Relias: Uprising Page 23

  The doors on the side slid open and the sounds outside the Battlecraft hit them like a dull burst of wind. It was windy outside and the skies were darkening fast. Luke got to his feet and stood at the edge of the Battlecraft.

  His vision was white with spots of blue here and there which expanded and contracted haphazardly like an amoeba; they were armed with stabilizers. There were Legionnaires everywhere and they were all converging on one spot. It was like his birthday; the Legionnaire were actually coming to him.

  Hendrick got to the edge of his seat with a persistent smirk of excitement. Sable had her Infiltrator held to her shoulder and was waiting patiently for a target to present itself. Pontious had a rifle as well, not planning on transforming into a wolf just yet. Vyvyr meditated quietly to himself, dressed in the garb of an armored sniper while Morlo happily sang a song to himself.

  “We drink and fight and smack our wives if they burn our Quo ham. We tell the wench to try again before they feel our backhand.”

  There was a resounding thud and the craft shuddered as it landed on solid ground. The Ditrinity got to their feet and went to leave the craft.

  “I’ve got you on your command!” Price yelled to Luke. “You need an airdrop anywhere, and I mean anywhere, I’ll be there hot and ready!”

  “Hot damn.” Hendrick commented. Luke gave Price a respectful nod which she returned with a salute.

  Luke was first off the craft, landing in the tall grass and walking forward, surveying the surrounding area. The others followed, forming up and getting into attack positions with Morlo’s booming singing as their soundtrack.

  They all ducked down as the Battlecraft took off, tilting forward and zipping off with glowing lead shooting up from the ground and following just behind her. Luke made a gesture with his hand and the group fanned out, each watching in a different direction ensuring they wouldn’t get snuck up on.

  They entered into the trees and it was darker. A mist had begun to build up and the Legionnaires in the forest had become dark grey shapes against the foggy backdrop.

  “Only fire if you have to.” Luke said. “They don’t know that we’re here yet. Move.”

  They crouched as they ran, concealing themselves the best they could, using the plant life and the fog to their advantage.

  They ran in a wedge formation with their Infiltrators ready. Luke ran point, with Hendrick and Sable covering the left side and Vyvyr, Morlo and Pontious watching the right. Leaping over logs, threading through the trees, they kept themselves as discreet as possible, only firing when they had to.

  The Legionnaire squads had spread themselves out. The more they ran the more shapes appeared in the fog. The more shapes that appeared the more convinced Luke became that the Legionnaire had circled Rush entirely.

  Everybody was running in the same direction, and with the low visibility Luke and the Ditrinity blended exceptionally well with the other soldiers.

  “Left.” Luke said only loud enough to be heard. Hendrick raised his gun and popped off a shot into a Legionnaire that was coming too close. The shot was sharp and loud but blended in with the other gunshots that echoed through the forest.

  The Ditrinity were expert marksmen. For every target they saw it was one shot, one kill.

  Luke kept point and maintained his pace, putting his trust in the Ditrinity entirely.

  The fog was thinning out. Luke could see the edge of the trees coming up ahead.

  It was a cliff. Legionnaire soldiers had lined up all along the top of it and shot down into a rocky ravine. Luke raised one hand and motioned to his left and right. The Ditrinity dispersed in both directions, Hendrick and Sable going left and Vyvyr and Pontious going right. Morlo, with his cannon, went off by himself to do something that Luke had no clue of. Luke picked up his pace and sprinted ahead towards a spot he’d been concentrated on since it came into view.

  It was a gap in the Stabilizers.

  There was a Phantom laid down beneath a bush that Luke nearly tripped over. The Phantom rolled onto his back to attack but Luke already had his sword drawn. He shoved the tip of the sword through the Phantom’s chest and turned his attention towards Rush.

