Time War: Onslaught

by Nick S. Thomas

  To his right side there was a small control room with banks of monitors, and an empty seat for whoever should have been watching. Corwin looked up to see there was a camera hidden in the rock above the door. He was relieved as he realised they would have been spotted with ease had the guard not left his post.

  “Stop!” a voice yelled.

  A man rushed up the ramp ahead in horror. Corwin smiled; for it was obvious he had let them in. Corwin lifted his pistol and fired. The shot embedded in the woodwork of the man’s bulky looking side loaded submachine gun.

  “Fuck!” Corwin shouted.

  He threw the HDM at the man as a distraction. It hit his chest and gave Corwin just enough time to get through the door of the guard’s station. Automatic gunfire echoed through the hall from dozens of bullets striking the room. Many hit the thick desk in front of Corwin, but even more smashed through the glass above, sending shards all over him. He heard the bursts of gunfire getting closer as the man advanced. There was a small reprieve when the magazine was dropped, but before another could be put in, three shots rang out from a .45 as Porter rushed in through the doorway.

  The massive door began to close again. Corwin got up, and the others rushed to get inside. Rane wedged himself in the doorway and pushed with all his strength to stop it. He was able to slow it to half of its closing speed. The last of them made it inside, and he had to concede defeat and leap in after them.

  “Sorry, but I could not hold that,” he said in apology.

  Corwin smiled and looked at the monitors. Half of them had been destroyed by the gunfire, but many others still worked. He went from one screen to another, and stopped suddenly, feeling his breathing stop.

  Lecia, he thought.

  “They are here?” Nylund asked, looking over Corwin’s shoulder.

  Lecia was secured onto a metal frame. It locked her arms and legs as if she were on a cross but lying flat. He looked across to the other monitors. Beyett and Vi were in the same situation but in other rooms.

  “We have to get them out.”

  “No, Nylund, we have to get this mission done,” replied Porter.

  Corwin found himself more conflicted than ever before, but he knew he had to stand by his convictions and his word.

  “What’s it going to be, Boss?” Chas asked.

  “We do both. You and Frasi will go to free our comrades. The rest of us will continue on mission.”

  “And yet there is no sign of Hitler at all,” said Nylund.

  “You think he would have cameras spying on him? No chance. Now, come on. Let’s move!”

  They rushed out and headed on down the ramp. Just as they left, one of the dead screens suddenly flickered to life. It was a display showing the very room itself, but no one was there to notice.

  “Think they know we are here?”

  “I don’t know, Nylund, but they sure will do soon enough,” Corwin said. He stopped at the body and picked up the submachine gun and two magazines.

  “Can you believe our luck? Hitler and our own people all in one place, here for the taking,” said Nylund as they got up and carried on.

  “Luck?” Corwin asked, “You’ve got a pretty fucked up idea of what that is, if you think this is it.”

  Frasi and Chas soon vanished when they took a fork in the corridor. Corwin wanted to follow them. Getting Lecia back meant more than everything to him, even more than taking Hitler down, and yet he knew he had to rely on his friends to do it. Three Germans rushed out in front of them. They were wearing advanced body armour on their torsos and helmets with shielded faceplates. Corwin aimed low without breaking stride. He fired a burst across their legs and dropped all of them. One managed to get a few shots off with his assault rifle as he fell, but the shots struck the ceiling above as Corwin reached them. He took hold of the rifle and stamped down on the man’s head, breaking his neck.

  Porter drove a knife deep so that he severed one of the other’s hamstrings, and Porter wrenched open the last one’s helmet and smashed his skull with a brutal punch straight to the middle of his face. The two of them and Nylund took up the rifles and all the ammunition they could salvage.

  “You see? We didn’t need to climb with any extra weight,” Corwin said, looking down proudly at all the weapons they had acquired, but Rane didn’t look impressed and held on dearly to his Vickers.

  It can’t be this easy, Corwin thought as they carried on.

  They passed out of the clinical corridor into lavish splendour. It seemed completely at odds with where they had come from. It was a vast lobby with decorated marble columns. Statues and portraits of Hitler lined the walls, as well as medieval and ancient artefacts. It looked more like a manor house than a fortress.

  “Nice pad,” said Nylund.

  Porter pulled a big heavy flanged mace from the wall and looked very pleased with himself. Nylund told him to put it back.

  “Why?” Porter shot back a look at him that looked deadly. Nylund did not say a word as he stuffed it through his webbing belt and they went on.

  “Why haven’t there been any alarms?” Nylund asked, “They must have heard us by now.”

  It made Corwin uneasy, too.

  “You think we are walking into a trap?”

  “Trap or not, Rane, the only way is forward. We can handle whatever is thrown at us. Don’t forget who we are. We are better than them. Better than a thousand of their soldiers, so we’ll let them know it.”

  Corwin then rushed on through the lobby. Suddenly, the sound of their footsteps was drowned out by dozens of studded and metal-capped boots hitting the floor as a horde rushed toward them.

  “Clear the way!” Rane shouted and lifted his Vickers. The rest spread out to the cover of the columns.

