Phoenix Rising (Book Two of The Icarus Trilogy) (54 page)

For a moment he thought he was dying.

“Fuck…. Fuck me…” he said as he fell back to the ground.  He rolled his head to the left to see Carver rise out of cover and shoot with determination.  That was the soldier he needed.  If Templeton had two dozen men like Carver, then none of this would have happened.  Darius sighed before turning his head to the ceiling.  That was when it dawned on him that he was still alive.  Templeton didn’t know how, but as he sat up, Darius realized he could only see out of his left eye.  The revolutionary put his right hand out, feeling for the bench by his side, and supported himself as he rose from his position.

Templeton looked out at the mess hall and saw Laurence take out the last Hammerhead with a well-placed shot into the slave soldier’s neck.  The thin, black man almost couldn’t believe it.  They had lost so many people, he had lost his eye, probably, but it was over.  That was the last of the Hammerheads.  They were all accounted for.

“We….. we won,” the revolutionary said as he looked at his compatriots.  Carver looked at him with sadness in his eyes, but as Templeton turned to face the rest of the men in the mess hall he could only feel a sense of triumph.  He almost wanted to hug each and every one of them.  He laughed, even with the plastic still embedded in his right eye.  It was all worth it.

“TEMPLETON!” Goldstein shouted over Comms.  The revolutionary quickly straightened to his full height in his confusion.  He wondered what the merchant had to shout about.  He lifted his hand to his helmet and set the other onto his hip.

“What’s going on Goldstein?”

“It’s not over, Templeton,” the man said coldly over the common channel.  Templeton’s brow furrowed, causing some pain on the right side of his face, but he was more concerned with what the merchant had to say.

“What are you talking about, Goldstein?” Templeton asked, dread filling every word of the question.  The merchant sighed on the other end of the channel.

“Atlas just gave me an update.  They’re sending EOSF to finish us off.  Small detachment from McClellan; what was left of the outpost there.  They were… they were watching as Norris was taking out the Hammerheads.  Covering their fucking bases,” Goldstein said with despair in his voice.

The thin revolutionary dropped his hands to his sides.  It was all over.  They had lost.  There was no way that the wounded, battered group that remained would be able to withstand even a handful of EOSF, much less a detachment.  Templeton gave into despair and looked at the rest of the men in the room.  They had failed; the revolution was over before it started.

“I’m …. I’m sorry… guys.  They’re sending in the troops.  We lost,” he said as he sank to the floor and set his back against the barricade that had shielded him only moments before.  He felt the pain in his eye and wondered if it was time to put his rifle underneath his chin and end it before the Earth Orbit Security Forces came to finish them off.

“Goldstein, what’s the situation over there?” Templeton heard, not knowing who the voice belonged to, but it didn’t much matter.

“What do you mean, ‘over there’?” Goldstein asked on the other end.

“The North Hallway.  We still have four able-bodied soldiers here.  What about the North Hallway?”

“I mean, there’s me and Feldman.  Abrams can’t really do anything with her arm like this,” Goldstein said, confused that he was hearing these words from the soldier.  It was out of character.

“Alright, I’m sending Laurence over there.  You hear that?  I want you to move and solidify that position.  They only have two approaches and we have this covered.  We can hold out until they get here.”

“Jenkins, it’s hopele-“

“Don’t, Goldstein.  I don’t give a fuck.  Too many of our friends have died today.  I’m not going to piss on their memories by just giving up when more soldiers show up.  We can still hold this.  The ship is on its way,” the newborn Crow said over the common channel.  Goldstein shook his head on the other end, not knowing what the kid was considering.

“Ryan, c’mon...”

“Fuck you, Zach.  You know I’m right.  And if the one soldier on this goddamned team who committed suicide is telling you that it’s not an option, you’re just going to have to deal with it.  It’s time for us to stand up for something.  Even when it’s difficult.  And you,” Templeton heard before he was yanked to his feet.  Out of his still-working eye he saw his ward glaring at him with fury in his eyes.  The revolutionary didn’t understand where all of this was coming from.

“You’re going to fight with us, you understand?  There’s no giving up,” he said, his voice lower than usual.  Templeton start to laugh, but the young soldier slapped him on the side of his face not covered in plastic shards.

