Relias: Uprising Page 28

  Pitt nodded solemnly. “But the animals that’re there aren’t the worst part. On this end of the Byfaynes the forest disappears and segues into narrow canyons. That’s where the Hoppers are. They’ll drag you away and devour you before anybody in the group’ll even notice you’re gone. After the canyons there’s a nice little geothermal section with hot pools, geysers, stuff like that. But just past that all the happy stuff is gone and you’ve got the largest volcanic badland in the world.”

  “But we’re not going that way.” Hendrick said in an oddly cheery voice. “So let’s get off the subject and talk about what we should be doing to get to Leramato because, honestly, you guys are ruining my disgustingly good mood.”

  “He’s right.” Luke said, standing up. “That’s out of our way. Forget about it.” Luke faced Kristik. “How much were you guys able to prepare before you took off?”

  Kristik looked around at the group and shrugged. “None et all. Grabbed muh boom-booms, muh travel pack, everybody else grabbed their guns ‘n packs and we booked it outta there.”

  “So you don’t know how many Legionnaires are out there or how many there are.”

  “We know there’s a ton.” Muldoon said harshly. “Don’t need your scrawny ass tellin-“

  Luke spun on Muldoon, looking at him hard and slowly approaching him.

  “Listen, I’ve spent the last several months tearing pieces of crap like you up and leaving them rotting in the sun and unless you’re completely mentally incapacitated like I’m starting to think you are, it shouldn’t be any secret that I’m not too fond of any Legionnaires.”

  Luke stood right in front of Muldoon. Muldoon sat on his backside but he was still eye to eye with Luke. Everybody sat quiet, watching Luke and Muldoon stare the other down. Muldoon’s veins began to bulge and his fists were balling up.

  “And I don’t know what’s worse,” Luke went on, his voice reaching a threatening quiet.. “A Legionnaire, or a Legionnaire who ends up being a traitor to his own cause.”

  Luke could tell Muldoon didn’t like that. The veins in his neck were throbbing and his jaw was clinched down like a vice.

  “Don’t think I’m not afraid to kill you.” Luke said quietly so that only Muldoon could hear. “If I had it my way, and I could control anything I wanted, I’d make sure that every last Legionnaire was rounded up and got the gas.”

  Muldoon shoved Luke as hard as he could in the chest. He tensed his muscles and cocked his arm to punch.

  “YOU THINK YOU SUCH HOT SH-“

  Blue steam billowed off of Luke’s arm as he threw a punch into Muldoon’s chest. Muldoon flew back against the wall, narrowed his eyes on Luke and roared. He pushed himself off the wall and lunged at Luke with a battlehammer in hand. With disaster imminent the others scrambled to break the fight. But Luke was already holding himself up by the collar of Muldoon’s armor, perching his feet against Muldoon’s chest with his sword pressed firmly against the Monolith’s throat.

  And everything stopped. Everybody stood frozen where they were, shocked at the scene that had unfolded before them.

  “Breath.” Luke growled, . “I dare you.”

  Muldoon stood solid. His eyes dropped down to the massive sword pressing up again his throat and his grip around the battlehammer loosened. His breathing was heavy and the sight itself was a rare one to anybody. A man, only six-one, was making a Monolith think twice.

  Luke glared at Muldoon, coaxing him to try something else. He had just spent the night tearing through the Legionnaires. He hadn’t had any sleep and killing those white armored freaks was starting to become a mechanical motion to him. And it wasn’t like the death of this Monolith would be of any consequence to Luke; actually it’d be quite the contrary. It’d be one less Legionnaire in the world, most notably one less Legionnaire around his daughter.

  But as much as Luke would have loved to take Muldoon’s head off and send it rolling down one of the nearby chasms he knew that they needed him. He was an experienced former member of the most dangerous and advanced fighting force in the world.

  He was a member of the group though, and as he contemplated the ups and downs of decapitating the brawny behemoth he began to wonder if it was his hatred for the Legionnaires that compelled his anger against Muldoon or if it was the fact that Muldoon was simply mouthing off to the wrong person at the wrong time. Whatever the case was, Luke wasn’t about to let his anger get the best of him, whether it was the case for his assault on Muldoon or not.

