Conquest ~ Indian Hill 3 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (11 page)

“Yes
, sir
,” the sergeant answered
calmly
.
F
or what was about to happen she showed no emotion whatsoever, she was the poster
child for the pro
fessional
soldier
.
C
alm
,
cool and collected, no matter that her heart said differently.

“Alright
,
Sergeant
,
when I give the order I want you to hit the switch
,
within
five
seconds of that switch I want all
of
you
r
men outside.” He yelled even though in the confined space
,
a whisper would have been sufficient, that and the fact that this drill had been run a thousand times before. “Look alive folks, this time it
’
s for keeps and we’ll have a world wide audience. So no screw ups!”

“Oooh Raaah!”
w
as the unabashed reply.

“Oooh Raaah!” The
C
olonel echoed.
Now he had to hope that his intel was correct, the aliens had let it be known far and wide that the fight would take place on earth but they had not disclosed the exact whereabouts. At least 5 different spots around the planet were being monitored after increased fly bys by transport and gunships.
Th
at could mean absolutely nothing, his targets could be fighting on the top of the Himalayan mountains for all he truly knew.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
- Mike Journal Entry 5

Drababan shook his head ever so slightly as he saw me
head
toward
him
. No,
matter how concerned he was with actually killing me, he would do it
,
I was sure.
W
hat was
the point of running
?
Drababan shook off his distaste for the event and approached me warily but steadily
.
I stumbled a few times on the uneven terrain,
Drababan
,
for all his bulk
,
may as well
have
been floating, he never faltered and even more disconcerting
,
he never once took his reptilian eyes off of me.
As I closed in I saw no good reason to stall,
I swung first, my blow easily deflected off of D’s shield. He countered and nearly took my head off in one fell swoop.

Well so much for hesitation on his side
. I tucked and rolled by
,
swinging
my sword
and
catch
ing
his shin guard. I think it momentarily stunned him that I actual
ly made contact, he pulled his leg back. Either way he was in no position to counterstrike, good thing too, because
a
small mound had halted my progress much so
oner than I had anticipated
. Drababan recovered quickly
,
but
so did I
,
and with some effort I was
able to deflect his incoming blow as I did my best to regain my footing.

“You fight well
,
Mike, I had prayed to
Gropytheon
that it would be so.”

“Um
,
thanks? I guess?” How the hell does one answer that when you’re fighting for your very existence. He said it so matter of factly like we were shooting
hoops
or playing darts, not trying to survive. “You too.”

“Coming from you
,
Mike, that truly is a compliment.”

Are you kidding me? Could this be any more surreal?
He dipped his head slightly
,
I lunged
missing
badly
and catching
si
ght of D’s blade swinging down on my sword arm. I was sent sprawling in the dirt, my arm was on fire but miraculously still attached, he had hit me with the flat part of the sword. It had been no mistake, he was toying with me.

“That will be the only quarter I will allow you
,
Mike.”

I stood up
,
not daring to touch my
arm which felt as if it were
broken, it
was
already beginning to bruise and swell. Well that answered that he wasn’t toying with me
,
he was honoring me, but at th
at
point what was the difference.

“Drababan,
” I answered
,
“If I get the same opportunity I will not yield.”

He understood what I meant and nodded. “You will not get the chance
.
”
He wasn’t cocky just sure. I circled him slowly
,
flexing my arm about
,
I could not afford to have it stiffen up if I ever got the chance to wield it. Drababan charged
—
God he was fast
—
my mind raced, I had watched all of his fights, he had done this
maneuver
no fewer
than
ten
times,
six
times
he had
dodged to the right at the last moment and lashed out with what ever weapon he had,
three
times he had dodged to the left and crossed his weapon across his body to yield the same deadly results. Once he had just completely bowled his opponent over skewering him like so much chicken on a spit. I had no choice
,
I had to play the odds, even if they were
sixty/forty
.
If I miscalculated
,
this would be over quick
.
As Drababan’s pivot foot set and he squared to the right, I dodged to the left and tucked down, sticking my sword out hoping it would find purchase, my sword struck his
breastplate
sending seismic shivers through my forearm
and into my spine. I nearly dropped it and then I felt som
ething yielding. Drababan
had r
u
n past
my assault
,
my sword slipped off of his
breastplate
armor and found the soft spot on hi
s side. It wasn’t a terribly dee
p wound, it surely wasn’t life threatening, but Drababan stopped and turned
toward
me. He dropped his shield and ran his hand over the glistening wound, putting his hand up
.
A
surge of hope leapt through me as I watched blood drip off his fingers. He howled in what I can only take for rage. There was nothing in his flat eyes except murder, He headed
toward
me
with no other intention than ending my life. My victory was seemingly short lived.

