Fourth Vector Ch. 20

The man quickly crumbled and his colleague wasn't far behind him as another marine made quick work of him. Jack got back up to his feet again, going around the fountain toward the sounds of rapid fire coming not far from a nearby house. Poking his head inside, he saw his own men engaged in a shooting match with the Swabians. The peculiar thing about it was that his men were firing from the living room of the house while the Swabians were firing from the kitchen.

One of his own marines let out a howl of agony as he took a bullet straight through the shoulder, crumpling against the floor in the next moment. Jack took his place, firing short bursts at any Swabian unlucky enough to pop his head above the kitchen table.

One of the Swabians took a shot to the head the next time he tried to move, and his body fell to the ground lifelessly in the next moment. Slowly but surely, they were able to clear out the rest of the rooms of the house, only emerging on the other side about five minutes later.

At that point in the evening, it was well past dark, making it all the more harder to pick out the Swabians and pick them off. They must have spent almost two hours clearing out the houses as they approached the old city gate, luckily taking minimal casualties as they did so.

"There it is, the city gate," said Dustin, after they cleared out another house. Jack took a good look at it from around the corner, trying to find a weakness. Thankfully for them, the gate had long since worn out its usefulness, failing to contain the city within its walls. As the city expanded and as the threat of invasion disappeared over time, parts of the city extended far out from that gate, and Jack could even see some areas where parts of the wall had been demolished to make more room for other buildings.

"At least we won't need ladders to take it," said Jack, pointing out a spot where they could flank the gate. "How about we get a couple squads to offer covering fire, and you, me, and another squad go around the back?"

Dustin grinned. "You got it. Marines, covering fire!"

Jack and Dustin sprang along and in-between buildings as they rushed to the open spot in the walls. Jack heard one of the marines behind him get hit, falling to the paved street, but he didn't dare look back. He just prayed it wasn't Dustin as they crossed a small open clearing before throwing himself up against the wall.

Dustin was right behind him, as well as about five other marines. Together, they stalked around the ancient wall of the city, moving into the heart of the city for the first time. Their movement didn't go unnoticed by the defenders, and they were fired upon once they closed in closer to the gate. However, their presence now made the defenders have to fire on two positions in different directions, and they were soon neutralized.

"Get this damn gate up," said Dustin as he directed a team of marines to manually raise the medieval gate. "I don't want any further obstacles getting into this city."

Dustin was sure to be disappointed. Nearly an entire platoon of marines soon cleared the gate and made their way down the main road in Daban. Things were almost too quiet and there was little in the way of Swabian resistance until they found themselves entering an open city square with high rise buildings on every side.

"Spread out," yelled Dustin. "Keep to the sides of the buildings. This is the perfect spot for an ambush!"

No sooner had he yelled the words did Swabian troops appear overhead, raking the force from the windows. Most concerning for Jack was the appearance of blue-uniformed and red-haired Picard troops with them, also firing on their force.

"Why the hell are the Picards firing on us?" yelled Dustin to Jack as they took cover behind a concrete post. "We're here to help them!"

"I bet there's a lot of confusion in their ranks right now," said Jack. "Take out the ones that can't be saved, and don't let it affect our progress as we get deeper into the city."

The firefight only got worse as scattered groups of Swabians, aided by some Picards, kept up the steady firing. Even though their bolt-action rifles weren't as modern as the NT-12, they were still quick to pour lead on the Javan forces below, using their advantage in height to command the city square.

Jack found himself rushing to the other side of the square where he could see his own vantage point of the Swabians above them, and he began to clear the windows one by one. The more men that he took out, the better his forces were able to free themselves from being pinned down, and after close to an hour, the Javans had themselves free from the square as each Swabian was either killed or wounded.

"Stupid bastards," muttered Dustin at the handful of Picard dead with the Swabians.

"Let's hope any others that we encounter will know who the real enemy is," replied Jack as they pushed onward.

Once the entire force was past the city square, they came into the real heart of the city. Buildings started to get larger, and they started to take up a good portion of the city block. Swabian resistance was sporadic, and those groups they did find seemed to be already pulling back rather than to offer battle. Jack had to wonder if they were under orders to fall back to a central position rather than fight. While it was a good sign that they might already be on the ropes, it could be deadly if they all moved to a reinforced defensive position.

