"Look's like a giant shopping mall," said Private Cortez.
"Yeah," Private Valentine agreed, "Except this one is closed down and boarded up."
The central plaza might have been filled with scientists, engineers, researchers, and traders in the past, but no longer. The layers of dust and malfunctioning lights suggested it had been abandoned for a number of years.
"I've got a beacon from a lifeboat," Private Valentine said.
Her voice betrayed an odd mixture of dread and excitement. She looked ahead and turned her head left and right before locking down the position.
"Two hundred metres, right beyond that central structure. It's from one of the transports. There are life signs nearby."
The cylindrical building looked much like a control tower, filled with black windows and overlooking every part of the plaza. The marines moved on, but with each step, Sergeant Perkins became more and more suspicious. As they moved away from the tower, he whispered to his squad, "Valentine, Cortez, stay back and secure that tower."
The four slowly walked around the structure and came face-to-face with the distant lifeboat. It looked undamaged, but its multiple doors were open and crates of supplies strewn about the floor. On went the marines, stepping carefully around the discarded clothing, food, and emergency survival packs.
"Don't touch anything," said Sergeant Perkins.
By the time they'd passed the craft, Private Valentine was at the doorway to the tower and busy using her override tools to gain entrance. The door was manually operated, and she pushed it open, while Private Cortez aimed his carbine. It was pitch dark inside, but that made little difference to the two of them. Their visors incorporated a variety of modes, including passive thermal, infrared, and low light sensors. When combined, this provided a detailed picture, even with minimal or no light.
"Sergeant, we're going inside."
"Affirmative, keep your eyes open. We've got a situation down here."
The two marines moved into the blackness and found themselves at the base of a wide staircase. Each step was easily two metres wide and taller than would be expected in a place occupied by humans. Private Cortez stopped and removed a hexagonal device from his leg flap. He pushed it against the wall a metre above the step and pushed it hard. The unit blinked three times, its green light giving a gentle hue to the staircase. Private Valentine smiled, not that he could see her.
"Good idea. Always plan for surprises."
"Exactly."
They began working their way up, ensuring they made as little noise as possible. Step by step the closer they came to the top, the wearier they became. Private Valentine activated her carbine and made sure the rapid-fire mode was active.
* * *
Nate sat in silence as he watched the live video feeds coming in from the marines. He had no tactical control over what was happening, but he did have the direct feed from Sergeant Perkins, and he still couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Billy, they've got one of the lifeboats. Look."
His friend was still busy checking the scanners and keeping one eye on the progress of Relentless. He spotted something on one of his screens and turned to Nate.
"Sorry, I missed that. Have you seen this? Jack's drone is back aboard, but the LT has flagged it as inoperative."
Nate shook his head and pointed to the mainscreen showing the view of the inside of the station. More important, he enlarged the imagery coming from Sergeant Perkins.
"Is that what I think it is?"
Nate nodded slowly.
"Yeah. And it looks like they've just found survivors."
A single red light activated, and then a dozen warnings went off at once. They looked at each other, but it was Nate who spotted the shape far off into the distance.
"No...you have to be kidding me!"
"What?" Billy asked.
He moved his eyes from the screens and to the virtual window on his right side. From here he had a perfect view of Sector Seven, an area of broken asteroids seventy kilometres from their current position. Red diamonds moved over the window and then hovered over the new shapes. There were six smaller diamonds, and a single massive one.
"No...it's Sword of Mognathus. They found us!"
Nate immediately grabbed the emergency override and hit it. Lights dimmed and systems started to shutdown. He then manually deactivated the navigation computer and guidance system and started an emergency shutdown of the engines and powerplant.
"It's a trap, just as I suspected. Power down anything we don't need, we have to go silent. Just keep visual and comms running."
Something caught his eye, and he looked left. The feed from Sergeant Perkins was shaking, but as it settled, he found a stunning view of the interior of the station. More lights were flicking on, and it looked like the base was coming to life.
"I really don't like this."
"Nate, our electronic warfare system is detecting a Byotai transmission from inside."
He looked to Nate.
"I bet they are calling for help. Or sending a warning."
His expression changed in an instant from intrigue to outright panic.
"Jam it."
Billy continued moving his hands over the computer unit as he ran multiple electronic warfare applications. Unlike Nate, Billy was something of an expert when it came to this kind of work, and when he looked back to his friend, his expression could not have been happier.
"Not a problem. I already had the system in passive monitoring. Unless they get outside, they'll have no chance. As far as any ships are concerned, nothing is happening down here."
Nate grinned.
"Good work, Billy, damned good work."
His attention was drawn from his friend to the feed coming back from Sergeant Perkins. The marines had moved to the other side of the lifeboat. There before him were at least forty people, each cuffed to a long loading platform flanked by a number of caterpillar tracked loading tractors. All wore Alliance uniforms, and many showed signs of violence. One, an older man with a bloodied face was calling out. Nate had no idea who he was, but he recognised the Captain's insignia immediately. Nate looked to Billy.
