Chapter 28 : Clash of the Titans
Looking around, Harrigan came up against another problem – it was going to be a very tight fit in the troop deck with twelve of Captain Zarithak's skulkers plus Kylith in there. When he told them about this, they just waved off that concern, saying "Not a problem, War Commander – it will just make us more eager to just get out at the other end!" Harrigan just laughed for a couple of microts and said "That's the spirit – now follow me and I'll get you squared away on my ship over there!"
Several of them started talking quietly amongst themselves with some animation when they saw the Harbringer close-up – not knowing that Harrigan could, of course, hear every word of what they said. This stopped when Harrigan opened the entry hatch just behind the bridge on the treblin side and called "Everyone in! Drop bay's to your hammond – ten of you can sit there. Kylith – you're with me on the bridge, and the two best shots can come to the upper deck as well. You'll be manning the top and tail turrets for our little outing!"
The Harbringer echoed with the sounds of Scarran boots stomping off to the drop bay – once Harrigan had personally made sure they were all seated and strapped in around the floor hatch and their weapons were secured, Kylith and the two skulkers still standing followed him up the stairs to the upper deck. "You – tail turret" Harrigan directed the female of the pair, followed by "And you – up there, top turret" to the male. Both smiled just a little before giving the regulation Scarran salute and heading to their assigned positions. "Kylith – in here" Harrigan told her, going through the door ahead of them and onto the Harbringer's small bridge "Nav station for you – and yes, there's a full suite of surveillance and EW gear there as well. Just keep an eye out for anyone trying to find us". Kylith just grinned back at him and strapped herself in.
Harrigan then comed the Sunbuster's bridge, announcing "Captain Zarithak, the advance team is ready to go. Please have one Tactical company and one Bloodstar company present here on the flight deck for when my guys come over – Captains Kran and Lazarus will need to get quickly accustomed to those under their command and prepped for drop…". The skulkers still need a CO, Harigan reminded himself, ht who do I know who's up for the job? Kylith's not bad at all, but I doubt she'll be with us for the long haul, and while Zarithak's teams are probably good, I don't know any of them from a bar of soap! "…and have one more skulker team ready to meet their Captain as well, since he will be coming across as well".
"I see you have decided on a commander for the skulker units, War Commander" Zarithak commed back "Might I enquire about who this individual is?" "Someone my wife trained in her old job" Harrigan replied "He's got his stuff down cold, so no worries there – he'll come through for us. I've just got to tell him of his promotion once I take off". "Very good" Zarithak replied "The skulkers will be relieved to know they have a commanding officer – even better if he is of the same speciality as them".
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Captain Zarithak turned to his security officer and called "Flight deck doors open, mister! Get Bloodstar second company and Tactical first company down to the flight deck fully equipped for heavy combat in a QUARTER-ARN! Tactical companies four through eight are to get in their Stryers for immediate air-defence sorties! First Officer, sound General Quarters!"
Sirens started blaring throughout the Sunbuster as Scarrans started running to their posts and preparing for possible combat. Harrigan nodded in satisfaction when Kylith reported the deck doors were opening, and called "We're off, people – hope none of you needed to use the bathroom before you got in!" before lifting more gently off the flight deck floor and heading out into space. The Bloodstar troops were especially pleased to be called up for active duty, even more so when they were told who was their commanding officer. "We have Captain Kran leading us, you Scarrans!" their own more junior Captain told them happily as they ran full-pelt for the flight deck armoury through the corridors "He will not leads us wrong! Be assured, we will soon get to dispense King's judgement on those Hierarchy units down on the planet below – so let's get properly set up, shall we, and not stand around here, yes!"
While there were a few reservations amongst the Tactical units called forth for duty, they were just as eager in their own way to be seeing action. "I do not know about this Captain Lazarus" one of the Lieutenants told a sergeant "Though if the War Commander trusts him he should do well. I just hope he is an experienced combat veteran who will not crack up at the first sight of blood". "We'll fnd out soon enough, sir" the sergeant replied with as much assurance as he could muster "He'll be coming over soon to see us – we will get some measure of his capabilities and personality then".
"Cry Havoc, this is Harrigan" Harrigan commed over to his own ship's bridge "As of this moment, we go to General Alert level one – full wartime alert! Anything not from our own ship or Captain Zarithak's, or not given direct permission by me, gets shot down without warning". Once everyone had had a few microts to take this in, he added "All combat troops will make their way to the hammond side flight deck for immediate transfer to the Sunbuster – all combat drops will go from there. But before that…". Everyone stopped and stared up at the speakers,wondering what Harrigan would add next, and were quite surprised when he added "Trannak, in response to the trust placed in you by my wife and for your own good service so far, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Captain and given full command of all skulker units under Irregular command". Trannak was stunned by what he had heard. Me? A Captain? Frell, even becoming an officer was more than I really expected for myself either in the Deadheads or here. I hope I can fulfil the trust placed in me…
"Thank you, War Commander" Trannak replied, standing to attention "Though I must admit my surprise, I will try not to disappoint you. Skulker units will do all they can to see your wife, our Sub-Commander, returned alive and unharmed to us – you can depend on that".
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Both Kran and Lazarus congratulated Trannak on his promotion. "I guess this means my old recon specialist we be under your command now" Kran told Trannak after they had calmed down, with Lazarus adding "Probably Ghost as well, Kran – and he'd better get Jane too, at least for this op. Keyah and Sikozu as well. I'm keeping Troll with me, though".
Once all those who'd be fighting had headed down to the flight deck, Harrigan commed Moratha and her daughters as well as Dr Nrakal. "Moratha, I'll need you and Nrakal, along with your daughters, to watch the bridge while we're gone. I know you heard the alert warning, so I hope at least one of you knows how to operate the gunnery controls – hopefully we won't need that to happen, since Captain Zarithak's people are handling air defence for us, but it'll be nice to have a little extra on hand". "I hope we will not need it too" Moratha added "But I do know the controls you speak of, as I think Dr Nrakal does as well – if we make sure a transit car is on hand at the bridge at all times, we can make sure we can get to the sick bay if we are needed when you all return".
"HALLITH!" Concillor Shuljek called happily as he ran to his quarters "HALLIIIIIITH! We've got fighting to do, love – get Shakka and the others properly equipped and down on the flight deck NOW, woman!" "Shakka and myself are ready right now, my over-eager husband" Hallith replied with amusement as she and Shakka stepped out to meet him, dressed for battle already "I expect our troops are already getting their gear ready without our assistance as well. Let's go and find out, shall we?" Once the three of them had got on to the transit car with the bridge crew, just before it left, the atmosphere turned to one of both anticipation, a little unease - and restrained eagerness among the Bloodstars.
Several cars converged on the flight deck, spilling out both Irregulars and guests onto the transit stop and flight deck. I have not been among so many Scarrans, Sikozu thought to herself as she made her way acros to where Keyah was standing, for quite some time – especially those who were not hostile to me or those I knew. These ones may well be suspicious of my usefulness – so I must show them that their unease is misplaced and that I am as good as any of them are. Better than many too, she added to herself with smug assurance.
Captain Kran found his bearings, then shouted out for everyone to be quiet as Tovak and Troll wheeled over huge crates. "QUIET!" Kran bellowed again, before doing the same himself and addressing those gathered before him. "Unlike Captain Zarithak's people, we will be using decidely non-Scarran weapons for the most part" Kran told everyone, noding to Tovak, who held up a G8C and continued with "This is the weapon we will be using. It is not hard to learn, especially for those of us who have used projectile weapons before. This lever here…", Tovak paused to point to the magazine release, "…is the magazine release, and the safety catch is just above this pistol grip, within easy reach of your thumb, and has positions for semi-auto and full-auto fire. You should be easily able to tell which is which – there are simple pictures beside each position to enlighten you".
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"Squad heavies…" Captain Lazarus took over to add "Will be using the regulation Scarran plasma cannon – so Troll, you will be keeping that one you have. I hope Rekketh's managed to get through your thick skull how to operate it properly as well". This news was greeted with considerable relief by those personnel, who already had their cannons and backpack charge packs on and ready – once Lazarus had noted this, he bawled "Come on! Come on! Step forward and get your kit, everyone! One G8C and twelve mags a piece! The fighting won't wait and neither WILL I! Squad heavies – make sure your Vipers and any other backup weapons have plenty of ammo as well, since we can't stop for resupply once we're down there in the thick of it".
The recon specialist and Ghost stood off to one side while all of this was going on. "This rifle…" the recon specialist whispered "Is very good, Ghost – and by its size is more the kind of weapon I would have expected a Scarran to build". "They aren't too common back on Earth" Ghost replied "Most snipers I know of prefer something a bit easier to use and carry. But I like it anyway, even if I do get the occasional shoulder bruise that gets me sent to a base hospital – or the sick bay here, I guess". The recon specialist just grunted with amusement and checked his own weapons and ammunition were properly stored before turning and watching the others around him get sorted out.
Maybe twenty momens later, all those who needed G8Cs and ammo had them. "We'll take my ship" Councillor Shuljek decided "There's room for everyone to sit on the bottom deck and it should fit as easily in the Sunbuster's flight deck as it does in this one". As soon as the Concillor had opened the drop ramp, everyone charged up on board, where Councillor Shuljek's bodyguard cmmander and Sturk made sure everyone got to their proper places.
"You be careful, Karroch" Moratha told her son as he prepared to leave, reaching out to make sure all the fastenings on his armour were properly fastened "Stay calm, shoot straight, and watch your father for me – since I can't be there to do that for him". "We will both be fine, mother" Karroch replied with a little more confidence than he actually felt "Father is a good officer, Councillor Shuljek will be there, and the War Commander himself leads us to battle – things are as good as they're likely to get. I remember the training my father and the others in our cell gave me, mother – you need not worry about me". A bellowed "KARROCH – GET OVER HERE NOW, SON!" interrupted their talking – after which Moratha gave Karroch one last kiss on the cheek and sent him on his way. As soon as Karroch was on board, Councillor Shuljek's Lieutenant bawled "ALL OK!" over the comm to the bridge – the drop deck door closed almost immediately, and onece Moratha and her two daughters had reached the bridge, Urana called down "Bay doors opening now…" and pressed the button to open them and let them go on their way.
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Kylith listened on the comm as Urana relayed all this to her, then passed it on to Harrigan. "Good, things are going as planned" Harrigan replied "At least for now. Let's hope they fail to notice our preparations for a bit longer". "I'm in full agreement there, sir" Kylith told him "The tricky bit, at least as far as my team's concerned, is making the initial entry into the comm and security centre – if we frell up even the tiniest bit, we'll be paste and it'll be many times harder for you and the main assault to succeed as well". "We will ALL be fine" Harrigan told Kylith with a smile "As far as we can control anything, we will make sure things go according to plan. The only thing that bothers me is that we aren't yet sure how much of a garrison force is stationed here – you will need to find this out once you secure the computer network and tell us. We'll also need the current blueprints of the target building so I can get the Harbringer's computer to plot an entry route for each assault team so they don't run across any problems they can't deal with". "Should be doable without too much difficulty" Kyltih replied "As long as I can move quickly" before checking the instruments and reporting "Ten momens from atmosphere, sir".
Just a few more momens later, Shuljek's ship landed on the Sunbuster's flight deck in a position as far out of the way as the Councillor could land in safely. Lazarus murmured softly as the stirring strains of "Hail to the King" being played across the PA, along with the loud cheers from all of Zarithak's forces there to meet them. A loud "QUIET!" from Captain Kran silenced both the music and the cheers – and then Lazarus turned to address the troops before him.
"Thank you for agreeing to come and fight with us" Lazarus announced gruffly but sincerely "It means a lot that those who do not know the War Commander or myself personally would place enough trust in us and our planning to fight alongside us on a difficult mission like this. Right now, the War Commander is flying the advance team in to prepare the way for us by seizing the room containing the comm systems and security command computers – when those are in our hands, the main assault can proceed directly into the main complex without worrying about such surprises as surveillance systems and fixed defences".
First, he turned to the red-armoured Bloodstars and announced "Though Councillor Shuljek will be coming with you along with his retinue, you will be commanded by Captain Kran here. He is an officer of long standing among your Blood Hand movement, so listen to him and obey his orders and you're as likely to get through this as any of us will be".
Next, he turned to the black-armoured Tactical units. "I am Captain Lazarus, and I will be commanding the Tactical units. Before ANY of you say anything, I am NOT Sebacean and I can fight and command as well as any of you – so we'll have no undermining my authority on this little excursion, WILL WE!" Over Sergeant Leurik's soft laughter and the sound of Koronna's huge bulk stepping up beside Lazarus, the Tactical troops and officers called "SIR, NO SIR!
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"Good, I can almost hear you…" Lazarus murmured, before walking over to the small gathering of green-clothed troops who he decided must be skulkers. "Captain Trannak here is your commanding officer, people" Lazarus told them "You will be going into combat with him". Trannak added "I will also have a number of non-Scarran troops under my command, so if any of you have any problems with that then you can leave now".
While there were a few interested mutters, no one left – so Trannak nodded and said "Good. An advance skulker team is already inbound to secure the security and comm systems and help us get inside. We, I expect, will head the main force of the assault – the Bloodstars and Tactical units will be depending on us to steer them around local problems until we reach the target area. From then on, stealth will be, for the most part, fairly useless". Lazarus walked over to join Trannak and added "But we've got another job for you when that happens. On the War Commander's order, Captain Trannak and youselves, with the support from the advance team, will free as many prisoners in the cells as are members of the Blood Hand or known to be safe by those that are – get them equipped and ready to fight, and we'll all head back together when it's over". "Good enough for us, Captains" the senior of the four said when Lazarus had finished, before turning to Trannak and adding "It is good to see that the War Commander has chosen a Captain for us as well – for a microt or two, we thought we'd been left out".
"You have not" Trannak told them "Our contingent may be small, but this does not mean it is less important – and freeing the prisoners is a good objective to have, yes? Now let's get ourselves to our assault lander, strapped in, and ready for the drop – but before we do that, I need to get you some new equipment – which there should be enough of for us in the Councillor's ship still". "We should go and find out, then" the senior skulker decided "Our…non-Scarran…comrades seem to be properly equipped already – so perhaps they could stay by our lander and prepare it for the drop". "Ghost" Trannak told the human "Take Kran's recon specialist and Hellbolt over to Captain Lazarus and find out where our lander is! Once you've found out, the three of you can preflight it and get everything running before its flight crew get there – at least I hope you can?" "Not a problem…" the recon specialist whispered "It will be done by the time it is needed, Captain…" before the three of them jogged off to find Captain Lazarus and find the assault lander assigned to them.
The Harbringer made atmospheric entry some distance from the main judgement complex and flew nap-of-the-Earth between the rocks and widely-spaced hills towards its target. When Kylith looked a little surprised at Harrigan's precautionary flying, he just replied "This might well be a stealth vessel, but I'm not willing to take any chances if I don't have to – the further we get without detection the more chance we have of succeeding. It might get a little rough, but at least we'll all be alive to notice". Kylith didn't say anything to that and just responded with a smile.
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"Imagery we got on the way down from orbit…" Kylith told Harrigan a few momens later "…suggests we'll arrive over our target I about twenty five more momens, sir – but that's a little outdated, don't you think?" "If we make a quick pop-up here…" she added, pointing to a spot on a holoprojection "…we should be able to get a clear picture of the target – certainly enough to determine anti-air defences and pick a landing spot. Of course, we'll be better able to plot a route as well".
Harrigan looked at the spot Kylith indicated – not a bad choice for having a peek from, he decided. "This place is just rocks and sand anyway" he added aloud "Probably no life and fewer visitors. Hopefuly anyone on security duty wil be half asleep at their consoles or frelling each other silly while they're supposed to be working". Kylith smiled when Harrigan mentioned that, but reminded herself that personal service to the War Commander is out since he's married and contented herself with replying "Let's find out – we're coming up on that point in half a momen or so".
Slightly less than that time later, Harrigan called "Three…two…one…NOW!" and pulled the Harbringer up above the desert's rocky outcroppings so Kylith could make a quick sensor scan. Kylith's fingers flew over the controls in front of her, trying to catalogue as much as possible of what she could see before they had to duck back down again. "Got it!" she called to Harrigan, who immediately dove back towards the ground again (which brought on a few complaints from the drop bay, but these were summarily ignored).
"What've we got, then?" Harrigan asked as soon as they were back flying low again – Kylith brought up a holo of the target building and said "That's it, sir – that's where we're going. Nothing too amazing to look at – just roughly finished work in either concrete or local rock, and about sixty metras high. Highest point is that tower in the middle – as you can see, it looks like the comm centre's there since there's a hyperwave antenna on top. It also looks like either flight control or security is n the same area, since there's a long-range sensor array up there as well – if I've ID'd that array properly, it can detect targets out to low orbit but only within line of sight and only fifty metras above ground and higher".
"We should come through HERE to HERE and make the drop HERE" Kylith told Harrigan "That's the fastest and least complicated option – hopefully there's a service door for the techs who'll have to overhaul the antennae, so we can get in that way". Harrigan went through all this in his head, just a little uneasy over not having seen any fixed anti-air defences yet or any sign of a landing area for official visitors, but reasoned that things like that would be concealed until they are needed and kept flying.
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"Stand by, stand by!" Harrigan announced five more momens later "One momen until drop time! Final check time, people – make sure everything's fastened on properly and in the right pockets, since you can't eat ammo or load your gun with ration bars!" They flew into a large and open area, with one rocky feature Harrigan decided looked like something he'd seen in Australia when he was there on holiday – since it looked big enough for a decent landing zone, he told Kylith "Lock the coordinates for that place into the navicomp – I'll send them up to the Sunbuster for our dropzone. It'll be safe enough to fly straight down to it once you've taken the sensor array offline instead of taking the round-about route we took and shouldn't take more than half an arn for everyone to march their way to the nearest entrance". Kylith wasn't quite so optimistic about finding an entryway so easily, but refrained from airing her misgivings and went down to the very cramped drop bay and grabbed her weapons.
"FIFTEEN MICROTS!" Harrigan called down to them, pressing a button that activated a red light in the drop bay. "STAND UP!" Kylith barked at her team – the first one I have commanded in twenty cycles, she knew – once Harrigan had finished. When the Harbringer pulled up in preparation for the drop, she added "STAND READY! WEAPONS CHECK!" – four microts of controlled business later, the last one to sound off called "ALL OK!"
