The Chronicles of Benjamin Jaminson: Empires At War (Book 5 Part Two)

by Thomas Wright

  ****

  “You can stay with your father, but when I’m ready to leave for the ship I expect you with me,” Sashet said.

  “Fine, just com when you’re ready,” Natalia answered. “We can tour the Claymore then leave.”

  Sashet and Natalia entered the hold and immediately witnessed the beast plowing into her father and someone else. Shawna and Aisling along with the shuttle crew all turned to see the commotion. Natalia was in motion before Sashet could utter a word. She sprinted while drawing her stunner, her finger adjusting it to the max. Raising the weapon to fire, someone passed into her sights. She watched as Joon leapt and landed on the beast’s back. She couldn’t risk the shot now. Sliding the weapon back into the holster, she charged ahead.

  The sound of running feet reached her ears; she was almost on the beast. Her father had pushed the body off him and had grabbed its tail. The beast didn’t know which to attack first, the rider or her dad. It turned its head away from her and snapped at Joon then followed through to snap at Benjamin. Missing on both accounts, it righted itself as Natalia collided with its head. Her timing had been perfect from the time she leapt into the air and cocked her arm till her metal-clad fist connected with the base of its head at the neck. For her next move, she grabbed Joon by the collar and pulled her from its back.

  Joon hit the floor and Natalia stepped over her, drawing her stunner again. She had misjudged the distance and was within the range of the beast’s snapping jaws. Wearing her armor sans the helmet almost cost her. The beast missed her head but found her shoulder. Its teeth slid off the black metal and clamped down on her arm. She heard Joon exhale under her as she collapsed under the beast’s weight. An angry yell cut through the noise and the beast’s head was rocked. She felt the tug on her arm. Another punch rocked it and it let go as her father stepped over her and Joon. She saw her dad’s arm form into a hammer as it came down on top of the beast’s head. Its body wobbled and staggered then fell over.

  Natalia felt herself pulled from the floor and into an embrace, then held at arm’s length while her father inspected her. He reached down and repeated the process with Joon. Natalia looked at the unconscious beast on the deck.

  “Seems as if your pet isn’t quite trained yet, Father?” Natalia commented.

  “It needs some more work. I’ve tried a gentler touch and would have again if you two hadn’t jumped into the fracas.”

  “Joon, what the hell were you thinking jumping on that thing’s back?” Natalia asked.

  “It was all I could think to do. I had no weapon,” Joon answered. “I thought to distract it until help came.”

  “You’re like ninety-five pounds soaking wet.” Benjamin paused. “We are going to get you some training. I hope you’re not too hurt to participate. It will help make you a better distraction,” he said, then smiled. Grabbing the beast, he dragged it back to its cage then threw the dead Khalnalax inside, slamming the cage door.

  “When is the training going to start? I wanna be there,” Natalia said, looking at her father. Sashet laid a hand on her shoulder.

  “You have duties about our ship,” Sashet said.

  “Sash, I would really like Natalia to oversee the training of the young girls, boys and children. You should help her. The older men and women who are able will be trained by the marines on board the Warhammer.”

  “What does our admiral say?” Sashet asked.

  “Don’t know, haven’t asked her yet. How about you handle that for me?”

  “I will talk to her. I think you’re right. I believe it will be beneficial for both of us to be involved in the training.”

  “Good. You ok with it, Natalia?’

  “No problems here, Father.”

  “Aisling and some of the others may be joining you. I don’t need to tell you not to hurt her, right?” he asked.

  “No promises. I’m not angry with her, but training won’t be beneficial if we hold back too much.”

  “You heard me.”

  “Loud and clear.”

  Natalia’s father pulled her into another hug. It was unexpected, but welcome. She had no idea what he was going through, but she was happy for the moment no matter who was watching. He called Genius as he walked away. He was going to make that beast heel if it killed it.

