by Francis, Ron
“Jaketh’s men must have intercepted my transmission to Ginderbar,” Jesse assessed. “This is going to be more difficult than we had thought.”
As their reinforcements showed up, the pirates and Conglomerate soldiers broke up into four attack forces. They had about thirty in each group. The reinforcements had called for small boats to cross the river and the soldiers meant to surround Jesse’s group. It wouldn’t take them too long to overrun his forces after that. Reece's men had wired the natural bridge with enough explosives to destroy it, and Jesse meant to execute a rapid withdrawal. He hoped to reach the rendezvous before Colonel Jaketh and Captain Blades forces caught up to them. The odds were long, but they only needed to survive, not win. It would take the enemy nearly an hour to get into position, which meant they would have a head start to the ship. Then, they would have to survive at least two more hours before they would have enough cover to leave for Hyperia. Jesse gave the word and Reece blew the natural bridge, stranding the enemy on the other side of the river until their boats arrived. They began to move quickly but carefully through the jungle, vigilant of any snakes, tigers or death brush they might come across.
The rescuers were making pretty good time through the jungle, but they were going to come up short of their objective. They couldn't move as quickly as they wanted because Jesse and Josiah were injured, and the rest of their original team was exhausted. To make matters worse, the skies above Pandara opened up. They were now caught in a torrential downpour, and from what he had been told of Pandara, the rain could last for days. They found a defensible position about four and a half kilometers away from their exit point and set up for a final battle. They had completely rigged the area with explosives and other surprises. They then split up to cover the likely attack points of their pursuers. They only waited a few minutes as Zendar's team was the first to catch up to them.
______
Josiah’s team began to light up Zendar’s men. They were firing heavy repeating blasters, using sniper rifles and launching explosives into the area. Josiah was also detonating any of the explosive traps they had previously set up that Zendar’s men had ventured too close to. The timing and ferocity of the attack had caught them off guard. The jungle caught fire behind Zendar’s position in spite of the rain and forced his men out into the open. A grenade landed in between two Conglomerate soldiers, and the first one dove for cover right into some death brush, the second wasn’t quick enough as the grenade tore through his armor and killed him. The steady stream of heavy fire was taking a toll, and the urgency with which Zendar had to move all played into Josiah’s hands. Zendar’s men made a mad dash for cover, and Josiah’s men were set to cut them down while they were in the open, but then Yartan’s team started laying down cover fire. Yartan’s unexpected arrival forced Josiah’s team to give ground and Zendar was able to breach the muddy outer defenses with nearly a dozen men.
Kimiko had her team take advantage of Yartan’s intended distraction to kill almost half of Yartan’s men. Yartan’s men abandoned their position and returned to their original objective. Zendar was the first to Josiah's position, and he was taking fire. He had on Jesse’s battle suit, so he wasn’t going to go down easy. Josiah met him head on as blasterfire erupted all around them. Kimiko’s men fired on Zendar’s men from their position, combining with Josiah’s men to begin to cut down Zendar’s remaining forces.
Josiah looked at Zendar with contempt as he spat, “So how much did it cost to buy your allegiance, traitor?”
Josiah ran towards Zendar with two short swords drawn. He was hit twice in the leg by blasterfire, but his suit took most of the damage. The blasterfire hurt enough to stop his charge, giving Zendar the advantage. Zendar, carrying a Hyperian Battle Axe, spun around with an overhand slice. Josiah blocked it on both swords, leaving his midsection opened for a kick to the gut. Josiah left his feet, landed in the mud and came up in a roll, wincing. He was really in no condition to engage in hand to hand combat with the injury he had suffered in the fight with the tiger. He blocked Zendar’s next move with one sword while slicing through Zendar’s leg with the other. Zendar took a step back and Josiah pressed his advantage as the rain fell.
“You know you can’t beat me, Zendar. I’m actually going to enjoy killing you.” Josiah followed his taunt with a spinning roundhouse to the side of Zendar’s face. Zendar came up with a wild swing of the axe, penetrating Josiah’s defenses and scoring a direct hit to his midsection. The suit stopped the blade, but the blunt force was plenty painful.
