"Jesus Christ!" Corporal Santos said beside Hicks as the whole world seemed to shake around them.
"Oh! That's gonna leave a mark," Trent said with a chuckle as they watched the whole valley engulfed in flame.
Hicks was awestruck. These Soulguards were amazing. I wish we had a million of em, he thought.
The next instant the woman he'd seen first was standing directly in front of him.
"I'm Andrea Prada, Beautiful," she said and stretched her hand out, "And what I want to know is, do you have any plans for the weekend? I'd say tonight but we have to go stomp on a giant Gate."
Chapter 29
"She's gonna kill me," I said as we walked toward the group on the hill ahead of us.
"Maybe she doesn't know those were the ones she had made for you," Adaya said.
"You honestly believe that?" I asked.
"Not for a second," she said with a laugh, "You're in trouble."
"I was lookin at em on the plane and forgot to swap em back out before we jumped," I said.
"Don't whine," Reyna said, "It's not befitting of the second in command of the Soulguard."
She laughed.
"What is it with women? You learn to tie a knot in your Soulstream and you get plain vicious."
"The female of the species is much deadlier than the male," Len Yueh said, "Haven't you ever heard that? It is fact."
"I think they're all just crazy," Cristof said, "Did you know I read that twenty five percent of women are on some sort of medication for psychological balancing?"
"Bloody Hell," Stone said, "That means seventy five percent of them are running around untreated!"
"Men," Adaya said, sadly.
"Nothing you can really do with them," Reyna said.
Lyrica, Mattie and Trent were standing in front of the group of Marines but Prada was busy hitting on the Sergeant. Lyrica was giving me the look and I knew it would be trouble later. I winced and walked over to save the Sergeant.
"Sergeant," I said, "I'm Colin Rourke and this is my motley crew. They told me you guys got hung up down here before we left the plane. If you don't mind a little detour, you can hitch a ride back with us."
"We'd love to get a ride, Sir," he said, "What sort of detour did you have in mind?"
"We're goin down to Kenya and close that Gate. Then we're gonna kill everything in the area that walks on two legs and ain't Human."
"I'm gonna say that sounds fun," he said, "My name's Hicks, this is Corporal Santos."
I nodded toward the Corporal with the radio.
"Get em ready, Santos."
"Sir"
Santos turned back toward the squad of Marines, spouting orders.
A moment later a man came from the forest behind the group. He held a huge sniper rifle.
"What took ya so long, Corn?" Hicks asked.
"Had a ring side seat for the show up on that bluff, Sir. Hated to leave the box seats."
"Get ready to move out. We're goin to Kenya."
"Isn't that where the Gate opened?"
"Yep."
"Ooo-rah!"
I love Marines.
Corn turned and joined his fellows.
"Corn?" I said to Hicks.
"That's what we all call him," He said, "You don't even wanna know why. Trust me."
"I don't doubt that for a second," I said.
I turned and went back to see if Lyrica was gonna kill me now or later.
"I'm sorry, Baby," I said, "I didn't even realize those were the swords I had until after I jumped and it was too late."
"Um Hm," she said, "That's why I can't buy you pretty things. And I want to know why you always send me off to the side."
"Everyone needs a reserve force to pull their asses out of the fire if it all goes south."
"It sounds reasonable except for the fact, I can tell you're lying. But I'll let it go this time."
She kissed me and we turned back to find four women spaced behind us.
"Just in case she wanted help when she kicked your ass," Prada said, "Besides, I keep getting thrown out of planes and I think ya get a lot more pleasure out of it than ya should."
"Damn bloodthirsty women," I muttered.
"I think all of ours are running around untreated," Stone said, sadly.
"Yes," Rostov said, "We didn't even get our twenty five percent."
"Just for something to think about," Brighton said, "If you count the Mageguards and Mages, both, the women in this Motley crew actually outnumber us. Just a little food for thought before you say anything else on the subject."
