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Chapter 8

Darkness

Time seemed to slow down as the tip of the javelin penetrated Sean's side. He felt a tug and sharp pain as it sliced through flesh and muscle, smashing through bone. As the imparted momentum swung him around , he felt his CAR-15 fly from his hand where he had been firing it one handedly. It seemed to fall to the ground slowly, the strap fluttering behind it.

Sean twisted as hell fell his left arm and right knee seemingly not working to support him or arrest his fall. Sean wondered at this for a second before remembering. His helmet rolled off his head as he came to rest on the ground. As he lay on his side on the ground he was amazed at the texture of the dirt, how the light seemed to dance and shift as it streamed through the foliage. With tremendous effort he focused his thoughts on the approaching drakai. The large 13 foot warrior was drawing a gleaming steel sword from its belt.

The large sword captured Sean's attention, in the back of his head Sean was thinking about how it seemed to resemble a scimitar though it was significantly larger as befitted the drakai's larger stature. Right now Sean was more worried about what it would do to him rather than its origins. But it was a distant concern, as if somehow it didn't affect him. Curiously none of his wounds seemed to be hurting either, though Sean knew he should be writhing in pain. Dimly he heard Jonesy's voice squawking out of his helmet comm. but it was like it was happening to someone else. Sean decided that the slow moving warrior would reach him when it did or it wouldn't and he wouldn't trouble himself about it. With that he leaned his head back against the ground and thought on the last few minutes.

Earlier...

"Welcome to Nachhome."

Sean stared in wonder at the majestic building. Then frowning he considered something else

"Jonesy, how long has this been here?"

Jonesy looked at him askew for a moment then replied.

"Well if'n I'm remembering this right... bout 4 years or so."

"So you were here when it was built?"

"I most assuredly was, never forget that sight long as I live."

"Then how-" Sean was suddenly cut off by a long note that seemed to come from something that sounded uncomfortably like a hunting horn. Jonesy face went pale for half a second, then he seemed to smile almost manically.

"That" He said enunciating slowly, "Was the sound of a drakai hunting party, letting others know they had found us. There will be about twenty of them, heavily armed and fleet of foot. "

He looked back at the gate and seemed to be calculating the distance in his head.

"We won't be able to make it before they cut us off." He said with heavy finality.

"I'll draw them off, lose them in the woods, and double back." Sean was saying. He stopped speaking when he noticed Jonesy was shaking his head.

"So what, we just sit here and wait to die!" Arutha said standing up from where he had been sitting on a fallen tree and striding towards them stopping only a foot away, his 8 foot frame towering over Jonesy's own 6'4".

Sean thought about doing or saying something to diffuse the situation, but Jonesy simply looked up at the large Meechan and spat a wad of tobacco that he was perpetually chewing on into the dirt at Arutha's feet, forcing him to step back on get spat upon.

"The problem is, none of you can get in without being accompanied by me, anyone coming in for the first time must be accompanied by someone who has already been there, or the nachi wards will stop them from entering, it will also be quite painful." Jonesy explained slowly, as if talking to a child.

"So if you split up, only one group will make it in, that's the real reason Nachhome hasn't been overrun." Jonesy concluded almost tiredly.

Sean stepped up close to Jonesy and started speaking quietly and with some urgency in a tone that brooked no argument.

"This is what is going to happen, you will take them and you will get them into Nachhome. I will draw them off, I have superior weapons and armor to everyone in this group, I have the highest chance of survival. Once they are inside, you will then come out and escort me inside, is that clear Sergeant Jones?"

For a moment it looked like Jonesy was going to argue but 15 years in the military, most of which spend as an NCO, had taught him to follow the voice of authority even if he felt he was right, and as a lieutenant Sean definitely outranked him.

"Yes Sir." Jonesy slowly ground out, his tone telling Sean that later, if they both survived there would be Words.

Sean quickly stripped of his pack, leaving behind his M-110 and P90, taking with him only his USAS-12, CAR-15, and sidearm. As he was doing so Jonesy stepped up and thrust something towards him.

"Take this, it'll do you a lot more good than that hatchet, and it's special."

