by Ron Francis
Marcos was still casually picking off the hunters from his restful perch high above the arena floor; he just refused to die. I have thought up every conceivable advantage, and Marcos had overcome them all. He will not be overcoming this armored exo-skeleton, he thought with a smile. There is no way he can be prepared for this, or my missiles, he smiled even wider as he readied himself to enter the arena. He exited the tunnel system almost a hundred yards from his enemy’s position. He confidently strode under the armor’s power towards the tree Jesse was hiding in as he prepared for the final battle.
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Jesse looked at the armored figure heading his way with a fair amount of skepticism. I’m happy that I decided to double up my battle suit. I might be slightly less mobile, but I’ll be able to take a lot more punishment. I don’t think my blaster is going to be able to pierce Garrinoras armor, so I’ll have to use the side cannon. Unfortunately, I can’t use my side cannon unless Garrinoras breaks out the heavy artillery first. He had picked off enough of the ugly creatures stalking him that he was confident his beasts could finish them, so he slowly lowered himself from the tree to face off against his opponent one last time. He drew both blasters as the pirate drew both of his and he charged. He must have hit Garrinoras’ armor fifteen times and it didn’t even slow him down. He was thankful for the double battle suit, because he barely felt any of the seven or eight shots he had already taken. Soon they were face to face and Jesse put his blasters away and morphed Helga to blade. Garrinoras took out a long knife and they began their deadly dance. Jesse was scoring several hits but nothing was getting through the armor. Garrinoras had hit him twice, but the battle suit stopped his blade. Jesse leapt in the air and hit the pirate hard across the face with Helga. Garrinoras teetered and a hard front kick from Jesse knocked him over. There was fresh blood on his lip, which meant that he had again drawn first blood. He could end this at any time.
Garrinoras’ suit had him off the ground quickly. He kicked Jesse in the ribs with a robotic powered assault that sent Jesse flying. His ribs were in bad shape and he had to make sure he didn’t puncture a lung. He shot out Helga’s grappling hook as Garrinoras unleashed the first of his missiles. The explosion startled the remaining beasts as they momentarily looked up from their fighting. The pro-human crowd rained down a chorus of boos as the pirate had broken the rules again. How was Jesse going to beat him when he was armed with missiles and wearing armor that small arms could never pierce.
“Missiles? Really?” Jesse angrily yelled. “When you cheat you really go all out, don’t you?”
Garrinoras once again grew angry and his next barrage almost found its mark; as the explosion threw Jesse several meters, causing him to land badly on his ankle. He shot Helga’s grappling hook again, and took it its full distance to get some space between him and his adversary. He quickly fitted his ankle with med-mold, which would harden in less than twenty seconds; and act as a cast for his injured ankle. He needed to do something quickly.
Garrinoras strode confidently towards him and raised his arm to fire another missile, but before he could, Jesse had fired his side cannon, destroying the arm of Garrinoras’ armor. A look of shock crossed his face as he yelled, “Heavy blasters are not allowed, Marcos.”
“Your people cleared it for entry, if you have a problem, take it up with them.” He yelled back. “Missiles aren’t allowed either, so stop crying about it, cheater.”
Garrinoras raged against that last comment and charged Jesse again, only to be stopped short by a blast to the chest. He staggered backwards and looked at his damaged armor. He then took a moment to right himself as three of his beasts jumped at Jesse from behind. Jesse sliced the neck of the first one with Helga, shot the second one with his blaster and was taken off his feet by the third. It scratched at his face and tried to bite his neck as Jesse fired Helga right through its head. It took him almost a full minute to stand and he could no longer see Garrinoras. Eight more beasts were quickly heading his way and he adjusted the side cannon for a wide burst. He took out six with one shot as the crowd went silent. Two of the hunting cats jumped on the last two as Jesse tried to find Garrinoras.
