by John Walker
Gizan wondered about the fallout from attacking the Gaelirans and killing so many of them. If the station blew up, things would be much more dramatic. Those neutral fools might even decry the Tol’An publicly, which in turn would enhance the organization’s credibility. No one would doubt the conviction of Gizan’s people again.
The human female proved to be of interest. Gizan wondered why she received such potent combat training. She seemed more capable than the two bodyguards they slaughtered and certainly more dangerous than the average Pahxin soldier. He looked forward to learning everything about her.
Tol’An interrogation methods involved acts which other cultures considered to be criminal in nature. Gizan believed the ends justified the means. If he got the information that he wanted, then he didn’t care what he had to do to get it. He couldn’t kill them but anything else was fair game.
After all, the Master planned to execute them publicly anyway. If they were battered up a little, perhaps missing a part, it wouldn’t matter. They represented conviction more than anything. Humanity and the Pahxin would understand that the Tol’An were to be feared and respected.
“Sir,” one of his soldier’s interrupted his thoughts. “We have a concern about the human female.”
Gizan sighed. “What?”
“We would’ve had to kill her if she didn’t surrender. Would it be better to kill her now? Surely, we only need the ambassadors.”
“For all we know, she is the proper ambassador.” Gizan shook his head. “No, the only way these prisoners die is if the Master orders it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Gizan watched the screen as a timer ran down. It showed two and a half hours left before they would emerge from hyperspace. Plenty of time to reclaim his discipline, especially since he needed to send a message to the Master right away. Things were getting back on track. They simply needed a safe place to regroup.
***
Christina sat still beside Admiral Reach, her eyes closed. The metal bonds used by the Tol’An kept her hands close together, biting into her skin. She remained quiet, listening carefully to the ship noise around her. There were only seven people on board, including five soldiers, their leader and a pilot.
The craft was big enough to have a couple of rooms and the prisoners were kept in one of them but the voices of their captors carried. She listened to them speaking in their language, a mix between panic and unnerving calm. Half an hour into the trip, she labeled them in her head and started to prioritize them should the opportunity emerge to escape.
Hours later, the ship began to shake. Reach nudged her. “Major, are you awake?”
“Yes,” Christina replied. “I have been this whole time.”
“What was that? Do you know?”
“We’ve emerged from hyperspace.”
“That didn’t take long …”
“Seven hours, forty-three minutes,” Christina said. “But you’re correct, that was fast. Either their engines are more efficient than ours and they can cover greater distances faster or we haven’t gone all that far.”
“Which would you err on the side of?” Reach grunted. “Damn these cuffs!”
“We took a blow on our way out,” Christina replied. “It caused some minor damage but it may have been enough to limit our options of where we could get to.”
Reach sat quietly for a moment before speaking again, “I wonder why they haven’t tried to interrogate us.”
“No facilities.” Christina opened her eyes and looked around. “This is a storage closet. They traveled light to grab us and get out. Now, wherever we end up … that’s where they’ll ask us questions. If they even bother. We’re likely more useful as figurehead executions than anything else.”
“Cheery thought, Major.” Reach sighed. “So when did the AIA put you on me?”
“When I first joined your staff. Once it looked like the hyperspace drive would be successful, we wanted to be close to the military side of the program. Besides, having me around meant I could at least attempt to keep you safe. Had it not been for Lothan leaving us alone, we would’ve walked out of that maintenance tunnel.”
“Do you think he’s in on this?”
Christina shook her head. “No, I genuinely believe he thought he was doing the right thing. It just screwed us, that’s all.”
“We’re not getting out of this … are we?”
“I intend to.” Christina turned to him. “What about you?”
Reach’s conviction returned, steadying his expression. He nodded once. “I do.”
“Then we have to focus on that. There are always opportunities for escape. Believe me, prisoner transfers are never fully secure. Once they try to get us off this ship, we’ll see what’s possible…and exactly how we’re going to get home.”
***
Desmond felt his nerves bristle as they emerged from hyperspace. He figured he should’ve been used to it but each time, he had a moment of concern, however fleeting. The screens came on, showing they’d arrived within thirty-thousand kilometers from the planet—far closer than they would’ve without the help of the Pahxin navigator.
“Incredible,” Zach said. “We hit our target within fifty kilometers.”
“I’ve got enemy ships on scan,” Salina said. “A destroyer, a scout, and two ships that … I suppose the closest class to them would be the battleship from the previous sector but they have a different configuration. Also, there’s a small facility on the planet. Working on number of inhabitants now.”
“I’m jamming their communications,” Cassie added. “They can’t get a message out of the system to ask for help. Turnabout’s fair play and all.”
Ulian popped on their screen. “Captain Bradford. The ambassador has been taken to the planet’s surface. That vessel we pursued was able to land. They have seventy-five individuals down there, not all of which will be combatants but that hardly matters. Our soldiers will have much work to do when we send them down.”
Desmond scowled as he heard the news. “Understood. Our men are ready to go but we’re going to need to escort them. That’s some real opposition out there.”
