by G J Moses
Just as he was starting to straighten up, several new Marines cautiously made their way through the new opening at the end of the hall. With barely a glance, these Marines passed the enemy officer before the one in the rear stopped. This particular Marine turned so he was directly facing the Chohish officer.
Transfixed to see what happened next, Jeanne watched as the Marine raised his rifle, carried in his right hand, so it was now pointing casually at the ceiling. The Chohish officer, recovering slowly, raised his head up and turned it towards the nearby Marine. Using his left hand, the Marine, calmly pulled his fusion pistol out of his holster to put the business end next to the Chohish helmeted head. With only a slight pause, the Marine tapped the pistol on the helmeted head to get his attention right before he pulled the trigger.
Flinching, Jeanne saw the after effects of the shot splattered all over the nearby walls and floor. The officer, as big as he was, would not be rising again. “That was for my brother, Garrott.” echoed in her helmet.
A bit startled, Jeanne now recognized the new Marines armor as being from New Providence. Cullen Rios must be that particular Marine as his brother Garrott was lost during the initial meeting with the Chohish. Garrott never made it to an escape pod…
“Good timing… anything on your side.” Karter asked in the general channel.
“We took a walk through their fighter bay. Empty now, but we took recordings like you asked. We had to high tail it here to make it in time. But they did not expect us to come this way as you thought. Looks like you were right, they are watching you. We did meet up with some resistance, but nothing we could not handle.” Cullen answered.
“Excellent, get the rest of your men and cover our backs while we make our way to where we believe the bridge is.” ordered Karter.
“Karter, how did you know they would be watching us?” asked Jeanne.
“Well, not the rest of us actually, just you. Your armor has the distinctive coloring that they have seen multiple times. I guessed they figured out who, what you are. And where you are, command is.”
Amazed, Jeanne looked at Karter with respect. “I knew Karter was good…”
With that, Karter signaled to the four Marines waiting at the end of the hall to continue on.
Taking up her position next to Zeke, she waited while the Marines swapped new power packs for their weapons before moving on.
“Ok, Master Sergeant, let’s take the next left and continue on.” ordered Zeke.
“You know where you are going?” asked Karter.
“I have a good idea. Using the input from all the other parties, the Lucky Strikes AI has calculated that the Bridge is located in the very center of the destroyer. I concur with what I have seen so far. Unless you have a better idea…”
Karter responded by raising his right hand, swirling it first over his head and then hand signaling to go left.
Again, the Marines organized into the original grouping. Jeanne noticed that the extra-large Marine that had been shadowing her, was still there. Looking at Zeke, she saw he was engrossed with using the control pad on his arm. Glancing to Zeke’s left, she saw that she was not the only one with a shadow. Another Marine, almost as large as the one by her, was shadowing Zeke.
As they started moving on, Zeke turned towards her and signaled with a thumbs up. Jeanne, knew that if she could see his face, he would have that adorable smile that made her knees go weak. Even without seeing it, Jeanne could feel a twinge of the weakness hit her. Mad at herself, she admonished herself for allowing her to be affected. Time for such silliness later.
Straightening up. Jeanne followed the Marines as they made their way down the hall past the junction and turned left. Again, it mirrored the halls that they had already passed.
Stopping to only blow out the emergency airtight doors at the end of each hallway, they made their way in a circular route towards the center of the ship using the directions provided by Zeke.
Several times, after taking out the doors, the barrier encountered earlier would slide out of the wall and cross the hall even though they could tell air and gravity still existed. They left them in place unless they separated any of the group. It did not take much to clear them away.
They did not come upon any more ambushes and only a few small skirmishes before they reached what had to be the Bridge. Three halls met in front of a massive door that looked more like a safe than a door.
“Well, Captain Kinsley, looks like this is it. If you will give us a few minutes, we will get you inside.”
Pointing to several of the Marines, Karter indicated the massive door.