He was right. Out of the Three hundred and forty Soulguards that were in the three planes, close to two hundred of them were women.
"So what you are saying is there are two hundred of them running around, untreated, right here?" Rostov asked.
"Well, yeah."
There were a lot of women with that "look" standing around us.
"Ahem," I coughed, "Let's go find our planes."
"Good idea," Rostov said.
"Everybody move out!" I said, "The planes are down on the other side of the town. Small airstrip."
"Grab a Marine and we'll take it at a run."
Mattie grabbed the sniper who yelped as she slung him over her shoulder.
"Your hands go anywhere they shouldn't and you'll be creamed Corn. Got it?"
"Both hands on my rifle, Ma'am!"
I laughed.
Prada, of course, grabbed Hicks.
"Honey, your hands can go anywhere they want," she said.
We took off at high speed across the ridgeline toward town and reached the airstrip in less than fifteen minutes.
The small strip had a fueling station and our pilots had topped off our tanks. The guy at the airstrip said it was free after we had just saved his town.
We were airborne once more in a short time and back on the way toward Kenya. There were a couple of small wounds and Lyrica made her rounds to heal them. Most of the wounds were superficial and Mages heal fast, anyway. But the added help she could give wasn't turned down by any.
"A Medic?" Hicks asked, "She's so young."
"She's been doin hands-on trainin for the last few years at the Hospital in Wichita or the one in Montana," I said.
"We could use a Medic like that. It's like the games I used to play. We always wanted a healer in our groups."
"You're a Gamer?" I asked.
"Before I joined."
"I used to play some in our down time before the Kresh decided they had to kill us all. I always played a tank."
"Me too," he said.
"Come to find out, I ended up as a real tank. I go out into the middle and get their attention and then we can all bring down the fire."
"You seem to do it well enough," he said with a chuckle, "I saw the footage from both First and Second Kansas. They used to call the sort of guy you are a Berserker in the old days."
"There's something inside me," I said, "When it comes out, well, you've seen the footage."
Sergeant Hicks was a perceptive guy. He could see the shame I felt over what I become sometimes.
"A world at peace can be ashamed of the guys like us, Mister Rourke," he said, "A world at war will cherish us. There's no shame in what happened in Kansas. They came here to commit genocide on our race. Our job is to show them it will cost them too much. Our job is to be the meanest sons of bitches on the planet. We'll do what it takes to get the job done. That's all I see you've been doing. There's no shame in that."
"Just doin the job, huh?" I asked.
"Damn right," he said, "and doing it well."
Chapter 30
I could feel the gate below us and my rage was bleeding through my walls. It's so hard to keep it beat down as we wait to be able to attack. The hours and hours of riding in the plane had been torturous. Our little side trip helped a lot but the wait was almost over.
I could see the Souls below us as we made a circle of the Gate. They were pouring through the Gate as fast as
they could run through it. And that was pretty fast. The newcomers pushing the ones ahead of them.
"If we hit out right in front of the Gate, they'll keep pourin through," I said.
"What if we hit about a quarter mile up the stream and cause a traffic jam?" asked Brighton.
"That may be workable," I said, "We get em all jammed up at the Gate, we can drop an Alpha on em. Then we gotta close the Gate. We used a contraption I built to do it last time and it worked, so that may be the best way to go. I'd love to study the damn thing from this side, but we don't have time."
"I don't see a Farrara'Ti down there," Lyrica said, "It must either be through already or still on the other side."
"One of our prime objectives is to find that bastard and kill it. Don't go after it if you find it. I saw the power at Kil'Sin'Deres' disposal. You don't wanna tangle with that. Leave him to me. That goes for you too, Lyr. The safest way to kill one of em is to rip it's Soul out. I'm the only one who can do that."
She nodded, "Use that skill sparingly, my love, It doesn't come without its price."
"That I know," I said, "It's one I have to pay. Those bastards are tough."
"What about the Mark?" Rostov asked.
