by Clark Graham
“I was only protecting myself.”
“You are to be commended, but I must ask you for your gun. You are not allowed to carry a weapon.”
Pethran smiled, “I know, here it is,” he said as he handed it over.
The man on the floor woke up to two blasters in his face. When they pulled him to his feet, Pethran said to him, “enjoy your reeducation classes.”
“He’s not going to reeducation right away; first he will go to a penal colony and then he will be reeducated,” the master said.
The tall man was expressionless as they walked him out. The wounded man was smiling however; he had seen Pethran stash the other two guns before the patrol got there. He wasn’t going to say a thing in hopes of one day coming and getting his gun back.
They marched the two supposed freedom fighters away. Pethran surveyed the damage. Most of the food had been dropped in the hasty retreat of the thugs. There was blood all over the kitchen from the wounded man. There were broken eggs and flour all over too. He sighed as he cleaned up. He no longer lived in a hospitable world. His only hope was that the war would end soon so he could get back to a peaceful life.
Chapter Nineteen
Andrenees Mountains
The plan that Revlov had put together was a thrust at a single point in the mountains that would cut the enemy army in half. He then would take one half at a time and decimate it. He would pound the area of attack for three days with artillery, then his planes would strafe it for two days. Then and only then would he send in the ground troops.
Big guns had been collected from all over the planet. A lot of them were captured pieces from the various armies. Those were not as good as the Empire’s guns, but he didn’t care. He was going to throw everything at them.
It was a thunderous roar when all of the cannons went off at once. The shells slammed into the mountains with the force of an earthquake. As soon as the guns were reloaded, they fired again. The constant shaking was felt for miles around. Big rocks off the mountainside tumbled down to the base.
Lieutenant Morrett wondered why he had rushed his men back when he was perfectly safe on the other side of the mountains. He looked down and could see some of the preparations for the attack. It looked like the attack was going to be aimed right at them.
He stood right next to one of the spotters who would give them a warning as soon as the attack started. Even the bravest of his men was having some doubts about the outcome especially after the defeat at the battle of the bunkers. This was like no enemy who had ever been faced before.
Most of the men were deep down inside the safety of the tunnels when the artillery barrage started. It was a massive flash on the horizon that had Morret yelling, “Take cover!” He himself ran down into the tunnels and out of the tunnel entrance just before the shells hit. All those spotters that didn’t make it were killed instantly.
As the pounding continued, he made his way deeper into the tunnel. Dust and rocks were falling out of the ceiling and the tunnel entrance had already been blasted away and covered in debris. Morrett made his way deeper and deeper to get away from the falling rocks.
When he reached the place where the army was, he was finally able to rest. The tunnel was not shaking as violently there.
“What is going on at the surface, Lieutenant? General Borist asked. He could feel the shaking of the ground beneath him.
“The tunnel entrance is gone. I suspect that all the entrances in the center of the mountains will be gone also. We will either have to dig ourselves out or find entrances to the side of us to get out.”
The general was puzzled as to why the enemy would destroy his point of attack. It was a strategy the general didn’t understand. “Get your men with picks and shovels. As soon as the artillery stops, I want that tunnel re-opened.”
The general then turned to his aide. “Get those men that have been issued blasters to this area. I want to fight the enemy on equal ground, and I want those heavy blasters to be ready to push out of the tunnels at a moment’s notice.”
“Yes, Sir ,” his aide said as he hurried away.
When the rumble of the artillery finally stopped after three days, Morrett’s men rushed forward and started digging out their tunnel entrance. Hal turned to Greten. “I wonder if they are going to be on top of us the moment we dig through?”
“It will take them a while to get up the mountain side, especially because they just blasted it away, but dig as fast as you can just in case.”
The airplanes swooped in, but they were finding nothing to shoot at. They would just fly in circles waiting for targets. After six hours Acting Commodore Revlov started fuming. “Pull them back; they are just wasting time up there. Send in the soldiers.”
The planes left and the soldiers started forward. Now instead of a steep slope they had a large ridge to scale from all of the debris from the mountainside that had been blasted away in the bombardment. It was all loose rock and hard to climb. Some injuries were occurring as some of the rocks were broken loose by the soldiers above were rolling down and hitting those below. When they got to the top of the ridge, the men paused to rest. Units were getting spread out as the stronger men made the top of the ridge faster and the slower ones were still climbing.
Revlov was in his airplane and growing impatient at the lack of progress.
Finally after several hours the army had cleared out most of the tunnel entrances. They had expected the enemy to be right on top of them as they emerged. They were nowhere to be found and neither were the enemy’s airships.
“Where are they?” Greten asked Hal. Everyone was sweaty and dirty from the pick and shovel work.
Hal looked around with his binoculars. “Look, they are down there on that ridge, but they are just sitting there.”
Men behind them were setting up one of the large blasters in the tunnel entrance behind them.
Morrett overheard Hal so he focused his binoculars on the pile of rocks just as general Borist came out of the tunnel.
