War of the Exiles

by Michael G. Thomas

  "How far down are we going?"

  Spartan shrugged and wondered if he should have done a little more research on what lay below the surface. He'd spent most of the time checking the routes through the hills, examining the air defences and the strong points of the walls. Of the limited time he'd had available to spend on the rest, very little had made it past fifty metres below the surface.

  "As far down as it goes, I suspect. These tunnels were dug a long time ago, and the Byotai were forced to dig deeper as the deposits become harder to find. You saw the air attack. It's clear the Byotai lack any kind of serious air cover. They are totally reliant upon short-range air defences, and that leaves them vulnerable to attack from above. I suspect they are using the lowest levels for their command centre, not that they've told us anything of the sort."

  Khan chuckled at the last part, and then looked back at the flashing lights as they continued onwards. The others wouldn't know what was the cause of his humour, but Spartan knew.

  He's not wrong. I have to admit, the idea of a command centre seems more than a little optimistic. They are not warriors, no matter how hard they try and pretend otherwise.

  "Everything okay?" Kanjana asked.

  Spartan nodded politely, saying nothing in front of the others. Neither he nor Khan were particularly impressed with what they'd seen so far, but there was no point in revealing that, or anything else until they'd spoken with the Byotai leadership. Several dull thuds served as an important reminder that those on the surface were still mopping up, and that, more than anything else truly annoyed Spartan.

  How they made it this far I will never know.

  Spartan turned his mind back to his first visit here, when he'd led a team from the IAB to help rescue the General after the partial failure of the supply mission. Only a portion of the weapons had made it to the Byotai, but those that had were clearly doing a critical job. Since then, they had made three more drops, and the majority of the stockpiles based here and at Caldos.

  Without our missiles, they would have been overrun months ago. And now that fool Kras has let their forward base of operations fall without a fight.

  Spartan had intended on using Caldos as a thorn in the side of the Anicinàbe. Its nearby proximity to the capital Montu, and its strong defences would make it the perfect place from which to threaten the Anicinàbe. Just by holding it, they would be able to make themselves a nuisance. Through reckless stupidity, Kras had stripped the garrison of its resources and led them to their deaths. Kanjana leaned in close and lifted her hand to show him her personal secpad. She spoke quietly, little more than a whisper.

  "The transports are moving away to join up with General Makos. The buoys have started to transmit though, and they've just sent us a new aerial scan of the Khagi district. It's just as you and Captain Delatorre suspected, maybe worse."

  Spartan looked at the imagery and shook his head. He'd expected to see the shots of the temporary aircraft shelters and the prefabricated troop barracks. What he had not expected were the hundreds of ground vehicles positioned well away from the primary base. All around them were weapon platforms pointing up high to the sky. Above them were the circling forms of scores of aircraft.

  "Yeah, that's what I thought. No wonder Kras failed to get near the place. And look at the numbers. She's been getting ready for this moment. "

  He squinted as he looked at the odd shapes in the ground around the capital. It took a moment until finally he understood what he was seeing.

  "Incredible. Nakoma must have found out we were coming and has made preparations. Those are barricades and trench works."

  He moved the imagery to the large spaceport and watched hundreds of units performing combat drills out in the open. Some used a firing range; others practised marching drill or assault courses.

  If we'd dropped around Montu, it would have been a massacre. We're outnumbered at least ten to one in Khagi, maybe closer to twenty to one.

  Spartan moved his view back into the capital, where huge open spaces were hidden from view by temporary covers and roofs. Even so, he could make out the tracks around the shelters, and there were still ground vehicles out in the open. Then he spotted large numbers of creatures in pens. These were not beasts of burden, but the mounts like those used by the Red Scars earlier that year.

  "These scans show signs of well over four hundred ground vehicles, and I recognise some from the Byotai. They probably took them from the forces of Kras. There's over a hundred assorted aircraft and..."

  He looked to Kanjana and found her seemingly equally concerned, and then moved to Khan where she showed him the same. Khan had already received the information and was busily examining it as they travelled on what seemed like a never-ending journey underground. He looked to Spartan and lifted his eyebrows.

  "She knew we were coming. Only she didn't know we were coming here first."

  Spartan seemed to agree.

  "Yeah. You think she expects an attack?"

  Khan shook his head.

  "Not now. She knows where we are and that the defences are damaged. The Zuni and Kolchan clans are only three days from here, and in strong position along the Qatar depression, three hundred klicks to the South. There's only one thing I'd do in her position."

  Spartan closed his eyes and shook his head ever so slightly.

  Combine her forces with those of the Zuni and Kolchan clans, and attack us while we're unprepared. She'd be a fool not to.

  There was no need to say it; both had already come to the same conclusion. All thoughts of a mobile campaign to reclaim the lost settlements, or even an offensive against Montu, vanished in an instant. Spartan turned his thoughts back to the defences.

  They will hit us hard and hit us fast. We have to be ready.

  The fortified wall and defences were large and impressive, yet less than two hundred raiders had very nearly seized the place from under the noses of the Byotai. No matter how unimpressed Spartan was; Khan was even more irritated by it all. A lot of his kin had signed up to help in the conflict, and though the rewards were certainly an incentive, until now they had also shared something close to respect for each other.

