by Francis, Ron
One pirate had a broken leg and another had a broken arm, and now Jesse had Helga back. As the pirates looked at him, he activated it and each end shot out to form the Bo Staff. He began expertly swinging the staff as pirates tried to charge him, scoring several hits and causing them to back away.
One of the pirates pulled two swords from red sheathes on his back and began swinging them around in a manner meant to intimidate. While he was half way though his intimidation tactic, Jesse switched the weapon from staff to blade and made his move.
Everyone in the cell was now very interested, surprised by the sudden turn of events. One by one they had begun to understand that his plan all along had been to infuriate the pirates into making this kind of mistake. Whether he survived or not, at least he had tried something. It was a daring plan and he had their respect.
As Jesse charged the blade-wielding pirate, he side-stepped the pirate's first sword while blocking the other sword and delivering a kick to the gut. He brought his blade around hard and fast, but the pirate had rolled out of the way and come up on the offensive.
One of the other pirates took out his blaster and fired at his chest, but nothing seemed to happen. The battle suit took the hit and he kept coming. He discharged two plasma bolts from the blade, dropping one of the pirates. He stabbed the Mannagore through the chest with the blade while rolling away from an overhand slash from the blade-wielder.
As he was coming out of his roll, he cut the fourth pirate practically in two before he could bring his blaster to bear. He finished off the pirate with the broken leg, with a plasma bolt courtesy of Helga.
As Jesse was finishing off the injured pirate, the blade-wielder scored a direct hit at his mid section. The battle suit stopped the hit, but it still hurt quite a bit. He just used it. He held the arm of the blade that struck him in place. He head butted the pirate then came under the other blade’s defenses to plunge his blade right through the blade-wielder’s chest. The alien’s last breath came only moments later.
The whole fight lasted about ninety seconds from the time he told them that he had destroyed their ship until the last pirate had been dropped. He quickly collected the pirates’ blasters and went to the cell. He cut through the lock with one swipe of his blade. He opened the door to looks of shocked disbelief and handed blasters to the three men and Tania. He picked his own blaster and backpack off the ground, thankful that the pirates had been so curious about them.
He took out his last ration bar and tossed it to Kiah with a smile and a wink. She opened it, broke off a piece, and offered the rest to the mayor’s wife. He smiled as he realized she was mimicking what he had done for her earlier. Surprisingly enough, Mistress Valinor accepted it from her with a smile and then held her close as they both ate.
Reece put a hand on his shoulder, and in an awestruck voice exclaimed, “I have never seen anything like that.”
Jesse smiled at the compliment as he replied. “Let's get ready, more pirates will be coming."
He heard a loud roar far away and smiled. Endeavor had just taken off, and he knew for the first time that they were going to survive this ordeal. He pointed to Reece and Grimm and shouted, “You, barricade that door, Tania the Mayor and I will barricade this one.”
To the mayor’s wife he called, “Mistress Valinor, please try to keep the children calm and out of our way.” Then he turned to Kiah, took her little hand, looked her right in the eyes and said with his best reassuring smile, “It is all going to be okay, Little One.”
After the barricades were in place, Jesse, Tania and the Mayor took up position, ready to shoot anything that came through the door. Reece and Grimm were in similar stances at the other door.
Reece looked at Jesse and said, “I don’t think we’re going to be able to hold them for long.”
Jesse replied with a knowing smile, “We won’t need to hold them for long,” as Grimm shot him a quizzical look he added. “Did you hear that roar in the distance? That’s my ship, Endeavor, and my crew is coming to save us.”
______
Six years earlier…..
Jesse hated when Josiah was right. As much as he wanted to, he could not be part of the team that went in to rescue Kimiko’s family. Neither could she. He was supposed to be unaware of the plot against him. That meant if he or the assassin sent to kill him were to suddenly arrive in Asia, it would look too suspicious. The Asian Dawn simply had too many eyes that could spot them and call it in. Jesse or Kimiko’s presence there would put her family at considerable risk.
It wasn’t that he didn’t have full confidence in Josiah and his team; he knew they were the best. It was that he was anxious to start tracking down the people that tried to have him killed. He was, however, still part of the plan. Sea Side Enterprises was throwing a very important gala to announce some new form of holographic technology that Friday night.
He was to attend the party with Kimiko as his date. The Asian Dawn’s eyes on this side of the Pacific would confirm that to be the case. She would inform her masters that Jesse had invited her to attend the event as his date. After the event, she would get a tour of his tech facilities, and after that, she was invited to stay the night with him. In their eyes, it would look as if their plans were working, and she was going to get the Viper technology. After which she would carry out the hit later that night.
