by Jan Domagala
Stryder recognised them instantly as two of the Marines who had received the serum. He had no idea how he knew, just that he knew. Almost like when a soldier recognises another in a crowd due to shared experiences and training, Stryder just knew that these two Marines had received the serum. It might not be the same serum that was administered to him, and it might not have the same effect on them as it had on him, but they had definitely been given a variation of it.
“Fuck!” Hardy said when she saw them. She too recognised that these were not just guards but soldiers like her and therefore would pose a bigger threat and harder obstacle to overcome.
“Don’t move!” said one of them as they both brought their assault rifles down to aim at Stryder and Hardy.
Before any of them could react, Stryder dived at the two Marines so fast that even with their enhanced reflexes they didn’t have time to react.
Their assault rifles went spinning from their hands as they were sent crashing into the corridor wall. Stryder landed heavily on top of them and aimed a fist into the face of the nearest one smashing through the Marine’s helmet visor and breaking his nose and teeth. Blood spurted out and covered the man’s face.
Snatching the Marine’s dagger free from its sheath Stryder rammed it up into the chin of the other Marine, the blade penetrated the skin under his chin and thrust up into his brain severing the brain stem and killing him instantly. Pulling the blade free he slashed it across the throat of the other Marine before he had the chance to react after the punch to his face. The force of the blow to the throat slashed open the carotid artery sending a spray of arterial blood several feet into the air to splash across the walls of the corridor.
The entire action took less than three seconds and at the end of it two Marines lay dead. Hardy was absolutely amazed at the swiftness and severity of Stryder’s action.
Getting to his feet Stryder said, “Couldn’t afford to let them take us or to live. They had the serum inside them and with it the Alliance could make more like them. Soon we’d be facing an army of soldiers that can heal themselves and are faster and stronger than all of our regular troops.”
“You don’t have to validate your actions to me Kurt, I totally agree with you. I just never thought you could move so fast,” she replied.
“Our only chance is that the serum hasn’t taken full effect on them or they haven’t yet learned just how to access their new abilities. Nevertheless, it’s our only chance to be able to combat them as equals,” Stryder said, running multiple scenarios through his mind as he spoke to Hardy.
“We’ll have to be careful, I think the others could be close by,” he said after a moment’s hesitation.
“What makes you think that?” she asked
“It seemed strange that the guards’ aim was so off when they fired at us. They had infrared visors don’t forget so they could see us clearly. They should have hit us on a few occasions yet they didn’t. They came close enough for us to think they were aiming at us but now I think that they weren’t. I think they were simply herding us in the direction they wanted us to go and now we’ve made contact with the Marines it’s obvious where they wanted us,” he explained.
“Here?” Hardy said still not quite seeing the full picture.
“Yes, here, where the Marines could capture us. Don’t you see they still want us alive to manufacture the serum from my blood?”
“He’s right you know,” Anders said from farther down the corridor. He appeared around the bend just as the first two had, and he also had his assault rifle at high port across his chest. “Captain Stryder is a very valuable commodity.” Anders added then lowering his assault rifle said, “You, on the other hand, are not,” and he shot her full in the chest on maximum power. The plasma bolt hit her square in the middle of her chest and burned through as it picked her up and smashed her against the door through which they had just come leaving a trail of her life’s blood in the air. As she hit the door she bounced off leaving a gory smear of her blood over the impact zone. She died instantly, her young life ripped from her in the blink of an eye.
Stryder saw Anders drop his rifle to aim at them but never expected what was to come. He saw him tighten his finger on the trigger and in total disbelief saw him fire the weapon. His head spun around to see Hardy, the woman he had grown to love, struck by the full power of the plasma bolt and die before his very eyes.
A million emotions raced through him at the sight of the young woman being killed before him. The fact that he had been powerless to save her was etched on his mind forever. Firstly, total shock as he watched the plasma bolt strike her, lift her off her feet and slam her broken body into the wall, and watching her slide down that wall as her life’s blood traced her path to the floor. Then disbelief as he couldn’t conceive what his eyes had seen and finally a rage like he had never felt before, and probably never would again, overwhelmed him. A rage he could not control and which would only be satiated by the death of the man who murdered his love.
Slowly, he returned his gaze to Anders, the man he would soon kill.
“You will come with us Captain Stryder, you have no choice,” Anders said.
“Wrong,” Stryder said and he leapt at them covering the distance in a single bound. Landing on top of Anders he ripped the assault rifle out of his hands and as they crashed to the floor he hurled it from him. He was going to kill him, of that he was certain, and it would be with his bare hands.
Springing to his feet he spun around and with a spinning back kick kicked the first unsuspecting Marine squarely in the chest sending him crashing into the wall. Placing his foot down, he spun and kicked the other Marine sending him crashing into the other wall opposite. As he bounced off, Stryder struck him beneath his helmet across his throat crushing his oesophagus. The Marine went down clutching at his throat trying to force air into his lungs.
