Rebel Yell: Operation Ardent Redux: Episode 1 (A Space Opera Adventure)

by J. L. Stowers

  “They bet workers?” Zadria whispered.

  “I hate this place,” Roni said with a sigh. “Guess he’s next on the list.”

  Roni and Zadria waited quietly until the sound of boots crunching on loose gravel drew near. Grasping the blaster, Roni stepped out into the tunnel facing a frail looking elderly man.

  “Oh!” the guard said, startled. Two young men who didn’t look old enough to have graduated high school froze in their tracks behind the guard. Their faces were bruised and beaten.

  “What did you do to them?” Roni asked, stepping closer with the blaster aimed at the aged guard’s head.

  “Me? Oh, nothing,” he said as he unclipped his comm and drew his blaster, tossing them onto the ground at his feet. “They did that to each other. Was going to make them Larry’s problem. I’m not looking for trouble.”

  “Zad, get his stuff,” Roni ordered, keeping the blaster steady.

  “Do you need anything else? Where do you want me to go?” the guard asked.

  Roni arched an eyebrow. “What’s going on here?”

  “You don’t know?” The guard looked puzzled. “You’re the one with the gun.”

  “I mean with you, old man. You’re making this almost too easy,” she replied.

  “You expect me to put up a fight? I’m too old for that. This was my last assignment before retirement. I didn’t even want to be here. No way am I losing my life to some revolutionary with a grudge and a gun.”

  “Zad, take him to Larry and the others.”

  Zadria nodded and beckoned the old man to follow while Roni stayed, staring at the boys.

  She lowered her weapon. “So, what’s going on here?”

  The boys looked at each other, then shrugged. It was then that Roni noticed an undeniable resemblance in both their looks, gestures, and the pitiful way they dropped their gazes to her boots.

  “Brothers?” she asked.

  The one on the left nodded.

  Roni couldn’t help but smirk. “I get it. But look, I’m trying to start an uprising here. Any chance you guys can put whatever you’re fighting about aside and help me out?”

  The boys nodded in unison.

  “Good. I need you to go keep an eye on those guards. Rebecca and another guy are there. See if you can lend a hand. We’ll be bringing more.”

  The boys rounded the corner, nearly colliding into Zadra as she returned.

  “Looks like we’re on our way,” Zadria said with a smile.

  * * *

  Roni looked over the dirty faces staring back at her. It wasn’t long after Larry that she and Zadria were able to take two other guards prisoner. Now they were up to three prisoners and about two dozen able-bodied volunteers.

  Each guard’s respirator had replaced the worst one of the bunch. Roni traded a new respirator for an older one and Zadria had done the same to give those who’d been in the mines longer a better chance at survival. It was amazing what a difference they made in their volunteers. Once they were breathing better, they were more willing to help.

  “Is everyone clear on the plan?” Roni asked. The newly invigorated recruits nodded their agreement.

  The guards were tied up and linked together in the cavern. Every bit of rope they could find went to their restraints. Roni wasn’t sure if it would hold long, but it should give them enough of a chance to get out.

  The next step was going to the surface, and Roni had no idea what was waiting for them up there. Those with experience were armed with the guards’ blasters. The rest were instructed to use what they could find and wait. Roni and Zadria still carried their makeshift weapons, but Roni was desperate for her own toys.

  “Alright, let’s move.”

  Roni led the way up the tunnel. Other men and women peeked out of shadows and dark corners. As Roni and her militia headed toward the surface, she hoped those watching would pick up arms as well. Maybe action would inspire them more than her words had.

  Another small group of volunteers met Roni where the shaft joined another. She had put a retired police officer in charge of the group once she discovered his former occupation.

  “We’re all clear down here. Guards are restrained, and we’ve managed to convince a few more people to join.”

  “Good work, Billy. Seems like all that police training really paid off. Glad to have you on our side,” Roni said as she nodded to the man. “Get started on the next tunnel. I don’t want anyone coming up on us from behind. We’re going to have enough to deal with on our front porch.”

