by C H Gideon
It was an effective tactic.
At least it would have been if Jiya weren’t already inside the building.
She triggered the grenades and held them for a moment, then kicked the door open and flung them inside.
Gunfire erupted as soon as she stepped back out, but she’d kicked the door so hard that it hit the wall and bounced back, slamming shut an instant later.
Jiya darted across the room as the grenades went off.
Two loud explosions sounded so close together as to be one, and the door to the room she’d left behind blew open, flames and shrapnel pouring through it as though it were the mouth to hell.
Jiya freed two more grenades as debris clattered behind her.
The far door where she’d seen more of the cultists hide popped open, and a couple of surprised faces looked her way.
She grinned when she remembered they couldn’t see her with the cloak activated.
Jiya tossed the grenades into the open room.
The cultists stumbled back as the two weapons materialized out of thin air and tumbled over their heads.
It took them too long to recognize the threat they manifested.
By then, Jiya had pivoted away and around a corner.
The grenades exploded right after.
Whatever screams there might have been were drowned out by the roar.
“I’ve got their attention,” Jiya reported. “Feel free to join me any time.”
She shouldered her rifle and peered around the corner, positioning herself to cover the crew as they entered the building.
Cultists stumbled out of the rooms, charred and wounded, and Jiya took them out.
She popped off shot after shot, putting down the injured cultists for good, shifting her aim between the first and second rooms she’d exploded.
Her scanners picked up the rest of the crew entering the building at her back, cloaked, taking advantage of the chaos she had instigated.
Cultists stormed down a flight of stairs at the back of the building, and Reynolds and Maddox turned their fire on them.
Bursts of energy brightened the room, cutting through the smoke of the explosions. The cultists couldn’t see the enemy, so they resorted to filling every open space with weapons fire and doing their best to trace the fire coming back their way.
It wasn’t the most effective effort, but it was good enough to keep the crew from advancing.
“Stay safe,” Reynolds warned as more cultists spilled down a hallway on the opposite side of the room, ramping up the threat level.
“These guys are zealots!” Ka’nak called as the cultists raced forward without fear of dying.
They crowded into the room despite their companions being gunned down all around them.
Bodies hit the floor and were trampled as the other cultists scrambled to get out in the open and be the one to kill the enemy.
Jiya chucked another grenade into the throng as the crew poured it on.
“Fire in the hole!” Jiya warned.
The crew pulled back behind cover as the grenade exploded.
Cultists shrieked and fell to the ground in pieces.
Jiya was grateful for the sound dampeners on her helmet as she squeezed off more rounds at the cluster of cultists.
She had to admire their tenacity if nothing else.
They kept coming, weapons fire ripping up the wall that shielded her.
She ducked back, realizing that her cloak was essentially useless now. With so few places to hide, the cultists had zeroed in on the crew’s locations and were massing their fire there.
“Geroux!” Reynolds called. “Watch our six,” he told her. “Scanners are picking up movement outside of the building, circling around and headed our way. Looks to be about fifteen of them.”
“On it,” the young tech replied, and she darted off, repositioning herself so she could counter anyone trying to engage the crew from behind.
She took a page from Jiya’s book and readied a grenade.
The gunfight continued.
Jiya ducked and sprayed around the corner, taking out the legs of several cultists who’d managed to close.
They went down screaming among their brethren, only to have Maddox silence them permanently as Jiya reloaded her weapon.
Scans showed more of the cultists piling up so they could force their way into the room.
Then Jiya heard Geroux’s weapon discharge.
There was a muffled explosion outside and debris rattled around, more smoke filling the room.
“That’ll dissuade them.” Geroux chuckled as she continued to fire, keeping the flanking cultists at bay.
Reynolds darted across the room and repositioned, tossing another grenade down the hall where most of the cultists were coming from.
“I don’t see Jora’nal anywhere,” he said over the sound of the explosion.
Jiya ducked away for a second, letting the wall take the beating from the blow, then leaned back out to snap shots down the hall.
“There’s no clarity to the scans,” Maddox stated. “Nothing to indicate which one of these damn red dots is him.”
“You think he’s sneaking out?” Ka’nak asked.
“He’s still here,” Geroux reported. “The drones outside have shown no one leaving the building.”
“What about those cultists you’re holding off?” Ka’nak asked. “Didn’t they come from in here?”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “They were in one of the surrounding buildings, or nearby. No one’s left this place.”
“Then we need to clear the building room by room until we find that shifty motherfucker,” Reynolds stated. “Let’s take the rest of these assholes out and get to finding Jora’nal.”
The crew nodded their agreement and turned up the heat on the enemy cultists.
Ka’nak stepped out from behind cover to reposition during a short lull, only to catch a shot to the chest.
The Melowi warrior stumbled backward with a grunt, falling among the debris that cluttered the floor and kicking up dust.
“Ka’nak!” Jiya shouted.
She turned, ready to race over and help him up, but the warrior rolled behind cover and climbed to his feet, dusting himself off.
“I’m good,” he called, rejoining the melee. “Armor took the brunt of the shot. Ribs are sore, but I’ve had worse sparring in the arena.” He laughed.
