Trinity Unleashed (Wizard Scout Trinity Delgado Book 1)

by Rodney Hartman

  “I didn’t say that,” huffed Jennifer.

  “Quiet,” Trinity replied. “I stretched the truth a bit.”

  “Whatever you think is best, Trinity,” said Jerad. “You know I trust you.”

  A warm feeling in Trinity’s chest distracted her enough that she drifted off the glide path slightly.

  “You’re off track again,” said Jennifer in a chastising tone. “I highly recommend you get your mind off the little heartthrob behind you and back on the mission.”

  “My mind is on the mission,” Trinity said as she shifted her left arm to move back into position. “I was just recalculating the path to go to the ship’s aft stairs.”

  “Sure you were,” replied Jennifer. “In case you’re interested, you’re fifteen seconds out. You should be breaking out of the clouds about…now.”

  The last of the clouds whisked past Trinity as she got her first real view of the mountain fortress. The Carsoloians’ starship was located in a small valley next to an opening in the cliff-face. Explosions were erupting all over the side of the mountain as well as among the attacking units. The walls of the valley appeared to be providing some protection for the starship from the monsignors’ artillery.

  “Where’s the priests’ fighter shuttles?” Trinity asked. “They should have been here already. Nothing’s going according to plan.”

  A dozen beams of energy left the mountain and streaked into the sky. Trinity saw several bright flashes light up the clouds above her.

  “I calculate that was some of the priests’ fighter shuttles you were asking about, wizard scout.”

  “Were those our fighters?” asked Jerad.

  “Affirmative,” Trinity said. There was nothing else she could say. They were committed. They all knew it was too late to back out now even if they wanted to abort.

  “Which would be my recommendation if anybody bothered to ask,” said Jennifer.

  “How long now?” Trinity asked ignoring her battle computer’s poor attempt at humor. She had no desire to get distracted. The rocky ground and the dissenters’ troops were getting too close.

  “Five seconds,” said Jennifer. “I can’t help you land since you’re not wearing your battle suit. You’ll have to do this one on your own.”

  “I’m a big girl,” Trinity said as she wrapped herself in Power in preparation for landing. “I think I can handle it.” She shifted her modified M12 on its shoulder strap and raised it into a firing position as she took control of her fall with her telekinesis.

  A hundred meters above the ground, Trinity sprayed a burst of plasma rounds into a group of the tiger-like Carsoloians who were stationed near the aft stairs. Most went down in the rain of plasma energy, but two of the tigers got their rifles raised and pointed at her.

  Trinity slowed her fall with telekinesis landing directly on one of the soldiers before he could fire. He was slammed to the ground accompanied by the sound of breaking bones. Trinity breathed a sigh of relief that the splintered bones were his and not hers. She rolled off the limp tiger and came up swinging her phase rod with one hand while firing her modified M12 with the other.

  “You’re missing your targets with the M12,” said Jennifer. “I wish you had your battle suit so I could help aim.”

  “And I wish I had a battle computer that didn’t talk so much,” Trinity said as she broke a soldier’s leg with her phase rod. She followed it up with a strike to the Carsoloian’s head. Since he wasn’t wearing armor, the rod’s phase energy spattered his head like an overripe Deruvian melon.

  Picking up a soldier behind her with her passive scan, Trinity spun to see one of the tiger creatures pointing his rifle at her chest. A stream of plasma rounds came out of the sky burning their way through the Carsoloian and knocking him to the ground. A second later Jerad touched down with the reverse thrusters on his drop suit throwing dust and gravel in the air.

  Trinity fired a burst of rounds from her M12 into two Carsoloians taking aim at Jerad. The unarmored tigers went flying backwards trailing smoke from the holes in their chests. A sudden movement behind Trinity caught her attention.

  “The stairs are retracting into the ship,” warned Jennifer. “They’re getting ready to take off.”

  Jumping into the air with outstretched arms, Trinity grabbed the end of the rising stairs and summersaulted into the hatch. As soon as she was inside, she lashed out with her phase rod at a pair of fur-covered legs. At the same time, she fired a burst from her M12 at two technicians standing near a set of controls. The technicians fell to the floor deader than a hyper-drive on its twenty-first jump, but the stairs continued to retract into the ship.

