by Trey Deibel
“Over there! Kill the smelly human!” a lycargan yelled, and the group ganged up on me, unloading plasma at the tree I was behind. Their small plasma weapons waved back and forth in their stubby, spotted arms. Using my shield as cover, I fired at the closest one. He rolled into a ball and headed right for me.
“Go get him!” a lycargan cheered.
My bullets did little harm to him as he rolled closer to me! Out of nowhere, Geariic appeared and slammed his big ass warhammer down on the rolling lycargan. An explosion blasted from the end of the warhammer and cratered the lycargan a few centimeters into the ground. I had no doubt the lycargan was dead.
“Sixteen!” Geariic shouted as he counted how many enemies he'd already killed. Hollering in a wild craze, Geariic pursued the other two lycargans as they rolled hastily away. “Fourteen!” I heard Alabon’s voice not too far off in the distance. At that moment, I knew those two twins were insane.
Over the intercom, Geariic taunted, “Don’t let my brother and me outperform you, James. Or were the stories we heard about you over exaggerated?”
I ignored him. Under my breath, I grumbled, “Well damn, if I were bulletproof--”
Behind a tree a few yards out, I spotted dytircs targeting the defense turret. Sneaking through the brush, I kept low to the ground until I was a meter behind them.
“The major wants us to take out the turret,” a dytirc said.
“But it keeps trying to shoot me!” another said.
“That’s why we need to take it out, dummy!”
Without warning, I leaped behind them and shot one in the back of the head. The other dytircs turned around to meet bullets of their own. In the commotion, I created enough noise to alert a few nearby enemies. Others turned their plasma weapons directly toward me.
“Damn!” I yelled, barrel rolling for a nearby tree.
“Damn you, human! Damn your entire crafty species!” I heard a dytirc yell at me.
“You got hostiles on your scent, James,” Benjamin warned me.
“Cover my ass, I’m heading back toward the incline,” I commanded.
“Sure thing, man. Shadow, can you help a bro out?”
Shadow-Walker responded in a joke, “Somehow, James, you always manage to attract the wrong crowds. Lucky for you, I’m here to keep your ass from making a mess of itself.”
Joking back, I laughed. “Good, because I’m saving this bare ass for a woman I met on the ship some time ago.”
Benjamin jested, “You would be thinking of women during a fight for our lives.”
On the ledge leading to our crash site, Ben and Shadow-Walker assisted me as I shimmied my way from cover to cover. Our defensive scout turret locked on to a target with its targeting laser and unloaded a precise stasis beam at the target, saving me from an enemy. With each new cover, I seemed to attract new followers. I counted at least ten. Finally, I made my way back toward the incline and took cover behind another stance of trees. From that position, I engaged my new crowd. As I fired, I saw help coming from Shadow-Walker and Benjamin as their sniping eliminated a number of enemies on my ass. To my surprise, ungie beasts jumped from behind the crowd of enemies and galloped straight in my direction.
“Valiic, ungie beasts headed my way. Backup would be appreciated,” I called over the intercom.
“Hang on, I’m reloading the defense turret,” he responded.
“Damn,” I cursed out loud.
I pulled out my assault rifle and aimed at the closest ungie beast. While shooting at it, I spotted in my peripheral vision a few lycargans with plasma mortar launchers over their shoulders. They were aiming at the defense turret where Valiic was positioned.
“Valiic, MOVE!” I screamed over the intercom, ignoring the oncoming ungies.
Multiple large plasma balls exploded the turret to bits. I saw Valiic jump to the side in the nick of time. My heart cheered as I watched him get back to his feet.
“Now that was close,” Valiic sighed.
I turned my attention back to the ungies, which were now mere centimeters away. Using the butt of my gun, I cracked the leading one across its snout. It whimpered as it took its last breath. The next two pounced for my neck. With seconds left, I tossed my assault rifle and activated my shield. This interfered with the ungies’ pounce, and my shield redirected their momentum backward. During my struggle, I noticed I'd become the main target for our enemies. My position became claustrophobic fast.
“Someone lend James a hand. This man has half the enemy force trying to kill him!” Benjamin pleaded.