Sean and Jonesy locked gazes for a moment, then Sean gave a quick nod and took it. It turned out to be a kukri, about 21 inches long with a 15 inch blade. Jonesy was right, a kukri would be able to generate more force and could also be used for stabbing, albeit awkwardly, and the thick and heavy spine would be able to be used for parrying a strike.

Sean unhooked the hatchet and handed it to Jonesy, then slipped the kukri into the sheathe which he then hung diagonally across the left side of his chest, allowing for a quick removal of the slightly curved blade.

He then stood up, moving more quickly now that he had shed so much of the weight he had been carrying. Sean considered saying something to Arutha, Syphis, and Tara in case he never saw them again, but another loud blast of a horn changed his mind. Still getting used to the light load he set off in the direction of the horn as the rest of them started moving in the opposite direction.

Corporal Newton suddenly looked up as her helmet chirped, sitting upright on the cot she was resting in, he helmet on the table next to her and her armor hanging on a rack on the other side of the bed. Her room could at best be described as Spartan, thought the barren would be more appropriate as she had almost no personal belongings. Standing at 6'7" and with long blonde hair and fair skin, it was no surprise her nickname had been Valkyrie, especially given her profession as a combat medic. She wasn't sure how she had come to this land, as when she arrived she had been unconscious, but shortly later she had been found by Jonesy and brought to Nachhome, as the Meechan called it or as it was known among humans, the citadel.

Her helmet beeped again, demanding her attention and she picked it up and place it on her head. Almost immediately she could see that this was important. Friendly Forces in Vicinity, flashed across the hud, she quickly called up information on that and a short bio of Lieutenant first class Sean Turner popped up on the screen, complete with a picture and a readout of his vital signs, something only medics and squad leaders had access to.

Frowning she slipped out of bed and walked across the room and quickly slipped into her armor, the form fitting material accentuating her figure, all the while skimming through the info. Her first impression of him wasn't favorable, the picture was the most recent one available as of 2017. A face crossed with scars and burns, wasn't his most flattering picture, but as she began reading the awards, she let out a low whistle. Purple heart, Bronze star, Bronze star with valor device, CIB, CAB, EIB, basic snow cone, Sapper tab, EOD badge. Noticeably absent was the good conduct badge. Rated expert in pistol and rifle, sharpshooter in carbine, submachine gun, and grenade.

A beacon showing his position popped up on the map in the bottom right corner show his position relative to hers. She paused long enough only to get her gear that she never went without and her personal weapon. Stepping out of her room she began moving upwards through the twisting tunnels of the citadel until she finally reached ground level. Stepping around towering Meechan she slowly made her way to the gate.

"Hey Val, where you going!"

Fiona looked up to the top of the gate and saw the figure of CWO Kate "kit" Kiturney leaning over the side and looking at her, dressed in a similar looking body armor, but thinner and grey colored instead of a camouflage pattern.

"I just got a hit on a Friendly force in vicinity I'm gonna go check it out, you get a hit too?" Fiona spoke quietly into the Comm. unit instead of yelling.

"Naw, pilot helmet remember? Wouldn't be very good getting a hit on every soldier I flew over." Shouted Kit as she opened the gate, still not using the integrated comm. system.

"Whatever, just tell Jonesy where I am if he gets back before me." Spoke Val quietly as she stepped outside the gate.

"Will do, good luck and good hunting!" Shouted Kit as she closed the gate behind the retreating form of her friend.

Sean paused to get his bearing, there had been 18 drakai following them, he had killed two or three when he had initially come across them, then he had drawn them down a path on which he had placed his two remaining claymores, after those had went off he had hit them when they were still in shock. by his count they were down to 10-12. Checking his ammo he was relieved to see that he had plenty of ammo for that many drakai.

He set off once again, trying to leave a trail that they could follow, as he leapt over a stream Sean was started to see three drakai waiting for him, even more startling was that one of them had a bullet hole in its shoulder, they had somehow gotten around in front of him and now he was the one being ambushed.

