by John Walker
“They’re lucky we don’t turn off the life support,” Walsh grumbled. “Okay, men. You heard them. Take them out!”
The command center had one easy way to get in and a variety of narrow access tunnels for maintenance. No one was crawling around in those to get at the enemy without risking a bullet to the face. Tactically, they were off the list for getting around, even with stealth because they weren’t exactly subtle.
The moment one of their hatches started opening, someone would know.
So the only way to take the station involved a frontal assault on the hallway in. With the enemy dug into the outside chamber and probably within, that meant a pretty daring battle to oust them. However, the marines still held plenty of grenades and as they advanced, they started using them liberally, each cooking them for maximum efficiency.
As the explosions started popping within, the screams competed for the loudest noises. Two marines went prone at the end of the hall, watching their scopes. Whenever an enemy poked out to return fire, they were treated to a double tap. The first couple missed but when they finally got someone, they went down hard, their heads bleeding out on the floor.
Walsh checked his scanner, noting that five of the ten scan signatures were already nil and at least two more had to be injured if not more. He called for a cease fire and as the guns went silent, they heard the moans and cries from within, like an untended medical wing full of the dying.
“You guys feel like giving up now?” Walsh offered. “Last opportunity!”
“Orion’s Light…” Someone struggled to speak but the first words made Walsh groan. “Never…give in…to you…bastards!”
Jenks motioned for Walsh to press against the wall. “Get ready to move, I think he’s got a grenade.”
They heard something beeping but it never made its way into the hall. The resounding explosion was followed by a meaty sound and all but one signature went dark on the scanner. Walsh swallowed hard, shaking his head. The freak committed suicide rather than be treated for his wounds. Dear God…
They advanced carefully inside, sweeping the area for traps. The last person was inside the command room. Hopefully, he’d be cooperative. Walsh didn’t see any reason to fight for a lone gunmen but considering what he’d just witnessed, he wouldn’t put anything past them. Body parts were strewn about the area, lending some weight to the conviction of the terrorists.
Jenks approached the door, stacking up to the side. “Listen up,” he called. “We know there’s only one of you in there. All your buddies are dead out here so if you don’t surrender, we’re going to blow you away. Got it?”
“I’m not with them!” The voice shouted back. “They took me prisoner!”
Jenks turned to Walsh. “What do you think?”
Walsh shrugged. “They haven’t been deceitful before. He probably is what he says.”
“Hm.” Jenks banged on the door. “How do we know you’re not lying?”
“How do I prove it? I’m unarmed and will get on my knees. My hands are up. Seriously! I don’t want any trouble.”
Walsh tapped the door and it opened up, revealing a bald man on his knees holding his arms in the air. His green eyes were wide but still small as he tried to make it abundantly clear he wasn’t about to try anything. The marines advanced on his position and searched him, scanning for explosives. When they found him to be clean, his hands were bound and he was pulled out.
“Orin,” Jenks said, “get on the computer and see if they took the data. Grab anything else relevant.”
“Who the hell are you guys?” The bald man asked. “What’s going on?”
“We ask the questions,” Walsh said. “Who’re you and what’re you doing here?”
“My name’s Derelict. I’m…an entrepreneur.”
“Uh huh.” Jenks shook his head. “Is that code for thief or pirate? I can’t tell.”
“I admit, I’ve taken things in the past that might’ve been of…dubious ownership…but I’m mostly a businessman. Respected even.”
“With a name like Derelict,” Walsh said, “how could you not be?”
“Were you here stealing data?” Jenks asked. “Weapon schematics?”
“Um…is there some self incrimination clause I can hide behind?”
Walsh cocked his weapon.
“Okay, okay! Yes, we were here for the schematics.”
“And did your friends get them?” Jenks prompted. “And leave you here to rot?”
Derelict’s head dropped. “Orion’s Light did all this. They kill the rest of my crew and left me here to rot. That bastard new guy betrayed us, I swear! So many jobs we pulled and one person screws up our record! Gets us all murdered by a bunch of psychotics who don’t have any decency! You should’ve seen how they did Lurna. She…”
“Stop.” Walsh held up his hand. “How’d this guy betray you? And what happened to the schematics?”
“Orion’s Light has them now,” Derelict replied. “And he had to have. The security dropped…we boarded and raised hell. Once we arrived here, the security went back up! We were surrounded, the computer was locked down and they started executing us.”
Jenks grunted. “Maybe your new guy died and the base he took on the planet was reclaimed. Did you bother to think of that?”
“Would’ve been a good story,” Derelict said, “except I saw the asshole on a monitor with the Orion’s Light! I bet he worked with them the whole time.”
“Security camera?” Walsh called into the computer area. “Be sure to get all that stuff uploaded to the Behemoth ASAP. I think they’ll want a look at everything there. See if you can give one of those experts access to the system. They might be able to find some residual data from the schematics as well. Either way, at least this place is locked down.”
“Yay,” Jenks muttered, “we don’t get to crash into the world.”
“Today,” Walsh remarked. “At least for today. Secure the prisoner, police the bodies and tend to our wounded. I’m going to call for an extract in twenty.”
