Relias: Uprising (2 page)

Hendrick still led the way. One thumb fidgeted with a switch connected to one of the long mechanical objects fastened to his forearms; Blazers, a type of flamethrower that Hendrick had invented with adjustable spread and intensity levels which controlled the flames which could potentially burn three times hotter than even the hottest Legionnaire flamethrower. They operated on Furo, eliminating the need for a gas tank. Luke and Morlo followed him down the hall as Hendrick spoke into his radio.

“Here.” Morlo said as he tossed Luke an Infiltrator assault rifle. Luke caught it in his hands, checked the chamber and the clip and put its butt against his shoulder. He looked back at Morlo.

“Was anybody able to get the rest of my things?”

Morlo nodded, keeping an eye down the hallway and periodically checking behind them. “Vyvyr, Pontious and Trey are handling that. They were the first ones in. Probably the first ones out too.”

“This is Razor one,” Hendrick said into his radio, looking out the window as ships blew past within feet of the outside of the building. “We’ve got VIP Mylo on crew and are moving to extraction point Eysus requesting immediate dust-off, say again, we have the VIP and need a quick pick up.”

“
Roger that, Razor One”
It was deep though feminine voice.
“Be advised we’ve got enemy Helios coming down on your position fast. You’ll be balls deep in Battlecraft and Blackshredders within ten minutes and... crap, Legionnaires are flooding the complex..”

“Thanks Price. Razor One out.” Hendrick nodded towards the others and picked up his pace. “Wish we could say you were the main reason we came here.” He said as they rounded the next corner and headed up a flight of stairs. “But the Darks are taking the city and every last prisoner it’s got. The Legionnaires are putting up the fight they normally do but Sam did a good job of getting this attack down.” 

“So what’re we going to do?” Luke asked in a deep rasp.

“After they raided the supply lockers and grabbed your stuff, Pontious, Vyvyr and Trey got picked up and are meeting up with some Dark squads to head up a second wave while me and Morlo got to come up here and get you. Dark command thought there might be other Darks up here but guess it’s reserved for high priority prisoners only.” Hendrick laughed as he pounded a fist on a door switch to open it for them to pass through. “Can’t say I’m disappointed though.”

They came up another flight of stairs and emerged on another long hallway that, like the hall that Luke’s cell was in, ran around the outside of the massive, circular building. “You know about the new Legionnaire tech, right?” Hendrick asked Luke who shook his head. “Just checkin’. They’ve got some new toys that’ll give ya a bit of a jump.” 

“The bastards have been usin’ shit that’s almost like elemental.” Morlo butted in.

“The Helios,” Hendrick said, gesturing towards the truly massive dark shapes that floated menacingly over the city, bright blue lasers shooting from beneath. “They’ve got these new belly mounted weapons called sweep lasers. Melt steel, armor, soldiers, it’s the ultimate anti-infantry weapon.”

Luke frowned. They had been copying Durant abilities all right.

“As for Furo battery tech they’ve come a long way and now have sets of power armor called Raze armor. Takes a normal guy and puts him in a suit that makes him even more powerful than a Monolith. And don’t get me started on the Forge tanks which-“

The wall just in front of them disintegrated, sending razor sharp bits of transparent steel shrapnel screaming inwards. The explosions, gunshots, and roaring ship engines were no longer muffled by the thick steel and drowned out any other noises.

“DAMMIT GET DOWN!” Hendrick cussed as the floor began to sag, tilting downwards towards the outside of the building giving them the dizzying reminder that they were still well over a hundred stories from the ground.

Hendrick hurdled the entire section, landing in a squat and spinning back to check the others. Luke took one step on the floor and leapt. The floor shifted as he did. He landed on the other side and rolled, making the most out of his weakened legs. Morlo stumbled as their luck ran out.

Beneath his incredible weight the floor collapsed. In a thunderous crumble the floor broke away. Morlo stumbled and struggled to maintain his balance, putting a hand down and sprinting up the falling slab of cement. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder towards the tawny abyss, the empty void suspended hundreds of feet in the air.

On one side the floor broke free. Morlo cursed. He growled, gritted his teeth, and narrowed his eyes on the edge.

Morlo tossed the chain gun onto safe ground. As he did, the floor went free.

Morlo leapt. There was no way he could land on his feet. He stretched his hand up towards the edge and prayed for a miracle.

