Aeon Legion: Labyrinth (51 page)

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Terra slipped and slid back a
few paces before she stabbed her aeon edge into the wall of the ice
cliff. The blade was off so it didn't cut, but was sharp enough to
pierce the ice. She grimaced, speaking through gritted teeth. “Should
have kept my mouth shut.”

She didn't look down. The
freezing wind howled around her while she clung to the side of the
cliff. They had decided to attack at midnight so she made her ascent
in darkness. At least she had gotten a few hours of sleep and a
little food they had stolen from an enemy supply vehicle.

The shieldwatch compensated
for the lack of climbing gear. It helped her to avoid falling. The
few times the ice gave way she would Slow her descent enough to grab
hold of the wall again. Still she had to be careful of how much
energy she used. The cliff was too tall to use the shieldwatch all
the way up without draining its power.

Terra continued her climb,
only stopping for the occasional patrolling gunship. This part of the
wall was not well guarded as the enemy force thought trying to attack
up a sheer ice cliff insane.

Insane
,
Terra thought.
That's
what this is. Why am I here again? How did I go from sitting in a
cozy library to scaling a sheer ice cliff in order to open a line of
attack for my strike team?

She panted as she continued to
climb. Her heart jumped when a gunship drew near and she saw a
searchlight flash above her. The circle of light swept up and down
the cliff in an irregular pattern. Terra froze.

The gunship's engines roared
as it maneuvered past her while still facing the cliff. Terra
grimaced. If they spotted her she would have to jump down or be shot
to pieces. Maneuvering on a cliff was next to impossible. She also
lacked the weapons to combat an aerial foe. Even if she had an
anti-air grenade, it would give away her position and the enemy would
rush to defend the cliff wall. Either way it would be over.

The gunship hovered for a few
more minutes, still searching in an erratic pattern. Terra felt a
joint of panic when the searchlight moved over her hand. She held her
breath, but the searchlight didn't linger. After a moment the gunship
turned and moved to another part of the cliff. With a sigh, she
continued her climb.

Terra neared the top. When she
reached the base of the wall she paused. She could try to scale the
wall and make it over the razor wire, but took the easier way. With
careful steps, she put her shieldwatch hand on the solid concrete
wall. Terra Sped time around a circular portion of the wall about her
height in diameter. The circular area aged and collapsed. Terra then
stepped through before Reversing time to fix the hole she had made as
well as cover her tracks in the snow.

Terra found navigating the
camp easy. Almost all the enemy stood at the wall, watching for
further incursions or on patrol, looking for stragglers. However,
cameras dotted the area so she still had to be careful. She crept
along the shadowed edges of tents and buildings until she stood in
front of a guard tower that bordered a frozen lake.

She made her way up the stairs
with soft steps. When she opened the door at the top of the tower she
stepped inside to see a tall man in Helcian armor who sat in a chair.
He had a rifle slung over his back, but stared out into the dark of
night inattentive to his surroundings. Terra tread with silent
footsteps only for the man to turn around and jump back in surprise.

“Vand?” Terra asked wide
eyed.

Vand hesitated. “Wait. Do I
know you? You look familiar. I lost my memory at one point and the
doctors said th–”

Terra attacked. She Sped time
around her to quickly close the gap and wrapped her arms around
Vand's neck. He struggled for a moment before falling unconscious.

Terra dusted off her hands.
“Well that would have been more satisfying if he had remembered
what a jerk he was to me.”

She moved to the searchlight
and pointed it to where Roland hid in the frozen river below. She
blinked it three times to tell him she had met her objective. There
was no response, but she expected none.

Terra gazed into the inky
darkness, but she couldn't see Roland at this distance. This was the
most dangerous part of the operation. If the enemy caught Roland in
the open they would overwhelm him with concentrated fire.

“Tower twelve check in,”
came a voice over the tower's radio.

Terra felt a surge of panic.
She searched around frantically for the radio receiver.

“Tower twelve respond,”
came the voice again, more urgent this time.

