by C. R. Daems
"Luck? We’re the Black Guard," Catz said, to general nods.
"Yes, inside a building, we have no equals. But don’t get over confident. The foyer, reception area, and the terrace are very open as is the servants’ area. We may surprise a few in the beginning but not all for long." I held each woman’s eyes until she nodded acknowledgement. "Corporal Catz, your team will take the servants’ area. After you’re finished, retrieve our equipment. Go."
The four women flowed quietly down the stairs.
"We don’t have enough people to take on the reception area, the terrace, and all the rooms on the main floor. I’m going to assume most are together celebrating on the terrace or in the reception area; therefore, those are our objectives. Nadel you’re with me. Our responsibility is the terrace. Glick, you and Lipkin will clear the reception area. Does everyone have a flash star?" I asked. They looked something like an old Ninja throwing star, but when they hit something with enough force, like the floor, wall, or door, they exploded in a blinding flash of light. Everyone nodded. "We’ll approach the reception area slowly like we intend to join the party. Hopefully, that will give us a few seconds’ advantage."
We took the servant stairs, rather than the main ones, and were unnoticed as we strolled along, talking and softly laughing. We were halfway there when a gangly youth noticed us. He and a sergeant were sitting in a small waiting area between the reception room and the terrace.
"Look sergeant, women!"
"Can’t be… They’re with—" His face went from surprise, to confusion, and finally recognition. As it did, he reached down for his rifle which was lying on a small table next to his chair. I shot him, and Glick shot the other man as we began running. She and I threw our stars at the same time. Her star went into the reception room striking the wall, and my star into the terrace striking a wooden column. I closed my eyes and counted slowly to five, then dove thru the doorway, sliding into the room and twisting so I finished on my back. A few seconds later Nadel slid next to me. She began firing to our right while I concentrated on the left. I had six on my side. I ignored the three who stood rubbing their eyes rather than searching for their guns. Rubbing one’s eyes just made matters worse, and you weren’t ready when your vision began to clear. The other three were feeling around for their rifles. One knocked his off the table and was crawling on his hands and knees feeling for it. The other two had found their weapons and began firing, hoping to hit the intruders, although they still couldn’t see. Not too smart. They were more likely to hit one of the rebels on the other side of the terrace. That was the good news. The bad was the amateurs had their shard guns set to wide because most were not experts, and some shards were pelting me. They weren’t penetrating my body armor, but they would leave welts that would last for a week.
I shot both as a pain scorched its way across my thigh, side, and forehead, causing blood to drip into one eye. The forehead cut could have been from someone on Nadel’s side since we were lying close together. I shot the one crawling on the ground, who had finally located his weapon. As the laser beam hit him, his gun went off and a dozen shards pelted my side and leg. Two of the three who had been rubbing their eyes stopped looking for their guns and began to run. With my vision blurred from blood, I shot in their direction but doubt I seriously wounded either one. I ripped my blouse open and used the loose end to wipe my eyes and apply pressure to stop the bleeding. The remaining man now had his rifle and was firing while still rubbing his eyes. I think he was firing at the noise because his gun was pointed waist high in that direction. A few more random shards hit me in the stomach and chest. I gritted my teeth at the pain and shot him in the neck, just below his chin. He stumbled backward into a chair and sat. I shot several times at the two men running, but by now they had too much of a head start for a reasonable shot. I might have wounded one or both, but I couldn’t be sure. The terrace was silent.
"You’re hurt!" Nadel said while wrapping a torn piece of cloth around her hand.
"Later. We need to get to the rooms on this floor." I jumped up and sprinted towards the reception room with Nadel just behind me. The impact as each foot hit the ground sent pain running up my leg and side. Glick and Lipkin were just emerging as we got there. They each had three fingers raised. That left at least twenty not counting the ones downstairs. "The rooms. Glick, take the ones on the left, then the stairs to the servants’ area." I made for the right hallway, with Nadel a step behind me. Damn. The impact damage from the shards was causing me to limp, and I could feel blood dripping down the side of my face. I pressed the cloth tighter to my forehead.
