Chapter 20: Contact

The early morning sun illuminated the congealed blood that stained the dirt with dark rusty hues. There were splatters here and there, in some places there were pools. According to Colonel Rokjaw, the ponies that had been found here were badly beaten, but alive. The guard had reacted swiftly and had fortunately suffered no casualties. A pair of old rails ran through the center of the settlement, north to south. Down along the southerly tracks were more faint blood trails. Upon first entering the settlement, the team had found it eerily quiet and began a house by house search for any inhabitants, pony or otherwise. Now they knew that it was a ghost town. Aside from the blood, James noticed that the earth had been churned up by many feet. Some recognizable prints had short claws on the ends of the toes. They had been here.

James switched on his mic, "Flash, you see anything from up there?"

The pegasus was currently flying high above the buildings, looking out for any signs of movement. It was like having an intelligent UAV.

"Not a thing. From up here, it looks like they entered and exited the town from the same direction; south, along the tracks."

"Then that's where we'll go. Myst, stay on standby up there in case we need a quick way out."

"Understood." Came the reply. The pilot was currently hovering not far above them, hidden by a cloud formation.

"Alright Fixers, we got a small hike to the mining camp, let's move out."

The group took it slow. There were many places to hide among the rocks and foliage and they took pains to scan any and every potential ambush site for hostiles. After forty-five minutes of walking, they finally entered the mining camp. It too, was abandoned. Mining carts, some still half full of raw iron ore sat motionless. Collapsed tents were scattered about the area. There was some blood here too, but accompanied by drag marks. The four followed them to an opening in the side of the mountain. A dark cavernous maw gaped at the operatives, the faint sound of a moaning wind emanated from it as if threatening to swallow them whole.

"Sparks, Flash you're on overwatch out here. Find a defensible position with a good view of the cave entrance and watch for trouble. Feather, you're with me."

James lowered his rifle and drew his sidearm. He slid the silencer out from where it was strapped on his side and threaded it on the end of the barrel. He then grabbed a combat torch from his cargo pocket and switched it on, holding it in front of his body. Cautiously, he and the earth pony advanced into the dark unknown. The two didn't go far until they came upon what they thought was a cave in. It appeared as if chunks of rock from the ceiling had come loose and piled themselves on the ground up almost to the overhead, but as he played the light around, James noticed the tell tale scorch marks of a blast. Feather studied the pile of rubble and spotted little streaks of blood leading to the top where there was a space about four feet tall and six feet wide.

"James, do you think we should continue?" He whispered.

"No," James whispered back, "there are too many unknowns. What do you make of this cave in?"

"It looks artificial to me. It must have been triggered by dynamite, and early on too. There's a blood trail leading to that small opening in the top. Could be the miners saw what was coming and tried to stop it."

"Good eyes. Let's regroup and--"

From the other side of the cave in came the sound of rock sliding over rock. They both froze and listened. At first, all they could hear was their own breathing in the oppressive darkness. Then Flash came over on the comms with a warning.

"Guys, I think you should get out of there, we can see movement on the mountain above the cave entrance."

"Thanks for the heads-up. We're on our way back. Keep your eyes peeled. Feather, I feel we've overstayed our welcome here."

"The feeling's mutual, let's get the hay outta here."

Feather and James made their way back to the entrance and were halfway there when they heard the scrape of metal on stone behind them.

"Aw fuck, LEG IT!"

Both broke into a sprint as a beast bellowed from their backs.

"Flash, Sparks, we got Limas on our tail, time to pull chocks!"

James could now hear heavy footsteps pursuing them and fired a few shots from his pistol over his shoulder. He didn't expect them to hit anything, but he hoped it slowed them down.

Sparks' shouted over the comms, "You're not the only ones with problems, there's a large group coming down from the mountain side! You got about ten seconds before they beat you to the cave entrance!"

James and Feather sprinted up the incline and burst out into the sunlight. They were soon joined by Sparks as they ran and galloped down the cart rails. James glanced over his shoulder and saw a large group of Lotkin charging for them about sixty yards to their rear.

"Myst, you need to get down here now, LZ is hot and we need a rolling evac!"

"I'm bringing her in, just keep running along the tracks."

James shoved his pistol back into it's holster, silencer and all. Then in one practiced motion, he spun around, dropped to a knee and brought his rifle to bear. He began pumping lead into the creatures as soon as he had a sight picture until crossbow bolts started to whistle by his head. He had gotten a good number of them, but there were plenty more. He sprinted to catch up with his team. Flash was still flying above, but was now dodging shots from the Lotkin himself. This was bad. they were caught out in the open by a hostile force with superior numbers. Suddenly, the Clipper pulled along side, door wide open and ready to receive them. Flash landed on the upper deck while the rest piled inside. James got up and slid the side door shut as multiple crossbow bolts thunked into it, some penetrating almost an inch inside.

