Annals of the Keepers: War 267 (Book 1 in the Gashnee Saga)

by Hile, Christiaan

  The towering figure’s helmet just missed brushing the lower ceiling arch. Its shoulders were broad with a deep, powerful chest. The two arms and legs were large and just as massive as his were.

  The dim light above did not reflect off the dull, black armor that encased the invader.

  The molded armor enclosed its entire body. Heavy armor plates overlapped the molded armor on the torso and the shoulders, adding more girth to the already- impressive invader. The upper arms were sheathed in heavier armor and the hands were covered with strong gauntlets, armored cuffs flaring up past the forearms. Lower down, black boots appeared to be made of the same material. Greaves protected the shins and the thighs were covered with heavier armor. Intricate, overlapping plates concealed the joints on both the arms and the legs.

  Kneeling in the shadows, Lintorth contemplated his next move as he watched in silence.

  One of the metal clasps on his cape freed itself from his shoulder, scraped across his back armor, and struck the deck, betraying his position.

  The invader snapped its head around fast, looking directly at Lintorth.

  Not wanting to meet the rush head-on, Lintorth stood up holding the plasma chamber open.

  The invader closed the gap with amazing speed.

  He thought a close round to the head would do it. He held the chamber to the last moment before the creature was upon him and let the trigger go.

  A puff of plasma came out but, no plasma bolt. The chamber was empty.

  Lintorth let out a curse as the invader closed.

  He had no time to react, as the creature’s gauntleted hand struck his weapon from his own hand followed by a bone-sickening crunch from the invader’s knee to his chest, crushing ribs beneath.

  The air fled Lintorth’s lungs as he doubled over in pain.

  Lintorth knew what was coming next.

  He rolled to his side as the double gauntleted fists of the black-armored being were coming down towards the back of his neck.

  The invader was caught off balance as his hands swung, only finding air.

  Not hesitating, Lintorth swept the being’s legs out from under it. The invader thundered with a crash on the metal plated floor.

  Lintorth thought that it had been too long a moon since he had been last defeated.

  It would not happen today.

  In an instant, he pulled his blade from its holster and slashed straight down to the invaders head.

  Just as quick, the lightening reflexes of the invader’s hand had caught the blade in its gauntleted gloves, twisting and knocking the blade from Lintorth’s grasp as it clattered and careened off the deck.

  The invader repelled Lintorth through the air with its powerful legs clear across to the other side of the room.

  Lintorth’s erratic flight ceased as he came to a stop on a pile of Kryth corpses.

  His keen eye spotted a plasma rifle under one of the bodies. Without hesitation, he lifted up the rifle and warmed the chamber.

  The invader was already on its feet and approaching him.

  Lintorth fired three plasma bolts.

  Anticipating the shot, the armored creature dodged to its left, and the charges found the wall behind.

  Lintorth fired another volley that also missed.

  Pausing just for the briefest of moments, Lintorth fired the last shots.

  Impact!

  They struck in a flash of green against the invader’s armor.

  The first rounds hit the black armored torso of the being but did little to slow its advance towards Lintorth. The last volley grazed the upper arm with no effect.

  Just as the invader reached Lintorth, two wicked-looking blades issued from atop the right gauntleted glove.

  Driving at Lintorth, the being found the rifle-butt as Lintorth dodged and used it as a shield, driving the blades into the metal wall behind them.

  Lintorth spun the rifle around and shot at the creature’s head.

  With astonishing speed once again, the invader had already thrown itself on the deck floor, anticipating Lintorth’s move.

  The armored being struck the rifle from Lintorth’s grasp, sending it flying away in two pieces.

  Lintorth, with his own speed, leaped out of the range of the spikes protruding from the invader’s knees as it swept them in his direction.

  He dashed across the room, seeking out his own blade on the floor.

  His agonizing pain from his broken ribs found him first before he found the blade. Writhing in agony Lintorth picked up the keslar, turning back towards his adversary.

