by John Davis
“But I want to kill Anwick with my own...” Adam said, Cyrus immediately cutting him off.
“Have no fear, he may hunt men, but the men aboard this ship he wants no part of. He will be dead within minutes by my own hands if the discussions end as poorly as I believe they will, I can assure you of that.” Anwick replied.
Adam looked out across the sharp contrast of the stars as he simply replied with a nod of approval and wishing he could go back in time long enough to take care of Anwick when he had the chance.
“You know Adam, the way you speak of your friends as family, it begins to remind me of myself at a younger age,” Cyrus said calmly, Michaels giving him full attention. “I think when all of this is over, you and I should have another talk.” he added.
The city streets were littered with Colonial choke points, its military establishing sandbag bunkers on almost every corner which usually protected a large rail gun. Sweeper teams of two Goliaths and four Colonial soldiers patrolled the streets to soon be used as backup firepower against the Legion as both Swordfish and Spartans flew overhead in attack patterns, waiting for the first sign of contact. And the Mack cannons continued to fire. The thumps of life ending lead being launched into the air sounded almost harmonic, their neon blaze trailing behind them momentarily illuminating the sky with every shot.
“Set up a perimeter here and do not fall back unless I give the order.” Dalton said, ordering the squad of Colonial soldiers to position themselves in the front lobby of the command center.
“Yes sir!” the squad leader quickly replied, motioning his men to take cover with all eyes on the front door as Dalton, Steiner and Lassiter continued to the center of the building to position themselves outside of the vault.
“We're in place.” Dalton yelled loudly, his voice penetrating the thick glass of the vault, Commander Edwards nodding his appreciation as he turned to face Sarah Blaine, her mind obviously on other things.
“I wouldn't worry, I'm sure Adam is alive and well.” Edwards remarked.
“I just can't understand him willingly going to the Benzan Mafia, they are not a group to be pushed.” she replied.
“Based on what little time I have spent around your husband to be, neither is he.” Edwards replied.
“I just wish he would contact us, only long enough to let us know that he's alright.” Sarah added.
“I'm sure he will soon enough, however, I think the bigger issue is when he returns.” Commander Edwards said regretfully as Sarah turned to face him, dreading the words she knew would follow next.
“Sarah, you know that once he has met with the Benzan people, he will be considered a fugitive himself and no longer a part of the Colonial effort.” Commander Edwards said.
“I realize that's usually the case, but with everything he has done for us, I thought that maybe...” she replied, Edwards cutting her off sharply.
“No Sarah. He cannot be an exception to the rule, you know that. If your own father were here this very day he would tell you the same. You are going to have to put your personal feelings aside if and when he returns. I don't expect we will go as far as to incarcerate him, but I do expect you to stay clear so that I can enforce Colonial law when I dismiss him from duty.” Commander Edwards said.
“I understand.” Sarah replied.
“I will allow him to stay here on Glimmeria, ensuring that you two may still be married and have a life together.” Edwards added.
“Sir!” one of the Colonial officers yelled across the vault as the grid began picking up contacts. Walking quickly to the station, it soon became evident to everyone inside of the glass chamber that the Legion had launched its invasion.
“Darken the city and sound the alarms, now we meet them face to face.” Edwards ordered as every officer who sat at a computer began relaying the message as well as monitor all of the movement from both sides of the battle.
“My god, there are so many of them,” Sarah said softly as her eyes locked onto one of the Colonial grid monitors, watching waves of dozens of drop ships begin hitting Glimmeria's atmosphere. “All squadrons, this is Sarah Blaine. Multiple incoming contacts, cargo unknown, you are authorized to go weapons free. Repeat, weapons free.” she said into her headset sending the orders to all Colonial fighters in the air.
Moments later, the entire city fell under a shroud of darkness, its electricity cut by Colonial Command, which was using the strategy of forcing the Legion to attempt to land blindly while masking any potential casualties on the ground. Several minutes later, dozens of large blue flares were vaulted hundreds of feet into the air, casting enough light onto the Legion's ships to present them as targets to the Colonial aircraft and rail guns, which had began to stream bursts of piercing metal into the air.
“Sir, early reports indicate at least a dozen Legion cruisers, each dropping dozens of Spider Pods from the sky.” one of the Colonial officers said.
The commander had encountered the Spider Pods only once before, nothing more than a small round ship that carried a dozen soldiers and once landed, transformed into a mobile rail gun that would escort its cargo.
“Tell our air units to continue to fire on the small targets, and have the Mack stations redirect their fire from the cruisers to the small targets as well.” Commander Edwards ordered, knowing the cruisers had no intention of landing.
The Mack cannons began angling their shots, ripping each Spider Pod it hit into thousands of pieces, the light armor no match for a weapon designed to destroy the largest of ships. Their pounding bursts of lead, combined with the array of rail guns and attack fighters had eliminated nearly half of the small, troop filled ships when the first one landed on Glimmerian soil, marking the first time a Legion military ship had touched the planet's surface since the original Glimmerian war nearly a decade before.
