Posted by Extranjero on May 02, 2007 at 12:26:52:
ROSE WARRIORS (Part 6)
“I don’t think you should leave the Citadel, Battalion Leader.”
Amy sounded anxious, but Leilani didn’t turn. She shrugged into her tight black minidress. Not for her the standard tee and crotch-constricting shorts. It had been her first decision once in post.
“Breathe in,” murmured Amy at her back and zipped her up. Leilani’s bosom strained against the dress. The moment tantalised her with its easy intimacy, but Amy was her prim and proper self.
“Thanks,” Leilani murmured back. She strapped her gunbelt round her hourglass waist. Snugging it down around her hips, she drew the gun and checked it. A chunky Sig-Sauer 226 with fifteen bullets packed into the clip.
“I haven’t got a choice,” she went on flatly. “We can’t meet here, with Garleigh and her bitches crowding round.”
Amy nodded earnestly, but didn’t look convinced. She fiddled with her tied-back hair and hugged her clipboard closer to her breast. Her own gun, a Glock 20, rested just behind her hip, in contrast to her scholarly demeanour. She wore a sleeveless fitted top and modest calf-length skirt, with an inch of naked skin between the two.
We can wear any colour, so long as it’s black, Leilani thought and smiled. But what the hell, they both looked good in it. Holstering the gun, she drew her mane of dark hair back, and slipped her shades over her big brown eyes.
Rachel’s girls had taken over half the Citadel. They were strutting round as if they owned the place. Leilani had appealed to her Commander, but the creature barely seemed to notice her. Once she’d dreaded it, but now its iron grip had loosened. It brooded in the Watch Tower like an anchorite walled up inside a church.
So she had left it stewing in the shadows and acted on her own authority. Maybe Regional Command would turf the bitches out; and she needed to tell someone what she’d found. She’d contacted her Divisional superiors and arranged an urgent meeting. Not by video-link: it was too easy to hack in. Somebody would meet her face to face out on the range.
“The escort’s ready, and I’ve planned the route,” said Amy briskly. “It’s nearly three hours drive, so we’re well clear. Officially you’re heading out to view an exercise. And I’ve got you the best driver on the base.”
They stepped into the glaring heat and walked towards the gatehouse, their boot heels clicking on the cobblestones. Amy was wearing ankle boots, but Leilani’s were knee-high. Her short skirt still revealed a lot of leg.
“What’s the security?” she asked, ignoring Rachel’s nosy leopard girls.
“Ruthie’s swept the route,” said Amy. “Everything looks quiet. We’re crossing a Recluse range, and they don’t leave much alive!”
Their transport was a plain Black Fox estate car, with a pair of armoured Boars escorting it. The slender driver leaned against it, watching them approach. She wore black shorts and tee-shirt, with a matching neck rag tied around her throat. Her cap was pushed back jauntily, her naked arms offset by leather gloves.
“This is Nikkala,” said Amy brightly. The driver straightened with a lazy smile. She had a friendly, fine-boned face and eyes as blue as sapphires. Her brown hair dangled in a ponytail.
“Leaving us so soon, Battalion Leader?” Rachel drawled.
Leilani glanced around, her face as deadpan as her shades. The Brigade-Major was slouched against the well. She wore a short brown coat festooned with ceremonial braid, a pair of calf-high boots and nothing else. Leilani’s hidden eyes grew wide, though her face remained impassive. Rachel’s tits were plump as pears, the rosy tips just peeking into view.
She wet her lips despite herself. “I don’t like sitting on my arse,” she said.
“And what a splendid arse it is. No wonder you’re parading it around.” Rachel took a slow drink from the jug which she was holding. Some water dribbled down between her breasts. She shifted to get comfortable and draped one leg along the well’s stone rim. Leilani’s gaze refocused on her mousy pubic tuft. The Major wiped her mouth, her blue eyes bright.
“So how do you know there aren’t more rebels lying up out there?”
“We’ve checked the route,” Leilani sniffed. “And some of us aren’t scared to do our job.”
“I don’t think any of us are,” said Rachel silkily. She watched the girls climb into the big car. One of the Boars moved off ahead, its engine clattering, and the second slotted in behind the Fox. The three vehicles went through the crumbled gatehouse and sped away along the open road.
Rachel glanced around as Hanna moved up to her shoulder. The blonde was pouting like a spoilt schoolgirl. Her hair was pinned up primly and the heat had brought a pink flush to her cheeks. She wore her leopard camouflage, the tight blouse half-undone.
