CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
MAELUN FORWARD STAGING BUNKER: Days into the siege
The next few days saw little progress in the battle for Maelun. At first, it seemed like everything was going smoothly. Our forces scoured the inner city, rescuing every survivor they could find and pulling native kobolds out from under collapsed houses and buildings. The new, expanded territory around our keep gave ARi instant access to additional raw resources. This helped expand the bunker infrastructure, adding sleeping quarters and bathrooms.
Once the facilities had been thoroughly put in place to house the city’s survivors and refugees, ARi put her focus into gaining direct access to the city. She tunneled toward the city walls as far as her temporary influence allowed. Six hours later, she cast her influence out again, further away from the bunker, allowing her to continue where she had left off. It didn’t take long for her to reach the city, giving us direct access for our troops to enter and withdraw, or for us to move any of the survivors that we found into the bunker structure without having to cross the open field. The city itself was a ruin. The Reapers respawned their siege constructs outside the range of our large gun and began systematically razing the city.
Our forces continued to grow though. As of now, I have three captains and fifteen squad leaders, all with full squads of four. They consisted of seventeen Praetorians, fifteen legionaries, ten Principes swordsmen, and fifteen Velites ranged missile troops, all stationed here outside the city. And twelve legionaries and two Praetorians were staged at the keep. This, of course, did not count our rogues.
We now had twelve of the deadly Viṣakanyā rogues, which, upon reaching level five, had opened up their subclass option. Tony, Erica and Maddie were the first of their class to reach level five. They chose the Wrath subclass. This came with the ability for the rogues to phase temporarily through solid objects along with other stealth benefits, honestly making these girls even more terrifying.
Sawyer’s Sikh Warrior Squad was also back at the keep, which left Jack, the only one of that class, here with me in the city. That was a total of fifty-eight cohorts near Maelun and seventeen back at the keep with ARi.
ARi awoke, nudged gently by Red. “Ward, you must wake up. Your life may be in danger.”
ARi sat up in her bed. “What? What’s going on?” she said, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
“Sawyer sent a runner back from the other side of the river, beyond our boundaries,” Red said. “They have found an encampment of over one hundred of these Kobol Kai, and they are not alone.”
ARi felt her heart sink into her stomach. “There’s a Reaper,” she said.
“Yes, Ward,” Red replied. “They have built some kind of siege constructs, different than the ones that attacked here before. The Kobol Kai themselves are assembling them.”
Contemplating what she had been told, ARi pulled herself out of bed and made her way toward the den. Waiting inside, she found her two Praetorian guards on either side of the hallway entrance and twelve legionaries in full gear lined up along the wall.
“Red, where is Sawyer now?” she asked.
“Ward, I’m afraid Sawyer has his mind set on, how do you say, cowboy shit,” Red said.
“Damn it!” ARi moved to a bench near the hearth, sat down, closed her eyes, and focused on Bishop.
My own familiar nudged me while I slept in my own bed, scaring the shit out of me as I rolled right off the other side of the bed, tangled in my blankets. My Praetorian guards threw my door open and rushed in, Swords at the ready. ARi’s projection formed, and I could see her giggling.
“It’s fine. I’m fine. Go back outside, please,” I said to the guards.
“I know you can’t touch me, ARi, but you could have softly whispered something to wake me,” I said.
“Sorry, Gavin. In all seriousness, I didn’t have time. I’m afraid the keep is under attack,” ARi said.
This immediately got my attention. I stumbled as I tried to get up and slide my pants on. I stumbled again while trying to get a shoe on, making my way to the door.
“Are you okay? Tell me what’s going on,” I demanded of ARi as I swung the door open.
“Get the leadership and have them assemble in the front of the hall right now,” I demanded, and one of the guards sprinted down the corridor.
“First off, Gavin, calm down. Because although there is a threat, it is not immediate,” ARi explained as I made my way down to the front of the assembly hall.
To my surprise, everybody was there and waiting, including the Matriarch.
“Gav, take a breath. ARi has already told the rest of us what’s going on,” Tanya said.
