The Colonel grabbed the wounded man and began dragging him back towards the building.
“Fall back. Everyone back, now!”
“Move it, move it!” Stone shouted as he fired back.
Charlie Squad took up position in the first floor as Alpha withdrew, firing as they went. A shot hit Rossman in the back, and he went down. Stone rushed to help him and helped him to his feet. His armour was smouldering from the impact, but he seemed to be okay. They each took an arm of the wounded Marine and quickly hauled him on.
The field of view was open now, and the whole platoon taking up positions over both floors to pour fire into the enemy. Yet still they came. Lee dropped the slim magazine from his rifle and slid a new one in. As he took aim, he could barely believe his eyes. With swords raised, they continued to yell wildly as they ran at the emplaced Marines, and the body count soon began to rise. Few of the enemy were equipped with firearms.
He emptied another magazine, and still the hordes of savage Prians failed to close any distance. A warbling call rang out as though coming from some kind of horn, and the assault ground to a halt. Lee kept firing, but the enemy were withdrawing. They were falling back through doorways, back up the steps, and down the alley they’d come from.
“Hold your fire!”
The order came from the Colonel. He was a lot closer than Lee had realised. He turned back to see him reach the top of the stairs and stride towards them.
“You okay, Sir?”
He’d never much cared for officers, but this one was the reason he was free, and seemed to be the only one able to keep him that way.
“Fine, it just glanced my armour,” he replied without even checking the wound.
Lee had never known a commanding officer who’d been hands on and willing to work at the front line with his Marines. He pushed through several of the Rhepoys to reach the window that had been Lee’s firing position. He looked out at the carnage, but not in dismay. As always, he was evaluating and studying everything before him.
“Sir, what the hell are we dealing with here?”
“Things are far worse than any of us could have expected. We knew the enemy were marching on the city, and that there had been some murders here, but you can see it for yourself. The Mayor has completely lost control.”
“And probably his head by the look of it.”
“Indeed, we’ve seen all we need to. It’s time we get the hell out of here.”
Chapter 5
“What do you mean you can’t reach them?”
Rossman stomped across the floor to Sergeant Bosque who was using a radio carried on the back of one of her squad members. It was as large as an average Human torso. The sort of gear used for long distance work in remote areas.
“We used those things a few times. It should manage to work on the other side of a planet, let alone this,” insisted Lee.
“There’s nothing normal about this world, is there?”
Lee grumbled in agreement with Nelson.
“I don’t understand it, Sir, but we can’t reach the shuttles.”
“Get up on the roof, and get me my evac!”
The Sergeant and radio carrier hurried to the stairs, but there was fear on her face. Nobody wanted to go out there alone, not in the light of all they had witnessed. Rossman stormed back to the windows, but it was still quiet.
“Think they’ve had enough, Sir?”
“Not likely, Prians don’t just give up. Take half your squad and clear the rest of this building, Corporal. The rest will stay put here with me.”
“Yes, Sir.” He nodded towards Madan who knew exactly what to do. He pointed out those who were to come with them, including his brother. He watched over Rotaru like Lee had always done for his brothers. There was a love there that humanised the aliens for him, but it was also a painful reminder of the death of his cousin.
“You two always served together?”
“Always,” replied Madan.
Lee gestured for them to split up. Madan left Nelson and him with two he couldn’t name, nor communicate with, at least verbally. He wasn’t too worried, for they seemed to know exactly what was needed of them. Lights flickered in the corridor as they continued forward. Despite the smell, it was a reminder of home. It could have been any office block on his homeworld. He remembered close quarter battle training in a structure just like it.
“You think the Colonel knew what he was leading us in to?” Nelson asked.
“You reckon someone would do that?”
“I know some officers would. I’m just trying to figure out which the Colonel is. The type who gets you killed by accident, or the one who enjoys getting you killed.”
“You think there are officers like that?”
“You think there aren’t?”
He shrugged. He was cautious as he went from room to room; painfully aware of how unsuited the Aquilla was to this kind of fight. It was a large weapon to employ in close quarters. The smell grew worse as he reached one doorway, and a feeling of sickness overcame him, knowing what they were about to find. It was the smell of death. Yet he held his weapon ready just in case. He stepped inside. Even knowing what they were going to experience was not enough to prepare him.
“My god,” he whispered and lowered his weapon.
Nelson entered beside him. They were both stunned and unable to move at what they were seeing. There had to be at least twenty bodies lying on top of each another, and blood everywhere. Lee looked down to see deep scratches on the floor leading from the doorway to a nearby desk.
“They hid in here and tried to block the door.” He pointed it out to Nelson.
“This is no way for anyone to die.”
“I’ve heard about places like this, out on the edge of the Empire. Savage places where the unspeakable happen, but I never thought I’d see it.”
Nelson was as sickened as he was, and he was rarely shakeable.
* * *
Bosque took the stairs quickly, ever cautious as the comms carrier followed her. She was breathing heavily and all too aware of how dangerous their situation was. She didn’t want to be there.