  The creature, with left arm outstretched and with clenched fist, fired something in Lintorth’s direction.

  Wisps of vapor issued from the top of the intruder’s gloves as three micro darts found their targets. One struck Lintorth’s thigh, the other in his left arm, and the last in his chest.

  Lintorth pulled the darts from his armor.

  Thinking at first they did not penetrate, he noticed a D-9 grenade next to a Kryth helmet.

  He picked it up.

  The armored being was lifting itself off the floor when Lintorth felt the shards of pain radiate through his body. The darts did penetrate his thick armor.

  Stunned, Lintorth knew he had precious seconds left before he blacked out with whatever alien toxin lie within him.

  His vision blurred. He stumbled.

  Lintorth caught himself with his hand against the wall. There was no time left before the invader would be on him. He opened the cap of the grenade and pressed the button.

  The invader started to move in his direction.

  He lobbed the grenade towards his incoming foe. The grenade bounced once with a ‘tink’ then detonated at the feet of the armored being.

  Lintorth, with all his strength, leaped through the doorway and landed inside the medical lab as the explosion enveloped the room and propelled the invader against the bulkhead behind it.

  The fire whooshed down the corridor past the medical lab.

  Lintorth could feel the intense heat bite at his skin through his dense armor.

  He reached for a med-pack on the floor in the pile of debris, hoping to find an anti-chem-tox.

  His vision started to dim.

  There were none in the pack!

  Crawling on the floor, he made his way to a large dispenser of medical aids.

  With the last of his strength, he tipped the cart over and dispensed all of its contents on top of him and onto the surrounding floor.

  Lintorth found what he was looking for.

  He injected his leg with the chem-tox syringe. Seconds seemed like minutes as the anti-chem-tox did its work. Lintorth felt life and strength returning to his limbs.

  Willing himself up, he used what strength he had left to lean on the nearest wall. He knew that he must escape as there must be more of these invaders onboard and he was in no shape to go a second round, even though his warrior instinct tempted him to do so.

  Exiting the lab, Lintorth looked into the room, wanting to see the dead creature he fought so hard to topple.

  Flames still issued in some parts of the room from the left-over blast.

  He had never thrown a D-9 grenade in such close proximity to himself. It was the first and last, he hoped.

  He noticed the far bulkhead dented as the invader must have been thrown against it and ricocheted off.

  As Lintorth took one step towards the fallen invader, its arm moved.

  “Impossible,” he said.

  Snapping his thinking, the wave of nausea and pain washed over him only to be beaten back down mentally. He hadn’t the strength to search the fallen body of this attacker to see what was under the mask.

  He limped forward, past the struggling dark being at his feet.

  Lintorth eyed his cape under some debris next to him. He snatched it up, and though he was curious about the fallen warrior he dare not stop, for he knew to stop now was to die.

  Instead, he sought out the nearby escape-pods.

  Da
ta Cell 3

  Kason walked down the corridor from the stairwell he just left.

  His heads-up display scanned the rooms on either side, laying out each interior through the walls. With a turn of his helmet a beep sounded and the room was clear, turning green. The secondary objective list still blinked in the upper corner of the visor, displaying his target, {Cuukzen scout} he was still entrusted to capture.

  Kason stopped at an intersection to get a coms check from his team, each green triangle represented a Reaver.

  “Sector four cleared. Update status, over.” Kason waited for his team to respond.

  Jens was the first to answer. “Sector six and seven are clear, moving to rendezvous point, over.”

  He was followed by Keelen, then Maddox.

  “Status is green, all sectors clear, commencing tertiary sweep.” The communication burst ended with a crackle as the sounds of weapons’ fire was heard in the distance.

  Maddox was next. “All clear, heading to rend point, over.”

  Kason acknowledged them with “copy, proceed” as he was a minute away from the rendezvous point himself.

  The flash caught his eye as one of his green triangles switched to yellow, signifying a change in a bio status of one of his Reavers.

