14. Surprises
"Go! Go! Go!" Ari hollered at the last fighter to enter.
Jack leapt down onto the ground behind her and drew his sword. They nodded at each other and charged forward into the darkness of the base. There were yells of surprise up ahead, and some clanking armor and scuffling noises, but by the time Jack made it into the main lodge, the first struggle was nearly over. Troops 40, 41, and 42 were all staggering around, bleary-eyed and unarmed, menaced by the Jissa regiment.
A few women looked up at Jack and smiled. Jack returned it and jabbed his thumb at the door that lead to the dungeons.
"Pack them in."
"Aye sir!" said an enthusiastic spear-thrower. "Come on you louts, move it! This way!" She poked a grubby soldier in the rear end with her spear and he yelped in surprise.
In minutes, three of the nine troops at Tarrenko were out of commission, thoroughly convinced that their fortress had been taken over by enemy forces. Jack held out a hand to stop the women in the main hall.
"We still have the element of surprise, I think. I will wake each troop in turn and herd them in here."
Ari nodded at him, and for the next half hour, things went like clockwork. The soldiers, sleepy and surrounded, (most were still in their night shirts) did little to fight back. Unt-Ork took half of the Jissa fighters and cleaned out all the newly-empty barracks, "liberating" every weapon and bit of armor they could find and exchanging their own hand-made protective gear and weapons for the stronger metal stuff. Soon, most of the regiment was delightedly clanking around in helmets and breastplates several sizes too big, laughing as they gathered real swords and good, iron spears.
Meanwhile, a small contingent of fighters (the cooks, mostly) went to the kitchens and took plenty of sacks of raw foodstuffs, leaving a decent amount of food behind for the captives. In order for the resistance to escape properly they needed a head start, and the only way to achieve this was to lock all the soldiers away – but those flimsy doors wouldn't hold. When the men escaped the dungeons, and when they met the locked iron gates of the fortress and realized they were trapped inside, they would need to be able to survive until the resistance took out the Empress and gave them back their minds. Nothing was clean-cut in this war. Even the soldiers weren't strictly enemies. They were fathers and brothers and sons, and if any could be spared, it was worth it.
Jack ran from barrack to barrack, doing shepherd duty. It was almost scary how well the soldiers took his orders. Most of them went where they were told without question, marching themselves into the dungeons with their hands on their heads while members of the Jissa regiment taunted them and poked at them. Without directions to smite anything that moved and armed to achieve this, were remarkably docile. And better yet, it seemed that Yazzi had not been alerted to the situation.
Everything was going perfectly … perhaps too perfectly.
Troop 50 threw the world into its rightful balance. The soldiers refused, point-blank, to take orders from Jack, even when he menaced one of them with his sword and threatened to kill him if he didn't move.
It was time for an intervention. Ari and her sword-swinging regiment, now armed with real swords, "convinced" them with little fuss (only three slaves were injured) and trapped them in the dungeons, which were now so full of soldiers that every cage was crammed with them, arms and legs and what-not sticking out of the bars at random angles, eyes blinking in confusion.
When the last soldier marched in, Jack slammed the door to the dungeons and turned to the women.
"I call victory!" he yelled, and raised his sword.
The fighters cheered. One raised a fist in triumph, but her armor was too heavy for her, and she overbalanced and fell over.
And that was the precise moment, although no one was to know it, that everything went to hell.
Unt-Ork came charging in, panting, followed by her raiding party, loaded down with the soldiers' weapons and extra armor. They were passing things out at random. The alien wasn't helping, though. She was on her hands and knees, breathing hard, sweat dripping down her grey face. Around her neck was a string of glass bubbles that clanked together. They looked exactly like the glass pendants she'd given the other resistance leaders.
"Have the other leaders made contact with you?" Jack asked. "We will only move once they have."
