As the fallers and the flyer got closer, the boot jets in the armor flickered. The shorter bursts kept the Captain moving upward at a slower pace.
He finally reached the falling men and grabbed both of them before resetting the boots to full thrust, pulling the two back upward.
“Got you!”
“Thanks for the save, Boss!” Durham looked back down and saw the tree canopy at an uncomfortably close range.
“Hit the lens, Haddron!” Irons said.
“The teleporter can only move two at a time.”
“Well that’s not—Hey!”
The sudden lack of thrust interrupted Durham. He looked back down to see no jet stream coming from the bottom of the boots. “Hey, Boss!”
“Relax. Just hang on.”
“This will take too long,” Haddron said. “This speed is adequate. Release me.”
Irons didn’t argue. He let Haddron go and both of them activated their teleporters at the same time, lighting up the night sky.
When they appeared again, Irons decelerated for a gentle landing on the ground. Haddron’s impact was a little harder. But it was nothing he couldn’t shake off within a few seconds.
Irons turned the dial, removing the full armor. “That was close.”
“Too close.” Durham added.
“You might want to rethink removing the Gevecht Bepantsering.” Jammin’s voice was a whisper. He’d completely forgotten the ordeal they’d all just gone through.
“Why, what’s—”
“Shh…” Hannah cut Durham off.
Haddron noticed both Jammin and Hannah staring into the woods. Irons and Durham followed their gaze into the dark trees in front of them.
“What is it?” Durham whispered.
“Don’t know. But it’s been watching us since I got down here,” Jammin said. “And I don’t think it’s something small.” He brought his rifle to bear, ready to fire on anything that might reveal itself.
“Think it’s Catters, Boss?”
“Catters would have shown already.” Irons donned the armor. His HUD outlined those of them on the ground but he focused his attention on the trees as they moved apart, as if something was pushing through them. The HUD pointed out something in a straight vertical line. “Whatever it is, it’s big.”
“How big?” Haddron asked.
“You don’t need me to tell you.”
With no other warning, a giant, roaring beast crashed out of the trees toward them.
Sixteen
The Bigger They Are
The razor sharp teeth of the beast made it hard to take in the other features. It was similar to the dinosaurs of prehistoric Earth, except this creature’s eyes were set in the front of its face, the way a humans were. It had no discernible nose but its snout protruded out, ending in its teeth.
Except for its lack of a tail, the giant beast reminded Hannah of an Allosaurus, with its longer arms and the way it hunched forward on powerful legs. The underside of the monster was hairless while its outer body was covered in fine hairs that stood on end.
Dealing with a swarm of large bipedal cats and individuals with tremendous speed was one thing. Facing off against the Catters, alone, had become second nature. But this was not something that any amount of training, Earth Fleet or Nordic, could have prepared them for.
The giant creature roared at them. The deafening sound blasted hot air at the surrounding foliage, making it bristle and sway.
Jammin fired first.
The creature reared up and roared again, drowning out the sound of the gunfire. Durham fired one last shot at the monster as it came back down to stare at them. His eyes went wide as his bullet bounced clean away from the beast.
“No effect!” the Private yelled.
“Fall back!” Irons ordered, activating the full armor.
Haddron took the lead as the group dashed through the foliage. The short branches and leaves whipped at their forms while the giant alien beast chased them.
“It’s after us, sir!” Hannah yelled.
Irons activated the suits thrusters and took to the air, spinning around and firing at the massive beast. His HUD confirmed the negative impact. “What is this thing?” He flew higher, above the giant where he noticed the artificial side of the planetoid getting farther away. The Captain returned to Haddron. “This ain’t the way we need to go!”
“Until we lose this creature,” Haddron started. “Retreat is our only option.”
Irons slowed down, letting Durham and Hannah catch up. “You two, fan out. We gotta separate.”
“Crossfire, Boss?” Durham asked, leaping over a fallen log.
“If that’s what it takes.” Irons blasted off, back toward the monster.
Its arm swiped at the Earth Fleet soldier as he sped just past it, taking its attention off the others while Hannah and Durham split off.
Jammin darted around a tree, hiding himself from the beast while Haddron raced ahead, far out of its sight.
The giant skidded to a halt just by the tree Jammin hid behind. Hannah peered up from behind a fallen log while Durham watched the monster from beneath a dense group of shrubs. The smaller twigs at the base poked at his sides but he kept quiet as the beast scanned back and forth for any sign of its prey.
Irons stared at the creature from the rear. His HUD highlighted the monstrous beast in a series of blue sparks. “What is that?”
The first shot came from the beast’s front as Haddron streaked toward it, firing off all six rounds until the Ice gun ran out.
“Charging,” the voice from the gun said.
Haddron re-holstered it and dropped to the ground, sliding underneath the creature.
Jammin and the others all came out from their hiding places and fired on the monster. Irons joined in the battle from the air. His display lit up, noting every bullet that was fired, showing origin points, trajectories and impact spots.
The bullets bounced clean off the monster and struck trees and the ground. Every time a bullet would hit the beast, the blue sparks would flash like flickering digital static in the HUD.