  {R2KR: Status Critical Alert}

  Ramek!

  He located his position right above his own.

  With no hesitation, he broke in to a loping run.

  Kason then sent an emergency broadcast to the rest of the team. “Relay all. Reaver Two is down. Green falling to rapid yellow. Sector five is hot. Two and three divert to new extraction point and secure. Coordinates follow.”

  The old rally point would be abandoned in favor of a new one, one much closer to Ramek’s position.

  “Confirmed Reaver One. En route to coordinates received,” replied Jens over the comlink.

  Kason chose speed over stealth as he moved with haste for Ramek’s sector, which was still alive with action and not secure. With possible small bands of Kryth soldiers trying to regain their footing, Kason knew time was of the essence; he must get to Ramek.

  His next message was to Maddox. “Move to sector five and defend.”

  Kason continued down a corridor that veered off to the right. A half broken and twisted causeway was in his path.

  With a mighty lunge, Kason bounded over the disfigured metal scrap that was once meant to be walked upon.

  His boot caught the other edge, dislodging the final sinew of metal attached to the main deck plate.

  With a crash, the causeway lurched and moaned as it tore from its support structure on either side.

  Kason balanced on the edge.

  Raising his right arm fist out, he fired a micro-wire from his forearm. It met the bulkhead near a doorway and anchored itself there.

  The final twist of metal and the causeway broke away, crashing twenty-five meters below.

  Kason pulled himself to the doorway, retracting the micro-wire, he continued on towards Ramek.

  Rounding the final corner and up a flight of stairs, Maddox’s triangle showed he was already in the room with Ramek. Jens and Keelen were approaching from the adjacent corridor opposite his location.

  Maddox’s voice came over the comlink. “Contact, Reaver Lead.”

  Bursts of weapons’ fire issued from Maddox’s weapons.

  Screams from the Kryth could be heard as Maddox’s rounds found the encroaching bodies.

  Kason entered the room the same time Jens and Keelen approached from their location. With a simple hand motion, Kason waved the two Reavers to either side of the room near the remaining entry corridors to create a perimeter.

  Kason continued leaping over canisters and other scattered debris to land in the midst of the fallen Reaver.

  “Blood! What did you run into, Ramek?” Kason said as he opened the communications link to the Mercador.

  The ship orbited high above the station, awaiting the order to extract Kason’s Reaver team.

  Kason scanned Ramek’s body. “Good,” he thought.

  The nanite system had already initiated a level three stabilization of Ramek’s vitals, but they were losing ground to his injuries as the yellow indicator in Kason’s helmet contested by blinking yellow from a once-steady hue.

  Kason sent an urgent message to the Mercador.

  “Mercador. Reaver Lead requesting immediate extraction. One critical. Link at new coordinates on my relay. Confirm at seven over. Repeat, one critical. Medical standby required.”

  “Confirmed relay Reaver Lead, commencing run. Link in seven. Medical standing by,” came the reply from the Mercador.

  ∞∞∞

  A bleeding and inflamed eye peered out the life pod window. Lintorth Sol grunted as he held his body against the hull of the pod to view Dalyth outpost as it receded in the distance.

  “Who are you? What are you?” His labored breath spoke to the enemy fleet beyond the window. His breathing was now more pronounced.

  Lintorth struggled to stay awake as the anti-toxin worked against the foreign invader that ravaged the inside of his body.

  He reached for the console to direct the pod to take rear images of the station. Maybe he could glean some vital information from this unknown invader.

  The computer onboard sounded its response.

  “No sensor package is equipped to complete your command.”

  Lintorth hissed his dismay. His memory would have to do if the drugs didn’t wipe his most recent thoughts of today’s surreal events.

  With a primal bellow he lifted himself up for a better view of the enemy fleet around Dalyth Point.

  Blood dripped from the puncture wounds around his chest and down on the pod’s floor.