Distant explosions continued to ring out as both Adam and Roman watched Glimmeria through a small glass window inside of their sleeping quarters.“We've got to get back down there and help them.” Roman said with desperation as Adam continued to watch the planet, which looked like it had fallen victim to a large thunderstorm, fully engulfed in brilliant flashes and explosions.
“Not much we could do to help, only two of us Roman,” Adam replied. “Besides, they should be able to hold them off long enough for us to get down there with the Benzans.” he added.
“Do you think we can trust Cyrus?” Roman asked, also considering the possibility that the Benzan leader was simply holding them there until Anwick arrived in order to be turned over to the Hunters for reward.
“I think so, at least that's what gut tells me.” Adam replied, both men startled suddenly by a light knock at the door of the sleeping quarters.
Roman slowly walked to the small steel door, spinning the large circular handle to unbolt the door to be opened. Sasha stood there trembling, an emotional wreck as she looked at both men with her eyes fluid with tears before falling into the arms of Adam.
“What's wrong?” he asked, glancing at Roman curiously. It took Sasha a few moments to collect herself, the woman who had broadcast such a hard appearance when they first met had become nothing short of hysterical.
“They plan to kill him.” she managed to finally push from her lungs as she sobbed uncontrollably. Adam continued to look puzzled as Roman spoke up to ask.
“Kill who?” Sasha began to pull herself away from Adam just a bit in an attempt to stand on her own as he found himself not wanting her to leave his grasp, which scared the hell out of him.
“Cyrus. I overheard Draco in his room speaking with the Hunters through a secure com link, he plans to kill Cyrus when the meeting takes place and then turn you both over to Anwick.” Sasha said a bit more calmly as if to try and suddenly mask her emotions.
“Why are you bringing this to us? Shouldn't you be having this conversation with Cyrus?” Adam asked.
“I tried, but he is in a meeting with Oz and to be honest, I don't know how far this goes. I'm not sure who I can trust w
ith this information, other than Cyrus himself and both of you.” she replied.
“What makes you believe you can trust us?” Roman asked suspectedly.
“When you first contacted our ship, Cyrus had me run a complete background check on both of you. Adam, you showed up on the sheet twenty seven times for various offenses,” she said as Michaels smiled wide, proud of his criminal achievements.
“It was you however, Roman, who threw us for a curve. You showed up but once, almost as if you had never existed. The Gali Special Forces had a condition one on you. Such a high priority to them combined with the fact that the Hunters want you dead so badly could only mean one thing. Greyspine. We know what you've done.” she said tactfully.
“Greyspine? What the hell is she talking about Roman?” Adam asked, never having heard of the small moon planet before.
“No time for that now Adam. Can you get us any weapons?” Roman asked of the girl, eager to avoid talking about his past.
“Small ones. Two pistols would be about all, otherwise they would pick up on them quickly.” Sasha responded.
“Pistol works for me.” Adam replied confidently.
“I'll pass on the pistol if you can just get me that blade back.” Roman said speaking of his tactical knife.
“I'll take care of them both at once. Cyrus has already arranged for the Hunters to dock a shuttle within the hour, so if I get the chance to speak with Cyrus in private...” Sasha said before being cut short.
“No. Let us handle this. We just need those weapons and to be put close to the initial meeting, if that's possible?” Roman asked.
“I'll make sure you are close.” she replied as she turned to Adam. “Thank you.” she said softly, having regained her composure as she quickly left their quarters to retrieve the two weapons.
“What's this about Greyspine?” Adam asked as Roman had sealed the door back tightly with a firm turn of the handle.
“It was a long time ago Adam. Besides, the real question is what is this shit about soon to be married, but falling for Sasha?” Roman replied with a question of his own, desperate to avoid the subject for as long as possible.
“What are you talking about?” Adam asked, although he knew Roman spoke the truth. He never was very good at masking his feelings for others.
“You know what I'm talking about. The air in here got thick real quick from the tension you and Sasha were sending back and forth,” Roman replied. “Right now though, we both need to concentrate on getting off of this damn ship alive. The rest will work itself out in the end.” he added.
“Redirect all Mack and ship to ship fire onto the larger Legion vessels on their way in.” Commander Edwards ordered.
“But sir, in doing so we will allow thousands of Legion boots to hit our soil.” a Colonial petty officer replied.
“Let them land, but we WILL control the skies of Glimmeria. Now execute my order!” Edwards replied bluntly.
“Right away sir!” the petty officer replied, quickly making his way to a nearby com station to relay his commander's wishes.
After taking nearly a minute to readjust the trajectory of the huge subterranean guns, their gleaming shots began tearing into the flag ships of the Legion which had all began to descend behind a cloud of smaller ships filled with grunts. The first few minutes saw a handful of the very large spacecraft ripped to shreds, the rocketing lead punching holes through their most vital areas as they soon became nothing more than large masses of fire free falling to the planet's surface.
The Legion tried countering the shots with the deck guns built onto the ships, however they were of little to no effect as the overpowering torque of the Mack shots continued reaming not only their most decorated officers, but much needed supplies as well.
