The loading of the Blakest weapons was concluded quickly, and van Horn felt some relief as the Assault Transport lifted off from the square, its vertical fusion exhaust melting small pools of pavement that cooled rapidly after the transport reached ninety meters. With a detectable shift in pitch and tone, the transport's side-mounted exhaust ducts swiveled back and the craft accelerated like a crane; slowly, but with more speed as it moved. Within seconds, it had flown overhead and off towards the west, heading for Firebase Hotel, where the craft would refuel from the Cheops' bunkers and then wait for a proper rendezvous with the Rodger Young.
One could almost feel the tension lift a bit, and van Horn breathed a small sigh of relief. The rumble of a 'mech's footfalls brought him around, though not quickly, for he recognized the Grizzly as the one from Oni Lance. The 7-ton 'mech was moving along the nearby avenue, walking up and down and watching for any Wobbie surprises.
None so far, van Horn knew. Somehow, though, that doesn't reassure me. The Blakests were known for underhanded activities, and to underestimate them was to be foolhardy. Thus, everyone was still on alert, and Vickers' Vanquishers still patrolled around the captured Citadel, checking the buildings with infrared sensors and the roads with millimeter-wave Doppler radar, looking for anything that would signal a new threat.
So far, however, all they had found were puzzled natives, who immediately cowered back into their homes when the terrifying visage of a battle armored trooper swept by. Some, however, were braving the streets, and were realizing that the Republic troopers weren't there to hurt them. Several lupar were even gathering in spots around the fortress to watch the strange invaders who did not bother with the natives, though they kept their distance.
Van Horn fidgeted at this thought. Dumb asses need to know that it ain't safe out here until we leave… He would have walked off to tell them to go back home, but he still had the task of guarding the released hostages.
The group had moved from their old position and now they stood or sat by the front gates, their view easily encompassing the square where the heavy shuttlecraft had just lifted off. The natives, of course, had stared in awe as the 185-ton transport had flown, though they, like anyone else, had to rub their eyes a bit as the craft's exhaust glowed a brilliant white.
"Man, that had to have been one of the loneliest sights a man ever saw," Castellano observed from his spot opposite of van Horn at the gate's entrance. "A transport leavin' without him…"
"Yeah, but another one'll be coming soon," van Horn replied, trying to buoy his friend's spirits.
"Yeah, I know Doc. Just sad, anyways."
Van Horn grunted. "I hear ya. Just don't let the Lieutenant hear ya."
Castellano chuckled lightly. "Roger wilco, man. Roger wilco."
They stood there for another few moments before Sellers' voice broke in. "Doc? One of the natives just got up and tried to ask me somethin.'"
"Okay, I'm a comin'" van Horn said as he turned and walked back through the gate. It only took a moment and he was before the group of natives, one standing; van Horn easily recognized him as the lupar with the old dagger. "Okay, what's going on here?" He asked politely of the native.
"I'm sorry to bother you… It's just… I wanted to ask a question." The lupar still looked fearful, though he spoke with less trepidation than before. Van Horn reasoned that it had to be his polite treatment. Good. We're not here to scare these people. "Go ahead and ask, then." Van Horn replied.
Emboldened a bit by a lack of anger or reprisal, the lupar brought himself up straight. "I am wondering… What is to be done with us? What do you want from us?"
In the lupar's voice, van Horn heard more than just a request for information about the current situation. They're trying to make sense of this mess… Well, so am I, van Horn thought. Aloud, he said, "As I said, we're here to rescue you." Then he sighed. "But of course, that's no answer.
"So, what to do with you all?" Van Horn asked of no one in particular. "Well, perhaps it's good that you asked. We had initially thought that the fighting would be fiercer, and we'd have to leave in a hurry. Now, however, we have time, and I think we'll probably just be able to let you all go, once we're finished here."
The standing lupar blinked, as did many of his fellows. Van Horn noted, too, that the armed gatón was also looking shocked, just prior to his turning and reciting the speech in Gatonese for his fellow people. Then the human's attention was brought back to the standing lupar as he asked, "You would just let us go? With no concessions from our families?"
Van Horn tilted his head slightly and just stared at the lupar for a moment. Then he replied quietly. "We are not barbarians. We do not kidnap innocents and use them as pawns or shields as our enemies do." He paused to take a breath then, and also to let the lupar absorb that information. "The only reason you all are still sitting here is because, until we leave, it is not safe to travel about. The invaders may have something sinister planned, and it would be negligent of us to simply let you go when you could be caught again… Or worse."
The lupar simply stood there for a full minute before saying anything. "So… Then what about the gatón?" He asked quietly.
Van Horn frowned inside his helmet before he restrained his emotions. He wasn't being rude, Earl, and his tone is polite. It's not like everyone is a bigot. "They, too, may leave once we are finished. However, we will offer them safe conduct to a town that we know of, whose people will be glad to help them make new lives." They had made sure to ask Forbasa and Tiana before the raid, if they would accept refugees. Given the previous status of the people now living in Shulana, they hadn't even blinked before agreeing. "In fact, that offer is open to any of you, though I do not insist that you take it."
At that, some of the lupar started to murmur amongst themselves. The armed gatón was translating as fast and as accurately as he could, missing some subtleties, but still conveying the Republic's offer. Van Horn noted that their eyes grew wide at hearing how the strange, fearsome creatures would offer safety.
Remind me to thank that guy, van Horn mentally noted to himself. Then he looked back at the lupar. "So, does that sound good to you? You can leave in a little bit, and go back into the city and to your normal lives, or come with us if you so wish."
The standing lupar was wide-eyed with surprise. "Y-yes… Thank you." With that, he sat down, somewhat heavily. Poor guy, van Horn thought. Still in shock over what's happened, and now he has to think about a choice that would be a bit to chew on even in a more normal setting. Well, no one said life was easy.
With that, though, the radio cackled to life. "All squads, tighten up," Vickers said over the platoon frequency. "Transport numero dos is thirty seconds out. Stay sharp."
In the cockpit of Oni Lance's Guillotine IIC, both Alexis and Captain Tanaka watched the icon on the holographic HUD grow larger as the Assault Transport approached the city. With a rumble they could hear through the ferroglass, the boxy transport slowed in horizontal flight until it came to a hover over the same square that had been used earlier. Then it descended; eventually coming to light upon the ground so relatively softly that it almost seemed alive.
"We'll be done soon," Tanaka observed from her command couch.
Alexis nodded as she replied. "Good."
Tanaka glanced at the gatón. "That's a strange tone you got. Something on your mind?"
Alexis looked over at Tanaka and smiled slightly. "I'm just still worried over Mikula," she said, and her smile faded. "I know he's all right. But knowing that he's been hurt… I want to rush to his side and help him, even knowing that I can't do any more than he and Senmar can do with a medikit." She sighed. "I suppose that sounds silly."
"Not at all, Alexis," Tanaka replied. "You sound like what anyone would if a loved one was hurt. It's natural." Then Tanaka took a breath before going on. "However, what would be bad is to give into those wild impulses; derelicting duty and the like."
Alexis' ears went flush with embarrassment. "I would never do that, Captain. You have my word."
Tanaka smiled a bit. "I know, Alexis. But it just bears repeating, just in case." She added the last with a knowing tone. "I've… Had a similar experience before." Tanaka turned at that and stared as the M.I. troopers began to approach the transport. "I know that you'd never betray your duty, or our trust in you. But while you're grappling with the situation, you could be wasting time, and it would cause you grief." She sighed at that. "Repeating the obvious helps to straighten out one's mind so that you can concentrate on what needs to be done."