  He could see six people sprinting through the quarry, five of them with guns firing up at the soldiers on the cliffs. The largest man, a truly massive guy, had a particle cannon. There was a shorter, stockier man firing a grenade launcher; there was their Demolitionist. And before Luke did anything else he found Tess, packing an Obliterator that was almost as big as she was. But then he saw Seraphine, a younger looking girl keeping her head down and clinging to Muldoon’s pants, using him as cover. It was then amidst his righteous anger that he took a rare moment of positive reflection. He couldn’t wait to teach Tess to use Elemental.

  It was a large rocky quarry with exiting valleys on both sides and Rush was tearing like hell from one end to the other. It was obvious that they were completely overwhelmed; most of them were shooting without even aiming. For the Demolitionist and his grenade launcher that was a legitimate tactic, but for the rest of the group it provided shoddy cover fire that had barely an effect on their attackers. But Luke wouldn’t judge; they were in the perfectly wrong situation. They were outnumbered, out gunned, and they had the low ground. Luke shook his head at Rush’s poor strategic choosing and did a quick evaluation of the surroundings.

  There was a large rocky spire that came up in the center of the quarry. Surrounding it was a mish-mash of large and small rocks which provided adequate cover for the group. Cover was always a plus, obviously, but in this situation it was a necessity. Their covering fire wasn’t worth crap.

  The Legionnaire still didn’t know they were there, even considering that the Ditrinity was picking them off along the upper parts of the quarry. Along the sides of the cliffs nearest to him he could see the Ditrinity peering through the scopes of their Infiltrators, sniping soldiers, finding a new target, and repeating. Whenever a soldier went down the others would simply assume it was caused by retaliatory fire from Rush. And Luke was still in unstabilized territory. As much as he hated to do it, he couldn’t use Elemental; not if they could kill the Legionnaire without being detected.

  Luke sheathed his sword and drew his Infiltrator. Looking through the scope he could see everything in regular, infrared and thermal filters. With the Phantoms’ camo Luke set the scope to thermal. Looking through the scope the Legionnaires were perfectly visible; what could’ve been over three hundred Legionnaires glowed in white silhouettes in countless places around the quarry.

  He found his first target; it was a Berserker wielding a mortar cannon. Luke centered the crosshairs on the glowing outline of the Berserker’s head and squeezed the trigger. There was a burst of white that exploded from the back of the Berserker’s head. Luke had already picked out his next target. With the large rounds he was using Luke stopped worrying about headshots and knew that a round like that would be fatal wherever it struck. Just above where the Berserker had been Luke found a Phantom perched high in a tree.

  He pulled the trigger.

  A Demolitionist was preparing a rocket near the quarry’s end. Luke put a round through his chest and put down another Berserker before the Demolitionist could hit the ground.

  The Legionnaire forces were beginning to condense around the quarry’s edge, moving towards the end where they knew Rush was heading. More and more appeared in the trees, crowding down towards the one end of the quarry. At the pace they were heading the Legionnaire would be cutting their escape off before Rush even knew they were there.

  A Helio battlecruiser was coming up over the tree line cutting a straight path towards the end of the quarry. Machbikes and Battlecrafts started zipping from the landing bays on the Helio’s underside and were diving down towards Rush. The more Luke shot the more frustrated he became; his shots were more intense and less accurate. Realizing that they were getting nowhere Luke cussed, threw his arm through the sling of his rifle and took off.

  “Hendrick!” He shouted
. He kept an eye on the Helio as it slowed to a stop. The barrels on the Helio’s sweep lasers were glowing a faint blue. They didn’t have much time.

  “Right here.” Answered Hendrick, meeting Luke along the tree line. “What you need.”

  Luke drew his sword and nodded towards the Helio. “Once that cruiser fires those sweeps up Rush won’t make it another fifty yards. You and Sable get down there and help ‘em out.”

  Hendrick back up slowly, giving Luke a loose salute and turning around into a run. “Sable! Suicide mission!”

  “Gotcha.” Came Sable’s brief , faint reply. Leaping over a tall bush she came out of nowhere and intersected Hendrick, changing direction and joining with him. Hendrick smiled at her and nudged her as they ran. Luke ran back towards the edge of the quarry and looked up at the Helio.

