Chapter CVIII: The Empire Strikes First - Part 2
1 Nov 0851 KST
Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea
Da-hee and So-hyun were busy evacuating the 4th's forward operating base in the Gangnam District train station when the Imperial forces arrived. They had come to gather the small contingent of fighters that remained on guard there and bring the civilians back to their headquarters in Seongnam while the Imperial threat was being neutralized. They had taken one bus load back already and were here now to make their second and final run. They had nearly completed the evacuation when the enemy arrived after going up and down scouring the city streets for their prey.
"Fucking shit! I so do not need this today." So-hyun complained.
Two APCs, four pickup trucks, an RV and a number of motorcycles whipped around the corner and immediately opened fire, gunning down a dozen civilians and fighters before the 4th's people could even respond. In retaliation So-hyun took up her rifle and sniped a man operating a truck mounted machine gun. The Gangnam station guards split up, half of them went to protect the bus with Dae-hyun which held most of their people and the other half went to defend the station with So-hyun where the last few of their number remained. A man running between the station and the bus was shot three times along the ribs and fell dead halfway to his destination. Gunfire resounded in both directions as the Imperial forces dismounted from their vehicles and took cover, firing back all along the way. So-hyun shot one fighter dead while one of her comrades clipped another in the right calf, bringing him down. The wounded man was dragged behind some rubble while two other Imperial fighters covered him with streams of rifle fire. So-hyun and her fighters sought refuge behind the smashed vehicles in front of them to hide from the barrage of gunfire. A grenade exploded in the space between other vehicles and rubble a few meters north of them sending bits of dirt and cement chips raining down upon them. Da-hee and her group fired upon one of the APCs and pounded on the bus to tell the driver to retreat before the APC's mounted machine gun could tear it to shreds. The bus sped away leaving the APC's gunner to poke holes in the ground, taking only one of Da-hee's compatriots to the next life with its barrage.
A group of civilians came out carrying bags and were accompanied by 4th Korea fighters giving no space for the Empire with a continuous rotating stream of fire. The Imperial fighters wearing skitter skin armor were able to absorb some of the rounds and keep fighting, allowing them to stand in the hail of bullets and return fire, dealing at least as many casualties as they received.
"Is that everyone?" So-hyun asked.
"Almost! There's a few more still down there!" one of the fighters shouted back to her as he sought cover behind a mound of bricks and steel A-frames.
Meanwhile So-hyun sent one of the other fighters ahead with the bus to evacuate the civilians while they loaded up the remainder onto a handful of unarmed cars and trucks they had around the station. Packed in tight the vehicles took off with So-hyun and the other fighters covering their retreat. Those soldiers who would have returned back to So-hyun's side were prevented from doing so by heavy Imperial fire leaving one of them dead and another wounded in the knee. The wounded man was carried away and slumped into the back of a truck which abandoned the scene leaving only a car that barely ran and the So-hyun and Dae-hyun's squads motorcycles
"Innocents are clear. Let's pull out!" Da-hee shouted to So-hyun who was shooting back at the Imperial troops from behind a pile of collapsed building materials.
Three of the soldiers to So-hyun's right scrambled to their bikes and sped off to escort the last group of civilians.
"There's still some downstairs in the station! We can't leave them!" So-hyun shouted back.
"We can't do anything for them now! There's too many of them to get through!" Da-hee protested.
"Damn it!" So-hyun cursed. She hated the idea of leaving anyone behind. What if that was her or someone she cared about that was abandoned because of the "greater good?" As bullets struck around her and Imperial foot soldiers inched closer she was forced to concede her powerlessness in the situation.
"So-hyun! We have to go!" Dae-hee insisted.