"I don't like this, not at all. Make sure we are ready to leave. This smells like..."
Flashes of light blocked off part of the feed. For a second Nate thought it was interference, but then he saw one of the marines spin about and fall to the ground. More sparks crackled along the floor as the squad took fire from the same direction as before.
"We're under fire. I repeat; we're under fire."
* * *
Private Valentine reached the top of the steps when she heard the first shot. A heavily encoded ad-hoc network connected the marines, and it provided tactical data to each of them. What one marine saw, they all saw, and she could see that one marine had been hit hard. This was no civilian weapon. It was a piece of equipment designed to blast through flesh and armour with equal ease.
"Incoming!" Sergeant Perkins shouted.
Valentine instinctively wanted to go back down to help her comrades, but based on the ballistic analysis already conducted, the gunfire was actually coming from the tower. A single door blocked their path, and it was slightly ajar. She reached for her flank and pulled a small flash grenade from the flap. There was no need to prime it; she could do all of that from the computer system in her suit.
"Ready?"
Private Cortez nodded. She rolled the device along the floor and through the gap in the door. Both marines pulled back and waited. At the same time, another gunshot rang out, but thankfully this one missed. The doorway flashed white, and then they were inside. The visors dimmed for a brief moment, and when the light returned, they could see the five Byotai. They wore civilian clothing, but augmented with an odd selection of webbing and armour plates. Two waited at the window ledge and took aim with a long-barrelled rifle. Of the three remaining, one was fiddling with a tubular weapon, perhaps a missile launcher. The last two were off to the left and hidde
n from the tall window overlooking the rest of the great plaza. Both were busy using an armoured communication computer, and clearly annoyed at something. Private Valentine's onboard translator repeated the words in their own guttural language.
"Drop your weapons!"
The Byotai with the tubular weapon dropped it and reached for a sidearm. Private Cortez put two rounds into his body; both centre mass. The accuracy was impressive, and he was dead before he hit the floor. Both of the Byotai at the communications rig leapt up, and one struck the thin wall to their left. They clambered through the wreckage and vanished from view. The pair at the window released the long-rifle and opened fire with small fully automatic carbines that hung about their sides. Private Valentine sidestepped as she returned fire. Three rounds glanced off her right leg as the armour did its job. The triple-barrelled L52 Mark II carbine punched holes into their improvised armour, yet neither fell down.
Damn it! Okay, then.
Valentine stepped back and activated the high-power mode. The first triple-shot hit the nearest of the two in the neck. He fell to the ground clutching at the gaping wound. The second turned and ran past the window, and she fired again, but this time the weapon merely hissed. It was the first failure she'd encountered with the carbine, and the timing couldn't have been worse. Instead of reaching for her sidearm, she ran at the Byotai and slammed him into the window frame with all of her mass.
At the same time, Private Cortez crashed through the wrecked wall and then rolled to the side. His timing was perfect, as the two panicking Byotai fired shot after shot. Cortez stayed down for a few more seconds, until the two turned and leapt to the steps that took them back to the ground floor. Cortez rose to his feet and took a step after the two as they ran. There was noise back in the room, and he was torn before his pursuit and helping Valentine.
"Screw this!"
Leaving the two on the stairs, he doubled back and ran into the room. He found Private Valentine delivering a powerful kick that sent the last warrior through the window frame. He ran over to her and leaned out. The broken body of the warrior lay on the hard surface, along with the sniper rifle.
"The others?" Private Valentine asked.
A loud bang shook the structure, and Private Cortez deactivated his visor so that his comrade could see his face. He was beaming, a smile that spread from cheek to cheek.
"What, those two?"
Private Valentine struck him in the shoulder.
"You're too bad, Cortez, much too bad."
They looked out from the window, and below them were the rest of their squad. All were working to free the many prisoners who had been tied up and left to rot as bait. One marine lay on his back while a pair of the recently released crew helped to patch his wounds. Cortez shook his head.
"The Sarge was right. If we'd carried on, we'd have been picked off from up here."
Private Valentine reactivated her own visor and then walked back into the middle of the room.
"Let's get back down there. We've got work to do."
They worked their way down the stairs and past the bodies of the two Byotai killed by the proximity charge. After checking both were dead, they headed back to Sergeant Perkins. He was speaking with the battered looking ship's Captain.
"Sergeant, the tower's secure."
He glanced back at them.
"Excellent. Jackson took a round to the chest. It's serious but he's stable...for now."
"What happened here?" Valentine asked.
The Captain was on his feet and checking a pistol given to him by Sergeant Perkins. He looked at the young marine but then turned his attention to Sergeant Perkins.
"They are just the sentries. The ship left a garrison, perhaps twenty, maybe thirty Byotai. They are experienced and looking for trouble. They went off to look for supplies in the station, and I can guarantee they’ve heard what's happening here. We should go."