"STAND BY!" Harrigan called barely a half-microt after that "DROP COMING UP!", and pressed a button to open the iris hatch in the drop bay's floor. Just there…Harrigan decided, on the far side of the antenna. Long range visual shows that the five people on duty are all concentrating on their displays and shouldn't see us coming – so he puled a sharp turn around the tower top, and dropped a few metras before pressing the button that changed the drop light to green.
Kylith didn't shout anything, instead just pointing with her free hand towards the open hatch before jumping out first herself. Flexing her legs on landing, she came back up to her full height and scanned the immediate area for signs of trouble – finding none, she waved her people up against the wall and led them carefully around the antenna tower until she found what she was looking for.
Here! she signalled Covert entry!
One of the younger males in her team scuttled forward and drew out a small box with several wires and clips hanging off it. After that, he pried the lock's number panel off – without setting off any obvious alarms, Kylith was pleased to notice – and hooked up his box to the lock's internal electronics. After five tense microts, he pulled the box away from the lock and put it away, then put the number panel back over the outside of the lock well enough to fool a casual observer before signalling Clear!.
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Harrigan smiled to himself as he flew back to the site he'd selected for the dropzone. "This op's going better so far than I'd hoped…" he mused aloud on the Harbringer's bridge "We're insystem, undetected as far as I can tell, and about to drop our main assault force down to the initial landing site…without anyone trying to kill us first…". He set the Harbringer down in the middle of the area he'd selected as the landing zone and put a call through to Captain Lazarus on the Sunbuster as soon as the Harbringer had touched down.
On the Sunbuster, the troops were milling around in front of their assigned assault landers and chatting while they waited for the signal to board. Amongst all the hubbub, Lazarus' comm started chirping at him – holding up a hand for quiet, he pressed the 'receive' button and said "Lazarus here – what's up?" "You are, Captain" Harigan replied more cheerily "I'm down here in this windswept scum-hole of a dropzone. Beacon is on – so get your eemas down here NOW, there's work to be done!"
Lazarus grinned a little before standing up and striding out to a clear spot – once he stopped , he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled "AWRIIIGHT! LISTEN UP, PEOPLE! WE JUST GOT A GO-MISSION – SO BOARD YOUR LANDERS AND PREPARE FOR IMMEDIATE DROP!" A loud roar of excitement and relief echoed around the flight deck for a couple of microts before everyone started to bolt for their landers.
Inside! Kylith signalled to her first team, stepping up to the open door and listening for occupants Sweep and clear! Teams two and three stationed themselves in positions that would allow them to quickly follow the first team inside as soon as they'd made a successful entry. Hostiles! the team one leader signalled back Two groups – four and two!. Kylith acknowledge this and ordered team two to come up alongside team one – they would be able to plug any gaps or shoot anyone trying to escpae through the staircase or elevator she'd just noticed against the far wall beside the refreshment dispensers.
Kylith noted, a little uneasily, that the people on comm duty were not either Scarrans or Kalish – they were Scarrans. Their armour tells me they're Praetorian Guard, she told herself, and that's definitely not standard-issue skin they've got either. Something smells here, she decided, and it smells BAD.
She walked from team to team and whispered "I want two of you on each of them – that lot don't look normal, and since we don't know their capabilities or those of these new weapons the War Commander gave us I'm going to be cautious. Short bursts, remember – and aim for the head for this first strike as well". The skulkers in both teams nodded their acknowledgement and assent before Kylith brought team three up as well and added their four shooters to the plan, reasoning that there was no such thing as too much firepower.
Once she saw that everyone was ready, she slung her own G8C and took a stun grenade in each hand – after arming them both, she hurled one at the larger group clustered around what looked like a terminal of some kind, and the other at the two who were walking back to their fellows.
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As soon as they had detonated, the skulkers popped back up from cover and opened fire. They were pleasantly surprised with the suppressors on their new weapons, but less so with the incredible damage it took to kill these new enemies – each took at least eight rounds, and often more, before they fell. One hurled himself for an alarm switch, so Kylith brought up her own gun and walked fire right across his flight path – fifteen rounds stitched him from head to toe and knocked him out of the air.
The surviving Praetorians drew their own pulse rifles and a deadly firefight erupted between the opposing forces in the confined space of the comm tower. It seemed like a half-arn before team one's Superior Infiltrator signalled Clear! and waved the rest of her comrades forward. Kylith looked around the room, paying particular attention to consoles she identified as being Hierarchy security terminals and hyperwave comm controls – good, both still appear to be operatioNal. The Praetorian who'd lunged for the alarm stirred again, so Kylith put ten more rounds through his shoulders and head to make sure he stayed dead this time.
"Sound off" Kylith ordered while she examined the nearest enemy corpse. "Team two's down two" their leader replied "Including my demo tech. Thankfully I have a medic left with me, and he's still alive and unharmed. Both of us took some hits, though – we need time to patch ourselves up a bit more before we go on". "Team one's down one" the next Superior Infiltrator reported, grimacing as she sat down on a recently-vacated chair "Unfortunately, she was the only one with first-aid or medic training – so if someone's got a spare medic they can send us…". The team one medic acknowledged that and said he'd be over there as soon as he was finished with himself and his leader. "Team three's down one" an IFC with scout's insignia reported "Our leader. I am next in the chain of command".
We're at two-thirds of starting strength, Kylith realised – which isn't good. But, despite that, I've only lost one medic, one team leader, and one demo tech – all other specialists are still alive and with me here now. Kylith looked around her at her teams and waited until all were as well as they were going to get before she ordered team one's combat tech over to access the main terminal in the room.
"Good…" he growled softly "We still have access – that alarm must not have sounded. What do I need to do now that I am inside? I may not have long before they find out I'm there". "Disable all external security sensors" Kylith replied instantly "Route all internal security monitors, air-search sensors, and external comms traffic through here – we need to make sure no one attempts to summon reinforcements from offworld. Call me when you're done".
Next job – secure this room! Kylith called over the IFC in command of team three and got him to despatch his demo tech to plant booby-traps at every staricase, elevator entrance, and service duct they could find. She was pleased to note that from behind the main security console both the stair-top and elevator could be easily seen – so she called her remaining troops back behind the main console and deployed them in positions that would take full advantage of this.
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First Officer Karath slung his plasma rifle and ordered the squad he was attached to into Captain Lazarus' lander with a wave of his treblin hand. "What're you doin' here?" Lazarus asked when he spotted him a momen or so later as the drop ramp was being raised "You're First Officer here – wouldn't you be needed to shout at the rest of your ship's crew who aren't coming with us?"
"I am a skilled soldier as well, Captain" Karath replied with a slight smile "Though, in truth, the main reason I am here is that it stopped my Captain from coming himself! He wanted to fight alongside the War Commander every step of the way until I made him realise he was needed more up here to coordinate air defence, insystem surveillance, and send any necessary reinforcements for the ground battle. So he sent me along to be his eyes and ears". "Which, I expect, suited you just fine, mister…" Lazarus replied drolly – Karath just nodded and stashed his rifle in the proper place beside his seat before fastening his crash webbing.
"GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL!" Captain Zarithak called over every lander's interphone system a few microts later when they'd all reported ready to go "Stay calm, shoot straight, and you will be a credit to your comrades, this ship, and the War Commander himself! Trust and help your leaders, for they have the task of seeing this mission succeed and bringing you back! Bay doors are…open, and you're all ready to launch!"
"Captains Kran, Trannak, and myself will launch first!" Lazarus insisted to all the other lander pilots "Once we're clear, other landers are to follow by detachments – one Tactical lander, then one Bloodstar, until we're all heading down! Captain Trannak's skulker unit is already with him in my lander and will deploy immediately on touching dirt to contact the War Commander and scout out a route to the objective. Are we all clear on this?" "SIR, YES SIR!" the lander pilots called back – so Lazarus told his lander pilot to cut the comm and get airborne immediately.
Thankfully I am seated next to another member of my species, Sikozu kept telling herself, or I may not have been able to avoid causing a disturbance. Looking around her, she was also relieved to not that there were very few Scarrans – or personnel of other species – aboard her lander either. Either we are not of any real consequence here, Sikozu decided or – and this thought brought on a smile of pride – we are an elite unit here, brought along for a most important purpose. This must be, after all, why Harrigan has made sure TWO Kalish are here – success must be of such critical importance that he knows my people will be needed here to ensure that happens.
When she voiced this opinion to Keyah, Keyah smiled and laughed softly before replying "The others are not quite as feeble as they might appear to you, Sikozu – though I admit I do worry occasionally about that human with the cannon. I have fought beside them on the human's home planet when we were there, and they all performed admirably for their species. I, of course, was given the task of getting us into our target and of eliminating the sentries around a critical objective – since only my increased mobility, agility, and ability to shift my gravity centre would ensure success in these endeavours".
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Sikozu nodded at Keyah's words, completely in agreement with her rationale of why she was given the tasks she had been. "It is good to see that Kalish skills and intelligence are valued where you are, Keyah Karimu" Sikozu told Keyah "Around so many Scarrans I would normally be doubtful that one of us would have a position of any import at all". "The War Commander himself, Sikozu, is not a Scarran" Keyah replied "He is a human – as is Captain Lazarus. While it is true that the other two Captains are Scarrans, this does not preclude any Kalish rising to command positions of that nature in times to come if any become available – or to other important positions. Like the one I have".
Koronna looked over at Lazarus, sitting beside her – and was surprised to see him now nodding off to sleep, and even snoring slightly. This made her smile faintly before she decided to do the same – I may not get another chance for rest until this mission is over, she knew, and I am sure Captain Lazarus feels the same way. So I should do my best to imitate him. So she leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, trying to sleep for even the short time it would take to make planetfall – not noticing the faint smile on her face. Troll did, however, and proceeded to point it out along with his opinion on how it got there to the others – until Jane told him to quieten down and shut up, with Troll whispering "…all work and no fun makes Troll a bored boy…" before he finally stopped.
Hellbolt headed up to the lander's upper deck and from there to the bridge – once he was there, he asked the copilot "ETA at dropzone?" Though the pilot was surprised to see a Nebari on the bridge, she looked at her chronometer and replied "Maybe fifteen momens, sir – if atmospheric conditions prove favourable". Hellbolt took a couple of microts to look her over – she might be Scarran, he mused, but she's high-caste and surprisingly attractive at that – before smiling and nodding and asking "Perhaps I could look you up afterwards, miss?" The copilot snorted in surprise at his proposition before waving him off the bridge and getting back to her job (and her snickering comrade in the pilot's seat beside her), muttering little remarks along the lines of "Nebari men…they'll chase anything female, they will…whether she's Nebari or interested or neither…". Hellbolt just grinned as he walked back to the lander and climbed down to the lower deck, murmuring "So…our little game continues…" in Nebari before heading back to his seat and strapping in again.
The Bloodstars aboard Kran's lander were eagerly anticipating the upcoming combat, and chatting among themselves about what might happen when fighting finally happened. He looked over at his son, not currently involved in any of the conversations, and smiled encouragingly at him before leaning back in his seat to rest – or at least try to. I must have a clear head when we go in, he knew – others will be depending on me. Councillor Shuljek may be with us, but I still command the Bloodstars as a whole on this mission – and we are the largest detachment of this assault force with the highest proportion of the total fighting to do, no matter how good at sneaking and stealth the Tactical and Skulker commands turn out to be.
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The newly-promoted Captain Trannak was worrying more about Kylith's advance team than himself and the four skulkers with him. I know they would have secured the security centre by now, he told himself as he lay back in his seat, but are they still functional as a fighting force if needed? How many losses did they sustain, if any? How long can they hold out and continue to render us the assistance we will need so much as this mission progresses? I will find out after we land, he decided eventually, so it will do me no good in worrying about it now.
The roar of engines echoed almost constantly for the next few momens until the last lander departing on the assault mission had left the Sunbuster's flight deck. A naval Lieutenant Commander in a flight suit came on that ship's PA as soon as that had happened to issue the deployment order for the Stryker wings. "We won't have a whole lot to do" he told his pilots with just a little reluctance "But what we've got to do is important – the War Commander wants us to watch his ship and ours and keep any Hierarchy ships well away from our location. We've already been given shoot-to-kill authorisation – so if anything squawks as Hierarchy on its IFF, you blast it! Air wings will rotate every two arns – once you get back on board you spend the few arns until your next rotation SLEEPING, get me? Tired pilots aren't any use to me, Captain Zarithak, or the War Commander".
All pilots acknowledged in the affirmative – so Captain Zarithak himself added "I want five wings around the Cry Havoc and three around the Sunbuster – the same number of wings will be on ten-momen alert to reinforce them if needed. BOTH groups, both active and reserve detachments, will rotate every two arns – the air-defence deployment must be flawless! Ten stealth capsules will deploy on the outer edges of this system to give advance warning of incoming ships – these will rotate every three arns, and no pilot is to return, Stryker or capsule, until their relief arrives first! NO EXCEPTIONS!"
Down on the ground, Harrigan was walking around the outside of the Harbringer while he waitied for the main assault force to arrive. He was just about to call the Sunbuster for a progress report when his comm started beeping – the Harbringer must be relaying a call, he knew, hopefully from Captain Lazarus or Captain Kran to tell me they're on their way. The call turned out to be from Kylith in the security centre – which though it wasn't the call he'd been waiting for, was welcome in any case.
"Security and comm has been secured, War Commander" Kylith reported as soon as Harrigan acknowledged her call "And, I'm glad to add, with all the equipment still intact and no alarms raised". "Any losses?" Harrigan asked – noting Kylith's more sombre tone when she replied "Four, sir – including one team leader. The forces guarding this room were not Charrid, but Scarran – and not entirely normal Scarrans either. They were both noticeably larger than average, and they also had…well…skin a bit like yours".
How that happened, Harrigan thought in surprise, I don't know – but apparently it had. Once the rest of the force get down here, I'll get on the comm to Nrakal and see if he knows – even if he doesn't, he'll want to know about this turn of events.
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"We'll deal with that later" Harrigan decided eventually "But right now I need to know if you can still hold on where you are with what you have". "Yes, SIR!" Kylith replied insistently "I made sure we came down here with extra ammo, water, and rations – the medics have extra supplies in their doctor's bags as well in case we need that. Couple that with the weapons and ammo left behind on the recently deceased occupants of this facility, along with any of their own food and water, and we can hold for as long as you need us – or move out to assist you". "No need for that" Harrigan replied "At least not now – your teams are far more useful where they are. The main force are probably heading down now – is it safe for them to do so, or should I call them off?"
"It's safe, sir" Kylith replied, much to Harrigan's relief "Come right on in whenever you feel like it". Harrigan thanked her profusely for her teams' work so far (which she then passed on) and discommed – just in time for Lazarus' lander copilot to call in and announce "We're inbound to your position right now, War Commander – weather conditions do not appear to be against us or inclined to change to be so. ETA should be about…six momens from now. Is it safe to land, or should we be prepared for a hot drop point?" "LZ is cold, don't you worry" Harrigan replied "Advance team just called in to tell me that eveything's fine on their end and that we're good to go as soon as everyone gets here". "Which I, for one…" the lander pilot replied "…hope will be soon - that human with the cannon has started singing! I think that many of those in my troop deck are eager to get out just to avoid hearing that again!" Harrigan laughed out loud at that, replying "Troll's not that bad - sure, most of his songs are a bit silly, but they help keep people relaxed and keep their minds off what's coming up ahead". That human's voice will certainly do THAT! the pilot told himself before discomming.
Good! Harrigan thought to himself – the advance team is sitting pretty and waiting for orders, Troll is getting everyone in a properly angry mood with his singing, and before too long we'll all be rescuing my wife and giving the Hierarchy a kicking it'll not forget in a hurry! It wasn't very long before a roaring sound from their air above him alerted Harrigan to the presence of an incoming ship – when he looked up, he saw the assault lander coming down barely more than fifty metras from his Harbringer. Barely a half-momen later, another lander touched down beside it, floowed by more every half-momen until every lander was there at the dropzone.
Drop ramps lowered within microts of each other, disgorging the Bloodstars, tactical command soldiers, and the few additional skulkers onto the hard sand of Serakaa IV's surface. The wind was starting to pick up a little, Harrigan saw, but hopefully not enough to slow us down. "RIGHT, YOU LOT!" Harrigan bellowed "LISTEN UP!" Once everyone had quietened down, unslung their weapons, and gathered around him, Harrigan went on with "Good, eveyone's here! The target building's about four kilometras from here – a good run for all of us. A scout squad will head out first just to make sure there aren't any hidden surprises along the route and to advise us of any roving patrols my flyover missed. This squad will consist of Kran's recon specialist, Ghost, Keyah, Sikozu, Jane, and Hellbolt – Hellbolt will command".
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Harrigan let those involved gather together while the others within hearing range talked about this, then added "Main force groups for this assault will be mixed from the two major commands – since we don't have full knowledge of what's ahead of us, I want to make sure well be ready for anything. Captain Kran will take group one – five Bloodstar squads and three Tactical squad – and have the ri-sorry, hammond flank; Councillor Shuljek will take group two – his retinue, four more Bloodstar squads, and three Tactical squads – and have the hammond flank; Captain Lazarus will stay with me with Sergeant Leurik's squad and the three best of Captain Zarithak's Tactical squads and cover any gaps that appear as we need to. Captain Trannak already knows who is assigned to his command – and the scout group will report to him first. The Captains will come around and collect the squads under their command – once they all signal readiness, the scout group will proceed to the target at best safe speed".
Koronna looked a litle lost as she wasn't part of any fixed squad – when she started looking around a little anxiously, Capatain Lazarus came up to her and whispered "You're with me, Koronna – as is Tovak. I'm not good with the in-your-face stuff the Bloodstars do – so I'm grabbing the best Tactical units and specialists I can and leaving the Bloodstarring to those who know it best. Troll's squad heavy again, you're demo with me, Jane's our scout, and we've got Lotha from Leurik's squad as medic along with any the others have brought with them". Koronna relaxed a little bit after hearing that, and controlled her facial expression well enough not to let on that she was personally pleased to be going into battle alongside Captain Lazarus himself – good, I will guard him well and fulfil any tasks given to me to the best of my ability. He will appreciate that, and thus may in future come to appreciate me.
Trannak felt a little out of place, but glad also to have command of a small and elite unit. "All of you, listen – ours is the most difficult task of the main force!" he announced, addressing those in his command "We must find a safe path for the others to follow – this means, if you're not already aware of it, that any enemies will find US first! So we move quietly, and we move steadily, and we kill any enemies before they even know we're there. Nice and simple. So any questions?"