They fell silent at that, and Alexis took a moment to ponder the idea. I think I see… I know I can't do anything to help Mikula, even though my feelings tell me to go running for him. But when she spoke of duty… It became much more clear. Alexis felt even a bit good, knowing that she had such good friends to help her.
Then all Hell broke loose.
A screaming noise barely entered the consciousnesses of everyone in the immediate vicinity before the ground shook and the air was light up by a massive explosion over a hundred meters to the Guillotine IIC's left. Turning the 'mech's torso by instinct to face the new threat, Tanaka and her passenger saw that a shop building no longer existed as such, in its place was a fiery ruin and a rising cloud.
Another explosion shook a part of the city further south, and Tanaka felt her gut turn into a solid block of ice, even as she flipped on the radio. "Artillery! Artillery hitting the city at-" Her sentence was cut short as both woman's consciousnesses filled with blinding light and crushing pressure.
Van Horn froze in combat for the first time in his entire life as he stood just outside of the fortress' gate. Those bastards… They wouldn't! Then the third shell hit the Guillotine IIC, sending a shockwave that knocked him and the other M.I. in the immediate area off of their feet.
He landed ten meters away from where he had been, his head ringing and his suit's internal monitors going crazy. He ran a quick mental check over his body and then stood up shakily, but still intact. He quickly looked over the scene, and his heart sank as he saw the 70-ton 'mech in front of him lying on its back, a gaping, burning hole in its right side.
Duty then overrode all other conscious thought as he heard the scream of the people he had been guarding. Wheeling about, van Horn saw that Castellano had been knocked over, but even as he watched, Dan began to pick himself up. Van Horn turned then and ran into the courtyard, fearing the worst.
He took a breath when he saw that the natives, though scared half out of their wits, seemed unhurt. The noise must be painful, though, was his thought as he turned and looked over at Sellers, who crouched, ready to leap up.
"What the fuck is going on!" The Salamander-suited trooper asked.
"Artillery! They're homing in on the fortress!" Van Horn replied. Though he didn't know for sure, his gut told him so. "We have to get out of here now!"
As if reading van Horn's thoughts, Vickers' voice broke out over the all-hands frequency. "Artillery! All troopers evacuate the city! Rendezvous Nav Point Chi! All forces, evacuate the city! Get the Hell outta Dodge! Go go go!" Even as he spoke, another blast rocked the area, shaking van horn and Sellers, and nearly toppling Castellano as he walked over to where the other troopers stood.
A secondary explosion, though not as large as the first, shook the area, giving new impetus to van Horn. "Dan! Mike! We have to get these people to safety!"
"Damn straight, but how do we do that?" Castellano asked. Van Horn only noted in the most basic, automatic way that his friend held his left arm in a funny way.
"More important, where to?" Sellers asked, his voice filled with tension. "Not like there's any safe place!"
Van Horn blinked as his mind tripped over an obvious solution. "Wait! There is! Dan! Call Mikula, he's on channel 34, get him to give us directions to where he's at." Although Castellano technically outranked van Horn, he followed the other's greater experience. "Wilco!" Then his voice disappeared as he went to call Mikula.
Van Horn then turned to the natives under his care and switched on his external speaker. "Everyone! Stand up! We've got to leave now!" He yelled first in Lupari, then in Gatonese. The natives, though dearly frightened, followed his command and stood. Van Horn turned to Sellers then. "Mike, unless you wanna stay here-"
"Don't worry doc, I'm with ya." He grunted.
Just then, Castellano chimed back onto their common channel. "Doc, I got it! Follow me!" With that, he ran off, and van Horn turned and waved the natives forward as he called to Sellers. "Mike, take caboose! If anyone falls behind, call and I'll grab them!" With that, van Horn ran off, and a quick command from Sellers got the natives running.
Just outside the gates, van Horn saw what had started the secondary explosion; the Assault Transport had taken a direct hit, and it had exploded under the power of the heavy artillery shell.
He forced himself to ignore it, and also to ignore the blasted Guillotine IIC, despite the pang of guilt he felt. Head's not damaged, they could still be alive… Or they could have had shrapnel fill the cockpit…
Stop it! He chided himself as he turned to follow Castellano as he ran down the street. You have twenty-one innocents and two troopers to take care of. Greater responsibility towards the greater number!
Van Horn checked the rear view in his HUD as he ran, cursing silently as the natives got strung out and couldn't run nearly as fast as the humans. "Dan! Slow your ass down! They don't got long legs!"
"Shit!" Castellano replied as he brought himself to a halt in order to wait for van Horn and the natives. "Forgot! Damn."
"Save the breath," van Horn commanded. "We go by the numbers! Dan, lead on, but make sure you don't outpace us! Sellers, stay caboose. I'll ride rocking chair and keep them in line!"
"Got it!" The other two troopers replied as they went about complying. The first natives were catching up to van Horn and Castellano then, and they were slowing down even as Dan began to move off. Van Horn turned to the lead native, a lupar, and called to him. "Don't stop! Follow him!" He pointed to Castellano. "Run run run!"
He repeated the 'run' part in Gatonese, and the entire group of natives began to run faster again. They began to pass him, and he began to have some hope.
Then he heard the next shell coming in. "DROP TO THE GROUND!" He called in Lupari, and then yanked on the nearest gatón, not trusting them to have understood the command. He slammed the two natives he had grabbed to the ground and then dropped over them, just barely avoiding crushing them as he landed on his hands and knees.
The next explosion hit the central keep of the Citadel behind them, the massive explosion sending chunks of stone into the air. Fortunately, these pieces landed mainly behind the group, though van Horn felt a fist-sized piece slam into his armored backpack.
Another shell impacted on the other side of the fortress, and the bulk of the walls and the remains of the keep sheltered the group, letting van Horn and the other M.I. Troopers push themselves back upright. "Get up! Go!" He hollered at the natives, who readily obliged, following Castellano as he bolted.
Save for two, a young female gatón and a child, the latter she had lain atop in an attempt to protect him. Feeling his gut roil, van Horn ran the two meters separating him and the two on the ground even as another shell impacted somewhere beyond the city.
He kneeled next to the two as he got to them, and he felt a sickening feeling as he saw that a piece of shrapnel from the blast on the keep had managed to fly the distance and hit the brown-haired gatón in the back of her head. Even with a single glance, van Horn could see that it had been instantly fatal.
His mind then changed focus, as the younger gatón seemed to wake from his shell shock. "Mommy?" He asked of the female who still managed to hold and protect him in death.
Van Horn forced all feeling from his mind as he pulled the child up into his arms and ran to follow Sellers and the group. However, he couldn't help the tears that threatened as the child screamed for his mother.
Those bastards!
Ladavic, like any good command officer, had been awake and listening into the radio chatter as the Rodger Young soared through her ballistic path around Bowman's Planet. Like all the Republic officers, she had felt relieved when the WMDs were safely away.
And like all sane persons, she felt shock and rage at the Blakest shelling. "Ops! Call the fighters, have them hammer those artys!"
"Sir, the Cabot is in the middle of a recovery cycle, and our air patrols are all harrying the Blakests around the northern cities. It'll take thirty minutes until we can get fighters on target." He operations officer looked pained as he recited the time.
"Fuck," She said as she propelled herself from the holotank and towards the front of her bridge, anger encasing her face into a mask. "Weaps! Arm main weapons, slave broadside fire control to your console and prepare to fire." Those fuckers want artillery; I'll give them Artillery.
The weapons officer looked up from his controls with a face of confusion. "Captain, the window is going to close in seconds. We can't possibly be ready to fire by then!"