The tips of his fingers barely managed to wrap around a piece of protruding rebar. Luke reached down to help him as Hendrick put his finger to his earpiece.

“Come again…” Hendrick shouted over the noise. “We’ve got
how
many!”

Morlo’s arm came up over the edge. As soon as his eyes rose above the precipice they focused hard and offensively on Hendrick. “Speaking of Forge Tanks.” He continued to claw his way up the ledge while Luke, still weak, did what he could by pulling on his armor. Morlo gave Hendrick a hard eye. “Thanks for the help, asshole.”

“We’ve got to move now.” Hendrick said. He put a hand on Morlo’s armor and pulled him, his contributions being half-hearty but there for a ‘don’t say I didn’t try’ effect. “We’ve got Legionnaires. Dozens, maybe, but probably hundreds.” He looked at Luke. “They know we’ve got you.” A Legionnaire Battlecraft transport buzzed past the gaping hole in the side of the building. They all ducked. With a renewed sense of urgency, Hendrick took the first steps down the hall. “Hurry up. The extraction is just up here.”

They could hear shouting now. Armor rustled as soldiers hurried down the hall just around the corner from them. Hendrick adjusted the dials on his Blazers and signaled back to Morlo and Luke. Luke raised the butt of his rifle to his shoulder and kept pace, while Morlo lugged his chain gun into firing position, its incredible weight forcing his shoulders to sag and his strides to be shorter. He cracked his neck and kept a hard eye on the target.

The sound of the armor became louder. Hendrick hugged the left wall to get a better look around the corner.

“Eight.” Luke said, sensing the Furo signatures of the enemy soldiers. Hendrick looked back.

“Heh, forgot you could do that.” He nodded towards Morlo to keep on that side of the hall while he moved to the opposite wall.

They reached the corner and Hendrick got to one knee. Luke stayed back and looked down the rifle’s sights.

The Legionnaires were right on top of them.

Morlo’s fingers rolled across the stock of his cannon in anticipation.

After checking back on Luke, Hendrick clutched the triggers to his Blazers, took a deep breath, and looked back to Morlo.

Luke kept his sights where he knew head level to be, waiting for the first helmet to appear around the corner.

“Alright big guy.” Hendrick said, shifting in place as he got into a more comfortable assault position. “Bring ‘em out.”

There was no indication that Morlo had heard him save for his moving closer to the corner. His face was fierce, his jaw set, and his eyes made it clear he was ready to blow something apart.

He was quick to attack. He slid into position with his cannon already aimed. Flame and deafening gunfire erupted from the end of the cannon in a column of yellow flame as the barrels spun in a blur. The men started yelling. Morlo moved back out of sight and a metallic sphere bounced off the wall and at his feet. Morlo gave the grenade a solid kick and sent it rebounding into the hallway. The resulting explosion sent cracks through the walls.

There was a burst of air as a smoke grenade sent wispy plumes of white through the air. Quick footsteps pattered across the smoky gap. Without thinking twice, Hendrick fired his Blazers into the smoke. Several men screamed.

There was no moving forward. Not with those Legionnaires positioned like they were. Slowly, by sheer force, the Legionnaires wedged themselves out of cover and returned fire on the three warriors.

They found what little cover they could behind cement pillars that ran alongside both walls. Bullets sprayed bits of cement in every direction as they impacted on the shoddy cover. Morlo and Luke returned their fire while Hendrick wrapped an arm around the edge of the pillar, concealing his body and retaliated blindly with a plume of flame.

“
Nate!”
His radio blasted. Hendrick shouted in pain at the sudden burst of sound.

“Price! Wha-“

“Where are you!”
She shouted. “
I’ve been covering the LZ for more than a minute and I can’t hold it forever!
”

Hendrick cussed. He looked out the windows and saw the incoming Helio battlecruisers. Solution after possible solution poured through his mind. “How much longer can you hold it?”

“You kidding?”
She yelled back. “
No more than a minute! I’ve got incoming Blackshredders and Machbikes!”

No time at all.

“How many we got left?” Hendrick said back to Luke.

“Six. One’s a Berserker.”

Way too many. But their exit was leaving. Hendrick looked over to Morlo, who stood amidst a pile of empty, brass. The pile grew larger by the second.

