Entrance to the Underworlds Chapter

The sun rose minutes before the soldiers loaded up the Zedelets. The orange dawn rose slowly above the hills. The sun showed the direction of the caves with its rays pointing to the west. This cave was some miles away. After the last man was seated on a Zedelet, the whole unit took off. The zedelet drivers did not waste any time. They slammed on the accelerator and sped all the way. It was a bumpy ride every soldier grabbed a bar on the ceiling of the vehicles. Chiecra had one hand on the bar the other tightening its grip on his rifle. The ride was extremely rocky to them it felt like the road was a steep stone mountain. As the twenty zedelets headed towards their destination, their force increased. More Zedelets transporting troops and supplies joined in the movement. Soon the assaulting force had tripled in size and their objective was very close. This cave to the underworld was encircled by hills forming a moon shape around it. On ground level, these hills formed a straight line to the eye.

Out of nowhere, the sound of mortar rounds filled the air with high pitch whistles. The Zedelet drivers took evasive action to avoid getting hit by the shells. These shells were like rain of death pounding the ground all around the moving force.

"It sounds like they're already here!" Chiecra yelled trying not to let the whistles drown his voice out.

"Yeah, and they've already established a base around the entrance!" replied viktorov.

The zedelets moved in all sorts of zigzags and turns avoiding the mortar rounds. Unfortunately, the zedelets had to stop in the line of fire. The Vestrisian troops jumped out of their transports in a hurry. Blocking their path to the entrance was an assortment of wreckage and carnage. Vehicles were piled up all over the place forming a wall. The vanguards rushed to the mountain of wreckage seeking a haven from the deadly shells. Some shells hit a few Zedelets killing those inside. Several zedelets stopped near the wreckage giving the Vestrisians cover from the raining rounds. Chiecra and others managed to hide inside a crater big enough for a hundred men. They were able to hide from enemy eyes in here. From within the crater those that made it listened to the whistling sound of the mortar rounds pounding the ground around them. In front of the crater was the mountain of wreckage. Right next to the crater laid a large bronze tunnel trailing up to a fuel tank. Chiecra slowly crawled up this bronze tube with the knowledge that it could lead him to the reaper of death. This fuel tank was once a part of a transport ship that was shot down. The fuel tank was the size of a master bedroom. It was hollow, empty of its fuel from leaks in the hull. It was large enough for sniper attacks with many holes suited to do so. Its hull was a good place to attack from while unseen.

Next to the largest hole sat a dead sharpshooter with a sniper rifle in his arms. This man had been shot in the head. Chiecra crawled over to the body and took the rifle from the corpse. Through the holes, he could hear machineguns blasting away their targets. He had to act fast to save his fellow Vestrisians. Chiecra looked behind him at the small tube. Someone also found it and made their way up to join him. The cadet pulled this person up and saw it was Liviscart followed by Ilkez.

          "We saw you crawl up here so we decided to follow you. The Major ordered us to follow you in here." Ilkez said pulling himself upright.

"Who's dead and missing?" demanded Chiecra.

"Casan is blown to bits by mortar round. Curtian and some others charged forward. I think they are either killed or captured." Ilkez informed the young soldier.

Chiecra understood the sacrifice and knew what needed to be done. "Is there any word from the Major?"

"Yes he wants us to take out those mortar teams, stationed around the entrance." Ilkez said to him.  

With a salute Chiecra crept over to the largest hole. Peeking through it he had a perfect view of the mortar teams and some machine gun nests. Ilkez sat next to him covering his left. His hole was at the far right of the fuel tank. He looked through the scope setting his sights on the first mortar team. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a group of Vestrisian soldiers taken prisoner. The Nazdar's hostages were tied up and forced through the underworld’s entrance. For one-second Chiecra believed his eyes were playing tricks on his mind. He got a short glimpse of long brown hair. He blinked his eyes once to be sure of what he really saw, but the long hair had disappeared along with the other prisoners.

He then set his gaze on the enemy mortar teams. He aimed straight for an officer giving out orders. His first shot brought the man down to the ground. The next target was about to load another shell when Chiecra shot him in the neck. Blood splattered out of the Nazdar's throat as he died. Ilkez got the third one for Chiecra. The cadet angled his rifle to seek out more mortar teams. He wasted little time with his other shots, four quick shots. Ilkez shot three more, decimating a third mortar team.

A voice came through the tube from outside. "Great job, There's only half of them left!"

The two snipers continued their hunt for the mortar teams. Chiecra found the fourth one in a dug out trench. He could only see the tops of their helmets. He counted seven heads with the grey helmets. He picked them off one at a time until he was forced to reload. He knew he shot two of them. He heard Ilkez fire a few shots while he reloaded. Reloaded and ready Chiecra jumped into position to kill more. Checking on the mortar team, he noticed there were five men left.

“That's strange, I thought Ilkez shot them?" He pondered before resuming his killing spree. Amongst the kills, he gunned down two machine gunners. Once the last of the mortar teams were killed the whistling rounds stopped dropping on the Vestrisians.

"Well done, Chiecra!" Ilkez complemented lightly punching him. Liviscart looked out then dropped to the floor covering his head.

 "Get down!" Liviscart hollered at the group.

They did not pause to ask why the two soldiers acted quickly. Just as they dropped to their bellies, the fuel tank’s hull tore open. The Nazdar apparently possessed rocket launchers. Viktorov climbed into the torn open fuel tank followed by seven other Vestrisians They all dropped to the floor to avoid enemy fire. All ten of them popped up to exchange fire with the enemy. They faced an entire company of eighty men. From the rapid shooting by the ten Vestrisians the Nazdar company were escattered by the smaller force aided by unseen help in the wreckage.

The shootout lasted for about twelve minutes as more Nazdar came running into the fight from the hills and the entrance. The Vanguards held them off gunning multiple enemies down. They got out and charged the Nazdar positions. They found several more Nazdar in foxholes and behind large rocks. Each of them killed the scum with a steel blade to the throat. Several scores of Vestrisian Vanguards came out of their hiding spots to join the ten Vestrisians. Major Hawke and Kouthra gathered the remaining survivors of the assault. There were nearly seventy men standing before the two commanders, with scores upon scores of dead Nazdar all about them. The company stood in front of the massive entrance before them. It was dark save for a few torch lights barely lighting the way down the spiral tunnel. Chiecra was the first to enter the underworld as they descended some stairs.