Gamma Nine (Book One) (42 page)

“Get down!”
Pyoter yelled again, warning the Lancers and everyone in his firing
arc to take cover.

Rivers and
Locke who had been fighting back to back to the left of Pyoter’s
positions heard Pyoter’s words only moments before the bullets
crashed into everything unfriendly.

The other
gunners still alive joined the chorus of unrelenting fire, led by
the conductor Pyoter.

At first the
other gunners fired conservatively, like they had been trained to
do, saving bullets for their escape, but it was clear that they
would need everything before they could even think of leaving the
facility alive. Gunners who had fired around their own men were
freed from their shackles as everyone that could took cover behind
whatever was nearby, some just dropped to the ground where they
stood, covering their heads with their hands.

Pyoter never
took his finger off the trigger, unleashing everything the weapon
possessed into the monstrous tide in front of them. Belts from
inside the vehicle below him fed the weapon bullets as fast as the
loading mechanism could, almost struggling to keep up with the
unyielding hail of bullet-shaped fury.

The giant Titan
screamed with his berserker rage, his ancient bloodline fuelling
his very soul with anger and hate for the things intent on killing
what he was trying to protect.

“Shit,” Xander
breathed as he dared to peek around his cover, tossing two
elongated devices blindly over the top of the barrier he was
behind. There was no way he was going to let Pyoter have all of the
fun. He threw three more devices as the string of bullets changed
its path towards another group of monsters that dared to enter the
facility’s gates.

Most of the
monsters close enough to kill were all but dead, their bodies
lifeless and mutilated in the bloody mud. Locke and Sabian yelled
at the soldiers to fire their own weapons at the monsters,
strengthening the hail of gunfire snuffing out the lives of
everything that used to be human.

Locke stepped
over his cover, followed by Rivers. Both Titans fired their weapons
without pause at the few monsters that still remained. Pyoter was
still firing, although he had reduced the count of targets from
many to almost none. Bodies were scattered everywhere as the first
Gunner in a vehicle to Pyoter’s right reported zero ammo count.
Xander and the Lancers who were taking cover with him joined Locke
and Rivers and the rest of the Lancers, advancing forward to meet
what was left head on.

As they
advanced a scream erupted from the darkness beyond the facility’s
gate, echoing from the buildings. The scream was not that of hunger
but one of retreat. Beasts turned as they heard the call, some
craning their necks to listen closer, and one by one they tried to
slip away. Some never had the chance to retreat, bullets cutting
them down as they tried to climb over walls or sprint over
barriers.

Pyoter’s heavy
weapon ran out of ammo just as the scream ended, his body still
shaking from the rage and the impossible recoil he had battled
against to aim the weapon without killing any of his allies. He
dropped the weapon on the ground next to the vehicle he had been
standing on, its glowing red barrel hissing as it touched the blood
soaked ground.

Locke held up a
hand and soon the gunfire trailed off. Lancers advancing behind the
Titans used their blades to remove the heads from monsters that
were not completely dead, or those that looked ready to pounce once
everyone’s guard was down.

Locke and
Rivers reached the gate leading out into the avenue beyond the
facility, weapons still shouldered in case there was still
something lurking in the shadows.

They stood
watching and just listening to the silence for a few moments, but
there was nothing to hear or see. The enemy had vanished and the
sound of fighting from other parts of the city could be heard
again.

Xander joined
them at the gate, patting Rivers on his bloody shoulder, making
jokes about trying that from the start next time instead of wasting
time pussyfooting around with the enemy.

Locke silently
agreed with the joke, turning to look at the devastation behind
him. All he saw was death, broken bodies scattered everywhere. He
watched as Sabian walked through the bloodbath, stopping at every
dead Lancer he came across. Sabian was a sentimental old man but he
felt every death as a father losing one of his beloved sons.

Locke kept his
eyes on Sabian as the old veteran kneeled next to a Lancer lying
face down in a pool of his own blood. At least five dead mutants
encircled the dead Lancer.

Sabian touched
his hand to the dead soldier’s head and spoke a few words. “You
fought with honour my friend. May your soul find rest where the
white fields embrace you,” he said softly.

“We will miss
all of them,” Locke added as he stepped closer to where Sabian was
kneeling.

Sabian said
nothing to Locke, muttering a prayer under his breath instead.

Rivers was
about to say something, but he was interrupted before he could open
his mouth. Everyone’s eyes looked to the east as a red glow peeked
through gaps in buildings and lit up the night.

“The sun is
rising,” Sabian said softly.

“Our time here
is up. We did what we could,” Locke replied.

There was
nothing more left to say. The element of surprise they had landed
with was long gone, and they could not risk fighting two groups of
enemies with unknown numbers in broad daylight.

No, their time
to make a difference had run out, and Locke felt the sting of
disappointment as he realized that they had not done enough.
Probably losing more lives than they had saved.

It was time to
go, the third objective would have to be abandoned, and there was
no hope of reaching it with so many dead and two of the convoy’s
vehicles disabled.

Locke put in
the call to Gunn, ordering them to secure the primary extraction
point a few miles away to the west. It was a relatively low
populated industrial area that had been chosen for the extraction
point, but it would take what was left of the convoy longer to
reach it. The civilians they had saved and Lemink’s men would ride
in the two remaining vehicles, while the Lancers and the Wolves
would run next to the convoy, hopefully not encountering too much
resistance on the way.

Exhaustion was
an ever present factor in war, and it had already taken root in
most of them.

To the west
Christian and Nathan was about to reach their destination, and
there they would find what would become pivotal to everyone’s
future survival.

