“Now, Glaw, now.”
CHAPTER 51 - SAVE HIM
The T.Rex took up the slack. Glaw whipped the T.Rex until it responded by forcing seven tons of muscle and bone into a violent tug of the chains on its harness. Glaw turned in his saddle, careful to keep one eye on the erratic beast.
Glaw whipped at the side of the T.Rex once more and the beast lunged forward. Almost at a trot, it began to pull at the chain.
The bow of the life-pod rose and moved slowly toward the shore. When the entire life-pod was on the shore, Glaw hammered his fist on the top of the T.Rex’s skull. A signal it would remember from training and indicated it should stay. It sometimes worked.
Glaw leapt from the saddle. He drove a spike through chain-link into the desert sand. It wasn’t nearly enough to stop the T.Rex from wandering off. But there wasn’t time for more.
Glaw climbed up onto the life-pod and jumped down through the gash in its side. Consoles sparked and created methane flames. The flames ran along the aisle to the engines. Glaw swept through the wave of liquid methane, until he found Fyre.
“He’s here,” Fyre said and pointed down at Dax.
Glaw lifted up the guidance console and tossed it aside. It landed a hundred feet away in the lake.
Glaw studied Dax for a moment. How fragile humans look when their life force is gone from them.
Glaw watched with curiosity as Fyre knelt over Dax and rhythmically best her fists against the human’s chest. When she paused to kiss his lips he asked, “What are you doing?”
“Giving Dax my life force,” she said.
“A Vanguard giving, not taking a life force?” Glaw said and laughed. “That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day.”
Dax vomited water and rolled onto his side.
“Help me,” Fyre said.
Glaw stooped down and scooped Dax up in his arms. He cradled the human against the fur of his chest. He waded through the water in the aisle and holding Dax with one arm, he climbed topside. He leapt off the life-pod and set Dax down on the dune.
The life-pod exploded and the shock wave knocked Glaw and Fyre to the ground.
Fyre felt the psychic connection break. The voices of the Brethren fell away. She felt alone.
A strange feeling came over Glaw. He felt as if he’d woken from a dream.
He looked around the strange moon’s surface and couldn’t quite remember deciding to come here.
“What am I doing here?” Glaw asked.
CHAPTER 52 - LUPOS RAIDERS
“Any sign of the other life-pods?” Dax asked.
Blok scanned the landscape from the peak of the tallest dune. A shadow engulfed her view. She pulled away her field binoculars.
“Do you mind?”
Glaw shrugged and stepped out of her view.
“We’re too exposed up here,” he growled. “I should be getting back to Gy-Fly-Mach.”
Glaw raised his wrist comm unit to his snout.
“Myf, fire her up, we’re leaving.”
He unclipped his chest armor and set it down on the sand. He used the chest armor as a sled, and hurtled the quarter mile down the dune’s steep slope.
“Oh yes, baby,” Glaw shouted. “I’m the surfer king.”
He zipped by Dax as a break in the dense swirl in the orange-brown cloud spat out a familiar sight.
“Lupos raider,” Blok shouted down to Dax. “It’s landing one click away.”
It glided low over the surface of the lake and circled above the burnt out shell of the life-pod. It opened fire on Gy-Fly-Mach. The gun turrets of Gy-Fly-Mach swung around and returned fire.
The Lupos raider ship swung around. The raider’s rear loading bay doors flew open. The first wave of Lupos shock troops leapt out.
Dax began running down the dune. “Everyone to the ship,” he shouted.
Blok focused on the top of the Lupos landing ramp. A Lupos commander in black and crimson armor watched as his troopers disembarked.
“How’s your power-armor repair work, Dax?” she asked. “Can you receive images?”
“Self-repair is good enough,” he said.
Blok sent footage of the Lupos raider to Dax’s power-armor.
“You spent time fighting them,” she said. “Recognize their commander?”
Dax zoomed in on the footage and felt his breath caught in his throat. He focused on the necklace of human skulls around the Lupos’ neck and swallowed hard.
“Blaidd,” he said.
“Who?”
“The butcher of Mars. He never stops. He’s a machine. Relentless at picking up a trail. I avoided him for a year and he never gave up.”
