Messenger

by Diesel Jester

  “Yeah,” Gabriel confirmed.

  “Then get yer butts up there and get going already. Go! I’ll take care of things here!” Lucas admonished them, shooing them on with a wave of his hands.”

  “With all due respect, sir,” Lincoln said politely but tersely, “but how do you suggest we do that? Other than charging into Lo’Rock with guns blazing, that is. We have no idea where they went!”

  Gabriel’s eyes locked on the small metal baton that hung from Deacon’s belt. “Actually… I think I have an idea on how we can do that.”

  CHAPTER 16

  What little remained from Lucy’s maid’s uniform was stripped off her the moment she was brought into the dimly lit cargo hold of the raider’s airship. As a slave, she’d grown so accustomed to non-stop nudity that it didn’t faze her in the least bit… unlike many of the noblewomen who’d been captured. Lucy counted about thirty women who had been caught before the raiders hastily retreated.

  “You! Slave,” one of the prim and proper ladies with vibrant red hair and blonde streaks snapped, pointing at Lucy as she was dropped onto the floor of the hold. It was Feckla, and her constant stream of tears had smeared her makeup something awful. “Your ilk is used to this sort of treatment! Tell them that we are to be handled differently!”

  Lucy couldn’t believe the nerve of the noblewoman. The high and mighty lady was now demanding that Lucy do something so she could be spared the indignity of being rendered naked like everyone one. She watched as many others were stripped down and affixed with metal collars

  Lucy couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh. “You’re a bitch, you know that?” Lucy glared at her. “Where were you when I needed help? Huh? Where were you when my family was in need? Where were you when I got railroaded?” She lifted her own collar in emphasis. “We’re even now! We’re equals now, so you get off your damn high horse Lady Vickers!”

  “Heh, the little iSlave from the Theocracy knows her place already,” a raider said as he came up to start cutting the dress, corset, and undergarments off Feckla, despite her squawks of protest. “The sooner you learn yours, the happier you’ll be.”

  When he was done, the former Lady Vickers had a stunned expression on her face and a crude, but effective, iron collar around her neck.

  “W-why?” she mewed pitifully, tugging at her new collar in a futile gesture, as the raider moved on to the next person. “Why didn’t you do anything?” She was now crying anew.

  Lucy glared at her. “Why didn’t you when I needed it? It sucks, doesn’t it? To be rendered naked and helpless as you’re led off to your fate?” She crossed her arms and rested them on her knees, ignoring a slight twinge of pain that shocked her at the base of her neck. Burying her face in her arms, she ignored Lady Vickers’ hysteric cries about being captured by “low life ruffians.”

  Screw her, Lucy thought bitterly. I don’t care if she just lost her husband or not. Let her get a taste of what I went through.

  ***

  “They must be pushing that old airship to its limits,” Captain Atticus Sevier, commander of the D.A.C.S. James Longstreet muttered as he looked at a map of the area, his native Tennessee drawl accenting his irritation. “That, or they’re not taking the direct route back. Helm!” he barked out over his shoulder. “Take us out over the Bay of Mississippi and begin search pattern close to Lo’Rock. We’ll find that raider airship if it’s the last thing we do.”

  “Aye, sir!” the helmsman echoed back, turning the massive wheel to the left to put the Longstreet into a tight turn.

  “Contact! Wrecks off the port bow! Looks like Michaelson Family gunships!” a spotter reported.

  “So much for Deak’s fleet being ready…,” Gabriel muttered as he and Lincoln were off to one side of the tactical table. Lincoln dictated numbers from an owner’s baton while Gabriel entered them into a scanner, each number going in with a click as they were dialed in. “No need to do a search — we can find them easily enough,” Gabriel told the captain without looking up.

  Atticus eyed them. “Really? How’s that?”

  “Every iSlave’s collar is embedded with a transponder in the event they run off since they are, essentially, criminals,” Lincoln explained after giving the last number to Gabriel. He tossed the baton over to the captain who bobbled it slightly before getting control of it. “The number on the side of an owner’s baton matches both the contract number and the transponder ID number that is on the collar so that we can enter it into our scanners to track them down.”