"Do it!" she commanded as she floated to a stop at the conning position. "Mr. Baker, I relieve you."
The young woman at the helm turned and looked at her captain with surprise, but she nodded and then unbuckled herself. She floated free for barely a second before Ladavic pulled herself into the chair and buckled herself in.
She then slapped the condition controls and activated her headset microphone. "All hands, this is the captain! Brace for emergency maneuvers!" She called as the warning klaxon blared out. Ladavic then quickly did some calculations on her console and in her head as she gave her crew just enough time to secure themselves.
Fifteen seconds, she thought as she gripped the control yoke. Just enough. "Everyone, hold onto your asses." With that, Ladavic hit the thrust and yanked on the controls.
Everyone in the Rodger Young suddenly felt themselves slammed down and at an angle as the 250,000-ton corvette accelerated at her maximum burn of four-and-a-half gees and tilted crazily at an angle as Ladavic hit the belly thrusters.
Ladavic was one of those rare individuals, the kind whose minds are hard-wired for math. Although she did some calculations consciously, the vast majority was done below her attention, automatically by the subconscious. Of course, these kinds of calculations occur in every healthy mind; they are a natural part of the wonderful computer that is the human brain.
But some person's are more suited for such tasks, and Ladavic was certainly one of these people. Thus it was with all confidence that she continued to yank back on the thruster controls and pressed forward with the Young's full military power, driving the corvette up and outward, away from the planet. But her turn continued, arcing the angle of attack relative to the planet high and higher, until eventually, it reached, and then passed, pure vertical. The Young's superstructure began to groan under the acute pressures.
Ladavic began to ease off the thrusters then, but not on the thrust, angling as she did for a retrograde motion. The Young continued on her angle, now obtuse to her original path, constantly pushing more than four times her full mass' worth of energy out of her stern.
Ladavic felt the strain, the pressure as the ships had maneuvered even beyond the official design specifications. Thank God that engineers are a cautious bunch, she thought as she pushed the Young on a tangent to their original orbital curve. The thrust continued, unabated, driving the corvette further and further behind the planet's own rotation.
Almost there…Ladavic thought. Almost there… Now! With that idea, she cut thrust abruptly, sending the ship into freefall. But it was not to last, as she yanked on the control yoke, bringing the control thrusters on-line and burning to push the nose of the Young down, reversing her previous turn.
The Rodger Young spun one hundred and eighty degrees along her y-axis before Ladavic hit the thrust again, now angling for the planet below. She heard the gasps of her bridge crew, though whether it was from her angle of attack or just from the renewed thrust, she didn't know… Nor cared. Come on, baby, just need the speed, Ladavic thought as she hit the dorsal thrusters, bringing the nose up and around to match their original orbital curve. Ladavic cut the thrusters and hit their opposites just enough to bring the nose to a halt below the original angle.
Ladavic watched the computer's vector readout even as she slowly let the thrust off, eventually cutting it entirely. She carefully watched the numbers click over, and she used her screen to display the projected parabola.
She grinned darkly, her face almost twisting into a grimace. Only five minutes, good. "Weaps!"
"Got your back, skipper," the man at the weapons control behind and to the right of Ladavic replied. "Window's just long enough for two salvos."
"Broadside cannons, fire when ready."
"Aye aye sir," Weaps replied even as the Young shook with the discharge of her NAC-20s.
Ladavic grunted and then spoke in a feral growl. "Fire in the hole, assholes."
Van Horn had fallen to the caboose position in the chaos of running through the streets, explosions shaking the ground every minute. The screams of the young boy in his arms continued to ring through his head, but van Horn had made himself dead to feeling for the moment.
Finally, he caught up as the locals slowed to fit through an alley. Castellano had already gone ahead, while Sellers remained behind to ensure that none of the natives got lost as they filtered through the narrow entranceway. Sellers turned to face van Horn as he ran up. "Doc, wasn't there another one with that kid?"
"Yeah, was." It was all van Horn could say, and Sellers' silence prompted the other to go on. "It's down there?"
"Yeah, Dan already called to let us know that he's made contact."
"Good. We need to get these people into a basement or-" Van Horn began to reply, but then he was cut short by a light in the sky. Turning, he and everyone else in the street, alley, and city looked up as a narrow band of light illuminated the air, and caused an eerie glow on the northern horizon. Even as the light faded, two more, looking more like oversized shooting stars, raced downward along the same path and angle.
The shooting stars then disappeared beneath the horizon, and the entire northern hemisphere of the sky lit up with a brilliant orange-white light.
"Holy shit," van Horn said as the area fell silent. Then the noise began, the thunder-like crash of the Medium Naval PPC ripping across the landscape to be followed by the rumble of its impact.
Then they all heard the shriek of the cannon shells, followed quickly by the ground shaking as the solid earth transmitted the sound waves slightly faster than the atmosphere. Then the very air itself seemed to shudder as the massive crash and explosion of the cannon shells arrived, sounding like the crumbling of the world. Whole buildings rattled in the noise, and Tanzano itself vibrated with the impacts.
Someone, somewhere, spoke over an open frequency. "Jesus Christ."
Alexis woke with the first crack of the naval particle cannon, its sound reaching deep into her subconscious and dredging up the memories of the night that had begun the whole invasion.
She screamed, not because of any pain, but simply because the nightmares, the memory, and reality had all conspired to bring the feelings of fear and helplessness back and magnified. The she opened her eyes and her mind stopped as if it had hit a brick wall.
The scene was totally different from what she had seen last. The cockpit was filled with acrid smoke that burned her nostrils as it wafted from the right side of the command console, which looked broken. The screens in the middle and left sides of the console still worked, but they flickered intermittently as they displayed diagrams of the 'mech, whole portions of the outline in red.
Alexis then turned and looked at Tanaka, the latter still lying in her command couch. That was when the gatón realized that she was being pulled to her right by gravity. What happened? She wondered, and then shook her head. "Captain… Captain Tanaka?" She said, trying to get the human to wake up. Nothing came from the captain, however, and Alexis felt tendrils of fear creep up her spine.
Then the sky lit up, and Alexis turned to watch the Rodger Young's second strike, the particle cannon leading the naval autocannon shells by a few seconds. Its eerie glow, however, paled in comparison to the bright impact of the shells.
Then the noise rolled by, first the crackling thunder of the NPPC, followed soon after by the monstrous crash of the cannon shells. Alexis could feel the entire 'mech vibrate with the sounds.
Alexis didn't know what had happened, but as the explosions had stopped, she decided that she could unbuckle herself and see if Tanaka needed help. Carefully twisting in place, Alexis unbuckled her restraints and fell a half-meter to the back of the cockpit.
She grunted at the feeling of mild pain. Nothing hurt but my pride, she mused as she turned and grabbed onto the command couch, pulling herself up. Soon, she was half sitting on an arm of the couch, her face peering at the woman in the seat.
Alexis reached with her right hand and touched it to feel for a pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt a decent heartbeat thrumming through Tanaka's neck. Perhaps she's just out like I was? Alexis hoped for this as she unfastened a strap on the neurohelmet so that she could reach Tanaka's neck to see if anything was out of alignment.
Nothing. Oh, thank the Maker, she thought, as she found nothing wrong with Tanaka's neck. With that, she put a hand on the human's shoulder and shook her. "Captain? Tanaka? Wake up." She said, eliciting a slight, unconscious moan from the human. This gave her some hope, and Alexis shook harder. "Captain? Cassandra?"
Tanaka's eyes finally fluttered open. "Wha?" She mumbled. "What the fuck? My head…"
Alexis couldn't help but smile, despite the situation. "Captain, it's Alexis. Are you all right?"
