Chapter 55

We were experiencing a trickle through of armoured support, mostly Fleet crew in their boarding armour which was of far better quality than the Guardian version. So, to my surprise, I found myself in command of several Captains, a Flag Captain and Admiral Limun, as well as other assorted crew of varying ranks.

“As far as I’m concerned, Commander Kiria, you’re in charge,” Limun informed me after the initial salutes.

“I’ll bear that in mind, sir,” I replied, somewhat amused. “Could you have your men with the highest grade armour take up the gaps in the front row in the barricade? We’ve had too many injuries in the Guardians and civs where an alien had got through and slashed at them before we took it down.”

“Take it their armour, or lack of it, was a factor?”

“Definitely. Yours is better, but still not good enough for the front line or programmed with the various killing moves we make.”

“Understood. We’ll back you up.”

“Glad to hear it, sir.”

‘The time has come. The prey are reinforcing and have forced our advance to cease,’ the senior Master announced.

‘Do we move as a group against one point or move individually?’ another Master asked.

‘We will split into four and attack the main group of forces facing us and wipe them out.’

‘A good plan. We are ready. Let us write our passing with the blood of the prey.’

“We have movement to the front of us!” a Monitor called out.

“Ready yourselves!” I ordered as a host of the smaller aliens scuttled forwards to be hit by a barrage of pellets; some going down but others shrugging them off.

“Defence formation!” the Senior Monitor ordered.

The Troopers swiftly moved to the primary defence position in three ranks even as pellet fire sprayed over their heads.

The aliens charged across the market and launched themselves at our line. Yet, powerful as they were, they did not breach it or even cause it to bow back, due to our growing experience. Most aliens going down to the polearms wielded by the Troopers.

“Here come their heavies!” a Trooper yelled.

“Brace yourselves!” the Senior Monitor echoed my order.

This time our line was pushed back slightly as the weight of the larger aliens made that inevitable. This allowed some of the smaller ones to scramble through, most were quickly despatched by our inner guard of sword wielders, aided by a group using polearms. A few made it to the barricade but were swiftly despatched by our reinforced line.

It was then that one of the boss aliens launched itself over the heads of the smaller aliens to land almost directly in front of my command group. Whatever its plan was, it clearly didn’t work; as, far from being surprised, my group already had their weapons out and attacked immediately.

Straightaway the alien went on the offensive. Both Commander Vrice and sub-Commander Ducce were batted aside like ragdolls, the alien’s gauntlet weapons ripping open their armour in the process. All this did though was expose it to an overhead slash by me and a stab from Truvia which, although not killing it, enabled a Trooper to despatch it by taking its head off with the axe part of the polearm.

I then pulled my wand out and went to stabilise Vrice and Ducce, though found in Ducce’s case the man was already dead and unrecoverable. Still, I soon had Vrice stable and was able to leave him to the Meditechs as I returned to my group.

“They aren’t quitting this time,” Truvia noted.

“I know and I think we can expect more bosses, though I doubt they’ll try that again,” I replied.

“Yeah. It looks spectacular, but jumping into a group of armed enemies is never smart,” she chuckled as another wave appeared.

“Wonder where it’s bodyguards were?”

“Pass.”

Reports from runners soon came in that this was a general alien effort in three places on our lines, though they had also been spotted around other areas as well, forcing us to keep Troopers there to keep an eye on them.

“More bosses!” a Trooper screamed out as a wave of the bodyguard types slammed into the line.

Desperate fighting broke out as the Troopers tried to keep them from scoring a hit on our line; whist I kept an eye out for the boss types and prepared to move in as soon as one hit our line. I soon spotted one ghosting forwards towards the centre of the line and was about to move in when Truvia called me to “hold!”

“Truvia, we need to move!” I objected.

“There are at least three of them. We need to pull back to the barricade itself and get the defenders there to support us from close range.”

“Where ... damn, you’re right,” I replied, scanning the area again. “Fall back to the barricade!”

The Troopers backed off swiftly until the third rank’s backs were to the barricade, despite the press of the aliens, many dragging a wounded comrade with them to the waiting (and often enough fighting as well) Meditechs. Truvia, as well as myself and a few of our better swordsmen, moved to the front of the line, still protected by the polearms, and came under immediate attack as the aliens closed once again.

