by J. M. Hagan
Damn! So much for that short-lived plan.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” yelled Cane, “but we’re not moving fast enough anymore. Those fighters, they could’ve blown us to hell by now, if they’d wanted. They have every intention of capturing this ship intact!”
“Cane, what should we do?” demanded Jack.
“Go get equipped, and prepare to intercept the Dok’ra at the airlock!”
Anderson was continuing the task of piloting his drone while this was going on in the background. He wanted to give it some attention, but he had to push it to the back of his mind for now.
So long as his drone was flying, Cane needed him here.
11
Claudia lifted her rifle from the rack and fitted it with a full magazine, slamming it in place with her hand. She had a sidewinder pistol, along with her PM pistol.
Jack put a sub-repeater strap around his neck, as he stuffed flash grenades into his protective vest’s pockets, sweat dripping off his face. Then he hurried to strap a gun belt around his waist with a pistol in the holster.
She got lost for a moment, watching him. Jack didn’t catch on until he was ready and cocking the sub-repeater. “What?”
This doesn’t feel real. “Nothing.” Claudia returned to her task with a frown, and put some ammo cartridges into her gun belt.
“Man, we can do this. Trust me,” he assured her.
“You know, I like to think that we’re gonna be okay, that we’re gonna live through all of this. I try to convince myself of it every day,” she said, welling up. “Now that we’re here…I don’t know if I – “
“Cut that shit out right now,” Jack demanded strongly, getting her full attention. “You’re stronger than this.”
Claudia couldn’t look away from his aqua eyes as they burned with passion. Belief came bursting out of a damn and filled her heart with warm, crashing waves.
“Give me your hand.”
Claudia started raising it – he snatched it strongly and she squeezed in reply, feeling her wiry forearms tighten.
“Look at how strong you are,” he assured her, his other hand cupping her face.
A tear sprang from her eye. She sniffled, fighting against it, and blinked another tear away before it could fully form.
“You’re right,” Claudia said, nodding, hoping the gesture would convince her further. Jack didn’t seem to need any convincing of it. His belief in her was set in stone.
They hurried to the deck above.
As they passed the airlock, they heard the Dok’ra vessel pressurise its docking hatch with Europa’s airlock, the connection sounding a metal clunk.
“Claudia, Jack, I am here for you both,” said Europa. “I will do whatever I can to help.”
Jack took the last room on the right, Siena’s bedroom. Claudia took out her sidewinder pistol and switched the guns shape so that it could bend around the corner.
“Europa, what are they doing?” asked Jack.
“They are planting explosive charges to blow the door.”
“No,” cried Jack. “Let’s keep the damage to a minimum. No explosions inside the space ship. I don’t wanna be blown out to space.”
“Me either,” Claudia was quick to add. The mere thought of it chilled her blood.
“Let them in, E.”
A moment later. “Affirmative. Are you ready?”
They checked each other’s state of readiness with a glance. “We’re ready,” said Jack, swallowing. Claudia squeezed her gun tightly, and aimed it around the bend.
“Opening airlock. Good luck,” Europa offered. Then the airlock opened, and a second later the enemy poured in. The combined tread of the first wave was like a thunder-clap.
Claudia saw them on the scope of her pistol and squeezed the trigger. Her shot burned into the wall next to one of them with a dying white-hot spark – she hurried to correct her aim. Energy weapon fire blasted the walls around them. Claudia fired again, hitting him in the left eye. The Dok’ra fell on his back, howling, with a well of black blood spraying.
Claudia kept firing, and Jack sprang out, aimed his sub-repeater, and fired a short burst directly into one of their chests. The Dok’ra took it and kept coming at them. Even as Claudia hit them both with multiple rounds to various body parts, they continued forth with blood pouring from their arms, legs and chests.
When her pistol clicked after she fired the last round in the mag, Jack grabbed a flashbang from his pocket and chucked it.
