Armageddon?? (103 page)

Lakheenahuknaasi
had already conveyed more valuable information back to Queen Euryale on her own
than Deumos had obtained (or at least, shared with the other demons) with all
her thousands of succubae. Her wounds were almost healed and she was fairly
sure she could fly again if she had to. The next step was to acquire more
worshippers. Here on earth her enthrallment darts held for days at a time, so
she could easily build a small cult around herself. She would work her way up
into the higher ranks and discover the human's most secret plans. Certainly she
would at least be made a baroness for her accomplishments.

Broken
Skull Gallery, Shaft 14, Slocum Mine, Tartarus

Reusikaanophaar
stalked through the tunnel, his hooves crunching on the gravel. He was in a
particularly foul mood, all of the demons were. The humans seemed to have
settled down again, but there was still something wrong with them, something he
couldn't quite put his talon on. Still, he'd heard that the Count's attacks on
the humans had been a resounding success. If Satan granted Belial new lands to
rule then he'd be sending his loyal servants to occupy them and with luck that
could mean a posting on the surface for Reusikaanophaar.

The
light here was very dim, but there was definitely something moving ahead. The
demon strained to pick out the details... definitely a human, and its chain was
broken off.

"Human!
On your knees! What are you doing..."

Instead
of throwing himself to the ground in the usual manner, the human had taken to
his heels and sprinted away. Reusikaanophaar bellowed as he brought his trident
up, then let loose with a lightning bolt. He'd had little practice with the
weapon in the last few centuries and the bolt went wide, drawing a spray of
rock chips from the wall. The human darted into a side tunnel before he could
fire again. The demon roared again and charged after the man, now thoroughly
incensed. The stupid little thing couldn't escape, all the passages here were
dead ends. But he probably wouldn't be allowed to eat it; apparently the
convoys of fresh humans from the pit had been interrupted, which meant no
killings unless the human actually fought back. Then again, in this remote part
of the mine, who'd know?

Ah,
there was the human, waiting at the next bend. Probably frozen in fear.
Reusikaanophaar closed the distance, bringing his trident up again... and found
himself suddenly weightless, surrounded by snapping planks and falling rock.
Before he could realize what was happening, there was a horrible impact and he
found himself flat on his back, writhing in pain from the bronze spikes
piercing his torso. With a roar that was almost a scream, he tried to lever
himself back up. He was at the bottom of a twenty foot pit, filled with
splinters and gravel. The bottom had pick-axe heads set into it, now dripping
with his own blood. The deep wounds hurt terribly but his limbs seemed to be
intact, so he should still be able to climb out. Reusikaanophaar looked up to see
the face of the human staring down at him. It was a trap of course, it knew it
had no chance in honorable combat and had resorted to this cowardly pit. He
cast about for his trident and soon enough his hand closed around its hilt,
half-buried in the rubble. But before he could bring it to bear a great lump of
rock landed on his arm, shattering the bones. Reusikaanophaar screamed and
looked up - there were more human faces up there now, and more rocks coming
down. Almost every bone in his body was broken were broken before one boulder
mercifully fell straight on his skull. The demon's last thought was regret that
he'd never see his mate again.

"Well
done Simplicus. Going out to face that demon unarmed, that took true
courage."

Publius
had been overjoyed to find another of the legions here in the underworld mines,
even though their lives had been separated by over a century. He had no idea
who this 'Mithras' character the man kept mentioning was, but he clearly felt
betrayed by him. In any case Simplicus was a reliable recruit with a good sense
of discipline and right now that was what he needed most.

"It
was nothing. Those brutes are thoroughly predictable. I doubt they've had an
original thought in the last ten thousand years."

The
younger man's words were modest but his tone was full of enthusiasm - Publius
couldn't remember the last time he'd heard that. He'd spent many hours telling
his men that the demons weren't invincible, that they would die like all flesh
and blood if they could be hurt badly enough, but here was the proof.

