“I’ll look for you on the battlefield,” Riot yelled back to Alveric. “I’ll be the one holding a warhammer with a pile of dead Karnayers at my feet.”
Riot turned back to her team. The nanites were already hard at work in everyone’s bodies. Even Rizzo was already moving in Evonne’s arms. Evonne still held the wounded pilot like a groom ready to walk over the threshold with his wife.
“Let’s go,” Riot ordered her unit. “Double time, back to the city. They won’t be far behind.”
Riot fell in line with her squad as they ran back through the jungle to the city. Riot hated having to try to carry on a conversation while running, but she had to be sure Doctor Miller had gotten the message through to the city.
“Evonne, patch me through to General Armon,” Riot panted as she concentrated on where she was placing her feet.
“Done,” Evonne responded back in her calm, non-exerted voice despite the fact she was outpacing them all.
“General,” Riot gasped as she urged her team on. “We have an enemy force, maybe thirteen thousand strong, made up of soldiers that’ll need heavy weaponsfire and incendiary rounds to be taken out.”
“Roger that,” General Armon’s voice came back over the comms, clear and calm. “Doctor Miller gave us a report. We’ll be ready. Just get you and your team back safe.”
“Roger.” Riot forced herself to breathe past her burning lungs.
Vikta flew above them in circles, dipping back every so often to light another flame wall and protect their retreat.
I’m going to have to get Vikta a treat or something to say thank you. Riot’s mind started to wander as she pushed her body to the limit. Do they even make dragon treats? If they did, would they be the same shape as a dog treat, only bigger?
“There it is,” Vet huffed over his comms.
Through the thick foliage, Riot could see glimpses of the city walls. She wondered how long they had been running while she’d allowed her mind to wander. Riot was at the rear of the group, constantly looking behind her into the jungle depths. She was lucky that, thus far, she had not seen any signs of pursuing enemies. She had a sneaking suspicion she had Vikta to thank for that.
Riot and her team came to a skidding stop in front of the Trilord walls. Riot removed her helmet as the gates to the city swung open. The warm night air hit her face. Whereas helmet’s heads-up display painted the darkness as bright as day made her eyes blink to give her pupils time to adjust.
The night on Hoydren was still warm, but a cool breeze touched her sweaty face and sent her short hair into a frenzy. Riot followed her unit into the city grounds, already barking orders to her team.
“Is everyone okay?” Riot looked from one face to the next. A series of nods returned her question. Not only were these the toughest men and women she had ever served with, but the addition of the nanites also made them that much harder to seriously injure.
“We’re good to go,” Wang said from his spot next to Rizzo. “Where do you want us?”
Riot was about to start going over the plan, when Colonel Harlan appeared with a force of heavily armored Marines behind him. “Glad to see you all back in one piece. General Armon and Admiral Tricon are taking the fight to the sky. I’ll be coordinating our defense on the ground. I’d like Killa and her Trilords to defend the south wall facing the jungle, and you, Riot, to defend the east gate.”
They both knew what he was asking without having to voice their thoughts. The south wall would be the first area to receive enemy contact, sure, but the real fight would be for the main entrance to the city—the east gate.
“Done.” Riot looked to the colonel through the darkness. Torches set into the walls near the gates sent shadows playing across his face. “We’ll hold the gates.”
“I know you will,” Colonel Harlan said with a nod. “Admiral Tricon is leaving us his mechs for the defense. They’ll be air-dropping in soon. You’ll also have a division of Grovothe shock troops at your command. I have Killa’s Trilords placed across the wall with her and the Marines, but if you need additional help, let me know, and I’ll re-route a reinforcement class to your position. We’ll use Ketrick and his dragons as a roving support band where the fighting is the worst.”
“Understood,” Riot said, thinking back to how difficult it had been to take down a single Abomination soldier. “Colonel Harlan.”
“Yes, Riot?” the colonel asked.