Claudia shut her eyes, covered her ears best she could with her hands. A white light became visible through the corner of her eyelid. What must’ve been a thunderous bang came through her pressing hands as a sharp rumble.
She opened her eyes, crouched down on one knee, unslung her rifle. By that stage, Jack was already blowing them full of holes. The one on the left was holding the wall, desperately trying to stay on his feet as Jack peppered him.
She aimed for the one on the right who had been temporarily stunned by a bullet to the forehead. As a wisp of smoke trailed from the blackened, bloodied wound, over which she placed her reticule sight, she took a breath, then blew his brains out the back of his skull.
The one Jack was shooting finally fell, letting out a wheezy last breath, as smoke rose from its many sizzling wounds. He hurried to replace his mag while Claudia lay on her belly with her rifle aimed at the open airlock.
“Europa, where are they?” she asked, maintaining her concentration.
“They are…take cover!”
Claudia heard something hit the wall.
“Fire in the hole!” Jack screamed, lunging, and next thing she knew they were rolling along the floor together.
Claudia shut her eyes, covered her ears. A violent vibration raced through the deck. The walls shook with a resounding metallic rattle.
Jack climbed off her.
She opened her eyes and saw him race to the corner where he began shooting down the fiery corridor with his sub-repeater.
Disorientated, Claudia gave herself a shake, then hurried to help.
*
Anderson and Siena worked together to chase down the last fighter that was engaging them. It was flying in a loop around Europa, causing their drones problems by getting in behind her each time they tried to lock their target.
“This thing is just wasting our time,” Siena remarked.
“I am fully aware,” Cane said, with a grimace.
He stared out the window at the three remaining fighters and the transport gunship waiting ahead of them. They were floating just out of range of their weapons.
“They don’t want to engage you. But they’re waiting to make sure we can’t jump Europa away, either.” His eyes widened sharply. “They’re waiting on something. My guess…it’s the mothership. Stop chasing it. Conserve your fuel.”
Anderson heeded his command, and he came to a halt alongside Siena. “If it comes for us, we open fire as one,” said Siena. Anderson nodded, biting down. I won’t miss.
“Europa, what’s the status on those repairs?” cried Cane.
“The A.R.U.s are making excellent progress. Keep those fighters away from the engines.”
*
Jack came out of cover bursting fire.
The Dok’ra took it in the chest and stumbled back, as he kept punching it full of rounds until it fell to one knee. When he stopped, smoke trailed from his weapon’s red-hot muzzle. The Dok’ra coughed, and a blob of blood shot from its mouth to splat on the floor.
Claudia, without feeling, cocked her rifle and shot it on the top of its lowered head, blowing a hole in its skull the size of a tangerine.
A heavy tread sounded on approach again. Another wave was encroaching on the carcass littered corridor with blackened walls.
Claudia hurried back to cover, as a Dok’ra came out with a sub-repeater much like Jack’s. He blasted the walls at the end of the corridor. Jack armed himself with his pistol, and blind fired around the corner in response.
Claudia took out her pistol and mimicked his attempt at suppressing fire. When she shot, and the Dok’ra stopped briefly, Jack sprinted across and rolled into the open doorway. He got on his knees and peeked out to shoot. Three impact thuds sounded, and the creature snarled in agony.
Claudia popped out and shot it with her pistol in the left thigh. Then popped out again and shot it in the left shoulder.
Even with all of that, it fired back at them. It was so accurate that Jack was almost hit in the shoulder. He fell back into full cover. Then it switched its aim to her position, and when it fired Claudia heard a loud zing before something entered her calf.
A gasp escaped her, she wilted in pain. She looked down and saw blood had sprayed the wall and floor.
“Claudia?!”
“I’m okay!” she told him, biting down, closing her eyes and willing herself to believe it. My God, I’ve been shot!
Jack took a flash grenade from his vest and tossed it down the corridor. The Dok’ra fired at him quickly. Then, when a bright light filled the corridor, and a loud bang screeched in her ears. The firing stopped.
