Kaviel slapped his crash couch with his lower arms in frustration as Haggy drove them behind Julius’s IFV. This whole situation was buried, it was as if he had woken up inside a cave only to find all the exits blocked. Panic threatened to set in, but he forced it down through sheer power of will. He would not be broken by this trial. He would get his crew out alive, and it would serve as yet another reminder as to the brutality of war. Another hidden scar to accompany the healing wound on his side.
They had been driving for five minutes since they had destroyed the convoy without seeing any additional rebel activity, but they were not complacent. Both escort vehicles’ turrets moved constantly and Kaviel himself was managing as many sensors and screens at a time as he could. He had instructed Freddy and Joana to load another high explosive shell into the main gun. It was best to be prepared for anything, while an HE round would not counter everything, it was by far the most generally effective round he had available. Well, besides the nukes of course, but those were an absolute last resort.
The roadway looked clear for the most part, but he didn't trust it. He had every active scanning system on the TAG at full power. Hopefully it would detect things like hidden mines or burried charges.
He jerked his head to one of his screens as a proximity alert screeched at him. “Contact!” Was all he managed to say before a loud bang rang on the frontal armour of the vehicle. The noise was loud but not nearly as devastating as a vehicle mounted weapon would have been.
“Kaviel to esscort, we have contactsss, three o’clock!” He said, using the old callouts he had been taught in military training. It wasn't quite as accurate as a bearing and only worked if all troops were in the same orientation, but it was simpler in a pinch. They were taking fire from at least one two-man fire team, Kaviel could see them on the scopes with their daggertooth recoilless rifle being reloaded by one of them while the other held it.
The Haggard Grinskal opened up almost immediately, its main gun firing a burst of high explosive fragmentation shells that wiped the two-man fire team off the rubble pile. Their torn corpses rolling into the debris and out of sight.
No sooner had the original threat been dealt with than two more fire teams popped up and fired after only a second to aim. Again a loud bang rang as one of the warheads struck the thick frontal armour of the TAG to little effect, the armour more than capable of shrugging off such light weapons fire.
The Saile Onessa was not so fortunate however as the second warhead slashed through its front track causing it to slew to a halt. Gurshnik’s crew must have been stunned as their turret stopped moving and they ceased firing at that point. He hoped they hadn't been injured as the shot looked to have only done external damage.
He couldn’t worry about that however as he said “Freddy, esscort halt!” He grabbed a few handholds as Freddy applied the brakes.
Without thought to his own safety Kaviel popped the top hatch and climbed up, he slewed the pintle mounted ten-millimeter railgun towards the enemy troopers who were now right beside them. They had a second to try and reload their launcher before a flurry of hypervelocity shots tore through them. The other fireteam was torn apart by fire from Julius in the other IFV, a piece of shrapnel from the thirty-millimeter rounds ricocheted off the roof next to him making him flinch.
“Juliuss hold fire! Friendliesss in the open!” He hissed into the open comms.
“Mother! What the fuck wass that Kaviel?” He heard Freddy say from inside the vehicle.
Kaviel stayed up top and replied as calmly as his slightly frayed nerves would allow “That wass me ssaving your tailss. The Ssaile Onessa is down, we needed the additional covering fire.” He looked around, nothing else moved that he could see. The buildings to their left were naught but piles of missordered rubble. The brickwork shattered and the remains scorched by old detonation marks.
He looked to the right, there was a small open field that was barren dirt and a few hardy scrub plants. He heard a clank and turned to look at the noise, aiming the vehicle mounted weapon towards the sound. It took him a moment to see the source, the back hatch of the Saile Onessa was open and a small amount of smoke was issuing from it.
As he watched a figure stumbled out, gurgling and hacking. It looked like a Slaaveth female, her gills flared as she tried to clear her lungs. Another figure exited the vehicle, this one much wider at the shoulder and carrying a bag. It looked like a Human from where he was sitting on the top of the TAG. The Human set down the bag as a third and final figure exited the disabled vehicle. It was Gurshnik and he looked like he was holding a Jule2000 laser rifle.
Kaviel shouted to him ‘Gursshnik! Are your crew alright?”
The man looked around and then to him, he seemed torn between watching his crew and moving closer to Kaviel but finally he plodded over. His scaled feet made slight slapping sounds as his long, webbed toes impacted the rubble strewn roads.