Unt-Ork had devised a rather clever system for communication. Each resistance leader had a necklace with a glass bubble pendant. When the pendant was smashed, it would open a mental link with her. Unt-Ork had warned them against smashing it too soon, as maintaining mental links was a huge energy drain on her, so the leaders had all agreed only to open the mental links once the bases had been taken care of. Once the channels were open though, Unt-Ork could relay news back and forth between all the regiments.
"Yes, Errol, Joinu, and Kleigo have all made contact," she said. "The dust is clearing. Errol's regiment took the base without incident, but after the soldiers surrendered, no one could find Portkippis. Joinu and Kleigo's armies lost people but they contained the soldiers. And Ebbi's army took their base too, but it was a bloodbath. Ebbi is dead –stabbed. She smashed her communicator and turned it over to someone named Tryeste."
Jack bowed his head. "How many are gone?"
"Total?"
"Yes."
Unt-Ork mopped off her face and closed her eyes, concentrating. "Two hundred."
Jack gritted his teeth in anger. This was unacceptable. The whole idea of taking the bases (Phase 1) was to do it quickly and without loss of life. He knew they would lose some fighters … but senseless slaughter, especially this early in the game, was Not The Point.
"I don't want to say this," Unt-Ork went on, "But I think we've lost the element of surprise. We got lucky, but something went wrong. Somebody must have tipped off the other bases before the attacks could begin … that's why the other three regiments lost so many."
There was a sudden hush in the room.
"Yeah, well, I hate to bring more gloom, but has anybody seen General Digger?" Ari asked into the silence. "I mean, she's not really bright, but she's got better ears than I do. We weren't exactly ninja fighters – she has to have heard something. Where the hell is she?"
"That's why I came running," said Unt-Ork. "She's gone."
"And so is General Portkippis!" said Sankra, standing with the other healers. "They could both be on their way to the Central Palace to warn the Empress! She'll be rallying forces before we get there!"
"I know," said Jack.
Everyone turned to him. "I did not wish for this to happen, but I foresaw the possibility," he said. "We have lost a huge advantage. We have no way to surprise the forces of the Empress any more, and I am not sure we can face down her army without sustaining heavy losses. Remember, you have trained yourselves for two months to contain and disarm, to avoid killing at all costs. They have been trained to kill first and think later."
"What's your point?" Ari asked, narrowing her eyes.
"My point, and my order, is that all of you remain behind. Stand on the perimeter of Tarrenko, make camp here, and make sure no soldiers escape. Unt-Ork, relay that same order to the other regiments."
But Unt-Ork didn't budge, and the whole regiment stared at him in shock.
"WHAT?" said some outraged person in the back.
"We have lost enough fighters already, and realistically, this is a fight you cannot win," Jack explained. "You would all be killed. It is safer if you devote yourselves to containing the soldiers and I go alone."
There was a sudden angry buzz in the room.
"That," said Ari, as she stood rather impressively and sheathed her new broadsword, "is completely insane."
Sankra faced Jack and spoke to him sternly. The effect was a little off as she was speaking to a spot ten inches to his left.
"I agree. All the other forces are already on the move for the Central Palace. You would ask them to turn back, even the Gorovi regiment, after everything they've just been through at that base? That's nuts!"
"What if they are met on the road and ambushed? They are unprotected!" Jack argued, but he could tell he was losing this one.
"Better unprotected than hiding in the shadows of a place where so many died, fighting with their backs against a wall," Sankra countered. "You have to take us along. There's no guarantee of anything, but it's safer for everyone to be farther from the enemy and closer to you."
"Well said!" somebody piped up in the back. The rest of the women were mumbling agreement.
"We won't get a better opportunity to stop this," Ari added. "And we have to assume," she finished, grabbing her cloak angrily, "That the snake-eyed, drooling bitch is making a run for the Central Palace to warn the Empress. I say we get the hell out of here and help you out, no matter what it comes to!"
There was a roar of approval at her words. Jack looked around at his fighters, all now wearing the soldiers' armor and carrying their new weapons. Many of them were grinning at him, their faces grimy and tired. Some of these people were going to die, no matter what he did. But Ari was right – they deserved the chance to do something.
