Damn Taine!
Before he came, speaking
of freedom we had
peace… now peace tastes
like ashes in our mouths
as we crave something far
sweeter… freedom.
Underworks - Peligia
~~*~~
"We…we need help," Lauren said gasping for air as she wiped the grime for her face, staring up at her saviour, quivering as the adrenaline of the fight wore off.
Wojciech nodded as he hauled out his TAC-link again; frustrated by the continuing squeal of static that blared through it. He looked down at her apologetically as he slipped it away. "We're still on our own. At least…"
He looked over at the crumpled form of the Polian that had, until recently, been trying to slay them.
"You don't know how lucky we were," Lauren gasped for air as she walked over to it, leaning down to examine the smouldering armour plates that hissed as they cooled. "Or rather how lucky I am that you carry a Maser…"
"MC-04-A1," Wojciech patted the weapon. "Damn effective carbine when it counts. What the hell was with that shield thing?"
"Polians are pretty experienced with kinetic weapons," Lauren said reaching down and twisting at round device free of the wrist guard on the Polians arm. She lifted the round disk to the light, looking at the veins of Peligian crystal running through it, interlocking red and gold lines as mysterious and as arcane as the rest of the Polian technology. "These things are pretty useful, we should get it back to Darien…"
Wojciech leaned, his carbine's stock resting against his hip. "Which raises a good question, Commander, where the hell are we going?"
"Scared to go on?" Lauren challenged as she rose, recovering her DT-09 from where it had fallen, switching in another clip as she did so.
"To the temple?" Wojciech queried. "No, however we're on our own, injured, and you're low on ammo. Oh and the fact that we're underground, with no means of communicating to either of our camps… tactically we should retreat, regroup and try this again."
She peeled off her sodden fatigue jacket, tossing it away as she pulled her wet hair back into a pony tail. "How close to the Temple are we, do you reckon?"
He considered her question a moment looking up at the ceiling. "We're close, I'm sure, but after that run through the tunnels, we could be anywhere."
"So we need to go up," Lauren said pointing to his Flektarn jacket. "Be a gentleman…"
He looked at her a moment in confusion, then flushed as he realized she wanted his jacket. Considering he was dry and she was soaked through. He readily agreed, shucking it and tossing it over to her.
She winced at the brightness of the saffron shirt. "You know I never could get the fascination with yellow," she said shaking her head.
"A VonGrippen military tradition," Wojciech replied rolling up his sleeves and searching for his crushed cap, realizing with some frustration that he must have dropped it back in the tunnels.
"So is the underwear yellow too?" she asked as she donned his jacket, tying it up and crossing to the ruined doorway.
"That, Commander, is none of your business," he said drawing firmly quiet as he swung around the doorway, his carbine up and probing the darkness beyond for any more surprises.
The room they had been in was at the end of a service tunnel, with battered stairs switch-backing their way up into the gloom above. Working like a team they leapfrogged their way up the stairs, covering each other as they went. Approaching the surface that would, they hoped, finally get them out of the deadly underworld they had been stranded in.
It would be nice to say that Wojciech's first breath of fresh air was a truly refreshing, born again experience that purified his lungs of the stale rancid air of Peligia's sewage system. Sadly, it was anything but.
The bedraggled Wojciech clambered out from the manhole that Lauren had - quite forcibly - pulled free in to the pale, grey-lit street of the Polian city. Almost smiling, he brought himself to his full height and stretched, breathing deeply to help erase the stench of the underground passageways from his mind.
He stopped mid-inhalation.
Sure, the air smelt much purer up here but there was an underlying hint of the rotting odour that his brain could barely register, but it was there. It seemed that the whole city had been touched by the greasy fingers of corruption, spreading out from its rotten core.
He felt eyes upon him.
Wojciech stopped and looked at Lauren who had frozen like a statue, intently watching Wojciech as she pushed the manhole back into position. Not like there was anyone around to fall into the uncovered hole.
"What?" he asked as he glanced about him at the Polian plaza.
Circular recesses filled the concentric tiers, houses that wound upwards. Dark and shrouded in an alien allure, there was something about the ancient ruins that filled both of them with an awe. The Polians had resided there, married there, loved there… lived there. It was like they could almost feel the bustle of life around them, strange considering their recent brush with death at the hands of a descendant of those very ghostly after images.
Wojciech stared up at the sun overhead, poking through the rain clouds to warm the plaza and dry off the flagstones. A peace seemed to exist around them, as birds jumped and frolicked from tree branches that over hung the recessed upper tier.
