by Jack Hunt
The cave system seemed to go on forever, an endless hole of darkness full of corners, deep crevices and sounds of unseen creatures scuttling around.
Reid was lost in thought as they made their way towards light coming from the far end of the cave.
“So what will you do after?”
“Pardon?”
“Your daughter said you were retiring.”
“Yeah, I was until I got handed this winning assignment.”
She chuckled. “Come on, what are you going to do?”
“Sit back, drink some beers and catch fish.”
“That’s it?”
“That is it.”
“Have you considered working for the UEDF in a different division?”
“If you mean as an instructor at the academy, forget it. Been there, done that and quite frankly I am ready to put the whole military behind me.”
“I doubt it,” she said, without looking at him.
“I think I know what I want.”
“No, I mean you military guys don’t retire. It’s in your blood. You might enjoy going fishing for a while but you’ll soon go stir-crazy.”
“Is that right?”
“Yep. My father was an SOSR.”
Reid frowned. “Vincent Powers?”
“That’s right.”
“I never knew he was your father.”
“Most don’t. He has pretty much stayed off the radar after his time in the military. But he’s still involved.”
“In what way?”
“If you are really interested, come see me after this.”
He chuckled. “You make it sound like we are getting out of this.”
“I have every bit of confidence in you.”
“Well I’m glad you do, I don’t think my team does.”
He glanced over at them and they were chatting among themselves.
“Oh I don’t know, they wouldn’t be here now if they didn’t.”
“They have no other choice. It’s either this or doing time in the brig.”
As the light ahead of them got brighter and wider, Reid pressed ahead to catch up with Skinner.
“What we got, Skinner?”
He had sent out drones to scope out the area before them.
“Twenty-two people. But I’m picking up hostiles moving in on them. At least ten.”
“Hostiles?” Reid jogged back to where the ambassador was. “I thought you said they were alone?”
She looked confused. “They were, they are?”
“Who else knew about this place?”
She tried to recall. “Benja, Kenji, Kane and myself, that’s it.”
“When did you tell Kane about the location?”
“After you collected us.”
He glanced at her, then grabbed a hold and flipped her around looking for a device that was used for communicating.
“What are you doing?”
“Where is it? How long have you been able to communicate with him?”
“Lieutenant, get the hell off.”
“Lt. She asked me to send the message, back at the waterfall,” Bulldog said.
“And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“I thought Kane knew.”
She stared at him as if something was beginning to sink in. Reid didn’t stick around to discuss it any further as he jogged up to where Skinner was. They came out of the cave and walked up to the edge of a ridge overlooking the basin that was hedged in on either side by high mountains. The ground was covered in trees. Further down they could see a large lake, and a small village with smoke rising out of chimneys. It was unlike any of the Echobis’ homes. Instead, it resembled what might have been seen on Earth. A small village full of cabins that had been built from trees in the area. It was easy to notice what had been used for building material, as besides large bodies of water, the entire planet was a blanket of green and several sections of the basin were flat. The Echobi might have been divided on matters of war and peace but one thing they agreed on was that none of the plant life would be destroyed without permission. Their methods of building worked with the trees not against them.
“I thought the Echobi didn’t allow anything to be built beyond the outpost?” Priest asked.
“They don’t. This wasn’t sanctioned because no one on Drozleon knew,” the ambassador said.
“How much power do you have left in your boosters?” Reid asked the others.
Each of them brought up in their HUD an assessment.
“Five percent,” Bulldog muttered.
“Ten,” Priest added.
“Two,” Skinner said.
“Forty-eight,” Phantom said. “But mine screwed up on entry.”
Reid glanced out over the forest. The drop was at least a hundred and fifty feet to the ground and around thirty to the treetops.
“Sophie, you’re going to stay with the ambassador and make your way down using the trails.”
“What are you planning on doing?”
“We’re going in hard,” he said peering over the edge of the ridge to the drop far below.
“Lt. This isn’t going to be enough to get us down there.”
“Maybe not but even if we sprint, we wouldn’t make it down there in time. If those hostiles reach them, the refugees are dead and we can forget the chancellor.”
“I can’t believe this. Okay, this is officially insane,” Bulldog said.
“I know, isn’t it great,” Skinner said preparing himself for what was likely going to be one hell of a crash landing. What Reid had in mind would require all of them to use their boosters, and jump as one unit. It wasn’t going to be pretty, and with manual engaged, the chance of them spinning out of control and colliding with the tops of trees increased.
Reid spoke to his HUD system to get an analysis of the odds of them surviving based on the scenario. It answered back in a matter of seconds.
There is a thirty-one percent chance of survival without broken limbs. I would highly advise seeking an alternative solution.
“Thirty-one percent. I can handle those odds, what do you say, team?”
“Well, I didn’t think I would live beyond thirty-five. I’m in,” Phantom said.
Skinner would have been in even if the odds had been zero. The guy was a total maniac. One by one they stepped forward to the edge. The only one left was Bulldog. Sophie and the ambassador were already making their way down using a rugged trail cut into the side of the mountain.
