The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) (101 page)

Several minutes later he noticed the fire in the battalion increasing. His left flank was secure.

But the danger came from another direction.

It came from the far right where the second Illian brigade was preparing its defenses. It was surprised by another legion.  The enemy was close to cutting in his rear.

He looked at what he had left. He knew that the division commander will send additional units to cover the gap but by the time they reached here it would already be too late. He had three under strength battalions as a reserve. A thousand men total.

He called for Darius.

“Darius the Illian second is shattered. If they roll over them they will be in our rear and the general’s plan will be ruined.”

“I understand sir. I can see it from here. What do you want me to do?”

“Take your battalion and half of Muratas battalion and stop them. And try to gather the illian second again under your command. Take two platoons of Acadians. I believe they will come in handy in there.”

“Yes sir.”

He knew there was nothing he could do more. And he just added four more miles to his front. He knew that soon he will have to retreat to the second line.

He looked at the rest of his men.

“We hold here as long as we can. Then we retreat to the second line.”

He got nodes as reply.

They held for three more hours. The retreat was hell on it self under constant fire of the advancing enemy.

The second line held for four more.

Then they had to retreat to the third an last line. Here they were joined by what remained of the Illian second. Darius was holding the right side on the second line and sending parts of his surviving units back as well.

Isko was dead he died in the second line but the young Varo was proving more than capable. He was holding his men like a veteran issuing orders and keeping the enemy under constant barrage of fire.

He looked at the call from the general.

“How long can you give me Marius?”

Marius looked at what he had left. He lost fifteen hundred men so far. Twelve hundred of those were dead.

The wounded were patched up and sent back on the line, those that could fight.

Including the remains of the Illian second he had two thousand and three hundred men, which was not bad considering what they had against them.

And by free estimate they killed more then six thousand of the enemy bastards.

“I think we can hold for several more hours, seven, maybe eight sir.”

The com stayed quiet for a second.

“I need more from you son, i need you to counter attack and take back the second line. And I need you to hold one more day. One more day Marius, no matter what they send against you.”

As soon as he heard the order he knew that it was impossible. But he also knew that it was something he had to do.

If the general said they needed time than that was what they needed. And he and his men had to buy that time. He knew that the general had reserves back. That almost half of the division was not engaged at the moment. This was a good spot. The marshes provided a safe haven on both sides leaving just the small gap that he was defending here and another even smaller that the second illian was supposed to guard. Now his men were there as well.

He looked at Vorz the Illian that was now in command of the second Illian.

“I need you to take your men and join with Darius the moment we counter attack. I need you to hold the line. Hold it until you receive word from me. Then we retreat back here.”

Vorz nodded and headed back to his men.

A moment later they moved out. They stayed low and waited for Marius and his Brigade to launch the counter attack.

Marius called his battalion commanders.

“We need to counter attack and take back the second line. We will have artillery support as we move out. We will attack in fifteen minutes. Varo I want you and your men to lead the counter attack.”

Varo nodded. He was young and tired but he looked calm.

Ten minutes later their artillery opened up. For a moment the Argara front unites lost cohesion. Varo chose that moment to attack. The surprise of the enemy was total and they rolled back. Marius launched the rest of his unit a moment later.

They took back their second line in twenty minutes. They lost almost two hundred men but they had their objective. Now all they had to do was defend it to the end.

Ahura Sac smacked his fist on the wooden table. It shattered under the strong blow.

They lost almost six thousand men and the whole day to take that second line and they lost it in just twenty minutes.

He wondered how many men his opponent on the other side had.

But he guessed no more then three or four thousand. It was a narrow front. It was the best place to stop his much larger force, before the line stretched.  He knew that he was facing the best the enemy had in their commanding staff. Who ever was in command on the other side knew what he was doing.

He remembered the report about the brigade he lost several weeks before. They faced rebels using strange tactics. For a moment he wondered if he was not facing the same commander today.

He looked at the other commanders in the room. Their faces were serious, especially the face of Gorlang, the general in command of the fourth division that lead the attack on the enemy positions.  That division suffered 30% casualties in its ranks.

Ahura knew that the seriousness didn’t come from fear about his position or life. He knew full well that who ever lead the attack would suffer high casualties. It was expected. But no one expected that the attack will be stalled for this long. They hoped to break through the first day. They almost did but then they were thrown back.

He especially was surprised by the fact that the second legion was stopped in its advance.

They managed to break through the first line of defense fast and rolled over the defenders. Then suddenly the rebels counterattacked and threw them back.

And now they held and fought hard for every meter that his troops gained.

“What happened? We were supposed to be 20 miles inward by now. Instead we are just one mile inside their perimeter.”

“The resistance is heavier then expected my lord. They are fighting like demons, and they are well armed and equipped. We need the armored units. If don’t use them we can expect even higher casualties.”

Ahura saw the man who spoke. It was Garvas.

