The Heroes Fall -1- When War Calls

  Chapter Ten

  If nothing else, go on for the dream’s sake.

  January 16, 997 R.E.

  Jaden’s eyes eased open to darkness. He sat up, searching around him. The fist-sized rocks were still in place, but he knew this only by the slight reflection of the fort’s lights. Night had come. He had slept through the entire day. He thought it unlikely now that he would return to the other survivors by this night as he had said, but if he could gain entrance to the fort in the next hour or two, he would be able to make it back by dawn. But first he had to contend with the strange black devices the man had planted in the ground. He couldn’t simply sneak into the fort anymore, not while the devices were still intact. He guessed them to be sensors, a means of alerting the Alliance of intruders. One step and he would be caught.

  With the rocks he had gathered earlier, he made his way into the ferns. His plan was to knock a sensor down, that way he believed the connections would go down and they would require the man to come back and fix it. This would hopefully give him time to pass through undetected, as long as he timed it so he could get in before the change of guard had taken place. Two new guards were posted at the entrance. He hoped it would not be long now before they would change over again, and that he was right about the sensors. His experience with such devices was extremely limited, as there was no need for them in Callibra. He didn’t actually understand how they worked. All he could do now was stick to his plan and hope for the best.

  An hour passed as Jaden patiently awaited the change, practising his throwing movements to best hit the black device eight yards in front of him. It was a tough shot. He had to find a balance of power and speed to first keep low and make the distance, and then to break the final curtain of leaves to hit the device on the other side. He could barely see it from where he was, relying on a guessed marker more than his sight.

  Another half hour passed before he noticed the guards begin to move.

  This was it. This was his chance.

  Quickly he began to throw the rocks, the first missing badly and bouncing up toward the fort. The second looked as if it had hit, but he couldn’t be sure from this distance. He threw the third unsuccessfully but then paused. The guards walking into the fort no longer blocked the way. The replacements would see the rocks if he threw any more. Seconds passed. Where were they? Jaden squinted to help see through the fern leaves. It seemed by the shadowy figures that one of the approaching guards had fallen and was now being helped up by the other. He looked to be the same smaller-framed man who had stood guard in the morning, the man who did not seem so worthy of fear.

  Jaden took the opportunity to make several more attempts at hitting the device, but each returned the same result. It seemed his efforts were in vain. He realised even if he were to knock the sensor out, he still couldn’t sneak into the fort until the next change of shift, whenever that was going to be. Would the other survivors still wait for him? He couldn’t be sure. It had to be now.

  Half-heartedly, he threw the final rock, but then froze once more as he saw that the guards had exited the fort just as the rock finished its second bounce.

  ‘Who-who’s out there?’ asked the smaller framed guard in a whimpering voice. The guard gradually moved forward with his weapon ready. ‘Who’s out—?’

  ‘No one!’ growled the second guard. ‘Get back here. Now! I won’t warn you again.’

  The smaller guard ignored the command and continued to move forward, trembling, toward Jaden. ‘Mother? Is that you? I’m here, Mother. I’ve come back!’

  Jaden began to inch backward, attempting to remove himself from the edge of the clearing. Once safely far back enough he began to move faster, and soon he was no longer able to hear the guard’s strange pleas.

  ‘Soldier!’ called out the second guard. ‘You are nearing the perimeter. Return immediately!’ But his calls had seemingly failed as he called out a final time. ‘You fool! The mines!’

  Suddenly the air was filled with gunfire from the second guard and then a scream from the other as an explosion erupted high into the air, a brilliant flash like daylight awoke on the other side of the trees. Jaden fell hard against the ground, knocked over by the blast, and then in panic jumped to his feet and sprinted to the nearest large tree he could find. He scrambled up its branches before climbing to the next tree, putting a little more space between him and where the soldiers would be rushing to. Soon he was high enough to see over the walls of the fort. He had to breathe as deeply as he could to calm the adrenaline shooting around his veins, doing his best to conceal himself against the tree’s trunk.

  On the ground, the smoke cleared enough to reveal the soldiers swarming the area that he had expected. A man in black uniform and hair just as dark that rested over his cape quickly strode out. Jaden could barely see what was happening, but he could hear their voices clearly in the crisp night air.

