Clouds of Tyranny (27 page)

When Locke’s team made it to the main
entrance Locke positioned his soldiers in various spots that would
be unseen by the imperial soldiers such as in the tree that lay in
the center of the courtyard, along the wall, behind the gate of the
entrance, and behind bushes. “Okay, here’s the plan,” started
Locke, “They walk in and we come down on them with a surprise
attack consisting of Ruthie, Terra, Eve, and myself; soldiers don’t
move. Then they open fire, we take cover, and the archers take more
of them, then you soldiers spring into action only when I give the
word.” They all nodded as the soldiers began hiding in their spots.
Locke looked at Ruthie, “I’ll be right back.” Locke walked toward
the alleyway in the southwest corner of town that connected to the
various shops to look for the Retriever, who should have arrived
already. “Retriever,” called out Locke silently as he walked
through the alley, “Retriever?” He heard and saw nothing and looked
back the way he came and saw smoke coming from the mountain tops,
“Shit!” Locke ran back to his team, “It’s time! Terra, fire a shot
into the air.” Terra pointed her gun to the heavens and shot a
single bullet alerting the other teams of the threat that now
approached them.

“They’ll be here shortly,” said Clyde,
“Don’t go past where I am standing or the blast will get you.
Engage after you see five blasts come up from the ground.” “As soon
as the fifth one goes off, run through the smoke as it will provide
cover,” said Ray. “Very good,” said Sam getting into the right
mindset for the battle.

“I have a series of traps,” said Lars
explaining his plan to his team, “Stay clear of the doorway, as
long as we stay on this side of the wall, you’ll all be okay. Let
them come to you. I will signal to the shooters for the first wave
of their attack.” Pearl nodded her head, “And take no
prisoners!”

Alex had her gunners positioned on the roof
that was of a triangle shape with each side at a forty-five degree
angle; they were lying on their stomachs on the side that was
inside the walls as not to be seen by the soon coming imperials.
“Okay, when Pearl gives the word you fire. Don’t be quick…be
accurate…headshots or the heart. Make sure you all prioritize, the
ones with firearms die first. Let our soldiers handle the imperials
carrying melee weapons.”

“Alright archers,” said Reuben egging his
soldiers on, “This will be a proud day, a victorious day. Some of
you wont make it back, but know that it is your duty to give your
lives for the kingdom of Velxeer.” Reuben looked down at Locke’s
team who had their backs to the wall for concealment. While Reuben
was turned away, Jillian looked over at Alex from across the town
and waved, wishing her good luck as Alex sat atop the peak of the
triangular roof smoking a rolled cigarette. Locke peeked his head
out the main entrance doorway and saw the empire approaching, five
minutes away…if that. Locke looked at the three female Returners he
had the honor of fighting alongside with, “Welcome to hell. No
mercy.”

