by Jake Bible
Hoops pulled herself free and stumbled a few steps down the corridor before she spun about and took aim with the pistol. The creature’s head was right there, its bulging eyes staring at her through the shattered window. She fired. She fired until the pistol powered down and became a useless hunk of metal. Then she threw the hunk of metal at the porthole window.
“Sheezus,” Brogan said, suddenly at her side. “You blew its head right off.”
“Did I?” Hoops asked.
“You didn’t see it?” Brogan asked.
“I was too busy shooting,” Hoops said. “I just aimed and kept firing. I don’t know what I saw.”
“Well, I saw it,” Brogan said. “You shot the crud out of that thing.”
“You think it’s dead?” Hoops asked.
“You want to stick around and find out?” Brogan asked.
“Not in the foing slightest,” Hoops said.
“You two! Come on!” Jelly yelled from the door at the other end of the corridor. “We gotta make like a Lipian crotch and split!”
“Sheezus,” Brogan said. “We are going to have to figure out how to reprogram his vocabulary.”
“I heard that,” Jelly said as they got nearer and he hit the controls to the door. It slid open behind him. “You know, I’ve worked hard at my vocabulary over the—”
He didn’t finish. The creature that stood behind him snapped his head from his body without any effort. It threw the android’s head at Brogan and Hoops then rushed them at full speed.
“No!” Hoops screamed.
“Fo me!” Brogan yelled.
The creature was the same as the first, but much, much, larger. Its shoulders touched the sides of the corridor and it used its arms to propel it as much as it used its legs, reaching out and grabbing fistfuls of metal, moving more like it was climbing than running.
It climbed fast.
The thing collided with Brogan first and the Tcherian crumpled as if he’d been hit by a Fleet cruiser. His body folded in on itself and limbs went in directions they never were meant to go. His one eye popped right from his skull and smacked against the faceplate of his helmet, leaving a bloody smear all the way down.
Hoops tried to flee, tried to get past the creature, but there was nowhere to go. The thing’s bulk took up all the space around her. She tried to back up, but she collided with something solid. Or semi-solid. Hoops turned her head and started to scream as she saw the first creature, most of its head missing, but the rubbery bones and oily flesh quickly knitting together. Yet Hoops never got a chance to scream. The sound was cut short by a webbed hand wedging itself once again between the seam of her helmet and the rest of her suit.
This time it was the front and her throat was crushed, obliterated as the webbed hand pierced the seam and tore into her indigo flesh. Blood spurted from the rupture and the creature opened wide to catch the bright red stream. It drank and drank until the stream became a drizzle and it let Hoops’ body fall to the floor to join Brogan’s crushed corpse.
“Hey there! Uglies!” Jelly’s voice rang out.
The first creature had to shove part of its larger comrade out of the way to see Jelly’s head lying on the floor, coated in synthetic fluid.
“Yes, I called you ugly,” Jelly said, his voice warped and twisted. “You really are ugly, you know that? You know what else? I am so, so, so not pleased with your behavior. You done killed me peeps, yo. Killed ‘em dead in front of me.”
The first creature squeezed past the bigger and rushed to Jelly’s head, picking it up with a hissing snarl.
“Want to hear a joke?” Jelly said as the creature wrapped its webbed palm around the top of Jelly’s head and started to squeeze. “What do you get when you piss off an android that is still connected to his ship’s systems? You get dead. That’s what you get. Now, ain’t that funny?”
Jelly’s head popped and Drop Team Three’s ship, the SIS, exploded in a fiery ball, obliterating the dead and the living on board.
Thirty-Four
Wanders hurried off the moltrans platform, his stomach rebelling the second he materialized into solid form.
“Ha!” Grue laughed as he stepped forward and patted his brother on the shoulder. “You get used to it, brother! But it is harder on Gwreqs than most other beings. It is the stone nature of our bodies. Refuses to be budged without a fight!”
“Yeah, not so sure about the easier on other beings part,” Geist said as he sat down quickly on the edge of the platform. “Phew, doggy, that feels funky.”
“Phew doggy? You sound like Mug,” Cookie said, yawning as if the experience of the molecular transport was no different than a ride in a jet skiff. He turned and grabbed one end of the med chamber that Hole was busy shifting to the side so it could be leveraged off the platform. “I got this end.”
“Thank you,” Hole said as she and Cookie moved Motherboard’s med chamber off the platform and engaged the hover motors so it floated easily a meter off the floor. “That was not as bad as the first fifty times.”
“First fifty times?” a woman asked as she walked into the moltrans room. She was insanely tall, with ebony hair and deep blue skin that had an iridescent sheen to it. Human, but one of the far-fringe genetic lines. “You’ve had a lot of experience with molecular transport units?”
“I have,” Hole said. “Androids are subjected to much more severe training when joining the Drop Teams. We are expected to handle the more dangerous aspects of missions since we are synthetic and therefore expendable in the Fleet’s eyes.”
“Harsh,” the woman replied. “You should consider joining the Edger movement. We do not hold any life above another. All Edgers are equal.”
“Yet you are in charge,” Hole said to the woman.