  Just before the hatch shut completely, Jerad zoomed in with the thrusters on his drop suit shooting fire out the back. He hit the far wall bouncing off and landing on his feet. He turned and fired a flurry of rounds from his M63 down a hallway leading away from the room where the stairway was located. The plasma rounds tore chunks of fur and meat out of three charging Carsoloians. They went down in a heap.

  Trinity knelt beside the room’s entrance and gave covering fire as Jerad stripped off his drop suit.

  “What’s our plan now?” Jerad asked as he let the last of the drop suit’s frame hit the metal deck. “We’ve got to stop the ship from taking off.”

  A loud roar sounded. The noise was accompanied by a force strong enough to knock both Jerad and Trinity to the deck.

  “Too late,” Trinity said as she leveraged herself up. “That was an emergency takeoff if I ever felt one. I’m guessing they’ll activate their hyper-drive before they even clear the planet’s atmosphere.”

  “They’re fools if they do,” said Jerad struggling to his feet to stand beside her. “There’s a chance their engines will overload and explode. Hyper-drives were made to operate in the vacuum of space, not thick air.”

  “Actually,” came Jennifer’s thoughts, “there’s only a twelve percent probability the engines will explode. I’d say their captain’s taking a calculated risk. There’s a dimensional fold an hour’s flight at hyper-speed from Cavos. If the ship can get there and make a jump, it would take half the Empire’s fleet to track them down.”

  Trinity traded a burst of plasma rounds with a group of soldiers firing around a corner of the hallway. She followed up with a 20mm grenade. It struck the back wall of the ‘T’ intersection before exploding. She noticed a rifle fall to the deck with a bloody, fur-covered hand still clutching its handle.

  “My passive scan’s not working in here,” Trinity said out loud. “The walls of the ship appear to be constructed out of the same black metal as CSI’s basement.”

  “How will we know where to go?” asked Jerad as he threw an antipersonnel grenade down the hall.

  Boom!

  “We won’t,” Trinity replied as she jumped to her feet. “Just follow me. Jennifer’s always saying how lucky I am. I guess we’re about to find out.”

  Taking off at a dead run, Trinity dashed down the hall firing as she went. She threw up a defensive shield to her front long enough to close the distance to the intersection.

  “You’re down to sixteen percent Power in your reserve,” said Jennifer.

  “I know,” Trinity said. “It is what it is.”

  As soon as Trinity was among the remaining defenders at the intersection, she dropped her defensive shield and swung out with her phase rod into the side of a Carsoloian’s neck. She heard the unmistakable sound of bone snapping before she kicked another soldier in the stomach with her right leg. The tiger-like creature raked her leg with its claws as it flew back leaving a bloody gash in her thigh. Trinity ignored her pain and fired a burst from her M12 into another tiger’s chest.

  A Carsoloian went flying through the air past Trinity. She glanced back long enough to see Jerad pick up the last soldier and break the tiger’s back against the corner wall of the intersection.

  “See?” said Jennifer. “If you’d worn that power-armor the major offered you, then you could do that
too. You wouldn’t have that nasty wound on your leg either.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Trinity said. “It’s almost healed already anyway.”

  “Liar,” said Jennifer.

  Trinity took three hobbling steps down the hall. By the fourth step the wound in her leg was healed enough that she could walk normally. By the tenth step, she was able to run.

  A long burst from Jerad’s M63 sounded behind her. Trinity didn’t bother looking. She trusted the major to watch her back. Strange, she thought. I’ve never trusted people all that much in the past.

  “Recommend you reload while you’ve got the chance,” said Jennifer. “Due to Sergeant Ron’s modification to your M12, it only holds five 20mm grenades instead of the usual seven.”

  Trinity chambered a fresh 20mm round into the launcher and replaced the empty slot with one from her ammo belt. She changed out the weapon’s isotopic battery with a fresh one for good measure. Once done, she shoved the partially empty battery back into her ammo pouch.

