“Amazing, isn’t it?” said Styles.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Logan as he watched the sky fill with thousands and thousands of birds.
“It’s a good sign,” continued Styles. “The old migration patterns are back.”
Logan didn’t respond, but seeing all of those birds take flight brought a smile to his face.
Chapter 57
An hour passed while the soldiers waited for Crew Chief McKinney and his team to get the Blackhawk flight ready. The tension Logan felt when they first landed was replaced by mild boredom. Lieutenant Styles introduced him to a couple of troopers who had escaped the PRA when they were in their early teens. They talked for a while, but it was soon clear that their experiences growing up on farming and manufacturing developments were very different from his life in the Capitol District, and they considered him to be from a privileged class, which he had trouble denying after what he’d seen while on the train to Erie.
A little later, Logan was watching the water for signs of the Dellians when he heard a distant popping sound. He spun around to see if it was coming from the hills, but saw nothing. He saw Colonel Longmire quickly walking toward town, speaking into his ICS and surveying the hills above. After a moment, Logan heard the colonel’s voice in his ICS.
“Lt. Gutierrez , report. What’s going on up there?”
“Nothing up here, sir,” answered Gutierrez. “No sign of the enemy, either. We’re expanding our sweep.”
“Sir, this is Private Zinder. Look up.”
Everyone looked to the sky and saw a fiery ball falling to Earth, a trail of black smoke in its wake. A second later, each of the two ADAs fired two missiles into the air. As Logan watched the missiles’ flight paths, he saw two League aircraft out of the corner of his eye. They were chasing a large black dot as it raced across the sky, but it was much too fast for them to overtake.
Logan heard Colonel Longmire’s voice in his helmet’s ICS. “Hostile aircraft. Take cover. McKinney, what’s your status?”
“I need ten, maybe fifteen more minutes, sir.”
“You’ve got five,” replied Longmire, shouting over the sound of the ADAs as they launched one more missile each. “Talon support, prepare for extraction.”
The ground next to Logan suddenly exploded, throwing him two-meters high in the air. He landed on his back with a thud. Lieutenant Styles, who had been standing next to him, was thrown against the side of a nearby building. Cap and Lena were on the ground to his right. Another explosion ripped apart Dog 2’s Talon helicopter, which was sitting near the levee.
Fire and black smoke filled the air to Logan’s right as another Talon suddenly burst into flames as it tried to swoop in for a quick landing. A third Talon aborted its landing procedure about twenty meters off the ground and spat 50-caliber shells as it sought to gain altitude. It launched two hellcat missiles into the air.
Logan watched the hellcats’ exhaust trail as they streaked into the sky. They simultaneously exploded in a ball of fire and white smoke. Then a black V-shaped ship shot through the fire and smoke and fired on the remaining Talon, which exploded and crashed to the ground in the middle of the town’s main street.
Logan scrambled to his feet. The troopers of Dog 2 fired their weapons at the V-shaped craft as it approached to land. The craft hovered just above the ground as twenty or thirty white-haired soldiers in black armor dropped to the ground through openings on either side of the ship.
Sahiradin! thought Logan.
The ADA shifted ordnance and pumped two dozen heavy caliber slugs at the craft as it lifted into the air. The ADA appeared to damage the Sahiradin ship somewhat, but not enough to slow it down. The V-wing returned fire and silenced the ADA with one shot. It did the same to the other air defenses in rapid succession.
A second V-shaped craft swooped low and another twenty to thirty soldiers leapt to the ground. The two groups of Sahiradin soldiers quickly grouped together and dashed for cover behind the river levee’s half-crumbled wall, firing their weapons as they ran. League soldiers returned fire, but Logan could see their bullets were ineffective against the attackers’ shields. He slipped his K-45 into his battle pack and drew his sword. He activated his shield and snapped his guard into place.
