“Well, what is it now?”
She was impatient, and although she had stopped, it wasn’t enough to make her keep her head down.
“There are groups of new soldiers. These guys look like trouble.”
Thai Qiu-Li crept over to him, pushing him so that he moved to give her a chance to look. Jack lifted his head slightly, so both could get a better view down below into the street and the crash site. It took a couple of seconds before she spotted them. The soldiers wore a dull orange with cloaks and covered heads. In their arms, they carried a mixture of mauls, shields, and short firearms. One of them wore plumes on his helm and was engaged in an argument with the Alliance captain. Thai Qiu-Li jumped back in horror, but Jack stayed where he was. As she sprawled out on the floor, a dozen dull thumps sounded out from where the soldiers had been standing.
“No!” she cried out.
Wictred and Hunn reacted instantly, taking cover in the stairwell with their carbines aimed down in case anybody approached. Jack looked back at them with a pained expression on his face.
“The bastards, they just shot them in cold blood.”
“What? Who?” said Lieutenant Rossen, much louder than she intended.
Shouting forced him to look again through the crack, and to his horror, the commander of the new unit of soldiers was looking at their building and pointing. A dozen of the cloaked soldiers were already jogging away from their position and toward them. Jack lurched back, scrambling to grab his carbine.
“The soldiers…they killed our people. They’re coming…NOW!”
He looked back at the crack and noticed a pair of Helions, not dissimilar to the ones that had just run past in the stairwell. One of the soldiers struck the closest, and without warning opened fire on the pair. Both were smashed to the ground by the impact.
“They are after her, and they’ll kill us or anybody else that gets in the way!” he said angrily.
Thai Qiu-Li pulled out her pistol and placed it under Salene’s throat. She looked scared but still said nothing.
“Either you talk, or we hand you over to them.”
She sighed, took a long, deep breath, and looked intently into Thai Qiu-Li’s eyes.
“They know my father is dead, but they don’t know what he told you. The Animosh will not stop until all of us are dead, including me.”
“And then?” asked Jack, nodding at the crack in the wall.
“Anybody getting in their way will suffer the same.”
Wictred heard something and looked out through the doorframe and up to the next level. The staircase was wide and smooth, yet chunks had worn away and damage to the wall implied there had been some kind of violence at some point in the past. The ceiling mounted lights were all non-functioning, and most was shattered with tubes and cables hanging down and covered in dust. He waited for a few seconds and then looked back at them.
“Someone’s coming.”
“Get ready,” said Lieutenant Rossen.
All five of the marines drew their weapons, training them on the open doorway. The Helion man that had encouraged them to come inside appeared. He yelled at Salene in his own tongue, waving his arms back in the direction he had arrived from. She said just one word and then reached out to Jack whose expression was a mixture of surprise and anger.
“He says to come to the top of this tower; we can cross to the next building. They are coming for us.”
“And then what?” asked Lieutenant Rossen.
Wictred guffawed.
“Like it matters. If we stay, we’ll be trapped. I like a good fight, but dying in this place isn’t the way I plan on going out.”
He stepped out further into the stairwell. From that position, he could see right down to the ground level. A number of dark shapes flashed by, along with the shouts and screams of locals.
“They on their way up,” he said.
He leaned over the side and pointed his carbine down. One of them must have spotted movement because a burst of thermal energy ripped up through the stairwell and fused a section of the wall. Wictred ignored the shot and pulled a small proximity grenade from his thigh. All it took was a twist, and he dropped it down to them.
“What was that?” said the Lieutenant, but Wictred just gave her a wicked grin.
The blast was more muted than might have been expected, but it did send a cloud of dust up the stairwell and was followed by shouts and screams. Lieutenant Rossen looked at each of them, but no one needed to speak. They might all be experienced marines but not one of them was stupid. Waiting in that broken room would mean a bloody battle and almost certainly their deaths.
“I see,” she finally said.