He heard the launch of a small missile from behind him and dove left, coming up in a crouch. He fired his side cannon again, taking out Garrinoras’ cover, and then one more time taking out one of the legs of his armor. The pirate still had his missiles left, though, and decided to use them. He shot three at once and Jesse couldn’t dodge all three. The left one hit him in his injured leg, shredding the pant leg of the outer battle suit. The explosion threw him almost eight meters and he landed in pain. He realized he could not take another hit like that, as unsteady arms aimed his side cannon for its last heavy round. He had one more shot left in his side cannon, and used it to take out the other arm of Garrinoras armor. He no longer had missiles and it would be blaster against blaster.
Garrinoras was limping badly in his nearly destroyed armor. Thankfully, the left leg was still working as that was the leg Marcos had taken so much time damaging. His right leg was injured by Marcos’ impossibly powerful blaster, so he was forced to limp. He also now had only one blaster left. He was holding it in his injured left hand and he could barely aim it, let alone shoot straight. Even if he could, it would not get through the human’s battle suit. The pirate leaned back against the tree to rest and Jesse slowly limped towards him to put an end to the fight.
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Chief of State Enosal was now very interested in this death match. In the midst of everything else going on in lieu of the previous day’s battle with the alien forces, he found the time to watch the feed intently. Jesse might actually win this thing. I wonder if the alien alliance will indeed fall apart with no Garrinoras at the helm, especially now that their fleet had been routed over Chawanas. I should have known better than to doubt that Marcos would find a path to victory. It’s not quite over yet, but Garrinoras looks done, and hopefully that means the war will now be on hold, at least for a while. As he thought about the match, he felt terrible for Jesse; the amount of pain he had to be in right now looked unbearable. Why did he go through with it? This galaxy is not his home. He owes the Lawless Sector nothing. Why should he care if strangers went to war? He has some friends on Kaldor, and a couple on Ginderbar, but surely that cannot be enough. He has less than no feelings for Cassie, so that cannot be the reason. Could it really be so millions of strangers will not have to suffer? Whatever his reasoning, if he survives today, he will forever have a friend on Ginderbar. In a little while, the question would be answered; was Garrinoras the glue holding the alien fleet together? Jesse simply had to win for the galaxy to find out.
As he was lost in thought, he received a transmission from Admiral Dyson. It appeared as if the pirate fleet had wound up in three locations, Trae-bar was at Zinnebulous, Yartan was at Xenul and Xia was at Taglaharn. The entire alliance would be on alert, but he knew they were finished, at least as long as the Hyperians were here. It also seemed as though they had lost faith in their leader’s ability to win. This was a good sign, if the alien alliance did fall apart upon Garrinoras’ death, none of the factions including what was left of the pirates would be strong enough to cause any trouble sector-wide for a long time. Jesse just stopped a war. That thought made Ginderbar’s new Chief of State smile. He was now free to make his world truly great. By the time any of these anti-human worlds had enough strength to rear their ugly heads again, Ginderbar would be able to put them down hard, thanks to Jesse Marcos. I would prefer to live in peace, but I know I need to be ready for war. Such is life in the Lawless Sector.
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As Jesse was getting ready to deliver the killing blow, one of the drapad hunters, a very large one, broke away from the fight with the snow wolves and charged him. He turned in time for the beast’s jaws to lock on his shoulder as he brought Helga up and stabbed the beast through the chest. The dead beast landed with a crunch on Jesse’s leg, breaking something i
n his leg. The air in the stadium was no longer pleasant, poisoned by the fetid odor of the dead drapad hunters. Everywhere he looked as he lie in the gritty, golden dirt of the stadium floor, he saw the near toxic blood of the ugly creatures. Jesse rolled on the ground in pain as he held his injured leg. Garrinoras was finally able to find his footing, grab his blaster and move in for the kill. This time, however, it was Garrinoras that was surprised as Commando leapt on him from behind, knocking him to the ground and knocking his weapon out of his reach. The big snow wolf immediately jumped for the throat of another beast that was charging his master as Jesse slowly rose to his feet, and unsteadily drew his blaster. He drew it left handed because the attack from the beast had left him unable to move his right arm. Blood was flowing freely down the front of his battle suit and mingling with the golden dirt that covered his body to form a thick line of dark red mud on his clothing. Once again, he slowly began limping towards his enemy. He was now radiating pain from every inch of his body. He felt like he was going to pass out. Please, he thought, just hold it together for a couple more minutes. He shuddered to think of what Garrinoras would do to his unconscious body. He could barely stand on his broken leg. He had next to nothing left in the tank, but he only needed another minute or so.