“Don’t fucking start, Templeton.  We’re revolutionaries, right?” Jenkins asked with a huff.  Templeton narrowed his eyelids at the comment.

“Let’s fucking act like it.  Go out in a blaze of glory.  It’s the least we can do,” the messiah-figure said before releasing the black man from his grip.  The revolutionary looked at his ward and grunted.

“What makes you so fucking sure that you can beat a detachment of EOSF?  They’re trained to kill uprisings, Mr. Revolutionary.  I know.  I used to
be
one,” the thin man said as he looked down at the newborn Crow.  Jenkins scoffed at that.

“If they fight as good as you, then we don’t need to worry,” Jenkins taunted.  Templeton laughed and shook his head.

“Just for that, Jenkins.  Just for that I’m gonna make it through this.”

“Doesn’t matter why you do it.  Just that you do,” the messiah figure stated before he turned to look at the old Crow to his right.  The veteran nodded at the young man, even though he could tell that Jenkins didn’t need the affirmation.  The messiah figure was looking at Carver like they were now equals, but the old man knew the truth of it.

Jenkins had become more than Carver had ever been.

The transports hovered over the broken landscape near the Crows’ barracks and Roth fell into despair.  The Hammerhead held the scared woman's hand in his own and was all too aware if their situation as the metal machines touched down near the Western Entrance.  He and his Hammerheads had failed in their mission, had failed to destroy the messiah figure, so the Commission had sent in real troops to finish the job.  The Crows had made their last stand against equals, but now they would fight their next enemy as cripples.

Percival’s eyes narrowed as he realized that he would have to even the odds.  He looked over at the beautiful woman at his side and sighed.  She would be no good in this fight and he would have to protect her.  He owed that to Jenkins; the former Crow would allow no harm to come to her. 

Unfortunately, that meant fighting with one hand tied behind his back.  He would have to stand in between the aggressive EOSF and her.  Roth mentally resolved that they wouldn’t be able to stop him; he wouldn’t let them.

“Dr. Kane, this isn’t going to be easy.  These guys,” Roth said before turning to look back at the intimidating transports.  They weren’t regular, bulky, air transports.  They were the sleek black of the EOSF, designed in wicked curves and sleek paneling.  “These guys have been trained to kill just about everything.  I want to get you back to the Crows, but it looks like we might have to fight through them.”

“I… I don’t think so,” Charlotte said at his side.  Roth looked back down at the woman in confusion, but she wiped her coat across her bleary eyes and nodded towards the auxiliary entrance.  “If things went right, the West Hallway is collapsed.  Warner and Corrigan were going to blow it up and kill the Hammerhea-” she said, catching herself as she realized that she was talking rather coldly about Percival's fallen comrades.  The former Crow was silent for a moment, but then nodded.

“So we just have to make it to one of the other entrances and hope they don’t catch us,” he said before looking back at the barracks he used to call home.  He noticed that the military men were starting to pile out of the transport and mill about the vehicles.  At final count, it seemed that there were nine of the corporate thugs.  The Hammerhead cursed under his breath and pointed towards the North Entrance.  “Do you think you can run to that entrance with me?  I won’t go faster than you can move.”  The raven-haired doctor looked at the entrance anxiously before turning her head and nodded at her former patient.

“If that’s what we have to do…. Well, I’ll try not to slow you down,” she said with grim resolve.  The former Crow looked at her with understanding in his eyes and then pulled her towards the north entrance.

The two of them did their best to creep along the landscape, putting the odds and ends of broken trash and metal in between them and their adversaries.  As they moved along the pathways, Roth could see the EOSF debating their tactical movement.  The Hammerhead had to move slower than he would have liked due to the woman trailing behind him, but it was a price he was willing to pay.  He just made sure to watch the faceless minions, who would easily end his life, out of the corner of his eye. 

“Ah!” the woman squeaked behind him and her hand slipped out of his armored gauntlet.  Roth turned his head around quickly to see the woman fall down to her knees.  Her shoe had gotten caught in a piece of barbed wire entwined in grating. 

