Serpents and Vipers

by Donald Nicklas

  As the third day of jungle clearing progressed, the monitors began to pick up explosions in the distance, a little over 50 kilometers distant. The Slones and Centurion Marshal were notified. The Centurion looked at the smoke columns rising in the distance, as seen on the monitors. “I see the vipers hit our mines, good call on the route Captain Slone.”

  Christopher looked at the centurion and said, “Vipers?”

  “I can’t bring myself to call the enemy serpents when all my life I have been raised to see serpents as valued allies. Therefore, I decided to call the enemy ‘vipers’.”

  Alaya looked at the centurion, “Vipers. I like it. It has a sinister feel to it. Serpents and vipers, they are two sides of the same coin in a sense. Let’s hope the vipers stay out there, and the serpents in here.”

  More explosions were picked up on the monitors and the jungle clearing began to slow as the vipers were more cautious and had to find a way to deal with the mines. The landmines cost the vipers two days and brought help two days closer. Nevertheless, the mines did not prevent the enemy from nearing the mountain. As they did so, they came into range of the railgun towers. There were twenty-six railgun towers. The number was because the serpents calculated on a base thirteen numerical system, so twenty-six was equivalent to a human number of twenty on a base ten system. The towers stood eleven meters above the city when fully raised as they were since the first attack. Each gun had 1000 rounds of ammunition and had a maximum effective range of three kilometers when used against aircraft and a kilometer when used against ground units. The towers were an open beam metal construction with the guns enclosed in an armored cube with their barrels sticking out. The major problem lay in the fact that they were antiaircraft weapons. This meant that they could not be depressed low enough to fire inside a half-kilometer radius. The techs controlling the towers would have to protect any adjacent towers from nearby enemies. Fire control for the towers resided with the weapons techs in the control room. The enemy was now visible cutting the jungle road less than three kilometers from the outer circle of towers. The thirteen outer towers were farther apart than the thirteen inner towers. The enemy would be in range of the outer towers within the next half hour. All in the control room were gratified to see them trip the nearest set of mines, which were set two and a half kilometers from the outer towers. The final one and a half kilometers to the effective range of the railguns was covered in the next half hour. As the viper cutting machines reached the one-kilometer mark, the serpent weapon techs set the railgun towers on automatic and set the trip size to anything larger than a hatchling. This effectively guaranteed the guns would fire at just about anything that moved. Since all friendly forces were inside the mountain, only the enemy was moving outside.

  The first cutting machine reached the one-kilometer mark. These machines were heavy, tracked vehicles containing two drivers. They had large, chain saws extending from the front edges in a ‘v’ that cut the jungle on either side. A third saw moved across the front of the machine to cut the jungle that moved between the other blades. The machines each had a small squad of vipers ahead of them to watch out for mines. It was these squads, leading the five cutting machines in use, which prevented them from hitting a mine and being knocked out of commission. Unfortunately, the squad members that tripped the mines were not as lucky. The leading squads were now starting to draw fire from the railgun towers. There was nothing they could do about this, since their hand held railguns did not have an effective range of one kilometer. The incoming shots was much larger than small arms fire. It was designed for antiaircraft use. The railguns had a five second reload, which was enough time for a large group of viper Special Forces to run at top speed to get ahead of the fire. This was helped by the fact that, once the cutting machine crossed the kilometer line, it was perceived by the fire control to be the greater threat. The firing arcs of the railguns overlapped, allowing three guns to fire on the cutter as it crossed the line. The heavy antiaircraft slugs tore into the machine and it had a smoky end with the death of both pilots. The remaining four cutters stopped outside the perimeter until the towers could be dealt with. The Special Forces squads ran to the nearest towers. A few vipers were taken out, but most got through because of the slow reload times.

  The towers were open steel frame constructions but their base was a type of concrete used by the serpents. When the viper squads reached the base of the towers, the railguns were still firing on any vipers trying to get closer to the city. The demolition squads could not blast through the base of the towers, the concrete being too thick. Slone, watching the monitors wondered how they planned to take out the towers. He did not have long to wait and had to admit, their plan was ingenious. The vipers decided to use the towers against themselves. Since the tower fire control was set on automatic, it would fire on any movement within the arc of the weapon. The vipers standing at the base of the towers were being fired on only by the towers more than a half kilometer away, since they were the only ones that could depress their guns to aim at them. In a demonstration of courage and sacrifice that the Romani had to admire, the viper squad members began to climb the towers one at a time. When they entered the steel frame part of the tower, they attempted to keep the metal frame between themselves and the towers firing at them. Many were taken out by the towers, but in so doing, the slugs were hitting the metal portions behind which the vipers were hiding. As a result, one by one the towers began to topple until there were only a few left at distances too far to fire at each other. These were taken out by climbing to the top and destroying the guns. It was costly but Slone had to admit, they took the towers out in two hours without explosives. Two things about the vipers were now evident to the Romani; they are dedicated to the mission and this would be a fight to the death.

