Star Crusades Nexus: Book 03 - Heroes of Helios (13 page)

“Honored warriors, I have a proposal to you all.”

The Praetor translated just a couple of seconds behind.

“Among my people we have a training routine called ‘Last man standing’. It is a way of pitting groups of warriors together to prove their worth, without the risk of major injuries.”

He waved with his left arm, and one of the marines from 1
^st
Squad, 1
^st
Platoon moved out of the line and ran out into the empty area. The space was wide yet stopped before reaching the middle. From his jacket, he removed a marker device and pointed it at the gravel-covered ground. It flashed red, leaving a faint line. Without waiting, he then ran off in a wide circle of nearly a hundred meters in diameter before returning to his start position. Everybody, including the Khreenk looked at the red circle with a mixture of pleasure or confusion. The marine returned to his unit, and General Rivers continued.

“Each group sends in six warriors to the circle. The group with warriors still in the circle at the end wins.”

Praetor Darius explained the suggestion with quick, high-pitched words. Most of those watching seemed unimpressed, yet the Khreenk were almost apoplectic at the translation when Praetor Darius reached the last part, presumably about the physical violence. The leader of the group walked away and toward General Rivers. He stopped in front and looked at him carefully before speaking in his harsh, guttural language. The Helion commander looked uncomfortable as members from each of the groups spoke. Finally, he turned around to reply to the General.

“General Rivers, it was our intention for each of our people to put on a public demonstration, one of marksmanship, fighting ability, fitness, and endurance. What you propose is something we never do, a barbaric physical contest where we would compete against each other?”

He seemed confused at the very idea. Teresa was appalled and for a moment forgot her place.

“Praetor, are you saying you do not compete?”

“That is correct. It is critical that the ground forces of the Narau see each other as equals under our unified command. If any one group were to gain a measure of...”

“Superiority?” answered Teresa with a bitter tone.

“Why, yes.”

Teresa looked back to General Rivers with barely concealed surprise.

“How did they ever beat the machines?”

He shrugged before turning his attention on the Khreenk.

“He doesn’t seem bothered at our proposal.”

Praetor Darius nodded.

“Yes, he is...well, they are not like the rest of us. The Khreenk have an...unusual history. The others are uncertain as to the point of this exercise.”

A pair of the reptilian Byotai stepped out from their unit and indicated toward General Rivers. One of them spoke in a very slow, almost monotone voice before falling silent. More of the other warriors started to voice their feelings and called out to the Praetor. He may have been an important figure to the Helions, but there seemed to be little respect or discipline when the disparate people were thrown together.

“Silence!” roared Gun in a voice that boomed through the training ground.

Gun then twisted his head and grinned at General Rivers before continuing.

“We are the masters of war, and we are undefeated. We challenge all of you to this contest to prove whose warriors are the best, and to prove…”

He turned around and looked directly at the Helion soldiers, “who is the weakest of our warriors.”

His voice was loud and aggressive, so different to any voice heard so far on Helion. Praetor Darius looked on in horror at the words coming from the mouth of the warlike monster standing before him. Teresa watched all of this unfold with a mixture of surprise and amusement.

So, the General wants us to make a statement, does he?

She unbuttoned her long black trench coat and tossed it to one of the two bodyguards that had been with them since their arrival. The nearest man caught it as though he’d been expecting it from the start. Four more of the marines stepped out from the ranks to join her. Gun moved forward, but the General shook his head.

“No, let’s keep this fair.”

The Khreenk spotted this and shouted out insults at the General while the Praetor did his best to calm them down. No matter what he said, they seemed to become angrier. Eventually, he turned back to them to explain. At the same time, the soldiers from the other groups walked out and into the circle.

“The Khreenk feel your monster is unwilling to fight them. They say they refuse to fight unless he takes part,” he explained, his hand extended towards Gun.

Gun roared with a loud, booming voice that caught the attention of all of them. Even Teresa was taken aback at the sound. It was a noise she rarely heard outside of the battlefield. He then stomped off toward her and her comrades. As he approached, he gave her the largest grin she’d seen in months.

“This will be fun!”

They moved a little further in the circle and stood in a line. Around the rest of the circle came the contingents from the Helions, Khreenk, Klithi and Byotai. Each group provided six warriors so that there were now thirty of them in the circle. Praetor Darius stood in the middle, and those not taking part moved to the outside of the circle as a small crowd.

“What weapons will you use?” he asked.

From the side of the circle, General Rivers replied in a loud voice.

“No weapons, this is martial combat in its rawest form. Who will win without fancy weapons, armor, or assistance?”

Praetor Darius explained his words and a mixture of excitement and concern spread through the group. He walked away until almost back at General Rivers and then looked at the competitors. All of them stood waiting, each warrior a man or woman of some experience, but few of them had ever seen actual combat.

“What do you think?” asked Teresa to her little band of marines.

“They look green to me, every one of them,” said Sergeant Reeders.

“Yeah,” agreed Gun, “only the Khreenk seem interested. Those lizard things could be a problem. The rest will be a walkover.”

Teresa looked at the bizarre selection of aliens before noticing one was missing.

“Praetor! There are only four groups, where is the fifth?”

He lifted his hand to his face. It wasn’t clear if he was coughing or hiding his mouth.

“The Anicinàbe people provide additional forces to the fleet. They do not participate in ground combat. They are, well…unsuited for the rigors of planetary battle.”

