The Heroes Fall -1- When War Calls

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Who will save them when they fall?

  February 24, 997 R.E.

  Waikor City was silent.

  No more than a breeze wandered through the many rows of buildings, a ghostly scene under the dark cloud cover of the morning. It seemed abandoned as the World Protection Alliance lined their forces at the northern edge, just outside of the wheat fields. General Alkon Zaccarah was readying for the assault he had been planning for months. This was a victory that would remind all of his greatness. Waikor was the trophy that every general in the Alliance had wanted other than Corsec, but Alkon’s proven record on the battlefield was all that the High Council had needed to consider assigning him the task. He knew it would not be easy. Waikor on its own was the most powerful city in the entire continent. They did not need reinforcements or the forces of several nations like Corsec. Their brilliance in technology and strategy had been rumoured even in Phaiross, the home continent of the World Protection Alliance. And now Alkon was about to witness exactly why the Waikorians showed such arrogance when faced with talk of foreign invaders. They were barely tested in battle, showing only hints of their power as they assisted minor bases of the United Resistance. But it was enough to make any commander wonder if attacking such a city was wise.

  Scouts of the Alliance reported no signs of escape, no bands of travellers leaving in any direction. The people were still in the city, seemingly defenceless. Alkon moved among his men, his usually towering stature diminished by the size of the machinery he had brought with him.

  In the front lines of the force, tanks readied to roll into the Waikorian streets to crush any resistance and impose their authority. Behind them were personnel carriers that would move in after and take hold of the city’s towers and command posts. Seven thousand men were lined behind these two bands, standing in perfect formations in front of the other commanders in the fourth band. Here there were many jeeps, the higher-ranking officers sitting inside, and beyond them were some of the movers they had used to crush the village in Callibra.

  Alkon walked past his commanders, overhearing their conversations. They spoke as if he had no desire to fight the people of Waikor. None of them were anticipating a battle. The lines of military units were for show and little more, and so they talked amongst themselves of what would come when they reached Corsec and how they might better their chances at victory. He would have disciplined them but they were right. This was Alkon’s brilliant scheme. He knew a battle with Waikor could have gone to either side, and so he had chosen simply to avoid confrontation and offer a truce instead.

  Defeating Waikor would be an amazing feat, but obtaining it as an ally to the Alliance was a prize thought unattainable. His name would go down in history as one of the most accomplished generals that had ever lived, and perhaps then he would be able to retire and live out his days as he chose.

  He looked up at the fighter jets circling high above, and then toward the fifty missile launchers lined at the very back of the military unit. It would be enough to sway any objections the people of Waikor may have had to his terms, so long as his terms were worded in such a way that he did not offend the ego of the city.

  They were greatness personified. They were the leaders in all areas of city living. They did not need anyone outside of themselves, but perhaps if Alkon stroked their ego by first explaining how the Alliance could benefit from their greatness, and also assist in spreading this greatness throughout the world, then they might look more favourably upon an alliance being made. And if they refused, he would simply say that he had been ordered to attack, something that he would regretfully do. And even if he did not succeed, he would surely cause a lot of damage to the beautiful city. He hoped reminding them of this would be enough to find a compromise.

  ‘They will not ally with us,’ said Kobin Guyde as Alkon approached. He was sitting upon the back of one of the open-roofed vehicles.

  Alkon did not face him. He had found it almost impossible to even speak face to face with Kobin after the day the scouts had lost their lives in the Ukotan jungle. Kobin had continually attempted to rouse Alkon’s rage, and Alkon was nearing the point where he would make good on his threats and execute Kobin, regardless of what penalty might come from the High Council for his actions.

  But he contained his anger and replied as dryly as possible, ‘Just as we will not arrive here on time. Just as we will not have the force to defeat them. Just as whenever nothing should be said, someone speaks.’

  Kobin hopped off the vehicle. ‘Then I will let you discover Waikor’s power alone,’ he said, and he began to walk away.

  ‘Return to your position, Callibrian. You have not been given permission to leave.’

  Kobin paused, but did as the general wished. ‘I have never known a commander to wish to see his men die.’

  Alkon shook his head. The comment was so ludicrous coming from Kobin that it did not warrant a response. Kobin, the man that had betrayed his own people to slaughter and continually show signs of no regard for human life ... attempting to lecture on the value of soldiers. Ridiculous. Alkon would leave Kobin to his mindless ramblings and walk back to the front lines where he found Lieutenant-General Liet Revarn using a pair of binoculars. He was using them to keep watch on a man in Alliance uniform walking through the wheat field and into the city.

