Discovery

by Jan Domagala

  “It’s an Alliance Super Destroyer. Whether they’re friend or foe is yet to be determined,” Sinclair replied.

  “A Super Destroyer is almost two thousand yards long, with thirty odd decks, a thousand troops and over a hundred fighter and attack craft,” observed Biggs.

  “We’d better hope they’re on our side then,” Matt said. The thought of the alternative made them all go cold, as it was too awful to contemplate coming true.

  “THEY’RE IN THE DOCKING bay,” Danovic said once they had hauled the attack craft aboard.

  “Get down there and pump it full of Phosgene gas. Once they’re out, go in and get the Prince then we can eject that craft before those other craft get through to us,” Jared said.

  “I’m on it,” replied his first officer.

  “And hurry Mikal, things are getting mighty hot around here. The quicker we get out of it the better for everyone concerned.”

  Danovic simply nodded his head and left the bridge hurriedly, calling some of the crew to meet him at his destination.

  “Just a simple sneak in and go op, my ass,” Jared muttered under his breath to himself.

  KURT WAS ALMOST AT the door they had just come through a few moments earlier when the second cat creature emerged into the open.

  He had shot the first creature in the centre of its huge forehead blowing the entire head apart, which dropped it in its tracks.

  The second creature was sprinting towards Kurt without a thought for its own safety. Its angle of attack, coming straight at him, made it impossible for him to see the doorway or how many of the creatures were coming through behind it.

  It was sacrificing itself so others of its pack could have a better chance of attacking him.

  This bothered him as it lessened his chances of preventing them from overrunning him and attacking the others, and secondly because it was further proof of their advanced mental acuity.

  These were not mere dumb animals; their thinking was on an almost human level, which really bothered him.

  If he wanted to save the lives of those with him, he must commit to the fight like never before. He must abandon all thoughts of getting hurt, he would heal, and he must abandon any thought of pain and throw himself into the fight. He must not allow one single creature past him. He must kill them all. He must abandon his very humanity and become like the beasts themselves. He must embrace his own inner beast, conjure forth his inner demons and fight like never before.

  With that single thought uppermost in his mind he found a red mist fall before his eyes as a cloud descended over his mind dampening it so that there was just one thought left; less a thought and more of an instinct.

  Destroy.

  With his pistol in one hand and combat knife in the other and death and destruction in his heart and mind, he ran full tilt at the creature as a bellow of rage roared past his bared teeth.

  They would not get past him.

  INSIDE THE FIRST SHUTTLE, Colonel De Boer was sitting with his men as they geared up for the landing.

  “Get ready to deploy,” he said. “As soon as we’re wheels down, I want a perimeter in place then we’re good to go,” he added.

  The shuttle pilot glided her down into a controlled landing with consummate ease. He fired the landing thrusters to slow their descent. Feathering the thrusters he landed the craft onto the hydraulically powered landing struts to absorb the shock of impact.

  As soon as they had touched down the exit ramp was dropped to the floor allowing the passengers to rush out with their Remm assault rifles up at their shoulders as the marines sighted down the barrels.

  Overhead the Nova fighters were engaged in a double dogfight. They were defending against the attack craft from the colony and running interference for the shuttles against the winged creatures that were still intent on destroying those on the ground.

  Pulsed plasma bolts lanced through the air as the Novas looped and darted in their aerial dance, killing as many of the winged creatures as they could to give the rescue party the best chance at success.

  Colonel De Boer and his team ran towards the Wildfire Team firing at any winged creature that swooped in close enough to strike. Dead bodies littered the ground as more and more of these creatures fell from the skies.

  “Captain Riley, get your team over to the shuttle now. We’ll supply covering fire but you have to move now,” De Boer said through a battle com. channel.

  Riley had seen the shuttle land and the Recon Delta marines file out with their assault rifles firing as they approached. He glanced towards the building where Kurt was fighting a holding action against the huge octo-felines and said, “We can’t leave without Captain Stryder, sir,” then added, “Torres, you and Vance make your way to the shuttle, Mack, you’re with me. We’re going to get Kurt.”