He noticed that all of the growling had died down as his wolves and three of the Ginderian cats had slowly come up behind him and sat, awaiting his orders. He stopped, holding his blaster mere inches from the pirate’s neck as he saw the fear and confusion in his enemy’s eyes. He must be wondering how a mere human like me had bested him in single combat. It will be the last thought he ever has. The pirate crowd was silent. They knew their hero was out of tricks and out of luck. The pro-human crowd was on its feet, and from one half of the stadium, there was a deafening roar. The man who would have plunged their entire sector into chaos was about to be killed. The whole situation seemed surreal as he looked around. Blood dripped from his mauled shoulder, there were dead beasts strewn about the arena floor, the colorful birds were still circling overhead and the entire galaxy seemed to pause for a moment.
He thought for a moment about what he should do. Garrinoras is out of tricks, can I really kill a man in cold blood? It doesn’t matter what he has done, is there no other way? Jesse was at war with himself. The turmoil must have shown on his face as Garrinoras did the unexpected.
Garrinoras put his hand up in a gesture of surrender and cried, “Please, you don’t need to kill me, please, mercy, have mercy!” As he begged for his life, he was trying to reach his holdout blaster. Jesse kicked it away from him, yelling out loud at the pain in his broken leg. Garrinoras cried out again, “Please, I do not wish to die. You could let me live. We can change the rules, please.”
Jesse looked down at him, trying again to reach his blaster and realized no one would ever be safe with this being alive. He was to be the executioner and he would always have to live with that. He shook his head sadly with no joy in his eyes and replied, “That’s not the way the game is played.” He aimed his blaster and fired. Garrinoras slumped against the tree with a blaster burn between his eyes. The crowd was hushed in disbelief at what they had witnessed. The human had won; their hero was dead. The pro-human supporters began to go wild in celebration while one-half of the arena was silent. Jesse was in so much pain from his shoulder wounds, broken ribs and broken leg that he could barely stand. Commando stood right in front of him, daring anyone to come near while Shadow took a similar stance behind him.
Before any of them could make sense of what had happened, the announcer was on the stadium system shouting, “Arrest him! Jesse Marcos must not be allowed to leave here alive!”
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As the announcer called for his arrest or death, Jesse began trying to run. Even with his ankle somewhat casted, the broken bone in his leg was making it very difficult to find any speed. He was less than a hundred meters from the tunnel. He knew that in his condition, the run was going to take too long. His men had all come out to cover him, and were taking fire from several directions. Josiah gave the order and they began firing back. Jesse was hit in the back as he limped towards his people. His battle suit took the damage, but the shot had taken him off his feet. As he lay there, he thought, I’m not going to be able to get back to my feet. There’s no way my people can make it this far into the arena, either. I think I’m out of miracles.
The shot had come from a sniper’s perch near the top of the stadium. Josiah watched Jesse go down hard as he called in to one of the Hyperian units to hit the perch with a missile strike. As the missile hit, pieces of debris fell into the crowd, hitting the force shields and bouncing harmlessly onto the arena floor. Reece took out an armored vehicle heading their way and Sergeant Rivada had her men set up an anti-personnel weapon that was cutting the Zinnebailan pirates down faster than they could approach. The warrior-bots were blowing up any vehicles headed their way, and taking out any heavy fire positions. There were well over a hundred warriors from Qualoosh, Julan, Ginderbar, Kaldor and Hyperia that had come out to reinforce his entourage and Jesse was thankful for every single one of them. I hate the fact that some of these brave men and women might die protecting me. He knew there were even more, along with the rest of the soldiers on Endeavor covering their exit. Curiously absent from the brouhaha were the Farannsian security forces. Jesse couldn’t believe they would let a battle of this magnitude rage on their planet without making their presence felt in some way. He could no longer stand, so he began crawling towards his cover. With only one good arm and one good leg to move him across the arena floor, it was painfully slow going. If that miracle doesn’t happen, I will be leaving my life on the arena floor.