  They were big ships: truly massive. The Helio’s were well over a mile and a half long and had more guns than he’d ever like to count. The engines were more heavily armored and the Legionnaire had figured out how to create barriers similar to Elemental barriers that protected entire sides of the ship.

  The Stabilizers around Luke were gone. The Legionnaire was beginning to thicken around Rush and they were still unaware of his or the Ditrinity’s presence.

  But creating the Grav-field above the Helio was the easy part. Once he showed up on the Helio thermal scans (which wouldn’t take long), he’d have the entire ship raining plasma fire in his direction. Then, if he was lucky, the Helio’s Furo barriers wouldn’t pop up between him and the ship which would like hitting a ten foot thick glass wall at high velocity. Then, when he landed on top of the ship, he’d then be faced with the uncertainty of there being a stabilizer or not. If there was, Luke could take down the crew of the ship but not in nearly enough time to save Rush.

  The sweep lasers were getting ready to fire. Luke took a final glance across the quarry towards Rush’s position, took a few steps back, and got a running start at the quarry’s edge.

  From where he was the edge of the cliff could barely be seen between the trees. With the twigs and dried leaves crunching beneath his boots Luke picked up speed. With every tree he passed the precipice began to get clearer. Storming through the brush Luke was sure to glance at his target and keep its position firmly in mind.

  The edge of the cliff came closer.

  The opposite side of the quarry had been vacated entirely while what Legionnaires remained moved towards Rush’s position. Rush had passed beyond the quarry now and Luke could only assume that Hendrick and Sable were able to do any good. And as the edge of the cliff came ever closer Luke thought only of Tess. Anything that might’ve happened beyond that day became a thought of the past.

  He was almost to the edge.

  It wasn’t much to say that Luke’s life flashed before his eyes; it was a flashback of sorts, yet the only thing that came to his mind was all the times he had come close to death. And looking up at the colossal Helio Luke kept only the immediate situation in mind. There was no place for anything not related to his boarding a Legionnaire battlecruiser. He’d take it step by step. Get past the Helio cannon fire, pray that the deflector shield wasn’t in the way, land on top, and find a way to take the sucker down before it made a white-hot glowing crater where his daughter used to be.

  Even if he wanted to, Luke couldn’t change his mind. The edge was there and Tess wouldn’t survive if he didn’t do something. He took a deep breath, got a Grav-field in mind, thought about Tess one last time and threw himself into the open air.

  There wasn’t a set path through the woods so Hendrick was forced to forge one of his own. The sticks and branches tore at the wounds he had taken in Praemon and drew new blood. Hendrick didn’t care, though. He never did. He did feel kind of bad though; whenever he passed by a branch it would bend forward, swing back and slap Sable in the face. Most of the time she’d dodge it, but there were a few situations where she snapped audibly at each strike.

  They were heading down a steep hill, resisting the added gravity of running down such an incline while keeping their footing in the damp, leaf covered earth. Passing trees were a blur but Hendrick was smart to keep his eyes ahead of him.

  Legionnaires were still strong in that area and Hendrick could only imagine how many there’d be around Rush’s location. But there were way too many Legionnaires to take hand to hand. Far too many. Down towards the base of the valley Hendrick had noticed a thick growth of Popus trees. They were old ones too, the big ones, the kind that would grow to be hundreds of feet tall. Best of all, there were a lot of vacant clearings where they used to be. That might prove to be their best escape.

  As Hendrick ran, he combed through every idea he had and eventually realized that, had he not had any prior experience with Popus trees he would be fresh out of ideas. Fighting one’s way out was always a fun and viable option, but this time they had others to worry about and no strategic advantage. And Hendrick would have to remember to say it to their faces; they were damn stupid. Seriously, when you’re running away from somebody what kind of genius would consider taking the low ground? Especially when those somebodies where the First Legionnaire with an entire arsenal of high-caliber toys?

  “Nate!” Sable yelled, pointing to an upcoming clearing. Hendrick clenched his teeth.

  “I see it.”

  The clearing was in a good enough view that he could see all sides.

