He looked around to the positions his own men held. The battalion was almost destroyed. They started with four hundred and seventy three men. Now only one hundred and eighty two remained. And half of them were wounded. But he knew that his men will fight.
He knew he had their full trust now. He was their leader.
He pulled a picture and a letter from his pocket. The picture was from the girl he loved. The letter was addressed to her and to his younger sister. His parents were dead, and he guessed that he will be soon. But in his heart he knew that it was a worthy death.
“Make sure that this letter gets delivered in her hands sir.”
Marius looked at the young men as he took the letter.
For just a second he thought about changing his decision but as he saw Varo’s eyes he stayed silent.
“I will captain.”
“Thank you sir.”
After this Varo saluted and returned to his unit. As soon as he did they deployed forward taking the positions of the other units spreading out to cover the empty ground.
Marius ordered the retreat.
As soon as he did the others started running back. Behind him he heard the first explosion fall.
And then he heard Varo’s shout.
“We fight for our family, for our freedom, for the men we lost and for the men that are behind us. This is the last line, there is no turning back. We stop them here.”
A huge hurray answered him.
He knew that the resistance would be short lived and futile but he still smiled. He never dreamed that that would be a young boy he would never forget in his long life.
In front of him he noticed the first brigade or what was left of it reinforcing the line. This was the strongest point in the line he had to defend.
As soon as his men reached the line of bunkers they deployed. Some of them scattered mines in front of them covering them with dirt and earth so that they would be hidden. Those that stayed outside deployed in the trenches.
He had around one thousand men left. Not enough to stop what was coming his way. Not even close.
But he knew that they had to do all they could, even if all of them died.
He entered his command bunker and started working on his defense plan.
Varo watched as the first heavy armor vehicles approached. He knew that his kin from earth, the strange looking soldiers he saw for just a second when they passed the line called them tanks, and some of them walkers.
The dacarians and the Argara called them Hakuntash. He didn’t know what that word meant but he didn’t care. Not really.
He lost ten men in the two enemy attacks so far. He had only two remaining bunkers and the trenches that connected them were filled with the surviving men of his unit. They were thinly spread. Most were in the last trench only forty five were in the first two and they were hiding now. They had a job to do to stop the enemy vehicles as they came close. His men were taking shots at the infantry coming with them.
There were thousands of them coming at a fast trot, the wolf like Argara and the legionaries.
He felt no remorse as he activated the first set of mines. Most of them were of the new design created on advice of their new allies. They called them Claymores. This was the first time they used them so far. He asked for them from the supply officer as thee other retreated. He got four hundred. His men worked hard to place them all carefully.
The field ahead was covered with them. All of his men ducked as he pressed the button.
So did he.
The Argara and the legionaries were not that lucky. The illian claymores were the same design as their human counterparts just filled with different explosive that gave its balls even stronger momentum. Two hundred mines were deployed along the two mile front here at a depth of half a mile.
And that field of death was filled with thousands of Argara warriors and legionaries who never before saw such a weapon. As the mines exploded and launched their deadly projectiles on all sides in just a second all cohesion among the dacarian troops was lost.
Ahura Sac watched in horror as his first line of attack simply ceased to be.
He lost almost eight thousand men till this moment. Now he lost six thousand more in just one second. And moments alter he watched in horror as the forward line of Hakuntash was shredded by rockets and plasma fire. Molok’s vehicle exploded as three rockets hit it. As he saw he knew his friend was dead.
He saw the rest of his men retreating. And he knew that there was no chance of stopping them. He gave the order for the other three divisions to advance. This time more slowly.
Now he was fighting for time. He had one division coming from the marshes. It would hit the sides of both rebel forces and he was sure that that would be the crippling blow.
He had almost eighty thousand men in reserve waiting for that moment.
Varo’s men used the small moment of respite to rest.
The second attack cam half an hour later. It started with artillery barrage and with armor coming forward. This time the mines had little effect as the dacarian artillery barrage shredded the forward lines destroying most of them. He smiled as he knew that the mines that the dacarians and the Argara feared those he had left were placed here in the trenches and behind him. He knew that the final fight would be fought here. And he knew that he will lose it. But he didn’t plan for the enemy to win it either. Not while he and his men held the last breath. Marius needed time. He knew that he expected for half an hour an hour the most. If his plan worked he would give him much more.
He looked at Zarza. The Acadian and his men were among the best warriors he had.
“Zarza I want you and your men to hide in the marshes. Publius and his platoon will join you. I want you to counter attack when the enemy reaches this line. Do you understand me? I want you to stay hidden until then.”
Zarza just nodded. He signaled Publius what he wanted and his friend took the hint and
a moment later took his men at a run towards the marshes.
Several minutes later they were hidden and out of sight.