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Wennagal and Sandstorm rushed out immediately upon Garrinoras’ death to try and provide cover for Jesse. Kimi and Sibbie joined them in the forward position with Lenk, Wassan and Orvo. They established a position as far forward as they could. Kimi could see him, but she couldn’t get to him. It is going to be up to him to reach us. He is down and he looks like he is in so much pain, but she knew better than to ever count him out. Reece had just taken out an armored vehicle, and Rivada’s men were taking out the Zinnebailans almost as fast as they hit the arena floor. It looked like they might get out of this unscathed. Suddenly, almost forty Farannsians began to rush their position. They had emerged from their tunnel, quite close to their position and the soldiers had not had enough time to react. Tomra, Honus, Kord and Baldack rushed to help fortify their position, but the Farannsians were upon them. Two more Hyperians tried to help, but were cut down. Lenk was taken out as he tried to get a better position of cover.
Kimi had a battle suit on, so she ran out into the open to cover Sibbie, who had wandered too far out into the fray. Wennagal launched an anti-personnel grenade to the back of their formation that took out eight of them while Sandstorm came out to help his niece get to cover. Kimi was now in the middle of it as she unsheathed her sword and began taking Farannsians out on a personal level. She had pirouetted, spun and parried her way through five of Chawanas’ best while giving Sibbie and Sandstorm the time they needed to get back to cover. Orvo and Wassan were covering her, but there were just too many guys. Tomra called in a Hyperian tactical team, but they were not going to get there in time. I am never going to be able to have that conversation with Jesse or let Sandstorm down gently, Kimi mused sadly as she was hit with a blast that took her off her feet. She tried to crawl back to cover, but she knew she wasn’t going to get very far.
Sibbie cried out, “I have to help her; she’s out there because of me.” Wennagal was holding his young teammate back as Kimi was hit with anther blast from a heavy assault rifle. She was starting to lose strength fast when she spotted an opening. Wassan and Orvo had fought their way close enough to almost get her back and she took advantage of it. She made it back to cover and took a moment to take catch her breath as the pain from the heavy blasters hitting her suit kept her off her feet. As she was
getting ready to get back into it, a grenade landed right in front of her and Sibbie. She tried to react, but the beating she had just taken slowed her reflexes. Before she could jump on it, Ogen had dove on it to protect his niece and the woman he was in love with. His armor wasn’t thick enough and the grenade fragments tore into his body. Sandstorm lie there motionless, a look of shock on his face. Kimi reached him and began to cradle his head. She knew he wasn’t going to make it, and she knew he had given his life for her. She began to tear up as she held his head in her lap. Moments later, he breathed his last. His death will not be in vain, she decided as she stood. I must get Sibbie to safety, she thought as she looked for the shell-shocked niece of Agent Sandstorm.
Before the Farannsians could take advantage, Reece had shored up the position with a dozen soldiers from Julan. Kimi was numb as she looked at Sandstorm and then back at Sibbie. The young lady was frozen in shock and grief. She was also injured, badly. A piece of the grenade must have found her as well. Kimi knew she needed to get her off the battlefield. She ran to the young woman and quickly brought her to the rear of the engagement. Tioga had seen everything, and gently took her from Kimi and brought her back to Endeavor. Ogen died never really knowing how I felt, she sadly reflected. Now, I only want to save Jesse and get off this wretched world. Then I’ll make sure he knows how I feel.