  ‘Who’s responsible for this?’ demanded the man in black uniform in Jaden’s language.

  ‘AG193, Guarding Unit W1, sir,’ replied the guard nervously.

  ‘Where is he?’

  ‘Dead. He fell onto a mine, sir.’

  The man in black uniform looked in all directions around him. ‘I heard gunshots, whose were they?’

  ‘Mine, sir. It was the only way I could try to stop him,’ replied the guard. ‘Baniteine drug must have failed, sir. He showed several symptoms, I had no choice but to fire.’

  ‘How was the mine tripped?’

  ‘I had misjudged the distance, sir. AG193 landed on it directly.’

  The man in black uniform was silent, seemingly unimpressed by what had happened. ‘Baniteine takes time to weaken, does it not? Did he not show signs beforehand?’

  ‘No, sir, he had kept it well hidden until now, sir.’

  The man in black uniform eyed the guard suspiciously, standing closely so that their faces almost met. But the guard stood unflinching and the other man soon backed away.

  ‘What caused him to walk so close to the mine?’ he asked.

  ‘I do not know, sir. He mentioned hearing noises earlier, nothing more.’

  The man in black uniform rushed forward and took the gun from the guard. For a moment the guard stepped back, readying himself for execution, but the gun was never aimed at him. Seven bullets were fired into the ferns where Jaden had been hiding. Having hit nothing, the man in black uniform shouted in a language Jaden could not understand, and the soldiers immediately rushed into the ferns, cutting their way through and pointing their lights into the trees.

  Jaden’s exit was blocked. They were looking for him. He had to get away.

  Frantically he searched for a means of escape. He could hide in the tree for only so long. The soldiers were getting closer but were still at least twenty yards away. There was no other choice. Jaden began climbing through the branches to get to the next tree, moving closer to the fort. No longer did he feel the need or desire for revenge, but there was no other way. He had to get inside the fort. It was his only chance for survival.

  As he climbed into the final tree, he glanced over what was behind the walls and after deeming it safe, lowered himself onto the metal railing and then ducked next to one of the lookout towers. Horrified by his mistake, he quickly looked up at the tower, expecting to have been seen, but was put at ease as it appeared to be one of the many that were unoccupied.

  He was safe, for now.

  Jaden crept down one of the ramps and then hid behind the closest building, remaining low under the black, dusty windows, and slid under the metal clamps of the walls.

  He was inside.

  He remained perfectly still in the shadow of the building, waiting for the shouts from outside of the walls to die down, and took a moment to gather his thoughts. He had made it inside. He hadn’t even thought to climb one of the trees. This worried him, as he usually always came up with the better solutions to problems. The stress seemed to be having more of an effect on him than he had first thought, and now decided it
was best he became extra careful.

  At least now he could still get back to the other survivors if he kept his wits about him.

  He breathed deeply again, doing his best to remain strong. These were the men that had killed his family—had ruined his life. They were the few that deserved to die on this planet. He had to go on. He couldn’t give up. He had to fight them. But to fight them, he needed weapons.

  With a final deep breath, he got up on one knee and made his way east, away from the entrance where he had watched the guards. He passed several more formations of buildings, each seemingly deserted. Many may have been used for sleeping quarters, as all lights were off, but he would not dare look inside through the windows for fear of being caught. Those with lights on showed nothing of relevance except where soldiers appeared to be putting weapons together, but these would be of no use to him. He would only return to these parts if he could find no other weaponry and if the lights were off.

  His roaming was fruitless for some time as he concentrated on keeping out of the light from the many lamps set up around the place. Soldiers passed him from time to time, oblivious as they ran their errands, but he studied each, taking in all that he could about the men of the Alliance. They were all different, very few personifying the image that the soldiers of the Alliance had been known for over the years, and most held a different nationality to the next. This was a symbol of the vast empire the Alliance had created. They took everything they needed to build the world’s greatest army. And yet still they had been unable to defeat the Resistance stationed at Corsec city.

