Gunship - The Series

by John Davis

  “I'm surprised that you have made it this far Adam.” Anwick said bluntly as he began to approach both of the prisoners.

  “No choice. Had to find out how deep this treason went.” Adam replied as within but a single moment's breath, he pulled the small pistol and cemented a hole into the forehead of Draco with unmatched speed. Having taken the entire group by surprise, Adam quickly adjusted his aim, which was still hindered by chains and fired a second shot at the Hunters' head man.

  The uncanny ability to move with urgency was the only thing that saved Anwick's life, a shot which would have penetrated his heart instead passing quickly in and out of the flesh of his shoulder as he turned away. Both of Anwick's escorts turned their weapons in Adam's direction, the first firing wide as Roman clinched his hands together and thrust them upward, knocking the rifle from the grip of the beast.

  As the second escort soldier tried redirecting his aim into the direction of Roman Raines, the blade which had been snuggly tucked into the length of his boot was now in hand, the serrated edge cleaving into the chest of the soldier. Both Sasha and Oz scrambled for a moment to regain hands on their weapons as Cyrus just stood silent, deeply impressed with Adam's pistol skills, Roman's ferocity and above all, the fact that they had went to battle for him. It was in the waiting moment of that very breath that his heart decided both men had earned his respect, which is something the cold body of Draco lacked.

  With Anwick fleeing to his shuttle and both escort soldiers locked into a crimson filled fight to the death with Roman, two final Hunters emerged from the Hunter craft in reaction to the gunfire. One was immediately cut to his grave by the punishing shots of both Sasha's machine gun pistol and Adam's weapon. His one final shot before reload desperately seeking the back of Anwick, but instead striking the back of his leg, crippling the beast momentarily as the remaining escort soldier dragged him onto the shuttle.

  Roman had given his best effort, but a mortal man wrapped in chains, no matter how skilled he may have been, was simply no match for two of the toughest soldiers that the Hunter clan had to offer.

  His blade knocked from his hand, the only thing that had kept him in the fight and alive up to this point was his mechanical side, which had began to surrender as well. One of the Hunters dove at him with numbing rage, its teeth fully exposed in an attempt to kill the human menace once and for all. Never making it to him, the Hunter's face and shoulder region became nothing more than a cloud of soiled fluid at the end of the shotgun held by Oz. The second close enough to attempt the same, was faster than a reload by Oz, but not by Adam. He had reloaded his pistol with more speed than any of the Benzans present had ever witnessed, aiming and firing all six shots directly at the beast.

  Riddled with holes and screaming in life ending agony, the Hunter was short work for Roman after he reclaimed his tactical knife, making it slow as he carved an apology out of the dying beast. The Hunter's shuttle quickly disengaged, pulling from the deck in a last ditch effort to return to its base ship. Everyone with a weapon fired into the air, but it was Sasha's gunfire that hit the fuel tanks which burst open and began to bleed a trail of fire and smoke. Anwick had made it back into open space, but with no hope of returning to his ship, they simply began a steep dive into the atmosphere of Glimmeria.

  Adam walked with purpose toward the Benzan shuttle which had brought him here.

  “Adam. What are you doing?” Sasha asked.

  “I think it's time the Hunters became the hunted,” Adam replied as he made it to the entrance of the craft. “That son of a bitch will not live to see tomorrow's sunrise, I promise you that.” he added as he turned and disappeared into the shuttle.

  Adam had begun pressing the necessary sequence of buttons when he turned to see Oz carrying Roman on board as Sasha followed closely behind. “We're going with you, it's the least we can do.” Sasha said softly as she shut the hatch of the shuttle and sat down to strap in for the decent.

  “Sir! Picking up a warship with Benzan identification firing on the Hunter ships in orbit!” Sarah exclaimed loudly, knowing in her heart that Adam Michaels had played a role in the unfolding events.

  “The Benzans are still wanted fugitives, stay focused on the battle here on the ground.” Commander Edwards replied as Sarah patiently watched her com screen hoping the Benzan warship survived the fight.