The car intended for the civilians was shot to pieces by the combined machine gun fire from the two APCs, flattening all its tires, demolishing much of its internal components and killing a soldier hiding behind it. A fighter next to Dae-hyun was hit in the forehead spraying a bright red spatter of blood mingled with thick soil from the man's skin and shredded brains from deeper within his head. Dae-hyun ran before she met the same fate. There was no way to get the civilians out now, they wouldn't survive on foot and So-hyun and her men wouldn't survive if they remained here much longer. Reluctantly, So-hyun slung the rifle over her back then she and Da-hee mounted motorcycles to flee behind the rest of their people. The civilians left behind took up the arms that had been abandoned with them and moved up to make a final stand at the entrance to the train station. All the while Sang-hoon and his platoon moved into position and surrounded the station.
Sang-hoon sent Beom-seok along with two cars and three motorcycles chasing after the fleeing civilians while the rest of his force penned in the remaining fighters that held the entrance leading down below. One of the Imperials opposite and ahead of Sang-hoon lobbed a grenade behind the barricades of rubbish and concrete barriers which the defenders hid behind. The explosion killed one and wounded two of the fighters that had concentrated the most fire towards Sang-hoon's squad. It was followed up by a flash bang that allowed the Imperials to rush in and seize the remaining people down below while taking minimal casualties of their own.
Meanwhile Da-hee and So-hyun were gaining ground towards the rear of the evacuation convoy with Beom-seok's squad in hot pursuit. They zig-zagged through some side streets to draw off one of the cars and a motorcycle after them. So-hyun took her submachine gun off the clip holding it to her waist and shot it off behind her wildly spraying bullets until she dismounted the motorcycle rider. She and Da-hee then rounded a corner leading the car into a tight turn. As the two bikes nimbly parted to each side the Imperial vehicle slammed into a disabled moving van parked in the middle of the road right after completing the turn. When the two bikers returned to the main road they opened fire on the second car which was passing by the alley from which they emerged from. The gunfire killed the driver and wounded several others in the car thereby ending the pursuit. So-hyun shot dead one of the fighters coming out of the vehicle as the Imperials returned fire on them and made efforts to swap out a new driver.
Being in the clear for a moment the two women managed to catch up with the evacuation which was chugging along as it maneuvered through a tight space full of destroyed cars and buildings. Once they got back up to speed Beom-seok appeared from an adjacent street having taken a short cut to cut them off but instead emerged behind them. Beom-seok riding in an old model Land Rover was gaining on the two women holding up the rear behind the last of the civilian evacuees riding in a sluggish overloaded compact car. He fired towards them though they swerved to where the bullets struck the concrete around them. He was closing in and fast. They could outrun him on their nimble bikes but they would be abandoning the civilians in the process.
"We're not going to lose them. We have to fight!" So-hyun asserted.
"We have to hold them back long enough for the civilians to escape!" she reiterated to Da-hee and the other fighters.
So-hyun took a grenade out of her jacket pocket, pulled the pin and rolled it towards her pursuers as they closed it. They were forced to swerve around the explosion and slow down which allowed the evacuation to increase the distance between them, if only for a moment.
After regaining the lost ground and then some Beom-seok shot out the right rear tire of the compact car at the tail end of the civilian retreat. The tire shredded itself to pieces and flew apart. The bare rim sparked as the car continued to flee before it mounted the curb around several parked vehicles and was forced to stop. So-hyun and Da-hee pulled their bikes over and got the women and children out of the car and gave their bikes to them. They zipped off, two people to a motorcycle leaving the two fighters and two teenage boys left on foot. So-hyun took out her secondary weapon, a K1A submachine gun and handed it to one of the boys while Da-hee gave up her extra pistol to the other.
"We'll take one of their vehicles and get the hell out of here." So-hyun assured the others.
