Heavy Infantry
Explosions rocked the small bunker causing sergeant Kaiden of the Union army to shift slightly. It wasn't that he was afraid, it was kind of hard to be afraid while wearing the equivalent of an infantry fighting vehicle’s worth of heavy powered armour. He was nervous.
He always got nervous before an operation, especially since the last failed raid on the rebel supply lines a few days ago. They hadn't lost anyone thank Luck, but his whole squad had been embarrassed by their failure.
Kaiden was wearing a set of Mark III demolisher powered armour. The heavy plates full of protective systems and augmenting synthetic muscle fibers that gave him the ability to move with such weight. The armour itself weighed more than eight hundred kilograms unloaded with ordinance, far too much for him to have possibly moved without the assistance of the synthmuscle fibers that made up the suits underlayer.
Kaiden turned to his second in command corporal Ixie. The tall nerivith woman was wearing her species equivalent of heavy assault armour, a set of Mark III Plackart armour. It was similar in design to his own, with thick armour plates over a synthmuscle undersuit. But that’s where the similarities ended. Where his suit was simplistic in design hers was sculpted and smooth, where his was rugged her armour had flair.
A distinct difference in their two people’s fundamental cultures. Whereas humanity had always excelled at war through the application of pure brute force, her own people had always seen war as more of a dance. Those that got good at the dance became death incarnate while the less experienced fell like wheat to the scythe.
He smiled inside his helmet at the thought of her dancing. The nerivith were a female dominant society making their taller and longer horned females very direct with their emotions. With their tendency to dance for potential partners, a nerivith dance meant more than a simple gesture.
Putting thoughts of his best friend out of mind he turned towards the station watch commander, a small slaaveth man named Grulren by his name tapes. The slaaveth were an interesting species, partially aquatic, they possessed both gills and lungs though their lungs remained underdeveloped till they reached sexual maturity in their late teen years.
The short scaled man motioned for Kaiden to come closer and then slapped a webbed hand down on his small holotable.
“We need to push the bastards back over the western trenches.” he said a bit vehemently.
Kaiden pointed at the western trenches on the small tactical map. They were marked as orange, indicating that they were under direct threat but the conflict had not yet been resolved to either faction’s benefit.
“The rebels have infiltrated that entire region in force, but they were unable to sneak heavy weapons or armour over no man’s land. There is no way they could have carried any kind of heavy ordinance through that quagmire.” He said confidently. He would have been surprised if they had even tried.
Grulren nodded his frilled head, his pupilless black eyes fixing on the bright blue glow of Kaiden’s helmet eye slits. “Then I am depending on your squad to clear them out. If we lose the west then the Deep cursed rebels will have a direct run on our artillery park. Those Monsoon SPAs have almost no ground defense after yesterday’s shelling. And I don't think I have to tell you what happens to us all if we lose artillery support.” the man said menacingly.
He didn't. This entire war had devolved into a stalemate only punctuated by desperate rushing attacks and the constant fall of heavy munitions. The near constant artillery duel had been ongoing for more than eight months. Kaiden was tired and a little apprehensive, he had a hard time imagining what the regulars were going through.
As a member of the Union’s more elite forces, Kaiden and his platoon were ground pounders. A more highly trained section of the Union’s armed forces that used powered armour exclusively. Generally to great effect.
It had been a tough few months however as the unrelenting stalemate had stretched both logistics and manpower to their limits. He thought about the war itself, it had been almost six years since the Hegemony of Independent Systems rebellion had started with the unprovoked attack on Sector Eta. Millions of Sapient Congressional Union troops and their families dead in a few hours in what had become known as the worst surprise attack in the Union's long history. Worse than the terroristic attacks of the Dust Worlds rebellion by an order of magnitude.
He nodded after what must have seemed to the station commander to be a short pause. “Understood commander. I will take my squad there directly along the abandoned trenches to save time. They should be clear of hostiles by now.”
Grulren just waved him away and turned to his aide. His attention now focused on some other crisis.
Kaiden walked over to Ixie and said “Assemble the squad, we are moving out in one minute.”