  Just as Luke let go of Muldoon’s armor, the battlehammer clattered to the ground. Luke fell the six feet from Muldoon’s head and held his sword in a relaxed arm. The defiant and defensive air surrounding Muldoon had dissipated entirely and Luke knew that his job had been done, at least for now. The only other person who he felt might be a problem, Kristik, appeared from his expression to be planning on full cooperation. With stolid satisfaction, Luke turned back to the group and carried on from where he was before he had been interrupted.

  “As I was saying, the First Legionnaire has started dispersing itself across the Byfayne mountains. The time that’s passed between now and the invasion of Praemon is more than enough time to give any modestly built person a chance at escape. The Legionnaire knows this so they’ve set up a defensive grid all around Praemon with a network built up with every battlecruiser they got- Helios, Primals, Mystos- as well as supporting fleets of Strikers and Machbikes. And that’s just the air. On the ground they’ll have the full armory deployed on search and destroy missions; that’s shoot on sight. We get seen, we get shot. So the moral is, don’t get seen. We’re going to have all the specialty classes coming out here in full force with extra contingencies of Skirmishers being deployed due almost entirely to the work of yours truly. Usually the squads stick to the basic formations of Knights, Demolitionists, Berserkers and Phantoms, but in light of recent events they’ve added Helldogs and Skirmishers to those basic formations. On top of that we’re going to see a lot more, and I mean a lot, of Nightwolves and Monoliths, as well as a new type of Legionnaire that I don’t know about yet.”

  “Fetched up a bit of intelligence, did we?” Pitt asked.

  “I found enough.” Luke said with a shrug. “It’s common protocol now to suicide if captured by a Durant. They pretty well know that what few Durants are left in the world are capable of telepathy so they don’t want to give up any useful intelligence. Especially the officers.”

  “So here’s how it’s going to work.” Said Luke, branching off into a new subject. “We’re going to separate out into three groups. Group one is going to be myself, Pontious, and Tess.”

  Tess was about to protest. It only took a hard look from Luke to silence her.

  “Group two will be Morlo, Muldoon, and Serenity. The last group is going to be the most important cause it’s the one that’ll be protecting Seraphine. Besides her there’ll be Sable, Kristik, Pitt, and Hendrick.”

  “We’ll be traveling in an upside-down triangle formation. We’ll have the first two groups travelling out in front and basically paving a way to our destination. We’ll travel in that formation to give the final group,” Luke pointed at Seraphine. “a bit of a buffer zone on either side so they’ll stay out of harm’s way as much as possible. Those first two groups’ll also cover the area between themselves so nothing comes jetting up through the middle.”

  “What’ve you planned to use me for?” Vyvyr asked.

  “You’ll be travelling in the back of the third group.” Luke explained. “You’re basically going to be watching their backs while taking extra precautions for stealth. You’ve always been our scout sniper so this comes naturally. If something’s coming up from behind Seraphine’s group then you’ll be the first to find out and the first to put him down quietly.”

  The group seemed attentive and Luke assumed that they felt it was a reasonable plan. He kept going with it. “Now on the off chance that the Legionnaire, or whatever might do some damage, gets through us and reaches that thi
rd group, Hendrick…”

  “We got it.” Hendrick said confidently, motioning between himself and Sable. “And… I guess he’s got it too.” Hendrick pointed to Kristik. Kristik, whose arms were folded, flopped to his sides as though he were in offended shock and he began to stammer a retort.

  The two groups still stood separate from one another. Whether it was conscious or not didn’t matter to Luke. The only thing he cared about was getting everybody on the surface and moving. Luke had done a good job of driving the Legionnaire from the immediate area but it was only a matter of time before they regrouped and retaliated. There was no telling when the First Legionnaire might catch up with them if they weren’t planning their attack already. There was no time to sit around anymore; they had to move.