“Tell everyone we’ll need to only use the weapons capable of making the biggest booms in this fight. Small arms fire and blaster rounds just glance off these new soldiers.”
Colonel caught the intensity in Riot’s eye. “We’ll roll out the big guns. What were you thinking: mines, grenades, mortars, rockets?”
“All of them,” Riot said, and nodded along with each item on the colonel’s list. “We’ll need them all.”
95
It was Riot’s show now. She was in charge of her crew, along with the squad of mechs and the Grovothe division of shock troops. Luckily for her, the commander in charge of the Grovothe shock troops assigned to the wall was an old friend. Brimley, the pilot that had once been in Rippa’s mech unit during the fight against the Zenoth, was now geared up to fight on foot.
“No armored unit to lead into battle this time around?” Riot asked Brimley as the two shook hands. “I thought you’d be in a mech the next time I saw you.”
“Oh, I’m still planning to fight the battle from the inside of a mech, but I’m going to position the shock troops first and act as a stationary Fortress class mech inside the wall,” Brimley said, releasing Riot’s hand. “You look confused.”
“I am,” Riot admitted. “What’s a Fortress class mech?”
“You’ll see,” Brimley said with a wink. “They should be dropping the mech suits any time now. Until then, let me know where you want the shock troops, and I’ll place them as needed.”
“Right,” Riot said, and as she was about to dole out orders, Wang and Rizzo came up to her, carrying boxes of anti-personal mines. She shifted to direct them before answering Brimley’s question.
Rizzo pretended to trip, and he careened into Wang. Rizzo pushed the Marine who was carrying his own crate of anti-personal mines as if with a single sneeze they would go off.
“Stop it! What are you doing?” Wang said as his face transitioned from a look of concentration to utter terror. “Not funny. Not funny at all, man. We could detonate these things with one wrong move.”
Rizzo rolled his eyes. The two Marines continued their approach to Riot. Wang’s hands slightly trembling, while Rizzo carried the crate like a pizza box.
“Good,” Riot said to her Marines. “Get Evonne, Vet, and Doctor Miller to help you place them. Hurry, we don’t know how much time we have left. And put them far enough away from the wall so none of the mechs will accidentally step on one.”
Wang and Rizzo hurried through the open gates to obey.
“Sorry about that,” Riot said as she turned back to address Brimley’s question. “We’ll need the Grovothe shock troops on the wall over the gate with whatever weapons they have that pack the biggest punch. I’ll be up there with them, with the rest of my team.”
“Understood,” Brimley said, and with a tight salute, she ran toward the rest of the shock troops, explaining their positions and the orders Riot had given.
“Vikta says the main Karnayer force is twenty minutes from arriving at the south wall.” Ketrick approached Riot as she made for the top of the wall. “I should stay here with you. I should be defending the wall with you.”
“We both know your ability is needed to communicate with the dragons and lead them into the battle.” Riot had said the words like she was convincing herself he couldn’t be with her. “You just do your dragon thing and keep these Abominations off the wall.”
“I’ll be close, if you need me, Sorceress,” Ketrick said, giving her one of his signature winks before leaving Riot to her next task.
Riot forced her feet to ca
rry her upward until she came to the top of the wall, where the Grovothe shock troops were already preparing their defensive stations. Tripods were being erected to house massive armaments that looked like Gattling guns. Rocket launchers and stores of ammunition were being set up, along with crates of grenades.
This was going to be a very different fight from the previous one. The initial fight had been an aviation conflict, with the Karnayers swooping down on a near-defenseless city. Now, with Admiral Tricon and General Armon in the air, with Ketrick’s dragons as a backup plan, they would be more than a match for the Karnayer destroyers.
This fight would depend solely on if they would be able to stop the Abomination army or not. A thought that disturbed Riot to no end was the fact that the Abomination soldiers wouldn’t go down. Even with Vikta’s intense flames, had they actually caught on fire? The organic matter on their bodies melted from the heat, but did the metal portion of their bodies go down at all?
