Revelations

CHAPTER TWENTY

Long range Patrol, within the region of New Romonovka

ADAM had spotted a large group of what looked to be soldiers forming on the borders of the Oblast. By the time he had warned the Base about it, the invaders had disappeared under cover of a storm.

The weather plays no favorites.

It had worked for Boris’ forces when they had intercepted the large NVG force near Romonovka. Now the inclement weather blocked any chance of monitoring the enemy force or even determining if more were coming for a rendezvous. By the time the cloud cover had interfered with satellite monitoring, there had been over five hundred soldiers poised to move in.

The Russian government was being intransigent. Their support in the UN was risked if the forces available to Boris couldn’t handle the incursion with minimal casualties and no additional support. They claimed that they had forces available to secure the site upon his failure.

Basically putting Boris in a rock and hard place vis-a-vis his responsibilities to Bethany Anne as he saw them. The solution that Boris arrived at was to send mixed groups of Spartans and Weres to interdict any scouts and find the paths of advance. The cloud cover and bad weather were predicted to last at least ten days. From their starting point, they could reach New Romonovka in five.

It didn’t help that the puck and rail gun EI was not online yet, nor were all the railgun pads dugout. Without that, Bethany Anne wasn’t bringing down the system until it could be in place.

Quickly.

It had taken Gyada almost a day to get her arm back to normal. In that time, with her newly chosen name, Lilith, the computer personality had been analyzing Gyada’s physical state.

Her brain activity had been depressed. When combined with Paul’s analysis that Gyada had been suffering a fugue state of guilt-induced depression for her actions, they came to the conclusion that her emotional state was linked to her ability to change.

Despite Paul’s advice against her being allowed to go on the long patrols, she had insisted. “I need to get back on the horse,” was how Gyada explained it.

It was mid-morning when Gyada’s scouting party passed through an area being patrolled by mixed teams of mercenaries and militia. Gyada’s team still had a half days’ travel to their assigned patrol region. Some of the militia had asked why the Pods or other vehicles weren’t being used to transport the patrol units closer to their designated areas. None of the Spartan and Were mixed groups bothered to inquire. To them, it was obvious, limiting the use of strategic resources until you had no other choice. By refusing to use your resources you denied the enemy knowledge that you had them.

At Boris’ base of operations, only a half-dozen of the bunkers had been completed. None of the railguns or pucks were online yet due to the incomplete support EI. The only viable defensive option was the layered patrols. While the patrols protected against raids and facilitated the pinpoint location of any substantial incursions, any patrol in the path of a such an attack, without any other options for retreat, could be defeated and destroyed. The most substantial point group of four hundred was dug in around the new Pod hanger. Another two hundred and fifty men were in and around the caves, protecting the women, children, Lilith and the newly revealed alien tech.

The next two days of patrol were uneventful. On the third day, ADAM informed them that satellite backtracking had traced some of the forces back to China. They had been warned to change tactics to combat forces that would contain Weres.

This meant that the Spartans in each patrol would be used as a firebase for Weres in whatever alternate form they had. Spartans couldn’t always tell the subtle differences of form between natural wolves and Weres in wolf form. Only the Cat Weres and Gyada would truly stand out from the creatures native to the wilds that surrounded New Romanovka. A Were would smell the difference.

It was pure chance that Gyada’s patrol was in the path of the first major push by the Sacred Clan and the remaining NVG. A pack of thirty Weres supported by ten infantrymen moved in on her location. One of the patrol Weres came back with a silver bullet in his hind leg. Once the team medic had extracted the silver bullet, the Were changed back to human form.

“They’re bringing up light support weapons behind this group. They appear to have a light truck modified to carry a battery of two type 67 mortars. They could be type 97s, which would be an absolute bitch since we don’t have anything of that size or range to counter them with, even in town. Our largest mortar is the 120mm compared to the 150mm 97s.

The pack defending it was too large to get through to be sure.

“The enemy is ten minutes or less from contact. Thirty Weres, ten infantry, “he told the radioman as the medic continued to treat the wound, disinfecting and cleaning it. Stitching it would be pointless, as the Were would have to change back soon, or he’d freeze.

The Sergeant leading Gyada’s patrol swore, “We’re gonna have to pull back. Out in the open like this, we’re simply meat for the grinder if those mortars range on us.”