Terra found the receiver and
fumbled it before answering. “Um. Tower twelve here. We are fine.
Everything is fine here.”

“Wait. Who is this?”

Terra's face paled as she felt
sweat prickle her forehead. “I'm just filling in for Vand. He's on
break.”

“Oh. He didn't bully you
into it did he?”

Terra relaxed a little. “No.
Not anymore. Sorry we didn't give you a warning. You know how he is.
When Vand wants something, he takes it.”

“Yeah. Glad they kicked him
out of the Shock Trooper Core. Command out.”

Terra sighed. Never was she so
happy to have met a jerk. She then spotted movement. After peering
out into the darkness, she saw Roland crossing the snow. When he drew
close he jumped over the wall and down into the camp.

Terra opened the door to the
bottom of the tower.

Roland turned to Terra with a
neutral expression. “Ready to hasten to the gate?”

Terra frowned. “I thought we
were going to disable the lights so the others could get in?”

Roland chuckled. “Why would
we need to do that? We stand in the enemy fortress with them ignorant
of our presence. Their guard is lowered and most of their forces are
off pursuing others. The enemy is busy so let them remain busy.
Thereupon we sneak past them to the gate while they are distracted
and leave.”

“What about the others?”

Roland
shrugged. “What
about
them?”

“We just leave them?”
Terra asked, suddenly realizing why Roland had vouched for her. He
just wanted an opportunity to escape for himself, but he needed
someone to let him in first.

Roland stared at Terra with
his ice blue eyes, his expression hard. She could feel the coldness
in his voice as they both stood upon the glacier. “Yes. You owe
them nothing. They insulted you and would sacrifice you if they had
this opportunity. Leave them, just as Zaid left us.”

Terra stared at Roland, trying
to sort out her own feelings. In a way he was right. Zaid had left
her, but she withheld judgment until she caught up with him.

Roland averted his gaze as he
scowled, staring down at the glacier. “I don't know why you find
treachery so surprising. Everyone uses one another for something. Not
even blood ties can overcome ambition and zealotry. Everyone will
betray you eventually. So why not betray them first? Why not look out
only for oneself? Even if you don't live by the sword, you can still
die by one.”

Terra continued to stare at
Roland as the snow fell around him lit by the lights nearby.

Roland looked at Terra,
meeting her eyes. “I lie and I cheat yet still my hands are near
spotless compared to so many others I have seen. Yes I just want my
immortality. After all I have been through, I don't think that is too
much to ask for. I am not going to risk everything for a few people I
barely know who are no more pious than myself. As for us, the scales
are balanced now. I owe you nothing. If not for my lies, you wouldn't
have even made it this far. That bluntness of yours will win you
neither allies nor opportunities. I don't know why you saved me
during the Survival Test, but I have repaid the debt. Now let's go
and be rid of this place.”

Roland turned to go.

“No,” Terra said in a
quiet voice. She then marched in front of Roland and blocked his
path.

Roland stopped.

Terra pointed at him. “No. I
am not leaving the others and neither are you.”

“Why not?”

“That's
what the bad guys do. I will not be the villain. I will put myself in
danger if I have to, but I will not leave allies behind and you
will
help save them.”

“And how will you manage
that? Forcing me to help, that is.”

Terra clinched her fists and
glared at Roland. “Because I won't let you go. You can't just keep
doing whatever you want, Roland. There isn't always a path of least
resistance. Sometimes even a flowing river ends in a stagnant lake.
You keep playing parts for everyone. Well now I need you to play the
hero and help me save the others.”

Roland remained motionless as
the snow stopped falling. “You are the real thing. No masks or
roles. No bluster or boasts. As dull and blunt as a rock. Boring, but
genuine. I don't think I have ever met anyone like you. At least no
one who has lasted as long as you.”

Terra's brow furrowed.

He sighed. “Let's go rescue
the others,” Roland said as he turned to go.

Terra walked beside him. “Why
the sudden change?”