“There, down there, Sir , just sitting there.” Morrett pointed the enemy out to the general.
“Those of you with blasters, I want your to hold you fire until the airships arrive. Rifles won’t bring them down. The rest of you, I want you to force the enemy off that ridge.”
Small arms fire erupted all along the mountainside. The men on the ridge ducked back over the side for cover. Those troops of the Empire who had made it past the ridge were out in the open between the ridge and the mountain. They were slaughtered by the high volume coming from the mountains. The comrades were helpless to do anything other than take cover.
Revlov watched from his plane high above the battle. His attack was already faltering. “Have the air force strafe the enemy,” he commanded. His attack was starting to waver.
The planes swooped down on the tunnel entrances, but this time they were met with blaster fire both small and large. Two planes started smoking immediately. One made it back to base and the other crashed into the front of the ridge. The other planes broke off their strafing runs. Many of them were hit and damaged.
“Tell them to get back there and fight!” Revlov was screaming at this point.
Those planes with damage returned to base. That left a half dozen planes circling around the mountainside. They would halfheartedly shoot down at the tunnel entrances from higher altitudes to get away from the ground fire.
“Send in the troops,” Revlov ordered. His men, however, were stuck on the ridge and not willing to go any further. The commanders tried to get the men to move, but they would not. They had already seen what happened to those who advanced beyond the ridge.
Suddenly the two regiments from Tricola, who were also on the ridge, on a secret signal, changed sides. They shot and killed their leaders and then turned their blasters on the other troops of the Empire. The troops of the Empire and either side of them took the brunt of the attack.
It was a bloody firefight at close range and men were dying in every directio
n.
When Revlov saw what was happening, he ordered the planes in for the attack. The pilots were more motivated to wipe out the traitorous Tricolians than they had been to strafe the hillside. Two more planes went down, but the rebellious regiments were devastated. The troops of the Empire rushed in to finish the job. No prisoners were taken.
The battle was over at that point. Revlov landed his plane and stomped off to his headquarters. The troops gathered the dead and wounded from the side of the ridge. They dared not go over the ridge to get the ones on the other side.
Greten and Hal opened up on the enemy on the ridge. As more tunnels were cleared, the firepower increased. Every once in a while an enemy plane would strafe their tunnel entrance, but their fire was inaccurate because the enemy ships were flying high in order to avoid the ground fire. On one of those strafing runs a green blast hit the rock face near Hal and he went down with rock fragments embedded in his arm and side.
Greten rushed over to him. “Are you hurt, Hal?”
He was grimacing in pain, but managed to get out,” I guess the battle’s over for me.”
A medic bound up Hal’s wounds and the stretcher bearers hauled him away. An angry Greten went back to the battle looking for targets, but there were none to be found.
Lieutenant Morett came up to him. “I still see blaster fire; what is going on?”
Greten looked down just as three planes strafed the backside of the ridge. “They are fighting themselves. Why would they do that?”
“I don’t know,” replied Morrett. He was very confused.
Chapter Twenty
Andrenees Mountains
When night fell, Morrett’s men, along with a large part of the army ventured out of the tunnels to pull in the dead and wounded of the enemy army. They also gathered all of the blasters that they could get their hands on. To everyone’s surprise, the enemy didn’t try and stop them. They had retreated from the ridge and were not willing to come back to the killing grounds.
After the duty was done, Greten went down to the hospital to check on Hal. The duty nurse stopped him. “He has just come out of surgery and is not awake yet. His arm was crushed, and they had to remove it. He is going to have a bad time of it.”
Greten nodded his head that he understood and went back down to his bunk. It had been a long horrible day and he was completely exhausted. The victory didn’t feel so wonderful when he considered all of the people he knew that had been killed or wounded. He even felt sorry for the enemy. Those who made it past the ridge had been slaughtered. It had been like shooting fish in a barrel.
Many had not died well. They had been in agonizing pain for hours before they succumbed to their wounds. Those of the enemy who were wounded and captured were just happy to be alive and out of the killing zone.
The generals were having a counsel of war. General Dermal was still having pain from his broken ribs. He had seen the doctor soon after he arrived in the mountains. The doctor had reset the ribs but that only increased the general’s pain. His mood was dour when General Borist and his staff entered.
“I am sorry I could not meet with you earlier, General, but I had a battle to prepare for.”
“I understand,” Dermal replied.
“What is it that you wanted to see me about?”
Dermal cleared his throat, but even that caused a tinge of pain in his ribs. “We have to send soldiers out in support of the freedom fighters. They are taking heavy losses.”
“My staff and I looked into splitting up the army as a last resort when the mountains fall, but we have no need to do that because we are still in firm control of the mountains.”
“But it is the freedom fighters who are taking the battle to the enemy, while you sit safe and sound in your bunkers.”
”We are neither safe nor are we sound. We have just driven a massive attack back. As for those in lands that the enemy controls, I would suggest that they cooperate with the enemy so as not give them an excuse for retribution.”
