by Jan Domagala
“Run away? Never! But if we leave on our own terms we can engage them at a future date when we’re better prepared. There’s no telling how many of them there are, but we’re down to three and who knows what other weapons they may have. I’m still in command of this mission, and as much as I want to rip into those bastards who attacked us, I’d rather find out who’s responsible for sending them here so we can get to the bottom of all this.”
“Does any of that make sense to you, Colonel?”
“Unfortunately, yes. Okay, I’m in agreement so let’s get back to the shuttle and get off this planet so we can alert Col Sec,” De Boer said.
“This way then,” Hawk said, starting to climb up the side of the mountain. The wall before them was full of crags and rents suitable for hand and footholds. They soon made it up the side, high above where they had exited only moments earlier.
Sub vocalising through a battle com. channel Hawk said, “Lieutenant Hall, we’re working our way around to you. We’ll be coming in hot so get the shuttle ready for take off the moment we arrive.”
“Will be ready on your arrival, sir,” Hall replied through the same medium.
* * * * *
Rygar led his team towards the sound of blaster fire.
“Where are they?” he said when they arrived at the place where they thought their targets should be.
“Here’s where they escaped, sir,” said one of his team, indicating the rent in the wall caused by the blaster fire.
“They can’t be far. Find them and kill them,” ordered Rygar.
* * * * *
The trio climbed as quickly and quietly as they could, scaling the mountain known as Q3. There was a large overhang they had to navigate around before they were out of danger from being spotted by Rygar and his team of mercs at the base. They climbed until they reached the overhang and then began the arduous route that would take them around and over this section of the mountain. Without any climbing gear their task was that much harder, made even worse by the fact that they were carrying weapons.
Just as they reached the overhang and had started to climb around it their luck finally ran out. One of Rygar’s team happened to glance up and saw them.
“There they are,” he shouted and the rest of the mercs looked up to where he indicated and raised their weapons to aim at the trio, easy targets.
“Shit!” Hawk said as he heard the shouts from below. He glanced down and saw all the weapons being aimed their way. Quickly he reached for his Sig P996 and fired down at the group.
“Move, I’ll try and hold them off until you clear the overhang then you can cover me,” he added. His pulsed plasma bolts struck the first targets he aimed at, killing two of the mercs with headshots. Blood and gore splashed their teammates as they stood in shock, their easy targets proving to have teeth.
Hawk fired his Sig until the battery clip was empty but by that time De Boer and Johansen had reached the top of the overhang and were under cover.
Hawk holstered his Sig and began to climb after the other two who had taken positions up ahead and were aiming their assault rifles down at the mercs who had fled to cover.
“Hurry, we won’t be able to hold them off for too long,” De Boer sub-vocalised through a battle com. channel so that only Hawk could hear him.
There was no need for any answer; his actions were the only reply the Colonel needed. Hawk climbed the overhang as fast as his tiring arms and legs would carry him and he was soon alongside his comrades.
“Where to now? They have us pinned down. They’ll be able to work their way around and attack us from the rear,” De Boer said, a little angry at the way things had turned out for them.
“We’ll just have to prevent them from doing that or get out of here before they can get the drop on us,” Hawk said as he quickly formulated several options in his mind.
Using his NI he called Lieutenant Hall. “We’re not going to be able to make it to you, we’re pinned down on the mountainside. Use your scanners to locate us via our tracking chips, then come and pick us up.” Turning to De Boer he said, “Our ride home will be here shortly, we’ve just got to be ready and try and keep those bastards busy while Hall picks us up.”
“Good move, it’ll be tricky but we should just make it, if we’re lucky that is,” replied the Colonel.
“Lucky’s my middle name,” Hawk joked.
“Thought it was ‘Trouble’,” said the Colonel with a half smile.
Hawk took out his Sig P996 and ejected the battery clip from the butt, selected another from his belt and rammed it into the butt, pulled back on the slide to prime it which meant he was then ready to rock and roll. The spent battery clip was replaced into the slot in his belt where the minute charger would recharge it ready for use again. In that way soldiers and operatives in the field could have an endless supply of ammunition, solving a problem that had arisen when the space fleet’s supply lines were spread out across light years of space.
Soon they heard the sound of the shuttle’s engines as the small craft approached them from above.
Rygar also heard the approach of the craft and he looked up and caught sight of the shuttle coming towards them through the clouds.
“Shoot that shuttle out of the sky, don’t let it get near them,” he ordered his team. The mercs brought their assault rifles to bear on the approaching shuttle in an attempt to bring her down.
“Sir, they’re firing on the shuttle,” Johansen said as he saw what they were doing.
“Let’s persuade them otherwise,” Hawk said and he fired down at the mercs with his Sig. His first shot killed one of the mercs standing furthest away from the mountain wall, the plasma bolt blowing his head apart.
De Boer and Johansen joined in killing two more, before the mercs found cover behind some rocks and continued firing from their hidden position at the approaching shuttle.