  Jaden felt pride as now, like his brother, he too fought the Alliance. But he did not have an entire force to hold off the attacks of the Alliance. It was only him and a few of his people. He knew he would die in the coming days, but he would die knowing that he had fought bravely and against evil, just like his brother would have.

  As he stepped around the corner of the next building, Jaden came to a clearing in the fort. No buildings were here, only vehicles in a yard. Here were the giant movers that had crushed his people’s houses, the tanks that tore through his village without mercy, and the jeeps that hunted them down as if they were no more than wild game. With these machines, he and the other survivors could wage a full-scale assault on the Alliance. He had done it. He had found what he was looking for.

  Jaden kept low as he raced across the yard, driven on by fearful excitement. A line of trucks was at the other end, all of which he found contained every weapon he could have imagined. This was it. Now all he needed was to get back and tell the others. He would take a weapon or two as proof.

  But before he could jump into the back of one of the trucks, he heard a man shouting. In fright, he quickly dodged around the corner of a building to a dark, safe place. He then waited until the man stopped talking. Soldiers called out to the man, cheering in response to what he said. He was speaking in the language that Jaden could not understand, but Jaden recognised the voice as the man in the black uniform from outside. Curiously, he edged himself around the corner of the building so that he could see what was going on.

  There was an assembly in another clearing, hundreds of soldiers all standing before the man in black uniform, who continued to call out loudly. After another speech to which the men responded as they had before, a strange machine was brought out into the open on his request. He held his hand up for silence before signalling for three men to come forward. Two of them were soldiers, but they dragged with them an elderly man from a group of people held at gunpoint. They stood the elderly man upright against a post in front of the machine.

  ‘Don,’ whispered Jaden in disbelief, recognising the elder of Callibra immediately, who now had a newly gashed cheek and badly bruised neck. Don had been captured. The other survivors had been found—they made up the group from which Don had been dragged. How had this happened?

  The soldiers were now tying Don’s hands behind his back as Jaden looked on in terror from his place of hiding, helpless to do anything.

  The man in black uniform continued his speech, and then called for silence again as he stood as far back as possible. The soldiers moved away from Don, leaving him standing alone against the post, and then the machine that had been brought out flared up with various lights. With a single command, there was a flash, forcing Jaden to turn away as a sound like thunder came. When Jaden looked back he could see Don was still standing, but knew instantly something had happened. Even from this distance, he could see there was now a large hole through Don’s chest. The pole he had been leaning against had been cut in half, the upper piece now lying next to him, and soon Don slumped over and fell lifeless to the ground.

  The soldiers gave a cheer so loud that not even they had heard Jaden calling out. He was left in shock, involuntarily staring at the gruesome scene that had just taken place. Then he closed his eyes, while he mourned the loss of another good man.

  It wasn’t fair. How could the innocent be so brutally destroyed? Why did it continue to happen?

  The World Protection Alliance really didn’t care for humankind or even peace. They were greedy, evil conquerors that preached goodwill to all only when it suited them. Jaden had now witnessed their true nature and knew that it had to stop. It couldn’t go on like this. He understood why his brother had left to fight in the wars against them.

  In a hate-filled rage, Jaden leapt up and ran to the first truck. He jumped into the back, grabbing a rifle, then ammunition, and then a backpack that he slung over his shoulder after filling it with grenades and items he didn’t even recognise. All he could think of now was becoming one of the heroes in the stories told of brave men or women who rose up against the soldiers of the Alliance and shot them dead. He would avenge his village, he would avenge his people, and he would avenge the wise and trusted elder, Don.

  With more weight to hold, he lowered himself down from the truck carefully and readied to fire upon the assembly, but stopped as he saw much of it had disbanded. He searched out the greatest gathering of soldiers as his target near the centre, took aim and pressed in the trigger. There was a loud bang that sent him flying backward, causing the gun to fall and hang around his chest.

  But he hadn’t fired the gun.

  What had happened?

  Jaden looked up in a daze to see a soldier standing in front of him.

  ‘Well, what do we have here?’ asked the soldier with a sneer. ‘Get up. Now, peasant!’

  Jaden struggled to stand, slightly concussed and confused. He felt dizzy, lost, and fell backward once more as the soldier struck him again.

