The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) (76 page)

“What is the situation with Omansa sir? General Angora was leading a fighting retreat in that direction.”

The grim face of the general told him the answer.

“Omansa has fallen. I have no information about it not as much as I’d like to know but it seems that they attacked from both directions and even used kinetic bombardment and overwhelming air strikes to destroy our units there. I don’t think that many managed to survive. Several small detachments managed to break through but not many in total just several thousand and that is both soldiers and civilians from your regions managed to reach here. And I expect that in the next day or two we will be under attack as well.”

Arn looked at the map. He could notice the placement of the troops and the enemy movements. It was obvious that they are advancing on all fronts and that they will be in contact with the leading elements of the forces under Muskar soon. And considering how much territory he had to cover it was hard to believe that he would manage to stop them. And behind him all that remained was the Ksamona line. It was the most fortified and heavily defended but it was also the last line of defense before Ksamona it self. This was a fight to the death.

As he thought that he remembered the humans.

“Sir you know who helped us and who came with us.”

The general looked at him

“You mean the small group of humans that came with you?”

“Yes.”

The general exhaled and walked out of the bunker. Ngoan, Arn and Acura went after him. Outside groups of Illians, Acadians, Mag, humans were moving around heading towards their positions preparing for the battle that was coming.

The general looked at them. Arn caught him looking at a small band of humans that were heading forward. As the general watched them Arn noticed the admiration in his eyes.

And he knew from where it comes.

“They are brave sir.”

“Yes Arn, but not just that. They are special Arn.”

“Why do you say that sir?”

“I don’t mean it in a sense that they are better or that their value is bigger then ours but just look at them. We all hate the Dacarians, we all fight them but none has the passion that the humans have. They have no fear. They never give up, no matter what they face.”

“Yes sir when we attacked the camp several days ago you should have seen them. They had no weapons but as soon as we fired they attacked the legionaries with their bare hands. And many of them died but even more escaped. Many died but they all said that they die free. That is their only wish, that and the wish to kill the bastards.”

They all turned to Acura. The general smiled as the young scout spoke.

“Yes you’re right. You know the Ksand say that once the galaxy trembled when the Dacarians and the Alterans”- he pointed towards the humans -” the humans fought. According to the Ksand and the records they have it was a war unlike any other. And they fought several.”

Acura just nodded. They all knew the story even though just the high ranking Illians knew the whole history of that deciding war, a war that allowed the dacarians to carve their empire and rise as a galactic power. In a way it was a conflict that condemned every other race that since that day fought against the Dacarians. They were all paying the price of the ancient betrayal of races that were now long gone. It was hard to believe that just one decision, one moment condemned hundreds maybe thousands of races to slavery and extinction. The dacarians were conquerors and it was obvious that they will never stop. They lived for war. And the problem was that they were excellent at waging it. They were merciless, had no fear and stopped at nothing to achieve victory, but they were also cunning and extremely smart. They learned from their mistakes, took what ever they needed from the races they conquered and learned from the technology and adapted the technology they could use or reverse engineered what they needed and what they could use. Not just military but also plenty of other technologies.

“And now if these humans represent what we all hope they do then soon this war will erupt once again.”

He turned towards Acura and Arn.

“Are you sure that they are not some humans that escaped the camps and work alone. You know we had some groups that did that in the past.”

Before Arn could say anything Acura answered.

“There is no doubt sir. The way they fight, the reaction of the praetorian when they rescued my group, the weapons they use. They are trained for insertion and it is obvious that they were gathering information about the dacarians and their placements on this world. And I don’t think they are alone. There are others out there sir.”

The general turned towards the humans and thought for a second.

Then he turned towards them again.

“The council and the Elders must learn of this and they must speak with these humans. Ngoan you will take them through our lines to Ksamona.”

Ngoan tensed. The young Illian knew the honor he was given. It rarely happened that someone as junior as him and as young met the council and spoke to the elders. The council was a body that governed the Illians and the Elders. It was a body consisting of members of several races and of the Ksand. They were the ones that would be most interested about the latest development.

“I would be honored sir.”

“Good. Take several men for protection and go. You have to move fast to avoid the enemy troops. I’m sure that once they start the attack they will land units in our rear. You mustn’t be caught by them.”

“Yes sir. I thank you for this honor.”

“You deserve it my friend.”

Ngoan saluted and went towards his own men. He moved fast and his movement showed the hints of excitement.

As he walked away the general and the two soldiers watched him go.

“And you are young child. If anyone deserves to live through this, that’s you and the others like you.”

The others nodded at his words. None of them was that old but they were all far older than Ngoan. Their eyes showed their experience. And they knew that the hope of these advanced units living through what was coming is small, almost none existent.

