Valkyrie Hunter
Chapter 57

The hallway was empty except for the half-dozen guards by the far door that led to the Chamber of Trials. A name I’d conjured up after all the problems I had in there. Laura interrupted my thoughts.

“I can’t comm the ship?” she sounded anxious.

“Worry about it later,” Xenobi replied. “We need to evac the LT.”

“Evac?” This was the first I’d heard about it.

“Admiral Komana’s orders,” she told me.

“Why?” I tried to push my point.

“Way above my pay grade,” Xenobi said flicking her companion a hand signal.

“Ma’am we need to go, the rest of the squad will be waiting?” Laura added.

There were no guards on the way out. We soon found out why. The Hall was under attack. There was a difference between an Elder saying it and us walking into the middle of a firefight.

Instinctively I hit the ground my two guards the fraction of a heartbeat later.

“Fuck a shit storm!” Laura stated bluntly. She scrabbled for her pistol. She hadn’t been allowed to carry a heavier weapon while in the Halls.

“Get to cover!” I yelled at the two as I half crawled, half scrambled to the nearest trench. I bowled over the edge dropping to the floor landing hard. Bullets zinged above our trench making it certain we’d got into it at the right time. We weren’t alone. I’d found the rest of my squad of guards along with several Valkyrie wearing silver sashes around their waists. The door guards if my guess was correct.

“Nice of you to drop in?” Sergeant Becky Ribbons told me her voice sounding grizzled like the veteran she was.

I got up dusting myself off. “Situation?” I asked her.

“Bad ma’am.” She was a woman of few words. She waved at the top of the trench, which was above her head. She was shorter than I but even I’d have a problem seeing out. This was a trench dug for Valkyrie and not Humans or T’Arni, definitely not for T’Arni. “The enemy forces are making a concerted effort to breech our defences. We’re unable to call in an evac.”

I noted that she was calling the rebels, the enemy and seemed to saying we were allied with the Loyalist Valkyrie. “Elders?” I asked her.

“Negative we had a comms channel through the blockade. This is the enemy.”

“There no way we can call in air support?” I asked her.

“Negative ma’am.”

I quickly considered our options. We had no choice but to fight. “We fight,” I stated.

“But not here some of us can’t see over let alone return fire?” Becky countered.

“There’s a trench twenty metres west Initiate. It is shallower.” One of the armoured Valkyrie suggested.

“Sarge?” I directed my question to Becky.

She considered for the best part of a half a minute. “It’s the best option we definitely can’t stay here. We need to get into a better position.”

“Do so,” I ordered. I hadn’t a better idea I wasn’t a soldier.

We moved to the edge of the trench. Luckily for us the Valkyrie had provided a ladder. Otherwise trying to climb out of the trench under fire would be the least of our problems. At the foot of the ladder Becky halted us.

“Ma’am you, Specialist Xenobi and Corporal Cousins hold the centre. Cutter your fire team takes point.”

I noticed the sergeant had divided the guard into two-person fire team. With each Marine watching the back of her companion.

“Sarge” Cutter complained.

“Just get your ass up there Cutter or feel my boot up it.”

“Aye Sarge,” Cutter made a gesture. “Sorry ma’am,” she apologised to me.

Becky turned to the other fire team that composed my guards “Holder you’re the rear guard.”

“Aye Sarge,” Holder saluted smartly.

“First team go!” Becky shouted.

I watched the two Marines scramble up the ladder and disappear over the lip of the trench.

“You turn ma’am, go when I say go?”

“I’m ready,” I said. I wasn’t really I felt sick in the pit of my stomach.

“Go!”

