ryekerb: Thanks for the review! Lucky for you you don't have to wait long to read more 'cause I was just uploading the story to update today! Yes, there are still some hurdles to take in future chapters but in the end it'll make their relationship stronger! Sorry that there's ups and downs but I feel it wouldn't be realistic if there were never any problems between them, after all the added pressure of having to keep it a secret alone makes it a tricky task to build a strong/normal relationship. Anyways, glad that despite all of this you still like this story, this chapter's gonna be all about taking out the remaining phoenix soldiers out there in the jungle: enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Terra Nova, this is purely a non-profit fan-made story.
Chapter 21
FINGER itching to pull the trigger, Nathaniel hunkered down behind an old withered tree. Blaster resting against his chest in his tight embrace he closely examined the unmistakable footprints scattered all around him before looking up again to peer once more around the tall, rotten tree trunk. Just like mere seconds ago there was movement in the undergrowth up ahead. Narrowing his eyes he got out his binoculars and scanned the area, marking every single Phoenix soldier's position with meticulous precision and mentally storing that information to come up with the best strategy.
They'd already ditched the rovers a couple of clicks to the east the moment they closed in on the location where the reconnaissance team had been monitoring the last remnants of the Phoenix Group. After successfully making contact with Sergeant Reilly he'd decided to leave their vehicles behind to be guarded by his own squad while he, Hera, Dunham and Reilly and her reconnaissance team had continued pursuing their enemies on foot. This approach allowed for more stealth and Nathaniel wanted to retain the element of surprise as long as possible. As much as he longed to go in guns blazing, this was not the time to take unnecessary risks. After all, a cornered animal could still possess one nasty bite. Nevertheless, he was determined to get every single one of the twenty or so Phoenix soldiers left. And now, at last, they had closed in on their query. Regardless of their current proximity, patience was still very much the operative word. Nathaniel wasn't willing to spring any traps the Phoenixes might've set them. By the looks of it, though, they hadn't prepared a single one. In fact their scurried and seemingly random movements suggested they were pretty clueless about their coming doom.
Next to him Corporal Dunham sat on his haunches, biting his lower lip and craning his neck to see ahead. The young man was clearly as impatient as he himself felt to press on and take out their enemies. Nathaniel tucked the binoculars back into an inner pocket of his body armor and flicked a quick look over his shoulder at Hera who stood back a little, half hidden behind a tall and broad pine tree. After meeting his gaze she stealthily came over, finally crouching down beside him. He divulged what the plan was going to be in a low voice, afterwards waiting for her to relay his orders to Sergeant Reilly and her team who'd stayed behind for the moment and were lying low in a shallow gully further to his left. Hera returned not a minute later, looking nervous for reasons he couldn't fathom however much he wanted to, though in the end he had no choice but to prioritize the mission at the moment. A part of him growing uneasy, Nathaniel tried to ignore the particularly prickly sensation and swiftly lead her and Dunham onwards.
Using the cover of shrubs, tall pine trees and ferns the size of men to their advantage they'd soon sufficiently neared their target. Then, checking which direction the wind was coming from and which route would take them around their prey with the least risk of being heard or spotted much like a predator would do, Nathaniel proceeded with a vigilant care not to make a sound. Even though they made slower progress this time moving cautiously as they were, it still didn't take them long to get behind the group of Phoenix soldiers who, judging by their continued noisy activities as they busied themselves setting up their makeshift camp, still weren't any the wiser about the axe that was about to come down on their heads. And come down mercilessly hard too, Nathaniel thought bitterly, eyes fixed on their targets. He raised a closed fist and an instant later both Hera and Dunham crouched down on either side of him, blasters pointing outwards, eyes alert for any potential threats.
Shoulder to shoulder with her, Nathaniel couldn't help but notice again that although focused on the task ahead, Hera still looked paler than usual. In fact, something about the way she was cradling her blaster with an uneasiness he hadn't seen there before, made the hair on his neck involuntarily stand on end. Something was off. And it worried him he had no idea what it was. With no time to voice his concern or find out what was wrong he quickly repressed the urge to inquire after what was bothering her and got out his radio. He transmitted the code they'd agreed on beforehand to Reilly, using a secure channel that their adversary wouldn't be able to pick up even in such close proximity. He had Hera and Malcolm to thank for that. The two of them had made some pretty drastic improvements in order to ensure any communications made whether it was inside or outside the colony would be far less likely to fall into the wrong hands.
