He rushed towards them firing into the face of the nearest and grabbed hold of the muzzle of the rifle of the second. He pulled it aside, just as the soldier pulled the trigger, and fully automatic fire peppered the wall of the room. Corwin smashed the barrel of his pistol into the man's face, grasped him by the throat, and launched him across the room. His superhuman strength propelled the man five metres, and he smashed into the wall above the fireplace, tumbling back to the floor in a stunned state. Before he could recover, Vi fired a shot into his face as she leapt out from the basement.
Another soldier rushed into the room, but before he could lift his rifle, Corwin drove a kick into the centre of his chest armour and launched him through the bay window. The glass shattered as he cannoned through it and tumbled into the open top staff car parked outside, much to the shock and amazement of those rushing to the entrance of the house. Then Corwin noticed the gunner on the top of the truck swivel the weapon around to take aim.
"Down!" he yelled.
He jumped for cover; the gun opened up like a jackhammer. Even as he was flying through the air, the glass of the window was hitting the side of his face. He could do nothing but hunker down on the floor as the deafening weapon tore the room apart. Lecia leaned out from the window of the highest room in the house and quickly took aim at the gunner. She squeezed the trigger, and the shot hit the man's helmet. It passed right through and exited at his jaw to kill him instantly. A hail of gunfire was turned her way, and she leapt nimbly back from the shots peppering the window frame.
“Is there a way out from the cellar to the outside?” Corwin shouted across to Bossan.
He nodded and pointed, but before he said a word, they heard the sound of one of their rifles rattle off outside. Corwin got up and looked through the shattered window. Rane and Porter had already made it through and were firing on fill auto. A grenade was tossed though the window, and he saw it just in time. He jumped and caught it before it could land, tossing it back out with such lightning speed and reactions that Bossan couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Rane’s clip ran empty, and instead of reloading, he too made a running leap and landed on top of the truck beside where the gunner’s body lay slumped over the cabin roof. The suspension rocked from his huge weight landing and almost caused it to go up on two wheels. He picked up the dead body with one hand, threw him out of the cab, and then took up the machine gun. The heavy and long barrelled weapon looked tiny in his hands, but he took aim and pulled the trigger.
Six of the German soldiers were struck down as if by firing squads, their bodies riddled with fire from the weapon and driven up against the side of the house. Finally, the belt of ammunition ran dry, but that wouldn’t stop Rane. He jumped from the truck and cleared several metres. He hit the ground running at one of the soldiers who was panicking and firing randomly. Two of the shots hit Rane’s body armour, while another passed through his left tricep. He brushed it off and rushed at the man, striking him like a truck.
The soldier was launched into the air and hit the side of the house so hard several bricks were dislodged. He was immediately incapacitated and dropped limply to the ground. He turned to see another of the German soldiers about to fire at him point blank, but Frasi seemed to descend out of nowhere and land on top of the soldier. In one quick and precise action he slit his throat with a tiny, but razor sharp blade. The soldier collapsed with Frasi still on his back.
Corwin picked up the nearest rifle from one of their fallen adversaries and rushed into the hallway as five soldiers were making their way inside. He fired a burst into the legs of the first and the face of the second, before ducking back into the room he had come from.
He was about to return fire when Chas passed him at speed. She went into a dive through the entrance and below the gunfire. She looked so peaceful, focused, and precise that it was more like a dance than a fight. She rolled across the floor and rose up in front of the three remaining soldiers. She held a pistol in each hand and placed one each against two of the soldiers’ kneecaps and fired. Both dropped to the ground screaming in agony.
She brought both pistols together, fired two shots with each into the third soldier’s face, then stood up and double tapped the two wounded in the head also. She looked back to Corwin as if expecting some kind of praise. She looked both happy with her own work, and high on some kind of drug. He was never sure if she was crazier and sicker than Porter.
“Feels just like home,” she finally said with a wicked smile.
“You’re fucked up, you know that?” Nylund asked and strode out into the corridor.
“Where the fuck were you?” asked Corwin.
“Covering the side entrance,” he replied quickly.
“Enough of the jealousy, boys,” replied Chas, “We can’t all be masters of our art.”
Corwin shook his head. She seemed so far out of touch with reality it was almost funny. As it happens, he’d live with her craziness because it came with exceptional ability. A final few gunshots rang out from outside, and then all was quiet. There were no screams of the wounded. His team was not trained to take prisoners or leave survivors. Some enjoyed that part of the job more than others. Corwin looked around as Bossan stepped into the hallway open mouthed. But Corwin knew it wasn’t the sight of blood or death that was bothering him so much.
“Who are you people?”
He was silenced, and none of them had a simple way of explaining it. Beyett stepped into view.
“All you need to know is that we are here to help.”
“That is what the Germans keep telling us, and you can see the extent of their help.”
Corwin didn’t know what to do or say, but Bossan seemed to calm down all by himself as he reflected on all that had happened.
