Fourth Vector Ch. 04

It was like there was truly no one in the city.

Jack followed Greg as they pushed up against a wall of houses not far from the beach to take a breath. Almost twenty heavily armed marines followed their lead, all wearing the same confused expressions on the location of the enemy.

"Where the hell is everyone?" panted Greg. "The West Sorellans? The East Sorellans? Are we the only ones in this whole fucking city?"

"I don't know. This doesn't make any sense," answered Jack as the two East Sorellan ministers came up to their position on the beach. Nikias was holding his helmet and looking around nervously while Alcydes wore an obvious scowl.

"What are you waiting for? Let's push forward," said Alcydes, annoyed at the fact that they'd already stopped.

"Don't you find this odd? Why isn't anyone shooting at us?" asked Jack, getting in the minister's face.

"Perhaps our troops have drawn out the enemy already? Maybe you are already in their rear," offered the sour-faced minister.

"You and I both know that's not the case," said Nikias quietly.

"Shut up, you fool," hissed Alcydes while reaching over to smack the butt of his musket against the other minister.

Jack had no more time for nonsense. He got right into the face of the war minister. "What are you talking about? Where are your troops, Alcydes?"

Alcydes snuck out around Jack and began to stride deeper into the city. "This way, Commander! The war is this way. Let's take the city!"

Jack looked over at the rest of the marines as well as Greg and felt helpless to explain the odd situation that they found themselves in.

Surprisingly, Nikias was the second one to follow Alcydes deeper into the city. Looking back at Jack, he called out. "Come this way, Jack. Your questions will soon be answered!" He then disappeared behind a corner as he rushed into the city.

"Why do I feel like something very bad is about to happen?" asked Greg. "Like we're about to become sitting ducks?"

"What do you want to do? Go back to the ships? Abandon this mission?" asked Jack.

Greg pointed his rifle toward the city. "And leave those two here. I think we could kiss our alliance goodbye if we do that."

"As well as consign all those suffering to a very painful death," added Jack. "I'm not willing to do that. Let's be smart about this though. Let's cover each other's backs and move slowly. Are we all good with that?" Jack asked the assembled marines.

"Yes, sir!" they roared in unison.

They filtered out shortly after, following in the footsteps of the two East Sorellan ministers. The marines worked as one unit and checked around every corner, busting down doors looking for hidden enemy soldiers, and covering their comrade's backs.

At one point, Jack caught sight of the two ministers just on ahead as they emerged into a small plaza that was surrounded on all sides by larger buildings. Even from his vantage point twenty yards away, Jack could see the plaza would have been the perfect spot for an ambush.

"Nikias! Alcydes! Wait, don't go over there!" called out Jack as he frantically tried to get their attention. The two of them strolled right into the central part of the plaza, each of their muskets pointing up to the balconies surrounding the place.

It took forever for Jack and the marines to catch up. At one point, Jack lost sight of the two men as they rounded a jagged corner and while they cleared the area, a single solitary gunshot pierced the quiet morning air. The gunshot came from the plaza.

"Let's go! Move forward," roared Greg as the marines rushed in one by one. They covered each corner before sneaking along the sides and bringing coverage over the balconies surrounding the plaza. However, the shot didn't come from the balconies.

It came from the central part of the plaza. As soon as Jack reached the middle, he was astounded to see Nikias standing with his musket pointed at the body of Alcydes. The war minister was sputtering up blood, rapidly choking on what remained of life while Nikias watched on unflinchingly.

"What did you do?" asked Jack, breaking the minister out of his haze as the men finally stopped moving.

"What needed to be done," answered Nikias cryptically. He then put his hand to his lips and gave out a low whistle.

Above them, the sounds of movement filled the air and before Jack or the rest of the team noticed, a full company of enemy soldiers appeared on the various balconies and completely surrounded them with muskets ready to fire. Jack could count no fewer than ten muskets fixed on his person as the ambush that he feared launched with impeccable timing.

"I'm sorry to have deceived you this way, Jack, but it was completely necessary," said Nikias while turning to face the Javan commander.

"You? You have betrayed us?" said Jack accusingly, shooting a glare at the minister.

"Yes, unfortunately. I am working for the West Sorellans. I've been a mole in Daimanos' government for the last year all waiting for the right time to strike."

"You've made a great mistake, Nikias," hissed Greg. "You won't live long enough to regret this."

Nikias blinked at them and finally began to shake his head. "I think you both misunderstand me. The Javan Empire is not my enemy, nor is it the enemy of the rightful king of Sorella, Heron!" Nikias pointed up to a middle-aged man on the balcony, standing behind two guards. Much less opulent than Daimanos, the king looked on with quiet determination.

Nikias started to speak once again. "I killed Alcydes because his job was to get you deep into the city for when the real East Sorellan attack happened, set for an hour after daybreak. Daimanos has betrayed you, Jack. He wanted you to mop up the leftover resistance of the West Sorellans and then he was going to attack your forces right after. He is looking to kill all of you!"

Jack looked up once more into the barrels of so many muskets and felt truly helpless. The fate of their entire mission now rested in the hands of people who held them completely in their mercy.

What was infinitely worse was how would they determine who was really friend or foe on this island?