“It’s hot,” she muttered sulkily, “I’m bored, the food is lousy … When are we going to see some action, Miss?”
Rachel swivelled round to face her. “Soon enough, I reckon. In the meantime, how’s this for a way of cooling down?”
She poured a stream of water down onto her pubic puff. Hanna stared and licked her lips. Her flush got rosier. Rachel splashed her breasts as well, then put the jug aside. “Now let’s find something sweeter you can get your tongue around ...”
* * *
The landscape of the ranges was a grassy wilderness, with isolated copses on the skyline. The roads were little more than tracks, and pale dust churned from underneath the wheels. Numbered signs were all that marked the limits of each area. They passed a rusting tank wreck, like the gutted carcase of a dinosaur.
Nikkala drove fast and well, her biceps rippling as she worked the wheel. The truck was an old Chevy Blazer, bare inside, with split upholstery. But it handled the rough going without protest, its V8 engine moaning steadily. The shock absorbers creaked as they went bounding over ruts. Leilani braced herself and settled back. Amy handed documents across and talked her through them. They felt their bosoms joggle with each jolt.
The sun was blazing overhead. A hot breeze filled the car. Leilani glimpsed a patch of red and craned towards her window. Half a dozen Doll Soldiers were lying in the grass. They looked like they were sunbathing until Leilani realised they were dead. She glimpsed a scarlet tunic, naked breasts and shapely buttocks. Then the car was past, and dust clouds settled on the bodies like a pall.
They looked like they’d been freshly killed. She glanced through the back window. The trail Boar pounded after them, its baleful headlamps on despite the daylight. “Don’t worry,” Amy told her, “I’ve mapped out a path between the active ranges. And yes, the Black Recluses have been put back in their holes!”
The lead Boar passed a crimson warning sign and bounded on. Nikkala steered after it. “All right back there?” she called over her shoulder. “Never better,” said Leilani dryly. Her eyes flicked to the M4 carbine propped between the seats. Nikkala had come prepared. A grenade launcher was fitted to the forestock.
“And here’s a full report for your superiors …” Amy said. She glanced at the back of Nikkala’s head; her voice dropped to a murmur. “I haven’t speculated on what those three Assassins wanted. Maybe there was some artefact down there which they could use …”
“How would they have known about it, though?” Leilani muttered. “I didn’t, and I’m meant to be in charge of the damn place.” Nonetheless, the thought made her uneasy. What if something powerful was buried in the vaults? Something that these terrorists were trying to get their hands on. Something as ageless and obscene as radioactive waste.
Nikkala unhooked the handset from her dashboard radio. “This is Raven calling Rookwood … do you copy, over?”
A void shot through with static answered her. Leilani, leaning forward, though she heard a distant, muffled gibberish. She raised her eyes. The scrubland was deserted. They might be phantom voices from a thousand miles away.
They reached a rutted crossroads at the edge of a small wood. The Boar ahead turned off along a track. The Fox chugged slowly after it. The squat shape of the trail Boar loomed behind them. “Raven calling Rookwood,” challenged Nikkala again. The dashboard radio squawked and hissed at them.
She glanced over her shoulder with an easygoing smile. “It’s sometimes hard to get a signal here. There’s too much metal lying round, I guess …”
“This is where they’re meeting us,” said Amy.
The track led through a hollow. There were trees and ruined buildings on each side. Perhaps the place had been a farm and grown into a hamlet, but now it looked deserted and long dead. Leilani peered round curiously. She only knew this area from the maps. “They used to use this as a transit barracks,” murmured Amy. “And then an urban-combat training zone ...” The empty, gaping windows seemed to watch them. Leilani saw another wrecked Recluse up on the hill.
“I guess we’re early, girls,” she said. But something wasn’t right. She felt a ghostly prickling at her neck. And Nikkala had sensed it too. The fine hairs on her arm were standing up. Leilani glanced around again, while Amy shifted nervously beside her. She was so jittery that she imagined the Recluse had moved somehow.
Then her gaze snapped back to it. The turret was traversing as she watched.
“Look out!” she blurted, and the black tank fired. The flat explosion echoed round the bowl. She heard the shell rip overhead, and saw a burst of earthy smoke behind them. “Shit!” said Nikkala and slammed the Fox into reverse. The rearguard Boar began to lumber round. Then they heard a noise approaching through the dusty fog. A clatter of machinery, with squealing axles underpinning it.