She gave him an affirmative noise and turned away. Her tall and slightly leaner form having to duck to make it under the bunker’s low doorframe.
He followed her and looked around. The bunker was situated in a wide section of the trenchworks, the ground covered in wooden ties and metal plates so that heavy vehicles could traverse them without getting stuck in the mud.
It was lucky that the location they were in didn't seem to be very wet, the skies rarely choked with clouds. That didn't mean it was a desert though, the mornings were often wet and damp with fog that obscured vision and eroded the earthen walls of the simpler front trenches.
He sighed. The war had taken him from his home on Dreyvan II across the Union and then back again. This new invasion of his homeworld was the second desperate attack by a foe that knew they couldn't win and so were trying to burn it all down.
Dreyvan II was a major military armament supplier to the Union’s military and the Hegemony knew that. Thus, the siege had begun as a heavy kinetic bombardment. Once it was clear that they had failed to destroy the planet from orbit the enemy had landed millions of troops on the planet. This invasion swept over part of the world, taking an entire hemisphere before it was slowed and then finally stopped. By the time the Union had sent a task force large enough to deal with the problem it was too late. The enemy had dug themselves in like a cancer, setting up anti-ship defenses and a million miles of heavily defended trenches. They made it clear that they were here to stay.
What was worse in his mind was that not all of the towns they had taken had resisted, there was a not insignificant amount of Hegemony support on Dreyvan II that had facilitated the invasion's overall success.
Kaiden’s blood boiled at the thought of those traitors calling themselves Drevanians. They weren't fit to live on the planet, they had betrayed their own for what? A misguided notion of control?
He shook his head and stalked to his squad. His heavy footfalls thudded along the metal plates underfoot. After a moment he got close enough to pick up on the ultra-shortwave transmission Ixie was broadcasting.
“And then we will move along to the hot zone. Once there we will engage and destroy the enemy with extreme prejudice, any questions?” she said, her slightly husky tenor voice filled with calm.
Hearing him, or perhaps feeling the weight of his footsteps approaching, Ixie turned and motioned to him. “Here he is now. Sergeant, any additional words you would like to add before we move out?” she asked him.
He shook his head and said “No. I trust everyone has their weapons charged and ready? Cooper I’m looking at you.” he said to one of his squad.
A male voice spoke over the comms “Oh come on, it was one time…”
Before Kaiden could say anything more a female voice spoke up. The figure it came from was large, even in comparison to Kaiden’s power armoured form. It was Draff, the yeown woman big even for her species. Her slightly hunched and werewolf-esk form intimidating in her Mark I Tactical Assault Armour. The bestial faced helmet designed to strike fear in the hearts of her enemies and the deep red glow of her suit’s eyes making it look as if it was coated in blood. Well, red blood at least.
She spoke, her voice deep and rough. “Cooper didn't forget, I made sure of that.” She chuckled as Copper grumbled something under his breath.
Kaiden shook his head, it was a well known secret that the two were lovers, though how the man was able to hold his own against the huge, muscled alien was a hotly debated subject.
Again he was forced to clear his mind and get himself back on track. A lack of decent sleep and few good meals had been making him feel as though he was being pulled apart slowly. But he was a ground pounder, one of the toughest motherfuckers the Union had the misfortune of training. He wouldn't let a little thing like deep emotional trauma and near crippling fatigue keep him from completing his mission.
Kaiden stood as tall as he could and commanded “Okay, enough fooling around. Form up and move out. Ixie, take point two. We will follow the plan.”
She nodded her horned head, the purple glow of her helmet’s eyes giving nothing away.
Immediately after he finished talking half of his squad moved to stand behind him while the other fell in line behind Ixie. Kaiden started off towards the contested area, moving at a steady fifteen kilometers per hour on the wide roadway of the supply and command trenches they made good time. Soon they had to slow however as the trenches started to narrow and the ground became first wooden boards and then hard packed earth.
Soldiers in dark blue fatigues moved out of their way as they rushed by, the men and women looking just as tired and worn as he felt inside. This war was taking a heavy toll on both the defenders and the defended civilians further to the rear.
