by Jan Domagala
“Most of the personnel have already been evacuated through the escape tunnels but Matt, Zara and a small detachment of marines are still up there trying to defend the base until Colonel De Boer arrives with re-enforcements,” Sinclair replied. He felt a wave of defeat wash over him then as the reality that Col Sec and he personally had been duped. He had been confident in their power to defend the Confederation and now he was faced with the reality that they clearly were not. His over confidence had cost them dearly not only in the lives that had been lost this day but in their ability to respond to further threats that were no doubt on their way.
“They won’t get there in time sir. All you can do is evacuate your people out now,” Jake urged.
“Leave it with me Jake. Rendezvous at Evacuation point Alpha,” Sinclair said then closed the connection. He contacted Matt directly, when the call was connected he said, “Listen Matt, you have to get to the evac tunnels a.s.a.p. They have a thermabaric bomb with them which they plan to detonate sealing the base off, there is little time and it is doubtful you will be able to get to it to defuse it. Your only alternative is to get out.”
Matt had stopped in his tracks when the call came through as he listened intently to what was being said. Before answering he connected to the main computer via his NI and used the base’s sensors to look for munitions not listed on the base’s inventory. The sensors would log any munitions that were not supposed to be in that location and sort through the database to categorise its specificity. When he received the data through his NI he was shocked. It wasn’t that he doubted the general’s statement but he had to check anyway, standard operating procedure, one never assumed anything to be fact until one had ascertained its authenticity. There was indeed a huge thermabaric device timed to detonate and considering what was between it and them he tended to agree with Sinclair that he would not reach it in time to defuse it.
They had no choice but to retreat to the evac tunnels.
“We will evac as soon as viable sir,” he said.
“Now Matt I do not want any heroics from you or the others, is that clear? Just get all of you to the tunnels now, we will deal with the ramifications of this day later when we have regrouped and we will have our say on the matter but to do that I need all of you out of there safely.”
“Trust me sir, we’ll be there,” Matt said then closed the connection so he could brief the others on the new situation.
*****
The shuttle that had left the roof of the RandCorp building exited the Earth’s atmosphere and engaged a stealth shield. This enabled it to pass through all the security blockades set in place due to the attack on Area 15. Their destination was the OMEGA facility on the Moon where they hoped their precious cargo would be greeted with enthusiasm.
*****
“Can we get any more speed out of this thing?” Kurt said. He gripped the arm rests of the seat he was in. All he wanted to do was get there as fast as possible. He had to get there, he had to help Zara. He lost her once he would not lose her again.
Artie answered for Jake, who the question was clearly aimed at. The AI said, “I am getting as much speed out of the engines as possible sir.”
“We’re not going to get there in time, are we?” Kurt asked, his words dripping with despondence.
“No sir, we are not,” the AI replied. Kurt was chilled by the cold tone the answer was delivered in.
“That’s just not good enough,” Kurt blasted; his anger no longer could be contained.
“I agree sir and that is why I am taking us to the evacuation point, it is all we can do at this time,” Artie said his words consoling even though the tone was still cold.
“You know, we’ve been on the back foot ever since this thing began. Isn’t it about time we took the fight to them?” Cooper said, he was fed up with being on the defensive all the time and let it show.
“Good point Mack but we’ve got more important things to think about at the moment,” Jake said as he looked at Kurt. He knew the anguish and frustration that was going through him for he felt the same emotions when Natasha was trapped on the surface of Tartaran and he was racing to get to her before the worst happened.
“That’s just it though Jake, it’s something they would never expect,” Vance added bolstering his colleague’s argument.
Torres said, “I agree, we have to do something to let them know this won’t go unpunished.”
Kurt had been listening even though it appeared he was lost in his own thoughts. He turned to look at them and asked, “What do you suggest?”
32
When Matt contacted Zara she was off to one side of a corridor hoping to lead the beasts away from the marines and into an ambush.
“This could get messy then,” she replied once Matt had filled her in on the situation.
“You have to get to the evac tunnels as soon as possible Zara, we have no idea how long we have before they detonate the bomb,” Matt said urgently.
“I may need some help with this, I think they may have blocked my exit off,” she said. As she waited for a reply from Matt who was obviously thinking of the best way to help her she thought “What good is the ability to regenerate if I’m trapped down here? Could I regenerate from such a blast or would it obliterate me beyond my capacity to regenerate?” Even as that thought filled her mind she knew the answer, she remembered seeing Kurt regenerate from a ball of flame that filled a corridor when a generator blew up on Toldax. He saved her by covering her with his body, shielding her from the intense heat from the flames. She remembered seeing his flesh sear off then miraculously regenerate into new skin, right before her eyes. That was when their blood had gotten transferred, how she became what she was today. If Kurt could survive that then she would survive whatever this day brought.
Matt contacted Trent who was in a different section of the corridor with the marines. They were getting ready for when the creatures went by, Matt told him of their dilemma.