The first two rooms in the hallway were a drawing room on the right and a game room on the left. I motioned to Nadel to take the left side. As we entered the hallway, a man coming out of the game room saw us, shouted, and fired. Although his aim was poor, with his gun set on wide-beam shards hit both Nadel and me. I felt the impact on my thighs and stomach. Nadel and I fired simultaneously, hitting him in the center of his head. Dead, he stumbled backward into the wall and collapsed. We stopped, focused on the two doors. Several seconds later, heads cautiously poked out of both doors. Nadel shot the man peeking out of the game room and I the one from the drawing room door. Then we sprinted past the entrances, looking to shoot at whoever we saw. I fired at the chest of a man who was standing at the far end of the room. His gun fired after I had passed the door. I stopped a few steps past the door and threw a flash star into the room, counted to five, and dove through the opening. Two men stood in the middle of the room rubbing their eyes, guns pointing towards the door. I shot both in the head. The man I had shot in the chest lay on the floor not moving. I rose, shot him in the head to be sure, and exited the door just as Nadel came out of the game room. She smiled holding up four fingers. We continued down the hallway. Nadel had a bathroom and a study at the end; I had a bathroom and two bedrooms. Nadel’s bathroom was empty. Mine had a man sitting on the toilet. I shot him in the head as he leaned over to retrieve his rifle.
A man came running out of the study. I let Nadel shoot him as I opened the door to the bedroom—nothing. Nadel was running towards the study. Halfway there, she threw a flash star into the room and seconds later slid through the doorway. I had opened the door to the first bedroom only part way. A man swung a rifle towards me as another pulled a shard gun from his holster. I twisted back against the wall as his automatic ripped a path of destruction into the wall across the hallway. Shards followed seconds later. Looking around, I pulled a large framed-picture from the wall and waited. When the shooting stopped, I threw it into the room, hoping their guns would follow the picture by reflex. As I did, shots sounded, and I rotated enough to see into the room. I could tell by their eyes they realized their mistake, but before they could swing their guns to bear on me my laser beam seared through the temple of the man with the rifle. The man with the shard gun fired before I could, but in his panic he fired without aiming. The shards hit the door. He died before he could get off another shot.
As I ran towards the next bedroom, a man peeked out then ducked back. A few seconds later his hand with the gun came out first. My laser beam burned through his wrist. He screamed and jumped back as I followed him, sliding into the room. He was holding his wrist; his face a bleached white. Another man stood next to him, eyes darting around the room, frozen in fear. His gun discharged, shattering the door frame—an uncontrollable reflex. I shot both in the head. When I stood and exited the room, Nadel held up two fingers as she exited the study.
I stopped to rip off the servant clothes and tear off a piece of cloth to tie around my forehead. Nadel did the same for her hand. I noticed a shard in my hand also, but it wasn’t bleeding enough to worry about now. We headed for the stairs. At the bottom, Corporal Kott lay on the floor in a pool of blood, clearly dead. Catz was farther back, shooting every time the man’s weapons-grade gun appeared out of the doorway. Now with Nadel and I on his right and Catz on his left, the man couldn’t peek around the doorway without exposing
himself. But we couldn’t breach the door without getting killed.
The room was on my left and the door opened to the left, so he was probably on the wall to the right of the door. I sprinted for several meters, dove past the door, and rolled to a standing position next to Catz. The man had fired as I flew past but too late to hit me. I tapped the release on my whip and signaled Nadel to get ready as I inched towards the door. I stopped a meter away from the door and my whip whistled over my head. It shot out, through the door, and around to the right. A man screamed, and I heard what sounded like a gun drop as I moved closer to the door. Again, my whip snaked into the room. A gurgling sound, then nothing. Nadel dove past me into the room. Silence. When I looked, a man was lying on the ground. His upper arm was cut through to the bone, and his neck cut so that it barely supported his head.
"Most of us thought those whips were for show," Nadel said, looking down at the man on the floor and poking his head with her boot. "Looks like we were wrong."
