Vanguard Word Update

2k words

***

“Got it,” Kazlu said. “Stay close, little guys.”

The Balokarid turned into the hallway, the humans using her as mobile cover as the three of them pushed up towards the entrenched holograms. Cadell took a couple potshots at the targets, still trying to get used to how his weapon kicked but gave no real recoil, when he felt a presence approaching him from behind.

He twitched his weapon that way, then lowered it when he saw it was Samiha, hurrying over and placing her back against the wall beside him.

“Where the hell have you been?” Cadell demanded. “You had one room to clear.”

“It split off into another,” Samiha answered. “And there were targets in both of them. Had they been left behind, like you ordered, they could have flanked us whenever they had wanted.”

“I’ll leave you behind if you go off on your own like that again,” Cadell grumbled.

“What a terrific Kith’sla you make,” Samiha said, rolling her eyes. “I should have accepted your authority sooner.”

Cadell prepared to work her over, but the reports of gunfighting had ceased, and a glance around the corner wall confirmed that the three others had secured the area while they’d argued.

“Anytime you’re ready, boss,” Kurtis prompted, reloading his oversized coilgun.

“Comin’,” Cadell replied, then to Samiha: “Let’s go, or do you have somewhere else to be?”

The pair caught up with the rest of the squad, keeping as far away from each other as was possible. None of the others asked Samiha what she’d ben up to, not even Kazlu, who only looked at her counterpart with an expression of mild confusion. Samiha’s choice to go all lone wolf wasn’t just irking Cadell, it seemed.

The next arch was tall enough to allow the aliens to pass through comfortably, the design clearly made with Balokarids in mind. As the squad moved through, instead of ending up in another tight-quarters room, they stepped out into a large, synthetic field, Cadell able to see clear up the last two thirds of the warehouse. Pillboxes with slatted windows jutted out from the ground at the east and west walls, three a side, barricades and knee-high pieces of cover scattered between them.

The white guideline weaved through this battle arena all the way to the far side, where it came to an end at the base of a metal stake, which was capped with a giant red button. It was situated between two more pillboxes, which were raised a short distance up the walls, with gun barrels poking out of the slats. The button couldn’t be more than twenty meters out, but it was right in the middle of a deadly killing zone.

Cadell’s surveyance was halted as all hell broke loose. From the third and forth layers of cover, more holograms rose into view, their featureless faces angling as they aimed their weapons. Kurtis shoved him down by the shoulder, Cadell barely ducking out of the path of a bullet for the second time in three minutes.

There was a barricade conveniently placed not far from the arch, and it was big enough for all five of them to crouch behind, the squad rushing over and ducking behind it. Cadell gave Kurtis a grateful nod, then turned to address the others.

“We’re almost there, everyone. All we have to do is hit that button.”

“We all know that,” Samiha said, raising her voice either in anger, or so she could be heard over all the gun fire. “Stop repeating the obvious, Shi’ahk.”

“Don’t call me that,” Cadell muttered, even though he wasn’t sure what it meant, but it couldn’t have been flattering.

“How about we argue less and starting planning more?” Kazlu said. “We’re not going to make the best time if we sit here.”

“No thanks to Samiha over there,” Cadell muttered, glancing at the clock. Unless they finished the sim in one minute, they wouldn’t be top of the board. “If you hadn’t wasted time clearin’ unnecessary rooms, we’d be better off right now.”

“Then allow me to make up for it now. Follow my lead.”

To Cadell’s horror, Samiha broke cover, stalking forward on her long legs. She shouldered her weapon, taking out a pair of holograms kneeling behind the barricade ahead. She deployed her shield, blocking a couple stray shots fired off from the pillbox on their left, the Balokarid never stopping as she marched onward.

“Samiha get back here!” Cadell demanded, but either she wasn’t listening or couldn’t hear him, she just kept on charging. “Damn it. Kaz, cover our right. Hunter, Kurt, push up with me.”