He swore silently as he thought of the selfish actions that had led to this point. Screw the rebels for starting this war, and screw the Union bureaucrats for not seeing this coming. The entire rebellion could have been avoided if the policy makers of the central government had just paid more attention to the frontier worlds needs.
He had to jump suddenly as he rounded a corner and several soldiers were blocking the path with a large wheelbarrow of loose soil. He cleared the cart easily and landed on the ground with a solid thump that left two small craters in the hard soil. He sent a small obstruction warning to the troops behind him with the flick of his eyes and a muttered word. The internal helmet display of his armour giving him fine control over its systems without much effort.
He spared a glance to make sure none of the other’s had been slowed and was happy to see that they had all in fact gotten his warning. Either jumping over the obstruction like he had or dodging around it using the fast twitch synthmuscles of their armour.
He continued on, taking a myriad of turns in the twisting labyrinth of the trench networks. Almost as if a switch had been thrown, he took another turn and the atmosphere changed instantly. These trenches were unlit and unoccupied, their earthen walls crumbling and the swill of neglect pooling in their acrid bases.
Insulated as he was in his armour the noxious toxins and chemicals had no effect on him, though he did his best to avoid the worst of the slime holes. The residue was terribly difficult to clean from the exterior plates of his armour and could sometimes start to eat into its surface if left unchecked for too long.
A short distance traveled along these derelict channels and the unmistakable sounds of combat reached his suits' active sensors. He held up a hand in the reduce speed command and slowed. While he was protected in his heavy armour, only a fool would barge directly into unknown turmoil without at least trying to scope out the situation.
He motioned for Ixie to move up alongside him. They were operating on direct connection comms, where they had to be in physical contact with each other to speak. It worked by sending a small electrical signal through the gauntlet which was picked up and translated by the other’s suit. It was their in-combat version of whispering while maintaining radio silence.
Until they actively engaged the enemy there was no need to unnecessarily alert the rebels to their presence. The element of surprise was not easily bought and quickly lost.
“What is it?” Ixie asked, her hand on his shoulder.
He placed one of his gauntlets on hers and replied “It sounds rough, we need to move in but I don't want to do it blindly. Can you have Cooper send a peeper?”
She nodded before walking towards Cooper. Cooper was their recon trooper. His Mark I Blackout armour was the newest design in reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.
While its armour was not nearly as heavy as his or the others, it was more than adequate for the kinds of small arms fights they most commonly participated in. It's not like they were wearing superheavy battle plate and could go toe to toe with armoured vehicles.
Kaiden frowned, he had always wanted to try piloting one of those behemoth suits. The latest versions weighed well in excess of a tonne and a half and could shatter buildings with their hands.
His train of thought was cut short by the sound of a small object whizzing by him. It was Cooper’s peeper, the small surveillance drone designed for stealth. It had noise canceling toroidal blades and electromagnetic reflectent skin to hide from radar and thermal.
Cooper piloted the small device via a virtual joystick and his eyes. Accessing the feed via a direct laser link, Kaiden saw a small feed pop up in the corner of his vision. It showed the abandoned trenches zipping by at high speed. The drone was piloted through a combination of passive communication and intermittent active pings that allowed the man to pilot it remotely without drawing much attention.
After another moment the drone popped up into the open air and uncovered the full scale of the attack. Dozens of entrenched defenders on the Union side were being rushed down by what had to be several hundred rebel troops. The old saying of three to one defense came to mind. It looked as if the defenders were outnumbered almost five to one here, they would surely begin to fail in the next few minutes without intervention. For while many tens of attackers lay dead or dying in the toxic mud, the defenders were beginning to fall a few at a time.
Switching to ultra-shortwave comms Kaiden said “Okay, we are moving in, no obvious heavy weapons from the rebels but that doesn't mean they aren't hiding them specifically in case of armoured assault. So I want you all to be careful and pay attention. Cooper, put your peeper on standby or passive overwatch. We move out in ten seconds.”