Locke stood against the wall next to the
front gate holding his Damascus with both hands while Terra stood
next to him with a single gun drawn; the first one she had
acquired. Through the front gate walked an imperial soldier wearing
a patch on his sleeve that indicated he was a lieutenant. “People
of Harmon,” yelled the lieutenant, “The Empire demands your
cooperation and total submission.” The lieutenant looked around for
the townspeople, but only saw Locke to his left, then froze.
“Attack!” yelled the lieutenant as Locke’s sword pierced through
his sternum and peeked out his back. Locke violently pulled the
blade back out and dropped the man to the floor. Suddenly, five men
rushed in through the front gate and were met with their doom.
Ruthie had her spikes out and landed her left fist into a soldier’s
stomach, followed by a right to his nose; the three sharp spikes
breaking through the skull as he fell. Locke swung his sword at two
men in front of him, eviscerating one man, then brought the blade
down removing the other man’s arm at the shoulder; blood shot out
of the nub that once housed an appendage. Locke kicked the
one-armed man in the rear of the knee dropping him to the floor,
then stabbed down into the man’s heart. Two additional men
approached from behind Locke hoping for a Returner fatality, but
Eve answered by leaping behind one of them and reaching her head
around him and slit his throat with her serrated knife; the front
of the soldier’s neck oozed blood onto the floor as he fell. The
other soldier turned his attention from Locke to Eve and aimed his
pistol less than a foot away from her head. Terra pointed her palm
at the gun and it flew out of his hand and into the air, he was
bewildered as he looked at Terra. Terra smirked at the now unarmed
soldier and pointed her .45 and fired at him; the bullet shot
through the man’s forehead and the blood exited where the bullet
entered, Locke getting imperial blood on his cheek. “Now!” yelled
Locke queuing his soldiers to reveal themselves as a dozen soldiers
ran through the entrance while the remaining soldiers stood behind
with machine guns drawn waiting for a clear shot at the Returners.
The soldiers leaped from behind the bushes and began attacking the
twelve imperials that posed a threat to them. One of the Returner’s
soldiers fell at the hands of an imperial rifle into his chest.
Locke released one hand from his Damascus and threw a dagger at an
imperials eye while Terra managed to shoot three more. Ruthie
kicked one imperial in the testicles, then round housed another
before turning her attention back on the kneeled imperial writhing
in pain, she grabbed two handfuls of his hair and began bashing him
in the face with her right knee till he was either dead or
brain-dead; she couldn’t tell. Ruthie looked back to the man she
had kicked in the face and he was trying to get up but didn’t quite
know where he was, she came down hard with a boot and crushed his
head. The soldier’s numbers were diminishing and Locke knew they’d
be firing any moment, so he turned toward the threat outside their
front door to see them aiming as their general positioned for them
to open fire. “Cover!” screamed Locke as he looked to Ruthie who
was back flipping out of harms way along with Eve, he grabbed Terra
around the waist and fell towards the wall for cover as three of
the boys were hit more than twenty times by the imperials bullets.
Locke heard the barrage of bullets flying less than a yard away as
Terra lay on top of him. “You okay?” asked Terra. Locke put his
palms over her ears as not to damage her hearing, “Let it rain!”
The archers sprung to their feet atop the roof and pulled their
strings releasing thirteen arrows down on the imperials; all of
which had hit a vital area. The imperials panicked and were now
concentrating on the archers above them and began firing. Jillian
was on her third arrow when she felt a splatter of blood hit her
left cheek and she knew right away that Eleven was gone, but she
refused to look. If Jillian took her eyes off of her prey, she
would surely die and that could not happen; she was the best and
quickest with a bow. “Get up,” said Locke after removing his hands
from Terra’s ears. Terra and Locke stood to their feet, but were
quickly brought back down to the hard ground by the explosion to
the north.

At the rear entrance, the first explosion
had turned twenty imperials into tomato bisque, heads flying
towards Clyde, Ray, and Sam who were at the front of their team
waiting for the right moment to send them toward their enemies. The
imperials weren’t of ignorant rabble, several of the armed soldiers
fired at the ground setting off three more explosions from beneath
the soil sacrificing only a few of their own. The imperial soldiers
ran through the rising smoke and leaped towards the Returners as
Ray pointed his right arm at them and released five of his
miniature arrows dropping three imperials to the floor. Four of the
boys didn’t wait for their queue and ran towards their threat.
“That was only four!” yelled Clyde at the boys as they disappeared
into the smoke. Clyde could no longer see anything…BOOM! Ray shook
his head, knowing that the stupid young boys were in pieces now.
The three Returners stood with their team waiting for the smoke to
clear till they saw almost thirty more imperials running towards
them. “Now!” yelled Clyde pointing at the Empire. Bullets flew from
both sides catching Clyde in the leg and Sam in the shoulder, but
they carried on. Ray fired the three arrows that remained, then
drew his sword and thrusts his blade into an imperials stomach as
he twisted it to widen the hole in his body as he heard loud
gunfire from the west.