Hall steered the shuttle towards the mountain known as Q3, where the remainder of the team were positioned precariously on the mountain wall.
Before taking off he had secured ropes next to the lateral hatch and as he approached Hawk and the two soldiers he released them through the open hatch so they dangled down towards the trio.
“Get up there, I’ll hold them off same as before,” Hawk said as the ropes came close to them from above. “You’ll have to hurry, he won’t be able to hold that position for very long,” he added.
De Boer and Johansen grabbed hold of the ropes and began to climb as fast as they could whilst Hawk laid down covering fire with his Sig P996. As soon as they reached the hatch they climbed aboard. Hanging out of the hatch and holding a Remm assault rifle aimed at the mountain wall below Hawk’s position, De Boer shouted, “Okay Matt get your ass up here NOW.”
Holstering his Sig, Hawk reached for the one remaining rope and started to climb up.
De Boer and Johansen fired down at the mercs giving them something else to think about other than killing the climber.
Disregarding the fatigue that was creeping up on him Hawk climbed the rope as fast as his aching arms would allow. Climbing aboard the shuttle he breathed a sigh of relief for a moment. “We’re not out of the woods yet guys, they could still come after us with their own craft. Let’s get back to the Valkyrie as quick as we can.”
“Hall, get us outta here and back to the Valkyrie as fast as you can,” De Boer said and the pilot acknowledged by steering the shuttle away from the mountain.
* * * * *
Rygar called the pilot of the freighter they came in on to come and pick them up too. He was not about to lose them now, he would give chase until he ran them down and killed them like the irritants they were.
The freighter came swooping in low and dropped the rappelling lines out of the lateral hatch for Rygar and his men to climb up. Rygar was the first to reach the lines and was soon climbing up to the hatch. Once inside he went straight to the forward pilot’s cabin and said, “Get after that shuttle, if it escapes I’ll kill you myself. Bring t
he weapons systems online, I’ll man the targeting scanners.”
“Weapons systems online, sir, targeting at your discretion,” replied the pilot who kept the freighter in a low hover while watching the hatch for the rest of the mercs to climb back on board, not an easy task when Rygar was barking orders at the same time. The fact that he remained calm under pressure showed the high calibre of pilot the young man was.
Once the team were all on board the freighter, the lateral hatch was secured after the rappelling ropes had been dragged back inside and, with Rygar seated beside him in the co-pilot’s chair, the pilot gave the freighter full thrust which took the craft up into the air once more as they gave chase to the shuttle.
* * * * *
“It looks like we may not get away so easily, Colonel,” Lieutenant Hall said as his scanners indicated the freighter was lifting off from its hover to come after them.
“Can we outrun them?” De Boer asked.
“I’m not sure, sir, but I’m gonna try anyway,” Hall replied.
“What’s the shielding like on board this thing?” Hawk asked, as he had an idea.
“We have just the standard reinforced hull plating, it’s a shuttle for general use, not a battle craft sir, why?” Hall replied.
“I’ve got a feeling that these guys came better prepared than we did for this op and they just may have weapons on that freighter,” Hawk replied, a little concerned.
“Well, in that case if they get within weapons range of us we’re screwed,” Hall said, fatalistically.
“Well son, you’re among the best of the best so make sure they don’t come within weapons range,” De Boer said.
“I’ll do my best, sir,” Hall replied proudly.
“We’ll soon know if my suspicions are correct, because if they get within range they’ll go immediately to weapons lock,” said Hawk. The three of them were crowded around Lieutenant Hall as he piloted the shuttle with expert touches on the controls.
* * * * *
“Get us as close as you can,” Rygar told the pilot as he manned the weapons’ controls. The pulse cannons mounted below the front pilot’s cabin were controlled by a console that had a joystick, and the targeting scanners were shown on a heads up display on the forward view port. Rygar had primed the cannons and was targeting the shuttle awaiting weapons lock tone to signify that he would hit what he was aiming at.
The freighter was being flown on full thrust as they tried to close the gap between the two ships. The freighter just about had the edge being the larger craft. The engines were more powerful and could put out more thrust and they soon found the gap between the two ships was closing as they bore down on the shuttle.
“We’re within weapons range, sir,” the pilot said and Rygar aimed carefully as the weapons lock tone sounded.
“I’ve got you now,” Rygar said as he fired the pulse cannons.
* * * * *
Inside the shuttle the weapons lock tone sounded and they all knew what that meant. Hawk looked at De Boer not needing to say that his suspicions were correct, they all knew they were in deep trouble.
Hall threw the shuttle into a series of severe twists and turns to throw off the aim of the gunner ready to kill all of them.
When the plasma bolts came, the first things hit were the engine thrusters, but luckily it was just a glancing blow and caused hardly any damage to the engines. Hall banked away from the next salvo hoping to evade being destroyed.
“We’re going to have to take her down towards the ground and try and lose that bastard another way,” Hall said as he steered the shuttle frantically in a series of twists and turns that it wasn’t really designed for.
