Out of Space 375 The Joker

SDF Corporeal Bock grit his teeth hard as he raised his rifle up vertically to parry the downswing of the Imperial Knight's sword stroke. The impact force between the sword and the rifle's metal and wood forestock surprised Bock as the weight behind the sword was a lot heavier than he expected from the Knight.

He strained his muscles trained from wielding a blacksmith hammer against the Knight and pushed the Knight to slide a step back. The concrete bunker floor was slick with the blood of his men when the Imperials Knights suddenly leaped over the walls and barged into the bunkers, killing everyone they met.

Bock took a quick glance around him and saw his remaining two men fending off another Imperial Knight, meaning that no one was free to give him a helping hand against his opponent. The Knight suddenly switched his sword stance and held his long sword single handedly. The Knight threw a punch at Bock's face with his gauntleted left fist which Bock managed to jerk his head to the side, taking a glancing blow to his helmet.

The punch made both men step away and they glared at each other, trying to find an opening. Bock held his rifle across his chest like a staff. The rifle's length was too long to fire as his opponent was in close melee range with him while his sword bayonet hung uselessly at his side. His opponent did not give him any chance to draw his bayonet out as his opponent constantly stabbed and slashed at Bock.

Bock was at a disadvantage as his opponent was heavily armored from head to toe, while he was just dressed in a cloth uniform and leather load bearing webbing. The only armored part of him was his head!

The Imperial Knight suddenly stepped back, catching Bock off guard. It was the opening the Knight needed and with lightning speed, the Knight lunged and his sword stabbed into the meaty left bicep of Bock when he tried to twist his way out of the attack.

Bock could feel the coldness of the steel inside his body before a burning pain threatened to make him drop his rifle. At this distance, Bock could see into the 'T' shaped opening of the Imperial's helm and the eyes that stared back out were full of mockery and disdain.

Bock roared loudly as he ignored the pain and butt stroke with his rifle using all his might at the face of the gloating Imperial Knight. He could see the Imperial's eyes widened in surprise as his pupils tracked Bock's movement, following the upswing of the rifle and the Imperial tried to step back.

But the distance was too close and solid wooden stock slammed into the side of the metal helm with a loud clang. The metal helm dented inwards and the rifle snapped into two from the force of the impact.

Blood spurted out from within the Knight's helm and the Imperial stumbled backward. Bock's hands were numbed from the shock of the impact and blood loss of his wound. He discarded his useless rifle and pulled out his sword bayonet, ready to go down with a fight.

The Imperial cursed and pulled his dented helmet off his head and flung the helmet at Bock. The Imperial screamed and charged forward, swinging his sword in an arc that would take off Bock's head.

Bock accidentally parried off the thrown helmet with his wounded arm, making him cry out in pain. He ducked under the swing of the sword and bull rushed the Imperial, using his larger frame to his advantage.

The armored Imperial was slammed onto the hard concrete floor with a loud crash while Bock mounted him. Both men started to tumble and wrestle on the blood slick ground. Bock was at least one size larger than his opponent but his opponent had magic to boost his abilities.

He angled his bayonet over the Imperial's exposed throat and leaned his full body weight down while his opponent strained with all his enhanced strength to stop the bayonet from going down.

Both glared and struggled without a word, panting and grunting as they exerted all their strength. Bock suddenly gave a yell and used his whole body like a hammer and slammed down on the bayonet which tip just pierced the skin of the Imperial.

"NOO!" The Imperial's eyes turned to fear. "ST...OP!"

"FA...aa..rk... you!" Bock hissed and jerk slammed his body down again, forcing the bayonet deeper into the throat of the Imperial Knight.
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"U-rggkk!!" The Imperial coughed and gurgled as blood filled his throat, yet he did not give up his struggle to live. "S- gujggg!"

With a final slam, Bock shoved the entire bayonet through the soft tissue and bone of the Imperial till the tip hit the concrete floor. He stared back at the grey blue eyes of the Imperial soldier as life slowly drained out of him till the light in the Imperial's eyes went out.

Bock sucked in a deep breath as he relaxed his whole body. He suddenly jerked up when he heard a cry of pain and a loud thud and saw one of his men had fallen against the fight with the other remaining Imperial Knight.

He quickly dragged himself over to one of the rifles belonging to the dead and worked the bolt with one hand. He laid the rifle over the cooling body of the dead Imperial and fired one handedly at the other Imperial Knight.

The sudden crack of the rifle was deafening in the enclosed bunker and the Imperial Knight facing off the last men of Bock's squad, slumped down against the wall and remained unmoving.

"Holy heavens!" The last soldier of Bock's squad cried out in relief. "I thought I will be seeing the Gates! Thanks for the save, Corp!"

"Help me... tie... up this wound..." Bock hissed as he leaned his back against the wall.