"Just one" Sikozu asked, just a little uneasy at being around another ex-Deadhead "About the order of march. Who is to lead, and where will the rest be in relation to them?" "A good question" Trannak replied, pleased that someone had asked "Keyah and yourself will lead; then Captain Kran's recon specialist, Ghost, Hellbolt, and myself; Captain Zarithak's team will stay right alongside us". Sikozu was in two minds about this – pleased that she was chosen to lead with this other Kalish, but also a little wary of being one of the first to get shot at by whatever enemies lay up ahead. "Just call for the rest of the group if you see anything" Keyah told Sikozu with a thin smile "Or point it out to me. Then a course of action can be decided". Sikozu nodded, a little relieved that contact with these strange Scarrans, that Nebari, and the humans (not more of them, she told herself – Crichton is trying enough, but these humans are soldiers! How much harder will that be to tolerate!) would be kept to a minimum.
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Move out! Trannak signalled with his treblin hand while the hammond one lifted his G8C According to plan! before he commed Harrigan and told him "We will go now, sir – once we have made a few hundred metras distance safely, I will call back to you and give you the safe route that we have cleared for you and the main assault force" and hesitating a few microts before adding "Thank you for promoting me to Captain, sir – I shall try not to disappoint, and instead do my best to prove my worth". "We'll all do that by getting Talannah back alive" Harrigan told Trannak in response "Now get going". Trannak just nodded and brought his treblin hand down – Keyah saw this, nodded, and directed Sikozu to come with her.
"Come" Keyah told her fellow Kalish "Now is our time to prove our skills to the other species here. We will be the ones who navigate a clear route for the main assault force, Sikozu – US! Not the humans, not the one Nebari, and certainly not the Scarrans – even the ones in green! The War Commander gives us the task of getting everyone where they need to go". Sikozu smiled at Keyah's eagerness and nodded, hefting the unfamiliar weight of the large projectile weapon she had been issued, and moved into the prescribed position her Organisation training told her was the correct one. Keyah smiled thinly as she heard Sikozu do that, though she was secretly relieved that Sikozu knew at least basic battlefield protocol, and signalled back to Trannak for the rest of the skulker teams to follow on.
The recon specialist examined his current team mates as he moved forward, next to his new Captain. They appear to be skilled, he told himself – at least they move as if they are, smoothly and quietly and with care. This human, despite his inferior size, does likewise – his marksmanship has proved good when he showed me how to use this new rifle, so I hope it continues to hold the same skill in battle.
"First time I've been in combat off Earth except for Ithlin" Ghost whispered to him as they jogged "Strange, though – thought the scenery would be a bit different, and yet it's a lot like any desert or arid climate back home". "Then you should be more used to it" the recon specialist whispered back "And be ready to move and act in the correct ways when battle commences". "Eyes and ears open" Ghost replied with assurance "And gun ready and waiting". The recon specialist was pleased by Ghost's reply, nodded, and turned back to the landscape ahead of him, ears constantly listening for any sound from the two Kalish women up ahead.
Hammond or treblin? Sikozu signalled when the two of them reached a huge rock feature. Keyah looked both ways for enemies or local fauna, then consulted her PDA before signalling back Hammond – shorter distance to the objective! and reporting the course change back to Trannak. Barely a few momens later Keyah and Sikozu saw the two snipers, followed by the rest of the skulker teams, running at a good but not exhausting pace to their location – once Trannak saw them himself, he signalled Go! and they scurried off down along the new course they had chosen.
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Keyah's hand shot up to signal Sikozu to stop – when Sikozu came forward, she saw what had caused the caution in Keyah, as the next part of the route prive to be flat terrain with very little cover larger than small and stunted bushes. "We should comm our superior and advise them of this" Sikozu suggested "Furthermore, we should also comm this to War Commander Harrigan as well. Both need to know of this turn of events". "Captain Trannak will comm the War Commander, Sikozu" Keyah replied "For now, however, you can comm Captain Trannak yourself and pass the news onto him – I suspect he will want to get the rest of his force up here straight away. What else he will want to do, I do not yet know".
I would bring the entire force up to this point, Sikozu thought to herself, before sending my scouts on across the open desert ahead of us – so that when the scouts clear a route, the main force can follow with as much speed as is safe to use. When she commed Trannak, he appeared to think much the same thing as she did – telling her "Very good, Sikozu – and your suggestion is a good one. I'll pass it on to the War Comander and ask his opinion of it – though in the mean time, you two stay put and wait for the rest of the skulkers to reach your position". "Acknowledged, sir" Sikozu replied, not pleased with having to call a Scarran 'sir' but putting that aside since this one seemed more amenable (or at least rational and realistic, she decided) than usual, and then relaying Trannak's decision to Keyah.
"Good" Keyah replied when she was told of this development "A good and cautious approach – and it gives us a little time to regain ur energy before we are sent out there for the next leg of our route". The pair of them sat down by the shelter of the last largish hillock and drank from their water canteens while they awaited the arrival of their Captain and their comrades.
The companies had just formed up in marching order when Trannak's call came through to Harrigan. "Harrigan here" Harrigan said "What's up?" "Sikozu reports the next leg of the journey from her location is over open and flat terrain without meaningful cover" Trannak told him "She suggests, and I concur with her suggestion, moving everyone up to her location before the scout group moves on". "We'll do it" Harrigan replied firmly "I don't want this lot sitting around and playing cards or Tadek – it'll dull their edge and make them complacent. Get the rest of your lot over to where she is and download the route you used to Captain Lazarus' PDA – he'll be leading the march with me". "Done" Trannak replied, tapping a few keys on a small device he pulled from a pocket – when it beeped, he added "Yu should have the route now, sir". The comm confirmed this with a faint "GOT IT!" coming from Captain Lazarus – so Trannak discommed and flicked his treblin hand down to signal the rest of his people to move to Keyah and Sikozu's location.
"GET UP! GET READY!" Captain Lazarus bellowed as loudly as he could "WE MOVE TO FORWARD POSITION ONE IMMEDIATELY! GRAB YOUR GEAR AND MOVE OUT IN COMPANY FORMATION!" before turning to his own troops and lowering his voice before adding no less intently "Follow me, you lot – we're heading out now! Sar-Major Koronna, Sergeant Leurik – get everyone in dispersed formation and MOVING!"
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Koronna smiled with approval before nodding at Sergeant Leurik to pass on the move order to Captain Kran and Councillor Shuljek – and then bellowing out in her own loud voice to anyone within hearing range the very same order. Lazarus slapped his hands over his ears when she started, not having expected her voice to be so loud even for someone her huge size – but he was pleased that she got started right away. Koronna's got a proper sergeant's personality, he told himself with approval, before signalling her to stay close to him and leading his own company out once Harrigan had joined him.
Ten momens later, Keyah turned her head and raised her gun when she hard the sound of heavy footfalls behind her – lowering it again when she saw Trannak and the two snipers approaching, closely followed by the rest of the group. "What do we have?" Trannak asked Sikozu, coming right up to her position to see for himself – so once Sikozu calmed herself down from being so close to a Scarran yet again, she pointed out at the flat ground ahead of them and said "Open and level ground ahead of us, Captain – no cover worth speaking of, and certainly none big enough to hide even myself or Keyah, let alone a Scarran! This next leg of the journey would be a whole lot easier if we had a map, sir – I cannot give good advice without knowing how far this open zone extends!" When Harrigan was told of this, he commed Kylith to ask "There a local tourist map in the computer at your end? Captain Trannak wants to check a couple of things".
Kylith looked over at team one's combat tech, who was seated at the main security console still, and called "Get digging and see if there's a map of the surrounding terrain in that system! The rest of the force is running into a few problems and going slow". "Just a microt, then…" the tech replied, fingers flying over the keyboard and trackball – maybe a couple of momens at most, the requested map appeared on the holo. "We have it, sir" Kylith reported back to Harrigan – who immediately ordered "Download it to each Captain's PDA right now – they'll pass it on from there to their own people". Kylith immediately gave the necessary orders and the map went on its way.
When Trannak's PDA started beeping, he looked down sharply to read the message on the screen – and smiled when he saw that the map download was already going through. When it had been completed thirty microts later, he brought it up on the PDA's small display and called the two Kalish to him to see as well. "While it is good to have a map…" Keyah said a few more microts later "It is NOT so good to see almost a complete absence of cover – or even plant life". "Four kilometras over open ground" Sikozu added "Definitely not in our favour. The one redeeming point is that the flat nature of said ground will allow us to pick up our pace – though I do wish we had been allowed to bring motorised transport".
"You know as well as I do" Trannak responded bluntly "Or should do, that crawlers would be detected kilometras away and blasted by any fixed defences or sentry patrols before they could get close enough to be useful. Now less chatter, ladies, and more marching – get out there and keep your eyes open for enemy soldiers!"
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Trannak also signalled the recon specialist to head out a short distance behind the two Kalish – "You listen out for them, and be ready to silence any patrols that may prove too much for their capabilities" Trannak told him, after which he nodded and slipped away. About twenty five momens after that, the main assault force arrived and Harrigan strode over to Trannak and barked "Sitrep, Captain!"
"As I reported earlier, sir" Trannak replied "And as you'll see for yourself if you poke your head around that corner there, there's no cover out here. I've managed to get a map from Kylith's advance group, which I then sent on to you and the other Captains – and right now I've got the two Kalish and Captain Kran's recon specialist out there leading the way to either the next cover or the objective itself – whichever comes first". "Get out there and follow them, Captain" Harrigan ordered "You and the rest of your skulkers. We'll give you half an arn before we follow".
"Ghost, Jane…" Captain Lazarus told his old comrades and friends "Keep your eyes peeled and ears open out there. This might not be Earth, and it sure ain't Iraq or Iran, but it's a desert like any other – and you've been trained how to deal with that. So don't do anything dumb enough so I have to come and haul you out of it". "We'll be fine, sir" Jane told him "Keyah and that other one seem to know what they're doing, the Scarrans likewise - even Hellbolt looks to be stopping the playful banter now the mission's on in earnest. Is Troll still singing?"
"Hah!" Lazarus snorted "Not only is he still singing, but some of the Scarrans are catching onto it and adding their own verses to his favourite song – which, as you'd expect, is only encouraging him! Still, it keeps morale high if nothing else – and tempers in a suitably angry mood as well". Jane listened – and sure enough, the faint strains of Troll's singing, accompanied by several Scarran voices as well, sung out "…we are Deep Space Irregulars, brave and straight and true! And if you're from the Hierarchy then this is what we'll do…we'll sneer and spit and call you names, tip napalm down your shirt! Your vest will be consumed by flames and that will really hurt!…" before Rekketh whispered "I got another verse, Troll…it's in Scarran, but I think it fits…just listen…" and singing started again.
"He's singing again" Ghost and Jane said simultaneously "We'd better be off" before doing just that and running off after Trannak before he decided to shout at them. "Some people have all the luck…" Lazarus muttered under his breath "I don't know whether I'll want to shoot the enemy or Troll after all this…". "You will be fine, Captain" Koronna told him, startling him a bit as she came back from talking to the other troops "I have heard worse voices that your gunner before". "How's Shor holding up?" Lazarus asked worriedly "He didn' do too badly on Earth, but we're going up against serious nutballs now and I don't want him endangering himself or anyone else unnecessarily".
"Ryalla's drilling him into the ground at every possible opportunity" Koronna reported "Do not worry about him. She is doing that with a fervour even the most maniacal drill instructor won't manage for more than a few momens – either she wants to kill him herself or she loves him, and I'm not sure which one it is".
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Lazarus snorted again before a brief flicker of emotion went across his face. At least someone's love life is going right, he thought to himself – though I suppose I'm lucky that Liz wanted to come with me off Earth at all. At least she'll be safe back on the Cry Havoc. Koronna noticed the outward signs of a mental debate going on and decided she would stay right beside him and ensure as much as she could that he made it back alive. He is a good man, she thought as she looked across at him, and he deserves to see his daughter again and have some happiness in his life.
Trannak signalled Fast march! Spread out! to his entire team, reasoning that the better time they made, the more use they would be. I know us Scarrans can do that easily, and hopefully the Nebari will not fail either, but those humans and the Kalish I am not yet so sure of. Still, there's just one way to really find out – and that's to just get them to do it.
Keyah and Sikozu ran as fast as they could up ahead – while their speed was noticeably higher than the others, their physical endurance was lower and they had to stop every so often to catch their breath. I'd have preferred to send Kran's recon specialist out first, Trannak groused to himself, he is more of a known quantity to me even if I don't know his name. But these Kalish must have their chance to prove themselves, and Keyah has some skill that I have seen, so I will just have to keep going and hope their bodies do not fail them.
Sikozu groused to herself as she had to draw on all her physical reserves just to avoid collapsing from the constant running – though whenever she saw Keyah (who was having some trouble, if not as much as her) she always tried to redouble her efforts. I might not be a military-trained Kalish, she knew, but I can and must do what is required here to have a chance to influence Harrigan in favour of my people if required. If that means almost running myself into the ground, then that is what I must do!
Kylith looked around to see how well her troops were doing now that they'd been settled into a static position for a while. They were not getting too slack, she was glad to see – they are playing the occasional game of some kind, yes, but they always have their comms on and their weapons close by. The snipers she had with her were all applying themselves to cleaning their weapons or sleeping, which she approved of more.
"Anything coming up on the monitors?" Kylith asked the tech who was on monitor duty now "Has anyone figured out they aren't in control here yet – or that they're about to be attacked?" "Not as far as I can tell" the tech replied "I've been taking a look around the barrack rooms and main judgement room – there are these new altered Praetorians everywhere. I'm also pretty sure there's at least a couple of rooms where the monitors have been disabled – though that's just a guess for now".
Kylith got on her own comm and called Trannak, asking "Captain – how long until everyone else gets here?" "Not sure exactly, Kylith" Trannak replied "We're crossing a wide open zone right now as fast as we can – since we've been going for twenty five momens, the main force will be coming on behind us by now as well".
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"Good" Kylith replied with a nod "The approach, at least, is going according to plan". After waving at the tech to use the external monitors, and at a couple of the others to use their ocular headsets, she added "One of my people just caught a glimpse of dull orange clothing against the sand at max magnifiction, Captain – if the rest of your group is not far behind, you should be here in about an arn".
"Copy that" Trannak replied, before comming Keyah and Sikozu to let them know Kylith had spotted them as well as telling the rest of his people how long they still had to run – all of them were pleased to know that there was an end in sight to the running and that the mission would get underway in earnest soon. "Well that's one bit of good news" Hellbolt gasped as he ran on "I'm quite fit even if I do say so myself, but I've not been on long runs like this for a cycle or so!" Jane nodded but didn't say anything, deciding to save her energy for running instead of talking, with the rest of the skulkers doing the same.
Maybe a momen less than the nominated arn later, Sikozu spotted something at the edge of her vision, checked it out on her occulars, pointed it out to Keyah – and then folded up in an exhausted heap on the sand and dust. Keyah settled beside her with just a little more decorum, and both of them stayed there and waited until the other skulkers caught up with the – by which time they had regained enough energy and stamina to stand again.
"Good…" Trannak said with a slight smile "You are still alive, Sikozu! Anything to report?" Apart from my entire body feeling like it is on fire, she thought with minor annoyance – but contented herself with reporting "Just that a large building can be seen at maximum occular magnifiction, Captain – which should be the building we seek". Trannak used his own occulars to scan the indicated building – one of the skulkers had thoughtfully daubed the Blood Hand crest on the wall of the security centre where he could see it, so he passed this information on and announced "Up there, maybe two kilometras further on, is our target – the other skulkers dropped by the War Commander before we landed are there and in control of the security and comm systems. As soon as the War Commander and the other companies catch up with us, we will move forward and find a suitable entrance – but I do expect there to be patrols or sentry turrets between here and there, so everyone should be ready to fight if needed".
"Not a problem" Ghost told him once he'd got his breath back, eaten a few food cubes, and drank a little water "Now it's time for us to make them die as opposed for you making us die". All the Scarrans had a good laugh at that one, and Trannak called out "Keyah, Sikozu – take the recon specialist and Ghost up ahead with you for the last leg of the entry! They can neutralise any enemies from far further away than the two of you! You can take it a bit slower now, though – mostly because I don't want any enemies hearing you huffing and puffing as you move".
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Good! Sikozu thought to herself with relief, I get to move at a more sustainable pace from hereon in! I can hardly scan the landscape for enemies if my lungs feel as if they are about to explode! "You, the human" she called to Ghost "We had better start immediately if the overall mission is to succeed! Your Scarran counterpart is ready to go – why are you not?" Ghost swallowed the last of his handful of food cubes, unslung his rifle again, and called back with a grin "Ready when you are – but are you ready? You don't want to curl up for a rest first?"
Sikozu fumed at Ghost's casual remark until Keyah reminded her that it was just the human way and no specific slight against her. "Yes, Keyah Karimu…" Sikozu muttered as they headed out "That would not surprise me at all. Humans must be one of the strangest life-forms in the entire universe". The two snipers followed on a short distance behind them, with the recon specialist giving a soft rumble of laughter at Sikozu's remarks about humans as they walked. Trannak got the rest of his team into marching order and moving out, with him and Hellbolt following the snipers first.
"That was a close call…" team two's leader said with relief "Someone down there's getting curious about something – were this lot supposed to be relieved of duty before now?" and pointed to one of the corpses "No" Kylith replied from the security console "Not for another four arns or so, anyway. Someone's probably a bit too eager – or sent up to deliver food". "If that happens again" team two's leader suggests "I say we check if it IS food – and if it is, take it off them and chow down!" Many mutters of agreement came back from the others after that suggestion, so Kylith decided it was worth the risk.
Harrigan could just see the last skulker up ahead of him, so he waved Captain Kran's and Councillor Shuljek's group up to positions either side of his own with Captain Lazarus and picked up the pace a bit – slower than force march, he decided, but quicker than walking. The skulker on rearguard reported their presence as soon as he noticed them, telling Trannak "The War Commander and the human Captain are approaching, sir – moving at a steady pace and closing in slowly from about two hundred metras directly behind us". "Very good" Trannak commended her before resuming his own slow march ahead.
