by K. A. Kerr
Tarik played his own file and was not shocked he'd only averaged eight stars. His bulk caused him problems when he dropped into cover. He devised a solution for three of the walls and found through simulations that he could skip the fourth wall. With that he'd improve his time and not take any hits.
Tarik turned the displays back to his asteroid belt and lay back in his bunk with a smile on his face. He couldn't wait to show Lamb just how wrong he was about him. Maybe he couldn't do it on the fly but by getting more information he could win.
Tarik watched the video files with his simulated changes again in the morning. He practiced his movements with the mop in the bathrooms before his session started. He would hide behind toilet stall doors and practice his slides.
Tarik walked into the room and straight out to the range. He had the strut on a man who ruled the galaxy and by extension this range. This was now just a playground to him. Lamb observed from back in his shadow.
The scenario came alive and Tarik launched into his attack. He felt like a wild animal on the course. He bounded from wall to wall his voice notes from last night echoed in his mind. He counted the seconds to keep himself on track. As he neared the end of the scenario he felt great, like he stood a chance of outscoring Goddess. He rifle pulsed taking out the last enemy and he looked to the sky waiting for his score. Thirteen stars out of thirteen stars, a perfect score. Tarik smiled wide and looked to where Lamb waited in the shadows.
“So you found the video cache? I hadn't expected you to find that for another week.” Lamb said as he clapped slowly.
“I did. You knew I would though?”
“Of course I did. As pissed off as you were yesterday I figured it had to happen. You wouldn't let a score like that beat you. That was some fine work Tarik, whose file did you use?”
“Goddess, I found her error. It's not wrong to do that is it?”
“Nothing wrong with it. She never did it, it's not that I don't think she would do it but it never occurred to her. I don't think she has it in her to compare herself to someone else. When everyone thinks you're perfect I guess you start to believe it too.”
Tarik laughed, even a goddess wasn't infallible. Tarik remembered something about vanity being the downfall of some god’s helper and wondered if she had ever heard of it.
“I'm glad you gained your sense of humor back. You're going to need it.” Lamb said happily. “You've set a precedent so now you will be required to master two scenarios a day.”
The wind had been taken right out of Tarik's sails.
“I will send you the scenarios tonight and test you tomorrow.” Lamb smiled broadly. “Have a nice night.”
Over the next two weeks Tarik stood up to the challenge. He mastered two scenarios everyday. He was proud of himself for accomplishing all of that on top of his normal duties. Everyday he would complete his cleaning duties, run on the range, run with Goddess, sparred with Dav, weight lifted with Scout Three and finally reviewed his next battle scenarios. When he looked back he was surprised he was able to fit it all in one day.
His sparring with Dav had progressed quickly since the introduction of the ball. He was now learning submission moves and striking multiple posts while the steel ball was in the air. Dav would wear pads and allow Tarik to beat on him which felt better.
During his weightlifting with Scout Three he was shocked when he found out he was in a serious relationship with Fighter Two. Tarik didn't care but he figured a guy like that could be with any woman he wanted. Then again being surrounded by men as good looking as him; he could see how it would happen. He really liked Scout Three, he was genuinely a great guy and his choice of partner hadn’t changed his mind about him. It made him wonder if all of the pilots were homosexual but he did not want to come across as prejudice.
He thought today would be an assessment day, which he was actually prepared for but the only thing scheduled was an all crew meeting in the Dome. He was honestly a little sad his routine had been interrupted.
When Tarik walked into the Dome most of the crew was already there. The kiddie table in the center had been raised by about two feet and the chairs turned away from the table. He wished he’d known that the table and chairs could be adjusted; it would have made sitting there much more comfortable. The other tables had not changed positions but all of the chairs had been swiveled to point towards the center of the room. He thought they were welded into place but it must have been some type of optical illusion.
The pilot's table was filled with Human-Dereft hybrids, most of whom Tarik known and could thankfully tell apart. He saw his buddy Scout Three holding hands with Fighter Two. Tarik waved to his friend and got a smile in return.
The Sphere flight team, or bridge team as they liked to call themselves, had filled out a table of their own. It was full of Humans with the exception of one Dereft who was almost as beautiful as Goddess herself. Tarik hadn’t even seen most of the bridge team before this meeting. The three top sections of the sphere belonged to the bridge team which Tarik did not have access to.
The support team table was filled as well. Rye sat closest to the kiddie table with Bink next to her; neither of them seemed to be talking just staring blankly at the table waiting for something. Next was Machine; hovering over a chair. Daze was standing at the end of the table and telling a story to the group of four mechanics behind her. Daze had her hands above her head and waved them from side to side with her cheeks puffed out. She noticed Tarik standing in the doorway, deflated her cheeks and blew him a kiss. Tarik gave her a wink in reply, and turned to walk to the Combat Operations table.