  The first few soldiers ran in through the broad open archway ahead, and Rane pulled the trigger the second they could be seen. The Vickers machine gun burst into life with its methodical slow paced thump. It sent a tonne of lead at the enemy. The first few were knocked down by the sheer weight of fire. Their armour stopped much of it, but not all, and Rane did not let up.

  “Come on!”

  He kept his finger on the trigger as the others advanced down the flanks under the cover of the columns. As Corwin reached the far end of the room, the Vickers’ belt finally ran empty. Twelve soldiers lay dead at the entrance, and three more wounded were trying to scramble back for cover. He opened up, mercilessly shooting at their legs. He had no problem shooting them in the back, for they were nothing to him.

  * * *

  Chas could hear music up ahead. It sounded like it was in French and being played on a record player. She glanced back at Frasi who looked entirely confused. He had never heard anything like it in his life. They approached slowly and cautiously until she was able to peer through the open door at the source of the music. There were two German officers sitting with their feet up, knocking back spirits and making merry. The music was so loud they could barely hear each other and were apparently oblivious to the danger they were in. Frasi looked at her and to his knife, but she shook her head. Both of the Germans’ handguns were lying on the table beside their drinks and within easy reach.

  Chas slowly and quietly passed her pistol to Frasi. She unbuttoned her shirt and fluffed her hair up a little before stepping casually into the room. She stopped to strike a provocative pose, one hand on her hip and the other with a finger in her mouth. Her attire was a little rough and ready, but it would have to do. The two officers were both shocked and startled and just didn’t know how to react. One of them opened his mouth to speak but could not find any words. They were both cherry cheeked from the amount of alcohol they had consumed and didn’t looked worried at all by her presence.

  “A present from the Fuehrer,” she said in a French accent.

  “Please, come in!” one of them shouted excitedly.

  She leapt forward as if she was floating on thin air and jumped onto him so that she was straddling him. He couldn’t believe his luck and was lost
in a trance. All he could do was look down through her open shirt, and not where her right hand was going. She quickly snapped up the pistol, put it to the second man’s head, and pulled the trigger. Blood sprayed out over the record player, but the other man was too shocked to react. She turned the pistol back to his temple and fired so that once again blood sprayed out over their office.

  Still sitting on the dead officer’s lap, she picked up the glass he had been drinking from and knocked it back triumphantly. She climbed off and smiled at Frasi while a trickle of the man’s blood still dripped down her face. He didn’t seem to understand her at all, but she didn’t care. She was in her own little world and entertaining herself.

  “Shall we find them now?” he asked directly.

  She calmly nodded as they went on.

  Two more soldiers appeared before them, but Frasi had his silenced Sten at the ready. He fired off two short bursts. To their horror all were bounced. He quickly took aim and shot out their legs. Chas descended upon the wounded men with her knife and killed both of them on the floor. As she finished, she looked up. She was right next to a heavy door with a sign above it. A small thickly reinforced porthole window at the centre allowed them to look in. Chas did so first. There were several cells inside, but she could only see into the one furthest down the corridor. It was Lecia, her hair being so unmistakable.

  “It’s them,” she said gleefully.

  Before Frasi could take a look through they heard a thunderous echo of footsteps approaching. It was a single person, but far too heavy footed to be any normal human. They turned in dread when a massive shadowy figure stomped into the room and stepped into the light.

  Robak! Chas thought, as she finally felt fear course through her body.

  “Who want’s to die first?” asked the hulking soldier.

  * * *

  Corwin stepped past the bodies. There was an opening into a huge domed room. It looked more like a small arena than anything else.

  “Sergeant Corwin?” a voice rang out.

  It seemed to be blasted out from speakers all around the room so that they could not pinpoint a location, but Corwin would recognise that voice anytime.

  “Villiers, you bastard!” Why don’t you come on down here and fight!”

  “Sergeant Corwin, I am glad that you could join me on this new adventure. I must thank you,” he went on.

  “Is it pre-recorded?” Nylund asked.

  Nobody was sure.

  “I have to admit, this time period was never one that I had considered for a moment, and yet here we are after you delivered me here, and what a time it is; a great time of superpowers, technological development, and marvel. I could not think of a better place to fuel my greatest desires.”

  “And let you carry on fucking the world over with your sick fantasies! ”Corwin shouted, “You’re nothing but a bitter shell of a man with nothing to live for but your hate!”

  Villiers seemed to ignore his question entirely and continued to speak.

  “Sergeant, I want to introduce you to one my latest toys. Something a little special I put together just for you. Good bye, Sergeant Corwin, and thank you so much for all that you have done for me.”

  Corwin was shaking with anger, and yet there seemed there was nothing he could do, but his attention soon turned to a huge part of the wall that drew back and slid open.

  “This doesn’t look good,” said Nylund.

  “Did you think this was going to be easy?” Porter grumbled.

  Rane put a new belt into the Vickers. He slammed the top receiver shut and lifted it back ready to take on whatever came at them. They were expecting a horde of soldiers to come out of the breach, but the shadow of two huge mechanical legs flowed out into the room as whatever it was approached.