  When the man disappeared, Alkon spoke.

  ‘Do you think his skills sufficient?’

  ‘We will soon find out,’ Liet shrugged. ‘It is not his first negotiation.’

  Alkon nodded. ‘The Callibrian tells me that they are a proud people who will refuse all offers, even if it means their deaths.’

  ‘I have heard similar stories.’

  ‘They have no defence,’ said Alkon.

  ‘Then why is it that you wish to ally with them, General?’

  ‘Weaponry. Their technology may lead us to greater finds.’

  ‘But that is not all,’ said Liet knowingly.

  ‘You can read me well, friend,’ said Alkon with a faint smile. ‘I think I will live here, someday. It is a beautiful city.’

  Both stared into Waikor, through the gardens and buildings of the ring sections to the great mountain at its centre, miles in the distance. Alkon tried to imagine what it would have been like if there were people walking the streets, bringing the city alive with its daily routines. He wondered at the lifestyle, as there did not seem a poor man’s hut in sight. Even the buildings in the first ring were beautiful, easily equal to those in Ceahlin. And yet they appeared desolate without the people among them.

  Alkon felt uncomfortable with the ghostly eeriness that had been left lingering. It made him think of how few people there were in this land compared to the other continents. Aurialis was one of the most uninhabited, with populations low and only a few major cities scattered across it. There was very little reason that the High Council could have had for invading here, aside from conquest over the Resistance and perhaps to further their empire over the entire world.

  Like many others, Alkon had often wondered at the High Council’s motivation, as when he had first joined their ranks, it was simply a war between hostile nations that branched out under the message that the world needed to be cleansed. In the beginning, they had indeed cleansed the nations of those that would attack another unjustly, but what were they cleansing it of now? They had become that which they had set out to destroy. It had left him sleepless for many a night, and had given him fantasies of challenging the rule, taking control for himself so that good would be done.

  Ceahlin had been abandoned by the time they had reached the city, scouts reporting the entire population had moved to Waikor, but the city had been almost entirely clean and as pure as what was before him now. If there were any civilisations to marvel at, Alkon believed these would have been the ones that would leave most in awe.

  The birth nations of the Alliance were moderately well kept. They were not filled with rubbish but they weren’t comp
letely clean either. They did not possess the same quality as Waikor and Ceahlin. Perhaps it was out of jealousy that the High Council had ordered for them to be destroyed. There would be strong repercussions for refusing to obey the order, but they would praise him when they saw the latest addition to the Alliance.

  ‘Then we will hope to live to see that day,’ said Liet.

  ‘It will depend on what comes from Corsec,’ Alkon agreed.

  Liet went silent as he held a black device with a screen on it up toward his eyes.

  ‘What troubles you?’ asked Alkon, noticing Liet’s concerned expression.

  ‘He’s disappeared,’ said Liet.

  ‘What?’

  Liet tapped the screen, as if it would somehow bring the dot he had been monitoring back up. ‘He’s disappeared.’ Liet turned to the man on his left and took his black device. ‘Without a trace,’ he said, after carefully examining both devices.

  ‘How is that possible?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Liet. ‘If he were dead, it would still show. There must be some sort of interference.’

  At that moment, a great lock of machinery sounded from just beyond the wheat field, continuing for almost a minute as the two commanders looked on.

  ‘What’s happening?’ asked Alkon.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Liet.

  A scream then came from behind them and both men swung around instantly to try to see through the lines of tanks and personnel carriers.

  ‘What now?’ asked Alkon, turning to race through the bands of units.

  The scream had come from the general infantry line in the third band, and was soon accompanied by hundreds more as guns began to blaze. Alkon feared the worst—that the people of Waikor had somehow begun an attack behind them, but when he arrived, he was met with something that was of the darkest nightmares.

  Weaponry, clothing, limbs and even entire bodies were being hurled high into the air, ripped to shreds by creatures black as night and standing almost twice the height of the soldiers. The Alliance forces were attempting to drive them back to wherever they had come from, and the things hissed and screamed back at them. Bullets alone were unable to bring these powerful monsters down, with only a few falling with hundreds of shots directed at their necks; where the skin appeared thinnest and caused their heads to be detached. The others that were shot seemed more enraged with each, lashing out with giant arms that took the soldiers’ heads off, sometimes three or four with each swipe of their razor sharp claws.