“What do you want us to do Matt?” Trent asked. After being told about the bomb he could not see a way out of their situation and was resigned to go down fighting if need be.
“We need to make a run for it and hope for the best. Is there any way you can get to us?”
“We can lay down some covering fire for you; draw their attention away from you. It might just give you the chance to get away,” replied Trent.
“Sounds good but make sure you leave enough time for you to get to safety also.”
“Don’t worry about us; we know what we have to do.”
Matt paused as he hoped that didn’t mean what it sounded like. Having no other option though he acceded to his suggestion and said, “Okay then, we’ll wait for you at the evac tunnel entrance, try not to keep us waiting too long, I wouldn’t want to have to come back and drag your sorry asses out of there.”
“We’ll be there, don’t worry sir, you just get ready to move when we make our play,” Trent said then broke the connection.
Matt tried to put out of his mind what he thought Trent was about to do. Enough lives had been lost already and the thought of losing even one more deadened his soul. He hoped that one day soon there would be a reckoning when he would get the chance to pay OMEGA back for everything they had done this day.
“Hang tight, I’m coming to you,” he said to Zara.
The corridor Zara was in stretched out for several yards and had three sections that veered off to either side with an assortment of doors which led to offices and the like. She had positioned herself in the doorway of one of these offices at the far end of the corridor. It was a dead end. The idea being that they creatures would follow her into the corridor and once in the enclosed space the marines and Matt would attack from the rear catching them all in a crossfire.
It was a good plan in theory but now that she was in position waiting for them she had her doubts.
With the thermabaric bomb just waiting to detonate and three angry octo felines, with a squad of Rover5’s between her an
d her exit, she had a knot of fear running through her that they would not get out of there alive.
At the end of the corridor she saw the first of the creatures appear and then suddenly the sound of gunfire from behind it.
The creature tried to turn around but its sheer size made it difficult to manoeuvre. Pulsed plasma bolts struck the creature from the side enraging it as the heat distribution through the skin threatened to overwhelm its senses. Matt appeared from another doorway halfway between her and the creature. He began firing at the creature also aiming at its head. The creature reared up baring its long razor sharp fangs and bellowed its rage at them both. Matt continued firing his assault rifle until the battery clip was depleted. The creature has sustained multiple hits to its head and upper torso and as Matt was in the process of replacing the battery clip in his Remm it collapsed in front of him.
Zara came out of the office doorway and ran to him. “We have to help Trent and his boys,” she said.
“They’re giving us a chance to get away while they hold them off. We have to move now,” Matt said as he looked at her through pain filled eyes.
“We can’t leave without them, we have to help them,” Zara said her voice pleading as she looked deep into his blue eyes.
“We have to go Zara, we don’t have time for this,” Matt said more sternly this time. He had to get her moving, they couldn’t afford the time to argue.
She was about to say something else and he interrupted with; “I made a promise to Kurt to look after you and to get you out of here safely. Don’t make a liar out of me.”
At the mention of Kurt’s name her whole demeanour changed. She tempered her decision to stay with her need to see Kurt. Knowing that if she survived this she would be able to fight on and her only desire at that moment was to see Kurt and together fight on against this insidious threat to the Confederation. They had dealt them a bitter blow this day one that she vowed to return in equal measure.
Against her better judgement she said, “Okay, let’s go,” which brought a huge sigh of relief from Matt.
“Follow me,” Matt said and he led her to the end of the corridor.
Trent and the rest of the marines had gotten behind the creatures and the Rover5’s and had started firing at them with all the firepower at their disposal.
In the first wave half of the Rover5’s were cut down by rifle fire. When the creatures were also hit they turned away from the scent they had been following, Zara’s so they could attack whoever was firing on them. It took them a while before they could twist their long body’s around to face the other direction and when they had they stormed after the marines.
Trent saw two marines on either side of him get hit by the hulking monsters. Their jaws tore apart the two men sending body parts flying across the corridor, blood splattering the walls. Trent fired at the creatures and clone soldiers alternatively. His squad was down to three men by now after the creatures had attacked them. He knew he had to hang on long enough for Matt and Zara to get away so he forced himself to fight on. He ducked beneath the lunging head of one of the last two creatures and rolled under its forelegs firing his Remm assault rifle up at its belly. Blood splattered the ground from the wounds he had just inflicted on it. As he rolled clear he fired another salvo at the creatures flank tearing open a savage wound that caused blood to spurt over the walls and the floor also. As he got to his feet he continued firing at the head of the creature as it tried to turn around. Pulsed plasma bolts struck the eyes burning them beyond the creatures’ ability to heal. It thrashed around when it realised it could not see out of half of its eyes. Trent shot it again in the head with a continual stream of plasma bolts. Blood poured from every wound as the massive head was snapped backwards from the kinetic force from each bolt.
The creature knew its life was waning and it made one last effort to crush the man before it.
