Deadman - Book 3 Chapter 31: Riding Shotgun

The roar of the engines was kept to a minimum as we approached. The Khan had ordered some of his fleet to be as loud as possible approaching the opposite end of the Remnant’s forces, to have them prepare for an assault from that direction. I rode shotgun on the Khan’s own car. It was a ceremonial position of great importance, and when the Khan had offered it to me, handing me his own shotgun, I’d heard multiple gasps from his men.

The Khan’s car was a beautiful black beast that belched fire, and roared with a force that rattled my teeth. It was the closest thing to a dragon I imagined existed in this world. There were a number of guns mounted to the front, and one to the back, but only the Khan and I were actually inside the car. Around fifty of the Horde accompanied us on their own vehicles, and I could feel their barely contained excitement as we barrelled across the wastes toward our quarry.

I saw the Remnant’s army come into view. A milling mass of hundreds of bodies writhing to meet an attack they believed was going to come from the opposite direction. I could see a few suits of Power Armor shining in the midday sun. The Khan and I were riding at the front, and would be the first to meet the enemy. I pulled out my laspistol and started to pick a target.

The Khan laughed. “Put that away.”

I pulled myself back into the car and gave him a questioning look.

“Use only shotgun. That is our way.”

“We’d need to get closer for that.” I said, holstering my pistol and drawing my shotgun from my pack.

“Yes.” He said simply, slamming on the gas, pushing the car forward with enough force to push me back into the seat.

I pulled myself back up just in time to see the Remnant’s forces taking notice of us. At the speed we were approaching though, it was far too late for them to truly react. I pulled out my shotgun, and hung myself halfway out, locking my feet into some hooks on the floor of the car that I assumed existed for just this purpose.

The Khan reached for a grip on his dashboard and pulled it back. The machine guns on the front of his car roared to life and started firing a hail of bullets into the enemy forces as we barreled toward them.

I heard their cries, and very suddenly found myself in the midst of them. I raised my shotgun, and fired it once, twice. Two heads exploded and those around the dead screamed as the debris from their skulls cut into them.

I moved to reload as the Khan swerved the car around, activating freeze to keep one man from dodging as the rear of the vehicle slammed into him. The Khan executed a hard turn again the back of his car slammed into two other men who were knocked back with such force that they died instantly. Even as he made this turn, he adjusted which guns were firing, maximizing the damage he could do while he was in the midst of them.

I managed to fire two more shells, but couldn’t be certain of their efficacy as the Khan began moving us away from their army just as it began to regroup. I hadn’t even noticed the rest of his attack force joining us in the commotion, but saw the pulped or bullet chewed remains of the Remnants all around us marking their passing.

I saw one of the raids stragglers begin to speed up to catch up with the rest of us, but before it could regain speed, a man in power armor and a jump pack, slammed into it’s hood, flipping the vehicle into the air where it twisted wildly until it slammed onto the ground. The power armored figure was covered in battle scars and for a moment he looked at me with a familiar scarred faceplate. It was Graves, I realized.

Just as we left the edge of the Remnant forces, the Khan leaned out of his own window and grabbed the collar of a random STAR soldier, hitting the gas as we pulled away from them. The man screamed as he was dragged across the ground, and I could hear the Khan laughing madly as he accelerated. He released the man, and I watched him roll along the wasteland, his limbs a mess of broken bones, his head eventually crashing into a rock, silencing his screaming.

The Khan kept laughing as we pulled away. “It’s good to fight again.” He said simply as he veered his car around to prepare for another pass.

…

I crouched in a tree, clutching my sword. I was surrounded by more than fifty of Bastien’s Kaijin. They were coated in mud, reeds, and whatever other camouflage they could find, and were sitting with a perfect stillness that I found very impressive. Bastien was next to me, similarly coated in mud like his people. He held a spear with a wickedly hooked tip.

We waited, most with bows and the rest of us with spears. My ears seemed to pick up every little sound, still adjusting from the loudness I’d just had to experience riding shotgun with the Khan. I had decided to take part in all three phases of attack on the Remnants, separating from the Khan while his fleet went to resupply so that they might be able to hit the attacker’s again after they left the swamp. The Remnants had taken losses, but started to mitigate them the more attacks they’d weathered. Their power armored core leading the defense had actually resulted in the loss of several vehicles.

When the enemy forces came into sight though, they looked almost visibly relieved. The Khan wouldn’t be able to strafe at their flanks in the dense swamps, which was why he’d already moved his fleet through the roads and to the other side. I watched as they got closer, and closer, listening to the occasional bird call or other noise that the Kaijin were using as a signal. I wouldn’t have been able to tell it wasn’t birdsong had Bastien not informed me that was what they were doing earlier.The Remnant forces kept approaching, and I watched as many of them looked directly at hidden Kaijin and did not react at all. I heard one additional piercing note of birdsong from across the trees. The Kaijin all fired arrows at once, dropping dozens of separate targets in one fell swoop. The rest of us dropped out of the trees with our weapons, right into their midst, as the archers lined up additional shots.

I drove my sword through a soldier’s back as I fell, and immediately began pushing toward the nearest of the power armored troops. I swung my sword in wide arcs as I moved, slicing off limbs and heads with abandon. I reached a power armored soldier as he fired his las-rifle into the trees, dropping an archer. I swung my sword in a downward slash at him. He raised his rifle in an attempt to block it, but it was too late, and I drove the swords edge deep into his chest.

I went to attack another of them, watching as Bastien speared through three men with one strike before flinging the bodies off the spear to crash into still more of them. Before I could reach the next of my targets, a shadow crossed above me, and I threw myself to the side. It was Graves, a hammer that looked like two of the ones most Remnant fighters used, pulsing with power in his hands.

He raised a hand and pointed at me. I raised my sword, not relishing the idea of fighting him, but ready just the same. I charged him, my sword low for a stab.

He batted my blade away, moving more quickly than I’d ever seen a human move, then brought his fist up to strike my chin.

I dodged, feeling only a light scraping from his gauntlet and knowing that the blow would’ve killed a normal deadman on contact.

He raised his hammer, and brought it down. I could tell that I wouldn’t have been able to directly block the blow, so dodged as far back and out of the way as I could. It hit mud and asphalt, sending debris flying all around us.

There was another loud whistle, the sign to retreat. I gritted my teeth, watching Graves approach and started to back away. If I was left behind, or worse if the Kaijin kept fighting because of me, it would be bad. They had the advantage of surprise, but without that, the Remnant forces would be able to crush them with their superior tech.

Graves ran at me, and would’ve reached me had a spear not slammed into him, knocking him to his knees as it hit his helmet. I looked over to see Bastien smiling and nodding at me, even as he slammed STAR soldiers heads together, turning them into paste. I made it to the treeline, and faded into the swamp with the Kaijin, leaving behind piles of STAR dead and the challenge Graves had brought to me.