  “This is gonna be a party,” Harland said, smiling.

  A huge four-legged mechanical walker stomped out from the opening. It stood three metres tall and ten metres wide. The turret of what looked like a Panzer IV appeared to be mounted on the top of the body, carrying a 75mm gun and a coaxial machine gun. Smoke bellowed from exhaust vents at the rear as it stomped into view, and they backed off until it took position at the centre of the room and stopped.

  “That is not what I was expecting,” Corwin said nervously, “Take it down!”

  Rane opened fire on fill auto and raked the walker with .303 rounds, but it sprang to life, its turret turning to take a shot at Corwin. The gun fired, but he just managed to jump to the side of the room. A hole was blown in the ground where he had been standing. In the confines of the room it was almost deafening, and machine gun fire tracked him as he rolled and kept running to outdo the turret speed. Rane remained on the trigger as dozens of shots ricocheted off, and he kept it up on with some hope of getting through or at least suppressing it. The others had joined in with their captured weapons until there was just a continuous drone of gunfire.

  The walker stopped and suddenly turned its attention to Rane as the one making the most noise.

  “Oh, shit!” he said as he dropped the Vickers and jumped for cover. A shell ignited where he stood, and he was launched through the air until he crashed into the side wall and collapsed down into a heap. The gun took aim at where he had landed, and he was too stunned to get back up. They could hear the next shell be slammed into the breech and prepared to fire. Corwin charged towards it and struck its lead leg with all the weight and power he could. It was enough to knock the leg up. The creature tilted back and the shot went high. Rubble from the roof collapsed in and covered Rane completely.

  The walker spun around and smashed Corwin with its leg. He felt his body buckle and a spike pierce his flank. He was thrown through the air and crashed to the ground like a ragdoll. Harland gave out a loud scream and rushed at the thing empty handed while the others kept up their fire to seemingly little effect. He took a running jump and landed on the top of the turret and held on for his life. The entire creature shook frantically and turned to try and shake him off.

  “There’s no hatch!” he cried, and desperately looked around for some way to prise the thing open.

  The walker angled forward and ran at one of the walls, attempting to crush him between its turret and the thick structure.

  “Fuck me!” he screamed as he spun over onto the other side, and they crashed into the wall. The creature then rushed aside and took aim at Nylund.

  “Run!” Corwin hollered as he got back to his feet.

  Harland took hold of the turret and wrenched around so that the creature staggered a little as it fired. The shot narrowly missed Nylund, but shrapnel from the floor cut in to the side of his face. He reeled in agonising pain.

  “Right, I’ve had enough of this,” Corwin said angrily.

  He drew out a grenade and rushed forwards as Harland still wrestled with the powerful walker. He ducked under one of its legs, and as it took aim on Porter, he jumped, primed the grenade, and tossed it down the barrel. He rolled out of the way.

  “Oh, shit!” Harland shouted as he let go and was thrown aside. The walker’s turret turned and took aim on Corwin.

  “Fuck you,” he said defiantly and stood his ground.

  The grenade ignited at the same moment the shell fired, and the barrel blew open at its breech. The walker staggered back, as if whoever was inside controlling it had been hurt or stunned at the very least. It stopped for a moment, and Harland dragged himself up.

  “Is it dead?” he asked.

  But it suddenly lurched forward with massive speed and smashed into him like a raging bull. He was thrown up and over, and a blade on the creature’s leg slashed into his own as he was tossed aside.

  “Guess not,” said Porter.

  It was readying for its next run as they tried to think of some other way to fight it. Corwin heard rubble being shifted aside and watched Rane rise from it. He looked furious.

  “Enough is enough! This is going to stop!” he barked.

  The massive Rane thundered forwards. As he
closed the distance, the walker lifted up one of its front legs. It revealed a thick spear like tip in readiness to thrust down into him, but Rane did not slow down. He went right for the leg, and as it thrust down on him, he caught it and stopped it dead.

  “That’s right!”

  He took hold of the leg and hauled it aside. The walker tipped onto its side, and he began to swing it around the room with a huge smile on his face. Finally, he let go, and the creature flashed past Corwin and smashed into the wall. The impact caused it to go right through the base of the dome, but Rane wasn’t satisfied yet. He rushed through the breach, and the others quickly followed.

  They watched Rane in awe. He picked up the walker by its body and smashed it down on the top of its turret until the turret ring cracked. He forced a hand into the hole and ripped the turret off of the vehicle. Inside was a battered and bloodied German soldier. He was breathing very slowly and badly hurt.

  Corwin pulled out his pistol and put a single shot in his head. He then patted Rane on the back.

  “You’re one strong son of a bitch,” he said, looking up at his hulking friend who stood almost twice his stature.

  He looked around the room, and it appeared to be nothing more than a store, so he stepped back out to the arena where they had fought. Nylund was still nursing his wounds, but thankfully they were only superficial. Corwin looked down at his own flank. He was still bleeding, but it wasn’t enough to stop him.

  He walked to the centre of the room and looked around in every direction before shouting out, “Is that all you’ve got, Villiers? Is that all that you can muster? I am coming for you!”