Black Legion: 02 - Assault on Khorram (6 page)

“My father?”

“Yes, Gryllus and a small group of senior officials worked with us on a peaceful accord between Attica and the Laconians. It was a simple plan to allow a transition from a wartime state to one committed to peace with Laconia.”

Xenophon nodded in agreement.

“It’s true. I spoke with my father about this on several occasions. Most Attican officials wanted to fight a war of resistance after our defeat. Gryllus and his friends persuaded them on a course to avoid conflict. Montoya was always against this plan, for her it reduced her power. That’s probably why they made her one of the Thirty, a compromise to keep her quiet.”

The old man tilted his head as if to say that Xenophon might be right.

“Anyway, I heard a group of representatives from most of the main powers have been in talks with the Satrap Tissaphernes.”

Roxana now seemed intrigued.

“You mean the idiot we just helped at the Gates? Why would they be meeting him?”

The man smiled.

“That’s a good question. I do know that Secretary of State Montoya is there, as well as people from a dozen other states. The rumour is that he is assembling a coalition to buttress up against Lysander.”

Glaucon sighed.

“Old man, you seem to have a lot of information for a man that is now an imprisoned soldier on an Arcadian warship. Why would a regional Median commander be looking to fund a coalition of Terrans? Isn’t Cyrus already doing the same thing?”

“A good point, but this isn’t to do with what is happening here. It is to do with the Laconians. Have you not heard the news about Lysander?”

Two guards approached the door and looked inside. It appeared they were trying to find somebody. They were about to leave when one noticed the conversation between the group in the corner.

“Hey, shut it!” he barked.

They stopped and looked at him as did the many other prisoners, all of them looking at him and waiting. He looked at an electronic report in his hand. The corner of his mouth twisted upwards into a smile of satisfaction. A few more seconds and he looked back inside the brig.

“Calm down now, just a few more jumps and then we’ll be getting rid of you. Apparently, there are some people waiting to take a few of you back to your homeworlds. Who’s been a little naughty?”

The familiar feeling of the FTL drive started up again, much to the surprise of the guard and the prisoners. This time it was different, and a series of shudders shook the massive vessel followed by a loud grinding sound. It was similar to the rubbing of heavy metal together. Almost immediately after, the sound of the emergency alarms activated and the lights dimmed.

“Stay here!” shouted the guard and then he was gone.

Red lights flashed on, and the Titan quickly transformed from its sedentary state to one of a ship at battle stations. The brig was quickly deserted, and just a couple of guards stayed to stand at their posts. The rest grabbed armour and weapons from the lockers and exited through the single entrance to the brig quarter.

“What the hell is going on?” shouted one of the prisoners.

“Maybe it’s a mutiny. There’s a lot if dissatisfaction on board.”

Tamara leaned against the wall and placed her ear to the solid surface. She winced several times as she listened as best she could. Roxana moved towards her and started to speak. She was interrupted by a group of crewmen rushing in to check the firearm lockers. There was just one pulse pistol left, and the first woman to arrive grabbed it.

“Is that it?” asked one of the men with her.

“Yeah, come on, we need to get out of here!”

Another peered inside at them.

“Let’s go, they are coming this way!” he cried.

The group moved to the door before any of the prisoners even thought to speak. It came down to Tamara to get their attention as the woman with the pistol started to disappear through the gap.

“Hey, what’s happening out there?” she shouted.

The woman vanished but reappeared, peeking back inside. Her look suggested she hadn’t even noticed them in the cells, let alone had given them more than a few seconds consideration.

“We don’t know. There’s fighting on the ship and fires in the landing bay.”

She looked around the brig and slapped a large red button on the wall with the palm of her hand. She then vanished and left the prisoners to their fate.

“That’s just great!” muttered somebody in one of the adjacent cells.

A hiss reverberated through the brig and in perfect synchronisation, every single cell door slid open.

“Yes!” shouted Glaucon.

Xenophon reached out and held him back.

“Don’t be too excited my friend. Why did she release us?” he added.

“Who cares? Let’s go!” said Tamara excitedly. She was at the door and moving out into the corridor before the rest had even moved. Dozens of other prisoners rushed out, and in less than half a minute, the entire place was deserted. Xenophon, Roxana and Glaucon joined Tamara in the corridor. The sight that greeted them all left them speechless. A dozen bodies littered the ground, and splatters of blood covered one side of the corridor. Two men at the far end were dragging a third wounded soldier after them. A powerful blast shook the Titan with such a force that all of them were thrown hard against the wall.

“Uh, guys? What the hell can make a Titan do that?” asked Glaucon.

Xenophon said nothing, but his expression was all Glaucon needed to see. A clatter of small arms fire rattled out in the distance, but there was no easy way of telling quite how far away it was. As they stood against the wall, the old man from the brig appeared. Another violent shake threw them about, and he stumbled towards Xenophon. He grabbed him and pulled him to the side before he almost fell to the ground.

“You okay, old man?” he asked in an amused fashion. The man looked up and grinned.

“Kid, you can call me Marcus. You know those sounds are heavy pulse weapons, don’t you? This ship is in big trouble.”

Glaucon moved off down the corridor and vanished into the smoke but quickly reappeared. Several bright flashes behind him gave the impression he was jumping back from a violent storm.

“We need to get out of here, let’s do it!” he cried.

