I offered a confused smile. "If it helps, I suppose it is merited."
Garrett laughed. "Well, since you don't get it in the first place, please don't attempt any jokes like that yourself. You will fail miserably at it!"
I nodded. "Much like your attempt?"
Garrett half smiled as he swung at a new target. "This conversation is definitely over."
The first report of a Grotus came in from the north. I raced forward, dodging Grumar arrows as I went. When I arrived, my fighters had overwhelmed the Grotus through sheer numbers. Sixty Talisans lay dead round the dismembered Green. Reports were that a second Grotus had fled into the woods. I chased after, bashing a dozen retreating Grumar along the way. When I caught up to the Grotus, he was surrounded by his fighters.
I spoke in Grumar. "You know I can't allow you to run away."
The Grotus replied, "If you want me, here I am. It is not an honorable death to die senselessly among a horde of common soldiers."
The Grotus gestured for his Grumar fighters to step aside.
I said, "There won't be honor in your death when there was no honor in your life."
The Grotus charged with his axe above his head. As his downward swing began, I raised the head of my maul to my shoulder, meeting the axe and shattering the finely honed blade. At the same moment, I spun, bringing the back of my fist around, striking him squarely in the side of his helmet. The multi-layered headgear did not crack, but the dazed Grotus stepped backwards in an unbalanced manner.
As the Grotus righted himself and shook off the daze, a crossbow bolt shattered his face shield and entered his left eye socket. The Grotus fell backwards as dozens of screaming Talisan fighters raced past me into the stunned Grumar who watched.
Garrett stepped up beside me. "The other Grotus has been overwhelmed and the remaining Grumar are on the run. The advance has been stopped cold. We moved all of our reserves around the south end of the ridge and onto that road. Those in retreat won't get far."
I nodded. "We should return to the others to begin our assault on Tanningar. The longer we wait, the better prepared they will be."
Three hours later we emerged from the forest at the rally point. Half of our defenders had been lost in the defeat of an army twice our size. The Talisan were proving to be the relentless fighters I thought they would be.
Chapter 22
* * *
I stretched a terrain map of the western end of Tanningar out on the ground. "General, I'm beginning to rethink our earlier plan. A slight wind is blowing from the north. If we start a fire line across this front, it will burn up and through their lines in about twenty minutes. Why risk our lives when we can let nature do the work for us?"
Colonel Baake replied, "There will be no glory in such a move."
Garrett laughed. "Glory? What good is glory if you're dead. I think this plan is brilliant!"
Boni Marrik nodded. "I believe it to be our best choice of action as well. As you say, glory is for the living."
Garrett looked over the map. "I'll move our archers up to ensure they don't send troops up to snuff it out."
I gave Boni the nod. "Have the fires set and we'll see where this goes. Keep the troops prepped. We will want to do that end-run once the fire is upon them."
Several minutes later the first of the fires was set. The dry wind out of the north pushed the fire quickly toward Tanningar. As Garrett had anticipated, troops were sent out to quell the flames. His archers saw to it that they failed.
The trees in and around the defense rows of the Grumar flared up like matchsticks. The heat generated by the flames drove the Grumar from their advantaged positions, opening the way for our attack. As the flames reached the edge of town we began to move in.
Garrett shook his head. "They are running like Geria rats! That fire was genius!"
With my face shield lowered, I could barely make out that Garrett was talking. I climbed up and over the first two row fences. Smoldering embers littered the ground. Our battle-suits easily handled the level of heat an smoke. As I climbed the mesh-covered, ion-retarding fence onto the third row, Grumar fighters began to race through the dwindling flames.
Garrett yelled out. "Here they come!"
No one heard his call.
I began to bash Grumar with my maul as they emerged from the smoke. Garrett and the Talisan were swinging their maces in a deadly crisscross pattern as the Grumar swordsmen slashed at their enemy. I came to a stop as two Grotus emerged from the smoke.
