They landed there and four Krall formed a defensive square around the craft, with Pitda using the huge rock as a place to observe the ridge from the right side, a novice on the left side of the same boulder. The other two novices crouched by sizable rocks near the other two corners of the impromptu grid.
In the shuttle, Tyroldor gave the female specific instructions. “Motgar, answer only what I ask of you, and volunteer nothing about things I do not ask you.”
“I will obey my octet leader.” She was confused by this instruction, since battlefield debriefings were common in novice training.
“What weapon damaged the side of your head and your ears?” He asked her.
“I believe it was a small bomb the humans throw by hand, that does not explode quickly. It lies on the ground and explodes without warning.”
“How far can they throw this bomb?”
“They are weak, and did not throw any farther than two or three leaps. The bomb that damaged me did not fly but half a leap and fell into the grass near where the human was hiding.”
“After the bombs are thrown, what time length before the explosion?”
She told him the interval, which seemed a ridiculously long time to wait in a battle.
“You have holes in your arms, legs, and side. Were they all caused by pieces from the first bomb?”
“No, some large punctures are from a second bomb thrown by hand. Some smaller wounds and my head damage were from another kind of bomb.” She hoped this did not exceed his instructions.
“Describe the use of the other kind of bomb.”
“It is not thrown, and sits on the ground with a flat metal front,” her hands indicated the rectangular dimensions. “It was exploded by a human pulling on a line connected to the larger bomb. It sent many small metal balls flying in one direction, straight away from the metal plate. I have some of them I removed from my body and head.”
“Show me.”
She pulled four spherical little balls from a pouch on her harness. They were about the size of the smaller pellets used in some of the hunting bullets used in pistols and rifles. Not very deadly if a only a few hands of them hit you.
“How many of these do you think were used in the bomb?”
“Very many, because the grass was cut down in a wide path in front of the bomb for two leaps.”
“What other weapons did they have?
“Only two pistols were found for each human and more hand bombs. There was one large bomb for each human, aimed in front of them.”
“Did these hurt you enough that you cannot finish the hunt today?”
“No. I will finish.”
“Then let us go kill this new prey.”
Suddenly there was the sound of several bullets hitting the shuttle, one an explosive round, followed quickly by two simultaneous close explosions that produced a tremendous rain of sound on the hull.
They heard screams of pain and rage.
****
Mirikami’s team had been patient, waiting for a chance to spring their traps. However, all of them were beginning to lose some of that patience, and the tension while they sat doing nothing had only grown.
I wasn’t until the surprise helmet com broadcast from Thad that they had any direct evidence the hunt was even started. They knew immediately of course that his warning was to the three hiding in the marsh. Deanna told them it was Cody Master that answered Thad.
It was right after that they had felt the vibration from a large distant explosion. It had to be from the cave in the valley since that was the only place had such a large booby trap. They hoped it signaled the end of the hunt before anyone died.
Shortly after that their visors showed them a brief view of a Krall shuttle flying west over the ridge. They had heard or seen nothing for ten or twelve minutes, until Dillon called out that something had just fired off up on the ridge.
Dillon had control of the camera for the north end of the ridge, and Mirikami the south part. He switched to Dillon’s view, and saw he had zoomed in on white smoke at the top of the ridge.
“That was the large mortar. It was ranged to try to hit the truck park in the valley. Did any of us do that by accident?” He wasn’t accusing, but they were supposed to coordinate actions simply intended to attract Krall to the ridge top.
There were five denials. They felt more than heard the thump that told them the mortar round had hit and exploded on the far side of the ridge.
Mirikami tugged at his lip. “We have to assume it was remotely triggered by someone at the dome for a valid reason. It could be a signal to us or intended to draw Krall attention. Or do both I suppose.”
Sven Kirsten asked, “Wasn’t that mortar intended to try to draw Krall to the top of the ridge from the valley?”
“Not just from the valley,” Dillon told him. “To draw them from this side too, since a lot of our traps are spread along the terraces and at the best places to climb. After the valley cave blew up the shuttle headed to the west. Maybe it went over to the fight in the marsh, or possibly to search the Jungle. We had expected the ridge to be the most likely place to look for us, because the best places for us to defend ourselves are up there.”
“Well,” concluded Mirikami, “That mortar round will surely draw attention. Keep your eyes open, I’ll swivel my camera to look for the shuttle.”
Using a joystick sitting on his knee, the tiny concealed camera on top of the huge rock rotated to scan the sky away from the ridge.
Two voices said, “Stop” at the same time, and Mirikami saw the silhouette of the shuttle rise and turn their direction. It appeared to have been near the forest tree line. They were finally drawing the flies to their web. With any luck, they would give these particular Krall a different experience than in any previous fight with humans. It was still going to be one sided in Krall favor if they couldn’t kill one of them fast, or if they found their hiding place.
40. Spider Hole
The shuttle landed near the big rock and four Krall rushed out to take up defensive positions. Two were at the ends of the huge rock to watch the cliffs, and the other two on the opposite side of the shuttle.
