Gabriel Landowski

CHAPTER VIII

"IRONMAN, this is EAGLE, OVER."

Kyle woke with a start. Next to him Lemm glanced over before he returned to his task of watching the terrain from the fighting position they shared. Kyle cleared his head with a small shake and squinted through the firing port of the bunker to see a star laden sky.

"EAGLE, this is IRONMAN, go ahead, OVER."

"What is your current location, OVER?"

"At my Charlie Papa, OVER."

"Roger. Will be at your position in fife mikes, OUT."

It seemed Lieutenant Taylor wanted to see Holly for a face to face discussion. Kyle pulled himself up next to Lemm and once again peered out of the firing port. He could see the shape of the Lieutenant, with another trooper in tow, emerge in the starlight as they walked toward the ranger platoon headquarters. Kyle sat on a ledge in the bunker and rubbed his blurry eyes.

"Anything interesting happen while I was out?"

"No, Corporal."

Kyle soured as he wondered where all the bad guys were. Despite the fact the Joker had switched out of the rotation with the Ace, a low, dense fog had obscured the view of the steppe for the first half of the evening. There had been plenty of opportunity for the spread out enemy to converge on the village. He glanced at his helmet radio and noted the time to be twenty-one forty-two hours.

If only they'd hurry up and get it over with!

Kyle turned over and dug into a haversack for a piece of jerky. The warriors brought the technique for preserving meat with them, and after a short while the troopers became believers in the tough, flavor-laden ration. At times Kyle could feel his mouth begin to water just thinking about the dark strips of protein.

As he stared out over the steppe, a flare suddenly shot skyward far out in the low ground fog. The bright green light glowed with intensity and hung for a few seconds before it burned itself out.

As his heart quickened, Kyle tossed the haversack into the corner of the bunker and leaned on the sill of the firing window. The green trip flares were placed at one thousand meters, with yellow at seven fifty, and red at five hundred. Something in the grass and had set one off.

It could be an animal, or a civilian wandering through the area unaware. Maybe it's just a false alarm.

In rapid succession, green flares leaped into the night sky across the whole arc of the extended perimeter.

Wild animals my ass...!

Kyle turned to Lemm.

"Keep your eyes out there and stay put. Do not shoot until ordered."

The ranger tilted his head absently as he placed his rifle on the sill and stood up on the firing step. Kyle rushed out of the bunker to the next fighting position in his squad defense. He dropped to a knee next to the firing slit, and called inside,

"You guys awake in there?"

"Yes!"

The voice was excited but under control.

"Okay, don't do anything until you hear from me. The only time I want you to start shooting is if enemy start flooding over that barricade to our front. I don't want you guys hitting any of our friends down there."

"Understood, Corporal!"

Kyle looked down to the main barricade built across the east end of the village square. From there the militia watched the colored flares fade from the sky. These ordinary men had the responsibility of controlling the center of the village and defending it against all attack. Most did not have their crude pole arms with them and only a few were on top of the makeshift wall.

Kyle worked his way down past the other positions in his squad and repeated his instructions before returning to his own hole. As he started to head into the entrance, a sudden swish of yellow flares lit up the steppe in almost perfect unison. Kyle backed out and stared in sudden alarm.

There's no friggin way that's wildlife!

Holly crackled in his helmet.

"Net Call, Net Call, Net Call! All ROMEOs sound off!"

In sequence, each of the squad leaders acknowledged the alert. Kyle tried to figure out how much time had passed between the two sets of flares. He came to a determination and realized that whatever tripped the warning was moving fast!

"All ROMEO elements, stand by -"

Within seconds red flares streaked into the night sky and a terrible roar of thousands of voices rolled out of the now blood colored steppe. A wave of mounted raiders emerged at full gallop onto the edge of the cut grass field and headed straight for the village. The light of the last flares colored the black clad enemy in an evil red glow and gave the impression all hell had broken loose.

And then suddenly it had.

Kyle dove into his firing position as the machineguns at the base of the slope opened fire in unison. He pulled himself up to the firing slit as he watched the first wave of riders go down just inside the kill zone. There was a series of mortar thumps from off the ridge and he tilted his head to try and see the shots going out. Several tiny suns blazed to life from under parachute canopies and lit up the surrounding terrain with their man made daylight.