The moment he received his Sergeant's affirmation that the board was set and all that remained doing was to move the pieces on it for that final and most vital act of the play, Nathaniel locked eyes with Hera and Dunham still on either side of him. With a curt nod he send each of them away to their respective positions on his left and right. While they would come at the Phoenix soldiers from the flanks, he himself would charge straight at them through the middle.
If the plan worked, and he was confident that it would, they would drive them towards and right into Sergeant Reilly's ambush like a pack of hungry wolves would a herd of deer.
Within a minute Dunham had checked in and Hera did the same not long after. Nathaniel took a deep breath to steady himself, much like a diver would take a large gulp of precious air before descending into the dark depth of an ocean, emptying his mind and hoping he'd misheard the tremor in Hera's voice. When he gave the order but a heartbeat later the three of them attacked as one, going in full force and unleashing an incessant barrage of sonic waves.
Time slowed down as it always did in a fight. As he picked the enemy's soldiers off one by one he still perceived as if in slow motion bark bursting off the surrounding trees spiraling down towards the jungle floor like strangely shaped and dull-colored autumn leaves; the ground like fountains of sand raising upwards and air rippling and distorted by the relentless bombardment of shockwaves traveling through it. Without having to look down his instinct, honed after years of battle experience, guided him through the jungle ahead without his boots getting stuck behind or trip over the gnarled tree roots sprouting from the inch deep mud underfoot as he advanced. Fooled into believing their charging enemy possessed far greater numbers than was the case, the majority of the Phoenix soldiers fell for their bluff. Nathaniel grinned a feral grin as he kept going, Hera and Dunham not far away hounding their adversary so most of them scrambled around in panic to get a few belongings or weapons before they retreated from amongst the chaos now none of them seemed willing to stand their ground and fight. Exhausted and demoralized as they had been because of their hard lives in the unforgiving wilderness of Terra Nova, he hadn't really expected them to.
Withholding from firing another round, Nathaniel tore his intent gaze away from his blaster's scope, surveying for a moment his surroundings instead in a concentrated calm with his finger but an inch away from the trigger. Their strategy had worked like a charm. The bigger the shadow you cast, the more fearsome the monster it created would appear; because of their bravado and the element of surprise their small and insignificant shadows had been distorted and enlarged much like the flames of a campfire could give birth to unfounded fears of lurking dangers in the dark jungle around it. Up ahead he could hear the sounds of Reilly's squad releasing salvo after salvo of sonic blasts, but as much as he wanted to hurry up and reach her, effectively tighten the noose around their enemy's throats, it was up to the three of them to remain focused on the job ahead and take care of any stragglers who'd escaped the net.
Just as he was about to radio Hera and Dunham to be on the lookout for those left behind and hiding away somewhere, a long-limbed, scruffy haired soldier lunged at him from behind a felled tree covered in ferns. Nathaniel expertly ducked out of harm's way as the man flung balled fist after balled fist at him. Allowing for an opening on purpose to lure his adversary in closer, the Phoenix soldier snarled maliciously in somewhat of a premature victory as he took the bait and came at him again. Deflecting the powerful punch intended for his face with the back of his hand and arm Nathaniel took one step back, quickly changing his stance to steady himself before swinging a closed fist at the Phoenix soldier. He hit him with such force that it send him flying through the air and smack his head on a razor sharp rock hidden between the dense undergrowth. The tell-tale and eerily crunching sound of both skull and very likely brain being impaled because of the violent collision stopped Nathaniel in his tracks, ready and eager even as he had been to finish the job. Almost in the same instant he spotted movement from the corner of his eyes and he took another Phoenix soldier out with his blaster as he whipped around to face the coming danger.