As Gy-Fly-Mach lifted off the desert, Glaw ran at the open loading bay and clawed his way up. He stooped and held out a paw as Myf guided the ship to Dax.
“Jump, human,” Glaw shouted.
Dax could hear the ferocious panting of a Lupos raider chasing him.
As Dax glanced over his shoulder he realized he was close enough to see the salivating jaws. Dax reached up and felt Glaw’s paw clasp his hand tight. The claws dug deep into the armor. His arm felt as if it was ripping out of its socket.
The Lupos snatched at his dangling legs and clung on tight. Dax lifted one leg and hoping there was enough residue power in his armor, he kicked out at the jaws behind the helmet visor.
The Lupos smiled and clambered up Dax’s body.
Glaw groaned at the extra weight. He began to tip over the edge of the loading bay. He grabbed at the thin air hopelessly with one hand.
He fell.
As his legs left the loading bay, he jolted to a stop. He glanced back at Fyre holding his free arm.
She fed one end of the coil of his plasma-whip through the buckle of his armor belt. She ignited the other end and thrust it through a handle on the wall. She pulled on the end. She ignored the burning of her gloves.
Her eyes popped wide. Glaw whipped around as the Lupos Raider drew a Falcata and instantly ignited it. The blade of red flames cut through the icy air.
Glaw lifted up Dax and swung him out wide. Dax kicked out at the Falcata, sending it spinning away into a spiraling descent. Dax and the Lupos landed on the loading bay and rolled.
Glaw grabbed the Lupos by the throat and hurled him off the edge of the loading bay.
“Myf,” Glaw shouted into his comms unit. “Get us out of here.”
“No,” Dax said and pointed to Blok on the peak of the tallest dune.
“Myf, swing by the dune,” Glaw said. “We got ourselves a straggler.”
Gy-Fly-Mach raced up the side of the tall dune to where Blok waited.
The Lupos raider ship gave chase.
“Human,” shouted Glaw, “tell your honey this is a one-time only pick up. If she misses, she stays behind.”
“Blok,” Dax shouted into his comm unit, “divert all your suit’s energy for a power-jump.”
As Gy-Fly-Mach rose up over the dune, Blok sprinted into the blinding whirlwind of sand and propelled her body into its center. She sprang into Glaw’s arms. He set her down in silence.
Dax watched the Lupos commander standing on the edge of his ship’s landing bay as they picked up their troops.
“Who is this butcher of Mars?” Blok asked.
“Blaidd,” Dax said.
“What happened to you on Mars, Dax?” she asked.
“Blaidd caught me eventually,” Dax said. “Six months of torture. Finally, his High Command ordered him to let me go in a prisoner exchange for one of their top generals.”
“Did Blaidd break you, human?” Glaw asked.
Dax smiled.
“That figures,” Glaw said.
“What figures?” Blok said.
“Lupos never forget the scent of the hunt,” Glaw said. “Blaidd will be barking at the moon until he finally makes the kill.”
“I knew in his eyes, Blaidd would never forget,” Dax said. “One day he’d find a way to get me. I’ve no intention of making today that day.”<
br />
Glaw shrugged. “No offense, human, but I don’t want to be around when he does catch up with you. Lupos are collateral damage-happy.”
“No offense taken.”
“So how’d Blaidd catch you in the end, human?”
“Blaidd publicly tortured and executed civilians,” Dax said. “Starting with human children.”
A silence enfolded that seemed to cut through the rumble of the engines. A silence that held an unspoken understanding for them all. They stared out of the loading bay and watched the Lupos raider ship pursue them.
“Glaw, get your hairy butt up here,” Myf’s voice blared out of the comms system. “We got five raider ships converging from all directions.”
CHAPTER 53 - TITAN FIREFIGHT
Glaw led Dax and the others to Gy-Fly-Mach’s cockpit. He removed his helmet. It comfortably fit ten crew, but it was empty, except for a young woman pilot.
“Myf?” Dax said. “Should have guessed.”
She gunned the ship directly between two Lupos raider ships. I
“You’re not going to make it,” Blok said.
“Think you can do any better?” Myf asked.
Blok pushed by Glaw and plonked herself down in the wide reinforced steel co-pilot seat.
