by JR Handley
Picking up her pace and shouting into her comms at Dock yielded no response. This continued for a minute before Jade spoke up.
Sashala, Ensign Dock is no longer receiving comms. I would assume he is currently moving to, or already submerged in, Lake Sarpedona and operating under a communications blackout. We should head to the rendezvous point and wait for him there. He showed up once. He’ll likely show again. Also, Pak has fallen behind.
Sashala stopped her momentum with a slide of her feet and whipped her helmet around. She could see Pak running toward her, obviously struggling, and at least five enemy targets were highlighted in her helmet reticle. The Hardits were still out of sight, but they were almost on top of Pak now.
Vanderman was dead, they’d missed their rendezvous, and now they’d be stuck on this dung heap of an island for Horden knew how long, waiting to get picked up. The rage seethed to the point Sashala needed it to; then she harnessed it.
Pak’s helmet tipped sideways inquisitively as Sashala dashed past him in a blur of speed. Rifle out, helmet reticle tracking, red boxes highlighted, she prepared for the onslaught. The Hardits believed her and Pak to the prey. It was time they paid for this mistake.
Four Hardits approached, sprinting on all four appendages. They clearly didn’t expect to see a small-framed Marine running directly for them. Their tails dug into the soft, leaf-covered ground behind them as they attempted to slow their pursuit and react. Sashala compressed the trigger of her SA-71 four times in response to the Hardits slowing, never stopping her forward momentum. Hardit heads popped open, spraying their contents into the forest canopy. Sabots zinged toward her location from beyond the now-dead enemies.
Using her nonstop gait, Sashala dipped low, activated her assault thrusters, and leapt skyward. Hitting a low-hanging branch with both feet, she jumped again. Two more Hardits scurried beneath her toward their fallen comrades, oblivious to her presence above.
In an almost soundless movement, she dropped to the ground behind them and commenced pursuit. The Hardits in front of her slowed, now seeing their four pack mates dead in the leaves. Stopping to investigate was their mistake.
Sashala began her ballet. A burst of speed, and her carbine fell from her hands and was flung behind her by the retractable sling. The click it made as it locked to her back caused the two Hardits’ ears to perk. The next sound they heard was the unsheathing of her two thigh blades. One in each hand, roughly five inches in length, these sharped knives were meant for precision flight.
Jade knew this dance, and the moment the perfect distance and speed were achieved by her human blade-launcher, she signaled Sashala. The dual blades sailed from Sashala’s armored hands, spinning point over pommel, and found new homes in Hardit necks. The drenting monkeys thrashed as they fell to the ground.
Continuing her sprint, Sashala rolled, pulled two knives free from her ankle sheathes, and met the dying foes. It wasn’t brutality she displayed, like what the animals had done to her friend Vanderman; it was exactness. She had studied the anatomy of the Hardits prior to this day, and her slices were quick, controlled, and perfect.
By the time Pak had caught up to Sashala a minute or so later, she was cleaning her blades on the short fur of the dead Hardits. Pak’s hands went to his knees as he struggled to fill his lungs.
“Holy frakk, Sash,” said Pak, panting. “Remind me to never piss you off.”
“Never piss me off,” she replied.
“Nice. My helmet is barely functioning. Are we clear?”
Sashala scanned the area around them, having Jade search out as far as she could for movement, sound, heat signatures, and signs of life. Nothing returned.
“I’m not picking up shite,” said Sashala. “Let’s get to the rendezvous location and set up shop. We’re going to be waiting a while.”
“Waiting? Why are we waiting?”
“Did you not get any of the comms from Dock? He showed up, we weren’t there, so he went to pick up the rest of his Legion buddies in the lake.”
“He’s just leaving us? That’s frakking ridiculous!” Pak lamented. He walked over to one of the dead Hardits and kicked it in the side.
“Stow it, Pak,” said Sashala. “He said he’d swing by and pick us up after the gamma bomb. We’re just going to have to dig in and wait. I didn’t think the frakking Spacer would show up the first time, but he did. I think he’ll show up again.”
