Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 29

The longer the Forefathers waded through the gaseous compound, the faster they moved. Much of Prodos had run ahead in force to be ready for a fight on their way back from capturing a flag. The mortar team was there guarded by a platoon to secure the entrance to the arena. There were several teams behind them in the maze and upon the walls at the entrance to the second layer. The approach of the overpowered enemy was relayed to them early. So when the army of green psionic shields appeared marching toward them in the gaseous cloud, they didn’t panic.

Twenty men with psionics shields were kneeling. Another twenty men were behind them. They were all covered with rank E psionic shields to defend from the gas. The single sounded through their headsets. “Fire!”

Many standard issue rail rifles peppered the incoming enemy, but they weren’t alone. Even without the explosions from traditional powder cartridges, the mini-rail was known by the swarming sound produced by 100 hypersonic rounds fired a second. Compared to the ancient miniguns, these were much more compact. Rail rounds were smaller than full cartridges even if the projectile was the same size, but carrying enough rounds was still a problem. One that was solved by mule drones.

The moment the mini-rail started to spin, the shielded enemy was met with a level of force they didn’t expect. Shrugging off rail rounds was common enough, but the size of such rounds and sheer volume slowed the income horde. Faces couldn’t be made out through the gas. Not with one hundred yards between them.

For a moment, the men of Prodos were pushing them back. If they applied enough pressure, maybe the psionics rank D monsters would move on to easier prey. But then one of them dared to drop their shield long enough to fire off a single bolt. Green energy shot toward them with a speed rank E psionics couldn’t match. The aim was good, but not good enough. Instead of hitting the man behind the mini-rail, the psionic bolt struck the shield of one of the men below. Despite it not being a direct hit, the man teetered over and began to convulse.

The cracks in their defense started to show.

More bolts flew. More of their men fell.

Then a green glow shone from their flank.

The mini-rail user spun and got the man right in the chest, but the moment he did, green glowing monsters collapsed in on them from the front and flank. They were close enough now that their faces were revealed. Brendon Black slowed as he presented himself before the floundering platoon.

The mini-rail users answered the man’s arrogance by training his mini-rail on the man’s face. It should’ve worked. There was still enough distance but…

Brendon dropped his psionic shield just long enough to fire a bolt at the heavy railgunner’s chest.

The gunner’s rank E shielding wasn’t enough. He collapsed before he could bring his minigun around.

A few rail-loads struck Brendon’s ballistic suit when he dropped his shielding. He snorted at the assault as his psionic shield reappeared. Rubbing at his shoulder where he was struck, he turned to the side and only let down a small window of his shield so that he could spit. He rolled his neck while examining how much the gas was affecting him. As he did, he held out his hand and a shadow drone flew down from above and delivered his war hammer.

***

“I need you,” Victoria said from Combat General’s control console. Her headset was on, and she was totally engaged. With help from the micro-drone swarm and Destiny, she had eyes on everything. They were starting to collect data on how individual bases were setting up their defenses. That information with what was already common knowledge of each battalion base’s layout, they were beginning to get a clear picture of the overall battlefield. It wouldn’t be long now.

“I’m on it, girly,” he replied with that same gruff enthusiasm he always had.

“This is not a battle you can win. Just hold off as long as you can until Mel can make it back with the flag. Then retreat.” She did her best to match his enthusiasm even though she knew what she was asking.

“Yes, ma’am!”

She glanced to the side where she’d set up a window with Lucius’s perspective. He was already heading to his fourth Manticore King. They were about to take the lead. Not just with one point but two. There likely were other battalions looking to kill manticores for the bonus point, yet before they even got started, Lucius should put them far ahead of the competition.

He was doing it. She knew he could. She didn’t always sleep as soundly as he thought she did. Getting to know him better than everyone else was a privilege that she didn’t take for granted. She could call on him now to help with the Forefathers, but keeping as many of her men alive wasn’t the goal. Winning was.

It was the worst part of being a Combat General. Not only could she send her men to their deaths, but she could watch as it happened through their own eyes. That too was a privilege. Some part of her insisted it shouldn’t matter if the person she was sending was dear to her or just a common soldier she didn’t know well, but she wouldn’t shy away from reality. She’d called on one of the few men that had joined their cause without hesitation. A man she respected like an older brother. Even an uncle. She’d just commanded her Left Hand to do the impossible.

***

Patting his belly, Kline confirmed his E-Field belt was firmly in place. This wasn’t any standard issue E-Field he and his men were about to utilize, but a specialty kind made to defend against gases of all kinds. Since E-Fields were a much older technology, they had all kinds of different ones. He had even used this specialization before when he’d still been in the military.

It wasn’t as efficient at blocking things like kinetic and energy projectiles, but it would do the job. It would also give them the advantage they needed.

He was racing through the maze with more than one hundred men at his back. His men. The ones he’d trained and fought with. The jovial smirk fell from his face to be replaced by something much darker. Even though he loved to fight, he didn’t like combat. There were no rules. That meant the best of men died along with the worthless. Often by no fault of their own. The Cubes changed that to a degree but only the dying part. In this type of warfare, there were no rules. He wanted a fair fight. He didn’t always get what he wanted. So he’d cheat to gain an advantage just like everyone else.