He twisted to the right and just barely missed being gored by a javelin. Raising his shotgun, he put three rounds in the first two before one finally closed the distance between them. Swinging a large club at Sean's head, only a quick dodge prevented his head from being removed from his shoulders. As it was the club caught him on his left shoulder, throwing him back and making him lose his grip on his shotgun.

As Sean landed he quickly rolled to regain his feet, ducking another swing he quickly freed the kukri Jonesy had given him. As it came to hand he felt a curious tingle in his hand. Swinging it with all the might he could with just one arm, he smashed it into back of the drakai's knee, to his surprise it easily cut through the scale, flesh and even bone. The large drakai fell onto its face and Sean wasted no time in decapitating it with the same ease as before.

Before he had time to ponder this the rest of the drakai appeared on the other side of the stream, only seven now. Re sheathing his kukri and quickly bringing his pistol into hand, he let loose a whole clip and was gratified to see a drakai fall, and then he was off running again. His left arm hanging uselessly at his side.

Fiona's helmet beeped again and displayed an update on the status of lieutenant Turner, his vitals were erratic and seemed to be indicative of being in combat, a few seconds earlier she had heard what sounded like shotgun blasts and now she knew what those were. In addition he seemed to have sustained a break on his humorous, and his stress levels remained elevated, meaning that he was still in combat.

Gripping her weapon, she felt a tinge on unease. If the lieutenant had run afoul of drakai, she wasn't sure if she would be much help. Medics usually carry a great deal of supplies in addition to the standard infantry load, and as such tend to carry smaller weapons, in her case she was carrying a TDI vector firing .45 Super with a rate of nearly 1500 rounds per minute. In her room she also had a Spectre M4 which fired a .45 ACP and had a larger magazine but a slower rate of fire. While an effective man stopper, the performance of the pistol round was degraded in the face of drakai scale.

Sean was receiving this lesson right now as his pistol locked back on empty and the drakai kept coming at him, despite 6 rounds center mass. Dropping his pistol he scrambled to bring his CAR-15 to bear, holding it awkwardly in one hand he fired off three rounds and nearly had the weapon ripped from his hand by the tremendous recoil of the .458 socom rounds. Sean had just fired one of the sloppiest groupings in his life, but at least the drakai went down.

Slipping the sling over his neck and shoulder, Sean found that his accuracy and control were good enough to begin targeting drakai from beyond point blank range. Facing down the remaining three drakai, two were holding swords and a third had a javelin in its hands and sword in its belt. Sean quickly realized that this was his greatest threat and moved the muzzle of his rifle onto its outline. Suddenly he felt something gripping his right ankle and looked down just in time to see a large scaled fist smash into his calf. As Sean felt his tibia break, his balance shifted and he found himself on one knee struggling to keep from falling over. Unfortunately for the drakai holding onto Sean's ankle, the shift in posture happened to swing the muzzle of the CAR into line with its head, squeezing the trigger Sean sent three rounds into its skull from point blank range, the first round shattered scale and caromed off to the side, though the sheer kinetic energy transferred to the skull shattered. The second round exploited this breach and easily went through the skull, through the soft brain tissue and rebounded off the back of the skull. At this point the drakai was well and truly dead and the third round was simply insurance.

Rising to a half crouch, trying to get his weight off his broken tibia Sean could barely get a bead on the closest drakai, pulling the trigger and not quite sure where the bullets went Sean would have been disgusted to know that even firing one handed from a horrible shooting position that only five of his ten rounds had hit and that only three had been in a vital area. Never the less that was enough to put the drakai down. Sean tried to swing his gun back in line with any of the drakai but it was futile, in this moment Sean was convinced he was going to die.

Fiona hear gunshots up ahead and increased her already frantic pace, the marker on her hud was redundant now as she was simply following the trail of dead drakai. She marveled at them, she personally had only in her entire time here killed about twenty, and now here it looked like this lieutenant Turner was going to get that many in this engagement.

Suddenly a condition update flared up detailing a broken tibia and with the message "Non Ambulatory" cursing softly she was suddenly interrupted by a comm. request. Accepting it she heard Kit shouting in here ear.