Sashala then took a moment to make sure they’d both successfully strapped everything down before their slow and deliberate movement to the rendezvous point. As the only one with a functioning helmet, Sashala took the lead and set a slow pace. There was no reason to rush, since it would likely be hours before their ride arrived. Plus, Pak was looking worse for the wear. His wheezing was starting to grate on Sashala’s nerves.
Their route to the rendezvous took them through some of the densest woods Sashala could remember. The trees offered increased cover and concealment, and also allowed Sashala’s mind to wander. It was obvious that Dock was right; there was no way they would have made the extraction. This knowledge didn’t soften the idea that they would have to wait it out on a Hardit-infested island for an unknown period of time.
The substantial growth of close-knit trees finally began to give way. The leaf-covered ground transitioned to low scrub grass, which was soon replaced by hip-high meadows of bright orange stalks. The brilliant grass danced in the breeze blowing over the rolling hill.
“This is obviously where we were supposed to meet Dock,” said Sashala as she pointed to the crest of the hill in front of them. The grass along the top was flattened from the blast of the Stork’s exhaust.
Pak just nodded in response. The small climb up the hill challenged him, and his breathing was still a major issue. Knowing that the wait could be hours long, Sashala grabbed her emergency entrenching tool out of her butt-pack. A few Marines called it their “native kit,” referring to some of the primitive cultures the Human Marine Corps troopers had encountered in service to their absentee overlords. Unfolding her small field shovel, she noticed Pak doing the same, and they both got to work.
The fortifications Sashala and Pak made were not fancy. It was a modified two-man fighting hole. Cut longer than the tallest Marine, which was Pak in this case, the rectangular hole would allow one Marine to sleep on a dirt shelf a couple feet below the surface while the other stood watch with only shoulders and head exposed. Using some branches and the surrounding grass, they created a camouflaged blind to hide their temporary home from prying eyes.
Pak tossed himself onto the bumpy dirt shelf that would serve as a place to nap, while Sashala sat on her butt and gauged the distance to Beta City. In any other circumstance, she would have appreciated the view from this grassy orange knoll.
Twinkling high above in the clouds was the Jotun city of Kijiji. Its translucent construction captured rays from the sun and refracted beautiful colors down, like a brilliant crystal. In dark contrast, an orbital elevator cut a vertical black line from the ground into space. The water of Lake Sarpedona, almost emerald in color, hung on her right horizon. Somewhere, hiding in that water, were Dock and his Stork shuttle. The gamma bomb those Human Legion Marines were planning to detonate would have fried the electronics of the Stork, but the water would shield Dock’s precious spacecraft.
Jade confirmed with Sashala that they would be far enough from the gamma bomb and Beta City to be unaffected. It was the third time Sashala had done this. Turning her attention away from the looming unknown, she focused her attention on Pak.
“Pak, how’re you holding up?” Sashala asked the younger Marine.
“Sash, it frakking sucks that the chucklehead pilot couldn’t do his job. We did ours, we created a distraction, and in return, that Spacer tossed us around like a crèche toy and left us here. Vanderman didn’t have to die.”
“Just get some rest,” said Sashala. “We’ll honor Vanderman in our own way, later.”
Pak rolled over, and Sashala used
her Aimee to relay information to Jade. Pak was disconnected from his AI due to equipment failure but obviously needed a calming cocktail of pain relievers. Jade could bypass the equipment failure and access the suit directly. Sudden snoring from Pak indicated that the drugs were effective.
There was a lot Pak was saying that was misguided: the mark of a young Marine. Vanderman, on the other hand, was good for a modern Marine, but his own foolishness cost him everything. Moreover, he was the reason they were in a hole in the ground instead of safely in the Stork with Dock. Dock had done everything he could to complete his mission, and despite the shenanigans of the Marines in his cargo hold, he had seemingly accomplished his objective. The more Sashala thought about it, the more certain she was Dock would pick them up.
Sashala sharpened her knives, cleaned her rifle, and stared out at the water. Naturally, her head constantly swiveled to pull in sensor scans from around them, but there just wasn’t anything happening. She jumped slightly when Jade destroyed the silence.
Sashala, the Human Legion set off the gamma bomb.
“I don’t see squat,” said Sashala.
