Devils Own ( A Steam Punk and Mystic Tale ) 2.6

2.6

Irina picked herself out of the rubbles of the collapsed flooring. She pulled herself up onto the ground, and looked around. There were several fires in the surrounded areas, where the multiple explosions had resulted in it. She saw more sections of the ground had collapsed down into the basement area, and there were those survivors were climbing out. It was a nightmare which could not be described, when the explosion happened. It thundered through the entire basement and caused the disaster on the area. She saw a war-machine that was partially buried by the collapsing structure, and it would remain there. The survivors were reaching it with their weapons, and even one was using the rifle to fire into the open vents to release his anger. She looked around and saw the other war-machines are still working but they are not moving for fear of releasing more explosions. The columns of troops had been hit by the explosions, and were in cover or hauling their wounded to safety. There were small battles going on regardless of the earlier disaster, but the focus was on the wounded then.

Without hesitation, Irina took up the run to the nearest entrance down to the basement. It was another access through the back store but with the recent bombings, it was a huge hole in the ground. She jumped down and landed on her feet, among the rubbles. She made her way to the nearest corridor and searched for survivors. There were some but the most of them were either fatal or were carried out by others. It was all chaos there.

“Irina!” The voice came from the side of her. It was her father and three recruits. “Join me to hold back the troops. We need to buy the wounded time.”

Irina was handed a vest with an array of explosive sticks, and a rifle with a bandolier of bullets. The rifle was a bolt action with a five cartridge clip, and the barrel was over twenty nine inches in length with the menacing twelve inch long bayonet. The effective range of the rifle was five hundred yards. Her father was armed with the same and had climbed up the rubbles to the ground level. He stood there before the rim of the hole.

“There are more troopers coming in.” Master Galeb saw the reinforcements arriving at the edge of the battlefield.

“We need to hold them back.”

The approaching troops were armed with rifles and bayonets. Their rifles were similar to that of the recruits. Master Galeb then saw the machine guns were carried by some and would be mounted at the strategic spots later. Those are the Maxim designed machine guns with the rounded barrels, and the two hundred and fifty rounds canvas belt. The gun was too heavy to carry but needed to be mounted on an axle drawn on two wheels. Each gun required a crew of two; one gunner and the other the loader.

“Spread out and position yourself well. Aimed for the four Maxim guns. They must be taken down immediately.”

The three recruits heard the Master and took to the nearest covers among the rubbles. These are senior recruits and well versed with the rifle capability. The five of them including Irina, laid down on their front and leveled the rifle. They sighted the crews and awaited their approach. They ignored the advancing troopers which were shot at by the other recruits. They counted the distance, and at the distance of over four hundred yards, the five pulled their triggers. They fired without stopping until all the crews were down on the ground unmoving. That attack promoted the other troops to return cover, but they were not sure where the shots came from. Then the assassins took their pick of the exposed troops, causing more of them to seek cover.

A young recruit braved the shots to run for the machine gun. He almost made it but was shot down. It prompted a surge of volunteers who ran across the open field of fire to reach the guns.

“Fools!” Master Galeb shouted out as the recruits were also in their line of fire. “Shoot to cover them.”

The command was passed, and the others added in their cover fire. A recruit managed to make it to a forward machine gun and used it on the troopers. He bought them some time and more recruits surged forwards. The ones that could get near to use the grenades tossed it towards the troopers. Meanwhile Irina have crawled along the rubbles and at every cover she would leveled her rifle for a shot. She made it twice, before she stumbled on one of the recruits. He had bought it; a shot in the face by the look of it. She was to move on when she saw the trooper climbed over the rubble. He was not a typical trooper, but an elite trooper. The trooper had an extra badge on the sleeve; the emblem of the sniping section. She had heard of these elites; they are the equivalent of the assassins.  They are specially trained for covert action.

Irina tried to crawl back to her cover, but her feet slipped. The noise alerted the sniper. He looked over and jumped to cover. Irina dragged her body into the bare cover there and leveled the rifle but the shot came. It missed her by inches. She slumped further in, and peeked over. The second shot which caused her to retract her left foot further in. She estimated the angle of the shot and assessed there was one other sniper. The second sniper was hidden at the other rubble to her west side at a distance of over fifty feet, perhaps further back from the angle of the shot. She then took a run towards a cover at the rear, behind a bigger cover. She reached it with two shots trailing her.

“Irina, are you well?” It was her father’s voice. It also betrayed his position. She had split seconds to act. She leveled her rifle and scan for the shot. It came from the west of her, as she had predicted earlier. She saw the flash and fired on instinct.

“Aargh!” The shot came from where her father was. She looked over and held back her urge to shout. She peeked over and saw her shot had not drawn any blood. She was stuck in between the two snipers and her father caught also in the crossfire. She heard the shot and it came from her father. He was shooting to draw out the snipers. She knew the drill, and leveled her attention at the west side. She caught a glimpse of the sniper. It was all she needed, while she leveled the rifle again. She aimed and waited. Her father gave out two more shots before the sniper tried to return fire. It was the chance she needed. She pulled the trigger and the bullet hit the sniper’ rifle. The sniper reacted by moving to run to the rear, but she was ready for that. She shot him in the rear of the left shoulder, and then the second shot on the head when he reeled back from the shot.

The earlier sniper who had remained hidden, return fire. It was aimed at Master Galeb. The sniper must have assumed the killing shot on the other sniper came from there. The other fired back, and caused the sniper to seek another cover. Irina took the shot when she saw the sniper move. The key hit the sniper on the left knee causing him to fall. The sniper rolled over and leveled the rifle to shoot for cover fire. Irina ignored the oncoming shots and took her second shot. The sniper went down with the shot, but Irina was rushing towards her father.

Master Galeb was holding his left forearm but other than that, he was well.

“Thank you, Irina.” Master Galeb whispered to his daughter. “You must do the next stage. Get the others to safety.”

“Yes, Father. I would but you will follow me. I need you with me.” Irina reached to grab him but the older man declined.

“Irina, I cannot go with you. I am still needed here.” The older man pulled himself up to a sitting position. “The army of the Guild would need a leader.”

With that, Master Galeb asked Irina to pull him up. He stood there, and then pulled the horn from his waist belt. He blew on it and the sound resonated all over the city. From the rubbles and the alleys of that section, scores of the local residents came rushing out. They were armed with assorted rifles, from the antiquated muskets to the repeating rifles. These are the residents of the area which owed their livelihood to the Guild.