“You did that for me? You could just as well have stayed hidden and let them kill me?”
Corwin shrugged.
“Why? You don’t even know me.”
“Why did you take us in? Why did you help any of us?”
It was a deeply warming thought to Bossan, and he began to accept they were not the enemy.
“I am sorry I cannot be any clearer,” Corwin said, “All I can tell you is that we are on a mission of the utmost of importance. A mission far greater than you may even begin to imagine or understand. A lot more than your freedom is at stake, and beyond that, I must ask you take my word.”
Beyett was shocked and surprised at Corwin’s empathy and ability to defuse the situation so well. He had no idea where that had come from.
“Tell me how I can help?” Bossan asked enthusiastically.
“You have done more than enough already,” replied Beyett, “Find somewhere safe to ride this out.”
But he shook his head.
“No need. The Allies will be here tonight. It will be chaos. This will be no problem.”
Beyett looked confused. He could not think what could be happening in France in 1943.
“This town, what’s it called?”
“Dieppe.”
Beyett’s face was gaunt with a look of horror.
“They’re trying again?”
“Again? We’ve not known Allied soldiers on our soil since the disaster at Dunkerque.”
“What is it?”
Beyett shook his head and would not answer Corwin.
“You must go quickly. There will surely be more soldiers along shortly. I will stay out of sight until the night, but you must go,” said Bossan.
Corwin was not at all certain what they should do, but he knew Bossan was right.
“Everyone grab your gear. We’re leaving!” he bellowed.
He offered out his hand to Bossan to thank him, before turning and leaving over the line of bodies.
“You’re a good man. Stay safe,” he replied as he headed out the door.
“Round up any weapons and ammunition you can. We’re gonna need them,” he said, picking up one of the assault rifles and six magazines from two of the bodies.
&n
bsp; “Pretty sure these shouldn’t even exist yet,” said Beyett as he did the same.
“Changes of events. Equipment ahead of its time, what are you telling me?”
“That the only explanation for this is someone having changed time.”
“But how? Villiers only just arrived.”
“So you think, but you don’t know that.”
Corwin shook his head in disbelief, beginning to consider the prospect Beyett was proposing. He didn’t want to think about it for now; they had enough problems just surviving.
It was a beautifully sunny day with perfect visibility, but fortunately they didn’t have far to go. Corwin led them back to the track where they first found the house and carried on to the wood.
“1943? What a fucking joke!”
“Hey, Porter, what did you have to live for in our time?” Nylund asked.
“Yeah, you can enjoy killing in this time just as easily,” added Vi.
Porter smiled in response, for he knew it to be true. They carried on for a mile into the wood, deep enough in that they were well concealed when Corwin called them to a halt. He took a seat on a fallen tree as they gathered around him.
“So what’s the deal here, Boss?” Vi asked.
“Not quick on the take up, are you, bitch?”
“Hey, fuck you, Porter, it’s not like you have all the answers.”
“Enough!” Corwin shouted, “Only one thing seems certain right now, and that is we are in deep shit. So let’s not build on the stack of shit that is already resting on us, okay? Let’s put our heads together and try and work this out.”
“You’re the boss. It’s your call,” Nylund said in a rather unhelpful fashion.
Corwin wanted to put him down for the comment, knowing he was both a hypocrite and an asshole, but he knew it wouldn’t be productive.
“I run operations planned on a large scale by hundreds of far smarter people than any of us. I’m a squad leader, not a goddamn shot caller. So yes, I’m still in charge here, but a little input would be nice. Beyett, you know more about this age than any of us, and you’re the smartest. I’m gonna rely very heavily on you in the coming days and weeks, if we make it that far. Of all of us, Beyett is the number one most important member of this team, so you protect him at all costs, you got it?”
Most of them nodded in agreement.
“Beyett, you clearly have a lot more to say about all this, so start talking.”
Beyett took in a deep breath as he thought it all over and tried to put it into words that would make sense to them all.
“It’s 1943, but not as I learnt of it. Someone has changed this time line. We interfered with the time machine when it was in operation. Clearly, we weren’t supposed to arrive in this time. Those two things being the case, it begs the question, where did Villiers arrive? Or when, more specifically?”
“You’re saying Villiers got here ahead of us somehow?”
“That’s exactly what he’s saying, Vi,” added Harland, “Fucking with that machine really did us a lot of good.”
“I don’t think it matters at all,” Chas commented.
They were all surprised to hear her have any sensible input and waited for her to continue.
“Our job is to end Villiers, doesn’t matter in what country, in what time, or on what planet we do it.”
They were all dumbfounded. It was logical, even if it sounded crazy.
“But the next problem is this,” Beyett continued, “Every change that is made in this time has the potential to radically change everything in our own time. Or what was our time. It is the domino effect. Something as simple as a conversation with a local could make vast changes to all our futures. We shouldn’t even have encountered Bossan, let alone picked a fight with those soldiers.”