She sent the boys and Da-hee into a brick building behind them while she herself remained on the sidewalk behind several disabled vehicles and a newspaper booth to draw the attention of their pursuers. She shot a flurry of bullets towards the passing vehicle, wounding Beom-seok in the shoulder, right arm and breast and thereby preventing him from lacing the area around her with a storm of bullets. So-hyun then retreated inside the building next door to the one the others were hiding in. Predictably Beom-seok yelped out the order for his driver to stop. As Beom-seok slinked down into the vehicle to mend his wounds the other fighters save the driver exited and in military fashion crept around the cover of parked vehicles towards the building walls where So-hyun and the others were hiding. A pair of motorcycles sped down the road after the remaining civilians moments later but by that time the evacuees had already gained enough ground to elude them. So-hyun provided suppressive fire to keep one team of Imperials pinned down on the street side of the disabled vehicles. Meanwhile Da-hee and the boys fired upon the Land Rover from the second floor of the building they were in tearing up both the driver and Beom-seok leaving them dead in a vehicle perforated with dozens upon dozens of holes.
While fuel, motor fluids and blood leaked out of the vehicle the group opposite So-hyun advanced along the wall below Da-hee and entered into the building she was holed up in. They moved up to the second floor while Da-hee and So-hyun were focused on the second group outside. The teenage boys caught the Imperial fighters coming from behind them and turned to engage. Both groups opened fire at the same time killing an Imperial soldier along with one of the boys. The second boy was wounded while the soldiers burst in and shot Da-hee in the left calf causing her to buckle down backwards freeing the Imperial soldiers on the street from gunfire in one direction. With both of them wounded the Imperials stormed the room and Da-hee and the boy captive. Their captors tossed aside their weapons and dragged the pair outside. Meanwhile while So-hyun paused to reload her hiding place was stormed by Imperial fighters and she was taken captive as well. She met Da-hee outside and they were taken back on foot. Minutes after they were taken away by Imperial fighters a pair of aliens mechs arrived on the scene; mechs that could have been their salvation if they had arrived sooner.
Back at the 4th's former position at the train station Sang-hoon and his minions had gathered together all the prisoners they had taken and looted whatever meager supplies remained down below. In addition to Da-hee, So-hyun and the young man with them Sang-hoon's captured seven of the civilians that were still left down below. They put the prisoners hands behind their backs and wrapped them in twine before forcing them down on both knees. Sang-hoon walked around in front of the captives and stretched out his shoulders, cracking his neck to both sides in an effort to intimidate them.
"My, my, my. You little shits sure gave us a nice little game of cat and mouse. I believe no one told you the rules beforehand though; you see, you weren't supposed to shoot back at us, that was very naughty of you. You were supposed to just stop, lie down and let us do with you as we would. We would have been a lot gentler to you all that way, I promise. Now it seems you're going to have to apologize to the friends and families of the people you killed." Sang-hoon taunted the prisoners as he paraded in front of them with his rifle slung over his back and a pistol in his hand.
He stopped speaking for a moment but kept walking up and down the semi-circle which he had the prisoners positioned in. As he passed by a trembling man who looked down and away from Sang-hoon when he passed Sang-hoon gave a look of disgust and immediately shot the man through the top of the skull as he walked away. Sang-hoon did not give a moment's thought or hesitation to the execution nor showed the faintest sign of remorse when he walked away. Some of the other prisoners tried to get up and charge him but were promptly put back down in their place with a shove or a smack to the back or the head. Sang-hoon stopped and raised his pistol as if he was going to kill another prisoner and fired off four rounds. The shots struck a skitter who had climbed over the rubble behind Sang-hoon's squad's APC. The skitter took two shots to the shoulders, one to the face and one to the throat and tumbled down the slope of the pile of concrete and debris twitching in a pile of outstretched limbs. One of the Imperial fighters nearby put it out of its misery with a makeshift spear fashioned from a knife blade hafted to a broomstick which was jabbed through the wound in its neck deeply and twisted until the alien ceased its motions.
"This shit is too damn loud. It'll attract more Geomis over and well I don't feel like seeing black blood all over the place right this second. I leaning a little more, red if you get my drift." Sang-hoon mused.
"Won-jae! Bring me something a little more quiet will ya?" Sang-hoon barked orders at one of his henchmen.
The henchman handed Sang-hoon a pick axe in exchange for the pistol. "Load that bitch too." Sang-hoon ordered him.