  “Continue firing all main batteries onto the Hunter Carriers. Those blood sucking bastards have just started a fight they can't win.” Cyrus said from the elegance of the Benzan ship's bridge. Taken by surprise, the Hunter ships fell victim to several devastating shots before turning their own weapons into the direction of the Benzan Warship.

  Several minutes passed as they exchanged knockout punches of lead, the surviving Hunters abandoning their sinking Carriers by the dozens in small escape pods, all dropping hastily into the atmosphere of Glimmeria on their way to the surface.

  “Commander, all three Hunter ships have dropped from our grid system but the Benzans remain.” Sarah said with relief filled joy.

  “Alert the Mack stations, have them fire on the Benzan vessel until it is destroyed.” Commander Edwards replied sharply.

  “But Adam?” Sarah asked with desperation, turning to face her commanding officer.

  “Adam isn't up there. We are picking up his Colonial beacon several clicks away from here,” he replied. Sarah sat motionless, unsure if that was good or bad news as she feared for the man she loved so dearly. “Don't worry Sarah, I'm assembling a strike team to reach the beacon as soon as possible. In the meantime, have the Mack stations fire on the Benzans, as well as anyone else who shows up in orbit that isn't an official ally.” Commander Edwards said.

  “Yes sir.” Sarah replied, slowly turning to direct his orders to the large weapons stations.

  “What the fuck are ya'll cheering about?” Dalton yelled to the Colonial soldiers in and around Colonial Command who were celebrating the demise of the Hunter Carriers. “They still outnumber us three to one, get your guns out of the air and point them at Legion troops and shoot!” he added, his voice ringing through the mortar shocked streets of the city.

  “Dalton, Steiner,” Commander Edwards said, making a rare appearance outside of Colonial Command. “Get your asses over here, double time!” he added, surrounded by a dozen of the finest trained soldiers stationed on Glimmeria.

  “Picked up Adam's beacon a few clicks from here,” Commander Edwards said, pointing to a spot on a small map as shots rang out around them, the violence moving closer to their position by the minute. “I'm putting Lassiter in charge of things here, you two take this Colonial strike team to them, see if Adam is still alive. If he is, you bring him back here in one piece, got it?” Edwards asked. Dalton nodded as clouds of broken concrete mixed with sand began falling around them, Legion troops making their way to the end of the street and meeting stiff Colonial defenses in the process.

  “Aight, listen up! We are gonna backtrack, walk around the gunfire instead of straight into it.” Dalton said loudly as a much larger Steiner stood beside him, the Colonial soldiers listening to his every word.

  “Sir, we are being pushed back!” one of the Colonial grunts yelled in Lassiter's direction as a small group of Legion faithful had broken the Colonial lines.

  “Hold the line at all costs!” Lassiter responded frantically.

  “Ahh hell.” Dalton said as though he was being hindered, turning to face the Legion threat as he fired six devastating rounds from the Thumper in succession, all but leveling the entire city corner that the Legion troops had occupied just moments before.

  “Keep these fuck stains in line!” Dalton yelled in the direction of Lassiter, winking at him as he ordered his strike team to deploy in a flanking move that would lead them to the edge of the city and eventually in the direction of Adam's beacon. Lassiter simply gave a glassy eyed look, not from the combat around them or even the wake of death caused by the Glimmerian Thumper, but the term Dalton had just thrown his way. To his
estimation it was a new low, even for Dalton.

  “Adam are you alright?” Sasha asked, her portrait perfect face merely inches from his as he tried to regain his senses.

  The rough landing had thrown him from his seat and against a thick steel plate near the deck of the small ship's interior. He wanted to respond to her, but before he could, his attention was pulled from her angelic face to the rear of the shuttle as Roman and Oz both fired their weapons out of the ship's only exit.

  “Yea, I'm alright.” he responded slowly. Sasha crouched over him, her lips but inches from his as she smiled softly.

  “Better get up then, I would hate to think your reputation was going to be affected.” she said softly as her eyes locked with his almost as if they were destined to.