As they moved up the major road in the direction of the palace, Jack first laid eyes on a full Picard force moving in from the opposite direction. Jack held his arm up to his force in a signal not to fire, waiting to see how the Picards would respond. Curiously enough, they eyed them warily, clearly seeing by their dress that Jack's force wasn't Swabian.

"We're here to rescue your king and free your city from the Swabians," yelled Jack as he secured cover for himself. "We're on your side. Fight with us!"

The Picard commander of the platoon seemed to consider his words for several moments, and it was to Jack's credit that none of their force opened up fire. Jack watched as they seemed to talk the matter out between themselves, and Jack prayed that they wouldn't decide to offer resistance.

"Help us," shouted the Picard commander finally, as he stood up with his hands raised in submission. "Help us free our king and kill the Swabians?"

"Freedom for Picardy!" yelled Jack back to the man. "Can you have your men lower their weapons?"

"Do it," said the commander to his man. "Lower your guns!"

Only when the last gun was down did Jack raise up from his concealed spot and approach the Picard commander. The man wasn't much younger than himself, with wild red hair and freckles. Jack quickly stopped beside him and his men.

"My name is Jack Easterbrook and this is my force. Will you fight with us to liberate your king and the palace too?" he asked, looking the commander in the eye. "Our only wish is to throw the Swabians out of the city."

The commander grinned and offered his hand. "Colonel Neil Fagan of the Picard Army. Before a week ago, the defense of the city was my responsibility."

Jack chuckled. "What the hell happened a week ago?"

"The king was a little misguided but I think we know why. He's held up in the palace. Can we fight alongside you? I have fifty men here ready for blood."

"We can surely use you," said Jack. "The Carinthians are attacking from the north and our force is attacking from the south. We're meeting in the middle at your palace."

"Good, let's move out then," said Colonel Fagan. "Men, pick up your arms. Let's retrace our steps back to the palace. We have some Swabians that need killing!"

The Picards began to cheer as they grabbed their rifles again, and soon Fagan joined Jack and Dustin as they made their way to the palace.

"The palace is just a quarter of a mile away," said Fagan. "We should come up to it soon. But I have to warn you, the Swabian forces are gathering strength in the rear—"

Fagan dropped near Jack's side before he could complete the sentence, having taken a bullet straight to the gut. Out of nowhere, a screaming band of gray-robed soldiers soon erupted from their hiding places and began to swarm down the street, offering their first real counterattack of the day.

"Find cover and pull back!" yelled Jack as he grabbed Fagan's feet and moved him to the closest doorframe. The Swabians poured through the gap between Jack and the rest of his men, and it was only the quick reactions of his hand to grab his sidearm that prevented two soldiers from overrunning their position.

"That motherfucker," swore Fagan as he held his hand to his bleeding abdomen. "What a shot, what a lucky shot!"

"Are you all right?" asked Jack as he eyed the wound. It looked exceptionally vicious from his angle and there was no shortage of blood.

"I'll be just fine," said Fagan with a labored breath. "Just help me stop this position from being run over."

Jack was able to prop him up on his elbow quickly enough to stop another Swabian from getting to them, but he almost lost hope as he saw nothing but the backs of gray-robed Swabians as they continued to push down the streets. It was almost like his force had melted back at their sudden counterattack.

As he put a fresh magazine into his NT-12, Jack took a moment to fire short bursts into the backs of the enemy soldiers, quickly mowing down several of them before they turned their attention back in his direction. Once he took cover again, he finally caught sight of the rest of his forces.

Like him, they'd been forced up against any doorframe, window seal, or garden they could find shelter in. Yet they were still a cohesive force, demonstrated by the rapidly falling back Swabians in the center of the street.

"They thought to push us back. They only managed to flank themselves," said Fagan with a short, labored laugh.

His words couldn't have been truer. The counterattack that had so shocked them in the beginning rapidly ran out of steam. After nearly a half hour, Jack could see the backs of the enemy as they retreated toward the palace, enabling him and Fagan to emerge from their hiding spot a moment later.