“Hey, that’s my special chair,” Glaw growled and spun Blok around to face him. He gave her his best snarl and lip curl, together with a full frontal salmon-breath special.
Blok turned up her nose. “I can recommend a decent dental hygienist,” she said.
Myf nodded. “Ursu salmon breath,” Myf said, “guaranteed to make your toes curl and your lip gloss peel every time.”
“We should bottle it as a perfume,” Blok said. “Make a fortune on Ursu and other non-discriminating worlds.”
“Sexy as my sweaty socks,” said Myf.
She and Blok giggled.
“Hey,” said Glaw indignantly. “I can always floss with your head.”
Myf glared up at him. Unimpressed. “It’s just a chair.”
“What?” Glaw said. “Some of us need our nap time.”
Blok sneered at Glaw. “Go find a big gun to play with,” she said, “and let the grown ups sort out your mess.”
“My mess?” Glaw growled. “Who saved your butt out there?”
Blok swiveled the seat around and stared out the windows at the rapidly closing raider ships.
“You familiar with Fleet pilot evasion tactics?” Blok asked Myf.
Myf shrugged. “I aim Gy-Fly-Mach at the enemy and put my foot down.”
Blok raised an amused eyebrow. “And playing chicken with Lupos works for you?”
“Still alive, ain’t we?”
A barrage of plasma bolts pummeled Gy-Fly-Mach.
Glaw made a show of grinding his teeth as loudly as he could. “Not for much longer if she don’t hop out of my seat,” Glaw growled.
Blok glanced at Glaw. “Still here? Go find the big, loud and pointy things that blow raiders out of the sky.”
Gy-Fly-Mack shook violently. “Shields down to thirty percent, Glaw,” Myf shouted. “We got ourselves a real firefight.”
Glaw yawned, stretched his claws and rolled his neck. “Human,” he said to Dax, “a thousand galactic credits says I can bag more raiders than you.”
Dax smiled and held out his hand. “Deal.”
Glaw slashed at Dax’s hand with open claws.
Dax yanked his hand away, just in time. “That joke’s old, Glaw.”
“Huh?”
“Just lead the way.”
As Glaw bounded down a corridor and bundled himself into a gun turret, Dax hesitated at the doorway. Convinced there wasn’t much point in winning the bet if the two pilots couldn’t co-ordinate their tactics.
“Ever seen the corkscrew poodle tail?” Blok asked Myf.
“Is that like the salamander tail flick?”
Blok shook her head and grabbed the flight stick with both hands. “Watch and learn,” she said. “Everyone strap in tight.”
Dax sprinted for the gun turret opposite Glaw.
Blok rolled Gy-Fly-Mach into a spiraling forward motion.
Dax felt himself somersault. He landed in the gun turret’s chair. Upside down.
A massive shock wave threw him from the chair and slammed him against the gun console. The cockpit whooped with delight.
“Two raiders down,” Myf shouted and high-fived Blok. “Three to go. Keep up boys.”
“That’s you and me up, buddy,” Glaw shouted at Dax.
Dax righted himself and strapped in.
He pulled on a pair of Virtual Reality goggles. A holographic battle scene resolved. The gun turret spun around and various target options displayed before him.
“How about you show me that Salamander tail flick,” Blok said to Myf.
“Coming up.”
Dax had a choice of one raider ship to starboard and other directly ahead of the bow. His goggles caught a plasma torpedo heat signature and the gun turret’s Artificial Intelligence swung the guns around.
“They’re aiming for the engines,” Dax shouted.
“I’m on it,” Glaw roared.
“No, I got it. You watch out for the third ship. I can’t see it anywhere on my scope.”
“Two waves of torpedoes off the bow, buddy.”
A rhythmic juddering shook Dax’s turret as Glaw fired off his guns. The first wave of torpedoes exploded.
Dax grabbed at the gun control stick. He took aim at the second wave of torpedoes. He needed them to close up their flight formation or they’d scatter too quickly.
The third raider broke out of cloud less than fifty feet off starboard.
“They’re using cloud-cloaks,” Glaw shouted.
Dax jolted and lost his aim. He crushed the trigger. Two explosions. The third torpedo slipped through his plasma barrage.