“Valiic, go assist the left incline,” Captain Landis commanded.
“Thank sweat merciful Christ.” I slipped out the words as I continued my battle with the ungies beasts. Fortunately for me, I was in a strong spot with lots of cover. Otherwise, the plasma shots would have burned me into my grave.
Half-falling on the ground from the onslaught, I somehow got my pistol out to aid me. The ungies took another pounce at me. I capped one in the head but missed the other. Pain rushed to my arm as the beast sunk its teeth into my flesh. Crimson blood flowed down its jaws.
“You’re looking a bit overwhelmed,” Alabon’s voice called from a few meters away. Sea blue blood spattered my face as a blade belted into the ungie that was on me. Alabon hollered in enjoyment as he sent that beast flying with electric sparks. “I love it when they do that.” His glowing eyes sparkled at his work. “Nineteen!”
Meanwhile, at the base of the left side, Geariic’s exploding warhammer redesigned the ground with every blast. For the next minute, both of these crazy juggernauts wrecked every enemy in their paths, creating a jug full of havoc. The Bruising Brothers’ metal skin didn’t even buckle from the countless blue plasma shots that impacted them. Finally, the last of the enemies was killed. For the time being, we had some peace to collect ourselves and regroup.
Before heading up the incline to my initial position, I asked the Bruising Brothers, “Where did you guys disappear to? We could have used you guys closer to the inclines.”
“Chasing chaos,” Alabon responded. Unsatisfied with his answer, I decided to drop it and head back up the incline. On the way up, Valiic maintained his sightline with his arm-sized plasma cannon.
“You look like shivf,” he noticed as I settled behind the deployable cover beside him. I rested my back against the metal, my butt in the dirt and my arms over my knees.
“Thanks for the compliment. You missed the fun down there,” I joked back with him, half-high on dust and gun smoke. “What happened to your leg?” Mango-colored blood dripped down his leg and around his armor.
“That explosion that took out our turret got me, too. It’s nothing to worry about; Uslar already looked at it,” he assured me.
“Ben, good as gold up there?” I yelled up to him in the tree.
“Bro, the enemies have been too focused on you guys to notice me… so there’s that,” he muttered from the tree.
“Don’t be jealous, now,” I joked. “Landis put you up there because you can snipe and hide your way to victory.”
“Guys, the battle isn’t over. A second group of Haulers are inbound. No rest for the weary today,” Shadow-Walker informed us.
“In that case, everyone stay focused. A second assault is almost always more aggressive,” said Captain Landis.
Trees bent backward as two enemy Pursuers zoomed above our crash site. Our overshield was the one thing between us and its guns.
“We got incoming troops and aircraft above us,” Shadow-Walker called out.
“That can only mean one thing. They're going to make a push for our overshield generator,” reported Landis.
Soon after, Haulers unloaded more troops. Less than a minute later, the enemy troops appeared from the brush.
“Valiic, behind those trees, see them?” I pointed in the distance. We both shot at the large group of lycargans and dytircs. This time around, a force twice as large as the previous attacked us.
“We're getting over
run,” Valiic called over the intercom. “When are the reinforcements coming?”
“Keep holding out. We have to believe they're coming. Don’t lose focus.” The stress in Landis’s voice was apparent.
Through the firefight, I heard distinctive stomping through the forest. Every passing moment, it grew closer.
“Bad news, guys. Two boulthas are stampeding toward us!” Shadow-Walker called.
“Benjamin and Shadow. Cover the area as best you can. Everyone else, protect the overshield,” Landis demanded.
Instantly, I sprinted toward the front incline to aid. I took cover behind a rock, with my back against the rugged surface. Distracted by some troops flanking around a group of trees, I failed to notice a stampeding boultha headed in my direction.
“James, DIVE!” Landis shouted from across the crash site.