Jack gave them a brief smile. "You are all brave and strong. And I can think of no higher honor," he said quietly, "Than fighting at your side. Come. We march."
So Jack led the tattered regiment into the night. It was a tense and silent crowd that clanked along through the wind and rain, knowing they had no hope of reaching the palace before Yazzi Digger. Soon, there would be patrols issuing from Gunzai, looking for the resistance – with the express purpose of destroying it.
Sankra held Jack's hand and the other healers chained out behind her for navigation. Ari headed up her company, with Unt-Ork riding piggyback and saying "Yes, go ahead" and giving marching directions to what seemed like thin air, but everyone knew better.
They went all night, and hunkered down the next day in a grove of trees. With the benefit of day light, Jack now had a better idea of where they were heading. He looked out over the hilly, tree-choked terrain they were facing. There in the distance, tiny and dark, was the central palace at Gunzai.
It was at least three nights' journey from here at full march. And that wasn't even counting if they got stopped. Jack sighed and looked back at his regiment.
Life, as chaotic and terrifying as it was, had settled for the moment. Cooking fires were going. Food was boiling for the midday meal. Almost everyone had taken off their armor, and the women hardly looked like the soldiers they were.
The scouts had returned with word that no troops were coming their way, and Unt-Ork had informed him that the rest of the regiments were camped out like they were, all approaching Gunzai from different angles. It would be a multi-directional offensive once they got close enough.
Unt-Ork was asleep, leaning against Ari and snoring. Ari was sitting with her back against a tree, talking to Sankra, who was stretched out on the grass. Jack wandered over.
"Hey there," she said. "Sit down."
"Who's there?" asked Sankra, as Jack flumped down onto the grass.
"Him," Ari replied, and this was enough, because Jack was the only man around. "So wait a minute. You know my Gui-Gao?"
"Sure," said Sankra, smiling and looking about six inches to Ari's right. "She's from my village. Beadworker. She's very nice, but a bit … well, you know."
"Yes, I know," said Ari. "Did the Empress do that to her?"
Sankra rubbed at the skin on one of her fingers. She sighed. "No. She was fine once, but then her family married her off to a man who beat her. He did a number on her one night and left her for dead in a ditch. Someone from O-mashen was traveling home and took pity on her. I watched Uta heal most of her injuries. But there was nothing she could do about …" she tapped her head. "That part. Things like that, we can't fix."
All three of them were silent for a moment. Jack's thoughts meandered to the thing he was trying to fix, something that was looking a bit more impossible with every moment. This was after all a battle of slaves versus soldiers, no matter how one sliced the pie. He wondered where Xio was now, if he had escaped, if he would be able to help. And as much as he didn't want to think about it, he wondered when the fighting would begin, and who would live, and who would not.
They traveled onward for three more nights and camped for three more days without incident, and the reports from the other regiments were mercifully the same. Unt-Ork got very tired of saying "All quiet." But on the last night, when they had traveled down mossy slopes and approached the edges of the solemn plain where the castle stood, now looking much more imposing with its thick outer walls and no perceivable towers, two scouts came running to Jack in a panic.
"Sir! Sir!" shouted the first. "Soldiers! Hide!"
Jack turned and gave a silent signal to the rest of the regiment. In seconds, women were ducking and diving every which way behind trees, armor and supplies clanking noisily as they ran.
He ended up behind a tree with Unt-Ork. Some base instinct asserted itself and he picked her up, should they have to run again. She allowed herself to be held and leaned her head against his chest. He could feel his heart hammering against her skull.
Suddenly Jack heard the quiet clomp-clomp-clomp of hundreds of feet coming their way. The soldiers were not in sight yet. Most of the regiment was absolutely still. Ari was adjusting her grip, her eyes glinting in the moonlight, her ears twitching this way and that. Sankra and the other healers were secure behind another tree. Each of them had hooked themselves to each other by their belts. Sankra's hands were clasped together tightly and she was mumbling an incantation or a prayer. It was hard to tell which.