Half tripping over the man Nathaniel had just shot down, Dunham appeared onto the scene, another stray Phoenix soldier who had been one of the few to see through their ruse hot on his heels. Fumbling with the settings on his blaster Dunham backed away from the advancing Phoenix who'd raised the crossbow in his hands, pulling back the string as he took aim. Nathaniel swung his own blaster on his back, knowing that there'd be too much of a risk of taking out Dunham with it as well if he fired it at the Phoenix soldier towering over his young Corporal. He felt his leg just above his boot to unsheathe the army knife strapped around it. A piercing cry left the soldier's lungs as the sharp edge of the knife hit its target with a deadly precision. Nathaniel watched in relief as the Phoenix soldier fell to the ground, the weapon he'd thrown at him seconds before still prominently stuck in the side of his neck.
There wasn't any time to check on Dunham now, lying on his belly in the mud, another soldier emerged crawling desperately closer to get to his weapon only inches away. The man's eyes grew larger once he realized he'd been noticed and his movements grew increasingly hurried and frantic. Nathaniel reached the blaster first and he placed his boot on it the moment the soldier attempted to clasp his fingers around it. Next instant he kicked him hard in the face, making the man land on his back with his hand still clutching the weapon so his wrist twisted and broke with a loud snap. Grinding the blaster underfoot even further into the mud, evoking loud wails from the soldier, Nathaniel took the sonic pistol from its holster on his hips. Although not deriving any pleasure from the look of fearful understanding that filled the eyes of the defeated man at his feet, he took his aim with an unwavering and heartfelt determination; This time, he wasn't going to let any of them escape.. The sound of energy surging through the veins of the pistol that felt warm in his hands, the downed soldier shivered as Nathaniel's finger found an caressed the trigger; Nor take any prisoners back to the colony..
Not daring to loosen her tight grip on the blaster in her hands, Hera eased forward, ears strained and eyes cutting from left to right to make sure she didn't miss any suspicious or sudden movements. Having cleared the jungle in front of them Nathaniel had just given the order to make one final swipe of it before rejoining Sergeant Reilly. By now the sounds of fighting on their end had ceased and an eerie silence had taken its place. For some reason the lack of sonic blasts was strangely deafening and oppressive even. In an attempt to ignore the accompanying uneasiness that had started to grow stronger again, she lifted her blaster even higher so she could peer over the rim of it as she stood still to inspect a bush further on.
Hera tensed up at once and, with a rather clumsy jerk, hastily redirected her aim when the scale-covered head of a young Ankylosaurus suddenly appeared between the plants surrounding it, seemingly spoilt for choice as it considered which juicy leaf to go for. Cursing inwardly for being this easily startled, she slightly lowered her weapon again, rolling her shoulders in an effort to relax. It wasn't the first time on this mission that she felt agitated with herself. And not because of her cumbersome proneness to be slow to react in situations like this these days, but because of her hesitation to shoot in the first place. If she was honest with herself, she wasn't entirely sure she could've overcome the paralyzing sensation that had stopped her if it had in fact turned out to be a threat and not a harmless herbivore foraging for lunch. She lowered her gaze, letting it rest on the blaster in her hands. Not for the first time either her knuckles had gone white. Hera doubted she could let go off it even if she'd try, glued to the thing as her cramped up fingers were. But at least it didn't tremble in her grasp.. Well, not yet, anyway..
Ironically, and contrary to her feverish concern, she almost dropped it the instant Corporal Dunham and Nathaniel joined her after finishing their own rounds, the latter's frown effectively letting her know that her jumpiness hadn't escaped his notice. Head hung low and avoiding direct eye contact for fear of him sensing her internal turmoil she followed him in silence as they headed for the others, the ever eager and watchful Dunham in her wake. Raising her own blaster again as they went, even though it felt like a feigned gesture of vigilance, Hera knew she wouldn't use it to kill. She hadn't used it to kill. She hadn't even landed a single direct hit, but instead performed the petty duty of a beater chasing out pheasants from their hiding places with a stick during a hunt.
