Haddad turned numbly as he watched Atul speaking to the drivers. The wind was cold, but Atul's words were colder. Natal might die, and Atul only wanted it to be noisy-a few minutes' warning at best. Haddad started back to check the wagons as Atul instructed. He wondered what his own life was worth in the sergeant's estimation. The column advanced once again. Haddad went quickly from wagon to wagon, quizzing the drivers and searching the cargo for heavy-weapon reloads. He found none.
The machines making up the strike force were the lightest in the League arsenal. The commanders had not loaded the ants' direct fire weapons. The League was still largely made up of mercenaries from the city wars ended only a few years before. Each city of the League had seen to its own defense and conducted small, stylized wars with other cities over resources, trade, or even honor. The wars depended heavily on paid mercenaries who fought according to a code of strictly limited warfare. Damaged machines and dead men were viewed as too costly. Heavy weapons were rarely used due to their fairly substantial costs, the damage they did to enemies who might be future allies, and the destruction of loot on the battlefield. Heavy weapons such as war rockets, toxic web rounds, and penetrating bolts were rarely used without desperation on the part of opposing forces. The current League commander did not consider a battle with the Keldon raiders as desperate. There were no reloads to be found in the wagons, just logistical supplies for infantry and modular repair parts for the steel ants.
Natal and Corporal Vanosh returned as Haddad looked through the last wagon; it had taken longer than he planned due to the poor light. The sun finished rising over the hillside as he hurried forward to report to the sergeant. He arrived in time to hear Corporal Vanosh speak.
"We found the rear guard, Sergeant. It's about forty minutes ahead with these oxen. The main attack has already commenced. The officer in charge said to advance with best speed to the main party. He was staying there to pull down stragglers fleeing the fight. He couldn't guarantee we wouldn't see warriors that eluded him. We observed three Keldon outliers pulled down before we hurried back here." Vanosh was calm as he spoke, but Natal was flushed and looked slightly nauseated.
The sergeant was silent and only turned to Haddad for his report.
"No reloads for personal launchers, Sergeant. I did find a few light crossbow bolts," Haddad stated. Sergeant Atul took only a few seconds to finish thinking.
"All wagons will advance at maximum speed. Keep your eyes open for Keldons trying to escape. If a large group is spotted, be prepared to stop and get into fighting formation. Spread it down the line," Atul ordered, and he waved the unit forward as Vanosh went back to spread the word. Haddad and Natal came together as the unit advanced at best speed.
"What did you see?" Haddad asked quietly.
"We walked maybe thirty minutes before we found the rear guard. Vanosh trailed me far enough back that I couldn't see him most of the time. Besides, he ordered me not to look back. I almost wept with joy when we finally spotted our forces." Natal paused and continued in a more controlled tone. "Vanosh hurried up, and we reported. When the first Keldon got pulled down, I thought I'd vomit. I've never seen a man killed by a steel ant before." Natal was too young to remember even the stylized fighting the League had practiced as unification occurred. "The Keldon was mounted on a camel and trying to circle around the force when he was spotted. The commander of the detachment sent out a pair of ants to stop him. They ran down the camel in seconds. The Keldon tried to run up the side of a hill, but it was unstable, and he made little headway." Natal became lost in remembrance of the scene and spoke more intently. "The ants rushed up with their legs churning out a stream of soil and small rocks. One of them pulled down the camel by shearing off a leg. The camel fell instantly, and the ant was at its neck as soon as it hit the ground. The Keldon kicked out of the saddle in time, and he was on his feet when the second ant hit him. He was trying to draw a sword, and you could see the ant take the arm off. He screamed and threw himself down the slope. The ant followed and caught him before he fell very far. It stabbed him with its legs and started dismembering him before they stopped sliding. You could see parts separating as they were ripped off. I never want to see anything like that again." Natal was shaking as he finished.
"It looks like any future fighting is going to be against the Keldons, Natal. The age of machines fighting machines has ended. The enemy is men only now. More of the fighting is going to be men against men. The Keldons raid too widely, and there are only so many machines." Haddad echoed the words of the pessimistic veterans. "You chose better than you knew when you went into the technical service. The infantry and cavalry are going to be fighting in the field, not sitting in garrison. When the real battles begin, we'll be in camp most of the time." His words were not those of a hero, but the earlier mercenary view of combat still was prevalent in the army. Combat was something you prepared for, but fighting was too dangerous and expensive to be eagerly sought. New recruits and new battles were changing the military, and Haddad knew he would be increasingly out of step with the mutable army.
"Hey, Haddad," Natal called, jarring his friend from his thoughts. "We've arrived."
The bodies of Keldons slain by the rear guard were clearly visible on the sides of the hills. Haddad thought there were less than ten killed, but it was hard to be sure. The Keldons had been dismembered and scattered by steel ants, and he closed his eyes several times as he tried to get an accurate count. Sergeant Atul motioned the wagons to stay put, and he collected an advance party. The column was surrounded by rises just steep enough to block the men's sight and limit mobility. Haddad could see the trail of disturbance the League assault forces left as they scrambled over the loose ground. He could hear what might be combat in the distance. It sounded as if there was fighting over the short rise before them. But noise could carry a long distance, and Sergeant Atul wanted a look before advancing blindly. Everyone climbed very slowly up the slope.
The sergeant crouched as he reached the crest, and the others did as well. The scene before them was so unexpected that they looked for several seconds in confusion. Slowly they began to realize what had happened. The
League assault forces, so confidently thrown against the foe, had been defeated.
The steel ants, so deadly under Natal's eyes, were scattered pieces, dismembered as crudely and sloppily as the Keldons Haddad had tried to count minutes before.
Still stunned, Haddad voiced his first thought, "We'll never fix everything with what we brought."
Natal nodded dumbly as Corporal Vanosh crabbed quickly over and whispered in Haddad's ear. "Shut your mouth, or I'll open your throat." The corporal had a knife in his hand, and Haddad realized the stupidity of saying anything aloud.
Soldiers picked over the battlefield, and Haddad realized he was seeing the enemy for the first time. From this distance, and with the sun behind them, it was difficult to make out details. The soldiers seemed very large compared to the League bodies scattered over the field, but perhaps the dead looked smaller when compared to the living. The figures were odd in proportions, and he could hear their voices, deep and guttural as they turned over and searched the pockets and wallets of the dead. Haddad grasped his launcher more tightly and wished he had the longer ranged war rocket load instead of Natal's web round. He looked to the sergeant for orders, but Atul stared beyond the debris below and farther on. Haddad followed Atul's gaze and saw the raiders' camp. Even from this distance, he could see League prisoners gathered under Keldon guard. There were huge machines of some type and only a few men with mounts of horses or camels. There were far fewer men than Haddad would have thought possible to overcome the League men and machines. Atul motioned everyone to withdraw. They slid down the slope, each trying to be silent and cringing at the odd word or oxen low from the supply group.