“Oh my God,” Leilani murmured, twisting round to look. She plucked her shades off and her eyes grew wide. The smoke revealed a bulky shadow, then a second tank, advancing down the track they’d come along. The Boar manoeuvred madly as the Blazer swung around. Leilani glimpsed one of the crew’s pale faces. The monster roared towards them like a beast encased in armour, but she knew it was a robot and that somehow made it worse.
Machine guns started blazing from the turret and the hull. The bullets chewed into the Boar or ricocheted away. The armoured jeep surged forward, trying to get out of its path. The tank just clipped it, slewing it aside.
Nikkala stamped on the gas and the Fox went surging backwards. It scraped a tree, jounced over shattered bricks, then started turning. Nikkala was twisted round, a look of grim enjoyment on her face. She spun the wheel and jammed the shift into first gear again. The turret of the tank rotated slowly. Its tracer bullets crackled round the car.
Amy had gone stiff with fear. Leilani put an arm around her shoulders. As the Fox shot forward, she looked back and saw the first Recluse was moving. Not a wreck at all, it rumbled down the slope towards them, its cannon lining up for the next shot.
They raced across an open yard and slid between two buildings. A shell ploughed into one of them and smoke burst out of every aperture. A falling brick clanged on the roof and bounced off like a hammer. Another fragment struck the windshield, setting off a spiderweb of cracks.
They skidded round a roofless barn and slewed towards a junction. The lead Boar had backed off the road, and was waiting there to cover their escape. The air was full of roaring engines and the squeak of caterpillar tracks. More than one tank; more than two. A third was coming down the road ahead.
This one had an armoured trailer rattling in tow. “Oh fuck!” said Nikkala and wound the wheel. The Blazer fishtailed, kicking up a rolling screen of dust. And then an orange sunset lit the car.
Leilani felt confusion which exploded into dread. A gout of flame had spurted from the tank. Then another, spattering like vomit on the road. The black shape rumbled through it at full speed.
“Flamethrower tank,” rasped Nikkala. “A fucking Crocodile!” She hauled the car around as bullets ripped into the dirt along the road. The giant blowtorch roared again, its fiery discharge spouting at the Boar. The roadside grass went up in flames, and the squat jeep took off like a startled toad. Splashes of liquid fire clung to its armour. It raced to follow in the Blazer’s wake.
A fourth tank surged out of the wood and hit it broadside on. It had a hedge-cutter in front, protruding like a jagged iron jaw. The Boar was bulldozed off the road and crashed into a building. The tank began to crumple it as if it were a rusty scrapyard wreck.
Leilani stared back, horrified, as one of the crew appeared out of the hatch. As she tried to scramble clear, a row of poppies bloomed across her tee-shirt. The girl threw up her slender arms and slithered back again. Leilani glimpsed a figure darting in towards the wreckage: a slim girl with a black scarf round her face. She had a Silent Spectre sub-machine gun in her hands – though the maddened crunching of the tank made stealth redundant now.
Up ahead, the crippled second Boar had been knocked out. The crossfire from the tanks had riddled it. Two Guards dashed for cover, but the black tank on the hill showed them no mercy. Their tee-shirts ripped and spurted red, their bodies shimmying before they dropped.
The other tank was sitting in the road, implacable. Nikkala swerved wildly as its guns began to fire. Leilani was thrown back into one corner, her short skirt riding up to show the scarlet satin panties underneath. Bullets thumped into the car. One of the tyres exploded. “I think we’re going to have to hoof it, Boss!” called Nikkala. The flamethrower tank was coming up behind them, puking fire. The Blazer rolled behind a wall and juddered to a halt.
Nikkala snatched her carbine and swung out to give them cover. Grasping Amy’s hand, Leilani pulled her from the car. As they ducked away from it, a masked girl sprang into an open doorway. She trained her Spectre on Leilani – and then hesitated. Leilani didn’t, snapping up her pistol to fire twice. The first shot hit the masked girl’s naked navel; the second holed her forehead as she doubled up in pain. Leilani glimpsed the now-familiar skirt and Kevlar breastplate. The Assassins had been sent to try again.
Nikkala cried out behind them, spinning round and crumpling to earth. Leilani glanced back helplessly and dragged Amy around the nearest corner. Bullets from another Spectre gouged into the brickwork but just missed them. Panting, they put their backs against the wall. Amy had her gun out now. Her face was ashen, but her cheeks burned red.
The flamethrower was clanking slowly closer. Leilani smelled its cloying napalm stench. She risked a glance. Poor Nikkala lay face down in the open. Leilani prayed that she was dead. The tank was going to roll right over her.
