Blood Red Sand

by Damien Larkin

  “I have an idea,” Dub said to his Black Visors comrades. “I say, screw the damn timeline bullshit. I am sick of this crap! Playing it safe? Horseshit! Let’s do what we do best and carve these sons of bitches a new one.”

  Wide-eyed, Noid crept towards Dub’s side. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

  They maintained eye contact for a few seconds before a smile crossed their lips. They turned their vicious grins on Big Mo and Smack.

  Big Mo shook his head. “This is never good.” He rubbed a hand over his masked face. “When you two agree on anything, it tends to get messy.”

  “I think I know where you’re going with this,” Smack groaned. “Normally, I’d shoot it down in a heartbeat, but like the Sergeant said, we’d need a tank regiment to break through. Fine. Screw the timeline. Let’s get stupid.”

  The four Black Visors nodded at one another before they took up firing stances. Using the panzer wreckage for cover, they spoke in hushed tones as they pointed out targets and enemy gun emplacements.

  “Care to fill the rest of us in?” McCabe barked.

  Dub turned his head to look at him.

  McCabe repressed a shudder at the darkness burning in his eyes.

  “We’re going to carve a path through those Nazi dickheads. Keep your eyes peeled, Sergeant. You’re not gonna want to miss this.”

  After nodding at each other, the Black Visors tapped at the side of their HK-17s. Even as bullets howled and whipped around them, McCabe heard a distinct, high-pitched hum emanate from their HKs. They placed a hand on top of their weapons and pulled back, like cocking a pump-action shotgun. They lowered their eyes behind their HKs sights. Collectively, they took deep breaths.

  “Remember recharge intervals,” Dub shouted. “Follow my lead, one at a time, and don’t stop until everything in sight is a flaming wreckage.”

  McCabe leaned closer to Dub to follow his line of sight.

  “Fire!” Dub bellowed.

  A bolt of green energy leapt from Dub’s weapon, moving too fast to comprehend. One minute a Nazi machine gun emplacement chattered fire at the MEF. The next, a smouldering hole in the ground remained. McCabe flinched when similar volleys erupted from the other Black Visors’ weapons, wiping out entire gun crews and leaving black ash in their wake. The Black Visors paused in between shots to re-cock the weapon at the top before taking aim again. SS guns fell silent as green energy blasts burst out, carving down men and metal like a hot knife through butter.

  McCabe looked on in awe as the Black Visors reduced the SS defences to scorch marks. Machinegun emplacements vanished. Sniper nests were torn from roofs and windows. Barbed wire and steel defences melted into nothing. SS soldiers, who fell into the Black Visors’ sights, disappeared or slumped to the ground after large parts of their bodies disintegrated. They fired again and again, refusing to stop until every SS position within sight was annihilated.

  When they ceased firing, silence enveloped New Berlin. Never in his life had McCabe seen a weapon of such devastating power wielded by a soldier. With guns such as those, a platoon could lay waste to an entire city and destroy thousands with the squeeze of a trigger.

  With this section of the government district demolished, Dub spun about to face him. A wolfish smile crossed his lips as he made eye contact.

  “That, Sergeant McCabe, is a particle weapon.”

  McCabe couldn’t think of anything to say as his gaze ran over the HK-17. A million questions floated through his mind about where such a weapon could have come from. Before words could form on his lips, Noid jumped to her feet.

  “Enough talk,” she said and motioned at the MEF behind her to rise. “Let’s get the job done and go home.”

  “Agreed,” Big Mo said as he, too, stood.

  “I could really use a glass of wine,” Smack groaned.

  “Kill them all,” Dub said and motioned at McCabe and the MEF to follow.

  With their HK-17s raised, the Black Visors stepped out from behind the gutted panzer and started towards the government district. In awe of their destructive capabilities, McCabe followed close behind.