  A few seconds later Sasha slowly stood up, her aerodynamic curves no longer straddling him as he was slow to his feet as well. Rather than speak of the fireworks exploding inside every limb of his body which would he feared would eventually force him to deal with conflicting feelings, he instead turned to the two men at the shuttle entrance. “What's going on?”

  “We got clipped by rifle fire as we made our approach, had to bring the shuttle in hot. Before we knew it, Hunters were falling out of the sky all around us.” Oz replied, shouting his response before turning back to fire his shotgun out of the door. Roman steadily dispersed rounds from a battle rifle, but it was obvious through his body movements that the shots were having little effect.

  Adam turned to Sasha, taken back for a moment by the look of true infatuation as he slowly took her rapid fire pistol and turned it onto the windshield of the shuttle, spending nearly an entire clip of shells as the thick glass began to crack. He turned to hand her the weapon back, their eyes locking onto one another once again as he found it unnervingly tough to stop himself from continuing the kiss which had played out in his mind only moments ago.

  Turning back swiftly, Adam began thrusting his foot forward, the thick sole of his boot cracking the glass in multiple places with each strike.

  Finally the entire windshield was knocked from the shuttle, Adam extending his hand to the soft grip of Sasha as he helped her up and out of the newly constructed crawl space. Adam was right behind her, crawling out onto the scorching sand as they motioned for both Roman and Oz. Oz sprinted across the small confines of the shuttle, quickly pulling himself out of the wreckage to join the others. Roman was a bit slower, firing all of the ammunition from the rifle before dropping it and pulling himself through as well.

  They counted six Hunters scattered in the immediate area, even more falling slowly from the sky as the attached parachutes drifted the escape pods to the surface in a motion that resembled that of a tumbling feather. Other than the small town which lay over the horizon, there was literally no cover as the group of four sprinted for the cluster of wooden structures, rifle shots from the distant Hunters clipping the sand behind their heels all the while.

  “Cyrus, we are dead in the water until we are able to repair the ship's engines.” one of the Benzan members said grimly.

  “Have someone get right,” Cyrus replied, his words cut short by a massive explosion on the starboard side of the ship. “Report!” Cyrus shouted, the remaining Benzans running to both what little working equipment that remained as well as the large glass window of the warship.

  “The Colonials are firing on us!” one of the men yelled animately as he looked through the thickened glass to see a glowing shot from the surface based Mack cannons scream by them.

  It was a damn tough ship, solid from the treated steel exterior to its heart and very soul. Still, Cyrus knew that it had already taken a beating and would soon succumb to the staggering shots of the Colonials.

  “Give the order to abandon ship. Take any weapons and gear you have time to collect and regroup on Tirious.” Cyrus said somberly, knowing full well that he didn't intend to make the trip with them to the small snow filled moon.

  “And you sir?” one of the Benzans asked as the rest scrambled to escape skiffs, the warship's alarm sounding loudly.

  “You know the Benzan way. A commanding officer always goes down with the ship, not that I would have it any other way.” Cyrus replied as he placed his hands on the cold steel of the guard rail that surrounded the bridge.

  He thought of every single battle that the ship had pulled him through, every deep space run that he himself had made while aboard.

  “As my final order, make sure our people on the ground know the rendezvous point. Adam and his friend saved my life without question, so I wish for them both to be invited into the Benzan family. Now go Helon, carry out my orders and present yourself proudly as a Benzan.” Cyrus added. Helon nodded, accepting the job of personally delivering the final command of Cyrus.

  Helon turned to one of the remaining shuttles, his closely shaved hair of blonde highlights quickly grabbing another one of the scrambling Benzans, this one much taller with very dark skin and stark white dreadlocks as the two men boarded the craft, glancing a final time at Cyrus with a look of complete gratitude.

  As the escape shuttles all bust into flight on their way to Tirious, a single ship broke from the pattern, diving steeply as it hit the atmosphere of Glimmeria to find Adam, Roman and the remaining two Benzans. Cyrus slowly turned his head, looking around the empty Benzan warship without regret as two shots from the surface cannons hit, ripping the large craft into several pieces, all of which burst into explosion only moments later.