They climbed in silence, as Lauren wrestled her TAC-link from her pocket, trying it again, as she kept an eye on the darkened shadows back amidst the ruined alcoves.
She was again greeted by static noise.
"We're close to the Temple," Wojciech surmised as they emerged into one of the cities furthest suburbs. He lifted a hand to shield his eyes as he looked up the hill slope. "Your Fire Support Base is up on that slope."
Lauren looked at it, quickly orientating herself from the familiar landmark. She turned in the general direction of the HQ camp, and nodded as she saw the smoke from the camp fires over the canopy of trees in the distance.
"So Hugo," she said, dropping the formalities of rank. "Temple?"
He motioned towards the trees, leading the way as they both crossed through twisted roots, and navigating ancient streets around more of the Polian plazas till they stood looking down at the crystalline ruins of an ancient Peligian building. Ghostly white, the crystals looked long dead, the spark that gave them their power being exhausted millennia before. But the evidence of the Spetsnaz exploration were evident from the shattered doorway, gaping into the long forgotten structure.
The two officers picked their way down a broken concourse, moving through broken crystal buildings carefully. Approaching the ancient structure that beckoned to them silently.
Stonehenge - Peligia
~~*~~
"They should have reported in by now," Darien mused as he walked to the edge of the large command tent, his eyes scanning the trees.
"Commander Theruan is quite resourceful," Commander Durnham reminded standing deeper in the tent. "However, if you want me to assemble a search team…"
Darien folded his arms, setting his jaw. "So you think all of this is worth it?"
"I'm not sure I understand milord," Durnham faltered.
"I mean this," Darien nodded to the island. "All of this, is it worth all of this?"
"We hardly have a choice in the matter now," Commander Durnham stated. "The fact is that we are here, now, and there is nothing that will change that. Loss was predicted in the Peligian Journal, and we all accepted a long time ago that the cost was going to be high."
Darien nodded, "I know. But I need to be sure that I'm not leading all of us over a cliff."
"We're under resourced, under manned, and over strained," Durnham answered. "But we still have one thing squarely in our favour. We are Imperials, and that counts for a great deal in the grand scheme of things."
Darien fell silent, his eyes studying the forbidding jungle. Before he turned and walked back towards his jeep, ready to return to his Headquarters.
Temple - Peligia
~~*~~
They stood beneath a dome of green glass. Part of it had collapsed, shedding shards of glass across the floor and into a crystal clear pool of water where orange fish swam and played through river reeds.
The tinkling of water spilled from a fountain at the far end of the chamber, spilling water down into the long reflecting pools that spanned the length of the chamber.
For Lauren, there was no shaking the memories of the Rock of Bra'al, and its malicious guardian. The architecture within the temple was unmistakably Kule in origin.
Her hand tightened on the grip of her rifle, knowing that if she came face to face with a Kule it would do her no good what-so-ever. But there was still the comfort that came with knowing she was armed. No matter how insignificant that small fact was.
Wojciech was back, beside the door to the chamber, his carbine swinging too and fro as he stared about him cautiously. Both of them feeling the weight of the pregnant silence that had fallen over the temple.
The black stasis crystal stood in the middle of a dais surrounded by water. Accessible by a narrow footbridge that connected to a secondary dais, where a thin crystalline pedestal stood. A flat panel angled at just the right height, and just the right size to fit a palm.
"Push me," she breathed.
"What?" Wojciech inquired looking over at her.
"I'm having an Alice in Wonderland moment," Lauren replied as she approached the pedestal. "You know, eat me, drink me…"
"Off with his head?" Wojciech supplied.
"Something to that effect," Lauren responded as she examined the pedestal. "Should I?"
"Wake the sleeping beast?" Wojciech climbed up beside her, and nodded to the crystal. "well…"
[I do not sleep] the cracked voice resounded around the temple, sending a flock of birds that had roosted there spiralling up towards the hole in the dome.
"Oh crap," Lauren murmured as she lifted her rifle and sighted in on the crystal.
[Your weapon will not help you here, child.] the ancient voice creaked and spoke again. [War cannot touch this place, and your violence will not serve you.]
Lauren stared through the distorted crystal surface, looking on the slumbering face, with the lines of centuries etched upon it, marking the passage of time immemorial.
[Where is the stormbreaker?] The voice inquired. [I have a message for him.]
Lauren looked at Wojciech, and visa versa.
[Your communications devices will work, children, call to him…]
Temple - Peligia
24 Hours Later
Darien stood in her place, the sleeves of his Henley undershirt rolled up, as he looked through his glasses at the crystal before him.