The sheer volume of fire from the company machineguns was fearsome. For a brief moment Kyle felt pity for the hapless dogs caught in certain death, as the roar of the charge quickly dissolved into startled yelps and cries. A second wave hurdled over the first destroyed line and quickly closed the distance to the river.

After a brief loss of rhythm, the machineguns picked up their steady cadence and chopped into this new line as well. Kyle and Lemm watched in fascinated horror as an endless ripple of enemy tumbled to the ground under the relentless pounding of projectiles. Cries vanished in the throats of the dying, while the steady machineguns hammered out a beat of death.

An irrational third wave advanced closer. The cavalry spikes waited patiently for the massed charge to impale itself. Kyle quickly figured that at the present rate of carnage it would take another ten waves of cavalry for that to happen.

That's just insane! No one could take that kind of punishment and hope to be effective once they reach our positions!

Down below, the machineguns continued their steady, deadly thump and the Horde continued to die. A fourth, fifth, and sixth wave pressed to within three hundred meters of the perimeter, and the troopers in over-watch began to add the fire of their carbines to the slaughter. The mortars on the ridge lobbed high explosive rounds at the enemy five hundred meters away in an effort to break up the weight of the attack.

To Kyle, it seemed an unstoppable living ocean of black and red rising up to kill them. The swell of screaming and dying continued as men spurred their dogs closer to the river. Simultaneously machineguns and carbines knocked and punched them to the ground in rapid succession. Kyle felt the fear build within him.

They're just going to keep coming. There has to be thousands of them!

Holly crackled into his helmet.

"Evans and Rogers! Grab up your people and report to my hole on the double!"

So much for staying in the damned bunker!

Kyle acknowledged and beckoned Lemm to follow him. As they passed the other fighting positions, he told the young ranger to assemble the squad and meet him at the platoon command post. Kyle hustled up to the doorway and noticed Holly listening intently to a radio. The sound of heavy carbine fire served as background to a frantic transmission.

"...all over the ridge to our north. I have a thin security screen out there now but things are getting worse by the second! Those people are going to push us off this hill and roll us up from the flank, OVER!"

Holly nodded his head absently as he keyed the microphone on his desk.

"We're on the way. Tell your boys to hang tight and we'll be right there, OVER ."

Without waiting for a reply Holly turned to Kyle and Rogers who just arrived.

"Mortars say they have a mess of infiltration from the north along the ridge. Apparently some scout element worked its way up and around the line on our left flank. The tubes have a security screen out, but they are fighting for their lives and are in serious danger of being overrun. You two get up there with your people, report to Grissom or Wilcox, and kick those sons a bitches off of my ridge!"

Kyle and Rogers acknowledged, and backed out of the bunker to collect their respective squads. Both groups then ran full tilt up the steep rise to where the mortars continued to fire their deadly mission into the steppe. To the north, the distinct sound of carbine fire could be heard above the general din of battle far below.

Rogers automatically maneuvered his line left and Kyle took his rangers to the right. The squads came on line and rushed straight toward the mortar pits and crew. Far below on the steppe, another enemy charge ran headlong into the meat grinder. Kyle noted that the enemy was almost to the cavalry spikes. The Horde appeared to be using the sheer volume of their casualties to help screen and protect their advance forward.

How can they afford to fight like this? How many lives can they just lay down to get to us?

As the rangers approached the tubes, Kyle could see several troopers forty meters beyond who fired from a hastily dug trench. The handful of men attempted to pin down the entire ridge which now crawled with enemy. The crews on the tubes maintained their steadfast discipline and ignored the threat that closed in on them from the endangered flank.

Kyle gestured to Taulk and the squad moved to take up positions amongst the beleaguered security element. As each ranger dropped into place he shot anything that moved to his front with a steady hammer of the rifle. Kyle added the rapid fire power of his carbine, and the enemy push was driven back leaving a number of dark figures littering the ground. One crazed raider, several meters from the trench, charged forward while brandishing a wicked looking blade and bellowed in blind rage. Kyle silenced him with a neatly placed shot to the forehead and yelled to no one in particular,

"Scout element my ass! The whole damned hill is crawling with these fuckers!"