The wounded Were responded, “There are too many enemy Weres out there to easily do that, Sarge. They’ll swarm over us if we try. We’ll never make it home if we pull back.”

The radioman answered in a grim tone, “We’ve been asked to spread out and delay them. The patrols to either side are flanking the spearhead, and forces are moving up to support. We have to hold for thirty minutes.”

The Sergeant swore and said “They may as well ask us to hold for thirty days as thirty minutes. We have six shooters and six Weres against forty plus enemy of various types and light artillery. We can’t pull back without being overrun. It’s been nice serving with you all. “He turned to the radioman and said, “Tell them we’ll do our best and God bless.”

Gyada had other ideas but was still getting a feel for the tactics required for and against modern weaponry. “Sergeant, if your men dig in individually while the enemy is distracted, what are your chances?”

The Sergeant paused for a moment, then answered, “Better, but still not good. The mortars will still have the range to hit us. If the enemy Weres and soldiers can get to us first, it will just require fewer of their mortar rounds to finish mopping up. Either way, the mortars are the biggest danger.”

Gyada narrowed her eyes and started stripping off her field kit. Turning to the Were, she said, “Change back and call in your brothers. I have a plan. “The Were did as she asked, and the howls he sent into the air brought the rest or the pack running.

The soldiers began to dig in quickly, as the Were streamed in. Keeping watch and listening to Gyada’s plan while the soldiers dug in quickly, she started explaining. “Two Weres will stay behind with the troops, covering them against other Weres. The rest of us will move towards the mortar truck. With you covering my back, I’m sure we can take out at least twenty Weres. Assuming, of course, that they even come after us. The enemy soldiers… well, we’ll deal with them as we can.”

The Sergeant piped up as he continued digging his slit trench, saying “If you can, capture the mortars. Destroying the truck will just reduce their mobility. If we can turn it against them, we have a better chance of taking out any force following these guys. Hell, we have a better chance of surviving overall. “Gyada nodded to him then shrugged.

She had no idea of how to drive yet. That would be up to someone else.

“If we manage to, I’ll send one of the wolves back, “she commented. Turning to the Weres, she said “Try and keep me between you and any shooters. I have armor, you don’t. The best options for your survival and our success is to maintain our speed and cover my back against any Weres we come up against. “The leader of the four wolves going with her lolled his tongue out in a wolfish chuckle and nodded his head. Even though she wasn’t as big as any of their werebears, she was at least as strong. At worst, she could flip the truck.

Gyada had stripped down to the set of armor Boris had procured for her. It felt decidedly odd to be wearing anything when she changed. The one time she had changed in the distant past her clothes had shredded. She was concerned that this would happen to the armor but felt relief when she felt it stretch across her body during its Change. The sergeant grabbed something out of his pack. It was a helmet shaped for her alternative form’s head. After fixing it onto her her head, he made sure she was looking into his eyes and said softly, “Good luck, and thank you.”

Then the Were group left to engage the enemy.

The wolves briefly paused to coat their fur in the slushy snow, hoping to give themselves some minor camouflage. Gyada lumbered forward at a middling pace. She was still somewhat amazed that the armor managed to reshape itself around her much larger animal form. The overlapping plates present in the suit when she was in human form had expanded, shifted, and locked into a covering for her Were shape without restricting her movement.

It had taken less than five minutes of a steady advance before the Weres encountered the first enemy, a scouting wolf. Growling in the deep rumble that was far louder than should come from an animal her size, Gyada charged the surprised Were. Moving far faster than her normal pace led anyone to expect, she managed to gut it before it escaped to alert its companions. The fact that it did not have time to howl a warning, or even get out a complete yelp meant that the enemy force was surprised as the Weres appeared in their midst.

The fighting became a confused turmoil of slashing wolf attacks and a cacophony of growls and snarls. Gyada felt a bullet ricochet off the armor on her side. It barely registered as a problem when she heard a distinct ‘p-thump’ accompanied by a slight whistling sound. She knew immediately what that meant, having experienced a similar sound pattern while watching the militia train with their few mortars.

They only had one option for survival — move forward and fast. If the enemy were using standard mortar tactics, they would walk their fire forward into the defenders’ front line. Gyada’s team needed to move quickly to deal with the artillery threat.