“What about Samiha?” Hunter asked.

“Forget her. If she wants to draw their fire, let her.”

The three of them look at eachother, then nodded, Kazlu moving out first before the humans followed suit. The report of coilgun fire echoed off the warehouse walls as the four of them opened up, picking off the holograms closest and then working outward, clearing the immediate area in a reasonable time.

Red tracer rounds began streaming in from the flanks, the pillboxes at the sides of the simulation providing covering fire now that they were in in range. Cadell fired into the slats, but he was hard-pressed to score such a precise shot at this range. He watched as Hunter managed to fair a little better, taking out the closest bunker on the right side, but one marksman among them wouldn’t be enough. They would have to clear the bunkers by hand.

He may have been able to use the Balokarid shields to help this task, but Samiha was still spearheading down the middle ahead of them, taking on the brunt of the simulation on her own. She wasn’t doing half-bad, using her shields to cover herself from retaliating fire, but not all of the holograms were focused on her. The pillboxes were directing the fire on the rest of them, bogging them down while she continued to distance herself.

Kazlu attempted to make a break for the next barricade, when five of the pillboxes directed their attention on her. She bared her winged arm, her shield rippling like water being smashed by stones. There was no physical strain in the simulated barrage, but when the barrier began to change to a darker hue, Kazlu’s face contorted in worry.

“Get down, Kaz!” he shouted, already knowing what was going to happen. Another burst from an automatic weapon was all it took, and her shield fizzled away, not unlike how the holograms did when hit with a kill shot. She dove for cover, but she was a single step too far, and by the time she’d made it, two tracer rounds smashed against her vest.

Kazlu croaked out a noise that was somewhere between the caw of a crow and a bark of pain, and she landed on the deck using her knees, nursing the spot she’d been hit.

“You okay, mate?” Hunter called out, firing off a burst at the hologram that had shot the alien. He and Kurtis were behind the cover to Cadell’s immediate right, the alien a short way beyond them.

“By the dust, that really hurt,” Kazlu muttered, her wings fluttering as she settled on her rump. “Sorry friends, I’m out.”

“Damn it, now what do we do?” Hunter asked, ducking behind his cover. Without Kazlu, the hell storm of projectiles was no focusing on the three of them.

“Just keep shooting,” Kurtis growled, bracing his weapon on the barricade, hosing the pillboxes with cover fire.

“We need Samiha’s shield,” Cadell said. “We’re not going to make it through this without it. You two stay here and cover me while I bring her back.”

“Okay…” Hunter replied skeptically. He and Kurtis nodded to one another, turning out and opening up on the holograms in unison. They were outnumbered two to one, but their tactic forced the holograms to seek cover, closely approximating how a real human would react with tens of hypersonic bullets were shot their way.

Cadell took his chance, falling into a sprint as he charged up the arena, hand clutched over his helmet. Samiha had speared into the center of the warehouse, but she had come to a halt now that she was in range of almost all the pillboxes, her cover coming under so much duress it would have slagged if it had been real.

Cadell slid to a halt beside the alien, jabbing her with his elbow to get her attention. “Samiha what the hell are you doing?”

“Clearing a path,” she answered, as if she were discussing the latest news.

“You left everyone behind!” he said, his frustration getting the better of him. “Kazlu got shot, we need you to cover us.”

“What do you think I’ve been doing?” she asked. “If you can’t keep up, it is not my fault.”

“This is a team coordination test, not your chance to go all lone wolf on us. You need to get back in line.”

“You’re not in charge of me,” Samiha growled. “I’m pressing forward. Don’t like it? Then stay out of the way.”

Samiha vaulted over the barricade, Cadell rolling his eyes at her. As soon as she vacated her spot, Cadell saw a hologram trying to get around his cover, taking a transparent knee behind a crate.