Didn’t you pay any attention at all during the briefings? Gamma radiation exists outside of the visible spectrum. I am monitoring your suit biometrics, and you don’t seem to be receiving any extra radiation from this detonation. I do suggest getting in the hole with Pak. A little extra soil and dirt couldn’t hurt anything.
Jumping into the hole and sitting in the space below where Pak was sleeping, Sashala scanned the different signals coming from Beta City. There was nothing but static now. Knowing comms might be permanently damaged, she said a silent prayer that Dock passed the word about her and Pak. The idea of only one person in the galaxy knowing their location was frightening. Especially if that one person was a Spacer with a death wish.
Sashala’s worry was tempered by hope. She knew Dock was in the water, waiting for the Human Legion team to exfil. The gamma bomb had been detonated. It seemed all the mission objectives were falling into place.
An ear-splitting sound shook the ground as the sky above split apart. A projectile punched down through the clouds like a meteor and slowly streaked toward them. Pak awoke with a shout and rolled on top of Sashala.
“Is that the gamma bomb?” he shouted.
“Jade, what the frakk is going on?” said Sashala.
It’s a kinetic strike. Origination appears to be the Antilles Moon Base. Trajectory shows it impacting close to Beta City. Correction: I believe it will impact the lake. Be ready. Things are going to get complicated.
Sashala pushed Pak away and jumped to her feet. The smoking projectile looked to be moving in slow motion, streaking down from the heavens. Suddenly, the speed increased, and it obliterated the serene calm of Lake Sarpedona. A lingering second later, the earth quaked as an explosion rocked the bedrock of the lake and sent water in all directions.
“Jade, please don’t tell me that is where the Human Legion team was exfiling,” said Sashala. “Please don’t tell me that’s where Dock’s Stork was hiding.”
I don’t have enough information to answer this query, Jade replied.
Jade followed this pronouncement with a description of the likely scenarios that might result. While Jade blathered on, Sashala used her helmet’s optical zoom to scan the area where Beta City would be. Polycrete tunnels and stairways the Marines called sally ports were the only entrances to the underground city. Hundreds of Hardit militia began to stream out of the sally ports. They looked like swarming ants.
Rumbling from above caused Pak to let out a shout and roll himself into a ball at the base of the fighting hole they had dug. Sashala followed suit, not wanting to take any chances. Jade spoke to her slowly.
Sashala, this strike won’t hit the lake. It’s going to hit the Jotun city above. When it happens, a massive amount of infrastructure will rain down from the sky. This will—
The air snapped, and a blinding light made the Tranquility sun look like a withering flame. Rumbling and creaking from far away filled Sashala’s helmet. Peeking above the lip of their hole, she watched as the once-regal Jotun city crumbled and began showering down on Tranquility. Sashala fell back to her butt, and as she and Pak held each other, she wondered if this fighting hole would be their grave. The packed soil they had carved out tumbled in around them as falling debris from the Jotun city obliterated anything it touched.
The sky above became dark, and a wave of dusty wind blasted over the top of the hole, screaming as it passed by. Then all Sashala could hear was her own labored breathing.
“Is it over?” she whispered.
No, Jade replied. There is one more. This one will make landfall near Beta City. Brace yourself.
Sashala felt the final kinetic strike hit the planet. The energy it poured into Tranquility-4 when it struck was frightening, and it caused the dirt in their fighting hole to erode to their waistlines. A pressure wave of air, dust, and heat flowed over top of Pak and Sashala. It felt absolute, as if the strike had cleansed the island of life.
Sashala and Pak dug themselves out of the now-collapsed fighting hole and looked in all directions. The world was a different place. The blue sky had turned opaque and brown, fires burned in all directions, and chunks of translucent Jotun infrastructure, some the size of entire buildings, jutted out of the ground. Glancing to the lake, Sashala moaned. The water was choppy from abuse, and more hunks of the shattered city of Kijiji lay strewn along its shores.
“Jade, is there any way Dock’s Stork survived this?” asked Sashala. Pak leaned in close to listen.
There was a pause before Jade spoke. She used the external speakers on Sashala’s helmet so Pak could hear as well.