  ‘You defy me, peasant? Stand up!’

  The soldier readied a deadly blow to Jaden’s head with the back of his gun, holding it high before swinging it downward. Through blurred vision Jaden saw the blow coming and only just managed to duck and roll out of the way. He used the wall to help himself up, expecting the soldier to be on him again, but the man had remained where he was as a deafening roar came from above and a black triangular-shaped jet with blue flame streaming out the back swooped low across the fort. The soldier turned in a half-circle, following it with his eyes as an expression of fear washed over him. Five more jets immediately followed, and the entire fort was lit with explosions as bombs found their targets on the ground, while the centre was protected with a shield of orange light.

  ‘Enemy fighters incoming!’ yelled the soldier in alarm, but then realising Jaden was making his escape, forgot about the commotion in the sky and gave chase.

  Jaden ran away at full pace, too quickly for the soldier to catch him, the thought repeating over and over in his mind, they’re here … they’re finally here!

  The soldier followed him until he reached the ramp he had come down earlier, and then, as if deciding it was too hard to take the same route, gave up and ran back into the heart of the fort, allowing Jaden to go free.

  Only minor damage prevailed from the initial air strike, but a lone jet soon made a hit on one of the defence shield towers, send
ing it crashing down upon panicking Alliance troops.

  The men cried out that the shield was down, but it was no use; for each repair effort attempted, another strike would further the damage already done. Men were losing their lives rapidly. The Alliance had been left almost completely defenceless against the attack. Soldiers took cover while others began to man anti-aircraft cannons, and it appeared that they had successfully hit one of the supersonic aircrafts as a large load of fuel began to fall across the fort. The soldiers cheered in victory, but they were soon silenced, as the craft was able to gain altitude once more and retreat over the mountains. The soldiers then focused on the next low-flying jet, doing their best to stay focused as the roar deafened them again, but they soon fled, as a bomb was released at the beginning of the trail of fuel left by the previous jet. An entire strip through the heart of the fort exploded then in tall orange flames, and just as the Callibrai had before, the Alliance men now screamed in agony as they fought desperately to extinguish themselves any way that they could.

  Alliance Koda fighter jets were soon airborne from the badly damaged runway in the north, flying after the blue-flamed demons. Those on the ground launched anti-aircraft missiles, making two hits as they were rewarded with speeding balls of flame crashing into the mountains.

  The fire that engulfed the centre strip soon spread to some structures, causing further explosions as the dangerous materials within were met with the intense heat. The Alliance were quick to put these new fires out and managed to contain the initial burning strip, but their forces in the sky were allowed no such luxury. The Koda fighter jets could not match the superior and overwhelming power of the three remaining dark triangular jets, being brought down two at a time. All they could manage was to draw the enemy fighters away from the fort, forcing the chase to continue far from the valley and high into the clouds.

  Contact with the last Koda fighter was soon lost, and the enemy fighters returned for another strike. The Alliance launched more missiles, preventing the jets from unleashing any weaponry of their own, and as quickly as it had begun, the attack seemed over, and the enemy fighters flew away over the mountains to the east.

  In the heat of commotion, General Alkon Zaccarah ran up the same ramp Jaden had used to escape, but stopped at the sound of a casual voice speaking to him.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  Alkon turned to see the familiar yet unexpected face of Kobin Guyde standing below. He said nothing in reply, simply staring down at him.

  ‘Trying to save yourself?’ continued Kobin.

  ‘You should concern yourself more with being amidst an attack,’ said Alkon.

  ‘Your fort has been damaged, should you not be commanding your men?’

  ‘I have already given the orders. Repairs are being made. The wounded are being tended to. I came here to find the boy you allowed to escape.’

  ‘I allowed to escape?’ repeated Kobin with almost a laugh. ‘If your soldiers were more disciplined, the man I sent to get him would have brought him to us. Apparently the birds in the sky were of more interest.’

  ‘Do not patronise my men, Callibrian. You still have a lot to answer for.’

  ‘Your security was breached. He was helping himself to your weaponry unnoticed. If I had not sent a soldier to him, I do not think it would be I who had a lot to answer for. It is by luck that we have discovered this flaw in your men.’