I gestured for the others immediately around me to step back. The Grumar afforded the Grotus the same courtesy. The Grotus split apart, putting two meters space between them.
The Grotus on the left lifted his face shield as he began to smile while twirling his axe. The second Grotus followed suit. I obliged as the two Greens began to swing their axes in unison.
The first Grotus, a captain, spoke in his native tongue.
Again I replied in Grumar. "You'll have to repeat that in a language we both understand."
The captain grinned. "Excellent! I always enjoy a stimulating conversation with those who are about to die by my hand!"
I laughed as I shook my head. "It's that arrogance that's your undoing. Three thousand years ago our people met on a battlefield such as this. Your ancestors were beaten, defeated, and instead of surrendering chose to destroy our world with nuclear weapons."
The captain growled. "Lies! It was the Grunta who attacked first! You were jealous of our establishment of the colony on Malybay! We had come to the table with an agreement. You broke that agreement by destroying two of our cities!"
I shook my head. "I've been to Jorus. I've looked over the records that are still there. Your colonists detonated those two bombs on your soil in an attempt to bring about the nuclear apocalypse. It was an attempt to wipe out all Grunta once and for all. Only, as evidenced by me standing here today, they missed, just as you will miss with that axe!"
The Grotus captain screamed in rage as he lunged toward me. I dropped my left shoulder in anticipation as I swung the seven kilogram maul up from below. The axe missed, the maul did not.
The heavy weight of the maul forced its way up through the armor on the underside of the captain's arm, snapping it at the elbow and sending the Grotus reeling. As his partner stepped in with a similar attack, I rolled backwards and sprang up next to the captain as he attempted to regain his composure. As the second Grotus again lunged toward me with a swing of his axe, I grabbed the broken arm of the captain and pulled him in close. The swinging axe dug deep into his good shoulder. I spun him around and shoved him back into a waiting crowd of Talisan fighters, where his life came to a quick and bloody end.
The second Grotus, now angered, but wary, raised his axe in an attack stance. "So you believe you now have the edge?"
I glanced back at Garrett and the twenty crossbowmen that stood with him. "I do have the edge. It's just to your left."
As the Grotus glanced over his shoulder, the crossbows all released their bolts at once. In a flurry, twenty bolts entered the Grotus' torso at the same instant. I stepped forward with my maul and released a final, but unnecessary, blow.
As I turned to face the Grumar, I expected them to flee. Instead they charged forward. The smoke was soon thick with Grumar soldiers, charging ahead with their blades at the ready. Weapons and bodies clashed as our two forces came together. I was soon surrounded by mayhem and blood as swords thrust forward and maces crashed down.
For a thirty-minute stretch, a seemingly endless stream of Grumar came through the smoke and smoldering embers, their crumpled and bleeding bodies piling up around me as I swung the devastating maul into one victim after another. The arms and chest of my battle-suit were covered in nicks and scratches as countless Grumar failed in their attempts to take down the big Grunta.
During the melee, half a dozen Grotus appeared, and half a dozen Grotus were killed. Crushing blows of my maul, a stream of crossbow bolts, or just being overwhelmed by Talisan fig
hters, was enough to halt the onslaught. When the stream of Grumar slowed, we pushed forward into the edge of town. Combat became house to house and building to building. The yellow Doomlight cobblestones that covered the streets soon ran blue with Grumar blood.
The fighting came to an end when twenty Grotus withdrew into the woods to the south of the town with eight to ten thousand Grumar following close behind. I smiled after looking down the main street of Tanningar and seeing only Talisan fighters standing. Garrett sat, fatigued, on short a rock wall.
I removed my helmet. Garrett did the same.
Garrett removed a glove and rubbed his fingers through his sweaty hair. "I'll need a week to recover from that. I've never worked so hard in my life!"
I nodded. "Grunta are conditioned for such battle, and I too am fatigued. I am a little bewildered that the Talisan do not seem to be tired. I haven't heard any moans or heavy breathing or complaints coming from any of them."