She didn’t take much longer before she nodded at them.
“Good, let’s do this,” replied the Jötnar in an almost excited tone.
He took the first step out, and Hunn moved to follow him. In a matter of seconds, the entire group was with him. They moved up the wide steps two at a time, or in the case of Wictred and Hunn, three at a time. Jack moved last, continually checking behind him for signs of trouble. Salene was a few meters ahead and moved with surprising speed and agility. It took almost a minute to reach the highest level, but they burst out onto the flat rooftop in time to hear gunfire further down in the building. A number of blasts shook the foundations, but no damage seemed to have been caused. Once out of the door, they were greeted by a wide walkway that ran all around the square rooftop. In the center was another level, almost like a luxury penthouse that was faced with smoked glass. Most of it was cracked or shattered, and the interior was empty. Lieutenant Rossen ran up to Wictred who was trying to get some sense out of the Helion.
“What now?” she asked.
The Helion kept saying the same words over and over, but it took the arrival of Salene for it to make any sense. As she spoke with him, they were at last able to get a look at the man. Like all the Helions, he was far lighter built than humans. His skin was pale, his limbs thin, and yet there was something about his face, a harshness that was unlike any of the Helions they had seen so far.
“He says the Animosh are hunting us all for the killing of the Ambassador. His people will help.”
Jack didn’t like this at all.
“What are you talking about? They shot at us when the Ambassador was still alive.”
Rossen looked at him with a confused look on her face.
“What are you saying?”
Jack nodded and turned his attention to Salene.
“The Ambassador was up to something, wasn’t he?”
Salene looked as if she might speak, but the Helion man grabbed her and pointed out into the fog. He said just a few words. She nodded and glanced back to the weary looking marines.
“We don’t have long. He can take us to the Zathee habitation block there.”
She pointed out to her right at a series of structures that formed a pyramid out in the distance. It looked about twenty city blocks away and showed as nothing more than a silhouette at that distance. The thick fog obscured the highest parts, looking as though they’d vanished into the very sky itself.
“They’ll never find us in there. Then we can get help and return you to your ship.”
“And you?” asked Jack.
Salene’s expression softened slightly.
“Just get to the block.”
She looked at her Helion comrade and nodded. The man didn’t wait for the others and ran around the top of the building, disappearing to the other side of the top-level structure. Salene ran with him, and soon she was gone.
“Well?” suggested Jack, “Maybe we should go?”
Wictred laughed and pushed away to give chase. Jack moved in behind him and rounded the corner in time to see the two Helions leap from the side of the building and down to the next structure. It was about four meters away and a level lower. Wictred didn’t hesitate and ran to the edge, pushed down, and leapt. The Jötnar’s muscles propelled him further than Jack could ever have managed, and he landed with a crash,
vanishing through a partially damaged window.
Great, here goes nothing.
Jack sprang up to the ledge running along the side of the building and jumped out with as much power as he could manage. Then he was flying, or actually more like falling, as he flailed about. Unlike Wictred, he lacked the power and made it to the other side with just centimeters to spare. His impact was heavy, and it knocked the air out of his chest. He rolled over three times and stopped flat on his stomach. He spotted a shape to his right and looked for his weapon but saw Wictred’s face. His friend smiled at his predicament, stooping down to help him up.
“Thanks.”
They both looked back to see Hunn, Lieutenant Rossen, and Thai Qiu-Li all waiting on the building opposite them. Hunn evidently wanted to jump over, but the Lieutenant refused to take the chance.
“It’s too far!” she shouted out, “I’ll need to find another way.”
Jack saw the look on Salene’s face and heard the sound of ducted fans. His eyes followed hers until he found the three black objects moving from the right. Briefly, he thought his eyes were deceiving him.
“Bikes?” he said under his breath.
Salene continued to watch them, moving back a few steps and away from the ledge.
“They are the Riders of the Animosh. They are the hunters, and they do not take prisoners.”
