Scavengii in Soldier of Empire
In Soldier of Empire, Guy Erma is now a fighter of the Dome Militant, and the Scavengii have taken soldiers and civilians captives. They are being held deep inside the broken moon of Sas Darona. Prince Teodor may be among the captives. The Dome Militant must now give their all to try and rescue him.
Retaliation at the Heart of the Broken Moon
“Stand firm, Dome Militant.”
Des and the other seniors were regrouping. Marline and Guy still had the small boy, so together, they ran down the tunnel – back to their ship. Behind them, the men yelled and the Scavengii roared. As soon as Guy spotted the safety of a Dome Militant ship, he pressed the boy’s hand into Marline’s and pushed them both onwards.
“Run!” he shouted, “I have to save Des!” Then, before Marline could protest, Guy reached for his blades, closed his helm, and sprinted back the way we came. Out of nowhere, a Scavengii appeared. There must have been a concealed tunnel. Guy watched three more monsters emerge from a crack in the rock wall, while he hid in the shadows. They stood between him and the great cavern. Their intention was to attack the Dome Militant from behind. More were piling into the space and running up the corridor. Guy took a last look and reported back. HQ would be getting hundreds of reports and video feeds, with AIs building live feeds to give the commanders a view of the entire battle. Guy doubted this group would have gone unnoticed.
As if on cue, from behind him came the crash of heavy boots. Guy flattened himself to the wall, to watch the Battle Borgs of the Dome Militant. Fired up with human killer instinct, they engaged the Scavengii without hesitation.
Behind them, a tech squad brought up more firebots. Guy knew what was coming, so he squeezed deeper into the rock face. Flame filled the corridor, but then, he saw a gap. He sprinted forward, leaping through the flames into the main cavern. Two of the Battle Borgs shouted warnings. Guy ignored them.
The Scavengii had encircled and trapped a last group of human fighters, and they were closing in. Des must have been at the centre of this crush. The pirates crowded in on the human survivors and presented their backs to Guy – the yellow horns emerging from their fur looking like so many climbing posts. Swift and light, Guy scaled a Scavengii’s back to his shoulder. As the creature turned to roar, Guy had his blades ready. He slashed left, then leapt high over the creature’s head to land at the centre of the fight.
Where was Des?
A Dome Militant senior charged towards Guy; his long sword fully extended into a pike. What was he doing? Guy realised he was running at a Scavengii behind. The senior grabbed Guy by the shoulder even as he heaved his weapon free and dragged him back to the Dome Militant line.
Guy still could not see Des. There were several squads, less than twenty men trapped, and not much space. They stood shoulder to shoulder, with their long swords pointed outwards. Guy holstered his hand blades and pulled his long sword from his back and extended it. To his right, a pirate leapt forward, and the Dome Militant slashed at it. The attacker fell back.
“Eyes front,” a voice called out. There was Des; he squirmed through the crush to stand alongside Guy, holding his long sword before him – stained with dark blood. Their eyes met, then he nodded forward. Guy saw where he had leapt through, there was a gap. He and Des could see beyond the encircling Scavengii to where men and Battle Borgs were fighting their way through.
We have to get out!
“Let’s do this!” Des waved to him and charged forward, his battle pike swinging madly. The Scavengii leapt aside as he cleared a path.
“Freedom!” Guy yelled and leapt forward.
The Battle Borgs had cleared a small space – a narrow escape to the tunnel and their ships. Even as Des and Guy raced on, so Scavengii piled in on top of them.
Firebots were herding and corralling the Scavengii, yet in doing so, Guy and Des found themselves trapped. And the flames kept coming. The Scavengii were fighting for their lives.
A heavy claw slashed down across Des’ face. Guy stabbed at the great furred arm. Des speared one Scavengii, but another came up behind and threw him down. Des was on the ground. Guy stood over him, swiping his broadsword right and left.
Stand and hold.
Flames shot up and lit up the cave. The firebots continued to lay down long corridors of flame. Guy could see Dome Militant and Battle Borgs fighting to drive a wedge through the circle of Scavengii, but then, the wall of fur and claws and teeth closed in.
Only Des and Guy remained. Two Dome Militant caught amid Scavengii desperately fleeing from the flames. The Battle Borg still fighting to grab them, but just out of reach. If Guy could just hold a few moments longer, the others might fight through to them. He had to hold on.
Guy swiped left and right, trying to avoid the crush. The smell of their foul sweat and the tang of blood filled his mouth and nose. Still, he fought on.
He punched a Scavengii who bent to sniff Des. That was when a heavy blow came from behind. Guy felt himself falling, yet in doing so, he still wanted to protect Des. At the very last, Guy twisted and rolled away, so he did not land on Des. Only in doing so, he realised he was in the path of a falling Scavengii. Then, all he saw was thick fur. He raised his hands above his face. Then the creature smashed down on him, and as he did, Guy’s leg twisted and he heard three sharp cracks followed by a crunch – then, his world turned black.
Comments