Fourth Vector Ch. 05

Next to them on their north side was the land army of West Sorella, commanded by Elektra and posed entirely on the west flank of the fort. From there, their line curved to the northeast where Greg could be found with B company covering the rest of the western approaches to the fort. Lastly, Nikias had the group of West Sorellans who had sailed over and he covered the northeast portion of the battlefield and the road that led back to East Sorella.

Together, the combined forces formed a semicircle around the entire position of East Sorella, remaining hidden behind any form of concealment they could find. There they waited as the darkness steadily disappeared and the dawn soon arrived.

Upon hearing the first sound of naval artillery, Jack sprung up from his hiding spot behind a giant oak tree and bid the men forward.

"ATTACK MEN!" roared Jack. "Push forward with the attack!"

*****

"I sure hope Jack knows what he's doing," muttered Lt. Commander Vicky Carter as theTiger broke off from her formation with the rest of the Javan ships. "Full speed. I want every boiler firing on our approach."

"Yes, ma'am," replied Lt. Beth Pollock, their engineering division head. Vicky had to keep a steady hand on her command station as the ship began to lurch forward. Looking out the window, she watched as her battle-scarred destroyer cut through the waves at breakneck speed, her damaged bow still a poignant reminder of the losses incurred against the East Sorellans a few days ago.

Now that dawn was upon them, Vicky felt confident enough opening up the speed on the destroyer even though she was so close to shore. Just off in the distance, she could barely make out the proud East Sorellan fort and the battery of coastal artillery encased just beyond the beach. For this mission to succeed, they had to strike quickly and confidently.

"Ready the guns to fire. I want us to make a big noise when we get close," said Vicky to Lance as the weapons division head gave the order to load the five inch weapons. A few minutes later when they were closer still, Lance turned to face her.

"Guns ready to fire on your command, ma'am."

"Not yet," said Vicky, wanting to close the distance even more. She turned to look behind the ship, watching the two lumbering cruisers drift closer to shore to take up their role in the bombardment. She would have felt a little better about having backup had she not been set up as the bait for the whole mission.

Finally, theTiger was in place and close enough to shore to see all the batteries lined up, the first rays of the morning sun illuminating their barrels.

"I'd say we should get this show kicked off," said Vicky with some trepidation in her voice. "Fire at will, Lance."

"Guns locked and loaded. Targets acquired. Fire at will, I repeat fire at will," urged Lance through the command radio.

Vicky felt the ship shudder as the guns roared to life and through her binoculars she watched as the spent ordnance raced their way to the shore. The first fireballs landed amongst the beach, setting off a line of explosions as the battle commenced.

There could be no turning back now.

*****

"Push forward, men! Take their positions and make 'em pay," yelled Jack as the entire mass of A company surged forward in the attack. An incredible sight to behold, Jack led the entire charge as they raced toward the fort, coming first upon the picket line set by the East Sorellans on their approach. The pickets that they found were caught completely unawares, the vast majority choosing to lay down their weapons instead of fighting, testament to the near total surprise they had achieved with their attack. Jack watched with grim satisfaction as a small stack of enemy rifles was gathered as well as several prisoners were taken to start the morning.

The rest of the attack moved on to the outer defensive position of the fort and here they met their first determined resistance of the morning. An outlying trench had been dug encasing the entire area of the fort and the few pickets who had managed to get off shots, as well as the bombardment from the coast, had alerted the garrison to their presence and soon bullets were flying in every direction.

Jack hit the ground with several other marines, Captain Reynolds included, and began to light up the nearest East Sorellan soldiers who manned the trench.

"Keep up a steady fire, boys," yelled Jack as his own rifle barked several rounds in quick succession. Thankful for the extra training he had with Greg before arriving to the island, he managed to rapidly dispatch several soldiers, mowing down East Sorellans in shot after shot. The entire defensive line almost crumbled in the withering fire they received, not helped by the fact that the larger guns of theDestiny and theValiant were now firing as well.

Jack and the nearby marines stopped to gasp at a well-placed naval strike that hit the side of the fort, exploding one of the walls outward and causing screams of agony of those unfortunate enough not to have been killed by the initial blast. Jack made a mental note to thank the crews for their incredible accuracy when this was all over and then got up from his prone position and pushed forward on the attack.