“Ah what the hell.”
Reid smirked. They created a circle and reached across to each other’s armor, overlapping arms and interlocking themselves.
“You ready?”
“To die, no. But to watch you die, ah, I could think of worse things,” Bulldog said.
“Hold up,” Priest said reaching into his pocket and pulling out his rosary beads. He slung it over his neck and muttered a quick prayer.
“I hope you put in a good word for me,” Phantom said.
“Like I told you, you got to do it yourself.”
“Yeah, maybe I will three seconds before we hit the ground,” he chuckled.
“Let’s do this,” Reid said getting his game face on.
“Hold on a second,” Bulldog said. “Are we going on three?”
Reid nodded. “On three.”
“Is that activate on three or after we have said three?”
“Ah fuck this. Activate boosters,” Skinner said. All five of them shot upwards, each of them activating his booster seconds after he had. Interlocked together they twisted and turned as each booster powered on. Like a rocket out of control, they spun over and started making the descent towards the blanket of green. If they didn’t level out fast they would end up impaled on the tops of the trees.
“Phantom, turn yours off,” Reid shouted over the comms.
Once that was done, Reid immediately felt a loss of power on one side and it tipped them into a 45-degree angle. Priest was the first to feel the tips of the trees as they broke
across the tops and plunged down into the darkness of the forest, closer to where the village was. At first it didn’t seem too bad, then as Phantom activated his again to make up for Skinner’s and Bulldog’s that had switched off, it was like being in what Reid imagined a plane crash was like. Branches snapped, and brush jabbed into them as they tore through plant life. Bulldog let out a cry as they plowed into heavy branches. Twisting, turning and falling at a tremendous speed, they were aiming for a patch of heavy brush, hoping to skim over the top of it like a rock over water, but instead they were going to land in the lake.
Like a bullet shot out of a gun, they emerged from the forest and slammed into the water.
There was no skipping involved. Just an almighty splash as they plunged into the deep and felt their descent slow. Their exoskeleton armor was water-resistant for times when they had to walk knee-deep through swamps but it was not designed for full immersion for longer than a few minutes.
Bulldog had taken the full force of the impact and was now unconscious. Difficult as it was, Reid and the others gripped him and swam to the surface. When they made it to the sandy area that surrounded the lake itself, all five of them slumped down face first.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rising from the wet sand, Reid got a health analysis on the damage. He could already feel his suit automatically pumping rapid-healing stimulant drugs into his system. Areas of pain quickly started to dissipate. He hauled himself up to his knees and looked over at the others. Bulldog wasn’t moving, the others were groaning.
“That was worse than the hangover I got after graduating the academy,” Skinner muttered gripping the sides of his head. Phantom staggered forward and then collapsed.
“Whoa, take it easy,” Reid said, rushing over to him and noticing that his health system had malfunctioned. Areas of his suit had cracked and taken in water.
“It’s not working,” Reid muttered.
“Story of my life,” Phantom replied.
Meanwhile Priest was up on his feet looking as fit as a fiddle. “Right, guys, time to move out.” He began trudging away with water pouring out of his joints.
“Lt, remind me not to go on a pub crawl with you,” Skinner said grinning as he rose to his feet and went over to Bulldog to check on him.
“Looks like the Brit is out cold.”
“Great.”
Priest had already made it twenty feet away when he looked back. “Geesh, guys, I keep telling you, this is what happens when you don’t believe.”
“Shut the hell up,” Phantom replied gripping his lower back like an old man.
Right then Bulldog shot upwards into a seated position gasping for breath. His eyes looked wild. Skinner had administered an adrenaline shot from his first-aid kit.
“Where are they? I’m gonna fuck ’em up,” Bulldog muttered having no clue what was going on and suffering from the effects of a concussion and a fair amount of confusion.
“Steady on, you limey bastard. The war hasn’t begun yet.” Skinner patted him on the shoulder. “You can thank me later.”
Reid helped Bulldog to his feet and though he was having some difficulty walking, his suit was administering rapid-healing drug stimulants and it wouldn’t take long for him to be back in the game.
“Let’s go!” Priest yelled.
They stumbled forward as a unit with all the finesse of a squad that should have been laid up in a medical bay somewhere far from Drozleon. As they ran, staggered and hobbled towards the village, Reid checked in with his daughter.
“How we doing, Sophie?”
“We’re getting there.”
“Keep the package safe.”
“Would you stop referring to me as a package,” Ambassador Powers shot back.
“What would you prefer? Your highness?”
“I’m not royalty.”
“Are you sure about that?” Reid grinned. “You sure like to be pampered.”
“Screw you, Lieutenant.”
“Don’t put ideas in his head,” Skinner added.
The other guys laughed. Their laughter was short-lived as the sound of screaming reached their ears, along with gunfire. Reid broke into a sprint yanking his rifle off his back and shouldering it. In times of stress he would get tunnel vision. It was like everything around him slowed and he could hear his heart slamming against his chest.
