By Kevin W. Lee.
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I stood there, with my back against the boulder. Just me, my rifle, Darren, and Lena. A bead of sweat formed on my forehead as I took aim at the avalanche of screaming gang members bore down upon me. But like any other combat situation, I pulled the trigger and began methodically mow down all of the incoming bikers.
Quickly dodging to the side, I put three slugs in to a gang member that tried to skewer me on a long, lance-like pole. With a screech of agonizing metal, the motorcycle and it's rider smashed into the boulder showering parts and sparks all over the place. I would have stayed and watched the wreckage, but I was a bit too busy.
Moments stretched out into minutes, as I calmly killed my would be attackers. Some from the left, some from the right. It wasn't until my carbine ran out of ammunition that I noticed both Lena and Darren. I pulled out my NG-56's and began to blast away as I watched Lena and Darren out of the corner of my eye.
They fought back to back. One with his fists, the other with her blade. It was amazing to watch them work in tandem like that. It was like they were the center of a hurricane, calmly slaughtering anything within their circle and bending the masses to their will. Lena's energy blade flicked and sliced, splashing blood in a whirlwind of cuts. Meanwhile, Darren was calmly sticking his fist right through anyone who got in his way. It was the bloodiest fight I had yet seen.
It was not long before I completely ran out of ammunition and I had to fend off those vehicle mounted savages with my knife. Blood curling screams echoed throughout the city. Chopping and slashing my way through a sickly blood bath of limbs and corpses, I quickly began to tire. I did not know how much longer I could hold out, and the enemy about me still seemed as vast as the ocean.
And as quickly as it began, it ended. One moment they were there, the next, they fled leaving their dead and dying comrades strewn about the ground.
I leaned heavily upon the boulder in the center of town and wiped my forehead with the back of my hand. Despite the biting wind and the freezing snow, sweat still formed. I checked my inventory. 2 clips of AP's for my Carbine. No more for my pistols. I cursed healthily and looked up to see if Lena and Darren were okay. Of course they were.
Lena saw my look and nodded in my direction, giving me the thumbs up signal. Darren was also gazing my direction, checking if I was okay. Quietly I approached them, carefully picking around the mangled biker bodies. There appeared to be about forty or so here and there.
As I approached, Darren asked me, "Well, Curtis. What do you think all that was about? Were they waiting for us?" Lena looked at me in her quiet way, waiting for my answer.
I frowned slightly as I gazed about me at the bodies. Why were they asking me this? I cleared my throat and responded, "No... I don't think they planned on meeting us here. They were pretty lightly armed." I hunched over and lifted a wicked looking sword with a serrated edge out of the hand of a biker with a hole in his chest. "Swords, staves, a few grenades and dynamite... it appears they were here to harass the town." I stood slowly, letting the sword drop from my grasp. "And there's the case of all the smoke at the edge of town. They were torching this place long before they ran into us."
Darren looked impassively at the bodies when I gave him my opinion. Lena on the other hand nodded sagely and said, "Yes... I must agree. They seemed a bit too... weak for a gang of that size. Back from the city where I come, the gangs that roam there are MUCH heavier armed. Especially the larger ones. This biker gang here had to be at least 6 times larger than any I've seen over there."
I glanced in her direction. This was the first time that she had ever really hinted at where she came from. I watched and listened a bit more, but she did not offer anything else. Finally, I nodded in agreement, "As are the gangs in the burbs of Chi-Town. Much more heavily armed. Especially when roaming in packs such as these."
Lena noticed my glance and returned my look. Finally, I shrugged and looked about at the carnage. As I turned, I noticed that many people seemed to be gathering on the outer edge of main square. They were the towns people.
Slowly, they circled, watching us with wary eyes and glancing tentatively at the bodies below. The breath hissed from my mouth, puffing out in a steady white mist. "Look... the natives are here."
