“We should have thirty minutes at least,” Ren suggested.
“We should be out in ten. Queen will have to stay in flight to defend herself and there are enemy fighters still around,” the commander pointed out.
“Don’t worry about me, Commander. I’ll make sure all the kids get back home,” she promised.
“Are everyone’s weapons at the ready?” he asked and all soldiers immediately confirmed this. “Queen, when we get inside the station and we have oxygen and gravity, unlock the doors and we’ll lay down cover fire until you can find a place to slow enough for us to jump.”
“The oxygen is no issue but the gravity is, sir,” she stated. “It looks like the artificial gravity field in that section is out.”
He opened the chamber of his sniper rifle, removed the kinetic core, and replaced it with an energy core. “Only in that section or the whole station?”
“Right now, only in section B and F. Your target is in D and both C and D have gravity.”
“That will be fine. When we’re near a bridge, bank to the left and open the door. We’ll use the mag boots,” Sasha stated and looked at his team. “Lieutenant Ren and Ensign Calloway, you’re with me. We’ll eliminate any immediate targets when we’re in the air while the rest of the team makes it to the ground. All of you, be careful. Mag boots will help to keep you in place but your range of motion and speed will be reduced.”
“I didn’t plan to run anywhere except towards the target, sir,” Ensign Tucker stated cheerfully.
“Good boast, kid,” DeMarco complimented him and pressed a switch on his cannon. “But don’t get too cocky.”
The ship began to nosedive and they adjusted to maintain their balance. “Heading into the port now, Commander.”
Sasha stood and held onto the railing in front of the door with his rifle at the ready. He allowed himself one last look at his team, who had now lined up behind him. “You have your orders,” he said crisply, turned away, and held his weapon in both hands. “Let’s get this done and celebrate.”
“The door will open in five…four…three…” He braced himself as the light on the lock changed from red to white before the door opened and he plunged out. The lack of gravity almost made him spiral but that was the plan. It allowed him to quickly scan the area and his trained eye identified almost a dozen enemies, although they seemed more distracted by the remaining security bots than the new group in their midst. It wouldn’t remain that way for long, though.
Ren and Calloway followed, both with their rifles ready. The trio found their rhythm, located their targets, and eliminated them systematically. The energy blasts had much less kickback than kinetic rounds, but they were still tossed around somewhat. The continual motion made finding new targets easier, however, and each of them faced away from one another for the most effective distribution of fire.
The main group was able to pull themselves to the ground with hooks. They landed and DeMarco immediately delivered a series of rapid volleys at anything in the pirates’ red and black colors. He made no effort to avoid the security bots in the way.
“Sir, I’ve found a route that will take us to Section C,” Ensign Kali informed him over the comms.
“Understood, good work,” Sasha stated and fired one more shot at a desperate pirate who tried to swoop toward him while his back was turned. He removed the hook shot from his belt and fired it at the bridge. “Ren, Calloway, we’ll join with the others. When we have gravity again, switch to kinetic rounds.”
“Understood, sir,” Ren stated as he and Calloway followed his lead, fired hooks to the bridge, and reeled themselves in. They activated their mag boots once they landed.
The commander, after checking for any immediate threats, walked up behind DeMarco, who was busy lasering through one of the doors. “Thanks to the lack of gravity, we’ll get through the next hall in no time and soon be in section C,” the man informed him.”But once we get there, it’ll be a little more tricky. There are still numerous pirates, and my guess is that means there are fewer security droids for backup.”
“Be glad they haven’t hacked any yet,” Sasha stated and while his subordinate finished his task, he stepped up to the rest of the team. “Kali, have you mapped a path?”
“Yes, sir.” She nodded and showed him a hologram of the station. “The one you proposed is still mostly solid, but there was a breach here on the upper level of D.”
“Dammit. That didn’t compromise the target did it?” Sasha asked.
“No, sir. The beacon is still active, but it looks like they moved to this room here.” Kali enlarged the area under discussion and traced a finger down the hall. “Once we get into C from this point, we can go up two floors and make our way into this section from the door. It’s most likely reinforced due to security measures.”
“I won’t be able to hack in very quickly without the proper codes,” Ensign Cavazos noted. “And getting them remotely without being shot or alerting any potential pirates still looking into the system will be a problem.”
“Not to worry,” DeMarco boasted while he patted his cannon. “Get me to the door and give me five minutes.”
“If that doesn’t suffice, we’ll use explosives,” the commander decided and shortened the barrel of his rifle. “This might take a little longer now—fifteen minutes, at most. Queen will rendezvous at the nearest hangar.” He vented his rifle and nodded at his team. “We have a hostage to save. Let’s get this done.”
“Yes, sir!” they all replied and DeMarco kicked the door in as they proceeded into the next chamber.
Chapter Six
“How’s that door coming, Lieutenant?” Sasha asked and peeked around the corner once more.
“The damn thing is resilient!” the other man muttered at almost the halfway point.
“What happened to all that boasting, DeMarco?” Ren teased from where she studied the hologram with Kali and Cavazos.
