The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) (70 page)

“He will tell us when he is ready. The number isn’t important. He lost friends, maybe even family.”

They all sympathized with him but that feeling never showed on their faces.

“We need to lose those patrols before going deeper in the jungle. We can’t risk that they will follow us to our destination.”

“If we are doing that we have to split up. My guess is they are following us using the trail our new friends leave. They are wounded and bleeding. We need to use them as bait.”

Rivers nodded to Doc. They all knew that the Dacarians were using the trail the humans and the aliens left behind to track them. They hoped that by crossing the river they would lose them but it was easy for the Dacarians to guess that they would cross the river. With two whole enemy platoons eliminated it was normal they would be pissed off.

“We turn and head towards our second camp site. We have supplies there that we need to pick up. After that Kelly and Flint will go with them the rest will turn around and shadow them. We will move slower and allow the Dacarians to catch up. We will try to pick of any stragglers they have and we use traps to kill as many as we can before we strike.”

“That will be a pleasure sir. If you don’t mind Sing and I would prepare some surprises for our friends.”

Rivers noticed the feral grin on the faces of the former Green Berets. They were still members of that unit but for this mission they were part of his team as well as several others who were part of the other teams operating on the planet. If he and the others were good Singer and Luis were the experts in jungle warfare.

“I’m sure you would. You can join Jenkins in the back when we move and start preparing and planning. We will need three hours to reach the campsite. I hope that you will have something waiting for them before we split up.”

“Yes sir.”

The conversation shifted after that and several minutes later they all moved once again this time moving parallel with the river they crossed heading towards the second fallback position they had on this side of the river. It was smaller than their main camp site but it was well equipped and well hidden from sight.

Krongar looked at the scout that showed him that the prisoners they were following turned again this time parallel with the river. He considered their movement for a second and then indicated his team to follow. He informed the other teams about the new movement of their prey and then returned his thoughts on the other two teams that followed this group. Those two teams had thirty two legionaries, all members of the Praetorian Guard just like he and his men. And now they were all dead. He remembered the bodies of the first group killed by a masterful trap made of the jungle and the second in a gunfight. He didn’t know how the slaves managed that but he was planning to find out. Hogar was his close friend. He wanted revenge for his death and he planned to get it.

“I wonder what they are planning now Gunar.”

“They might know that we are following them.”

He thought for a second.

“They probably do. We have to be careful of traps. The way they eliminated Hogar and his team was amazing.”

“That kind of trap needs careful planning and executing. And they managed to trap him perfectly.”

“You are right. Tell the scouts to be careful and watch for any surprises. Send two scouts to the rear as well. We need to be careful if they split up.”

At that moment he heard the scream first from one than from two more of his forward legionaries. As they rushed towards the forward scouts he noticed that they were all impaled. Two of the legionaries were struck by the same spear a two and half meter long sharp pole that first stabbed the first one through the weak point of his armor in the neck and then struck the second one in his leg. He might have survived but the struck hit him in his main artery by the time they reached to him he already lost to much blood. The third one was the one who activated the trap. He caught two of the spears one right through his chest the other one in the joints of his armor on his shoulder. He had a quick death unlike the other two legionaries who slowly bled out. The spears literally tore his vital organs apart the one in his chest probably went through his lungs and maybe his heart.

“Curse the gods. Tell the other scouts to be more careful. I don’t know who they are or how they know these tricks but they are deadly. Inform command of our location and about our losses.”

The command was carried out immediately and after the three bodies were wrapped up and placed where they could be recovered they continued on.

Jenkins watched the second group of Dacarians as they entered their camp site. The rest of the team left almost two hours ago leaving him behind to watch the situation and inform them of how the trap went. After they packed all their supplies they placed four claymores on positions around the camp creating a perfect killing field. Considering the lethality of one claymore which was lethal to about 50 meters and the placement of the mines Jenkins knew that he was looking at what was soon going to be a massacre. He already knew that the other team lost five men to the ambushes that Luis and Singer prepared. This team lost two so far and now twenty three legionaries were entering the killing ground. Jenkins waited for the right moment and watched them silently from over three hundred meters.

Each claymore was placed to cover one side of the camp.

The M18A1 Claymore mine had a horizontally convex green plastic case. The shape was developed through experimentation to deliver the optimum distribution of fragments at 50 m range. The case had the words "Front toward Enemy" embossed on the front of the mine. A simple open sight on the top surface allowed for aiming the mine. Two pairs of scissor legs attached to the bottom supported the mine and allowed it to be aimed vertically. On both sides of the sight are fuse wells set at 45 degrees.

Internally each mine contained a layer of C-4 explosive behind a matrix of about seven hundred 1⁄8-inch-diameter (3.2 mm) steel balls set into an epoxy resin.

When the M18A1 is detonated, the explosion drives the matrix forward, out of the mine at a velocity of 1,200 m/s at the same time breaking it into individual fragments. The steel balls are projected in a 60° fan-shaped pattern that is 6.5 feet high and 50 m wide at a range of 50 m. The force of the explosion deforms the relatively soft steel balls into a shape similar to a .22 rimfire projectile. These fragments are moderately effective up to a range of 100 m, with a hit probability of around 10% on a prone man-sized 1.3-square-foot (0.12 m2) target. The fragments can travel up to 250 m. The optimum effective range is 50 m, at which the optimal balance is achieved between lethality and area coverage, with a hit probability of 30% on a man-sized target.