Jiya turned back to the fight and took out two cultists who’d leapt over the piles of dead bodies and charged her in the short time she’d paused to check on Ka’nak.
Both died before they got close.
Maddox darted out from under cover and positioned himself on the ground behind a pile of corpses. With all the smoke, it was nearly impossible for Jiya to see him despite the vague flutter of his cloak on her scanners.
He burrowed into the bodies and inched closer to the other cultists, giving himself a better angle to shoot down the hall.
Jiya covered him, drawing the cultists’ fire her way.
Reynolds took advantage of that and eased even closer, throwing another grenade down the hall.
The explosion shook the floor and rained dust down on their heads.
Maddox opened fire in the wake of the grenade, filling the hallway with gunfire and tearing apart what remained of the enemy positioned there. The last of the cultists out in the open were gunned down.
“Help Geroux clear our way out, Ka’nak,” Reynolds ordered.
The warrior spun away, stationed himself at another of the holes in the wall, and began raining fire through it.
“Jiya! You and Maddox on me,” the AI called, waving them on.
Both complied and followed Reynolds down the wrecked hallway, each doing their best to avoid stomping on the remnants of dead bodies.
However, there were simply too many of them.
Jiya felt the cultists beneath her feet as she and the crew advanced down the hall. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience, she had to admit, but this wa
s war.
It’s what happened.
Besides, the cultists had earned their deaths.
They’d done nothing but sow terror and pain across the universe, and Jiya didn’t feel the slightest bit of remorse for what she had to do.
Once they’d traversed the hall, the crew realized there was a door off to the side of the stairwell that had provided access to the room for the cultists.
The crew positioned themselves so they could cover both, and Jiya scanned the upper floors. She picked up another fifteen cultists making their way toward the crew.
“I’ve got a group coming down on our heads,” she reported. “They’re positioning to target this area. If we advance, we’ll be in their line of fire.”
“And there are another twenty or so in the rooms behind this door,” Reynolds told them.
“We could toss more grenades,” Maddox suggested.
Reynolds shook his head. “We risk taking out Jora’nal that way.”
Maddox shrugged, showing how little he cared about the enemy alien, but the general understood they needed the bastard alive.
The door was flung open then, and a cold voice emerged from inside.
“Unless you all want to die, I suggest you deactivate your cloaking devices and back off.”
Jiya recognized the voice as Jora’nal’s.
An overweight cultist eased out into the hall, and Jiya stared at the male. It took her a second to realize that he wasn’t actually fat, he had something wrapped about his torso.
Explosives!
A second and third cultist crept out, and Reynolds signaled for the crew to uncloak.
There wasn’t much point in being invisible then since there was nowhere for the crew to slip past without colliding with a cultist and triggering the explosives.
At a signal from the AI, the crew backed up, moving toward the front room they’d entered the building through.
“Heads up,” Reynolds warned Geroux and Ka’nak as they moved back toward them. “We’ve got cultists with enough explosives to bring this entire building down. Stay cloaked, but do not engage.”
“Fucking great,” Ka’nak grunted.
The group of cultists upstairs started down, and they, too, were swathed in explosives. They grinned wildly as they displayed the bombs they’d proudly strapped to their bodies.
More spilled from the door down below, all primed like the others, then Jora’nal stepped out behind them, using the throng of booby-trapped cultists as a shield.
“Did you think it would be so easy to kill me, Reynolds?” Jora’nal asked.
The AI shrugged. “I’d hoped.”
Jora’nal chuckled, continuing to advance behind his disciples.
“I must give you credit,” Jora’nal went on. “I had expected the disciples of Muultar to show their lord more loyalty and remain quiet. Your torture tactics must be quite refined to have broken them so quickly.”
Reynolds shook his head. “We don’t torture anyone, no matter how much they deserve it.”
Jora’nal raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing the AI. “Then how—”
“Amazing what landing a superdreadnought on top of their homes will do for morale.” Maddox laughed.
Jora’nal snorted, clearly disappointed in his people.
“How…unfortunate,” he muttered. “I had hoped our disciples would prove more capable than that.”
“Hope in one hand, shit in the other,” Ka’nak told him. “See which one fills up faster.”
Jora’nal snarled at the Melowi.
“No matter, though,” the cultist went on as he eased forward, he and his weaponized disciples filling the room in front of the crew. “We were prepared for you.”
Reynolds laughed. “Which is why you trapped yourself in a building with no alternate exits and your people are strapped with explosives,” the AI said. “Sounds more like we caught you with your pants down around your ankles, and you’re trying to make yourself feel better about recreating the Alamo.”
Jora’nal growled. “I have no idea what this ‘Alamo’ you refer to is, but it is you who are staring down your defeat, you who are trapped in this place.”
He lifted a small computer so the crew could see it clearly. His finger sat heavily on a button.
“We’ve gathered enough explosives to turn a ten-block radius into a smoking crater. I’ve only to release this button, and all of us become dust,” he warned.
“Except you want something,” Reynolds told him, “or you would have already detonated your bombs and ended this farce.”