"Val, be careful there's about twenty drakai hunting this guy, Jonesy just showed up with a troop of Meechan, he says be careful, that Sean isn't responding to comm."

"I'm almost there, I'll update when I know more." Fiona replied, cutting the comm. link so that she could concentrate. She was getting closer to the beacon, only twenty meters away now. stepping off the path she moved off to the side, approaching the beacon from ninety degrees off of her original track. As she came to within ten meters she suddenly broke through the foliage.

The scene that confronted her was one of death and carnage, there were several drakai lying dead around a small figure dressed in mottled green and yellow reactive combat armor. Firing one handedly, with his other arm hanging limp, and on one knee looking about to fall over Fiona could tell that he wasn't going to last much longer.

Just as that though went through her mind the more distant drakai threw it's javelin at the lieutenant. For a half second Fiona held onto the hope that his armor would defeat the projectile, but the sharp edge sliced cleanly through both sides sending his weapon flying from his hand. He twisted as he fell, face away from him and she watched as his helmet rolled off his head.

Moving forward she snapped her weapon up at the drakai that had thrown the spear. Drawing a bead she quickly depressed the trigger. Deciding to be safer than sorry, she put the entire magazine of 30 rounds into it. The .45 rounds seemed to do little to its 12 foot frame, but then it collapsed to its knees then fell face first onto the ground. Quickly switching out magazines for a full one she targeted the second drakai, this one even larger than the first. It stood above the lieutenant, about to slice him in half when Fiona fired a five round burst at its head, getting its attention she slowly advanced towards it, firing short bursts as it retreated under the punishment it was taking before collapsing.

As Sean looked up at the large drakai about to cut him in half, he realized he wanted to live. This thought cut through his earlier lethargy like a hot knife through butter. Reaching desperately for the kukri, he pulled it free and was just about to take a swing when the drakai started jerk away, gunshots peppering its scaled hide.

Grateful for this unforeseen turn of events, Sean awkwardly swung the kukri, trying to cut through the javelin sticking out of him. Expecting the kukri to cut through the wood as easily as the drakai Sean gave a gasp of pain as the kukri bit into the javelin about half way, then stopped. The vibrations sending pain throughout his entire body. He hacked at it again and this time got through it. Sean felt as though he were slipping away into blackness, then a face appeared in his dimming vision, his last thought as he slipped into the blackness was that this was valkyrie come to take him away.

Fiona dropped to her knees next to the unconscious lieutenant. Quickly getting a status report from his armor, she quickly opened up a com link to Kit.

"Kit, tell Jonesy to get his ass up here, we need to get this guy to the citadel." She then quickly cut off the link before Kit could say anything. She looked over the unconscious man before her, the javelin needed to come out, it looked like this guy had already tried that but had been unable to finish the job. Rolling him onto his side, she slowly slid the gore slicked piece of javelin out his back. Sean gave a small groan as it came out which was a good sign. Opening up her aid bag, she slipped on a pair of nitrile gloves, washing the area around the wound she could see that the flow of blood wasn't pulsing, but instead oozing, this meant no major arteries had been hit. Deciding to treat the exit wound first she slid him onto his side, applying some a hemostatic powder and then quickly covered it in bandage for an airtight fit and to create pressure. Rolling him onto his back she began to look at the entrance wound. Fiona applied the clotting agent to the wound and then wrapped it with gauze and putting pressure on to control the bleeding. After a few minutes as the blood flow decreased she removed the bloody bandages and applied a new one.

Frustrated that this was all she could do before she got him back to the citadel, she was about to call Kit to check on the status of Jonesy when Sean gave a little gurgle and then went limp. Looking at his neck, Fiona noticed that trachea was deviating slightly to the side. Digging through the medical back she located the 14 gauge catheter. Ripping off the plastic wrap she quickly sterilized it then slowly slid it into the second intercostals space on his mid clavicular line. As the needle penetrated the pleural space there was a sudden rush of air. Fiona then inserted a chest tube to allow the air to leave and the lung to reinflate. Satisfied that Sean wasn't going to die right now she decided to take a few minutes to catch her breath and wait for Jonesy to show up.