I peered around the other side of the boulder to see one boultha only meters away. As fast as I could, I dove to my right, but it was too late; the boultha plowed through the solid rock, jousting me with its arm. Its momentum sent me at least twenty meters in the direction of Landis and the overshield. The wind exploded from my lungs as I smacked the dirt and skimmed to a stop. Half-buried in the ground, my blood mixed in with the dirt, I tilted my head up. The same boultha was coming straight for me! If it runs over me, I’m done for! Struggling, I tried crawling, only to fall back down. The boultha was a few meters away!
This is it! I thought.
From above me, Geariic’s warhammer swung past me and whacked the boultha in the gut, saving me. Next, the explosion, centimeters from my body, knocked the boultha backward off its feet. I was dazed, and a piercing ringing trembled my eardrums.
“Here comes another!” I shouted, probably louder than I meant to.
The second boultha was stampeding toward the overshield. From nowhere, Alabon body-checked the second boultha, knocking both it and him to the ground. With both boulthas on the ground, the rest of the squad opened fire on them. Even with all of the bullets, lasers, and plasma blasts targeted at their bodies, the boulthas didn’t flinch. Back on its two feet, the first boultha turned its attention to Geariic. Furious, the boultha slammed its hard granite arm down from above its head straight toward Geariic. In response, he used his warhammer’s long handle to block it.
“Shoot this stupid thing,” he yelled.
Granting his wish, our team redirected their shots at the first boultha and smothered the beast. The boultha went into a wild frenzy. It swung its arms and body around in frustration. Raging and growling, it threw another punch under the warhammer’s handle and sent Geariic flying back a few meters. He dropped his warhammer in the process. Like a bull, the boultha tried to run him over. Geariic wasn’t having that. From the ground, he kicked its leg and tripped it. As it fell, he threw a jab into the boulthas side, launching it off to his left.
Uslar reached out his hand and helped me up. Dytircs and lycargans now poured into the crash site from both inclines. Shadow-Walker and Benjamin couldn’t hold them at bay any longer. Getting back to his feet, Alabon jabbed down both his war-glaives at the gut of the second boultha. The blades didn’t even pierce through the granite layer of skin the boultha had.
“Valiic and Narrisa. Try and distract the incoming enemies. Let us handle the boulthas,” Captain Landis commanded.
In response, they both did their best to distract the oncoming horde of lycargans and dytircs with plasma blasts. From behind her cover, Landis put round after round into the boultha under Alabon’s war-glaives. Uslar followed her example.
Meanwhile, I turned my attention to the boultha giving Geariic problems. Both were now back up on their feet. The boultha threw a furious jab Geariic’s head. He ducked but was sent back to the ground with a second hook. Still bruised and bloody, I struggled to pick up heavy Geariic’s warhammer. Dragging my feet, I swung the warhammer into the back of the boultha standing over Geariic. The explosion knocked me and it to the ground in opposite direction. Luckily, this gave Geariic enough time to recover. He pulled me back to my feet, grabbed his warhammer, and smashed it against the head of the downed boultha. Its granite-encrusted skull crumbed from the pressure. One down!
Geariic and I headed to the second boultha. Alabon was still struggling with it. He was now on the ground, trying to defend himself from the boulthas fury of ground pounds. Geariic, seeing his brother in distress, picked up his pace. He used his speed to give his swing extra momentum, and the warhammer exploded the boultha off his brother. Like the first boultha, Geariic smashed its head in.
The distraction caused by the boulthas gave the enemy the advantage. Hordes of lycargans and dytircs had us pinned at the generator within moments. Inside the crashed dropship was the closest cover to my position, so I took advantage. We were all now just trying to survive as we became more outnumbered with each passing minute. Shadow-Walker, using his agility, barrel rolled into the dropship with me.
“I was forced to retreat. The enemies are everywhere,” Shadow-Walker spoke breathlessly.
I continued to fire into the crowd of enemies. “Where is everyone?” I asked him.
“The enemy hasn’t spotted Ben, so he's still in the tree. Landis and Uslar are behind the rocks near the generator. Valiic is hurt at the front incline, and Narrisa's protecting him. The Bruising Brothers are the only reason we're still alive in this fight, but they're taking a beating. The bonies started shooting plasma mortars at them.” He snipped a nearby dytirc.
“The generator is hit! Everyone retreat to the dropship!” Landis yelled.