Seeing the look of hurt on my face, ARi was quick to interject. “Gav, I didn’t tell them before you. Remember, I can be in more than one place at the same time.”
Embarrassed, I settled down at the table. I threw my hand up at the wall and changed the map of the city to a map that showed Earth’s territory and the keep. On the map I could clearly see four rogues slowly moving, but they seemed to be forming a perimeter around a clearing. In between the rogues, though, we could also see a red dot on the map, a clear indicator that there indeed was a Reaper commanding these KobolKai.
“Gav, I think the siege equipment that they are assembling is not going to be affected by my Control-Node. It is not the Reapers themselves using it, and they are not using any kind of phase technology. Everything they are doing is terrestrial,” ARi said.
“That’s bullshit. Yeah, they’re putting it together, but that doesn’t mean they understand it. Someone’s telling them exactly how to build it and what to use,” Yumi snapped.
“Yeah, well, Yumi, that’s something we’ll keep in mind maybe sometime down the road, as we now have our own allies,” ARi said.
“ARi, do you think we need to abandon the city and head back to the keep?” I asked.
“No, at least not right now. Gavin, you know the keep can withstand a siege many times greater than what they attacked us with last time. We made sure of that. And those Kobol Kai siege engines are not going to affect my ability to use the phase tech. I can dig myself nice and deep if I have to,” ARi replied.
I tried to take a breath and calm myself down. I needed to think logically. “Tell me again, ARi, what Red said about Sawyer’s plans.”
ARi turned and gave me an admonishing look. “He said, cowboy shit, Gav.”
Tanya and Yumi both turned and looked at me as well. “You’re a bad influence, Gavin Daniels,” Tanya said.
“If Sawyer has gone undetected by these Kobol Kai or the Reaper, he will surely make his move at night,” Jack interrupted.
“That’s great, Jack,” Tanya said, “but what if they start attacking the keep tonight in the dark as well?”
“Even better, friend Tanya, and you forget your lessons. If they’re so focused on their task, they’ll be less focused on what’s right behind them. Architect, I think I know what Sawyer is planning, and although it’s dangerous, without any way of communicating with them or telling him to do something different, I think we’re going to have to–” Jack hesitated.
Tim finished for him. “Hurry up and wait.”
“That’s it,” Jack said. “If the Kobol Kai move in on the keep, the guns are automated on the walls, and I should have no problem shredding them. Honestly, Gavin, I think this is an attempt to draw you away from the city,” ARi said.
Anithea surprised us all as she spoke. “May I speak?” she said in broken English.
“You’ve been practicing,” ARi said with a smile.
“Friend Tanya has helped. Much,” Anithea said.
“You are correct that they wish to pull you away from the city,” Anithea said. She began speaking in her native tongue to Jack.
“She was trying to say that this is a tactic they have used many times before,” Jack finished for her.
“Okay. I don’t like this, ARi. Not one bit. But until you tell me differently, we’ll hold our position here,” I said.
“I’m not going to lie, you guys, I wish Bishop was closer,” ARi said. “But I have our new guns to play with. Plenty of protection in here.”
Jack was looking down at the table and I could tell that something was bothering him. “Jack, you know more than you’re telling us.”
“It isn’t anything I know for sure, Architect. I’m not withholding information. But if I was Sawyer, I know what I would do. And I fear for my friend,” Jack said.
He watched from the dark as the first of the siege engines swung a massive arm and launched a large flaming stone toward the keep. He counted more than ten Kobol Kai manning the engine. As the arm came to a rest, half of them cranked the massive machine down while the others rolled another huge shot into the sling.
He felt the weight of the grenade that Kyle had made tugging at his chest, but he decided it was better to save the explosive and move in for a silent kill. While the Kobol Kai cranking the arm were focused on the machine, Sawyer moved with quiet, deadly precision. He slashed one throat, and drove a second dagger into the back of another one’s head. Before the other two who were pushing could react to the two dead Kobol Kai at their feet, Sawyer stepped up and casually slid his knife across the throat of one before turning and jabbing his dagger into the face of the other before slipping back into the dark. The entire fight happened in seconds.