“Take up front!” He yelled loud enough to be heard. “We got one minute to get two hundred yards!”

After firing off a few final shots, Morlo nodded, slung his cannon over his shoulder, and drew his massive steel axe. On its blade was a crude engraving of a smiley face and the words ‘Get well soon.’ He grunted and left his cover.

Luke gave him cover fire as both he and Hendrick moved up behind him. Beneath the solid stream of bullets, the Legionnaires stayed behind their cover.

Luke’s clip emptied. With ten yards to go, the Legionnaires came from around their cover, zoned in on them, and went to fire.

Morlo had closed the distance fast. Before they could fire a shot he was on them. With a single, crippling swing, Morlo hacked the first soldier on the right, halving him against the wall, moving onto his next target and swinging wildly. Hendrick rounded the corner and started flaming.

“Get moving!” Luke shouted, raising his rifle and aiming quickly down the vacant and seemingly safe hallway to the left.

Hendrick spun fast. At Luke’s concern, he knew something was wrong. And realizing that, he began to hear the claws scraping against the ground. He cussed as he yelled back to Morlo who was finishing off the final Berserker.

“Nightwolves!” He yelled as he darted up next to Luke.

“You gonna start moving?” Luke said over to Hendrick.

“They’re a lot faster than we are.” Hendrick said with a shake of his head.

The claws and growls came closer. Luke looked back down his sights. “I’ll cover you then.” 

Hendrick shook his head and stepped in front of Luke and raised his Blazers. “Not this time. Morlo!”

Without needing explanation Morlo obliged, putting a hand on Luke’s back and forcing him down the hallway.

“What you think you’re-“

“We’ve got thirty seconds to get to the extraction! Move!”

The barking, howling and scraping claws were right on top of him. Just as his eyes returned back down the hallway, he saw them.

They barreled around the corner at full speed, redirecting themselves by bounding off the walls and gunning straight for Luke. They were big, muscular, ravenous, and worse yet, armored. Hendrick opened up his Blazers and consumed half of them. The others, at full speed, darted right past Hendrick and shot at Luke.

“Not today!” Morlo yelled. He pushed Luke on, got a running start and punted the Nightwolf in the face, cracking its skull and sending back down the hallway.

Gunshots rang from Luke’s rifle as he shot at the other Nightwolves. There were dozens, and they kept coming.

They had already piled up on Morlo, trying to find spaces on his armor where they could sink their teeth in. Morlo had entered into a blind rage and was grabbing at any Nightwolf he could get his hands on. In a frenetic motion, Morlo ripped a Nightwolf from his back by its head and pounded its skull with the heel of his hand against the wall, crimson squirting out from beneath his hand like an exploding berry. A wolf on his stomach was the next to go. He ripped it off, put his entire body behind it and hurled it to the ground. Before it could get upright again, he put his heel into the beast’s head and crunched it lifeless.

“Get moving!” Hendrick yelled, his knee on the neck of one last Nightwolf as he slit its throat with his combat knife. “That’s not all of ‘em!”

They broke into an immediate sprint, Morlo leading the group. Hendrick sprung to his feet and followed in step, bounding over the lifeless Legionnaire corpses as they continued towards their objective.

Twenty seconds.

The next set of stairs came into sight. With Luke in his weakened state, Hendrick was able to catch up without difficulty. As they reached the next floor, a new series of gunshots rose above the raucous fray. 

“That the roof?” Luke asked breathlessly, keeping respectably quick despite his obvious weakness.

“Just another open veranda.” Hendrick said between breaths. He thought he heard engine noise and he ran faster, not just because he knew that engine noise to be Price, but also because he heard the Nightwolves right behind them.

At the top of the stairs the hallway on its left side opened up, revealing a large area that cut down through the center of the skyscraper to the ground floor located seventy five floors down in a massive, hollowed out chasm. Across the void, other Legionnaires fortified the balconies, windows and verandas and fired upon Price’s Battlecraft, a heavily armored transport with large sliding doors on both sides. It rocked violently in place, taking fire from every direction while a thin, armored and athletic young women fired the massive Gatling gun on the other side, showering empty golden shells to the ground far below. Beneath her combat scarf and thermal goggles her face was hidden, her only defining feature being her colorless, a-symmetrically cut hair. It was Sable. From the cockpit, the pilot yelled and cursed profusely at her approaching cargo.