  If we hadn't been here, the Red Scars could have taken the wall unopposed.

  The more Khan thought about their situation, the angrier he became. All made much worse after so many had already suffered in the conflict. Kras' handling on Montu had broken that bond, and little at this site seemed to be changing Khan's opinion. He tilted his head to the left so that one eye looked to Spartan.

  "If they want to survive another month, there are going to be some changes around here."

  Spartan seemed to agree but refused to say anything just yet, especially with such a mixed group around them. Morale was a fragile thing, and now there were multiple competing groups in an area previously only occupied by settlers.

  Yeah, we need changes. And some of them they are not gonna like.

  Spartan looked over to the others, examining each of them with the care he would give an enemy, prior to initiating battle. There was Syala and Kanjana with him, as well as Khan, plus a dozen Byotai militia; each doing their best to look gruff and dangerous. He'd left Arana and Olik on the surface to manage the logistics of housing such a vast number of new people. There was also the task of unloading the two smaller logistical transports waiting near the wall. Dozens of smaller vehicles were busy dragging out everything from food, water, and clothing to military surplus equipment from the Biomech War.

  Look at them, there is a deep-rooted fear out here.

  Spartan concentrated on the nearest Byotai, a tall female with layered clothing that looked quilted. There were plates of metal attached via straps to the shoulders and upper legs. For an urban street brawl it might have been useful, but he knew only too well what this kind of armour would do in a stand up fight with modern weapons.

  Nothing! That will do absolutely nothing.

  He looked at her face, and the bony ridge that ran down from the fo
rehead and to the elongated nose. She reminded him a little of the Pogona species of lizard, with smooth, yet tough skin running down to a wide mouth and a horned cranial region. The horn sections were tiny, with few longer than a centimetre in length, yet the result was an alien species so very different to that of any other he'd met. Even the Helions and T'Kari simply looked like thin, lithe version of Humans, and the Anicinàbe could have been the weaker, alabaster white cousins of the Helions.

  Her eyes! Look at them!

  Spartan could see exhaustion in her face, something not even the best warrior could disguise. There was something more, though. She was nervous, and her gaze shifted ever so slightly to keep an eye on both him, and of Khan. To Spartan's surprise, her greatest concern appeared to be concentrated directly at the one person least expected to cause trouble.

  Tenskwatawa?

  At this distance, Spartan could look upon the sacred leader of the Exiles more clearly. They had spoken before on several occasions, but only since they'd landed on Karnak had he been even a little animated. Spartan had even exhibited his doubts he would be suited to represent the movement, but now it was obvious there was nobody better suited. There was much he shared with the Byotai female, but the softening of his features was the first indication he was far from being a pure-blood Byotai.

  Tenskwatawa looked to him and then nodded at the doors.

  "You should close your eyes before we arrive."

  There was almost no accent, but Spartan nodded politely and ignored the suggestion. As the elevator began to slow, he turned to one of his guards, and for a second his eyes met with those of the female Byotai. He said a few words in his own tongue, and she took a step back.

  What was that?

  Kanjana watched the two of them as the platform came to a halt, and the mesh-covered doorway slid open to one side. At first it was impossible to see. The space underground was gently lit with yellow lights, and the Byotai stepped out into the dark open space. Spartan paused for a moment, giving his eyes a chance to adjust. Khan moved out and looked back to his comrade.

  "See, he's not completely without use."

  Kanjana indicated for them to follow her and said something to Khan that he quickly laughed off. Spartan was now out and moving through the darkness and towards a pair of thick, carved pillars. There were patterns cut into the rock, but they seemed to show nothing of note, just simple geometric shapes.

  They are hardly the greatest artists, are they?

  The group moved past the columns and into a hangar shaped room with a low ceiling and banks of vertical displays. In the centre was a raised circular platform that housed more than a dozen Byotai. Several spoke, and then all but two moved to the group of new arrivals. At the head was the tired looking figure of a Byotai Elder. He stopped, lowered his head, and spoke in Byotai. Kanjana tilted her head so Spartan could hear her speak.

  "Governor Nak Sekieki."

  Spartan barely moved as he answered her.

  "I know. He's the commander of the entire site."

  The Byotai leader heard them talking and looked past Tenskwatawa.

  "Major Spartan, of the Alliance. You do us all a great honour. We were told to expect your arrival. I was not expecting to see so many..."

  He looked to one of his bodyguards and exchanged words before looking back. His tone sounded dry and a little off to Spartan.

  "So many distinguished guests."

  His tongue flicked out, moved along his mouth, and then back inside before he spoke again. This time he indicated for Kanjana to approach so that she could translate as he said his words.

  "General Makos promised me you would be arriving with mercenaries from across the many known worlds. We had expected Alliance soldiers, warriors from Khreenk, and perhaps even a few Helion soldiers. But not this..."

