A Fiery Sunset

by Chris Kennedy

  “Because this just feels wrong. They aren’t attacking us; they’re just holding us in place. It’s almost like they’re waiting to spring something on us. Something big and nasty. I’d rather know what that was before they unleash it on us.”

  “You got it, Staff Sergeant,” Sain said. He backed up a few steps, then charged across the passageway to where the other troopers were, while focusing all his cameras down the hall. He replayed the second’s worth of imagery slowly. The flash of black was exactly what the staff sergeant had been worried about. “Goka inbound!” he yelled.

  * * *

  Cell Block 307A, Mercenary Guild, Capital Planet

  Sansar peeked around the corner, waiting for the explosions. She didn’t know what to expect, but if it didn’t happen quickly, the Besquith squad was going to be in her room.

  Beep! Beep! Beep! She could barely hear it at first, then it took her a second to realize what it was.

  The Besquith soldiers were closer and had better hearing. They realized what the noise was immediately; it was the sound of a grenade being armed. The noise grew louder as a second and a third were armed. The group looked frantically at each other—Sansar had never seen Besquith scared before—then all of them began pulling the grenades off their belts to throw them.

  Sansar hobbled as fast as she could to where the bed lay and threw herself behind it.

  The floor jumped as a detonation sounded from the hallway, then a second and third in quick succession. She climbed to her feet as quickly as she could and ground her teeth against the pain as she hurried to the hallway. All the Besquith were down, though not all were dead, and some were starting to rise slowly as they shook off the effects of the blasts. She hobble-jumped to the ones that were moving and fired once through the backs of their heads.

  The Depik appeared and cocked her head at Sansar as she slow blinked. “It seems you’re not totally worthless, after all.”

  “Well, thanks, I guess,” Sansar replied, picking up one of the Besquith rifles. It was trashed in the explosions. She had to try two more before she found one that looked serviceable. Although the firing stud was awkwardly placed for a Human hand, she thought she could make it work. She turned the rifle off “Safe” and fired it once into one of the Besquith bodies. Awkward, but it worked.

  “Ready?” the Depik asked.

  “Yes,” Sansar replied. “Why?”

  “It’s time to go. Your friends need help.” Sansar realized that the background noise she’d thought was her ears ringing from the triple detonations was actually the sounds of muffled rifle and railgun fire. The Depik started running toward the sounds of weapons fire, then went invisible, leaving her alone.

  Sansar hobbled after the alien as fast as she could, chewing on her lip to keep from screaming in pain.

  * * *

  Inside the Mercenary Guild, Capital Planet

  Nigel watched as Staff Sergeant Shepherd inserted the detonator and ran back around the corner to where his CASPer was waiting. He climbed into the suit but left the canopy up. “Ready?” he asked.

  “Fire in the hole!” Nigel yelled. “Do it!”

  Shepherd turned a switch on the box, pressed a button, and the wall disintegrated in a massive explosion. Before the dust settled, Corporal Mirzaad Zardari and Corporal Joma Gabol were through the resulting 12-foot-tall hole and into the security control room. Nigel was right behind them, although the two MinSha troopers were already dead by the time he made it into the room. Both had innumerable cracks in their chitin from the overpressure of the explosion that probably had killed them, but the troopers had shot them each twice through the thorax, just to make sure.

  Nigel looked at the security station and was surprised how much it looked like the ones in Tri-V movies. A bank of monitors sat above a desk with two chairs; they were in continuous motion, showing scenes from all over the Mercenary Guild.

  “See if you can figure out how to operate the elevator in the jail complex,” Nigel said. “And hurry. We need to get Colonel Enkh out of there before the damn Goka attack.”

  The two troopers jumped out of their suits, dumped the MinSha bodies out of the seats, and began assessing the console.

  “We’ve got a problem,” Staff Sergeant Donnelly called.

  “What’s that?” Nigel asked.

  “All of the Goka disappeared.”

  “What do you mean they disappeared?”

  “I mean they vanished. They were milling about behind the MinSha, but now I don’t see them anymore.”