"These
ones maybe, the leaders though..." But now was not time to discuss what
he'd learned about the demon activity on the surface.

"Come
on men, let's get this leveled off and concealed. We don't want to give away
our tricks before we have to."

Division
Wall Between 5th and 6th Circles of Hell

“Looks
like they are coming.” Colonel Andy Jackson looked across the Styx at the great
wall that separated the fifth and sixth circles of Hell. Gates were opening at
regular intervals along its base and troops were starting to pour out. “Time
for some action I think.” He dropped his hand to the Bowman radio and patched
through to his battery of 105mm guns. “Battery, target reference……” A quick
check with the laser rangefinder built into his binoculars and a frown. The
dust in the Hell atmosphere played havoc with laser-based equipment. The range
read-out was flickering and changing Jackson made a quick guess and read out a
six-figure set of coordinates. A ‘best guess’ was better than nothing.

The
gunners had their pieces loaded and ready to go, it took only a few seconds for
three shells to whistle overhead and explode on the far bank of the Styx.
Jackson winced slightly, the shells were well short. “Up 300, fire for effect.”
The train-like roar of the shells passing overhead was immensely satisfying.
This salvo landed directly in front of one of the gates, turning the baldricks
pouring through it into a tangled mass of casualties. Very impressive Jackson
thought, But that’s just one gate of the eight or ten the baldricks are using.
The rest of them are getting out and forming up unscathed. Time to do something
about that.

“Support
group, bring down mortar fire on the area between the wall and the river bank.
Grenade machine guns, do the same, open fire as soon as baldrick formations are
within range. Artillery, keep hitting the present target until I tell you
differently. Forward observer, we need some air support, now.”

“We
have Jags coming in Sir. They’ll be here in five minutes. Cluster bombs and
cannon.”

“Very
good, what the hell do you want here.” The last remark was addressed to Jade
Kim who had dropped into place beside him.

“Situation
report Sir.”

“You’re
supposed to be with the flanking forces.”

“Yes
Sir. But the people I’ve got there are perfectly capable and don’t need me to
look over their shoulders.”

At
least she knows how to delegate. Jackson thought, for a junior officer, she’s
got a lot of promise. She’d probably go far if she wasn’t dead. “Very good
then. Now situation?”

“No
movement on our flanks Sir. I’ve got my gun armed people and those who are
trained to handle guns but haven’t got them yet spread out. We’ll do it Russian
style, the ones who haven’t got guns can pick up ones the casualties don’t need
any more. Caesar’s bringing up reinforcements, he’ll throw them in at the right
moment.” Kim grinned to herself, Caesar had been very busy for the last 24
hours. She had watched him and realized exactly why poor old Gnaeus Pompeius
Magnus had never stood a chance.

“As
long as he doesn’t get them in the way.” Jackson didn’t like the way Caesar was
operating, he had no idea of what modern weaponry could do or the effects that
it could have on the recipient of the firepower it generated. He could screw
the whole battle up by getting his untrained personnel into the kill zones
Jackson had so carefully set up. “Thank you Lieutenant, return to your flank
command and hold there.”

“Sir.”
Kim slid backwards and set off for her command. In theory, anyway, in fact, it
was very important she didn’t go too far.

Across
the river, the baldricks were forming up on the banks and starting to throw
things into the water, things that floated. Others were carrying planks, the
makings of a floating bridge. The mortars and artillery weren’t putting down
enough firepower to stop them. That would change, Jackson thought. As he
watched, he heard the grenade machine guns coughing and starting to pump their
40mm grenades into the teams assembling the bridges

The
baldrick response was almost instantaneous; from along the top of the wall
opposite, a great streak of lightning flashed out, lashing at the human-held
bank of the river. Jackson guessed that the baldrick commander had a high
proportion of his force up on that wall and were firing down at his positions
to suppress fire. They learn very fast, very fast indeed ran through his mind.
The fire wasn’t, couldn’t, cause many casualties but it would pin down his men
and allow the baldricks to build their bridges and cross the river.