  Rush was pinned all right. The Legionnaire had them completely surrounded and Rush, without any other choice, hopped into a fallen and rotting Popus tree. Bullets carved and chipped away at it and pretty soon Rush would be without cover. And if the bullets didn’t get them then the approaching Legionnaires would. Rush wasn’t laying down enough fire to keep the soldiers at bay and some were even making their approach on the fortification a casual and leisurely stroll.

  But there were dead Popus trees: lots of dead, rotting, Popus trees. It was perfect.

  There was a quiet buzz that carried downwind from the Helio. Hendrick looked up and saw the barrels were beginning to glow blue. They’d be firing the sweep lasers any minute and those logs would be ash along with anything inside and around them. Hendrick took a flying leap off of a small cliff, landed in a crouch and kept running.

  “Alright, girly, here’s what we’re gonna do.” Hendrick started. Sable picked up her pace so that they were running side by side.

  “They still don’t know we’re here.” Hendrick said. “So we have that one and probably only advantage. So what we’re gonna do is b-line it to Rush’s position, pray that they don’t shoot us and hop inside. Just keep me covered. I’ve got something in mind.”

  Sable seemed somewhat confused. “So… should I shoot them?”

  Hendrick chuckled. “Of course you should shoot them. I’m just saying shoot them discreetly.”

  Sable nodded and hurdled over a bush. “They’re going to see us once we break that tree line.”

  Hendrick shrugged and prepared to raised his rifle. “Run fast then.”

  They came up to the edge of the trees and prepared to break for the cover. Hendrick swore to himself when he saw the incredible crossfire that bombarded the disintegrating log. The log itself rested on the very top of an entire graveyard of Popus trees, piling up and laying across one another with innumerable passages beneath them. He took one last look back to Sable, nodded to her, and they broke into the open.

  At the tree line the ground dropped an immediate four feet into a massive muddy basin carved out by water. Piles of titanic crumbling trees laid all around them forming a labyrinth of paths and tunnels that were out of the Legionnaire’s line of sight. Hendrick made a quick scan to decide on which path was the fastest. To their left was a darkened path almost completely concealed by the fallen trees. All he could do was guess. Hendrick motioned towards it, took off, and Sable followed.

  They sprinted across damp wood chips that formed a soft, earthy carpet. With only a sense of where Rush was hunkered down in mind, Hendrick followed the
shaded, winding paths towards the central area, going through and around the dusty beams of light that found their way through the logs. With Sable watching behind him he ran in a crouch, keeping low as to make it possible to pass through the logs and trees that leaned up against one another. Slivers and chunks of wood showered them as bullets blew into the dead wood in every direction, keeping them alert and prompting them to move faster.

  The dead trees criss-crossing all around the clearing got denser and more tightly packed towards the center and it didn’t take long before Hendrick knew that they’d have to climb up and make a dash towards Rush’s position.

  The tunnel that they ran in narrowed until it became a space too small for them to move through. To their left the trees opened up at a point where they’d be able to climb up an earthy wall and join Rush. The issue was, again, the Legionnaire’s heavy fire. Climbing up those trees would be a beast and take a minute or so which was all the time that even an amateur shooter would need to put a round between their shoulder blades.

  Hendrick kept a sharp eye out for any Legionnaires that were close to Rush’s position.

  A gunshot rang just behind his shoulder. He glanced back and saw Sable with her rifle raised and smoking, checked in the direction she fired and saw several soldiers venturing beyond the trees to advance on Rush’s position. Hendrick turned and opened fire. Seeing the new threat the Legionnaires retreated back to cover and returned their fire.

  There was accented yelling and colorful language that poured over the edge from above them. Hendrick motioned for Sable to move on without him.

  She went into the open, emerging in the forest light and pulled herself up the pile of wood. With one arm climbing and the other aiming and firing her Infiltrator, Sable scaled the mess towards Rush. Hendrick meanwhile provided what little cover fire he could. With so many Legionnaires Hendrick had to settle for bursting off scattered shots aimed in the Legionnaire’s general direction. That seemed like enough to scare them back into cover.