"Myst, get some altitude and circle back around, I want to lead them away from the settlements."

"What makes you think they'll follow us?"

"As long as we pose a challenge or a threat, they'll try to take us down."

A bolt smashed thought one of the windows and buried itself in the bulkhead opposite as if to emphasize his point. James quickly climbed up the ladder after letting Flash down into the cabin. He braced against the railing and started to fire into the crowd below. It had now grown into a massive size, Lotkin were pouring from cleverly concealed openings in the mountain side. It was like fighting damn insurgents all over again. James reloaded as the bolt on his rifle remained locked back after the last round was ejected. He kept firing even as Myst pulled the craft off south, heedless of the deadly projectiles whizzing about. James maintained this until he realized something was wrong. The Lotkin passing by below them were all taking shots at him, but the body as a whole kept on marching northward. It only took the human a second to figure out what was happening.

"Myst, get some altitude, they aren't falling for it. Flash, as soon as we clear the range on those crossbows, fly as fast as you can back to Whitecrest and tell them to prepare for an invasion."

James held on as the pilot complied with his orders. As soon as they were free and clear, he saw Flash shoot out from the side of the craft.

Sparks voice sounded slightly panicked over the comms, "James, what the HAY are we gonna do now? We weren't trained to handle this many hostiles."

"No, not on our own. We have to slow them down. North of the ghost town, the forest runs right up to the mountain side, that'll help, but after that, it's a strait shot to Whitecrest."

James went deep into thought. He needed some way to stall the advancing hoard, but they didn't have any heavy artillery. He studied the writhing mass below for a moment before something hit him. It was barely noticeable, but they weren't all moving as a single large unit. James sighted through his rifle scope and upon closer inspection, saw only slightly discernible spaces of divisions between knots of warriors. He picked one of these groups and focused on it, looking for anything that stuck out. Then, a flash of bright red, near the front of the pack. James shifted all his attention to the source of the burst of color. Leading from the front, large sword drawn, was a large and overbearing Lotkin with red smears all over his helmet. The rest seemed to be following it. An insane idea formed in the human's head.

"Myst, head back to Whitecrest ASAP."

"Roger that!"

James began scanning the mountain side as it scrolled by, searching for the perfect spot. Shifting his gaze ahead, he locked in on a steep ridge with the features he was looking for. He rushed down to the cabin and swiped the bag of 7.62 rounds from under the seats.

"Myst, you see that ridge coming up on our right side?"

"Yeah?"

"I need you to slow down a little and fly as close as you can to it."

"James, what are you planning to do?"

"Don't worry about it," he said while removing the M110 from the bulkhead, "as soon as I'm clear, bug out straight for the city and don't stop 'til you get there. That's an order."

He unclipped the shotgun from it's strap and tossed it on the seats, then cradled the precision weapon in his arms and slid open the side door. The scenery flew past at a high rate. James stuck his head out to get a better view of his target only to quickly pull it back in to avoid an outcropping of rock that passed dangerously close by. Myst really was following his orders to the letter. The ridge line was fast approaching. He took a few quick breaths before taking a few steps back. Timing would be everything here. Counting to three, James got a running start and launched himself from the vehicle. While in mid air, he expelled all the air from his lungs to avoid getting the wind knocked out of him. The marksman rolled as his feet struck the ground, he clutched the rifle close to his chest to protect the optics. He finally tumbled to a stop, a little battered and bruised, but no worse for wear. One thing was certain, he was gonna be sore tomorrow.

Picking himself up, James moved to the edge of the ridge and dropped to prone. In front of him was a shear drop and a spectacular view of the foothills below. About half a mile to his left was the tree line and almost three miles to his right was Whitecrest. James checked the optics on his weapon, making sure nothing was knocked out of alignment. Satisfied, he flipped down the attached bipod, cycled the bolt to chamber a round and posted up on the ridge against a large boulder. Then he waited. From the forest, he could hear the ululating cries of the bloodthirsty beasts as they barged through the trees and underbrush. The loud cracks of branches snapping echoed off the rocks around him. Out of the corner of his eye, there was a flutter of movement. He pivoted his rifle around and sighted on the spot. He could definitely see them moving in the tree line now.