Making their way to the door, the two Marines placed several grenades strategically around the doors middle with little sticky pads. Once that was completed, one of the two Marines, attached an explosive breaching charge that had been handed to him, to the very center of the door. While this was being done, the second Marine pulled out a long gray circular plastic tube from his backpack.
Connecting, what Jeanne assumed was a detonation cord, to the breaching charge, she was puzzled by the way the cord was then attached to the wall on the right in a large oblong shape. It had to be eight feet high and six feet across.
Signaling all to move back and take shelter around the corner down the hall, Karter was the last to turn the corner. Ensuring all were braced and ready for the explosion, Karter signaled the pair of Marines who had set the charges.
In her helmet, Jeanne heard a husky voice start the countdown. 3…2…1…
Baroom… Baroom… Baroom… reverberated down the hall along with debris and smoke.
Before the combustion finished, Karter and a majority of the Marines ran around the corner and raced towards the Bridge entrance.
With her escort only a foot or so behind her, she raced past Zeke, who had slowed down to get around some debris.
As she approached the massive door, she heard the sound of laser and fusion rifles firing on full auto. The door, she saw with surprise, was heavily damaged but still barring the way. It was through a large opening on the right side that the Marines were running through.
“Damn, the other charges were just a diversion. The cord was how they opened a passageway.” a startled Jeanne thought as she slipped in through the opening.
Stepping inside, Jeanne was assaulted with the thunder of a battle raging around her. Two Marines, wearing the New Providence armor, were hunkered down on the floor firing on single shot. Snipers?
Just beyond, Jeanne saw what they had come here for, the Chohish Sovereign. The Sovereign was close in size to the one simulated on the Lucky Strike but looked much larger in real life. He was surrounded by at least a half dozen Chohish soldiers. It was easy to tell he was the one they wanted not only by his size but also the elegant clothing. The area around him and his guards was littered with over a dozen Chohish bodies that had already been taken out by the Marines. None of the Chohish were in space suits.
Upon seeing the Sovereign, Jeanne’s blood boiled remembering all her lost family and friends. With rage flowing in her veins, she raced forward with only one thing on her mind, kill. A pair of Chohish soldiers saw her mad dash and interposed themselves in front.
Just before reaching the first soldier, Jeanne slid onto her back firing her rifle on full auto. But that was not the only thing she was doing. While dropping to her back to start her slide, Jeanne had pulled her pistol with her other hand which she used to fire at the second soldier.
Both soldiers were taken by surprise and blown backwards. Jeanne stopped her slide by flattening her feet on the metal floor and engaging her magnetic boot soles. Rising back up to her feet, Jeanne continued her mad dash.
“Ayeeeeeee!” howled Jeanne as she dropped her rifle and pistol to pull out her sonic knife as she hurled herself at the Chohish Sovereign. All thoughts of capture left her in her desire for revenge.
The Sovereign, though, did not cooperate. With a roar of his own, he knocked Jeanne’s knife to the side with his own rifle
and smashed Jeanne to the ground with an arm that felt like a sledgehammer even through her armor. Dazed, Jeanne watched helplessly through her helmet as the Sovereign swung his rifle around to point it at her chest.
Gasping, trying to catch her breath, she feebly tried to move as the Sovereign roared in his own language. Just as it looked like she was going to meet her end, a body with armor slammed into the Sovereign’s chest and deflected the rifle blast. Jeanne felt the intense heat of the blast even through her armor.
The Sovereign staggered back several feet or so, but Jeanne watched as the Sovereign grabbed the body that had run into him, raised it high and flung it against a pillar over a dozen feet away. The armored body, which Jeanne now recognized as Zeke’s, slammed into the pillar and twirled around to smash through some workstations before slumping to the ground.
The Sovereign, who had lost his rifle, pulled a bizarre looking object that reminded her of a sword from a scabbard at his waist. Stepping back to stand over Jeanne, the Royal raised the weapon grasped in both hands poised high over Jeanne’s chest. Putting one of his large booted feet on her chest, he roared in defiance that could be heard through her helmet before he started his downward thrust.