“I drained too much energy saving your ass from the pirate in the mech,” he countered. “Where’s the thank you for that, by the way?”
“Waiting at a bar somewhere,” she replied and her breath hitched. “Dammit, sir, we have a problem.”
“What’s wrong?” the commander asked and approached the hologram on which a section now blinked an angry red. “Hostiles?”
She nodded. “They seem to be coming in from the levels below. There’s a gate in their way, but if they’ve been able to run around this easily, I’ll bet that they have the means to break through.”
“I agree.” He nodded and looked at the door. “DeMarco, make a few swipes at the bottom of the door, then use explosives to force your way in, retrieve the hostage, and get to the hangar.”
“Right, sir,” he yelled before he released the trigger of his cannon. “Wait—where are you going?”
“To take care of the intruders,” Sasha stated calmly and headed off without another word.
“Sir, wait!” Ren called after him. “It’s not merely a team or a small group. There are at least twenty-five life signs coming this way, and we don’t know what they are equipped with.”
“I’ll manage.” He checked his ammo. “I’ll find another exit where Queen can pick me up, but the hostage is priority.”
She stepped beside him and hefted her rifle. “I’ll go with you.”
“Are you ready for that promotion, Lieutenant?”
“From this point on, it’s a straight route to the hangar when they retrieve the hostage. If they need sniper support, they have Calloway,” she pointed out. “Your plan is to buy time so they don’t potentially catch up to us and flank us from the rear, right? The faster we eliminate them, the easier we can make things for everyone. I can even assist to find an extraction point.”
Sasha looked from her to the others, who were busy placing explosives against the door. “DeMarco!” he called and the demolitionist looked at him. “You have command until we meet up. Finish this safely, all right?”
The man nodded and
gave him a thumbs-up with his large gauntlet. “Of course, Commander. See you in ten.”
“Maybe we should stop trying to guess the time at this point,” Sasha admitted as he and Ren made their way down to intercept the pirates.
“Do you think it’s a bomb or laser?” Ren asked as they perched on a railway above the room, their rifles aimed at the door.
“They could simply have the access codes by now,” he replied and adjusted his scope. “Either way, take out as many as you can while they’re still in disarray, then make sure to keep on the move when they retaliate.”
“Understood. I have my EI looking for an exit. So far, our best bet it actually through the doors.”
“The hangar is three kilometers from there,” Sasha pointed out.
“There’s a breach to the left. You have a small oxygen tank, right? We can jump from the breach and have Queen scoop us up.”
“That seems risky. If it comes to that, we need to notify the team to activate their own— Wait, here they come.”
The doors opened without any explosion or laser fire and a well-built man in his late twenties with a coarse beard and shaved head walked in. He was shirtless and carried a shotgun, “Captain’s dead, huh?” he asked one of the pirates beside him.
“Yeah. Lokean is next in line.”
The man smirked, took a cigarette out, and placed in his mouth. He swiped a match across his cheek to light it. “Not after I get through with him.” He chuckled and blew out a slow trail of smoke.“Now, where are these fancy soldiers you were fretting about?”
“That’s Swarn,” Ren told her superior. “He’s one of the top ranks in the Dead Space Pirates.”
“Let’s take him, Ren—” Sasha pushed her away as a blast rocked their railway and almost toppled it.
“Never mind, I found them.” The invader smiled. “We have you on camera, idiots. None of that sneaky stuff now.”
The commander braced himself against the railing, fired four shots in rapid succession, and felled four of the pirates. The remainder scattered.
Ren vaulted to another railway, spun, and fired two shots to eliminate two of the enemy who had yet to reach cover. But to prove that didn’t matter, she shot a third through the machine the others used as a shield. The wounded man sagged, and the bullet sparked against another piece of metal and caused the machine to explode and obliterate his comrade.
Sasha allowed himself to drop from his elevated position. He continued to fire through his descent and delivered a few fatal strikes before the enemy began to return fire. His stealth generator activated with a swift press of a button before he landed and sprinted across the floor. The invaders fired wildly and he had to dodge the fusillade while he reloaded. A shock grenade soared overhead and a pirate tried to catch it to throw it back, but his grasp slipped and it erupted to shock both him and his partner.
Where had Swarn gone? He’d had him in his sights as he fell, but once he landed, the man had vanished. Did he run and leave his grunts to clean the mess up? His thoughts were rattled from his head when something chopped against his neck. He was flipped before he could retaliate, and his rifle slid from his hands as he landed hard. The force of the impact shattered his generator and he was instantly visible.
“Like I said, no sneaky stuff,” Swarn mocked. He now wore a red monocle of some kind that must have enabled him to see beyond the stealth shield. The pirate aimed his shotgun directly at Sasha’s chest and his finger tightened on the trigger.
Ren plummeted from above and drove a blade into his shoulder. He cursed as he spun, caught her by the back of her helmet, and hurled her into the wall. Before she could recover from the painful collision, he walked up and pounded his boot into her stomach. The remaining pirates made their way over quickly with their weapons ready.