Slowing his breath, James started his routine. Breathe in through the navel, out through the nose, repeat. He made sure the butt of the rifle was firmly in place against the hollow of his shoulder, legs spread behind him, cheek welded against the stock. He searched for the tell tale red through the sight and centered the crosshairs on the creature's chest when he found it. James adjusted just up and to the right of center of mass to account for distance and the slight breeze flowing from the west. He calmly flipped the safety off and gently squeezed the trigger.

*POW*

Half a second later, the grotesque barbarian just crumpled to the ground. Behind it was a group of its comrades. James rapidly popped off a few rounds, dropping two more. The empty shell casings plinked off the rock beside him. The rest of the monsters hesitated at seeing one of their leaders and a couple of their companions felled so easily and by an invisible assailant. James emptied his clip into the now stationary group and swapped it out for a new one from the bag. The survivors scattered and James searched for his next victims.

He repeated this process until the creatures were wary of exposing themselves in the open. Soon he was down to the last clip. Just twenty rounds left. James was only taking pot shots now at anything foolish enough to stick its head out for a peek. Before long, James could hear the unmistakable clinking and clanging of mismatched and ill fitting metal armor.

'Shit, party's over.'

He stood up and folded the bipod forward. He was about to start running north when one of the Lotkin leaped over a boulder, an axe raised above its head, growling out a challenge. James simply turned while shouldering the rifle and let the damn thing take the remaining seven rounds in the chest. Blood and bits of bone and metal sprayed the gray rock behind it. The human grabbed the assault rifle slung on his back and swapped it with the empty M110. Rifle at the ready, he scooted around the boulder the dispatched hostile had leaped from and spotted three more making their way towards him. James took aim and dropped all three before they got close. He turned back to the ridge and looked down. The others had realized that they were no longer getting shot at and resumed their advance. some of them were even splitting off and sprinting to James' location. That was all he needed to see. He took of like a rocket back towards the city. Just three miles and he'd be somewhat safe.

He powered through low brush and over uneven ground. In the distance ahead of him, James watched as a dark speck grew. eventually it grew into Flash.

"James, what the hay kind of crazy plan was this!?" Flash yelled over the radio.

"Sorry buddy, it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"And now?"

James glanced over his shoulder and saw about ten snarling, sword wielding Lotkin pursuing him fifty yards back.

"Now, not so much."

His pursuers were gaining on him. In no time, they had closed the distance to about thirty yards.

"Flash, get some altitude."

Reaching down to his vest, James snatched up one of his frag grenades. Careful to palm the spoon, he pulled the pin, twisted and tossed the baseball shaped device at the group behind him. About four seconds later, there was a sharp detonation to his rear. James didn't even glance back, he just kept running.

"Flash, what's the situation back in town?"

"They've begun evacuations and the engineers are trying to reinforce the city walls, as much as they can when they're only half built."

"Outstanding, now let's get the hell back there."

"You don't gotta tell me!"

James continued his run with Flash gliding above. At last the walls were looming before them. James keyed his mic.

"Feather, Sparks, you up?"

"Yeah, we're here," Feather replied, "What do you need?"

"I need a rope or something waiting for me at the wall, don't leave anything open for me. We're comin' in hot!"

In twelve minutes, they had reached the base of the wall. James was glad when he saw the thick rope hanging down from the top. He tied a quick bowline knot and put one foot through the loop, holding the rest of the line close to his body. As James was doing this, Flash flew up to the top and told the ponies up there to pull the human up. While he was being hauled up the face of the wall, James finally looked behind him. There had to be at least a few thousand hostiles descending on the trade town. As they got closer, the monstrosities began to loose tons of crossbow bolts at the defenders. Bolts thunked into the thick wood all around James, one even sliced through the pants leg of his inner thigh, a little too close for comfort. With a final heave, the guardsponies pulled James over the side. He immediately sat down, back to the wall, and collected himself for a moment. Sparks and Feather eventually ran up to their commander.

"How long until evacuation is complete?" He asked them.

"The guards are helping to load the townsfolk onto the freight elevators. From there, they will board the airships and sail to safety." Sparks informed him. "I've been told it might take a few hours."

"A few hours? Might as well be an eternity. Can either of you track down Ira?"

"Way ahead of you. I spoke with him as soon as we arrived. The lower part of the walls have been reinforced with large stone blocks."

"Outstanding. What about Colonel Rokjaw? Does he want to save the town or ditch as soon as everyone is out?"

"We haven't seen him yet."

"Alright. One of you get to work on finding him, in the meantime..."

James had thought he was done with war. He knew he couldn't escape fighting in general, the world wasn't built like that, but he really didn't expect anything like this to happen. He had dropped out of one war, just to land in another that was only starting. Hopefully, he could pull through it.