Some would survive but not many. The civilians, those that were too old or too young to fight, the females, all were already ordered to retreat towards Ksamona in to the safety of the ancient stronghold. Only those capable of fighting were staying behind.

As Ngoan and the men he chose went to pick up the humans and take them further down the line the general dismissed Arn and Acura and went to his bunker to plan how to conduct the defense. Acura and Arn went to their own units the ones that were moving forward.

The seven surviving Seals were gathered around two Illians that joined Luis and Flint and saw to the injuries that Gordon had. He was still unconscious and had fever. From what both Flint and Luis said he needed a surgery and he needed it in the next couple of days if he was to live. The two medics and the Illians did all they could but he was in need of a medical centers and even then it would be a small miracle if he was going to live.

Flint was most concerned with the wound to his chest. From the way Gordon was breathing it was clear that he had injured lung and also the wound to his stomach was bad. The only thing that saved him was that the heat of the plasma cauterized his wounds. But he would need a major surgery and a long rest if he was to live.

The Illians were saying something about medical facilities back in their main base and Rivers hopped that that would be their next destination.

As he watched them he noticed several Illians, three humans, and several other aliens and the Sicarian they rescued approaching.

As they saw them they stopped and the youngest one came forward.

As he approached Rivers nodded. The Illian smiled.

He was young, far younger that the other Illians they saw so far but he was walking with authority. It was obvious that he was an officer. As he watched him the Illian spoke.

“I’m commander Ngoan.”

“I’m Major Rivers. What can I do for you commander?”

The Illian looked at the other humans and then returned his look to Rivers.

“Are you the one that is in charge of your unit?”

“Yes.”

“Good. You and your men will come with us to Ksamona where you will meet with our council and our Elders. I believe that you will have much to discuss with them.”

Before Rivers could speak the Illian continued.

“It is also a place where we can help him. He pointed to Gordon.”

Rivers turned towards his men.

They exchanged looks.

He met Anderson’s gaze.

“What do you think?”

“I think we should accept his offer sir. It’s not just Gordon. We need to see how this will change our mission. You know what our orders are and what orders the fleet will have.”

Rivers nodded at his words. They all knew the plan. This world was to be destroyed, every trace, every sign of Earth had to be removed. Even before they moved they knew that they might find survivors here and slaves. They were all expendable. But no one expected that they will find a full blown rebellion. It was obvious that the rebels were not powerful enough to challenge the dacarians for control of this world. But it was obvious that they had a large and well organized force that could be used.

“You’re right. We never expected this but we have a chance here. If we can use them somehow we can weaken the forces on this world before our troops arrive. That will make their job easier.”

“And sir they have to have excellent knowledge of the dacarian troops on this world. That is information’s we need. And I believe that they won’t mind giving us what we need.”

“You’re right Doc.”

Rivers turned back to Ngoan. The Illian was watching them as they spoke and waiting.

“We will come with you Ngoan. I believe there is much that we have to discuss. But we will need to leave soon after. We have some objectives that we have to meet.”

“I believe that you will find what you are looking for in the discussion with our council Major Rivers. Now if you don’t mind we need to move fast. Time is of the essence.”

Rivers nodded and as he did all the Seals stood up and got ready for leaving. In less then two minutes they were ready.

Two of the humans picked up the stretcher that held Gordon and led by several Illians started moving.

Ngoan moved after them and Rivers and the rest followed.

As they left Rivers noticed that everyone was watching them. Deep in his heart he knew the reason for that. He just hoped that they will be able to give them what they expected.

As the small group left the camp the general watched them go. He was together with several of his officers. He didn’t go to greet them. There was no need for that. And there was no time. It was enough to just see them to know the truth. They were not from this world. He watched them go and then turned to his officers.

“We need to hold on Killik. We need to survive and give them the time they need. Our friends are coming at last. We are not alone. Not anymore.”

                                                 CHAPTER NINE

Planet Arcadia

Arcadia Star System

It took them five hours to pass the tunnels.

There were signs of habitation. It was obvious that the tunnel served as a secret base sometimes. There were other tunnels on the sides that they all guessed lead to some wider areas buried deep in the mountain. But none of that mattered now.

As they came out of the tunnels they noticed that night has fallen. The sky had few clouds and the stars were visible. The small band of humans admired the view. The large space stations covering the planet were clearly visible orbiting the planet. They all remembered the space stations orbiting Earth and laughed inside at how tiny they looked compared with the ones they were seeing now. But they also felt pride in the knowledge that most of the stations they see were built by humans in the past.

Without a word the humans spread out in the night and waited for the aliens to join them.

The three Illians came out last and then activated the sealing mechanism that locked the tunnels.

As they did Ellis and Kelley pulled out their map and marked their coordinates. As they did they noticed that they were close to the spot where the scheduled meeting with the other teams was supposed to be made.