"There you are," said Dustin with a grin. "We're glad you're still here with us to enjoy the party!"

"I am," said Jack before pointing at Fagan. "But he's going to need some aid. Can you arrange to get him back to our lines?"

Dustin nodded and called for one of the medics. As Fagan got the medical attention he needed, Dustin and Jack turned their attention forward. Just several blocks away was the royal palace, still glimmering with enough lights to ward away the darkness. Even though they'd been fighting for most of the night, Jack could get a sense that they weren't too far from dawn.

Perhaps the next day would dawn in Daban without seeing the Swabians in charge of it?

"Let's go men! One last building to take and then we own the city!"

With one final herculean push, Jack, Dustin, the marines, and their Picard allies set off to capture the last bastion of Swabian power in Daban. Off to the north, Jack could hear the sounds of battle several city blocks away, even at one point seeing a Carinthian flag waving off in the distance. It was obvious their friends had no issues breaking down the door on the northern side of the city, and the race to be the first to the palace was now on.

"I'm not going to lose this bet to those flying bastards," yelled Dustin right before he shot another Swabian soldier. "We're going to get to the palace first!"

It wasn't the easiest task. The Swabians were down but they certainly weren't out yet, and it seemed they'd made the palace as the center fulcrum of their power in Picardy. They began to see machine gun emplacements at strategic spots on the road to the palace, and every time they stopped to neutralize one, the enemy managed to pick off another marine or two. They made sure that every inch of ground that they ceded was paid for in blood, and it was the toughest fight that the marines had all night.

As the sky continued to lighten, turning from a deep black to a brilliant purple, Jack and Dustin came upon the two gun emplacements with overlapping fields of fire directly in front of the palace. Just two weeks ago, Jack had walked with Kat and Greg up to the palace in the same avenue he was now fighting on. How much can change in two weeks.

"What do you want to do, Jack?" asked Dustin. "We can't flank them, and they've already set a heavy toll for clearing out these machine gun nests."

Jack pursed his lips. "You got any more grenades?"

"Clean out. I don't like to end a fight still being stocked up on those," admitted Dustin.

"Shit. How about a distraction?"

"What did you have in mind?"

Jack looked across from their hidden position in a building's doorframe, checking out the landscape on the other side. There was a small ledge that offered just a smidge of protection. Without any further words to Dustin, Jack took off on a full sprint over to the other side.

He barely made it. Bullets riddled the brick ledge not a moment later. Jack pressed himself against it before hazarding a glance over at Dustin.

"You're a crazy SOB, Jack," said Dustin with a grin. "But I have to say that I like it!"

"You think you can give me another distraction? Just for a bit?" asked Jack.

"What? Like this?" Dustin then leapt out from his protective ledge, jumping up and down and shouting at the Swabian emplacement to draw their attention. He dashed back behind the ledge as the bullets opened up.

It was all the opening that Jack needed. With careful aim and one fluid motion, he popped out from behind his ledge and took aim on the Swabian manning the emplacement diagonal from him.

The man never had a chance. He fell forward onto the gun a moment later, lifeless.

Jack pulled back into the ledge as the machine gun directly in front of him roared to life, once more spraying bits of lead into the brick and mortar.

Like a choreographed motion, Dustin sprang into motion, repeating the same shot that Jack had just made. His shot was entirely clean, and at long last, the way to the palace was entirely clear.

"Let's go men! Let's go rescue the king!" yelled Jack.

*****

The situation inside the Picard royal palace was starting to deteriorate. At first, things appeared to be somewhat normal, even for an invasion, and Adalbert watched as the Swabian commanders dictated orders to their soldiers for the defense of the city. Just before dusk, he could hear the sound of naval artillery as the invasion force began to shell the city, but it was still a good distance away.

Then the reports started coming in. The loss of the naval batteries was the first one that gave any real indication that their position might become untenable.

"Pull back to the city then," snapped Adalbert to the messenger from the colonel. "Use any existing structures that you can to aid your defense."