  Chapter Eleven

  The sun was sucking the life out of them, but they cut and sharpened every straight sapling or branch they could find. Some were long and would be used to keep the Etash and their long tentacles at bay. Others were shorter, good for spears or stakes long enough to impale the Khalnalax soldiers if they fell into one of the many pits that crisscrossed the trails. The Etash might survive the trap and climb out, but not without injuries. Tonight would be the first test. If it worked as planned, they would take the weapons from the dead and reset the pit traps.

  Not everything they set up was lethal. Trip lines buried just under the surface of the soil would be used on the last soldier in line. Once the soldier fell, three of Tazleaha’s team would attack, silence and strip the soldier of anything useful. They hoped to demoralize the enemy troops with the silent disappearances of the others. Zora and Dela’maah were each working a team. Their teams would be the bait that would draw the Khalnalax into the jungle. The trap watchers would spring the many traps then finally the killers, those with the fortitude to do what had to be done, would finish the job. That team Tazleaha would oversee.

  The bait would double back after passing through all the traps and help with stripping the dead of anything valuable: clothes, food, weapons and communication devices. The team’s biggest enemy was the darkness. They had to be careful yet move at speeds that would allow the traps to be sprung properly and not get caught. They tested and selected each group of people based on their basic skills. Speed, strength, past occupation. Some brought nothing to the table so they watched over the camp and would act as medics for any of their wounded. There would be no Khalnalax wounded or prisoners.

  They were about to meet, go over the plan one more time before getting into position. Some of the people at the meeting wouldn’t survive the night, but they were willing to fight knowing that possibility. They weren’t soldiers; they were just people, scared and angry. Tazleaha wondered if her ancestors ever fought alongside the common man. She also wondered if Benjamin ever received any of her messages. Would he come? He and his people would be enough to easily turn the fight on the ground in their favor. She saw what they, just five of them, did against a hundred Allith. His weapons would sing a sweet song of death; the enemy would dance to its music into the next life. There was no Cjittan, Khalnalax, Allond or Trillond who could orchestrate destruction and death the way he could. Tazleaha felt like a fool. He had no reason to come, but she hoped the part of him that protected the weak would drive him. She hoped that love would move him and bring him back to her.

  “Captain, we will lose the sun soon. We need to begin,” Tazleaha said.

  “People of Idaline, tonight, we begin to take our planet back,” Dela’maah began. “Take it away from the Khalnalax, who have destroyed so much of our beautiful empire. Your training was hurried and you are not warriors but you have the hearts of warriors. Those who despair, who think we might fail, know this: you will be the first to fall. It is just the way of things. So, I say to you: be a warrior and fighter. Do your part to the best of your ability. If you die having given your all, it will be an honorable death.”

  “Do any of you have any questions about your part in tonight’s operation?” Zora asked. “We will be there with you through it all.” She looked to Tazleaha to prompt her to speak.

  “You will feel fear beyond your worst nightmare,” Tazleaha said. “If you feel you will freeze up, think on this. If others die because you did not do your assigned job, I will kill you. If you run, I will hunt you down and kill you. Your parts are all crucial and one person’s fear could cost us the whole operation and our lives. Do you understand the seriousness of all that we have said?”
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  There was a chorus of affirmative answers and heads shaking in agreement. The group was forty strong, rag-tag babes lost in the woods, but they fed off Zora, Dela’maah and maybe the fear Tazleaha hoped to instill in them. She hoped they feared her more than the Khalnalax.

  “You will hunt them down and kill them if they run? They are but common citizens of the empire,” the mayor said. Tazleaha studied his face; his concern seemed genuine. If he believed her, then the others most likely did also. He should not question her, ever.

  “Mayor, they are no longer common citizens. They are freedom fighters,” she hissed in anger. “They have no shops to keep; their livelihoods have been stripped away, their homes destroyed. And you. Do not think yourself immune because of your rank. If you run, be sure, I will kill you. Find your backbone and stand up straight. These are my people and they will fight till their last breath.”