  PART 5:

  WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE

  COMMAND AND CONTROL BUILDING, GOVERNMENT DISTRICT

  19.38 MST

  DAY 2

  Reichsführer Wagner tapped his fingers on the console as he stared at the blank screen in front of him. To his right, a stack of messages had started to build over the last few minutes. Iron-faced runners entered his lab, saluted, and left updates from the deteriorating situation outside. Tearing his gaze from the blank screen for seconds at a time, Wagner skimmed the reports as they came in. Up until a half hour ago, only progress updates came on the Wehrmacht’s suicidal assaults on the far superior Allied forces. Then everything changed.

  Accounts of strange energy-based weapons eliminating the outer defences had piqued his interest. He had researched the designs of such weapons in ancient texts belonging to the ancestors of the Native Martians. At one point several years ago, he even assigned a team to try and develop them, but they lacked the technical knowledge to get the project off the ground. Since he ordered the executions of the scientists involved in that project for incompetence, that meant one other faction had them. The Core Cadre had chosen this place and this time to make their stand against the future he envisioned so clearly. He wondered if these time-travellers even knew the extent of what they were involved in and the repercussions for humanity should they succeed.

  Still, the news didn’t bother Wagner. Intervention had always been anticipated. There remained little he could do to oppose them. At this stage in the game, he had practically won. Nothing could dampen his spirits. Even the constant stream of SS casualty lists barely registered.

  The two things that mattered in his universe were Anna Bailey and the signal he so eagerly awaited on his screen. Resisting the urge to bash his fist on the console, he spun around to glance at Anna. An instant rush of positivity flowed through his body at the sight of her sitting as docile as a lamb on the edge of the trolley. Only her breathing betrayed her as more than a mannequin in a window display. Her eyes burned with rage, but he ignored that. He considered moving closer to her, knowing how her unique scent cleared his mood, but the lab door swung open and a black uniformed guard entered.

  Just like the others, he saluted, approached Wagner, placed his report on the pile, saluted again, and turned to leave. After seeing the message underlined so heavily, Wagner ordered the messenger to halt. He examined the report. “How long until the Allies reach the Command and Control building?”

  The SS soldier straightened his posture and tilted his chin up. “Minutes, Herr Reichsführer. We will fight them to the last man and the last bullet, but the Allies have strange energy weapons. They reduce men to ashes and can penetrate armour and concrete without effort.”

  “Very good,” Wagner said with a dismissive wave.

  The soldier flinched, as if he had been slapped. His mouth gaped open like a fish while his tongue and lips tried to form words. He cleared his throat. “Herr Reichsführer, it is not my place to question orders, but the safety of the Führer…”

  The rest of the soldier’s words died in his mouth under Wagner’s glare. He looked the young solider up and down before taking a step towards him. The soldier visibly trembled.

  “The safety of the Führer is not your concern,” Wagner said with a brutal smile. “Now go. Fight the enemy. You do not have my permission to die until you have killed a hundred British soldiers. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, Herr Reichsführer!” After giving another salute, he did an about-turn. He swung his rifle from his shoulder into his hands and marched out of the room.

  Wondering if the soldier would last even five minutes against the Core Cadre, Wagner refocused his attention to the blank screen in front of him. A dozen scenarios danced through his mind as to why he hadn’t received the transmission yet. He had his equipment checked t
hree times a day, but had his engineers missed something? Could the data package have been intercepted by the Allies or blocked by the jamming? What if the data had become corrupted during the transmission?

  He had pulled open a nearby drawer and was fumbling around for tools when he saw it. A single green light flashed on and off, heralding an incoming signal. Wagner stared at the screen facing him. He picked up his headset, adjusted the microphone, and cleared his throat. With a hand shaking from excitement, he flicked up a nearby switch and opened a channel.

  “This is London Installation Two-Zero-One-Eight. Confirm.” The voice sounded harsh, yet vaguely familiar.

  Wagner pressed down on a button and spoke. “This is New Berlin colony One-Nine-Five-Four. Confirmed.”

  “Data package received, New Berlin,” the voice continued. “Any irregularities?”

  “Negative, London. Infiltrators detected but have not interfered with any stage of the tests.”

  “Core Cadre?”

  “Possible, London.”