He turned back to the smoke and vanished, quickly followed by Roxana. The others did the same and left the brig behind. As they moved their way along the corridors, they passed many more dead or injured crew. Some were badly burned but most showed firearms injuries. Marcus knelt down and examined one of the casualties of whatever battle seemed to be raging.

“This is odd. He’s carrying webbing and ammunition but no weapons.”

No weapons, what happened here?
Xenophon thought.

Tamara jumped back, looking in vain for somewhere to hide. She looked at the others with a desperate look on her face.

“Somebody is coming!”

There was nowhere to hide, and even as they looked about, a stream of dozens of the crew dashed past at the end of the corridor and kept moving. One collapsed to the ground not far from Tamara, and then they were gone. The clatter of gunfire continued. Xenophon spotted a weapon on the floor and reached out to grab it. He pulled the sling towards him and lifted the carbine up to his face, checking the safety was off and there were rounds still in the magazine.

“Anybody got a suggestion?” he asked.

“I know the way to the evacuation deck. It’s about eighty metres from here, one level up and near to the port observation deck. But there’s one problem.”

Xenophon leaned in closer.

“Yeah, why am I not surprised?”

“There is one armoury on the way, so we might run into trouble.”

Glaucon nodded in agreement.

“Maybe, but we’ve already run into trouble. We might even get our hands on some weapons. I say we do it and fast. We need to get somewhere safe, arm ourselves and then try and find out what the hell is going on.”

Xenophon pulled back the bolt on the carbine and locked in the first multi-pulse round. The weapon was now ready for use. He looked up to the others.

“Good point. Is this a prison revolt, a coup or is the ship breaking apart?”

“I suggest we get moving and find out for ourselves,” suggested Roxana.

With unspoken agreement, they moved out from the corridor and took the first turn to the left. Marcus moved close behind with Xenophon and their single firearm. The sound of gunfire and battle continued along with the occasional blast that shook the Titan. It took several minutes for them to reach a wide open space that was the main level hub with elevators, ramps and staircases leading to a dozen different levels. The damage from battle was everywhere. Pulse rounds, discarded magazines and dozens of bodies lay scattered. It was one of the more attractive parts of the ship. At least it had been prior to the recent violence. The elevators used tube like tunnels to move about the ship, whereas the ramps were more oval in shape and ran like arteries through the vessel.

“Which way?” asked Xenophon. He dropped to one knee, lifting the weapon to his shoulder to better to stabilise himself in readiness for the inevitable attack on their position. The sight used a special overlay system that incorporated a simple optical sight as well as a projected tactical overlay. Sadly, it seemed to be non-functional, so he was forced to use just the mechanical optics.

“That way!” replied Marcus, pointing to one of the oval entrances that led up. He grabbed one of the many discarded weapons and moved for the ramp. The others did the same, picking up the nearest weapons they could find. The sound of battle became louder the closer they moved to the next level. Another two blasts shook the ship before they reached their destination. It was more spacious than before, and a number of fires were spreading smoke. Glaucon looked around the corner and pulled himself back.

“I don’t get it, how did this happen so fast? We weren’t in the brig that long?”

“Stop!” It was an odd shout from further back in the tunnel.

They spun around to spot their adversaries, but at this distance and with all the smoke, all they could see were dark, armoured shapes. They advanced slowly but methodically towards them.

“Run!” shouted Xenophon.

They abandoned the tunnel and rushed out into the open. Marcus moved ahead and waved his hand to point out the evacuation deck. Green and red emergency lighting marked the route. It was disordered chaos as they rushed in the direction he’d pointed out. They almost made it as more dark shapes appeared ahead of them. A volley of shots rattled out, and they were forced to spread out and take cover along the widely spaced side walls. Streaks of fire from pulse weapons ripped passed them, turning the corridor unto a deadly maelstrom of fire.

“What now?” Tamara shouted. She held her carbine in her right hand and shielded her face with her left. Roxana looked about and spotted the wide open archway that was signed to the observation deck. She nodded with her head in the direction of the door. Xenophon, Glaucon and Marcus were pinned down on the other side of the open space but conveniently closer to the arched entrance.

“Through the archway!” she shouted, but more gunfire blocked out the sound of her voice.

A group of stratiotes, the light infantry of the Legion, ran passed them all. They seemed completely disinterested in their small band and made it nearly twenty metres before the massed gunfire tore them to shreds.

“Why?” screamed Tamara.

Roxana grabbed her by the arm and braved the pulse rounds to rush across the corridor. Round after round blasted passed them both, but they miraculously made it and ran through the archway. Xenophon watched in awe as they moved through the hail of fire and disappeared. He looked back to Glaucon who just grinned at him.

“Go!” he cried, and the three men jumped around the corner and followed the two women. The gun battle continued behind them as the survivors of the stratiotes fought for a few more seconds before being silenced by the enemy guns. The archway led to a small open space and three doors. Roxana and Tamara disappeared through the largest door and out of sight. Xenophon chased after them and jumped into the room, his carbine at the ready. Instead of bodies, he found he was in one of the most luxurious parts of the ship. Glaucon and Marcus arrived close behind him.

“What the hell is this?” asked Glaucon. The room was wide, and many chairs and comfortable seats were arranged to face one side of the room. Roxana had already shut the door behind them and was busy sliding furniture against it to create a further obstacle to the enemy. Marcus placed his hand on a switch and flicked it. With a soft mechanical whirl, the entire side of the room seemed to vanish. It was all an illusion, and the metal of the wall slid away to reveal a thick, transparent skin, much like glass.