"What is the problem!" an irate voice asked, deep within the complex walls "And why can't it be dealt with by the Praetorian commander?" "My lord…" another voice replied, thicker and rougher and a little uneasy "We have sent someone up to investigate once already, but they were sent back swiftly by whoever was within the main security rooms. My immediate superior could not contact the garrison commander, so I was sent to request any orders you see fit to give". "He is probably playing games" the first voice decided, waving away a low-ranking scientist from his side "One of those emergency drills the military units love to do so often". The voice's owner thought for a bit before adding "If the guard shift up there is due for refreshment, send it up with as reliable a Kalish as can be found . Give the Kalish strict orders to observe and report back everything that they see and hear – and I do mean EVERYTHING! Military training drills are all very well, but I do NOT appreciate an important medical examination being interrupted!"
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"Very well, sir" the rough voice's owner – a Praetorian NCO – replied "We've not got many Kalish here as you know – but I'll find the one who's the least problematic and send the along". "Go on then" the original voice replied irritably, waving the Praetorian away "My examination must be concluded BEFORE the trials start, you know…". The Praetorian was glad to leave – I may be altered myself, he thought to himself, but HE is something else entirely, and not something I like being around for any length of time.
He headed straight for the base kitchen area and collared a maintenance tech who was repairng some of the kitchen-bots. "Oi, you!" he barked at the quivering Kalish "Get food for the guard shift at the security centre – that's fourteen people – and take it up there yourself! No one else, just you!" The Praetorian pulled out a temporary clearance card and inserted it in his PDA for a few microts, then pulled it out and pinned it on the Kalish's jacket, saying "That'll get you where you need to go for the next three-quarters of an arn – so you'd better get the food cooking now if it's not already doing so!" before stomping off to the leisure area he knew his squad used.
The Kalish muttered a few words that would have got him beaten or shot had the NCO heard him before getting to the task assigned to him. The few other staff there at the time set to their tasks promptly as well, not wanting to be on the receiving end of a Praetorian's wrath if they coud help it either – and a little less than four momens ahead of schedule a filling if basic meal for the nominated number of people (the Kalish well knew that the Praetorian meant 'Scarrans' when he said 'people', too) was ready and stored on a large motorised trolley unit.
Kylith spotted the trolley being guided into the elevator that led to their current position when the Kalish reached it, three floors further down. "Get those bodies out of the way!" she hissed, then pointed to the scout now leading team one before adding "And you can put on one of those black-shell suits – we've got a food delivery coming up! The Kalish with the trolley's probably been ordered to report back on what's going on up here, so we'd better give him what he'd expect to see. Move!"
All except the tech on the main console moved with a will to get the Praetorian corpses out of sight of the elevator doors while the scout struggled out of his greens and put on the most likely-looking suit of black armour he could find and grabbing the deceased owner's rifle as well. When the Kalish opened the elevator door a few more microts afterwards, he was greeted by the sight of what appeared to be a helmeted and hungry Praetorian in a bad mood.
"What's in there!" the scout asked harshly, pointing at the serving bowls. The Kalish lifted the lids in turn and said "Third Meal for your shift, sir! Sent up specially by some NCO or other – I do not know which one, your armour does not carry names or serial numbers". "OK, so it looks like food…" the scout grudgingly admitted "But just to make sure it's GOOD food, you're going to have a mouthful from each bowl first – and no excuses about eating times!" It IS actually less than one solar day until my eating time, the Kalish reminded himself – perhaps, if I do not go too far, this Praetorian may let me have some of their food as well.
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When the scout saw how the Kalish man looked at the food, he made a show of checking the man's clearances and record with the tech on the main console before saying "You've appeared to have proven yourself loyal – so since we've only got nine in here you can grab some for yourself as well. Take some keedva – most of us don't like that". While the surprised and hungry Kalish was busy filling a plate, Kylith asked "What's that all about?"
"This guy's been sent up with more food than we can eat" the scout explained "I thought that if he goes back with a fuller stomach than he got here with, he'd be less likely to notice anything amiss – like the blood trail smeared across the top of the stairs". Once Kylith had barked at someone for missing that and told them to clean it up, she gave cautious assent and added "Just make sure you keep him in the elevator – none of us are wearing the black".
"That's enough" the scout said with a grin, ten momens later "It should do you for now – and we have to eat as well". "Thank you, sir" the Kalish replied with relief (as if he actually meant it too, the scout decided) "It is not often I am favoured by Praetorians in even the smallest way – and with my eating time coming soon, this is most welcome!" before the scout grunted in acknowledgement and pulled the trolley clear of the elevator before so the Kalish could leave.
"You took that a little close to the line, IFC" Kylith told him when he returned with his prize – he just grinned, shucked the black armour as fast as he could before putting his own gear back on, and replied "Worth it though, ma'am – we're all hungry, and NONE of us want to get stuck with rations if we can help it! That Kalish ate enough of the keedva to let me know it's not tainted as well, so we're as ready to eat as we'll ever be". "Just make sure you bring some over to me" Kylith told him with a slight smile "Grolak and shokran rings if there are any" before taking over duty at the main console herself. Everyone piled into the food quickly, grinning and making jokes as they ate – even Kylith smiled a bit when her food was brought to her, though she made sure to watch the screens while she ate as well.
The Kalish made it back to the kitchen fairly quickly and had just about thought that his errand had been forgotten about when the NCO who sent him turned up and proceeded to interrogate him about what he'd seen. To the NCO's chagrin, the Kalish could not report anything of real value – though he did nod with approval at the precautions taken by those in security command. "That's how you do it RIGHT" he told the Kalish man "These Scarrans know proper field discipline – which is why they got you to taste the food first! This proves that there's an exercise going on – pity I'm not involved, I'd like to lead the assault on the security command when it comes to that! But that's none of your business anyway – so get back to your duties!" before stomping back to where he'd just come from.
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Keyah and Sikozu were now fast approaching the main judgement complex itself – they could, in fact, just see the comm tower on top of the building unaided. But Sikzou raised her fist to signal Enemy seen! and pointed to a spot by a door – when Keyah looked, she nodded and commed back to Ghost and the recon specialist to advise them of the situation, and to Trannak as well. Trannak immediately ordered the two snipers to kill whoever Sikozu had seen if at all possible and brought the rest of the skulkers up to their position fast and dispersed them widely in defensive positions over the immediate area.
"Overe there, human" Sikozu told Ghost, pointing out what she'd seen earlier "There are two armed Scarrans – probably a pair of sentries. Can you and the strange Scarran with you solve this problem – or should Keyah and I do it ourselves?" "We'll do it, miss" Ghost replied with confidence "Just sit back and watch the show – you'll see two masters of the art of sniping at work".
When he told the recon specialist, he nodded and smiled just a little before unslinging his own rifle and moving into position beside Ghost. Now is the time, he decided, to see if it was worth switching to this new weapon. Those sentries are armoured and large – so it is good that I have an equally large and accurate rifle to use on them. "I'll take the hammond one" he whispered to Ghost, making sure the magazine was properly seated and there was a round in the chamber "You take the treblin. We must take them both down simultaneously so that help cannot be summoned – it will be easier if we make our shot just as they reach that ladder, I think…". "I'm with you on that" Ghost replied, setling his ghillie suit around his shoulders and setting his rifle on its bipod "Sighted and tracking". The recon specialist noted how Ghost had used his suit and did the same with his own, though he knew it would be of reduced effectiveness in a desert area like this one, even next to a bush or two as we now are.
"Snipers in position" Ghost commed to Trannak and Harrigan "Two sentries in sight – we're ready to take 'em whenever you give the word". "Whenever you're ready" Harrigan replied smartly "We're not far behind you all now – maybe a momen or two. If those guys are between us and the way in, then kill 'em quick". Since the recon specialist was whispering in his ear that the targets were approaching the kill zone, Ghost discommed and got back behind his scope – when he thought the time was right, he whispered "Nighty-night, little guy…stick it up and say goodbye…" before squeezing the trigger smoothly,with the recon specialist doing likewise.
The two sentries had just reached the ladder and were preparing to climb up to the next level when Ghost's bullet blew straight through one head, through the ladder, and buried itself three feet into the stone wall behind it. The other sentry didn't have so much as a nanomicrot to call for help before the recon specialist's shot went in through his hammond ear, out through his treblin ear, and scattered his pulped brain all over the wall and ground before likewise burying itself deep into the wall.
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"Targets eliminated" the recon specialist reported in a whisper to Harrigan and Trannak "No other targets in view at this time, sirs. We are ready to proceed". The main force - led by Harrigan, Lazarus, and Koronna – had just linked up with Trannak as he reported in, so Harrigan told them "Go to it – advance with caution and get us inside!"
The skulkers, with the Kalish and the two snipers leading, moved slowly towards the complex walls – until the recon specialist's left fist shot up and he brought up his rifle fast. Two loud booms followed within three microts, followed by the extremely faint sounds of two bodies dropping to the stone floor – when asked about it by two very surprised Kalish and one equally surprised fellow sniper, he replied "They just turned up – no time to tell you". "That was nothing short of amazing!" Ghost breathed in wonder "Two shots in three microts at 400 metras – and both targets deader than last week's fish!" The recon specialist just smiled before ordering Keyah and Sikozu to scout ahead for a suitable entry point.
Sikozu went up the wall, pointedly avoiding the ladder and shifting her gravity centre to climb up like a spider without any equipment – when she poked her head over the floor, she looked around before climbing up and walking forward to test the door she had seen. "I have found a door" she told the recon specialist and Keyah over her comm "But it is firmly secured and appears to require both keycode and genetic security measures. Since we cannot use explosives without giving away our presence, I suggest we try to find a secondary, more covert, entry place". "Acknowledged" the recon specialist confirmed "Return to ground level, Sikozu – we will search for alternatives from there".
Sikzou quickly retreated as directed, pleased if a little unnerved by how politely she was being treated by this particular Scarran, and returned to where the entire skulker group had assembled at the bottom of the walls. "We need anything even remotely useful" Trannak insisted to them "Waste outfall, sewage pipe, vent shaft, storm drain – anything we can use to get the assault forces inside the complex covertly. Time is against us, so find something quickly!"
It took longer than Trannak liked for the skulkers to find an entrance – by the time Hellbolt had done so, the main force had just managed to reach them, so Harigan went with Trannak to examine Hellbolt's find. "Looks like an air shaft" Harrigan suggested, listening to any sounds coming from further down the tunnel "Certainly it's very large – big enough for me to walk upright unhindered, though not for all three groups to walk abreast". Both Sikozu and Keyah crawled up the small area of wall to try and get a better view down the tunnel before coming back to ground level and talking rapidly to each other in their own language – apart from each other, only Harrigan was able to understand them well.
"Well…" Lazarus said when he was called over to look at the grating covering the tunnel "We've got to get inside the sneaky way – so that precludes me from blasting my way in. That leaves us two options – cutting torch or your arms, Harrigan".
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"Stuff the torch!" Harrigan replied immediately, limbering up "It'll take too long – and that's if anyone here actually HAS one!" When Sikozu opened her mouth, Harrigan added "And don't suggest one of the Scarrans use their heat probe either – the builders would have taken that into account, so we won't get in that way. So stand clear, all of you!"
It took almost a full momen and much in the way of tortuous metallic bending noises before Harrigan finally managed to force the lock open – but open it did. "Sikozu, Keyah – take point!" Trannak ordered, before waving to the other skulkers and calling "Follow me!" as soon as the two Kalish had gone a few metras inside. Harrigan then followed with Captain Lazarus' smaller Tactical group, then Captain Kran's Bloodstar-heavy company, with Councillor Shuljek and his troops bringing up in the rear. Harrigan's eyes adjusted well to the gloom, making our detail that none of the others would pick up with their normal eyes. Sikozu smiled thinly – I know I have superior capabilities as well, even if not to the level of the giant Harrigan. I too can see well in this dim light. But, for mine and my people's safety, I will not tell the others this – not even Keyah.
The sound of a large whirring fan came closer and closer – proving that their entryway was part of the air cirulation system for the complex. Since Sikozu could easily read the maintenance markings , she directed them slowly along the tunnel network for almost half an arn until they came to a spot under a large roof hatch. "If my understanding of these markings is correct" she told Trannak "then we should be under a vehicle maintenance area – or possibly a small craft hangar bay. There may well be Kalish here – but any who are not totally loyal to the Hierarchy will not report our presence. You will know those who are by their uniforms – they wear a dark blue. It is the colour of the group known as the Organisation – which, though ostensibly for training and education of Kalish, is generally used to control and subjugate the thoughts and actions of Kalish people and bend them to the Hierarchy's design. There may be Scarrans wearing the same colour – they would be supervisors or overseers". Keyah bristled when she heard Sikozu's speech, but restrained herself from beating her fellow Kalish even a tiny bit – we will need everyone we have, she knew, even this Kalish and her unpredictable ways.
"OK, then" Harrigan decided "Blue bad, I get that. Everyone else hear what Sikozu just told me and Captain Trannak?" Those nearby, plus Captain Kran and Councillor Shuljek, all agreed that they had – so Trannak motioned for Sikozu and Keyah to lift the cover plate up and look around.
Sikozu, followed by Keyah, climbed up along the walls and slid out into this new room – contrary to Sikozu's expectation, they appeared to have come out at the back of the quartermaster's store zone. There were a couple of Scarran-pattern DRDs scurrying around – which Sikozu ordered, in accentless Scarran, to leave the area. "That will not keep them away for ever" she cautioned Keyah – who nodded and went back to shift the plate all the way away from the tunnel entrance so that the others could enter.
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Hellbolt popped up first, and after a couple of microts his two Vipers almost sprouted in his hands as he took up station beside Keyah. "Come!" Sikozu hissed urgently "We are clear of enemies up here for now – but we had best proceed quickly before this changes! I do not know how often this area is patrolled, nor how often any workers come down here!"
Trannak heaved himself up onto the store room floor one-handed and unslung his G8C with the other hand, moving to where he could cover the two Kalish and Hellbolt – once all of his skulker group were up, they moved further in to secure a larger entry area for the others to arrive in. Sikozu looked on as Trannak moved without her even hearing him move, slipping as close to soundlessly between cover spots as she had ever witnessed any living creature do. She was glad that not all Scarran moved as he did – or my people's struggle would be so much tougher than it is even now.
"Snake to Command" Trannak whispered over his comm, using his old callsign from Deadhead days instinctively "Immediate area is clear of enemy forces – it's safe to bring everyone up and to proceed further inside". "Copy that" Harrigan replied, grining cheesily at Trannak's callsign "Now live up to your name and take your lot and get us where we need to go. Stealth is very much our watchword now – we MUST reach Talannah undetected!" The only response was a double-click as Trannak flicked a hand forward to order Sikozu and Keyah to scout on further ahead while he and the two snipers followed on with Hellbolt and the others. He noted with approval that both the humans with him were moving and acting well in this new environment – good, he decided, they seem to be useful and experienced allies.
Snake! Sikozu thought with stunned surprise, SNAKE! That name had an almost legendary record, even among her own species – it's owner was reputed to move so quietly that no one heard his footsteps, no one even knew he was there until it was too late. "It is good he fights with us" Sikozu whispered, a sentiment Keyah agreed with – having known Trannak more than Sikozu had, she guessed that Trannak would have left for similar reasons to her own. The recon specialist smiled more happily – he too had heard of Trannak's record, and was pleased to be going into combat alongside one even more skilled in the art of stealth than himself. This man is experienced, he told hmself proudly, a Captain I am glad to have command me – and now we prove our worth for our new War Commander. He will be pleased with both of us, I know…
"Go, go, go!" Lazarus hissed at his Tactical units "Follow me and the Sar-Major up NOW – bottling up down here does no one any good! MOVE IT!" Lazarus climbed up as quickly as he could, with Koronna giving him a boost and a quick smile over the last metra or so before she followed him up, coming to a stop beside him at Keyah's first sentry position. She noted with proud approval the way he scanned the aisles and crates and shelves for anything unusual, before moving to his hammond side for a clearer field of fire as the two of them led their group after the skulkers. Kran's huge body came out of the tunnel with alacrity and relief, its owner clearly glad to have plenty of room to move and fight in – followed by his Tactical squads and Bloodstars.
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Three-quarters of an arn later, when the last of Councillor Shuljek's troops had left the tunnel, the Councillor himself marked the tunnel position on his PDA and forwarded the information to Harrigan and the other Captains and ran forward to the head of his group with his wife and daughter, noting that Sturk was grinning a little too widely already at the thought of using his pyromaniac talents on fresh targets.
Stairs! Keyah signalled to Sikozu, then those behind her – before the two Kalish moved slowly up the staircase, scanning the way ahead for any Scarran or Kalish coming the other way. Hellbolt and Ghost came next, followed by the recon specialist and Trannak himself, then the rest of the skulkers – all of whom were listing with wary apprehension for the presence of enemies. "We need to get to a spot where Kylith's team can locate us and direct us to the central judgement chamber" Trannak whispered to the Kalish "Which probably means we will have to go up at least one more floor and into a more well-travelled area. It's a risk, I know – but one we'll have to take". "It is one we can deal with though, Captain" Keyah replies firmly, tapping the barrel of her G8C meaningfully, to which Trannak replied "Better to evade at this stage, Keyah – there will be more than enough fighting to go around later, as I doubt the Hierarchy commander here will let us leave uncontested".
"But there may well be a time where an altercation is unavoidable, Captain" Sikozu reminded him "If such a turn of events arises, we should be prepared to deal with it quickly and promptly". "And most importantly, COVERTLY" Trannak told them firmly "If you do have to kill anyone, a) make sure they can't report back to their superiors that we're here, and b) hide the bodies and clean up the bloodstains! We cannot afford to hang around skirmishing to settle our own scores – resscue of the Sub-Commander is our highest priority here!" "The very same way I worked on Earth, Captain" Keyah replied with a nod "I know how to do that, and will make sure any gaps in Sikozu's skills are brought up to an acceptable standard as well". Sikozu wasn't pleased at hearing Keyah describe her that way to a Scarran but couldn't see a way around or out of it.
So the two Kalish headed out first again, sent with Trannak's directive to find a stairway to the next floor above them. Sikozu naturally preferred to find a computer terminal somewhere and get it to do the work (after all, such terminals are designed for this kind of task, she told herself – so why should I lower myself to it?), but Keyah reminded her that they would both have to do this the hard way, although they were fortunate to have backup with them. "Not that we will need it…" Keyah told her with a slight smile "But it is good to know that the backup is there, yes?" Sikozu smiled and relaxed just a little bit, nodding in agreement with Keyah's words before replying "Yes, Keyah Karimu, it is reassuring that assistance is close at hand. When I have been in tight situations such as these before, I have had at most five additional personnel assisting me – this time we have, in total, two hundred and forty well-armed assistants along with us. Even if most of them are Scarran, this is a good total".