At that, Tanaka's eyes flipped wide pen and she looked around for a second. "Alexis? What the Hell happened?"
The gatón frowned. "I was hoping you could tell me."
"Okay… Wait! I remember now," Tanaka replied, and her eyes went a bit wider. "Artillery! Are we still under attack?"
Alexis shook her head. "Nothing's happened for a bit, so I think the attack is over."
"Good," Tanaka said as she reached up to automatically check her helmet. She carefully re-strapped the helmet back in place and then looked over the computer displays in front of her. "Shit!" She cussed.
"What is it?" Alexis asked, a bit of fear in her voice.
"The goddamned gyro's out," Tanaka snarled and slammed a fist into the couch. "Completely wasted! I can't get the 'mech moving without it."
Alexis' eyes grew wide. "What do we do?"
Tanaka's face twisted up as she began to lean forward – and up – in her seat, flipping controls. "Now I'm going to lock this bad boy down so that no one can use it, then we're going to find some friends who can make pickup."
Alexis nodded as she pushed herself off of the command couch and out of Tanaka's way. "I see." She sighed. "Do you think anyone's left?"
"Dunno," Tanaka replied with a grunt. "Radio's shot too. Damn! Those artys must've been Long Toms. The armor and skeleton are ripped halfway to next Thursday, and just about everything important is out." Tanaka sighed angrily. "Well, it don't matter now. Let's get going."
Van Horn followed the last of the natives along the alley, Sellers right behind him, covering their rear. The anthropologist-soldier carefully cradled the young gatón in his arms, wary of hurting the boy with his suit's strength. He gave a silent prayer of thanks that the child had fallen silent, though the human also felt a deep sense of failure.
He rounded a corner in the alley then, coming into a small, courtyard-like opening in the alleyway, and he realized that it was precisely that; a small space for the denizens of the city block to have for the various happenings that any healthy community had.
Now, however, it served as a place where the frightened rescuees passed through, heading for a building that Castellano and Mikula waved them towards from their position near the main door.
Van Horn wanted to feel good at seeing his friend standing there, making small comments to the former hostages to encourage them to relax and head inside. But then the human glanced to the small child in his arms, and all he could feel was rage. At least the helmet is keeping him from seeing my face, van Horn thought. The kid's already wide-eyed with fright. The last thing I need to do is show him a scowling face.
The small child hadn't said anything, but he kept looking about, especially trying to look behind van Horn as he walked and approached the building. Tears again threatened to pour out of his eyes at the child's obvious search.
As he walked up, both Mikula and Castellano finally realized what van Horn held. "Earl? Who is this?" The former asked in English.
Van Horn shook his head lightly and replied in the same language. "His mother… Didn't make it." He said painfully. "Shrapnel hit her."
Mikula's face took on a look of shock. "My God…"
"Doc," Castellano's voice came in through his helmet. "I don't want to sound cold, but we need to contact the Lieutenant."
Van Horn turned his head a bit sharply at his friend, but then he nodded. "You're right, of course," he said and then looked at Mikula. "Can you take him?"
The lupar nodded. "Of course." He said, and reached out as van Horn bent to unburden himself.
But then the boy reached out and clutched to van Horn's armor, digging his hands into the seam near his armpits. Mikula's face reflected van Horn's own surprise. "Don't worry," the latter said softly in Gatonese. "He's not going to hurt you."
The boy shook his head, apparently too much in shock to speak. Van Horn frowned inside his helmet, trying to guess the age of the child. So damn hard when the gatón are so small, anyway, he thought in frustration. How the Hell am I supposed to tell how harsh I can be with him? Finally, he shook his head. "Fine," he said in Gatonese, and then switched to English for the other two. "I guess I can hold him and talk at the same time."
"You say so," Castellano said. "Just hurry up."
"Okay," van Horn replied absentmindedly. Then he used his helmet's control functions to link into the platoon frequency again. He then winced as he heard a babble of voices rolling through the channel. Shit, what's going on? Where's the Lieutenant?
Then Vickers' voice rang through. "Everyone, shaddup!" Van Horn managed a ghost of a smile at hearing the Lieutenant's familiar baritone. "All squads, count off!"
That began the process of troopers calling his squad name and position number, starting with Alfa squad and working their way down. Van horn motioned for his two fellow troopers to switch their radios to the frequency as the roll call continued.
Sellers added his own designation, and the list finally rolled down to Castellano and van Horn. "Sierra Eight, here." The latter called, ending the roll. He couldn't help but feel more pain at noting that three troopers didn't add in their voice.
"All right. I see not everyone is here at Nav Chi. All platoon members who can make it here get here now, and report to your squad commander. Those who can't make it, call me on channel 20."
Van Horn figured it was mainly he, and he easily switched over. He was a bit surprised to hear the leader of Foxtrot squad talking to Vickers. "Boss, I and can't leave just yet. This fire ain't out and there's more nearby."
Vickers sighed before replying. "I don't want you to. In fact, as soon as everyone else is assembled, we're coming back in to see about taking care of the mess. Who else you got with you?"
"I got Rivers and Diego," Foxtrot one spoke, referring to one of his own squad mates and a member of Delta. "I dunno where Sellers went to."
Van Horn then broke in. "He's still with me, Lieutenant, so is Castellano. We had to move our charges out of the hot zone."
Vickers grunted. "Good job. How is everyone?"
Van Horn gulped. "Armor's been battered, and I think Dan has a sprained arm," he added, half in surprise as he just noticed Castellano holding his arm strangely. "And one hostage was killed by shrapnel."
Silence reigned for a bit, and then Vickers spoke. "Where are you now?"
"We're where Firefly One One decided to stay. Small tavern, worker's quarter. We're not near any fires, so we're safe for the moment."
"Good, stay there," Vickers replied quickly. "We're going back-" His voice suddenly cut off. "Stand by, van Horn." With that, the channel grew a bit stronger as his carrier wave shifted to a new frequency.
"Doc, how's my man?" Foxtrot One asked, taking advantage of the lull.
"He's fine, like I said," van Horn replied slowly, turning as he did so to look at Sellers. "He's scared the shit outta any natives who've seen him, but his armor doesn't nearly have the same dings and dents as mine."
"Good. I may be needin' him soon."
Van Horn nodded absentmindedly, despite the fact that the man he was talking to couldn't see him. "I understand. We should be safe even without him."
Vickers' voice than came back. "Van Horn, you're safe there, correct?"
"Aye," he replied, wondering at the change in Vickers' tone.
"Good. I've just been contacted by Oni One. She and her passenger are safe, despite the hammerin' they took, but the 'mech's smashed and they're on foot. Get on channel 3 and give 'er directions."
"Yes sir," van Horn replied, blinking in surprise. They're alive, thank God.
Tanaka and Alexis crouched in a building's entrance alcove thirty meters down the street from where the Guillotine IIC lay. They were breathing heavily from their sprint there, and as well from the adrenalin flowing in their veins.
Alexis tightly gripped her sidearm, a small hold-out laser pistol. "So, what now?" She asked Tanaka, who grunted before replying. "Now, let's see who else is alive." With that, the human brought her rescue radio – salvaged from the emergency compartment in the back of her command couch, along with a small medikit – up to her face and triggered the channel. "This is Oni One, calling any Republic forces. Who's all here?"
Silence came on for a moment before Vickers' voice rang through. "Tanaka? Jesus, I saw you get smacked like a two-dollar whore."
Tanaka grinned a bit. "I guess I'm a tough bitch. Now, how's my lance?"