“Am I?” the woman replied. “Of this ship, perhaps.”
“This is my boss,” Grue said, pointing at the woman. “Midnight.”
“A pleasure to meet you,” Hole said. “I am Master Sergeant—”
“Master Sergeant Hole,” Midnight interrupted then looked at the others. “That is Sergeant Woo Calli-Fa, of course.”
“Wanders,” Wanders said. “We use our callsigns.”
“Very well, Wanders,” Midnight said. “And this is Sergeant Nox Schturm.”
“Cookie,” Cookie said.
“That name must have an interesting story to it,” Midnight chuckled.
“I like cookies,” Cookie said and shrugged.
“Geist,” Geist said, not waiting for the introduction. “Short for poltergeist because I’m Tcherian and am kind of like a ghost at times.”
“That name makes sense,” Midnight said then looked at the med chamber. “I assume that is Lieutenant Bish Falk? Does she have a callsign as well?”
“Motherboard,” Hole said. “Due to her cybernetic implants and replacement parts.”
“Excellent,” Midnight said.
“How close are we to the base?” Hole asked.
“Close,” Midnight said. “Let’s get your lieutenant set up in our medical bay and then we can go over your plan to infiltrate the Hoonnaann base and extract your comrade.”
“We will also need to extract the Keer boy as well as Sha Morgoal,” Hole said. “But Mug is our primary target at this point. The others are secondary.”
“Sounds like you folks have gone off script,” Midnight said. “I like that. Sure you don’t want to join the Edgers? We live off script.”
“We just want to retrieve Mug,” Hole said. “Then we’ll be on our way.”
“And owe me a favor,” Midnight said.
“Yes, and owe you a favor,” Hole replied.
“Grue? How about you move the med chamber into our medical bay while I speak with Master Sergeant Hole and her Team,” Midnight said.
Grue nodded and moved to the med chamber. He had no problem moving its bulk around considering he had four arms and was almost literally built like a brick crudhouse.
“We’ll talk later, bro,” Grue said as he
was leaving. “Catch up and stuff.”
“I’ll try to live long enough so that happens,” Wanders said.
“You,” Grue laughed and was gone.
“Here is the deal,” Midnight said as soon as Grue was gone. “We are in stealth and the base cannot pick us up. Except when we transport you over there. During those three seconds, we will be visible and vulnerable. Our defensive shields will be down. I hope you understand the risk we are taking.”
“Completely,” Hole said.
“That means the favor you owe me will be as big as the risk,” Midnight said. “When I call you, I expect you to pick up that call and return the favor. No questions asked, no hesitating.”
“Hole,” Cookie growled.
Hole held up a hand and Cookie went quiet.
“I understand your terms and I agree,” Hole said.
“Does the rest of your Team?” Midnight asked.
“They do,” Hole said.
“Don’t you think you should ask them?” Midnight responded.
“Do you ask your crew if they are alright with your decisions?” Hole asked.
“To be honest, yes, sometimes I do,” Midnight said. “We’re Edgers. Equality means a lot more to us.”
“But sometimes you do not,” Hole said. “And when you do not, do they fight you or do they agree?”
“They agree,” Midnight replied. “If they know what’s good for them.”
“Then we have an understanding,” Hole said.
“She doesn’t really threaten us,” Geist said. “We just do what she says because she outranks us and Motherboard would have our asses in a sling if we didn’t listen to Hole.”
“Yes, I got the subtext,” Midnight said. She looked past the Team at the gear still piled on the platform. “That is all you are taking?”
“This will be fast,” Hole said.
“You do know that your friends didn’t even make it to the base, yes?” Midnight asked.
“I’m sorry, what?” Hole asked.
“I believe it was Drop Team Three,” Midnight said. “Their ship was torn apart by creatures from the system. It exploded just as you were being transported here. They never even got close to the base.”
Zero let that sink in for a couple of seconds. Geist shook his head over and over. Wanders started punching two fists into two palms. Cookie hissed quietly.
“Doesn’t change how we are approaching this op,” Hole said. “You transport us over to the base, we retrieve Mug, try for the Keer boy, try for Sha Morgoal, call you, you transport us back and we get out of this nightmare System.”
“Sounds easy as pie,” Midnight said. “Speaking of, are you hungry? My husband makes a delicious gump meat pie. He’s in the galley right now.”
“No, thank you,” Hole said. “Eating before an op is not always the best idea.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to know what gump meat pie looks like coming back up,” Wanders said and burped.
“We have gump stew,” Midnight said. “It’s from yesterday, but might be easier on the stomach.”
“That is kind,” Hole said. “But we will pass.”
“I thought all Edgers were hard as nails badasses,” Cookie said. “But you’re offering us gump pie and gump stew?”
“I am a hard as nails badass, “Midnight said. “Doesn’t mean I cannot be a good host. Plus, I have had a recent experience that has given me a broader view of how everyone in the galaxy fits together.”
“Good for you,” Hole said. “Now, if you do not mind, I am going to prep my Team and then we’ll be ready for transport once we are in close enough proximity to the base.”
“You want me to leave?” Midnight asked.
“It would be easier for us to focus,” Hole said.