  Explosions rose up from among the lines as soldiers used their grenades, and Alkon was alerted to another twenty of the creatures attacking around him. He jumped back behind the personnel carriers as soldiers took his place, warding off a beast that had been coming right at him.

  Alkon shouted commands over his communicator into the helmets of his soldiers, and soon lines were formed and the intruders were put to quick and merciless deaths. Flamethrowers were being used to further char their already black hides until the air was filled with the odour of roasted dead flesh. The stench was as nothing else they had smelt, and many of the soldiers were forced to use their clothing as masks.

  ‘Sir, look out!’ called out a soldier.

  Alkon turned quickly to the voice, but realised the warning was not directed at him. A beast had managed to thrash its way through the soldiers and was charging directly at a man standing on top of one of the jeeps. Alkon almost felt a smile surface as he saw the man to be Kobin, but his expression became sour when Kobin did not even flinch, and instead simply lifted his right arm to the beast in defiance. There was a flash of red light as the beast fell to the ground, stunned, and was put to death by the surrounding soldiers.

  There was a mixed feeling among the men as the final beast was slain. They felt a combination of victory, loss and fear, but most of all confusion and shock. Alkon made his way to Kobin, seeking the same explanation as the others. Alkon needed only to stand in front of the vehicle for Kobin to know what was expected of him.

  ‘It would seem the Forgotten Years are not the myth you thought them to be, General,’ he said, dusting off some of a beast’s skin that had landed on him. ‘This,’ he said with an open hand at the carcass below, ‘is what killed the two scouts in the Ukotan Jungle.’

  ‘What are they doing here then?’ asked Alkon.

  Kobin looked toward the city. ‘You think Waikor is defenceless,’ he said. ‘Tell me where that armoured wall came from, and then you may have your answer.’

  Alkon followed Kobin’s eyes and now saw that most of Waikor had disappeared. While the beasts had attacked, a wall of steel almost fifty feet in height had been erected around the entire city. Alkon’s mind raced with a thousand thoughts per second and almost stuttered as he shouted his orders.

  ‘Their defence is underground!’ he yelled into the communicator, knowing now that negotiations had failed, and if he did not act quickly, his forces were lined up for slaughter. ‘Prepare to attack on my signal.’ He let the communicator fall with his hand and ordered five men to accompany him toward the back of the band, where he thought the beasts had come from.

  When they found a deep hole in the ground, he ordered several heavily armed soldiers to descend into it and find where the tunnel led to, and then he ordered for the rest of the holes to be guarded from above ground. He made his way back to the front lines when he received a request from Liet over the communicator.

  ‘There is something you will wish to see here, General.’

  Alkon raced back to where his second in command was seated and saw something he had hoped would never greet him again on the battlefield. Between the Alliance force and the Waikorian wall there were now three figures in white. Three lone people—two men and one woman. This could have only meant one thing, as no one in the world was brave enough to stand against military units alone. No one except people as powerful as the Daijuar, who could have easily destroyed the entire force if not for their code.

  All three began sending powerful beams of white light toward the units, each easily over ten feet in diameter. At first Alkon worried that they were damaging the equipment and even killing his men, but no harm was coming to either. The Daijuar were holding to their code, for now. But even if they did not kill any soldiers, by helping a city face up against an army, they were essentially letting one side gain more kills. Through their defence, they were condoning murder. Alkon spat at the hypocrisy.

  ‘They appear to be moving our tanks backward,’ said Liet.

  ‘I see that,’ said Alkon. ‘That is a feat that requires a lot of power, is it not?’

  ‘One would assume so,’ Liet agreed, equally as confused.

  ‘And what good can come of moving our vehicles back so little? Are they simply demonstrating their power as a warning?’

  ‘I do not know,’ said Liet.

  ‘Then let us return their gesture. Bring the cannon forward,’ Alkon ordered, and from his right came the Equan device, moved on the back of a small truck that Ethan had designed to accompany Alkon in this battle.

  The truck sped toward them on the fringe of the wheat field, and then made its way right up to where Alkon was standing. One of Ethan’s scientists jumped out of the vehicle and immediately began to prepare the Equan Plasma Cannon to fire. It was the largest pulse unit Alkon had seen yet, and he became anxious to see how the Daijuar would fare against it. He had heard the sniggers and doubt behind creating such a weapon by the few that had learned of it, but he wondered what their faces looked like now that they were right in front of three Daijuarn Sentinels. Even he had loosely believed that the Daijuar were no longer a threat. It was a surprise to him to see them. Thankfully he had chosen to take all possibilities into account and was prepared, even here in a battle he had not planned to fight.