The Troopers with the polearms did their best to prevent more than one alien at a time getting at us whilst I (and the others) parried their moves and cut them down. The defenders behind the barricade stabbed down at them and also shot wave after wave of pellets and bomblets down on their ranks. I was soon faced by one of the boss types as it attempted to rake open my armour with its gauntlet, though, as I was in the zone, I was able to dodge and use my falchion to slice its arm off. The arm immediately began to re-grow as the alien drew back. This however just exposed it to another cut from me which slashed its abdomen open and allowed a Trooper to use his polearm to stab it through the eye with the spear tip and me to deliver a final blow to take off the thing’s head.

Yet all this was not without cost to our own, though many were being restored by Meditechs or evacuated to the rear where the regular Healers worked, assisted by a very few Cures who had volunteered to assist. All this though just firmed up our resolve to hold and keep holding.

“It’s a general attack to try and force their way past our lines and further into the city,” Marshal Tuvic reported to the Security Group who were assisting.

“Can we hold?” Amantil asked.

“I don’t know, Serenissima. The aliens are using their boss types and their bodyguards to cause mayhem on our lines.”

“Reinforcements?”

“Are still not in system.”

“Then let us pray our brave men and women hold as we need to keep the aliens contained so the reinforcements can assist in dealing with them.”

“Amen to that, Serenissima. We’re still pulling people out of the lower-level blocks, but not nearly quickly enough.”

“The new tactics worked,” Truvia admitted during a slight lull. “It was much easier to face a boss with a wall of pointy things behind me.”

“True, but we’re still losing too many,” I nodded, catching my breath.

“Yes, but so are they and they only have so many.”

“Might have been different if all the bosses came at us at once,” I mused, frowning.

“My theory, such as it is, is that they co-operate at a distance and want the others to judge their individual prowess in battle. Hence they come at us one or two at a time,” Truvia replied.

“As good a theory as any, though I doubt we’ll really get any clear answers as we will probably wipe them out to the last being.”

“Yes, that’s definitely the way things are going.”

‘The prey defeated our initial move,’ a Master stated. ‘You were right to urge caution. They adapt their tactics well and our Reelc no longer outperform them.’

‘Yes, our time has come, though we shall attempt to take many with us,’ the senior Master replied.

‘We have received the last word from the ship, our treasures have been named and numbered in the language used by the prey that they may remember our glory,’ another Master announced. ‘All have now gone on before us.’

‘We will see them soon,’ the senior acknowledged.

“The aliens are continuing to throw their bosses into the fray,” Tuvic announced.

“Bad?” Amantil asked frowning.

“Yes, but we continue to hold. The Guardians, Fleet and your loyal subjects manning the barricades behind the Troopers are thinning the alien ranks with bomblets, giving the Troopers a fighting chance. Also the Imperial bodyguards as well as a few skilled others are managing to defeat the bosses with their skill-set.”

“It’s somewhat of a relief, considering what that first alien boss put Kiria through,” Amantil nodded.

“Yes, Serenissima, though the AIs learned a lot about their prowess and what to expect when she fought it and adapted our tactics to suit.”

“Yes, I will continue to pray to the gods that they protect my people and give thanks for the courage of those brave few who held the line, no matter the cost.”

“Here they come again!” one of the lookout Troopers yelled as a massed wave of aliens came for us across the market ground. “Counting over twenty bosses!”

“Form up!” I yelled out the order, before hearing a click in my ear which told me the AI voice communications was coming back.

There was a series of bangs from behind us before a beautifully timed bomblet strike went in causing a series of large explosions amongst the aliens. This caused the alien formation to almost stagger in its headlong pace and thus it hit us piecemeal and not in one solid blow. As we now had a slight advantage, we made the most of it by taking out the lead aliens as well as some of the bodyguard units. This left me facing one of the boss aliens who, true to form, tried to cleave may armour open with a powerful slash that left it exposed to a powerful thrust from my falchion directly into the thing’s brain, dropping it on the spot.