*****

"Incoming! We've got incoming fire, ma'am," yelled Lance as the mighty coastal artillery batteries finally opened up, sending a devastating salvo directly at theTiger as she sailed by. It was the first volley that had opened up from the remaining batteries, as several of them had already been destroyed in the first shots from the destroyer.

Vicky's hands gripped the command station tightly awaiting the blows from the artillery that raced their way toward the ship. She closed her eyes as one particularly good shot blasted the ship, sending up smoke and flames from near the stern. Thankfully, the rest of the shots either went too low or too high, missing the destroyer by a small margin. What did hit them didn't appear to be serious.

"Keep up the firing, Lieutenant," ordered Vicky. She heard the sound of the heavier naval guns and turned to look at theValiant and theDestiny behind her, their great barrels pointed toward the fort and shelling it with fury.

Her own guns opened up next, sending another salvo racing to the shore. Vicky watched with satisfaction as another one of the coastal batteries went up in flames, as heavy smoke poured from the battered wreck soon after the shot landed. It was lucky enough for them that their firing was accurate today. TheTiger was now directly in front of the batteries and in the prime position to take punishment if half of them hadn't already been taken out.

She just hoped that her luck would continue to hold for the rest of the battle. Yet, the sight of the coastal batteries opening up once again sent a shiver of fear down her back once more.

Come on, Jack. Please get those guns cleared, she prayed.

*****

"Sire, we're under attack!"

Daimanos' eyes popped open as his servant's warning was soon drowned out by the sound of artillery. Something large and devastating landed too close for comfort and the king jumped out of his bed as the entire ground on the inside of the fort shook. In an instant, he knew the perpetrator behind this deadly morning raid.

"That bastard Heron!" roared the king as he leapt into action, grabbing his tunic and cape and fastening them into place. Daimanos quickly crossed to the other side of the room and grabbed his musket and turned toward the door. At the last moment, he halted and turned slowly, looking back to the king's sword that stood proudly in the corner of the room. Daimanos gave a determined smirk as he crossed back across the room and fastened the sword to his waist before leaving his quarters.

Outside the fort, the assembled soldiery was in a state of chaos. In every direction he looked, his troops scampered about without orders, doing their best just to get in any position to resist the oncoming onslaught. Daimanos paid the common soldiers no heed. They would either do their duty or perish, and that wasn't his primary concern. His most important task was finding his ultimate weapon and unleashing it.

"Barak! Barak, get your ass over here!" yelled Daimanos through the chaos, trying to find the stone-faced minister throughout the carnage.

Daimanos' attention was diverted by another mighty roar of artillery and he peered out to shore, seeing once more the Javan ships hovering just off the coast, their barrels pointed in his direction. Daimanos pursed his lips at the sight, and for the first time in a long while, felt a very real feeling of fear as their guns opened up once more.

"Barak! Where the fuck are you?" he yelled once again, pushing his way through the fort.

"Your Majesty!"

Daimanos turned his head toward the sound of the familiar voice. "There you are, you fool! Coordinate the defense! Get our troops into positions. We're being attacked!"

Barak rushed up to the king and seemed gripped with fear. "Your Majesty, our line is already shattered. West Sorellan troops, aided by the Javans, are already assaulting the fort. We need to get you out of here immediately!"

"No fucking way," growled Daimanos with a heavy shake of his head. "I'm not running from no usurper and his scratch force of spineless excuses for soldiers. No, we'll fight them here. Ready the troops to begin a counterattack."

Barak's eyes flashed with annoyance. "Didn't you hear me? The line is broken! We need to retreat now!"

"Only fools retreat," said the king angrily. "Besides, we have the ultimate weapon. They can't destroy us when we open fire with that."

Barak's expression changed to confusion. "The ultimate weapon? But there's no time!"

"Get out of my way, you fool," said Daimanos as his hand reached across and smacked the minister's face away. "I'll deal with you later. We just need to get the weapon to the cannons and it's goodbye Heron! Goodbye Java!"

