and a dacarian moving towards him with a knife. As the dacarian tried to slash at him his head exploded as both Doc and Jenkins hit him at the same time. The knife fell from his hand and he fell in the murky water. He sank immediately as the weight of the suit dragged him down.

  Anderson came up and went in to the jungle.

  Kelley noticed that nine of the refugees were still alive. Three of the Illians one human and one of the Lacarians were dead.

  They were moving fast coming on the islands and picking up the weapons from the dead legionaries.

  Kelley just smiled and went towards Luis and Rivers.

  Luis was one of the medics and he was already doing his job bandaging him self placing a patch over the hole in his stomach.

  “Will you be ok?”

  Luis raised his head and looked at Kelly.

  “I think so. The wound is nasty but I was lucky. It hurts like hell but it missed my major organs. Flint will need to do a surgery on me when we come out of the swamp but I’ll live. But I’m worried about the cap. He got a nasty hit on the head.”

  Kelly looked at the unconscious major. Two of the aliens approached and he pointed towards the major. He turned towards them.

  “I want you to build stretchers. And help Luis .I’ll go and check Anderson and the others.”

  The Lacarian and the Sicarian nodded and went towards
Luis.

  Kelly moved fast towards the other island. As he did he heard Doc on the mike.

  “We have two shuttles inbound. I say again two shuttles inbound.”

  “Shit. That’s just what we need right now.”

  He reached the other island and noticed Flint standing over the bodies of Gordon and Singer. Gordon was still breathing but he had nasty wounds to his chest and stomach and one nasty wound on his leg. Flint was trying to patch him up as best as he can.

  Anderson waived Isco and Acura forward. They were carrying some of the extra weapons and ammunitions as well as the other refugees they saved earlier.

  As they came they dropped their packs. Isco was also carrying the pack that Eshmunkhilletz had with him. They both knew his fate.

  Without a word Anderson and Kelly pooled out the stingers and armed them.

  The human and the Illian watched in amazement as they extended the barrel of the weapon and armed it.

  The FIM 97-A was the latest generation of the surface to air missile manufactured and improved with the help of the information’s the AI provided. It was much smaller then the previous versions firing a smaller projectile but at a much higher velocity and at a greater distance.

  It was one point two meters long firing a projectile that weighed ten kilos. The projectile homed in on its target using the heat exhaustion as well as several other targeting solutions and it incorporated multiple countermeasures that would help it acquire its target and escape the enemy’s countermeasures. It could home in on a target up to twelve miles. They both waited until they had their targets in sight through the shouldered scopes on the stingers and then they fired.

  The two dacarian shuttles reacted almost immediately but it was already too late. Just seconds after making evasive turns the two missiles struck home and the shuttles exploded. The explosions were magnified thanks to the homing of both missies as they both struck the engines and ignited the fuel on both shuttles. The two shuttles exploded in the distance sending debris all over the swamp.

  As the targets were destroyed everyone relaxed for a second.

  They noticed Jenkins and Doc coming towards them. Jenkins was pale and he was clutching his left hand. It was obvious that he is in serious pain.

  He turned and looked at Flint who was still working on Gordon.

  He looked at Anderson.

  “We have to move fast and the wounded will slow us down.”

  “Yes but we can’t change that. We need stretchers both for the dead and for the living. We need to leave no evidence of us here.”

  He turned towards the other island and noticed the Sicarian and one Illian carrying major Rivers on stretcher. Luis was holding on to the furred creature in the back and holding his hand on the wound in his stomach.

  The major had his head wrapped in bandages and was unconscious.

  Luis indicated the Lacarian towards the other wounded and joined Anderson and Kelly.

  Anderson looked at wounded seal.

  “How are you? Can you walk?”

  Luis sighed.

  “It will be hard but I can manage. The wound is cauterized and luckily they missed the organs. It’s just a nasty wound to my abdomen missing everything. It is the cap that I’m worried about. He took a nasty bump to his head when the bastard blew up.”

  Anderson looked at the unconscious Rivers as the two aliens were slowly moving ahead.

  “There is nothing we can do about him now. Go and see if you can help Flint patch Gordon and let him check u out. We will take care of Singer.”

  At the mention of the name of the Green Beret he noticed the sadness on Luis’s face. He and Sing were close friends. They even joined together from their old unit.

  He placed a hand on the seals shoulder.

  “We’ll take good care of him Luis. He died a good death.”

  Luis raised his head and looked in Anderson’s eyes.

  “I’m sure he did sir.”

  After this he turned and walked towards Flint.

  Anderson and Kelley went towards the dead body of their friend. They took his weapons and then wrapped his body in a plastic bag and picked it up.