“Fire!” yelled Alex as the Pan’dier gunners
let loose another symphony of gunshots at the approaching Empire.
Lars signaled at Alex and she halted her shooters from firing then
looked next to him at Pearl, “Duck!” They both kneeled as a young
boy from the Returners side used a knife to cut rope that was tied
to a pillar of the building adjacent to the west entrance. Down
swung a large log that lay horizontally, that had numerous knives
and sharpened stick protruding out of it, and hit eight imperials
in their torsos; three flying back several feet, five becoming
stuck to the log and swinging with it now, and all of them
deceased. A many more imperials managed to slip through the moving
hazard and made it inside the town, one trying to make it to the
center of town. Pearl turned and saw the young imperial trying to
escape, so she pulled out her corded knife and whipped it into his
back and jerked it hard causing the man’s back and side flesh to
split open and his inside began pouring out atop a waterfall of
blood as the imperial screamed in pain. Pearl walked over to his
flailing body and pressed her boot against the back of his head and
thrust the sharp head of her weapon into the back of his neck,
“Shut up!” “Pearl,” yelled Julius. Pearl turned to look at Julius
who was reloading his shotgun as he stood over two dead men without
heads. “They’re going around! Guard the walls!,” said Julius
closing the chamber of his large gun and walking along the walls
looking up for climbers. Pearl joined Julius in his errand, “How
many out there?” ”Enough,” said Julius being unsupportive. Somehow,
an imperial was able to sneak past Lars, but unlucky for him, Alex
saw him. “You guys handle yourselves,” said Alex to the fifteen
gunners and then leaped off the roof while unsheathing her dragon
blade in midair and slicing down splitting the imperials head in
half. Lars turned to see that Alex had saved his life who was now
staring at the roof in the southeast part of town where the Velxeer
archers were positioned; there were only eight of them left
including Reuben. “You can thank me later,” winked Alex as she ran
towards the main gate where Locke, Eve, Ruthie, and Terra were.

Locke was putting the finishing touches on a
man that he had already completely removed from his knees and was
taking a knife to his throat. When he turned around he saw five
gunned imperials looking at him, who must have climbed the wall to
the west and snuck in. Each of the five soldier’s heads fell of
their shoulders like dominoes and blood geysered from between their
shoulder blades. Locke looked around till he saw Retriever catching
his tri-bladed chakra. “Your late,” said Locke. Retriever squinted
at Locke as if to say ‘your welcome, jerk’. Alex was approaching
the tree in the center of the courtyard where Terra was seeking
cover as she reloaded her pistols. “Terra!” yelled Alex pointing
ahead of her at an approaching imperial holding a short sword.
Terra dropped the gun from her right hand and pushed her palm
towards the air and the imperial flew back fifty feet into the wall
banging his head so hard the back of it split open and left a blood
stain as he was knocked unconscious. Terra nodded at Alex as she
continued reloading the magazines. Alex continued walking to the
main entrance as she stepped over the headless corpses and went
over to Locke, “How you looking here?” Locke looked up at Reuben
till Reuben saw him looking, then Reuben held up two fingers on his
right hand and three on his left. “Twenty-six, give or take,” said
Locke looking at Alex. Alex nodded, noticing an imperial pointed
his rifle at Jillian, “Block me.” Locke stood directly in front of
her as she waved her palm towards the air between Jillian and the
imperial soldier as the bullet fired from the soldier’s gun. The
bullet veered off course and missed Jillian by mere inches. “Lets
go,” said Alex unsheathing her sword and running towards the front
gate. She leaped over an imperial’s head and stabbed her sword into
the top of his head and he fell to the floor as she grabbed the
handle of her sword when his knees hit the ground and pulled out
her blade.

Pearl and Julius heard noises from the
opposing side of the wall. “Sounds like climbing,” said Pearl.
Julius nodded and pointed his gun towards the section of the wall
that emanated the sounds and fired creating a large gaping hole and
blood around the rim of the hole. Pearl jumped up and grabbed onto
the bloody hole and pulled herself up to get a view and saw no one
attempting to climb the wall. All she saw was three bloody
carcasses lying on the ground and soldiers from the Returner’s side
canvassing the area outside. “We’re good,” said Pearl jumping down
to where Julius was. “Let’s head back,” said Julius walking
alongside Pearl. “I was wondering,” said Julius nervously, “Maybe
after we’re all done here-“ “I like women,” said Pearl abruptly.
“Ah.” Suddenly, they took a step back at the sound of loud
thunderous gunfire coming from the western entrance where Lars was.
They ran quickly back to their post where Lars was standing behind
a humongous six-nozzle gun the size of a small horse with hundreds
of bullet casings shooting out the side of the weapon.