He took a deep breath, the blood rushing in his veins as the adrenaline started to course through them. It was humanity's unique curse, the effects of the natural combat stimulant both helping and hindering his performance in battle. On one hand it heightened his senses and made him stronger and faster. On the other hand it narrowed his emotional and rational fields of view, making violence appear as the only option when quick thinking and wit might have been better served. That's why he was so grateful for Ixie, the nerivith being wired completely opposite of humans.
Where he ran hot headed in battle, prone to force and instinctive action, she was cool headed and more likely to spot minor exploitable gaps in her enemies defenses. The nerivith’s natural inclination for battle making them peerless warriors and point to point tacticians. A human might have a better grasp of the war or battle as a whole, but a nerivith would almost always outwit a battle enraged human in personal combat.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, a direct message from her that only he could hear as she said “Remember what I have been teaching you. Be still and think of my voice.”
His eyes opened as the ten seconds ran out, without a word he threw his arm forwards in the universal signal to advance and charged towards the enemy.
There was no wind in his hair and no mud in his eyes as he charged, his suit isolating him strangely from the more visceral feel of combat. It was a strange way to wage war, contained in a prison of numbness. His body registered his movements, but he didn’t feel anything. Not the hard cracked dirt under his heavy armoured boots, not the chill noxious wind in the air, nor the sounds of battle up ahead. His suit registered them all however and did its best to mirror the information to him. But it was obviously artificial.
He hadn't always fought this way, once upon a time he had been a raw faced recruit. A mere private in a vast military that didn't care about his existence. There had been no war then, no galactic scale conflict. The most intrusive actions in his daily routine was PT and the constant psych evaluations. He had fought pirates and brigands, protecting the commerce that kept the vast Union alive. Several times he had even had to fight against flesh tearers, the monstrous cannibals that preyed on unprotected shipping lanes.
This was different, there was no downtime, no breaks. Just days, weeks, months of grinding unremitting warfare. Blatant in its cruelty and savage in its nature. He had grown to hate himself for enjoying it, but part of him knew this was what he had been born to do. He was a killer, always had been.
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These thoughts crossed his mind as he burst through a weakened section of trench right behind a pair of rebel soldiers. He pulled up his M2-Mk12. The heavy machine gun far too bulky for a soldier to wield, unless they were wearing powered armour.
The rebel soldier on the left, a tall nerivith female in light armour, has just enough time to notice him before he squeezed the trigger of his huge gun.
The bright staccato flashed lit the carnage like pictures from an old fashioned holoplay. The two rebels were ripped apart by the force of the massive bullets as they tore through their fragile bodies. He stopped firing as it was clearly apparent the two wouldn't be getting back up. He walked over the corpses, bones cracking beneath his heavy tread as he scanned the trench for more targets.
A small cutout of the trench in front of him lit up as something fired on him. He didn't even feel the impacts of the bullets against his heavy armour. Instead he simply returned fire, aiming slightly to the side of the trench trusting that his weapon would cut through the intervening earth.
His efforts were rewarded with a gurgling scream and the twitching ruptured body of a rebel falling out from behind their destroyed cover.
He shook his head and paused for a status check. Sending out an active ping he received a full nine green pings across the board. He smiled, that meant that his squad was still in good condition after first contact. Leaving the status board in the corner of his display, he moved along the trench, making sure to keep a watchful eye for potential movements.
He looked up sharply as a spray of purple lines seared across the darkened sky. The lines so bright they left slight after images that persisted for several seconds even as he looked away. That would likely have been Ixie firing off her Tri-Beamer Combiner, the heavy near ultraviolet laser weapon more than capable of punching through light armour at close ranges.
He continued walking for another few steps before something sailed through the air and landed at his feet. He had just enough time to realize it was a fragmentation grenade before it exploded with a tremendous bang. Withering hails of shrapnel slashed against the thick titansteel duramite layered armour he wore. With a muted grunt he was knocked back a step, his armour straining to keep him upright.
His suit won, leaving him standing and almost entirely unscathed, much to the surprise and dismay of the five rebel troops that rushed around the corner.
With a cry of “Kill the bastard!” They charged him.