The angular black monster seemed to sense Leilani’s gaze. The turret started swivelling towards her. The hooded flame-projector stayed immobile in the hull. She heard bricks crunch beneath the creaking tracks.
If she put a bullet down the flame-projector’s throat, would that ignite the weapon’s store of fuel? It didn’t seem too likely, but she knew she had to try. Flexing her fingers round the gun, she tried to calm her breathing. The turret gun began to stutter, sending tracers whipping past her face.
Even as she flinched away, she saw Nikkala stirring. The prone girl raised her head, then propped herself up on her elbows. She took aim with her carbine as the tank bore down on her, and triggered the grenade launcher at it. The 40mm missile sped beneath the vehicle’s belly and hit the bulky trailer full of fuel. The reservoir of gasoline and nitrogen exploded, the fireball almost swallowing the tank. It clattered forward, cloaked with flame, and then its own fuel caught. More explosions gutted it and brought it to a standstill, the boxy turret tipping halfway off.
Nikkala rolled and scrambled up. She fired a burst at one of the Assassins. “This way!” called Leilani with her gun gripped in both hands. She fired at every movement as the driver dashed towards her. One of the killers bobbed back up and fired at Nikkala’s retreating back.
Leilani glimpsed the target from the corner of her eye. She tried to switch her aim but was too late. Nikkala’s breasts were rippling in her tee-shirt as she ran; they bounced and bulged as slugs burst out of them. Her startled face went white with shock, the black shirt turning scarlet. She nose-dived at Leilani’s feet, and this time she wasn’t playing dead.
“No!” Leilani blurted, dodging back around the wall. She could hear the other tanks manoeuvring. She glanced at Amy breathlessly. “You have to make a run for it, right now!”
Amy’s mouth dropped open. “I can’t leave you!”
“Listen!” Leilani grabbed her arm. “One of them could have shot me, but she didn’t. I think they want me alive this time. They don’t care about you.”
Amy gawped at her. Leilani kissed her briefly, fiercely on the mouth. “Now run,” she hissed, and shoved the slender girl towards the trees. Amy stumbled off, still looking backwards in confusion and dismay.
Leilani started running in the opposite direction, her pistol blazing as her finger pumped. She zig-zagged through the ruins and the masked Assassins scurried in pursuit. One of the Recluses was reversing, keeping pace. Its turret swung towards her, and she ducked into a roofless stable block. It smelled of rot and foxes, but the facing doorway framed a sweep of grassland. She ran towards it, back into the sunlight, and someone’s boot kicked out and tripped her up.
She hit the ground with winding force, rolled over and began to raise her gun. The calf-high boot lashed out again and clipped it from her hand. The Assassin kept her balance gracefully, her Spectre braced. The compact sub-machine gun had a pair of pistol grips, and a tubular suppressor aimed at her.
Leilani stared up, panting. Her tits heaved breathlessly against her dress. Two more Assassins joined the first. They all wore the same breastplates and long skirts.
One of them jerked her head. “Get up.” Leilani did so carefully. Raising her hands, she let them prod her down towards the road. The black tanks brooded silently. They seemed inert again. The one which Nikkala had stopped burned fiercely in the background.
Across the road, a vehicle was parked behind a building. Leilani frowned: it was another Blazer. This one was an exercise control truck, with twin antennae sprouting from the back. Bullet holes were punched in the black metal. A fourth Assassin clambered out of it.
Leilani’s mind went flitting back to the incident which Amy had reported. The squad who’d been wiped out by rogue Doll Soldiers. An Electric Fox had been involved: a vehicle like this one. Something with the codes to activate a Black Recluse.
Amy said it had burned out. But what if she’d been wrong? No other control vehicles were unaccounted for. But how had the mistake been made? Leilani’s mind was whirling. The fourth Assassin sauntered up to her.
The girl had short blonde hair and wore an ugly amulet around her throat. Her grey eyes gleamed above the muffling scarf. She stared into Leilani’s face, then nodded to her escort. Something struck Leilani’s head, and sudden roaring darkness sucked her down.
* * *
Amy cowered in the trees and listened nervously. The dry leaves rustled overhead, but otherwise the shady copse was silent. No roar and clatter of Recluses coming after her. No stealthy footsteps crackling through the twigs. After a long pause, she heard an engine starting up. It sounded like a Blazer, and in minutes it had faded in the distance.
She waited maybe half an hour before she dared to move. Not back the way she’d come, but to the far edge of the wood. She peered along the dusty tracks. The whole range seemed deserted. The grassland shimmered in the heat. Her sweaty fingers tightened round her gun.