“My crew is okay.” he muttered loud enough to be heard over the TAG’s idling engine. “But Shasna took some minor spalling to her flank when we were hit. Nothing pierced her scales, but she was bruised and inhaled some smoke so Feebs is applying first aid.” Kaviel nodded, he had never heard their names before, but now knowing them made him a bit more apprehensive. Knowing a name meant becoming attached to the individual. And he had already seen enough good men and women of the Union die to last a thousand lifetimes. He would get them home though, they were going to be okay.
Julius popped out of the top hatch of his own vehicle and shouted “What the fuck Gursh! You are making us look bad, getting yourself knocked out like that!”
Kaviel was slightly taken aback at the callous statement till he realised the Human was smiling. His strange flat teeth like white bones protruding from his mouth. Gurshnik smiled back at the man from the ground where he was standing, his teeth like tiny ivory daggers in comparison.
Kaviel lifted his antennae in humor as he continued to look around. “Well, iss it fixable Gursshnik?” he asked the man suddenly.
Gurshnik shook his frilled head, his large pupilless black eyes unblinking as he gurgled sourly “I don't think so. At least not without some heavy recovery equipment. This isn't just a thrown track, the driveshaft itself has been severed from the sprocket.” He motioned towards the front of his stricken vehicle.
Kaviel looked at it, it certainly looked worse than a simple thrown track. The track assembly was scorched and he could see a small crater near the driveshaft where the tandem warhead had gone off. While it had not penetrated into the crew compartment, it had effectively rendered the IFV immobile.
He brushed a hand over his head, thinking hard he asked “Well. Iss there anything sssalvageable that might help uss get back to basss in one peice?” He saw Gurshnik’s brow furrow slightly, the strange look conveying a sense of displeasure. “Look, I don't want to leave your vehicle behind either. But we keep moving or bad thingss happen.”
This seemed to sway the man, the logic of the statement ringing true to him. “Fine, but we are not scuttling her. We will lock her down and hope we can recover her.” He said, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Kaviel just gave him a salute and a nod. He looked over to Julius and asked “Can you open your hatch? We are going to have to put them in the back. There issn't room in the Old Man for additional passsengers.”
Julius leaned down and shouted something into his IFV, a moment later the rear door opened and the assault ramp lowered with a dull thump. The inside of the vehicle was dark at first but then a series of lights flicked on illuminating it. There was space in the rear for a full ten-man squad, albeit a bit cramped if they were not all Human as the Edwards was a Human designed vehicle.
Kaviel heard faint clanking coming from the Saile Onessa and glanced back to see Gurshnik and Feebs exiting with boxes of ammunition for the main cannon. There was no reason to leave extra ammo behind where the rebels might be able to get it. As they walked past the TAG, Kaviel asked “How long do you need to get everything transsferred?”
This time it was the Human, Feebs, that replied. His voice was deep and rumbled like distant thunder “We should be finished in less than ten minutes. We could do more, but the essentials are easy enough.” And with that he continued on. The heavy ammo boxes being carried to the rear compartment of the Haggard Grinskal.
Kaviel felt something tap his waist and looked down to see Freddy. “Commander, er. We are a bit rattled in here. Sssome fressh air could do uss good and we can help them unload their tank.”
Kaviel’s antennae rose at the thought. It wasn't a terrible idea, though it wasn’t great either. If they got ambushed again the main gun would be more hurtful than helpful at this range. “Ok, but grab a sservice rifle. I don't want anyone out there without at leassst a backup pisstol.” He said before looking back to the surrounding rubble.
Freddy moved away, a faint clanking and some mumbles coming from inside the vehicle before the rear hatch popped and the three slithered out. He kept them in his peripherals as he simultaneously kept watch.
He opened his mouthplates and let out a heavy sigh as he waited for the work to be done. He was so tired, it had already been a long day before everything had gotten buried in this shit.
Suddenly he spotted movement out of the side of his eye. He immediately looked towards where he had seen it and opened a link to Julius. “Juliuss, movement, left, in the rubble. Bearing approximately…. Er. Four o’clock I think.” He said insistently. Without a computer to tell him the heading he had winged it again. He really hoped that didn't bite him in the tail.
“I see nothing, are you sure. Wait, I see movement too.” Julius spoke over the link. His voice changing pitch as his body prepared for combat.
Kaviel aimed towards the noise of shifting rubble and was about to open fire when he hissed urgently “Hold fire! I repeat, do not fire Juliuss.”
He pulled himself up further from the vehicle hull and waved while shouting “Glory to the Union! Friendliess!”
A second later an answering call came from the rubble. Tired and filled with caution “Glory to the Union! What unit are you from?”
Kaviel hissed slightly in annoyance but understood their caution. “Sstaff Sssergeant Kaviel, fourth field artillery regiment!” He hollered back. “What about you?”