“Lieutenant!” he called out, pointing at the shapes.
The Riders were now taking form and they all, with the exception of the two Helions, watched on in surprise. The vehicles were small, not much larger than a motorcycle but with a flat ducted fan at the front and the rear. Jack focused on one of them and could see sitting between the fans the shape of a man dressed in dark orange armor and a black cloak fluttering behind him. The motorized pod slung underneath the craft instantly told Jack it wasn’t friendly, and his automatic reaction was to raise his carbine. Luckily, it was still attached to its special sling. He lifted the stock to his shoulder, flicking the trigger mode to full power. A gentle hum was the only signal that the weapon was charging up its triple coils as the built-in capacitor core charged to maximum. Jack took aim through the sight, placing the light red reticule slightly ahead of the first bike.
“Are you sure they’re hostile?” he asked without removing his eye.
“Animosh Riders are feared by all cultures on Helios,” Salene explained.
Even with that information, Jack hesitated. The dark shapes were growing in size, yet there was a good possibility they were nothing to do with what was happening. They could be police, emergency rescue, military, or even civilians. Jack was no politician but was acutely aware of the problem caused by opening fire on another, potential powerful race of people.
I won’t start a war.
The nearest of the bikes was close enough that he could see the air distortion around the front ducted fan. It wasn’t new technology, but Jack had never seen or heard of it being used in such a way. For a brief moment, he imagined what it must be like to fly through the skies on such a maneuverable machine, and then he spotted the flicker of yellow light.
Gunfire!
It was the only signal he needed, and with one pull sent three magnetized projectiles are high-speed toward the bike. The powerful weapon sent all three on the same trajectory, and two struck right through the side of the forward duct. There was no explosion, only a minor puff of metal as the engine tore itself apart, and the bike tumbled down out of the sky.
“Fire!” he shouted.
Jack realized he had opened fire without saying a word. A small hole appeared around their position as rounds from the bikes clattered about them. Unlike them however, the bikes were mobile and less stationary platforms from which to shoot from. They all ducked down and returned fire with their L52 Mark II carbines. The volley of fire was impressive, and the streaks from the hot projectiles left a dull wake behind in the dust filled soup around the building. One more bike was struck, and they moved away and sheltered in the cover offered by the buildings.
“Lieutenant, there are more of them, over there!” said Thai Qiu-Li.
The young marine was correct, and they could see the danger. Another of the bird-like vessels hovered over a building three hundred meters away. Underneath its hull came a dozen metal wires, from which descended dozens of Animosh, all in their cloaks and half helms. Even more ominous was the cloud of Riders approaching from street level. Lieutenant Rossen checked her secpad again, but it was still unable to connect to anything more than twenty or thirty meters away.
“Damn it!” she snapped to herself, “We’re on our own. We have to survive and report back to command. This is insanity.”
She looked to her left and at the gulf dividing her from Jack and the others. For a second she thought she might make the leap, but it was pointless. A group of a dozen Animosh had taken up position directly beneath the buildings and were aiming their weapons up. Even as she looked at them, they opened fire.
“Watch your head, Lieutenant!” Hunn said calmly.
She twisted her head and looked at the great warrior. He wasn’t just a marine, he also happened to be the Champion of Hyperion, an honorific that meant little outside of his own people. The reality was that this juvenile Jötnar was perhaps the best warrior amongst them, perhaps even the best on this entire planet. A round shattered the stone and metalwork near where she had placed her head a moment earlier. She nodded, said nothing, looking back to Jack and the others.
“Get Salene to the block and dig in. We’ll find another way.”
Jack and Wictred shouted something, but a burst of fire from two more of the Animosh Riders drowned out the sound. Hunn blasted the nearest and was rewarded by the two diving down and out of the line of fire, at least temporarily. The sound from the fighting on the lower level had subsided, and that could mean only one thing.
“Just jump!” shouted Wictred.
