Ures
by jalpari
As the team inspects another base on the planet Ures, they are caught off guard.
A/N:
Alright y'all, picking the pace up again! I've tried to revise, revise, revise until the action in the chapter is as exciting as possible. Comments, feedback, and suggestions welcome as always.
Ures was as dead as a planet could be. As they orbited around, scanning every part of the planet, Pidge suddenly called out.
"Wait, there", she pointed to a section on the map.
"Is that a base?"
"Most likely, yes. The biomarkers I'm detecting are way higher than in Senfama. Looks like they were here as recently as yesterday."
"Could they still be there?" Keith zoomed into the map.
"I'm not sure."
"Let's not take a chance. We'll go in ready to fight", Shiro stood up. "Pidge, do you have everything set up?"
"Yep, got my eyes on everything."
"Suit up", he turned to the team.
"Nope, nothing in here", Hunk's voice sounded over the comm.
"Same here", Keith's disappointed voice replied.
"Alright, let's get out", Shiro commanded.
"Noor", Pidge addressed the girl beside her, "Maybe you should go down there. See if anything sparks your memory."
Noor nodded.
"Shiro, I'm sending Noor down in a pod. Maybe something there will jog her memory."
"Good idea", Hunk agreed.
Noor stared out the glass as the pod made its way to the base. Her hand kept touching the wrist band, the holster strapped to her waist, the daggers tucked into her thigh slits, and her helmet and mask. She felt silly in the Blade of Marmora suit. She didn't feel like a warrior...yet.
It had been nearly two weeks since her rescue and she still didn't remember anything new. She had dreams filled with things she didn't understand - trees, murky depths, shiny lights, shadowy creatures, howling wolves, a shimmering path. But nothing made sense.
She felt a shiver run down her spine as she walked into the expansive training ground. It had the same layout as the one in Naxzela. She walked over to a giant tub of water on one end of the room, almost triple her height. She placed her hand on the glass and stared into the blue.
Keith watched as she stood still, gazing into the tank. He exchanged a concerned glance with Shiro as she remained still for several seconds. Seconds turned into minutes. And then she jumped back abruptly, a shriek escaping her lips.
"Noor! What is it?" Luten rushed forward.
"I...I saw myself."
"What?"
"I saw myself inside the tank."
"Is that a memory?" Shiro asked.
"I...I'm not sure but I think so. I feel like, at some point, they submerged me in a tank similar to this."
"Monsters", Hunk muttered angrily under his breath.
"Do you remember anything else?" Keith walked up to the tub.
"I passed out before they pulled me back up, I think."
Suddenly, Pidge's voice boomed on their comms.
"Guys! You need to get out of there. Now!"
"What's going on, Pidge?" Keith asked as they all began running out.
Noor's hand rested on the gun as she ran behind him. She drew comfort as she felt its presence.
"They're here", was all Pidge could say before they heard the rumbling.
When they emerged from the base, they saw a wormhole crackle above their heads and an enormous ship emerged from it. A hatch at the bottom of the ship opened and a figure stepped out on the ledge.
"I can't hack into their system" Pidge replied in frustration, "I...I don't recognize the signal patterns or biorhythms."
"Hunk, get Noor to the craft", Shiro ordered.
"On it", Hunk yelled as he grabbed Noor's arm, "and we really need a name for our craft!"
"Yeah, we'll get on that right after we deal with this", Keith grunted as he ran towards the four mercenaries that jumped out of the ship.
"Shields!" Shiro yelled.
They spread out to avoid being easy targets and readied their weapons. Shots were fired and within seconds they were surrounded by loud flashes and deafening beams of energy. They ducked, evaded, advanced and attacked. The mercenaries were in black suits with partially covered faces. Just like the ones they had encountered on Naxzela, they were all of different races too.
Keith ran towards one of them and slid down, kicking his legs and breaking his stance. As he landed on the ground, Keith kicked him square in the jaw. He stood over him and with one clean shot, sent a burning beam straight through his chest. To his surprise, a shiny cloud emanated from its dying body and disappeared into thin air.
"Watch out!" Shiro yelled and Keith turned around just in time as another one appeared behind him and took aim. Keith barely managed to dodge the shot as he jumped behind a boulder.
Shiro shot endlessly at the third mercenary as Luten tackled the fourth. They were fully engaged in the fight when they heard Hunk's voice boom over all the noise.
"I'm under heavy fire, guys!"
Keith tried to peek over the boulder but sunk back down as his attacker continued shooting.
"What is going on, Hunk?" he yelled into his comm.
"There are two more of these guys, and they're between us and the pod."
"I'm coming", Luten responded as he spun around evading his attacker's punch and ran towards Hunk.
Luten took aim at the one closest to Noor, but before he could shoot, he felt a sharp pain as a shot was fired from behind him. He clutched his arm and yelled. His vision darkened and he fell to the ground in pain. Some distance away, Shiro managed to overpower the mercenary attacking him with an immobilizer. He raced ahead firing at the soldiers around Hunk and Noor to divert their attention.