“That things’s got shields,” Irons muttered from within the helmet. He dropped to the ground.
Haddron rushed to Irons’s side. “Captain, it has some sort of field around it.”
“I noticed that.” Irons watched the monster as it followed its prey. Durham and Jammin switched places, trying to keep the giant predator off kilter. But it was Hannah who had caught its attention. She had not moved from her spot and so made an easier target.
Irons rocketed forward as the monster ran to the Specialist. Hannah tried to run but slipped and fell to her back.
The large alien arms reached down for her as Hannah Xuyen tried scrambling to her feet. Irons fired off one shot at the monster’s side, distracting it long enough for him to swoop in and grab the Tech Specialist.
The two flew well out of reach of the monster. “Everyone, on me!” Irons continued to fire from the suit’s integrated arm weapon.
The monster roared and stomped toward the two of them while Durham and the Nordics ran through the trees, trying to stay out of sight.
The Captain put Hannah back on the ground. “Go!”
She ran toward Durham and the two continued through the woods with Jammin right behind them. Haddron already streaked past them.
“Gonna make a jacket outta you,” Irons muttered as he continued ineffective firing at the beast. The sparks through his HUD flashing with each hit.
The monster finally stopped just above Irons and roared right at him. The HUD flashed a red warning icon and self activated, launching Irons backwards, away from the beast.
The Captain spun forward and took control of the boot jets, rapidly catching up with the group. Back with Hannah and Durham, he deactivated the boots and ran with the rest of them. He and Haddron could easily outrun the monster but Irons refused to leave his people behind. Jammin could figure his own way out.
“Gonna need a better plan t
han just running, Boss!” Durham yelled.
“I’m working on it!”
“Captain, that thing has a gait of five feet. We can’t out run it!” Hannah explained.
“Can’t shoot it. Can’t run from it!”
Irons’s HUD warned of an approaching individual. Suddenly Haddron raced toward him and turned to keep pace.
“Captain, there is a ravine up ahead,” the Nordic said. “Too wide to jump and too deep to fall.”
Irons gritted his teeth. The only sane way out of this situation was to split up. But they didn’t know the terrain or how many more of these beasts they might have to deal with on top of having to face the Catters. He had to trust that an idea would form by the time they hit the edge of the gap.
The monster was getting far too close to linger long as the group finally stumbled to a stop at the craggy edge.
The dark of the ravine went down in what looked like a bottomless hole. It was possible the ground wasn’t all that far beneath them but on the dark side of the planetoid it was impossible to tell and there was no sense risking a leap down.
Everyone looked back at the beast as it roared toward them.
“You will have to trust my lead!” Haddron said. “Get her across!”
Irons didn’t ask any questions as he grabbed Hannah and carried her over. They both looked back to see Haddron grab Jammin first and spin around, using the larger Nordics weight to spin faster. When he released him, it was right into Durham, knocking both of them well over the edge of the gap. He teleported himself just as the jaws of the monster clamped down where he just stood.
Another flash went off right beside Jammin. The large Nordic barely had time to realize what was going on before Haddron grabbed his shoulder and they vanished in a blinding light.
Both Nordics reappeared on the other side of the ravine just as Irons dropped off Hannah and immediately teleported away.
When the Iron Albatross reappeared, it was in the dark of the ravine, his boots off as he free-fell toward a ground he could not see. The only sound he could hear was that of Durham yelling in the dark.
His HUD lit up, showing him the falling form of Taylor Lee Durham. The thrusters reactivated and Irons rocketed down as fast as the boot jets would push him. Warning alarms, indicating an imminent crash flashed across his HUD while alarms blared through the helmet.
Irons hit the teleporter and disappeared, reappearing right alongside Durham. He grabbed the Private and flipped him upright. The light from the thrusters illuminated the ground at the bottom of the ravine, mere feet from them.
Durham said nothing as he watched the ground get darker and farther away while the two of them flew back up.
The Nordics and Hannah kept their eyes on the monster across the ravine as it roared its disappointment at its escaped prey. The sound of rocket thrust from beneath them gave Hannah, at least, a sense of relief as Irons and Durham burst up from the ravine.
Irons decelerated, lowering Durham to the ground before cutting off the thrusters, entirely, and finally landing.
Hannah wrapped her arms around Durham, giving him a level of comfort after his close call with the bottom of the ravine.
“Too bad Brooks doesn’t respond the same way,” he said when she released him.
“Captain!” Hannah rushed to Irons as the battle armor collapsed back into the vest. Her arms went around him as well.
“Where’s mine?” Jammin said. His tone was sarcastic.
Haddron put his attention back on the monster across the way as it backed into the dark of the woods behind it. “I’ve no doubt there are more of those.”
“And we’re on the wrong side of the planetoid,” Irons added.
“We’ll have to circle around this thing.” Jammin motioned toward the ravine.
“And then what?” Durham asked. “Get eaten by that thing?” He pointed across the ravine at the monster on the other side.
“A problem we will have to solve should it arise,” Haddron replied.
“That thing was bulletproof. How?” Durham asked.
“My helmet showed some kinda sparks whenever it was hit,” Irons said.
