“No, he just looks like us. It’s a disguise.”
Nikitin was the first to speak. “Hey pal… I don’t think I’m alone in saying that you’re actually shaking my faith a little bit here.”
“I know, but I promise I’m no traitor. I’m trying to…”
“To stop the war,” Lisa said. “What else? You’re the same man you’ve always been. Still standing up for what we all used to believe in. Still trying to save lives, no matter the cost.”
“Any which way I can.”
“You’re a real stubborn son of a bitch,” Charlie said. “You always took after dad, that way.”
“It’s the only virtue I’ve got. That’s a virtue, right?”
Lisa shook her head. “Not one of the classical ones, no.”
“Bottom line is that a big ass stampede is about to storm through here and trample this place into dust, and millions are going to die unless we do something about it.”
“What kind of something?” Charlie asked.
Nikitin twisted in his seat and looked Jack in the eyes. “Does your plan involve doing something dangerous or stupid?”
“I’m not sure yet, but probably both.”
Nikitin laughed. “Right on. Count me in.”
“Why not,” Charlie said, “I don’t much like the colonel’s battle plan anyway, and I’ve never been too attached to breathing.”
“You know what he’s up to?” Jack asked.
“Mostly. There’s something super secret brewing that I couldn’t get in on, but I know the major moves. I’ve also heard rumors that they jury-rigged the nuclear reactor into some kind of last resort weapon, in case things go real bad. Command has a real no surrender mentality, and frankly, these aren’t my kind of tactics.”
“Me neither. You in, Chase?”
“You know me, boss. I don’t ask too many questions. Just point me in a direction and I’ll drive.”
“What about you, Lisa? With me?”
“You need to ask? To the ends of the Earth and right on into hell.”
The jeep slowed and pulled around the circle of trees. Jack took a deep breath and said, “Then it’s settled. Do me a favor and keep cool when you meet my new friends. They may be monsters, but they’re pretty decent folk.”
Chapter 48:
Salamander
The day of the attack arrived, and Elkellian was mounted up and ready to go. He felt nervous, as did his Yuon Kwon, Klethis Aum-Auresh. They were eager to get things started, hoping the sprint would calm their nerves. The waiting was always the hardest part.
Rider and mount strutted and paced together, while the Silgama—the many-legged constructor Yuon Kwon—assembled fortifications all around them. Elkellian tried to calm Klethis, whispering, “Soon, honorable one. Just another few moments, and then it will be our time.”
The other Yuon Kwon and their Alarhya stood at ease, and Elkellian wondered how they did it. He was always a bundle of nervous energy before a battle, and he worried that it was just his nerves and not Klethis at all. It was sometimes hard to tell which was which, even for a practiced rider.
He had reason to be nervous, though. This would be the last great battle. Broken remnants of the Nefrem were still scattered around the planet, but the great bulk of their military was here, and they would fall. There could be no other outcome. Elkellian cherished the thought of a day when the Nefrem were nothing but a legend, a scary story whispered to children over firelight, and the Oikeyans’ new home was truly their own once and for all.
Then the war horns sounded and it was time. Elkellian and Klethis whooped together, their combined voices rising above the din of Yuon Kwon hooves. “For freedom!” they cried, their long legs launching them out over the open ground, and the advance had begun.
Neck and neck, the rush of Yuon Kwon raced out across the plains toward the Nefrem fortress. Elkellian and Klethis became pure speed, each stride driving them faster until the world around became a blur and only their distant target was clear.
Open soil gave way to the enemy’s primitive huts, and the pair cut hard to the left. Klethis’ agile hooves found footing between the close packed shelters, while Elkellian scanned the clutter for his target.
There it was.
Klethis’ hooves clattered, his legs bent and filled with energy, then he leapt high into the air. He was pressed against the sky. The world was eerily quiet at the top of the arc until the wind rushed in to fill it.
Rider and mount cried out in unison, and spread their cannon arms like short, stubby wings. They sailed down toward the Nefrem air-defense tower and fired, bright blue blasts streaking out and battering the target into a cloud of smoke and burning debris.
The tower was no more. Elkellian and Klethis plummeted through the cloud, reoriented in mid-air, and cranked hard to the side. As they hit the ground, they rebounded and raced off in a new direction, already on the hunt for the next tower.
The sky was clear except for a single cloud. Zelliar and Vissa Aum-Heirath climbed high into the air, twisting and spinning as they went, the rest of their fighter wing trailing behind in a delta formation. The rider and his flyer cut thrust and allowed their momentum to carry them up into stall. The Yuon Kwon’s nose just barely touched the misty cloud, then together they tumbled back toward the swollen Earth.
Clouds were good omens, and since there was only one, Zelliar gave it a gentle kiss before rushing into battle. The fin surrounding Vissa’s hull spun into motion, and her thrust returned. Mount and rider howled as they bolted down from the heavens and opened fire on the ramshackle settlement below.
The timing was exact. The Auresh walkers sprinted clear, having destroyed the air defense towers and paved the way for the Heirath flyers to finish the job. Zelliar’s fighter wing stretched apart and spat blue flames at the sprawling wooden city, which lit up like kindling and choked the air with smoke. They turned the Nefrem settlement into a raging firestorm, a twisting, demonic inferno crackling beneath a sky of charcoal grey.
Flames reached upward, with only the dirt mound that was the Nefrem fortress standing above them, uncaring and unaffected at the center of the blaze. Zelliar had an odd feeling looking upon the fortress, as if it were moulting, shedding its skin and transforming into something else. Something unknown and terrible.
No matter. He could hardly wait to see it smashed to pieces, and he wouldn’t have long to wait. He called out to the rest of the fighter wing, who returned to formation and left the battlefield as one.
Ten-thousand Heirath Yuon Kwon filled the darkening skies as they formed up and raced away from the burning lands. At the battle line beneath them, a Kitsu named Arcotis sat atop one of the many Khoom Yuon Kwon, the massive siege-cannons which sat aimed at the fortress. The Khoom could fire incredible distances, but their vision was terrible, making the Kitsu and their sharp eyes ideal companions.
When the last of the Heirath were clear, Arcotis gave the signal. The great walker leaned forward, braced itself and fired its unbelievably large cannon with a deafening thump. The other Khoom and their Kitsu fired all around the great circle of the Oikeyan battle line, creating a thunderous cacophony. Their rounds exploded in star-shaped bursts on the other side of the inferno, biting deep craters out of the armored mound.
The rhythmic thump of the cannons continued throughout the day while the crackling firestorm raged, yet the Nefrem fortress remained. Arcotis called out adjustments, placing shells all over his target, but the building stood despite him, pitted and chewed up yet unassailable and imperious above the flames.
Twilight came, and the charcoal sky turned black. The fires burnt on, unquenchable and undying, lighting the landscape in flickering yellow and orange, but still the fortress stood.