Each shot she'd released at the Phoenix soldiers had been aimed to disarm, not to end their lives, no matter how much she understood that to be this mission's operative word. She'd battled with wildlife on countless occasions, fought against and survived several Sixers' attacks, faced the same enemy now at the run even when they came knocking at the gate and yet, not until that horrific moment in the Command Center had she actually taken someone's life. She'd joined the security forces knowing full well it was in the job description, but considering there was no war to be waged, nor seemed there likely to be one, she'd simply shoved her hesitanting conscious aside. But it seemed it would not be silenced now. Not anymore.
Mere minutes later the three of them rushed upon a scene which Hera doubted she'd be able to forget again in a hurry. Scattered across the jungle floor were a dozen Phoenix soldiers; sprawled like lifeless puppets. Tuning out Sergeant Reilly and Nathaniel's exchanging the latest intel and the, in her eyes, macabre results of the mission, Hera let her eyes wander over their defeated enemy. Their gray-camouflaged uniforms were torn and dirty, their faces emaciated and partly covered in beards or tangled hair while their glazed over and hollow eyes stared unseeingly at the canopy overhead. In a way it was a pathetic and disturbing sight at the same time. And yet Hera could not avert her gaze as she observed the transformation their once mighty and powerful adversaries had undergone. Each and every one of the dead soldiers around her were now but specters of who they had been; their huddled forms proof of how the jungle had changed them from a strong army of hired assassins to a band of ragged vagrants with some of them still proudly wearing the red berets even in death, which looked almost comical and certainly was a very stupid idea unless they'd intended to serve as target practice for either the colony's security forces or the deadly predators that the jungle was teeming with.
Swallowing hard and finally able to tear her gaze away, Hera wasn't certain whether or not she felt relieved that the scene didn't stir pity in her, after all she hated their adversary for what they had done too much for that. But it did cause an inconvenient mixture of wary conscience and strong revolt against murdering them instead of taking them their prisoners, to blossom deep within her. She wasn't opposed to using violence to protect and defend the colony -after all, Nathaniel had convinced her of that pretty early on in the game- and she understood it to be a final solution when diplomacy or negotiation were going to be of no avail. Especially considering that the world of Terra Nova, set deeply into the Cretaceous period, was not a forgiving place that allowed for ethics or taking a stubborn stand on the high moral ground to solve their problems. It was a world that contained merely the possibility for a second chance. But they'd have to fight for it. They were still fighting for it; a battle they hadn't won just yet. Despite that dire necessity it saddened her that whatever, whoever, stood in their way and obstructed that road towards betterment driven by the greed inherited from the dying earth they'd all left behind, or tried to leave behind, had to be removed. One way or the other..
"Sergeant..?" Nathaniel's low rumbling voice pierced her brooding thoughts like a lance would a thick swirling mist. Hera quickly emptied her mind and turned towards him, guilt stinging her heart and embarrassment coloring her cheeks a fiery red almost for old times' sake it seemed.
"You're with me." he repeated in an impatient growl, throwing her a stern look too that she hardly dared answer but for a curt nod in his direction.
"Take the one heading towards the rovers out and let our men standing guard there know he's coming. We'll take care of the other one. I have a pretty good hunch which slimy hole he's trying to slink back into to." Nathaniel resumed to address Reilly as he checked his gear one final time before making to go, gesturing for Hera to do the same. She hurriedly ran down a mental inventory list of the weapons, ammunition and other tools that she was wearing, hands running past every corresponding object in turn. Everything was still accounted for, and her body armor hadn't sustained any damage in their earlier fight either. As he already started on his way at a quick jog, Nathaniel called out his final instructions to Reilly and the others over his shoulder, making Hera hastily dash after him when he already threatened to disappear amongst the dense foliage, "It's two hours till sundown. Bring your men back safe inside the gates before dark. Don't wait for us.." Without a moment to spare to wish Dunham, Sergeant Reilly and the others luck, Hera hastened to follow him.
Spurred on by the occasional far-off, enticing glimpse they caught of the Phoenix soldier they were pursuing, the both of them rushed through the jungle; constantly jumping over felled trees, tramping through muddy rain puddles and dodging low hanging branching, always on the look-out too for any potential wildlife whose attention they most definitely didn't want to attract to themselves.