  “First, here.” He handed her a GC access card. “This might come in handy. We took it off of one of the guards.”

  “Thanks. I’m sure I can find a use for this,” Roni said as she passed it to Zadria.

  “Maybe the armory topside?” Billy asked with a half smile. “Could always use more weapons.”

  “My thoughts exactly. Let’s get moving.”

  Billy nodded and signaled his crew. They divided and ran off.

  Roni turned back to her group. “Once we get up there, I’ll need you to lay down cover fire so Zadria and I can try to get to the armory. Then we’ll get back here with as much as we can to arm as many as we can. Stay alert. Protect yourselves. Protect each other.”

  They chose to surface through a smaller access point instead of the main tunnel in hopes they might go unnoticed. As far as she knew, their coup had gone unnoticed so far. Comm chatter didn’t hint at anything going on outside, so they were flying blind on their mission to raid the armory.

  “Ready, Zad?” Roni asked quietly as the pair neared the exit.

  “I guess as ready as I can be.” Zadria laughed nervously.

  Roni couldn’t help but smirk. She had assumed Zadria was the dutiful daughter, but the girl really managed to surprise her at every corner. Her fighting style could use some work, but she was able to hold her own fairly well.

  The open maw of the mineshaft revealed a dark sky. Roni was relieved. Darkness helped. She beckoned the rest of her followers as she and Zadria got into position for a better look. Everything looked peaceful, calm. Almost too calm.

  “What’s wrong?” Zadria asked.

  “Shouldn’t there be more GC personnel walking around? Where are they?”

  Zadria shrugged. “Maybe they’re still in the meeting?”

  Roni pursed her lips together. Something wasn’t quite right. “Maybe.”

  After several minutes, Roni tried to push the feeling of doubt into the back of her mind. “Alright, let’s go.”

  Roni stepped out of the shaft with Zadria close behind. A few guards chatted on a hill in the distance, their white armor clearly visible in the dark night. Floodlights were angled toward the main mineshaft, while a spotlight swept over the side tunnels.

  Crouching, running, finding cover where they could, Roni and Zadria shuffled along toward the outer edge of the main camp, leaving the rest of the group to stand guard. They wanted to hit the scout ship first and pick up the few weapons they’d left there before heading on to the armory.

  They made it to the scout unnoticed and quickly ducked inside. After collecting the few remaining weapons, they stared out at the camp. Roni sighed as she looked out over it.

  “Maybe there are just fewer guards at night?” Zadria suggested.

  “It’s possible…” Roni replied, doubting the words as she spoke them.

  They stepped back into the night and made their way toward the armory. It ended up being close to where Roni had confronted Ryan.

  As they drew nearer to their target, Roni spotted Ryan again. “Traitorous scum,” she mumbled, still annoyed at the hit she took. She wasn’t sure if her armor didn’t absorb any of the charge or if it did and he had meant to kill her. Either way, she wouldn’t let it happen again. She took aim.

  “Roni,” Zadria whispered, a warning in her tone. “Don’t.”

  “Don’t?”

  “Look.”

  Roni looked where Zadria pointed. Four guards. They’d certainly
see if Ryan suddenly collapsed. She couldn’t risk their cover or the people in the mine.

  “The armory is there,” Zadria said, pointing again to a different location.

  Roni lowered her weapon, knowing Zadria was right. She studied the girl’s face in the dim lighting. She looked as though she were fresh out of the academy, but she did an excellent job at helping Roni keep herself in check. In some ways, she reminded her of David.

  “What? Why are you staring at me?” Zadria asked, arching an eyebrow.

  Roni opened her mouth but wasn’t sure what to say. Instead she glanced back at the armory. Satisfied that Ryan and the other guards were far enough away, she took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

  They dashed for the armory. Zadria used her stolen access card to open the door, and the two women ducked inside.

  “This is it?” Roni asked out loud to no one in particular. The armory was not only small, but mostly empty. A few small, standard-issue GC blasters remained on the shelves, but their range left much to be desired.