The heavily armed marine team secured the temple, while a field medic tended to Wojciech and the battered Lauren. It had taken the better part of a whole day to reach the Temple, Wojciech's Spetsnaz clearing the way to allow Darien's team through with their jeep and ATVs.
Now, together, the two sides had gathered, in the shelter of the ancient temple, while Darien stood at the pedestal.
His glasses flashed in the light as he stood, his hand trailing towards the shard weapon at his belt. He resisted the comforting urge to touch it, as he stood evenly while Doctors Casey, Murphy, and Roberts arranged their recording equipment.
At a signal from Murphy, Darien looked up and addressed the crystal, and its lone occupant.
"I am Stormbreaker," he said keeping his voice even.
[I know who you are Darien Taine,] the Kule's resonant tones echoed as they creaked and groaned. [I have known of your coming for more than Three Hundred years.]
"Prophecy?" Darien asked.
[Nothing so mundane,] the ancient Kule replied. [Merely that I was told that you would come, and that I was to await your arrival.]
"I am here now," Darien said extending his hands in anticipation. "So…?"
[I can sense that your trials have worn your patience away, leaving you with no time to appreciate the nuances that make life worthwhile. Pity.] The creature sounded sad. [But I was told you would come, and with you would come bloodshed, strife and war.]
"You make me sound…" Darien began.
[You are Human,] the Kule replied. [Humans exist for war. They revel in it, as my people did…before they sought this place, and subsequently found their own destruction as a result of its curse.]
"Is that what we have fated?" Darien asked standing before the pedestal, grasping it as though it were a pulpit lectern, staring at the creature.
[There is no fate, except that which we create for ourselves.] The Kule responded cryptically.
"You just said I was fated to come here," Darien shot back.
[Indeed, it is as I said. Fate is created by the fated.]
"I have no patience for games," Darien snapped. "Why am I here?"
[At the Temple? To hear my message.] the Kule replied. [On Peligia, that is for your own hand to decide. I can but give you my message, and then sit back to watch the end of this world, and the apocalypse you shall bring to it.]
"Double talk and riddle," Darien answered testily. "What is the message?"
[There was a dream of co-operation between your race, and the progeny you created. But that time is past.] The Kule's voice rang around the chamber. [I fear that the war you have created must now explode, and there is none that can halt it. You are powerless to stop that which you have created, now you must choose to start your own fate, or stop it…]
"What does that mean?" Darien pressed.
[That by your hand all that you know can be wiped away. Or began again…] The Kule paused. [You have a great responsibility, Stormbreaker. And fate is yours to wield like a sword, or a scalpel.]
Darien rubbed his temples, leaning across the pedestal. "I am tired of these riddles," he called out to the chamber. "A clear guide to what I must do, please, that's all I am asking for."
[Recover the key, open the barrier and reach the Lost City of O'nii. From there you will know your path.] the Kule responded.
"Well that wasn't too hard, now was it?" Darien said looking up. "What of you?"
[I must stay, and watch, and await death. Such is my punishment…]
"Why?" Darien frowned.
[I defied the Pax, and he was righteously vengeful.] the Kule replied. [such is the nature of things, the Kule were never meant to possess the evils of this place, and he stopped our tyranny. There are many things you simply do not know yet…]
"Then tell me," Darien urged.
[Why?] the Kule replied. [You just don't need to know them now.]
Darien took a step back, rubbing his temple lost in thought.
[Stormbreaker, the pestilence comes…] the Kule said quietly. [In his heart is the angels sword… and he is a weapon of vengeance. Be wary, because he can unseat you, and seize fate for his own devices.]
It was then that the sound of shooting out in the city started.
Outside the Temple - Peligia
Minutes Later
A line of his marines, interspersed by Spetsnaz were shooting into the trees, sweeping too and fro as their bullets hacked and sliced the foliage to pieces, gunning after some invisible assailant that had struck out at them.
Darien ducked in the doorway of the temple, glancing out at the pandemonium that had afflicted the soldiers. He gripped his shard weapon, trying to see what they were shooting at, when a well timed wave of return fire erupted from the trees, smashing through a squad of troopers. The Zero-point energy sizzling through the air to incinerate them where they stood.
Lauren ducked down beside him, firing a couple of well placed shots into the trees as she shook her head. "We're going to get pinned down if the Polians can flank us…"
"How the hell," Darien said, gritting his teeth as he fired a couple of shots into the trees. "Are a handful of Polians going to pin us down…"
"Invisible, near indestructible megaliths with big assed boom sticks?" Lauren said, looking at Darien flatly. "Yeah, they couldn't possibly kick our asses…"
"Point taken, Commander," Darien murmured. "Get our men to fall back, we'll retreat into the city. Commander Wojciech?"