As if to emphasise the point, the sound of shooting echoed out from the other side of the plaza. It was several minutes away even at a run, but it provided a sense of urgency to the situation.
"That's them," said the Captain.
Sergeant Perkins looked to his marines while lifting his carbine to check the ammunition status.
"Contact from Mongoose says that a ship has just arrived. It is definitely time to leave."
The Captain helped lift one of his crew to his feet before realising what Sergeant Perkins had just said.
"A ship. Yes, it must be them. We were ambushed by the Byotai warship five or six hours ago. We had only one escort, and after she was gone, they hit us with boarding parties. I lost most of my crew before I gave the signal to surrender."
He looked back at those around them and then nodded towards Sergeant Perkins and his marines.
"They have been keeping us here as a bargaining chip. I guess they didn't count on you finding us so quickly."
Sergeant Perkins called out orders to his own marines before encouraging all of them to get to their feet.
"We've got a bird waiting on the platform. I'll bring her in close, but we will have to hurry. Cortez and Valentine, you'll provide the rearguard. Everybody else, move it!"
The marines and crew picked up the pace as they rushed towards the doors. The marines were fast, but the group was slowed down to the pace of the weakest member, and it was clear some of the crew were more seriously injured than others. As they moved onward, the Captain tried to explain more about their predicament.
"We lost a lot of crew in the boarding actions. Now all that remains are thirty-seven, and most were wounded in the fighting. Nearly all our officers are dead."
He continued to speak while the group jogged on, and in a few more minutes, they reached the long passage that led towards the magnetically sealed airlock. Sergeant Perkins waited at the entrance and waved them all through just as the first gunshots arrived.
"Keep moving and get to the door."
On they went until the last had passed. He turned to follow them, but not before speaking to his two marines.
"Hold them back until I give you the signal."
He grabbed Valentine's shoulder.
"No heroics. I want all my marines back in one piece. You got that?"
"Yes, Sergeant!"
With that, he was gone, and the two Privates moved to each side of the doorway. They had a perfect view of the open plaza, and there was no obvious way the Byotai would be able to reach them without coming into view.
"Cortez, you ready for this?"
The marine clipped a new pack onto his carbine and lifted it to his shoulder.
"Hell, yeah, I was born ready, lady."
Valentine laughed.
"I'm no lady, Cortez."
"Second that."
A round struck a metre above them, and then the first of the rabble were visible. Private Valentine lifted her carbine and took careful aim. She could see them coming towards her through the sight. Some wore Byotai military uniforms, and others were dressed like those in the tower.
"Drop ‘em."
The two fired at the same time, and their high-velocity slugs slammed into the attackers. Three went down before they scattered, and then came the return fire, a great crescendo of rifles and thermal weaponry that hissed and crackled around them. Cortez fired repeatedly and then slammed in another clip.
"Just like old times, hey, Valentine?"
Private Valentine opened up again, this time sending a wild burst over the heads of another group trying to creep around the right. A spike round flashed past, and Private Cortez cried out. She looked over to him to find the spike embedded in his chest. She moved closer to him so he could throw his arm around her neck. Though badly wounded, he still continued to fire at the Byotai.
"Sergeant Perkins," said Private Valentine, "Cortez is wounded. They are pushing us hard."
"Understood. Drop proximity mines and get back here. The Mauler will be here in sixty seconds."
* * *
Nate waited pati
ently with his hand over the engine activation button. His heart was pumping harder and faster than it had ever done before. At one end of the landing arm were the still closed blast doors, and far off in the other direction the enemy ship.
"Nate, we're in trouble here. That Byotai ship is right between us and Relentless," said Billy.
Nate gave a fake laugh in reply.
"You don't say. At least they don't know we're here, not yet."
With most of their systems off-line, they were forced to rely upon their PDS suits. Luckily, the sealed units provided a breathable air system, as well as heating to protect them from freezing inside the confines of the Mauler's cockpit.
"Look," said Billy.
There was no need to clarify. The forward screen currently showed the view back to Relentless. The warship had clearly detached itself from the transports and was moving directly at the Byotai ship. The detailed schematic showed alongside it, and all the data that the injured Captain Dreuc had shown them.
"That thing is a beast."
Data appeared at key points along the ship, pointing out the armour, weaponry, and defensive equipment.
"Captain Dreuc says she is one of the toughest heavy cruisers in the Imperial fleet."
"I know," said Nate, "She's packing six phased plasma cannons in the bow, as well as eight secondary gun mounts on the flanks."
He pointed at the section towards the rear along the underside of the ship. A bulbous compartment further ahead sheltered the opening to fire coming from the front.
"The launch deck. Captain Dreuc says she can carry four fighters on board."
Nate continued shaking his head as he looked at the specification. Sword of Mognathus was a formidable opponent for any single ship, and as both vessels lined up, he knew it was going to be a bloody showdown, and one difficult to escape from. Icons appeared over Relentless, first one and then a second."
Star Crusader: Hero of the Alliance Page 24