  Several intense minutes of fighting filled everyone's ears with explosions, ringing lead as it zipped through the air and screams of agony as both Colonial and Legion troops died for their factions. Eventually, the shelling died down and Colonial troops outside of the Command Center relayed the message of hope.

  “Legion forces are falling back.” Commander Edwards walked within inches of the thick glass which separated Lassiter and himself, picking up a mobile com to speak directly with with the loyal soldier in command.

  “Good job. Have your scouts move forward, clear the area and then advance fire teams along with Goliaths.” the commander said.

  “Yes sir.” Lassiter responded, turning to direct the men to carry out the orders with haste.

  “Alright, pony up,” Dalton said, flexing his thin veil of command. “Lieutenant Michaels is several clicks from here and needs our help. Instead of marching the entire group into a damn Legion ambush, I'm gonna need a scout to get ahead of us and find a clear path.” he added as a Colonial sniper stood up holding a large bolt-action rifle in his hand.

  The huge scope on the weapon immediately caught Dalton's attention, almost in a romantic sense, as he began to daydream of holding such a fine piece.

  “You'll do.” he said as Steiner tossed him a long barrel shotgun, then picking up a standard issue combat rifle for himself.

  “Damn you Michaels!” Anwick yelled loudly as he remained strapped into the wreckage of his shuttle, his escort soldier having died on impact, its head bloodied from the instrument console. Anwick slowly began to crawl from the wreckage as he was met by a small group of Hunters, his eyes fixating on the sky above as dozens more of the escape pods drifted to the surface in a poetic manner.

  “Are you alright my lord?” one of the larger Hunters asked, all of them wearing heavy black leather clothing and armed to the teeth.

  “I will survive. Regroup with the others and on my command we will sweep through the surrounding area and slaughter anything with a heartbeat.” Anwick replied, holding his shoulder which he believed had become dislocated during the crash, his two gunshot wounds nothing more than an afterthought.

  “Yes my lord!” the Hunter replied soundly as the group turned to organize the survivors. “God damn you Adam Michaels. God damn you!” Anwick said under his breath as his eyes sliced into the town ahead.

  “Sarah, we got a problem. The numbers you gave me fall about three miles behind Legion lines. Even if we were lucky enough to get to them, there is no way in hell we cou
ld get them back. And if we picked up the ships, it's a good bet the Legion did too.” Dalton said into his com unit, the entire strike team laying low on the top of a sand dune which overlooked the coming road.

  “I'm organizing a large tactical team, just do your best to get to them and dig in until we can get the team to you.” Sarah replied with desperation.

  “Will do,” Dalton replied, placing the com unit back on his belt. “Well fuck. Isn't this some shit? Just a small strike team out here, dicks flappin' in the wind with who knows how many Legion troops ahead.” Dalton said loudly to the Colonial team.

  “A lot. Looks like they are staging a large ground assault up ahead.” the Colonial scout said as he kept his eye firmly pressed to the scope of his weapon. Dalton slowly climbed to the scout's position on the sand dune, glancing through a small set of binoculars.

  “Looks like we are going around. These sumbitches are setting up a permanent base!” Dalton said as Steiner remained under a brown tarp, his eyes locked onto the horizon making sure the Legion had not found them. Minutes later, the group slowly made their way through the sandy cliffs of the area, keeping a safe distance from the Legion base as they worked their way around to get to Adam's location.

  Shards of seasoned wood flew through the stagnant air of the room as Roman was the first person to walk inside of the abandoned building, kicking the door open as a thick coating of dust lay on top of the tables that once served a purpose for the townsfolk. As he slowly swept his gun from side to side to assure the building was safe, Adam entered followed by Sasha and finally Oz, who spent a couple of minutes trying to secure the door back that Roman had nearly jolted from its hinges.

  “This is as good of a place as any, the Hunters are sure to be on top of us soon and I really hope Anwick is still alive, because I want to kill that son of a bitch.” Adam said firmly as Oz began to make his way up a narrow ladder to the loft of the building, the creaking floorboards covered with ample dirt.