He only had time to fire a short burst that smashed the leftmost rebel from her feet before they were upon him. He heard the impacts of weapons and some point blank fire. He needed to clear some space before one of them swung a shiversteel blade or voltaic bayonet into the gaps of his armour. Even the aggregated hyperdiamond-buckyweave of his undersuit would not protect him from such close range attack, so he chose the best option he could think of. He simply swung the heavy barrel of his gun in an arc, knocking three of the rebels to the ground and sending the fourth into the side wall with bone shattering force. Three of them scrambled back to their feet, one didn't.
Kaiden quickly slung his gun back to his side, the heavy plasteel chains holding it in place snugly. He reached down and drew his close range weapon, a heavy thermomace. The flanged armour piercing head quickly began to glow orange as he thumbed the activation switch and he lashed out at one of the rebels with it, smashing their arm. The rebel he had struck spun away with a scream as their smoldering arm hung limply from their shoulder, the wound instantly cauterized.
Turning to the other two he noticed they had drawn close range weapons of their own. The tall human on the right wearing medium combat armour had drawn a heavy voltaic powersword, electrical arcs dancing along its length and ionizing the surrounding air giving the weapon an ominous purple glow. The other, a large yeown female in heavy armour, had drawn a chaintoothed axe of enormous proportions from her back. It looked more suited to cutting down entire forests than combat, but she held it in her muscular arms like it was a toy.
Kaiden took a step back, analyzing the situation in moments. He smiled slightly as the familiar rush of adrenaline began to course through his blood, he was about to rush them when another sound drew his attention and caused him to freeze.
From behind him he heard the unmistakable angry hum of a shiversteel weapon being activated. Turning his head slightly and allowing his peripheral cameras to pick up his rear he cursed. The man he had wounded had popped an adrenaline spike and drawn a vibrosaber, the weapon vibrating at such a high frequency it seemed to turn incorporeal. The sword looking like a ghostly mirage in the man’s remaining hand.
This had just gotten more dangerous, the two in front alone he could have dispatched easily, but surrounded and with almost no room to maneuver? He would be hard pressed to win this fight unscathed. But he was a Union soldier, Kaiden squared his shoulders at the thought and raised his now white hot thermomace into a defensive position. He wouldn't go down without a fight.
Each weapon of choice had its own strengths and weaknesses. His thermomace would cause pain and minor burns from even a near miss, its surface temperature nearly four thousand degrees celsius. Direct strikes on armour plates would damage them, but his weapon’s effect was vastly decreased against armoured targets. The yeown’s chaintooth axe would be devastating to him however, it was equipped with TBAM cutting teeth, the material almost infinitely harder than his powered armour's tungsten alloy. If struck, he could expect the brutal weapon to take chunks out of his protective plates, maybe even dig deep enough to damage the synthmuscle fiber bundles beneath. The resultant loss of mobility to his heavy suit would leave him incredibly vulnerable, so he needed to avoid the weapon at all costs.
The voltaic powersword and vibrosaber were dangerous to unarmoured targets, but less effective against his thick carapace. With this in mind he struck out quickly, swinging his long handled mace in a terrible overhand swing directly at the yeown’s great furred head.
To his dismay she seemed to have expected his attack and leapt back out of harm's way. His mace smashed into the side wall of the tunnel and stuck, smoke billowing from the quickly atomised mud.
He jerked in surprise as the tall man slashed his exposed side with his powersword, the electrified blade carving a small furrow in his side plate and discharging a tremendous amount of current into the powered armour as well. His systems were temporarily dazzled by the sudden burst of raw electricity and he lashed out in a bland panic. His mace made slight contact with something and he heard a muffled scream of pain.
He put his back to the wall and shook his head, mace up in a guard position. His vision cleared, the static of the attack disappearing as his suit compensated for the charge. He took stock of the situation and noticed the vibrosaber slashing towards his throat almost too late.
He brought up his forearm in a desperate block and the weapon skated off his rounded vambrace taking several flakes of his armour with it. The man had tucked his useless arm into his flackjacket and tied it off. A veteran it seemed.
There was a momentary lull as the three attackers sized him up. The tall man held his side, smoke curling from his exposed trench coat made Kaiden smile. It seemed the man had not gotten away from his attack scot-free either.