Wilcox appeared and chimed in from a spot next to him.

"You can say that again! We were just getting ready to dance with these mothers when you guys showed up!"

They both poured rapid fire into the enemy as quickly as the raiders showed themselves. A brief lull presented itself and Kyle called Holly on the platoon frequency.

"ROMEO 6 this is 2 - it's a concentrated push up here with the mortars but we are holding them at this time, OVER."

Wilcox picked up several grenades which he armed, and threw, in rapid succession toward the nearby rocks. Kyle did not bother to duck down as the grenades sailed out and landed in a small depression a safe distance away. The blasts ripped any enemy hidden there, and forced the survivors back, or out, into the open. Wilcox quickly cut them down.

"Yeah! Yeah! Little bastards like to group up there and make a rush for our holes! I flush them out every once in a while to keep them from becoming a real threat!"

The man seemed to have aged since the day at the rifle demonstration. With the effects of the constant fighting and tough living, Kyle would have easily mistaken the teenager for someone ten years older.

A sudden swish in the air near his face caused Kyle to duck out of reflex. A second affront struck the lip of the trench, behind which he was positioned, followed by another that deflected off his helmet. Startled, Kyle lost his balance and landed in a heap. He quickly regained his footing and fired a quick succession of shots in the direction of the attack.

"What the fuck was that?!"

Wilcox did not even look up as he continued to fire into the darkness beyond.

"Arrows! The fuckers have a ton of them too! They'll probe for a bit and when we knock them back enough they fire a hail of arrows at our position to -"

A wet thunk was followed by a sickly gurgle as Wilcox went down. He fell to the floor and writhed momentarily in the low light of the hole. Kyle moved to lend aid, but a sudden cry heralded a new attack. With the appearance of a new line of enemy, he was forced to turn and open fire.

After the fifth shot the carbine was emptied, and the feed chamber door locked open. Kyle fumbled for another brick of projectiles from his ammo pouch, but dared not take his eyes off of the enemy line as it advanced.

Don't panic, focus, don't panic, focus!

By the time he slapped the brick into the feed chamber Kyle knew he would not be able to stop the advance. The steady pounding of rifles from both flanks reminded him that he was not fighting alone. Most of the enemy were cut down and Kyle fired on the survivors who tried to make it back to safety.

That was too close! We need more carbines!

Kyle quickly slung his weapon across his back and struggled to position Wilcox where it would be easier to evaluate the wound. The head of the man fell back limp and exposed vacant eyes which stared at nothing. Kyle looked down and saw a black shaft protruding from his throat. Kyle could have made a call to Doc Roberts but it appeared that, even now, it was too late. From behind him another battle cry raised from the rocky darkness.

Son of a bitch! Don't you fucking people ever quit!?

Kyle reached down and tossed the remaining grenades that Wilcox had with him. The steady explosions and hard clap of concussion only hinted at the damage inflicted on the enemy. Kyle only stopped tossing grenades when the box was completely emptied. He took up the dead man's carbine and bandoleer before hugging the edge of the trench.

As the dust and smoke settled, Kyle could hear the occasional rifle and rapid crack of carbine fire from his flanks. Around him the ground was pierced with scattered arrow shafts. As far as his low light visor would allow him to see, a carpet of dead led back to the enemy-held portion of the ridge. With at least a hundred casualties the enemy pressure appeared to be spent.

Kyle looked back to the fight down on the steppe and was shocked to see the entire mowed area filled with black clad enemy. The warriors had advanced across the center of the small river in a steady solid wall, as bodies floated with the persistent current. Although the machineguns still tore at the masses of enemy, the assault continued to press forward and gained the near the river bank.

The mortars behind him paused briefly to adjust their rounds closer to the fighting positions. Kyle watched as a shell was dropped down a tube. The mortar belched and far down below, a geyser of dirt, water, and enemy was flung skyward. Kyle almost fired from his position but decided against it.

I'll deal with them if they get closer. Besides, there might be plenty more of their buddies up here!