***
Trellan stood before the lieutenant of the Orion’s Light crew that showed up and essentially saved him from imprisonment. They’d brought him aboard a destroyer class ship, something they likely used in raiding actions for supplies. It reminded him of many pirate vessels he’d been on over the last several months, self reliant but large enough to get around a large area.
The other men toiled around him, moving cargo about and stowing the uniforms they stole from the soldiers. Several of them changed and went back to occupy the power facility, leaving them alone. Moments after those men departed, the ship took off and the lieutenant remained silent in the cargo area.
The waiting game lasted nearly a half hour before the man spoke up.
“You have discipline. I expected you to be asking some questions before now.”
Trellan tilted his head but did not respond.
“Does that mean you don’t have any or that you’re too afraid to ask?”
“I have questions,” Trellan replied, “but I’m not in the habit of badgering people. Especially a group I’ve been trying to join for the past several months. You’re a hard crew to catch up with.”
“Really? Why have you been seeking us out?”
“Your ideology appeals to me. I’m sick of working for lowlife deadbeats. I want to make a difference in the galaxy and frankly, with all the war and senseless diplomacy going on, Orion’s Light is the only way to do that.”
“Correct.” The lieutenant smiled. “Joining us is a lot better than being pressed into service. But I don’t see why you think you’re good enough.”
“I can prove it anyway you’d like.”
The lieutenant peered at him, nodding after a moment. “I see. One way or another, you don’t have a lot of choice at this point.”
“There’s always a choice, Lieutenant,” Trellan said. “I didn’t have to come willingly when I was found on the planet. And I’m pretty sure in the situation you were
dealing with, I would’ve been shot before drafted. Too many variables down there while you were taking the power facility.”
“Interesting thoughts.”
“I served in the kielan military for quite a while. I understand tactical necessity.”
“I’m sure you do. Hm. I think you’ll be of some service to us but we’ve got a lot going on right now. Maybe you can do some manual labor to prove yourself further. After what you basically helped us steal, we need to get it installed. We can take you to Krilan when he has time. He happens to be in the system at the moment…at least until we hand over the schematics.”
“So they managed to steal them after all,” Trellan said. “I’m impressed.”
The lieutenant shrugged. “Sort of. I mean, yes, they got the data but they died in the attempt. Their captain is all that remains but the bastard locked down the computer system just after we collected what we wanted. There are other treasures in there so we’re trying to extract the codes. In any event, we’ll get those bindings off of you and let you get cleaned up. The next several hours will make a big difference in your life. If you survive.”
Trellan’s hands were released and he rubbed his wrists while being escorted out of the area. In a guarded set of quarters, he was allowed to clean up and change into a new set of clothes, a gray jump suit and black boots. They fit and weren’t dirty so he couldn’t complain much but they felt an awful lot like prison garb.
He was taken down to the engineering section where they put him to work moving things about. Technicians hooked up a weapon directly to the core. He asked what it was and one of the men commented that it was a prototype, something they took from the novalat space station. This piqued his curiosity.
Did the novalat people actually build the weapon? I thought it was still conceptual.
The kielan side of his brain tried to come up with ways to sabotage it without jeopardizing his mission but he knew that he was in too precarious a position to do so. He had to let things play out. The big game, the actual focus of his task was Krilan Ar’Vax. If he played his cards right, he’d have the opportunity to meet him and join the Orion’s Light officially.
Apparently, the psychotic bastard met with every recruit, willing or otherwise. Trellan had to decide if it would be a good time to kill him. Without a weapon, likely in the presence of several others, he didn’t know whether he’d be able to pull it off. Impatience needed to be checked. Too much was at stake.
No, he’d play it calm and speak to the man, infiltrating his enemies deeper. If he could be stationed on the same ship, that would make all the difference. He had to impress him considerably but how? After seeing so many conscripts and zealots, what would make a man stand out to Krilan?
He has some time to figure it out but not long. Even selling himself a hundred percent might not get him what he needed. Still, his mission was one step closer to being over providing he remained cool throughout the next few steps. His success may well end up being one of the greatest accomplishments of the intelligence division’s history.
And if he survived to enjoy it, he’d be sure to revel in that fact.
***
When the explosions eliminated the scouts attacking the power station, the Orion’s Light shuttle took off. One of the marines cheered as if they’d won some kind of victory but when Lorenz’s voice cracked in their coms, their excitement died quickly. They weren’t flying away, they were repositioning.
“You’ve got that shuttle moving in to provide some cover fire for their people. My guess is they’re going to open up with their main cannons on the front door and blow down enough of the wall to give their guys clear shots at the lobby.”
“Understood.” Hoffner broke cover and headed for the hall. “Everyone fall back deeper into the station. Those cannons are going to tear this place up but they can only go so far. Not to mention the fact that our opponents can’t destroy this facility completely or they’ll ruin their plan to blow it up.”
“Won’t destroying it cause a meltdown?” Lorenz asked.
