Order of Magnitude

LIX. The War Part 1

     Hagen ran his pin through some parv sitting on top of a centipede. Another enemy swung at him from the back, but he ducked and dispatched with him as well. Then, just to be thorough, he killed the bug they were riding on. It was actually kind of fun for a battle-hardened veteran like himself. Strike, strike, block, stab, next.

      "How you doing over there?" he asked Jacques who was fending off attackers next to him.

      "Not bad," was the reply, followed by an unearthly laugh. It seemed he was having just as much fun as Hagen. Unfortunately, they seemed to be the exceptions. A lot of the SubTerran army was caught off guard, and were clearly struggling against their well-trained opponents. Despite Hagen and Jacques' success, their side was suffering heavy casualties.

      "Move in!" Carlisle called from his mount, pushing the line of Lost soldiers radially inward. A chunk of SubTerrans scrambled for the hatch back home, but ended up crashing into the clueless parvs that were coming out. A mass of bodies clogged up any chance for escape or reinforcements. The army was on their own.

      "Teams 1 and 2, focus on the center and push back!" Jacques called over the madness. "Wedge them! Wedge them! Wedge them!"

      The members of the two teams that were alive and within earshot did just as their leader instructed, and formed a block against the line of the Lost. Just as predicted, the two armies created a gap in the line big enough for a few parvs to squeeze through. Jacques took this opportunity, and grabbed Edison by his bound wrists.

      "You're coming with me," he spat.

      "Like hell I am," Edison shot back, and kicked his captor in the kneecap. Jacques went down, and Edison added a swipe to his jaw for good measure. Then he turned and ran toward the relative safety of Carlisle, hoping that none of the fighters on either side stabbed him along the way.

      With his hands still tied behind his back, Edison hobbled across the battlefield. He could see his friend and general of the Lost just ahead of him. He sprinted as fast as he could through the strife, avoiding a couple of dueling warriors, and stepping over the ones who were already defeated. Suddenly he was taken down from behind.

      "Don't make this harder than it already is," Jacques said into his ear.

      "Look around; you've already lost. Your people are dying and it's all your fault."

      The leader of SubTerra surveyed the carnage happening around him. His eyes moved from skirmish to skirmish, passing over the blood-stained corpses, until he focused on the wedge his soldiers had created. His teams were losing the battle, and the hole in the line was quickly collapsing.

      "I'm going to change the world," he said, standing Edison up to his feet. "And you're going to help me, whether you like it or not." Together, the made their way across the dirt and gore, Jacques dragging his prisoner by the twine around his hands. A stray parv ran up to them, and Jacques ran him through with his pin. He wasn't sure if it was a member of the Lost or SubTerra, but he didn't care either way. He only had a few seconds to make his way through that gap.

      The parvs in the wedge continued to fight valiantly, but it was a losing battle. Jacques watched as some of his finest fighters died in front of him. Timothy, Lana, Trent. He had known them by name, and now they were gone. This fueled his desire even more. He slammed into the center of the wedge, pulling Edison as hard as he could. The squeeze was tight, but he forced his way through, pushing and shoving, and slashing whenever he got a chance. Then, all at once he was through, and there was nothing but open grass in front of him.

      "Looks like you have a date with destiny," he said with a laugh, and pulled his prisoner toward the hospital.