While Won-jae reloaded Sang-hoon's pistol Sang-hoon slung the pick axe over his shoulder. He eyed several people on the line among them was So-hyun. Not to be intimidated by a big man with a crude piece of mining equipment So-hyun spit in Sang-hoon's direction. Her spittle landed on Sang-hoon's dirty, scuffed black boot and mingled with a clump of a yellowish grey clay substance stuck on its outer surface forming a sticky mud of sorts. This act caught the unit captain's attention.
"Well, well. The girl's just asking for it isn't she?" Sang-hoon threatened her as he sauntered over towards her.
One of the Imperial fighters got behind So-hyun and held her neck back, tilting her head up in place and set his knee on her legs effectively pinning down the bound captive. She looked up at Sang-hoon still unafraid. She knew she was going to die anyways, better to go out with her pride intact rather than groveling on her knees.
"You want to be introduced to the big boy eh?" Sang-hoon teased her.
He lifted up the boot that So-hyun had spit upon and wiped the muddy spittle on her chin prior to giving her a medium strength low crescent kick to the side of the face.
Sang-hoon slammed his boot down and laughed. "You aren't good enough for the big boy bitch!" he taunted her and then with but ten seconds of delay he stepped two men down the line and swung the pick axe with tremendous force into the side of the head of an arbitrary male non-combatant from Gangnam Station. The pointed end of the pick axe smashed through one end of the skull and out the other end sending bones, blood and brain fragments flying across the pavement peppered with loose stones and spattering onto the woman next to him. The force was so tremendous that one could see blood vessels in the man's neck rupture and muscles tear in the throat turning the entire side of the neck red, purple and blue. The strike had nearly taken the man's head off as if the corpse that knelt where there had once been a man cared if he had retained his head or not. With two strong jerks Sang-hoon removed the bloodstained pick axe and handed it to a fighter that followed along beside him as he resumed pacing up and down the line.
"Now that you fucks know we mean business we can begin." Sang-hoon said in earnest.
"It seems you fellas aren't just a bunch of hoodlums hanging out in a train station. I know you're shacking up with what's left of the good old Republic of Korea Armed Forces. These types aren't exactly the ones to be screwing around all willy nilly. So, I know you have a plan and I know you have a base of operations out there and it certainly isn't this piss stained hole in the ground." Sang-hoon addressed the prisoners.
"What I want to know is where this base of operations is because you dirty fuckers are becoming quite the impediment to getting these six legged freaks off this fine rock we call Earth. I need to have me a little heart to heart with your leadership and get them to understand the situation we have with them, get them to come around to our way of thinking and hope they do the right thing." Sang-hoon continued.
It was quite ironic as it was this self-declared Empire that were the ones preventing any real effort being focused against the aliens at the present time. The 4th Korea had been solely dedicated to defense and reclamation of Earth until these guys started a pissing match over who would be king of the ashes the spacemen leave behind. So-hyun, Da-hee and presumably others knew that any talk of negotiations between Sang-hoon and the 4th's leadership was a lie. Their leadership had already extended the olive branch of peace and in return that olive branch was set alight with a blowtorch in their faces. "The right thing" for their leaders to do in the Empire's eyes was for their leaders to kill themselves and that simply wasn't going to happen.
"Go to hell!" a woman screeched defiantly from the northern fringe of the semi-circle.
"Madam, look around, we are in hell." Sang-hoon replied as he walked towards the woman.
He left the pick axe and his gun in the hands of other men and knelt down beside her. He flinched out a partial smile as he watched the woman tremble, trying to look courageous though her fear was ever so obvious to him. Sang hoon leaned in and licked the side of her face before standing up, reaching his fingers through her hair and stroking it backwards as he walked around behind her. His fingers caught the tangles within the woman's sullied black mane and Sang-hoon clenched his fist around her hair. The woman gasped in shock and tugged forward to no avail. Sang-hoon pulled back the hair of the defiant woman and slammed her face first into the ground. The impact broke the woman's nose on contact and when Sang-hoon pulled her head back up and released her streams of bright red ran down from her nostrils and lower lip. A patch of skin was torn away on her forehead from the rough crumbling asphalt on the ground and her cheeks and eyebrows were similarly scratched up. Sang-hoon released the woman and stepped away.