  Tazleaha walked away before she did something unfortunate to him. She heard him ask one of the others what she meant by “my people.”

  “Sometimes I think she believes she is the queen,” Zora responded. “She is right, though, Mayor. The people will need you to be strong. They know you. If you run, they will lose heart. And, as she said, she will kill you. Report to your team.” Tazleaha looked at Zora. She was more in control and eloquent than Tazleaha was.

  The bait left for the clearing where the Khalnalax had a small camp. There were only five of the forty. Young, fast and healthy, they could run like the wind. Dela’maah would be part of the group. They believed the lure of a healthy female along with the young would be enough temptation to outweigh the fact that the group was small and not a great catch. They had practiced running the path in the dark of night for two days. Dela’maah ran with a stunner in her hand to silence anyone who might give them away. They had to memorize the terrain and run around the workers who dug the pits. They beat silence into all their heads while they worked. To speak without signaling first for the other person would mean getting stunned. There were not months to train—only days and hours.

  The Etash warriors worried Tazleaha much more than their Khalnalax masters. She positioned some of the spearmen up in the trees along the trail. She would use gravity to propel the spear with greater force; it was more dangerous than other methods but Tazleaha thought it would prove more effective. The weight of the falling wielder and spear would plunge through the Etash and into the ground. What she wouldn’t give for one of Benjamin’s projectile weapons that could grind flesh and bone to paste.

  Every one of her team was in place. All that was left was to wait.

  ****

  Dela’maah looked at her runners—the bait, as Tazleaha called them. They seemed calm on the outside, but she felt inside they were all nerves, like charged particles were dancing around inside them. It was time to feign hiding and let themselves be seen. The plan called for them to let the Khalnalax get close before running; with their thoughts on the thrill of the chase, paying attention to the path would become secondary.

  There was more light in the clearing than the jungle, which would help with their discovery. She would send her runners at intervals so they weren’t running over each other. The three of them had devised a simple numeric message to alert the others of the size of the pursuit. They would send two numbers, the first being the amount of Etash and the second the Khalnalax. Her team hid along the edge of the path in the clearing. She watched the guard as he walked his perimeter, looking in different directions as he went. His head was turning their way so she stood, making sure she would be seen. There. He had seen her and began running their way, alone.

  “Go, but slowly. Wait along the trail so he sees you. Let him call a count back to the others in his camp, then run,” she said. The Khalnalax was moving at a brisk walk, his weapon raised. As the runners fled, he slowed just as Dela’maah hoped. She remained hidden. He came close enough she could hear his com go off. Questions, followed by his answers, then it sounded like he came to a halt. She risked a quick look and saw him walking away.

  Her mind raced. This was not what they had expected. They had sweated and slaved at their plan and these fools were not even going to come after them. She saw a few faces in the waning darkness looking as confused as she was. The Khalnalax were going to give chase if she had to run naked through their camp. She ran toward the guard, holding her stunner out in front of her. From her belt she pulled a sharpened stake. She was gaining ground when he heard her footsteps. He turned, surprise on his face. His weapon was only half raised, clear evidence of indecision. Good. She decided on the stake as she left the ground for the last three steps. He held his weapon in a defensive block, which worked to block her body but her arm drove the stake into his shoulder as they both tumbled to the ground.

  Dela’maah rolled away and came up ready. He remained on the ground yelling in pain into his com. Dela’maah pounced on him. Grabbing the stake, she worked it back and forth, eliciting a new scream, total agony. Taking his weapon and his com, she sprinted back toward the jungle. That ought to do it, she thought. It did. She heard the camp come alive behind them, then felt the heat of laser blasts and a burning across her arm. She gritted her teeth and stooped; while it was harder to run like that, it made her more difficult to hit. She entered the jungle and the darkness enveloped her. A quick look back ensured they still followed. About ten Khalnalax approached, with four Etash lumbering behind them. They would switch soon and send the Etash in first if they followed their normal procedure. Weapon fire would cease, which was a boon, until the Khalnalax scattered, leaving the path and fanning out into the jungle.

