by Tim Marquitz
He spun, his visor hiding the fury that twisted his expression. He saw Lina and his shoulders slumped. Torbon let out a relieved sigh.
Lina smiled and gave him a quick hug to let him know she was okay.
“You coming or what?” Jadie asked over the comm.
“We ran into a bit of interference,” Taj told her.
“Need us to circle back?” Torbon’s aunt asked.
“Stay put,” she ordered. “We’ll let you know if we run into trouble we can’t handle.”
“Roger that,” Jadie came back, but Taj could tell the queen was debating whether to disobey and come after them.
Taj hoped she stayed put.
Too many lives were at risk already, and she didn’t think she could handle it if the Furlorians who’d volunteered to join them on this mission ended up hurt or dead.
They’d lost too many to this war with the lizards.
“Let’s keep moving,” she urged, and they pressed on.
More and more lizards stumbled across them.
They fought on, making the most of their armor and weapons advantage, but the Wyyvans were relentless. No one among the crew escaped damage, and despite Dent’s efforts to stay out in front and let his android body absorb more than the flesh and blood of his friends, the lizards were wearing them down in the tight confines of the tunnels.
After a harsh fight with ten of the lizards, who rushed forward with a zeal that bordered on bloodlust, Taj and the crew limped their way down the tunnel, favoring their wounds.
They were nearly there.
Dent groaned. “Two more destroyers have fallen,” he reported, unwilling to meet Taj’s eyes. He just kept marching, determined to make it out of the labyrinth under the outpost.
“How much longer?” Taj asked.
The AI grunted. “The ship is nearly ready.”
“’Nearly’ isn’t exactly a precise measurement,” Krawg muttered.
Two Wyyvans raced around the corner then, and Dent blasted the first and shouldered past the dying lizard to grab the second by his visor.
He twisted and drove the Wyyvan’s head into the wall. The sharp crack of the soldier’s helmet giving way echoed through the tunnel, and Dent followed that up by shooting the male in the head. Then he tossed the body.
“’Nearly’ is as precise as I can manage right now,” Dent went on.
The Ursite raised his hands in mock surrender after what he’d just witnessed. “I’m okay with that.”
“Good,” the AI mumbled, and it was clear that even he was feeling the pressure of the constant fight.
Although there was a copy of his Dandrinite memories, the entire sum of his people’s knowledge and existence, back on Corzant, it was clear to Taj that he was beginning to think that they might not succeed here on Krawlas.
That meant that Dent might not be around to witness the rebirth of his people.
Taj felt for the AI. Although she was sure the Federation would find someplace where the Dandrinite society could be resurrected, she understood that Dent wanted to be the one to deliver them to that place.
Now, with the Wyyvan having managed to slip past the makeshift seismic monitor Dent had been using, uncertainty hung in the air.
“We need to get out of here,” Taj said, more to herself than anyone else. The pressure was starting to get to her too.
Slower than she liked, they kept pushing forward, weapons out and hunkering down to fight every time the Wyyvans found them and attacked.
They had to have killed fifty of the lizards before they reached the cutoff that led to where Jadie and the others would be waiting.
Unfortunately, a good twenty Wyyvan soldiers stood there in the broad tunnel, guns out and ready.
“How many of these gacks do we need to kill?” Torbon whispered.
“All of them,” Cabe replied.
“And then some,” Dent added. “The soldiers above have gotten past the artillery units and are now inside the compound, dismantling the weapons and hunting us down.”
“Hey, more good news,” Torbon whined. “Got anymore?”
Lina groaned.
“As a matter of fact,” Dent answered, “the Wyyvan fleet is pushing ours back. We’ve lost two more ships, and a third is on its way out. At least the destroyer with the rebels has moved out of orbit and is far enough away to have a legitimate chance of escape if things go wrong.”
“If things go wrong?” Krawg asked.
“The fight’s not over yet,” Cabe assured.
“How much longer do we have?” Taj asked the AI.
“Minutes. Three, maybe four,” Dent told her, but are you sure you want to do this still?”
“What choice do we have?” she countered. “We’re not exactly spoiled for options.”
“Well, not that I’m an expert or anything, but the idea of war is to take out your enemy, not yourself,” Dent explained.
“You’re not into the whole sacrifice thing, huh?” She laughed.
“I’m certainly not,” Torbon told her.
“Well, for what it’s worth, with all we’ve learned this time around, we’ll be better prepared for the next war we get into,” she offered.
“I’d be perfectly happy if we never fought another one, to be completely honest,” Lina announced. “Not my thing, I’m realizing.”
“It shouldn’t be anyone’s,” Krawg stated.
“But here we are,” Cabe said. “And we’ve got to get through these guys so we can meet up with Jadie and Kal and the others.” He gestured to the Wyyvan soldiers who filled the tunnel.
“Lead the way,” Torbon mumbled.
Since she’d been the one to get them all into this, Taj figured that was her job, not Cabe’s. She sucked in a deep breath, readied her weapons, and bolted down the tunnel toward the soldiers, guns blazing.
It was as good a time as any to kick lizard ass.
Chapter Nineteen
Taj blurred her form with the camo program to help sow confusion and raced toward the line of Wyyvan soldiers.
