The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) (75 page)

He noticed one of the humans jerking back as one of the legionaries shot him and then literally crashed in to him. The human was thrown several feet back and as he fell the legionary shot him again and turned towards the others. As he did he was shocked to see the human aiming at the other legionary. Before he could react he fired and the legionary fell dead. He aimed and fired a continuous burst at him he was satisfied to see the human jerking back as the shots hit him and blew holes in his body. It was obvious that their armour can’t take more then two or three hits.

Rivers noticed as Luis was hit several times by the legionary. The last two hits finally penetrated the Kevlar and the reactive armour was breeched. The wound was instantly cauterized by the heat of the plasma weapon and even though Luis was still alive he was obviously out of the fight for now.

He fired at the dacarian who shot Luis but the enemy ducked and fired back. As he did he noticed Kelly leaping and crushing in the armoured dacarian.  The dacarian lost balance and fell but with his armour he was strong enough to throw of Kelly and stand up fast. As he did he pulled a knife and moved towards the Seal. Rivers shot the last dacarian in the visor killing him instantly and then started firing towards the dacarian advancing towards Kelly. The dacarian ignored him even though several bullets obviously penetrated his joints. Rivers pulled out his C-4 and jumped on him. As he hit him the dacarian lost balance and fell on the ground. Rivers managed to stick the explosive on his suit and roll back. The dacarian didn’t notice and tried to stand up. As he rose from the ground Kelly crashed in him and threw him in the water and then ducked behind a tree as Rivers activated the explosive. The dacarian managed to stand before the C-4 detonated. As it did pieces from him flew all over. Rivers ducked and tried to protect Luis but as he did he was hit by a piece of tree in his head. He crashed on top of the wounded seal alive, but unconscious.

Kelly noticed the last two dacarians falling down shot by the surviving humans and aliens. As he moved he noticed Anderson falling down in the water and a dacarian moving towards him with a knife. As the dacarian tried to slash at him his head exploded as both Doc and Jenkins hit him at the same time. The knife fell from his hand and he fell in the murky water. He sank immediately as the weight of the suit dragged him down.

Anderson came up and went in to the jungle.

Kelley noticed that nine of the refugees were still alive. Three of the Illians one human and one of the Lacarians were dead.

They were moving fast coming on the islands and picking up the weapons from the dead legionaries.

Kelley just smiled and went towards Luis and Rivers.

Luis was one of the medics and he was already doing his job bandaging him self placing a patch over the hole in his stomach.

“Will you be ok?”

Luis raised his head and looked at Kelly.

“I think so. The wound is nasty but I was lucky. It hurts like hell but it missed my major organs. Flint will need to do a surgery on me when we come out of the swamp but I’ll live. But I’m worried about the cap. He got a nasty hit on the head.”

Kelly looked at the unconscious major. Two of the aliens approached and he pointed towards the major. He turned towards them.

“I want you to build stretchers. And help Luis .I’ll go and check Anderson and the others.”

The Lacarian and the Sicarian nodded and went towards Luis.

Kelly moved fast towards the other island. As he did he heard Doc on the mike.

“We have two shuttles inbound. I say again two shuttles inbound.”

“Shit. That’s just what we need right now.”

  He reached the other island and noticed Flint standing over the bodies of Gordon and Singer. Gordon was still breathing but he had nasty wounds to his chest and stomach and one nasty wound on his leg. Flint was trying to patch him up as best as he can.

Anderson waived Isco and Acura forward. They were carrying some of the extra weapons and ammunitions as well as the other refugees they saved earlier.

As they came they dropped their packs. Isco was also carrying the pack that Eshmunkhilletz had with him. They both knew his fate.

Without a word Anderson and Kelly pooled out the stingers and armed them.

The human and the Illian watched in amazement as they extended the barrel of the weapon and armed it.

