Deadman - Book 3 Chapter 32: Outmanuevered

I lay prone, a cerberus in my hands, as we waited for the Remnants to pass. Nix had picked a perfect position for our attack. We were close enough to be in range with our weaponry, far enough away to be difficult to spot, and near enough to a deadzone that our retreat would be covered. There were around twenty of us, with some of our people remaining in Medina to aid with its defense and fortification.

Our attack was, in many ways, the most dangerous one. The Horde took the first ambush and so was able to take the initiative from the enemy and maximize their damage. When the Kaijin attacked, the Remnants had been expecting more Horde attacks that they didn’t think would be possible in the swamp. As the third assault, we were likely expected. The Remnants would now almost certainly have their guard up. Still, without ability to follow us into the deadzone, we had a distinct advantage.

We sat, and waited. I began to see the dust being kicked up by the enemies movements, and borrowed a set of binoculars from Nix to watch their approach. I could tell that the enemy’s numbers had been well reduced by our attacks, and their pace was now slower, and more deliberate. There were more of the power armored troops toward the front to act as a bulwark against assault.

There was to be a final attack by the Horde before they reached us. I could see the smoke and dust from their vehicles starting to begin their approach. I watched as they reached the Remnant’s lines. They strafed them once, then twice, then a third time then… they very suddenly seemed to get stuck. I watched a number of vehicles come to a complete stop, and start unleashing all of their munitions all at once. They were circled around something, but I couldn’t tell what. I saw one car explode, then another, then just as suddenly as they’d stopped, the vehicles started back up, and drove at what I assumed was their maximum speed, back toward Medina. Something had gone wrong.

I handed the binoculars back to Nix, and she assessed the situation. She wore a grim expression, but turned to her men.

“We follow through with the attack. Whether or not something went wrong, slowing them down and softening them up can only help.”

We settled back into position, waiting for them to pass within range. Once they were close enough that I could make out individuals, I grabbed the binoculars again and searched for the most beaten suit of power armor and was surprised when I couldn’t find it. I looked again, but Graves was nowhere to be seen. That made my teeth itch. I searched the area around us, and took a deep breath to use my enhanced sense of smell to detect him, but I didn’t sense or see any sign of him.

I returned the binoculars to Nix for the last time, and began lining up to shoot my cerberus. The others were already in position. I looked across them, recognizing a few faces from our initial attack into STAR territory. They looked sure, and focused. Deadmen and women who’d seen combat, some of them even still wearing the black robes of the Undertaker, marking them out as veterans among veterans. I was in good company.

Just before the bulk of the enemy forces reached us, something changed. The forces split into two, with the bulk continuing forward toward Medina, and the rest of them starting to move directly on our position. I exchanged an uneasy glance with Nix, then returned my attention to the enemy lines.

I watched as fifteen suits of power armor took up a spot on the vanguard. Behind them, I saw what must have been nearly one hundred normal soldiers start to place masks on their faces. I took the binoculars from Nix and looked through them, feeling my heart rate speed up. I recognized those masks, and looking closer, I could see that under their clothes were full black bodysuits that I recognized. I’d first met Leah when she was wearing one… in a deadzone full of high rads.

“We need to move.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Nix.

“Those suits, they’re rad resistant. They’re planning on following us into the deadzone.”

“Fuck.” Nix turned to her people. “Wait to fire the first volley, focus all fire on the center suit of power armor, then move into a fall back and fire routine. The Cerberus have higher range than their lasguns, we might be able to stay ahead of them.”

They all nodded in the affirmative, and began lining up their shots. I followed suit, and the second the center suit of armor got into range, I squeezed the trigger.

We all fired as one, sending an enormously powerful blast of concentrated las fire onto the center suit of power armor at once. We held our fire for one second, two, three, five, then the suit fell down dead. We fell back, moving along our planned retreat, with no alternative available to us.

I started marking the enemy under arrest one by one as we moved back, highlighting them in my vision, and counting as I went. There were more than a hundred to our twenty. There was no way we were going to survive a standup fight. I froze whoever I thought would trip them up the most, but it wasn’t effective on those that were power armored, and that severely limited its efficacy.

We kept moving, running back and firing. We managed to drop several of the power armored men and women approaching us, but there were enough to block us from severely damaging the unarmored troops behind them. It also took a severe ammo expenditure each time. We started leaving power pack after power pack behind as we moved, until we were deep within the deadzone. Had the Khan’s forces stayed nearby we may have been able to flag them down for assistance retreating, but that option was long gone. The enemy were also starting to gain on us, which surprised me. Typically deadmen endurance would have the edge, but the march the enemy troops were on was at an incredibly fast pace. They were more jogging toward us than marching at this point. We would fall into the range of their weapons soon.

“I’m out!” yelled a deadwoman, slinging her cerberus behind her back.

“Here!” I yelled back, taking a spare power cell from my pack and tossing it her way.

Her announcement was followed by others, each of them running out of ammo as well until I had no more spare power cells to give, and gave out both of my laspistols as well. We started to falter, and that’s when we took our first casualty.

A deadwoman, one I realized I’d met before. She was the one that had stopped the drunken deadman I’d encountered from starting a fight with me, who’d gone so far as to throw a salute to me. She’d been among those who made the first strike in STAR territory. Brave, and a crack shot from what I’d seen.

She looked at me, falling slightly behind the rest of us. “You have any powder weapons we can spread around?” she asked.

I unslung the cerberus from my back, I had one full power cell left, then I’d be empty. I moved to hand it to her. “Here, this may work better for y-”

I heard the whistle of a bullet before I saw it. It hit the back of her head, and blew out of her left eye even as I was looking at her. I caught her body, and held it there for a moment. It had been a lucky shot, one of many pot shots that had started to fly in our direction. I dragged her forward, hearing a quiet sob from one of the others as he saw what had happened to her. I hoped for a moment that she would heal, she might be one of the few we had with that ability, but she hung there…limp in my arms. I carried her and pushed my walk until I was next to Nix.

“Whatever ammo anyone has left, explosives, anything…give it to me.”

Nix looked at me, continuing her march even as she took a moment to close the deadwoman’s remaining eye. “You running into that groups is a death sentence.” She said.

“It is… but just for me. Give me what you can, and I’ll cover everyone else’s escape.”

She looked at me, incredulous.

“You’ve seen me fight. It’s the only chance to maximize your chances of survival.”

She gritted her teeth. “Everyone, all remaining power packs, and explosives. Give them to Donovan. No more stopping to focus fire. Now we focus on marching.”

They all nodded, and looked at me confused. One of them. The one who had sobbed, stopped moving and approached me.

“No, I’ll stand with him. He shouldn’t do this alone.”

I shoved the body into his arms. “I shouldn’t, but I’m going to. You get this body back to Pott’s. She deserves to be buried in her home.”

He grimaced, but nodded. Nix brought me a backpack. Five power packs, a handful of grenades, and an extra laspistol. I laid it next to me, placed my other pack on the ground, and drove my sword into the ground in front of me. The others hesitated.

“GO!” I yelled, raised the cerberus and aimed at the approaching forces. There were maybe one hundred and two or three left. We’d done a good job whittling them down.

“You heard him, double time!” yelled Nix.

I heard them bound away, moving much faster now. I aimed, and got ready to squeeze the trigger. I smiled, showing my teeth. How many could I get through before they took me down?