Devil's Due (Destroyermen #12)(86)
Besides Taal-Gaak and his cavalry men and ’Cats, the surrounding prairie presented the sharpest contrast of all. It was almost as flat as the table Choon leaned against, and except for the distant hills and blue line of the Teetgak Forest far to the north, a vast sea of riotous flowers of every imaginable color rippled in the breeze as far as the eye could see. And flitting among them in great, heaving swarms were broad-winged insects just as vibrant, and apparently benign, as the flowers they so manically attended. She knew the land was cut and gouged by ravines and draws, but none were visible from where she stood. It was beautiful, and unlike anything she’d expected to find in the land of the Grik. Herds of enormous animals, similar to others she knew but much, much larger, grazed on the colorful plain. Most paid little heed to the invasive host. There were some frightening creatures, to be sure; large predators like Borno super lizards, but even they avoided the army for the most part. Bekiaa suspected their instinctual memory had taught them to avoid swarms of hunting Grik, and that was an advantage. It should also have served as a warning to her comrades, but they were content with the fact and unconcerned by the implications. Most interesting and frustrating of all, however, regardless of the abundance of life on the Gaughala prairie, was that they’d encountered very few Grik.
“We have looked, Generaal,” Taal-Gaak said almost plaintively. “We have looked everywhere and found no concentration of the enemy beyond Agut.” He blinked. “Other villages have been located. Quite a few, in fact. Most are along the coast, discovered by Third Army, but Second Army, paralleling our march to the west, has found some as well.” He paused, blinking consternation. “All were praac-tically empty,” he added, “with the exception of some, ah”—he looked at Bekiaa—“Griklets, I believe they’ve been termed. Naasty little brutes.” He continued looking at Bekiaa and Courtney. “There was considerable evidence of death, however. Much blood was splashed about, but few corpses were found.”
“They’ll have dragged the dead along as rations, I shouldn’t wonder,” Courtney stated grimly.
“Indeed,” Taal agreed, blinking disgust. “The clear impression was that the Grik departed in a hurry and slew all who couldn’t travel. That suggests, despite our diligence at Agut, they know we are coming.”
General Kim grunted. It also implied that there couldn’t have been a great many Grik left in the area in the first place. He looked at Bekiaa and Courtney as well. So far, their assessment, based on Courtney’s observations in Madagascar and communiqués from the distant Cowflop at Grik City, had been borne out, and they’d pushed the combined Armies of the Republic, now numbering almost seventy-five thousand troops, all the way to Agut—the first real Grik city they’d expected to find before they met any opposition at all.
There had been Grik at Agut, perhaps as many as five thousand, living in a typical, sprawling adobe warren. And there’d been a garrison of sorts, numbering about a thousand. Taal’s cavalry quickly enveloped the village in an impressively professional manner, and very few of its inhabitants could’ve escaped. But when General Bahadur’s 9th Legion, leading Raakel’s 18th, with two more legions in reserve, were tasked with taking the town, it hadn’t been the walkover everyone expected. Bekiaa got to see two batteries of the Republic’s vaunted artillery in action for the first time, and it was very impressive, but the Grik returned fire with a handful of guns of their own—with exploding case shot that no one had known they had. Worse, when the 9th and 18th, already thinned by the Grik artillery before it was finally silenced, rolled in to sweep away the depleted defenders, they’d been slammed by volleys of musket fire. The muskets were only smoothbores, but they’d taken an unexpectedly fearful toll before the Repubs, still remarkably unshaken, finally came to grips. That was when everything changed. For the first time, besides Silva and Courtney’s escapade in Madagascar, Allied troops came face-to-face with what could only be described as professional Grik soldiers. Most terrifying of all, they fought like defending soldiers—until Repub numbers tipped the scale. Then, to the horror of the uninitiated Republic troops, they reverted to fighting like Grik that wouldn’t run away.
The 6th had the worst of it, and lost more troops in the melee of slashing teeth, claws, bayonets, and sickle-shaped swords than they already had to that point—until a reserve legion raced to reinforce them and the 9th wheeled and slammed the defenders from the flank and behind. All the holdouts were skilled at last, except a couple hundred that rampaged through the city, destroying the noncombatants—who had apparently gathered to offer themselves for slaughter! Bekiaa and Courtney had seen that before. They tried to explain, to get more troops sent in to prevent the massacre, but Kim didn’t understand at first. The exhausted and shaken men and ’Cats who’d made the assault saw what was happening but were too dazed and shaken by what they’d endured to intervene without orders. And, frankly, they couldn’t care less what happened to the rest of the Grik in Agut as long as they didn’t have to fight them anymore. When it was over, and the 9th and 20th finally occupied the city, the 18th had been decimated, and only a few Grik, all warriors, were left to kill.
No other survivors were discovered except the usual crazed Griklets their own kind couldn’t catch. Warrior Grik began their training from birth. Those destined to be Uul laborers were penned and fed, growing utterly dependent on their masters. Some, destined to be upper-class Hij, essentially ran wild until “domesticated,” again by offerings of food they didn’t have to hunt or scrounge. That was when they were taught a trade. All Griklets were dangerous, and only Isak Reuben, Walker’s chief engineer, ever—briefly—tamed one. No one here, except possibly Courtney, had the inclination to duplicate Isak’s feat, and Courtney didn’t even suggest it. The Griklets at Agut were shot on sight.