Operation Honey Trap vs The Emperor of the Apocalypse-Chapter 216: A Resounding Victory

[Suggested song for this Chapter, Victory, Two Steps from Hell]

"Break into these houses and find us some blankets," the Emperor’s Captain ordered his men. "Wet them with garden hoses and bring as many as you can carry."

As the ragtag group of survivors approached the western perimeter, Arrie and her team could see them through the gaps in the raging fire. The soldiers were huddled under blankets and rags, trying to find a break in the flames.

"Shoot," she called, dropping her hand, though she couldn’t help feeling sorry for the endangered men.

"Man down!" they heard through the flames once their arrows were loosed.

"In formation!" cried the Captain, and the men lined up in rows, the front row crouched with shields, the second row ready to shoot, as they pushed onwards towards the firewall.

"Take cover!" shouted Arrie, as she saw them organising themselves.

She lead her soldiers to dive for the ditch as the first barrage of arrows flew through the wall of fire towards them.

The enemy soldiers were approaching closer and closer as the frontline of the fire continued to burn in the direction of Arrie’s Section.

She looked desperately behind them. Nothing but an open field with little spot fires breaking out across it. There was no way they could retreat through that field, they would all be shot in the back.

"Stay low and follow me!" she called, heading south and running along in the ditch.

"Easier said than done when you’re six foot instead of five," grumbled the soldier behind her who was doing a duckwalk as he strained to keep his head out of the enemy’s line of sight.

Arrie raised her head briefly and saw that the soldiers were now beating at the flames, trying to carve themselves a path out of the town.

The clarion call of a bugle cut through the mayhem, and with relief, Arrie waved to her Section.

"Time to retreat! Fall in after me, soldiers!"

She stood up and started to fly, pumping her little arms and legs as fast as they could go.

It was a long run to circumnavigate the town, and soon enough Arrie had to slow her pace to wait for some of the stragglers.

Most would not be doing ten kilometre daily runs, so they were not nearly as fit as the mission team. Wolf’s Section seemed to be even slower than Arrie’s, because they caught them up. Or maybe he had deliberately slowed his pace to wait for her, she reflected.

"Thank goodness you’re safe," Wolf gave her a quick hug before they started jogging again.

"The surviving soldiers are beating an exit path through our section of the perimeter," she panted.

"Yes, we saw them too. Shot some arrows and headed them back into the centre of town for a while. They were trapped between the eastern fire being driven by the westerly winds and our teams on the western side of town."

She nodded. "They’ll probably escape now though."

"Doesn’t matter. There aren’t many of them left, and I’d say the last thing they’ll do is hunt for our tracks in the dark and follow us out here. They’ll be heading for barracks where they can get a bed and some relief. Don’t forget these are salarymen. They won’t want to risk their lives unless they’re under orders to do so."

"I hope you’re right, Wolf," she said fervently.

Niko had reached the estuary with the first of the Clan’s women and children, and they were rapidly being loaded onto the waiting boats.

"This one’s full," he called to the Captain. "Set sail! We’ll see you at King Island."

He loaded up the next boat, all the while keeping an anxious eye out for Indy and his other Sergeants.

The next two boats weren’t large, each full when about twenty-five people had been boarded.

"That’s it for the women and children," called Casey. "Non-combatants onto the next boat," he called into the crowd.

The next boat was loaded up with older men and those with a disability that prevented them from fighting. There was room for a few more, so Niko and Casey started adding the Clan soldiers to this one.

Niko was getting more and more anxious, looking into the distance for the arrival of his team.

Finally, Baer and his Section appeared at the back of the crowd of Clan soldiers now queued on the long jetty waiting to get on a boat. The big man gave Niko a salute and Niko waved back at him, indicating he should hang back and wait.

The rest of the mission team trickled in in dribs and drabs, and he was finally able to breathe easy when he saw Indy’s blonde hair glowing in the light cast by the huge fires.

They loaded the last of the Clan soldiers onto their boat and Casey jumped aboard.

"Catch you on the dark side, Lieutenant," he waved goodbye to Niko. "I owe you a drink when we get there."

"Or three," Niko called, giving the man a wave.

"Sergeants, shout out when I call your name, and give me a ’yes’ if all of your soldiers are accounted for."

He ran through the seven Sergeants and was extremely pleased when it became clear that all seven leaders and their Sections were accounted for. There had been zero fatalities or injuries.

He straightened his shoulders with justifiable pride. The assault had been a resounding success!

"Sergeant Rose," he called, "I need you over here!"

She slipped through the queue on the jetty, weaving her way to the front.

"I need to brief you," he said, when she got there.

He swung her around, so his back was to the soldiers, and she was sheltered behind his bulk, then he pressed his lips to hers, giving her a deep kiss.

The kiss wasn’t missed by the soldiers closest to them, and a great cheer rose up among them, along with plenty of catcalls.

It wasn’t common to see unmarried young men and women kiss in public, so for the young soldiers, especially the women among them, this was a sign of the freedoms they were fighting for.

Indy blushed a deep shade of red as she came up for air. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Niko!" she admonished him.

"That’s Lieutenant Espey to you, Sergeant," he teased her.

"In which case that was an abuse of power," she shot back.

"Tell me you didn’t like it," he challenged.

She had no reply for him, looking completely flustered, and the man looked very pleased with himself.

"In all seriousness," he said, "don’t leave me like that in a battle situation again. I want you to stay by my side."

"I was following your orders, Lieutenant," she pointed out.

"Well that’s the last time you’ll hear an order that separates us on the battlefield from these lips," he said. "Now, stay right here and help me get everyone onto this boat. And that’s an order," he said firmly.