  “Here,” Zadria said excitedly. “Look, Roni!”

  Roni turned, and, for the first time since they woke up in the mine, the uneasy feeling left her belly. Zadria held Roni’s swords in one hand and a massive blaster in the other.

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” Roni said with a grin. The two quickly got to work storing their confiscated weapons back in their proper locations. Zadria then grabbed a bag and tossed the rest inside.

  Roni held her hand up to Zadria, palm out. “Wait,” she whispered. Something was happening outside, but Roni couldn’t quite hear what it was. She leaned closer to the door.

  The door handle turned, and Roni drew her sword as it opened, startling Ryan.

  “You again?” he asked. “You should be down in the mine.”

  “And you shouldn’t be fighting for the other team, but here we are,” Roni said as she grabbed him and pulled him into the armory, closing the door behind him. “What are you doing here?”

  “Me? What are you doing here? The armory falls under my patrol.” His eyes moved from Roni to Zadria, then to the overflowing bag of weapons. He reached for his comm.

  “Don’t you dare,” Roni said, slamming him back against the empty racks on the wall.

  Ryan grabbed her wrists, twisted, and yanked, pulling her off balance and causing her to drop her sword to the ground.

  Roni spun, elbowing him in the face. Blood began gushing from his nose, covering the front of his white uniform. But without missing a beat, he punched her right back.

  “Shit,” Roni said, rubbing her jaw and ramming a shoulder into him, knocking him back into the racks once more. “Didn’t your mama ever tell you not to hit a lady?”

  “I don’t see any ladies around here,” he answered, swinging at her again.

  This time Roni dodged, and his fist hit one of the shelves, metal clanging.

  “Guys,” Zadria said, her voice quivering.

  “Hang on, Zad. I’m trying to teach this traitor a lesson.” Roni swung at him again, the blow glancing off of his jaw.

  “STOP!” Zadria yelled.

  Both Roni and Ryan turned to look at her and, in their silence, could hear gunfire outside.

  Roni elbowed Ryan in the side and made it to the door first, throwing it open. Guards were firing on the mine.

  “Shit,” she said. “Let’s get over there.”

  “Not so fast,” Ryan said. His blaster hummed as it powered up.

  Before Roni could respond, Ryan crumpled to the floor, twitching with the residual effects of the stun shot.

  Zadria slipped the blaster into a holster and clipped it onto her belt. “We don’t have time for that.”

  “Atta girl,” Roni said with a laugh.

  The pair ran out and toward the mine, stopping for cover wherever they could along the way. Zadria raised her weapon to fire on the guards, but Roni grabbed her shoulder.

  “No, we can’t give away our position. They’ll pin us down… or worse. We need to get these weapons back to the mine, now.”

  Zadria nodded, and they moved onto the next location. They were close now. Dirty, scared faces took turns appearing as the miners alternated firing at the guards. They were doing a good job of holding the guards back, but Roni knew their firepower was limited and they couldn’t last forever.

  The last stretch to the mines was unprotected, and there was no way she and Zadria could get across it unnoticed.

  “Now we fight back,” Roni said, taking a blaster in each hand.

  Zadria’s eyes doubled in size, but she was rallying well enough that Roni decided not to say anything. Instead, she took the lead, firing and running toward the shaft, Zadria on her heels. As soon as the miners realized they were on their way, they laid down protective fire for the rebel women until they were safely in the mineshaft.

  Roni slung the massive blaster over her shoulder before both women tossed the bags of weapons to the floor and stepped back, allowing the miners to swarm them.

  “There are so many now,” Zadria said, still trying to catch her breath.

  Roni grinned. “Yeah, I’m glad. Sometimes these things really take a lot of time... which means a lot of people die. Other times, they’ve had enough and just need someone to give them a little push. I’m glad we could do that for them. Now their revolution is a living, breathing thing… and it looks like it’s hungry for revenge.”