The FIM 97-A was the latest generation of the surface to air missile manufactured and improved with the help of the information’s the AI provided. It was much smaller then the previous versions firing a smaller projectile but at a much higher velocity and at a greater distance.

It was one point two meters long firing a projectile that weighed ten kilos. The projectile homed in on its target using the heat exhaustion as well as several other targeting solutions and it incorporated multiple countermeasures that would help it acquire its target and escape the enemy’s countermeasures. It could home in on a target up to twelve miles. They both waited until they had their targets in sight through the shouldered scopes on the stingers and then they fired.

The two dacarian shuttles reacted almost immediately but it was already too late. Just seconds after making evasive turns the two missiles struck home and the shuttles exploded. The explosions were magnified thanks to the homing of both missies as they both struck the engines and ignited the fuel on both shuttles. The two shuttles exploded in the distance sending debris all over the swamp.

As the targets were destroyed everyone relaxed for a second.

They noticed Jenkins and Doc coming towards them. Jenkins was pale and he was clutching his left hand. It was obvious that he is in serious pain.

He turned and looked at Flint who was still working on Gordon.

He looked at Anderson.

“We have to move fast and the wounded will slow us down.”

“Yes but we can’t change that. We need stretchers both for the dead and for the living. We need to leave no evidence of us here.”

He turned towards the other island and noticed the Sicarian and one Illian carrying major Rivers on stretcher. Luis was holding on to the furred creature in the back and holding his hand on the wound in his stomach.

The major had his head wrapped in bandages and was unconscious.

Luis indicated the Lacarian towards the other wounded and joined Anderson and Kelly.

Anderson looked at wounded seal.

“How are you? Can you walk?”

Luis sighed.

“It will be hard but I can manage. The wound is cauterized and luckily they missed the organs. It’s just a nasty wound to my abdomen missing everything. It is the cap that I’m worried about. He took a nasty bump to his head when the bastard blew up.”

Anderson looked at the unconscious Rivers as the two aliens were slowly moving ahead.

“There is nothing we can do about him now. Go and see if you can help Flint patch Gordon and let him check u out. We will take care of Singer.”

At the mention of the name of the Green Beret he noticed the sadness on Luis’s face. He and Sing were close friends. They even joined together from their old unit.

He placed a hand on the seals shoulder.

“We’ll take good care of him Luis. He died a good death.”

Luis raised his head and looked in Anderson’s eyes.

“I’m sure he did sir.”

After this he turned and walked towards Flint.

Anderson and Kelley went towards the dead body of their friend. They took his weapons and then wrapped his body in a plastic bag and picked it up.

They noticed the Sicarian and the alien that said he was from a race called Acadians watching them. The Acadian was big. He was seven feet tall with a massive body that showed strong muscles beneath his torn clothes. Three eyes on the centaur head watched them.  He had four long hands each with four fingers with claws and a meter long tale. Brown fur covered most of his body and on several places they could notice several burns and cuts. It was obvious that he was hit but he didn’t seem worried about it. He smiled as they looked at him and his smile showed two rows of teeth one humanoid the others pulled back, sharp just like the ones of a shark.

“Go to our doctors they can help with your wounds.”

The Sicarian and the Acadian smiled.

“Thank you human but there is no need. His wounds are light it takes a lot more power to kill an Acadian. They have strong skin and muscles that are heat resistant. It would take a hit just like the ones they used on you once they noticed you have armor plates that stop their weapons to kill him.”

Anderson nodded.

“That is good news.”

“What will you do with your dead comrade?”

“We don’t leave our dead. We will take him with us.”

The Acadian nodded and stepped forward.

“I willll carryyy his bodyyy if youu leeet mee. Thatt wayyy youu cannn takee careee of the livinggg”

The Acadian had a difficulty pronouncing the human speech but they understood him.

After a second Anderson nodded and he and Kelly stepped back. They took one last look as the Acadian said a silent prayer on his own language above Singer’s body and then picked him up and placed him on his back. He used his hands and several vines to tie the body and then waited for the others to be ready to leave. It didn’t seem that the weight of Singer bothered him much.

