The Peacemaker team!
They were alive and not in imminent danger as long as they kept leapfrogging through the darkness and their attackers didn’t have night scopes. He could see a good deal of movement further down the slope amid a large cluster of boulders at the bottom of the hill. It was hard to tell, but they moved like they were GenSha.
And then he heard sleds off to his right. He quickly shifted his position and poked his head up over the wall.
Shit.
The sleds—and the infantry that paced them—were Veetanho.
A barrage of blue, heavy repeater fire pierced the darkness, lancing out toward the Peacemakers, but it appeared to be more like suppressing fire than a deliberate effort to hit them. The Peacemakers scrambled for cover and kept moving. One of the Jeha below him managed to fire off several rounds that dropped Veetanho mercs in their tracks, and their bodies fell in pools of bright light from the sleds’ headlights.
The scene whipped around in Hr’ent’s brain as he thought about possible solutions. He cast a sidelong glance at the Veetanho and realized they were turning to engage the GenSha. Glancing back at the Peacemakers, he spotted several GenSha at the bottom of the hill. Two came forward, and one of the Jeha snapped off several shots with his needler while the other popped off several rounds toward the Veetanho. He knew what he had to do.
As Hr’ent activated the comms, the wounded GenSha hollered something and pointed to where the Peacemakers had dug in.
“This is E-H Actual, get the shuttle down here, and I mean now,” Hr’ent roared. “I need an air strike as fast as you can get it here. Waste the entire base of the hill around the ruins on arrival—from the northeast all the way to the south. Radio me when you’re inbound. E-H out!”
“Copy that,” Graa’vaa said urgently, “I’ll have—”
He cut the comms. He had work to do.
Moments later, a massive GenSha appeared at the bottom of the hill, storming up the rough terrain with quick, heavy strides. He was followed by a cluster of eight GenSha about five meters behind him, all carrying auto-rifles. Then another group moved out to their right beyond the first group. The big one appeared to be pulling ahead of the others, clearly intent on reaching the Peacemakers at any cost. Hr’ent suddenly realized what the big GenSha was carrying.
Elemental Hells, a rocket launcher!
The scene lit a fire in Hr’ent’s heart. The Peacemakers—his Peacemakers—were up against impossible odds. It didn’t matter that it was Rsach down there. Without help, three Peacemakers would die, and the very thought of it filled him with unbridled rage.
The big GenSha raised the weapon, aimed, and fired. Hr’ent shut his eyes to keep from being blinded, but the launch and near-instant detonation turned his vision from white to red for an instant.
His hackles rose, and the Feral rushed up from the depths unbidden. When he opened his eyes the world was red, not from the explosion, but from rage, and he reveled in the fury flowing through his veins like an electrical current.
Death to those who oppose me! The thought burned in his mind. He would kill them all. Every. Last. One.
He holstered his PK-40, drew the combat knife from his chest sheath and pulled a frag grenade from his belt. Without another thought, he leapt over the wall, cleared five meters in the first bound, and put on a burst of speed with every ounce of strength he had. His stiff muscles protested the abuse, but he ignored them and pushed harder.
The darkness became his best friend. His fur was dark purple and covered in black dirt. His vest was black. His fatigues were black. He wasn’t about to give away his position by lighting up the hillside with fire from the PK.
He blazed down the hill like a runaway freight train as the big GenSha started moving up the hill again, opening the breach of the rocket launcher as he stomped forward.
Hr’ent became a force of nature, a storm rushing down from the heights to inflict himself on his enemies. He was a shifting shadow, moving like black lightning amid the darkness. He was the fury of his ancestors, an avenging Elemental, and the embodiment of death, all wrapped up in 500 kilos of Feral rage.
He’d traversed the ground to the Peacemaker’s position in a few seconds. Gunfire flashed to his right as the GenSha engaged the Veetanho. The Veetanho returned their fire. In front of him, a Duplato rose from the Peacemaker position and fired a burst from an auto-rifle before ducking down again. It was Ven.