Outside, I could hear the enemy Pursuers above our crash site begin to unload plasma shots at us. Uslar was the first in, followed by Landis.
“You guys take cover, I’ll protect Valiic,” Narrisa said over the intercom.
“Shivf, Valiic! I forgot he was injured. They’re going to die out there!” I yelled as I dodged around my squad mates.
Geariic and Alabon joined me from the outside, covering me as I ran toward Valiic. I used my stasis shield to deflect plasma blasts from the Pursuers. “Maelkii don’t leave others behind!” Geariic shouted over the enemy fire.
“We'll help,” Alabon added as we pushed toward Valiic.
Halfway there, the sky blackened. I noticed a massive shadow cover our crash site and gazed over the horizon: An ally SHRDR Air Fortress was humming its way to us. It had the Order of Aegis logo on it.
“Reinforcements!” I howled with joy over the intercom.
The air fortress didn’t disappoint. In seconds, it took out the two enemy Pursuers. Its four rotating blades churned up the leaves and moved the trees. I might have even seen the mountain flinch for a second. Doors slid open, and ropes dropped down to our crash site. Repelling down the ropes, troops in Prototype-2 power armor came to our rescue. In addition, Model-1 battle droids dropped down to join the fight. The tide of the battle turned, and we had the enemies in retreat. Each plasma shot that hit the power armor was absorbed by an embedded shield. Its sleek onyx-colored design glistened in the sunlight.
When we arrived at Valiic’s location, blood painted his armor and covered most of his left side. He was down on the ground, unmoving. Narrisa wasn’t looking too well herself. She had blood flowing from her mouth and multiple wounds surrounded her gut.
“Uslar, haul your ass over here!” I yelled over the intercom.
He was already on the way. He brought the medical bag from the emergency locker in the dropship.
“He’s alive!” he concluded after checking Valiic’s vitals with his cyberwatch.
“Keep him that way,” I told him.
“Just let me do my job,” he retorted, opening the bag and pulling out some medical equipment.
Narrisa sat down next to Valiic, exhausted and hurt from the massive amounts of plasma shots that had hit her. Reinforcements were in complete control of the area now.
“You took a thrashing,” Kalvin Keefe said as he walked up from behind me. He removed his helmet. “Our aircraft recei
ved your beacon’s signal some time ago, and each of you will be thrilled to learn we demolished the device responsible for jamming your cyberwatches.”
“We appreciate the effort.” Landis walked up to join the group. “A few minutes later, and you might have been collecting bodies instead.”
He smirked. “I am thankful we arrived in time. Additionally, I bring grand news. The 9707 Recons have spotted the warlord’s ship landing only a kilometer or two northeast from this location.”
“How do they know it was the warlord?” I jumped in.
“The airship was made with the legion’s finest materials and was heavily escorted. Only warlords fly in such style,” he pointed out.
“Speaking of style, what strings did the Order of Aegis pull to have battle droids and troops with power armor?”
“Another benefit of being a privately subsidized organization. Toys such as power armor and battle droids are too expensive for the ARW to purchase in bulk for its entire military. However, the Order of Aegis is able to afford to construct them,” Kalvin bragged.
“Your two-faced organization never ceases to amaze me.” I found myself a bit jealous.
“Thank you for the info.” Captain Landis shook Kalvin’s hand.
Uslar jumped in, “Valiic is going to need an evac. He won’t die, but he's too injured to continue the mission.”
“I will personally have him evacuated out,” Kalvin offered.
“Thank you,” Captain Landis gave him her approval. “Squad, rest up for the next few minutes. After that, we head for the warlord,” she announced over the intercom.
“On generosity, I will lend your unit three battle droids for your campaign,” Kalvin smiled.
“We could use some cannon fodder.”
I was a bit apprehensive of his motives; nonetheless, I decided to go lay on the ground for the rest period.
Chapter 10: Ghost Town
September 31, 2111
James Stone
Pebbles pressed into my back as I rested with my head against a rock. A calm breeze swept dust over my body as a river swept water over rocks. I overheard Kalvin on his intercom.