Mirikami swore under his breath when he pivoted the camera’s maximum down look angle. The curve of the boulder kept him from seeing the two crouching Krall that had ran to its base. Switching to the tree mounted camera that Dillon controlled, he could see the two Krall on the other side of the shuttle.
“Dillon, can you rotate your camera to see the warrior on the right side of the boulder? I can’t see either one of them.”
“Tet, I see the top of his head, almost on the side of the rock. He’s out of position for you, and I can’t see the one on the left because of the shuttle.”
“Thad says they usually run and attack all the time. We need to get these to move back before they start an attack. I’m going to use the triple shot on the outcrop, see if they move back for better cover. As soon as I give you the mark that I fired, wait one second and you blow the device.”
He moved the camera to sight the outcrop he’d used on the first terrace, a couple of hundred feet farther to the right. He had aimed that triple cluster yesterday, and hoped it was still on target.
Entering the device code, he poised his thumb over the send button and asked, “Are you ready?”
Both said yes, and he warned them. “I’m shooting…, NOW!” and pressed the button. He saw the faint puffs of smoke and a second later, he heard and felt the explosive roar of the claymores erupting, spewing its shrapnel down the backside of that boulder.
They had built several three-barrel gun clusters with two armor-piercing rounds and one explosive round inserted in each set. The barrels were mounted on braced tripods aimed at the clearing where they assumed a shuttle would land. They were counting on any Krall hearing gunshots nearby would dart to the closest cover as they normally did, then continue on an attack. It was that initial duck to cover they intended to exploit.
As soon as the sound of t
he human attack sounded, all four of the Krall had reacted. Two going were the humans had hoped they would.
Tyroldor exploded out of the shuttle hatch into heavy smoke, both pistols in his hands. He was seeking a target, what he found was Pitda prone by the large rock firing at an outcrop up on the cliff. Sitdok was also shooting towards the cliffs from the other side of the rock.
Pitda was missing the lower third of both legs, and Sitdok, farther from the source of the explosion, had several fresh punctures on the back of both of his legs.
“Where is the enemy? He demanded of Pitda. He could scent old human stink despite the residue of the explosives just used, and something else he could not identify.
“We were first fired on from those rocks.” Pitda’s eyes never left the cliff, despite the painful crippling injury. I ordered Sitdok to suppress any enemy on the cliffs from that side.
Tyroldor called out to the other two warriors. “Gorpak, Kador, are there any enemy that you see or smell near you?”
Each replied they did not see or hear any human activity, but could scent that some had been here recently.
“How were you and Sitdok wounded? What weapon was used and where?” Tyroldor demanded.
Pitda, still watching the cliff, pointed with one pistol.
Tyroldor saw a warped metal plate against the base of a midsized boulder. A gap in the underbrush in front of the rock showed the path that the blast of pellets had followed from the place of concealment. Pitda’s shredded lower legs and taloned feet lay in the dirt along that path.
Motgar saw what her octet leader was looking at. “That is part of one of the bombs they used in the marsh. A human could be near that pulled the line to make it explode.” Her pistols drawn, she dashed around to the front of the large rock. She was seeking a lanyard with a human on the end, trusting Pitda and Sitdok to cover her while she was exposed.
Pitda, feeling oddly sluggish and experiencing far more pain than the inconvenient injury should cause, advised his octet leader, “The shots were poorly aimed, .. they were.. not close.. but I..” He found himself speaking slowly, with odd pauses he couldn’t prevent.
He snarled from a tremendous increased in pain from his stumps, but the bleeding had stopped. The pain of his wounds should have been blocked from his awareness, as it had been when he first rolled to his stomach and crawled back to the large rock, firing at the attacker’s position.
“There is something… wrong,” he struggled to speak. “I took.. cover.. after shots.. and there was.. explosion… I fell..” he screamed this time, as overwhelming pain burned at his upper legs and lower body, blocking his ability to think.
There was also a snarl of pain from Sitdok, who was no longer aiming at the cliffs, and had sunk to his knees, rubbing at his lower legs, where small punctures speckled them. The puncture size matched the earlier ones he had received in the marsh, and were no longer bleeding.
“Leader, I have great pain and my legs are on fire and will not obey.” He snarled again as the pain increased and moved higher up his legs.
Tyroldor called his other two novices to him, and Motgar had returned after she had circled the large rock. She reported she had seen no current sign of a human, but had smelled their scent here recently, within several hours, and saw tracks towards the cliffs.
“Motgar did you and Sitdok have pain and a temporary loss of ability to move after your wounds in the marsh?”
“No octet leader. Only the normal pain when I was first injured, and then it faded as I fought. Sitdok did not say he felt as he does now.”
Pitda was quiet now and barely breathing, a rictus of pain revealed by the drawn back lips that had frozen with his teeth revealed and his mouth half-open, purple tongue hanging down. He seemed still able to move his eyes, and to blink, so he was conscious but unable to move.
“The humans have another new weapon. It can paralyze us and cause pain. We need to find and kill them all, and discover what they have used. There is an odor that does not smell like an explosive material.” He sniffed at Pitda’s shredded leg parts.