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Keyah actually laughed softly when she heard Sikozu's remarks, adding "A most Kalish way of looking at it, Sikozu! But, whatever our species of origin, we are all in this TOGETHER – Scarran and Human and Sebacean and Nebari. And War Commander Harrigan as well – who I do not think conforms to any species' genetic benchmarks now". Sikozu was not altogether happy at being rebuked, but reluctantly acknowledged the truth of Keyah's words and set about helping her find a new stairway.
Because she was looking in roughly the same direction, she was not entirely surprised when Keyah's gun came up and let off a single 'pop!' – when she followed Keyah's pointing hand, she saw the mangled remains of a ceiling monitor camera now sparking and smoking a little maybe thirty metras distant. "A good shot" Sikozu told her in commendation "Should we report it to the War Commander- or to the Captain behind us?" "I will report it to Captain Trannak" Keyah decided after a few microts' thinking "It is up to him to decide whether to pass the information along".
When Trannak heard Keyah's report, he brought his hand up to signal Halt! while he listened. "Acknowledged" he replied after she had finished "And well done for taking care of the problem as neatly as you did – especially while avoiding detection. We must be approaching the more well-travelled parts of this level of the complex – stay sharp and stick to the shadows. Don't hold back on calling for help if there's something that looks too tough for the two of you to handle, either – I know Hellbolt's only too eager to help you two out". "THAT, Captain…" Sikozu interrupted to add, drolly "Is because he is Nebari – and likes to seek chances to impress himself on a female of any species. As long as his 'assistance' stays in the realm of combat and not recreation, all will be well". Trannak passed this on to Hellbolt, who had to restrain himself mightily from laughing out loud – but commed back that he would be the perfect gentleman to two such fine ladies at all times.
The next fifteen momens of searching proved relatively humdrum and boring – until Sikozu's fist shot up to signal Enemy seen! and Kylith's voice came over Keyah's comm to announce "I can just see Sikozu, Keyah – there's a monitor camera by that barrack room just ahead of you. You will need to neutralise that barrack room and all those in it before you can continue – the staircase you're probably after is on the other side of it from you". "Copy that" Keyah replied, discomming that call before getting onto Trannak to tell him of this latest development. "I'm on my way!" he replied instantly "You two stay where you are – Sikozu, you keep watch; Keyah, you'll move out with me to take care of this little problem as soon as I get there! Make sure you're equipped for shorting that barrack room door lock".
Keyah couldn't help but show a small smile of pride that her Captain chose her to accompany him into combat first against the Hierarchy here. He didn't stop moving when he arrived, his treblin hand flicking out once to signal her to accompany him and then signalled Hellbolt to make sure the others stayed with Sikozu. "We, Keyah…" Trannak whispered as they proceeded slowly forward "Will have to kill those two sentries and everyone in that barracks ourselves. The more important part of this plan falls to you – do whatever you need to do to the lock on the barracks door to make sure it never opens again!"
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Keyah lifted up a small toolbox, just a bit bigger than her hand, and waved it at Trannak to signify that she was ready. "But first…" Trannak added, after she'd put it away again "We have to do something about those two Praetorians – they're right in front of the door. Since they are both quite large and likely to make quite a noise when they fall, we'll have to take them out with knives or swords – you can do that, can't you? You have the right weaponry as well, yes?"
"I can do it" Keyah replied with just a little more confidence than she actually felt, before puling back her coat to reveal her daggers briefly to Trannak "Those two look to be large, but I can prevent the corpse from revealing our location when it falls. We had to train on live soldiers at the Organisation, you know – who would beat us severely if they caught us. I only got caught three times – after which I got into the habit of taking pictures of those I subdued and posting them on their guard room notice boards". "Let's just be content with killing these two" Trannak decided "We have more than enough to occupy ourselves with in that" before drawing his sword and sneaking forward more quietly than Keyah had ever seen any other individual do. She drew both daggers and took to the wall, followed by the ceiling – already deciding on an approach, since she knew that if these Praetorians smelled a Kalish that they would not take her very seriously and would probably ignore her.
"D'you think we'll be premitted to watch the trials?" one of the sentries asked his fellow as Keyah positioned herself over his head. "Maybe, you never know" his fellow sentry replied "It'd be just as good to get evidence locker duty – once they get found guilty, we'd get first call on their possessions. Might be a few nice things to slip in our pocket or packs". The first one was just about to say something when he picked up a strange scent – and looked just the wrong way at the wrong time, just as Trannak rose up to behead his colleague right in front of him. He tried to bolt for the guardroom door, but Keyah chose that microt to drop down onto his shoulders, one leg wrapping around his windpipe, and shifting onto him. Her weight, now all centred on his throat, made him gasp and gag and try to throw her off and bash her against the wall – but Keyah stuck one dagger through each eyeball before he'd managed to dislodge her, then flipped back onto the floor, resheathing both daggers as she did so, and catching the body before it hit the ground and made any noise.
"Very good" Trannak commended her, before nodding at the door and telling her "Make sure that lock stays locked!" Keyah immediately pulled out her small box, opened it, and started attacking the lock – while she had the lockplate off in microts, the innards of the lock proved more difficult to deal with. Keyah thought she'd just managed to forcibly seal the door when someone inside barked "WHAT THE FRELL!" and gave the door a good kick, knocking her back on her eema and opening the door a few denches. Trannak shook his head at how plans always seemed to fail at crucial moments and hurled a tarvek grenade through the small gap, set for time delay and three-quarter yield, before shoving back against the door and ordering Keyah to do the same. As soon as they'd heard the door click home, the grenade went off – blowing out all the windows (and the weaker parts of the walls and ceiling, too), ripping the doors on both sides off their hinges, destroying the computer terminals inside, and just barely avoiding injuring either Keyah or Trannak with a flying door or the blast wave from the explosion.
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"Well THAT was nice and sneaky, was it not?" Keyah asked drily after Trannak had lifted the door off the two of them – adding "I am not damaged, Captain, at least not beyond a few inconsequential scrapes which any first aid kit will fix" when Trannak tried to check her for injuries. So Trannak nodded and immediately hissed at Sikozu to bring the other skulkers forward to his position – Ghost and Hellbolt grinning and nodding with approval when they saw the total mess that Trannak and Keyah had made of the room and its occupants; Sikozu just shaking her head from side to side, Scarrans! clearly etched all over her face; and the recon specialist just nodding and scanning the corridor for more enemies.
"WHAT was that ungodly noise I just heard!" Harrigan demanded over the comm not more than three microts after Hellbolt had finished his last grin and took the chance for a quick drink from his canteen "Have the locals found us already? You lot been given the forty-five calibre welcome?" Once Trannak had worked his way past Harrigan's human expressions, he replied "Not at all – we are not detected nor are any hostile forces now arrayed against us. We had a minor problem with a guard post, which Keyah and I proceeded to solve…". "With a tarvek grenade through the DOOR" Sikozu finished for them, before bemoaning their strange interpretation of 'covert' to everyone currently listening on the comm-net. "So?" Harrigan told Sikozu "What's wrong? There's no more hostiles which means there's no more problem, which also means there's no reason for any of us not to move on either. Since you've got a first-aid kit with you, tinkerbell, patch up yourself and Captain Trannak and get yourselves MOVING".
Sikozu grunted and growled a bit before dabbing antibacterial cream on Keyah's few small cuts and bruises and placing sticking plasters over the ones where such things would not restrict her movement or reaction time. Trannak waved her off, tapping his chest to signify he was wearing armour, before asking "If you're finished, Sikozu, there's supposed to be a staircase up ahead – take Keyah, find it, and secure that location before comming back to me". She contented herself with a brisk "Yes, Captain!" before helping Keyah back to her feet and telling her their new orders.
Down in the entryway to the main cell blocks, a Praetorian officer was trying to raise the squad who'd just been pulversied by Trannak and Keyah's recent explosive escapade on his comm – with predictably non-existent results. When he'd tried the comm-net for ten straight momens with no luck, he commed security command – where team two's leader told him not to bother them with silly games and practical jokes. "There's probably a drill or readiness exercise going on" he told the Praetorian with as much irritation as he considered appropriate "None of the officers told US, of course, but there's nothing new there. Probably part of a loyalty test or something like that", then discommed quickly before wiping his brow in relief.
Exercise or not, the Praetorian decided, I don't like it – I'll have to comm garrison command. The garrison commander hotly denied any knowledge of an exercise, whether it was part of a loyalty assessment or not, and told his underling to get back to his duties – so after he'd thought a bit more, the more junior officer called the VIP quarter in the hope that someone there could shed some light on his current situation.
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The sole VIP in that quarter was still in the midst of his medical examination when the comm went off again. "Can I not go FIVE MOMENS without an interuption!" he barked as soon as he'd picked up the comm "What is it this time?" "Duty patrol from the barracks on sublevel two isn't reporting in, my lord" the Praetorian officer reported "I-". "Why didn't you comm your Praetorian commander instead of me, then?" the VIP snapped – "I did, sir" came the Praetorian's reply immediately "He told me to get back to duty and not bother him again. Is there an exercise of some kind? Have that patrol been ruled as out of action?" "No one's told me if there is an exercise" the VIP said next "I leave details like that to you Praetorians, that's what you're here for! You have troops where you are – take as many as can be spared and investigate for yourself. Be quick about it, too!"
The last of Councillor Shuljek's company had just disappeared up the stairs when the Praetorian officer, and a squad from the prisoner security detail, arrived at the barracks, saw the mess, and promptly went beserk – shouting out every Scarran epithet he knew. "Get back to the cell blocks, you lot!" he barked at his squad "I don't trust the comms round here if there's an exercise or enemy incursion happening right now – so I'll have to head across the base to see the garrison commander or that VIP in person". Many variations of "Tough noogies, sir!" floated through the minds of everyone in the squad as they double-timed it back to the cell blocks – heartily glad it wasn't them that got stuck with providing an explanation.
The skulkers, and the rest of Harrigan's force, emerged into a wide and concreted area – obvious to anyone who looked around as the base motor pool, as several landcars and crawlers were present in various states of repair. Quite a few Kalish were also there working on the vehicles – but they made a determined effort not to look at any of the newcomers in case they received extra punishment details for their curiosity. Many of the Bloodstars looked warily at the Kalish in case any of them were Hierarchy spies – though once Sikozu and Keyah told everyone that Organisation personnel wore a certain shade of blue (which Sikozu described in detail), they left them alone. Several Kalish were very surprised to see the newcomer with the two swords in his boots draw them fast to disembowel their Organisation overseer as he returned to duty – and promptly melted away afterwards into the service tunnels and from there to their quarters.
Harrigan grinnned as he saw the recon specialist complete his work there before he moved on – and was more glad when one of Kylith's team commed in to tell him "Tell our comrade 'nice work' from us, sir! We were watching the whole thing on the monitors and have been able to pinpoint your location – you're on sublevel 2, with two more levels to go until you have to make your way to the main judgement complex". Not long after that, every soldier's PDA lit up to display a moving map with their location on it, much to their relief – Tovak saying "We must be hooked into the internal locator system now, Captain – this will prove useful! I have downloaded a copy of the map to my PDA anyway and I suggest you do the same – if anyone manages to override the security centre we will lose theis capability again". Lazarus immediately passed this on to all the ther officers and NCOs before moving onward.
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Harrigan took a quarter-arn to look at as much of the map as he could, then called Captain Lazarus over to him to discuss strategy. A further quarter-arn later and a loose plan of approach had been agreed upon – so Harrigan got on his comm and ordered "Councillor Shuljek – take the treblin flank on the route I'm sending you!" before uploading his route to his PDA; then "Captain Kran – you've got hammond flank, so take THIS route!" and uploading Captain Kran's course to his PDA.
"Captain Lazarus, you and your lot are with me" Harrigan told his ex-CO, before downloading their route to Trannak's PDA as well and telling him "You're going on the same route as us, but you'll be going first. We can afford to move a little less covertly now, but don't push that any further than you have to – OK?" "I copy" Trannak replied, before discomming and issuing a modified order of march.
"Hellbolt!" he ordered "Take Ghost and Jane with you, join up with Sikozu and Keyah, and establish an overwatch position in this public gallery overlooking the judgement room! Since Captain Kran's recon specialist has demonstrated an aptitude for more than just sniping, I'm going to keep him with me – along with First Officer Karath's team, we will move up to secure the entrance doors in preparation for the arrival of War Commander Harrigan and the others. Now is everyone clear on what they have to do?" A volley of quiet but intent "Yessir's!" came from everyone around Trannak as they received their orders and planned their routes on their own PDAs – then headed off.
Talannah heard the commotion from the returning troops when they got back, even thouhg her cell was oe floor down, and allowed the briefest glimmer of a smile to cross her face and a brief flicker of hope to enter her heart. He has COME! Talannah realised happily, my John has come for me – that kind of mess sounds like just the kind of thing he would do! I hope he has enough force on his side to fnish the job properly, she told herself, I just don't like being unable to warn him of this new breed of Praetorian that are being used to garrison this place either.
There is fighting going on, the altered Kalish prisoner told herself as she picked out the troops' talking and arguing from one floor further down. Outsiders have arrived, and they are fighting the local garrison – either there is a dispute among them over duties, she decided with some fear, or over who would get first choice of the prisoner's possessions – or even of the prisoner themselves. Or maybe, though I do not know how likely this is, another prisoner has powerful friends who have come to rescue them. Will they permit themselves to rescue me? I hope the Scarran I saw such a long time ago is here with them – HE would come and rescue me, I know it! Some of those in the cells close to her laughed at her hopes and theories when she spoke them aloud, and ridiculed them – but I do not mind, she told herself over and over again. If there is someone here who will be freed, I will petition them to take me with them – and then I will try to find that Scarran I knew, or I will find some other place to hide and make a new life for myself.
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"Well then, ladies…" Hellbolt announced "Looks like we've got work to do, and together as well" before waving Ghost over to them as well and telling everyone the plan. A quick "Suits me" from Ghost later and their small group headed towards a point where Hellbolt's PDA told him another staircase would be present.
Captain Kran immediately got moving as soon as he saw the map and his course, splitting off from Harrigan and Lazarus' group and heading to their hammond side as directed. He made sure to send one of his Tactical squads ahead first to scout out their route while stationing the other two on either side of his Bloodstars – these corridors are wide and airy, let's make good use of that! Councillor Shuljek nodded and grinned before he passed on the news to his family and his troops – then they headed off to the treblin corridor and parallel to the War Commander and skulkers. His deployment of Tactical troops was a little different – he sent two squad forward and kept the other as rear guard.
Trannak led the remaining skulkers and Karath on further along their route as soon as Captain Kran had left, getting them all to pick up the pace until they were in the lead as they should be. Strangely enough, at least to Trannak, there were not any enemies close to their line of travel – the two Kalish have seen and heard some, he reminded himself, but none we can't avoid firefights with. This is odd…I wonder how the others are faring…
With Councillor Shuljek's forces, Sturk was using the opportunity to head out first and scout out their route – he'd barely put one foot around the next junction when his fist shot up, signalling Enemy seen! Hallith came forward to see for herself and ask Sturk what he saw – "There, ma'am – five black-shells, a half-squad, and they look at least semi-alert" he reported automatically, before a plan came to him. Since it was one he liked the sound of, he grinned and growled for a microt or so – though he cringed a bit when Hallith insisted on coming with him. I just hope she doesn't give my position away, Sturk told himself as one hand drew a lumpy object roughly double the size of his fist from his pack and he snuck forward – I'm gonna have to get this just right, or we'll BOTH be laminated thinly across the floor.
Quiet! he signalled with his hammond hand Very quiet! as he snuck up as quickly as he dared to the Praetorian patrol – one of whom appeared to be lagging behind. When that individual stopped for a breather, Sturk quickly armed the device he carried, slipped it onto a pack pocket, did the pocket up – and retreated as fast as he felt safe to do. The Praetorian smelled something, and reported it to his squadmates – but since his NCO decided it was just the smell of prisoners wafting through the aircon, there was nothing he could do about it. "NOW QUIT LAGGING BEHIND…" the NCO bellowed, walking over with the rest of the patrol "AND GET OUT FRONT WHERE YOU BELONG! WE'VE NOT GOT FAR TO GO UNTIL WE REACH THE GUARDROOM – YOU CAN AT LEAST MAKE AN EFFORT, YES?"
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Sturk could barely restrain himself from a nasty cackle of excitement – I don't even have to get that bomb inside the guardroom myself, he realised, that unsuspecting black-shell will do it for me! The patrol had just got inside the guardroom for that area and shut the door when one of their fellows already inside the room asked "What the frell's that thing in your pack?" – when a demo tech looked at it, he tried to bolt for the door. Hallith, however, had sharp ears – and flicked a hand at Sturk, who immediately pressed a small button on his wrist controller to detonate what turned out to be a custom-made incendiary bomb.
The blast rattled the walls and the flames shot out of the shattered windows and under and around the remains of the doors to scorch the walls, floor, and ceiling black for quite a few metras in every direction - and set those floor and wall and roof parts alight as they went over them. "Flame…" Sturk muttered happily, rubbing his hands together in glee "Love it or loathe it, you can't ignore it! Harr, harr, harrrr…". Since the flames were too hot for even Scarrans to go through without being incinerated, Hallith told her husband to find an alternate route to the huge double doors that were everyone's main objective at this stage.
Everyone could still feel the edge of the fire's heat and see the flames burning as they passed by – and almost everyone knew who to blame for it as well, which only made Sturk happier. Shuljek just shook his head but didn't punish him – since they were getting closer and no alarm had been raised against them, there was precious little he could do in any case without the War Commander's permission as overall mission commander.
The Praetorian officer had just pulled up outside the VIP quarters, and was currently engaged in a heated debate with the door guard. "Since the garrison commander won't listen or is already involved in this…" the officer growled at the door guard angrily "Your principal is next in chain of command! Frell – he's HIGHER in my chain of command than the garrison commander, so let me in!" A soft "Will I never get any peace…" later and a more cultured (if a little strange, the officer noted) voice announced "Come in – but stay by the door. I'll hear what you have to say, since you actually dared to come all the way here to tell me in person – but it had better be good!"