  “We’re in the security station,” Nigel said. “I’ll see if I can find them on the monitors.”

  “Please hurry, sir. I’ve got a bad feeling…”

  “Looking…but I don’t see them.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of.”

  * * *

  Inside the Mercenary Guild, Capital Planet

  “Damn it,” Donnelly said as he signed off.

  “What’s wrong?” Corporal Sain asked. “They’re gone. Maybe they decided there wasn’t a paycheck in it and left.”

  “You obviously don’t know Goka,” Donnelly replied. “If there’s sanctioned killing to be done, they’re not going to miss out on it. They’re here…and they’re going to hit us from somewhere we’re not expecting it.”

  A voice came over the building’s public-address system. “Attention, Humans. This is General Leeto. As you’re probably aware, I’m the Speaker for the Mercenary Guild. The trial is over, and Sansar Enkh has been convicted. You’re too late, as I’ve already ordered her sentence of death to be carried out. As you’ve probably noticed, you’re surrounded. If you turn yourselves in now, I promise you a fair trial for any crimes you may have committed. I’ll give you 30 seconds to throw down your weapons, or you’ll all be destroyed.”

  Nigel Shirazi’s voice replied back over the public-address circuit. “Molon labe.”

  “I don’t understand the phrase,” Leeto replied. “That doesn’t appear to be from any of the major Human languages. I assume it means you’ll comply.”

  “Actually, Leeto, that phrase was used two and a half millennia ago, when an ancient king told another leader to surrender their weapons. It simply means, ‘Come and take them.’ Why don’t you come down here, bitch, and try to take mine from me? In fact, I challenge you to single combat. Come down and face me!”

  “I don’t think so, Nigel Shirazi. Yes, I know who you are, and your list of crimes is lengthy. There’s nothing to be gained by fighting you—you’re already under interdict for a variety of crimes. You have 10 seconds to throw down your weapons, or you’ll be destroyed.”

  “I should have known you were a big chicken,” Nigel replied. “Don’t worry, though, I’ll be back for you another time.”

  “Your time is up, Humans. Anything that happens is on your heads for violating the commands of your duly-appointed Guild Master.”

  “Duly-appointed wind bag!” Nigel said.

  “Let’s pull back a little,” Donnelly said. “Those Goka went—”

  The ceiling above them exploded, and a horde of giant cockroach-like creatures dropped onto them.

  “Contact!” Donnelly screamed over the tac net. He fired the railgun on his arm as fast as he could, killing several as they swarmed him. He initiated an L bomb with his other hand, knowing he only had moments. “Goka everywhere!” They were all over him, and he could feel their knives in the joints of his suit, questing for his soft flesh inside. He saw Sain go down with six or eight of the aliens on his suit; it was hard to tell. “They came from the ceiling. I’m—”

  He dropped the L bomb as he fell.

  * * *

  Under the Mercenary Guild, Capital Planet

  The Besquith had four barricades on alternating sides of the passage, with four troopers at each of the obstructions. Unable to stop his momentum in time, Walker did the only thing he could—he accelerated, catching the Besquith by surprise. As their weapons came up, he triggered his jumpjets and flew over their
initial barrage.

  The ceiling was almost 15 feet high, and his back scraped it as he rocketed past the first barricade. He toggled his thrusters, turning sideways in midair, and slammed into the second barricade. Most of the obstruction was furniture, which cushioned his fall by splintering into a million pieces, then his momentum sent him into the four Besquith hiding behind it. Over 1,000 pounds of man and machine crashed down onto them at nearly 30 miles an hour, pancaking them.

  He rolled to a stop at the fourth barricade and pushed off it, collapsing the pile of furniture onto the Besquith hiding behind it as he rose to his feet. Turning, he saw one of the Besquith at the third barricade turning to fire at him, and he triggered his jumpjets again, scooping up all four Besquith at the defensive position as he passed by before driving them all into the wall. He shut down his jets as his forward motion stopped and pulled himself back out of the hole he’d created, firing several rounds through the pile just to make sure.