"I don't have the juice to take this guy without the backup of the Shak'Tar or another group of Kresh. Plus the Mark is indiscriminate. It would Mark all of you, as well as the Kresh. It's not something we can use."
He nodded.
I clicked my coms, "Move us about a quarter mile north and keep the altitude. We'll jump from there. The nearest airstrip I know of is the Academy. We'll rejoin you there if we can."
"Roger."
"Hicks, I need your guys to set up when the planes land. Keep our guys safe and if it gets hairy, make em leave. We can come out on foot if we need to."
"Will do," he said.
"Alexei, Adaya, you're with Lyrica," I said, "Combat drop. Prada, Brighton, you're with me. Lyrica, I want you guys on the left side of that valley mouth. I'll be on the right. Juggernaut and come together. We'll create a landing zone for the rest."
"Got it." Lyrica said and headed for the rear of the plane.
"Keep her safe," I said to Trent and Mattie as they passed me.
"Will do," Trent said.
Mattie nodded as she went past. I knew they would be at her back and I wouldn't need to worry. They would never let anything get to her.
Prada and Brighton were at the rear of the plane when I got there and I pushed Prada out the door and Brighton laughed and followed. I was right behind them.
My adrenaline was spiking and my beast was at the gates. I focused on the ground below and the Kresh I was about to destroy. I formed the platform and my group formed up on it. We hit our chosen height and gave the signal. Prada and Brighton pulled and I snatched the power and added my own. The blast of power slowed our platform, the pressure pushing down on us. Then I signaled again and closed the portal on the feeder.
We landed with a crash amidst the charred forms of the Kresh that had been below us.
"Fire!" I ordered and Prada, Brighton and myself opened up with our disc launchers. Each of us faced a different direction so our discs blew a great hole in the center of the Kresh around us.
"Juggernauts!" I ordered and all of us opened the portals on our juggernaut armor.
The Juggernaut armor is a shield that incorporates most of a Mages Soulstream to feed. It is a large shield with blades along the sides that will demolish anything in its path. The front is sloped like the front guard of a train with blades along the top as well.
Each of the Mageguards is trained how to construct this shield as soon as they are ascended. It doesn't require a Pull and it is a devastating weapon.
We formed a V formation and launched ourselves forward, toward the center of the valley mouth we had aimed for.
I could see Lyrica's group hit across from us and erupt in fire. Then I hit the first of the Kresh and blood exploded around me from the multitude of blades I had placed on my Juggernaut shield. For large, compact groups of Kresh, the juggernaut shield is ideal. When they aren't as packed, Kresh can dodge around us.
What we ran through, here, was a huge compacted group of Kresh. They resembled sausage after we had passed.
I still had to reign in the beast in me. This was important. When I could set it free it would be when we were hand to hand with the enemy. It would come soon enough.
"We meet in the middle," I said over the coms, "Then Lyrica is goin to raise a shield across the mouth of the valley."
"Roger," Lyrica said.
"Then we drop the sky on that Gate and all the Kresh around it. When I give the word, Reyna will raise a shield between us and the valley and we'll Alpha. Then we go for the Gate."
"Copy," Reyna returned.
"We've only got thirty Mages for the Alpha but, we'll do what we can. Need to work with some of the Mageguards after this to be able to do that Pull."
"Give me a minute and I'll whip out my notebook and write that down for ya," Prada said.
"Smart ass," I returned.
"You did throw me out of another plane."
"No, it was the same plane."
"We killing Kresh or doing a stand-up act for them?" Lyrica's voice interrupted, "Battle Com System."
I laughed as my shield slammed through the last of the Kresh between our converging groups.
Lyrica dropped her Juggernaut shield and raised another across the mouth of the valley.
Reyna dropped hers and raised another on the other side of our party. We slaughtered the few Kresh that were inside the perimeter.
"Alright," I said, "Ten supports. Code Alpha."
