None of Xenophon’s team carried such a weapon. Even the rifle now carried by Glaucon was just a standard issue device, and hardly suited to the sharpshooter role. They pushed on forwards, leaving behind two small groups of stratiotes. Xenophon glanced at them as he moved away, a feeling of fear and guilt as they left them behind. His attention was immediately drawn to the increasing violence back inside the Citadel. From his high vantage point, he could make out a concerted attack from the Citadel side of the enemy. Hundreds of Mulacs were trying to break through the thin lines of defenders. Though the Mulacs were quite hard to discern from a distance, it was much easier to spot the Terrans, especially the heavier armoured spatharii with their shimmering body shields. Flashes of blue plasma and yellow explosions ripped all around the battleground.
“Incoming!” cried one of the stratiotes from further up the mountain.
The gunfire arrived at almost the same time as the man’s warning. It started as a few dozen pulse rifle shots, but then continued to include rocket fire. Tamara looked out from her cover and blazed away with her carbine. She must have loosed off an entire clip before Glaucon reached her.
“Save your ammo. You can’t do anything from down here.”
The eighty stratiotes moved on in two long snaking columns, each just a man wide to reduce the effect of the incoming fire. By the time they reached the halfway point, a dozen had been killed or wounded. Anybody that couldn’t make it any further was left behind. They could come back for them if, and when, they succeeded, the Komes had explained. Down below, the ten in the rearguard had been involved in a long shooting match with the following Mulacs. They were doing good work, but the number of Mulacs had increased by a factor of five. Soon they would crash through the rearguard and on their way to hitting them from behind.
The noise of massed heavy weapons drew Xenophon and Glaucon’s attention. It was much closer than the weapon mounts and appeared to be from a section of the mountain just thirty metres in front, not far from where Pasion was. Two stratiotes stumbled back and tumbled down the mountainside, and the rest of the unit ducked down to avoid any more gunfire.
“Report?” whispered Xenophon on his radio. The frequency was filled with continuous chatter from the dozen dekarchos leading the troops. None listened to him, for a mere stratiotes was low priority amongst the chain of command. One, an older woman that he recognised, was waving for them to fall back. A few followed her commands, but she was grabbed and pushed back by a large black dekarchos.
“We can’t go back!” he roared before jumping around the corner. Another burst of heavy weapons fire struck him in the chest. He took the full brunt of the attack and joined the other fallen. The remaining troops scattered. Their ascent now stalled by the hidden enemy.
“Xenophon, can we try that trick of yours again?” asked Roxana.
He shook his head.
“No, the overcharged weapon only works with the plasma cannons, unless you’ve got one spare?”
Nobody come forward with the required item.
“It doesn’t matter, anyway. The blast would probably blow up from the mountainside in the time we’d have.”
Jack clambered down the rocks and narrowly avoided a pulse round that must have been fired up from the pursuing Mulacs. Xenophon looked down to see them approaching at a distance, but there was no sign of their rearguard.
“Dammit, they’re through already. Anybody have any plasma grenades left?”
One of the dekarchos nearer to the front held up single grenade.
“Glaucon, with me,” he said, and then worked his way up the path to where the officer waited. He held out the grenade to Xenophon who handed it back.
“No, I need you roll it around the corner on my mark.”
“Why? I can’t hit them from here.”
“Just do it when I say, okay?”
The man nodded but looked completely unconvinced at his suggestion. More gunfire erupted along the rear of their group, and Roxana spread out the stratiotes into a skirmish line to hold them back. The concentrated fire from two-dozen of the Terran soldiers was withering and forced the Mulacs into cover. Xenophon leaned in towards Glaucon and the Dekarchos.
“Once the grenade goes off, we rush the place, got it?”
They both nodded.
“Do it!”
The man placed his hand on the rock and hurled the grenade towards where the gunfire had come from. There was short delay, followed by a flash of blue light and a loud vibration.
“Now!” cried Xenophon.
He jumped around the corner and charged into the dust, unable to see a thing. Behind him followed Glaucon, the Dekarchos and half a dozen more stratiotes who assumed the area was now clear. Xenophon reached within two metres of the fortified entrance before he was able to see inside. It was a thick stone archway. A tripod mounted heavy pulse cannon was fitted in the centre, around which four men operated it. Xenophon shouted out and jumped at them, firing from both of his Asgeirr-Carbines. Two of the men were cut down, but the other two were able to open fire. Glaucon and Xenophon were past the gun and inside, but two of the men following took the gun blast and vanished in the dust.
Unable to turn the gun far enough, the two Mulac gunners drew fighting blades and attacked Xenophon and Glaucon. The Dekarchos jumped inside and blasted away at the weapon emplacement with his carbine and moved into the darkness.
“Watch out!” shouted Glaucon, as he spotted the first Mulac driving a blade towards Xenophon. He parried it to the left and then stabbed his right hand with its extended blade into the alien’s chest. The monofilament point of the precision blade easily burst through the armour and embedded itself almost its full length inside. The two stumbled to the ground, leaving just one. Glaucon ducked past the creature’s attack and locked its arm, spinning it around. It was a classic move he and Xenophon had practiced in their training back home. He twisted the arm behind its back and then pushed down hard, neatly snapping the bone. It cried out, but its sound was cut short by the wounded shape of Pasion appearing. He jumped inside, his shimmering body shield on and his carbine in one hand. Blood dripped from two wounds to his shoulder.
“Animals!” he screamed and blazed away, and dozens of the rounds cut into the Mulac.
It was over in seconds, and the enemy strongpoint was theirs. From inside, it was clear that the doorway was one of many minor entrances that led into the heart of the mountain. A tunnel ran inside and into a large hexagonal room about fifty metres wide. It was difficult to see what else was there due to the blasts of gunfire. The Terran warriors, buoyed up by their success, rushed in and ran directly into the path of a dozen Mulac warriors. Gunfire moved back and forth as the weight of numbers prevailed.
Komes Pasion signalled for them to stay close to the walls. He tried to move forward, but whatever wounds he had sustained must have caught up with him. He slumped down, his breathing heavy and his face pale. Two of his bodyguards knelt beside him while a third connected a medical diagnostic device to the port on his forearm. The wounded Komes looked up to see Xenophon and Roxana nearby.
“Dekarchos!” he called out.
They looked at each other and then at those around them. The dekarchos were split among the rest of the group and none within earshot.
“Yes, you two. Come closer!” he snapped.
It wasn’t clear if he was dazed, confused or just being plain irritable. Even so, they both moved to the man. The gunfire had dropped to a trickle as the Terrans secured the level. The Komes was about to speak, but one of the senior Dekarchos, a man called Calum, approached and knelt down beside him.
“Komes. The lower level is secure. There is a large access tunnel leading up to the higher levels. There is only one way up.”
“We need to get up there, and fast,” added Xenophon.