He was sitting in his living room with Suzy, Kimi, his sister Nina, her fiancé Serge, and Jason Cheng. Jason was a tech wiz he knew from secondary school. They had become good friends after Jesse had helped him out of a tight situation with a local crime boss. Jason would be leaving for Asia as soon as this meeting was over. They were video conferencing with Josiah and Collin. Also present on the call were Captain Manny Hernandez and Jesse’s cousin, Lieutenant Ariel Marcos of the Earth Defense Force. Ariel had taken some vacation time and went directly to Asia to be part of the plan. Everyone in the galaxy that he trusted was either in the room with him or on the other side of the communication.
Nina and Serge were hosting the event. It was to be Nina that would raise the alarm about tech being stolen. Kimi would then call the Asian Dawn to send the information over a secure link, presumably so that it would not be found on her. The information she would be sending was actually the first designs for the Viper. The design had several flaws, so it was never actually built. It wouldn’t stand up to long term scrutiny because it didn’t work. It would, however, take days to figure that out. In the meantime, it would deliver a nasty virus that would destroy any information on any system they tried to open the file up on. That part of the plan was Nina’s idea, and Jason cooked up the virus. In Nina's eyes, killing their business was more hurtful than killing them, and she really hated them for trying to kill Jesse. Even though he was a tough Special Forces soldier, he was still her little brother.
Josiah’s team was already on the ground, but their safest rescue window wasn’t until the early hours of Saturday morning. That was why Jesse and Kimi had to play out the charade and go to the party. They had to give Josiah the extra time needed to safely extract Kimi’s family. If the Asian Dawn were expecting to receive a valuable data packet, they would hold off on harming the Tamanorra’s until after it was received. At least, that’s what they all hoped.
Josiah’s team would all be outfitted in the SSE’s new battle suits, which, thanks to Kimiko, everyone knew worked as advertised. She was still too ashamed to meet anyone’s eyes, and both Suzy and Nina were not going out of their way to comfort her. She did feel like Suzy was trying to forgive her a little. Jesse, on the other hand, was very comforting. He would gently lift her head with his fingers, look her directly in the eyes and let her know everything would be alright. She was very thankful for this, and she knew it was his way of letting everyone know he trusted her. She could understand their mistrust, and was amazed at Jesse’s willingness to not only forgive, but also help. The plan was in place, and the party was tomorrow, all that remained was the waiting.
______
Present day……
“Jesse’s dot is moving.” Suzy called out as Endeavor streaked toward Outpost Twenty-Three. “It’s jumping around quite a bit, actually.” She continued.
“That means he’s probably fighting. What’s the ETA on the drop, Collin?” Josiah asked.
Collin checked the time as he flew, “We should be there in approximately thirty-five seconds, and then give Kimi and I about two minutes to clear the drop zone. After that, Kimi will run back to you. Altogether, it’s going to be maybe three to three and a half minutes before you can touch down.”
“Hang on, buddy,” Josiah whispered to himself, “We’re coming!”
______
Jesse knew his friends would be arriving shortly to pull his butt out of the fire, but that didn’t stop him from worrying about the pirates that were currently trying to get through the barricades. The children were all huddled behind thick metal tables turned on their sides, and should be safe enough as long as they didn’t lift their heads up to see what was happening. Unfortunately, children will often do the unexpected, so Jesse was worried about them, too. Their crying pulled at his heart. Children should never have to experience something like this, he thought as he focused on the doors the pirates were trying to get through.
“We’re almost through, Captain,” Singo reported to Captain Janus up in orbit.
Janus was furious. He had just learned that he had the man responsible for the destruction of one of his ships in custody. Then, less than a minute later, he learned the man had broken free. This Jesse Marcos had killed five more of his men and barricaded himself in the barn they were using as a makeshift detention center. He wanted to make this man suffer, and his subordinate’s incompetence had allowed him to escape. There would be hell to pay if Jesse Marcos wasn’t back in custody when Garrinoras arrived.
The first pirate broke through the barricade on Jesse’s side and was promptly met with a plasma bolt between the eyes. Jesse’s blaster, like his MATU, was genetically activated. The charge allowed the blaster to shoot continuously for quite a while before he needed to switch power packs. As he was dropping the second pirate through the barricade, the other door was blown apart by an explosion. He turned to see Reece and Grimm running for cover and realized that hole in the door came from one of the pirate’s mounted particle cannons. Someone wanted this to end quickly, he thought.
Pirates were beginning to stream through both doors and a fierce firefight began to rage as Jesse and his new companions fought for their lives. Tania took a shot in the shoulder and went down, Grimm was cornered with no way out, and the Mayor's blaster no longer held a charge. They weren't going to win this fight. Suddenly, several explosions rocked the area outside the barn. The pirates beat a hasty, disorganized retreat and he knew his ship was here. He noticed they had killed nine more pirates before they retreated, bringing the estimated number of remaining pirates to somewhere in the mid-thirties. Jesse ran to what remained of the door to chance a look outside. He noticed that both particle cannons and three of the armored speeders with heavy blasters were destroyed. Several fighters lie in ruins, and there was smoke coming from both of the pirate ships on the ground.