“You’re looking a little slow to me, Josiah, I don’t think you’ll be killing anyone.” Zendar smiled as he swung for Josiah’s head. Josiah ducked and pivoted hard, slicing his sword through three of Zendar’s fingers. Zendar cried out in pain as he dropped the axe just in time to see Josiah’s second sword slice through his neck. Zendar fell to the rain-soaked ground, dead, and Josiah took two to the chest from a heavy blaster. The suit held, but Josiah flew backwards into a large boulder. He hit his head and landed in the mud, losing consciousness as he fell. The last of Zendar’s men were trying to advance on Princess Rayelle, but Bosar jumped out of his tree, landing with a splash in front of her, cutting one of the men down. Bosar was dropped by the other two, and as they grabbed for their prize, Kimi shot one in the head while Wassan took out the other. When the second soldier was dropped, he slipped over the side of the steep hill they were defending taking the Princess with him. She was crying out for help and barely managing to hold on to a mud soaked tree root. Kimiko shot a grappling gun that one of Reece’s men had brought into an overhanging tree and retracted it, lifting herself in the air. As she swung out over Rayelle’s position, she let out enough slack to hang right beside her. She reached out and grabbed her hand as Rayelle’s strength was failing and pulled her to safety. Kimiko ran to Josiah’s side and Princess Rayelle ran to check on Bosar. Josiah was alive but in need of medical assistance, and the Princess was upset to see that Bosar had given his life for her.
With Zendar’s unit completely out of the picture, Josiah’s team combined with Kimiko’s team to prepare against Yartan’s next advance. Kimiko had lost one of her men, leaving her with ten fighters and an unconscious Josiah. Reece brought his team over to reinforce the position when he saw what remained of Yartan's team fortified by Captain Blade and his men. The ferocity of the rain was making it even more difficult for them to take the hill.
Jesse, meanwhile, had the last likely incursion point covered. He heard two of Jaketh’s men cry out and smiled as the jungle claimed two more for itself.
“You made a big mistake leaving me alive, Marcos, and it is going to cost you your life.” Colonel Jaketh yelled as he led a charge against his position.
“Some might call that mercy,” he replied. “I can rectify the situation now if you would like,” he mocked. “I’m not tied up this time, so I’m sure it won’t be any trouble at all. Your men are the worst soldiers I've ever seen. Even the pirates are better than you. None of you would make it a week with my team. Seriously, how many of your men have I killed now? Do you guys even have an army anymore?” He continued his taunting as Jaketh’s men charged towards his last trap. His plan was to try to make the Conglomerate Colonel and his soldiers so angry that they didn’t realize they were being set up until it was too late. He kept on taunting and the soldiers charged even harder. As they reached the last trap, he pressed a button on his detonator and almost half of Jaketh’s men were engulfed in an explosion. Jesse’s men opened up on the rest and Jesse ran towards Jaketh, continuing to fire even as many of their opponents had splashed down into a muddy grave.
Colonel Jaketh smiled as Colonel Marcos charged him, each step tossing mud into the air. He took out his weapon and began to fire. Marcos didn’t even slow down as Jaketh holstered his weapon and swiftly pulled his sword from its sheath. Jesse unclipped his weapon and thumbed it to the blade position.
“Look at you: injured, tired, and hungry. I almost feel, bad killing you in this
state,” he laughed. “I have slain many opponents, Marcos, but I shall enjoy killing you most. You should give it up, you can’t beat me.”
Jesse continued his charge as he yelled, “If I can’t take someone like you, I deserve to die.”