The Sicarian came after them.

It took them ten more minutes to build stretchers for the wounded and the dead and to throw the dead bodies of the legionaries in the swamp. After that they moved out. Kelly and Jenkins moved at front and Doc and Flint covered the rear. Up front Arn and Acura were leading them following a path through the swamp that only they knew.

It took them two more days to exit from the worst part of the swamp. They used several small islands if they could be called that and fallen trees for resting and taking care of the bandages of the wounded.

In the morning of the third day Arn finally raised his hand signaling them to stop just as they saw the end of the swamp. A healthy green and lush jungle was spread out all over on the other side. It was much denser then any they passed previously and Anderson knew that they are in what Rivers suspected was the hiding place of the rebels or at least close to it.

The group stopped and the Illians in it moved forward. The humans stayed back and the Seals spread out and aimed their weapons towards the bank. They could notice movement among the trees.

Arn and Acura entered the jungle. Five minutes later they came out and motioned them forward. As they closed to the shore a large group of Illians came forward and helped them. They were all wearing dark uniforms and weapons.

Arn came to Anderson.

“I have to move forward to give my report to the division commander. You wait here.”

Anderson just nodded.

Before moving upfront Arn spoke with some of the Illians. Then he turned and looked at Anderson.

‘They will help you with your wounded.”

Then he moved forward and disappeared in the jungle. Anderson sat and took a look at his surroundings. He could notice that Jenkins, Doc and Kelly were doing the same. Luis and Flint were looking after the major and Gordon. They noticed the other aliens joining ranks of their races. It was obvious that this was a major camp site that had lots of escaped slaves in it. They saw the Acadian as he left the dead body of Singer and went towards a group of Acadians that were coming towards him. They greeted him warmly and from the way they talked it was obvious that they knew each other.

He heard a groan and as he turned he noticed Rivers rising. He was holding his head and Flint sat him down.

“Sir I’d advise you to rest. You took a nasty hit on your head and you probably have concussion.”

Rivers sat down and looked at the seal.

“The way my head hurts you might be right. I feel like a train hit me.”

Anderson and the rest of the seals smiled.

“Well that’s what you get when you stop a tree from hitting Luis.”

Rivers looked at Anderson with a look that showed shock but before he could utter a word Kelly joined in.

“I thought I was crazy cap but after your stunt…hell I think I need to get some training. You attacked him unarmed and stuck C-4 to his back. You’re nuts boss.”

Rivers smiled.  

“You’re right. Guess I should’ve let him skin you a little before I killed him.”

“Now that is something I have to agree boss, to much fat on that body.”

They all smiled on Luis’s comment.

“Man, if you didn’t have a hole I could put my finger through, I would so kick your yellow ass.”

That brought another sat of laughs.

Then Rivers sat his eyes on Gordon who was unconscious and had both Flint and Luis watching over him and placing new bandages on his wounds. It was obvious that he had severe injuries and that he needed a surgery.

“How many did we lose?”

Anderson exhaled before answering.

“We lost Singer and Gordon isn’t doing well. We also lost five of the rebels. Three of the Illians, Eshmunkhilletz and one of the Lacarians the smaller one got killed. Two of the others are wounded, three actually, but our muscle friend has tough skin.”

At the last words he waved his head towards the group of Acadians.

As Rivers saw them he smiled.

“Just like those Acadians from the legends in Egypt.”

They all smiled as they remembered several movies from the start of the century before the war and the aliens.

“And Luis has a wound to his abdomen but he says he will live. The hit missed any major organs and the heat cauterized the wound.”

Rivers nodded and rose. He still felt shaky and had a nasty head ache but he knew that he had worse.

He slowly moved towards the bag that held Singer.

When he came to it he unzipped it and looked at the face of his friend and fellow seal.