He and ten rest of his men used the time they had left to finish the fox holes about forty meters behind the last trench.
The armor vehicles came first. The first two lines of his men stayed down, hidden in the trenches, allowing the Hakuntash to pass over them.
Then before the infantry could close in they rose and threw the explosives and fire cocktails on the vehicles. In moments the armored vehicles were on fire disabled and out of the fight. The bunkers opened up shredding the unprotected infantry. But the enemy came on relentless. They closed in dying by the hundreds, coming forward like mindless beasts. Soon the fight was inside the trenches.
The men from the first two trenches fought bravely but in the end they were simply overwhelmed.
A huge argara warrior came straight at him. HI fired point blank in him but the warrior didn’t stop even after the plasma bolt passed through his stomach. Hi ducked a blow that aimed at his head by the rifle and fired again this time to his head. Even before he could take breath three more warriors came on him. Hi fired and killed the first two but the third one shot him.
He felt sharp pain in his left shoulder but as he expected the shot that would kill him the Argara fell shot through the chest by one of Varo’s men.
It was the young Albinus. He was also one of the unit’s medics. As he saw Varo’s face and registered the pain on his face he came to him.
“Let me see sir.”
“No time now Albinus. You will help me after the battle.”
Albinus smiled.
“You are our commander sir. We need you. And if I don’t put a little gel on this wound you will be unconscious in couple of minutes and dead moments later by some crazy Argara. And besides we have few minutes till the next wave hit’s us.”
Varo smiled at the last words even as he winced from the pain.
Albinus was right. They stopped the last attack. And he was fairly sure that they would
stop the next one as well even though this one contained the main enemy body.
The better part of two enemy brigades was headed towards them.
He knew that it was time to use the fox holes. He sent runners across the line to inform the men to break contact at his signal and retreat. It was a risk. He knew that not everyone will manage to get out.
Few minutes later the second wave hit them. They fired all they had and as the enemies entered the first two trenches he gave the signal. His men broke contact at once and ran for their lives, and those that couldn’t, continued fighting, well aware of the fate that awaited them.
As everyone lined up in the fox holes he waited one more minute to give a chance to those left behind. Then he activated the last of the claymores and ducked.
Moments later the entire line exploded and the claymores placed in the trenches did the same. The smartest of the men that were trapped in the trenches knowing the height of the explosions threw themselves on the ground. Not all were lucky but most survived.
The Argara didn’t. This time their own nature was against them. They knew, they were to good warriors not to sense the coming trap. But they were to large, to big targets for the balls moving at supersonic peed to miss. Most of them died immediately and the rest were soon finished of by the surviving rebels.
As he surveyed the carnage Varo counted his surviving men.
He had one hundred and eighty two men several hours ago. Now including the thirty seven he hid in the marshes he had just one hundred and ten and most of them were walking wounded.
The medics did what they could.
Albinus wasn’t among them he was killed during the last attack. Luckily the death came from an enemy plasma weapon and judging by the wound he was sure it was quick.
He leaned down and closed his eyes.
“This is the last attack. We hold this one and then we retreat after we mine this place.”
He saw the flash tired smiles.
They all knew that it was going to be a close thing.
As the next attack came they all opened up giving everything they had. The mortar crews fired their mortars until they exploded and then used their plasma weapons. The bunkers fired until they were burned to the ground the crews firing even as they burned to death taking the hated enemy with them.
In the end when the Argara were among them and all seemed lost Publius and Zarza burst from the bushes. Their numbers were small but the surprise was total. The surviving men of his own unit used the moment of confusion to rout the rest of the enemy unit and drive them back in disarray.
In the end the surviving seventy nine men slowly started retreating. Twelve men stayed behind to wounded to walk and knowing that nothing could be done for them they chose to stay behind and keep the enemy at bay for just a little longer. They had the trigger. As they were half way back he heard the explosion. He moved his unit inside the marshes as Publius and Zarza suggested.
They moved slowly across the muddy ground but it was safer.
Marius heard the last explosion and then the silence that followed. He knew that it was all over. He clutched Varo’s letter in his hand.
That battalion was his weak link at the beginning of the battle but in the end it proved his most valuable asset. He expected them to hold for half an hour an hour at most. Instead they held them back for most of the day.
He could hear the Argara as they were approaching his line. They had a lot less armor then they did at the beginning. What ever Varo did it must have been spectacular.
He gave the signal to his bunkers and mortars and rocket teams to open fire as soon as the enemy came in range.
The night was close and he was sure that he could hold until morning.
As the fighting intensified he saw Isko and his men retreating fast and moments later his right line collapsed as it was taken in the flank by enemies coming from the marshes.
He knew that there was no way to stop the rout that would follow as men ran for their lives.
He saw Isko thinking the same.