As he approached, Jaketh swung wildly. He rolled under the swing, slid on his knees through the wet terrain and landed a backhand slash as he came to his feet. Colonel Jaketh cried out in pain as Jesse's blade found its mark. He parried Jaketh’s next strike as he landed a roundhouse right to Jaketh’s jaw. The Conglomerate Colonel stumbled as Jesse pressed his advantage. He feigned an overhand slice, and as Jaketh attempted to block, he switched his weapon back to its baton form, missing Jaketh’s block and then immediately thumbed it back to blade, shooting it right through Jaketh’s chest. Surprise crossed his face as Colonel Jaketh breathed his last and joined his men in their muddy Pandaran grave. Jesse kicked him in contempt as he ran back towards the battle. Commando, covered in mud, was taking down the last fleeing soldier as Captain Blade and Yartan had called for a strategic withdrawal. They only had about thirty-five left out of the one hundred twenty that had attacked his camp. His crew didn’t exactly escape unscathed; they lost eight of their men and had three others, including Josiah, injured. They had lost the second pilot, Bosar and six of Reece’s commandos. It would be very difficult to defend this location against a similar attack.
He decided to go for the rendezvous point, he knew the pirates and soldiers would wait for reinforcements before making another attack, and if they didn't, he felt confident they could take what was left of them. He wished the skies would clear and the rain would stop so their journey would be easier, but when had anything about this mission been easy? He knew Josiah needed medical attention quickly and he knew they needed to be in the ship and off the planet in the next ninety minutes to take full advantage of the Battle Hammers’ diversion. As he came up with a plan, he realized he might not be able to remain on his feet much longer, either. On top of the fatigue, he felt feverish and wondered if any of his wounds had become infected. Just then, Collin alerted them that Endeavor was at the extraction point and was sending out twenty-four heavily armed Hyperian Commandos to guide them in. Jesse was relieved as he began to think they just might make it through this ordeal when Collin added that somehow, the energy native to Pandara's atmosphere had disabled their cloak and weakened their shields. He was sure they were not spotted on the way in, but they would definitely need the cover provided by the Battle Hammers on the way out.
“Alright, everyone, I need Honus and Tomra to make a gurney and carry Josiah. Collette, you help Reece’s man with the wounded shoulder. Reece, have two of your men make another gurney to help our last injured friend. Kimi and Commando have the point, Xanu covers our six. Leave everything except your weapons and water. We have to make it to Endeavor quickly to have any chance of surviving until the Battle Hammers get here. Be vigilant for the death brush, especially now that the entire ground is muddy." As soon as the two gurneys were made, his group moved out as the last leg of their journey began. Princess Rayelle was helping Collette with the injured soldier, and the group was making pretty good time in the rain. Kimi took one look at Jesse, struggling to keep up with the rest of the group, and knew he needed Suzy as much as Josiah did.
"Jesse looks pretty sick, Kimi." Reece observed as they led the way.
"He has lost a lot of blood over the last four days, and his wounds are likely infected as well."
"And there's a really good chance he has death brush fever. If that's the case, he's going to need more help than Suzy can provide."
"Let us hope it is just the injuries, then," she added as they made their way towards the relative safety of Endeavor.
Chapter Twelve:
______
Jesse hated running, and that’s exactly what he was doing, running, for days. He had his weary, tested and tattered crew running for their lives through the rain-soaked, muddy Pandaran jungle. With the amount of reinforcements likely to arrive after their last battle, there was no way his people could withstand another attack. Reece’s forces had been a definite boon and had helped them turn the tide of battle back at the natural bridge, but no more help would be coming until the commandos from Endeavor arrived. Jesse only had sixteen people including him available to fight, plus three wounded and the Princess to worry about. Captain Blade and whoever was going to replace Colonel Jaketh would likely come at them with at least two hundred men. That’s would I would do, he thought. They probably realized by this point that if they had launched a full scale assault at the beginning this would have ended a long time ago. He surmised that they either didn’t have that large a landing party capacity until the new ships showed up, or Colonel Jaketh and Captain Blade were incredibly egotistical and had probably decided they wouldn’t need that many people to capture him. Either way, that was not likely to be a mistake that was repeated. Jaketh and Zendar were dead, so whoever was going to replace them would want to get this done quickly. Blade badly wanted to present him to Garrinoras. That’s why it was so important they keep moving. They had to get to Endeavor if they were going to survive.