"Keith, where are you!?" Shiro yelled.
"I'm coming!"
Keith growled and pulled out his blade. He emerged from the boulder and jumped at the creature shooting at him, as his weapon transformed into a sword. He took advantage of the mercenary's astonishment and lunged at him, swiping at his chest. As his sword made contact, the mercenary dropped his weapon with a howl. Keith took a final stab at him and just like the previous one, a shadowy mist escaped the body.
As Noor hid behind her shield, she pulled out her gun and began firing at the creatures but missed every single time. She groaned in frustration. Shiro and Hunk kept shooting and managed to force the two mercenaries further away, allowing Hunk and Noor to advance towards the pod. And then, out of nowhere, she felt a burn sear through her calf. She screamed in pain as she fell forward.
"Noor!" Hunk yelled as he glanced back to see what had happened.
"I'm alright", she groaned, "they got my leg, but I'm fine."
She took in a deep inhale and stood up wincing at the stinging sensation. Hunk swooped around and supported her with one arm and took aim at the creature that had shot her. She watched in awe as Hunk's weapon glowed and transformed into a chaingun. Hunk screamed and unleashed a volley of powerful shots at the men. This time, his shot met the target. The creature was thrown back in the air and lay motionless on the ground.
"Are those fumes rising from its body?" Noor gasped.
"No time for that", Hunk muttered to her.
"I'm gonna make a dash for the pod!" Hunk announced over his comm. "Noor is shot!"
"What!?" Keith's voice blared. "Get her out of here!"
Keith tackled the man looming over Luten and shot him straight in the head before he could fire a fatal blow at Luten. He dodged the misty vapors that rose up from the body and bent over a half unconscious Luten, shaking him vigorously.
"Get up, Luten! We need you!"
Luten groaned and clutched his bleeding arm.
"We need to go to their ship", Keith commanded.
Luten nodded groggily and grabbed his gun. They made their way to the open hatch where the figure stood, surveying the ongoing chaos. Keith glanced back and saw, much to his relief, as Shiro finally took down the last mercenary and Hunk and Noor jumped into the pod.
"Pidge, we need cover!" Shiro yelled as he ran to join Keith and Luten.
"On it", Pidge screamed, blasting powerful shots from the craft.
A protective screen spread around the ship, blocking every beam she threw at it.
"I can't get through their shield", Pidge groaned, "you guys need to get closer."
Pidge sent three pods down and Shiro, Keith and Luten leapt into them. They approached the hatch from all sides, searching for a weak spot.
"What's that", Luten gasped.
Shiro and Keith watched as a small object emerged from below the ship and transformed into a cube.
"That's...that looks like Olkarion tech", Keith exclaimed. "How is that possible?"
"Black market...anything could have gotten into anyone's hand in the post war chaos", Shiro grunted in frustration.
Before they could take another shot, a red beam emanated from the cube and spread wide, enclosing all three pods.
"None of my controls are working!" Luten exclaimed.
"I can't move either!" Keith grew frustrated.
"Pidge! Do you copy? Can you take the cube out?" Shiro called out.
Silence.
"We can't send or receive signals outside the span of this beam...", Shiro yelled.
Noor, Hunk and Pidge watched in horror from their craft as all three pods were frozen mid-air at the mercy of the ship.
"We need to do something, I can't communicate with them", Pidge began running to the back. "Get to your pod, Hunk!"
The two scrambled into their pods and flew down to either side of the cube and began shooting at it.
"Nothing is going through", Pidge ranted.
Before she knew it, her pod was sucked into the beam too.
"Pidge!" Hunk yelled.
He saw the beam coming for him and evaded it for several minutes but soon he too was dragged in.
"What do we do, Shiro?" Keith called out over the comm.
"It's getting hot in here", Luten groaned.
"We need to figure out a way to weaken the beam otherwise we are going to burn to a crisp."
Bani and Noor gasped as a voice hissed and crackled over the craft's comm.
"If you want to save your friends...all you have to do is turn yourself over."
Noor's heart raced. She looked out at the five pods. The beam held them in its clutches and its intensity seemed to increase with every second. She could see the pods heat up as sparks lit around their outer shells.
"Bani", she made up her mind, "do we have any sort of trackers that others won't be able to detect easily?"
"Umm...", Bani ran over to a panel, searching, racking her brain. "Yes!"
She retrieved a small bottle and syringe. Noor flinched as she began prepping her arm.
"Don't worry, this won't hurt. I'll be able to track you several galaxies away and for up to a week."
Noor shut her eyes as she was injected yet again. She took comfort in the fact that at least this time, she was conscious, she knew what it was, she knew who was doing it, and why it was being done.
"You have only a few more ticks, human", the voice boomed once more.
"Tell him, I'm coming."
