Relias: Uprising (30 page)

 He pulled the trigger.

 A Demolitionist was preparing a rocket near the quarry’s end. Luke put a round through his chest and put down another Berserker before the Demolitionist could hit the ground.

 The Legionnaire forces were beginning to condense around the quarry’s edge, moving towards the end where they knew Rush was heading. More and more appeared in the trees, crowding down towards the one end of the quarry.  At the pace they were heading the Legionnaire would be cutting their escape off before Rush even knew they were there.

 A Helio battlecruiser was coming up over the tree line cutting a straight path towards the end of the quarry. Machbikes and Battlecrafts started zipping from the landing bays on the Helio’s underside and were diving down towards Rush. The more Luke shot the more frustrated he became; his shots were more intense and less accurate. Realizing that they were getting nowhere Luke cussed, threw his arm through the sling of his rifle and took off.

 “Hendrick!” He shouted. He kept an eye on the Helio as it slowed to a stop. The barrels on the Helio’s sweep lasers were glowing a faint blue. They didn’t have much time.

 “Right here.” Answered Hendrick, meeting Luke along the tree line. “What you need.”

 Luke drew his sword and nodded towards the Helio. “Once that cruiser fires those sweeps up Rush won’t make it another fifty yards. You and Sable get down there and help ‘em out.”

 Hendrick back up slowly, giving Luke a loose salute and turning around into a run. “Sable! Suicide mission!”

 “Gotcha.” Came Sable’s brief , faint reply. Leaping over a tall bush she came out of nowhere and intersected Hendrick, changing direction and joining with him. Hendrick smiled at her and nudged her as they ran. Luke ran back towards the edge of the quarry and looked up at the Helio.

 They were big ships: truly massive. The Helio’s were well over a mile and a half long and had more guns than he’d ever like to count. The engines were more heavily armored and the Legionnaire had figured out how to create barriers similar to Elemental barriers that protected entire sides of the ship.

 The Stabilizers around Luke were gone. The Legionnaire was beginning to thicken around Rush and they were still unaware of his or the Ditrinity’s presence.

 But creating the Grav-field above the Helio was the easy part. Once he showed up on the Helio thermal scans (which wouldn’t take long), he’d have the entire ship raining plasma fire in his direction. Then, if he was lucky, the Helio’s Furo barriers wouldn’t pop up between him and the ship which would like hitting a ten foot thick glass wall at high velocity. Then, when he landed on top of the ship, he’d then be faced with the uncertainty of there being a stabilizer or not. If there was, Luke could take down the crew of the ship but not in nearly enough time to save Rush.

 The sweep lasers were getting ready to fire. Luke took a final glance across the quarry towards Rush’s position, took a few steps back, and got a running start at the quarry’s edge.

 From where he was the edge of the cliff could barely be seen between the trees.  With the twigs and dried leaves crunching beneath his boots Luke picked up speed. With every tree he passed the precipice began to get clearer. Storming through the brush Luke was sure to glance at his target and keep its position firmly in mind.

 The edge of the cliff came closer.

 The opposite side of the quarry had been vacated entirely while what Legionnaires remained moved towards Rush’s position. Rush had passed beyond the quarry now and Luke could only assume that Hendrick and Sable were able to do any good. And as the edge of the cliff came ever closer Luke thought only of Tess. Anything that might’ve happened beyond that day became a thought of the past.

 He was almost to the edge.

 It wasn’t much to say that Luke’s life flashed before his eyes; it was a flashback of sorts, yet the only thing that came to his mind was all the times he had come close to death. And looking up at the colossal Helio Luke kept only the immediate situation in mind. There was no place for anything not related to his boarding a Legionnaire battlecruiser. He’d take it step by step. Get past the Helio cannon fire, pray that the deflector shield wasn’t in the way, land on top, and find a way to take the sucker down before it made a white-hot glowing crater where his daughter used to be.

 Even if he wanted to, Luke couldn’t change his mind. The edge was there and Tess wouldn’t survive if he didn’t do something. He took a deep breath, got a Grav-field in mind, thought about Tess one last time and threw himself into the open air.