"They bugged out quick, rendezvoused north of the city. Me an' my boys are out, too, but we're getting' set to come back in." Vickers then cleared his throat. "I'm sure you saw what happened to the transport?"
"Yeah," Tanaka replied with a grimace. "So I guess there's no quick way outta here?"
"There might be…" Vickers replied, sounding as if he had just realized something. "Care to hold for a minute Captain?"
"Okay…" Tanaka replied, confused as Vickers switched channels.
Alexis looked up at the other woman in the alcove. "What do you think he has in mind?"
Tanaka shrugged, but didn't say anything. They both waited nervously until another voice came on over the channel. "Oni One, this is Sierra Eight. You copy?"
Alexis couldn't help but smile a bit at van Horn's voice. Then Tanaka replied. "I read you, Sierra Eight. What's the scoop?"
"The Lieutenant wants you to rendezvous with us. We managed to move the freed hostages to a safe place while we wait for the shit to settle, so you might as well get your ass over here."
Tanaka smiled a bit. "Okay, so how do we get there?"
Van Horn managed to give out the directions accurately, even as he paced unconsciously back and forth in front of the building that the rescuees had taken shelter in. "Y'all got that?"
"I think so. I'll call if we get lost. Over and out." Tanaka replied, and then van Horn heard the click of her radio signing off of the channel. With that, he sighed and then stopped pacing. Then he turned to where Castellano stood. "Dan, sorry to wait so long, but how's that arm?"
Castellano chuckled a bit, though his voice had the strain of pain in it. "'Bout time you noticed. It's not too bad, just a sprain, I think, from landin' on my belly instead of my back." He then grunted. "Though, if you could put your friend down sometime, I'd appreciate some help."
Van Horn felt his face burn. "Right, sorry," he said and then looked down at the gatón he still held in his arms. The boy had fallen asleep, apparently drained by the night's happenings and lulled by van horn's movements.
He turned then and walked for the door of the tavern, which was still open, though guarded by Castellano and Senmar. The latter stood aside as van Horn reached the door, crouching as he did so that he could look into the room.
The whole main room of the tavern was mostly filled with the freed hostages, all of them sitting in various groups at tables and booths. Van Horn noted that many of them didn't even bother to separate along species lines, and gatón and lupar often shared a table. Three lupar women who were obviously not former hostages walked between them, speaking with various people, and apparently bringing out mugs of some liquid.
Van Horn managed to spot Mikula leaning against the bar that lined the back end of the room. The latter had been talking to another female lupar to his right, before van Horn's appearance brought his head around to towards the front of the building.
"Mikula, over here," van Horn called quietly in English. The lupar nodded and quickly crossed over. "I see your friend has fallen asleep."
The human nodded. "Yeah. There a safe place I can put him?"
Mikula looked behind him, and he pointed to an empty booth in a corner. "Over there, I think," he said and then turned back to face van Horn. "Are you sure you can fit?"
"I'll know in a minute," van Horn mused as he duck-walked into the door, Mikula moving back to let him pass. The room, already pretty quiet with most of the people in shock, now fell deathly quiet as one of the strange beings they half-feared walked amongst them inside the building.
Van Horn frowned inside his helmet. Calm down, Earl. You can't expect them to change their opinions instantly, now can you? He thought with a mental sigh. And I really can't.
He then reached the booth and quickly and softly laid the child out on a bench, finally taking full stock of the boy. I can't tell how old he is, and I can't use size to judge with the Gatón being so small, anyway. He gave up and then turned to walk back for the main door, the eyes of everyone in the room looking at him.
Van Horn sighed inside his helmet, making sure that he wasn't loud enough to activate his microphone as he passed through the doorway and managed to stand erect again. "Ahhh," he mumbled as he stretched his muscles a bit. "Walking like that's a pain in the ass."
"I'll bet," Castellano said. "Now, what about my arm?"
Van Horn grimaced inside his helmet. "Okay, okay, just one more second," he said and then turned to Mikula, who had waited by the main door. "Mikula, I don't suppose you'd mind two more short-term guests?"
The lupar blinked. "It's not my establishment, but I'm sure that Mrs. Reyka wouldn't mind. Who's coming?"
"Captain Tanaka and Alexis. Their 'mech was blasted and they had to bug out." Van Horn almost instantly regretted his poor choice of words as Mikula's face showed shock. "Don't worry," the human added quickly. "Alexis is fine. They're both fine, but they just need a safe place to stay, like our friends here," he said and waved over the group.
Mikula sighed with relief and nodded. "Yes… Yes of course."
"Good," Van Horn grumped. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Dan needs some help."
Mikula flashed a quick smile. "He's always needed help."
"I heard that!"
Alexis felt her heart beat heavily as she followed Tanaka down the streets of Tanzano, moving from shadowed entrance to dark alley as they tried to avoid anyone seeing them. They had heard some natives walking about, talking to each other as they tried to make sense of the night's events. The eerie glow of fires burning in the city lit up the undersides of the smoke clouds they generated, casting an odd pallor over the area. Many Tanzanos were rushing to these fires now, working to contain them.
The two women huddled in an alley's mouth as three such individuals ran down the street they were taking. Just this last one, Alexis knew, and then an alley where everyone is at. Part of her felt happy that she'd soon see Mikula again, but the rest of her remembered that duty came first. Just like Cassandra told me.
Then Tanaka tapped Alexis' arm and then sprinted down the street. Alexis soon followed, and the two women finally arrived at the alley entrance that they sought. They then paused as a hulking shape lifted itself from the shadows.
"Captain Tanaka? That you?" Sellers asked, and Alexis sighed with relief at hearing a voice that was not in challenge.
Tanaka grinned as she lowered her pistol and walked over to where Sellers half-crouched. "It's me. Damn good to hear a friendly voice, trooper."
"I'd bet, ma'am, but I still need an authentication, just in case."
Tanaka frowned a bit, but she nodded. "Yeah, makes sense. My code's India Lima Papa."
Sellers nodded and stood fully erect. "Sorry captain. The night's got me on edge."
Tanaka waved him off. "Nothing to be sorry for, trooper. Though I wonder how many Wobbies have a gatón in attendance?" The latter part she asked with a small grin.
Sellers then seemed to have finally seen Alexis. "Damn. Didn't see you there Miss Hurano. Sorry."
Alexis smiled a bit. "It's no problem," she said, and then her smile died. "Did everyone make it here okay?" Is Mikula okay? She left the second question unspoken, knowing that it was redundant; they were all there because Mikula had found it to be safe.
"Most of us. One lady, though…" Sellers' voice trailed off, and Alexis felt a pang of sadness in her gut, despite not knowing who had died. It doesn't matter, though. At least, not right now…
Tanaka nodded at that. "Good. I take it they're all down the alley behind ya?"
"Yes sir. I'll call ahead and let them know y'all're coming."
"Thanks, trooper." Tanaka said and then began to walk down the alley, her pistol still in her hand, though now it was simply held low at her side. Alexis decided to mimic her, and she lowered her smaller pistol as well.
It only took a few moments to pass through the alley, and soon they entered the small courtyard between the buildings. There they saw van Horn finishing his task of wrapping Castellano's wrist and arm in medical tape to keep the sprain from getting worse. The latter had made this possible by unlatching the piece of his armor that had covered that arm, and he held the assembly in his right arm.
Castellano looked up as the two women approached, and he raised his right arm and waved with it, purposefully causing the empty arm and glove armor assembly to flop in apparent mockery. "Glad to see you two weren't toasted," he said.
"Not as glad as we are," Tanaka replied easily. Then she turned to look at the building by which they all stood. "Nice place, in a quaint sort of way."