“It’s got a lock on us,” Dax shouted.
Gy-Fly-Mach shook with the impact and nose dived. Dax felt his stomach somersault. He swallowed hard.
“I’ve lost number four engine,” Myf shouted, “and number two. If we lose one or three we’re toast.”
A raider followed them down. Dax locked on. “Not going to happen.”
He squeezed the trigger and threw up a barrage net of plasma shells. No matter which way the pursuing raider twisted and turned, it couldn’t evade the net completely.
The raider erupted into a fiery ball.
“Get your money ready, Glaw.”
Gy-Fly-Mach flattened out and skimmed over the dunes. A dull thud resounded through the ship.
The Ursu abandoned his gun turret. He headed for the loading bay. Glaw drew his Kopis and ignited the blade.
“What the hell, Glaw?” Dax shouted.
“They boarded us.”
CHAPTER 54 - NO SURVIVORS
Dax climbed out of the gun turret and sprinted after Glaw. A Lupos raider ship had smashed one of the Loading bay doors. All that stood between Dax and the unbreathable atmosphere was the soft peach glowing environment force field.
He found the Ursu at the far side of the loading bay, confronted by three Lupos.
“The first one who thinks he’s hard enough,” Glaw shouted, “gets to die quick. The rest of you leave the way you came.”
Three more Lupos stood on a platform on a raider ship. They ignited their Falcatas and leapt fifty feet down onto Gy-Fly-Mach’s loading bay. Their bodies briefly glowed orange as they broke through Gy-Fly-Mach’s protective environment seal field.
Two against six. Dax felt his stomach backflip. A surge of adrenalin thundered through his body. His arms and legs began trembling.
He reached for his plasma pistol. Dax jolted at the sharp sizzling crack of a Cat O’light tails. He felt his wrist burn and his plasma pistol torn from his grip.
Three Lupos rushed him.
Glaw jumped between Dax and the Lupos. With a sudden, broad sweep of his orange flamed Kopis, Glaw slashed the throat of the nearest Lupos.
Anothe
r Cat O’light tails whipped around Dax’s ankle. Dax felt a sharp tug and lost his footing. The back of his head slammed into the deck. Without the protection of his helmet he saw only black stars.
Instinctively, he rolled to one side. He felt his forehead seared with heat. The stench of burning hair clawed at him. He felt the hair on his brow singe.
The flaming red haze of a Falcata engulfed his vision. Then the bone crunching pain as the blade sliced into his shoulder armor.
Dax knew if he looked at his shoulder he’d succumb to shock. He turned away. He felt the power-armor flood his system with pain killers.
He felt himself sliding across the floor. He shook his head and cleared the stars. He felt a sharp pain in his ankle as a Lupos dragged him by the Cat O’light tails.
His speed picked up as he hurtled toward the edge of the loading bay. Dax reached for his Xiphos and ignited it. He raised his knees to his chest. Gripping the Xiphos hard, he slashed out at the Cat O-light tails.
His assailant fell back. Dax kicked away the fragments of broken tails from his ankle. He leapt to his feet. But the Lupos was already up and charging at him.
The Lupos was taller, heavier, faster and more powerful than Dax. In huge bounds, the Lupos raised his flaming Falcata above his head.
Dax leapt back to find a stable combat stance. His ankle cried out with stabbing pains shooting up his leg. Dax raised his Xiphos. The Lupos opened up his guard to bring the Falcata crashing down on Dax.
The Falcata slashed into a burning kill-arc, down on Dax.
Dax hurled his Xiphos into the Lupos’s chest. It stopped the Lupos charge. Slammed him back into the floor. Dax turned to Glaw.
Glaw stomped around in a circle with two Lupos troopers clinging to his back. Another two had him flanked. They moved with cautious precision. Probing with slashes and thrusts for any weakness.
The two Lupos on Glaw’s back, bit and clawed and ripped off his fur.
“Got yourself some serious puppy love, Glaw?”
Glaw grunted. “I’m more a cat person.”
Dax spotted his plasma pistol and stooped to pick it up. He caught a shadow in the corner of his eye. A metallic combat boot kicked out into the side of Dax’s head. He fell to one side.
Valiant (Jurassic War Universe Book 1) Page 26