Hunn leaned over the side of the building and prepared to leap but was rewarded by being struck by a searing hot projectile. It ripped through his right shoulder and burned through to his back. He roared in anger and pain but didn’t step back. He merely moved his bodyweight back and out of the gunfire.
“It’s too late. Get going!” shouted Lieutenant Rossen.
Jack looked at her and then to Hunn, who growled again before nodding in agreement. Thai Qiu-Li had already moved back a short distance and almost completely from view, watching for the arrival of the rest of the Animosh.
“Yes, Sir,” he called out.
Salene moved as close to the edge as she dared.
“Find Makwa. He will know what to do!”
Lieutenant Rossen placed her hand on her ear and leaned slightly closer.
“Who?”
Jack grabbed Salene and pulled her away from the edge. She shouted the name one last time. In seconds, the two marines and two Helions had disappeared inside the dull gray structure. Hunn and Thai Qiu-Li looked to her for suggestions, but something about their Lieutenant had changed; the indecision and fear that had plagued her for the last hour, had been replaced by grim determination.
“Well, what do we do?” asked Thai Qiu-Li.
The officer reached to the side of her tunic and pulled out a jagged looking bayonet. It was the standard issue M11 tactical bayonet, a piece of equipment that was issued to every single marine in the Corps. Though technically a bayonet, it looked just like a traditional fighting knife and was fitted with a standard grip, hardened tip, and serrated edge on the one side.
“I say with fix bayonets, and show these primitives what a marine with a bayonet can do!”
Hunn looked surprised. Much that he liked her words; he didn’t understand the sudden change in her demeanor. Even so, he attached his own bayonet, and Thai Qiu-Li did the same.
“Sir, you want to fight them all?”
The Lieutenant lifted her carbine to her shoulder and looked back to the stairwell entrance on the other side of the level.
“No. I mean to break
through and work our way via the smaller buildings to the habitation block. You’ve seen these Helions, what have you noticed about them?”
She was already walking toward the stairwell, the other two following. She indicated to Thai Qiu-Li to move opposite her, and then they were ready. They waited with their weapons raised and pointed down into the darkness. The carbines were shorter than the old L48 rifles previously used by the marines, but with the M11 bayonet fitted, they transformed from a conventional firearm to an assault weapon, one that was perfectly designed for such an environment. Thai Qiu-Li and the Lieutenant took up positions on either side of the stairwell entrance. Hunn stayed further back to face it.
“Let them come through, then we hit them. We smash them hard, and then rush the stairwell, understood?”
Both nodded to the Lieutenant and then waited. The sound of the approaching Animosh was much louder than expected. Doors were kicked open, and the shouting from inside reminded them that the building was still occupied. Then came a dull light. At first it sent nothing more than a modest tone through the stairwell, but very soon was joined by others. Hunn faced them, lifting his weapon as though surrendering. Two emerged from the darkness and stepped out onto the rooftop. Thai Qiu-Li and Lieutenant Rossen pulled themselves as far back into the shadows as they could as yet more Animosh emerged. In seconds, there were eight quickly moving in around Hunn.
This is it, thought Lieutenant Rossen.
She watched them, taking in the details of this new foe. They were still smaller than her, even in their elaborate and excessively detailed clothing. Helms covered their heads. Although their lower faces were open, she couldn’t see them from this position. She looked down at her carbine and its dulled steel bayonet. The fingers of her right hand moved to the trigger selector where she checked for the fourth time that she’d selected the correct option. The catch was in the right place for rapid-fire mode. Each coil would fire separately and then reload while the next shot. This increased the rate of fire to well over a thousand rounds a minute with little recoil.
They are feeble and soft. We can do this.
She looked to Thai Qiu-Li who seemed equally nervous. All it took was a simple nod, and the two lifted their weapons. The Animosh were now just two meters from Hunn, and they stopped as quickly as they had arrived. Hunn started to laugh.
Star Crusades Nexus: Book 03 - Heroes of Helios Page 14