Kaiden grinned under his helmet and activated his external speakers. “You should give up now, lay down your arms and surrender. I respect your strength and will abide by the code of war allowing no harm to befall surrendered combatants.” he said, not expecting them to comply.
The tall man looked at his buddy and they grinned. The one armed man brandished his saber and replied “Never to you, you thrice beaten son of a Union dog. I would rather eat my own arm than surrender to the likes of you, a coward and a traitor to the people.” The yeown woman growled deep and loud at the remark, nodding her pointed eared head and giving Kaiden a savage predatory grin as the man finished speaking.
She added “Yes, and you are the one who should be surrendering. We have scored blood on both sides, your honor is met. If you surrender now you may just live to see the morrow. Or don't, it makes little difference to me. Though I do tire of killing the Unions whipped kids, give me a foe worthy of my time.” she finished with another growl.
Kaiden shook his head sadly, he would have to kill them all then it seemed. He looked at them and spoke, his mace held up like a templar’s sacred sword before him. “So you have chosen death. I can't say I am disappointed. Let's get this over with then.” he said casually.
The trench was narrow and the night was dark, the lights of starburst flairs being the main source of guttering light that lit the scene in front of him.
Kaiden took a step forwards, his thermomace glowing bright enough to light the trench like dusk, in response the three hegemony soldiers shifted as well, matching him step for step as he once more took a position in the center of the earthen works.
This time however the tall man was behind him, the one armed man and the yeown female in front. She revved her chaintoothed axe menacingly and raised it high, a challenge to the world and a threat for him. He just raised his own weapon in response.
For a few seconds they remained that way, each one waiting for the other to move first. Then like lightning the one armed man lashed out in a straight lunge towards his exposed gut. Kaiden dodged to the side, the vibrosaber missing his middle by centimeters. In response he swung a powerful downward attack that clipped the man’s sword and sent him spiraling away into the side of the trench.
The attack stunned the man but was the opening move for the other two. The tall man slashed at Kaiden’s back while the yeown made an upwards cut towards his groin with the intent to split him in half. He had to dodge backwards and to the side, the chainaxe’s teeth biting into his upper thigh instead. The cut was shallow but wide, stripping the outer layer of his cuisses off and exposing the layered duramite beneath.
He grunted as the heavy contact bruised his leg inside the armour and stumbled slightly. This lapse in defense was enough for the tall man to stab him in the side, the voltaic powersword burning through the underlayer of his armour and digging into his side.
Kaiden slapped the embedded sword away with a gasp of pain. The electrified weapon causing his muscles to freeze in agony for a moment before the weapon was withdrawn.
He fell to one knee and swung his mace in an undisciplined and frantic arc at knee level. He was only partially successful as the weapon tore the tall man’s left leg’s armour off, burning him in the process.
The man cursed loudly and hopped back, his knee smoking and the exposed flesh underneath an angry red in color.
Sucking in a deep breath Kaiden climbed back to his feet. He quickly instructed his armour to inject him with local anesthetic near the site of injury and gave a sigh as the intense pain faded away like snow on a summer's day.
Shaking his head to clear it he noticed that the one armed man had recovered. His sword had been shattered though and he was holding a telescoping blade now. The weapon was much less dangerous than his original vibrosaber, but could still be deadly if used correctly. It would be folly to underestimate the man simply because his weapon was less dangerous.
Pride would be his downfall more so than anything else he realized. He had to stop fighting defensively or they would cut him apart. Piece by piece.
Letting loose a base roar, he lunged at the one armed man who’s eyes widened in sudden surprise. Not even raising his weapon Kaiden shoulder charged the man with the entire force of his heavy armour, like a pain train of rage he smashed the man into the wall of the trench.
The shattering of bone was so loud it made Kaiden flinch, but he didn't hesitate. Turning his bloodied form towards the tall man he gave another shout and charged in a similar manner, but instead of following through he executed a combat roll at the last minute.
Dodging to the left he narrowly avoided taking the huge chainaxe in the back while also putting himself in the perfect position to strike the tall man’s unprotected side.
