Black Legion: 05 - Sea of Fire (14 page)

He pointed behind them where the passageway ran into a T-junction.

“I want you right there, just around the corner, and out of sight. Position the shield generators and prepare yourselves.”

He looked to Roxana.

“Take command of them and hold them here. I’ll bring the machines to us.”

She nodded and Xenophon looked to the others.

“You two Arcadians will come with me.”

The men looked confused, but they stepped forward in silence. They bore the insignia of their own state, but their weapons told a different story. Both were armed with Arcadian blasters, a kind of hybrid pistol and shotgun. They were rare outside of Arcadia and considered unreliable, though very powerful. What surprised him was that they were also carrying shield generators in the Laconian fashion, just as he did.

"When did you start carrying shields?"

The nearest smiled.

"After Cunaxa we decided we would adopt some of the Laconians tactics. The equipment was...well, recovered from the battlefield. But Sir, what if they...”

Xenophon lifted his hand.

“I will get their attention and bring them to you. Make sure you are all ready. Not even a machine can stand against a Terran shield wall. Understood?”

Each of the warriors agreed, without a single one of them betraying a moment's hesitation. One of the Arcadian soldiers was already placing a generator on the ground and activating the unit. It emitted a high-pitched tone that increased in pitch until moving out of the audible range. Xenophon moved closer to the blast door and then checked his flanks. He would have been much happier with Glaucon at his side, but knowing his friend was with Tamara and Artemas gave him a lot less to worry about.

I just hope that old Laconian fool is listening to Artemas for a change. We can ill afford another Iraj.

The two Arcadians bore the marks of multiple battles, and each lowered their blasters and then tapped the buttons on their arms to activate their shields. A dull flicker appeared in front of them as the half-shields powered up.

"We are ready, Topoteretes," said the older of the two.

Only then did Xenophon notice that it wasn't a man at all. The woman's long hair had been tucked down into the back plate of her armor, but as she moved, a small tuft pulled out. She was a good degree taller than Xenophon, and from her build he might easily have thought she more likely to be one of the Arcadian champions.

"Your name?"

"Desma of Mantinea," she said in a humorless fashion.

Xenophon raised an eyebrow at the mention of that infamous world. Mantinea was technically part of the Arcadian League, yet they were as likely to fight their old enemy the Laconians, as they were their own allied states such as Tegea and Megalopalis.

He then looked to the shorter Terran on his left.

"And you?"

"Antikles, Topoteretes."

The man then looked to his Arcadian comrade.

"...of Arcadia."

Xenophon did his best to hide his smile. The man was clearly one of those that would consider himself a
New Man
, much like Glaucon did back on Attica. He saw the League as the way forward, and had turned his idea of nationality away from his world and to the greater power of the allied League.

The fools. The disagreement between the two of you is a reminder why the League will always fail. As many think they will benefit from it as those that think they will lose!

He shook his head and looked back at the blast door.

"This will not take long. Take no risks, but make sure you get their attention. Are you ready?"

Both of them nodded and positioned themselves into a braced position. With the heavy generators on their backs, they would be slower than the stratiotes, and probably even the Laconian spatharii.

"With me!" Xenophon said.

He activated the control panel, and the blast door hissed upward into the ceiling. All three of them expected to find the enemy, but instead they ran straight into the path of dust and steam.

"Stay close."

Xenophon went inside, and the two Arcadians followed closely behind. They made it a few meters as the mist began to clear. None of them carried lamps. If anything else, it would simply serve as a way to identify themselves to the enemy. This section of the hangar was lit from powerful lamps fitted directly into the high ceiling. The odd effect was that of a widening cone that provided dull yellow and white circles on the floor.

"Topoteretes!" Desma cried out.

Xenophon instinctively stepped to the right, where he would find protection from his comrade in the phalanx. It was a habit he had learned from fighting in the phalanx, especially with the Laconians, due to them all fighting right-handed and with their personal shields protecting their left sides. It was always the responsibility of the man on the right to protect his kin to the left. Unlike other fighting systems, the power of the phalanx was not based on the individual, but on the unit. It was an ideal beloved by the Laconians and lamented by most other modernized states.

Where are they?

He moved his eyes from left to right, and then he saw something. Approaching from the middle of the hangar was the shape of a single machine. It could easily have been a Taochi warrior, but its skin was dull metal, and it lacked a discernible face. Its arms looked more like siege hammers, and it stomped forward slowly, one step at a time.

"Shields front!"

Xenophon adjusted his arm so that the shield protected him completely. He could make out his two comrades via his peripheral vision just two meters away on each side. If he hadn't checked on them, he might have missed the eight warriors moving in from the flanks in two groups. A sick feeling tore through his gut at seeing the bipedal forms, like sickening robotic skeletons but protected by abstract slabs of armor and carrying carbines in their arms.

Robotic Domain warriors, they are real.

A pulse of energy from the left tore into Antikles, and each impact vaporized flesh and armor with ease. The man moved too slowly to alter the direction of his shield, and he fell to the ground, a broken mess of melted and fused flesh and bone.

"Desma!" he yelled, fearing for the life of the second Arcadian.

Xenophon swung to his left and repositioned his shield arm just as the robots opened fire. Their carbines launched explosive energy rounds that smashed into his shield with great force. The third round knocked him back, but Desma jammed her foot against his so that they were standing back to back.

"Kill them!" she grumbled.

