The Enemies

Communicator

Oden

A week later, an urgent request finds me at dawn. I get dressed and gather everyone. There will be nine of us. A massive ambush in one of the villages close to Sunbright requires support. Grabbing my bag, I run to the sky jet.

The village is a short flight from the city. We are about to land when one of the Karmian army drones spots us.

Those are huge. The laser cuts the engine in half when we have almost escaped. A loud crack follows and sends us spinning. The sky jet hits the ground several times, jumping awkwardly before it stops. I clutch one of the seatbacks, my head bumping violently against it and my back running into something solid. Repeatedly. The damn thing grinds into the green soil, and everything goes dead silent. My ears ring loudly, but otherwise, I am intact.

Tom is on the floor, lip split, and blood smeared on his cheek. He looks at me with a wild indignant expression.

'What the fuck?'

I help him to his feet and take both of our bags with ammunition, throwing them out of the jet. Nyx is out and looking around astonished.

'You alright?' he asks when he spots us.

'Fine. We need to go.'

It is blood rain all around. The fallen Drellians lay on the ground, eyes open, covered with dirt from the blasts. One battleship that is still burning, several drones are on the ground with their silver wings picking from the grass – the larger one is Karmian, three smaller ones are Drellian. Quiet a change to what we left behind. We head for the village.

We finally reach the rest of the A9 when we are passing the first houses.

'This is hell,' Ozias says with the same bewildered mien when we close in.

Part of the village is still held by Drell, but another half is already occupied by Karmians. I pick the most suitable building, head for the higher floor, choose the room with better coverage of the streets, and get into position. It feels like a monumental struggle, though. As my hands are still shaking, and there is this jarring in my ears.

The laser sight shows the fight between the buildings, but it is hard to maintain active visual contact. The infantry in high tech suits closer to the frontline cover the rest who build barricades. They use it as a shield from enemy fire. I can only see two streets running at a thirty-degree angle.

Karmians attack in waves outweighing us in high-tech infantry. The massive armored suits with ballistic helmets are hard to hit. They navigate faster, and though their movements are not precise but effective. It takes them only a few strikes to take down two or three Drellians.

I focus on the targets, aiming for the head. My mind clears, and I feel steadier. The shots come, people fall. It is difficult to get through the ballistic helmets, but the hits still do some damage, and that helps the infantry to finish them off. The Karmians storm at Drellian soldiers with unyielding force. There are too many of them, and they are heavily armed.

After half an hour and more dead covering the streets, it becomes clear Drellians will not be able to hold their positions for long. The building I am in is already on the border between Karmians and Drellians. One of the Karmians takes notice from where the shots come, and I realize he is about to go search the building. The same moment my communicator buzzes with a message from the Colonel to retreat. Communicating that immediately to my team, I swiftly throw my weapon into the bag. Hopefully, he will not find me if I am quick enough.

I almost at the exit, when someone shoves me hard against the wall. I drop my bag and refocus. The man from the street is blocking my way. He grins victoriously and raises a large dirty knife for me to notice. I take a step back and scan the place. There is the back door, but the building is surrounded by Karmians now. No point in using it as I will end up surrounded by the enemy anyway. The only way out is to the street where the Drellians still fight off the attack.