Zuret ran Rosi, Rebellion-Held Aviye
Zai
Zai had five shots in the magazine.
In her rush to leave, she hadn't checked that any others were loaded onto her frame's belt, and so she needed to wait for the right moment to maximize her firepower.
So she waited, trying to count, to remember how many soldiers the Kingdom tended to send per truck. Her mind came up with two squads per truck, plus drivers, and maybe the inspection team, which tended to be one to four political officers. That brought her mental estimate up to twenty. Twenty lives she needed to end to keep the villagers safe...
But another thought crept in. She had a mission. Something more important than a village of two-dozen families... She didn't have to fight for them, and they knew it. She could choose to walk away and hope they forgave her. They knew her, after all. She'd taught many of their kids and even some adults how to read and write. How to see the ways the Hegemony exploited their people for generations... and all that she'd built with them could end because of one inspection gone awry...
Zai had a choice... She chose to stay.
Her opportunity to save them came sooner than she thought as the enemy inspector had the village elder dragged before him before he started talking, his voice muffled by distance and moisture, but he was loud enough that Zai could hear him demand to know where the rebels were, and threaten her with execution.
She gave wordless thanks for the mist for helping her stay hidden as she watched the shadow-play of shouting, the officer's arm moving suddenly as he backhanded her. He pointed at her and at the villagers as he kept going, on and on until with a sudden jerk of her body the village leader spat, and Zai smiled at the realization she'd hit her mark.
The officer, rather than strike her again, started pointing elsewhere, and the woman was dragged away, several soldiers appearing with rifles unslung.
That could only mean one thing... a firing squad.
Zai stood off of the wall, trying to remember the layout of the village. She had mere moments to get into position, and so she tried as quietly as she could to cross the street, coming so close she clearly heard when the officer shouted, "Ready!"
She leapt up into the rubble of the building, thankful for the sturdy stone foundations made to withstand the seasonal floods.
"Aim!"
She spotted the soldiers. A line that would be perpendicular to her if she got to the right spot. She'd only get one chance. The soldiers were so intent on their sights not one of them turned towards the sounds of the rubble shifting as she leapt. She focused on where she'd need to keep the rifle level to maximize her chances, landing right as the officer choked in surprise on the final word as Zai landed heavily, anticipating the hydraulics so accurately she knew when the right moment to pull the trigger was.
Fire.
Zai's gun roared, its shot passing through the entire line of soldiers, ten men flattening in various states of disintegration as a cone of red mist colored the air. With her frame's joints so loose, the recoil sent Zai shuffling out of control until she came up, firing a shot that missed the officer aiming his pistol at her but sent him sprawling anyways as the blast threw him to the ground. The remaining soldiers were in different states of shock, some plinking away at her with rifles while others just stood there. Zai felt heat in her leg before she realized she needed to move, and she leveraged her frame's speed to dash behind another raised foundation.
Once there, she knelt and looked down, spotting blood blossoming on her upper thigh.
A pair of soldiers came around the foundation in front of her and she immediately surged forward, her back-leg coming up in a front snap kick that sent one against the building before she beamed the second in the head with the barrel of her gun.
With both of them down, she decided the only way she was getting out alive was to take out the remaining enemies before she passed out.
"Twelve down," she whispered at herself, trying to summon up the focus she needed.
She stepped forward just enough to spot one of the trucks and ran for it, holding her arm in position to deflect the bullets that immediately came her way as she made for the cover, spotting six of the remaining soldiers around the officer. She reached the truck to find one soldier, likely the driver, huddling inside. He panicked when she came around, aiming his rifle, only to miss twice before Zai seized him in the frame's massive hand, arcing back around the vehicle and throwing him at his comrades like a screaming doll.
She bowled three of the enemy over before aiming her rifle, only to stop as she saw the captain holding a villager by the hair, his pistol aimed at her neck.
He chuckled, before laughing in a gasping, victorious sneer. "I knew it. This whole village is full of spies." His men started shooting and Zai crunched her frame forward, shielding herself with her arm. They started stepping forward, putting themselves between her and the villagers as they kept up the pressure.
She tried to think. She couldn't move without getting shot, and she couldn't shoot without hitting the people behind them.