  They noticed the Sicarian and the alien that said he was from a race called Acadians watching them. The Acadian was big. He was seven feet tall with a massive body that showed strong muscles beneath his torn clothes. Three eyes on the centaur head watched them. He had four long hands each with four fingers with claws and a meter long tale. Brown fur covered most of his body and on several places they could notice several burns and cuts. It was obvious that he was hit but he didn’t seem worried about it. He smiled as they looked at him and his smile showed two rows of teeth one humanoid the others pulled back, sharp just like the ones of a shark.

  “Go to our doctors they can help with your wounds.”

  The Sicarian and the Acadian smiled.

  “Thank you human but there is no need. His wounds are light it takes a lot more power to kill an Acadian. They have strong skin and muscles that are heat resistant. It would take a hit just like the ones they used on you once they noticed you have armor plates that stop their weapons to kill him.”

  Anderson nodded.

  “That is good news.”

  “What will you do with your dead comrade?”

  “We don’t leave our dead. We will take him with us.”

  The Acadian nodded and stepped forward.

  “I willll carryyy his bodyyy if youu leeet mee. Thatt wayyy youu cannn takee careee of the livinggg”

  The Acadian had a difficulty pronouncing the human speech but they understood him.

  After a second Anderson nodded and he and Kelly stepped back. They took one last look as the Acadian said a silent prayer on his own language above Singer’s body and then picked him up and placed him on his back. He used his hands and several vines to tie the body and then waited for the others to be ready to leave. It didn’t seem that the weight of Singer bothered him much.

  The Sicarian came after them.

  It took them ten more minutes to build stretchers for the wounded and the dead and to throw the dead bodies of the legionaries in the swamp. After that they moved out. Kelly and Jenkins moved at front and Doc and Flint covered the rear. Up front Arn and Acura were leading them following a path through the swamp that only they knew.

  It took them two more days to exit from the worst part of the swamp. They used several small islands if they could be called that and fallen trees for resting and taking care of the bandages of the wounded.

  In the morning of the third day Arn finally raised his hand signaling them to stop just as they saw the end of the swamp. A healthy green and lush jungle was spread out all over on the other side. It was much denser then any they passed previously and Anderson knew that they are in what Rivers suspected was the hiding place of the rebels or at least close to it.

  The group stopped and the Illians in it moved forward. The humans stayed back and the Seals spread out and aimed their weapons towards the bank. They could notice movement among the trees.

  Arn and Acura entered the jungle. Five minutes later they came out and motioned them forward. As they closed to the shore a large group of Illians came forward and helped them. They were all wearing dark uniforms and weapons.

  Arn came to Anderson.

  “I have to move forward to give my report to the division commander. You wait here.”

  Anderson just nodded.

  Before moving upfront Arn spoke with some of the Illians. Then he turned and looked at Anderson.

  ‘They will help you with your wounded.”

  Then he moved forward and disappeared in the jungle. Anderson sat and took a look at his surroundings. He could notice that Jenkins, Doc and Kelly were doing the same. Luis and Flint were looking after the major and Gordon. They noticed the other aliens joining ranks of their races. It was obvious that this was a major camp site that had lots of escaped slaves in it. They saw the Acadian as he left the dead body of Singer and went
towards a group of Acadians that were coming towards him. They greeted him warmly and from the way they talked it was obvious that they knew each other.

  He heard a groan and as he turned he noticed Rivers rising. He was holding his head and Flint sat him down.

  “Sir I’d advise you to rest. You took a nasty hit on your head and you probably have concussion.”

  Rivers sat down and looked at the seal.

  “The way my head hurts you might be right. I feel like a train hit me.”

  Anderson and the rest of the seals smiled.

  “Well that’s what you get when you stop a tree from hitting Luis.”

  Rivers looked at Anderson with a look that showed shock but before he could utter a word Kelly joined in.

  “I thought I was crazy cap but after your stunt…hell I think I need to get some training. You attacked him unarmed and stuck C-4 to his back. You’re nuts boss.”

  Rivers smiled.

  “You’re right. Guess I should’ve let him skin you a little before I killed him.”

  “Now that is something I have to agree boss, to much fat on that body.”

  They all smiled on Luis’s comment.

  “Man, if you didn’t have a hole I could put my finger through, I would so kick your yellow ass.”

  That brought another sat of laughs.

  Then Rivers sat his eyes on Gordon who was unconscious and had both Flint and Luis watching over him and placing new bandages on his wounds. It was obvious that he had severe injuries and that he needed a surgery.

  “How many did we lose?”

  Anderson exhaled before answering.

  “We lost Singer and Gordon isn’t doing well. We also lost five of the rebels. Three of the Illians, Eshmunkhilletz and one of the Lacarians the smaller one got killed. Two of the others are wounded, three actually, but our muscle friend has tough skin.”

  At the last words he waved his head towards the group of Acadians.

  As Rivers saw them he smiled.

  “Just like those Acadians from the legends in Egypt.”

  They all smiled as they remembered several movies from the start of the century before the war and the aliens.