He knew that his own men the center must hold so that the others can retreat.
He was about to give the order when suddenly the enemy advance stalled.
Moments later he saw the reason.
Varo and his surviving men hit the enemy in the flank. The Argara were spread out across the marsh most of the men still trapped in it coming out slowly. That gave Varo his opening.
Half of his men opened up on the Argara that were out of it chasing the retreating units. They took them in the back and gave them no chance. The others spread out and took position covering the marsh. They started digging in under fire but they held.
Isko saw the chance and he took it. He gathered what men he had left and counter attacked. Soon he managed to rout the surviving Argara. And then his men took positions in the trenches covering their line. One squad joined Varo in the defense of the marshes and engaged the Argara struggling in it.
He could see the line holding but he was aware that at any moment a devastating attack will come. They were entrenched on three sides and they didn’t have the manpower to cover every exit. As new Argara burst from different parts of the marshes and the armored units hit them from two sides it became a retreating battle.
He could in for artillery fire on his own positions to give his men the chance to break contact.
They retreated for what felt like hours. Among the men that survived there was no one fro the third battalion. Varo and his men stayed behind sacrificing them selves for the last time. He saw him fall from an explosion as he fought three Argara warriors.
And he knew that a legend was born.
Salazar smiled as he saw his plan unfolding even better then he expected. And he knew that Marius and his brigade were the reason for that. The brigade was almost totally destroyed but it did its job. It gave him the time he kneaded to deploy all his forces. He knew the enemy strength and how badly they outnumbered him.
He had close to twenty thousand men now that Garth and his surviving units were close enough.
And opposing him there were close to hundred and forty thousand men. There were more behind but more then a hundred thousand of the enemy forces were now inside his trap.
He knew that the enemy was bloodied. Marius and his brigade destroyed two divisions.
And then drew the rest in.
With a predatory smile he gave the signal for the counter attack.
Then he took his armor and weapon and joined his forces.
As the signal came Valorous and his men deployed and hit the enemy in the flank. His unit was
The only one that had armor suits. The armor suits they had were of their own design before the attack of this world as well as captured and then rebuilt suits from the Dacarian troops.
He also had several armored vehicles.
As they came out of the marshes the Argara looked in shock. He had three thousand men under his command. A whole armored brigade. They rolled over the surprised enemy with easy he didn’t expect.
Moment later after his attack Salazar and the other brigades started their counter attack. So did the outer forces under Garth’s command.
His objective was to open the way for Salazar’s brigade as it came forward and then to capture the old fortifications once again. That meant that they had to enter in the mouth of the beast arranged against them. He knew that that was the reason Salazar chose his units for this attack. They were the only ones that could do it.
He saw his armored warriors falling on all sides but they moved forward firing with all they had killing ten of the enemies for each of theirs that fell.
He felt taking a hit to the side but his suit reacted instantly sealing the wound. He kept on fighting and moving forward. As they came to the final line he saw the carnage that Marius and his men left behind. Burning wrecks were everywhere.
His men didn’t stop even as he fell down. They moved forward killing everything in their path just like they were ordered.
He felt his strength leaving him. He knew the wound was fatal. He could feel himself bleeding to death inside the armor.
He opened his helmet and looked at the night sky one last time. Then he exhaled his last breath just as Salazar arrived.
The general looked at the body of the young human commanding his best troops. He knew he was dead. He signaled to several of his men to take him in the rear.
He watched the enemy units as they were routed by his own forces. He knew that Valorous men linked up somewhere upfront with the rest of Garth’s men.
As he surveyed the scene he smiled a grim smile. He managed to win this battle but it was only the start. And he knew that he can’t hold forever. But he could hold for a little while more now. His boys did it. They managed to perform his plan with perfection. He lost close to five and a half thousand men. But they killed more than a hundred thousand, and they routed by his free estimate ten Argara divisions and several legions. He knew that he would know for sure once they count the bodies.
He gave the order to start with work at once.
He knew he had a few days before the enemy launched a counter attack. And he planned to be ready to meet them once again.
He sent a runner back with orders to receive reinforcements from Ksamona. And he also proposed a plan to build as many fortifications and bunkers on the road back. He planned to perform a fighting retreat and delay the enemy for as long as he could.
As he saw Garth approaching he smiled and went out to greet him…
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Ahura Sac watched the unfolding disaster. He was shocked by the utter disasters that befall his men. He lost one hundred and five thousand men. Ten whole divisions and two legions were shredded.
Hi already gave the order for the other divisions to be sent forward and for the ones still on the ships to do the same. Kobark was expecting his report and he was well aware that he will probably lose his head.
He wondered what he did wrong.
He was sure that his units gave the best they had. And yet they suffered a disaster. It was the worst defeat the Argara suffered in centuries.
The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) Page 77