Zara turned to look at the struggle between the marines and the creatures. All she had to do was turn and leave but something stopped her. She knew she had been given these abilities for a reason and if it wasn’t to help people then what for?
Seeing Trent was about to lose his life was all she could take. She could not leave knowing someone was about to die when there was something she could do to prevent it. She ran at the huge creature jumping at its massive head grabbing its mouth by wrapping her arms around it snapping it shut and forcing it away from its intended victim. She slammed the head against the wall giving Trent time to move out of the way.
“Knife!” she shouted and he threw his K-Bar knife toward her after ripping it from his forearm sheath. She snapped out her arm to catch it in mid air then twisted beneath the head so she could use it. With all her strength she rammed the blade up into the lower jaw and up into the upper jaw pinning it closed. Blood ran down her arm from the wound she had just inflicted on the beast. She released the head and it fell to the floor. The beast was dead.
The other two creatures roared their fury at seeing their kin cut down. They thrashed around as they forced their way through the corridor, desperate to reach the puny creature that had killed one of their own.
The two remaining marines had ducked inside the nearest doorway when the clones returned fire. They kept well hidden as a withering barrage of pulsed plasma bolts peppered the door frame. The clones were no fools, they covered each other’s fire so they did not have to change clips at the same time and in that way they kept the marines pinned in the doorway.
Matt saw this and picked up his own assault rifle and fired at them. By the time they realised what had happened two of them had fallen to Matt’s gunfire. As the rest of them turned to see what had happened, the marines saw the opportunity and caught the remaining clones in a crossfire.
Within a few seconds the clones were all lying on the floor dead. All that was left was the threat from the two huge creatures.
Zara stood facing the two beasts. She had the K Bar knife in her right hand, it was still dripping with blood from the first beast and in her left hand she held a pulse rifle she had retrieved from a dead marine.
She glared at the two beasts, her eyes blazing with fury. Too many had died because of her, it ended here and now. No more would die here, not if she could help it and she knew she could.
The two beasts lowered their heads as they eyed her. The muscles in their shoulders bunched as they prepared to attack. They bared their fangs as they opened their huge mouth’s to roar their fury at her.
Zara knew what was coming and she was prepared. She stood with her legs apart as she balanced herself and got ready for what she knew must come.
There was not much room in the corridor but somehow the two beasts were able to stand shoulder to shoulder. When they began to move though, there was nowhere for Zara to go. She had no choice but to meet the attack head on.
She had no desire to run, she was going to stop these creatures here and now. They would hurt no one else, of that she was determined. She had to give in to her intuition about her ability. For a while now she had thought, no she had known that she could do what no other human could do. She was aware of her strength and speed and hints of mental abilities only dreamt of by others. She had to allow these abilities to come to the fore, allow them to flourish, in that way she would be able to do what she had to.
She leaped into the air over the head of the octo feline to her left and twisted in mid air to land facing front straddling the beast as she landed on its shoulders. She plunged the blade deep into the flesh at the base of the neck causing a spurt of blood to gush out. She twisted the blade sideways as she tried to sever the spinal cord.
The beast reared up on its hind legs as it tried to throw her off of it. Zara hung on with her knees and used the rifle to shoot the other beast to her left. Pulsed plasma bolts strafed the beast’s flanks causing blood to spray out onto the floor.
She clung on with her knees riding the great beast as it bucked and tried to shake her free. Again and again she stabbed the blade deep into
the neck of her steed. Blood jetted out from each wound she inflicted on the beast covering her hands and arms. Finally the wounds were too much for even the great beast and it slumped to the ground, its huge mouth open as it panted its last few dying breaths. As it landed on the floor Zara leapt from it somersaulting in mid air to land in front of the last creature. She spun on this already wounded creature stabbing the blade deep below the neck several times, her movements nothing now but a blur to those who watched. With her pulse rifle she fired several shots into the head of the creature before her and even though the speed of the Tartaran beasts was blindingly fast even they could not keep up with Zara’s hyper accelerated movements. The pulsed plasma bolts struck the creatures’ head before it could move away destroying the front set of eyes. As the creature lunged for her with one of the forepaws she danced effortlessly to the side then stabbed the knife into it causing the beast to withdraw it with a howl of pain. Zara jumped onto the paw then up onto the head of the creature where she slammed the blade through the cranium, splitting bone, deep into the brain which sent a spurt of blood several inches into the air. Zara rode the head down to the floor then stepped calmly from it for she knew the battle was over, all the creatures were dead.
Matt stood staring at her in awe. His jaw was slightly open and his eyes were wide. Her display of raw naked power and balletic coordination was something he had never seen before.
As she came up to him stepping around the corpses of the creatures she said, “Job done.”
Trent and the last two marines had finished off the remaining clones and had had just enough time to also see Zara strut her stuff; they too could not believe their eyes.
“What just happened?” Trent asked voicing the thought running through all their minds.