“That hurt like hell, missy,” the leader growled and now focused on her as he prepared to fire. “But I’m a gentleman. I’ll make this quick.”
The commander activated a thermal and rolled it along the floor as he drew his own blade. “Shit! Grenade!” One of them yelled a warning and the man spun to see what was happening. His momentary distraction allowed Sasha to vault up and thrust his blade through the pirate leader’s left eye. Swarn hissed and attempted to punch his attacker, who dodged easily and responded with a downward slash directly beside the original wound. The invader howled with rage and began to fire at random while he held the eye with his free hand. Ren kicked savagely and toppled him as the grenade behind them detonated. Sasha’s shields burst and the back of his armor cracked, but he and Ren raced through the room to the entrance. They took turns to twist and fire behind them with their pistols as they made their escape.
“Are you all right, Ren?” he asked and killed one of the pursuing pirates with two shots to the chest.
“I should ask you that,” she muttered and held her stomach. “We should have finished that brute.”
“Another time. Perhaps that could be your first mission,” he suggested and noticed a turn a little farther down the hall. “This way.”
“We’re going with my plan?” she asked.
“We don’t currently have much choice,” he admitted and fired a few shots blindly behind him before he dropped his remaining thermal as they turned the corner. The blast erupted and he activated the comms. “DeMarco, what’s your status?”
“I was about to call you. Sir. We’re on the dropship with the package. Where are you?”
“Track our location. We’ll have to make our escape through a breach.”
“Really? That sounds too cool to be your idea, sir,” the man said jokingly.
“It was Ren’s. But be ready. We have hostiles in pursuit.”
“Not to mention the fighters around here. We’re on our way.” DeMarco signed off as the two rounded another corner. Gravity vanished almost instantly and they used the walls and scaffolding to push off to quicken their escape. They found the breach in the station’s side and Sasha’s oxygen meter appeared as they approached. Ren pushed off the wall and drifted through the opening and out into open space with him a short distance behind.
The dropship drew closer. When he felt something snag his belt, he looked down to see Ren had tied them together. She adjusted her rifle and aimed away from the ship, and he realized she still had kinetic rounds. A single shot was all they needed to provide a surge forward and bring them beside the ship. The door opened and DeMarco and Calloway reached out to help them in. An enemy fighter banked and turned toward the vessel.
Sasha thumped the button to close the door. “Punch it!”
The ship rocketed forward as the fighter attempted to close in. The soldiers braced against the sudden boost. DeMarco held the hostage—a lead researcher—in place as they surged clear. The other dropships in the area were already leaving and the battleships slowly pulled out after them. It was over.
“A farewell to our dear commander,” DeMarco shouted as the team raised their glasses in a toast. They began to chat excitedly to each other, to congratulate Ren on her upcoming promotion, and say their goodbyes to Sasha. He excused himself from the others a little later and wandered over to a window to look out at his home planet below.
“You really do miss it, don’t you?” Ren asked as she walked up behind him.
“I’m sure that in time, I’ll grow sick of it. That’s what led me here in the first place.” He smiled and finished his whiskey.
“You never gave a straight answer on why you took that teaching job,” she commented and leaned against the wall. “I know it’s your alma mater and everything, but do you really think you can be— Wait, never mind. I guess you’ve taught me more than enough to qualify as a teacher.”
“You were a fast learner as well, Ren,” he pointed out. “You’ll surpass me quite quickly, I imagine.”
“You would be a captain now if you hadn’t already taken the job,” she reminded him and swirled the liquid in her glass. “I wanted to thank you for recommending me.”
&nbs
p; “It was earned, Meili,” Sasha said with a firm look at his lieutenant. “Don’t forget that.”
“I won’t,” she promised and stared at Earth with him. “So why did you take it?”
Sasha was silent for a moment, and she assumed he would simply leave it unanswered. Instead, he took in a deep breath and said, “You’ll see many soldiers in your life and probably have already. You see such potential in them. Some don’t realize it while they are alive. If I can help them realize it early on and guide them, I’ll worry less about whether there was more I could do.”
Ren shifted slightly. “Wow, that’s…” She took a sip and rolled it in her mouth before she swallowed. “That’s quite deep.”
“Laurie would consider it overdramatic, perhaps.” He chuckled.
She squeezed her index finger and thumb together. “Just a little.” Hollering from the table demanded their presence. “It looks like the party’s still going and it’s your last time with us all together. Wanna come?”
Sasha took one last look at the planet and nodded as she returned to the festivities. He hoped he could form new relationships there that were as meaningful as these.
Animus On Audio
Kaiden and friends are now available in audio at Amazon, Audible and iTunes. Check out book one, INITIATE, performed by Scott Aiello.
Check out book one at Amazon
(Book two is also available in audio, with more coming soon.)
The Story Continues
The story continues with Raid, Animus Book 9, available now at Amazon and through Kindle Unlimited.
Grab your copy of Raid at Amazon
Animus Boxed Set 2 (Books 5-8): Revenant, Glitch, Master, Infiltration Page 86