She finally caught sight of the enemy soldiers, but could only hear the wolves around her. They were obviously belly crawling in the snow, but were not as well disciplined as the wolves she trained with. Her Weres would have behaved similarly, but without the reassurance of snarls and growls.

Her’s would have been silent.

As Gyada continued forward, bullets glanced off her armor more frequently. The hope that the enemy soldiers would perceive her as the greater threat was playing out. None of the eight that she could see were aiming at any of her team, focusing on her as the greater danger. Her armor was holding up. She had a distant thought that she would have to find out what it was made of once she returned. A slightly louder ‘crack’ from farther away split the background noise and one of her wolves yipped. The rest of the team circled around it, covering their fallen comrade in motion and the presence of their bodies.

Gyada’s choices had just been reduced. The enemy had what had been described to her as a sniper, a remote marksman.

She growled at the top of her lungs and charged the soldiers. If there was a sniper out there, she was between a rock and a hard place when it came to protecting the wolves traveling with her. The sniper would be at an angle to the soldiers, so Gyada could not use her armored form to protect them from both directions.

She charged. Her bellow was loud enough that it could be heard miles away in the crisp air. She rushed the cluster of men in foxholes. Several were trying to get bayonets on their rifles as she advanced, while three others were frozen in fear as her enormously loud roar made their minds retreat down to a primal level of fight or flee.

These men wanted to flee.

There was a significantly harder thump on her flank armor as one of the sniper rounds bounced off her. It was more of a distraction than the other hits, but at least the sniper was no longer targeting her wolves.

Gyada hit the three still motionless men like a rolling tank, digging in her claws instead of moving on tank tracks. The bleeding bodies that were there after her passing showed that there would be no threat to her from the rear. Even if any of them were still alive, their backs had become a shredded, bloody mess.

Two of the entrenched enemy kept firing on her, as three struggled to their feet to charge out to meet her, with bayonets affixed.

Rising onto her hind legs, Gyada swatted two of the bayoneted rifles slashing toward her, knocking the soldiers and weapons aside. The third soldier was determined and more clever. His bayonet came directly toward her face, and she twisted aside just in time to only lose an eye, rather than the death strike intended. The vision from her remaining eye took on a red sheen. She bellowed, and all rational thought departed. She didn’t think at all but moved with a speed that the remaining wolves, on either side, had never seen from anything in their experience.

A fine mist of blood and scattered body parts was all that remained of the soldiers in less than a few seconds more. Every single body part was either mauled or bitten. None of the soldiers had time for even a scream of pain.

The Chinese Weres gathered their wits quickly and charged the small group of Russian wolves. Hearing this, Gyada turned and countercharged the largest group of about fifteen of the Sacred Clan. She was beyond any concern for her own safety, indifferent about the overwhelming odds, undaunted by the fact that she had never been able to take on more than seven of Danislav’s wolves at once. She had to protect her packmates.

Rage and the instinct to protect had taken over. Her body ejected, unnoticed, two silver sniper rounds as she moved quickly against the snarling, ravenous enemy pack.

Gyada was a female Berserker, in the full depths and power of her rage. She’d been a shield biter in her days as a human, to her shame, but something had changed. Her experiences had changed her.

Paul had explained there was no shame in letting her Beast free on people committing beastly acts. That she had done it as a protector, not as someone who reveled in violence for its own sake. It was also how her rage differed from the normal Pricolici. It had a defined purpose behind it. To protect those that she felt responsible for.

She had become more now, but felt no guilt, no shame. There were only enemies trying to harm her allies. Her heart responded and her actions were focused.

Gyada, the Berserker, the Protector, went to war.

She went through the pack of wolves like a mechanical reaper. Despite having vision from only one eye, she landed her blows with a vicious and preternatural precision. With each blow, an enemy wolf was incapacitated or killed. To Gyada, they moved with an exaggerated slowness as her mind mapped the best path of violence faster than any ordinary mind could have.

Behind her, the three Russian wolves made short work of the five surviving Chinese Weres. More comfortable in their forms than their opponents, more confident in their skills, Gyada’s team ripped out throats as hesitation and inexperience betrayed these Chinese wolves.

On the nearby truck, the mortar operators were desperately trying to re-target their weapons on the living weapon of destruction that had eliminated their guards. The sniper had stopped firing and was frantically struggling to start the truck when the furred and armor-covered monstrosity that was Gyada tore the driver’s door off. Rolling desperately across the cab seat, he slammed open the opposite door and slid out, changing as he moved.