Tarik was seated next to Mange at the furthest point from the kiddie table. Next to Mange working the way into the kiddie table sat Goddess and Lamb, both silent and waiting for the meeting to start. Behind Tarik sat Razor, engaged in conversation with Scipio a Human-Dereft hybrid who for unknown reasons took a role as a gunner instead of a pilot. Next to Scipio sat Games and Tricky, both of them were Glaubens a salamander like species who had the ability to camouflage themselves. Tarik hadn’t talked with Scipio, Games or Tricky much but they seemed like they could get the job done.
Just before he settled into his seat completely Dav walked into the room. The whole room stood and Tarik rushed to follow suit.
Dav walked up one of the chairs and stood on top of the kiddie table. Four smart panels dropped from the ceiling and attached themselves to the kiddie table. The tops of the screens stopped at Dav’s chest so that he could clearly see the crowd while the presentation ran.
“Be seated.” Dav instructed. Once everyone had taken their seat Dav began “Our contract has taken us to Lima Seven Alpha Six Nine. Most of you would not have heard of it because it’s a shithole mining world with a moderate output and a nasty population. This nasty population is on the verge of civil war with hostilities starting with small arms fire approximately three weeks ago. Since that time things have escalated to air to air combat and artillery shelling.”
The video on the smart screens showed a pair of small fighters firing at each other.
“Terrier Resources and Diplomatic Relations has failed in peace talks and needs to get three people and sensitive data out of the system. The temporary government will not allow this to happen and has essentially placed the TRDR people on lockdown in their own compound. Our job is to get those people and that data out regardless of the government actions.”
The video showed a logo for TRDR and the three people being extracted. The first was a senior diplomatic engineer, the second was an assistant diplomatic engineer and the third was a data resources officer. All of them were smartly dressed and had the looks of high education. Tarik was fairly certain he hated them already.
“Bridge team, you will have it easy; no known orbital weapons. Intelligence shows no planet based guns that can hit us but stay on your toes in case something was missed. This Intel is only four days old so it is doubtful they brought anything new in.”
The video changed to a smal
l town surrounded by tall mountains, three valleys led out of the town. The picture zoomed in to a triangular compound with a tower at each point. A small four story building sat in the center.
“Flight team, we need three scouts, one in each valley going out one hundred miles to spot for artillery and armor that may move in. I want two fighters to circle the town in case someone decides they don’t want us there. If scout teams spot other aircraft or big guns I want the fighter team to move in and neutralize the problem. If this goes well we can get in and out before they can cover the distance. Drop Three will be in the chute ready for action if needed.
“Combat team, Drop one will deposit Scipio, Games, and Tricky at the towers. Take out the towers and move back to the center building to provide exfil support. When towers are down Drop Two will put Mange, Lamb, Goddess and Razor on the roof of the target building. Mange, you’re on overwatch with the rifle; Small targets take out with a laser, larger targets send a signal to the fighters. The rest of roof team is to breach from the top, take out any internal security and secure the packages. Package Three is the priority here, that's the man with the info TRDR wants. Jimmy… gear up and hang out in your room. You’re not active this contract but if things go sideways we will need you ready.
“Support team, prep the ships. I want full loadouts on the fighters; they may be hiding something down there. Machine, the combat load outs should be designed for small arms and basic light armor. Bink you’re in combat control, call the game as you see fit.”
“Questions?” Dav asked.
Nobody had any and Tarik was too disappointed to say anything, so Dav concluded the meeting.
“We exit in five hours and go right to work. This is a simple smash and grab, let’s not get fancy here. Gear up and good hunting.” Dav said as the screens rose back up to the ceiling.
Tarik sat for a moment while the teams converged and started working out their individual plans. Since he was sitting this one out; only Drop Three approached him to tell him that the drop ship would be ready to go if they were needed.
Tarik couldn’t let his frustrations show, at least not in a public forum. He knew if he acted out he’d probably be done here, he could not afford to lose his composure again. He made the best of it and worked off his anger at the range, killing fake enemies was better than doing nothing.
When Tarik got back to his room there was only half an hour remaining until the contract started. His load out was on the right wall waiting for him. the loadout consisted of a light armor chest piece, two incendiary hand explosives, a combat knife and his Kami rifle. Tarik grudgingly put on the equipment with full expectations of having to take it off again unused.
Tarik sat on the edge of his bunk and killed his asteroid belt scenery. He tapped into Combat Control and heard Bink say they were a “go” in five minutes. Tarik pulled up the chest cameras of the Combat team and had them put on the loadout wall in front of him. He’d watch the action live and learn from them if nothing else.
He didn’t think he’d need it but he pulled up the nose cameras of the scout, drop and fighter ships and set them on the wall to his left. He thought about adding Bridge and Combat Control cameras but didn’t really want to see people sitting in chairs talking. If things got crazy they maybe hit a few buttons.
“Ten seconds.” Bink called out.
The ten seconds passed and the ship came out to our original membrane. A Timer started in the top right corner of all the camera feeds. From the nose camera of Scout One he could see a hole dilate in the sphere and the ships jumped out into the void banking hard to the left and making for the planet in front of them.
“Control, this is Scout One. We are moving to positions, ETA is four five seconds.”
“Scout One, Control copies.”
“Control, Fighters One and Two are on scene with guns warmed up. Starting our patrol now.”