 There wasn’t a set path through the woods so Hendrick was forced to forge one of his own. The sticks and branches tore at the wounds he had taken in Praemon and drew new blood. Hendrick didn’t care, though. He never did. He did feel kind of bad though; whenever he passed by a branch it would bend forward, swing back and slap Sable in the face. Most of the time she’d dodge it, but there were a few situations where she snapped audibly at each strike.

 They were heading down a steep hill, resisting the added gravity of running down such an incline while keeping their footing in the damp, leaf covered earth. Passing trees were a blur but Hendrick was smart to keep his eyes ahead of him.

 Legionnaires were still strong in that area and Hendrick could only imagine how many there’d be around Rush’s location. But there were way too many Legionnaires to take hand to hand. Far too many. Down towards the base of the valley Hendrick had noticed a thick growth of Popus trees. They were old ones too, the big ones, the kind that would grow to be hundreds of feet tall. Best of all, there were a lot of vacant clearings where they
used
to be. That might prove to be their best escape.

 As Hendrick ran, he combed through every idea he had and eventually realized that, had he not had any prior experience with Popus trees he would be fresh out of ideas. Fighting one’s way out was always a fun and viable option, but this time they had others to worry about and no strategic advantage. And Hendrick would have to remember to say it to their faces; they were damn stupid. Seriously, when you’re running away from somebody what kind of genius would consider taking the
low
ground? Especially when those somebodies where the First Legionnaire with an entire arsenal of high-caliber toys?

 “Nate!” Sable yelled, pointing to an upcoming clearing. Hendrick clenched his teeth.

 “I see it.”

 The clearing was in a good enough view that he could see all sides.

 Rush was pinned all right. The Legionnaire had them completely surrounded and Rush, without any other choice, hopped into a fallen and rotting Popus tree. Bullets carved and chipped away at it and pretty soon Rush would be without cover. And if the bullets didn’t get them then the approaching Legionnaires would. Rush wasn’t laying down enough fire to keep the soldiers at bay and some were even making their approach on the fortification a casual and leisurely stroll.

 But there were dead Popus trees: lots of dead, rotting, Popus trees. It was perfect.

 There was a quiet buzz that carried downwind from the Helio. Hendrick looked up and saw the barrels were beginning to glow blue. They’d be firing the sweep lasers any minute and those logs would be ash along with anything inside and around them. Hendrick took a flying leap off of a small cliff, landed in a crouch and kept running.

 “Alright, girly, here’s what we’re gonna do.” Hendrick started. Sable picked up her pace so that they were running side by side.

 “They still don’t know we’re here.” Hendrick said. “So we have that one and probably only advantage. So what we’re gonna do is b-line it to Rush’s position, pray that they don’t shoot us and hop inside. Just keep me covered. I’ve got something in mind.”

 Sable seemed somewhat confused. “So… should I shoot them?”

 Hendrick chuckled. “Of course you should shoot them. I’m just saying shoot them
discreetly
.”

 Sable nodded and hurdled over a bush. “They’re going to see us once we break that tree line.”

 Hendrick shrugged and prepared to raised his rifle. “Run fast then.”

 They came up to the edge of the trees and prepared to break for the cover.  Hendrick swore to himself when he saw the incredible crossfire that bombarded the disintegrating log. The log itself rested on the very top of an entire graveyard of Popus trees, piling up and laying across one another with innumerable passages beneath them. He took one last look back to Sable, nodded to her, and they broke into the open.

 At the tree line the ground dropped an immediate four feet into a massive muddy basin carved out by water. Piles of titanic crumbling trees laid all around them forming a labyrinth of paths and tunnels that were out of the Legionnaire’s line of sight. Hendrick made a quick scan to decide on which path was the fastest. To their left was a darkened path almost completely concealed by the fallen trees. All he could do was guess. Hendrick motioned towards it, took off, and Sable followed.

 They sprinted across damp wood chips that formed a soft, earthy carpet. With only a sense of where Rush was hunkered down in mind, Hendrick followed the shaded, winding paths towards the central area, going through and around the dusty beams of light that found their way through the logs. With Sable watching behind him he ran in a crouch, keeping low as to make it possible to pass through the logs and trees that leaned up against one another. Slivers and chunks of wood showered them as bullets blew into the dead wood in every direction, keeping them alert and prompting them to move faster.