"I only let you live because you're pretty." Sang-hoon said pointing both his right ring finger and middle finger at her.
"Hear that boys, this bitch is claimed. Got that?" Sang-hoon called out to address his own troops.
"Now the next one of you little shits won't be so lucky. So get to talking." Sang-hoon said as he was handed back the pick axe.
It didn't take long for someone to crack. The spineless little weasel was at the southern end of the semi-circle in a direct line of sight from So-hyun. She could see the coward clearly, a clean shaven man, late 20s, frizzy medium brown hair in brown slacks and a sullied light beige button down shirt covered with rows of black, orange and brown lines criss crossing to form squares all over it. The scrawny little fuck certainly had no balls. As if he could really barter with them. Their only chance of survival is if Bremer and company managed to clean out the rats' nest that was the Imperial base soon enough and these douchebags decided to wait and execute the lot of them back home, you know for the amusement of their peers rather than capping them on the spot. If the stars aligned just right then the rest of the 4th would be there in time to save them but realistically they were all going to die and So-hyun knew this. Unfortunately that sentiment wasn't shared by all of the prisoners.
"I know where it is." confessed one of the prisoners.
So-hyun looked at the man in disdain. He was just about to forfeit the lives of all their friends by his betrayal. "That son of a bitch!" she thought. He wasn't even going to spare his own life. They would certainly kill him once he had outlived his usefulness. He was going to sacrifice the 4th Korea's civilian population for what, another 16 minutes alive? What was worse is that she had seen this man before in camp; she knew he had been to Seongnam at least once. So-hyun fervently loosened the twine binding her hands, cutting her wrists in the process until they had given enough slack for her to slip them through. The guard behind her paid no attention to her efforts as he was watching Sang-hoon and the man who was about to sell out the 4th Korea to them.
"So spill it. Where are they?" Sang-hoon asked.
So-hyun twisted around, took her captor's gun and shot the man who was about to confess to Sang-hoon. Unfortunately her captor reacted just in time to force her hands down before she pulled the trigger so the bullet intended for the throat of the traitor pierced through the forearm and the waist of the man, injuring him and inflicting insufferable pain in his loins but leaving him alive and well to betray them. So-hyun's captor wrestled her to the ground and took the gun back. He held So-hyun's face against the rough pavement with his forearm on the back of her neck, his knee in her lower back and the gun pressed up against the back of her skull. Two more Imperial fighters rushed over to help him restrain So-hyun and stand her back up.
"The bitch has some spunk in her I'll give you that." laughed Sang-hoon, completely oblivious to the wailing of the wounded traitor.
"We can't be having that kind of attitude around here now can we? How about you fellas take her down below and fuck the insolence out of her? We'll cart her back to the Emperor when you're done." Sang-hoon said to So-hyun and the three men restraining her.
Sang-hoon picked a couple more men to go with the three men as he sent them and So-hyun away. "That should do it." he smirked and turned his attention back to his other captives. They were all visibly shaken by the multiple instances of brutality Sang-hoon had displayed without the faintest hint of remorse. Most notably now the women feared him more so than the men, for they most likely had a fate worse than simple death to look forward to though there was no certainty the men would be excluded from the same fate for despicable people come in all varieties and may have very differing tastes between them.
"Anyone else want to be a hero today?" he challenged them.
"Good." he said after several minutes of silence. "Now that we've got that out of the way let us continue." Sang-hoon declared moving back and leaning in towards the wounded man who was about to confess. The man was sniffing and whimpering in pain about to break down in front of his captors.
"Stop your whining. Geez, what a wuss!" Sang-hoon mocked him.