Jack was pulling the trigger with relentless resolve. He hit it over and over and she watched his snarl evolve into a desperate cry.
When the firing ceased, it was still ringing in her ears.
Click. Click. Click.
Jack was still pulling the trigger, even though his ammo was long spent. Claudia got up in alarm as he walked out into the open, reloading his magazine as he went.
“Jack, no!”
She raced to him and grabbed his arm, lifting it up before he could begin firing again. Then she dragged him back until they were in Siena’s quarters. His back met with the wall, Claudia waved the door shut, then she fell back into the wall herself. Swallowing breaths, perspiring all over, her head turned his way and she saw his distress leave him in an instant.
Jack shut his eyes, dropped his head back, and swallowed deep, with sweat glistening all over. He breathed through his nose, and she could hear his nasal whistling.
“Europa…are there any more?” she begged breathlessly.
“Negative. You have dealt with the boarding party,” she informed, with a degree of relief in her tone.
Claudia set her head back and finally allowed the pain and exhaustion to breathe. She let out a gasp as she lowered, too tired to even moan for her pain.
Jack dropped immediately, having caught her pained descent in his peripherals. He grabbed her to keep her from falling.
“I’m okay,” she hurried to assure him, squeezing her bleeding wound.
Then the pain set in to her leg. Claudia sat down and stretched it out, feeling the wound flare when she touched it.
“Easy. Let me look at it.”
He carefully rolled away her pant leg and held her calf, examining the small bleeding hole. “I don’t think it’s bad,” he assured her. “Just a ricochet.”
Just? It still hurts like hell. “You think so?”
“Yeah,” he said, rising to his feet. “Nothing the med-pod won’t fix.”
He helped her up and set her against the wall. Jack, with a sigh of relief, ran a hand up his sweating forehead.
“They underestimated us,” he told her, and his hands began shaking at once, as if he’d been subconsciously fighting against his nerves all this time.
“What will we do?” she asked, leaning into the wall with her hand.
“Let’s find out,” he said, activating his com.
*
“Cane,” Jack’s voice blared over the loudspeaker. “We did it. We beat them!”
Anderson and Siena shared a smile across the room, while Cane hurried to flick a series of switches.
“Jack, you’re going to need to get on a spacesuit and tether yourself to Europa!”
“Wait! What?!” Jack screeched.
“We need you to disengage their docking clamp manually from within the transport!”
“Shit! Okay!”
A bright white light shone before them in the star-speckled expanse outside. Cane saw an enormous vessel come pouring out from a sub-space bubble. His gut wrenched at the sight of it.
“Cane, what is that?” Anderson begged, on the verge of panicking.
Cane swallowed, looking at the vast range of weaponry spread along the warship. “Our doom, if we don’t disengage that transport shuttle.” He pressed the com. “Jack, hurry! Don’t waste a second!”
*
Jack and Claudia hurried to put on their red and yellow spacesuits. Then Claudia attached the tether to the clip at Jack’s waist. After she checked to be certain it was secure, Jack hurried on-board the transport shuttle that had latched onto Europa.
“The A.R.U.s have finished repairing the engines!” Cane blared in their earpieces. “Hurry, or they’ll immobilise us again!”
Jack vanished into the shuttle heading toward the cockpit. “Cane, I don’t know which buttons to press?!”
Claudia pressed a switch on her wrist that magnetised her boots to the airlock floor and they sealed with a thud.
“Jack, I will guide you,” said Europa, over the shared channel.
“Thanks, E.”
Claudia waited tensely for a moment. Then the clamps that had them forcefully attached retracted. The instant they did the airlock depressurised and the ships separated from one another. The transport drifted away sharply.
Still, there was no sign of Jack.
“Cane, we’re getting too far away from the transport!” cried Claudia.
“Engaging side-thrusters.”
Europa was jolted a little to close the gap. Then Jack came into view, walking slowly because of his magnetized feet. He waved at her and Claudia pushed the button to reel him in.
