From his vantage point on top of a rocky outcropping, he could see a portion of the highway to the northwest. Many vehicles were scattered over the ground in various stages of destruction. Some were burning, sending faint columns of smoke into the air. Most were not, however, having little inside that caught fire. Most of the vehicles were Human, but several were Kezdai.
His carefully laid ambush turned into a disappointing standoff as the Humans detected their positions before the trap was sprung. Seeing the enemy recon units falling back, many of his commanders attacked anyway, leading to an open field firefight. The armor plating protecting the Humans’ troop carriers was so laughably thin that even the Kezdai’s infantry needle rifles could riddle the vehicle with holes. But their large, tracked vehicles with the huge railguns were a different story.
While the Human troop carriers attempted to flee or were abandoned, their heavy armor held ground, blasting their missiles with twin turrets firing crackling bolts of energy, and protecting their skies overhead with a laser battery kept safe in their center. Their massive railguns traversed the battlefield at an astounding speed for their size, punching huge holes in any Kezdai armor that attempted to rush them. With concentrated, direct missile fire from his infantry, several of these tanks on their flanks had finally been knocked out. The remaining pocket, however, used the dead hulks as cover, becoming even harder to break.
And there the Humans stood ground while their infantry deployed in the forests on their flanks. The infantry firefights within the trees were quick and bloody, with neither side’s bodyarmor effective against the Kezdai needle rifles or the Humans’ bulky and powerful gauss rifles. The Kezdai soldiers, however, were sorely outnumbered.
Below his precipice, a command vehicle approached up the gravel road that wound through the trees. It stopped behind Khorris’ own vehicle and Akradai Zaekiss stepped out. Having seen all that he could see from this outcropping, Khoriss decided to climb down to meet his infantry commander instead of forcing him to climb up. Ever since the first bombardment that targeted their transport, he had ordered that all reports were to be given to him in person. Their communications equipment was only used in emergencies.
“So what have you learned, Zaekiss?” Khorris’ sarcasm was as thick as the mud that covered this planet.
Zaekiss appreciated the sarcasm, but didn’t show it. He removed his helmet as Khoriss leapt the last twenty feet to the ground before reporting to him in his vibrant, somber voice, unusual for a Kezdai. A huge scar across his throat marked the old surias wound that had so altered his voice.
“Our soldiers are being forced to retreat, Ad-akradai. These Humans are patient, always waiting for their artillery to wreak their havoc before advancing a minimal distance. It is slow progress, but our dischargers are constantly being overwhelmed by the shells.”
Khorris’ hood drooped noticeably. His plan to decimate their lead elements, and overrun their rear, was in tatters. He had lost his element of surprise, but had been still hoping that the Humans would again attempt to rush his lines. This latest news, however, crushed that hope. Personally, Khoriss disliked artillery, and had decided not to waste room on his transport carrying them. These Humans, though, continued to use it well ever since their first bombardment hit just when his infantry were about to open fire on their lead heavy armor.
“How do they fight, Zaekiss? What do your soldiers tell you?”
The Akradai hesitated as he tried to understand exactly what his leader was asking. Khoriss saw the confusion.
“The Humans, Zaekiss,” Khoriss tried to explain, “what kind of soldiers are they?”
Zaekiss’ hood expanded as he understood the question, though he still had to reprocess all that his troops had reported and commented upon.
“They are well trained and armed, Ad-akradai,” Zaekiss finally concluded, “but they are inexperienced and soft. The Humans are much more fragile than Kezdai. Many cry out and are incapacitated with just one needle wound, calling to their comrades and healers who then foolishly expose themselves to fire. Some panic easily, while others show great courage. When we first fired on them, they all showed great confusion, but given a chance to regroup, they now advance with great precision and planning.”
Zaekiss stopped as he tried to think of more to say, but Khoriss was pleased with what he was told and held up his hand. He did not need more.
“We must force them to rush us, then,” Khoriss announced. “Once they have taken substantial casualties, they will fall into chaos and we can break them.”
“Likely, Ad-akradai. But there is no reason for them to rush us. Time is on their side, not ours.”
“You are right, but there are other ways of forcing their hand. We must retreat past the large river and force them to cross under fire.”
“But Ad-akradai, we would then surrender our transport to them!”
“It is useless to us, anyway. We will wait long enough for the remaining supplies to be off-loaded, and then our nuclear cannons can be repositioned and converted for ground combat.”
“Against their railgun carriers? It seems a waste . . .”
“Have you seen a better target?”
“No, Khoriss, but if a Human warship were to suddenly appear . . .”
“Then we will die a couple days sooner, that is all, Zaekiss.”
“Yes, Ad-akradai.” Zaekiss sounded less than enthusiastic.
“Fight as well as you can for now, Zaekiss. Grind them down. Have them trade many lives for the ground you give them.”
“I will.”
“You will be signaled when you should retreat your forces past the bridge. Now return to your soldiers.”
“Immediately, Ad-akradai Khoriss.”
It had been so very long since the Kezdai had fought worldwide campaigns, Khoriss reflected as he watched Zaekiss depart. As war-prone as the Kezdai were, rarely would their battles involve more than just two or three factions. Little strategy or planning was needed, just tactics. With all their technological advances, with all their missiles and long range artillery, it seemed so strange that they would still care so much about river boundaries and defilade slopes. But until all armor, friend and foe alike, could fly above the trees and terrain in anti-gravity bubbles, these obstacles would continue to dominate tactical planning.
His brother would be pleased, though. Khoriss was learning much about these Humans, and he would be reporting back to Keertra soon. He worried now, however, that the Humans were learning something also. They were learning how to fight. If the remaining Is-kaldai truly decided to gather all their forces in a mass assault, they would still find well trained and armed soldiers on this world. But once Khoriss was done with them, they’d certainly no longer be inexperienced and soft.
* * *
Kuro’s emergency message had startled Serina awake out of a troubled sleep. The loud beeping had sounded just before sunrise, and at first she couldn’t figure out what it meant. Rarely had Kuro ever used her ability to send phone messages before, and never in a real emergency. Adding to her confusion, she read the note before noticing who sent it. “Large spaceship landed at Peter’s beach,” it read.
At first she thought the message had come from her father or brother, considering its content. But once she noticed that Kuro had sent it, she immediately understood her to be referring to the sand beach that her coworker Peter often camped out on.
Realizing the importance of Kuro’s message, Serina set forth to call someone in the military. Fearing that she might be asked for specifics on just how she found out about the landing, she decided to just call the main desk at Fort Hilliard, where they knew her. Unfortunately she didn’t know the woman who answered, and when asked who actually saw the ship, Serina just answered that it was an employee of hers working at the research center. Luckily that was enough, and Serina was promised that action would be taken.
Once the call was complete, Serina decided to drive out to the research center herself. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to get to sleep again that night, and she was worried about Kuro. There was no way for Serina to send back messages to Kuro from home, and Kuro had to be worried that her message would get through. Also, Kuro might have some details that could be useful to someone.
She wouldn’t stay long, however. The research center was too close to Peter’s beach for her comfort, though twenty kilometers of impassable rain forest was between them. She’d just drop in for a few minutes, she told herself, before heading home again.
* * *
The alien lay dead at the edge of the battered forest, amongst shattered trees and charred branches. The battle armor that the creature was wearing was blasted open by the ion-bolt turrets from the giant Templars that lined the road above. Darkened blood stained the soldier’s breastplate and soaked the soldier’s crimson sash tied to his waist. Colonel Ishida looked over the corpse for several minutes before attempting to remove the helmet and get a good look at the face and head.