Fourth Vector Ch. 30

As that occurred, the small Sorellan army set place to await the coming of their enemy. Many of them knew it was a battle that couldn't be won. Even with the captured weapons from the deceased Viceroy Grant and his men, they would still be outnumbered in the coming fight.

Even still, they took up positions to defend their homeland.

Just two hours after the fisherman arrived on the shore, the bombardment began.

Heron heard the first salvo as it left the Swabian warship and came crashing down on the city. It was enough to shake the palace while plaster fell to the floor.

"Take cover!" yelled Heron to his family as the blows became more intense. The next shots landed directly against his own palace. The noise was terrifying in its intensity. It was like being in the middle of the worst thunderstorm he could ever remember, while multiple blows of thunder danced around his feet. Every time that thunder stopped, even briefly, the sounds of screaming could be heard.

In a small interim from the bombardment, Heron, Nikias, and Elektra managed to get outside where they wouldn't have to worry about the palace caving in on them. It was at that moment the order was given to split up. Nikias and Elektra went to separate groups of soldiers within the city to lead the defense, many of whom were set up in natural barricades along the city's tiny streets.

Heron went to the docks to command the forces there under his personal control. Many of them were in control of two fortifications that ringed the inner harbor. It was here that he laid eyes on the Swabian fleet for the first time.

Heron's jaw dropped.

The fisherman wasn't exaggerating. The Swabian fleet was massive.

What was even worse was that he could already spot the launch boats on their way to shore.

"Hold fast, men!" yelled Heron. "The enemy is approaching!"

*****

"Animals! Murderers! Killers, the lot of them!"

The savage sounds of anger filled the crisp morning air as the ragtag Tyrolean army stumbled into the town of Amboy after hearing the telltale sounds of gunfire hours before.

Or rather, they stumbled into what wasleft of Amboy.

Everywhere that Trevor looked, he could see nothing but the smoking ruins of the former town. The main street might as well have not have existed at all. Trevor's store was nothing more than a pile of ashes as were just about everyone's homes.

What had once been a small mountain community was now nothing but wreckage.

The worst thing about all of it was the bodies. The men of the army howled when they recognized their deceased relatives, many of them having fallen in the streets as they attempted to get away from the Javans. Several of their bodies were clearly used for target practice, sporting close to fifty bullet wounds and leaving only battered, unrecognizable bits of flesh left.

It was work that could have been done only by the Javans. This was the retribution that Trevor had feared would soon be visited upon every town that participated in the Movement. He just didn't expect it to be so swift or to carry this much carnage.

"I swear to all that I will kill every last Javan," raged Reese Bach, the former convenience store owner who had already lost his twin brother the last time the Javans came to town. He was kneeling next to the remains of his parents' house. Another group of men tried to put out the smoldering embers of another nearby home. Everywhere that Trevor looked, he found men with nothing but that shattered remains of their former lives in front of them.

It was all anyone could do to maintain some semblance of propriety, especially those that lived in Amboy before the war. The army cohesion that Trevor had tried so hard to drill into them in the past few weeks was lost immediately at seeing such carnage.

He didn't blame them. Trevor knew the rage they faced as he stared at the remains of his store, as well as that of his parent's house a short distance away. He could only say a silent prayer of thanks that they passed away years ago rather than to see their home demolished in such a way.

The simple fact of the matter was this life ceased to exist anymore. He was no longer Trevor Downing, the shopkeeper.

He was Trevor Downing, leader of the Movement. And now he had an enraged army at his back.

But even as angry as he was, Trevor knew there was danger in letting the army whip itself into a bloodthirsty rage. Such rage was incompatible with discipline and good order, the two traits that kept an army in fighting shape. His men could grieve right now but they wouldn't be able to stay in Amboy for long.

Somewhere out there, the Javans were still waiting. And they would love to ambush the newly formed Tyrolean army and extinguish the resistance for good.

That meant he had to get moving soon.

"See if any are still alive," said Trevor to his men as they entered the town. "Those that are should be brought to the center of town. Leave the dead and the smoldering ruins. We can't do anything for them right now."