With a cautious glance toward the shadow of the enemy ridge Kyle made his way over to Rogers . Along the way he passed several rangers and Taulk, to whom he handed the extra carbine and ammo bandolier. The native looked at it questioningly.

"Wilcox is dead. Put these to good use."

Taulk tilted his head and slung his own rifle across his back. Further out, Kyle came upon Rogers who had a black arrow shaft protruding from under his left arm. The wounded man seethed as he looked up at Kyle.

"I was fucking pointing, and the assholes shot me in the friggin' arm pit!"

Kyle looked at the wound while Rogers winced and clenched his teeth.

"You going to be okay? Do we have to get you back to the aid station?"

"It just fucking hurts like a bitch is all. I'm fine, I'm fine!"

One of the rangers at the site snapped the remaining length off the shaft and leaned the wounded trooper forward. A nasty barbed arrow head along with the proximal end of the shaft stuck out from between the shoulder and back plates of the body armor. Bright red blood covered its length and ran down Rogers ' web vest. He flinched with pain and anticipation of what was to come next.

"Son of a bitch! Son of a bitch!"

I hope to hell these aren't poisoned.

From behind Rogers , the ranger masterfully plucked the shaft free in one deft motion. Rogers barely shifted in response. Kyle reassured the wounded man as they applied pressure bandages to the injury.

"It looks alright. You're going to be okay. Try to move the arm as little as possible and keep an eye on it or you might bleed out."

Still experiencing the pain, Rogers nodded with his jaw clamped shut while fumbling for his carbine. Kyle looked back down the ridge toward the enemy that now pressed against the outside of the village defenses. He was alarmed that he could not hear any of the machineguns firing.

"Listen - I'm going to leave my wounded with you and take some of your men back down to reinforce the village. Those bastards are dismounting and pushing up to the barricade and the militia are going to break for sure. I have to get down there to hold the line or we're going to get rolled!"

Rogers nodded his head again and was helped to the edge of the shallow trench. Kyle moved back along the line and pulled any able bodied ranger he passed along the way. As soon as the perimeter security for the mortars had been reestablished, Kyle led his force down the slope at a run. Black arrows dotted the landscape and continued to clatter by at irregular intervals.

As they neared the platoon command post, Kyle signaled for the squad to take shelter near an adjacent building. Holly emerged from the bunker, took Kyle by the shoulder, and pointed at the village square below.

"The barricade, get your men to the barricade! The enemy is pressed up beyond the machineguns and the militia is getting their clocks cleaned!"

Holly produced a heavy satchel full of fragmentation grenades which he handed over. Kyle took the strap of the bag and passed it over his shoulder. The corporal turned to the rangers assembled there.

"Bayonets! Fix Bayonets! We need to drive them off the barricade!"

The natives grabbed their blades as they followed him down the steep cobblestone road. Kyle ran as fast as he possibly could toward the barricade, countering the heavy weight from the load in the satchel. As he neared the wall, the militia threw down their pikes and fled from the enemy who peeked out over the top. Scattered around the base were several dead and wounded villagers.

You have to give them credit for holding out this long!

Kyle led the charge of rangers straight up to the barricade. He halted just out of reach of the enemy blades and tossed several grenades over the top in a rapid succession. On the other side of the wall the bulk of enemy troops took the full force of the explosions.

The rangers arrived a moment later and fired point blank into the faces of the raiders. With their initial volley expended, the squad vaulted over the top of the wall. The grenades had torn large gaps in the press of enemy which supported the main assault. The natives hurled themselves onto the retreating raiders with bayonets and rifle butts.

Kyle tossed the satchel aside, brought the carbine up to his shoulder and fired on a mass of enemy climbing the house to the left of the barricade. In rapid succession, the black clad raiders fell back howling onto the masses below. Kyle continued to fire while perched on top of the barricade, as the rangers drove the enemy down the road toward the abatis. A raider, who earlier had feigned being wounded, jumped up and lunged at Kyle only to receive a carbine burst at point blank range to the chest.