Thirty Mages Pulled and steered the power upwards where I snatched it. Power flowed through ten streams into me as my body balanced the power usage.
I turned the fire in the sky into the circling pattern for a good thirty seconds. Then I slammed the whole roiling mass into the ground with the Gate as the center of the inferno.
"Cease."
The power stopped pouring into the sky and I threw the rest of what was already there at the Gate.
When the smoke and mist cleared we could see very few living Kresh near the Gate but the valley was still crawling with them. There wasn't anything coming through the Gate at the moment. The blast of fire must have gone through the Gate when I dropped it.
"Time to clean em out and go for the gate," I said, "Lyr, keep the shield up and Prada, your squad is guarding her. The rest, split into two groups. One with me, one with Rostov. Rostov on the left. I'll take the right. Kill everything that moves and ain't Human."
Rostov headed left and I headed right. Reyna dropped her shield and I let the beast out of its cage.
When I let it out, it scares me because I love it so. Rage floods my mind and my whole being is consumed for a moment. I push past it to a clarity I don't see that often. It's like I'm riding this monstrous beast. I can barely control it and sometimes I lose control altogether.
The beast consists of two things most of the time. Rage and Power. I used them both as I launched myself into the horde of Kresh and Kresh'Far.
My inhuman roar echoed across the valley and I ripped anything within my reach apart. I Pulled and fire exploded in front of me. The ones who followed me spread out into a v formation and we rolled over the Kresh. Discs exploded forward from any of the Mages and the Mageguards waded into the horde and tore them to shreds.
It was different from the last invasion in Kansas. There we faced them with Soulguards. Mageguards, well, they're another thing. They fight as Guards fight but they have the strength and speed of Mages. There isn't much that can stand up to an onslaught like that and this small valley full of Kresh wasn't one of them.
I saw a black shield come through the Gate and my beast roared, victoriously. Could we be this lucky? I turned and charged toward the Gate. The shielded figure stopped and surveyed the area. I felt his mental commands and the Gate closed.
He should have backed
through it, first.
I ripped his shield apart and was inside in a fraction of a second. I saw his aura as surprise flooded it at the ease I had gotten to him. He started to Pull but my discs started hammering into his chest. He was a strong Kresh'Ma'Nar, but my discs ripped through his chest in an explosion of fire, blood and ash.
The shield was gone and all of the remaining Kresh charged toward me. I stood and waited.
Most of them were picked off by the Mageguards as the charged toward me. One lone Kresh'Far made it through and I seized it by the throat. It froze as I looked into its mind and it felt the strength of the mental grip I put on it.
It was six and a half feet tall and I had seized it and slammed it to the ground. I stared deep into its eyes.
"Tell them Rash'Tor'Ri is coming for them. Tell them to run as fast as they can. I come to devour their Souls."
I threw the Kresh'Far toward the shielded mouth of the valley. The Kresh on the other side were long gone toward the north.
"Drop the shield," I said over coms.
As the Kresh'Far landed, he looked back at me with fear in his Soul. He ran north past Lyrica and her group.
Chapter 31
"Apparently," I said, "My little trip over to Kresh has made em a little skittish."
We stood near where the Gate had been.
"Accordin to what I saw in its mind," I said, "They came here because I was in Kansas. They're worried I'll go back and kill more Farrara'Ti. That was why that Ma'Nar ordered the Gate closed."
"But you're such a likable chap," Stone said.
"He does tend to break stuff," Prada said.
"You can't buy him anything pretty," Lyrica said.
"I'm right here."
"He flies off the handle at a moment's notice," Trent added.
"Always running around screaming," Reyna said.
"Leaving Graffiti on walls," Adaya said.
"Right here, people."
"Killing, I guess you'd call them, leaders of state," Mattie said.
I just walked away. As I looked around the small river valley, I had an idea. The sides of the valley were far enough away from the Gate that we'd never get enough power to blow the sides in to cover the Gate.
Bloodlord (Soulguard Book 3) Page 14