"Oh shit!" The private cursed and quickly dig out a roll of bandage and started dressing Bock's wound. "You need a healer! This wound looks very bad!"

"No... time!" Bock grimaced from the sense of light headed feeling as he stood up with the help of the private. "We need... to stop them!"

The SDF private looked around the bunker covered in blood and bodies and swallowed nervously. "How are two of us going to fight against them? Look just what two Imperial Knights did to our squad! We will be just going to our deaths!"

"Than... you stay... here!" Bock sighed as he felt his strength failing. "I didn't... save Falledge... to lose it... to the Imperials... again!"

He pushed past the other and stumbled to the bunker's exit which the reinforced steel doors were blown open by the Imperial Knight's spells earlier. A short flight of stairs led up towards the walls and Bock made the climb as fast as he could and as he exited at the top, he saw the rear courtyard behind the walls in disarray.

Pockets of SDF infantry in their khaki brown uniforms held their ground against the blue silver Imperial Knights. Broken bodies of both sides laid amidst the wreckage of the courtyard while gunsmoke lingered and flashes of spells and gunfire flickered here and there.

The Imperial Knights were playing with the frightened SDF infantry as they dart in and out of the smoke cover. Sometimes an SDF trooper will scream as a sword or spell claimed a life and the infantry square will contract even tightly together.

Bock muttered a curse under his breath, as he could see what the besieged troops couldn't see. The gunsmoke lingering on the ground hid most of the Imperial Knights from the SDF who thought they were surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of enemies.

"What is happening?" The private had followed Bock out, carrying his rifle with a determined look on his face. "Why are they falling back?"

"They can't see the enemy!" Bock said and pointed. "There's barely even a dozen Imperials down there! But the troops are too green and frightened!"

"We need to tell them!" The private said. "We got more men them those Imperials! We can kill them!"

"It's too disorganized down there!" Bock replied. "And I don't see any officers or radiomen around..."

Bock turned and looked around the wall and saw other bunkers further down the wall were still active as gunfire could be seen coming out from the gun slits. He looked at his wound, seeing the bandages had already turned dark crimson and he knew he was in no condition to run down to the courtyard to rally any troops.

"Corp!" The private suddenly yelled and pointed down. "What are they doing? Pillaging the dead?"

Bock turned and frowned as he saw several Imperials appeared to be sifting through the bodies. The Imperials could be seen stripping the kit off the dead SDF soldiers and picking up their rifles. "No... they... they are taking... our guns!"

"Stop them!" Bock hissed and he leaned against the parapet, resting the rifle and using his good arm to shoot. The private next to him follow suit and they fired aimed shots down at the group of Imperials.

Surprised by the sudden attack, the Imperials immediately stopped their actions and ran, some of them even dropping the items in their arms. Despite having the drop on the Imperials, between Bock and the private, they only managed to hit one of the Imperials while the rest skittered away and the lingering smoke covered their escape.

At this time, the main gates of the city swung open and a large troop of SDF soldiers rushed out and the tide was turned. The Imperials seeing the reinforcements pouring out from the city, could only retreat and like before, they used spells to leap over the fortifications and grabbed any riderless mounts still pacing around the battlefield and retreated back towards the forest.

Bock watched the Imperials retreat with a heavy heart and he was about to go look for a healer when a voice cut suddenly spoke. The voice was neither too soft or loud, yet everyone on the walls could hear the person's words.

Everyone turned and saw a figure standing on top of one of the bunkers. "Hehehehe... Did you all low lives scum enjoyed today's activities?"

The figure was wearing an ornate looking armor without a helmet, exposing his pale smiling handsome face. On his belt hung two daggers instead of a sword. He stood there without a care at the number of rifles aiming at him and he looked to the skies, "The smell of blood and death is... so exciting don't you all think?"

"Do you want to know why I use a dagger? Swords are too quick. You can't savor all the… little emotions..." The smiling Imperial said. "You see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are. So in a way, I know your friends better than you ever did."

The Imperial laughed and cast a mocking glance at the troops below him, "Would you like to know which of them were cowards?"

His words made the SDF soldiers confused as they looked at each other. An SDF officer pushed his way past the troops and aimed his revolver at the Imperial. "Surrender! Or die!"

"Very poor choice of words." The Imperial Knight gave a dramatic sigh and there was a flash of silver and a dagger magically appeared in the throat of the SDF officer who clenched his throat, as he gagged in his own blood.

For a moment everyone just saw in stunned silence at the sudden death of the officer until someone recovered their senses and yelled. "SHOOT HIM!"

Hundreds of rifles thundered as the SDF troops jolted to action fired at the laughing Imperial who jumped backward off the bunker. "Is it just me or is it getting crazier out here?"

"Hahahahahaa! Remember me! I am The Joker!"

Chapter end