The ground
leapt
underfoot
, Drababan in all his glory was thrown like a puppet into the air, I for the most part didn’t move as I was already in a crouch, I had put out my hands to brace myself as dirt and stone rained down all around and on me. Small arms fire erupted
everywhere
, I was so disoriented at first that I didn’t understand as I watched
Devastator troops
drop like dominoes. And then it dawned on me, this was the rescue I had
hoped beyond hope would happen
.
I was frozen, clouds of dust made vision difficult and my
sense of balance
w
as still reeling from the shock
wave, if I stood and tried to run, I would most likely look like a drunk having one too many at happy hour. And I still had no clue from which way the rescuers were coming. How
was I
going to get out of
t
here anyway
?
The ship above us may have only been a troop transport but it sported more powerful weapons than anything dreamed of on
my
planet. As if in direct response to my query the transport swooped down and began to make itself known. I heard screams of agony and death as plasmas cannons
shot
down destruction. Guards and camouflage fitted troops fell alike,
no one
was imm
une to the
strafing
fire. It
seemed
the
ir
troops
’
lives were of less value than
stopping
the rescue, and throug
h it all Drababan began to
rise.
I
f he was awed by the whole scene he showed little, murderous intent still blazed hot in his eyes. I didn’t know for sure which way to run, but away from
Drababan seemed like a good idea. I rose and dropped everything, heading in full sprint away from D
ee
and closer to what sounded like
M-16
s. One benefit of the transport ship coming down
was the illusion of the coliseum was broken I could once again see the
ground I was trying to traverse,
it was of little help, I could
feel
Drababan’s heavy footfalls behind me, he would catch me long before I got to any sort of safety.

So fucking close!
And there she was, a combat Marine, aiming an
M-16
directly at me.
Why the fuck is she trying to shoot me
?
I thought as I felt the heat of the bullets pass my left ear. I heard the grunt no more than three feet behind me as Drababan took at least three rounds in the shoulder, the shots seemed to be about as effectual as a bee stings, he slowed for a
heartbeat, letting me gain a few precious steps, but he would not be so careless again
.
H
e would
chase me down and use me to block the
soldiers’
line of site. I redoubled my efforts
—
thank god for the treadmill
—
I had been at an all out sprint for
three hundred
yards and I still had another
three hundred
to go. I was feeling the burn in my lungs, but
it was
amazing
what self preservation can do for you. Even running I was contemplating strategy, I could see the marine desperately seeking some sort of firing angle on Drababan
.
S
hould
I drop and give her a clear shot
?
But if she missed
,
he would be on top of me in a second or two at the most. I figured she had great training but how comfortable was I with putting my life in someone else’s hands. The decision was made for me as another sweeping cannon blow torched the ground all around the marine, I watched in horror as her body was flung back almost t
en
feet
—was that a hole
beyon
d
her
? A hole!
T
here was a tunnel in the side of the crater, so that’s what the explosion was for, and also our means of escape. Whoever thought of this was fucking brilliant. And like a flash, there it was
.
Paul
had
thought of t
his, surprise was always a tactic he liked to employ when we had played Risk and this was the coup de grace of all surprises.

Fifty more yards
.
A twice wounded
Drababan had made up still more ground, I could feel the
earth
vibrate from his
stride. I wasn’t going to make it
.
I felt the tip of his sword on my shoulder blade. I immediately dropped and tucked, Drababan put one foot into my thankfully protected rib cage and then went sprawling, my ruse worked but now he was between me and my destination
, he rose in
an instant
,
almost faster than me
,
and I had known the hastily laid plan. Somewhere along his fall he had lost the sword, but that was of little concern, he could break my neck with a flick of his arm. He stood tall, blood
oozing from his side and shoulder and snout but none of it mattered to him
.
H
e was the
T
erminator
and
I
was his target
nothing else mattered
. The gun battle still raged on as more Marines poured from the mouth of the
tunnel, the numbers were nearly equal, but the surprise had been gained by the Marines
.
M
ore
Devastator
t
roops
lay still but it was beginning to even up as the aliens superior
air
power began to take over. The more time I stood
t
here with my thumb up my ass, the more people were going to die. I would make my move, live or die I was going to make my move. I charged Drababan, screaming with primal rage
.
I wasn’t going to go around him, I had made up my
mind
to go
through him. I ran into a stone wall
with all my might and
he didn’t budge
T
he ground beneath me disappear
ed
, Drababan had picked me up like so much trash
.
S
o
here it was, he was going to snap me in two like a toothpick. And then we were moving, fast. Drababan was running for all he was worth.