  With the towers down, the rest of the path to the outside city lay open. The four remaining cutting machines made short work of the jungle and the enemy began to move into the city. They were cautious, in case there were traps in the buildings on the route to the mountain. Centurion Marshal now ordered the missile tubes to open fire on the city. As soon as the order was given, twenty-six missiles streaked from half way up the mountain towards the area of the city infiltrated by the enemy. This was an unwelcome surprise, since these missiles, like the railgun towers, were designed for antiaircraft use. What was gratifying to the defenders is the fact that they exploded just as well when directed against the ground. Twenty-three of the twenty-six missiles detonated and caused a large number of casualties along with destroying the remaining cutting machines. Whereas a forest would have caught fire, the jungle was not dry enough. Christopher thought that was a shame. It would have worked to their advantage to set the jungle on fire. After the missiles fired, the tubes were retracted into the mountain to allow the crews to reload them. Centurion Marshal hoped they could get off a few more launches before the enemy was too close to the mountain to get blow back from the explosions. They also did not want a premature detonation of the surprise in the plaza. The Romani knew that more enemy troops were landing on the beach. A few drones had gotten through and confirmed it so it appeared soon the mountain would be surrounded by vipers. After two more missile launches with excellent effects, the missile tubes were retracted and the launch ports sealed. The mountain was difficult to scale, but the Romani had seen serpents do amazing things and did not want to leave them a chance to enter through those ports. After they were sealed, they were mined. If a viper entered a port, the resultant explosion would seal it with part of the mountain.

  Once the missile threat was past, the viper forces began to gather in the plaza in front of the blast doors. The serpents let them enter the plaza unmolested. The reinforcements entering from the beach were also now rapidly progressing along the track through the jungle. Soon they would outnumber the defenders at least four to one. The serpents had to reduce those odds as much as they could before the vipers gained entrance to the mountain. As the plaza filled with vipers, some viper engineer
s moved towards the blast doors with large mechanical jaws to pry open the doors. These looked like the, so call, “jaws of life” which was used to cut survivors out of wreckage. There was no use using explosives against the blast doors, since they were designed to be blast proof. It was time for the big surprise. Centurion Marshal turned to his weapon techs and nodded. One of the serpents made a whistling sound while pushing a button. They could feel the vibration in their chests as the mountain rumbled and magnified the sound. The mountain also magnified the screams, much to the delight of the serpents in the cave. Outside, there was pandemonium, mixed with shock and blinding anger. The Slones could see on the monitors as the entire plaza first bulged and then blew about five meters into the air. As the bulge formed, the vipers in the plaza first lost their footing and held onto the rising earth as the explosive gas formed a dome. The dome then suddenly burst open and the air was filled with debris and body parts with the dust mixing with blood. When the dust finally settled, the plaza was gone and replaced by a crater. The vipers pulled back to regroup and the defenders got a respite. The day was spent and night descended on the mountain. The external cameras were switched to night mode and the serpent forces went into rest mode. They all curled up at their stations and the troops where they were placed for defense. The humans went to their quarters and got some rest. Night on Primary Jungle was longer than on Nova Romae and there was no moon to break the darkness. This was a drawback to humans, but serpents could see as well at night as during the day.

  The Slones were in their assigned quarters, but spent a restless night. They were beginning to realize that this civil war was one of annihilation and neither side was going to stop. They were into the third month since their friends left and still no word. If the Consul Lorenzo and Tavia did not make it to Romani space, then they would die in this cave. For the first time Alaya thought of Olivia. If they died here, she would never get to see her beautiful little daughter grow up and become the woman she knew was going to blossom in the decades ahead. She was suddenly filled with sadness and longing for this to end. Her mother had once taught her to pray to a God humans believed had created them. She was not sure if she believed in Him but she wanted to. She now, for the first time in her life, prayed to a God only her mother believed in. She also prayed that somehow He could help them. As she fell asleep, she wondered what he might be like. In the 32nd century, such thoughts were not common.

  Christopher’s sleep was also fitful. He was not at home in ground combat, though sometimes it was necessary. He missed the bridge of his ship and the power of her weapons. He still had some old fashioned ideas that he should protect his wife, though she could probably beat him in any kind of fighting. He felt a profound sadness that he would fail in protecting the one person in the universe he cared more about than himself. He drifted off to sleep with overwhelming sadness.

  The final member of the human group had no trouble sleeping. William Marshal was born and raised on the Romani home world. During his childhood, loyalty and honor was ingrained in him along with control of fear. To him the Republic was everything. Along with the values of the Romani was instilled a belief in fate and ultimate destiny. He was trained to fight, as were all Romani from all strata of society. There was no such thing as a non-combatant in the Romani concept of war. The Founders had left ample instructions as to the purpose of the Romani. They were to be the instrument of revenge against the hated corporations. The present generation was glad that the conquest of the corporations fell to them, and William Marshal was glad to be a centurion of the tenth legion. He fell asleep looking forward to the battles to come.