"If you mean 'quaint' as 'dive,' then yes," Castellano replied good-naturedly, though with an undercurrent of pain as van Horn finished tightening the last piece of tape.
"Don't listen to Dan," the latter said as he turned around to face the newcomers. "He's just upset 'cuz of his arm."
Alexis frowned. "I hope you're okay, Dan?"
"Oh, don't worry 'bout me, Alexis," Castellano replied as he slowly slid on his loose piece of armor. "I'm too ornery to die."
"Indeed," Alexis replied. Then she turned to look at the door to the tavern, which had been closed to keep the refugees inside from being nervous at how the Republic soldiers still stood nearby. "I take it everybody is in there?"
The three humans shared a soft, quiet chuckle. "I think you mean to ask, 'is Mikula in there?'" Castellano replied.
Alexis blushed deeply. "I guess it's obvious, huh?"
"It is," Tanaka said. "But it's no problem; we need to sit someplace safe anyway, and I could use a drink." She added the last part with a wink.
Alexis smiled a bit at that and nodded. "Sounds good." I could use one myself, she thought. Though van Horn hadn't been keen on introducing his friends to the variety of human alcoholic beverages, the other M.I. troopers hadn't been so trepid. Though they were concerned enough to keep to light stuff, Alexis knew.
"Well, I'm sure that the proprietor can't be much more surprised tonight," van Horn added in, though his voice sounded flatter than usual to Alexis. "We'll stay out here while you two rest up." Then his voice lightened a bit, approaching his normal tone. "Just don't get so drunk that we gotta carry you."
Tanaka grinned a bit. "Sounds like a plan," she said, and then turned to Alexis. "Why don't you go on ahead and make sure that I'll be welcomed?"
Alexis nodded, smiling a bit as she caught the glint in Tanaka's eyes. They're all letting me have a few minutes with Mikula before duty calls again, she realized. "Thank you. I'll do that."
Mikula sat in the booth next to the one where van Horn had laid the child in, sitting alone for the moment as he tried to organize his thoughts. Is Alexis all right? Earl said she was, and I have no reason to doubt him… What to do when she gets here? How do we even greet each other in such an unusual environment, with both of us technically on duty? He then looked up and over the group of people to look at where his sister, true to her family, was helping others by bringing them water and food that Reyka offered. What will Kayla think? Hell, Senmar had some problems, and he's had some time to adjust.
Then the door opened and he turned his head to look at the new entrant. He then blinked and stood up rapidly, despite his aching side, his attention rapt on the person standing in the doorway. Nor were his the only eyes on her, dressed as she was in the abbreviated MechWarrior's outfit of a simply t-shirt and shorts over her undergarments, though it was augmented with her helmet and cooling vest.
But Mikula didn't care about that, as he moved forward, meeting her as she approached him at a fast walk. They met and drew each other into a tight hug, Mikula ignoring the pain this caused him.
Alexis nestled her head against his chest, closing her eyes. "I'm so glad you're safe," she said quietly.
"As I am concerning you," Mikula replied, his own eyes closed to enjoy the feeling of his love between his arms. "I worried so when Earl told me that you and Tanaka had to leave her 'mech." Although they spoke in Lupari, he easily added in the English word.
She drew back and out from his embrace, and they both opened their eyes. "It was… Harrowing. But we're safe now."
A light cough came from the side, and they both turned to see the entire room staring at them, and they both blushed deeply. Reyka, who had made the alerting noise, walked over from the bar area to them. "Mikula, you shouldn't be walking. Why don't you and your friend come sit down in the corner booth?"
Mikula nodded, desperate to get to some privacy from the stares. "That sounds like a good idea, Mrs. Reyka," he said with a nod, and then turned to lead Alexis towards the booth that their hostess had indicated. Alexis took his cue and they both made their way to the booth, followed by Reyka. Mikula took his seat first, sitting with his left side facing the room.
That's when Alexis noticed his wound. "Oh, my Gods," she said and then kneeled to look at the wound, much to Mikula and Reyka's surprise. "Alexis, what are you doing?"
"I'm checking it," she said, somewhat in a huff. "I do know some medicine, after all."
Mikula looked unhappy, but he sat still while Alexis lifted his shirt up just enough to get a clear look at the wound. He glanced over to the others in the room, and he blushed again as he saw people still staring, including his sister. Reyka, meanwhile, was trying to hide a wide smile.
Alexis then dropped his shirt and then sat in the seat opposite Mikula. "It looks good. Who did it?" She asked as she sat back in the seat.
"I did, actually," Mikula replied with a smirk. "I did pay attention in the first aid course."
Alexis smiled. "Of course."
"Well," Reyka added, bringing their attention to her. "So you're the Alexis Mikula's spoke of?" She asked with a smile on her muzzle.
Alexis now was the one blushing. "I suppose that I am, though I'm sure Mikula has exaggerated my good qualities."
Mikula frowned, and he looked about to say something when Reyka spoke again. "Well, I doubt he's exaggerated anything. In any case, do you want anything?" She waved towards the bar. "Things are on the house tonight, I guess."
Alexis' face twisted in horror. "Oh, no, I couldn't. I mean…" She blushed as deep as her physiology allowed. "I can't possibly ask anything of you, taking care of so many as you are."
"Dear, you're not asking, I'm offering," Reyka replied. Then she nodded to herself. "I'll be back then." She then turned and left before Alexis could object again.
Mikula smiled at that. "You shouldn't try to argue with Mrs. Reyka. She's more stubborn than I am."
Alexis turned back to him at that. "So I see…" Then she sighed, leaning back to close her eyes. "Gods, what a mess tonight is."
Mikula turned grim at the change of subject. "How bad is it?"
"Bad," she replied, shaking her head. "There are fires wherever the artillery shells hit." Alexis then shuddered. "Many could be dead."
Mikula cast his eyes down at the table at this, sobered as he was by the reminder. And here I am feeling good; happy that my loved one is safe, when so many people have lost their own… "Does anyone know why?" He asked.
"Why did they attack Kuamket? Why did they attack Hercor?" Alexis asked as she opened her eyes and leaned forward. "The Wobbies haven't shown themselves to be rational, Mikula."
Mikula looked up and nodded. "Yes, you're right of course… It's just that it's so terrible…" He sighed and shook his head. "It's like this is some nightmare."
Alexis nodded, but she held her tongue as she saw a female lupar walk over from the bar, followed by a larger, scowling male. Though the man made the gatón's fur rise along her shoulders, she saw something familiar in the woman.
"Mikula," the lady said as she came up. "Might we join you?" Her face was one of curiosity.
The addressed lupar looked up, and he blushed a bit. "Certainly Kayla," he said and then slid down the bench he sat at. Alexis frowned a bit as the female easily sat down, deftly smoothing her skirt over her legs, while the man with her simply stood a half-meter away from the booth, just eyeing the three sitting there.
Mikula then looked over at Alexis, catching her eye. "Alexis, this is my sister, Kayla. Kayla, this is Alexis," he said, using a hand to help his introductions with gestures.
Alexis blinked, and then smiled politely. "A pleasure to meet you," she said. "Mikula's only barely mentioned you to me."
Kayla's smile mirrored Alexis' own. "Well, he certainly hasn't said anything of you to me," she said and then looked accusingly at her younger brother.
Mikula blushed again. "I would have, Kayla, in time. It's just that…" He sighed as he paused. "It was enough of a shock for you to see me working along with the people who are now protecting us," he waved towards the closed door. "How would you have reacted if I told you that my love is a gatón?"