  Within less than a minute, the cannon was ready, and Alkon gave the command to fire.

  The cannon’s coils and tubes lit up as its laser was aimed at the dark-haired Daijuarn woman in the centre. She s
eemed to become aware of the disturbance, as she no longer directed an energy beam at the tanks, but ignited a dull shield around herself. The cannon then fired with a blinding flash, a purple and orange bolt being sent at her, and her shield became almost solid white so that she could not be seen behind it. Alkon and Liet both used binoculars to watch, amazed by how far Ethan had managed to get the pulse to fire with a sustained burst. They then saw that the shield was weakening as it became slightly clear again, but she was also managing to hold the force of the cannon back with a concentrated beam of her own energy.

  Alkon looked at the power monitor on the cannon. It had been firing for thirty seconds and was still above half full. He grinned, as he believed the Daijuarn woman would fail long before the cannon had lost its charge.

  But just as the woman’s shield was weakening to nothing, a second shield became apparent, and the two Daijuar that had flanked her were now racing to her aid. For a moment it seemed they would help her as well as the one now standing behind her, but instead they used their powerful beams to push back the two tanks on either side of Alkon and the cannon. There was a low groaning heard under the fiery bursts of the cannon, and then all went quiet, the cannon losing its charge earlier than expected, and the tank engines that had been started in anticipation of battle also going silent.

  ‘What happened?’ asked Alkon, ignoring the Daijuar now carrying the collapsed woman back into the city walls.

  Liet tried to find out via his communicator, but found it was no longer functioning.

  Kobin Guyde appeared at their sides, having seen the Daijuarn display.

  ‘They have technology you do not,’ he said. ‘They moved your vehicles for a reason. I suggest you look in front of each. I would suspect that whatever was underneath them is the reason any electronic equipment has now been made redundant. Your tanks are no exception, it seems. It would be wise to retreat.’

  Alkon and Liet glanced at one another, and then Alkon raced back into the bands of units until he was able to find working equipment. He grabbed a communicator from the closest soldier and then issued his commands.

  ‘Mission confirmed, proceed as planned. Attack sequence two-one, seven-six. Launchers, destroy the wall. Command post four, advance for post three protection. All units remain spaced, further disabling attacks must be avoided. Air units, you are clear to attack primary targets. Attack now!’

  Soldiers ran forward past the vehicles in the disabled zones, while the still-functioning tanks and vehicles went with them. Fifty missiles were sent racing through the air over their heads, reaching the wall seconds later where massive deafening explosions blocked sight of the wall with smoke and debris. The smoke cleared revealing little damage to the wall, and it was clear that many of the missiles had missed their targets.

  While Alkon made his way to the launchers, questioning what had caused the equipment to fail, the Alliance fighter jets unleashed their deadly load above the city. Many of the bombs met their intended targets, but others were vaporised by the seven Daijuarn shields now set in place in the city. Waikor then retaliated with their own assault, sending fifteen missiles back into the Alliance lines. The explosions wreaked havoc among them, causing soldiers to flee their posts and abandon their equipment. Remaining as calm as possible, Alkon studied everything around him as one of the launcher operators explained that their missiles had somehow been put off target, and that there must have been some sort of interfering shield on the wall protecting it. Alkon’s battled-tested instincts allowed him to issue his next commands. He ordered the troops heading toward the wall to set charges and bring it down themselves, for the remaining units to spread out even further, and for five of the closest launchers to all aim at one place on the wall from where he had seen some missiles launched. They would then fire continuously until a second wave of missiles was sent from Waikor.

  He called for another air strike in the meantime and waited patiently. It was not long before the expected second wave of Waikorian missiles was sent, and he gave the order to launch their own attack. Even though he could do nothing to save the men being targeted by Waikor in the lines, the missiles he sent this time hit successfully and blew a deep hole into the Waikorian wall, revealing a little of what was beyond it. He had been right. He had theorised Waikor was using methods of scrambling the signals of the Alliance missiles, but needed to shut down the systems while they launched their own attacks. He had guessed this would be due to Waikor being unaware of the frequency used by the Alliance, and therefore had elected to interfere with all, including their own. With that, he had also managed to target the one place he knew would be vulnerable. A turret inside the wall. This not only caused damage to the wall, getting past its armour and shield, but also exploded the remaining missiles within, creating a much wider opening than would have been possible with the missiles he was sending at it.