Unlike the previous narrow tunnels that had kept her restrained, unable to move around, the wider section here that led to the Toradium-42 chamber Galforin’s soldiers had created gave her room to maneuver.
She feinted left, then darted right, strafing the lizards to keep them off-balance. They scrambled around, trying to avoid being shot, but that hadn’t really been Taj’s plan. She wanted to do this up close and personal.
The blades in her armor ejected as she hit the Wyyvans, tearing into them. The first lizard swallowed her weapon when she stabbed him in the face, the sharpened point easily slicing through his visor.
She whipped that blade free and swung it around, catching another lizard in the chest. A blackened line formed where she cut through his armor, and she left him to the others as he stumbled away.
Taj grinned as she went after another of the soldiers. He managed to get a shot off, but she ducked and the blast seared above her head, sparks illuminating the tunnel.
As much as she dreaded the consequences of battle, there was nothing quite like it, in her experience.
She lived for these moments.
All the plotting and planning was stressful and aggravating, and the waiting for things to happen, the action and reaction, left her worn out and drained, but the thrill of the fight was another thing entirely.
Taj rose to draw the aim of her opponents only to duck and dive at their legs as they took the bait and filled the tunnel with gunfire.
She rolled across the stone floor and stabbed one of the lizards in the gut. He bent over with a curse and Taj drove her helmeted forehead into his visor, shattering it. She saw his wide, panicked eyes for just an instant before she ripped her blade free and sent him tumbling away.
Cabe came up behind her and shot the lizard, killing him before he even hit the ground. As he had since the start, he clung to Taj’s heels, fighting to make sure nothing happened to her.
She gave him a broad gr
in he couldn’t see and kept on tearing into the lizards.
Krawg roared as he joined the fight. Using his size and strength, he flung lizards around as though they weighed nothing. Bodies flew, adding to the chaos.
A number of Wyyvans were gunned down by their own people since there was too much going on for them to accurately assess who was who in the crowded, blood-soaked corridor.
Krawg slammed one of the lizards to the ground with a howl. The snap of the soldier’s neck was audible even through all the confusion.
But the hulking Ursite didn’t stop there.
He grabbed the lizard by the ankles and lifted him into the air, swinging him like a club.
Armor clanged into armor as he used the dead Wyyvan as a weapon, smashing him into the others as he waded into their shattered ranks.
“Rowl!” Torbon shouted.
Not to be outdone by Krawg, Torbon had procured a second pistol and was moving down the hall alternating shots, cutting a swath through the lizards as if they were target dummies.
Target dummies that bled.
Taj was grateful for the filters that kept the realities of battle at a distance. Mostly the smells, but there was no mistaking what was going on there.
The Wyyvans’ black blood coated the walls and floor and even the ceiling as the Furlorians pressed on, taking out one lizard after another.
Taj was slammed into the wall by a lizard she hadn’t seen sneaking up behind her.
Strong hands wrapped around her and flung her to the side, and she collided with stone. Bright lights exploded in her eyes as her head struck the wall and she felt her legs go weak, threatening to buckle beneath her.
Weaponless, the lizard hissed in her face and pummeled her before she could catch her breath and clear her head.
He was relentless.
Blow after blow landed, and her armor’s med system worked to overcome the pain and confusion, but deep down, Taj knew it was up to her.
She snarled at the lizard and drove a fist into his chest with all her might.
He gasped, and Taj felt his armor give way under her blow. The lizard stumbled back a step, and that was all the opportunity Taj needed.
She brought up her knee, driving it into his stomach and doubling the lizard over. Then she clasped both hands together and drove her fists into the back of the Wyyvan’s head.
He crashed to the ground face-first, helmet bouncing off the stone floor, but she didn’t stop there. She raised her boot and stomped over and over until the soldier stopped resisting and went limp.
Taj sighed and stumbled into the wall, panting.
“You okay?” Lina asked as she moved to her side.
Taj nodded.
“I’m good” she managed to answer, using the momentary excuse of her injuries to survey the scene.
The crew had decimated the ranks of the lizards, taking out more than half of them in just the few moments they’d been fighting.
Still, the effort was taking its toll.
Cabe fought on, as did Krawg, but Dent and Torbon had fallen back, shifting their focus to the narrow entryway that led to the Toradium-42 storage chamber.
Blocking the entrance to keep any more of the lizards from coming through or leaving, the pair had stopped driving into the enemy, and it had an immediate effect on the fight.
The lizards dug in and pressed forward. A pair charged at Taj as she stood there recovering, but Lina didn’t hesitate.
She opened up with her rifle and sprayed the two lizards. They shrieked and stumbled, appearing to almost dance as the gunfire tore into them.
It wasn’t until she eased off the trigger that the two could fall. And they did, dropping like sacks of stones to add to the body count on the ground.
Taj caught her breath and triggered her comm. “How much longer, Dent?”
He knocked a Wyyvan to the side and shot him in the ribs, backhanding him away before responding, “The ships are in motion now.”
Taj couldn’t help but smile.
The last of her plans were coming to fruition.