It was hard if not impossible to completely slip by unnoticed with some predators though, especially now the coming dusk had made them more active already, and more than once they had to momentarily give up their own hunt in order to prevent starting quite another. Despite the unfortunate detours, it wasn't hard to pick up their query's trail again. Especially when Nathaniel seemed to have a pretty strong inclination as to where their target was fleeing to. It took her a little longer to figure out, but eventually, picking up the distinctive and familiar smell of a mire and soon after spotting the boggy area to her right, Hera realized with her stomach uncomfortably tightening that they were nearing the Sixers' treehouse located on the edge of the Bone Marshes.
Hera estimated it must have been over an hour that they'd hiked through the wilderness at a murdering pace. She'd pushed herself to her limits to keep up with Nathaniel who'd only spared her a few and mostly stern backward glances. Feeling she deserved each of those, it were the ones mingled with a genuine concern that had rattled her the most. When Nathaniel finally signaled for her to halt she almost doubled over out of exhaustion. Crouching down instead with her weapon raised and eyes ahead it took her a few seconds to get her breathing under control now her lungs were screaming for more oxygen while the tired muscles in her bend legs started to burn. Nathaniel was at her side, sweat trickling down his temples and hand reaching for the binoculars tucked away in an inner pocket of his cargo pants though he abandoned the movement almost instantly when there was the unmistakable sound of someone fighting his way through the mud and ferns nearby.
Trading silent but meaningful glances Hera instinctively understood what plan he had in mind. Not sure she'd be able to handle and execute her role in it, hating the insecurity inside of her that seemed to take over more and more despite her struggles to hold it back, she ducked to remain out of sight, crawling a few meters to her right. She cautiously got up to press her body against the obliging tree with her eyes fixed on Nathaniel as he approached the Phoenix soldier who'd appeared only a little further on. He was frantically searching for the rope ladder that would allow him access to the treehouse hidden in the thick canopy overhead but, upon perceiving Nathaniel emerge from the green world around him, he started to fumble around for a weapon that he apparently didn't even know for sure was still on him.
"Just here to talk.." she could hear Nathaniel say in a deliberately nonchalant voice as if they were merely two strangers meeting at a bus stop to engage in a meaningless conversation on the weather to kill time. He raised his hands and grinned disarmingly though Hera realized the soldier had noticed the unmistakable tigerish quality to it too as his lips twitched nervously. Stalling, Nathaniel walked around him, ambling almost, pretending to have more interest for the jungle around him but deftly and cunningly making the soldier turn to keep facing him. One more step and Hera would have a clear shot at the unguarded flank of the man. She aimed and sidestepped the tree in the same swift movement with a wildly pounding heart that seemed to throb in her throat instead of her chest, giving birth to the irrational fear it might jump out if she but opened her mouth.
A split second before she pulled the trigger back, the soldier swung around to face her. Seeing his but all too familiar face, up close as she had been with it last time they'd met, something inside her shifted. The fact that his identity had taken her by surprise had been enough to mess up her aim by a few inches so the shot only managed to clip his shoulders. He staggered backwards but, burly and tall as he was, he didn't fall. On edge. Hera fingered the trigger, trying to move closer at the same time and shoot again but she felt rooted to the spot as a vivid flashback of the soldier she'd killed in the Command Center plagued her mind. Heart rate increasing another notch as the sounds around her seemed to be drowned in the dull echoes of it in her ears, she barely registered Nathaniel's shouting for her to take the shot he had intended her to take and which she still could if she would but unfreeze.
Next instant, the moment to make up for her mistake was irrevocably gone. Taking advantage of her paralyzing indecisiveness the Phoenix soldier recovered his balance from the shot he'd taken to the shoulder, unslinging a battered looking crossbow and, after a brief vengeful flicker of hatred in his beady eyes, changed his aim towards Nathaniel. The sharp twang of the crossbow filled her with dread even though she'd released a sonic burst almost simultaneously. The soldier was sent flying through the air and landed hard on the jungle floor, the arrow fired from his crossbow deeply buried in the mossy bark of a tree; he'd missed Nathaniel's face by inches. Hera rushed forward but before she could do anything else there was an earsplitting cry that instantly sent shivers down her spine; Nykos.