The big GenSha closed the breach of the rocket launcher and eyed the Peacemakers’ position.
Ven looked up at the sounds of pounding boots coming down the hillside, and his eyes went wide. He started to raise his rifle at the massive, charging shadow coming straight for him. But Hr’ent planted a boot on a boulder at the back of the notch and launched himself into the air and over the Peacemaker position—straight down the hill.
Hr’ent eyed the group of GenSha behind his primary target, armed the grenade, and threw it as hard as he could at a pale GenSha in the center of the squad. The grenade slammed into the GenSha’s chest and toppled him back, eliciting a surprised cry of pain as he fell. Those beside him turned at the sound, stunned by the suddenness of it.
Hr’ent rotated in mid-air, came in like a meteor, and planted his boots in the center of the big GenSha’s chest. In that last moment, he recognized his next victim as Gorn Dokai, second in command of the GenSha rebellion. He stomped down hard, driving the GenSha into the ground with a bone-crunching thud. The two of them slid down the rocky, grassy slope side-by-side as the rocket launcher went sailing down the hill into the darkness to the left.
Hr’ent rolled sideways, slammed his knife through the center of the wounded GenSha’s tactical vest, then shifted his body so Gorn’s was between him and the grenade that was about to go off. In a flash, he spotted the bright glint of a combat sword secured to the GenSha’s belt. Without a thought, Hr’ent yanked it free and jammed the blade into the GenSha’s armpit as hard as he could. The weapon was little more than a long combat knife in his massive paw, but it was more than enough.
The grenade detonated with a sharp, massive blast that sent the still-stunned GenSha troopers flying to the sides as shrapnel slashed into their bodies. The concussion hammered at Hr’ent’s eardrums, but he didn’t care. He could smell blood now.
Gripping the GenSha’s massive arm, he ripped the blade through the shoulder joint and pulled as hard as he could. With a squelching separation of muscle and bone, he ripped the arm off. Gripping it like a club in one paw, he held the combat sword in the other, and looked for his next victims.
Some had survived his grenade.
He leapt forward as two of the GenSha attempted to get up after the grenade blast. As Hr’ent moved, gunfire erupted from further down the slope. Hot rounds streaked up the hillside to where he’d just been standing.
Hr’ent reached the first of the two GenSha and slashed with the sword. The GenSha’s head came off cleanly. He hammered the second GenSha’s cranium with Gorn’s arm and heard the wet crack of a broken neck.
“Holy Ancestors!” The terrified GenSha’s shout came from a dozen meters to Hr’ent’s left where a group of GenSha were exiting the trees and raising their rifles.
Hr’ent leapt straight at them as two pulled their triggers. Gunfire tore up the ground behind the spot where he’d been standing, then Hr’ent landed among them. Two stood there, stunned by what they’d just seen, while two others leveled their rifles in close quarters.
Hr’ent was a blur. He stepped up to the nearest GenSha, driving his blade through its throat as he slammed down Gorn’s arm on the other GenSha’s rifle. The weapon went off, riddling the GenSha’s foot with bullets.
His movements were too fast for the GenSha to follow, Hr’ent became a whirlwind of death as his victims staggered away from him in terror. His blade took one in the throat. He bashed in the skull of another with the arm. He sent a roundhouse kick into the heavy GenSha’s ribs and sent him sailing into the darkness with the sound of sh
attered bones.
Another GenSha raised a pistol. The sword flashed. The hand came free and tumbled to the ground. Hr’ent sent a front kick into the screaming GenSha’s chest, sending him flying backward. Movement on his right drew the impact of the arm into a terrified GenSha’s face.
Hr’ent pivoted left then right, slashing open the throat of one GenSha and across the eyes of another. The blinded GenSha clutched his face, screaming, and Hr’ent silenced him with a brutal swing of the arm.
He glanced around, his head spinning left and right in search of the next corpse.
Dead. They were all dead.
Hr’ent roared his frustration into the forest, letting all the rage of his ancestors loose on the world.
GIVE ME MORE BLOOD!