That order caused a lot of consternation with the Amboy portion of the army but they rushed about anyway, hoping that one of their loved ones were amongst those still alive.

"I can't imagine what you're feeling right now," came a feminine voice from behind him.

Trevor looked away from the ruins of his store to see the soft brown eyes of Nina Powers, his co-commander of the army. Nina was from the nearby valley town of Bushing. It was her cooperation with him that formed the nucleus of their army, uniting their towns with a third called Vonnom. For the past few weeks, they'd drilled their men, now close to a thousand strong, and managed to turn them into a proper fighting force.

At least, it looked proper until it came upon the smoking ruins of Amboy that morning.

"I don't have any words for what I'm feeling right now," said Trevor in a hoarse voice.

"This place meant something to you," she said, gesturing to the store. It wasn't as much a question as it was a statement.

Trevor nodded. "At one time it did. I have a lot of memories here. Memories of a life that no longer exists."

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Are you going to be okay?"

He turned to face her. "I don't know."

How could anyone be okay after their entire livelihood had been destroyed virtually overnight? What did it mean for the future if there was no past to build upon?

"We should probably get moving soon," she said after a few minutes. "The men that did this won't be far away. The last thing we need is to stumble into a trap."

Trevor sighed. "I agree. I'm giving them extra time for the moment though. This will be a tough pill for them to swallow."

Nina nodded. "We've all been there. I know how you're feeling."

"I'll have them moving shortly enough," he promised. "I agree, we can't linger."

That answer earned a soft smile from her.

"If you need to talk, you know where to find me," said Nina, gently gripping his shoulder before she walked away.

It was a scene that played out many times that morning. The soldiers from Amboy were comforted by their countrymen from Bushing and Vonnom, many of whom had seen similar levels of destruction in their own hometowns. All of them had suffered loss by this point in the war. The sobering fact was that they expected to lose the soldier beside them.

They never expected to lose their parents or their children, especially all at once.

That shared sense of rage continued to build throughout the morning. It threatened to explode when Trevor noticed Reese Bach talking to a group of men near his old convenience store.

"Deliver eye for an eye, that's what I say. We can't let these bastards get away. Justice for Amboy!" said Reese, who noticeably stopped talking so loudly when Trevor approached. The group of ten men around him soon noticed Trevor's presence. All of them found some other place to look rather than in Trevor's eyes.

"What's going on here, Reese?" he asked calmly.

Reese shook his head. "I'm going to put a group of men together to go after the bastards that did this. They can't be too far away by the way things are still burning. We can't let them get away after this kind of carnage!"

"Normally, I'd be inclined to agree with you, but this isn't the result of just some small platoon of soldiers," said Trevor. "A much larger force did this to the town. They probably had it surrounded so no one could escape and then did the deed right after to ensure there'd be no survivors. The ten of you wouldn't stand much of a chance on your own."

"We can work that out on our own," said Reese stubbornly. "We've all lost relatives today—wives, children, parents. Now, I don't give a fuck if I have to die but I'm going to get my revenge!"

Several of the men spoke up at that point to reaffirm their enthusiasm for Reese's sentiment. Trevor found himself trying to calm them down.

"What use is that going to be if the ten of you march off and get yourselves killed?" he asked, looking each man in the eye. "You think that's going to change anything in Tyrol? The Javans are still going to be here! And then our army will have just lost ten men for nothing. You want to strike back at the Javans? Then stick to the plan. Put aside this revenge notion because you'll repay back this damage tenfold as part of the army."

"That's easy for you to say," said Reese boldly. "You didn't lose anyone today."

The rest of the men stayed silent at the challenge. It was bold even for Reese, who had become much more erratic after the death of his brother. There weren't many men who were willing to challenge Trevor as the leader of the Amboy group, all knowing that he shared their sacrifices but this was one bridge too far.

