The gunfire beyond the wall was quieting down now. This disturbed him. They’re up to something. He rummaged through the med-box in the station tent, looking for the prescribed drugs. Only two were needed, but the dosage had to be precise. He located more supplies to mix the concoction and went to work. Tiet remained seemingly lifeless on the ground.
Beyond the med-station tents, something was happening. The men were yelling. Kale heard the screeching of the hurutai. He went to the tent door to look out, just as a spray of hurutai spines pierced the flaps. Kale jumped back, finding several spines in his body.
He had the injection in his hand, called for by the med scanner. He immediately jammed it into a vein in his arm and pushed it systemically. Kale quickly began to get dizzy. However, within moments, the effects of the neurotoxin subsided. He went to work mixing another dose for Tiet.
Kale heard more than the just the hurutai outside now. He fixed his mental senses on the area around them and found the Baruk warriors coming through the hurutai tunnels into the city. Gunfire erupted again as the remaining Castillian warriors tried to defend themselves against the steady stream of Baruk warriors pouring through the worm tunnels.
Kale worked fast to get the mixture prepared. When he had it, he injected the medication into a vein in Tiet’s arm. Kale now sensed the Baruk closing on their tent. He didn’t have time to wait for the paralysis to be reversed on his brother. Kale lifted him up using the Way and crossed to the rear of the tent where he sliced down the cloth wall with a kemstick and plowed on through to the outside.
The battle was raging again, but there were hardly any of the other soldiers left alive. Kale ran for cover toward the large buildings ahead, but the Baruk were closing on him fast. He felt Tiet shifting on his back as the paralysis wore off.
Ahead in their path, a hurutai worm erupted through the surface, leaving the two brothers with nowhere to go. Kale dropped them to the ground like a stone as the reflexive launch of toxic spines sprayed away from the beast and sailed over their heads. Tiet was moving on the ground now, trying to regain his muscle control. Kale drew his blade to defend him as best he could.
A flash of light appeared between the hurutai and the buildings behind. Kale saw what appeared to be a huge energized portal materialize with men coming through it into the city. Kale recognized them as Horva warriors. General Grod was leading them through.
They each wore a metal glove with wires trailing along the length of their arms to a small pack across their backs. The gloves were held before them as they ran into the city. The hurutai was alerted to their presence. Streams of plasma energy shot forth from the gloves like lightning hitting the hurutai. The creature screeched in pain. Within seconds it fell over dead like a burnt sausage.
The Horva ran toward Kale and Tiet. Kale raised his blade, preparing to fight the Horva coming at them. More streams of plasma energy issued forth like lightning from their fingertips, but the attack passed them altogether and hit the advancing Baruk head on. Kale stood dumbfounded as the Horva warriors ignored them completely in order to fight the Baruk behind him.
General Grod came up to the pair of warriors as they stood there exhausted from the fight they had already faced.
“Come with me. We must get you to safety,” he said, speaking directly to Tiet.
Tiet responded, appearing to realize more of what had just happened than Kale did.
“I knew it, Grod,” he said weakly as he tried to catch his breath. “I knew you were a man of honor.”
Tiet could still barely stand. Grod helped Kale support the young man as they made their way back toward the energy portal.
“My warriors!” Grod shouted. “Return to the transgate!”
Grod, Kale and Tiet ran through the portal, coming into Grod’s fortress at Nagon-Toth hundreds of miles away.
ALLIES
“Sir, we’ve been unable to confirm how many Baruk soldiers have off-loaded inside the city since the other transports began landing,” said Sergeant Corbin.
“What about the power?” asked Wynn. “Have you had any success getting to the main supply conduits?”
“No, sir. The Baruk are still fortifying that area very heavily. We can’t get through.”
“It’s been two hours now and nothing from Tiet or anyone from the preliminary team.”
“With all due respect, sir, it seems clear that no one survived. And the Baruk have the city now. How could they possibly have made it?”
“I understand the circumstances, Corbin, but I don’t want to give up hope. And don’t start that rumor among the men. It would hurt morale, and our fight is far from over. Now get the units mobilized. Those Baruk aren’t going to remain in Thalidi for long.”
It was a fact. The Baruk were mobilizing their ground forces for the inevitable push toward Baeth Periege. For an hour they had seen Baruk troop carriers coming down from space into Thalidi. The defense wall was still in place and the Baruk were sitting safely behind it for now.
Somehow they had gotten into the city without disabling it and had apparently decimated the entire team which Tiet had taken to ambush their army. It looked like Kale had failed to protect his brother. Considering the circumstances, it really wasn’t a surprise. The Baruk were mounting a formidable ground force behind that wall and Wynn wasn’t sure whether they could stop it or not.
Frustrated, Wynn tapped the communication panel that was locked in with the Esyia. “Estall, what’s your status up there?”
“We’re trying to hold our own, Wynn, but we still haven’t been able to get to that flagship,” Estall reported.
“We’ve seen a lot of troop carriers landing inside Thalidi down here.”
“I know, but we’re completely outnumbered up here,” said Estall. “We just don’t have the ability to guard the surface and try to get to that flagship!”
“I understand. I don’t mean to accuse. I know you’re doing everything you can,” Wynn said. “I’m afraid we’ve have already lost Tiet.”
There was a pause for a moment before Estall answered. “Are you sure?”
“No. I can’t be certain, but it appears the whole unit was wiped out as the Baruk made their way into the city. We’ve not heard any word from them. I don’t want to believe it, but-”
“I understand. Let’s just keep up the fight and hope we can manage to drive them back. It’s all we can do,” said Estall.
Wynn tapped the communication panel again. The scans of the city were still inconclusive. The Baruk were jamming them somehow to hide their next move.
“Sir, the units from the other cities have arrived at the staging area,” said Corbin.
“Good. We’ll need all the help we can get. It looks like this is where our future is going to be decided.”
It had been several hours since Kale and Tiet had come through the portal into Grod’s compound and they were still being confined to the medical lab under guard. Tiet had been relieved to see Grod’s aggression aimed at the Baruk, but what was his intent now? He wasn’t sure. Kale was pacing, examining the room discreetly, looking for a way of escape.
The two brothers had not spoken since their arrival and neither seemed to know what to say to the other. Kale had been the last one Tiet had expected to see coming to his rescue out there against the Baruk, but he was glad to have him.
After all that he had said, plus trying to kill him inside his confinement cell, Tiet was unsure what he could say at this point to even begin a dialogue with the man.
“How’s your equilibrium? Your head hurting?” Kale asked.