  “Smart,” said Jennifer. “You’ve only got six batteries. We don’t know how long this running battle will last.”

  Trinity suspected if it lasted longer than six batteries, then Jerad and she would be dead anyway. She decided to keep her opinion to herself. It wasn’t the time to argue with her battle computer. Spying a set of stairs, Trinity tossed an antipersonnel grenade down the steps.

  Boom!

  As the smoke billowed up, Trinity jumped down the stairway using telekinesis to soften her fall. She landed on two bloody, fur-covered bodies lying on the top of a crew-served, automatic plasma cannon. She rolled out of the way just as Jerad came down on the weapon bending its barrel with the weight of his power-armor.

  The major looked at the damaged weapon and then back at Trinity. “I hope you weren’t planning on using that thing.” Without waiting for a response, he turned and fired a long burst from his M63 down a side hall.

  Eyeing the now useless plasma cannon, Trinity shook her head. Too late now, anyway, she thought. Sensing movement down a side hall, she turned and fired a burst from her M12 in support of Jerad.

  A loud whine sounded throughout the ship. The metal deck below Trinity’s feet vibrated. The ship seemed to jump forward throwing her down hard on the steel deck. When she regained her feet, she noticed Jerad clinging to the stair’s railing with the gloved hand of his power-suit.

  “They’ve kicked in the hyper-drive,” said Jerad.

  “Ya think?” Trinity snapped hating it when people stated the obvious. She especially hated it when they didn’t have a solution to the problem in question.

  “Jennifer,” Trinity thought. “Are you still connected to the tele-network?”

  “Negative, wizard scout. The black metal in this ship is blocking all outside communications.”

  “Crap,” Trinity cursed out loud. She glanced over at Jerad. “Jennifer can’t contact anyone. Can you?”

  Trinity noticed the major’s mouth move behind his visor. After a few seconds, he shook his head. “Negative on that. I think we’re on our own. Can Jennifer hack into the ship’s computer? Even a schematic of this ship might help us figure out where we need to go.”

  “Jennifer?” Trinity thought kicking herself for not thinking of it.

  “I’m on it, wizard scout,” came her battle computer’s reply.

  With nothing else to do, Trinity continued moving forward. She sensed a surge of energy in a wall to her front. Instinctively, she threw up a defensive shield just as a hidden, automated gun battery opened up. The plasma rounds glanced off her shield as she pressed forward. She sensed an armored form behind her.

  “Stick close,” Trinity yelled.

  Jerad laughed. “You don’t have to tell me. If I was any closer, I’d be in front.”

  “I’ve never understood why humans laugh in dangerous situations,” commented Jennifer in their shared space. “I calculate adrenaline does strange things in the heat of battle.”

  As soon as Trinity was close enough to the gun battery to reach it, she struck out with her phase rod. The automated guns stopped firing. As soon as they did, she dropped her defensive shield to conserve Power.

  “You’re at nine percent Power in your reserve,” said Jennifer. “Recommend you not waste Power in the future.”

  Trinity threw up another defensive shield as a second hidden gun battery opened up. “I’ll take that under advisement as soon as people stop trying to kill me. In the meantime, I’d appreciate it if you’d get off your computerized behind and finish that hack. I need to know where we’re going.”

  The automated gun battery stopped firing. When it did, Trinity dropped her defensive shield.

  “The hack has been completed, wizard scout. I’ve taken control of all the gun batteries on this level. I’ve pulled up a blueprint of the Carsoloians’ ship. It’s available on your heads-up display now.”

  Trinity pulled up the blueprint on the inside of her visor and scrolled through the ship’s schematic until she spotted the navigation ship’s engine room. She heard the unmistakable sound of plasma weapons firing to her front and rear. She was surprised when no plasma rounds came near Jerad or her.

  “I made a command decision to use the automated gun batteries on the remaining crew located on this level,” said Jennifer. “I hope you approve.”

  “I most definitely do,” Trinity said. “Thanks. You’re handy to have around sometimes. I don’t care what they say about you.”

  “Who says?” asked Jennifer sounding affronted.