The road that led to the barricade was a quagmire of fallen and retreating enemy. The rangers formed a line at the base of the wall and laid down a steady volley of fire that physically drove the raiders away. Taulk stood in the center of the group pouring rapid fire with Wilcox's carbine, dropping several attackers with each shot. Kyle noted grimly from the top of the wall the effectiveness of the weapon.

If not for that one carbine those guys would probably be overwhelmed by now. I have to get them better firepower!

Unable to face the sheer destructive power of their advanced foes, the surviving raiders fell back in shock and horror. Seeking relative safety the enemy gathered at the road barriers. Enfilade machinegun fire began again from the left flank and caught them by surprise. Kyle immediately ordered the rangers back to the protected side of the barricade and provided covering fire. The natives collected themselves and their wounded. As the last man reentered the defenses, Taulk crouched nearby to load another brick into his new prize.

"I like rifles but these carbines are king!"

Kyle gave a quick grin and peeked back over the wall to check the flanks where the barricade met the houses on either side. The right was clear, but the left still had a large number of raiders pressed against it. Kyle threw his last two grenades into the mass of bodies and called to Taulk.

"You keep the squad here and firing down the road. Hold this position at any cost while I go check on this flank."

The grenades detonated as Taulk directed the rangers at the top of the barricade. Kyle climbed down from the wall and glanced along the road that led behind the two platoon positions to the north. The din of battle could be heard from every quarter as he made his way into the adjoining house which was occupied by members of the 2^nd Platoon. There he discovered Sergeant Dunn and another trooper who fired at the mass of enemy gathered at the reinforced windows.

Dunn stepped aside in order to reload his weapon. When a man appeared at the firing slit, Kyle impulsively shot the attacker in the face. He yelled to Dunn as he fired intermittently through the window.

"We managed to push back the breach on the barricade!"

Dunn finished loading his weapon with an alarmed look on his face.

"Breach? Good thing you were on it because we didn't even know it was happening! They could have just swung around behind us and got us from the rear. I told Holly that the militia would break first chance they got!"

A spearhead on a long shaft slashed the air between their faces. Dunn instinctively grabbed hold of it while Kyle fired his last three rounds into the wielder. Dunn pulled the long weapon inside the room and tossed it onto the floor next to several others.

"We're holding them here but the 1^st Platoon is getting the shit kicked out of them! The machineguns stopped firing a while ago and the enemy line appears to be anchored past the forward positions!"

Kyle listened to the only machineguns he could hear, which were those located in front of 2^nd Platoon. If the 1^st Platoon positions further down caved, the whole task force was in danger of being rolled up and wiped out. Thinking quickly, Kyle yelled to be heard.

"Listen! I'll get with Holly and see about forming a mobile reserve in case we need to counter attack a break through! Right now I've got my rangers on the barricade so you don't have to worry about your flank anymore. Let me know if you need any assistance."

Dunn nodded his head as he dropped a grenade out the window into the yard below. The fire along the entire 2^nd Platoon line increased heavily as a large wave of the Horde pressed toward the flank of the machinegun bunkers. The black cloaked men were slapped and knocked to the ground in a hail of deadly fire which hit them from every angle. Kyle ran back to Taulk and the other rangers who still fired steadily from the top of the barricade.

God bless them, they're really holding their own up there.

Kyle rested with his back pressed to the barricade and called for Holly on the platoon frequency.

"ROMEO 6, this is ROMEO 2, OVER."

He got no response. Kyle cast a brief look up toward the platoon headquarters and saw activity there. The mortars continued to fire from the ridge beyond. Kyle reached up on tiptoe and slapped Taulk firmly on his calf in order to get his attention. The ranger stopped firing long enough to bend down to listen.

"You hold here! I'm going back up the hill to talk to Holly and see about forming a reserve in case there is another break through to our left! You're in charge until I get back!"

Taulk nodded his head and returned to firing as another hail of black arrows rained down upon them. Kyle dodged past militia men, who carried away their own wounded, and ran up the hill toward the platoon command bunker. His earphones crackled with cryptic messages on both frequencies and it was hard to understand what was going on. Lieutenant Taylor was heard at brief intervals inquiring about a possible penetration of the 1^st Platoon line.