“One foot in front of the other. Come on, we can do this,” she whispered to herself.
She reached the top of the stairs and a doorway. She pushed it open carefully and quietly. She was relieved to find it empty and breathed a sigh of relief as she went forward, holding it for the Rhepoy.
“Come on, let’s do this quickly.”
They rushed out to the middle of the flat top roof. She heard shouts and cries in the distance, but couldn’t make out if they were cries of pain and suffering or the war cries of the Prians. Smoke was rising from several buildings. The Rhepoy turned around to let her use the comms unit. She put the Aquilla on to her back where it clamped on, took the receiver off, and put it to the side of her head. It was wired, a simple means to avoid the interference.
“Falcon, this is Romeo, come in. Falcon, this is Romeo, please come in!”
She was getting anxious, the prospect of being left there dawning on her. Gunfire erupted on the streets below, and that only made the situation worse.
“Falcon, we need immediate evac. I repeat immediate evac. Please respond!”
No response came, and the fear was setting in. The handset was suddenly yanked forward, and she barely managed to hang on.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
As she did, her Rhepoy operator slumped forward and collapsed, a Firanwar burrowed in his chest, but no enemy in sight to have been the perpetrator. Her pulse soared from the terror. She was alone. She spotted a glimmer of movement as a Prian climbed up onto the edge of the roof ahead. He was empty-handed and seemingly the one who had thrown the blade.
She reached for her Aquilla but couldn’t retrieve it. She turned around to see why, only to find a Prian had hold of it, and was holding a blade ready to cleave down against her. She pulled away, and the Aquilla released from her back and into the enemy’s hand just as he made his c
ut. It was coming for her neck with such power, as she would never survive it. She backed away and dipped her head, taking a lesser blow across the dome of her helmet. A shiver ran through her as the blade ground against her armour, but she got a few paces between them and reached for her Guardian.
The blade shot out as she cleared some distance between them and assessed the threat. Another was climbing up where the first had come. The one holding her rifle threw it aside, whilst the unarmed one went to retrieve his blade. She had to act quickly, or two armed opponents would become three. She rushed towards the one who had just ascended onto the roof. She yelled out a battle cry in the hope of scaring him, but the Prian stood his ground. The enemy cut diagonally at her, but she cut down into the blow, knocking it down. She crashed into the Prian with all her weight. She was far lighter than he was, but her speed was enough to launch him back and over the edge.
She regained her footing as she slid to a stop at the very edge, hearing his squeal as he fell all the way to the bottom. He landed on the hard ground on his back, mortally wounded and unable to move. She gasped in relief and looked back as one drew his blade from the body of the Rhepoy.
They looked almost impressed by her feat, although no less inclined to try and kill her. The fear had gone now, replaced by a desperate will to survive. The two came at her simultaneously, but she had trained for this. She pretended to attack one, before quickly leaping the other way. Her Guardian swung across horizontally, beating the other attacker’s blade away, swinging around in a one-eighty as she moved off to the far side. She swung the blade full force at the second attacker. The blade connected at the knee and took the lower leg clean off.
A cut from the other came right at her. It cut across the side of her helmet, taking much of the power of the blow, but then slashed into her cheek. She cried as she backed away for safety. Her left hand reached for the wound and found her fingers covered in blood, but also relieved she was still in one piece. The Prian stopped to look at his wounded comrade as blood spewed out from the severed leg. He let out a loud cry in anger, but she saw the Aquilla that had been discarded. She let go of her Guardian and leapt into a roll over the rifle, coming back to one knee as the vicious savage came charging at her. She fired one shot, and then two more in quick succession to be sure. The enemy dropped to the roof and slipped forward, coming to a stop a half-metre from her foot. His Firanwar slid past and stopped beside her.
She heard a scraping sound and looked back to the one with a leg missing. He’d retrieved his sword and was crawling toward her, desperate to get another try at her, even as he trailed blood. She’d seen enough. She closed the distance, activated the close combat mode of the Aquilla, and beat its weapon aside. She thrust the blade home into the chest. Finally, he was dead.
“Why the hell did I sign up for this?”
Deep down she knew why, but that didn’t stop her regretting it a little now. She went back to the radio and picked up the handset.
“Falcon, do you hear me? Falcon?”
She noticed sparks coming from the comms equipment and struggled to turn over the dead Rhepoy’s body. The Firanwar had gone right through him and into the comms set.
“Shit!”
She looked around for any other signs of trouble, reached into the webbing of the dead comms carrier, and pulled out a beacon. She twisted it to activate and slid it out across the roof. It emitted a tiny amount of visible light, but would be something for the shuttles to spot with their sensors if they got close enough. She picked up her Guardian and one of the enemy blades and rushed for the door. She pulled it tight, jammed the Firanwar down between the bars to keep it shut as long as possible, and ran down to join the others.
She came out on the second floor. The gunfire had all but stopped as the last few pot shots were taken. King and the Colonel had gathered with several others, and the tone was sombre, more than she expected.
“What is it?”