  Lintorth’s eyes became wide as he laid witness to a staggering scene.

  A ship, the likes he had not seen, dwarfed the entire outpost from above. No ship in the Domain’s arsenal measured to its size.

  Lintorth’s surmised guess brought the span of this great ship to about 3,000-4,000 meters in length; but, before Lintorth could wager a guess as to the other vessels, his vision began to blur.

  Time was now running out as his body began to betray itself.

  Lintorth reached for the console.

  Pursing his lips together, he spoke his next words to the computer.

  “Destination… Enter nearest shipping lane from current position… Set distress beacon… Maintain life support on longest possible settings… Set commands.”

  He finished and slid to the pod’s floor from the blood-streaked inner walls he decorated with his wounds.

  “All commands set. Proceeding to new coordinates. Shipping lane 14/S in six hours. Distress beacon broadcasting. Life support registering… one life form… Lintorth Sol… Engaged.”

  The computer had confirmed his command, and his fate, to this small, drifting pod.

  Lintorth’s mind whirled with thoughts of glorious battles of past.

  His breathing slowed.

  With his eyes closed, one thought permeated his entire being, that of the black-clad armored invader. He could see him in his mind’s eye.

  He blinked once, then twice. Darkness overcame Lintorth as he slipped into twilight.

  ∞∞∞

  The Mercador’s engines burst forth as the drop ship exited the Dalyth outpost hangar bay headed for the command ship, the Orion’s Rage.

  Onboard, Kason and his Reaver team attended to their fallen comrade as much as they could.

  Coms came up from the Mercador’s cockpit over the cargo hold speakers.

  “Captain Bender, this is Major Danchal. We have medics standing by in the main hangar bay. Doctor Solome and her team are ready for Ramek.”

  Kason replied, “Much obliged, Major. Your help is always appreciated, as is your efficiency.”

  A small hint of gratitude creased the corner edges of Major Chion Danchal’s lips. She had been the Reaver team’s primary extraction pilot during training exercises leading up to th
e Retribution mission.

  The Orion’s Rage’s hull rose to meet the Mercador as the drop ship traversed the great ship. The aft landing bay beamed full of light as Major Danchal swung her drop ship around to enter the massive hangar of the Rage.

  Klaxons whooped as the Mercador passed through the protective shielding of the bay entrance.

  The drop ship landed on a nearby pad as medical units rushed in to the rear ramp ready for the critically injured Reaver.

  Kason was first to meet the med team.

  With the purging and venting of the drop ship’s landing cycle, Kason fought to be heard over the raucous clanks and discharges.

  “Doctor Solome, Ramek is in stage-two shock. His biometrics are falling. Nanite responsive systems are down to fifteen percent. We need to move him, now!” Kason said.

  The doctor just finished tying her light blonde hair up into a ponytail as she ascended the ramp. “We have it from here, Kason.”

  The med team, about seven in all, slid a Lev-2 pad underneath Ramek’s body. This paper-thin metal sheet wasn’t much to look, Kason noted, until it was activated. The blue light hummed around the edges of the sheet as it rose off the cargo deck.

  The med team led Ramek’s floating body out of the hold and towards an elevator lift not too far from their position.

  Kason and the remaining Reavers exited the ramp.

  Jens and Keelen began to remove their battle helmets. The whoosh of air issued from underneath the seals.

  Maddox followed suit.

  Standing there, in their blood-stained armor, the Reaver’s mission seemed a success. Kason would not agree, as one of his men now lay dying.

  Data Cell 4

  The mist of the sonic sprays enveloped Kason. His hands rested on the cool blue surface within the shower chamber of his room onboard the Orion’s Rage. The water ran down the top of his shoulder-length black hair.

  Kason sighed as he felt the last of the battle drugs wear off. The nausea after hyper-accelerated combat on the outpost would soon be followed by intense hunger as his body demanded nourishment.

  “System. Sonic wash off. Commence full heat dry,” Kason snapped to the computer.