Seeing the fight already in progress, Kline gave him men a single command through their headsets, “Drive them back.”

His E-Field activated, and his strengthening aura billowed beneath it. Sprinting toward the one-sided battle that had turned into a melee, he heaved his spear into an overhand position before launching it at the nearest glowing green guy. It didn’t kill him, but it knocked him back.

Then he was on him.

The rank D psionic user cut his shielding and fired off a psionic bolt at point blank range.

Kline had already dropped his strengthening aura to have it replaced with his internal walls. As the rank D bolt struck his shield, it quickly breached his E-Field and leaped on his face like some claw covered alien octopus that was close cousins with an electric eel.

His enemy was already looking for his next target when this bald black man that should’ve just had his brain melt, grabbed ahold of his wrist. The next instant, the rim of a pshield slammed into the side of his head.

Mounting his opponent as he fell, Kline unsheathed a specialty kind of knife meant to work with his E-Field. Choking the guy out may have been far more satisfying, but he opted to jab his knife into his jugular to save some time.

He didn’t come to his feet as to attack his next target, but rolled to the side, double-legging another to the ground. This one was smart enough to keep his shield active, so Kline climbed on top of him and drove his head down. His headbutt didn’t do any damage, but the next instant he and the man were facing off with their faces feet apart. Kline was daring him to release his psionic shield to try something. The knife was already hovering above the man’s throat. It looked like a stalemate.

The reality was far different. He might not have been that tech savvy, but he was familiar with military tech. His men weren’t fairing as well as he was. He didn’t have to get up to see that over a dozen of them had died in the first exchange and they were dropping quickly.

His men had completed the first part of their mission. There were still six mortars active that had begun firing again.

It was a flash of green that caused Kline to bring his shield up an instant before he was struck and sent flying. As soon as he landed, he came to his feet, positioning his shield between him and the war hammer wielding man that had hit him.

“Still alive?” a voice scoffed.

Despite their initial success in pushing the Forefather’s back, Kline glanced around to see that there were still approximately twenty green shields standing against them and almost the same number of silver rank E shields. The battle was still raging but no one attacked him.

He turned his attention back to Brendon Black.

The leader of the enemy glanced down to see one of his rank D users dead between them. “This was you?” Brendon called out. Leaning to his side, the man ordered, “Do it.”

A rank D psionic bolt shot from the man’s hand, landing solidly on Kline’s shield.

“It’s not his force field that’s blocking it,” the man continued. “Did Prodos have another rank D user we didn’t know about?”

His man leaned in and said something that Kline couldn’t make out. His enemy’s leader nodded before several other rank D users nearby turned their attention to him. A series of bolts struck him in rapid succession. He fell to a knee.

Brendon smirked. “I don’t know what kind of ability you’re using, but it’s limited.”

Kline returned the man’s smirk. “Well looky there,” he called out, motioning toward the arena’s center.”

When his opposition glanced back, they leaned as if trying to see something through all of the gas. At first there was nothing, but then a shadow in the shape of a man appeared followed by dozens of others.

“Now,” Kline commanded.

As soon as he said it, all of his men in the area dived to the ground, covering their heads with their shields. An instant later, a pulse of light and sound rocked the area, knocking many of the rank D users from their feet.

Such a simply strategy. Even small drones could carry flash bang grenades. Why not send in an entire swarm with a bunch of them that went off at the same time? Their range was that impressive, but they could see better than the enemy.

Seconds later, Mel led the returning charge of the flag capture team. He held a red flag attached to a bronze pole the length of his leg. As he passed, he unleashed an overcharged bolt into the back of a sprawled-out enemy. Despite the man’s rank D shielding, Mel left the man a writhing mess.

It wasn’t the only bolt he tried to fire, but Brendon Black had kept his footing. He was also more than twice the distance as the first man Mel had struck, so when his overcharge bolt landed on the man’s shield, it sent his sprawling. The next moment, the man was already scrambling to get up.

Kline licked the fronts of his teeth. Not everything could work out exactly how you wanted it to.

Then he heard Brendon howl, “After the flag.”

“Can’t have that now, can we?” Kline chuckled to himself before ordering, “Now.”

His main force had the hard job of physically forcing them back, but that didn’t mean he was alone. One thing the gas had done was limit visibility. It was bad even for those that had the right lenses to see through the blinding agent. So setting up a few people on the tops of the walls with high-powered rifles was easy enough.

Not only did they get help from on high, but they now had more than one mini-rail at their disposal. It was working. Kline had the bulk of his men pull back into the maze. There was enough firepower to push them back or keep them grounded even if it wasn’t enough to pierce their psionic shields.

When it changed, it happened all at once. The enemy began to retreat.

Kline heard the cheers of his men and those from above, but even as he tried to get his men to form up, he it had finally happened.

The screams first came from his left flank. He spun, commanding the rest of his men to head for the maze and ultimately their battalion’s tunnel. He personally kept his E-Field running with his strengthening aura going at full blast to sprint back the way they had come.