“There wasn’t any device strapped to it as far as I could tell. Maybe some kind of bio-field. Maybe a static discharge that—”
“Oh no!” Haddron interrupted.
Everyone turned at the sound of thunderous pounding on the ground. The trees burst to the sides as the monster reappeared. Its powerful legs slammed on the ground at the edge of the ravine and pushed off, sending it out into the open air.
“Something that size can’t—”
Durham’s words were cut off as the monster’s arms hit their side of the gap. Its claws dug into the ground as it roared, trying to pull itself up on the edge.
“Fall back,” Irons said. “Fall back!” He turned the dial on the armor and his vision suddenly filled with the sparking outline of the monster as it fought to climb up. Its jaws snapped with each pull of its arms, daring anyone of them to walk right into its maw.
Everyone backed up, slowly, none of them sure what to do. They couldn’t shoot it and even the pit that once separated them was no longer a measure of safety. Splitting up was still a bad idea and running would only take them so far. They were out of options. It was a position the Iron Albatross hated being in.
The sparks in Irons’s HUD blinked out, suddenly.
“What was that?” Durham asked.
Irons turned to him and his vitals appeared in the Helmet’s display. The Private’s pulse was fast. Similar readings appeared for the others. Irons refocused on the monster as the blue outline surrounding it grew dimmer. He took one step forward and halted as the beast slowly slid backward.
Irons collapsed the armor to get a view without the data flow. As helpful as the information was, it wasn’t warranted at the moment. His vision adjusted to the night as a human-shaped shadow pulled out a spear from the monster’s temple before it fell, fully, into the ravine.
The shadow moved carefully from one side to the other. Like a predator stalking prey.
“No one move,” Haddron said.
“He saved us,” Durham said. “The least we can do is—”
The edge of the spear cut him off as the shadow pointed it directly at him.
“…nothing at all,” Durham muttered.
Seventeen
Dual Fronts
“Durham?” Irons asked.
“Nobody do anything.” Durham’s voice trembled.
Except for a faint outline, details were impossible to make out on the shadow figure. It blended flawlessly with the night. All anyone could make out in any kind of detail was the sharpened blade on the edge of a wooden staff. The blade was steady, resting right at Durham’s throat. There was little doubt in anyone’s mind that an errant move could force the stranger’s hand, causing it to plunge the spear point through the Private’s neck.
“Everything is just fine.” Durham raised his hands and took one painfully slow step backwards.
The spear kept with him.
“If I had a gun…” Jammin trailed off.
“Shoulda kept a tighter hold of it when you did,” Irons scolded.
Durham crept his hands in front of him to block a possible attack. “Well, I’m glad that you don’t because—”
Haddron drew his Ice gun but it was knocked from his hand before he could properly aim.
As the spear swung up to his neck, Haddron spun forward, grabbing the staff, trying to tear it from their new adversary’s grasp.
The shadow figure held on, making Haddron change his tactic. The Nordic’s hand swiped through the staff, cutting it in half and leaving him with the spear end.
The figure stumbled backward, shocked at the speed of the Nordic. It looked at its half of the weapon and made the best of it, assuming a fighting stance. Haddron did the same.
“Run,” Haddron told the others.
“We all go or we don’t go,” Irons protested.
�
��Captain, whoever this is, they have proven to be as swift as myself.”
Irons reached for the dial on the armor. “I’m still armed.”
“More gunfire may further alert the Ka’traxis Brood to our presence. Besides, what good would it do if you cannot hit your target?” Haddron asked. “Go. I will be right behind you.”
Jammin scoffed and drew back into the woods.
“Catch up when you can,” Irons said, leading his team after the larger Nordic.
Haddron and the shadow figure circled each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Haddron tried to watch the footwork of the shadow figure, to analyze its movements. As far as he could tell, the stranger moved like any Nordic or human. For all he knew, being this close to Erra, his opponent was a Nordic. One that didn’t recognize him. He did away with the thought. He had been in prison for a long time but he knew of no technology that kept an individual so shrouded in darkness.
The stick moved first, nearly striking him along the side of his face. Haddron blocked the attack and followed with one of his own, plunging the spear blade forward. His strike hit only air.
The shadow figure spun to the ground, swinging the stick out and knocking Haddron off his feet.
The Nordic was unaccustomed to being struck with speed equal to his own. He had become used to batting his opponents around with such ease that facing someone else of equal speed had never crossed his mind. The tactics of James Irons had already thrown him off. But now he was practically contending with himself. He rolled out of the way, avoiding the next attack savagely bearing down on top of him.
When Haddron popped to his feet, the blur of a swift kick pushed him back to the ground. It wasn’t taking long for this attacker to infuriate him. His planet was being overrun by the Ka’traxis Brood only a few thousand miles from where he stood— a short jaunt for a spacefaring vessel. And he was being knocked around by someone he could barely see on a planet he knew nothing about.
The next strike stopped short, blocked by Haddron’s half of the spear. The figure leaned in close enough for the Nordic to see details if there were any to be seen. Eyes, a nose, even teeth— none were visible. Only a faint outline, noticeable only when the figure moved.
ROYAL LINE (War In The Void Book 3) Page 11