  Trinity laughed. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  Turning to Jerad, Trinity caught his attention. “The engine room is still three levels down. Are you ready to go kick some Carsoloian butt?”

  “Born ready,” said Jerad flashing a quick smile behind his clear visor.

  Trinity nodded her head and gave a half smile back. She hesitated a second to take a final look at Jerad. Will this be the last time I see him? Trinity wondered. She didn’t fully understand the feelings going through her, but she didn’t care. For some reason, she knew she didn’t want to lose the man. Casting the thought aside, Trinity turned and took off running. She had things to do. She was a wizard scout.

  A soldier stuck his head out a door in the side of the corridor ahead. Trinity pulled the trigger on the M12’s grenade launcher. The 20mm round struck home.

  Boom!

  A headless, orange-furred body flopped onto the corridor’s metal planking. Trinity chambered a fresh round into the grenade launcher and kept running.

  “A stairway is ahead and to the left,” said Jennifer. “The security program for the ship’s computer system is trying to neutralize my hack. I’m unable to take control of the gun arrays on the lower levels, so be careful. There’s some security-bots down there as well. I haven’t been able to pinpoint their exact locations yet, but they’re there somewhere. You know how dangerous they can be.”

  As soon as the stairs appeared on her left, Trinity jumped over the railing trusting to her reflexes and telekinesis to keep her safe. Her feet didn’t make it to the lower deck. A metal hand grabbed her by the arm with bone-breaking force in midair and threw her against the wall of the room below.

  “Arrgh!” Trinity groaned as she slid to the floor. She lost her grip on the M12, and it fell to the deck. A glance told her that her right hand and part of her forearm were no longer attached to the rest of her arm. For a long moment she stared at the grizzly sight of her hand lying on the deck still clutching the stock of her M12. The disconnected fingers were still twitching as if trying to fire the weapon. Fighting off a blackness threatening to overcome her, Trinity shoved the stub of her right arm against her side in an attempt to slow down the bleeding until her self-heal could stop the flow of blood.

  “You’ve got four broken ribs in addition to losing your arm,” said Jennifer. “One of the vertebrates in your back is also cracked. I calculate you may be feeling a little pain.”

  Trinity tried to stan
d. A wave of white-hot pain washed over her causing her to fall back to the metal deck. The three-meter tall security-bot to her front stepped forward and reached down for her other arm. Before the mechanical monstrosity could grab her, the combined two hundred kilo weight of Jerad and his power-armor landed on the security-bot’s back. The robot straightened and slammed backwards into the wall taking Jerad with it. In spite of the blow, Trinity noticed the major continue to hang on while wrapping one arm tightly around the bot’s neck.

  As Trinity watched, Jerad shoved the barrel of his M63 against the side of the security-bot’s head. When he pulled the trigger, the plasma rounds ricocheted off the hardened metal of the bot’s armor. The rounds didn’t appear to have any effect on the security-bot. The same could not be said for her as two of the ricocheting rounds struck her in the left leg.

  “Arrgh!” Trinity yelled. “Stop firing you idiot before you kill us both!”

  Jerad stopped firing his M63 at the same time as the security-bot reached over its back grabbing for him. The bot’s metal claws slid off the major’s power-armor on its first attempt. Before it could try again, Trinity used telekinesis to leverage herself up. She ignored the white-hot pain in her back. Diving forward, she hit the security-bot on the head with her phase rod. The weapon ricocheted off barely missing Jerad, but the microscopic explosions of phase energy did their job. The security-bot stopped moving and fell forward.

  Jerad jumped off the security-bot’s back just before it slammed into the deck with a loud crash. The major then reached down and helped Trinity to her feet. She noticed his eyes widen through his helmet’s visor as he stared at her bloody body and the detached hand lying on the deck

  “Trinity. I—”

  “It’ll be fine in a minute,” Trinity snapped between clenched teeth cutting off any further words of concern from the man. “Don’t get all gushy on me. Now grab my M12 and help me down the next flight of stairs. I can barely walk. My back’s hurt. It didn’t help things when some fool who I won’t name shot me in the leg.”