Trevor just looked back at Reese. "If you want to get yourself killed for revenge, be my guest. I'm going to stay with this army and work toward getting all the Javans out of our homeland. Remember the goal. Remember why we're doing this. It's the same reason why we couldn't be just a militia any longer. The more of us there are, the better chance we have."

Reese didn't respond to that directly. Instead, he kicked around a clump of dirt on the ground while the rest of the men stared on in silence.

Trevor looked back at each of them directly. "So who's going with him? Who else is ready to die today for no reason?"

Remarkably, not a single man raised their hand. Their bloodthirsty spirit, which was so prevalent only minutes before, had been deflated.

"Good," said Trevor as he nodded his head. "Then let's get going soon. I don't want to linger here any longer than we have to. Let's get what we can salvage and get back to our fort."

The men dispersed right after, all except Reese who maintained a deadly stare at Trevor. It was one look that he recognized—one where the owner usually contemplated a truly life or death matter. In that moment, Trevor recognized how much damage had been done to Reese by his brother's death.

Without his twin, Reese just wasn't himself. He was becoming more unhinged by the day.

At some point, that man is going to do something incredibly stupid, thought Trevor as he walked away.

Curiously enough, Trevor spotted Nina watching him as he walked away from Reese. She had an odd look on her beautiful face, one that told him she had much on her mind.

It would have to wait for later. For now, the army would have to keep moving.

"Trevor, you ready?" asked Zach Aster, the other co-commander of the army. "The rest of the men are forming up to move out."

Trevor nodded wordlessly as he spared one last look at the devastated Amboy. The only home he'd ever known looked back with silent agony. He'd already sacrificed so much to get to this point. How much more would need to be sacrificed before life could get back to normal?

"Let's go," said Trevor under his breath as he soon joined the rest of the army.

*****

The army was quiet after the march back to the old mountain fortification that it now called home. Many of the men stewed in a silent form of rage, no doubt promising all sorts of retribution for the next Javan they got their hands on. The other men watched on with sympathy and a little anxiety, knowing the fate of Amboy could become the fate of their own towns as well.

It was a fate that Trevor was determined to never allow to come to pass. The full-scale slaughter of Amboy had been an escalation in the war, and he needed to ensure the army was in position to defend the rest of the mountain towns from suffering the same carnage.

For that reason, the men drilled the rest of the day. Trevor led contingents of them out to a small clearing off the side of the mountain—a space that was flat enough to allow a larger body room to maneuver. It was this small field that allowed the militia to be molded into an army. It wasn't as challenging of a task as it might first appear. Many scores of the men had army experience thanks to being in Javan units at one time, which meant their training was simply recalling what they'd already learned years ago.

For Trevor, that meant replicating many of the drills he'd once gone through when he was in the service, oftentimes right beside the men he was leading. That was one thing that always used to rub him in the wrong way when he was in the marines—the fact that officers could bark orders but not share in the training. For that reason, Trevor did everything he commanded the men to do. He ran with them, did push-ups with them, and he suffered every command just like the common soldier was expected to do.

While doing so, he began to notice a begrudging respect from the men at a leader who was willing to share the hardships with them. It not only occurred with the men from Amboy (who already had a natural propensity toward Trevor) but with the men of the other towns, recognizing a real leader by his own actions.

That respect only fueled his actions and made him rededicate more of his time to training with the men. Trevor would see to it that this reborn Tyrolean army would be able to stand toe to toe with Javan marines and quite possibly, hold its own against its more experienced foe.

With training being largely over by nightfall, many of the men retired to their accommodations, a mix of tents and old blockhouses where they could find shelter from the elements. Nightly rainfall wasn't uncommon in this part of the continent, and one too many men had been awakened in the night hours by a steady pouring of rain.

Trevor wasn't ready to retire to bed just yet. He had his own tent to himself a short distance away from the rest of the men, and he had a fire started in the pit right next to it. He grabbed a spare log and rolled it over, using it as a seat as he looked into the flames. Always short on supplies, he dug out a small can of meat from his daily allotment and ate it quietly, enjoying this hour when he could decompress from the tension and toil that filled the day.

He wasn't alone for long.