Someone finally pulled the massive arm back far enough to set the lock and trigger. One of the Kobol Kai looked up to see the shot rolling back and, in the clearing, four dead Kobol Kai lying in the dark. He turned to alert the others as a chakra blade sliced through the ropes holding the arm, releasing the sling and mechanism. The counterweight flew back, crushing one of the Kobol Kai, and the others threw themselves backward to avoid being caught in the sling.
Sawyer moved like a ghost, dispatching the remaining Kobol Kai before any of them could scream. The massive arm and sling whipped back and forth as he worked to cripple the device quietly, cutting straps and severing ropes. Once the arm settled, Sawyer climbed the machine, cut the sling and its ropes free, and dragged them back into the forest. He made his way toward the next engine, knowing two of his other rogues were doing the same while another was trying to kill as many Kobol Kai in the encampment as possible before an alarm was raised.
He did not have to wait long. Shouts and screams rose from the forest behind him, followed by an explosion that ripped through the quiet night. It must have been one of the other rogues with one of Kyle’s grenades. No longer feeling the need for stealth, Sawyer twisted the cap on his own grenade and rolled it toward the siege machine in front of him. The Kobol Kai manning that engine had turned to look in the direction of the first explosion right before a second blast tore the machine apart and blew Sawyer onto his ass several feet behind him. He pulled himself back into the forest as two more explosions detonated in the distance.
Near the encampment Sawyer heard a screeching, alien sound as the Reaper roared at the Kobol Kai. Leaving the remaining siege machines to the other rogues, Sawyer ran toward the Reaper. He burst into the clearing in time to see the creature rip one of his fellow rogues in half before casting the mangled corpse aside. In Sawyer’s native tongue the monster screamed, FOOL, and bounded for him.
Sawyer dodged a claw as it smashed into the ground, grabbed the Reaper’s arm, swung up onto its back, and slid his daggers between armored plates. The Reaper flung him forward and Sawyer slammed into the ground in front of it. The Reaper began to laugh maniacally. Your poison will have no effect on me, the Reaper said as it reached back, pulled one of Sawyer’s Chris knives from its own side, and tossed it to the ground.
On the ground, mere feet from where Sawyer lay, he saw the disfigured body of his friend. Sawyer growled, If you will not die choking, I will take you apart piece by piece. He slid his khopesh from his back and charged the monster. He hooked its leg and pulled it off balance, bringing the sword down on the end of one of its claws, severing the appendage. The Reaper twisted, jumped to its feet, and swung again at Sawyer, missing by inches.
Sawyer drew his chakra, the circular blade, in one hand and his khopesh in the other, moving with speed and precision. He slashed and cut with retaliatory strikes each time the Reaper swung at him. The Reaper charged, and Sawyer turned, seeming to run away, only to bound off a tree, kick off, and flip backward over the beast, dragging the hooked khopesh right through the Reaper’s head. The massive creature staggered, and crumpled to the ground.
The remaining Kobol Kai fled into the forest. Two of Sawyer’s rogues moved into the clearing and found their fallen comrade. Sawyer knelt, holding a wound to his stomach. One of the rogues ran to his side, produced a small vial, and poured it into Sawyer’s open mouth. The rogue climbed under Sawyer’s arm and shouldered their squad leader. The other rogue gathered what remained of their fallen friend, and the three made their way back toward the keep.
As they approached the walls darts began spitting from the treeline across the valley, slamming into the shoulder of one of the rogues and sending all three to the ground. Two of the four-legged bolt-launching constructs stepped into the clearing, focused on the three kobolds. They began to spool up to fire another volley when the hum and buzz of the wall guns opened up and shredded the constructs.
ARi’s projection formed next to the three kobolds still taking cover on the ground. “They’re gone, Sawyer,” she said. “You can get up and get your asses in here now.”
“What the hell were you thinking?” she added.
“I did what I thought the architect would do,” Sawyer said.
ARi sighed and looked at the three kobolds with mock indignation. “Yeah, well, the architect’s an idiot.”