Roland shook his head. “I
don't know what it is about you. At first I didn't like you because
you reminded me a little of both of my brothers. Well that, and you
were one of the few to see through my mask. I always thought you must
have had a mask yourself. I didn't like you because I couldn't figure
out why you were playing your role with such dedication. Even after
you tried to save me during the Survival Test, I thought it all a
clever trick. Now I realize that you are what you are. No tricks.
Just you. And you have an annoying habit of making me tell the
truth.”

Terra glanced to Roland as
they walked. “Where are you really from then?”

“Well you see, in truth, I
was a knight in service of Charlemagne the Great. I was at his side
during the battle of Roncevaux. We fought against over a hundred
thousand Saracens. However, just when victory was near, I was
betrayed by my closest friend who had converted to Islam the night
before. We dueled on top of th–”

“You're never going to tell
me the real story are you?”

Roland smiled. “The real
story is rather boring.”

Terra knew it was another lie,
but pried no further. She supposed that convincing Roland to help was
victory enough today.

It didn't take long to find
the camp power generator. It took even less time for Roland to
distract the guards and for Terra to age the generator with her
shieldwatch. The moment she did, the camp lights flickered out while
shouting followed. Within minutes, Javed's team smashed their way
through the front gate and met with Terra and Roland near the center
of the camp.

“The gate?” he asked.

Roland gestured to an open
area where two battle tanks had rolled to a stop. “There. They have
it well guarded.”

With a few quick hand sighs,
Javed's team bounded forward, covering ground between them and the
bunker where the gate was located. The bunker entrance proved well
fortified by a platoon of tanks.

The soldiers pointed and the
tanks turned their turrets to fire. Their surroundings quaked as the
tank's energy cannon fired and covered the area in a blinding orange
light. The explosion rocked the camp as a ball of fire rippled behind
them, but Javed's team was too fast.

Within seconds they had the
tanks disabled as several aeon edge bursts turned their armored hulls
dull gray. However, the roar of jet engines sounded overhand as three
VTOL gunships swept in view.

Javed pointed to a gunship.
“Give them a lightshow.”

One of Javed's team stepped
forward, carrying a small grenade like device in his hand. He pressed
a button and it unfolded like a pine cone. He whirled it around
before throwing it high into the air where if fragmented with each
piece shooting outward. Each piece then fragmented a second time,
leaving a trail of blue glowing energy. It filled the sky with blue
lines, like a sprawling spider web. The gunships tried to maneuver
around the lines of energy, but the small tendrils cut right through
their hull. The pilots ejected before their machines flew into pieces
and crashed to the ground in an explosion.

With the outer resistance
taken care of, they advanced inside the bunker.

“Be careful. The enemy has
kept their best soldiers in reserve,” a tiro said.

The bunker had several layers
of thick metal doors. They Sped time to rust the massive steel doors
before storming forward.

Before long they spotted the
gate ahead. Javed peeked around the corner before he drew back,
cursing. Terra moved to a nearby entryway and glanced beyond while
Roland moved up next to her.

The Kalians and Helcians had
fortified the gateway with a large force. Scorch marks had burned
into the ground around the gate from an attempt to destroy it, but
the gate remained intact thanks to a reinforced frame. Barricades
surrounded the gate along with Helcian soldiers in armored exosuits.
Helcian shock troopers. They carried large kinetic dart rifles that
could punch through walls. Kalian troops were present as well,
wearing their masks and a second set of robotic arms that carried an
additional energy rifle. All stood tense, waiting, and watchful.

Roland glanced before moving
back. He looked to Terra and shrugged. Then he walked away, back the
way they had entered.

Javed snarled, watching Roland
go, but didn't try to stop him which might risk alerting the guards.
Instead he whispered his assault plan over the cipher lines.

Terra stood with her mouth
open. Her nostrils flared as she clinched her fists. She almost
considered marching after Roland and dragging his worthless hide back
into the bunker. Instead she clenched her jaw and joined Javed who
planned their final assault. Javed tried to keep the tension from his
voice. Everyone knew that their assault had suicidal odds of success
given the entrenched enemy. Still, it was their only chance at
escaping the salient.