Unt-Ork gasped and pressed her face against Jack's breastplate. Something was wrong.
"What is it?" Jack whispered.
The little alien opened her fathomless black eyes and stared at Jack in desperation. "Errol's regiment is under attack. They've lost six. What do we do?"
Screams began to ring out into the night. They were coming from a long way off, bouncing off the valley walls and terrifying the Tarrenko regiment. Some of them shook and quivered so their armor clanked a little.
Jack gulped and felt his heart speed up as he considered what to do. The soldiers were out on patrol, and hadn't discovered their regiment yet. They were right on the edge of plain, within fighting distance of the castle. There was just enough moonlight to make their armor shine eerily and that, combined with some good old-fashioned war cries, would help their odds a bit.
If there was a clearer sign to charge in and help, he could not think of one.
"We attack," he hissed.
And with that, he gave a low whistle. Ari's head whipped around. She nodded at him and raised her broadsword.
Several things happened at once. The sword fighters made to move. The healers, understanding the noise, all stood up and joined hands for balance. Sniggla, the fat melon-ball creature, had proven useless with a sword so she was assigned the duty of leading the healers to a reasonably safe spot. She darted out and grabbed Sankra's hand. The artisans took out their knives and daggers and waited for the final order.
"Unt-Ork," Jack whispered, "Tell Errol we have our own battle but we will make for her position as fast as we can. Tell her to hold the line, disarm the soldiers, and do her level best not to kill anybody."
Unt-Ork nodded and scrunched her eyes shut again to give the order. Jack put her down. She trotted off to join the healers. Jack took out his Gunzai-issue sword. He had safely strapped his sheathed katana underneath his backplate. He had no intention of using it, but he didn't want to lose it, either.
The soldiers were closing in on their regiment. Jack could feel it. The clomp-clomp-clomp was getting much louder now. He could see them coming now, a troop of over 200 men. He was almost to the point of raising his sword and letting out a war cry when he heard a voice behind him in the bushes.
"Samurai," it whispered.
Jack spun around. "Who is there?" he whispered back, mindful that the soldiers were getting close.
"Never mind," said the voice. "When you attack the Empress, you must break her golden staff. If you can do that, you will save everyone. Good luck!"
There was a rustling and then Jack was alone again, confused, but not for long. The troop of soldiers came marching up right to the grove where the Tarrenko regiment was hiding. It was now or never.
Jack nodded at Ari across the copse of trees, lifted his sword high into the air, gave a battle-cry and charged the soldiers head-on.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The rest of the regiment followed suit. They burst out of the trees like a swarm of harpies, screaming and using their weapons with a grace that would have done Jack proud had he been paying attention.
The soldiers, scared out of what remained of their minds, clumsily fought back. It was pandemonium. Weapons were swinging wildly in every direction, and most of the soldiers' swords went clattering to the ground in a few minutes. Soon, but not soon enough, they were surrounded by the Tarrenko regiment, weapons pointed at them from all directions.
"Remove everything you wear!" Jack shouted at them, and the men, seeing they were surrounded, wasted no time in taking off their armor.
Once they were all confused and shivering in their underclothes, Jack menaced the one soldier with his sword. "And now you will all run that way."
He pointed with the tip away from Gunzai and back to Tarrenko. "If you return," he went on, pressing the side of his sword to a nearby soldier's neck, "You will be killed."
The soldiers looked at the regiment. Ari swiped out with her broadsword and some cooks started growling. More screams rang out from Errol's struggle far away
"LEAVE! NOW!" Jack shouted.
The soldiers yelled and fled in a confused mass, leaving all their belongings behind.
Jack whistled to get his regiment's attention. "Everyone take one item with you. We can't leave anything here in case they come back."
The regiment set to the task, picking up armor and weapons and shields and hip-pouches of Borko beans. In ten minutes they were ready to move.
"We go to the aid of Jilken!" Jack yelled, finding the front of his troops. "This way!"
He made haste along the edge of plains, the regiment stringing out behind him.
TBC