Garrett looked to the side, down the street. "Yeah, they just aren't wired right. They never complain and they only seem to care about one thing ... their emperor. You know, I can figure out what drives most species, but the Talisan are an enigma."
I sat on the wall next to Garrett as a runner came from the southern woods. "Emperor, General Marrik sends status. The Grotus and Grumar have moved across a bridge into the next sector. She would like to know if should we continue our pursuit?"
I shook my head. "Tell her no. Tell her to leave several scouts in case they decide to mount an offensive. The general and the rest can return here."
The runner bowed and sped across the street, disappearing down an alley.
Garrett looked around. "I bet this planet was once a peaceful paradise for its people. These towns, they give off a homey vibe. If I was looking for an out-of-the-way place to live a quiet life, I would look for a place like this."
I said, "There won't be any peace until Harden Salton, the other families, and species like the Grotus are dead or removed from positions of power. For the newest generations, the generations of my children, peace is really only an ideal.
"You and I grew up with real peace. Neighbors were friendly, laws were followed, everyone was able to pursue their own station in life. Most chose to not choose their own path, but instead go wherever life took them. The opportunity to do more was always there, always present. I wonder if that's something my children will ever know."
Garrett slapped me on the back. "If we keep doing what we did here today, there is nothing that can stop us. It may take some time, but we'll get the AMP back."
A figure in a silvery white suit emerged from a building just down the street from our location.
Garrett smiled and waved. "Hey! Go! Over here!"
Go walked up with his helmet under his arm. "You two look like you've been through a blender."
Garrett laughed. "I feel worse than I look. What happened to you?"
Go sat beside us. "Remember that group of Grotus I told you I saw? Well, they were gathered just over here when I arrived. After trashing the first fifteen or twenty of them, they got wise and scattered. All that buzzing around, chasing after them and firing my gun, ran the power cell down quicker than I expected.
"I know there were over a hundred Grotus on my first count. When I got back there were only ninety-six. I took out all but about a dozen of that group before my power cell began to crash. I didn't have enough power to make it back to the ships. It seems when you hit 1 percent the BHD glove won't let you leave the ground. So I went into that building over there and hid. Had I come out to fight in this suit, the Grumar would have carved me up."
Garrett tilted his head. "I don't know if they would have or not. I haven't said this before, but you have been getting pretty buff since you put on that suit. Your biceps are bigger than mine. That wasn't even close to the case three months ago."
Go smiled. "It's the electro-stimulation system the suit has built into it. Check this out."
Go picked up a heavy stone. Pushing with his legs and arms, the stone flew two meters up and six meters out before thudding to the ground.
Garrett sighed. "Now I know I want one of those suits. I bet that was close to what Knog can do!"
Garrett stared at me as I sat motionless. "If you want me to get up to heave a stone, forget it. I will need that energy should a counteroffensive come."
Garrett pointed to the south. "They aren't coming back. They got their asses kicked. I just hope whoever has that next sector is able to take care of them."
A bright flash could be seen overhead as a streaking light fell to the ground near our ships. Dozens more could be seen in the distance in every direction.
Garrett stood. "Uh, we have a problem. My arm pad just turned on. Whatever that was, it just took out the inhibitor."
I stood and called for a runner. "Tell the general to move everyone back into town and to prepare for a ground defense using our blasters. If the Grotus or Grumar show, they will be using laser weapons. And have her send runners to Marito and Fallmas with that same news."
As the runner raced away, I turned back toward the ships. "Garrett, do your best to keep up with us. Go, if you can get there before us, restock that power cell and get yourself back online. We need you up in the air for an assessment."
As I hopped over the wall I could hear Garrett in the background. "Another run? The ships have to be a couple hours away from here!"
I hesitated as Garrett opened a comm to Jack. "Jack? We are in Tanningar. Any way you can come pick us up?"