Daimanos stalked over to the weapons building and threw open the doors. The sounds of exploding shells rained dust and lead all around him but the king's single-minded purpose to get to his weapon remained committed. Finally coming upon the barrels he was looking for, the king grinned with wickedness.

"The war ends today! I am the King of Sorella!" he proclaimed loudly as bullets crisscrossed the air.

*****

"Over the trench now! Let's get inside the fort," yelled Jack as he picked off the last soldier manning the defensive trench. As soon as the outer resistance collapsed, the rest of the marines hustled across the trench and began to infiltrate the remaining trench of the position.

The strikes from the naval guns had the desired effect as great portions of the outer wall of the fort had been blown away completely, providing easy routes of access for the attacking troops. Jack rushed up the hill going to the fort, taking a moment to pick off two East Sorellan soldiers who just happened to be lingering near the destroyed wall.

"Push forward, men! The fort is ready to be taken!"

Jack waited for the closest group of marines and together they pushed into the fort and covered the corners for protection. Inside was a scene of complete disorganization. What remained of the enemy forces rushed about still while men who had previously been filling the trenches had retreated inside the fort for protection, most of them having already thrown down their rifles in fear.

The sight of the attacking force pushing through the wall took away whatever confidence those defending troops had left and many of them began to surrender in mass. Jack was thankful for the sight indeed—hoping the killing would soon stop—but also because he was beginning to run low on ammunition.

Yet what should have been an easy mopping up action from here out was complicated greatly by the next incoming artillery shot from offshore.

"Incoming!" yelled someone from inside the fort, and in that moment, just about everyone rushed about to find cover from the shot that was about to hit. Jack grabbed several of the marines and leapt back outside the fort from the nearby ruined wall and as soon as he hit the ground, he covered his head with his arm.

He was glad he had jumped away from the fort because what happened next defied everything he knew about firepower. The largest fireball he had ever seen exploded from within the fort, and Jack could feel the extreme heat generated from such a blast against his back. What was worse, the heat never seemed to go away. Hazarding a look back to the fort, he was horrified to see the entire structure burning uncontrollably from the blast, the shot obviously having landed on some kind of incendiary ordnance.

To make matters worse, the blast had thrown the fire outward and great globs of fire had landed all around them. Jack noticed a particular chunk of fire landing not only five feet from him and burning rapidly against the ground. What was most confusing was that the fire continued to burn without any fuel whatsoever. It was almost like whatever concoction that had made it contained all the fueling requirements within to keep a sustained burning.

The implications of the blast were horrifying. Wherever the fire had landed, it burned uncontrollably until whatever it had latched onto was either burnt down or dead. Just a few marines were unlucky enough to receive a glob of the fire, and despite their repeated efforts to put it out, it soon punched holes through their jackets and burned straight through to the flesh. One marine even ran headlong across the beach, sinking his flaming arm into the ocean, but even the waves couldn't extinguish the flames.

As frightening as it was to contemplate the effects of the fire, those East Sorellans still inside the fort received the full blast. For the first few minutes, wild shrieks of terror pierced the air as men burned to death indiscriminately. It took far too long for the screams to end but when they did, a terrible silence descended on the battlefield as the charred remains of what were once soldiers littered the ground.

"Stop firing," yelled Jack into the command radio back to the cruisers. "I don't know what you just hit, but everything is up in flames."

Finding it impossible to enter the fort now, Jack grabbed a group of marines and went around the other side of the fort the closest to the beach. Emerging on the other side found a scene of chaos. A small stream of East Sorellans ran in retreat just like they had from the battle days before. Jack considered them the lucky ones, escaping the horrific fate of burning to death.

From just beyond the grouping of retreating soldiers, Jack caught sight of the king of East Sorella among the charred ruins of the defensive wall. Daimanos appeared to be in disarray as his flowing cape had to be ditched for catching a glob of the devastating fire that had so destroyed the fort. The king sulked about between trying to organize a last resistance and killing off any attacking soldiers that got too close to him. At the last moment, Daimanos turned and fixed his glare on the Javan commander.

"Jack Easterbrook!" roared the traitorous king as he turned to stomp into Jack's direction. Jack stared at the man who had brought such chaos to this island and calmly raised his NT-12 rifle and fired a shot at the king.