The sword seemed to be moving in slow motion as it hurtled towards her chest only to be stopped by an armored hand which had appeared out of nowhere to grab the wrist of the Sovereign. A new shadow now stood over her.
Looking up, Jeanne saw the Marine who had been shadowing her, now move forward to straddle her. In shock, she heard a calm voice came through her helmet receptors.
“Now, now, we cannot have that can we? My Major would be severely pissed with me. I was given one task, and one task only, bring Captain de Clisson back in one piece. The Major has become very fond of Captain de Clisson and well… so has the Captain. Now, put that stupid thing away before I put it somewhere you would find uncomfortable when sitting.”
The Chohish Sovereign, with anger evident in his stance and voicing a primal scream, raised up high on his toes to press down on his sword in an attempt to break through the Marine’s grip.
The Marine’s hand and arm never budged. In fact, it slowly started rising. But the Marine had two hands and arms which the Sovereign seemed to have forgotten. The second armored fist came flying around in a roundhouse that sent the Sovereign flying back.
The hand that had stopped the Sovereign from impaling Jeanne only a few short seconds ago, reached down to grab her hand to deftly assist in pulling her to her feet. “The Major did say you were unpredictable and may run off without warning. I should have paid more attention to her. But then again, that really did feel good. I can understand why you were eager to do it yourself.”
Standing on her own, wobbling a little, Jeanne was about to say thanks as she took a quick glance around. The fighting was over for the moment. It had not been all one sided. Several Marines were down with several more being looked at by other Marines. Jeanne saw that all the Chohish soldiers and technicians were down. The Sovereign, though, was still moving and coming back towards them.
“Excuse me one second, Captain. I see my fun is not over yet.” With that, the Marine, skipped in the manner the more experienced Marines moved in armor quickly to stand in front of the Sovereign. As the Sovereign raised up fully to meet the Marine, the Marine dipped his right side low where he started his uppercut. When his armored fist connected with the jaw of the Sovereign, all present in the Bridge heard the impact. The Chohish Sovereign, as large and heavy as he was, was lifted several feet in the air before falling and collapsing on the ground.
“I sure hope he did not kill him. That was one nasty hit.” a weak voice said from next to Jeanne.
Twirling, Jeanne flung herself into Zeke’s arms. “Damn, Zeke, you scared the crap out of me. I thought he had killed you.”
“Not far from the truth. And if it wasn’t for Corporal Dennison, it would have been.”
When Jeanne responded with “Huh?”, Zeke turned to point to half a dozen Chohish bodies close to where he had been thrown. “Seems Khaleesi thought I needed a babysitter and sent Shon along to watch over me.”
“Yeah, well, seems she did the same for me.” Jeanne said, pointing to the Marine who was currently standing over the fallen Chohish Sovereign.
“Oh, that is Corporal Antonia Trevino. He is the Lucky Strikes boxing champion. He is close to seven feet tall and has muscles on muscles. Only Shon and several other Marines will even agree to get in the ring with him, and then only with protective gear.”
Flinching in pain, Zeke led the way to the unmoving Sovereign. They were soon joined by Karter. “Captain’s, you do something like that again, and I will have you both hogtied and shipped back to the Lucky Strike. Got me?” an angry voice came across their private channels.
“Understood Master Sergeant, understood.” both Jeanne and Zeke quickly responded.
“Good. Captain Kinsley, now that we have captured the Sovereign, you sure about what you want us to do next? You could easily lose him.”
“Yes, everything I have seen so far supports my assumptions.”
Puzzled, Jeanne was about to ask Zeke what the plan was when she saw Shon and Antonia, upon a nod from Karter, grab the Sovereign by his upper arms and raise him off the ground. Several other Marines rushed over to join them. The new Marines, swung their backpacks to the ground, where they then pulled out several objects that they carefully placed on the ground.