With two fingers Reid gave Priest instructions to go with Skinner to the left, while Bulldog, Phantom and himself would go right. As they got closer to the small village itself they could see several Echobis trying to run from militants. They plowed the refugees down like they were nothing.
“I don’t get it. Where’s Draskan?” Phantom asked.
“This isn’t his group. There were at least sixty of them. There’s only ten here. There’s no way he could have got around to the other side in time.”
It was hard to know but Reid was certain they had a little help. Reid tapped Bulldog and they moved in, circling one of the cabin structures. A militia member was about to strike down one of his own people with a plasma blade when Reid fired. There was so much gunfire occurring, it was hard to tell whether it was coming from militia or those inside the camp who were trying to defend themselves. They moved with laser precision, Phantom watching Reid’s six while he watched Bulldog’s. As they passed by one of the cabins, Reid glanced inside and saw a militia soldier tearing into the flesh of an Echobi man who was begging for mercy. Reid hopped up onto the porch, kicked the door in and fired a round in his head. His body slumped on top of the man who was still screaming in agony. As much as he wanted to stop and administer some kind of medicine, they had to keep moving.
“How many, Skinner?” Reid asked over the comm.
“Six left.”
Reid watched as Bulldog rushed two of the militia and was cut down by the pair of them. He turned to see where Phantom was and saw that he was engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Reid fired multiple times at the two as they attempted to drive plasma blades deep into Bulldog’s chest.
One of them collapsed on top of him but the other one vaulted into the air, bringing its blade of death towards Reid. He went to step back but lost his footing as he squeezed the trigger. Multiple rounds tore through the soldier’s armor as it landed on him, black blood gushed out over his body. He pushed it off and rolled out only to find himself knocked down again. This time he lost his grip on the rifle and it slid across the ground. As he turned, and tried to go for his handgun, the Echobi soldier fired at him. One round struck him in the shoulder but before it could fire another, Skinner came rushing out of a cabin and plowed the militant down.
He looked off to his right and saw Bulldog motionless.
Priest appeared at his side, scanning the area with his rifle against his shoulder as Reid retrieved his weapon. Reid joined Skinner to check on Bulldog but one glance at his motionless body made it clear that he was gone.
“Idiot, his ego always got the best of him,” Skinner said, removing his helmet and placing his hands over his eyes to close the lids. Priest muttered a short prayer and then they had to get moving. “Skinner, what have we got?”
He pointed to the far side of the village towards a church. As they approached, the doors opened and Kenji came out.
“Chancellor, are you ready to leave?” Reid said. There was no time for conversation. If the militia had managed to get into the valley without passing them, it meant they had to have arrived on a craft. The question was, where was it and why weren’t their sensors picking it up? Kenji motioned to fourteen others who were inside the building, cowering in a corner alongside a group of kids no older than eight. It was unusual to see the Echobi cower, but it spoke volumes of the fear that Draskan had instilled in those that opposed him.
One by one his team led them out. No sooner had they got them out when he heard Sophie. “Dad.”
“Yeah.”
He turned to find Sophie being thrust out ahead of a large group of militants. All of them reacted fast, bringing th
eir weapons up, but it was pointless. Slowly but surely more militia fanned out and surrounded the village. There had to have been at least fifty. One of them had a firm grip on the ambassador by the back of her hair.
As Reid’s eyes drifted across the crowd who were aiming weapons at them, the group parted. Strolling down the middle of them was Draskan. He was geared up in full military armor, and had a smile dancing on his lips.
“Lieutenant. It’s been a while.”
Reid’s stomach dropped. The memory of killing his son flooded his mind. He figured he was going to die and yet after all that he’d been through as an SOSR and the loss of his team, if it was going to happen, he was going to take one or two of them with him.
“Lower your weapons.”
“It’s not happening,” Reid replied.
“Look around you, Lieutenant. You’re outnumbered.”
“And?”
Draskan snorted. “You said he was stubborn. I can see what you mean,” Draskan said. Right then, Captain Kane appeared off to the right and everything fell into place.
“You bastard,” Reid said lunging forward but stopping as weapons were thrust towards him.
“Come now, Reid. Did you really think you were going to walk out of here with the chancellor and the ambassador?”
Reid spat near his feet. “What deal did you make?”
Kane walked into the clearing and glanced at Sophie then back at Reid. Reid wanted to tear into him but he knew that would only play into what he wanted.
He shook his head. “Oh Reid. Such a disappointment.”
“Why? I don’t get it.”
Kane snorted. “Of course you don’t, that’s why I made captain and you run around risking your ass on hostile worlds. Look around you, Reid, think about it. Four years ago, we were nearly wiped out by the Echobi. That wasn’t even their entire army. It was just the tip of the iceberg. Do you really think that Earth stands a chance?” He paused and glanced over at the ambassador. “The foolishness of Earth is to think that it can unite with everyone. Some species will never unite with Earth. What then?” He moved around like he had been given a free ticket to exist without them killing him. “I will tell you. Earth attacks and takes what it wants by force. You know as well as I do, this attempt by the ambassador failed.”