“I had no choice.”
“Of course you did, Corwin. We all did.”
“So what, we try and go through this time zone without affecting a single thing, while trying to reach Villiers?”
“As much as is humanly possible, yes.”
Corwin shook his head.
“Hasn’t it occurred to you that with all these changes, he’s probably more powerful than ever?”
“Maybe, but that is not a reason to not try.”
“So that is our plan?” asked Nylund.
“Seems reasonable. Same as it was before, just as Chas said. We’re here to kill Villiers. The circumstances may have changed drastically, but our mission is more important than ever."
They were all quiet, as they began to digest all that they were experiencing. Hunter broke the silence.
"So whose side we on here, Sarge?"
Corwin laughed. "Well we sure ain't no Nazis, but I am not certain we'll get an awfully warm welcome anywhere, right now."
"Villiers must have some sizeable influence and power to have made this much of an effect on the world, so he won't be easy to reach."
"No, but he also has no idea we are here," added Corwin, "He doesn't know we made it through or that we are coming for him. We must use that."
"But we need to find a way to blend in," replied Beyett.
"Bossan said the Allies are launching an offensive here tonight. We should be able to fit in with them just fine."
"Dressed like this and carrying enemy weapons?"
"I didn't say it was a perfect plan, Nylund, but I'm working on it."
The rest of them began to relax and sat down wherever they could, not as they they'd be staying put for some time. Corwin pulled out a ration bar from his webbing and noted there were only three more left; two days' supply in total. He tore open the packaging and bit off half of the ration in one, chewing down on it with a wince. They never tasted good, but it was sustenance at least.
"Any chance of getting our gear working?" asked Vi.
Beyett shook his head. "Everything's fried. But hang onto it, we may have use for it all yet."
"What, throw it at the enemy?"
Corwin smiled at Porter. They rested for half an hour and contemplated their situation. Beyett stepped over and sat down beside Corwin so they could talk more privately.
"You know that our chances of even surviving a few days in this war are slim?"
Corwin nodded.
"We've been through plenty and come out on top."
"I don't think you appreciate the seriousness of our situation. In fact, I am still struggling to understand it myself. You know this is the kind of theoretical situation I discussed as a student, but never believed could truly happen."
"Yeah, well, life's a bitch sometimes."
Beyett nodded.
"We're never going back, are we?"
Beyett shook his head. "If Villiers made a machine once, then maybe he could do it again, but who knows? Even if we could go back, it would already be a world we would not recognise. Everything has changed too much already."
Corwin said nothing.
"That doesn't bother you?"
Corwin shook his head and smiled as he looked around at the team.
"We've been at this so long this is all the family any of us really have. What does it matter what country or time we are in? This is home to us," he said, pointing at them.
Beyett seemed impressed.
"But tell me this. Seeing as we are now in a time long before any of us were born, can we somehow change events so that we ourselves were simply different, or never born at all?"
Beyett shook his head. "There have been many theories, but I have never been sure what to believe. Honestly, I never gave it a whole lot of thought. Of all the scenarios we could have found ourselves in, this is about the most unlikely I could have imagined."
"But what do you believe would happen?"
Beyett took a deep breath before answering. "I believe we have already been made as we are. If we could travel to some time in between now and our time, yes I'm sure we would find a very different us. But I think we are separated from that timeline now. We exist in this one as if we were born in
it. Or at least I hope that to be the case."
"And the alternative?"
"That Villiers could ensure none of us ever existed? Let's not consider that possibility, hey?"
"Nylund got up, strode up to Corwin and stopped before him, expecting some kind of acknowledgement, but Corwin didn't give it.
"Shouldn't we be doing something? We can't waste a whole day."
Corwin looked up at him but sighed. He didn't want to have to explain it but knew he had to.
"There’s plenty of hard work ahead for us, but we must be aware of the dangers that surround us. We must bide our time."
"While Villiers gets away?"
"He will not be within a hundred klicks of here," added Beyett.
"And that is a reason stop, lay down, and do nothing?"
"Nobody is doing nothing," snapped Corwin, "A whole army is right around the corner, and would be all too happy to blow holes in us. Let's not give them that opportunity."
"Army of normals. We are better than that."
"Individually, yes," replied Beyett.
"But you'd be a fool to think we can take on armies by ourselves," said Corwin.
Nylund sighed and turned around to address the rest of them.
"Is this what you want to do? Sit around and wait?"
No one replied.
"Well, I am not one for waiting."
"Sit down!" ordered Corwin.
But Nylund continued.
"The Sergeant may have got us into this mess, but if he's not willing or able to get us out, then maybe it's time someone else did."
"He's still the boss."
"No...he isn't, Vi. That life is gone. Our army, our support, our everything. It’s just us now, twelve idiots with no home, no side, no nothing. Our ranks, our history; none of it counts for shit. I say we get out there and start getting some intel and bust some heads."
Time War: Invasion Page 6