Riot couldn’t remember.
“Riot, I’m checking in over the comps to make sure we are linked and can speak to one another over the distance of the city,” Killa’s said in Riot’s ear. “These comps are truly amazing.”
“Comms, Killa, comms,” Riot said over the comm. “Yes, I can hear you, loud and clear.”
“Amazing,” Killa said again. “Commander Killa of the Trilord Savage army, over and out.”
“Killa, you really gotta keep chatter on the comms to a minimum,” Riot said, shaking her head as she looked out over the wall into the darkness. “I get that you’re excited, but you can just say ‘over’ or not say anything, and that would be fine, as well.”
“Oh, right. Over,” Killa said again.
“Is Queen Revna in the capitol building?” Riot asked, braving another verbal download from Killa. “I haven’t seen her.”
“She is, for the time being. However, it’s not in her nature to stay safe while others risk their lives for the city,” Killa answered. “She’ll be out soon.”
Riot nodded along with Killa’s words. More respect for Ketrick’s mother grew deep inside of her. She had no doubt the queen would be out giving encouragement and even helping where she could when the fighting started. She was that kind of leader.
Riot took another second to look over the section of the wall she was in charge of guarding. The jungle opened up to her right. Directly in front of her, a wide dirt path led from the city as far as the eye could see. Below her, thick double doors made of wood and laced with iron gave entrance into the city. Whether the wall had been raised or not, she couldn’t remember, but at her section of the city, it rose three stories into the air. At that moment, it didn’t seem high enough.
Aircrafts coming in sounded in the night sky.
Riot braced herself.
“Archangel transports approaching with the mechs and supplies,” Rippa said over the comms. “Look at those beauties.”
Riot squinted through the dark to see a long, thick ship come in. It was an exact replica of the one that had given them transport to the Zenoth home planet of Raydon when they had made their attack on the Zenoth hives.
A door opened from the bottom of the Archangel transport. The craft lowered closer to the ground, now only a few stories over the wall. Three bulky forms dropped from the ship, one touching down just inside the gate, while two others dropped to the ground outside of the wall.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
A cheer went up from the Grovothe as they witnessed their war machines enter the battlefield. All along the south wall, similar instances were taking place as pilots manning Archangel transports dropped mechs onto the ground.
“Heard you could use some support,” Atlas’s gruff, no-nonsense voice sounded over the comms.
Atlas was the third member in Rippa’s original party. The fourth, Ragnar, had died on the assault on the Zenoth.
“Good to hear from you, Atlas,” Rippa said with genuine joy in her voice. “Let’s gear up.”
Riot watched as Grovothe pilots jumped out of Rippa’s and Brimley’s mech suits to allow the pilots their cockpits. Rippa’s and Atlas’s mechs outside of the wall were similar to the ones Riot had been accustomed to seeing—twenty-foot armored tanks with arms and legs that looked like giant robots ready for war.
Each of their suits was equipped with a rail gun on top of their forearms. A laser beam could be shot from the helmet. A flamethrower and claws could be extended from their hands.
These intimidating figures were known as Juggernaut class mechs. In their own right, they were brutal machines used to deal death and destruction out on the battlefield. The mech that dropped just inside the wall of the Trilord city was something else entirely.
The Fortress class mech was anchored in a wide base with what looked like tank treads on the bottom. It was as tall as the Juggernaut class mechs, but the upper body portion was heavy. No arms extended from the machine, just two massive square rocket housings, and below that, two Gatling-type guns.
It was clear to Riot that the Fortress class mech was made for one thing: destruction. Brimley climbed in, strapping herself in the center of the machine where a cockpit closed to protect her. She maneuvered the machine slowly to an overwatch position just above the wall.
“Atlas and I will keep anything from reaching the gates,” Rippa said into the comms as if asking Riot for permission. “Brimley can assume an overwatch position in the Fortress mech, if that’s okay with you, Riot?”