Roth cursed under his breath.  He rushed over to the woman, who was clearly in pain as he did her best not to cry out.  The former Crow inspected the good doctor’s right foot and could already see it swelling underneath the small rivulets of blood that had started to run down her leg.  He scanned up to the source of the bleeding, which happened to be a number of small scratches caused by the barbed wire.

“It’s hurt bad, Percy.  I can maybe put weight on it, but not fast.  And,” Charlotte said, trying to keep her composure, “that’s not even talking about the wire.  I’m sorry,” she said as a tear fell down her left cheek.  The former Crow felt his spirit sinking, but he put on a brave face and settled his hand onto the woman’s shoulder.  She looked up at him, pleading for some sign of hope.

“Look, don’t worry about that.  We just need to get this off you,” Roth said as he gave her a smile and then looked down at the twisted piece of metal.  He couldn’t see a good way to remove her ankle out from the mess, and the blood was already starting to look bad.  The Hammerhead sighed and looked back at the beautiful doctor’s face.

“Dr. Kane, I’m sorry, but we might have to cause some more scratch…” he began, but stopped his speech when he saw the hardened gaze of the doctor.

“That’s fine, Percival.  Whatever you have to do,” she said before sniffing and looking off into the distance.  The former Crow took this as assent and then started to pull the woman’s foot out of the wire.  As the wire tore into the woman’s skin he could hear her stifled sounds of pain, but he did what he could to make the process as fast as possible.  By the end of the extraction there was blood covering the wire and some pieces of skin left on a few of the barbed hooks, but the ankle was whole.  He looked back up into the woman’s face, which was clearly in pain, and could see what both versions of Jenkins had seen during their brief stay on Eris.

“It’s still going to be difficult to walk,” she said, ignoring the pain and focusing on the task at hand.  Roth took her right arm and placed it over his shoulders, nodded at her and then stood.  He would have carried the woman, but he needed to be able to retrieve his weapons at any moment.

“That’s why I’m going to help you.  Now, we
need
to get over to the North Entrance.  The EOSF,” he said, trailing off as he looked towards the auxiliary entrance.  The former Crow could see a group of three soldiers encased in black power armor coming out of the building.  That must have been the scout force that had inspected the caved-in hallway.  Roth cursed once more as he realized they were running out of time.  “Shit, ok, we have to move, Dr. Kane.”

“Don’t call me that,” she said softly by his ear.  “It’s Charlotte.”  Roth didn’t look at the woman, he felt too awkward to do so, but as he started to half-carry the doctor towards the north side of the building he cleared his throat.

“Alright, Charlotte.  We’re going to get through this.  You just have to trust me.”

“I do,” she said, and Roth believed her.  He wondered if that had more to do with him or the dying rival who had told her that the Hammerhead would save her.  It didn’t matter.  He just had to get her inside and then Roth could let himself fight like he wanted. 

Making their way through the twisted landscape was even more difficult now that she could not support her right side, but Percival forced himself not to think about their pace.  He would just count out the steps as they found their way to the north entrance.  If they could just go another two hundred meters, they would be in relative safety and Roth could redeem himself.  He could save all the soldiers he had been sent to kill.

But things rarely worked out like that on Eris.

The former Crow looked over at where the EOSF had piled off the ships and felt his heart sink.  While three of the corporate soldiers were heading to the South Entrance and three had decided to stay with the ship, it seemed that the last three had turned towards the North Entrance.  Percival had turned his head just in time for the three men to notice and point towards the former Crow with the doctor he was carrying. 

“Charlotte, this is it.  I can’t keep you safe, now,” he said as he removed himself from under her arm and took her by the shoulders.  “I know it hurts, but you have to get inside.  You have to warn them what’s coming.  I’ll,” he said as he looked past her to see the three advancing soldiers in black armor.  “I’ll keep them here.”

“Percival…” she started, but Roth turned his attention back to her and shook his head.

“No arguing.  I’ll see you there.  Now you have to go,” he said before he walked past her and brought out his pistol.  The former Crow didn’t turn to watch her limp towards the northern entrance.  The only things that mattered were his three opponents and what he would need to do to remove their threat.