“The reports we got from the dacarians didn’t spoke the whole story about what we face. I don’t think Kobark had any intention of misleading me. He is new to this world just like us so it is possible that they don’t know what they face.”

“I agree. If it was some kind of a trap they would have told their legions. They suffered as well. And this jungle is thick enough to hide anything.”

Ahura thought for a second. He looked at Molok.

“Order three more divisions forward. One of them should try to sneak through the marshes. One will join us and another will reinforce the second legion. And Molok your division has free rain. I think it’s time we squash this rebel scum.”

His second in command smiled.

“Yes my lord, we will.”

“The third and fifth division will march with you. There is no holding back. Not anymore.”’

He looked at them expecting questions.

When no one spoke he nodded.

“Very well you know your assignments. This meeting is over.”

They all stood up an left the room.

Ahura sat down on the chair and looked at the map. He was confident that they will break through the enemy defenses.

What ever they were protecting it had to be hidden in the jungle that lay ahead, or in the mountains.

Marius encouraged his men as best he could. They were tired, but they were not beaten. He could see the determination on their young faces. He could sense the courage. They all knew what was probably coming. They could hear the enemy armored units approaching.

They were fighting without stop through the previous day and the whole night.

And they repelled the first two attacks this morning.

He lost almost two thirds of his brigade. Two thousand of his men were lying dead in the trenches, in many cases locked in a last deadly embrace with argara warriors.

He looked at the young Varo. He was just eighteen years old but he proved him self. And he knew that what he had to ask from him now would probably be the last order he will give him.

“Varo I will need your battalion to hold this line while the rest of the brigade retreats to the third line. You have to hold. No matter what they send you have to buy us the time we need to reinforce our line.”

Varo’s face what dirty, it was covered in black and dirt and sweat. His black hair was white from the smoke and ash. But his blue eyes still burned.

He looked around to the positions his own men held. The battalion was almost destroyed. They started with four hundred and seventy three men. Now only one hundred and eighty two remained. And half of them were wounded. But he knew that his men will fight.

He knew he had their full trust now. He was their leader.

He pulled a picture and a letter from his pocket. The picture was from the girl he loved. The letter was addressed to her and to his younger sister. His parents were dead, and he guessed that he will be soon. But in his heart he knew that it was a worthy death.

“Make sure that this letter gets delivered in her hands sir.”

Marius looked at the young men as he took the letter.

For just a second he thought about changing his decision but as he saw Varo’s eyes he stayed silent.

“I will captain.”

“Thank you sir.”

After this Varo saluted and returned to his unit. As soon as he did they deployed forward taking the positions of the other units spreading out to cover the empty ground.

Marius ordered the retreat.

As soon as he did the others started running back. Behind him he heard the first explosion fall.

And then he heard Varo’s shout.

“We fight for our family, for our freedom, for the men we lost and for the men that are behind us. This is the last line, there is no turning back. We stop them here.”

A huge hurray answered him.

He knew that the resistance would be short lived and futile but he still smiled. He never dreamed that that would be a young boy he would never forget in his long life.

In front of him he noticed the first brigade or what was left of it reinforcing the line. This was the strongest point in the line he had to defend.

As soon as his men reached the line of bunkers they deployed. Some of them scattered mines in front of them covering them with dirt and earth so that they would be hidden. Those that stayed outside deployed in the trenches.

He had around one thousand men left. Not enough to stop what was coming his way. Not even close.

But he knew that they had to do all they could, even if all of them died.

He entered his command bunker and started working on his defense plan.

Varo watched as the first heavy armor vehicles approached. He knew that his kin from earth, the strange looking soldiers he saw for just a second when they passed the line called them tanks, and some of them walkers.

The dacarians and the Argara called them Hakuntash. He didn’t know what that word meant but he didn’t care. Not really.

He lost ten men in the two enemy attacks so far. He had only two remaining bunkers and the trenches that connected them were filled with the surviving men of his unit. They were thinly spread. Most were in the last trench only forty five were in the first two and they were hiding now. They had a job to do to stop the enemy vehicles as they came close. His men were taking shots at the infantry coming with them.

There were thousands of them coming at a fast trot, the wolf like Argara and the legionaries.

He felt no remorse as he activated the first set of mines. Most of them were of the new design created on advice of their new allies. They called them Claymores. This was the first time they used them so far. He asked for them from the supply officer as thee other retreated. He got four hundred. His men worked hard to place them all carefully.

The field ahead was covered with them. All of his men ducked as he pressed the button.  

So did he.

The Argara and the legionaries were not that lucky. The illian claymores were the same design as their human counterparts just filled with different explosive that gave its balls even stronger momentum. Two hundred mines were deployed along the two mile front here at a depth of half a mile.

And that field of death was filled with thousands of Argara warriors and legionaries who never before saw such a weapon. As the mines exploded and launched their deadly projectiles on all sides in just a second all cohesion among the dacarian troops was lost.