  As Riley and Mack approached Kurt, they saw the desperate battle he was waging, tooth and claw against plasma pistol and combat knife. Kurt was managing to hold the creatures at the doorway but the moment he moved away from his position the horde of creatures waiting to burst free would overrun them. Kurt was the stopper keeping the genie in the bottle.

  Riley realised there was nothing they could do to help him.

  Kurt had heard their approach even through the red mist of pure fury that was fuelling him and clouding most coherent thoughts. He shouted, “Throw me a few grenades then get ready to run.”

  Riley, amazed by the fact Kurt knew they were even there, nonetheless complied. He tossed him two grenades followed by two more from Mack. Kurt plucked them from the air one handed without even looking then shouted to Riley, “Now run, I’ll be right behind you, trust me.”

  Thinking he knew what was about to happen, Riley reluctantly turned back towards the rest of his team. Mack turned on him and said, “Jake, what’re you doing man? We can’t leave him there, he’ll be killed for sure.”

  “He knows what he’s doing, Mack,” Riley said coldly.

  “But he’s one of us,” Mack argued.

  “And that’s why he’s doing this; he’s giving us a chance to get away. If he moved from there we’d all die, he knows that and so do you.”

  “Yes, I do but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  “Me neither, let’s go while we still can,” Riley said as he pulled his friend away from the impending blast area.

  The blast followed as they neared their friends and teammates, one huge explosion as all four grenades detonated as one.

  Kurt was thrown through the air as the shockwave struck his body. The compression wave from the blast mulched his internal organs and the flechettes from the grenades tore his flesh to shreds. When he hit the ground, he was a pulped, bloody mess but at least all his limbs were still attached.

  Riley turned to see him hit the ground then tore his eyes away from the body to look at the doorway. He needed to know if his sacrifice had been worth it.

  The explosion had collapsed the doorway completely blocking it with rubble and the bodies of the octo-felines.

  Riley sighed in some relief, Kurt had not died in vain, he decided.

  Colonel De Boer shouted, “Hurry Captain, we don’t know how much longer we can hold these things off.”

  “Long enough for us to collect his body, I’m not leaving him,” Riley replied and ran to Kurt’s prone body. Mack stopped and followed his team’s leader knowing they would be faster if they both carried Kurt.

  Riley reached Kurt and was about to grab a hold of him when Kurt reared up taking a huge breath like a diver coming up for air.

  “Holy fuck, that hurt,” he said.

  Riley almost fell back from the shock of seeing Kurt spring back from the dead. He was speechless and just stared at him as he got off the ground.

  Kurt looked at Riley and seeing the expression on his face made him smile. He turned to see Mack come to a sliding halt with the same look on his face.

  Kurt said, “Come on guys, our ride is waiting,” and he reached down to Riley to help him up.

/>   “What the fuck just happened?” Mack asked.

  “You’re supposed to be dead,” Riley said finally finding his voice.

  “Don’t sound so disappointed,” Kurt chided playfully.

  “I’m not, I can’t believe my eyes that’s all,” Riley said smiling.

  “Look, let’s get off here while we still can then you can ask all the questions you want,” Kurt said as he urged the two marines forward. Together they ran towards Colonel De Boer and his Recon Delta marines who were still fending off the aerial assault.

  “Can we leave now?” De Boer asked as they reached him.

  “All present, sir, let’s go home,” Riley said and they all ran for the shuttle.

  DANOVIC SOON REACHED the attack craft in the shuttle bay. Quickly he connected a hose to a socket by the side of the hatch and secured it. Selecting the Phosgene gas, he opened the valve.

  Inside the vehicle, Tarkovic and his men had been watching what was happening outside the craft on the monitors. Once they saw Danovic attach the hose, they knew what their plan was and Tarkovic ordered counter measures. They quickly placed breather units over their faces so that when the Phosgene gas was introduced to their internal atmosphere they would not be affected.