Through his helmet’s ICS, Logan heard Lieutenant Styles order everyone to activate shields and move forward to support Chief McKinney and his team, who were still in the Blackhawk. But as he stood up to comply, Logan could see it was already too late. The Sahiradin were storming toward the PRA gunship. Logan saw McKinney step out. His shield was on and he was firing his pistol at the fast-approaching Sahiradin, shouting curses at them with each shot. His crew joined him with swords drawn, but they were all swiftly cut down by six Sahiradin with black blades.
“Fall back! Fall back!” ordered Colonel Longmire.
The troopers retreated to their designated secondary positions. Another black V-shaped craft unloaded its cargo of soldiers, bringing the total to about seventy-five, and lifted off to join the first two as they raced into the sky.
Moments later, Logan and Cap made it to their fall-back position. “Good. You’re still alive.” said Logan. He nodded to Lieutenant Styles, who ran to their position.
“Where’s Lena?” asked Cap.
“I don’t know.”
They heard automatic weapons firing in the hills behind them. Colonel Longmire ran to their location. He knelt on one knee and talked to Lt. Gutierrez though his ICS.
“Pull the patrols together, lieutenant,” he said. “We’ve got between fifty to seventy-five of those albino bastards at the LZ. They’ll be coming your way soon. Be aware they have swords and shields, so be ready to go old school on them.”
Just then, a dark gray oval ship descended and quickly landed near the Blackhawk. A mixture of strange-looking figures ran down the craft’s open ramp, some of them firing long-barreled weapons as they advanced. Like the Sahiradin, they were humanoid, but most of them were small, light-framed beings except for five massive creatures that were twice Logan’s height and built like bulldozers. The newly arrived beings attacked the Sahiradin flank as it moved in a phalanx formation toward the hills.
Colonel Longmire was speechless as he watched the scene unfold before him. After a few seconds, he looked at Lieutenant Styles, pulled the cigar out of his mouth and barked, “Lieutenant, who are those bastards? What the hell is happening on my LZ?”
Lieutenant Styles replied, “Not sure, sir.”
“The white-haired ones are Sahiradin, sir,” said Logan.
Longmire looked at Logan. “What the hell’s a Sahiradin?”
“Hard to explain sir, but they’re here for the Apollo Stone and to rescue their friend, the albino who was part of this morning’s raid on Jasper Air Base,” replied Logan.
“They’re bad guys from another planet, sir,” said Cap in a matter-of-fact tone.
“You don’t say, private,” said Longmire to Cap in a mocking tone. “And how do you two know all this?”
“They’re associates of Ravenwood and Kane,” said Styles.
Longmire raised his eyebrows. “Ravenwood? Maybe that crazy SOB wasn’t so crazy,” he said as he watched the fighting between the Sahiradin rearguard and the advancing group of other alien beings.
“Sir,” said Cap. “If it helps put things in perspective, the Sahiradin are the ones who caused the Impact. They’re the reason seven billion people died.”
Longmire processed this information for a moment. “Then who the hell are those other…individuals?”
“I don’t know for sure,” said Logan. “But I think they’re allied species who’ve been fighting the Sahiradin for centuries. Ravenwood called them Lycians.”
Longmire put his cigar back in his mouth and stood watching, hands on his hips. A group of Sahiradin detached from the phalanx and attacked the left flank of the League’s line. Logan could hear the sound of ringing swords as the League soldiers sought to repel the Sahiradin.
“Dog 2 units disengage from fighting and fall back,” said Longmire into his ICS. “Repeat, disengage.”
“This is highly irregular,” Colonel Longmire said as he watched the troopers withdraw and the Sahiradin detachment return to the fight against the Lycians. “Highly damned irregular.”
He held his field sensors to his eyes to get a close look at the Sahiradin and the Lycians. The lead element of the Sahiradin soldiers was dashing toward the hills while the remainder battled to slow their enemy’s advance. Longmire toggled through the field sensors’ display to see body temperature and estimated height, mass, and distance.
He focused on one of the big gray-skinned Lycians and took some readings. It was over four and a half meters tall, well over twice his height. “Those are some big sons-of-bitches,” he said half to himself. He saved a dozen images of the fight and other sensor readings.