“The Colonials are completely ignoring the smaller craft! Our command ships are being cut into pieces! Call the Hunters from orbit and get their asses down onto the surface!” one of the Legion Captains commanded, screaming the order across the bridge of the ship as pounding shots steadily hit its reinforced exterior.
“Yes sir!” a seated crew member replied, attempting to make contact with the Hunter vessels in orbit as his own ship's power began to flutter from the substantial damage of the Colonial shots it had absorbed.
“Tell them to wait,” Anwick replied through the com system aboard his private shuttle as it made its way to the docking area of the Benzan warship. “Do not follow them into battle without a direct order from me. Do you understand?” the vampiric monster added.
“Yes my lord.” his second in command responded with absolute obedience.
“Thank you Garrison, I can always count on you my friend. This will not take long. Tell them to stand on their own two feet for a change.” Anwick said, smiling of the insult and also the excitement of learning that Adam Michaels was being held by the Benzans.
“Believe me my friends, I have no intentions of turning you over to them. Anwick will arrive and try to force my hand, at which time I will gladly discontinue the treaty he has seemed so willing to force upon us.” Cyrus said to Adam as he stood with Roman, their hands in front of them locked in thick chains.
“The restraints are necessary only that Anwick would not suspect anything as he boards our ship.” he added. Adam nodded to agree, a small pistol tucked snugly under his belt and hidden by a lightweight brown jacket. He glanced at Roman, wondering where his friend had hidden the tactical blade delivered to him by Sasha as well as to ensure he was ready to fight, which he was indeed.
Only two of the Legion's flagships survived the Mack onslaught which was accompanied by both Spartan and Swordfish gunfire. Though intact, both were seriously damaged on their way to landing several miles from Glimmeria's capital city, immediately setting up a forward operating base for the massive group of soldiers on foot who had hit Colonial soil less than an hour before.
“Any word on the estimated time of the Hunters arrival?” the highest ranking surviving Legion officer, Sky Admiral Cook asked.
“They refuse to engage without Anwick, who is tied up in a meeting at the moment.” one of the deck officers replied.
“MEETING,” Sky Admiral Cook yelled loudly as he looked around the badly beaten bridge area of his ship, loose wires sparking as they hung from overhead like snakes from a vine.
“Have all units fall back and establish a perimeter with the forward operating base. The last thing we need is to be scattered throughout the wastelands of Glimmeria to be picked apart!” he added.
“Yes sir, right away.” the deck officer replied firmly, sending Cook's orders out through the ship's on-board com.
“Commander, they have set up a few clicks from here.” Sarah said, pointing to a map in the vault that was made of thick glass and colored marker.
“No doubt trying to regroup,” Commander Edwards said as he approached Sarah steadily. “Have our birds run patterns over that entire area and give them orders to fire on anything that moves. In the meantime, order a large ground assault team to assemble, we need to hit them before they have a chance to dig in too deeply.” he added.
“Right away sir.” Sarah replied, speaking clearly into her headset so all of the Colonial soldiers would understand his orders without question.
When Anwick began to exit the Hunter shuttle slowly and board the Benzan warship, an exuberant smile painted to his face as his narrow eyes of emptiness locked onto both Adam and Roman.
“Cyrus, I must admit that you have done the job well. I did not expect to see both men standing before me so soon, their hands wrapped in chains.” Anwick said as two very large and heavily armed Hunters followed him down, their semi-automatic rifles looking as though they could have easily punched a hole through the most battle tested of metals.
“It was nothing of my doing. In fact, they came to me.” Cyrus replied, as Adam wondered how many more of the Vampiric monsters waited on the shuttle of pointed steel which gave the illusion of fangs.
“Is that so?” Anwick said, p
uzzled but excited nonetheless.
“It is, as is the fact that I have no intentions of turning them over to you,” Cyrus said, his words freezing the Hunter in his tracks as he slowly turned his white complexion of death to the Benzan leader. “Furthermore, this treaty of peace that seems to exist between our two people is no more. We want no part of this political war and refuse to be included in the same sentence as those who mercilessly slay men for pleasure.” Cyrus added.
“You should consider your last words wisely Cyrus, as you are no longer the leading member of the Benzan Mafia. I have promised that position to Draco in exchange for his unwaivering loyalty.”
Anwick said with gleaming confidence as he glanced in the direction of Draco. Pulling his long barrel shotgun up to the face of Cyrus, Draco slowly cocked the hammer of the weapon and solidified his position as the new leader.
“Tell your people to throw their guns to the floor and I might spare your life.” Anwick said as both Sasha and Oz had began lifting their guns into the direction of Draco and the Hunters.
“Draco? I pray that you understand the consequences of your actions.” Cyrus said as he turned to plead with a man he had placed full trust in.
“Shut the fuck up old man! Better do as he says and have 'em drop their pieces before all of you die here standing.” Draco yelled, breaking the heart of Cyrus in the process. “Do as he says.” Cyrus said as he nodded uneasily to the remaining Benzans.