  “The Michaelsons’ only iSlave, Lucy Spence, was taken,” Gabriel pointed out. “She’ll lead us right to their airship.”

  “Which, in turn, will lead us to the rest of the hostages,” the captain said, getting the Jaeger’s plans at last. “Where do we need to go, then?”

  Gabriel looked up at the massive directional compass that loomed over the main viewport, which gave the crew an impressive panoramic view of the sky. He confirmed the direction with what the scanner said.

  “Have your helm come back to starboard to fly two-eight-seven, true,” he said, “and prepare them for battle.”

  ***

  Deep within the cargo hold of the raider airship, Lucy jerked upright as soon as she felt the electrical shock on the back of her neck intensify. It subsided for a minute before she felt the small jolt again. What on earth is going on? She felt back behind her neck and was shocked a third time. She remembered the words of those Consortium officials when she was auctioned off: If you ever attempt escape, the Jaegers will home in on you. You’ll feel a jolt in the back of your neck that will remind you of this. Once you return within proper range of your owner’s control baton, the jolts will cease. You’ll more than likely be punished further, but at least the small shocks of electricity on the back of your neck will have stopped…

  I’m being tracked, Lucy realized. Someone back at her master’s estate must have noticed that she was gone and initiated the collar’s tracking device. She wanted to jump up and clap with glee but knew that would draw too much attention. No, for the time being, she’d endure the tiny little twinges of pain. She didn’t want to be separated from the collar out of fear of being permanently lost within the Wastelands. She’d heard enough horror stories to not want that to happen. Lucy wanted to be rescued, and even if she was singled out from the rest of the group, she’d be the one found first.

  For some reason, that gave her a perverse sense of justice to see these aristocratic high-and-mighty people be brought down with her. Serves them right for hanging me and my family out in our greatest hour of need, she thought bitterly.

  Suddenly, the entire deck pitched down and to the left, sending all the newly captured women tumbling. At first, Lucy wondered if they were under attack and then realized that they must be getting close to their destination.

  “Gabe…,” she muttered under her breath. “You’d better be on your way.”

  ***

  “Tallyho!” Atticus cried out triumphantly as he saw their quarry through the spyglass. “It’s the Airship Oculus and she’s already going in for a landing in Red Fields.”

  “That’s one of Frost’s trio,” Lincoln noted as he came up to the domed forward glass of the bridge. His goggles zoomed in automatically to look at the landing airship. “Damn, I would’ve loved to have bagged the Theurgy while they’re on the ground now that we’re going to get the Oculus and the Henosis is ours now, too. The Theurgy is Auctor Frost’s pride and joy, unlike that bag of bolts down there.”

  “One thing at a time, hero,” Gabriel noted. He looked at the captain. “How do you want to play this?”

  Atticus thought it over before answering. “We don’t want to damage the cargo holds on the lower decks, but we don’t want them taking off, either.” He turned on his heel and faced the bridge crew. “Helm! Hard over to starboard! Engines! All stop! Side drift us and bring the port guns to bear! Aim for the tanks!”

  The bridge crew repeated and relayed the orders. The Longstree
t pulled itself over to the right, listing slightly until the ballast’s pumps righted them as they drifted to the left.

  “Gunners report target in sight!” the chief gunner reported back.

  “And this is why you don’t sacrifice altitude in an airship fight….” Atticus grinned savagely at the Jaegers. “Portside guns! Fire!” he roared.

  Twenty guns along the left side of the airship fired in succession, the percussion of the cannons sounding like a string of firecrackers as they went off. Explosions lit up on the ground and along the back spine of the Oculus. Plumes of reddish brown gas shot out of punctures in the tisigen tanks like geysers. The raider airship plummeted downward fast, clearing the last hundred feet to the ground like a rock.

  “Engines! Starboard docking engines! All full!” Atticus now called out as he moved to the portside dome of the bridge to observe the battle better. “Portside guns! Secondary targets — I want those guard towers gone!” He pointed to his helmsman. “Bleed off the tisigen tanks and take us down slow. Keep our portside to the enemy and be ready to flip us around when the guns need to be cycled.”