He missed—the bullet sailed right past the king's head, enough to make Daimanos duck behind a supply crate.

"You'll need a better shot than that to kill me, Jack!" Daimanos taunted from behind the crate. He stuck his head out from behind the crate for a quick second before pulling it back, but it was enough for Jack to hazard a couple more shots which did nothing but splinter the wood of the crate.

"You should come out and fight me like a man! Remember what I said, Jack? Only real men fight in hand-to-hand combat? Will you try to kill me with your gun like the coward you are, Jack? You're not worthy of winning my kingdom!"

Jack fired off another shot that grazed the shoulder of the king as he snuck toward another supply crate.

"Just nicked me! Quit fighting like a coward, Jack! Face me like a man!"

Daimanos furnished his sword and held it aloft in the air, a great taunt to the Javan commander and a steady reminder of their conversation back in East Sorella.

As soon as the king stuck his head out one more time, Jack pulled the trigger to fire another shot but the gun didn't respond. With a look of confusion, Jack looked at his ammunition counter to see he had run dry. He was out of bullets.

"Not so brave now, are you, Jack?" yelled Daimanos. "What will you do now, you coward?"

As if he sensed Jack was out of ammunition, Daimanos emerged from behind the crate, his sword raised to the side and ready to strike. There was a brief moment of contemplation as both sides tried to decide how to attack the other.

Daimanos moved first, thundering across the small clearing and winding his arm back in order to slash that sword.

Jack had moments to respond. He could block it with the NT-12 but he knew that would only save him temporarily. With the king's training, there was no way he could beat him in a one-on-one fight. He needed an out.

About two steps before Daimanos closed the distance, Jack managed to pull his sidearm out of the holster and fight two shots directly into the king's gut.

Daimanos yelled out in pain but the force of his thrust couldn't be stopped. The weight of the sword fell forward and slashed at Jack while the king crumpled to the ground, grabbing at his now bloody stomach. Jack screamed in pain as the blade slashed across his torso and fell to his knees beside the king.

Daimanos howled in pain. "You're not a real man," he wheezed as his hands filled with his own blood. "You fight like a coward."

"You shouldn't have charged a man that still has a loaded firearm," said Jack as he spit out a mouthful of blood. "At least it's the last stupid thing you'll ever do."

For once, the king had no words—no mocking or taunts. His hands tried to keep his intestines from falling out of his body but soon blood started to flow out of his opened mouth. Daimanos gave one last look to Jack before crumbling to the side with one final grunt.

Jack couldn't even begin to celebrate. He winced in great pain and as he tried to open his eyes once more, the edges of his vision filled with blackness. As the world began to swirl around him, Jack settled against the ground, his sidearm falling nearby beside him. Still clutching the slash across his chest, his consciousness soon fled.

*****

Jack was dreaming.

At least, he thought it was a dream. Perhaps he really was dead. The last thing he could remember was clutching at the wound in his chest as his eyes struggled to remain open. The sounds of battle were all around him still and his fingers barely clutched at the rifle by his side.

Yet in his dream, the battle had melted away. He was no longer pursuing the East Sorellans or even Daimanos any longer but rather pursuing some unknown force. Some siren song that beckoned him forward. Jack saw a path in front of him and each step of the path brought him closer to seeing the end of it. Something was calling him and he had to answer it.

The unfortunate thing about the plane of consciousness that he was on was that the closer he got to arriving at his destination, the harder his steps became. His legs became heavier. Every time he tried to move his feet, the ground resisted the next step. It reminded him of stomping in mud as a child—the deeper he got, the harder it was to move. Soon, Jack was pulled backwards against his own will and the lovely song that beckoned him forward turned into a tortured wail.

Jack's eyes popped open and he sat up straight as he awakened from the nightmare.A nightmare, yes. That's all it was, he thought to himself as he shrugged the remaining portions of sleep from his mind. Instantly, his body began to ache, and Jack found himself once again clutching his chest where the searing pain reminded him of the cut of Daimanos' sword. Except this time, he found a protective bandage wrapped around his entire torso.