Midnight gave Hole a long look then nodded. “Very well. I’ll leave you to your prep. I’ll be back down to send you over myself. Be ready in about fifteen minutes.”
“That close?” Wanders asked.
“That close,” Midnight said. She nodded to everyone. “By the way, welcome aboard the Gratuity. I hope you are happy with your stay here.” She gave an exaggerated wink then left Zero to themselves.
Hole waited a good minute then turned to address the Team.
“We all understand this is a long shot at best, yes?” she asked.
“At best,” Cookie said.
“Understood,” Wanders said.
“It always is,” Geist sighed.
“Good,” Hole said. “This is how we play it. Geist, you will be on point. It’s a camo op, so Wanders will carry your kit during transport. I need you to go chameleon the second we set foot on that base. We have no idea what will be waiting for us, so I need you hidden and scouting ahead.”
“What if we encounter resistance the second we touch metal?” Wanders asked.
“Then we open fire and don’t stop firing until that resistance is cleared,” Hole said.
“Cool,” Wanders said. “I can get behind that.”
“This is fast and dirty, so we won’t have time to cycle through com channels to find one the base can’t lock onto,” Hole said. “We go with the standard op channel and stick to it even if you suspect we’re being listened to. That means minimal communication if we get separated.”
They nodded their understanding and agreement.
“Motherboard knows the base, but she won’t be with us,” Hole said. She tapped at her wrist and a small holo came up. “I did retrieve this from the Eight-Three-Eight’s system, though. It is rudimentary, but good enough so we know which wing is which. The detention wing is here.” She pointed at a red spot that popped up in the holo. “That is our first location. I assume Sha Morgoal and the Keer boy will be there as well, but we do not know for certain. If not then we do not waste time hunting for them. We grab Mug and get out ASAP.”
“What if we don’t find Mug in the detention wing?” Geist asked.
“Then we go find her wherever she is being held,” Hole said.
“Right,” Geist said, nodding.
“We tear that base apart inch by inch until we have Mug in our hands,” Hole said. “Or we die trying. Everyone good with that?”
“Completely,” Cookie replied.
“I don’t have a problem with it,” Wanders said.
“I’m going to die naked and probably looking like a patch of the base’s walls, but hey, you only live once,” Geist said.
“Good,” Hole said. “Then double check your kits and let’s get ready.”
“Hooah!” the rest said.
“Hooah!” Hole responded.
Thirty-Five
Sparks flew and the lights dimmed as Z, Tnort, and ten BooshGon troops materialized in the Hoonnaann base’s corridor.
“Go!” Z ordered, her plasma rifle up and sweeping back and forth.
Three of the troops rushed ahead to the end of the corridor while the rest followed closely behind. One trooper dropped to a knee and slung his rifle as he worked at the corridor’s door controls.
It slid open and the BooshGon squad opened fire on the four syndicate thugs that stood in the next corridor, oblivious to the threat that had landed on their base. They were torn apart by plasma bolts before they could even reach for their weapons.
“Send the rest,” Z ordered.
“Yes, ma’am,” the moltrans tech replied over the com.
Z moved forward with the squad, but pointed at two of the troops. “You and you, stay here at this junction. Wait for the rest of the squads to arrive. You send half our way and half back that way.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the two troops replied.
“Go,” Z said to Tnort as she turned away from the troops left behind. “We are on the clock and it is small.”
“I’ve never understood that saying of yours,” Tnort said. “It doesn’t matter how big or how small a clock is, time is still the same.”
“That’s why it’s a saying and not a fact.” Z replied. “You think too much.”
; “That’s true,” Tnort said.
They hit the next door and it slid open without any work on the controls. Eight Syndicate thugs waited for the squad, guns up and glowing. But even with those guns up, they didn’t stand a chance. The BooshGon squad cut them down with only one injury on their side.
“You good?” Tnort asked the trooper that had taken a bolt to his left shoulder.
“Only need the one arm,” the trooper replied as he brandished his plasma rifle.
“Next door we’re more cautious,” Z said. “They know we’re here.”
As if in response to her words, deafening klaxons blared through the corridor. Flashing red lights began to strobe throughout the ceiling, making visibility more than surreal.
“Filters on,” Z said and slapped a visor down from her body armor’s combat helmet. “Watch between the strobes. It’s an old trick, but effective if these thugs know how to use it.”
The squad kept moving. The next door slid open well before they reached it, but they were ready. Five troops dropped to their knees and opened fire while the rest of the squad stood behind them, firing also, creating a head-to-toe wave of plasma death. The Syndicate thugs that came at them were cut to pieces before they got barely a shot off and had moved three steps.
“Go,” Z ordered.
The squad kept moving.
“Second squad in place,” a voice announced over the com.
“Good, keep them coming,” Z said.
The next corridor proved slightly harder as the thugs took cover in the open doorways of side rooms. The squad was dangerously exposed, but they were also considerably better shots. One by one the thugs were taken out and only one squad member was lost.
“Double the death pay to her family,” Z said as she stepped over the trooper’s corpse. “She took out three thugs by herself before falling.”
“Will do, boss lady,” Tnort said.