“Launch immediately. The enemy has yet to field their fighters and there are no ground defenses to take out our ships. When they’ve deployed, our soldiers will send you coordinates for landing. It’s outside the facility but with your armor technology, you should be able to cover the ground quickly enough.”
“Thanks,” Desmond replied. “We’re on it. What about the ships?”
Ulian smiled and it was not a pleasant look. “We destroy them all. Ulian out.”
“Still charming,” Vincent said as the screen went dark. “He’s just not directing that ire at us.”
“Disappointed?” Desmond asked.
Vincent shook his head. “Not at all.”
“Deploy the shuttles and fighters,” Desmond ordered. “Power up the weapons and defenses, Zach and move us into attack position. Time to get the admiral back.”
***
Heat gripped his seat as the ship began to bounce. They’d entered the atmosphere but cloud coverage still blocked out details of the surface. Blue sky reminded the gunnery sergeant of home. Even so far from Earth, the look and feel of habitable planets were similar enough to not be a coincidence.
Perhaps that old species really did prepare these places for life, giving us all a chance to thrive.
The placid thought was quickly replaced by the briefing of the mission ahead. They were conducting a joint operation with the Pahxin soldiers to take a small facility. Intel was sparse. Scans gave them the size of the facility but not the internal layout. Some assumptions were made based on basic tactics.
A barracks was expected to be near the front gate. Short walls must’ve been erected to keep out wild life because they weren’t tall enough to stop an invading force. The Pahxin suggested that the facility likely existed before the Tol’An occupied it, built by settlers long since departed.
They would land half
a mile from their target then use their jump packs to get inside the perimeter. The VIP parties should’ve been easy to spot but they’d likely be in some kind of holding cells. One thing scans did not find was the space ship that escaped the station. It had to be somewhere, seeking some kind of repairs.
If they get on board again with the ambassadors, we’ll have a real problem.
During the briefing, Fielding told them they were not to attack the ship if it tried to depart. Their allies in orbit would deal with that. If the marines were able to extract their packages, the bombers would come in and annihilate the facility. Heat was responsible for getting the people back to the shuttles and clear of the area.
I’m getting sick of these time crunches. Everything’s a rush.
The shuttle broke the cloud coverage and the surface of the planet was revealed. He saw the facility nestled amongst gentle hills and grass. A forest sprawled off for miles in the north and the terrain became rocky on the east and west. Heat noted their landing zone, a clearing with a line of sight all around.
“Landing in two,” Fielding announced. “Weapons up and at the ready. We’ll be hauling ass the second those doors open.”
Heat looked over his HUD, noting all systems were green. The others exchanged looks as the retro thrusters kicked in. The ship bucked wildly as it slowed to a halt, settling onto the ground. Doors dropped a moment later and the marines filed out in a rush, rounding the vessel and heading up toward the facility.
Two Pahxin shuttles landed on either side of them, massive transport class vessels. Dozens of men poured out, their bodies shimmering from personal shields. They wore black uniforms and carried short rifles with tiny scopes on top. Their forces would approach from the flanks while the heavily armored marines would go straight up the middle.
Heat double checked the new addition to his defenses, the short term personal shield the techs came up with while they were away on their last mission. They weren’t sure how long it would last or exactly what it would defend against but he figured he’d kick it on before covering open ground.
One of the men joked about what would happen if the tech backfired. He speculated they might be disintegrated. His comments were enough to put some of the men off of even trying it. “We haven’t needed it so far,” Anderson said. “I figure they should test this crap better before they strap it on us.”
“Don’t you remember?” Gorman quipped. “We’re the guinea pigs, man. If they need someone to try a weapon or piece of gear, they come to us. Besides, don’t be an idiot. There’s no way we’ll be disintegrated. Blown up, maybe … but even so, the power core ain’t big enough for a real explosion. So just relax. It might save your life.”
At the end of the day, none of them had a clue what it would be like and their idle, paranoid speculation didn’t do the technology any favors. For Heat’s part, he intended to trust it. Harper hadn’t done them wrong yet and he doubted her work would start just then.
Gorman hit the jump jets and Heat followed suit, rising above the hill so they could see over the walls. Several Tol’An troops were dashing into the courtyard to defy them, preparing their weapons. “We have contact,” Gorman called over the com. “Forces are setting up a defensive position. Get ready.”
“Be careful with explosives,” Fielding said. “I’d rather we do some precision shooting until we know where the prisoners are and how we’re going to get them out.”
Beams tore through the air, two whizzing by Heat’s head so close he should’ve felt the warmth from the attack. As he landed, he took cover behind a rock. A quick glance showed he could see over the wall. Targets had taken cover within buildings and against the walls of each structure. None of them were totally safe, not from the sheer numbers surrounding them.
Heat took aim and fired, catching his target in the chest. The man’s shield might’ve saved his life but the concussion of the attack knocked him to the ground. Another took his place, firing wildly off to the left, toward one of the Pahxin units. Someone else blew him away, this time with a head shot.
Gore splattered the wall, proving the personal shield didn’t extend to protect the skull.