Wojciech moved closer, "yes?"
"We'll cover your asses, if you help cover ours," Darien offered tightly.
Wojciech stared a moment out at the trees, before he nodded. "As you wish, milord. Our weapons are a little more effective at penetrating the Polian shields, we'll give you support fire if you fall back and secure a defensive perimeter in the main plaza."
Darien nodded, tensing up as he prepared to break from cover, his men already moving around to into a ragged looking retreat formation. He felt Lauren reach out and tap him squarely on the chest, and he glanced at her in confusion.
"For luck," she said, gesturing at the Polian shield she had activated and pressed against him. "Go!"
She stood, walking backwards, steadily firing into the trees as she covered Darien's run to the next piece of cover. He in turn covered her retreat with well timed shots of his own, as another wave of Polian weapons fire tore through the troops.
A whining hum filled the air as a wave of white spheres arced up and over the front line of Spetsnaz troops, erupting into crystalline shards as the Polian mines detonated, shredding troops and causing the retreat to become a route.
It was a frantic dash, Darien standing stock still as one of the spheres exploded over him. Watching in morbid awe as it shredded in pseudo slow motion into deadly crystalline shards, barely aware of Lauren screaming his name. He turned his head, watching the knife-like shards pepper against his personal shield, shattering on impact and turning to dust in a wave of light. His hand reaching out, almost as if he could touch the implements that would have torn him to pieces.
"Darien!" Lauren screamed again, as the fire-fight snapped back into focus for him, and he looked at their men scrambling over ruins and pelting it for higher ground.
He's jaw tightened in anger. "FSB-One, this is Falcon-Actual, fire for effect, AA7733, over." The Polians weren't the only ones with artillery, and he had to do something to get the desperate situation under control.
"Fire for effect, FSB Δ07 Missile Battery, out," came the voice back over the TAC.
"Direction 3400, distance 3000, down 25, over." Darien continued, holding the TAC-link close to his mouth as he continued to walk backwards slowly. More shards from Polian mines erupting around him.
"Direction 3400, distance 3000, down 25, out." FSB one continued, repeating Darien's orders.
"Polian Infantry under tree cover, ICM, over." Darien knew it was important that he start to run, but he had to finish the orders.
"Polian Infantry under tree cover, ICM, Authenticate Tango Foxtrot, over." FSB asked, indicating that they were ready.
"I authenticate Echo, out." Darien said, turning on his heels and running for his life.
It was a roar, erupting from the hill slope, missiles streaking skywards in a beautiful and deadly arc. The contrails clouded behind them as they curved over the city, and the retreating soldiers, to explode into the trees and the probably location of the Polians in a rippling of fire that devastated the trees and a cacophony of din.
Darien leapt a pile of debris, sprinting into the main plaza, aware that his men were already ahead of him, Lauren beckoning him to join her in the centre of a ring of debris the soldiers were throwing up as a barricade from which to fire from. He slid down beside her, panting to catch his breath as he looked over his shoulder, watching the edge of the city, back to where the temple had been.
"Damn Polians," Lauren murmured as she set her rifle up, staring out at the burning section of forest. "They just won't let up…"
"Can you blame them, Commander?" Darien asked as he searched the faces, both familiar Marines and unfamiliar Republicans, looking for Commander Wojciech. He was relieved when he picked out the bright yellow shirted figure down the line, with trio of doctors safely covered in a temporary fox hole.
"That was a concentrated attack," Lauren assessed. "Meaning the Polians want us dead at long last. We need to radio the HQ and warn them."
Darien nodded, "can we fight our way back to HQ?"
"Doubtful," Lauren said shaking her head. "They're between us and it. And we're too far from Stonehenge to retreat back there either…"
A new wave of Polian weapons fire slammed out of a new section of the forest, echoed on the far side by another set of fire. The Polians attempting to set up a crossfire across the central plaza. Darien ducked as blasts slammed into the stones around them, a marine unfortunate to be caught without cover, disappeared as he was vaporized by the shot.
"We can't stay here," Darien warned.
"We can't run anywhere either, they've got us pinned down," Lauren tugged out her TAC, "I'm going to order the Mechs to advance on our position, give us some cover fire…"
The TAC-link in her hand warbled for attention. "HQ to Falcon-Actual, we're under attack…"
"Oh shit," was all she could manage.