  The line went dead, causing Wagner to fear he’d lost the connection. He moved his hands across the dials in front of him in the hopes of boosting power to the signal. When the voice spoke again, he relaxed.

  “Understood, New Berlin. No adverse conditions detected. Primary timeline engaged and confirmed. Prepare for immediate extraction with the asset. London out.”

  Raising his hands in triumph to the heavens, Wagner rose from his chair. He slipped off his headset and tossed it carelessly onto the console. Wheeling about, he extended a hand towards Anna. Without delay, she obeyed and offered her hand to him. He pulled her up from her seat, and after sliding his arm around her waist, he proceeded to waltz around the room with her. Her feet moved in time with his, and her body pressed close to his, but her eyes blazed with the fires of hell.

  Laughing aloud, he spun her around before releasing his grip on her. She came to an abrupt halt. Her murderous gaze tore into him, but her rigid body awaited instructions. He ran his fingertips from the base of her spine to her shoulder blades and moved his face closer to hers. Anna refused to even blink as she looked through him.

  “You may relax now, Miss Bailey,” Wagner said with a wink and stepped away.

  Anna’s posture fell loose. She flexed her joints and muscles. She ran a hand through her hair and fired a glare of pure loathing at Wagner. She flashed her teeth like a wild animal and stalked around him.

  “We must prepare to leave this place,” Wagner said and turned to disable his console. “The future awaits us. One where hundreds of thousands of our children stand ready to blaze a trail across the stars. A future where the might of Terran Supremacy holds entire star systems in its grip.”

  He reached into a container beside one of the trolleys and produced headbands for the Compression Matrix. He slipped one over his own head, nestling it beneath his hat, before placing the second one across Anna’s forehead, resting it like a tiara.

  “A crown fit for a queen,” he said with a smile.

  Running the back of his gloved hand across her cheek, Wagner started to speak again when the sound of gunfire reverberated through the corridors outside. He spun around in surprise. He listened as he tried to measure how far away danger lay. Surprised at the speed of the Allied advance, he dashed over to his console again. He worked his hands across the levers and control panels, before turning to inspect the Compression Matrix as it hummed to life. After beginning the activation procedures, he walked back to Anna’s side.

  Wagner drew his pistol, and cocking it, he returned it to its holster. Minutes separated him from a future filled with glory and power. He needed to hold out until the Compression Matrix was ready, and then all of humanity would rest within his palms. Not just the races of Earth or Mars, but all humankind spread across the galaxy, forgotten and lost to the ages.

  Soon, they would know his name as he brought order to chaos and light to darkness. He, and his Hollow army.

  CENTRE OF THE GOVERNMENT DISTRICT

  20.01 MST

  DAY 2

  The SS blasted their weapons at the MEF soldiers, but nothing could stop the merciless Allied assault. With the Black Visors spearheading their relentless push into the centre of the government district, Sergeant McCabe continued to soak in every detail of their devastating weapons with awe and terror. Within minutes, the energy bolts from their HK-17s had not only reduced SS defences to rubble but allowed several battalion’s worth of MEF soldiers to punch their way into the centre of the government district. The SS fought to the bitter end, refusing to surrender, but no amount of daring or courage could turn the tide against the Black Visor juggernaut.

  With the West German company close at hand, McCabe stuck to the rear of the Black Visors, directing supporting fire. They paused at a courtyard flanked by buildings on all sides. The Command and Control building stood directly ahead. The Black Visors crept forward, firing quick glances up at the windows.

  Smack turned to Dub and shook her head as the rest of the group waited for the signal to proceed. Noid tapped Big Mo on the shoulder and turned him around to ruffle through his backpack. She produced a small, hand-held rectangular device and pressed a button on it. Moving to the front, she extended her hand and waved it about. After repeating the motion several times, she stepped back to her colleagues and showed them something on the screen.

  McCabe nodded towards the device. “What is that thing?”

  “It’s none of your business,” Dub snapped.

  Noid rammed her shoulder into Dub and ignoring his mumbled curses, faced McCabe.