  Alkon released his breath, lowering his brows as he made his way back down the ramp. As he reached Kobin he stopped and inclined his head as if to speak directly into his ear. ‘That strike caused the deaths of many men,’ he said. ‘The soldier was right to be distracted. Remember, it was by your request that I left this place unmanned. And yet you will stand here … daring to criticise?’

  Kobin grinned. ‘I requested that the boy be left alone, not for this place to be unmanned. I will be informing the High Council on my next report I am asked to give.’

  ‘Do what you will, Callibrian,’ said Alkon, glaring at Kobin, ‘it matters not to me.’

  Before Kobin could say another word, Alkon stormed off to a building that was unharmed, leaving Kobin to do as he would outside and ending the conversation. Once comfortably seated inside, Alkon summoned his second-in-command. Lieutenant-General Liet Revarn entered the small office like room a short time later.

  ‘Why didn’t we see them coming?’ yelled Alkon, hitting the desk in such fury that most of the pens and other items on top fell onto the floor. ‘Is our radar worthless?’

  ‘It appears so, General,’ said Liet. ‘But what I find of more interest is how they knew we were here.’

  Alkon seemed too enraged to hear him. ‘We can expect more attacks! Make sure all positions are manned at all times. I will not have any more deaths under my command. Is that clear?’

  ‘Yes, General, it is how it should have always been.’

  ‘My mind flies faster than any fighter right now, my friend, please do not insult me. The High Council will not be pleased with this. It is the first blemish on my record, my first failure!’

  ‘They will be lenient. You still have the chance to prove yourself at Waikor. This may even work to our advantage.’

  Alkon calmed, taking his seat and looking into nothingness, his mind’s eye becoming his only vision. ‘Advantage…?’

  ‘Indeed. We are now able to call for reinforcements. Our claim is simply that more than half our force was killed in a freak attack. No general could have suspected such a thing in these circumstances.’

  Alkon’s eyes jerked upward at Liet. ‘Do you not know how many men have died? Do you not realise the amount of loss we have suffered? You are a heartless man, Lieutenant. Soldiers are not replaceable machines! This is not our advantage!’

  Liet remained without expression, waiting, and Alkon’s features soon lost their hardness.

  ‘I apologise, my friend, I am still a little shaken. You are right … you mean not that we are to simply replace them, but that we must do what we must to ensure victory. The force given to us was too small. I will call for reinforcements.’

  ‘Ask for ten thousand,’ said Liet.

  ‘Ten thousand! The Alliance cannot afford to give us ten thousand more men!’

  ‘The war with the island of Cralun has been won. There is a force awaiting deployment.’

  ‘How can you know this?’ asked Alkon.

  ‘My sources are to remain private, General. Please accept my apology, but I cannot jeopardise their lives.’

  Alkon nodded as he raised his elbow onto the armrest and put his head against his fingers. ‘Very well. You make the call. I will take no responsibility for the High Council’s wrath when they refuse.’

  Liet bowed, and Alkon sat in silence, deep in thought.

  ‘General, there is still the matter of how they knew our location,’ said Liet.

  ‘What?’

  ‘How did the enemy know our position?’

  ‘I do not know. A lucky guess?’ asked Alkon, making random circles in the air with his hand. ‘Scouting crafts? I cannot say. Scouting crafts would not have brought such weaponry, unless…’

  ‘What is it, General?’

  ‘I have only just now seen Kobin. He seemed more interested in degrading our men than his own safety.’

  ‘You think him a traitor?’ asked Liet.

  ‘He betrayed his people, why would he not betray us?’

  Liet was thoughtful. ‘Perhaps the question is why he would betray his people, only to betray us a day later.’

  After a moment’s contemplation, Alkon gave a final wave of his hand. ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘There is no sense in it, but I still do not trust him. Have him put under continual surveillance. I want to know his every move.’

  ‘Yes, General.’

  ‘You may go, Lieutenant.’

  Liet bowed and exited. As the door closed behind him, Alkon sat forward and leaned on the desk, burying his face in his hands where he remained for the rest of the night, dr
eading the coming weeks and the next report he would give to the High Council.