His face looked calm showing a bit surprise. He must have been surprised when the last shot, the one that killed him, hit him.

He said a silent prayer and then rose.

“We need to bury him.”

As he said those words the others rose and came close.

“Yes we need to cap he always said that he would like to be buried under a tall tree. He had a place back on Earth in his home town but I guess he will have to settle for here. I’ll go and find a spot.”

The comment came from Luis and no one said anything to him as he slowly walked away. The others lifted the body and followed him. As they moved the Illians and the others made way and watched them.

To them this small group of strangely dressed humans was something new and as the rumor about them being from Earth started to spread they all watched them with amazement and wondered if finally the legends would come true. They all heard the word Terra and Alterans from the humans that joined their ranks from the Lacarians, the Sicarians and even from the Ksand who mentioned the ancient battles between the humans and the dacarians.

They found a spot next to a small stream about half a mile from the swamp. It was a small clearing inside the jungle several meters wide.

Six of them started digging while Luis made a cross from two sticks. They placed the bag inside the grave and as they did several Illians, the Sicarian and the two surviving humans Mago and Isco joined them.

“You were a good friend Sing and I think that each of us owes you his life at least several times. You always wanted to have a death that means something and this is one of those times bro. I will sure miss you.

There are no promises in this life, nothing is certain…he will not know the hardship that lie before us that are left behind…that was your favorite line. Goodbye my friend.

God we commit this body and this soul with a glad heart, and we ask that you accept it in your loving embrace. Amen.”

As Luis finished his speech, the others buried the body.

Moral watched the humans as they buried their dead friend. He couldn’t understand their speech but it was obvious that they were saying a prayer for him. He knew that the Alterans retreated to their home world the world they called Terra and he was surer with every passing moment that these humans were their descendants but he was confused by their technology. Their weapons while effective were primitive far behind any technology that the Alterans possessed.

He wondered what could have caused that regression but at the same time he was amazed by their courage. Even with these weapons they had no fear of the dacarians and from what he already saw they were more then a match for them.

He continued watching them as they buried their soldier and went back to the bank of the swamp.

Arn and Acura entered the small underground bunker that contained the command post for this division. As they entered the bunker they both noticed Ngoan talking with the commander.

General Muskar was a few cycles older than Arn. He was the son of one of the members of the leading council and he owed his position to that but he was also a capable commander who proved himself in the past both as an officer and as a leader. He had several successful raids on enemy camps and bases in his record. He was also daring and extremely good at managing a mobile defense and that is why he was in charge of this forward position of the Ksamona defensive line. He had three divisions under his command each settled in a separate camp but connected through underground tunnels and in constant communication. They were covering a vast front and also had the support of several villages and sietches placed behind them and in the mountains. The sietches were small towns harboring a small protective garrison. They were created by incorporating several mountain villages and were placed inside four large caves in the Goruskats Mountains. In total he had under his command about forty three thousand soldiers most of them Illians but also a large number of humans, Acadians, Lacarians and members of several more races but he also had more then a hundred thousand civilians that he knew would soon have to retreat or be forced to fight with the advancing dacarian legions. He knew that they will fight after so much time fighting the enemy everyone even the small children were warriors especially the ones living here.

They were descendants of the mountain people that in the past when the invasion forces of the empire attacked this world actually hurt the dacarian troops so much that they gave up fighting them and let them be. They were actually the backbone around which the rebel army was built as they accepted the large number of refugees that fled in to the inhospitable jungles while the planetary army fought a fighting retreat and sacrificed it self to give the civilians a chance to survive. From the large army that protected this world nearly forty five million soldiers only about fifty thousand managed to survive. They joined with the ones that were ordered to protect the civilians as they retreated and together with the segregated people created the resistance and the small community that still protected the Illian way of life. They were all that was left from the civilization that controlled ten planetary systems and had more than hundred billion people living in it.