  One of the Besquith at the first barricade fired at him, and his left shoulder went yellow, then a series of laser bolts and at least one railgun round from the rest of Walker’s platoon intersected with the Besquith’s head, and it exploded under the hammering like a watermelon under a sledgehammer.

  Leaving the first barricade to the platoon, he stalked over to the fourth barricade, where the Besquith were throwing aside the debris scattered on top of them and getting to their feet. He spun as he approached them, and the blade on his right arm snapped out halfway through the maneuver to decapitate one of the aliens. As his right arm stopped and started coming back around, he raised his left arm and put three railgun rounds through the chest of the furthest one, splattering it against the wall.

  Walker stepped forward and drove his blade through the chest of the next Besquith, then shot the last one at the barricade as the other alien’s dead body slid off his blade. He turned back to the first barricade in time to see Mun land feet first on the remaining Besquith hiding behind the obstruction. She bent over and stabbed it for good measure. Walker nodded inside his suit; it never hurt to be sure.

  As the rest of the platoon swarmed over the barricades, finishing off any of the aliens that Walker had only mortally wounded, Mun walked up to him.

  “Not sure what that was all about, sir,” she said, with a heavy emphasis on the last word to let him know her displeasure, “but I thought the lieutenant colonel wasn’t going to lead from the front anymore.”

  “Um, yeah, I didn’t mean to do that,” Walker said, “but when I turned the corner, there was no way to stop without getting shot by an entire platoon of Besquith. It seemed easier to go forward rather than back.”

  “How’s your suit?” she asked. “I see at least five laser burns on it and a couple of dents where other rounds hit it. There could be more, but it’s hard to tell with the other dings and bumps you got from slamming into every piece of shit you could find.”

  “I’ve got a few yellow lights,” Walker admitted, “but I’m—”

  “Gulf Hotel One, Alpha Sierra One, we’re surrounded by Goka. If you can send anyone to assist, it’d be appreciated.”

  Walker wasn’t sure he’d ever heard Nigel ask for help before. Shit, it must be damn serious. “Alpha Sierra One, this is Gulf Hotel One,” he replied. “I’ll be right there.”

  “Sir—” Mun started.

  “I know what you’re going to say, First Sergeant, and you can save it. I’ve got more experience exterminating the damn Goka than anyone else, so this is mine to do. You stay with Captain Gracia and get to the elevator. There can’t be many more Besquith around, so hopefully, you’ll be okay. I’ll take four of our troops with railguns and go help Asbaran.”

  Mun knew when to argue. This wasn’t the time. “Yes, sir. Good luck. Figueroa, Ritchey, and Vatta— Vataka— fuck, Vata, you three go with the lieutenant colonel.”

  “Yes, First Sergeant,” Corporal Paul Vattakavanich said.

  Mun spun around and spotted the trooper she was looking for. “Polanis, you go, too.”

  “You’re sending the medic with me?” Walker asked. “What if the colonel needs medical assistance?”

  “If there are Goka, you will have injuries. We’ve got medkits that’ll take care of almost anything the colonel may have wrong with her. Go, sir! It sounds like they need you.”

  * * *

  Inside the Mercenary Guild, Capital Planet

  “Got it, sir!” Corporal Mirzaad Zardari called.

  Nigel looked in from the hallway. “What have you got?”

  “I’ve got the elevator to the penal level, and I’m in contact with First Sergeant Enkh. I’m about to send a load down.”

  “Do it quickly!” Nigel exclaimed, sure he’d seen a flash of black up the passageway. Mason had gone up the other hallway to check on Donnelly. All of Donnelly’s squad was red, and Nigel fully expected they were dead.

  “Coming in!” Mason yelled as he raced down the passage toward Nigel, with many Goka in pursuit.

  “Down!” Nigel yelled.

  Mason threw himself to the floor as Nigel triggered a series of rockets down the hallway. They blew up in the midst of the Goka. When the smoke cleared, there was one Goka body; the rest were gone.

  Mason ran the rest of the way to Nigel. “They’re up in the ceiling moving around,” Mason reported. “I saw where they came through and got Donnelly’s folks. They’re all dead. Fucking cockroaches.”