Darren watched the gathering crowd serenely. After many minutes of what seem to be silence on both parts, an older looking potbellied fellow pushed his way through the crowd to stand in front of us. He was a little bit on the short side with greying hair and a receding hairline that was as bad as my Uncle Wallace's was. His face was a bit flushed, but it looked like from exertion and excitement than from anger.
The man walked slowly towards us with long strides, carefully stepping over the dead bodies. I glanced to Darren briefly to see what his orders were, but I could not catch his eye. The man stopped perhaps 3 yards in front of us. The flaming wreckage of a bike and a mangled body lay between us.
The man lifted his surprising falsetto voice. "Oh great travelers. Welcome to our humble town of Harlock... we thank you for defending us this time from those savage Flaming Guard."
Lena and I traded glances. Flaming Guard?
Darren spoke in his deep gravely voice which seemed to startle the man, "You are welcome sir. I am Darren. Come from the West. Beside me are the warriors Lena and Curtis. Please, sir. Tell us your name and about the town. Also, is there a place where we may stay for the night?"
I glared a little bit at Darren's back. What right did he have to giving out our names to the general population? Looking around, I sighed inwardly. I supposed it wouldn't hurt all that badly. These people probably wouldn't remember the names anyhow.
The small man responded, "Oh! Yes, Darren. You, Lena, and Curtis may spend the night in our town. I... am the Mayor Staffun at your service. Please, before I take you to a resting spot, let me make an announcement." He turns around and calls out, "My Friends!! Citizens. These are the warriors Darren, Lena, and Curtis!!! They have come to help us defend ourselves from the Flaming Guard!!!! (Cheers cry out raggedly from the citizens) Yes!!! Because of this... they will be staying the night here!!! (Another ragged cheer)"
Now that was more than I could handle. This man, not only announced our names to the entire crowd, but reported to the crowd things that we had not said. I growled in anger and took a step forward towards the Mayor. Gently, though, Darren's arm blocked the way by settling on my chest. I looked up to Darren and he shook his head slightly. I sighed once more and took a step back.
The Mayor turned about and looked at us again, "Well, then. If it would please you, I shall take you to our small, but elegant, inn while my townsfolk will clean up this mess. Across town it is. Luckily, it was not one of the houses torched."
Darren nodded and proceeded to fall in step behind the Mayor. As I followed Darren I noted the strangeness in the way the Mayor spoke. Was it just me? Or was it the way that most small town people talked. This guy was just a bit too polite for my liking.
The Mayor led us Eastward through the town. As we neared the edge of the ring of civilians, the crowd thinned and parted to let us through. Mayor Staffun led us on right through.
As we walked, Darren seemed to be sizing up the town again. Finally he asked, "Pardon my curiosity Mayor, but can you tell us about this... er... Flaming Guard that you keep speaking of?"
The Mayor continued to trot on as he responded, "Ah! Yes! The Flaming Guard." He shook his head, "Villains they are. All of 'em! They are the personal guard of a strange man who styles himself, 'The Count!'."
Darren seemed to frown a bit, "A Count's personal guard? Very peculiar. They seemed a bit savage to be an honor guard."
"Yessir... indeed. The Count's Honor Guard." The Mayor replied.
I looked at the short mayor as we plodded through the snow. He seemed honest enough, and it was not unheard of that small kingdoms were often ruled through force. I sighed softly in the snow and spoke up, "Do they come here... ah... often? They won't be returning, will they?"
The Mayor called back over his shoulder, "No. They don't visit often. And I don't know if they will be returning." He pauses and smiles maliciously, "In fact... I don't think they've ever had that sort of drubbing before. It was a grand sight to see. If they do come again, I hope you are here to bloody them again." Darren frowned, not quite pleased with this sentiment. For the rest of the small walk, we were silent.
We reached the small in. It was a tall wooden two-story buildings with several windows which looked out on the street below. The door was made of stout oak and looked quite safe to stay the night in. We quickly entered the Inn and sat about a small table in the spartan common room. It appeared that they did not get very many visitors, and thus were rather cheap in the way of decoration.