  “Aye, sir!” the helmsman responded as he carried out his orders in conjunction with the engine officer.

  Atticus gestured to the hatch on the portside of the bridge. “Gentlemen, I believe this is your stop?”

  Gabriel and Lincoln traded grins before slapping their helmets down onto their powered armor. “Thanks for the ride, Captain,” Gabriel said, his speakers now making his voice sound mechanical.

  “Just get our women back.” Atticus nodded to them as he motioned for one of his crew to open the hatch.

  The hatch flew open and the two Jaegers jumped out into the dark void beyond.

  CHAPTER 17

  “Go! Go! Go!” raiders shouted as they hauled naked women up to their feet and started shoving them toward one of the side doors of the cargo hold that was now open to the outside.

  Lucy had lost her bearings when the ship suddenly dropped and hit the ground hard. She’d tumbled about and hit her head on the floor. The next thing she knew, she was being picked up and pushed toward the door right behind Feckla. There were more booms from cannon fire and explosions all around them. She didn’t know who was shooting at them, but she had the good sense to not want to be on this airship anymore.

  When her bare feet hit dirt, there was another raider there to redirect her. She fell into line with the rest of the running women and raiders who were herding them away from the crippled airship. Unable to help herself, she looked back over her shoulder. High up in the sky was a massive Dixie Air Corps airship with the Stars and Cross emblazoned on its huge tailfin. That sight brought a smile to her face as it rained down death onto the raiders all around them. Guard towers and anti-airship emplacements exploded around the landing area as Dixie let the raiders know just how much they were displeased with so many of their daughters being taken.

  Lucy caught sight of two bright lights in the sky descending from the Dixie airship. She tried to get a good look as they came ever closer. Then the raiders were forcing her down a side alleyway covered in sand among ramshackle huts and ruined buildings. To her horror, she realized that they were splitting them up as Feckla had been directed down a different alley. It looked like they were taking every other woman and making them go in different directions. Her eyes flicked up as gun-toting loud med herded her down the dark, debris-filled alley. The streaks of light bent her way and she saw their outlines finally. Jaegers. Gabriel and another Jaeger were indeed tracking her.

  When they broke into an open square of buildings, Lucy got an idea and intentionally tripped over a brick that was jutting out. She tumbled to the ground and took the five girls behind her down with her. The raiders in the back of the line with them shouted for them to get to their feet. Being at the bottom of the pile, Lucy was the last one up. Despite being covered in dirt with a painfully bruised foot, she smiled at the raider who had a hold of her.

  “You’re dead,” she said sweetly.

  He gave her a confused look right as one of the Jaegers landed behind him.

  ***

  Gabriel wished he had armor that had a flasher on it so that he could record the raider’s dumbfounded look posterity. He’d released Lucy and turned in place, looking up at Gabriel with wide-eyed fright. Gabriel raised his arm cannon and Lucy dove to the side, out of the way. The raider fell the ground, headless, a moment later.

  Gabriel looked at Lucy. “You okay?” he asked through his speaker.

  “About time you showed up!” Lucy admonished him. “They’ve been splitting us up into groups,” she said and nodded in two different directions since her hands were manacled behind her back.

  Flicking his right arm out, Gabriel’s Jaeger blade came out from the top of his suit’s forearm. “Turn around,” he told her. She did and he swiped with the blade, severing the chains. “That’ll have to do for now,” he said as he moved on to the next bound woman that got caught up in the pileup with Lucy. Movement caught his eye and his armor registered the threat of a weapon pointed his way. He leveled his arm cannon and fired, killing the attacker instantly. Then he went back to freeing the girls. “Messenger to Longstreet, send skimmers to my location. Six for pickup.”

  “Already heading your way, Messenger,” the communi-cations officer on the Longstreet replied crisply. “Should be landing now.”

  Gabriel turned and saw the skimmer longboats now touching down. Marines from the airship jumped out with beamer rifles at the ready for any threats. Skirmishes broke out as they found hostile raiders. The raiders, not expecting a full-out invasion, broke and ran, leaving the Dixie Marines with the brief battlefield. A Marine in his dark blue-white battle tunic and black combat pants ran up and saluted a sergeant from what Gabriel saw by the stripes on his uniform cuffs. “Sir! The captain sent us down to assist,” he reported.