He engaged his ICS. “Central, this is Madhat.”
“Go ahead, Madhat.”
“I’m not sure how to explain this, but we’ve got an estimated seventy-five hostiles of unknown origin on the ground. Also be advised there are also hostile black V-wing craft in the airspace over our position. They fragged three Talons.”
“We’re tracking those craft, Madhat. We’re also seeing unknown oval craft.”
“We’ve seen them, too. They’ve deployed an estimated fifty soldiers at our location. It’s a damn carnival here. The two sides are going at it tooth and nail. And be advised the V-wing soldiers have engaged against us. We pulled back, and I recommend you consider them hostile.”
“Understood, Madhat. They’ve downed several League aircraft.”
“I just uploaded images, video, and sensor readings of what we’re seeing here on the ground. You better be sitting down when you review,” said Longmire. “To avoid getting tangled up in whatever’s going on here, I’m pulling my troops back.”
“Roger that, Madhat. We’re receiving your upload now and will review. Be aware that we’ve lost satellite support. We put several Ajax command birds in the air, but if we’re forced to land them and ground towers are hit, communications will be interrupted. Central out.”
Longmire adjusted his ICS. “Lt. Gutierrez,” he said.
“Gutierrez here.”
“Be advised the Sahiradin are moving up the hill, fast. Move your troops south two hundred meters.”
“Sahiradin, sir?”
“More of those albino SOBs.”
“Roger, wilco, falling back.”
“Colonel,” said Logan. “They’re trying to locate the Sahiradin with the Apollo Stone. We can’t let them have it.”
“Private,” said Longmire, “In case you hadn’t noticed I don’t have the troops to keep them from going anywhere. I’m staying the hell out of this alley fight.”
He looked through his field sensors again and swore under his breath as one of the large creatures gave a loud deep howl and smashed a long club-like weapon into the midst of a group of Sahiradin. There was a bright green flash of light at the point of impact, which sent four Sahiradin flying through the air. The battling aliens moved into the trees toward the high ground where the Blackhawk crash survivors had taken refuge.
“I’m going to find Lena,” Cap whispered to Logan. He was about to run off, but Logan caught his arm and pointed toward the Blackhawk. Five Sahiradin stepped out from behind the gunship and began easing their way toward the troopers’ position, blades in their hands.
Logan quietly alerted Styles and Longmire. Longmire reached for his ICS to issue an order just as Lena and six other troopers charged the Sahiradin from behind some nearby rubble. The white-haired aliens saw the troopers and advanced toward them. The Sahiradin were extremely fast and moved with deadly grace. One of the troopers fell immediately and another was wounded in the arm. A Sahiradin attacked Lena, but she fell back and deftly countered her opponent’s slashing attack. Then, with blinding speed, she spun on her right foot and crouched low, slicing the Sahiradin’s leg between his thigh and shin armor, sending him to the ground. She immediately drove her blade into his throat above his breast protection.
Three more League troopers ran out to join the fight. The remaining four Sahiradin began to work in pairs, moving and fighting in close coordination. As one attacked, the one next to him defended his exposed back or flank. In this manner, they kept the troopers at bay and stayed on the offensive.
A trooper dropped to the ground with a deep gash to his right leg, but as he fell another trooper slipped through the Sahiradin defense and drove his sword into a Sahiradin’s unprotected back. The Sahiradin fell, but was not dead. He deflected several sword strikes, and quickly got to his feet.
Lena stumbled, which drew a Sahiradin a few steps out from their formation. He lunged for the kill, but it was a trap. Lena deflected the blade and countered with a flurry of counter strikes. The surprised Sahiradin deflected several, but Lena’s blade finally struck home and the Sahiradin collapsed to the ground clasping a deep wound to his throat. Another trooper finished him off.
The remaining three Sahiradin formed a triangle with their backs to each other, slashing and lunging at any trooper who got too close. They withstood a remarkable number of wounds before finally succumbing to the troopers’ repeated attacks. One by one, they dropped to the ground, dead.