“Sir.
Large baldrick movement on our right flank. At least four of their legions are
moving up to the flank positions in regular formations.” Jackson grimaced as
the radio spat out the message. That was it, game over. Kim’s tiny force
couldn’t hold against an attack of that size, not even with the minefields and
booby traps she had set up. Then the Bowman crackled again. “Sir, Harpies
taking off from behind the wall.”

Jackson
cursed then looked at the wall through his binoculars. The harpies were there
all right, rising from behind the wall as reported. He did a quick count, gave
up and made a guess. Eight hundred or so? He knew the enemy force had taken a
heavy pounding from air attack on the way down by even the force left was more
than he could cope with. What else did he face? He looked off to the right and
saw the four great black squares of the baldrick legions advancing in column.
They had harpies as well, a great cloud of them. Half a legion, 3,000 or more?
This situation wasn’t just critical, it was a catastrophe in the making.
Jackson had a nasty feeling that 2 PARA was about to join the Gloucesters as a
part of the British Army’s list of gallant last stands. Then his grim thoughts
were interrupted by Kim rejoining him.

“Lieutenant,
what the hell are you doing here I ordered you to…”

“Sorry
Sir, but I have to be here. Your Bowmans don’t talk to our SINCGARS and we need
both communications nets working. Anyway, I’m here in my capacity as Caesar’s
First Tribune, not as a U.S. Army Lieutenant.”

“Lieutenant,
or whatever you want to call yourself, you are going to regret this.”

“Probably
Colonel. But please take a look to your right.”

Jackson
followed the suggestion. The great black blocks of the baldrick legions had
advanced right up to the point where the human defenses started and then
stopped. Then, as he watched, they changed subtly although he couldn’t work out
why or how. The harpies overhead had also changed, they were splitting into two
groups. Then, the ripple of lightning flashes erupted from the baldrick
legions, not from the front as he had expected, but from the sides, directed
over the river. The salvo tore into the baldricks trying to build the bridges,
scattering them. As Jackson watched in disbelief, the harpy cloud crossed the
river, the smaller group tackling the harpies rising from behind the wall, the
larger group descending on the crenellations that topped that wall. Abruptly
the barrage of lightning fire from the wall stopped as the baldricks up there
stopped to fight off the harpies that were attacking them.

“Caesar’s
brought up his reinforcements Colonel. Four legions of foot soldiers and a
half-legion of harpies. The whole of the baldrick army that was on our right
flank. Under the command of Plomniferasticas. He used to be one of Asmodeus’s
lieutenants but when Asmodeus was killed he was left in command of the force
Asmodeus had brought down. He didn’t have a liege-lord any more and wasn’t
given one. So Caesar persuaded him to change sides. The baldricks on our left
flank are also under the command of Plomniferasticas and they’ve changed sides
as well. Plomniferasticas has sworn allegiance to Caesar, and to me by the way
as Caesar’s tribune. The left flank force is the anvil, the right flank under
Caesar is the hammer. Hold one.”

The
radio in Kim’s hand was crackling. Kim lifted it to her ear and spoke quietly.

While
she did so, Jackson took another look through his binoculars. Overhead was a
swirling mass of harpies, studded with fire as the two flocks fought. The wall
over the river looked like it was crowned with fire, lightning bolts sparkling
as the garrison tried to fight off the harpies. Far off to the left, he saw the
shapes of four RAF Jaguars hurtling through the overcast, bearing down on the
baldrick force between the wall and the river. “Forward air control, tell those
Jaguars, on no account to hit anything our side of the river, no matter what it
looks like.” Jackson looked back at the baldrick force on his right, still
pumping lightning bolts into the enemy ahead of them. Then the carnage caused
by their fire was blanketed out by the greater slaughter of the cluster bombs
exploding over the baldrick force gathered between the wall and the river. As
the jets howled away, the legion at the far end of the baldrick line started to
move forward, crossing the river.