She crossed the junction, glancing round, and started wading through the long, dry grass. Following one of the tracks but keeping clear of it. It made her feel less vulnerable. At least she’d have the chance to dive for cover. But fear still gnawed inside her, and she kept on looking back. The midday heat engulfed her, and she felt the sweat start trickling down her spine.
The ground rose up, she breasted it and stiffened like a deer. A big black car was up ahead, skewed partway off the track, with frosty bullet holes punched through its windshield. The bodywork was holed as well, the punctures edged with silver. The doors hung open, giving it a stark, spread-eagled look.
A couple of Guard vehicles were pulled up next to it. One was a standard armoured jeep – the other was the sinister Doll’s Hearse. Amy always shuddered when she set eyes on the thing. It prowled the ranges, picking up the dead.
But now her heart leaped up with hope. There were fellow Guards examining the wreckage. Holstering her gun, she hurried forward. A girl brought up her rifle warily, and then relaxed.
The black car was a military Suburban. Amy guessed at once who had been travelling in it. She peered through the windows as she passed. The empty seats were spattered with fresh blood. She wiped her mouth reflexively, her eyes like big blue saucers. And then Ruthie came swanning into view.
Amy gasped against her hand, then sobbed with sheer relief. She scurried up and threw her arms round Ruthie. “Easy, now …” the dark girl crooned, and nodded to her team. “It’s all right, girls … just let her have some room …”
“They ambushed us!” said Amy tearfully. “They’ve got Leilani.” Her bare arms clutched at Ruthie; then she loosened her embrace and wiped her cheek. Ruthie peered over her shades, the way she always did. “At least you’re safe,” she murmured. Amy sniffed.
“I’ve called in reinforcements,” Ruthie added, glancing round. “As soon as they arrive, we’ll start pursuing.” She nodded over to the car. “That was the delegation you were meeting.”
“Oh my God,” said Amy quietly.
Ruthie squeezed her shoulders. “There were three bodies. We’ve put them in the Hearse.” She hesitated. “Listen, hon … I hate to ask you this. But someone needs to take a look. We have to know they’re who we think they are.”
Amy bit her lip unhappily, then nodded once. Ruthie led her over to the Hearse. It was a squat container truck: a steel box on the chassis of a Boar. The rear doors were open. Ruthie clambered in and helped the blonde girl up. There were rows of dangling meat hooks on each side of the interior. The acrid smell made Amy pull a face.
The bodies from the car were hanging limply with heads bowed. They still wore their black shorts, but not their tee-shirts. Bloody perforations marred their pendulous bare breasts, and one had caught a bullet in the forehead. She was an older woman, in her thirties – no doubt a senior officer in Regional Command. The other two were younger. Amy guessed they were her driver … and assistant.
“Ruthie! You can’t take them back like this!” She flinched and shuddered.
Ruthie’s shades were back in place. Her lips spread wide beneath them. “And why not?” she asked dryly as her lover turned towards her. “It’s as good a way to travel as any other.”
Her hands shot out, grasped Amy’s upper arms and lifted her. The slim girl was as light as a rag doll. Amy goggled down at her, and Ruthie thrust her backwards. The nearest hook sank deep into her back.
Amy gave a startled wail and tried to wriggle free, but the motion drove the point into her flesh. She whinnied as it took her weight, then squealed in agony. Ruthie watched her writhe and kick, arms flailing helplessly. The steel box resounded with her cries. Amy’s breasts were joggling underneath her snug black top. Ruthie clutched and squeezed them as the blonde girl gave a final anguished howl.
Then her head lolled sideways, and she quivered and hung limp. Ruthie kissed her cheek and fondled her. Drawing a knife, she carefully cut her top off, and unfastened the girl’s long skirt and belt. The hook between her shoulder blades made Amy’s breasts poke forward, and Ruthie took the tips into her mouth. The nipples were large and coral pink, the same shade as the dead girl’s skimpy briefs.
She finished pleasuring the corpse and climbed out of the Hearse – her catsuit zipper half undone and two spots of lustful colour on her cheeks. The other Guards stood waiting, poker-faced. Ruthie went over to the Boar and took the radio handset from the dashboard.
“Razor calling Sword … We’ve got the last of them, over.”
“Acknowledged,” a voice crackled in reply.
Ruthie moistened her dry lips. “So do we have the Angel?”
“She’s lost her wings,” the cold voice purred. “And now she’s going down into the Pit.”