The mysterious voice was silent a moment before it said “Secondary ordinance squad, fifth reserve regiment. Not much of us left now though.” They said bitterly.
With pleasantries exchanged the owner of the voice moved out into the open. It was a Human male, his uniform singed and torn in places but the soaring eagle of the union clear on his right shoulder. Kaviel raised three hands in greeting, giving the man a polite wave while turning the barrel of his gun slightly off from them. Not enough that he couldn't bring it right back if he needed, but enough to show he wasn't being actively aggressive.
The man motioned to something behind him and started walking towards them. Kaviel tensed a little as another figure moved into view, this one was tall and thin, pink skin and stubby horns marking them as a Nerivith male. A rare sight on the front line as they were so much slighter than their larger female counterparts.
The two battered soldiers made their way down the rubble, casting glances at the still smoking wreck of the Saile Onessa. As they reached the road the Human walked over and stood underneath him at the side of the TAG and saluted. His companion copied the movement as the Human spoke “Hello, I am Corporal Jack Nanners, and this is Private II Class James Iaen. We heard the sound of fighting and figured we had even odds of finding friendlies.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Welcome Jack and Jamess. I am dismisssing the formalitiess in lieu of the current crississ.” Kaviel said bluntly. This didn't seem to bother the men much as they just nodded, James’s tail flicking idly as they stood under him.
“What happened to the front, the ssecondariesss?” He asked the men, but Jack raised a hand.
Jack motioned to the Haggard Grinskal and asked “Please, do you have any spare rations? A little water perhaps? We have been walking for a long time.”
Kaviel’s antennae rose as he replied “Yess, I'm ssorry. Pleasse, there are sssuppliess in the back of the lead IFV if you need. Top up and then ssecure yoursselvesss insside. We are going to be moving out ssoon.”
Jack nodded his head and gave another salute, this one much more lax as he and James moved off. Jack spoke softly, but not so quiet that Kaviel couldn't hear him. “Huh. That was lucky, the guy seemed pretty nice too, for a bug that is.”
Kaviel hissed low in annoyance. It didn't bother him overly, but he hated to see people so caught up in their prejudices like that. What did it matter what his skin was made of? Flesh or Chiton, they were all people at the end of the day. Though even he had to admit that he wasn't exactly a perfect specimen of universal respect himself.
He looked around again, not the time to get distracted thinking about xenophobia or shit like it. He looked back at the wreck of the Saile Onessa. “Freddy! How closse?” He called out.
Freddy exited the disabled vehicle carrying a large quantity of boxes and bags. He scuttled over “Thiss sshould be about the lasst of it. It went much quicker with our asssisstance.” He said with a slightly out of breath hiss.
“Good work. That wass a lot quicker than I thought it wass going to be.” Kaviel said quickly. He motioned for Freddy to move along and then turned to look at Julius again. “We need to be more careful. Another ambussh like that and I don't think we will have to worry about what command will ssay of our tacticsss. If you get me.”
Julius nodded and commented with a gesture towards the rapidly moving dismounted crew “Your people are well trained. That was a great move having them help load the surplus ammo. It would have taken twice as long, no, three times as long without them. You guys really are as fast on your feet as they say. I mean, it makes sense I guess but this is the first time I have seen more than one Vinarfelien at a time.” He said with a slightly admiring tone.
Kaviel ducked his own head at that, his antennae rising high, betraying his pride. “Yesss they are. The finesst crew I have ever had the pleassure to sserve with in fact.” He said unashamedly.
“Daww sshucksss commander. You really mean that?” A slightly mocking voice hissed from right behind him.
“Well, all but you Freddy. You alwayss were a pain in the carapace.” Kaviel said to the man with a chuckle. “Now Corporal Freddy, if you would pleasse re-enter the vehicle?”
Freddy’s antennae rose in mirth as his face plates spread slightly. “Oh Corporal Freddy iss it now? I mussst really be in trouble, you never usse my full title. At your command my liege.” He said with a salute and a bow. He slithered into the rear hatch before Kaviel could say anything further and so he just shook his head slightly and laughed.
Julius watched the whole interaction, his face broken into a small smile revealing his teeth. The man said to him “Kaviel, your crew seem to be pretty close. Almost like family.”
Kaviel shrugged his upper arms “When you grow up in broodss asss large as ourss, you get used to having a lot of sssiblingsss. I ssuppose it'ss jusst easssier to fall into that old family dynamic.”
Julius nodded and smiled even wider. “Hell man, if we get out of this…”
“When. When we get out of thiss.” Kaviel corrected him as Joana and Haggy climbed into the vehicle as well and closed the rear hatch behind them.
