Chapter 4

The Offensive

Sleeping quarters ended up being us packed like sardines into shipping containers, but I was too tired to care. We got five hours of blissful sleep, then were awakened by some horrid Ulimbese instrument which sounded like someone hammering on a howling drainpipe. The officers were already up and we dressed quickly, then were ushered into an open warehouse where Colonel Emerson stood in a crisp uniform beside an Ulimbese officer with a round and haughty face.

“Good afternoon, men,” the colonel addressed us. “Excellent work repelling last night’s attack and securing the armored division throttled in the valley. The Corwistalians put up considerably more resistance than expected, yet together we drove them back, which we could not have done as quickly without the air support of our Ulimbese allies, under the leadership of Stratarches Tark here.”

The officer nodded his head slightly. “Stratarches” meant he was some kind of general. Guy looked young for a general.

“Intel told us to anticipate only minor resistance in the area,” the colonel continued. “But yesterday we faced and turned back an entire division of Corwistalian regulars. Considering our success, we have agreed to launch a joint attack on Malliol, crushing the heart of the local opposition.”

I remembered Malliol from the map I’d studied before we reached Ulixis. That was where the royal family resided for part of the year, a smaller city but quite rich. It was only a few kilometers out from here—that way—I thought, orienting myself, then realized the armored column we’d gotten unstuck must have been on its way there. Yeah, that should cut down on the resistance.

“…and therefore, most of you we will be marching on foot. I have met with your officers and we are confident there will be a quick resolution to this crisis, especially as there are already two divisions of Ulimbese troops on their way. Take the city, you all collect cash and prizes, not to mention the good will of the Emperor and the Ulimbese people. Good luck to you all.”

He saluted and we were dismissed to ready ourselves.

Well. We were walking. I smelled unfamiliar food and looked around for the source. “Grub’s here, Tommy,” Park said, pointing the way towards a series of large tents. Now that we had daylight, I could see the layout of the camp better than last night. It wasn’t up to our military precision, but it was functional. Everything seemed makeshift and hurriedly thrown together, but they were hundreds of miles inside enemy lines. Marks saw us approaching and nodded. “Local food, boys. Line up and get it before it’s gone.”

I looked at the troughs of porridge, boiled roots, some greens and what appeared to be sausages in a white sauce. Looked decent. I bet we were paying for it, though, since we were supposed to be self-supplied. I hoped corporate was covering the extra food costs. Probably. I recognized one of the cooks and he waved to me. “Hope you like carbs, Tommy,” he said cheerfully.

“Love ’em,” I said, taking my place in line. “Ulimbese supply corps hooked us up,” someone said. Probably looted the local stores, which would make sense. Dive in and take what you can before somebody else does.

I sat down to eat and a few minutes later a plump local woman came over with a cup of hot tea. She wasn't furry, and the only sign that she was Ulixian was her lightly golden skin.

“Thanks,” I said as she smiled shyly at me.

“May I sit down?” she asked.

“Fine with me,” I said, and she did.

“I just get tired of standing,” she said. I nodded politely. Preaching to the choir, sister. I ignored her and took a sip of the tea. It wasn’t bad. For tea, that is.

“I like the dog,” she said, pointing at the Wardogs patch on my arm. I caught a glance from Cole at the next table, obviously trying to suppress a snicker at my expense. Our patch was awesome, though. Shaped like a shield, with a snarling pit bull lunging forward beneath a chain with a breaking link. “What’s it say?” she asked.

I realized she couldn’t read our text any better than I could read theirs.

“On the top there it reads, ‘off the chain.’”

“That’s nice,” she said.

“Great,” I said, swigging my tea and standing up. “Hey, thanks for the tea, lady. Take care of yourself.”

I walked away and dumped my dishes, ignoring the snickers of a couple of the guys. “Chubby chaser,” Cole snickered as I passed.

“Just like your daddy,” I said, waving him off.

Two hours later our march began, just as the sun was setting. We had a squad out front and a squad in back as advance and rear guards, plus a squad to the left and on the right of the company as flanking support. I was in the right guard. This time we stuck to the road, making our way through the ups and downs of the countryside until we reached the point where the armored column had bogged down the previous night. Multiple wrecked vehicles still sat there, some smoking, but the Ulimbese and our boys had done well moving out that which could be moved.

It was a long night but uneventful. The Corwistalians who lived had retreated. Some of our Ulimbese allies passed us in trucks and more armored vehicles, though others were also on the march. A few of their gunships flew over, probably the same ones that had broken the tide last night.

At around midnight we moved off the road to allow through some heavy transports. As they passed I saw some huge howitzers that looked pretty similar to those our drones had taken out the night before. One after the other passed us, towed behind big-engined trucks. “That’ll soften ’em up,” Rocky laughed from my left.

We experienced the first resistance within sight of the city. We couldn’t see much of anything thanks to the ridges and trees, then we hit a ridge and looked down into a valley and there it was—Malliol, lit up like a casino, with searchlights playing out across the fields leading up to the city.