“Sounds good.” Riot looked over the wall to where her Marines were placing the mines a hundred yards from the city walls. “Rippa, Atlas, mark the spots on your heads-ups displays where the mines are being laid. The last thing we need is you two going too far out and blowing a mine.”
“Copy that,” the two Grovothe pilots said in unison.
“Hey, what do you have there?” Riot looked over to a Grovothe shock trooper who was opening up a case of weapons that looked like a grenade launcher with three barrels at the end.
“It’s a Buster300.” The Grovothe looked at Riot with admiration in his heart. “Want to try one?”
“Buster300?” Riot said, accepting the weapon. “Hell yeah, I want to try it. You had me at ‘Bust.’ It’ll make a good primary weapon to the warhammer on my back.”
“Oh, you bet.” The young Grovothe seemed eager to talk. He started rattling off the weapon’s specs, something about clip size and firepower. Riot’s attention drifted to a noise she caught on the breeze.
She tilted her head, trying to get a better angle to catch the sound.
“The Buster300 just came out of—”
Riot pressed her right extended pointer finger into the Grovothe’s lips to quiet him. The Grovothe shock trooper took the hint and silenced with Riot’s finger still on his mouth. His eyes were wide as he, too, picked up on the noise.
A dull hum wafted from the jungle, the smell of rotting corpses on the breeze.
96
It’s go-time,” Riot said to the Grovothe in front of her, finally taking her finger off the shock trooper’s lips. “Send the word down the line. No one fires until I tell them we’re ready.”
The Grovothe nodded violently before taking off at a run.
The chill that ran down Riot’s spine was one of anxious anticipation. She placed her black-and-red helmet on her head. Her heads-up display once again made her view as clear as day.
“Everybody back inside the gates now,” Riot said over the comms. “We’re about to have company.”
“Roger that,” Vet responded through his own helmet.
“Riot, this is Killa,” Killa said over her own comm. “We’re getting a sound of something like humming from the south side. They’re here.”
“They’ll hit you first, and then swing around to us,” Riot said, watching her Marines, Doctor Miller, and Evonne sprint back to the gate. “Level them with your heavy weapons and let’s hope between that and the mechs we have enough firepower to take them down.”
Riot looked to the
right and to the left of the wall. From either side, a dozen Grovothe shock troops looked at her for direction. Riot could hear her own unit closing the city gates below her and locking them in place.
Riot wasn’t the best at giving motivational speeches, but right now, before all hell broke loose, she realized these soldiers needed a pep talk. Word had spread of what they were about to face. The Abominations were something none of these soldiers wanted to go up against. Regardless, they were here, ready to die if need be.
The hum was now loud enough that every set of ears was picking up on the noise. Left unchecked, the warriors who had not yet encountered the Abomination horde were powerless to stop their imaginations from wandering, and fear grow within their hearts.
Riot realized she had to say something. If not for her, then for them. Fear was a cancer that, if left unchecked, would bring the greatest warrior to their knees.
“Listen up!” Riot shouted as she began walking up and down the wall. “I don’t care if you’re human, Grovothe, Trilord, or some weird alien mix of all three. Today, we’re in this together. We’re in this because there are planets left in the universe who refuse to die alone. There are those of us who see the value of lifting each other up and standing as one. Today, that’s us. In one voice, we tell the Karnayers that they’ve picked the wrong planets to mess with. Today, we are telling the Karnayers it is not our end, but theirs. Today, we rise up and make them rethink ever showing their faces in our part of the universe again!”
A cheer erupted from those inside the city, a cheer too loud to have just been her own section on the wall. Too late Riot realized Killa had broadcasted her message to every soldier in the city.
“Oohrah!” the Marines shouted.
“Kill, kill, kill!” the Trilords roared.
War Wolves: Boxset 1-3 Page 49