Before she could take action, she heard a scream.
From the side, the village leader came charging in, firing a gun into the soldiers that were approaching Zai. The officer turned his pistol on her and fired, taking her in the shoulder. He was about to fire again when an older man grabbed his arm and bore downwards. The villagers had stood, charging the inspection team and beating them with bare fists and kicking with shoe-less feet.
Some went to grab the rifles of the fallen execution squad, and it was these that drew the attention of the remaining soldiers, drawing enough of their fire that Zai risked standing, battering into them with a swing of her rifle and following on with her frame's left fist.
And just like that, the battle ended.
Zai stood tall, her heart beating so loud she wondered if it was possible for the organ to burst. The villagers moved about, gathering up weapons and checking that the Kingdom soldiers were really dead. Two shots rang out, one for the driver Zai had thrown and the other driver, who was caught when he tried to turn on his truck fully to make his escape.
The villagers surrounded her too, thanking her until she started to undo her harness, falling out of her frame and crying out as she felt her wounded leg give. A couple of villagers caught her, helping her to her feet and calling for bandages and alcohol.
There was no need for dignity as she was laid down and treated. She pulled her own belt off to bite down on before the alcohol was applied, pulling out her knife she tried to hand it off but then settled on digging the bullet out herself once it became obvious the pair treating her were too squeamish.
She bit the belt once more and worked through the pain. Thankfully the bullet had hit flesh but not damaged the leg too much. She didn't have to dig for long before extracting it and letting the villagers apply alcohol and bandages.
Zai fully intended to catch up to her squad despite the injury, which would mean she'd likely have to stay in her frame for the whole march.
After minutes of pain, Zai sat up to find the village chief walking up to her, supported by a young woman Zai couldn't remember the name of.
"Hi, Auntie. Sorry for the surprise," Zai rasped as the woman neared. She pulled up her pants, careful of the bandages, and started buckling herself.
"Almost scared me to death..." she replied, her voice shaky but strong. "Seeing those men die... I thought I was in a nightmare."
"We all are," the girl supporting her by her arm said.
"Hush, Quynh," the matron replied. "We need to talk so I can decide what to do quickly."
"Are there any more that we missed?" Zai asked.
"No, but there will be more. I was told they radioed out when they found Sh'zi's jacket... Lahn and Kaila were... killed."
Zai flinched, lowering her face mournfully. Sh'zi's parents deserved better. "What will you do now?"
"I was hoping you'd have some help for us. Can we stay at your base?" The village chief asked.
The Captain started to shake her head then paused. "We were about to head out. That spy we brought in has to be brought to Command, so we cannot protect you... I'm sorry."
"I didn't ask because we need your protection. I want the village to take the training you started seriously," she gestured at the villagers with her free arm. "That means a place to train, assuming our friends in Lutis will let us live there. Quynh was the only one that remembered the medical training, it seems." she tried to gesture with her wounded arm, only to wince as her shoulder pained her.
Zai thought for a moment, then decided. "Use the base. Just try not to use the radio equipment unless it's an emergency..." She remembered the trucks and looked at them. "Do you have people that can drive?"
"A couple." She followed Zai's gaze and her eyes widened in understanding. "I see."
Zai nodded, then tried to stand. Quynh let go of the chief to help her, supporting Zai when her leg refused to take her weight. "Lutis village is friendly to the cause... you'd be much farther away from the Kingdom too."
The chief nodded her approval.
Zai turned to Quynh. "Mind helping me into my frame? I need to catch up to my squad."
Quynh huffed. "I don't think you're going anywhere on that leg, frame or no."
"Quynh, was it? I was fighting in my frame even after I got shot. I think I can handle it."
"What you think isn't going to make that leg hold you up now that you aren't fighting." Quynh reached down and grabbed tightly around Zai's leg wound, making her swear and hop on her good leg trying to dislodge her. "Sh'zi trained me more than anyone else, and she also taught me not to let idiots think they are invincible."
Zai was dumbstruck. She'd heard similar speeches from Sh'zi, the squad's medic, in the past. It would have brought tears to her eyes if she wasn't already crying from the pain.
The chief cleared her throat. "I think you're forgetting something."
Now it was Zai's turn to follow her gaze.