Although she’d had far too few when they’d returned to Krawlas, they’d adapted and overcome, using their circumstances and surroundings to their advantage. Now it was time for the culmination of all they’d worked for.
The moment of truth was upon them.
It was time to end this.
She mustered her strength, ignoring the stiffness and pain that nagged at her—those the med systems were unable to completely nullify—and pressed ahead.
“Take them out now!” she shouted, rejoining the fight.
Krawg and Torbon, off to the sides, let loose sprays of gunfire, taking out any of the lizards in their way.
Cabe and Dent pushed forward. The pair ripped through the enemy, Cabe floating loosely behind the AI, moving from side to side and firing around Dent, who went straight at the enemy, a blade carving a path on one side as he gunned down soldiers on the other.
Lina stayed close to Taj, and the engineer sprayed the remaining lizards with automatic fire while Taj picked her shots and kept the enemy from getting in a good shot on any of her people.
A few moments later, the fight was over.
Smoke filled the tunnel, a hazy, drifting reminder of what had happened there.
“Get inside,” Taj ordered the crew, motioning for them to slip into the Toradium-42 chamber.
This was the part of the plan Taj had been the most worried about.
She tossed small, makeshift explosive devices down the tunnel in each direction and took cover behind the wall of the chamber.
As well-conceived as the plan was, there was still the chance that explosives of any size would set off the cache of minerals she and the crew were sitting on.
If that happened, they wouldn’t even know.
Regardless, Taj clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes as the two devices exploded.
There were two loud whumps that melded into one another, and then a wave of dust and dirt washed past the entrance, blacking out the tunnel. Debris clattered just beyond the rough-hewn doorway, and stones and rubble clattered, tumbling and crashing together to seal off the hallway outside.
A few moments later, the rumbling stopped and the tremors in the ground ceased.
Taj breathed a sigh of relief.
They were still there.
Lina slapped her on the shoulder in her excitement.
“We did it,” she yelled.
Taj wanted to celebrate, but it wasn’t over yet.
“Let’s find Jadie and the others,” she replied.
The pair joined the rest of the crew, and they made their way through the massive chamber of Toradium-42, boots sinking into the soft mineral.
The trip was surreal.
Dunes of the mineral sprawled before them as far as they could see. Taj had realized how much Toradium-42 there was on the planet, but seeing so much of it collected in one place was nearly overwhelming.
She could see nothing but the mineral, and despite knowing she was the safer there than she’d been anywhere since returning to Krawlas, a cold chill skittered down her spine.
There was simply too much power collected in that chamber to not be afraid of it.
Though the Wyyvan soldiers had worked to dig it out and move it, they’d barely made a dent before Jadie and Kal had ambushed them.
The Furlorians had crept through the same tunnels Taj and the others had, sneaking up on the soldiers as they worked to empty the chamber. And since the lizards had no clue that their enemy knew they were there, they had been caught totally off guard.
Jadie and Kal and the rest of the Furlorians had struck hard and fast, waiting until the lizards were all in the tunnels, returning from dropping off a load of the mineral and coming back for more.
Jadie, her helmet retracted, grinned as Taj and the crew made their way over to where they stood in front of the array of tunnels the lizards had dug into the chamber.
Wyyvan soldiers littered the g
round just inside the tunnels, left where they’d died, curled up like dead insects in the dark.
Taj came over and hugged Jadie, returning the woman’s grin. “You did good,” she told her.
“It’s easy when they don’t know you’re coming,” she replied, chuckling. “Besides, Kal helped a little.”
“A little?” Kal growled. His whiskers flittered.
Krawg patted him on the shoulder as he glanced down a tunnel to admire their handiwork. “Don’t let it bother you,” he told Kal. “It’s their world. They just let us live in it.”
Cabe laughed. “Ain’t that the truth.”
“Damn straight,” Lina joked, grinning all the while. “And when this is all over, I expect a back rub and breakfast in bed.”
Torbon sighed. “Greeeeeat! Shoot me now.”
Taj grinned and came over to stand beside Krawg, looking down the tunnel. “Don’t tempt me.”
Before Taj could ask the question on her mind, Jadie answered it.
“These tunnels lead into the foothills surrounding Everon’s Canyon. There’s a gathering of vehicles there that the Wyyvans were using to transport the Toradium-42, but there was no way they were gonna get it all out of here. It would have taken weeks.”
“I don’t think Galforin thought that part through,” Taj replied. “I suspect it was more of a fallback plan should his troops not take us out.”
“Well, he certainly didn’t expect us to use his own tunnels against him.” Jadie laughed.
“No, I can’t imagine he did,” Taj agreed. “And speaking of using the tunnels, I think it’s time to get the gack out of here. The lizards will break through our blockade soon enough, and I don’t know about any of you, but I’m too tired to play run and gun anymore.”
The rest of the crew agreed, and they all slipped into the tunnels, making their way toward the surface of Krawlas.
As Taj walked, she wondered if she’d get to see the last of her plan play out.
As much as she dreaded what was going to happen, what they would lose, it was a fair trade if it worked out the way she hoped.
She resisted offering up a prayer to Rowl, knowing the finicky god would do as she pleased regardless, so what was the point?