Sang-hoon lightly kicked the side of the man's wounded arm to show that he felt the pain was just an act although this main really and truly was in horrible pain. Sang-hoon's utter lack of concern only served to further humiliate the traitor.
"Now tell me where you filthy fucks are hiding out?" Sang-hoon said pressing his gun against the side of the man's temple.
"They're in an abandoned concert venue by a pond in the southeast of Seongnam. It's by a hotel and a driving range with a whole bunch of trendy restaurants." the man confessed.
"Are they? I guess we're going to go have to take a look." Sang-hoon said as he grasped the man by the back of the collar and stood him up.
Bright red blood stains flowed down the man's pant leg and dribbled out onto his foot as he stood there shaking. Sang-hoon pointed towards his men and the other prisoners and directed a portion of them back to the vehicles and then turned to the others.
"Someone get over here and plug the leak on this asshole! I can't have him bleeding out before he leads us back to his head honcho." Sang-hoon commanded.
"Take the rest of these turds back to the Emperor." Sang-hoon told a team of his men before sending them back with the remaining prisoners.
Though she was not there to witness it So-hyun's ghost of a chance to make it out of this alive seemed to have a little more substance to it now. Still it was no reason for her to get her hopes up already. The timing had to be so precise. If they attack hadn't commenced yet or worse yet the Empire had repulsed it then she would be too well guarded or perhaps moved elsewhere during the duration of the fighting. If Bremer had already laid the place to waste Sang-hoon and crew would likely kill the prisoners then and there as retribution. There was always the chance that any aliens that hung around would slaughter them all as well. The Empire would certainly capitalize on tossing the prisoners aside as bait to escape a full on alien attack, that one was a no brainer. The odds of crossing paths with a retreating or victorious 4th Korea were also slim to none as well. So-hyun's ghost of a chance was still just a ghost of a chance. Da-hee commiserated in her stead as she was packed into the back of an armored truck once used to deliver cash to banks with dozens of other prisoners. Among the last glimpses Da-hee saw in the new day's light was the image of Sang-hoon getting up close and personal with the traitor.
"You're going to lead me right to your home base and if I think for a second you're trying to deceive me you and all your friends are dead." Sang-hoon warned the man that confessed to him before leading him away.
Sang-hoon then pushed the wounded man into one of the armored vehicles. He was followed by one of Sang-hoon's goons with a strip of torn cloth to act as a temporary bandage to slow the bleeding. Sang-hoon then climbed into the commander's station of the APC and waited while the other prisoners were loaded onto the armored truck and a couple other secure vehicles. When the traitor was patched up enough to last the trip and bound doubly tight he too was set up in the commander's hatch next to Sang-hoon who put his arm around the man to hold him steady lest he attempt a noble suicide by rolling off the vehicle when it was in motion. Sang-hoon highly doubted this wimp would do that judging by his behavior thus far but in any case, just if he let a sudden rush of loyalty go to his head Sang-hoon was ready. All was then set and Sang-hoon ordered his forces to roll out; the prisoners would be taken back to Kwang-su once So-hyun's "initiation" ritual had concluded while Sang-hoon proceeded onward to the 4th Korea's main base.
Once again within fifteen minutes of the departure of the last Imperial vehicle which left Gangnam Station a cold empty monument to death the aliens arrived in force. Three dozen standard class scout mechs and just shy of a hundred skitters swept through the area. This wasn't a simple patrol, alien patrols rarely had more than two mechs and at most a dozen or so skitters. This was a massed fighting force presumably en route to engage the 4th or the Empire as that offensive was certainly underway at this time. This alien host could have been sufficient to overwhelm Sang-hoon's unit and spare the 4th Korea back in Seongnam a very nasty visit even if So-hyun and her fellow prisoners perished alongside their captors. If only it had arrived sooner. So it seemed fortune had not been kind. The 4th could only hope this delay would be beneficial to their assault on Kwang-su's stronghold for it certainly was not in the interest of their own home base.