The officer immediately launched into a full account of events as he had experienced them. The VIP was most definitely not pleased, but to his guard's disappointment did not use any of his new caopabilities to kill the officer in interestingly nasty ways. "Since you think there is something beyond an exercise or drill, you are promoted to the rank of Commander – now get it sorted out! I must stay behind the judge and get the trials in motion – it is YOUR job now to see to it that that can happen!"
The newly-promoted Commander immediately got on the nearest wall comm and started bawling out orders, the first of which was raising the alert level to level three. The rush of troops running to garrison positions or patrols points caused an unavoidable separation of Hellbolt from the rest of his group, which Sikozu was really not happy with – but Jane just said "We have to continue the mission – so get moving! There are still the four of us – that's more than enough!"
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Kylith's teams immediately heard the comm chatter – but try though they might, they couldn't shut it off. "Someone must have decided" team three's scout and leader replied to Kylith's look "That a level three alert included implementation of some kind of emergency comm protocols – we can't shut them down from here, there must be an alternate command centre or an override in place somewhere. Troops are being roused from EVERY barracks for immediate patrols – and I mean every barracks!" "Can we stop that?" Kylith asked "Or even slow it down?"
"All I can do that might help" the scout replied "Is to drop all the emergency blast doors. Since that incendiary blast went off, the hazard management systems should keep them shut for long enough for our people to do their job – though their demo people will have to blast their way back out to their entry point". "Do it" Kylith ordered "And download an escape route from the main judgement room to the first point we detected them at – hopefully that will be close enough to get them the rest of the way under their own power! We, however, had better be ready to repel enemies – or to move out to join the War Commander's forces if ordered to do so".
The slamming blast doors were a sign to even the most obtuse Praetorian that something decidedly unusual was happening. Talannah was pleased, and decided to lay back and get some rest while she could – while the Kalish one level down just curled up on her bed and hoped she would either be rescued or the problem would all go away soon. Please let it be rescue for me as well, she prayed to any presence that was listening, please let it be rescue for me as well!
Hellbolt was having a bit of a rough time. Since he'd become separated from his group, he decided it would be easiest and most helpful to try and make his way to an observation gallery on his current level – which the wall markings reported as one level higher than the War Commander. Both Vipers almost leapt out of their holsters as two Praetorians walked right in front of him, spitting bursts of flechettes into ears and eyes as much as he could in a spirited attempt to kill them both before they could return fire at him. He went through half a magazine for each Viper before that happened, with only half a dozen shots coming at him – though he was now bleeding from pulse burns and cuts on his hammond and treblin shoulders as well as his treblin leg. Much less of a problem than when I got this, he told himself as he tapped the end of the more severe of his facial scars, so I'll keep going.
All groups ascended the wide staircases that their PDAs told them would be there, all the way up to ground level. Only Kran's group found their route to be heavily contested – losing two troops in the ensuing firefight to the Hierarchy's ten, with Kran himself acounting for five of those kills with his sword and Karroch getting the first one with his G8C. "Very good, my son!" Kran praised him "Though you don't show the trait of a Bloodstar yet, you do show promise as a soldier – now keep at it as you have started as there are plenty more around for you – and everyone else as well!"
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Karroch nodded and smiled – then checked his ammo levels before taking his scout position again and leading the rest of his father's assault group towards their objective.
Four Praetorian guards stomped down the metal walkways until they stood directly in front of Talannah's cell – where one tapped out a keycode on a wristpad in her armour to open the door. "Prisoner 19-A, rise and exit for trial" she announced formally, before grinning and adding "You're first, miss – and the judge isn't in a happy mood". Talannah bided her time, not making any hostile moves – knowing in her heart that her time would come to avenge herself on these feniks who'd kept her bound over the past weeken or two, and that if the attacking force was who she thought it was then that time would come soon.
Acros the other side of the complex, the alarms and slamming blast doors woke another Praetorian officer from his sleep, along with many of those under his command. Militarily, this man's team had an excellent record – but their personal records with their political superiors had got them an interim posting at Serakaa IV while those same superiors decided what to do with them. Since an important official had been assigned to oversee this particular judicial seesion to make sure everything went as Hierarchy authorities wanted it to, they were given the task of crewing his ship and seeing to his safety if needed.
"What's happening?" he barked at the first trooper he met after dressing and making himself battle-ready – one wearing the markings of a scout on his shoulder. "Unknown, Lieutenant Rulok" the scout replied "Right now, we all know as much as you do – nothing". "Get Shellek to dig through as much of the base computer net as he can get into, Annik" another Scarran told him – noticeably bigger but more adept at stealth than his size would suggest "You two are our eyes and ears right now – if Harnak needs assistance, we need to know now". Or if we need to make our own arrangements as well, Rulok knew – political records mean more than military ones in the Praetorians and my team have stretched ours closer to the limits than might be safe to do so.
"Shellek!" Annik called to the team's combat tech "Lirak wants you on the computer and figuring out what's happening around here!" "What IS happening, anyway?" Shellek asked with an air of genuine mystery about him – so Annik explained what little he knew. "Blast doors are sealing off every place from every other, secondary route and closest barracks to the judgement room-cellblock mass transit pathway is apparently blocked and we don't know why - and if reports on the trooper-level comms are to be believed, fifteen troops have been killed in action already".
Shellek waved Annik out of the way as he sat down in front of the nearest terminal. Kylith's people in the security centre noticed as soon as he went online, of course, but Shellek proved to be just good enough to stay ahead of them and gain just enough information to put together a brief situation report for his Lieutenant before he got kicked off the network by the skulkers.
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While Shellek was engaged in his battle of wits with the skulker tech over the computer netowrk, the rest of their team assembled in the ready room and watched him work – making sure that their weapons, ammunition, and other supplies were all secured properly.
"Barracks on sublevel 2, quadrant 19 is burning" Shellek reported "Main thoroughfare is blocked by flames too hot even for sealed armour – four troops were lost trying to get through before anyone found that out! It'll take anyone in quadrant 19 at least half an arn to reach the prisoner mass transfer walkway and the judgement complex if they want to avoid the fires – which show no sign of abating any time soon". Lirak loked up at the wall to check what he already knew – they were in quadrant 32, on the other side of the complex, and closer to the large transport hangars.
"Does anyone know what kind of enemies we're facing?" Lirak asked next "Even a guess?" "No reports have come in about that yet, sir" Shellek replied "Two people of roughly Sebacean type have been spotted briefly in the company of two Kalish – but since the two Sebaceanoids were wearing a camouflage pattern not know to us and neither of the Kalish were weaing uniforms at all, it doesn't help much". "Get whoever spotted them on the comm NOW!" Rulok ordered Shellek – though after a brief burst of typing he shook his head and told him "Mortis chips in their armour read 'offline', sir – they're dead".
Rulok was not happy about that – but restrained himself from anger enough to order "We'd better get moving, everyone. Crossover between quadrants 20, 21, 40, and 41 is our objective – we should be able to reach most important areas from there without too much trouble. Judduk, Krynak – make sure your demo kits are fully loaded with eveything you can get your hands on from the armoury here! We'll have to make do with our pulse rifles and whatever ammunition we have with us, plus Judduk's cannon and Krynak's sniper rifle – but no one's to fire unless I give the word or you're being fired on".
Keyah looked down at the two dead Praetorians that she and Sikozu had riddled with bullets briefly before Sikozu pointed up another narrower staircase to the next floor and nodded. "Up there" Keyah told Ghost and Jane "We will not be too far from the gallery we seek then – though we will have to make our way around the edge of the other galeries first, and that may not be easy to do while remaining undetected". Once she and Sikozu had scampered on ahead, Ghost followed them up the stairs with Jane bringing up the rear.
"Captain…" Keyah reported to Trannak as she made her way up the stairs "We have eliminated two more guards on the way to our objective – but I must report the presence of Mortis chips. They will know who died, when they died, and may be able to plot a rough heading and determine our objectives". Trannak reviewed what he knew about the Mortis system – the chip and sensor is around the heart area, he knew, though the system runs off a small power cell under the treblin armpit at waist level. He passed this information onto Keyah, who thanked him briefly before discomming and telling Sikozu and the others.
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Sikozu remembered what she had learned about the Mortis system some cycles ago. She has seen an early model of it as part of her tech training, and it did not take long before the layout of the system came back to her. I can do this, she told herself confidently, I can kill a Mortis-equippped Praetorian with this large slug weapon before the system notifies anyone that anything is amiss. It is not yet 100 reliable – so a shot through the power cell or sensor will not be noticed for what it is until the corpse is physically examined by someone who know what they are looking for.
Harrigan acknowledged Keyah's report and signalled for Troll and the other squad heavies to ready their cannons – we won't have time for the niceties of stealth and covert movement, we'll have to be satisfied with hitting hard and moving fast and hoping we can get to the central chamber before Talannah's verdict is given and sentence carried out. Troll was especially pleased with this news, putting his Viper back in its holster and moving his huge cannon around on its sling to point ahead of him – the charge cables are in good repair and properly attached, he told himself, and the pack itself hasn't fallen off my back yet, so I'm as good to go as I'll ever be.
"Copy that" Trannak said before discomming as he and Karath's team ascended onto level G-1 – ground level "We're on the main level, War Commander – main objective is approximately three hundred metras straight ahead. The only bad point is that the corridor's wide and totally lacking in cover – so I'd apreciate it if you coud come up with Captain Lazarus' group before we proceed further". "On the way, Captain!" Harrigan replied happily, signalling for the others to run for Trannak's location as fast as they could and be ready for anything "Should be with you in a momen or two at most!" before calling Keyah and asking "How's things at orange central?"
"We have lost track of Hellbolt, sir" Keyah reported "But your two humans, myself, and Sikozu are no more than two hundred metras from our designated objective point. We will go there and wait for further orders – and try to ascertain Hellbolt's location if we can". "No need!" a flustered and familiar Nebari voice reported in "Sorry about not calling anyone, but I've had to shoot half a dozen Praetorians on the way to where I am now and am low on ammo!" "Where ARE you!" Trannak demanded – "Just reached a gallery directly overlooking the main judgement chamber!" Hellbolt replied, ducking through a doorway and over to where he could get a good view "The judges are just coming in now…Kylith's reporting that a prisoner positively identified as Talannah is being brought up by the secondary prisoner transfer route…yes…I see her, War Commander, they're putting her in the dock and cuffing her to the railing".
A loud howl of excitement and relief went out over the comm before Harrigan quietened down enough to ask "Guards?" "Two behind the dock" Hellbolt replied "And I can hear and see other Praetorians making their way into the ground-level seating. Not many yet – so you'd better get here fast before more turn up". "Captains!" Harrigan barked loudly "Damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead! Get to those doors and stamp anything flat that gets in the way!" "We're almost there already, sir" Kran reported happily "Just a litle ahead of you and three corridors over. I'm down almost one Tactical squad already, but we didn't let those Mortis chips tell anyone we're here!"
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Harrigan made sure his Steyr was ready as he ran up the wide expanse of corridor – pointing out "Trannak – there's an elevator down to the prisoner levels! Once we make entry, take Karath's team and Kran's recon guy with you down there and get as many Hand prisoners out as you can! Number one, we'll need as many troops on our side as possible by then; and Number two, it'll give the enemy more to concentrate on so Talannah can be taken back to the LZ!" Trannak noted the position of the elevator on his own PDA before resuming his place at the head of his team as they all ran for the doors. The main corridor widened a bit as they approached to doors themselves – so both Kran's and Shuljek's teams rejoined the main group.
Loud sirens went off as they approached the last stretch of corridor, and Hellbolt called "Alarm's gone off, sir – apparently someone's pulled monitor footage from that burnt-out barracks and recognised the uniform of whoever did that deed, because at least one Praetorian officer's been yelling all manner of things at everyone he can reach! They're trying to find something to brace those doors you're coming up to and reinforce them too". "Get in there and hold them off, then!" Harrigan ordered him as Lazarus and Koronna ran up to the doors in question, opened their packs, and got to work placing shaped charges on the vulnerable points they knew about "We need a momen or two to get the welcome mat properly rolled out – but we'll accept as much as you can get us!"
Hellbolt peered over the balcony – it looked to be a bit less than one whole floor to the ground from here, he noted – and heaved himself over the side before he could change his mind, reloading both Vipers as soon as he reached the ground and shooting down both the Praetorians who were trying to jam the door with a large steel rod. "GET HIM!" barked the senior judge – and every Praetorian currently in the room got out of their seats and tried to make their way to Hellbolt's location to kill him, or drew weapons to try and shoot him from where they were.
Hellbolt paused in shooting to throw a couple of grenades. These cleared enough space and bought him enough time for him to get closer to the door, but his ammunition was running very low very quickly. Not long afterwards the Vipers ran dry and he was forced to draw his sword, hacking and stabbing and slashing across vulnerable points for all he was worth. He did not get through unscathed, but the melee did preclude a lot of gunfire being sent his way from all but the best shots – and some of that still hit their own people.
"Up there?" Lazarus asked Koronna, just a few denches from her, as they discussed where to place the remaining charges. She moved his hand and placed it over the better spot, saying "There, Captain" and trying not to smile too much at actully touching him – Lazarus smiled anyway and armed the charge befor Koronna did likewise with two more on her side. "INCOMING!" called Councillor Shuljek "REKKETH – BRING DOWN THE ROOF! STURK – ROAST THEM ALL WITHOUT DOING THE SAME TO US!" Kran marshalled his own group's heavy-gunners and demo techs to do the same – Sturk took considerable pulse fire across his armour and several shots breached his chestplate.
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He held the pain in, despite bleeding a bit down his uniform, and bolted back to Councillor Shuljek's position before detonating another incendiary bomb – as soon as that went off, every still-living heavy-gunner in Shuljek's force who could see the enemy followed Rekketh's lead and poured enough heavy plasma fire into the roof and walls to start a small rockslide and block much of both corridors. Kran's own gunners did just as well, though one had to ditch her cannon from an overtemp warning – but unslung a spare plasma rifle she had with her and grinned at her Captain, saying "Be prepared – that's me!" before covering the retreat of her fellows to Harrigan's position.
"Finished!" Koronna reported to Lazarus with a smile as she fastened one last charge to its place – "Very good!" he replied with a nod and a slight smile before yelling "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" and flicking his treblin hand at Koronna to signal her to detonate the charges. The recon specialist saw the place the charges and quickly moved into a position he hoped would give him a chance to kill the two guards by the dock within microts.
Keyah saw the bad situation Hellblot was in and waved for Ikozu to join her in laying down suppressing fire from the domed ceiling. I can do better from here, at least for one or two shots, she knew – my energy projection will clear the way for the Nebari to get away from those doors when the human Captain detonates the breaching charges. But will the tactical advantage this gives us be worth revealing my bioloid status to these people – and in a Scarran facility as well! It will have to be, she eventually decided – it will not look good if I let one of my allies die from my indecision, and the human Harrigan will be much less inclined to offer his help to my people then as well.
Sikozu peeked out over the balcony beside Ghost, took a deep breath to steady herself, then her hammond hand glowed briefly around the fingertips before she unleashed as powerful an energy bolt as she felt capable of. The blast ripped through the four Praetorians closest to Hellbolt, who immediately ran to a position directly to the treblin side of the double doors in preparation for the detonation of the breaching charges placed by Captain Lazarus and Koronna. Sikozu slumped down behind the balcony just ahead of a considerable quantity of pulse fire, drained and a little dizzy – Keyah looked at her intently and asked "That is a VERY interesting talent you have, Sikozu…how did you come to get it?"
"That…" Sikozu gasped as she tried to get her breath and energy back "Is something not important to the task at hand…", though adding in her own mind 'Something which I am not going to tell you' as well "We must…assist your friends". Keyah nodded at the mild rebuke and popped up to take a shot at a Praetorian who was aiming at Hellbolt – though six or seven rounds were needed, Keyah controlled her G8C well enough to get all of them in the shoulders, neck, and head and kill her target.
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"You two!" Jane called from her position by the gallery door "Get out there on the roof and keep those guys occupied! The Cap and Koronna haven't blown the do-". Jane's speech was interrupted by an incredible BOOOOOOOOMMMMM! as the charges detonated, scattering chunks of reinforced metal across the room. As soon as the recon specialist could see through the dust and smoke, his Steyr came up and gave two of its own booms – two heavy-calibre bullets smashed through the heads of the judicial guards behind Talannah just before Harrigan kicked the remains of the door away and charged in, letting off a bone-ripping SKKKKRRREEEEEEEEEEEE! and raising his own Steyr and putting shots through three nearby Praetorians – the rounds going straight through the bodies and their armour to hit three more Scarrans each, though not all of the secondary targets were killed.
Lazarus' Tactical squads burst in beside Harrigan, spreading out and establishing a beach-head so that Kran's and Shuljek's groups could enter as well. Trannak put his few skulkers to the treblin side of the door and instructed them to cover the recon specialist as he sniped whatever targets presented themselves, while a loud bellow marked Kran's arrival – and a scream marked his first kill of the main assault.
Harrigan immediately leapt for the prisoner's dock, where he cut Talannah's chains from their mountings and ripped the remains free of her wrists altogether. Talannah immediately kissed him as hard and passionately as she was capable of, arms winding around his neck, before looking into his eyes and telling him with much feeling "Thank you, my husband, for coming for me…". "Wouldn't have it any other way!" Harrigan announced, not telling her the problems the others had getting him to see sense, before Talannah said "They should have my weapons put away in an evidence locker somewhere close by…just let me get my swords and I'll have a few words with those around here they'll never forget…".
"I need you safe, my love" Harrigan told her before letting fly with an electiorcal charge from his arms at two more Praetorians who were coming in from the rear entrances "Which can't happen here. Go back to the LZ and get the pilots ready to move for me". "I will NOT!" Talannah replied obstinately "I am your wife, and I will fight beside you as I should!", before proving her words by kicking a Praetorian off his feet so Harrigan could finish him off.
Harrigan thought for a few microts before saying "Then go with Captain Trannak and free the Blood Hand prisoners in the cell blocks! They'll probably have all your gear in their impound room anyway – and then you can stay with the Captain and the other skulkers. They'll need an expienced soldier like you with them, love". Talannah smiled reluctantly before nodding and saying "Very well, John – it is a good suggestion, and I DO want to get my gear back as well as see if we can free some of our allies' people as well".