I climbed the ladder flanked by Laura and Xenobi. As I got to the top I took a quick look at my surroundings. The rebels were teeming through the woods more there than I could imagine. As fast as they exited they dropped under the unrelenting fire of the Silvers. It was a slaughter without sense. Seeing all that death I wanted to puke. It was as if the Prophet was launching one last desperate attack to destroy the Valkyrie using the rebels’ death to irrevocably destroy the Clans and the Elders. The distance between this trench and the shallower one seemed so far away. Ever second of which I would be exposed to enemy fire. Some sense made me turn. I don’t know what, a sense of doom had me turning to the doors out of the Hall. A dozen Elders and Acolytes had emerged from the Hall. Something about their stance called to my sense of danger. They raised a variety of weapons and fired. Not at the rebels but at us and the Valkyrie in the trenches.

“Take cover!” I yelled dropping to the ground my hand on the Seven Double ‘M’ at my side. Xenobi wasn’t so lucky she went down shot in the back. For a moment my vision blurred remembering Wilson and Daniels both shot in the back by Vanessa. Running on auto I drew my pistol and fired. My pistol shot dropping an Acolyte.

“Beware traitors to our rear!” I yelled hoping I had been heard. Holder’s fire team must have head me. They leapt from the Valkyrie trench and attacked. Several of the traitors fell. I was in a exposed position. Suddenly a burst of fire came from the trench more of the traitors fell. “Covering fire!” I yelled my throat going hoarse.

The fire from the Silvers increased pinning the remaining traitors to the ground.

I used the distraction to grab Xenobi and with Laura’s help we dragged her to the shallower trench.

The other trench was shallower. The floor and sides lined with wood to keep the earth back. There was a firing step and enough depth to keep us from being hit.

I shuddered with relief as I placed Xenobi on the floor of the trench. She was whimpering but alive.

“Medic!” I called out.

“She is our medic,” Cutter groaned.

I could have done with a Cell Stitcher about now. I halted confused was I being any less an Imperial thinking that. I knew how good they were at healing injuries. Failing that a Keeper. I had neither of those we had to do something.

“Get her armour off and where’s a medkit?”

“Here?” Someone thrust a small medkit at me. It was just about adequate but it was all we had.

“Good!” I replied glad that both Kelli and Kara had trained me.

Carefully we stripped off Xenobi’s armour fully aware the carnage going on above our trench. The bullet had lodged deep in her clavicle. There was no way we could extract it with what we had.

“Stay awake!” I said to Xenobi.

She just gritted her teeth and muttered something under her breath. Sudden movement at the lip of the trench had me reaching for my weapon. Several heavily burdened Valkyrie dropped into our trench. The Valkyrie wore full combat armour and each had a silver sash around her wait. After the recent treachery I was ready for action even if we were out gunned.

“We have a med tech for your wounded,” the leader of the Valkyrie announced.

I instantly recognised the voice. We were in safe hands. “Moi?”

“Initiate,” Thirika responded to my unspoken question and threw a duffel bag at my feet.

A Valkyrie moved to Xenobi’s side forcing me to back off. Quickly and effectively she stanched the blood and had the bullet out making my effort look like some stumbling fool.

“Moi?” I asked again.

“Can’t stay Initiate we need to get the shields back up.”

“The traitors?”

“They’ve been dealt with. Just keep the rebels away from the Hall.”

“On it Moi,”

Thirika jumped out of the trench her team and I guess it was that headed after her.

Only the Valkyrie med tech remained. “She’s stable we’ll come back for her later.”

She looked at Xenobi. “Stay with the Mother,” she uttered to Xenobi and was gone.”

I hadn’t a clue what the Valkyrie was on about but that was their way.

I took that moment to open the duffel bag Thirika had given me. I pulled out a coil assault gun, a bandoleer of clips for the weapon. A helmet and body armour, Security armour with green and grey patches. I also noticed at the bottom of the bag was a long metal tube. I recognised it as a flare. I handed it to Becky.

“We can signal the ‘Iron Duke’ with this!” I said to her.

“Will it work?” Cutter said hopelessly.

“It damn well should!” I shot back. “We need air support.”

Becky pointed the tube to the sky and pulled the pin. “Here goes nothing?”

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