  “Get ready on the pulse cannons,” Tarkovic ordered. “Target anyone approaching. We have to find a way of getting off this ship.”

  On the outside, Danovic was monitoring the bio signs of those inside the captured craft. “Jared, we may have a problem,” he said through a com. channel.

  “Go ahead, but make it fast, we’re getting hammered out here,” replied Jared.

  “These guys must be wearing re-breathers because their bio signs show no change; they’re still awake apart from one and that must be the Prince.”

  “Right, secure the area, we’re moving,” Jared replied.

  On the bridge, Jared came to a quick decision. To his pilot he said, “Get us out of here and back to Tula Rhan.”

  Inside the attack craft, Tarkovic was watching the monitors and when he saw the mercenaries pull back he said, “I’ve a bad feeling about this.”

  The pilot said, “Sir, we’ve just jumped to hyperspace.”

  “Fuck!” Tarkovic exclaimed then turned to face his men and said, “Okay, it looks like we’re on our own.”

  COLONEL DE BOER AND the marines continued to fire as the winged creatures maintained their assault. One marine next to the Colonel was killed when a creature swooped down from behind him. Its huge talons dug into the marine’s shoulders as it picked him up. As the creature flew upwards on a thermal updraft, it dug its teeth into the back of the marine’s neck, biting down hard. Blood sprayed out from the wound as his carotid artery was severed. The creature tore off the soldier’s head silencing his screams, then tossed it and the body away.

  They continued firing as they ran picking their targets carefully.

  Another creature fell on a marine close to the Colonel. It landed hard on the soldier’s back slamming him to the ground. The moment it had the soldier pinned beneath it, the creature lowered its head and plunged its huge fangs into the back of his neck ripping pieces of flesh away. As it lifted its head, blood dripped from the creature’s huge gaping maw as it roared its fury at the other soldiers.

  Kurt raised his Sig and shot the creature in the mouth, the plasma bolt exiting through the back of its head in a crimson explosion of gore.

  Finally, they reached the shuttle and climbed aboard with the Colonel and his marines providing covering fire. As soon as they were all on board, the pilot raised the craft off the ground.

  Riley threw himself into a seat next to the other members of his team as the shuttle leapt into the air.

  De Boer looked at the condition of Kurt’s clothes, ripped and blood spattered and yet there was not a mark on him. He was about to say something when Kurt saw his scrutinising gaze and said, “You should see the other guy.”

  Knowing he would learn nothing further, De Boer simply smiled, nodded his head then looked away.

  The pilot took evasive action to avoid the flock of angry creatures whose domain they had invaded. The Nova fighters continued to run interference too.

  A particularly large creature collided with a Nova fighter and grabbed hold of the port side stubby wing. Using the strength of its immensely powerful wings the creature twisted in the air and threw the craft into another fighter. The explosion from the collision caused a fireball that rained fiery debris onto the ground below.

  An attack craft made a strafing run at the shuttle but a Nova got in the way. Pulsed plasma bolts blasted the Nova out of the sky giving the shuttle the opportunity to veer away out of harm’s way.

  The battle raged on with casualties on all sides. Attack craft, Nova fighters and the strange winged creatures all fell from the sky in an aerial display of skill and pure power. The only constant being, that the shuttle containing Kurt and the others got through relatively unscathed. When it broke free from the planet’s atmosphere and the Odyssey was in sight they all allowed themselves the small hope that it would soon all be over.

  APPROACHING TULA RHAN, Jared Saladar had Alexei Janovic, his pilot, cut all forward momentum. Mikal Danovic had returned to the bridge and was at his friend’s side waiting to see what he would do.

  “You know, I was going to contact the Emperor and tell him his son was here, then dump that ship out of our docking bay and leave them to it,” Jared said when Mikal arrived at his side. He was staring at the forward viewscreen that was displaying Tula Rhan in the distance. They had arrived at the system and began to head towards their destination when Jared changed his mind.