Kyle made half the climb before hearing a deep rumble originating from the far left flank. He looked over and could see a large stream of flame that lashed out of the perimeter to engulf the attackers. Several more spouts of hell ignited the raiders who collapsed or ran trailing fire. The large black cloud of smoke that rolled skyward was under lit by successive bursts from the weapon.

Flamethrower! That ought to put out some heat!

In one receding motion, the enemy moved down the slope away from the captured positions for which they had paid so dearly. With the initiative regained, troopers emerged to take back the holes they had been forced to abandon. The massed carbines poured a withering fire into the retreating enemy, who broke even faster and ran for the river bank. Most did not make it.

From the darkness of the steppe, deep horns heralded the retreat. The shattered forces turned away and left an ocean of their fallen behind them. The river piled bodies into a small dam and water overflowed the banks. The mass exodus across the kill zone was peppered with the occasional mortar blast or spray of machinegun fire. The troopers continued to shoot along the entire front until no visible target could be seen.

His task momentarily forgotten, Kyle stood on the road that led up the hill and watched the secondary fires burn on the 1^st Platoon slope. High over head another illumination round glared into existence and swung slowly across the black sky trailing a cloud of putrid, orange smoke behind it.

From all directions the ground that led to the village was a carpet of bodies. Scattered throughout were heaps of enemy formed as they fell climbing over the wounded and dead in front of them. Only the occasional shot could be heard over the general moans from the fallen; it was the sound of a broken enemy.

Someone called down the road from above him, and Kyle turned to see a trooper with his helmet askew. The man was caked with soot and blood. Only the whites of his eyes betrayed mortality.

"You know where Corporal Evans is? Master Sergeant Holly is trying to reach him on the platoon frequency!"

Kyle gave the trooper a thumbs up and keyed his microphone.

"ROMEO 6 this is 2, OVER."

After a brief pause Holly replied.

"2 this is 6, all ROMEO troopers are to assemble at my position as soon as possible. Put your number two in command of your squad and order him to hold the line until further notice. The rest of us are going on a raid. 6, OUT!"

Kyle quickly trotted down the hill to the squad and found Taulk with the others as they laid out several bodies at the foot of the barricade. Most were militia but three were rangers. His heart dropped when he noticed that Teek was one of them.

The face of the young man was smudged with dirt and blood. A dark trail in the corner of his mouth ran toward his ear. Kyle kneeled next to the body and could see several large stab wounds to the chest and abdomen. Taulk came and stood beside him.

"He just kept advancing until they overwhelmed him. I think he had a blood lust or refused to halt the advance. There was nothing we could do as they overpowered him."

Kyle simply stared at the face which was now eternally free of pain. He then searched the body with his eyes in a slight panic.

"What happened to his...?"

Taulk held out the sheathed blade to Kyle.

"I was going to honor it unless you would like to do so."

Kyle stared at the weapon then gently pushed it back.

"No. You were his team leader. You honor him."

Taulk nodded his head and fastened the item to his waist belt. Kyle placed a hand on the shoulder of the dead man as a sign of respect and stood up. He looked up and could see the surviving rangers keeping watch outside the barricade. He regarded Lemm who only stared back at him.

At least I didn't lose all of them.

Kyle turned and walked slowly away as he motioned Taulk to his side.

"Secure the squad and hold here until further orders arrive. The troopers are tasked with a raid of some sort. It seems we're going to go pay the Horde a visit."

Taulk tilted his head in acknowledgment, stopped, and then saluted. Kyle was surprised by the formality but halted and returned the gesture. Taulk grinned warmly and then left, leaving Kyle alone with his thoughts.

At the rate I'm losing rangers there won't be much left for him to lead.

A drop ship roared down onto the low hill behind 1^st Platoon. It kicked up dust and fanned the scattered flames that still burned there. The area looked as though something monstrous had chewed up the surface and spit it back out. The fight at the barricade was a close thing, but Kyle could tell from the burnt homes that 1^st Platoon learned a hard lesson and paid for it in spades.

As he jogged up the hill to join Holly, Kyle wondered how many of the troopers were saved by their armor and carbines. He brooded over the thought of how many of his rangers would still be alive had they been provided with the same equipment.

* * *