D. MacHale - The Soldiers of Halla

Courtney lifted her link cube. The command to launch the counterattack was hers to give. “All units, prepare to release,” she ordered.

I watched her scanning the scene below, calculating. I glanced to Kasha. Kasha shrugged. She didn’t have any better idea of what was about to happen than I did.

Courtney looked to us and said, “If we’re lucky, this is going to get ugly.”

She brought the link cube to her mouth and gave the order. “Three

… two… one… release!”

“Release what?” I asked.

My answer came in the form of a high, shrill whistle. It was soon joined by another. And another. Soon the piercing whistle sound filled the valley, echoing off the stone face of the surrounding mountains. Looking at the klees, I saw that the sound didn’t affect them at all. They continued their march.

“It didn’t work,” Boon fretted. “They aren’t stopping.”

“Hang on,” Courtney said with patience.

Whatever was supposed to happen wasn’t happening. The whistle sound continued, growing in pitch and in volume. I felt bad for any stray dogs that might have been wandering around. Not that there were any dogs on Eelong.

That’s when I remembered. I had heard a whistle like that before. On Eelong. There may not have been dogs on this territory, but there were other animals. Was it possible? Was this the final defense that the gars had pinned their hopes on?

A second later they struck. The forest that surrounded the base of the mountains came to life. Leaping from the dark confines of the trees were… tangs. Hundreds of them. They had appeared from nowhere, and they looked pissed. The klee officer held up his hand to signal his soldiers, but they already knew. They were surrounded by a ring of angry tangs. The first line of klees stopped, which meant the rest of the army bunched up behind them. In seconds the klee army had gone from a tight, formidable force, to a group of confused cats. Obviously, they hadn’t expected this, which is exactly what the gars had been counting on.

Courtney glanced back at me with a sly smile and said, “We stopped battling tangs and learned how to train them.”

I thought back to when I had been treed by the tang, when I first got back to Eelong. That thing was just as vicious as any tang I had ever seen, and I had no doubt it would have ripped me apart if it hadn’t been for the gar that called him off-with a whistle. The gar had petted the snout of the subdued beast. The carnivorous lizard had become as docile as my dog, Marley. From that one event I had learned that the gars could calm the tangs. From what I saw below, they could also fire them up.

The klees turned outward to defend themselves. They raised their weapons to protect against the rampage. It was too little, too late. The vicious tangs descended on the klees like a swarm of hungry locusts. There was a bloodlust going on that actually turned my stomach. Courtney’s prediction came true. It got ugly. I couldn’t watch. Looking to Kasha and Boon, I saw that they had to turn away as well. These were their brothers down there. As misguided as they may have been, these soldiers were still klees. Saint Dane’s influence put them on a violent path, and that violence was now being turned back on them. They were slaughtered.

There was no other word for it. I heard the tortured screams of the cats as they desperately tried to fend off the tangs, or to flee. The tangs were merciless. I was grateful to be as far away as we were, because I couldn’t imagine hearing the sounds of tearing flesh. And chewing. And death.

Some klees escaped. The officers on zenzens were the first to bolt. They galloped back toward the newly cut gap and out of the valley as fast as their zenzens would take them. A few were hunted down before their zenzens got up to speed. The tangs leaped at them and took them down violently. Several stragglers managed to escape. A running klee was faster than a running tang. I can’t judge how many got away, but it wasn’t many. The rest fell to the teeth and talons.

The battle didn’t last long. The event was swift and violent. Within minutes hundreds of klee bodies lay in their own blood, being devoured by tangs. I guess that’s justice for you. The klees came to eat the gars, and instead, they found themselves on the menu.

Kasha’s voice quivered when she said, “I do not know if I should be repulsed… or thrilled.”

Another whistle sounded. Different pitch. Different frequency. The trained tangs instantly gathered together and trotted back into the forest from where they’d come, looking suddenly docile… and satiated. In minutes, all that was left of the massive klee assault on Black Water was a gap blown into the mountains, seven destroyed gigs, a pile of fried dados, and the bodies of hundreds of half-eaten klees.

The attack had been an absolute and total failure. Courtney pulled the earpiece from her ear and turned to me. The relief on her face was obvious. “Guess it worked.” It was over. The klees had come knocking and the gars shut the door. The four of us hurried back for the elevator and descended quickly into Black Water. When we exited the elevator tunnel, we witnessed a scene of total joy. It was pandemonium. This was a war they had been preparing for for a long time. It had ended in complete victory. The four of us stood at the mouth of the tunnel, looking down the slope into the village. We didn’t join the celebration. That would have been tricky, considering Boon and Kasha were klees. We had to make do with witnessing it from afar.

The village was in an uproar. People cheered. Music played over loudspeakers. Gars hugged Yanks. People were kissing. The radio cannons that minutes before had been set to protect the first ring of buildings were laid down, and their shooters were dancing joyously. It was an outpouring of positive emotion like I had never seen before. It reminded me of when we had prevented the klees from poisoning Black Water so many years before… times twenty.

I could only imagine the positive spirit that was flooding into Solara.

The gars had been living under the threat of the klees for a long time. I had no doubt that with this battle, the klees would think twice before attacking again. For the Yanks, the exiles, this was a moment of victory for them as well. They had to know the connection between Ravinia and the klees. They saw the flags and the uniforms as clearly as I did. It didn’t matter that they were being worn by cats. It was Ravinia, the people who had banished them from their own home. I hoped they got some satisfaction in having struck a blow back at them.

Courtney put her arms around me. The two of us stood there, holding each other, enjoying the celebration.

“Unbelievable,” I said.

“No, it isn’t,” she replied. “It’s proof that Ravinia isn’t all-powerful.”

There was something about those words that struck a note with me. It was a thought I couldn’t fully grab on to, but it started me thinking. The gars and the Yanks had proven that Ravinia wasn’t all-powerful. Interesting.

“Shorty?” came a familiar voice.

We all turned quickly to see a tall, dark-skinned man standing near the mouth of the cave. It was Gunny. He was still wearing the dark suit, white shirt, and tie that was his normal outfit on First Earth. He seemed totally out of place here on Eelong. The tall, soft-spoken man walked over to us, and in his usual calm, soft voice said, “Morning, Kasha. Boon. Hello there, young lady.” He said this last to Courtney. “You’re growing up more beautiful than I imagined.”

“Good to see you, Gunny.”

Gunny looked down at the celebration and asked, “What happened?”

“The klees attacked and the gars turned them back,” I answered. “It was incredible.”