Jack replied, "Yeah, that inhibitor is a radioactive smoldering mess. I'm glad I was sitting in here when it got hit. Everyone outside was taken out by the concussion of the impact. I think they sent debris down from a fallen ship or something. Smashed that tower down something good. I sent the autobot out to neutralize that core, but I can call it back."
I joined the comm. "How long will it take the bot to secure the core?"
Jack thought for a moment. "If the bot can get to it, less than a minute or two. It went out with a container. The core of that power reactor is small."
I replied, "Give it two minutes. If it doesn't have the core, command it to continue while you come to pick us up."
Jack nodded. "OK, be there in a few."
I turned back to see Garrett grinning. "What?"
Garrett sat down on the wall. "I just saved us all a long-ass run that's what. And I have to say I'm very happy with that!"
I nodded as I stepped back over the wall, patting Garrett on the back. "I'll give credit where credit is due. Wise move."
Garrett chuckled. "If that hadn't hit me right then, I wonder how far we would have run before we thought of it?"
I took a deep breath. "I was prepared to sprint the whole way."
Garrett shook his head. "You, sir, are a machine."
Jack came over the comm. "Core is secure, I'm lifting off now. Scan shows a large field on the east side of town. I can meet you there. Hold on. Word coming in from the fleet. Crap. They got their asses kicked, but they aren't out of it yet. Both fleets have separated. The Grotus have a few dozen teardrops left and fourteen of those battlecruisers. We pulled back with thirty of our battleships but they are in bad shape. Word is that another fifty are due through the portal shortly."
Garrett winced. "What's to keep those battlecruisers from coming down here and wrecking this place?"
I replied, "That's a good question. Jack, has there been any movement toward the planet by the Grotus?"
Jack hesitated. "There is now. One of them just dropped from orbit. A second one is turning this way. Get out to that field as fast as you can. We're the only ship in the air down here, and that makes us a prime target."
I replied as I jumped up. "We're on the move. Should be there in under a minute. Send out word to all the shuttle captains to get their crews away from the transports!"
Jack came back. "I don't think we have a minute. Get as close to that field as you can and take cover. And don't lo
ok up at the bright flash if you value your eyesight. The first battlecruiser is coming right for us. Wish me luck."
Garrett replied as we ran. "You mean wish us luck."
Jack pressed a holo-trigger on his display. "Yeah, whatever. Fermium nuke is away! Battlecruiser is firing its lasers at it now. It's through! Ahahahaha!"
A bright flash in the distance told of Jack's counter to the incoming battlecruiser.
Jack yelled into the comm. "Grotus ship is in flames in high orbit! Don't think the blast made it to the ground! Looks like we punched a big dent in the front of the battlecruiser. Lit it up and sent it down! I'm heading right for that pack of 'em. None of the others have moved."
I replied, "Don't get cocky on us! You don't have the armor to take one of those full laser blasts!"
Jack nodded. "Don't worry. I've got this covered."
As the Garmon closed on the Grotus fleet, Jack turned hard to the right. I watched on my arm pad holo-display as a second blip came to life on the screen, heading straight for the fleet. It was the Anterra!
Jack yelled over the comm. "Say hello to your long-lost friend, you green-assed lizards!"
I took no offense.
A brief flash emanated from high orbit as the nuclear warhead on the Anterra detonated in the center of the converged Grotus ships. Eight of the twelve ships went silent as countless small explosions erupted from their hulls. The four remaining battlecruisers, as well as the fifth that was in atmosphere, turned and fled for home.
Jack came over the comm as he turned back our way. "I hated to give her up. But I think the Anterra just saved our asses!"
Go replied, "So that's it? Nothing saved? You blew her up?"
Jack shrugged. "We have the autobot, but I don't know how effective it will be without that AI to run it. If you want, I guess you could keep it as a pet."
Go returned a dejected look.
Garrett put his hand on Go's shoulder. "I can't believe I'm suggesting this, but maybe the Odenta will give you the clone computer when we get back. It's supposed to be an exact duplicate isn't it?"
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