Xenophon pushed his right hand around the flickering shield and took rough aim with his Asgeirr-Carbine. As he pulled the trigger, the short-ranged pulse rounds ripped into the nearest of the machines. Each round bounced off the thick armor of its torso. He changed direction and targeted one of the arms. The rounds punched through the metal. He fired again and again until a lucky shot hit an arm joint at the shoulder, and it dropped down loosely, lifeless, and disconnected from the body. The machine stopped and looked over to its deactivated arm.

Now, put it down for good!

His training kicked in as he remembered his lessons going right back to Kratez. He had to disable, nullify, or eliminate a wounded enemy, or they would still be combat effective.

It's better to face one enemy, than three injured enemies.

The words flooded through his mind as though he was actually back on Attica. It wasn't that long ago, but it felt like thirty years had past since his teenage years. Xenophon took much more careful aim and then put six rounds into the chest of the damaged machine. A burst of blue sparks erupted from the torso, and it slumped to the ground, yet it was still operational and took aim with its weapon. With a grinding sound, it lifted back up by using an arm as an improvised leg. It made the creature look like some sickening beast, all twisted and out of shape.

"Good shooting, Sir," said Desma.

Unlike Xenophon, she was far less concerned about where she put her shots. The first blast had taken off a limb, and then she fired repeatedly until running out of ammunition. With a well-practiced gesture, she dropped the weapon to her thigh and over the top of an extended magazine feed. It clicked in, and she proceeded to open fire again. Round after round from the blaster ripped into the machines, and soon another of them dropped to half speed, with dozens of holes punched through its plating.

"They are hurt, but all of them are still in the fight," said Xenophon.

He licked his upper lip in frustration.

"Fall back!"

They moved back a pace at a time, with their bodies touching so they knew they were protected. The six remaining robots were close enough now and concentrated their fire onto the shields. Xenophon staggered, stumbled, and then went down, the weight of the fire proving too much. Something grabbed him, and then Desma had him up on his feet and heading for the open blast door. He lifted his right arm and then spotted the larger of the machines. Behind the five humanoid robots was the large one, a real armored monster with hammer shaped limbs. It extended one toward Xenophon and said something in a dull, machine like voice. Xenophon opened fire and then pushed with his legs as hard as he could.

"Run!"

It took seconds to make it through, and then the two of them were storming ahead, both with their weapons lowered and ignoring what was coming behind them. They reached the T-junction and turned right, and right into the thick row of Terran warriors. Light glimmered along the front from the multiple static shield generators. The outlines of the individual shields showed up like medieval mantlets, the kind of large shield used to protect troops in those ancient battles and sieges.

"We're ready," said Roxana.

"Where's Antikles?" asked another.

Xenophon stepped in behind the shield wall, and Desma did the same. Once into position, they both activated their shields to add an additional layer of protection to the existing wall. It now offered a rough energy field wall that was just over a meter and a half tall at its highest point. There were small gaps where each section overlapped, but it was good enough.

"He's dead," said Desma sternly.

Desma then reached for one of the six ammo packs on the ground and pulled out three clips. She pushed two into the empty slots on her flank, and the third she placed on the ground next to her before spotting Xenophon watching her.

"What? I like to have extra, just in case."

Xenophon tilted his head and grinned in amusement. His expression became more serious as the sound of the machines became louder. This time it was the heavy clunk of metal feet as they made their way out of the hangar and toward the intersection. One of the Thessalian soldiers laughed at her, but she threw him a withering stare that stopped him in his tracks.

"Antikles didn't have his mind on the job. He didn't check his flanks, and now he is gone. Do not do the same."

Even Xenophon was surprised at her tone, and also of the way she demanded the respect of the other warriors. She bore no insignia, and as far as he could tell, she was just another volunteer for the Legion. The machines arrived, but not one at a time as might have been expected. Instead, all eight humanoid warriors rounded the corner and lifted their arms up to protect their torsos. They walked fast and directly toward the Terrans. They covered five meters and then stopped. The first four dropped to their knees, and their limbs folded up behind them so that that created a wall of thickly plated torsos. Reinforced bars extended out from the ribs to create additional layers of protection and to lock them together into an immobile wall.

“Take aim!” Xenophon called out.

Each of the Terrans took aim with a variety of pulse pistols, Doru rifles, Laconian carbines, and Arcadian blasters. The energy shield shimmered and flickered as some of them moved too close and touched the energy field with their weapons.

“Fire!”

The fusillade of fire was impressive. While the blasters sent great flumes of energy to the target, the other weapons put down an incredible weight of fire. Sparks marked the impacts against the four nearest machines. The next four moved up behind the first and then dropped down so that just the tops of their bodies were visible, using their comrades as a metal barrier, much like the shield generators used by the Terrans.

"Keep firing!"

The barrage of fire continued to tear into the machines, but now it was their turn. One by one the four at the back took aim with their terrifying weapons and discharged energy blasts at the shield wall. Each impact sent flashes of different colors that lit up the faces of the Terrans in the most peculiar hues. Finally, a pair of the powerful energy blasts struck the shields so hard that one of the generators exploded. Two Terrans were thrown to the ground, both suffering multiple bloody wounds. The failure of the generator left several breaches and weakened what remained.

Another blast struck at the breach just as Roxana tried to fill it with her own shield. The energy of the impact smashed her to the ground where she lay still. Xenophon looked at the wounded Terrans and tried to keep his eyes away from his friend.