  Lying on her belly under a broad-leafed plant, she waited. The laser rifle set to max, she would fire on the Etash, then run, hoping the pursuers would come back to the path. She tapped out the message with the pursuers’ numbers and sent it to Tazleaha and Zora. They weren’t far from the first ambush site. She needed the Khalnalax angry and following at least to that point. After that they may become cautious; that was when they would try to split them up. Lead them off and then back on the path. She heard a scream then the sound of running feet. It had to be one of her runners. Laser fire lit the jungle as the pursuers took up the chase again with more enthusiasm. She would have to get up and run now. Someone else improvised, saving her from doing it. It worked. No complaints.

  ****

  Zora watched and listened. She could hear the Khalnalax pursuing Dela’maah’s team. Some of her runners were waiting so they could be seen. A runner came through, going around the traps to the other side. A second runner—Dela’maah—ran past. The laser fire from a few minutes ago had ceased. There was no way to fire at their quarry on the narrow trail with the Etash blocking field of vision. The Khalnalax officer yelled at his soldiers and the Etash, driving them harder. They shouted threats at Dela’maah’s back and charged ahead.

  The soldiers turned in circles, shining lights into the darkness in all directions. Seven had gone past when the crashing of branches and a terrible sound broke the night. An Etash had fallen into a pit. As predicted, the soldiers hurried forward to investigate. The other Etash moved off the path and into the jungle while their comrade thrashed and impaled itself even more. Zora signaled and a vine rose from the ground in front of the last soldier. He went down face first. Three Cjittan broke cover and pounced on the body. One silenced the soldier by shoving him face first back into the ground. Sharpened stakes rose and fell repeatedly until he stopped moving. A similar attack happened a few feet away. The next in line stopped short of the trip trap and saw what was happening to the soldiers behind him. A spear flew from the jungle through his chest. He gripped it, wanting to pull it out. Tazleaha appeared and pulled a knife across his throat. Anything he was about to yell was lost as the air escaped from his throat. She darted back into the jungle holding his weapon, evaporating into the darkness.

  Four down and ten to go, Zora counted. She heard Tazleaha yell “Now!” and spears came from all directions. Some were thrown accu
rately while others missed their mark. The Etash in the pit was struck by several, as were the other Etash. Their large bodies provided a easier target for the unskilled people fighting for their lives. It was time to regroup and continue. They hadn’t won yet, but they had struck a solid blow to the enemy.

  ****

  Tazleaha ran back to her tree and was at the top in seconds. She had wedged a spear twice the length of her body between two branches that held it securely. One thing was certain: it wasn’t hard in the dark to figure out who was who. The soldiers had lights. Her freedom fighters didn’t. The Etash left no question about their presence. She watched and waited for one to come her way. The jungle was alive with the sound of pain and confusion. The Etash didn’t want to venture too deep into the jungle; they hovered around the pit containing their injured companion. Someone was going to have encourage them to move on.

  “Go entice our enemy to join us over here,” she ordered the people gathered below her. Two ran toward the Etash and threw stones at it. They turned and ran back toward her position. The beast gave chase. Soon her people wouldn’t be using sticks and stones. They would use the enemies’ own weapons against them. They were almost within range when one of the runners, a young girl, was caught. The Etash held her up high and shook her. It was believed they did that to disorient their prey.

  Tazleaha jumped. She was falling fast holding the spear with both hands above her head. The Etash began to lower the girl toward its maw and her death. Tazleaha thrust the spear. The point creased the girl’s side as it passed her and entered the beast’s open beak. She felt the resistance of its organs and chest plate as her spear burst through and buried itself into the ground. The Etash thrashed and tried to make a sound, but it only came out in gurgling noises of hissing air. Flinging the girl into the jungle, it wrapped its tentacles around the spear and tried to pull it out, but the internal damage was too great. Motor function ceased and it lay still.