 The dead trees criss-crossing all around the clearing got denser and more tightly packed towards the center and it didn’t take long before Hendrick knew that they’d have to climb up and make a dash towards Rush’s position.

 The tunnel that they ran in narrowed until it became a space too small for them to move through. To their left the trees opened up at a point where they’d be able to climb up an earthy wall and join Rush. The issue was, again, the Legionnaire’s heavy fire. Climbing up those trees would be a beast and take a minute or so which was all the time that even an amateur shooter would need to put a round between their shoulder blades.

  Hendrick kept a sharp eye out for any Legionnaires that were close to Rush’s position.

 A gunshot rang just behind his shoulder. He glanced back and saw Sable with her rifle raised and smoking, checked in the direction she fired and saw several soldiers venturing beyond the trees to advance on Rush’s position. Hendrick turned and opened fire. Seeing the new threat the Legionnaires retreated back to cover and returned their fire.

 There was accented yelling and colorful language that poured over the edge from above them. Hendrick motioned for Sable to move on without him.

 She went into the open, emerging in the forest light and pulled herself up the pile of wood. With one arm climbing and the other aiming and firing her Infiltrator, Sable scaled the mess towards Rush. Hendrick meanwhile provided what little cover fire he could. With so many Legionnaires Hendrick had to settle for bursting off scattered shots aimed in the Legionnaire’s general direction. That seemed like enough to scare them back into cover.

 It still wasn’t doing the trick. Hendrick switched his rifle from ‘burst’ to ‘full-auto’ and transformed his Infiltrator into a full-blown bullet hose.

 It was only a fifty round clip and Hendrick didn’t have any more replacement mags.

 A Nightwolf hopped onto a log above Hendrick to his left. It leapt at Hendrick and got a three-round burst down its throat. Just as the Nightwolf crashed at Hendrick’s feet a Skirmisher came around a bend in front of him. Without a second’s hesitation, Hendrick centered the crosshairs on his face and put him down.

 Those soldiers were just taking point on their squads; dozens of other Legionnaires began to make their way over the tumultuous slew of decaying trees. With so many targets to choose from, Hendrick chose a single group, took aim and fired.

 His gun clicked. His ammo was dry.

 Hendrick cussed, stowed his Infiltrator and took out his combat knife. He clutched it tightly in his right hand and thought about how much he missed his Blazers.

 “Nate!” Came a voice from above him.

 Hendrick spun and looked up to see Sable in a broad stance shooting down at the approaching Legionnaires. He took it as his cue to climb.

 Hand over hand, Hendrick scaled the aged wooden wall, pulling on sticks, moss, vines, or anything that would hold long enough for him to put weight on it.

 Bullets impacted all around him. There was a loud whistle past his ear and a bullet impacted between his fingers. The wood splintered and jabbed into his hand. It did nothing to deter him and actually gave Hendrick something to look forward to; picking slivers out of your hands was a blast.

 The top of the wall came within reach. As Hendrick stretched out for one final handhold a calloused hand covered in bright orange hair clasped his wrist and hoisted him up. Hendrick was lifted free from the wall and came to his feet next to Sable.

 The man who helped him up was the Demolitionist; if Hendrick remembered right it was Trennen Van Kristik. The man was short, stocky, and had a stomach that was further exaggerated in his tight-fitting, black painted Legionnaire armor which parted at every chance it had to relieve the stress of containing such a broad-bellied man. He was almost comical in his entire appearance; his disproportionately small legs sprouted from his broad midsection though his arms were pretty well built, Hendrick would have to admit. His mouth was almost completely concealed behind the large, bushy orange beard while large goggles rested on his forehead above his angry, beady eyes.

 “Bloody moron!” He yelled in a heavily accented voice, loading another set of grenades into his launcher. “Get your arse enside!” 

 “After you, big fella.” Hendrick said, turning back to Sable. “Hey! We’re moving!”

 Sable started moving backwards, keeping fire on the approaching Legionnaire squads. Kristik took a discreet look at her butt and moved up alongside her, raising the bulky grenade launcher and giving her a crooked smile.