In the darkness outside the fire, he recognized the approach of someone else. Someone with womanly hips that sashayed from side to side as she got closer. There was only one person it could be, and when he saw Nina's beautiful face illuminated by the flames, he became thankful for the disruption to his solitude.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked, gesturing to the open space on the log right next to him. "I'm finding it a little hard to get to sleep tonight."

Trevor scooted over and made more room. "By all means," he replied. "Just enjoying a late dinner."

Nina smiled as she looked at the nearly empty can of meat. "I see that you only partake in the finest we have to offer."

Trevor chuckled. "That's me. Your regular Tyrolean lord with access to the finest goods and foods."

"Maybe not a lord," said Nina with a giggle. "But perhaps a true Tyroleanwarlord. That sounds a bit more accurate."

Trevor scoffed. "After today? I have to doubt that. I think we were making some real progress with the men but I barely managed to keep them together when we were in Amboy. You saw the looks in their faces. Half the army was ready to desert us and go seek immediate retribution against the Javans."

"And no one would have blamed them," added Nina. "We've all lost loved ones in this war, some of us right in front of our eyes. The urge for revenge is only natural when anger takes hold and logic takes a backseat."

"I understand the sentiment but it's one that won't do us any good," said Trevor. "The most important task right now is keeping the army together."

"It's one that you succeeded at today," said Nina quietly. "You kept them together, Trevor. If not for you, we'd have a lot less men with us right now. Most of them would probably be dead already once they caught up with the Javans. You did that, Trevor."

"I feel like I barely kept it together," he admitted. "I'm still not convinced that Reese Bach isn't going to rummage a whole company's worth of men and depart in the night."

Nina shook her head. "I heard what you said to them. They won't leave. Are they still angry? Of course, but they respect you too much to leave the army. Their anger might temporarily cloud their judgment but they know it's better to stay here with us. We have more of a chance together as one unit."

"You make it sound so easy," said Trevor, offering a tiny smile. "It wasn't that long ago that I had to convince you of those very same words."

Nina grabbed a small stick and poked at one of the logs in the fire. "It would seem then that you have more of an effect than you realize. Especially for one as hardheaded as myself."

Trevor chuckled. "Hardheaded would be the last word I'd use to describe you."

Nina looked at him, her face full of curiosity. With the flames dancing across her face, he thought of all the words he'd used to describe her first.

Beautiful, stunning, sexy, powerful, he thought. He was forced by his own conscience to concede that deadly and threatening were suitable adjectives as well. There was also thoughtful and wise, something that came to surprise him less with time.

Nina finally raised her eyebrow. "And? What else would you use to describe me?"

Trevor picked the safer route at first.

"I was just thinking that you were wise and thoughtful beyond your years," he said, turning his attention back to the fire lest his embarrassment show on his face. "Your worth to this army can't be easily stated."

Nina started to laugh softly. "And here I thought you were going to mention how nice my ass is like some of the other men."

Trevor laughed with her. "Only if I felt like it wouldn't get me killed in the process. You have quite the reputation already."

Nina gave him a long look. "Only to my enemies. Or those that have wronged me in some way."

"I take it that list is rather long," he quipped, which caused her to smack his elbow.

"Careful now, Downing," she threatened playfully. "You're walking on thin ice!"

"Oh, I'll reel it back in," he said with a chuckle. They both made eye contact and shared a laugh before a moment of silence descended on them. The truth of the matter was that he had a hard time figuring out what to say to Nina sometimes. She was one of the only people that could make him tongue-tied just by a single look. Hewanted to talk to her, but often found the words dying on his tongue before they could be expressed.

Inwardly, he wondered why that was the case.

While he was thinking, he heard Nina sigh softly. He hazarded a sideways glance at her to see that she was staring intensely into the flames. They danced against her dark pupils in a way that suggested some internal struggle or battle with herself. Trevor was about to ask her what it meant when she spoke up first.

"Do you ever think about what will happen when we do catch up with the Javans?" she asked quietly. "You know, the main force that devastated Amboy?"