Cadell raised his weapon, but he wasn’t fast enough. A solitary bullet found its way to his chest, and the wind left his lungs in a choked sigh. It was like a lead weight had been flung right into his sternum, even though no physical bullet had found its mark. Cadell had never experienced anything like it, the haptic vests must be packed with feedback motors. Did civilians really use these suits for fun?

He fell on his ass in a daze, the numbers on his HUD blinking out, replaced by a dismaying four-letter word. The hologram that shot him turned its attention to Samiha, but Cadell didn’t feel the least bit incentive to warn her. Besides, he was dead, after all, thanks to her.

To Samiha’s credit, her resting shield saved her from the first bullet, allowing her to react, but caught out in the open like that all by herself, and the effort was futile. She clutched her spine like an aged care patient as she was shot from behind, a second cruel bullet to her side forcing her to a kneel, the haptic vest sparing her no pain.

Cadell watched in horror as Kurtis and Hunter were the last two standing, firing from the same barricade of cover. They gave it their all, but they were hopelessly outnumbered, the dozens of holograms moving around their sides with deplorable ease. They both fell, Hunter shouting a string of curses as he fell to the guns.

The holograms suddenly stopped, freezing in various poses as though someone had pressed a giant pause button. That humming sound Cadell had heard before fired up again, only this time whatever power supply it came from started off at a high pitch before whirring down into a steady thrum.

He removed his helmet before the prompt told him to, Cadell finding himself back in the small simulation room. Those lights fitted along the rods of the cage were flicking off one after another, the panels themselves returning to their transparent state. Despite al the moving they’d done, none of them had so much as grazed any of the equipment.

His wrist computer beeped, Cadell looking down to see the scoreboard displayed on the screen. Against their squad, 11, there wasn’t a time like the others, but the letters: K.I.A. The list shuffled until their squad was placed firmly on the bottom.

Cadell stared at this disheartening sight until the doors opened, and in stepped Lieutenant Marek, and his cold, blue eyes had never been fiercer than in that moment.

“Do any of you know how long I’ve overseen these simulations?” Marek asked, his voice cool and collected. “Any guesses?”

There were none, each squad member exchanging sheepish looks.

“Six years, and nine months,” Marek said, looking between each of them. “And in that time, I’ve trained all sorts of people. The young, the old, the brave and the weak. And now aliens,” he added, looking Samiha in the eye on that last one. “But in those six years, I have not seen everything. Not until today.”

Marek seized Kurtis by the arm, lifting the wrist display and the simulation results for them all to see.  

“This,” Marek snapped. “This is a disgrace. Six years, nine months, and I’ve never once had an entire squad get themselves killed in here. I trusted you all to make a difference in my program. Instead, you’ve made me a laughing stock.”

“Sir, listen,” Samiha began.

“Did I give you permission to speak, recruit?” Marek demanded, the alien falling silent. “Instead of telling me to listen, how about you instead listen to your orders? Your complete disregard for chain of command would put you in the brig if you were in my brigade.”

“And you,” Marek continued, turning his gaze on Cadell next. “Arguing in the middle of battle, neglecting your blind spots, failing to reign in your men. I’m starting to think giving you rank in this squad was a mistake.”

Cadell tried to remain nonplussed, but his eyes flicked down and to the right, embarrassment filling in his chest.

“Maybe this whole program was a mistake,” Marek continued, turning to Hunter and Kurtis. “Maybe mixed species units weren’t the right call. I treated you like professionals up to now, but it seems my faith was misplaced.”

Cadell wanted to say something, to tell the Lieutenant he was wrong, anything to break this shameful silence, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t find any words to say.

“Get out of here,” Marek sighed, waving a discouraged arm to dismiss them.

“What are our orders, Sir?” Kazlu asked.

“I’m done giving you orders,” Marek said. “Go to your bunks, go home, do whatever you want, just get out of my sight.”

Cadell motioned them all on, knowing now was the time not to test the Lieutenant further. They placed their simulation equipment back in the cavity, and left. The Lieutenant did not follow them out.