“`Bodies, everywhere. At least a hundred just in this building,” replied Lee.
“And the Mayor?”
“They pinned him to a wall and left him to bleed out,” replied Nelson.
Rossman had nothing to add. They were all painfully aware of how bad things were, and now she was going to add to it.
“Where are our shuttles?” Rossman asked.
That’s when they all noticed the cut on her face and could tell it wasn’t going to be good news.
“I couldn’t reach them. The comms carrier is dead. Three of the enemy climbed up and attacked us. Fried the comms, too.”
“Did you get a message out before that?” Lee asked.
“Yes, but there was no response. It was like there was no one on the other end.”
“Are there anymore up there?”
“Not that I saw. I dealt with them and sealed the door as best I could. But if they really want to get in, they will.”
“You dealt with them?” Nelson asked suspiciously.
“Yes, I did,” she snapped angrily.
The scene suddenly fell eerily silent, when Stone’s voice called out.
“Sir, you need to see this!”
They all rushed to the window edge to look out into the street. It was utter carnage out there, but at least none of the bodies were theirs. A group of Prians were walking down the steps of the building opposite. Not running like the previous ones.
“What the hell is this? They aren’t even armed,” said Lee.
About twenty of them were coming forward with seemingly nothing to hide. They were three deep as they stepped out in to the middle of the square and stopped.
“What are they doing?” Bosque asked.
“They want to talk,” said Madan.
“What? Why?” Lee asked in amazement.
“When a side in battle wants to open discussions, they approach slowly, and show no aggression. This is how it is done here.”
“It could be a trap, misdirection? They could have a bomb in there, anything,” replied Stone.
“They would not break this truce against a Prian. If one of us is with you, there will be no violence,” replied Madan.
The Colonel turned and rushed for the stairs.
“Sir, we should think this through!” Lee called after him.
“I have. Are you coming or not?”
“Ah, shit,” Lee went after the Colonel with Madan, Bosque, and Nelson in tow.
“We must not take weapons,” insisted Madan as they got down to the first floor. The Colonel handed his to Griffin.
“Come on, hand them over.”
“I don’t like this, Sir,” protested Lee.
“What is there to like about any of this? At least we have some time to breathe.”
He went out fearlessly into the street empty-handed. Lee followed, but was sure to look back and be certain the rest were covering them. They stopped a few metres short of the enemy. They were an intimidating force even unarmed. They looked at them with murderous intent, and none more so than Madan. The Prians separated at the middle and let one from the back through, someone clearly important.
Rossman’s face turned to one of bitter disgust and hatred as he recognized their representative.
“Baclu,” he declared scornfully.
“You know him?” Lee was shocked.
“Yes, we do,” added Stone, “Baclu, formerly of the 43rd Native Infantry. Traitor of Horproxa.”
Lee felt anger boiling up inside him, knowing this was where his cousin fell.
“No, hero of Horproxa,” Baclu smiled at them.
“This is what mutiny gets you?” Rossman asked.
“How did you not kill this asshole?” Lee asked.
“Because I killed yours first. I took great delight in ending your Lieutenant’s life. I am celebrated for it.” He held up his hands, and they yelled and cheered in support for him.
“Lieutenant King? You killed Joey King?”
“Yes,” he replied proudly.
Lee leapt forward to assault
the Prian, but Stone held him back.
“Easy, son.”
Even Madan put an arm out to hold him back. To put a hand on a superior was punishable but death, but he knew the price of not stopping the Corporal.
“This is a Gazerin, a meeting between two enemies. No blood may be shed. If one blow is struck, all honour is lost.”
“I don’t give a shit!” Lee tried to push away.
“And we will all be put to death,” added Madan.
Lee restrained himself a little, looking at the bloodthirsty faces of those beside their leader who looked eager to take their chance, no matter the cost.
“Easy now, his time will come,” insisted Stone.
The Sergeant was clearly furious as well, but so much better at containing his anger than Lee was. Lee shrugged him off, but stayed put, watching his cousin’s killer like a hawk. He locked onto him with eye contact, imagining the ways he was going to wring the life from him. The anger was building inside him to explosive levels.
“What do you want?” Rossman demanded.
“I want you all dead. Every single one of you, and my master agrees with me.”
‘Then why are we talking?”
“This is a sacred place. This building before you is a temple. No blood should be shed here.”
“No blood?” Lee was furious, but Stone put a hand on his shoulder, and he knew he needed to pipe down.
“Don’t screw this up. There are worse things than dying,” he whispered.
Lee knew exactly what he meant. Now he’d tasted freedom again, he’d rather die on this awful world than go back to prison.
“Not my problem,” insisted Rossman.
“Leave this place, and let us recover our dead and treat them with the respect of this sacred place.”
“And what, you’ll just let us walk on out?”
“Yes.”
“How can we trust any promise you make? You swore an oath to fight for the Empire, and you broke it in the most grievous of ways.”
“Take my offer, or we will have no choice but to fight you here.”
The Last Empire Box Set Page 11