Tarik looked over and saw the fighters turning slowly over the town. The gun barrel in front of the camera jumped around looking for trouble.
“Fighter Group, Control copies, don’t break anything just yet.” Bink warned.
“Control, Drop One is making its deposit.”
A few tense seconds passed. Scipio, Games and Tricky each took a tower by themselves. Tarik followed along through cameras in the armor of the men. They breached the first floor and moved up the stairwells to the guards above. All three put expert shots through the chest of the guard in their tower almost in sync, with Scipio being just a little bit faster.
“Control, this is Tricky. Towers are down moving back to the bank.”
Tarik wasn't part of the plan but he guessed the target building in the center of the compound was the bank.
“Control this is Scout One, we are on our marks and all reports are clear.”
“Copy that Scout One, Keep your eyes peeled. Drop two, you are clear to make your deposit.”
“Control, Drop Two is putting the bags down now.”
Five figures dropped out of the back of Drop Two. Tarik followed the team on their chest cameras then. The team spread out and cleared the roof, Mange found himself a corner spot and set his rifle up ready to spot trouble.
“Drops, this is Control, move up and stay ready to make a withdraw from the bank.”
The drop ships moved above the compound but kept well inside the patrol area of the fighter team. Lamb set an explosive in the center of the roof. When he reached the edge of the roof it detonated making a hole big enough for three people to go in at once. Tarik watched while the combat team made its way down through the fourth floor. They had only come across one hostile whom Razor quickly dispatched with a shot to the neck. They moved to the stairwell when he’d heard Scout Three report an issue.
“Control, Scout Three, I’ve got a war party headed up the valley. Looks like a caravan of heavy armor. Scanners show some light armor two wheeled vehicles as escorts. Speed is five zero and increasing.”
Tarik snapped back to Scout Three and saw the spot in the distance growing larger.
“Scout Three, Control, pull back to two five and observe. Fighter Two hover at zero point and be ready to move in.” Bink instructed.
“Control, Fighter Two copies.” Fighter Two stopped his patrol and went to the mouth of Scout Three’s valley.
The combat team was on the first floor and had taken out two more hostiles when Tarik looked back. He’d have to go back later to review the other floors.
“Control, Scout Three has developed a shimmy. Looks like my rear Calixi stabilizer bar has become unsecure. War party is still inbound, no change in speed.”
“Scout Three, Control copies, wait for relief then break for orbit. Fighter Two move into Scout Three’s slot.” Fighter Two was already moving in on Scout Three.
The combat team was moving fast now. They had secured two of the three TRDR people and moved quickly to get the third. They hadn’t encountered any more resistance but kept their guard up.
“Control, Fighter two is on site, Scout Three is moving upstream.”
Scout Three had its nose pointed to the sky when the camera shook violently.
“Control, Scout Three has lost its Calixi bar. I can still make it up to …” Scout Three’s radio cut out for a moment and a metallic clank came over the radio.
The camera for Fighter Two showed a flame, and then started to fall towards the ground.
“Fighter Two going down. Fighter Two going down.” Bink started to yell over the radio.
Tarik had no idea what was happening, he stood up but didn’t know what to do so he just watched as Fighter Two came down. It looked like a controlled fall as it glided over large patches of gravel. He was expecting Fighter Two to come on the radio and say everything was okay when it crashed into a tree.
“Rye, Daze, and Tarik. This is Redeye; get your asses to Drop Three. Retrieve Fighter Two then tell me if it’s possible to salvage his ship.” Dav said.
Tarik ran from his room and went down the “Up” corkscrew. He
didn’t care if it was against the rules he needed to get to the drop ship as quick as he could. His link to combat control was still active. There were still life signs for Fighter Two according to report but no radio contact. Scout Three was screaming that he needed to get down there. Bink had over ridden his controls and was bringing Scout Three back to the Beetle while Scout Three wept. Tarik jumped into the back of the jumpship. Rye and Daze were already seated and strapped in. Tarik sat but didn’t bother strapping in before he told Drop Three to go.
The ship moved quickly to the crash site. The combat team had all the packages and were being extracted from the building they called the bank. The other scout ships had been pulled out and only Fighter One stood watch over them.
“Tarik, this is control, secure the site and do not try to assist. Your job is to keep watch while Rye and Daze get to work.” It was Dav again. He must have taken over Bink's job after Fighter Two went down.
“Control, this is Tarik, I’ve got this.” He said confidently.
“Control, Fighter One, war party is getting close. Estimated time rescue has is standing at two minutes, should I engage?”
“Fighter One, do not engage while rescue team is on the floor. We don’t want them firing arty shells at soft targets.”
The drop ship had slowed down and Tarik could feel the ship spin to put its door over the crash site. The door of the drop ship had barely opened when Tarik squeezed his way through and jumped to the ground. Tarik unlocked his rifle and swept around looking for any other people. He looked over the crash site and saw the cockpit of Fighter Two had a large metal bar sticking out of it. He couldn’t say for sure but it looked like the Calixi bar that fell off of Scout Three.