He lashed out in an overhand swing that connected his white hot flanged mace with the unarmoured part of the tall man’s side. A sickening crunch issued from the impact as half of the man’s rib cage was smashed in, rupturing the man’s heart instantly. The man dropped without a noise, his lungs crushed and his smoldering ruin thrashing in abject agony.
Kaiden continued through the motion and spun to his feet in time to parry an overhead blow from the yeown woman, her powerful muscles bulging under her fur as she tested her prodigious predator strength against that of his powered armour. The whirling teeth of her chainaxe inched slowly towards the haft of his own weapon and he tensed.
He grunted in effort as he threw her back, the fur on her arms smoking as it curled from the heat of his mace.
She kneeled for a second before looking up at him and growling. “You killed my packmates. For this I will tear you limb from limb metal man. I will dig you from that armour as a vreeinth digs a snidge from its ear.” the large woman snarled, her reflective green predator's eyes flashing in the light of his weapon.
Kaiden simply raised his free hand and gave her the universal gesture for ‘Come get some.’
She steamed in rage and charged him, Ixie’s words echoed through his mind, ‘Be calm. Don’t let the anger take over.’
Taking a breath and holding it he dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the huge alien’s charge. Her wildly whirring chainaxe bit deep into the ground. Sparks flew as the teeth chewed through wood, dirt and stone with equal ease.
Yanking the screaming weapon free she turned to face him, a line of drool falling from her snarling lips.
He let out the breath and crouched, he needed to be careful, the TBAM teeth of her chaintoothed axe would easily shred through the handle of his weapon. He couldn't block her again, only get out of her way.
He dodged her again, this time receiving a series of scratches on his pauldron for his trouble. He needed to unbalance her, get her to make a mistake.
A thought entered his head and he grimaced. It was a grisly idea but would no doubt be effective.
He took a few steps back towards the corpse of the tall man all while keeping an eye on the enraged yeown. She followed his every moment with her bright eyes, the nature of an ambush predator keeping her attuned to him in a way he could not match.
He took a final step back and felt something shift next to him, it was the cooling corpse of the tall man, his face frozen in a look of torment. He turned to the woman and asked in a casual manner “Oh, what's this, I seem to have stepped in some dogshit. Better wipe it off my boots.” and he made a motion of wiping his armoured boot on the dead man’s pants.
He heard her snarl and then she said “Oh thats it, I’m going to tear you to pieces slowly, you wont die fast. That I promise you, you…” She shrieked as she couldn't finish her comment. Instead she lowered her head and charged him on all fours.
Kaiden only had time to realize that she had discarded her weapon before the large alien slammed into him with enough force to send the mace flying from his hand and knock him down onto his back.
He hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of him and his vision a little grey. It took him a second to realize that the yeown was sitting on his armoured chest, straddling him and pinning his arms to his sides with her legs.
He tried to move but found he didn't have the leverage to break free. He squirmed but to no avail, the damage done to his armour was weakening him to the point he couldn't throw the big yeown off.
She smiled widely, her face splitting in a predatory smile. Rows of sharp tearing teeth on display as she rested her hands on his shoulders. She leaned down close to his face and whispered loud enough for him to hear “Oh, I’m going to enjoy carving you out of this suit piece by piece.”
Kaiden swore loudly and the woman just laughed evilly. “This is what you get little man.” she said as she produced a diamonomolecular knife from her thigh.
She prised the small knife into the small gap between his helmet and gorget, using some force to break the seal.
He gasped in pain as she twisted the helmet violently and wrenched it off his head. Blinking several times as his eyes adjusted to the darkness he felt hot breath on his face. The woman took a deep sniff and chuckled.
I can smell the fear radiating off of you, pathetic. You are just like the rest of them, cowards, packbreakers. Not worthy of a warrior’s death. He flinched away from her hand as she extended her claws. She put a finger behind one of his ears and then with a quick motion took a notch out of it.
Kaiden jerked and swore. “Shit, okay, you got me you fuzzer. Just kill me and be done with it. This toying is sadistic.”