"SKKRRRRREEEEE!" howled Harrigan once more, before barking out "Skulker command – free the prisoners; Tactical command – cover Talannah's escape and support the Bloodstars; Bloodstars – KILL ALL THESE PRAETORIANS!
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Both Kran and Shuljek howled with glee at that – Kran bellowing back "THAT'S THE KIND OF ORDERS I LIKE, SIR!"
"We have met the enemy in battle, sir" an out-of-breath scout reported to the Commander "They've just breached the judicial chamber main doors, freed the prisoner in the dock, and are proceeding to kill every Praetorian they can see". "And who are the enemy?" the Commander asksed pointedly, staring in his underling's face "Do they serve a major or minor power? Do they have some identifying symbol or uniform? What SPECIES are they?"
"Mixed species, sir" the scout replied "First one we saw was a Nebari vaulting in from a lower gallery – but before we could kill him a sniper team and two Kalish opened fire from an upper balcony. We can't tell at this stage what species the sniper is – he, she, or it is covered by shadow". "Any other species present?" the Commander asked, wondering what a mixed-species group would be doing here. Mercenaries fighting on someone else's behalf? Who knows…
"Scarrans for the most part sir" the scout replied "A few of what look like Sebaceans in the mix – including one of their officers – but the enemy force is almost entirely Scarran". A loud howl, followed by a scram and a burst of Old Scarran crystallised the thought forming in the Commander's head, which was confirmed by the scout when he added "Uniforms identify them as Blood Hand, sir – Tactical squads and Bloodstar stormtroopers have been sighted in large numbers". "Who is their leader, and what species are they?" was the next question – but the scout answered "I can't tell what species he is, sir – but he's extremely large, bigger than a Scarran, and covered in a thick black plate from his neck down. He has short black hair and his skin seems to be part way between Scarran and Sebacean. He carries a large rifle of unknown origin – oh, and a large sword over each shoulder". "Have their skulker command been sighted?" the Commander asked more warily "They wear green uniforms. If they have infiltrated this base alongside their comrades in the other commands, we could have serious problems on our hands".
"References to skulkers were made" the scout replied "But I did not see any there – if they were there, they must have been sent elsewhere. I've tried asking the security command to search the base, but there's no answer. Could they be under attack?" "They're probably all DEAD" the Commander said grimly "Our garrison is not special-ops qualified – except for that Rulok and his team who are visiting with…him – any skulker units of reasonable skill would be able to take the security centre and either destroy it or use it for their own purposes to support the main assault force". He turned to a nearby aide and ordered "Mobilise all available forces to repel or exterminate these Blood Hand intruders! Prisoners are not required – but the trials must go ahead, and examples must be made! If necessary, swarm their location with every warm body you can get and bog them down! I'll have to go and tell our…guest…of these latest developments". The aide took the scout with him and called "Hard luck, sir" as the two of them left to join the battle and get their troops moving.
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This conversation did not, however, go unnoticed – one of the medics was on duty at the main monitor console and turned up the audio when he saw the two high-ranking Praetorians talking on the screens. "ALERT!" he called "We'll have enemies inbound within ten momens, Kylith – Praetorian officer's sent a general call-out with direct reference to this centre. Orders?"
Kylith raised one hand for silence while she tried to com any of the Irregulars' officers. Soon, Trannak himself picked up and asked what was going on – the rapid pop-pop-pop of suppressed G8C fire mixed with the hiss of plasma rifles and cannons and the snap of pulse fire in the background. "This location will not be secure for much longer" she reported "Praetorian troops are already making their way up here – so we need to leave! I'm getting one of my combat techs to download a full map of this building into our PDA net – but I suggest, sir, that we lay charges here and join up with you or the main force and the War Commander".
Trannak quickly looked at the map on his own PDA as his team ran back towards the elevator they had seen earlier, the one that looked to lead to the cell block. He directed Kylith to bring her people down around the other side of the judicial chamber from him and cause enough damage to cut off the enemy's routes for bringing in reinforcements – "This is essential!" he insisted "They have a lot of these new Praetorians, with more coming in as I speak – and whoever is in charge here will not hesitate to use them all! We must deny as much as possible the adbantage of numbers to them!"
"People!" she called out across the security centre "We are LEAVING! I want heavy charges on every piece of equipment here before we go and I want booby-traps laid on the elevator AND the stairs on our way out – regular explosives and high-temp incendiaries! Let's move!" The remaining combat techs immediately used up as many of their remaining demolition charges as they placed one on each and every vital piece of equipment in the room – one tech running outside to place an especially large charge on the hyperwave comm antenna itself.
Fighting in the judgement chamber was hard and close now. Koronna was hurling grenaes and smaller demo charges form her pack as fast as she could prime them, and laying about her with the huge mace she carried whenever anyone got to close. She tried with everything she had to stay close to Captain Lazarus, but the tides of battle forcibly parted them – and when she looked to be surrounded, taking a few sword blows on her shoulder armour, she called out "Captain! CAPTAIN LAZARUS!" as loud as she could.
She's one of my people, Lazarus told himself – she's MY sar-major and one of MY people, and she's under attack! They came to save me and mine on Earth – now it's time to repay the favour! "SHOR, RYALLA, TROLL!" Lazarus barked "WITH ME! BLAST YOUR WAY THROUGH TO SAR-MAJOR KORONNA – SHE'S CUT OFF AND NEEDS REINFORCEMENT!" "Givin' 'em the good news, Cap!" Troll replied with a grin, levelling his huge cannon and pumping four shots as close to Korona as he dared.
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That gave Ghost, up in the balcony, enough of a clear space to snipe two enemy heavy-gunners with autopulsers – now that Sikozu had recovered from the use of her hidden talent, she and Keyah had taken to the domed ceiling and kept circling the room, only stopping to put short bursts into any enemy head that proved vulnerable from above. Good, Sikozu thought to herself as she put a short, controlled burst through the head of another officer, I am killing the enemies of my people and it feels GOOD! Every one we kill now means less to oppress my people on homeworld…
With that, she paused to throw one of her own grenades – this went straight on target, but it also gave a Praetorian on the ground enough time to send half a dozen shots her way. Ghost managed to silence that shooter, but four of the shots still hit Sikozu in the hammond leg and also her chest and caused enough pain and damage to make her lose her shift and tumble to the floor below, crying out in unaccustomed pain.
Sergeant Rustuk, part of Kran's Bloodstar unit, paused to catch her as she fell – kicking a Praetorian across Rekketh's line of fire as he did so. Sikozu looked a little wild when she saw she had been saved from death from falling by a Scarran, but when she saw the red uniform she realised that her rescuer was one of her new allies and slid out of his arms and onto her feet, pushing the pain aside for now and making sure she retrieved her gun. Her body, enhanced by Kalish resistance bioloid technology, sealed the wounds fairly promptly – certainly with enough speed to keep her in fighting shape for now – so she fired on another Praetoriasn as soon as she was able to and decided to make her way over to Hellbolt. He is a skilled soldier, she could see, but he lacks ammunition – since I am not using that Viper I was given, better I give it to one who will make proper use of it and its ammunition.
Shor levelled the plasma rifle he'd brought along in place of a G8C and fired two shots into a Praetorian who was swinging two long knives at Ryalla, pulverising him and the one behind him as well. Ryalla smiled briefly at him before telling him "We've still got a few more metras to go, trainee – why not make a start on them now?" Shor looked very strained, and was dripping blood from several close blade and pulse burn strikes already, but nodded and called "Last one to Koronna buys the drinks afterwards!" before charging in after Ryalla as she made her way forward. "That's the way!" Lazarus encouraged the pair of them "Troll – we need supporting fire to their left, their treblin side. Far too many enemy there! I'll watch your back. GO, GO, GO!"
Troll moved slowly and steadily, stepping over the bodies of the fallen and pumping cannon fire into groups of Praetorian soldiers whenever he could do so without hitting their own people. Lazarus flicked the safety on his G8C to semi-auto to save valuable ammunition and put quick double-taps into heads as often as they presented themselves as opportune targets – which was many times every microt. Just as their small group, followed closely by Sergeant Leurik and two of his troops, got within ten metras of Koronna, Troll yelled "OVERTEMP! OVERTEMP! GOTTA DITCH THIS!"
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Sergeant Leurik barked at his people to cover him while he helped Troll rip his way out of the charge backpack's harness and drop it and the gun to the ground, where he kicked it hard at nearby enemies before putting a burst of gunfire through it. The ensuring explosion took out two of the more careless Praetorians and crippled to more, causing a very welcome bottleneck in that part of the room.
Lazarus laid a hand on Koronna's shoulder and tired to yank her back behind him – though, of course, he forgot to take into account her vastly superior size and bulk over his own. She did turn round to see who touched her, a little angry at the unfamiliar sensation – but smiled with both relief and happiness when she saw it was Captain Lazarus himself. "Get back with us, Sergeant!" he ordered "We've come all this way to get you, so don't let us down – we need to get over towards Kran's front! They're bearing the worst of it right now since they're right in front of one of the major reinforcement entryways!"
More Praetorians were coming over towards Ghost's sniper position – but did not know that Jane was there as well. She peeked out around the corner and put a short burst through the skull of an officer as he jogged down the stairway to the ground floor and the judicial chamber before calling "Keyah – get back here NOW! We need to cover Ghost's rear! Bring Sikozu with you!" Keyah retreated thankfully back to the gallery and then the corridor before stopping beside Jane to reply "Sikozu was shot off the ceiling, Jane – though she made a safe landing and is still alive over by Hellbolt's position by the main doors". Jane nodded and directed Keyah to stay beside her – "Make your shots count, Keyah – we don't have any more ammo than what we carry with us, so keep to semi-auto and away from spray and pray, yes?" It took a few microts for Keyah to fathom the meaning of Jane's expression, but she caught on and did as she was told. We were taught the vulnerable spots in a Scarran body, she knew, back in early Organisation military training – though I doubt my supervisor back then would ever have thought I would be putting that knowledge to use this way and at this time and place! But I will and must do so to save my colleagues and new friends – whatever species they are!
Shuljek had possibly the better front so far – while he still had considerable numbers of Praetorians coming at him, the corridor they approached from made a sharp turn just before they could charge into combat. He'd made as much use of this as he could, stationing Rekketh and his other heavy-gunners opposite this opening and directed them to fire whenever a group of four or more appeared. This left the majority of enemies assailing them to come from the rear and hammond sides of their position – Shuljek had stationed two of his Tactical squads there to support the Bloodstars and his family as they carried the fight to the enemy and waited for further orders. Many times he and Hallith and Shakka jumped in alongside their troops to dispatch particularly troublesome enemies - all three of them were glad to prove themselves in this way yet more times.
The Praetorian commander had just managed to reach the VIP suite and knock on the door. Fortunately, the VIP inside was in a more congenial mood – because he recognised the commander and called him inside.
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"Yes, Commander?" he asked "You have a report for me? Perhaps this noise is all a security exercise for my benefit?" "No, sir" the comander replied "The complex is under full attack by a Blood Hand assault company – enemy troops from all three major commands have now been sighted engaging our own personnel. Best estimates put enemy numbers at over two hundred".
"That is a very large number for the Blood Hand to commit to any one operation" the VIP told him "Did they do anything else? Are they here simply to kill and destroy – or are they here to retrieve something or someone?" "They freed the first prisoner in the dock, sir" the commander replied "An ex-Deadhead, IFC Talannah, and imediately evacced her with the only skulkers seen so far. Their leader has, however, ordered those same skulkers to free as many of the Blood Hand in the cells as they can".
The VIP got his commander to describe Harrigan in as much detail as he could, and asked more questions about how he was addressed by the others. He had read more of the Scarran Empire's history than almost any other Scarran currently in the empire's service, and had a distinct impression of who the leader might be. When the commander told him of Harrigan's appearance and weapons, plus the title he was addressed by, the VIP said "They have a War Commander with them once more, Commander – that is why so many troops have committed themselves to this attack. They consider this time to be a turning point in their history and want to be a part of it. Your description also matches that gven by one of our scientific personnel as the man who escaped from Bio-Research Project 12 some monen ago – he is extremely large and powerful and will not succumb to normal weapons fire easily. Direct heavy weapons fire against him – that is the only way you will be able to kill him with any rapidity. You will need sustained fire from several cannon to gain the quick kill that you and my soldiers need – and I require".
Once the commander ahd left, the VIP told a scientist beside him "These Praetorians will not prevail in the long term against the Blood Hand force – we do have numbers, but they have a strong defensive advantage and far superior morale that will outweight the superior strength and toughness of our forces. I must take to the field of battle myself and test these additional changes you have made in me – there is no more time for lab observations, a field test must now be made". The scientist himself was not unopposed to such a thing, so he said "Yes, Lord Harnak" and retreated to the other side of the room after removing the monitor patches from his subject.
The lump atop Harnak's left shoulder moved along with his head, tracking his gaze – the scientist nodded in relief that those muscles and nerves were working and the main offensive weapon of his lord's new body appeared to be in working order. This was poroven more immediately when Harnak loosed a pulse burst barely three denches over the scientist's head and into the wall before he paid close attentioon to his memories of his ealier training and carefully shifted up onto the wall. Quite a few Kalish were dissected before my scientists were able to learn what gave them this unique capability – I am the only one who possesses this capability and knowledge, since even these scientists no longer have the data in their personal computers. He used his shoulder bioweapon to kill each remaining scientist in the room before leaving to ensure that things stayed that way.
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Kylith's team bolted down the stairs as soon as they had retrieved all their equipment, along with anything they could usefully salvage off the corpses around them – mostly grenades. The scout in the lead immediately spotted Praetorians approaching through his sniperscope as he raised his rifle to scan their route of exit – so calmly started to put rounds through temples and ears and eyes to take down as many of the enemy as he could, with the few other snipers joining in as they approached him. As soon as the combat tech on rearguard had placed the last trap, he ran down and called "Go!" – so Kylith signalled the attack and opened fire on the patrol coming at them from the stairs. In the ensuing skirmish, team three was annihilated except for the medic and almost ten other received wounds of varying degrees – Kylith pulled the medic back with her and had her and the other medics render first aid to as many of the injured as they could before going on down the stairs.
Just as they exitied at ground level some ten more momens later, the tech pressed a button – and even as far down as they were, the detonations of the explosives placed in the security centre were felt rumbling through the walls. "Slipped a couple of incendiaries from that fahrbotz Bloodstar in there as well" the demo tech said with a happy grin "He made sure we all got some from his private stash before we moved out. No one will be able to get within fifteen metras of the smoking hole that was the security and comm centre now without being roasted alive".
Lieutenant Rulok and his team were also tracking the progress of the battle, using the command overrides that Judduk had managed to obtain – and had been curiously reticent about explaining how he came by them. If we get out of this alive, Rulok decided as he watched over Judduk's shoulder, I will talk to my light-fingered heavy-gunner then – but first we must see if we are needed by Harnak, or possibly exfiltrate to the Switchblade and make it ready to evacuate him. "All the blast doors are sealed" Shellek reported form the other side of the guard station they found themselves in "It'll be a slow trek across the compound – Judduk and Krynak will have to blast through any doors not already forced open. Will we go to assist the others at the main battle, sir?"
"No" Rulok told him "We will go to the Switchblade in the main hangar and prepare to leave – either with Harnak or without him. While it would be better to leave with him, the Hierarchy is bigger than one man – even him". "Especially him, sir" Annik replied with distaste "He often says just what you said before executing someone – often for no readily apparent reason, or for the most unlikely or tenuous ones under Scarran law". "We will still do as I directed" Rulok insisted once more "So no arguing from anyone! I dare say our choice of plan will not meet with the rest of the garrison's apoproval, so we should be prepared for hostilities at any microt".
Rulok's team followed him out of the guard room and across the corridor network. They had to duck back to avoid being seen by other Praetorians on several occasions, but maintained a steady pace towards their chosen objective at the hangar bay.
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"STURK!" Harrigan called over to him, before pointing up to an upper gallery door where heavy-gunners were entering "Give that lot some Crispy Fried number 27 from me – and jump to it!" Sturk figured out what Harrigan actually meant fairly quickly and asked "Extra large serving, sir?" – Harrigan grinned madly and replied "There's no other way", so Sturk pulled a large object maybe ten denches by five, armed it, and passed it along to Harrigan – who hurled it hard up to the balcony two floors up.
The explosion scorched twenty five metras of ceiling, floor, and walls black, much to Sturk's delight – which was accompanied by the dying screams of burning Praetorians as they fell off the remains of the balcony and down onto the chamber floor. Most of the remaining Blood Hand troops fighting close by gave mercy and killed them straight away, though many were being hemmed in by the mass of enemies.
Kylith's remaining skulkers, now numbering five plus herself, reached one of the main thoroughfares and wer eplacing charges – just as three squads of Praetorians were running the other way! Everyone ran for the nearest safe corridor, where one of the cmbat techs detonated the charges and brought down the roof – when Kylith communicated this to Trannak, he commended her efforts and told her "Meet up with us at the elevator just short of the main doors", giving her the map location before adding "You and Karath's team will stay there and hold the line until myself, the Sub-Commander, and the recon specialist have found and freed as many prisoners as we can. He only has four troops with him – your force will tip the balance in our favour". "I only have five remaining with me, Captain" Kylith reported sadly "But we will assist in whatever way we can – we will not fail you or the War Commander!"
Harnak decided to try another of his new changes and promptly disappeared from view just befor passing a monitor camera – which appeared to look right through him. He smiled to himsaelf as that happened – this change will definitely come in useful in future, he knew, as I have other plans beyond these trials. The nearest staircase was too hazardous to traverse on foot – but Harnak stayed on the walls and crawled around the rubble before resming his trek to the main chamber. He only had to kill one Praetorian on his way to his destinaion, hut ws not overly distressed by that – I am the first of a new breed, he knew, and my plans will see me progress beyond my current position as number two in the Hierarchy even if it takes more time than I would prefer.
By now, Harrigan had been forced by the close conditions (and shortage of ammo) to sling his Steyr and draw his swords. As he fought, skill almost seemed to flow into his mind – his success rate increased at almost exponential levels until few could stand against him in close combat at all. By now, Lazarus and Koronna, along with Shor and Ryalla, were retreating with the other Tactical units to the double dors they came through to meet up with Hellbolt – the fighting was too close for them to be of much use and Lazarus decided to withdraw as many as possible of his surviving soldiers to a more defensible position.