  Chapter 8 – Queen of the Mountain

  The Romani were startled awake by an ear-splitting, high-pitched whistle, which they now knew was the serpent version of a red alert. They quickly got up and put on their armor. They had slept in their clothes. They then added their weapon belts over the armor and picked up their shields. When they arrived in the control room, they could see frenetic activity with the serpent fighters armed and standing with their shields ready and awaiting the centurion’s orders. Even the serpent military leaders looked to him for the formations their nature denied them in battle. Centurion Marshal and the Slones went over to where Sly was standing.

  “What’s happening, Sly?” Alaya was the first to ask.

  “Sss. There is movement in the plaza. The Mountain Clan is putting dirt back into the big hole we made and moving up machines to open the doors.”

  “Is there anything more we can do to slow them down?” the Centurion asked.

  “Sss. We have nothing left outside,” Sly responded. They will open the doors.”

  “Then we better be ready for them,” Centurion Marshal responded and went to see to his troops.

  The Slones were about to join the fighters when Sly held up her hand, “Sss. Captains Slone, please remain with me. We may all need to fall back in time and I need your help with the formations. The serpents are not yet used to fighting Romani style.”

  The Slones informed the centurion of Sly’s request. They then focused their attention on the monitors showing the progress being made outside the mountain. It was apparent that the vipers had come to realize there were no longer any threats outside the mountain. This renewed their vigor and doubled their efforts to get the blast doors open.

  “Sly, how long do you think it will take them to pry the doors open far enough to get in?” Christopher asked.

  “Sss. Two human hours.”

  “Then we better get set up in here,” Alaya responded and headed to where the centurion was standing. She told Sly she would be back when the fighting started. She went over to where thousands of trained fighters were standing with the centurion positioning them for the coming fight. It was decided they would let the vipers enter before engaging them. Marshal had enough weapons and shields to supply 5000 fighters. He had trained twice that number in the past month and a half. It was decided that the unarmed serpents would stand ready to pick up the weapon and shield of a fallen comrade, and take their place. The blast doors and the entrance to the control room were connected by a fifty-meter long corridor. The corridor was ten meters high and thirty meters wide with an arched ceiling. This allowed large objects to be brought into the mountain and made a natural promenade to the outer city during times of peace. The ceiling was high enough for the vipers to leap over the front ranks of the defenders. The plates that had been constructed to prevent this were mounted to the ceiling a third of the way inside the corridor from the control room. This allowed a front line of serpents 30 abreast and ten deep. Seven hundred serpents were in the front end of the control room as replacements. The remaining 4000 armed serpents, were divided among the fall back positions. They would defend those positions in the layered retreat planned by Marshal. The front rank of the serpents was place directly below the steel jump protector. It was decided in advance that they would allow the vipers to enter the corridor. Since they will be eager to attack, they should be tightly crammed into the beginning two thirds of the corridor and they will run right into the front line of serpents. Marshal had decided against using the front to back rotation favored by the Romani. He had learned that once serpents engaged in combat, there was no thought of rotating back for a rest. They were intent on individual sacrifice and glory.

  Sly was a bit off in her estimate, it took only one hour and fifty minutes to crack the doors open and another five minutes to pry them far enough to allow vipers to enter two at a time. As soon as this size gap was created, they poured in and started to fill the open area of the corridor. At the other end, they could see the steel plate mounted from the ceiling to prevent them from leaping over the front lines. They could also see serpents arrayed in a fashion unfamiliar to them. They were standing in a row with some kind of rod extending forward and shields protecting their bodies. The first vipers through the door were the armored males who came in firing their railguns. The rail shots hit the shield wall with little damage. The serpent for
ces returned fire and a few of the vipers were hit but this exchange caused only minimal damage and soon both sides stopped firing. This battle would be settled by hand-to-hand combat. Once a small number of vipers were inside the doors, their commanders ordered them to rush the shield wall. They hit the shields with enough force to stagger some of the front line, but with the defenders placed ten deep in the corridor, there was no place to push them. They were also met with spears from the front row aimed at their bellies and the second row holding the spears overhead and aiming at their heads. The first row of attackers dropped in their tracks. Both sides had placed steel tips on the ends of their tails, as was the serpent fashion. They used these to impale their enemies, though they could also just use the natural scaled tip. The metal gave them greater penetrating power. Both sides used these to great advantage and the shield wall could not fully protect against them. The advantage still lay with the defenders, since the attackers had no shields to protect them.

  To Alaya it seemed the battle lasted for days, though it was only hours. Marshal’s trained defenders were holding their own and managing to hold back on their instinct to leap at the enemy. The solidarity of the defender’s line came as a rude surprise to the attackers. As two hours of killing with no progress passed by, one could begin to see the confusion of the vipers. They were beginning to realize that this was not going to get easier as they moved into the mountain. About two and a half hours into the battle at the gate, the enemy began to withdraw. As Alaya looked at the monitor, she could see them moving back to a safe distance. She could also see, from the cameras pointed towards the cardinal directions, that the mountain was now surrounded and some enemy squads were attempting to scale the volcano to reach the hangar. If they were hoping that the hologram was all that was standing in their way, they would soon be disappointed. The blast doors to the hangar were closed and they were trapped outside as much as the defenders were trapped inside. The world of the Sea Clan had now been reduced to only the mountain on their home world.