  Chapter 20

  The brightly lit, golden forest was a stark departure from the dark, dank cavern that they had spent the night in. The last time they had seen the forest a massive storm was moving in and they were being shot at. But now, after taking the reprieve in the caves it was as though they had entered into another dimension entirely. The wind was calm, the sky was clear, and the air was warm. But they knew what things were stalking them beyond the trees and kept in mind that the relaxing calm was a deceptive one. Every cracking stick and rustling bush drew attention and, in one case involving a skittish Pitt, gunfire.

  It took them an hour or so to extract Morlo and Muldoon from the cave. Morlo got jammed only a third of the way up, forcing them to send a rope down with their most petite and able member, Serenity. After squeezing her hands behind Morlo’s back and beneath his stomach, Serenity was able to secure a solid loop around him. She pulled the other end of the rope to the top of the tunnel and drew it out straight, giving everybody a portion of the rope to pull on. Everybody pulled as hard as they could, including Luke who billowed with blue steam. Down in the tunnel Morlo could be heard cussing and complaining at how tight the rope was getting. It wasn’t long before the strain became too much and the rope snapped. It was at that point that it became evident that they’d have to find an alternate method of removing them, and until both he and Muldoon could be removed, they’d be standing out in the open for any wary Legionnaire sharpshooters to pick off. After considering several possibilities beneath the frightened anxieties of the groups ‘ less seasoned members, Luke decided that the only way they’d be able to get them out was through raw demolition.

  Luke cleared the immediate area and commanded that everybody take cover, not for the sake of the Ditrinity which had become adequately comfortable with these types of procedures, but rather for the sake of Rush which seemed less able to handle dangerous situations than he had originally anticipated. After lining up a dozen Decimators along the tunnels floor, Luke triggered the first with the tip of his sword and watched the chain reaction.

  Broken rock and dust erupted from the hole like smoke from a cannon. The tremor that followed could have been mistaken for a sizable shift in the Byfayne Fault. There was no doubt in Luke’s mind that the First Legionnaire would have heard or felt it which was more than was necessary for a prompt investigation. It went without saying that Luke would have to work fast with the extraction.

  The fit was still a tight one but Luke managed to wedge himself into the hole and help both men through. They still had to remove all their armor and gear and feed that through first before coming up themselves. Even then, the removal was difficult and both Morlo and Muldoon had to dislocate shoulders. Upon reaching the surface, Morlo and Muldoon reset their arms in their sockets, reattached their armor and everybody immediately broke into their separate groups, setting up formations as Luke had asked with the first two groups clearing a path for the third group while Vyvyr took up the back.

  There were a few close calls and Luke’s estimation of the Legionnaires investigating the explosions were entirely accurate. Legionnaire-stuffed Battlecrafts would pass uncomfortably close to them while there were half a dozen times where the group were sure that a Legionnaire gunship had zeroed in on them. When such a situation arose, the jeopardized group would stop immediately, take cover, and hope to the high heavens that they wouldn’t be seen. If they were, all it would take was a ten second report to the Helios floating along the horizon and they’d be meat, and Luke knew that they wouldn’t be so lucky as to not have stabilizers this time.

  For the first several hundred miles, Rush had trouble keeping up. Muldoon and Kristik had no trouble though the other members, unaccustomed to its uniquely hazardous terrain, would have trouble keeping up. Though he felt that it was understandable that Seraphine fell behind, increasing aggravation was still an issue Hendrick faced every time he had to pick her up and carry her. He knew that the other groups would be moving fast, and with every stop they made their unit fell further and further out of formation, with Vyvyr keeping watch, invisible from the shadows, picking off Legionnaire squads as they went. He’d never tell the group, but there were points when dozens of Firsts would come within fifty yards. Lucky for them he was an amazing shot. As for the groups plowing the path for Seraphine, too many times did a Legionnaire almost report their position. They kept things quiet though. Kept them quick. Head strikes only. With the microphones built into every Legionnaire helmets they would either have to be killed instantly or have their voice disabled to keep their dying screams from transmitting to the helmets of their squad mates and commanders. With such limitations, the two leading groups soon discovered that the list of different head-based fatalities was vast and brutal.