Longmire and Styles ran forward to where the troopers had killed the Sahiradin. Logan and Cap were right behind them. The circle of troopers around the dead Sahiradin parted to allow Colonel Longmire to pass. He knelt close to one of the dead aliens.
“Their skin looks like it’s made out of tiny scales,” he said.
“It’s hard to cut through,” said Lena. Pointing at one of them, she said, “I know I scored a couple of good hits against this one, but my sword barely broke the skin.”
“Aside from the hair and the skin, they look a lot like us,” said Logan.
“And they seem comfortable with our atmosphere,” said Lena. “No need for an environment suit.”
“Same story with the Lycians,” said Logan.
“Lieutenant, order the troops to pull back,” said Longmire as he stared at the strange bodies at his feet. He took some additional sensor readings and uploaded the data to Central Command. Then he said, “Let’s not go looking for a fight with these guys until we know what we’re getting into.”
“Yes sir,” said Styles.
Longmire looked at Lena and then at the other troopers who’d been in the fight. “Good job taking these guys out,” he said. “But you’re not John Wayne and this ain’t Texas. Don’t attacked unless ordered, got it?”
“Yes sir,” said Lena.
As they moved toward their new positions farther from the landing zone, a trooper’s voice sounded in Logan’s earpiece. “Lieutenant Styles, this is Private Rieger. We’re at the levee. We’ve got something you should see.”
Lieutenant Styles started running toward the river. As she ran by them, she said, “Brandt and Castell, you’re with me.”
When they arrived at the levee, a trooper pointed north to a bend in the river. A convoy of small boats was crossing the water from the east side.
Lieutenant Styles looked through her field sensors and scowled. “Colonel,” she said into her ICS. “We’ve got an estimated two or three hundred individuals in boats crossing the river north of us about two klicks. Looks like the Dellians are getting into the fight.”
“Copy that, Lieutenant,” said Longmire.
“What are the chances we can get air support to take them out?” asked Styles.
“No chance, lieutenant,” replied Longmire. “Our fighters are still fully engaged with V-wing hostiles. The Lycians seem to be assisting us, but I just got a report that PRA fixed-wing aircraft are about five minutes away from our location and may try to hit us. Order your troops to dig in. Engage the Dellians only if you have to, but fall back if you can.”
“Understood, sir,” she replied.
“I’m on my way up
the hill to assess the situation with Gutierrez. You’re in command of the LZ. And there’s no extraction option at the moment. We’re going to be here until the skies are clear.”
“Yes sir,” said Styles. She looked at Logan. “Looks like we’re it against those Dellians. Fortunately, they don’t usually have shields.”
“That should even the odds,” said Lena with a wry grin.
“Speak for yourself,” said Logan. “My shield is only two-thirds charged.”
“Conserve it as much as possible,” said Styles. “You’ll need it before long.”
Chapter 58
“Commodore Lansu, we’ve located the Lycian ships,” said his first officer from the far side of the bridge. Another Sahiradin was sitting at the duty station, quickly adjusting the controls of a holographic image of the Earth. Small dots near the Earth represented the geosynchronous orbit of Dominion over North America.
“Where are the scum?” asked the Commodore, agitated with the unexpected turn in events. He walked to the sensor station.
“In orbit over the northern polar icecap,” answered Vilna as the image scrolled north to show the Lycian position.
“How did they get there undetected? We have probes all around P3 and throughout the system.”
“We believe that when they entered through the khâl they masked the newly arrived ships’ signature by detonating a number of missiles in succession. We interpreted the noise to be explosions on their damaged frigate, Challenger, and perhaps even its complete destruction. But closer analysis has revealed the sound of accelerating engines hidden within the explosions. Once the newly arrived ships had reached a high velocity, they cut their engines and ran silent until reaching P3. We heard their rapid deceleration, but by then they were in position.”
The Navigator (The Apollo Stone Trilogy Book 1) Page 33