Kimi was really starting to worry about Josiah, she knew they needed to get him some medical attention quickly, but she had no idea how long it would take them to get to Endeavor. If Jesse was right, the mercenaries would be arriving to help cover their escape soon. She could only hope they were going to make it to the ship in time, but they really didn’t have a choice. Collin had contacted Jesse and was waiting for them a little more than two kilometers away, but it was two kilometers of dense, rain-soaked jungle. Josiah would be first in the recovery pod. She was really worried about Jesse, too. He’d been through much more than everyone else had been through. He was tortured and then injured right at the beginning of the mission, freeing their team from Zendar's betrayal. He had ripped those deep wounds in his side open at least a half a dozen times since then, and she knew he had to be losing a lot of blood. She couldn’t believe he was still on his feet. It was as if sheer willpower was in control, and she knew that as soon as they were out of danger, his body would shut down. There were many things she admired about him, but the fact that he would never give up until his friends were safe was near the top of the list. She was happy their friendship had returned to normal and had no wish to see anything bad happen to her closest friend. She also caught herself hoping there might still be a chance to become more than friends. She wasn't sure she was ready for that, but she no longer wanted the window to be closed.
Reece broke into her thoughts as he called ahead to let her know that Honus had spotted six personnel shuttles dropping off reinforcements in the jungle. At fifty warriors per shuttle, that meant a big problem was headed their way. That wasn’t even counting the two pirate shuttles that had also dropped men off. Reece estimated close to four hundred fifty men were coming after them. The twenty-four additional soldiers from Endeavor would be little help against those kinds of numbers. They would also likely be double timing through the jungle, sacrificing men to the elements in order to catch up to them before the Battle Hammers arrived. He didn't think they knew Endeavor had landed, and because Jesse had been pushing them, they were almost there.
Jesse brought the group to a halt. “Let’s all take a drink and rest a moment. He looked around at his drenched, blood stained, weary group of heroes and added, “Win or lose, I’m proud of all of you. The loyalty you have shown to the throne and to each other humbles me, and I’m proud to be a part of it. You have all fought as valiantly as any group I have ever seen, and if not for each one of you, Princess Rayelle would already be in Conglomerate hands. We have less than two kilometers to go, then we can get off this rock and go home, and I want us all to go home. Alright, moment’s over, let’s move.” He knew they had to keep moving, and move fast if they wanted to survive, but he felt they needed the encouragement for the final push.
As they continued moving through the jungle faster than one
would expect given their situation, Reece was amazed at Jesse. In one short speech he understood why Jesse attracted such high caliber people to him. As great a leader and soldier as Jesse was, Reece realized he very rarely took any of the credit due him and always praised the people working with him. He wasn’t at all egotistical and he had every right to be. He would also take a blaster bolt for any one of his friends, and that had to be admired. Reece was happy; it seemed as though things had finally settled between Jesse and Kimi and hoped for the opportunity to see how that played out. Everyone had taken turns carrying the wounded except Jesse and Princess Rayelle. Jesse could barely move his arm at this point, and the Princess had made it her duty to help the third injured man, she had walked almost the whole way with her arm around him, helping support him. Now that’s something you don’t often see in royalty, Reece thought. Just then they heard the familiar barking of Shadow and were relieved as the Hyperian commandos came into view. They took up position at the rear of the group, leaving only two of their men at the front to guide them to the ship.
______
King Dominus was about to do something he didn’t want to. His wife had persuaded him to avoid war at all costs if the Conglomerate government wasn’t really involved. She begged him to contact Balinaz Superior and give him the opportunity to prove his claim that he was not involved. As he awaited the Conglomerate leader’s response to his transmission, he thought about how merciful his wife was even in her grief. Balinaz face filled the screen and he smiled tentatively as he said, “What may I do for you, King Dominus?”
