The second team of Mathew’s command were Minka, Simone, Anne and Julia. They were watching for the Relog sentries. As taught by Mathew, they were all looking in different directions and well under cover. Their job was to cover the Team headed for the armoury so they were placed to be between the Relog’s sentry quarters and the armoury.
At the armoury in this city, City 72, there were two Relogs on guard, but both were sick thanks to the blowguns. They were there on light duties. One could hardly see. Helene shoved open the door, Az and Li behind her. As Helene shot one, Li and Az got the other. Quickly they changed their weapons to field standard. This was much better. These were short guns with three modes of fire, stun, full power and spray, which was stun only. Their range was up to a mile depending on the setting. Spray, reduced the range to about 200 feet. What a comparison from the blowguns range of 15 to 20 feet! They were short at just under two feet and easy to handle unlike the cumbersome blow guns. They all grabbed a handful and ran to distribute them. Ludmilla was left behind to prevent the Aliens rearming.
She quickly checked the Relogs and finished one off with her knife. A Cat sat down beside her. She organized herself, dragging the sentries inside then cleaned up the mess. She manually pulled the sliding door closed, jamming it so it wouldn’t open. Puffing, she sat down to wait with the two dead Relogs and the Cat as company. She looked at the Cat, belatedly noticing it was injured, then pulled out her medical kit and tended to it, then herself, surprised to notice several injuries. They started to hurt. She took some Paracetamol figuring she could add morphine later if she needed it. She smiled wryly. One seldom noticed injuries until the action stopped. Sometimes quite serious ones as she remembered well. It had been a long time since she was in combat but one didn’t forget.
So in city 72, events were also going well. Mathew was enjoying himself. “You girls look out for the Relogs,” he said muttering, “where the bloody Hell are they?” As his re-equipped team headed for the area designated Headquarters by the Cats, they fired as they broke in. Those inside promptly surrendered. Those that were alive and capable.
Moving through City 72, Minka had realised that for all the Intel they had, they did not know what form of communication the Relogs had. They hadn’t thought to ask the Cats to find out. She also looked up worried. There were 18 to 20 story buildings on either side of them. If the Relogs got up above them, they would be sitting ducks. With climate control, there were no verandas because there was no rain. But that meant very little cover, little in the way of shelter. They had to move fast and keep the Relogs on the defensive so they would have no time to plan and organise. The Cats had said there were varying numbers of People in these cities but in excess of 200. How many were fit to fight? How many were armed? At least there were no helicopters. But were there Police cars?
Minka saw some Relogs coming at a run along the road towards the headquarters building. She fired, hitting one but it saw her and fired back as it died. Hit in the head, Minka continued to try to fire but her vision started to fade. She blacked out. Simone screamed as she saw Minka collapse and leapt out firing. She distracted them as Anne also fired and the Cats entered the fray also. But there were 12 well armed Relogs. A vicious fight erupted as Julia fired at more Relogs coming but Simone couldn’t fire as the Cats were in the way. Simone hit the ground as something hit her leg and she fired from the ground. It was a better angle. She looked around and saw her leg was gone, blown off and lying a few feet away. Furious, she turned back firing, determined to make them pay. As she did so, she saw three of the Cats on the ground with massive wounds but several Relogs were down too. And then she saw that Anne was lying in a bloody heap. Only Julia and some Cats seemed OK but there were still three Relogs. Julia ducked down and scrambled behind some vehicles then fired, moving rapidly away. A burst of fire erupted aimed at where she had been and she fired again, struggling to aim the unfamiliar weapon.
Some Cats were dealing with one Relog while another had headed for Simone. It shot her and she screamed. Enraged, Julia dropped her empty gun, grabbed her knife, sprinted and leapt on the Relog’s back, cutting what passed for its throat. It staggered and bled profusely as she furiously plunged her knife into its back and neck, again and again. She slid off, covered in blood and looked at Simone. Simone was a mess. She looked around belatedly remembering that last Relog. All the Relogs were dead or dying. One Cat was on its feet, the other six, no, seven dead or injured. Stunned, Julia didn’t know what to do first. Or at all. The injuries were horrific. She recognised the weapons as blasters. She went to Simone and forced her shocked brain to work. One arm and one leg were gone, blown off. But she was breathing. There was little bleeding. The amputations seemed to be cauterised somehow as with great heat. She remembered Kaz saying Relogs often used this weapon when they wanted to incapacitate and interrogate. It wasn’t necessarily used to kill. Julia again forced her shocked brain to work. Simone seemed stable, she was breathing and there was little bleeding.
She went to Minka. Minka was dead. She had been hit in the head and neck. She went to Anne. Again, the wounds had stopped bleeding but Anne had taken a shot in the side of her chest and a lot of her chest was gone. This did not look survivable. She was unconscious. Julia couldn’t think what to do. Her mind was reeling in shock. The Cats were also dead or looked to be dying. She knew a little first aid but this was beyond her. She started to cry then got up, grabbed a blaster and headed to find the others. At least she knew how to shoot. There was nothing she could do here.
Each team had hit their first targeted areas, the armouries, and headed for the next. But the Aliens everywhere were indicating surrender.