One of the Marines selected one of these objects, and after spending a few seconds looking at the high ceiling directly above, pointed the object at the ceiling. With a small explosion, the object sent an anchor into the ceiling trailing a synthetic rope.
The second Marine grabbed the trailing synthetic rope and handed it to Shon, who wrapped the rope around the Royals left wrist and snapped a connector locking the wrist to the rope. This was repeated on his right wrist.
Each of the Marines then stretched out the Sovereigns legs. Using this as a measurement, a Marine selected another anchor mechanism which they anchored into the ground. But this did not have a synthetic rope attached like the others. The anchor was made to engage with a lockdown collar, used when transporting large exotic animals, which were connected after the second anchor was completed. Then, with some difficulty, both ankles of the Sovereign were inserted into the lockdown collars.
In short order, the Sovereign was hanging limply from the two ropes with both legs immobilized.
The two Marines with the large rifles on their backs now took center stage. They were joined by the two Marines carrying the metal boxes. Working in pairs, two tripods were anchored into the floor next to the hanging Chohish Sovereign, one on each side. Upon each tripod, one of the large rifles was mounted after which they were then fed an ammunition belt housed in the metal boxes.
Before they had finished setting up, all heard the deep sound of heavy gunfire. Several Marines, backed their way through the opening to the hall while still taking potshots then switching to full auto at whoever was pursuing them. “Sergeant Major, we are about to have company, lots of it.”
Signaling several other Marines to assist the Marines in the opening, Karter hurried over to the Marines working frantically on the rifle setup.
“Gentlemen, please tell me you are about ready.”
In response, one of the Marines working on the rifles stood to grab the barrel of the rifle he had been working on. With an exaggerated motion, he started the barrel swinging wildly in a circle. When it had twirled almost back to the originating starting point, it jarred to a stop with a loud click. “Yep, this one is locked and loaded.”
“Show off…” came through their helmets as the Marine working on the second rifle stood and did the same. Only he did it in a more measured twirl where the barrel did not swing so wildly. Again, the loud click. “Locked and loaded Sergeant Major.”
“Lorraine, grenades, hall.” ordered Karter to the Marines by the opening. “OK, everyone, you know the plan. Everyone is to
hunker down behind the Chohish Sovereign here.”
As she was about to ask what was going on, she was literally lifted off her feet and carried to where she was deposited behind a wall that jutted out on the far-right end of the room. “Down!’ ordered Corporal Antonia Trevino. “Hug the ground and don’t move!”
Flustered and about to say something, Jeanne saw Zeke being manhandled by Corporal Shon Dennison. Zeke, though did not get the verbal warning. Just a large armored finger pointing to the ground. But she did notice that Zeke when put down, did not move or speak, but curled into a ball with his hands clenched towards his chest and abdomen.
At that moment, loud explosions could be heard from the hallway. Peeking around the wall, she watched as the Marines by the opening, ran to drop behind the hanging Sovereign.
“One of you guys wake our guest up. Hate for him to miss out on meeting his friends:” ordered Karter.
A Marine ran up to the Sovereign and smacked him several times. As the Chohish regained consciousness, he started screaming.
As the sound of explosions from grenades died away, Jeanne could hear the sound of loud screaming in Chohish. The screams coming from outside were replicated by the Sovereign. They got closer and closer. From the volume, there was a very large group headed their way. Jeanne only hoped that they could stop them all.
Watching the opening, she observed the Chohish start working their way through. The first few that made it, screamed their rage upon seeing their Sovereign hanging from the ceiling. The Sovereigns screams only enraged them more.
It was terrifying on how large they looked in their leather armor. But that did not help them, they did not get far before they were cut down by the Marines.
Suddenly, there was a large explosion that extended the opening in the wall they had made earlier. Through the smoke and debris, the Chohish surged through.
“Gentlemen, now if you please.”
At this point, the large rifles went into action. As soon as they started firing, she knew what they were. She had never seen rifles like these ever used before. Then again, miniature rail guns were never used on a ship, well, not in her experience.