Just then, Josiah’s voice came through his comm., “Colonel, come in.”
“I’m here, Josiah,” he responded in an excited shout. “What took you guys so long?”
“It took Dr. Baker forever to fix the ship, Sir,” came Collins unexpected answer.
“Suzy fixed the ship?” He exclaimed, the words sounding absurd even as he said them out loud. “I didn’t know she could do that.”
“She was merely my assistant, Colonel Marcos,” SAMMI melodiously chimed in.
“Well color me impressed, ladies.” He really was impressed with Suzy’s work. “Okay, Collin, here’s the situation. According to my calculations, there should still be approximately thirty-five remaining bogeys, minus any you hit during your bombardment. I have about forty civilians in here with me, five adults, four of them armed, and the rest children. We need an immediate evac, what is Josiah’s ETA?”
Josiah and Kimi are dropping to the ground with the warriorbots as we speak, Colonel. Keep the civvies inside until they clear the zone. You are welcome to join in, but I would recommend the others not come out armed. The bots won’t know they are friendly. They are programmed to shoot anything armed that isn’t one of us.”
“Copy that, Lieutenant.” Jesse replied. He motioned for the others to join him; Reece, Grimm, Tania and the Mayor all came over. “Okay, I have warriorbots outside that don’t know friend or foe. They will not shoot an unarmed person, so when we make a break for the ship; you are going to have to holster the blasters. My crew will let me know when we need to go, so let's get the girls ready.”
They nodded their agreement and began to call the girls over. Grimm and Reece were getting some of the metal tables in position so that random fire wouldn’t come through the holes where there used to be doors and hit one of the children. They really were both very professional, he thought, as he went back to the opening, ready to give them the signal.
______
“What is happening down there, Singo?” Janus yelled as the explosions he was hearing distorted the transmission. “Respond!”
“Captain,” the Xenul sensors officer called out. “The transmission has been lost. A ship appeared out of nowhere and it is destroying everything. All of our fighters are down, communications are out, and the two ships on the ground have been damaged.”
Janus was overcome with rage, “This cannot be happening,” he screamed as he kicked the captain’s chair hard enough to dent it. “Get us down there now; let us see how they deal with a ship like the Pillager.”
The Pillager was a lot bigger than the snail-shaped ships on the ground. She was once a Conglomerate Heavy Frigate before she was liberated by Janus and his men in a crafty, yet bold attack on a Conglomerate world. Pillager’s heavy weaponry and special modifications made her feared throughout the Lawless sector.
“Sir,” a crewman called out. “I know you realize this, but I feel it must be said anyway,” he began.
“Spit it out already,” Janus yelled, feeling himself get hotter and hotter with anger.
“If we go down to the surface,” he began again, “The enemy ship will be able to attack us while our shields are strained by reentry. They will have a significant advantage over us. Maybe it would be better to wait for them to lift off and destroy them as they are coming out of the atmosphere.”
The crewman was right. Janus had almost made a foolish decision in anger. He couldn’t even land troops without the risk of losing the transports and warriors. He would have to call in more ships so they could space out around the planet and obliterate them later. The forces on the ground right now were most likely already lost.
“Zeresh,” Janus called, slightly more composed this time. “Open a channel to our forces over Chawanas. Have them send two Frigates and two more gunships to Kaldor, best possible speed.”
He heard the enthusiastic “Aye aye, Sir,” as his thoughts drifted back to his opponent; I am going to make this pathetic Colonel Jesse Marcos pay for what he has done.
______
The warriorbots formed a corridor of fire with Josiah and Kimi, and were effectively holding the pirates at bay. By this point, only about twenty pirates remained, but Jesse's crew was still outnumbered, and they were not about to get careless.
Collin’s voice came over the comm, “Colonel, I just picked up a pirate transmission; it seems the ship in orbit has called in reinforcements. We need to go, and we need to make it soon, Sir.”
Jesse and Josiah exchanged a worried look. “Okay, guys,” Jesse called out. “Pirates are getting reinforcements, so we’re gonna have to go out hot. Hold onto the kids and keep your heads down. Wait for my signal.”
As his new companions herded the kids towards the door closest to Endeavor’s landing bay, he gave the hold sign and ordered the warriorbots to se
nd out smoke to cover their exit. As soon as the smoke was thick enough outside the corridor, he gave the go sign.
Reece was the first out the door. Holding two children’s hands and guiding three more, they ran straight for and made it safely to Endeavor’s landing bay. Tania followed him guiding four children. Seeja was next, holding one and guiding two. She took a bit longer, but they made it safely. Suzy was on hand with Shadow and Commando to guide the guests into the safest part of the open bay.
The Mayor was next. Holding one girl and guiding three he was almost to the bay when a blaster bolt hit one of the children in the leg. She cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Reece, who was almost back to the barn, ran back out to help her. Suzy met him, took the little girl from his arms, and brought her directly to med-bay.