Gruesome. I’ll have to remember that.
Heat stumbled backwards as something hit his shoulder, a blast that didn’t quite have the force required to punch through his armor. He dropped low and backed away, trying to see who made the attack. There was too much chaos to pick any one person out and he just kept up his own assault, firing at anything that moved.
The Pahxin blasted away at the area, covering the space with so much beam fire it was hard to see what was going on. Heat and the rest of the marines were able to advance, adding their own weapons to the mix. The Tol’An retaliated but they were unable to handle the overwhelming firepower.
As the joint attack continued, the Pahxin and Humans brought down dozens of Tol’An in moments. Private Kelly called out that he was hit in the arm, a blow solid enough to knock him to the ground. Heat dropped low and crawled over to check on him, but he appeared to be unscathed.
“How’d you pull that off?” Heat asked.
“The personal shield worked!” Kelly cried, crawling to his feet. He started firing into the compound again. “Gotta love that tech!”
Shouts from the left flank indicated the Pahxin weren’t coming out completely unscathed but regardless, it became abundantly clear they would quickly secure the outside area. The Tol’An might have reinforcements waiting to engage but they’d have to come outside. When the enemy began to fall back, it looked like they definitely won.
“They’re falling back!” Fielding shouted. “Cease fire and take cover!”
Heat wondered why he wouldn’t have them press the attack but it occurred to him a moment later that the Tol’An might be trying to draw them into a trap. Not only that, but once they entered the base, the prisoners could have literally been anywhere inside and that meant friendly fire became a possibility.
The Pahxin also paused and Fielding went to confer with their commander. Heat had his men crouch, aiming at the opening. If anyone came out, they’d be done but until then, the marines would hold the area. It wouldn’t be long before they’d be dashing inside to finish the foe off and get their people back.
The key now was to be patient, something Heat knew none of the marines were particularly good at.
Chapter 9
Ulian’s three ships moved in to engage the enemy ships and Desmond ordered the Gnosis to form up on their far left flank. He leaned forward in his seat, watching as they approached to conduct the attack. Fighters and bombers raced alongside them, ready to engage at a moment’s notice.
Getting in so close to the planet allowed them to deploy the shuttles before the enemy had a chance to repel them. It made the operation considerably easier, at least at the beginning. A brawl between the larger ships shouldn’t take too long, especially considering how powerful the Pahxin vessels proved to be.
Massive beams erupted from Ulian’s lead ship, connecting with the scout. Shields burst in a moment and bits of the hull burst off in various directions. It returned fire, feebly turning to provide another angle to survive even a few more moments. Another shot caught them from a different Pahxin attacker, this blow enough to end them.
The scout went up so fast, they didn’t even see an explosion. It was simply gone.
The rest won’t be nearly that easy, Desmond thought. Especially those big bastards. I guess we should be happy they didn’t have an entire armada here.
“Cassie,” Vincent said, “can you detect any sign of the Orbs here?”
“No,” Cassie replied. “Nothing on scans at least. If this is their main base and they’re hiding them somewhere, they’ve found a way to mask their signatures … which would be interesting considering. Once those things are on, the power emanating from them is intense.”
“The Tol’An has more resources than this,” Desmond said. “I guarantee it. Think about terrorist cells. They’re difficult to
take down because they spread out, put minor resources in many places. Even when there are competing factions doing the same thing, they have a hard time finishing each other off.
“When we take this out, they’ll barely feel it.” Desmond scowled. “Stopping them from this plan though … that will be a blow they notice. Zach, target that destroyer and open fire.”
“We’re at long range, sir,” Zach replied. “I’m getting a good lock now …” He paused. “Opening fire.”
The ship’s deck vibrated in the familiar way as they unleashed on their opponent. It seemed to be focusing on the Pahxin ship but when the first blasts from the Gnosis caught it on the starboard side, it began turning in their direction.
“Looks like we got their attention,” Vincent said.
“Damage?” Desmond asked.
“Minor to the shields,” Salina replied. “Dropped to eighty-percent. There are fighters … No … they’re larger than that … Perhaps bombers? Incoming now.”
“Get our ships on them,” Desmond said. “Take them out before they get in range. Keep on them, Zach. They’re going to retaliate in a second and I’d like to have given them two volleys to their one.”
The destroyer got their shots off first, strange blue beams that connected with the Gnosis bow and continued seamlessly for several seconds. Salina called something out but was interrupted by a deafening pop to the left. Desmond’s ears rang and he noticed smoke coming from the wall.
As the beam dissipated, Salina shouted, “whatever that was knocked our shields out in the front! We’ve got a minor hull breach in the crew quarters that were merely damaged before but what’s worse … our weapon systems are currently offline.”
“Turn us!” Desmond called to Zach. “Show them a side we’ve got some defenses up. How long before weapon restoration?”
“I’m working with engineering now,” Salina said. “I don’t have an ETA yet.”
“Get us one!” Desmond gestured to Vincent. “Make sure the bombers and fighters know we need some screening. Are shields even up on other parts of the ship?”