“You know nothing of what I want!” Jora’nal shrieked, shoving the device in their direction as if threatening to blow them all up.
Jiya heard the quaver in his voice, the uncertainty, and saw the shaking of his hand. They might not know what he was after, but she sure as shit knew he didn’t want to die.
“Well, here’s your chance to tell us,” Reynolds went on, ignoring the cultist’s histrionics. “What do you want, Jora’nal? Enlighten us.”
“You will let me pass and return to my ship,” he advised, then pointed at Jiya. “I will take her with us to ensure your compliance.”
“Not going to happen, fuckwad,” Reynolds snarled. “You don’t get to demand terms, and you sure as shit don’t get to walk off with one of my crew.”
“Then you put all of your crew at risk,” Jora’nal stated. “I have advised the Pillar to engage your ship, Reynolds, and I have numerous allies among the locals who will gladly join the fight.”
Reynolds stared at the cultist, wondering if he was bluffing.
A message from the SD Reynolds made it clear that he wasn’t.
“The Pillar is turning on us,” Asya reported. “It looks ready to fire, Captain.”
“The ESD still charging?” Reynolds questioned.
“We’ve been holding it stable, but it’s been on too long, and it’s drawing too much power. If we let loose with it now, we’ll be vulnerable to attack from the station and the other ships out here since half our systems will short out,” Asya told him.
“Adjust it down,” Reynolds ordered, “but keep it available. We’re going to need the SD Reynolds functional.”
“Yes, sir,” she answered.
“Stand by,” the AI told her, then turned his glare back on Jora’nal as the alien went on.
“Your time is running out, android,” Jora’nal warned. His finger trembled on the button. He looked ready to release his hold any second now. “I walk away, or we all die, here and now.”
It was clear to Jiya that he didn’t expect to make it out of this alive.
She stared back and forth between the two opponents. Reynolds didn’t want to back down, and she suspected Jora’nal simply wouldn’t. His only way out of here was if the AI let him go.
If it weren’t for the crew standing there, she figured Reynolds would force Jora’nal’s hand, but he would have to be more careful with them hovering about.
So, rather than let Reynolds do something he’d regret just so he could keep them safe, Jiya decided to act.
“Asya! Transport all of us to the ship!” she called over the comm. “Now!”
Knowing she only had a split-second before Asya complied, Jiya darted right as obviously as she could, cloaked, then changed direction, leaping to her left.
Straight at Jora’nal.
The alien stiffened, not having expected the sudden rush. He panicked, realizing he couldn’t see where she’d gone.
By then, it was too late.
She collided with the alien as his finger came loose from the device.
Jiya slammed an armored elbow into Jora’nal’s face, smashing his nose and knocking him unconscious. He slumped in her arm as she grabbed the small computer before it could tumble away.
A loud roar rattled her skull, and she felt the heat of the explosives detonating.
Then she felt nothing.
Chapter Seven
The crew appeared on the bridge o
f the SD Reynolds, clattering to the deck in a heap.
Reynolds scrambled to his feet and raced over to Jiya. She grinned at him, clutching both of her trophies: the computer, and a limp Jora’nal.
“Secure him,” Reynolds ordered, pointing at the cultist.
“Gladly,” Maddox replied with a grin.
The general and Ka’nak jumped to the task, clutching the cultist and dragging him off the bridge before he had a chance to regain consciousness.
Geroux helped her friend to her feet and snatched up Jora’nal’s small computer. She made sure her friend was okay before retiring to her station to examine the device.
The SD Reynolds shuddered as the Pillar opened fire, its attack sparking across the gravitic shields.
“Take that motherfucker out!” Reynolds commanded, pointing at the enemy ship.
Tactical was all too willing to comply.
Railguns rattled and peppered the Pillar’s shields as Tactical let loose with everything he had except for the ESD.
“Guess there’s not much need for the tracking rounds anymore,” Asya said.
Reynolds shrugged. “Things didn’t exactly go as planned, but better to be prepared than not,” he replied.
“The Pillar is still a tough son of a bitch,” XO said as the enemy ship was bombarded. “We still might need those tracking rounds if it survives this.”
“Make sure it doesn’t,” Reynolds advised. “We’ve got Jora’nal. He’ll lead us to his master.”
“The defense system is firing on both of us!” Ria reported as the SD Reynolds rattled, its shields deflecting the majority of the incoming fire.
“Enemy ships gearing up and turning our way,” XO called.
“Guess he did have some friends here after all,” Reynolds remarked.
“More likely just opportunists looking to score points or get a chance to scavenge the wreck of a superdreadnought,” Asya said. “Either way, we can’t have them pecking at us.”
The ship shuddered again.
“I agree,” Reynolds told her.
“The Pillar has its starboard flank to us,” Tactical announced. “If ever there was a time to use the ESD, now would be it.”
Reynolds nodded without hesitation. “Minimize all systems to keep us from blowing a fuse,” he ordered. “Ensign Alcott, get us out of range of that damn planetary defense system. That’s the biggest threat right now outside of the Pillar.”