Teresa was not impressed. She moved her eyes toward Gun.

“Who the hell are these Anicinàbe people?”

Gun raised his shoulders in indifference.

“Who cares? If they don’t fight, they are of no use to us. Come on, let’s do this!”

Praetor Darius lifted his arms and called out something in his own tongue. He looked up to what would have been the sky if they were not underground. As soon as he reached the final and highest pitched word, the four groups of aliens rushed out from their position at the perimeter of the ring and moved toward the marines.

“Now!” roared Gun, and with that he was off and heading right for the middle of the group. Teresa jogged off to his right; the other four massed on his left.

What the hell are you doing, you old fool?
Teresa thought as she covered the ground.

The Klithi and Khreenk reached the marines first, crashing together like something from an ancient barbaric battle. Where the Khreenk were vicious and strong, the Klithi were fast but lacking in technique or strength. Gun swung his fists into the first two Klithi and sent them sprawling to the ground, both either stunned or knocked unconscious. A Khreenk warrior and his female companion launched themselves at Teresa with barely concealed semi-transparent blades. Each was almost the length of her forearm and serrated along one edge. She avoided the first strike, but the second cut from the woman left a gash on her arm the size of four fingers.

“Bastard!” she cried out.

With deftness and substantial skill, she jammed her knee into the man’s stomach and then snapped his arm down to throw him to the floor. As he fell, she grabbed the blade and stabbed it into the woman’s shoulder. The Khreenk female screamed in pain, but that wasn’t the end. Teresa then struck her with an open palmed strike to her face, breaking her nose in a spray of blood. Finally, Sergeant Reeders rushed over and barged the wounded female to the floor and smashed into the next two.

“You okay?” he called out, dodging more strikes and kicking or punching the Khreenk as they tried to reach Teresa.

One Klithi managed to reached Teresa’s flank and punched her hard in the ribs. She groaned, but it was nothing that would stop her. She grabbed the arm and yanked the lithe female toward her before using a hammer blow to her head and knocking yet another of the enemy to the floor.

“Gun!” shouted one of the marines, but he was too far away for the old warrior to hear. A Khreenk and two Helions were on him in a flash, yet he tossed them aside like a bear being assaulted by dogs. In less than two minutes, the circle was half empty. The non-participants carried the wounded away, until just three Helions, two Byotai, and a single Khreenk warrior remained. They stopped and regrouped as a single group of six and faced off against the Alliance marines.

“Is that it?” bellowed Gun as the bloodied foe stood panting. Not even the Khreenk seemed keen to continue the melee. General Rivers could see what was happening and decided that now was the perfect time for him to intervene. He stepped into the ring and marched toward the center of the fight. As he came closer, he could see the blood on two of his marines. Teresa clutched a cut arm, and blood ran from Gun’s mouth. The six facing them looked no better, but they also refused to leave the field.

“That is enough!” he cried out.

Praetor Darius translated, and to the relief of the Khreenk, Byotai, and Helions it was over. General Rivers looked over to Teresa and lifted a questioning eyebrow. Her clothing was torn, and the fabric of her tunic was ripped about the waist. Even so, she looked happy, but nowhere as pleased as Gun who stood there, undefeated, bruised, and bloody.

“I love this!” he roared to the pleasure of his comrades and the dismay of Praetor Darius.

By 358CC the world of Private Military Contractors had shifted once more. The seven remaining companies found contracts increasing as Alliance military forces were needed to patrol the enlarged borders that now included T’Karan space via the Prometheus-Orion Rift. The days of contractors operating on frontlines were well and truly over, but the work of protecting civilian ships and installations was now even harder than ever. Just one year on, and the wealthy Carthago Trade Consortium bought their stocks. The timing was perfect and resulted in the creation of the CTC Security Corporation. This massive Corporation employed over fifty thousand people at the time of the Helios Expedition.

Private Security Directory

Private Morato and the rest of his squad waited calmly at the grand entrance to the primary hangar. The unit of a dozen marines had split up so that six flanked both sides of the impressive arched opening. As flagship of the battlegroup and the lead ship in the Conqueror class, she was well equipped for long-range expeditions, as well as entertaining dignitaries, such as those coming from Helios. They’d already moved away from the escorting ships and into a lower orbit over Helios while they waited. Jack, Wictred, Hunn, and Thai Qiu-Li stood on the one side in their smart dress uniforms. On their shoulders were gleaming L52 Mark II carbines and from their belts hung pistols and other gear. Even the two Jötnar wore a variation of the black uniform with their modified black jackets hanging over their pants. It was a bizarre collection of warriors, but the Alliance commanders had been given little choice; they wanted only those involved in the fighting for their system, and the Jötnar had played a very important role.

“Marines!” said Lieutenant Kathra Rossen in her dour tone, “Here they come.”

Jack tensed as he heard the footsteps of the approaching group of people. He’d heard rumors of the Helions, yet another group of people the Alliance had come across in such a short space of time. The footsteps became louder, and then he spotted the Helion man, along with two others in dull orange garb. Their clothing was light and flowed as they walked, but it was their faces that surprised him the most. Their skin was tight and yet almost translucent around the bone structure. The color was pale as if they had never seen the sun. If he hadn’t already been briefed, he would have assumed the two were juveniles and certainly not the respected staff of the Ambassador. Directly behind them walked another, this time in darker orange and with a sash tied around his waist. On his head sat an ornate cap encrusted with jewels around a golden bowl.