  They wished that they could say that the days flew by. But after walking what would feel like ten miles they’d look to the sky and realize that the sun had barely moved. And it only took a day for intense hunger to set in.

  At the end of each day the three units would regroup, finding a hidden and obscure place to sleep for the night and doing what little they could to recover. Morlo had passed out what remained of their own food stores and soon, even after miserly rations had been divided, all their food was depleted.

  They were good not to complain, but the intense pain that dug at their stomachs made itself known through their lightly doubled over stances; it was too painful to stand up straight. Luke tried hunting, tried finding something edible, but with the heavy Legionnaire presence most of the wildlife had moved from the area. As for plants and berries, the Byfaynes weren’t exactly known for their fruits and fauna. At long last he passed around a calorie pack or two knowing it would do nothing to satisfy their hunger though gave them adequate energy. Even with hunger though, the placebo effect does wonders.

  They were still several days away from Leramato and soon Luke couldn’t spare anymore calorie packs. They were now emergency use only. Every mile they walked without seeing either Leramato or something to eat was just another needle among the thousands that pierced their stomach walls. Some of the group members-Pitt and Kristik, to be exact- resorted to more drastic sources of sustenance eating grass and tree bark. Pitt tried to be positive, exclaiming how delicious those things were. The shudders he issued with every swallow said otherwise. But that didn’t stop a ravenous Kristik, who was angry when Hendrick wrestled away the rock that he was licking at.

  Things only got worse. People began passing out, even eating bugs in order to get their fill. The Ditrinity, which was accustomed to much worse, coached the others on, advising them on things that were potentially edible. They ate everything they could, but a belly full of grubs, tree bark, and assorted greenery did little to silence the uproar from their vacant stomachs.

  After a week of perpetual exhaustion, sleeplessness and starvation, the group approached Leramato, by their estimations approximately a day away. At this point, everybody had difficulty moving onward and had shed a good amount of weight. But now, on the night before their arrival and in spite of their disheartening conditions, the groups traveled with renewed zeal.

  The thick forest basked in the scarlet light of the setting sun. The shadows were sharp and long while anything that
entered the sun’s light was cast beneath the fiery glow of dusk. Hendrick led the third group, his Infiltrator hanging loosely in his hand as he limped his way in and out of the orange glowing patchwork on the forest floor. Walking behind him surrounding Seraphine was Kristik, Pitt, and Sable, each keeping an eye out for any remaining Legionnaires that might have caught onto them. As the sky grew darker the Legionnaire activity seemed to die down though, making their journey at least appear to be that much easier.

  They had been travelling at a brisk pace for the entire day and had covered close to twenty miles of mountainous terrain, a feat which was starting to take a toll on Hendrick. He did his best to hide it, but in all honesty, the fact that Hendrick couldn’t help but limp his way along like a club-footed cripple made him feel like a complete pansy. His dad had always told him that. ‘Son, stop limping. Limping is just a way of complaining and if you do that then everybody’ll think you’re a complete pansy.’ Hendrick must’ve heard that a hundred times when he was a kid.

  It was all Frenz’s fault, that cheating tool. Using swords in a fist fight. But Hendrick should’ve known better or at least kept his distance a bit better. Tackling the man wasn’t the smartest thing he’d done. Not only did it get him an impaled leg but that was also probably the moment when he took his Blazers out of commission. He missed those things like crazy.

  Hendrick raised a hand and looked at it, expecting it to be shaking. As he did, there was a tap on his shoulder. Hendrick looked back, expecting Sable. Instead he found Seraphine, looking up at him with those enormous green eyes with a look that made it seem as though it took all her courage to come up and talk to him. Hendrick grinned warmly at her and motioned for her to walk beside him.

  “How ya hangin’ in there?” Hendrick said, patting her on the soldier as she moved up beside him.

  “I… well… hungry, I guess.”

  “Yeah… well I guess another juicy caterpillar is out of the question.”