The Innkeeper and his wife quickly came out to greet us. In a light bubbly voice, the Innkeeper informed us that we could stay the night free of charge for defending his town. He'd even feed us dinner and breakfast. Happily, we assented, for we had not had this sort of luxury in a long time. While we waited for the Innkeeper to cook us some of his 'Famous' spicy goat, we chatted quietly at the table.
Darren began with his low gravely voice, "I feel rather wary about staying here. I did NOT like the tone of those 'Flaming Guard.'"
Lena nodded in agreement, "As do I. Let's stay here for only one night and then move on. No need to endanger ourselves."
I did not speak for a few moments, trying to analyze my feelings. In a way, I did agree with them. Yes... we shouldn't stay long. But something about this town did not settle with me. There was something wrong with their attitude. Not evil or with harmful intent, but something odd about their behavior. I wanted to stay and find out what it was. Stay and find out more about this so called Flaming Guard. I cleared my voice, "I want to stay."
They both looked at me as if I were crazy. Lena was the first to speak up, "Stay? Why? There is nothing here for us but death."
Darren gazed at me calmly. Finally he said, "Please tell us, Curtis. Why do you want to stay?"
I sighed and shook my head. "First of all... there is something going on here. I do not know what, but I can almost feel it. Second... these are potential citizens of the Coalition. I want to rid them of these 'Flaming Guard'. They obviously need our help!"
As they both stared at me, I felt an odd feeling flowing through my body. Almost as if my body was telling my mind, "What... are you kidding? Why would you want to help these people?" I shivered as old childhood feelings sprung up, similar to those I had when I was young and watched, "Captain Folstein and the Coalition Commandoes" each afternoon. But after a few moments, my realistic side pushed into power and the feelings died away. Who was I kidding? I was no hero.
But before I could retract my earlier statement, Darren nodded, "Yes... I see what you mean now, Curtis. I believe that we should at least stay a while to find out what is going on. If these people are oppressed, then it's up to us to free them from this tyranny."
Lena gave me a sidelong glance in reproach. Seeing the glance, I opened my mouth again to speak but Darren interrupted me. "Don't you see, Lena? We can't walk away from these people. We know what type of lives they lead being harassed by those 'Guards'. We can't let them be burned in their homes."
Lena turned to glare at Darren, "Well! They should learn to fight then! They wouldn't have any problem if they at least tried to defend themselves. If they want to be stupid, let them be so I say."
Darren shook his head and responded with a hint of a growl, "You don't understand... how can one defend themselves if they don't have anything to do it with? Plus... many of them have families. This is a town full of children. If the men went off to fight, then who would take care of things."
Lena raised her voice, the sharpness of anger showing itself, "It's a natural law. Some must die, for others to live. I don't want to have to die for others who aren't willing to live by that law."
I watched as Darren countered, "Well... there... don't you see? There are those in the village who are doing what you just said you were doing. It's the same."
Lena retorted, "It is NOT the same. They are kinfolk. We are not. Why should we die. We don't even know them!!"
Darren opened his mouth to respond, but glanced in my direction and closed it. He turned to me, "Curtis, don't you have anything to say?"
That earned me a glare from Lena, "Yes... don't tell me you still think defending this silly town is worth it."
I looked between Darren's cool gaze and Lena's burning fury, and buried my face into my hands, "I..."
Suddenly, there was a loud crash as the front door was knocked down; a huge dent almost bending it in half. And beyond the door, stood the silhouette of a power armor. A Triax Predator to be exact.
We all gaped at the armor for a few moments until finally the Power Armor pilot reached up and raised his mask.
"Um... sorry about that." The power armor pilot apologized. "I keep forgetting how strong these things are."
I went back and buried my face back into my hands until the Innkeeper's wife shrieked at the sight of her beautiful door knocked down.
End of Part 5.
By Kevin W. Lee.
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