“Not necessarily and not to the degree they need. They want this place to explode and send the radiation miles in every direction.” Hoffner saw to it that all of his men were out of the lobby before he followed, taking cover some several rooms down. Scans indicated the ground forces were moving in.
They must’ve got their scans to find us or that cannon would’ve stopped. Damn it.
“Can you do anything from your position, Lorenz?”
“Negative, sir. The shuttle has shields and from what I’m reading, the cockpit’s got some heavy armor. I’m going to reposition so I have a rear vantage from the advancing forces. I’ll do what I can to thin their ranks.”
“Thanks, but be careful,” Hoffner replied. “You’ll be exposed pretty fast if something happens.”
“I’ll give you a mark and you can create a small distraction for me.”
“Sounds good.”
Hoffner crouched just inside a room, leaning out to aim his rifle down the hall. He didn’t have line of sight on the door but he did see the edge of the lobby. Anyone who wanted to go his direction would have to step into his reticle and then it would be over. With several other marines also in position, they could hold off quite a force.
Unfortunately, they had two choke points to guard but should’ve had enough men to do so. They needed to buy Tully enough time to shut down the reactor safely then sabotage it to prevent the enemy from weaponizing it again. But what then? They needed an escape route and the problem was already rattling around in Hoffner’s head.
Maybe air support. That shuttle has to be taken down. We can’t survive out in the open with it flying around.
“I’m in position,” Lorenz said. “You’ve got twelve guys about to enter. Take some shots in their direction and I’ll confuse them a bit.”
“You heard him,” Hoffner said. “Let’s put some fire into that lobby.”
Several marines opened up, letting several three round bursts go in the direction of the enemy. Lorenz might’ve fired but Hoffner had no idea. The man’s suppressor along with their shots fired helped mask his attack. Hoffner’s scanner showed one life sign terminate. Lorenz called it a moment later…and another afterward.
The scanner showed the enemy forces charge at that point, rushing into the lobby. Hoffner steadied himself for the action to come and as the enemy tried to establish control of the area, one of them stepped into the hallway opposite Hoffner’s team. Two shots rang out and the man screamed, then fell silent.
More blips appeared on the scanner as additional men poured inside. They rushed the hallways and Hoffner’s men opened up, mowing down several of the enemies within seconds. Unfortunately, they had too many forces and they were able to take cover, gaining ground. The marines fell back, using covering fire to pace themselves and take the next room.
Hoffner counted sixteen total enemies in the various hallways, probably preparing for another daring charge. He prepared a grenade and threw it down the hallway, not necessarily to cause any harm but to make them think twice about heading after them. Outside, the shuttle decided to open up, tearing through the roof of the building near the entrance.
Crap, if it decides to do that to the middle of this place… Hoffner established a link with the Behemoth. “We’re going to need some air support immediately. We’ve got an enemy shuttle tearing through the building and if we don’t get someone down here to take it out, we’re as good as dead.”
“Understood,” Marshall replied. “Standby for an update.”
Hoffner cursed under his breath, firing his weapon when he saw movement near the door. Several grenades came sailing into the room and a marine cried out ‘Grenades!’ People dove for cover, keeping their heads down as the tiny explosives popped in various locations, tossing tables over and causing environmental damage to the walls.
As they got back to their positions, the enemies charged and the marines engaged in a wild firefight at distances no grea
ter than fifteen feet. Neither side seemed ready to fallback but Hoffner knew someone would have to give sooner or later. The shuttle continued to chew away at the building, as if they didn’t care whether they killed their own people or not.
They don’t. These Orion’s Light characters are insane. “Behemoth!” Hoffner shouted into the com. “Are you going to be able to help us or what?”
White hot pain lanced through Hoffner’s body as something struck him in the right shoulder. He dropped behind his cover and looked, his heart racing in his chest. The wound looked bad but he had enough experience to know appearances were often deceiving. He could still move his arm so it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been.
“Relax,” Meagan Pointer’s voice crackled over Hoffner’s com. “We’ve got our shuttle problem.”
He heard the roar of some fighter engines overhead and it made the ground shake. They screamed into position and pulse cannons cried out in the air, followed by a massive explosion. Lorenz shouted into the com but Hoffner had no idea what he was saying. Between their own firefight and the noise from the ships, he felt like he’d gone deaf.
“There are craters out here!” Lorenz shouted. “They really tore this place up! Shuttle is down, I repeat the enemy shuttle is down!”
One thing off our plate. Hoffner let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Behemoth…and pilot. We appreciate the help.”
“No problem,” Meagan said. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we have to get back to the action above. Good luck down there.”
When they engaged their engines, the entire complex shook so wildly, Hoffner half thought the walls might come down. Another marine cried out and he saw them go down. They were down to eight guys against them but the fighting was fierce. Each side wouldn’t let up and no one stopped shooting.
Lorenz hit their coms again, letting them know to hold their fire and stick to cover. His scan blip showed up near the entrance and he came inside, flanking the enemy. His arrival sounded the deaths of four of their opponents as he unloaded his rifle into their backs. Moving to his own cover, he aimed at the other group who’d taken up a position in a room nearby.