Although he said it gently, Alexis still felt a bit hurt at his words. Not that Mikula means anything by them. It's just what they represent.
Kayla frowned at her brother. "Well… I won't lie and say I wouldn't be shocked," she said slowly. "But I do care for you as my brother, Mikula, and that's more important to me than who you choose to be with."
Mikula smiled a bit at that. "Thank you, Kayla. It means a lot to me."
Kayla smiled in return, and then she looked at Alexis. "So, how did you two meet?"
"I helped to take care of Mikula when he was injured after his unit was attacked," Alexis said after taking a look at Mikula and receiving a nod from him. Then she blushed. "We've not been too far apart ever since."
Kayla smiled, even as Mikula blushed along with Alexis. "Sounds like a fairytale," she said.
"Sometimes it was. Sometimes…" Alexis' voice trailed off as she remembered.
Mikula cleared his throat. "It's not always been… The best of times," he said quietly. "It seems that danger follows us around."
"As well it should," the male standing near the booth added in harshly, getting looks from the three sitting. "Your relationship is unnatural."
Alexis felt anger rising in her, and she could see from Mikula's face that he felt it as well. Kayla, whose face also displayed displeasure, spoke next in a low tone. "Marner, nephew though you may be to me in marriage, do not think that I will suffer your insults to my brother."
Marner glared at her. "Insults? It is he who insults you and your family, and indeed, all lupar, by consorting with this gatón whore."
Mikula leapt up at that, though constrained as he was by the table, he was blocked by Kayla's mass. "You bastard! I'll rip your face off!" He yelled as he reached for Marner across Kayla, who had turned and was trying to hold her brother back.
Marner was sneering, and about to say something again when something kicked his legs out from under him. He fell forward, and his muzzle slammed into the table with an audible clack of teeth. The impact stunned him, and he couldn't do anything as his weight carried him past the table to fall to the floor.
Alexis, who had slipped out of her seat to trip the lupar, now kicked him in the belly to stun his solar plexus, driving air from his lungs. As Marner struggled for breath, she kicked him again in the shoulder to flip him from his side to his back, and she quickly laid a foot on his neck, digging her toe claws into the fur there.
"You listen to me you motherless cur," she said in a low, snarling voice as she leaned over to stare into Marner's face. "If you wish to insult me, do it to my face. Furthermore," she then dug her foot into his neck further, closing off his throat a bit and constricting his breathing even as his muscles recovered enough to let him draw air. "Insulting Mikula and his family by insinuating that he would dare to associate with street trash is a cowardly jab. As is waiting until he's penned in behind a table and his sister when you say it.
"So, until you can wash that taint of cowardice from your fur, I suggest you not speak to us again." Alexis then took her foot off of his neck and stood back, letting Marner take in ragged gulps of air. He glared at her, though the constant panting of his body rendered the look significantly less potent.
"I think you should go now, Marner," Kayla said, standing as she did so. Mikula, surprised and shocked at Alexis' behavior, simply sat on the bench. "You've insulted me and my family. Though we may be kin by marriage, do not think that your actions have in any way honored you or me." She said and waited until the other lupar stood. "Go, and tell my husband that though I care for him deeply, I shall not suffer any more of his family until he himself comes for me."
Marner glared at Kayla. "He will not be pleased at this," he said, though the rasping nature of his voice robbed it of any true menace.
"Then I will deal with him when he comes." Kayla replied as her ears laid back against her skull in anger. "Now, go."
Marner glared openly at the three sitting at the booth. Then her turned quickly and walked quickly from the room, heading for the kitchen and the back door to the building, which was the entrance that Kayla and he had used to gain entrance to the tavern.
Kayla sighed, shaking her head. "That damned fool," she muttered. Then she turned slowly to look at Alexis, Mikula doing so as well with his head. "I don't think I've ever heard of a gatón beating a lupar in a fight before."
Alexis blushed deeply, sitting down back into the booth before replying. "I've learned a few things."
"I'll say," Mikula said in quiet shock. "Alexis…" His voice trailed off as his face twisted to mirror the struggle within his head as he fought conflicting emotions.
Alexis blushed as deeply as she could. "I'm so sorry, Mikula, and you too, Kayla," she looked at the latter as the female lupar sat down. "I lost my temper, and made that shameful display." She looked down on the table.
The change in her attitude quickly cleared the storm in Mikula's head, and he leaned over the table to reach out and arm to squeeze Alexis' shoulder. "Don't be sorry. You defended your and my family's honor, and with far less blood than I would have done it with." He smiled slightly at that.
"I agree," Kayla said earnestly. "I didn't know that gatón women were so… Aggressive."
Alexis looked up. "We're not… Normally…" She sighed and then looked back at the table. "I just couldn't sit there and hear his poison a moment longer." While still looking at the table, Alexis reached up with her right hand to grab Mikula's where he still gripped her shoulder, and she squeezed it. "But I still am ashamed. I should have just knocked him out cold instead of taunting him like that."
"You… You could do that?" The surprise in Kayla's voice brought Alexis' head up, as did Mikula releasing her shoulder, though she and him still held hands in the middle of the table. Alexis nodded in reply to Kayla's question. "As I said, I've learned a few things," she said with a ghost of a smile.
"More than just fighting, eh?" Mikula asked with a small smile of his own. "I see spending some time with Tanaka and her lance has affected you."
Alexis blushed at that, realizing the truth in it. "Yes… Yes, it has, though it merely let me see how much I've changed from all my time with you," she squeezed Mikula's hand again. "And as well with our friends."
Kayla sat back in the bench seat. "Sounds like you two have had quite the experience."
Mikula chuckled. "You could say that. I only gave you the highlights when I told you my story last night."
"I'll say," a new voice came in, bringing the heads of all three around to see Mrs. Reyka carrying a platter. She set it down on the table, and Alexis could see that it held three mugs of water and a small plate of food. Must be some sort of appetizer, the gatón thought, seeing that the food consisted of several distinct, uniform pieces. The sweet smell of sugar and water wafted from them, and Alexis realized that it must be a fruit.
Reyka handed out the mugs and placed the fruit in the middle of the table even as she spoke. "I've never seen anyone handle a man in his prime so easily before, especially not a woman." She said musingly. "I take it that your friends that you spoke of, Mikula, helped you two to learn that kind of fighting?"
Mikula nodded. "Indeed they did," he said as he and Alexis released each other's hand so that they could sit back properly. "Amongst other things, as well."
"Speaking of your friends," Reyka added as eh finished laying the dishes out so that she could hold the serving platter under her arm. "Do they want anything themselves? I'll be happy to help them, as well."
Mikula began to shake his head, but he stopped when he saw Alexis nod a bit. "Not all of them, but I have a friend out there who would like to sit, since she doesn't have any armor." She spared a glance to Mikula long enough to see him give her the slightest of nods. "I don't suppose you'd mind her coming inside for a bit?"
Reyka shrugged. "I don't see why not, though I hope she won't scare the others. Not after that scene you just had here," she said with a small smile.
Alexis blushed again. "Well, though our friends are different in attitudes from the invaders, they are the same species, so she'll look similar to the invaders. Only she's not on their side." Alexis made sure to place scorn on the pronoun referring to the Wobbies. "I just wanted to warn you."
Reyka frowned a bit, but she nodded. "Well, thank you for that. And yes, she can come in. They all can come in if they want, in fact."
Alexis smiled a bit as she got off of the bench and stood up. "Well, I'll tell them that, though I doubt that they can with their armor getting in the way." She then bowed slightly to Reyka. "Thank you for all of your help."