  “I take it that something changed then?” Mikal said.

  “We have a contract and you know I’ve never broken a contract. Our reputation is built on that very principle. It’s not something I’m prepared to compromise on either. I don’t pretend to understand what went on back there and I’m not sure I want to either, but we do have the Prince on board and an obligation to return him to his father.”

  “What’s your plan then boss?” Mikal asked.

  Jared looked at his friend, smiled and said, “We get paid.”

  THE SHUTTLE DOCKED with the Odyssey whilst the Nova fighters continued to run interference against the attack craft.

  As soon as they were on board Kurt, Natasha and the Wildfire Team made their way to the bridge accompanied by Colonel De Boer who ordered what remained of ‘C’ Platoon to remain on stand-by in case they were needed.

  As they entered the bridge Sinclair was standing with Matt Hawk by the command chair occupied by Captain Biggs.

  “Glad you could all make it gentlemen and ladies,” Sinclair said in his usual clipped tones with no trace of the enormous stress he was under from their present situation. Before any of them could reply he asked Biggs, “Any news on the progress of that super destroyer?”

  “None yet, sir, they’re still en route to this location,” Biggs replied.

  “How long have we got?”

  “At their present speed, I’d say no more than thirty minutes.”

  Sinclair turned to the group of tired and bedraggled newcomers and said, “Okay this is our present situation. We have an Alliance super destroyer approaching this location, ETA thirty minutes. There are no indications as yet to their intentions, so that gives us just under that time to get across to that bogus Outlaw colony, find out all they know of what happened on Tartaran, make sure they cannot access that data and put it to use and get back here. Is that understood people?”

  There were nods all around then Sinclair continued, “Captain Riley, you and your team are on point, Matt you’re along to gather Intel, Colonel, you and your men are back up.”

  “What about me, sir?” Kurt asked.

  Sinclair looked at him and with a cold expression said, “As I recall Kurt, you resigned your commission. You wanted to be like the Ronin of ancient Japan, a warrior who serves no master. In that respect, I am afraid you can play no
further part in this little game of ours. I’m sure you’ll find something to occupy your time while the rest of us attempt to avert a potential galactic catastrophe.”

  “Wow! That was harsh,” Torres commented.

  “With respect, sir, that guy saved our necks down there, more than once,” Vance added vehemently.

  “He’s an incredible asset to us, sir, we sure could use him,” Riley said.

  “You seem to have made quite an impression Kurt,” Matt said.

  “Be that as it may, the fact is, he resigned, said he no longer wanted to be part of Col Sec,” Sinclair said showing no signs of relenting his decision.

  “Okay, sir, I’ll say it. I was wrong and you and my father were right,” Kurt said, knowing what the General wanted was for him to come to a decision. It was a decision that only he could make and possibly one of the most important of his life.

  “How so?” asked Sinclair, his usual poker face showing no emotion.

  “You said I couldn’t turn my back on Col Sec, but I did and I was wrong. What I’ve learned down on Tartaran made me realise more than ever what my father meant when he told me that for evil to triumph all that is required is for good men to do nothing. I can no longer turn my back and do nothing.

  “Sir, I want back in,” Kurt said.

  “Kurt, you were never out. I just needed you to realise it for yourself,” Sinclair said with a hint of a smile.

  Matt said, “Ronin, I like that.” He motioned towards the goatee and longer hair and said, “This is a new look for you. Going for the pirate look are we?”

  “I fancied a change,” Kurt replied with a smile at his friend.

  “Looks like you’re with us Kurt,” Riley said with a huge grin.

  “Ronin, that’s a great call sign,” Cooper said.

  Torres walked up to Kurt, smiled and said, “Welcome to the Team.”

  “The clock is ticking gentlemen and ladies, we have work to do,” Sinclair said.