The hunger burned inside him.
A burst of gunfire drew Hr’ent’s attention, and he saw muzzle flashes from several positions further down the hill. Rounds whistled past him or slammed into the ground nearby. A glint of metal between him and his enemies caught his eye. He picked out the rocket launcher lying on the ground near a large tree.
Hr’ent charged left, then right at full speed, winding toward the lethal weapon. As he neared, he slid and grabbed it, skidding across the ground. He came up in a kneeling position as random gunfire came at him from multiple positions.
He thumbed the safety, eyed a spot between the muzzle flashes, and closed his eyes.
SWOOSH-BOOM!
He heard the screams of wounded GenSha, and when he opened his eyes, he saw several bodies tumbling away from the enemy position.
Blue flashes from the Veetanho’s heavy repeater filled the night and pounded the rocks and ground near the GenSha position. He saw large shadows taking cover from the Veetanho onslaught.
Maybe the Veetanho think I’m their reinforcements.
He grinned. He wanted that repeater. If it was a portable model, he’d be able to put a serious hurt on anything that crossed his path.
Another burst of panicked fire from the GenSha tore up the ground around him.
Hr’ent spun on his heel and raced off into the trees, heading downslope as he faded into the shadows. He picked up speed like he’d been launched out of a cannon. His intention was simple. Loop around the GenSha, find the Veetanho heavy weapon, and take it. Rage drove him; bloodlust fueled him. The Feral inside had taken full control, and for him, there were only two types of assets in the combat zone: Peacemakers and prey.
* * * * *
Chapter Thirty-One
Godannii 2
300 Meters South of the Ruins
Diqamm, Third Platoon leader of The Darkness mercenary company, peered through her goggles into the dark forest. The GenSha patrol along the fence line fell silent under the thunder of her mortars. New movement caught her eyes, and she saw five figures appear through a hatch she hadn’t seen on top of a small concrete pad.
Some type of escape shaft…clever.
The five figures moved to where she could not see them, but not before she identified them as two Jivool, two Jeha, and what appeared to be a Duplato. She frowned and watched the fuzzy thermal images moving. The two Jivool appeared to be helping one another move. The two Jeha and the Duplato stood apart, then moved out of view behind a utility shed and a large rock outcropping nearby. While waiting for them to regroup, she worked her mouth silently and chewed lightly on the inside of her gums. It was a bad habit that persisted from childhood. When faced with a stressful situation, she still fell into the behavior without thought.
The sound of mortars firing from the high ground behind her infantry platoon snapped her into the present. She tapped her earpiece. “Kypp, what are you doing? I said cease fire.”
“There are targets moving down in the valley,” Kypp replied from one of the two armored sleds. “Our orders were to eliminate the GenSha patrols.”
“Those weren’t GenSha. At least, I don’t think they—”
A bright flash amid the rocks and the distant report of a high-velocity rifle snapped through the night.
Fifteen seconds passed until the first of the mortar rounds impacted the area where the five figures had appeared. Several more explosions followed, the first of them demolishing the utility shed. If the mortar section kept to their standard operating procedure, there would be 12 rounds.
Diqamm counted the impacts. On the eleventh, she stood and motioned for her platoon to do the same. Using hand signals, she commanded them to move forward. They raced ahead to try and get a better visual on the new arrivals.
The radio crackled to life, but there was still a fair amount of static from the GenSha’s jamming efforts. “Diqamm? Where are you going?”
The gunner on the other sled opened up with the heavy repeater mounted in the bed, sending a staccato flash of blue laser blasts into the sparse trees to her left.
“I said cease fire, you imbeciles!” Diqamm screamed into the comms. “Kypp, keep the sleds here on the high ground and sit tight. And tell the gods-damned mortars to stand down until I say otherwise.” Diqamm paused. “A weapon fired down there. One shot just before the first impact. We’re moving in to investigate and get eyes on them.”
“What do you think you saw?”