  Nodding his helmet, Gabriel pointed at Lucy and the five other women. “Get the them out of here and keep the area secure. Keep this one safe,” he said, nodding to Lucy. “She’s a key Consortium witness. If any harm comes to her, you’ll have me to answer to personally!”

  “I’ll ensure her safety with my life, sir!” the sergeant saluted again before taking Lucy by the arm and leading her toward the longboats.

  “Emancipator!” Gabriel keyed his radio as the Marines led the women off to the safety of the longboats. “We’ve got a problem.”

  “Yeah, I figured. I got five secured and I’m following a group of ten north into the city and the raiders are splitting them up even more,” Lincoln radioed back. “This is gonna turn into a shit-show real fast.”

  Atticus broke into the conversation. “Gentlemen, the Thomas Jackson is coming up from the south to assist. They’re already launching longboats to help secure the beachhead. You’ll have more men on the ground to assist with the search shortly.”

  Gabriel looked in the direction indicated and saw that the sister military airship to the Longstreet was slowly chugging up the coast of the bay. Pinpricks of lights dropped from both sides of the massive armored behemoth where the longboats were dropped and powered away from their mothership. Its massive guns were already shelling gun emplacements on the ground and picking off smaller raider airships as they tried to launch to meet the new threat.

  “Never thought I’d say this, but thank God for Dixie…,” Gabriel muttered.

  “Amen, brother,” Lincoln agreed.

  Doing some mental math, Gabriel figured that there were at least nine women in his general vicinity and he’d lost time getting the first six rescued. Every second counted — the deeper the raiders got into this small bayside town, the better the chance for them to further split up with their prizes and disappear. If they continued moving northwest, they’d eventually be out of Red Fields and up into Lo’Rock itself and then they’d be gone pretty much for good.

  Engaging his thrusters, Gabriel took to the rooftops, clicking the searchlights on his suit to pierce the darkness as
he tried to keep up with the fleeing raiders. Behind him, an explosion lit up the night as the Longstreet turned her guns onto the crippled Oculus, finishing the raider airship once and for all.

  “Captain!” Gabriel growled into the radio. “There could’ve been hostages still on that airship!”

  “Hardly,” Atticus replied dryly. “The last person was out a couple of minutes ago when we launched our longboats. Messenger, we have all our spotters up here looking for the women. You have a big group heading due west to try and throw you off. Emancipator, you’re going to want to go north by northwest from where you are. If you hit your thrusters, you might be able to get them as they break out of the town.”

  Gabriel and Lincoln both acknowledged the call outs. Cutting to the left, Gabriel ran and power hopped across the rooftops. Sporadic gunfire and beamer fire came his way from the few raiders left as they tried to bag a Jaeger. Gabriel hardly paid any attention to them as shots pinged and glanced off his armor. He picked off a couple on the fly while running by them as he searched for his main quarry.

  A couple blocks later, Gabriel caught up with the bulk of the raiders. Two of them tossed their captive women down, turned, and held their ground against the advancing Jaeger. Gabriel hit the thrusters again and power jumped to leap over their gunfire. He sliced at the one to his right and fired his cannon at the one to his left as he landed in front of them. They fell to the ground, dead.

  “Stay here!” he ordered the frightened and cowering women as he sent up a flare from the backpack of his armor. “Longstreet, Jackson, sending a flare up. Two to pick up at this location.”

  He didn’t wait for a response from either airship before he continued on.

  ***

  Lincoln planted an armored boot onto a raider’s chest. The raider had had the nerve to engage him in hand to hand combat, which resulted in Lincoln tossing him off his back and to the ground. The raider, who had been all brave and badass five seconds ago now cowered in fright. As much as he wanted to blow a hole in the man’s skull, Lincoln stayed his hand. Instead, he reversed his rifle and knocked the guy out with the stock. He then hit his thrusters to get up in the air and ahead of the raiders that the Longstreet indicated.