The next report detailed how the outer sections of the city were becoming occupied, and even at one point, the old city wall and gate on both the northern and southern ends. That's when Adalbert began to get nervous. If he went outside, he could hear the sounds of gunfire in the distance, still far enough away as to not cause a panic, but close enough to raise his adrenaline.

It was then that he sought out Magda in her quarters, which had become the command center of their forces in the city. At the beginning of the night, her room had been filled with commanders, messengers, and servants. Toward the middle of the night, it had emptied out of all but a few personnel, save for Magda.

The woman sat at her desk gently massaging her temple. Her eyes were closed. "What is it, Adalbert?"

"The city gate has fallen," he said quietly. "The invaders are now moving down the main avenues of the city."

Magda took a deep breath but her expression didn't change. Something told him she already knew of their progress. "We're not strong enough to hold them back. How many men are they throwing at us?"

"Many of the troops in the southern part of the city are reporting an enemy with fierce tactics and armed with rapid-firing rifles. They are saying our own are outmatched in that regard," he replied.

"We have to do something, Adalbert. We can't keep losing ground. We need a big punch in the mouth for these Carinthian and foreign fools."

"What are you suggesting?"

Magda thought about it for a minute. "Colonel Schwartz has suggested pulling back the men to one single focal point to prepare for a counter attack on terrain that favors our approach. At first, I didn't want to cede any more ground than we already have, but I'm inclined to let the colonel run his idea."

"We need to come up with something soon, or else our position in the palace is getting increasingly untenable," said Adalbert.

"Don't you think I know that?" Magda snapped. "Schwartz!"

The colonel entered the room a moment later, his office having been set up in the adjacent living quarters. "Colonel, go ahead and execute your plan. Get word to the other commanders to try your counterattack. Keep us informed on the progress."

As Schwartz saluted his understanding, the man soon left the room to prepare the attack. Another hour eclipsed and then another. To Adalbert's ears, the sound of fighting didn't appear to be stopping.

If anything, it seemed closer still.

About an hour before dawn, it became apparent that Schwartz's counterattack failed, and Adalbert watched as a ragged band of survivors limped back to the palace. That was when he saw the first muzzle blasts from the enemy rifles.

They were only blocks away at most.

Seeing as they were the only force left in the city that hadn't been conquered, and seeing as there was only one escape path left—to the west—it was time to face facts.

The city would fall.

There just weren't enough Swabians to hold it. If they had landed another regiment or even had a chance to have the Picard fleet deployed to the city like they requested of the king, perhaps they could have stopped this.

"Fucking Aedan," swore Magda as Adalbert appeared before her again. "That redheaded piece of shit did this to us. I don't know how but he's managed to sabotage us."

"We need to leave then," replied Adalbert. "We have very little time left."

"I should kill him now," said Magda, putting her sidearm on her desk. "I should end him, but not before ending that bitch of a wife of his."

Adalbert shook his head. "Remember the plan? They'll get what's coming to them. But we need to leave here. We can't let our hides be cooked in the same pot as theirs."

Magda looked up at him with a horrified expression. "We can't leave! If this ship goes down, I'm going down with it!"

"I, for one, am not staying to find out what they'll do to us if we get caught," said Adalbert. "I'd rather take my chances leaving the city than staying here to find out."

Magda shook her head. "That's what I'd expect to hear from someone who so easily let the Andalucian operation fall to shit! You may have the benefit of a nice, important last name, but I do not! I'm not going to escape death here just to find it back at home!"

"There are other means available to us," he insisted. "Our forces have taken over Zarah and Burwick as well. The Swabian presence in Picardy is not ended with Daban! We should pull back to those cities to organize our forces there."

Magda looked inconsolable. "Lord Avila will realize it's a defeat. He'll realize that we lost anyway and we're just buying time."

"As long as Swabian soldiers are still in Picardy, we haven't lost," said Adalbert.

Magda began to shriek at him. "You don't understand! You'll never understand!"

He'd had about enough of her to that point. All these weeks of listening to Magda chastise him for one reason or another, treating him as if he was no more than her personal butler, was finally having its due effect. The fact that she preferred to die here in this city rather than to sail away to other forces still under their command in the south of the country rankled him.