  He looked back at Tenskwatawa and extended his right arm towards his guest. Only then did Spartan realise quite how confrontational this meeting had become. His instinct was to reach for his own sidearm, but he fought it off, knowing any violence down here would destroy the chance of success on Karnak. A quick glance at Kanjana showed he was right. He needed to stay calm. Clearly the half-blood Byotai was an issue, but he suspected the real problem was that five thousand new soldiers had arrived at the complex, along with a host of mercenaries. The total population of the region had just increased from a mere thirty thousand, to well over forty-five thousand.

  There's more than just a settlement at stake here, remember that.

  Governor Nak Sekieki walked past the rest of the group, sniffed at Khan, and stopped directly in front of Spartan. Kanjana walked silently alongside, waiting for him to begin again.

  "Of all the crimes perpetrated by the border clans of the Anicinàbe, the worst was their infiltration of the half-bloods out here, in the Tenth Quadrant. When the first Anicinàbe arrived, Tenskwatawa and his kin welcomed them. The first of the betrayers."

  One of Tenskwatawa's bodyguards took a step towards the Governor, and in that very moment a deadly battle might have erupted if it hadn't been for Khan.

  "Enough! Let him finish!"

  None of them needed Kanjana to translate this time, and after a short pause, the Governor continued.

  "This creature was one of the clans that worked with the Anicinàbe...he is a collaborator, all of them are."

  Tenskwatawa watched with interest but still said nothing. Governor Nak Sekieki took it as an opportunity to continue his diatribe.

  "Tenskwatawa is an affront to every settler on Karnak. Those that live know only too well of the betrayal of the half-bloods that he led a generation ago."

  Spartan waited until the Governor completed his speech, and then ran his finger along his chin. Khan already knew his friend had reached his limit, but other than him, none of the others appeared to have realised it. Spartan stepped away from the group and moved directly in front of the Governor.

  "Well...that is just great, isn't it?"

  The Byotai leader looked to Spartan while Kanjana translated. As she reached the last word, his face changed shape, and he opened his mouth to respond with some form of retort. Spartan remained silent and turned his eyes to the banks of screens. Most of the images showed overhead views of the region, and one the interior of a starship, presumably a direct connection to one of the Byotai warships.

  "I take it you've seen the latest reconnaissance imagery from Montu?"

  Governor Nak Sekieki hissed through his teeth back at Spartan.

  "We brought you here to assist us, not to take control."

  Khan snarled.

  "Control? Your defence is a disgrace, Governor."

  He almost spat out the last words while Spartan moved back and took up the centre of the room.

  "Nakoma knows your defences are shattered and that you have reinforcements on the ground. She's been building up forces for her counter-offensive and now she's ready. Nakoma is going to attack, and soon. And when Melantias is gone, Karnak will be lost."

  Governor Nak Sekieki lifted his arm, and Spartan batted it back down, to the horror of the other Byotai.

  "No, you will let me finish...or by the Gods, I'll let Nakoma and her savages finish you herself. Understood?"

  Governor Nak Sekieki sniffed the air and clearly wanted to say something. Khan made a low growl sound, and either that or a measure of self-control encouraged the Governor to hold back. Spartan gave him a subtle nod of acknowledgement, pleased that he was not entirely without merit. The Byotai swallowed uncomfortably rather than speaking and signalled for Spartan to speak.

  "Good," said Spartan, "They have a distance of three thousand kilometres to travel, and they do not have the numbers to bring all of their forces in one go. We need to get ready."

  One of the Byotai senior officers spoke with the Governor and then looked to Spartan. He spoke in his own tongue, and again Kanjana translated. Khan grumbled once more.

  "I thought we were the savages. At least we've adopted translators, even if they're not
always particularly great."

  Spartan gave a muted, barely noticeable chuckle.

  "True. But out here they are trying to manage with the minimum of tech. Translators require equipment and support. I suspect they'd rather have clothing, food, and fuel."

  Kanjana spoke firmly, pausing when she found it difficult to make out the thick Byotai accent.

  "I am Tarnas, commander of Governor Nak Sekieki’s personal guard. What do you intend on getting ready for? We have a number of ground vehicles ready, but some were damaged in..."

  Spartan shook his head and cut Kanjana off before she could continue.

  "Nakoma may be three thousand kilometres from here, but I can promise you. She is coming here, and the first attack will be today."

  Spartan stepped closer to Tarnas and could see the creature was confused. Governor Nak Sekieki spoke to him and then turned back to Spartan.

  "By air they can be here in just over eight hours, but they will need to refuel to make the trip home. If what you say is true, and based on previous experience, I would give us ten hours before the first wave arrives."

  Both Spartan and Khan appeared satisfied with this.

  "Good," said Spartan, "Now, tell me about your defences."

  The Byotai walked over to one of the banks of screens and proceeded to point out the various key components of the defences. He seemed very proud, but the warriors from the Alliance could see Melantius was no fortress; contrary to what the press were saying back home, or even the Byotai that lived on Karnak. At no point in the past had the facility been intended as a military installation. In the early days of Byotai settlement over three hundred years earlier, the pit had been dug deep into the rock, but only ever as an industrial plant. Melantius itself was only one third of the Byotai territory in the Stone Teeth Hills. The only reason it was given anything resembling a military title was due to the wall and air defences installed on the high ground behind the walls.