The weapon and all its accessories are carried in an M7 bandolier. The mine is detonated as the enemy approaches the killing zone. Controlled detonation could be accomplished by use of either an electrical or non-electrical firing system. The mine could be detonated by any mechanism that activates the blasting cap.

The claymore was the most widely used anti-personal mine back on Earth. It was used in just about every conflict, humanity had back on Earth. This was the first time to be used against aliens. Jenkins didn’t know for sure how it would react with the armor the dacarians wore but considering the speed of armor piercing ammunition and the speed of the metal balls that the claymore used he was pretty sure that the result would be a massacre.

As the entire group was inside the perimeter he activated the mines. Moments later he was rewarded with the loud explosion as the four mines detonated simultaneously.

Each mine as it detonated lunched 700 metal balls that had a perfect killing field of fifty meters. That was against a human foe. Right now the four mines detonated and lunched 2800 small 3.2 millimeter metal balls against twenty three dacarian legionaries covering area of just thirty five square meters. As the balls hit them some bounced of their armor but many went through. Their armor was tough but it was made for resisting plasma and laser weapons. Not armor piercing projectile ammunition. In less than a second where just moment ago Jenkins saw twenty three legionaries he now saw twenty three shredded bodies. Some still moved about but they were all already dead.

Jenkins rose from his hiding spot and with fast steps started moving away and heading towards his next position. The first enemy platoon was eliminated. As he moved he knew that soon the second one would follow.

As the sounds of the explosion reached them, Krongar and his men stopped and after failing to establish any contact with their second team they started hastily moving towards their last position. The second platoon was supposed to inspect the enemy camp position.

He already lost five men to ambushes so he and his men moved quickly but carefully watching for any traps. It took them half an hour to cover the distance and when they reached it he was shocked by what he saw.  In a small confined space the torn bodies of twenty three more legionaries lay dead. All around them the plants were cut down and the trees had huge holes in them probably by the same weapon that massacred the legionaries. As he approached he picked up a small metal ball covered with blood and as he scanned the area he noticed hundreds more.  The other praetorians noticed them too. He was amazed by the ingenuity of his opponents.

“They used mines and these were their murder weapon.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it before. Not on this front, on this world and especially not being used by advanced races. This is primitive.”

“Primitive…Gunar? It might be primitive but it is very effective and deadly.”

“Yes it is. Whatever speed they were moving they pierced the armor easily, like it was not even there.”

“Our armor will deflect energy weapons but not projectiles and not ones moving at the speed that these small balls moved. Inform command that we need more men and inform them that we are targeted by projectile weapons.”

He turned and watched as the rest of the legionaries gathered the bodies of the twenty three dead. They worked slowly and he could see the anger on their faces. This was the third platoon pursuing this group of slaves that was wiped out to the last men. He knew that four of the slaves, six in total since they escaped the camp were dead but that was nothing compared with the sixty two legionaries that died so far. Ten to one ratio in favor of their enemies was something he wasn’t accustomed to and it never happened with missions like this one. Something was off.

“Ask for more men I want three more platoons joining us and tell them I want the bodies of the dead examined closely something is not right here. I want them to check the ammunition they are using, we need clues.”

The legionary followed his order immediately. He got confirmation in several moments.

He used the break while the bodies of the dead ones were wrapped to look at the munitions he could see. He carried one of the projectiles that killed one of the first two platoons. He looked at the strange coned shell. He couldn’t learn anything about it by its markings. They were strange, but as he looked at it he knew that it couldn’t come from a railgun. It was an explosive round and considering the fact that it penetrated the armor of the legionary that it killed. It was extremely powerful, but it was fired from a weapon that he couldn’t imagine. The empire had a chance to fight against several races that used projectile weapons and he knew that they were dangerous. There was armor that the legionaries could use in situations like that but none were present here. Only the specialized units of the legions had armor that was both effective against energy weapons and projectile ones. That armor was heavier and bulkier than the armor most of the legionaries wore. He wondered if he should call one of those units. They were rarely used considering that the Illians used energy weapons. As he could remember even their ships used energy weapons and lasers and not projectile weapons. The empire’s fleet still had ships that had rail guns and coil guns that were utilized for point defense but most of them were old ships that were slowly being replaced. If the Illians started producing this kind of ammunition it would be going backward in their weapons tech and it was hard to imagine that they could had enough production capacity for weapons like this that required special metals.

He turned to Gunar.

“Call two teams of the special forces of the legions. I want them in full armor suits and dropped in front of us. If they have projectile weapons it is time we took them out of the equation.”

“Yes sir.”

He noticed the relief after hearing his order on Gunar’s face. It was a move that would require explanations but he hoped that the results from the ammunition test would prove him right and give the answers to his superiors.

Just moments later he noticed one of the advance scout parties coming back in a hurry. At the same time he got a radio call from one of the forward teams that were coming this way from the camp they destroyed chasing some refugees.

He answered immediately.

“What is it G’kan?”

“We have a visual on several escaped Illians and several slaves. They are about half an hour before us heading towards the swamps. You and your team will be able to reach the swamp before them and cut them off at that side while we hit them from the back.”

“Be careful G’kan, we lost three platoons already chasing these ones. Any humans among the ones you are chasing?”