“Sitdok,” Tyroldor called as he looked at the slumping warrior. The left eye that he could see blinked and turned in its socket as if trying to look towards his leader, but like Pitda, he could no longer move or speak.
“Novices, we are four now, and the humans refuse to face us directly because they are too weak to meet us in open combat. They use trickery instead of strength.”
“What would you have us do, octet leader?” Motgar asked this, senior in status over Gorpak and Kador, now that Sitdok was disabled or dying.
“We will stay aggressive and attack, but we cannot charge without thinking when the humans try to force us to one place or attract us to another. There will be more traps.
“Observe how they forced Pitda and Sitdok to take cover where they had placed their mines. I do not know how they made them explode, but they did not pull a line to do this.”
“This treacherous enemy is too weak and cowardly to face us unless they are trapped, as they were in the marsh where they were all killed. As they all will be killed when we find them.”
As the lowly inexperienced novice listened to her respected leader, Motgar considered that the octet now had but one hand of active warriors. She knew of only three dead humans for certain, so as slow and puny as they were, they had taken a toll.
She considered another matter. The highest status warrior of all six novices had not rejoined them after leading the pursuit of the first scent trail. Had a human trap found him as well, or did one of the soft puny cowardly things die with him as a bomb shredded them both?
In interclan warfare, when the attacking or defending forces had been reduced by half, contact was usually broken by the weakened force to preserve the breeders, and to debrief on how to change their tactics or weapons. They needed scanners to seek the hidden bombs and humans, which certainly must be available at the dome. Tyroldor was refusing to follow this honorable option, and she did not understand why.
****
On his helmet visor screen, fed from Dillon’s tree mounted camera, Mirikami could see the tops of the heads of the four clustered Krall, the octet leader clearly talking to them. Only one of the other two shuttlecraft warriors could be seen, lying at the base of the big boulder, apparently covering the cliffs on the left.
He was wishing he had placed more mines by the landing site. They never expected the Krall to display any hesitation in their headlong attacks, assuming they’d charge the probable hiding places on the terraces. Where of course they’d find only booby traps waiting for them.
It was possible they were waiting to be joined by the last two octet members, whom apparently were alive by virtue of the continuing hunt. However, if any of their new weapons had killed or injured any of the octet the Krall were not leaving nor were they attacking.
It was frustrating that neither camera could see the sixth warrior that had taken cover by the big rock. Their view was partially blocked by the shuttle for Dillon’s camera, and by the curve of the big rock under Mirikami’s tiny top mounted camera. He had hoped the neurotoxin from the thorns, tumbled and mixed with the claymore pellets would have had some effect, perhaps killing some of them even if only wounded. It had been worth trying, anyway. The treated crossbow bolts would be another chance to test the toxin.
He decided to try harder to draw them up to the first terrace, and that meant using a couple more of their limited decoys and the last pre-sited mortar. He coordinated with the others to get ready in their spider holes, as Thad called the tubes they had buried near the landing site. They were linked by detection proof buried fiber optic threads, as were their two external miniature cameras.
On cue, Frank caused a remote actuator to release a spring, and a small mechanical catapult flung two grenades arching out from the lower terrace in the general direction of the shuttle parking area. The pins were yanked out as the short lines tied to them reached their limit.
Another tr
iple tube set was fired by Juan at the big rock from a different outcrop on the other side, and Deanna triggered a fat mortar tube on the ridge top, where it chuffed its heavy projectile in an arc that, with luck, would come down close to the shuttle.
****
Tyroldor had just told his three warriors how he wanted them to rush the cliffs, avoiding hiding behind obvious points of cover. They all caught the distant clinking sound of the little catapult’s arm striking its cross bar, accompanied by a short burst of gunfire from a different direction. The rounds struck harmlessly on the side of the large rock.
All four Krall had moved the instant they heard the first sound, and had automatically split their force to come from behind the shielding boulder, two per side. Tyroldor rolled away to the left firing at the outcrop where his eyes and ears told him the poorly aimed shots had originated.
Gorpak moved with him, but sought different targets rather than simply duplicate his leader’s action. He instantly spotted a pair of small round objects flying away from the lower terrace, but he could see they wouldn’t come anywhere close to them. He fired four explosive rounds at the ledge and the cliff just behind, where his instincts said they had originated.
Kador followed Motgar, and they stayed away from the most likely cover as instructed. His perfectly functioning ears picked up the sound of the mortar launch before rounding the boulder. Oddly, Motgar did not appear to hear the sound. He fired at the ridge top where the white smoke indicated the sound’s source.
Motgar, her right side hearing still impaired and the left ears ruined, only heard and observed her companion firing at the ridge top, where there was a white column of warm smoke. It was smoke like that which had drawn them from the woods, and that one had been followed shortly by a heavier explosion.
She triple tapped her com button on one side, connecting her on a priority channel to every member of her octet. “White smoke, ridge top, possible artillery inbound.”
Koban Page 54