Julius corrected himself and continued “When then. When we get out of this, we need to go get drinks. You guys drink if I remember correctly?”
Kaviel’s faceplates opened and he let out a whistling laugh as he said “Oh yeah we do. Joana might be the youngest in my crew, but she could drink any one of us under the table. I’ll bet you that.” He said jocosely.
Julius replied immediately “I will take that bet. Loser pays for the tab?”
Kaviel thought about it. While he was sure of Joana’s drinking abilities, he had heard absolutely absurd stories about Human resilience to toxins and alcohol. He shrugged mentally, only one way to find out. “Deal. Now mount up, we look like we are all wrapped up again.” Indeed as he said it the rear hatch of the Haggard Grinskal thudded shut with a slight wheeze of hydraulics. Julius nodded and closed the top hatch of his IFV as he dropped back into the vehicle.
Kaviel re-entered the TAG, Julius’s voice spoke over the laser link “Kaviel, should I keep the lead? If we get flanked you won't be able to turn the whole vehicle in time to cover yourself.”
Kaviel swore silently as the man made the observation. It was obvious that having the IFV in the front was the proper choice, but maybe not the correct one. He wished he had eyelids so he could stop looking at everything, if even for a moment. But it would not have made a difference either way so he focused once more on the problems he could fix, not the ones he couldn't.
“Juliuss, I want you covering the rear. I know it'ss not regulation, but I think it'ss our besst chance at making it through thisss. I am going to instruct Haggy to drive on the right sside of the roadway, you sshould sstay to the left. That way you have at leasst sssome ability to fire forwardss if necessary on these narrow roadss.” Kaviel instructed.
Looking at Haggy he nodded and asked “You get that?”
Haggy raised a thumbs up and replied “Ssounds like a good plan.”
Kaviel spoke through the link again “Oh and Juliuss?”
“Yea?” The man hesitantly said.
“Pleasse don't get hit. If we losse your vehicle then we won't have any way to transssport passsengerss except on the top of the TAG.” Kaviel said.
Julius seemed to chuckle a bit as he answered “Copy that. We won't.”
Kaviel motioned to Haggy saying “Okay, take usss out around them. Carefully though, don't get it sstuck in the mud. And keep the sspeed under forty. I want to be able to react to our ssurroundingsss.”
Haggy’s antennae lowered in a smirk. “Oh I won't get him sstuck. Jusst watch me.”
Kaviel sat back into his crash couch, his gaze primarily fixed on his remaining viewscreen. The other still smashed from its encounter with his face earlier. Luckily his face had been tougher than the device, or the whole day would have likely turned out quite different.
Haggy drove the heavy vehicle to the right of Julius’s IFV. The narrow side street not quite wide enough to allow him to pass on the blacktop. Instead he drove out onto the empty field, the tracks biting deep into the loamy soil, mud caking the running gear and splattering their rear. For a moment the tracks churned without effect and Kaviel feared they had gotten stuck. But Haggy revved the motor, the roar of the mighty engine drowning out the sound of the tracks as they finally bit deep and the TAG lurched into motion once more.
“Yeah! That'ss how you do it!” Haggy hissed excitedly, two fists raised. The Old Man bounced through the field for another moment before veering back onto the roadway, leaving a trail of mud and soil behind them.
Kaviel sighed, it was not exactly his day today it seemed. First they had been ambushed, then almost killed and ambushed again. Things were looking quite grim, he admitted to himself.
They had to keep moving however. The main base was far, but not so far as to be impossibly out of reach. They only needed to get a little lucky and they would make it home. Maybe even get a little time off he fantasized. Not likely to happen after a major push like this though. In all likelihood they would get a meal, a night's rest and then be immediately sent back out to the front.
Such was the life of a defender of righteousness he supposed. Those Hegemony fucks were always trying to get the upper hand, now it looked like they had finally suceeded. Command couldn't even bomb them from orbit effectively as they had probably repositioned their anti-capital ship cover.
Haggy slowed the vehicle as they neared a crossroads, his posture betraying his worry.
“Kaviel, there isss movement ahead. I can't tell if it'ss friendliess or not.” The man said to him.
Kaviel used the forward camera’s of the TAG to zoom in on the scene ahead. It was one of chaos, he could make out a swarm of infantry trying to storm a partially collapsed tower. The battered buildings' once colorful facade now just a spray of harlequin rubble fanning across the cratered street.
As he watched, gunfire erupted from several of the upper windows. The bare steel beams of the building sparking as ricochets from incoming fire left small smears across their sullen faces.