Li Wen had feared that they had encountered one of the werebears that were known to be among the enemy. That they were not fighting one of them was a relief. The comforting thought was short lived because what they had encountered seemed far worse.

As Li Wen finished his change, a tiger’s snarl rippled through the air. The Weretiger found himself conflicted. He felt a need to rend and tear at the creature that had decimated his force but also felt a tingle of actual fear. He had hoped to face off against one of the bears with a full pack of commoners at his side. Instead, his team was gone, as were the mercenaries his brother had given him for support.

The beast nature overwhelmed his thoughts and took over, as he jumped onto the roof, positioning to use his favorite tactic — landing on an adversary’s back. When the strange beast pounced hard on two of the fleeing mortarmen, Li Wen seized the opportunity.

Though his front claws scrabbled uselessly against the armored forequarters of the creature, his bite found the gap between the helmet and the body armor and his hind claws savagely raked its flank. He slid from side to side to dodge the defensive swinging paw-strikes. He continued to rip at its side, using one hind paw at a time, keeping the other fixed for purchase.

Gyada roared in fury and frustration, and Li Wen could sense that he had the upper hand. He heard the approaching wolves but was sure he could remove the threat this creature presented to his cause before they could intervene.

He was wrong. On both counts.

Suddenly, Li Wen found himself being crushed under the weight of the beast as it slammed completely onto its back before he could release his grip on the neck. Pain stabbed through him as ribs broke and he yowled in pain. Equally suddenly, the crushing, grinding weight was off of him, and he could see the wolves moving in to finish him off. Without hesitation, he fled into the concealing woods before the creature could recover enough to give chase.

Two of the wolves had shifted and moved their injured companion onto the truck bed. They placed her in as much comfort as possible but found that Gyada was a larger challenge. She had collapsed shortly after the weretiger had run off. Either her wounds were more severe than they looked, or whatever she had done in combat had exhausted her.

They had never seen anyone move so fast, not even Boris. They knew it was possible for vampires to go far faster, from what Boris had told them. The echoes of their amazement and surprise at seeing a Were act that quickly was still resounding. Most of them had grown up convinced that Michael’s family had many abilities no Were would ever have. Gyada’s actions had left them in awe.

Even with their enhanced strength, the two of them couldn’t move Gyada’s unconscious armored bulk by themselves. They relaxed slightly when one of them, Mikhail, noticed her wounds closing. “Comrade, she will not pass away here at least. But how will we get her onto the truck?” his partner, Anton, asked.

“We shall have to wait I suppose. Tell the radioman, when he gets here, to ask for the field ambulance with the heavy-duty stretcher.”

“They won’t bring any of the field ambulances this far out, Mikhail. You know that.”

“No, but we will need it at the inner patrol line. The truck will be used to bolster our defenses, I imagine. Perhaps with the help of the other Weres, we will manage to get her up there. In the meantime, look for some stout branches. If it comes to it, three of us should be able to drag her out of here on a sled.”

Mikhail had answered the unasked and unnecessary question. There was no way after what she had just done they were going to leave Gyada for the enemy.

He spat on the ground. His family had served Boris for a long time. They had legends about the Cat shifters. Usually, it took five or more wolves to bring one down. Gyada had fought one to a draw, by herself. He respected that.

This was not someone who would be left behind.

He went to the truck and turned on the engine heater. Most vehicles designed for use in the far north had one. Otherwise, there was no way to start an engine in high winter. Mikhail had just gotten the truck running smoothly when he heard the Spartans moving in.

“Jory, Hajek, come here, please. Help us get Gyada loaded on the truck.” Mikhail yelled. Turning to the Sergeant, he said, “No faster than twenty klicks per hour, Sarge. And the others will have to help keep Gyada on. She’s alive but unconscious.”

With some effort, the four shifted Weres managed to get Gyada onto the bed and wedged between two of the tubes. They couldn’t make it too tight, or they’d risk injuring her further. Once she was safely in the truck bed, Gyada let out a deep sigh of relief without ever regaining consciousness.

With four soldiers securing the larger Were in place, and one holding down Elena, the rest of the wolves changed back to their human forms. The truck took off for their own base. With all the extra weight, the Sergeant would have been surprised if their little group could have moved faster than the suggested speed.