“
Are the things you
witness just coincidence or is it the hand of the divine shaping
our destiny? Would you be able to recognize a true moment of pure
destiny when it unfolds in front of your very eyes, or would you
blink and miss the flash of something greater than yourself? Open
your eyes my children and see the strands of time being pulled by
our master, witness the birth of life by his heart and the reaping
of the wicked by his hand. Fall to your knees and beg for
salvation. Surrender yourself into his mercy and he will protect
you against the monsters at our door. Feel his embrace shield you
from the horrors out there in the darkness. Put your life in his
hands and allow your faith to see you through the next few moments!
He protects us all!”
-Battle Chaplain Keyes, Member of the now extinct Confessor’s
Order, Moments before his position was overwhelmed during the
battle for Daisheen’s capital, presumed KIA, 2570 - 61 ASD

Nathan held up
a hand to halt their movement, crouching in a doorway’s shadow.
Christian crouched beside him, scanning the streets leading to
their destination. The sun had risen behind the Titan brothers, but
its light struggled to pierce the veil of dust and smoke hanging
over Santor. A thick fog had mingled with the aftermath of battles
fought, blanketing the entire city as soon as the light broke over
rooftops of abandoned homes and buildings.

Nathan listened
to Locke’s message, relaying it to his brother once Locke had
stopped speaking. “Time is up; the Maiden is clearing the primary
extraction point as we speak. We have to move quickly or we are
getting left behind.”

“I understand.
The beacon is up ahead, on the other side of this junction,”
Christian replied, pointing at the habitation block looming out of
the thick fog.

The building
looked completely empty, no light shining from windows and no
movement could be seen outside. Its grey walls bearing witness to a
recent gunfight between soldiers and beasts, dead bodies from both
sides littered the paving and steps in front of the building the
beacon was transmitting from.

Whatever
happened was over quickly, some soldiers had not even raised their
rifles before they had died, their bodies ripped apart as they had
taken a moment to eat and drink. Cans of opened food and burned out
cigarettes were dropped just as the monsters had appeared between
them, their broken canteen’s contents mixing with their own
congealed blood, lifeless eyes staring at the nothingness beyond
their deaths.

Nathan
signalled to Christian to stow his shield and rifle, suggesting
they enter the building silently with only their blades. They did
not want to draw any attention to themselves, and firing their
weapons would definitely announce their position to anything that
was hungry in the vicinity or inside the building.

Hopefully they
could enter and exit without anything noticing them. Any
unnecessary fighting or obstacles in their way would just waste
time, time they did not have.

Nathan stepped
over the dead bodies, making sure to not step on anything that
could make any noise, Christian following behind him, stepping in
his brother’s armoured footsteps.

The scene
inside was worse than outside. Bodies had been torn to shreds, and
it was clear that the monsters had won the fight. Half eaten parts
of what use to be human were discarded at random by whatever had
fed its bottomless hunger. Bloody mutated footprints led away from
the dead, vanishing in the dark corridor leading deeper into the
building.

Christian
followed as Nathan led the way, covering all angles as their
visor’s Dark sight lit up the gloom.

Nathan stopped
at an intersection, straight ahead the bloody footprints still went
one, to the right there was a utility door leading to what must
have been the basement, and to the left a staircase of grey
concrete stretched upwards, its construction obstructing any hope
of seeing where the staircase led to.

Nathan turned
his head to look at Christian, his body language asking his brother
where they had to go to next.

Christian used
his left hand to indicate up, adding that they needed to go up to
level three.

Nathan nodded
and took the first steps of the staircase slowly, his helmet raised
as he watched if anything moved above them.

Christian was
right behind him, grasping his combat blade in his right hand as he
watched his brother’s back.

Slowly they
ascended the stairs, their armoured boots making almost no sound on
the concrete steps. Step by step they climbed, sticking to the
outer walls of the staircase to give them enough room to see around
corners.

Their Dark
sight scanned for any movement as they passed the first door
leading to the first floor of the habitation block. Its door was
wide open and bloody hand prints were smudged on the sides of the
door. Someone had tried to close it behind them to stop whatever
was stalking the poor soul, but it had been futile and the thing
the person had tried to stop had found its way in, doing hell knows
what to the fleeing survivor.

Nathan and
Christian did not hesitate; they moved further up, passing another
door, this one was closed. Beyond, the sound of exposed electricity
cables sparking against each other could be heard. Christian risked
a glance through the door’s tiny window, seeing nothing but
shredded cables hanging from broken ceilings, the floor beneath
flooded with filthy water. Nothing could have passed through this
corridor and survived.

The Titan
brothers reached the third level, its door ajar and the corridor
beyond in complete darkness. A hint of smoke drifted along the
hallway - somewhere something was burning.

Christian used
hand signals to tell Nathan that they needed to go down and then
make a left, door thirty-seven was their destination.

With every step
Christian’s anticipation grew, his hope rising as well. He was so
close and he needed to reach what he hoped was still an alive
Jessica as quickly as possible.

Nathan was the
first to round the corner leading to another hallway, freezing in
place the instant he saw what was crouched against the very door
they wanted to reach.

A small but
muscular creature crouched with its nose close to the bottom of
door thirty-seven, smelling at something inside. Its back was
turned to Nathan, and had not noticed the Titan yet.

Christian
stopped as Nathan halted him with a hand again, signalling to get
up against the wall. Christian did as his brother ordered, glancing
around the corner at the creature Nathan had seen.

The creature
itself was no threat, its size was nothing to fear and the Titans
could deal with it easily, the problem was the little bastard could
alert whatever else was lurking in the shadows of the habitation
building, and that would spell disaster for what they were trying
to accomplish.

Nathan moved
forward, his footsteps making no noise, his armour compensating for
the slow movement, dampening the servo noise joining his suit
together.

Step by step he
took towards the inquisitive creature, its back still turned on the
Titans.