Judging by the amount of destruction the kinetic strike caused when it made landfall near Beta City, the probability is very low.
Sashala ignored this information and attempted to raise Dock on comms. To raise anyone. Pak fell to his butt and looked around. After failing to reach anyone, Sashala recorded a message for Jade to broadcast on repeat.
“Human Legion Actual, this is Phase Guinshrike. I say again, Human Legion Actual, this is Phase Guinshrike. Any Legion asset on this channel, we are requesting immediate assistance. We’re stranded on the island and require immediate exfil.”
While the message rolled on a loop, Sashala began making frantic calls over every comms network she could locate. The result was static. Despite this, she kept trying. Sitting around and waiting to be rescued wasn’t in her genetic code. Jade came in through her helmet speakers.
Sashala, stop. We are alone. We need to react accordingly if we’re to survive this day cycle. There are two options: wait to see if Dock shows up, or move to a defensible location. This fighting hole, what’s left of it, is not a long-term solution.
Having overheard Sashala’s frantic conversation, Pak began to panic again. This time, the combat drugs had little effect on his hysteria. He sat with his legs crossed over each other, rocking back and forth.
“Frakk, frakk, frakk,” he muttered to himself as he continued swaying.
Sashala looked down at the crècheling Marine and shook her head. She wanted to consult him about their next move. After bending down and smacking him on the helmet hard enough to shut him up, Sashala stood and began thinking out loud.
“We’ve got hundreds of Hardits fleeing Beta City and running rampant. Limited supplies, a broken foxhole, radiation, fire, and no way of knowing whether Dock and the Stork survived those drenting kinetic strikes or not.”
“So basically, we’re frakked,” said Pak.
“I wasn’t done!” Sashala retorted as she leaned down and smacked Pak again. “We have no way to get back to Baylshore, either. We know that this is an important system, so someone will come back to claim it eventually. I think we should get into Beta City, find a cryogenic lab, and freeze ourselves. We wait it out, on ice, and hope for the best.”
Pak’s helmet shot up at her when she finished her rant. A cloud of b
lack and brown dust from the woods below rolled over top of them both while they spoke.
“You suggest we run toward a city that is teeming with radiation and was nearly obliterated with a kinetic strike?” said Pak as he regained his feet. “Oh, and let’s not forget the arse-load of pissed off Hardits inside who are likely on high alert thanks to the Human Legion jerkoffs who just assaulted the place. That’s your plan?”
“It’s a plan that doesn’t involve rocking in the fetal position like a crècheling,” said Sashala. Her fingers made a knife-hand and pointed at Pak. “You want to stay here and starve, or get overrun by Hardits? Fine! You think Vanderman would sit here and moan? Frakk, no. He’d say, ‘Let’s go to the Hardit house and stack those drenting monkeys up.’ I’m just suggesting we do something proactive instead of waiting for a Stork that is likely in a million pieces at the bottom of that lake!”
Pak had taken a series of steps back as Sashala waved her knife-hand around menacingly. After staring at her, an unreadable expression on his face, Pak gave her a raised thumb.
“For Vanderman,” he said. “I’m no expert, but I know it doesn’t take much energy to maintain an icer, although freezing and unfreezing takes large amounts. We’ll have to pray to Horden’s Hairy Moose Knuckle that the city is still functioning at all.”
Pak flinched when Sashala went to slap him on the arm. In a moment, her Digi-Sheet was out of her leg compartment and projecting a holographic map of the area around the city. There were lots of options to make entry into the underground city, but Pak’s helmet being cracked eliminated a few. Sashala and Pak were going back and forth, looking at the various routes, when Jade tapped into Sashala’s voice amplification to speak to them both.
Do you see the clouds of dust and smoke around you? Much of it is originating from above Beta City, thanks to the kinetic strike. What was happening at Beta City before the strike? That’s right: a somewhat contained, highly radioactive gamma bomb. It’s not contained anymore. It’s everywhere. You two don’t have time to take in the scenery and discuss. You both need to haul arse and get out of this radioactive shite storm. Follow the creek bed for several clicks. Then you’ve only a few more until you reach the clearing prior to the sally ports.