"Anything for friends of the Farkas family," Reyka replied with a smile. Alexis smiled back and then went off towards the door, ignoring the stares she got from the other natives in the room.
Reyka, meanwhile, turned back to Mikula with a grin. "You certainly have good taste after all, eh Mikula?"
He blushed at that, and all the more so when Kayla chuckled. "Indeed. I like her."
"Thank you," he said with as much feeling as he could muster. "I know how special she is, but it's nice hearing it from those I trust."
"Well, I'm glad you weren't waiting on us, then," Reyka added, still smiling.
Kayla then cleared her throat. "Mikula, uh, you know my feelings, but… Does mother know?"
Mikula smiled at his sister. "She knew before I did, I think," he said, and then blushed. "Alexis and I… Well, we sort of had to be smacked in the face with our feelings before we acknowledged them." His countenance took on a faraway look then, and he stared into space. "We almost never had the chance…"
"What do you mean?" Kayla asked, bringing Mikula's attention back to the present. He shook his head to clear it a bit. "It's a long story. I'll tell it to you sometime, I promise."
Kayla nodded, when gasps coming from some of the others in the room drew the attention of the three lupar to the main door. Mikula could feel his sister tense a bit at the sight of Tanaka walking in, bent over a bit to fit into the room, but still mostly upright. Alexis led her quickly to the booth, and Reyka easily stood aside to let them in.
Alexis went into the booth first, letting Tanaka sit down carefully on the bench. The latter sat only on the edge, however, so that she could let her legs spill out into the area beyond the table, so as to not crowd out the others.
"Kayla, Mrs. Reyka, allow me to introduce Captain Cassandra Tanaka of the Neo Tokyo Grenadiers," Alexis spoke to the others. "I apologize that I or Mikula will have to translate, since she doesn't know but a few words of Lupari."
Kayla, though a bit intimidated, nodded to Tanaka. "Pleased to meet you," she said, being echoed by Reyka a moment later, and then by Alexis when she translated their words. Tanaka smiled broadly to them and nodded, speaking slowly so that Alexis could relay her words. "She says thank you for the welcome, and would you have any ale?" At the last, Alexis blushed and smiled a bit.
Reyka blinked at that, and then laughed. "A hard one, eh? Well, I'll go get some," she said with a smile and walked off.
Van Horn was pacing again, this time consciously as he waited for news. Sellers had left a few minutes before to rendezvous with the rest of his squad, and the Vanquishers, as a whole, were bouncing around inside the city, helping to put out the fires started by the artillery. Although the troopers didn't know Lupari per se, van Horn had managed to get them to learn a few basic words and commands so that they could warn or offer assistance. From the radio reports he was listening in on, van Horn could tell that it was helping, as the Tanzanos, though frightened initially by the metal creatures in their midst, became less frightened when these monsters only fought the fires, and not the denizens.
Still, the question remains on what to do next? He wondered naturally. Vickers is in touch with Ladavic and Kujira, but with the Young moving around in her orbit, we won't be able to get a pickup for some time. Of course, recalling the transport that was carrying the WMDs before it could make it to the Young was out of the question. The whole bloody point of this raid was to get them as far as humanly possible from the Wobbies.
"Doc, if you're not careful, you're going to wear a hole in the ground," Castellano said, somewhat amusedly, though the night's exertions were taking its toll on his normal manner. "Besides, the suit uses more power when you're moving."
"Yeah, I know," van Horn said, coming to a stop and turning to face Castellano. "Not much more, of course, but I concede the point."
"Aww, and here I was going to think we could have a good argument." Castellano chuckled a bit, some of his old mirth coming back. "Ah, but seriously, Earl, if you're too busy walking back and forth, you might miss something."
Van Horn nodded. "You're right, of course." He sighed. "I'm just worried… But I suppose we all are."
"Hell yeah," Castellano replied. "Which reminds me. I was wrong earlier."
"Oh?" Van Horn sounded puzzled. "About what?"
"Seeing a transport lifting off without you isn't the loneliest feeling in the world. Seeing the one specifically for you blown up is." Castellano replied with a small, dark chuckle.
Van Horn grinned a bit inside his helmet. "Ah, dipping into the gallows humor already, Dan? You should have a more positive attitude."
"Oh, but I am positive," Castellano replied with mock seriousness. "I'm positive that we're up shit's creek without a paddle."
They both chuckled at that, the humor helping to lift their mood a bit. "Ah, well. I wonder what the Lieutenant's got planned?" Castellano mused openly.
Van Horn shrugged enough to make his suit mimic it. "Who knows? But I'll place my faith in him and Ladavic any day of the week, and twice on Sundays."
"Heh. Well, hopefully, it'll involved a change of scenery," Castellano said and he looked around. "This place is nice, I'm sure, but I get antsy not being able to see all around me."
"Yeah," van Horn replied with a nod. "But it's better than bein' shot at 'cuz you're in plain sight, isn't it?"
"I guess," Castellano replied, not sounding convinced. "Still, I'd rather be on the bounce."
Van Horn sighed. "Same here, man."
"Van Horn," Vickers' voice broke into their local frequency. "Situation?"
"Sir, nothin's changed since Sellers left to rejoin Foxtrot squad. We're still standin' here, and the secondary objective is still secure."
Vickers grunted. "Good to hear somethin's goin' right," he said. "The Wobbies apparently don't have anyone left in the city, apparently. The artillery barrage must've been their last card for now, so Kujira and Ladavic have decided that we just might try a General Lee."
Van Horn blinked a few times in confusion. "Sir?"
"Oh, right, you didn't go to OCS. Well, wait one and I'll explain to the whole platoon."
"Yes sir," van Horn replied as Vickers' carrier wave clicked off of the frequency. He then looked to Castellano, who shrugged despite his arm. "You got me doc, as to what the Lieutenant's thinkin.'"
Then Vickers' voice came back, though now it was not as powerful as it was spread over the entire platoon's frequency. "Listen up Vanquishers! We have a change in orders.
"It seems clear now that we've cleared out all the Wobbies from Tanzano. Intel thinks that the artillery barrage was a last-ditch attempt to keep their WMDs from flying the coop, given the fact that they can't afford to loose humans on a planet where they're already outnumbered."
Van Horn listened carefully, fully appreciating the fact that Vickers preferred his platoon to be fully informed. The sign of a good leader is letting your men know why you're doing what you're doing… Within reason, of course.
"So what does this mean? Well, it means that we are going to be taking the offensive to the Wobbies even more now. We just might be stayin' here in this city, dependin' if we can get permission. If not, we'll move out after the fires have been taken care of and look for a place to set up a decent camp.
"Either way, get used to some dirty livin' for a while, people, 'til we can get some army pukes to rotate out here. So be nice to the locals, and try not to step on their toes, all right?"
"Ooh-rah!" Though the cry wasn't as forceful as before, it still held the feeling of pride in it.
"Good. Squad leaders, continue clearing ops 'til further notice."
Then Vickers switched off the main frequency, and van Horn shifted his listening to the local one. "Well, that's interestin.'" Van Horn commented.
"I'll say," Castellano replied. "I wonder if those Intel guys haven't got a screw loose."
Van Horn shrugged. "Well, look on the bright side: Now we can keep the Wobbies from comin' back here and terrorizin' these folk."
"Yeah, I guess." Castellano didn't sound convinced.
Then Vickers' voice came in on the local frequency again. "Van Horn, you still got Firefly with you there?"
"Yes sir," van Horn replied with a small frown creasing his lips.
"Good. See if he knows anyone we can go to and see about conversin' with the local government. We don't want to be a bother, after all."
"Aye aye sir."