She shook her head and ran a hand through his hair almost tenderly. “No, this is nothing. You will beg me for death much harder than that before I'm done with you.” he jerked and struggled more, but again found that he was helplessly pinned.
Just before she had torn his helmet off he had tried to send a distress pulse, but without his helmet’s heads up display he had no idea if he had been successful or not. He sighed internally as he tried to ignore the blood running from his ear. It either had and he would be saved, or it hadn't in which case he was looking at a very unfortunate evening.
The woman dragged her blade down his chest, scouring a thin line down the tungsten alloy plates. As she reached his belly she stopped and started to dig the knife under the heavy chest plate before she froze. She whipped around and started to stand when a brilliant purple light stabbed completely through her head.
The now very dead yeown dropped like a discarded puppet and slumped across his chest. He struggled to extricate himself from the body as he heard heavy footsteps approaching. He had a feeling it was friendly, but it never hurt to be careful. Rolling to the side he scooped up his M2 and pointed the barrel down the trench towards the direction of the beam.
All he could see was a near blinding light. He lifted a hand to cover his eyes and shouted “Who goes there? Identify yourself or I’ll open fire.”
The light turned off as he said it and a tall power armoured figure walked up to him carrying an impressive looking weapon.
Ixie’s voice issued through the suit's external speakers and she asked “What is this Kaiden, I leave you on your own for five minutes and you almost get yourself tortured to death? What would command say if they saw the great Sergeant Kaiden now, destitute and defiled by a Hegemony whore?” she asked him with a chuckle.
He frowned and said “That’s not funny. I got four of them, the last one caught me by surprise.”
Ixie extended a hand towards him and he took it gratefully, groaning in pain as he rose to his feet. He shifted uncomfortably and announced “I have multiple stab wounds and at least two fractured ribs, one might be broken entirely.” he finished.
He couldn't tell what she was thinking as her face was covered behind the helmet she was wearing, but he got the impression she was grinning at him. “She just gestured to the dead yeown and giggled “Now you know what Cooper feels like I’ll bet.”
Kaiden shook his head and protested “No, that’s not funny. Take that back!”
She shook her helmeted head and told him “It’s going to cost you. Now what could you offer me that might keep my mouth shut?”
He threw his hands up and hefted his gun. “I have know idea what psycho’s like you enjoy. You keep your secrets. I'm tired and hurting. How are we doing?” he asked her in a more serious manner.
She waved for him to accompany her, before he did he walked over and recovered his hemet. Placing it over his head it reconnected to his suit and immediately a seal warning popped up on his HUD. He turned it off, he was no longer safe from chemical or radiological attack, but that was of little concern to him at the moment. Instead he listened to her as she rattled off kill statistics and injuries.
He asked her “So Mal’conet was injured too. Shot in the chest by an RPL5.6, he should be okay. Though that thermal damage is going to fuck up his scales. Ok, it looks like we're pretty much done here. Aside from a few minor injuries we are all fit for travel.”
Ixie walked a few more steps before pausing. “What did that reverse ecdysiast say to you?”
He chuckled at her chosen description of the rebel soldier and shook his head. “Oh the usual, she was going to chop me up, make it a slow and painful death. Nothing too disturbing.” He paused and then turned to face her. Lowering his tone he said “Um, thanks for saving me Ixie. I would have been a peeled frubble if you hadn’t shown up when you did. I do owe you a special thanks. But we’ll talk about it later. For now let’s just get this wrapped up and head back to base for some rest.”
Ixie walked over and slapped his shoulder saying “Anytime Kaiden. Anytime. Now, I believe we have a few more rebels to flush out. Maybe they will be sporting and put up a little bit of a fight this time eh?” she said as she nudged him. He nodded and smiled.
‘If only they put up less of a fight.’ He thought to himself. As she walked away he said “Okay, I have a few ideas that might be to your liking.”
He saw her helmet turn slightly as she asked “Oh, and what might those be?”
He just smiled as he thought of the many things he knew she liked. The benefit of working so closely together for years. He caught up to her and hefted his gun, alert for danger as he began to speak covertly over a private channel, her laugh warming his cold and aching heart.
End of Story