"Climb! Climb!" Nathaniel bellowed in her direction, pointing at the rope ladder leading up to the leafy heavens above which was enticingly close to her. Reluctant to leave him behind the intimidating glare he give her soon cured her of the urge to protest. She hurriedly reached out for one of the wooden rungs and pulled herself up, placing her feet on the ones below. There was another piercing cry, coming from a lot closer this time. A bush moved violently, leaves rustled, branches snapped and a very hungry Nyko appeared on the scene. Thinking he was right behind her, Hera almost lost her balance, feet half slipping of the rung and twisting around in the process, when she saw Nathaniel's silhouette in the growing darkness. He was standing a few feet away, charging up his blaster and firing at the dinosaur without a moment's hesitation. The dinosaur smacked hard against a tree, landing with a dull and heavy thud between its gnarled roots and moved no more.
On the verge of calling out to him, wanting to make him abandon his stubborn knack to play the hero and climb with her to relative safety instead, Hera's words were drowned in a shout of pain she didn't realized was hers until she saw the shadowy shape of a brown furred, wreathing creature below her. A Nyko had seized its chance and jumped out at her, grabbing her by the ankle and holding on to it like a vicious pit-bull. The weight of the feathered predator was dragging the both of them down and for a brief almost comical moment they both dangled from the rope ladder creaking violently in protest when Nathaniel charged at it and shot it point blank with his pistol. The recoil send him flying through the air too as Hera still hung from the rope ladder as in its unyielding vines one hand had gotten entangled in the process, cutting into the flesh around her wrist.
Looking down and trying to find a rung to stand on and regain her balance, the Nykoraptor below was scrambling to its feet again, moving around groggily an instant later with its tail swooshing erratically though the dinosaurs deep and angry growl left no room for interpretation as to what it planned to do with its attacker. And she didn't doubt he'd have her for desert. Frantically searching for Nathaniel amongst the trees and ferns which were cast in a ghastly, purplish light as the sun was disappearing rapidly behind the horizon now, Hera shouted out in ecstatic relief as she saw him reemerge from the jungle and take a few unbalanced steps towards her. Although swaying from left to right, with a final she effort wrenched herself free at last and came down hard on the ground, effectively knocking all the air out of her lungs as she did.
An instant later she felt herself being roughly pulled to her feet, almost making her believe the Nyko had gotten to her first when Nathaniel turned her towards him in his strong arms, a seething anger shining through in his bright blue eyes that had acquired a harsher and darker hue in the dim twilight around them.
"I told you to climb.." he bit out between gritted teeth, though mirroring her own hurt and scared look despite the dangerous edge to his voice. At that moment something else stirred on the jungle floor; the Phoenix soldier had regained conscious at last, only to open his eyes and find himself face to face with a very aggravated dinosaur. Hera wrenched herself free from Nathaniel's grip, grabbing him by the arm instead and making sure this time he was following her up the rope ladder. She forced herself not to look down the entire climb, only listening to the creaking sound of the intertwined rope and vine as well as Nathaniel's grunts as he too had to push his body to keep moving even though every muscle hurt.
They had just scrambled through the opening in the treehouse's lower level's floor when the sounds down below swelled in volume. There was a cacophony of grating screeches and caw-like calling out as the rest of the pack of hunting Nykos had joined the one that had tried to keep its prey to itself. By the sound of it the raptors were soon too busy fighting each other for the easy meal that the Phoenix soldier provided to be bothered by the two humans that had escaped high up into the trees. Then there were the loud and wailing screams of the soldier being eaten alive the moment the gluttonous predators had finally established the right pecking order. Hera only just managed to repress a gagging sensation at hearing the horrible sounds of flesh being torn off bones, limbs being separated from torso and the terrible gnawing and munching that drifted all the way up as the dinosaurs feasted on their meal. Hera felt sick to her stomach, briefly closing her eyes and trying not to let her mind provide the accompanying images as a rebellious Nyko had gotten a hold of whatever was left of the Phoenix soldier and started dragging it away from the rest which followed with angry indignant outcries until at last their agitated snarling and the mad shouting of their still half alive prey receded into the dark jungle's fatal embrace.