Out in space, she saw a Dok’ra fighter approaching. It blasted the transport ship with its heavy repeaters. Her heart was in her mouth. Jack was being pulled through space with a look of terror, as they bombarded the ship directly behind him.
A drone came swooping by and blasted the nose of the fighter. It spun away and burst into flames.
“Claudia!” Jack cried, as he neared.
She opened her arms. He crashed into her and she closed her arms around him, squeezing. Then one hand shot to the airlock door control and she sealed it before wrapping arms around him again.
“Recalling drones!” said Cane. “Preparing TDS!”
“We did it!” Jack proclaimed, with a dubious look in his eyes.
“TDS initialised!”
They were jolted on the spot. Then they both hurried to remove their helmets. Jack’s hair was soaking with perspiration. He wrapped arms around her and kissed her cheek.
“We did it!”
Claudia squeezed him, feeling her hands tremble against his back. “We did it…” she said, shutting her eyes. “It’s over.”
Starmen
Battle for Maji-Onda
In a time when…
12
Three battle campaigns in and Jack felt immune to war and bloodshed.
He watched from the hills as the shells fell. Even the crashing, burning and destruction of an initially beautiful land hadn’t stirred him.
It had been three weeks since they landed on Delahu – once the island paradise of a pleasure world in the heart of the Federation. He had never imagined, after seeing the posters for this world, the dream holiday destination, that he would someday wind up here. Yet, here he was.
Claudia and Anderson had been dropped elsewhere. The drop had been a disaster, and for all he knew they were dead, as the electro-magnetic field surrounding the area didn’t allow for long distance coms.
Europa was light-years away from this conflict, safeguarded by Cane. He had always been there when they needed him. Europa’s time-drive was too important to endanger. She was hidden in a safe system awaiting their return.
They had to fight. They couldn’t just sit back and watch as Vorjool and his new allies, the Overseers, laid waste to the galaxies.
Tanks roved over bodies, squishing remains – he could hear the squelches before the whistling flare soared in the sky to signal for them to begin the attack.
Jack had been hired as an officer due to his Starman status, and was in charge of an entire company of foot soldiers.
Laser streams zoomed across the field creating luminous night, as Jack raced across the battlefield alongside the other members of Fireteam Delta. A face in the wave of bodies on the assault – aliens of all the allied races together. Fernodes, humans, Ishar, Dikini, and Arlens.
They progressed along the shell-devastated muddy terrain at pace, keeping their heads down as lasers surged by them and overhead, sizzling air. The company moved with discipline. Even as men fell, the others continued, knowing that the best way to save the wounded was to defeat the bunkers blanketing the field with fire.
As Jack came to the hill beneath the bunker, a squad of purple-eyed robots blossomed on the horizon. Their square shaped bodies were heavily armoured. Jack took to firing immediately. As men came clamouring around him, they all took to firing as one. When their enemies fired back in response, a chorus of screams rang around him.
Their bullets sparked off metal bodies. A few headshots took down a handful of robots, then Jack swept to cover and crouched as he reloaded his sub-repeater. Men dropped with lasers burning through their flesh and internal organs. Jack slapped his mag in place and then came sweeping out again to fire.
With the aid of his company, they took down the squad of unfeeling metal that had left a lot of their brothers dead in the mud. The time for considering the loss wasn’t then.
“Up the hill!” he screamed, waving them on. “Up the damn hill!”
Dok’ra fighters screeched in the night sky.
Anti-aircraft canons blasted at them, and some came crashing down in a blaze while the ones that got through carpeted the allied trenches behind them with firebombs.
They tossed frags at the bunker and the deafening turret fire came to an abrupt halt. Debris rained over their heads. Jack hopped over the trench and then proceeded to ascend the hill on his belly, digging in forearms as he went.
He came to the slit in the bunker for firing out and saw shadows within. Jack took aim and fired his rifle full-auto, with the stock helping him to maintain a degree of accuracy.