  She couldn’t help but be proud. Wheelbarrows and some of the other larger equipment made a makeshift barrier for the miners at the entrance. It didn’t take long for the miners to find a spot and take aim on the enemy.

  “I think we’re going to have to find another place to fight,” Zadria said.

  Roni nodded. The mouth of the mineshaft was crammed full of miners turned fighters. The hollow look was gone from their eyes and replaced with one of the rage and determination of people who had nothing left to lose. She turned and headed back down the shaft, stopping by the alcove holding the prisoners. A few steps into the room, Zadria gasped.

  No one guarded the prisoners anymore. There was no need. They were all dead.

  “They killed them?” Zadria asked.

  “Looks that way,” Roni said, kicking Larry’s boot. “Or maybe the air did. They all have shitty respirators now. Can’t say I’m heartbroken though. How many people died down here without proper equipment? Let’s go.”

  Zadria stood frozen, staring at the dead guards.

  “You alright, Zad?”

  “Yeah… I just wasn’t expecting to walk into a room of dead bodies.”

  Roni’s eyes landed on the elderly guard she’d come across earlier. “Yeah, sometimes it can catch you off-guard. We know Larry was absolutely horrible, but some of these guys might not have been so bad. Still, can’t linger on what we can’t change. Right?”

  Zadria nodded.

  “Come on,” Roni said, hooking Zadria by the elbow and towing her back into the main shaft. She didn’t want to waste any more time dwelling on the death of the guards. They hurried down a passageway toward the section of the mine Billy and his group were clearing. They made it to the mine’s entrance without seeing a single guard or civilian. But the mouth of the tunnel was a different story.

  “Now,” Billy ordered. The men and women around him opened fire on the wave of GC soldiers, causing the soldiers to shift their attention away from the other mineshaft. Roni ran up and claimed an empty space behind a rock-filled crate, Zadria joining her. She braced the massive blaster across the crate and took careful aim, firing at the guards with the biggest weapons first.

  Roni was an excellent marksman—at least her father always told her so. She wasn’t sniper-level, but she did well enough to get the job done.

  She frowned as she watched the front line replace each guard she felled. She looked through the scope, sweeping the guards, looking for Luftchek. Maybe if she could take him out it’d help. When Roni finally found him among the crowd, her blood chilled. He was lo
oking to the sky and talking on his comm. Roni angled the scope upward as much as the rim of the shaft allowed, scanning the dark heavens.

  Then she saw them.

  GC fighters. A dozen or so.

  “Get back!” Roni yelled, waving into the tunnel. “Zadria, run and warn the others. They called in air support.”

  Zadria took off down the tunnel as Roni continued to cover those who were retreating. The first few fighters dipped low and opened fire at the mines as they passed overhead. Roni ducked and covered behind a small outcropping of rock, the blasts landing in the entrance just feet away.

  Electricity spidered and crawled across the ground before fizzling out and dissipating into the air around it. Roni barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief before another round of fighters came in, repeating the process. Then another.

  Roni racked her mind for ideas. The scale was tipped hugely in the GC’s favor now. There was no way they could balance out the battle with what they had. She cursed herself for being stupid enough to take on the mission herself instead of talking to her father first. But she didn’t have time for the guilt.

  Roni instead pushed the feelings aside and thought of David. How she’d never see his face, feel his hands, how they’d never grow old together. Her regret was quickly overshadowed by her blossoming rage. Roni timed the air strikes and the electrical shots. The ground troops had halted their advance and no longer seemed to be firing on them. She knew there was no way they’d try to get closer with the never-ending air strike going on.

  Roni stood, waiting to make her move. As soon as she knew she was out of the fighters’ firing range, she stepped out further, careful to avoid the tendrils of residual electricity charges as they writhed on the ground. She took careful aim on the next round of fighters with the massive weapon. Then she pulled the trigger.

  Her shot was true, and the blast from the weapon shorted out the engine of the small spacecraft, causing it to drop out of formation and clumsily land in one piece several hundred yards away.