  “It’s a type of scanner,” she said quietly. “It allows us to see things we normally can’t see, if that makes sense.”

  “Oh,” McCabe said, trying his best to not sound like an idiot. “I don’t suppose you have any spare ones you could share? It’s come in handy next time I’m invading an alien planet.”

  Noid’s lips curled tight as she tried to repress a smile. She returned her attention to Dub and pointed at a series of symbols on the screen. Flashing a glare at McCabe, Dub nodded and gestured at Big Mo.

  They took the lead again and stepped a half pace forward. The barrels of their HKs waved from side to side, lingering momentarily on various windows as they divvied up targets. They cocked back on their weapons and unleashed flashes of flaming green energy before switching over to standard fire. They repeated the exercise again and again, pounding multiple targets with ferocious blasts of bullets and destructive energy.

  Panic fire sprayed out at them from some of the other windows, but all died from the murderous rage of the HK-17s. In the end, at least twenty windows stood destroyed. The bricks surrounding them were vaporised, and the rooms they once sheltered stood as burnt-out ruins. With the courtyard cleared, the Black Visors pressed on with McCabe following close behind. They shot at the main entrance of the Command and Control building, blowing the reinforced doors clean off their hinges.

  When they surged through the main entrance, several SS soldiers offered token resistance and fell to the HK-17s energy discharges. A dozen of them crumpled to the ground as ruins, with large sections of their torsos burned away. At least four disappeared entirely, leaving smoking boots and scraps of burnt uniforms. With the main lobby cleared, McCabe called what forces he had left and ordered them to cover the various doorways and corridors.

  “Home, sweet, home,” Big Mo said as they waited for Noid’s findings on her scanner.

  Dub eased Smack to her knee and checked on her wound attentively.

  Noid moved her hand around, scanning the walls and the roof above them. At the same time, Colonel Henke issued instructions to his officers and NCOs, ordering the adjoining rooms to be cleared and secured. The sound of gunfire increased in tempo around them as the MEF steamrolled through the government district. In the sky above, transports smashed SS defences with missile fire to exterminate the resistance outright.

  For all intents and purposes,
the battle was over, but with thousands of SS fanatics left alive, McCabe and the MEF knew they had no choice but to keep the pressure on the enemy.

  “I have them,” Noid said. “Target one is located on the other side of the building. Target two is a few floors above us.”

  “Should we split up?” Big Mo asked.

  Dub shook his head in answer.

  “No. We need to stick together. Target one is priority. Everything rests on getting Anna to safety.”

  “Who’s the second target?” McCabe queried.

  “The ghost of Christmas past,” Dub said with a grimace and gazed at the mass of MEF soldiers. “Colonel Henke, the main corridor leads directly to the primary command and control centre. It’ll be heavily guarded, but if you take it out, you’ll disrupt SS communications, jamming equipment and automated defences.”

  “I will organise the assault now,” the colonel said with a slight nod of appreciation. “Sergeant McCabe, take some men and continue to support our…colleagues with their operation.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  McCabe selected two MEF soldiers and two of the West Germans who stood closest to him and took a swig of water from his flask. While loading a fresh magazine into his Lee-Enfield, he gestured at the four soldiers under his command to follow. Then he fell in behind the Black Visors. Noid slung Smack’s arm over her shoulder, and Dub and Big Mo took point.

  With a nod from Dub, McCabe and the small group walked towards one of the corridors. They pushed the double doors open and moved with speed, scanning every nook and cranny for enemy soldiers waiting to spring an ambush. The lights in the corridor blinked every few seconds in time with the continuous volley of shells. Muffled sounds of gunfire leaked through the walls as the SS threw everything they had at the MEF.

  As they reached the end of the corridor, a small band of SS soldiers came close to running headfirst into them. Big Mo shot first, carving a fiery-green swathe through the enemy group. Smoking arms hit the floor as Dub lunged towards them, smacking one of the survivors with the butt of his weapon. Noid fired her HK-17 and tore two more soldiers apart when Dub jabbed his bayonet into the chest of his fallen adversary.