  ‘Continue returning fire as they do,’ said Alkon, receiving a nod from the operator next to him and affirmative replies over the communicator.

  Alkon switched frequency then so that he could call for the troops heading toward the wall to retreat. Now that he knew he could destroy the wall with the missiles, they would not need to risk their lives, but it was already too late. His ears were met with screams and gunfire.

  ‘This is General Zaccarah, what’s happening down there?’ he asked.

  The reply came from a soldier standing on the outside of the field. ‘There are gun turrets hidden in the field, General, we’re pulling back as fast as we can!’

  Alkon cursed himself for not taking underground defence systems into account again, and then once the wheat field was clear, he ordered for it to be scanned from above. The data was soon sent back to the launchers, and he ordered for the major power lines of the turrets to be bombed.

  The Alliance launchers sent another fifty missiles into the city of Waikor, all aimed at the Waikorian launchers that were now attempting to shoot down the fighter jets. The Daijuar seemed to be protecting only the areas heavily populated by civilians, as the Waikorian launchers had no defence against the deadly rain.

  Finally able to strike their targets hard, the Alliance soldiers cheered in victory, but their shouts soon quieted as almost one hundred missiles were launched from Waikor’s inner ring. The Alliance soldiers stared in disbelief as the sky was lit up as if there were a meteor shower that had passed straight through Earth’s atmosphere and headed straight toward them. Thousands of Alliance soldiers perished in the explosions as the sky became black with smoke and ash, several more waves of missiles being sent at them.

  Despite gaining a little success, Alkon realised the losses were not worth it and quickly ordered for his remaining forces to retreat.

  It had seemed to take no more than a minute for the battle to swing completely in Waikor’s favour, as their fighter jets met with the Alliance fighters and brought them down with expert efficiency. The wheat fields below became ablaze, causing all soldiers near to run for their lives, while the many disabled tanks and vehicles were left behind as the order to retreat was put into full effect.

  The launchers that had remained safe were moved even further back, far from enemy fire along with any other vehicles still capable of functioning. Waikor continued its attack from beyond the wall on the fleeing Alliance soldiers, but they were soon out of range, and once all had left, the fires were extinguished, and the Waikorian people wasted no time in beginning repairs to their beloved city.

  It was an unexpected and poorly received defeat, but Alkon knew when to cut his losses and live to fight another day. He had been given misinformation and had ignored several important warnings that he had assumed would only have been a problem if he had attacked first. He had not expected Waikor to be so hostile. He would need more time to prepare, next time. And now that he understood his enemy, he would not be defeated again.

  Once he had issued his final orders, Alkon remained as silent as Waikor had been in the early hours of the day. He was in the back of a veh
icle with his jaw tightly shut and his eyes lowered, as if unable to cope with the shock of what had just happened. What should have been an easy victory or a newly formed alliance had ended in his worst defeat ever.

  Liet ordered for him to be taken ahead as he himself took command of the military unit. They returned to base a few miles away and met with the remaining force, and then made their way south to Raiulun to meet with General Xosis Tigon’s forces. When all had been done, Liet called for Kobin to ride with him, and the Callibrian-born ally soon joined him in the back of an empty personnel carrier, where they were able to speak in private.

  ‘He has lost,’ said Kobin bluntly.

  ‘The battle was never going to be won.’

  ‘I was not referring to the battle.’

  Liet regarded the man in front of him for a moment, unable to see anymore than his cheekbones, as there was no more than a single beam of light from the front entering the compartment. ‘You will claim this as part of your plan?’ he asked.

  Almost a minute later, Kobin responded. ‘No,’ he said finally. ‘It was by his own doing. I simply made sure that his mind was clouded enough to be blind to the obvious. He believed I could not be trusted. He did not listen. When I told him the truth, he assumed the opposite.’

  ‘Master of webs,’ said Liet.

  Kobin chuckled. ‘You will see the extent of my web when we stand before the High Council at Raiulun.’

  ‘The High Council will be there?’

  Kobin bowed his head so that the solitary beam of light showed his eyes. ‘I have requested it,’ he said, and then sat back against the wall, saying nothing more for the remainder of the journey, as both reminisced about what had happened that morning.

  The siege on Waikor had been lost. The great General Alkon Zaccarah had fallen. The Daijuar had proved they were still very much a part of this war, and the Waikor people had chosen for their city to be destroyed entirely by the Alliance upon its return.