  “Pull everyone back in,” Nigel said. “We’ve got the elevator working, and the Horde folks are going down to get Sansar. We just have to hold them off a little longer.”

  “You got it, sir. You take this side of the security station, and I’ll go help Lieutenant Smith with the other.” Mason went through the security station, opened the door on the other side, and raced off to join the other squad.

  “They’re down to the prison level,” Corporal Zardari called.

  “Good,” Nigel said, scanning the hallway. Hopefully the Horde wouldn’t take too long to find the colonel, or Asbaran was going to be screwed.

  “Here they come!” Private Zangi Pitafi called from up the corridor. Nigel strode forward to meet them with his men. Hopefully, they wouldn’t take long at all.

  * * *

  Under the Mercenary Guild, Capital Planet

  Sansar could see motion at the elevator before she got to it and stumbled to a stop. Two Tortantulas were waiting by the elevator control panel. They were, like every other Tortantula she’d ever met, huge—nearly 10 feet wide, with 10 long, hairy legs. If they charged her, there was no way she could take them both down with her laser rifle. She might get one if she was lucky.

  She wasn’t sure what the assassin could do about them, either. It would kill them, of course, but she doubted that would occur while she was still living. The two aliens split up, increasing the difficulty of targeting them both, and came forward, working to encircle her.

  Sansar hobbled backward, trying to keep both in sight. So close to escape, with her company’s forces so close to rescuing her, and she was going to become spider food. It’s just not fair! “Do we really have to do this?” she finally asked in frustration.

  “What alternative are you proposing?” one of the aliens asked. Both of them stopped and stared at her.

  “All the explosions you heard,” she pointed at the flashing lights, “mean my people are coming to break me out of here. If you promise not to eat me, I’ll take you along with us when we go.”

  “Eat you?” the second Tortantula said. “You’d barely make a mouthful.”

  Sansar chuckled at the alien’s perspective. She was tiny compared to them and wouldn’t make much of a meal. “You might not get much out of it,” she finally said, “but it would mean a whole lot to me not to be a part of your dining plans.”

  “You’ll get us out of here?” the first alien asked. “Where? Just out of the building, or off this never-to-be-sufficiently-damned planet?”

  “I promise you, on my honor as a Horsema
n, that if you don’t hurt me, I’ll get you out of here and off this sucky-ass planet, if it’s at all within my power.”

  “You’re a Horseman?” the second Tortantula asked. “You’re pretty small to be one of them. How do you operate the suit, as small as you are?”

  “I have one modified to accommodate me,” Sansar said. “Now, my leg hurts, and I’m getting tired of standing here. Do we have an agreement, or am I going to have to kill you?”

  The two aliens laughed long and hard. “I like your spirit, Little Horseman,” the first Tortantula said. “I think I might just go with you because you make me laugh.”

  “Me, too,” the second Tortantula added. “You have a deal.”

  “Tell me, though,” the first one said. “Do you really think you could kill us both?”

  “Not by myself,” Sansar said.

  “And you were expecting help from your gods, perhaps?”

  “No,” the Depik said, becoming visible underneath the first Tortantula. The alien skittered to the side in surprise, and the assassin jumped up onto a leg, then up onto the giant spider’s back, next to its ring of eyes. She lay down on its hairy back and held up her knife, inches from one of the creature’s eyes. “I would have helped.”

  “You’re full of surprises, Little Horseman,” the Tortantula said. “I’d appreciate it if you’d ask your…friend… to slide back a little from my eyes. I’m happy to give her a ride but would rather there weren’t any…accidents.”

  The Depik slow blinked at the giant alien, then sheathed her knife faster than anyone’s eyes could track. One moment it was there; the next, it was gone. She purred. “I could get used to this.”

  “If you’re done playing around,” the second Tortantula said, “the elevator is moving. We need to be prepared to receive visitors.”

  “Is it too much to ask to climb onto your back?” Sansar asked. “I don’t want to get stepped on, and I can shoot over you better than around.”

  “That’s fine,” the alien agreed, lowering itself so she could climb up. “It’s just like the old days with Reefgar.”