“You’d better strap yourselves in, this could get a little scary,” he added.
8
On board the Valkyrie Captain Jefferson had kept an eye on the proceedings between the shuttle and the freighter.
“Is there nothing we can do to help them?” he asked the bridge crew. “Come on people give me some options here, I’m not about to let our guys down there get killed while we sit up here with our thumbs up our asses,” he added, getting more and more frustrated as they watched the action develop close to the planet’s surface.
“Sir, we could enter the planet’s atmosphere and fire a QX missile at the freighter,” suggested the weapon’s officer.
“By the time we got close enough to fire it would be all over,” added the pilot.
“What about firing from orbit?” asked the Ops officer. “If we tie in the targeting from the missile console to the scanners we just might get a more accurate long-range weapons lock,” he added.
Jefferson thought about it for a second before replying, “We have no other choice, we have to try it. Make it happen people.”
The Ops officer went immediately to work in matching the weapons lock sensors to the long-range scanners and within a few short moments that seemed to stretch out into eternity, he had done it. With an exuberant smile he turned to the weapon’s officer and said, “She’s all yours.”
“Limit the yield on the missile, I just want to damage that craft enough to allow our people to escape. The last thing I want to do is destroy a freighter over that terrain, the debris would scatter over too large an area and would just bring unwanted attention to us being here,” Jefferson said as a last minute thought.
“Limiting the yield now, sir, and scanning,” replied the weapons officer. “We have weapons lock sir,” he added.
“Fire!” Jefferson commanded.
* * * * *
“Fuck! Someone has a weapons lock on us,” said the pilot of the freighter when his console lit up warning him of the incoming missile.
“What?” Rygar said incredulously. “They must have a support craft in orbit, that’s how they got here. Of course, I didn’t make the connection that a shuttle must have had a lift here and not made it on its own power,” he added, feeling rather foolish as he realised his mistake.
“The shielding on this ship can withstand a lot more than any normal freighter,” said the captain, whose presence Rygar had forgotten as he was so wrapped up in the action.
“Explain!” Rygar commanded without looking in his direction, all his concentration being centred on targeting the pulse cannons.
“This ship has been fitted out with extra deflectors and has a double hull feature only present on ships of the fleet,” replied the captain smugly. It pleased him that he had some information that this merc leader didn’t, it restored some of the power taken from him by Rygar.
“You’d better be right about this or we’ll all pay,” Rygar said angrily, for he knew this design of freighter could not evade a missile even fired from a distance. They would just have to take the hit and hope it wasn’t a nuke.
* * * * *
Jefferson contacted Hawk through the battle com. via his NI. “We have fired a QX missile at the freighter on your six, a low yield just to disable it somewhat to give you enough time to evade it and reach us in orbit. Can’t have the locals pick up on us destroying a ship in their atmosphere, wouldn’t be good for publicity,” he added.
“Thanks for the assist Cap, and in that case we’ll be with you shortly,” Hawk replied, then explained to the rest of the team just what was about to happen.
The QX missile locked on to the target once its initial targeting link to the Valkyrie’s sensors had uploaded all the relevant data. Once fired its internal sensors locked onto and homed in on the target, latching onto a series of stimuli, electronic emissions, heat signatures and electromagnetic pulses. Once locked on, the missile’s own power supply would propel it along until it struck its target. Once fired the QX missile rarely missed its target.
* * * * *
The captain aboard the freighter behind the shuttle carrying Hawk and his team said, “Brace for impact,” just before the QX missile struck the engine thruster outlet.
The explosion ruptured the freighter’s outlet and the force of the blast sent the craft spinning late
rally, giving those on the shuttle the time they needed to make their run for the upper atmosphere.
* * * * *
Hawk saw the blast as the QX missile struck the rear section of the freighter behind them and as it started to spin he shouted, “Now, get us out of here.” Lieutenant Hall complied by giving the shuttle full power and steered her up towards the upper atmosphere and the waiting Valkyrie.
* * * * *
The pilot of the freighter soon regained control but by the time he had her straightened out the shuttle was out of weapons range.
Rygar was incensed; he slammed a fist into the weapons control console in fury and screamed at the pilot, “Get after them.”
* * * * *
Jefferson saw the missile strike the freighter and said, “Right, that should give them time to make their escape so let’s make it easier for them and get into position to meet them as they exit the planet’s atmosphere.”
Hall took the shuttle up into the upper atmosphere with one eye on the sensors that were tuned to the following freighter. Their speed was just enough to keep the distance between them constant and he finally took in a deep breath as he saw the welcome sight of the Valkyrie fast approaching them.
* * * * *
The captain of the freighter ordered the pilot to give chase once more and the freighter’s powerful engines gave out the thrust needed to propel them after their quarry.
“We might not make it, sir, they have too much of a lead on us,” the pilot said, as he calculated quickly in his head their speed and the distance between them.
“Just get me within weapons range and I’ll do the rest,” Rygar snarled viciously.