The other Marine lunged at Stryder, who blocked the attempt and grabbed his head in both hands then twisted it violently one hundred and eighty degrees snapping the man’s neck like a twig. He died instantly and fell to the floor in a heap. Stryder stepped over to the choking Marine and dispensed of him in the same way. Then, stepping over the body, he stood in front of Anders who by this time had regained his feet and had been forced to watch the destruction of his team by one man. Unlike his teammates his helmet had fallen off when Stryder had collided with him so he had no protection for his head, something that bothered him even more in seeing how swiftly Stryder had dispatched his two colleagues who were both wearing theirs.
“See, I do have a choice,” said Stryder.
Anders in desperation attacked Stryder with a series of punches.
Stryder carried on talking as he deftly evaded each punch with ease.
“You see if you had kept Hardy alive, that’s the young woman you shot by the way,” he said as he ducked beneath a haymaker right cross then blocked a series of left and right jabs, “then I might have had no choice but to do as you wanted to preserve her life. Killing her took that edge away.”
Anders sent a straight right punch aimed at his head and because the serum was beginning to take effect the power he put into it would have demolished a normal person’s face. Stryder simply swayed to one side allowing it to sail past his face. Grabbing the wrist and twisting to force the arm to go against the joint, he brought his other hand down on the upturned elbow, smashing it.
Anders let out a howl of agony, but instead of falling down in pain he threw another straight punch with his left arm with the same result. Stryder caught, twisted and then broke the elbow leaving his foe with two useless arms.
“Now then, I’ll give you the same choice you gave Hardy shall I? Oh and by the way, if you’re wondering who she was, I’ll tell you. She was going to be my wife!” His voice rose at the end so that the last seven words were shouted in rage into the face of the man before him.
Stryder struck Anders on the point of his nose in an upward palm heel strike which pushed his nose straight u
p into his brain killing him instantly.
“I wanted you to suffer, to feel my pain, but I don’t have the time,” Stryder said as he watched him fall straight-legged to the floor.
“Besides, I’m going to kill everyone else in this building and that’s gonna take some time,” he added as he stepped over the dead body and walked away down the corridor holding an assault rifle in one hand, a Sig P996 in his other and hate and rage in his heart. He intended to do harm to every man he saw who belonged to the Alliance.
25
“I can’t wait any longer. We have to do something,” Hawk said as he came back to the bridge of the starship.
“Have you formulated a plan yet?” Storm asked as Hawk came to stand by him.
“How good are you and your men at orbital jumping?” Hawk asked with a smile.
“Cool, now we’re talking.” Private William (Hacker) Ives said. Although his speciality was computers, he was also somewhat of an adrenalin junkie.
Storm and Wayne were standing there also, the only other members of the squad that had been picked to come along, and they looked at Hacker with a puzzled expression.
“What?” Hacker said when he saw them. “It’s about time we did something positive instead of sitting on our asses up here like we have been doing.”
“Commander Parks, will we be able to initiate an orbital drop from one of the hatches if you get us close enough?” asked Hawk.
Parks spun around in the command chair and said, “You do realise we’ll have to drop our stealth shield to allow you to leave the ship?”
“Of course, but with luck we’ll be gone and clear in less than a second, hopefully you won’t show up as more than an anomaly on any sensor screen that might be looking in our direction.” explained Hawk.
“Okay then, I’ll get as close as we can without making it too easy to spot us when we drop the stealth shield. You get ready guys, we’ll wait on your call for pick up, although I have no idea how you intend to get back here,” Parks said.
“Come on guys we need to suit up for the jump. Oh and Commander, about the return trip, I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out,” Hawk said as he turned and led the way off the bridge.
“How did I know he was going to say that?” Cowboy said.
“Button it, Wayne,” Storm said with a slight smirk in his voice.
“Commander, contact Stryder and let him know we’re coming,” Hawk said. Then he left the bridge.
* * * * *
Stryder hadn’t gone far when the call came through to his NI on a combat frequency. “This is Commander Parks in orbit around the planet. Captains Hawk, Storm and two Recon Delta Marines from Captain Storm’s team are coming to help you and Miss Hardy off the planet.”
“Hardy is dead. How are they coming and how long before they arrive?” Stryder asked quickly, wanting to know all the details.
“They are making an orbital jump and should be there in moments, sir. They will contact you as soon as they get planet side.”
“An orbital jump, that means they’ll need transport off this planet. What contingencies have they made to get off the planet?”
“Captain Hawk will brief you on arrival, sir. Please stand by, Parks out.”
Stryder was more determined than ever to destroy the place and everyone in it. If Col Sec were here to rescue him then Sinclair had plans for him, probably just as bad as those the Alliance had. He was not going to allow himself to be used or abused any longer. There was no way he would allow this team to take him with them which meant he would have to make plans to ensure they got off here safely but without him. His previous plan of destroying the place and remaining inside was now out of the question and thinking about it brought him to his senses a little. Why should he sacrifice himself just to prevent them making use of the serum inside him? He would just have to think of some other way of depriving them of it.