When I emerged, Haber was coming out of an open area, and Glick and Lipkin were coming out of the laundry room with our equipment.
"What happened, Corporal Catz?" I asked. She was limping and bleeding from her hand.
"Someone alerted them we were coming, because they caught us by surprise. Private Jaffe entered the open bay where most of the seriously wounded rested. A sergeant had a rifle under his blanket and shot her in the face. Private Haber killed him and the rest. Corporal Kott and I took the servants’ rooms. It was difficult going, but we were making progress until Kott opened that door. He shot her in the chest and has been holding me off for the past five minutes."
"Suit up," I said, strapping my Mfi to my arm and the Mfw and laser to my thighs. "Private Lam, grab what medical supplies you can and meet us outside. Our men probably miss us. We’ll retrieve Kott and Jaffe when we return." We found a large ground vehicle that accommodated the six of us and headed for the Ming Tree forest. Each of the Guard had special training in some specialty or another. Corporals Glick and Kott’s specialty had been medical.
As we drove, Glick worked on each one of us, removing shards and repairing open wounds. It turned out to be an interesting experience when combined with bumps and turns at two hundred km/h.
"Found it, Judt said, turning sharply off the highway onto a narrow road, spraying dirt and gravel as the wheels fought for traction. Several vehicles could be seen about a klick away. When we reached the area, there were five skimmers and eight ground vehicles scattered around. Off in the distance, I could hear faint shooting. We were all functional, if not in prime condition, as we began making our way towards the sounds. Sections of my body seemed to be taking turns complaining each time I stepped, turned, or jumped over something. Only the thought of my team fighting for their lives drove me half running through brush and over dead limbs in the heavily treed forest. I and the others fell several times in our mad rush with our battered bodies. What seemed like an eternity later, the shots sounded close. I raised my arm for a halt and activated my Mfi.
"Colonel Wolfson, this is Captain Sapir, my team is in the Ming Tree forest fighting rebels. Do you have visual or heat signatures?" I asked, hoping my signal was strong enough for the War Horse to detect it. No answer. I repeated my request several more times—hoping—but nothing.
"Captain Sapir, this is Warrant Officer Loeb, in commando shuttle seven from the War Horse. I’m delivering supplies to Captain Drezner. Your signal is too weak to reach the War Horse but maybe I can help. I’ll make a couple of passes over the area, high enough I won’t be noticed." Several minutes passed, then my Mfi lit with a map of the area and over a hundred red dots.
"How’s that?"
"Great, Warrant Loeb, I owe you several rounds when I get back." I forwarded the map to everyone. The red dots showed three distinct lines—us, rebels in the middle, and the Guard farthest away. Judging by the distribution of the red dots, it appeared like Lieutenant Ceder had lost several members and the rebels twenty or so. And unless I was mistaken, the rebels had detached two groups of ten, one to the right and one to the left in an attempt to encircle the Guard—a lucky break.
"We’re going to move cautiously forward until we are about forty meters from the rebels’ position. An easy shot for us, not so easy for amateurs. The rebel line looks to be close to eighty meters long, not counting the two groups moving to encircle the Guard. Catz, take up a position forty meters to the right. Haber, twenty meters right. Glick, forty left. Lipkin twenty left. Nadel and I will take the middle. Signal when you are in position. When you are, I’ll send a count down on your Mfis. Use the laser in your Mfw to kill anyone you see with a military grade weapon, and then switch to shards using a meter spread. Aim for their faces."
"What about those encircling the Guard?" Catz asked.
"Those two teams reduce the main group by twenty, leaving about fifty. If we break them, it will leave something for the men to do." That got a few grins.
"Why a meter spread? Less likely to kill than our normal thirty centimeters."
"True, Haber. We won’t be able to kill them all. There are too many of them and too few of us. The idea is to create panic. First the surprise, then a few killings, and finally being pelted with shards. With a meter spread we may be able to wound two or three at a time. Don’t worry about killing them as much as wounding as many as you can in the head and face."