“A Duplato, two Jeha, and two Jivool. One or both of the Jivool were injured and—”
“ISMC intel says that might be the Peacemaker team they brought in for negotiations,” Kypp replied. “We have orders to capture them and turn them over to ISMC. The number of personnel is wrong, but the species identifications are in line with the reports we have.”
“And for all we know, they aren’t friendlies,” Diqamm replied as she bounced around the gnarled roots of a tree and spied the shaft entrance and shredded perimeter fence line of the area. More figures emerged from the tunnel.
GenSha.
“I have GenSha emerging from the tunnel, Kypp.”
“I can have the mortar section re-target that spot.”
“No.” Diqamm ran forward. “I want to see what the Peacemakers do. We can’t assume anything until we’re eyes on.”
“And if you’re wrong? What then?”
“We annihilate them and the GenSha.” Diqamm shook her head, trying to clear the cacophony of internal voices, of dead commanders telling her that what she was doing was too risky. “I’m moving there now. Leave the sleds in position on the high ground. Adjust to provide direct fire if you can.”
“Copy,” Kypp replied. “I’ve got your unknowns. Three of them are moving up that hill.”
Diqamm squinted. “How can you see them from your position? You shouldn’t be able to.”
“One of the sleds has an off-angle line-of-sight. We’re also tapped into the ISMC external camera systems on their compounds. That fence line is covered by cameras for about 40 meters in each direction. We’re working on the ones inside that tunnel complex now.”
Diqamm grunted but was impressed. “Where are the unknowns now?”
“There are three confirmed, not five. We can’t make out anything more than three thermal contacts at this range. They are 100 meters up the hill and climbing as fast as they can. Appears they are moving in a coordinated fashion and laying down covering fire.”
“On the GenSha?” Diqamm accelerated around the curving slope of their hill and saw, finally, the steep, rocky behemoth that the unknown contacts were climbing for their lives.
“They are firing on the GenSha…and our forces,” Kypp replied. “I have targeting solutions on the unknown contacts.”
Shit!
Diqamm tapped her earpiece twice and brought up her platoon’s internal frequency. “First Platoon, concentrate your fire on the GenSha to your right.”
“The GenSha are moving up the hill,” one of her platoon sergeants called over the frequency.
“Kypp! Try and get your communications team on every frequency. Tell the Peacemakers to cease fire on us! Tell them we’re—”
A loud, piercing squeal ripped across the frequency. Diqamm slapped at h
er earpiece to shut it off and restart it. The technical manual read that in the event of sudden feedback, a sharp slap or jostling movement might be enough to reset the device. She turned it on, and the same noise filled the frequency.
They’ve jammed us completely.
With one hand, she set the device into a search and seek mode, but there was nothing in the common frequency bands of the Galactic Union but static. Diqamm looked up as the fire from the Peacemakers, if that was indeed who they were, tore into her leftmost squads. Fresh weapons fire raked them from the attacking GenSha as well. Laser rounds flashed and hissed through the early morning darkness in all directions.
The screech and flash of a rocket launcher lit up the bottom of the hill not far from where the GenSha were dug in, then an explosion sent rocks and flame shooting into the air about 200 meters up the hillside.
Somebody really has it in for those Peacemakers, she thought.
There was nothing she could do but watch and scream in vain for her forces to stop and re-consolidate. They did neither, and there was nothing she could do but follow them, her weapon raised, firing at the GenSha on her right as she tried to rein in her platoon and keep them from killing a potentially friendly asset.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, but only if they fucking realize it!
* * *
Godannii 2
Peacemaker Blue Flight
Graa’vaa roared in frustration, causing Hak to flinch noticeably toward the nearby hatch. Her paws curled into massive fists as her eyes squeezed shut, and she pulled in a long, deep breath through her snout and exhaled slowly. She performed the breathing exercise again to dissipate her rage and opened her eyes. Hak’s bemused face studied hers.
“What is it?”
Graa’vaa frowned. “The GenSha are jamming the entire electromagnetic spectrum. At least, that’s what it looks like.”
“Where are the jammers?”
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