He couldn’t let Storm and this Hawk die though as they had probably come to rescue him because he was a Recon Delta Marine same as them and the Delta lived by a code. One of the tenets stated was that they never left a soldier behind. If they had come to save him, then he would have to do what he could to ensure they got off the planet safely. Hardy’s death was already laying heavily on his mind. He might not be able to cope if his presence cost the lives of any more Delta Marines. That was something he might not be able to live with.
Using his NI he linked into the main computer once more and after a quick search found what he wanted.
“Okay guys, if you’re coming, the least I can do is prepare a welcome for you and arrange a way off this rock,” he said out loud to himself.
* * * * *
Norsky had accessed the computer and had been listening in to any available comm chatter to see where Stryder and Hardy were.
Explosions were going off around him as he made his way to Stryder’s last known destination. He was well aware that the facility was going to self-destruct soon. Somehow he had obtained that knowledge through his NI from the computer, and he also knew that General Solon was awaiting the arrival of Captain Anders’ team who had been sent to collect Stryder. He wasn’t sure how he had obtained all that information because surely any comm chatter between the two parties had been through closed, encrypted combat channels, unless his enhanced abilities had somehow enabled him to hack into the channels in question without him knowing. However, it had happened and he was not the type to look a gift horse in the mouth. He knew General Solon was waiting for him and it was commonsense to assume that he had transport ready and waiting to escort them away from the upcoming conflagration.
It also made sense for him to make his way to the General’s location, take Stryder away from the Marines and hand him over to Solon personally and thereby regain his position with him.
* * * * *
The four Marines were suited up with the jumpsuits incorporating the Rapier battle helmet, full face visor with breather unit that attached to the jump suit’s main breather unit, which was in the back pack they all wore. It also held the combat parachute made from light, durable material, which would open when the release button was hit and on landing retract back into the backpack.
Across their chest they each wore the Mk II Remm assault rifle and in a holster strapped under their left armpit they each had a Sig P996, both standard issue. Finally, in a sheath strapped to their left forearm was the Howell combat knife.
Their NIs would interface into the battle helmet’s computer which would then give them a HUD display on the inside of the helmet visor showing all relevant data they would want to call up, such as weather conditions and battle group deployments. Comm channels would be connected using the small, integrated transmitter.
Hawk gave the command and the stealth shield was dropped. The hatch opened and as one, they jumped. The hatch closed up immediately after their evacuation and the stealth shield was raised simultaneously.
Quickly they fell, fanning out into a delta wing formation their heads angled forward, their arms at their sides and legs together to minimise their radar silhouette. It also cut down on any drag so they would plummet through the upper atmosphere at an alarming rate. The suit would prevent friction or the freezing temperatures from being that high up in the atmosphere being a problem, keeping their core temperatures at normal as the onboard computer in the Rapier battle helmet monitored their vital signs constantly and relayed the data to the heating unit inside the jumpsuit.
Buffeted by the atmosphere, the four Marines fought to keep their silhouette stable and prevent themselves from going into a tumble. Should that happen at the speed they were travelling, the chances of them being able to regain control of their descent ranged from slim to none.
Closer and closer their descent brought them to the surface of the planet. Through the upper atmosphere, through the clouds and out and down until the ground below came rushing towards them at a fantastic rate. Lesser men would have baulked at the idea of jumping out of a starship whilst still in
a low orbit, but not these men. They knew this was the only way and they agreed to it without a second’s hesitation.
The readout in the helmet counted down their altitude as they rushed towards the ground:
20,000 feet
Not yet,
10,000 feet
Just a little closer,
5,000 feet
Just a little more,
3,000 feet
2,000 feet
1,000 feet
Almost there
900 feet
Now!!
Each chute was deployed and instantly snapped open catching the air in its canopy, dragging the wearer’s speed down from terminal velocity to almost nothing by comparison in the blink of an eye. It was at this point where most injuries occurred, due to the sudden deceleration.
Literally within seconds they were down on the ground, rolling to the side to lessen the impact with the hard surface, their chutes automatically retracting inside their backpacks. Up on their knees they kept low, minimising their chances of being seen from any lookout post situated near the facility where they had targeted their landing.
“We’re down! Will report back once our objective is in sight and has been achieved,” Hawk said through the comm link that had been established prior to their evacuation from the starship in orbit.
Storm was at his side in a flash, “Okay, sir, it’s on you, what are your orders?” he asked.
In the distance they could see the facility. They had come down close to it but on the opposite side of a small copse of trees, which they had used for cover. The facility was being wracked by explosions from the inside and they could see quite clearly chunks of debris being flung high into the air as each new blast destroyed more and more of it.