"That’s devious, Captain. I hope Jaffe and Kott are watching—from wherever." Nadel said, receiving muttered agreement. Me too.
"Go." I began slowly moving forward while the others fanned out. Several minutes later I lay, looking up at a small rise where the rebels lay shooting. I had at least twenty in my sight. Nadel was only a few meters to my left. Soon afterward, I began getting "in position" messages from the others. I set the count-down to ten seconds on my Mfi and sent it.
I identified two with military grade weapons and waited. As my Mfi chimed, I shot one then the other, switched to shards and began firing as I swept to my right as far as I could see and then reversed direction coming back to center. Five or six received fatal shots, six or seven had dropped their weapons and ran holding their faces, the rest had maintained discipline and returned fire. Dirt and tree bark spayed around me with shards hitting me every few seconds. One ripped through my cheek and several hit my skull cap causing white flashes behind my eyes and momentary dizziness. I switched to explosive bullets and shot blindly in their general direction, hoping to cause a distraction long enough to recover. It worked, but by the time I could see properly again, the few that were still alive were running right or left. Of course, they were running a gauntlet because of the way I had deployed my team. I switched my Mfi to Lieutenant Ceder’s channel.
"Lieutenant Ceder, you have two, ten-man teams attempting to circle you to the left and right," I said. "The front is clear." Five minutes later, he replied.
"Thanks to your warning, Captain, we were in position and killed several. After that they took off running."
"Well done, Lieutenant. Collect everyone and come to us. We will have verified the area is clear by then." I switched to an open channel. "Make sure everyone on the ground is dead." I walked, surveying each body as I went, shooting anyone who moved, moaned, or had a hand on a weapon. Before too long everyone but Lipkin had assembled.
"Anyone seen Lipkin?"
"She’s dead. A shard through the eye." Glick said softly. A half hour later Ceder and his party came into sight. They had taken a beating. I counted eight dead including Sergeant Rosin and most were wounded. My first command, and I had lost almost half. Brave men and women of the Black Guard who had given everything in the name of duty. Men and women who will live in my mind forever.
"Captain," Ceder said, bowing low. The others also bowed. Then he straightened, smiling through the dirt and blood. "I think we owe you and the women a round… or three when we get back."
"You did your part, Ceder. You entertained a hundred while we partied." I couldn’t help a gri
n.
"Where the hell have you been?" Li Ho Lew shouted. "We were almost killed."
My laser beam hit the ground between his feet, spraying dirt and debris. "Governor, the next one will be higher, although I doubt you have any balls to hit." I stared at him until he lowered his eyes. Li Ming was standing off to the side, watching her son with undisguised shame.
"Li Ming, who is Po Tong?" I asked as I neared her.
"Thank you, Captain Sapir. You and your Guard are very brave." She bowed low. "Po Tong is one of the ministers who is on the Lanzhou governing council."
"He’s a dead man," I said to no one in particular.
* * *
After treating the wounded, we returned to the estate in order to give Colonel Ou Yang time to reorganize the Yuan military sufficiently to provide the governor reasonable protection. When we arrived, I was notified that Colonel Wolfson was sending a shuttle for me to return to the War Horse. I left Lieutenant Ceder in charge and worked out a schedule to rotate the Guard to the War Horse for examination and medical treatment based on their current condition. Everyone had been injured but some were more serious than others. I had no sooner finished than a combat shuttle landed. I entered with the four we considered needed immediate attention. Lost in my thoughts over those who had died under my command—following my decisions—the trip seemed to take only minutes. I rose as the shuttle door opened, feeling the weight of those deaths, renewed pain from the multiple shard hits, and bone tired.
"Captain Sapir." Captain Drezner stood a few meters to the side. "Thank you."
"It’s good to see you, Captain Drezner. Thanks for what?" I didn’t know what he meant, but just seeing him lightened my mood.
"For reminding me, we are Jax and they piffling rabble, and there was no reason to die fighting when we could kick ass." He laughed although his eyes were sad like mine must be. "The survivors and I stand tall today because of the many who died in the finest Jax tradition. Many faces I’ll never forget."