  But they had the disadvantage that they never actually achieved faster than light travel and traveled between the stars using wormholes and colony ships that moved from star to star for years at the speed of light. Their home world was twenty light years distant and Arcadia was the furthest star they reached. When their race reached this world they met what survivors where left from the genetic illness that struck the Ksand Civilization. The once mighty race had left its mark on several other worlds the Illians settled but when they were struck with the plague and with their civilization in decline they retreated to their home world. When the colony ships of the Illians arrived they were met by only about three million survivors that welcomed them on their world and even shared some of their technology with them. At the time Arcadia became the most guarded and most prosperous world of the Illian Republic. It was even the world on which the breakthrough, the first faster than light ship was created with the help of the Ksand but that was all too late. According to the information’s that they had the dacarians intercepted a fleet of colony ships on their way to the world the Illians called Ohirna a planet about forty three light years distant from Illian, their home world. They captured the convoy and soon after that attacked the worlds of the republic. Before they even knew most of the colonies were captured by the Dacarians and just two cycles after the start of the war Illia came under attack. The Home world fought back and the fight was long. At the same time the other colonies strengthened their defenses knowing that their home can’t last long. Considering the already placed system defenses of Arcadia especially the planetary defense batteries that protected the world Arcadia was chosen as the bastion of the defense. Its population was increased and most of the system was fortified and also the two known warp points were well guarded as well as powerful fortresses that were placed on the outer limit where ships coming from hyper space would come out.  But in the end the dacarians found a back door and even though they faced a strong, practically impenetrable defense they proved to be willing to sacrifice large number of ships to take this system that by that time was the last remaining system of the Illian Republic. There were rumors that Aihas the primary military system of the republic which was the home of its largest shipyards and was as heavily defended as the home world and Arcadia still held out at the time and there was always hope that some new colony remained hidden but they were just dreams of an already conquered people. And as the defenses of the planetary system were breached and the planet was conquered, and the large number of slaves was brought the Illians understood the real power of their enemy and the size of their empire. Now after long time only the hope of the Alterans and their descendants remained as the best hope or a dream that might come true one day. There was a hope that someday the Dacarians would meet with a civilization that will be able to stop them and drive them back but as more and more races fell that hope was smaller with every passing cycle. And now as the news of the humans from Terra reached the camp, as the slaves and Illians they managed to save spoke of the way they fought with the dacarians that hope rose again. No one said anything but the presence of humans even though they used, what seemed to be primitive weapons, spoke that the Dacarians finally ran on someone who didn’t fear to invade them and fight them, their ancient enemy, their equal.

As they entered Muskar and Ngoan lifted their heads from the map they were studding.

It was a map showing the placement of the forward divisions of the Illian resistance on this continent and the placement of the Dacarian legions. Besides the army under Muskar’s control they showed two more divisions on the other side of the continent that were also under danger from advancing enemy troops. It was obvious that the Dacarians launched a full invasion this time. From the look on the map the invasion was planet wide and all the other camps all hidden in the deepest jungles on the other continents were also being attacked. Only the smallest The Rugako camp was still safe but that was not surprising considering the small detachment the Dacarians had on that continent and the inhospitality of the prehistoric jungle there. And as it seemed it might be the only remaining camp when this invasion ended.

They both saluted.

Muskar saluted back and as Ngoan noticed them he smiled. They knew each other and were friends.

“Glad to see you made it Arn.”

Arn tensed as the general spoke. He sounded tired but that was not surprising considering the situation they were in and the enemy attack.

“Thank you sir…I’m sorry that I couldn’t bring more men out…”

“No need for u to apologize Arn I know what you faced. Ngoan here had more luck but from other refugees that are passing my forward units I know the situation on the front. The entire enemy force is involved in this. It seems that the Governor brought even more legions to this world. At least five legions are confirmed in this attack and there are speculations that even a sixth is involved. That as you well know is almost the full force of the legions stationed on this world. We all knew that we were living on borrowed time and it seems that our time is up.”