Kaviel looked closer, it was hard to tell, the uniforms smeared with grit and stained by smoke as they were. But the attacking troops looked like Hegemony rebels, the clenched fist and star just barely visible on their uniforms as he zoomed in. Kaviel was unsure, if he fired the main gun of the TAG it was just as likely to collapse the rickety tower as it was to clear the offending troops. But if he did nothing the defending Union forces might become overwhelmed, their positions stormed and their lives lost needlessly.
He made a decision as another burst of gunfire lit the scene. “Juliuss, friendly troopsss ahead are pinned down. Enemy position iss too closse to use the TAG. I advisse you to pull to the ssside ass much as posssible to assissst.”
Julius started to respond “Okay. Moving into position now… Wait a minute what is that?” The man gasped over the comms.
Kaviel looked back to the tower just in time to see a rain of small dark shapes that exploded violently upon contact. The rocket barrage leveled the building and scoured the rubble clean in fire and slashing shrapnel.
As the tower collapsed, a cloud of grey dust was thrown up, blocking out everything in the vicinity. Kaviel swore and asked “What the hell wass that? Wass that friendly or enemy fire?”
Freddy spoke up grimly from behind, having watched the catastrophe unfold from behind him. “I don't think it really matterss. Friendly? Not friendly? The resultss are the ssame, dead men and nothing gained. Like this whole war…” Kaviel heard him mutter under his breath.
Kaviel wanted to say something, call him out on it. To tell him to man up and stop complaining about the war. But he couldn't, he found that he agreed with the statement. What was the point? All those soldiers, Hegemony, Union? What was it all for. They had all died, and for what? A blasted piece of rubble that was good to nobody.
“Haggy, keep moving. We need to get out of here. That artillery sstrike will have garnered attention, I don't want to be here when it ssstartss ssnooping around.” Kaviel told the driver.
Haggy didn't speak, instead he started the vehicle forwards slowly. Keeping it slow enough for Julius to keep pace through the choking dust and haze. The vents of the TAG sealed shut as they moved further into the rubble strewn area, the vehicle attempting to keep the air in the fighting compartment clear of potential airborne hazards as it switched to recycled air.
Haggy led them through the intersection, the sounds of masonry being crushed under sixty-eight thousand kilograms of the TAG. Pings and the groaning of the running gear as it climbed and tumbled over the uneven terrain. Kaviel couldn't see anything on the visual scopes for all the dust that clogged the air, but the TAG was equipped with far more than just visual sensors. He switched to infrared and the scene changed. Suddenly the air was clear, the white-hot craters left over from the rocket strike now readily apparent.
As he looked he swore he could make out the remains of bodies that had been sundered by the blasts, but it was so hard to tell. Overpressure combined with hypersonic fragmentation meant that little of the original shapes remained, the faint heat source could have been a broken machine gun battery or a cooling capacitor bank for all he knew. He decided it was probably best not to dwell on it too much as the implications were too terrible.
It took only a minute to traverse the disaster, but it was a minute of terse silence, the sound of grinding tracks and the engines muffled roar the only noises to break the reticence.
As soon as they were free of the smog Haggy stepped it up. The slight pull of acceleration causing Kaviel to grab a handhold.
“Careful Haggy. Keep it ssteady.” He complained.
Haggy just responded by throttling down slightly, their pace becoming more measured but still just as hurried.
Kaviel shook his head, his antennae lowering across his armoured back. Haggy was a sensitive soul, he was not trying to express himself however. He was probably a little shaken from the events of the past few hours, hell, who wouldn't be?
‘Well a Nerivith probably.’ He said silently to himself. The pink aliens might look as sturdy as a sack of wet roots, but they had the mental toughness of an ironwood tree.
He put it out of mind and turned back to his screen. Haggy was watching the road, but it couldn't hurt to keep a second set of compound eyes on it. They had already been ambushed twice after all.
Haggy drove them around an abandoned park and through a shopping district. The buildings still in remarkably good shape despite the rubble and detritus of war that surrounded them. As they exited onto a main thoroughfare Haggy slowed the vehicle and said “Sshit… Kaviel that had better not be what I think it isss.”
Kaviel saw it too, a large square structure sat in the middle of the roadway less than three hundred meters distant. Far enough away that it looked small and insignificant to the naked eye. But he knew from experience that its layered duramite and titansteel structure housed powerful weaponry that was the principle example of this war’s stalemate.
Kaviel muttered “Well, I don't know what you ssee. But I sssee a fucking prefab heavy bunker ssmack dab in our esscape route.”