Stained Gold, Red Rising Fan Fiction

Red Rise Part 5

Beyond the walls, encircling the entire compound, loom the Gorgons in all their glory. Mostly Greys and Obsidians, but a number of Golds dot their ranks as well. One Gold stands out. A tall, lanky asshole with a razor scar running the length of his forearm. A scar Mother had gifted him the last time he'd crossed paths with us.

Zorzo the scuzzy peerless tracker at your service.

Zorzo steps forward, a white handkerchief flapping from the end of his pulseRifle and a lit burner dangling from his lips. "We know you have the girl. Send her out and this ends right here, right now, the easy way." He shrugs, takes a long drag off the burner, and flicks it aside to exhale a cloud of billowing smoke. "Or don't. No skin off my cock. Either way, I'll have that bitch before the sun sets."

Tikko, Oslo's monstrous uncle, turns to me. "I cannot guarantee you'll survive this day, Victra au Lykos. But you have my word, on my Stains, that every Obsidian in this compound--and those who answer our call--will die before you do. We've a Light Cruiser, heavily cloaked, in orbit. It's going to try running the blockade. If it makes it. And the Covin 5 traitors do not throw up the city's shield, then some of us might see another sunrise. The comms are jammed, so we will not know if the ship has survived until she drops her cloak. Have faith. Allmother rides with us."

The big killer's words burrow their way into my soul. "No," I finally say, unwilling to exchange my life for the lives of so many. "I can't ask this of you. I'm sorry I ever came. I'd had no idea there were so many of them. Open the gates and I'll go out."

Tikko's eyes soften, proving Oslo's words about the Stained being a big softy. "I understand your sentiment, little Gold. But knowing you're Reaper Kin changes everything. Would Ragnar allow you to turn yourself over? Or the Reaper?" He shakes his head. "I think not. Prepare yourself for battle."

Tikko pivots to his left, where another Stained monster stands up-armored. "Ironbar, give our response."

Seconds later, three helmeted Grey heads go flying over the wall to land in the street fifty feet or so from scuzzy-ass Zorzo.

I chuckle, and Tikko flashes me his mouth full of platinum teeth. "Three Gorgon assassins we caught trying to infiltrate," he explains.

Both sides open up with every weapon they possess.

I've never experienced war. It is horrifying. I call up my helmet and fight for my life. Wave after wave of Gorgons throw themselves at us. Most wear gravBoots and simply attack through the air, but many have no gravBoots and are forced to attack on foot. They are shredded. In those first hectic minutes, I slaughter several Greys, two Obsidians, and one Gold. Both the Obsidians wear gravBoots. And all three of them score hits on me that penetrate my flexArmor before I finish them. For the second time today warm blood pools in my boots. And the coppery scent of it floods the inside of my armor.

Missiles from above pound the compound's shields, and the compound's anti-ship defenses light up the sky, knocking several Gorgon and Covin 5 combat ships from the air. Through it all, Tikko and Oslo never leave my side. They are a comforting presence, though, whenever there is a lull in the fighting, I see Tikko's eyes desperately scanning the late afternoon clouds, searching for his Ragnar Kin in that cloaked ship of theirs.

Then, about an hour--and several more wounds for all of us--into the battle, the city shield spools up and coalesces into an impenetrable energy barrier.

"That's it then," Tikko says, shoulders slumped. He carries twice as many wounds as I do, and his left arm hangs limply at his side. "My brothers have failed. It's only a matter of time now. Even with the other Obsidians who've come to join us, the Gorgons have an endless supply of fresh soldiers in orbit." He lays his good hand on Oslo's armored shoulder and looks at us both. "You kids fought well today. Both your mothers will be smiling and waiting for you on the other side."

The walled compound had been constructed with several fallback positions in concentric circles. As a fighting force, we've fallen back as far as possible. There is nowhere left to fallback to. We've been pushed into the three-story duracrete tower planted dead-center in the middle of the compound. The only shield remaining to us is a portable umbrellaShield set up directly overhead. We are low on ammo, and everyone is bleeding. Those still alive anyways. The dead no longer bleed. They just stare blankly.

Sixty Obsidians stand inside or atop the tower, humming their Death Dirge. It is the most depressing sound I've ever heard.

I retract my helmet. "I'm sorry," I say softly. All this death and destruction is my fault. I give Oslo one, long last look, then I leap over the tower's edge, planning to turn myself over to Zorzo in the hopes he might trade my life for the lives of everyone else. But Tikko grabs me by the back of my armor and slams me to the ground, hard.

So hard my ears ring and my visions blurs.

The monstrous Stained wags a sausage-like, armored finger in my face. "Do not dishonor us, Reaper Kin. Your intentions are well-meant, but the Gorgons will kill us even so. Grant us the death we deserve. Allow us to die with dignity, fighting for something we believe in."

I lay there on my back staring up into the sky, into the translucent, pink shield hanging there, allowing my vision to clear. My head, aches. My body aches. I bleed from a dozen wounds. And I feel like puking. Just two days ago I was a normal girl living with her mother. Now I'm a....