This stunned General Dermal. “Are you suggesting all those captured become collaborators?”
“I am suggesting that we do not need undisciplined civilians with guns roaming the country in undisciplined bands. They need to turn in their guns and give themselves up. We need to let the army fight this war.” General Borist was getting upset and his voice was raised by a couple of octaves. His staff knew to back down at this point, but General Dermal didn’t know him that well.
“I’ll take my men and go and help the freedom fighters who saved my life while you just sit here then.”
“You have no men, General. You lost your command when you lost the battle of the bunkers. I am in charge. Most of the bands of so called freedom fighters who you hold in such high esteem are no more than thugs. Many of these bands have never shot at the enemy, but are going around and robbing our own people in the name of supporting the rebellion. It is better to have the alien version of law and order than none at all.”
“What about me? Are you going to prevent me from joining the rebellion?” Dermal had a look of defiance in his face.
“You will be arrested for desertion if you try to leave the mountains.”
Dermal was angry so he stomped out. He knew that he should have saluted his superior officer but he didn’t care. He just left.
“What do you think he will do?” One of Borist’s aides asked him.
“I think he will calm down and come to his senses.”
Morrett hated waking his men, but they had guard duty for the day. He went by and shook them individually, then he went back and shook those who didn’t stir the first time harder.
Greten was stiff when he got up. He then turned to Hal to shake him awake. It was then he remembered that Hal wasn’t there. The realization made him sad. He got dressed, grabbed his gun, and made his way up to the surface.
Men were still digging out from the bombardment. Guard duty was usually boring, but it was great not to be digging out like everyone else had to do, so Greten didn’t complain. He just looked down at the silent, deserted ridge.
Lieutenant Morrett came up to him. He had bad news and didn’t know how to say it. He just came out with it, “Hal had a bad night. They tried to save him, but he was just too broken up. His ribs were shattered and the pieces pierced most of his vital organs. He succumbed to his injuries early this morning.”
Greten looked down on the ground and shed a few tears. He didn’t care who saw him. When he regained his composure he looked up at Dermal and said, “I didn’t get to say goodbye.”
“There have been a lot of goodbyes that have not been spoken in this war. All we can do is to know in our hearts that we would have said goodbye if we had the opportunity.”
“Yes, Sir ,” Greten replied.
“You are excused from duty for the rest of the day.”
Greten looked up. “Sir, I can do my duty. Besides all there is to do down there is stare at Hal’s empty bunk.”
“Very well, but if you change your mind, you can feel free to walk away from your post.”
“Thank you, Sir , but I will be here.”
Chapter Twenty One
East Coast of Santeria
The sound of artillery in the distance woke Pethran up. He looked out his window to see the explosions hitting the mountainside. He was worried for his son because it looked to him that no one could survive something like that. The onslaught lasted for three long days.
It was when he could see green flashes of light that he knew the fighting was getting up close and personal. Then when that ended, an eerie silence enveloped the mountain. He wanted to know if his son was still alive. He headed into town to ask.
When he arrived there the guards on the corners had doubled and they were not letting anyone in or out. They all seemed upset about something and treated the native rudely. He was sent back home. The only other thing he could do was to talk to the food agent when the man made his weekly visit.
He waited for the agent a w
eek and a half, but the man didn’t appear. The invaders were staying in the towns and cities and not moving around the countryside anymore. Pethran did not know why.
Acting Commodore Revlov called Captain Pavvlek to his headquarters. The open contempt for the commodore was obvious in the captain’s eyes. Revlov ignored it.
Pavvlek saluted. “Reporting as ordered, Sir .”
“We have been given our marching orders. In a month’s time, we are to be off this rock except for the two space ports. We will still maintain those.”
“Yes, Sir. I will prepare my men, Sir.”
Revlov smiled his evil smile. “Not so fast. I have a special assignment for you. You are to take the mountains or die trying. It’s your chance to be a hero.”
“Why don’t you just get a large star battleship and bombard the mountains into dust?”
“That would be too easy, Captain. Besides I already asked permission to do that. I was denied. Since they are maintaining space ports here, they do not want the contamination affect on the population. Also, I was reminded that bombarding a planet from space is against Imperial law. You almost sound like you do not want to be a hero.”
“Permission to speak freely, Sir .”
“No. I do not want to hear what you have to say. Prepare your troops for the attack.” Revlov waved his hand and dismissed the captain.
Pavvlek saluted and then stormed out of the room.
To obey Revlov’s orders, Pavvlek had to abandon many military posts in the areas he controlled. He switched places with the units that had made the first assault on the mountains but there were fewer of them so they retreated into the larger cities. All nonmilitary personnel were sent off the planet.
The day arrived when Pavvlek’s division was to storm the mountains. His men climbed the ridge using the top of it as a jump off point. Pavvlek didn’t want to use artillery as it was a disastrous decision last time. He would start his attack at night and try to get to the tunnels before the enemy spotted them.