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Kran, however, seemed to find himself right in the thick of the worst fighting – many of his Bloodstars had fallen and he had reluctantly been forced to send his sole remaining Tactical squad with Captain Lazarus to the entry doors. I still have three squads with me, he told himself with fierce pride, and the Sub-Commander is leaving safely by now – so I will stay and fight and hold the line for as long as the War Commander needs my help and life remains within!
A quick-thinking Praetorian NCO ordered sustained fire on Kran's immediate vicinity – I need to isolate this giant, he knew, as he is the sole reason this flank holds at all! With him dead, the rest should follow in short order! Most of those with Kran were either killed or forced to retreat, and Kran soon found himself surrounded by the hated faces of his and his King's enemies.
"I…" he challenged them with a proud call "…am Captain Sharathi Abdukk Vorennis Kran, direct seventeenth generation descendent of the King's own Lord Chamberlain and the daughter of Sub-Comander Neddek, who died valiantly alogside the King! Come meet me in single combat – and face your deserved judgement, puppets of the junta!" Every one of the fiufteen Praetorians around him charged at once – but Kran's whirling words, accompanied by his huge feet and knees and elbows and head and particularly his teeth, saw off almost all of them with little injury to himself.
Unfortunately, this allowed other Praetorians a clear field of fire. All opened fire with their pulse rifles – while considerable numbers were slain by other Irregulars, enough shots hit home to penetrate Kran's armour and cause significant damage, making him drop his sword and fall briefly to his knees. His inaction did not last long – Kran reached out with his bare hands, grabbed hold of the Praetorian NCO himself, and bit clean through the terrified man's neck before dropping the still-warm corpse to the ground and howling in triumph.
"ALL ENEMIES OF THE KING – DIE!" Kran howled to the entire room – when Harigan saw the dire situation his Captain was in, he howled back "KE'REETH DUK'TAAAI! (Author's note : Does not translate exactly, but a colloquial meaning would be along the lines of 'No holds barred' or 'All bets are off')" in Old Scarran before adding "TO CAPTAIN KRAN, PEOPLE – EXTERMINATE ALL ENEMIES!" No Scarran in living memory had ever hear that cry being uttered, though all of the Blood Hand knew what it meant. Any capable of doing so helped Harigan force his way through the mass of Praetorians to his Captain's side.
Harnak also knew what it meant – and picked up the pace in time to appear at a higher gallery in time to see Kran start ripping into the Praetorians with his bare hands. Keeping himself cloaked, he scuttled further down the wall on his hands and knees – before uncloaking just long enough to fire his secondary weapons, dart launchers over both wrists, at Captain Kran's shoulders and chest.
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Harrigan saw the approaching Harnak even while cloaked, if only dimly – this one is something new and dangerous, he knew. What he is, I don't know – but right now he's a target.
Kran screamed in pain as the darts hit home, dropping to his knees again. He snatched up a sword from a fallen Praetorian and stared swinging again, but even his enormous strength and will were starting to fail – and three dead Praetorians later, Kran strangled his last enemy and breathed his last, detonating a tarvek grendae on full yield as he fell.
Harrigan screeched in rage as loud as he could. "NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY!" he yelled, his face almost purple in anger "NOW I'M REALLY ANGRY!" – but a vision came across him even then, making his hands rise to his head…
He was back with the King and his War Commander again – this time in the King's quarters, many loyal Scarrans dead around him. One black-cloaked Scarran approached, backed by several of those Harrigan recognised as Praetorians – though the King stood tall and spat at him in defiance, as did the War Commander. "I…" that man announced with a sneer "I am Burlek, commander of the new Empire military, and I have come to put an end to your farce of a Kingdom for good!"
That face seemed to stick in Harrigan's mind for some reason – I recognise it, he realised, how can that be? "You will never do that!" the War Commander replied with more calm and reason "Not as long as one Scarran loyal to the King still lives will you ever do that, traitor! Even if we here die, others will take up the challenge and the cause and bring you and yours down to your graves where you belong". As the junta's troops opened fire, the King and the War Commander and the few survivors leapt on their enemies, selling their lives dearly to take some of their foes along to death with them.
Harrigan returned to the present time just as two plasma blasts hit his chest and shoulder, making him scream in pain and knocking him down. He was not dead, though – another change activated itself and soon afterwards Harrigan felt like liquid fire was running through his veins, surpercharging hs strength and speed and senses to help him kill his enemies even more horribly and effectively than before.
His eyes went almost bright red and he howled again, sheathing his swords and lashing out with his hands and feet. He sent electrical blasts from his arms into fleeing Praetorians as he fought, uncaring and unheeding of his own injuries even as other ssought to add to them with ther guns. He saw Harnak on the wall and turned to face him, just as two darts bounced off his carapace onto the floor – Harrigan responded with a strong enough electrical blast to decloak Harnak and knock him off the wall.
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It wasn't long after this when Karath saw others coming towards him and raised his plasma rifle – though he relaxed a little when he saw the familiar green colouring their uniforms. "Kylith…" h caled as he recognised who was approaching "How goes the war?"
"A total free-for-all in the main chamber" Kylith reported "Tactical units are slowly falling back to our location as quickly as they can safely do so. Surviving Bloodstars are staying beside the War Commander as he fights a strange newcomer – who appears most unlike a normal Scarran of either caste. I suspect he is a subject of some other Hierarchy genetic program – but only the Irregulars' Doctor Nrakal will be able to tell for sure".
"Right now…" Trannak interrupted to add "You can stay with Karath and keep our line of retreat open, Kylith! The Sub-Commander, the recon specialist, and myself will all infiltrate the cell block and free thr prisoners, and retrieve as many of those as are of the Blood Hand and bring them back with us". Kylith looked over at the one Trannak identified as Sub-Commander Talannah and asked "You are well, Sub-Commander? You can fight?" with concern.
"I can and will" Talannah replied firmly "I will be woefully underequipped until we reach the impound room and retrieve my weapons, but I will not stand by and rest while my John fights! We will free the prisoners and bring them out – you will help by staying here and holding off any enemies until we return!" Kylith saluted and nodded happily before arranging her recently expanded force for maximum defensive firepower.
Trannak led Talannah and the recon specialist into the elevator and pressed the 'down' button. There must only be two destinations, he told himself – where we come from and where we're going. Trannak passed over his Viper to Talannah along with a few spare magazines of amunition to tide her over until she found her own weapons again – she nodded her thanks before checking a round was in the chamber.
Down below, warning of the assault had finally been received. The guard commander was hastily trying to scrape together a defence from the few troops who handn't been called away to the battle above him, and was doing so with mixed success – though this left him more thinly spaced at the entrance checkpoint than he'd have liked. Trannak used this to best effect by putting fifteen rounds through the chestplate of each of the two guards who were standing no more than ten metras from the elevator door, after which the other two followe him out.
"Guard hut" Talannah warned him "Fortified, facing the cellblock walkway – but with a door open close to us! With the security centre down, one of us could enter and kill those inside!" "Not you, Sub-Commander" Trannak told her gently "The War Commander himself requires your safe retrieval – we do not mind you coming with us, but the majority of the work will be done by us and not you in this mission".
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Talannah was not pleased by that, but acknowledged its truth – John will want me safe, and I want to be with him. So for now I will stay in an advisory position – much though I do not like it!
The recon specialist looked out at the guard booth before nodding in satisfaction. "This is not a problem, Captain" he told Trannak emphatically "I have overcome far worse problems than this one – let me take care of this! I know you are a master of stealth, but I am good as well – let me prove this for you and the Sub-Commander". "Do it" Trannak ordered him "We don't have the time to discuss this anyway – the order may come down to kill the prisoners rather than risk them revolting – so get us in before a less covert option becomes necessary".
The recon specialist snuck around, hugging the wall, until he reached the doorframe on the guard checkpoint. Inside, he saw three Praetorians watching their monitors and chatting idly – and none of their monitors showed his presence. He debated briefly the advisability of shooting them from his current position, but discareded that idea – I can surprise them and kill them all in hand-to-hand before gunfire will take them down.
He crawled over, below the enemy's line of sight, right up the the chair one of them was sitting in – and shoved on shortword right through the chair and into his chest and heart, killing him instantly, before leaving that sword there and grabbing the next head and twisting savagely with all his strength. The enemy put up a stiff resistance, but within microts the recon specialist prevailed and snapped his neck. The last Praetorian was something of an unarmed combat specialist, the recon specialist saw – but I know I am better, and I know I fight in a way he will not be accustomed in dealing with.
So he let the last one charge, before using his weight and momentum against him and flipping him over his shoulder and onto the console, shorting out several controls and blowing several monitor screens and getting a scream of agony from his enemy. The Praetorian stood up and charged again – but this time the recon specialist sidestepped and tripped his target before ramming his face into the wall half a dozen times and stabbing him through the temple with his hammond boot sword, before retrieving its counterpart and cleaning them before resheathing the two of them and murmuring "I am the Stalker…and you are dead and gone…".
Talannah and Trannak have heard me, the recon specilaist knew as he walked back to them – and they are pleased? This is new for me – the few who know of me are usually not pleased to hear my identity. "So you…" Talannah said with pride "…are the one I have heard of – the one known as Juroch the Stalker! I have not seen you before, but your reputation spread widely in intelligence and special operations circles – there were even rumours that you were an Army Terminator at one stage".
"More than one stage" Juroch replied, nodding his thanks at Talannah's commendation of his skill "I too have heard these rumours – which are quite laughable really. I had been approached about transferring to the Terminator command – but that is not my style. I prefer to work with others, even if just in small groups".
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"I am glad to be with you also, Captain…" Juroch told Trannak as he opened the door to the prisoner cell area "The one known as Snake – whose footsteps are never heard. Your skills are not like mine, but we will make a good team, I think". "Let's prove that…" Talannah told the pair of them "By freeing some of our allies from these cells! Trannak – go back to that checkpoint and find a clearance card! This would only be a medium security zone at best – genetic ID would not be required".
Tranak did as he was ordered and returned a little later with two cards – one of which he passed to Talannah and the other which he kept for himself. "The impound room is one level down, Sub-Commander" Trannak revealed "There was a floor plan on the wall in the checkpoint, which took the time to look over. The security doors and cells dors are opened – but I do not know how long that will last, or if they can be closed again from some other position we cannot reach. Perhaps we can find some explosives in the impound room or the armoury – ones easy enough for us to use".
Once past the door (which did not appear to be remotely controlled in any way), they saw several levels of catwalks and cells spread out ahead of them, arranged around a central courtyard. Many prisoners had already left their cells and started fighting with the guards, while others tried heading for freedom – but many were shot for their troubles. Trannak and Juroch both applied themselves to shooting as many of the guards as they could hit – with Juroch managing to hit targets over on the opposite catwalk and two tiers down behind the bars at several stages. He grinned to himself at the power and accuracy of his new rifle – I like this, I will keep it, he decided. Those bars cannot stop a bullet from this gun – a real and welcome advantage.
One more level down, the Kalish female was roused from her fitful sleep by the bellowing of Juroch's unsilenced rifle, and the faint and quieter pop of Trannak's G8C and Talannah's Viper as the three of them methodically eliminated any guards they saw. Since Juroch knew code-phrases he could use to determine if someone was from the Blood Hand or not, this helped find several battered but still eager and angry Scarrans who were more than willing to go with them – especially if they had the chance to kill Praetorians on the way. To Talannah's slight surprise, Juroch also shot someone who tried to pass themselves off as Blood Hand in order to gain a higher chance at freedom – though she acknowledged his response of "It is not a chance we can afford to take, Sub-Commander – that individual may have been a Hierarchy spy, or a Terminator, or just out to secure his own future at our expense" quickly enough.
"Very good" Trannak commended him after that, as they headed towards a set of stairs. The Blood Hand prisoner they had freed already grabbed the weapons and comms off one of the dead guards and proceeded to collect as many of the Blood Hand prisoners he knew about – though they did end up in several gun battles with the remaining guards and lose two of their number, they were relieved and pleased to do do as free Scarrans bringing freedom to their fellows.
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One level down, a guard was contacted by the senior surviving officer of the battle above. "Your position has become untenable with respect to the prisoners" he was told "Gte any of the guards still alive to kill the prisoners, especially those known to be of the Blood Hand – their allies are attacking at this very moment and trying to free them". "With pleasure!" the guard growled angrily "Those crusty fekkiks and traitors deserve that anyway – trial or no trial!" before passing the order onto the rest of the guards over the comm. The freed Blood Hand members roaming the catwalks heard as well, and started shooting all the guards they found – starting many firefights on several levels. "Come…" Trannak urged Juroch and Talannah "We should head down – at least to check one more level ourselves. Then we call in as many of the freed prisoners who are still alive and retreat to our fellow skulkers above us. Both nodded their assent to his plan and followed him down the metal stairs.
The altered Kalish heard the male Scarran voice above and could barely believe what she heard. It is HIM! her heart sang out to her with happiness, it really is! He is here, and he is coming closer! She also heard the hiss of pulse fire as guards proceeded to kill any prisoners they considered problem cases and liabilites – they will consider me such a prisoner, she knew, so put all her energy into calling out "HELP – DOWN HERE!" with as much volume and feeling as she could muster.
She is here! Trannak knew when he heard that voice, full of both relief and anguish and fear. The one I saw on the Command Carrier, the Kalish woman – she is here! "MOVE!" Trannak barked purposefully "TO THE SOURCE OF THAT VOICE! MOVE!" before calling out "I AM HERE, YOUNG WOMAN – I AM HERE! HOLD ON, I WILL NOT BE LONG!" "The guards are killing prisoners!" she yelled back in alarm "They will reach me before many more microts have passed – and the cell doors are locked down here! Hurry!"
When the three of them jumped down off the stairs to the level below, they saw a frantically waving orange hand sticking out past the bars of a cell – but also saw a guard walking from cell to cell shooting prisoners. "Juroch!" Trannak asked with anguish "Can you silence that guard? The Kalish woman there must be freed!" "A tricky but not impossible shot" Juroch replied, speaking of a shot through a considerable number of prisoners moving with different purposes in mind – before holding his breath, squeezing the trigger slowly…
A loud boom resounded throughout the level – and the guard's head was explosively atomised just as he reached the Kalish's cell and turned to face its occupant. "Sub-Commander!" Trannak suggested to Talannah "Watch our backs! Juroch – you and I must force our way through to the Kalish woman, with our blades if necessary! We may only have microts to spare!" They set to their task with a will and a purpose, shoving their way through the milling prisoners – cutting down any who tried to stop them from going where they wanted to go along with any guards they found. Five more prisoners, recognising the green uniforms, identified themselves with the proper code-phrases and joined up with them – appropriating weapons from dead guards and fighting with cool and methodical precision.
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"Juroch!"Trannak ordered him "Bullet in the lock!" The cell's ocupant back away from the lock in fear, but was quite safe – the bullet did indeed shatter the lock as required, but buried itself in the floor after going right through the bed.
The occupant, a Kalish lady who could not have been more than late teens in age, rushed out and threw her arms around Trannak in relief and excitement. "It is you…" she whispered when she had calmed down "You, Trannak – the one I saw on the Command Carrier, the one who stood to defend me from those commandos. I did not tell you my name then – I am Caseya, and I am the young woman you saw then. I know I look diferent, but I can tell you about that later. I WANT to tell you about that later". "First we need to get out of these cells" Talannah reminded them "But before that we need to find the impound room – do you know where it is, young woman?"
Caseya nodded fearfully, recognising the grey uniform Talannah still wore. "Th-this way, m-ma'am!' she stuttered, before Trannak soothed her fears and told her "Talannah is safe, Caseya – she is not a Deadhead any more, she is my superior officer and part of the force which attacked this place. We came here to retrieve her – but I am glad I could retreive you as well".
Good…Caseya thought, just a little unsteadily. I do not know this low-caste female, this Talannah – but if Trannak believes she is safe then I will trust him until I am free to decide for myself how safe I am. I will show them that they can trust me by leading them to the impound room they require. A momen or two later and the door marked 'Impound room – restricted access' was there in front of them.
"Don't worry…" Juroch whispered to Caseya "We are here. Any Praetorians here will not stand a chance against the Sub-Commander and the Snake and myself. Just stay with us – we will make sure you leave this place and are free". Caseya did as requested while Trannak kicked the door open and Juroch drilled two holes through the thick armoured glass booths and into the guards behind them with his Steyr – then he looked around inside before nodding and signalling All clear!
Talannah waved Caseya inside between her and Trannak. She is an unusual one for Trannak to favour, Talannah mused – and not only for her strange skin. I would not have thought Trannak would choose a Kalish for a friend – but since he does not choose friends lightly, she must have made an impression on him and he on her. This will definitely bear watching…
Caseya scurried over to the terminal on the counter desk and asked "What is it you are searching for?" in what she knew was the traditional air of Kalish servitude many Scarrans expected of her and her people. Trannak urged her not to be so fearful, and she tried to unbend just a bit as she repeated her question. "We are here to find my belongings, Caseya" Talannah told her "Especially my weapons! I must be able to assist my husband up above us when he comes back this way – he will need me!" Talannah spelled out her name for Caseya, who dutifully typed it into the terminal – and got a location within microts, which she quickly passed on. They were fortunate in that it was not far – if a little less so when two guards were foundf with the weapons in question and rolling dice to gamble for them.
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Talannah was in no mood to be nice and shot one of them in the back of the head without so much as a short warning while Trannak did the same with the other one. She passed him his Viper back and eagerly and happily strapped her sword scabbards and her own Viper back over her shoulders – good, I feel properly dressed for the first time in a couple of weeken! "Back out!" Talannah commanded, readying her own Viper as soon as she was ready, and grabbing two grenades from a guard's corpse "Back to Kylith's team! Then we go forward and join up with the Tactical units and help my husband – whatever he said about me leaving, I will NOT let him fight without me! Caseya – grab the guard's rifle and power packs – you must be ready to fight for your freedom as well. We do not expect you to take the lead as we would, but you can watch for enemies trying to sneak up on us and shoot them – which will free us for more important tasks!"
Trannak smiled encouragingly at her as they made their way slowly back to the staircase and up to the checkpoint – fights were now breaking out among the other prisoners ove the dead guard's equipment and first use of the available escape routes. When several prisoners tried to stop Trannak and his group from leaving, Juroch's shortswords flicked out and stabbed them right through their stomachs and returned to their scabbards without any of them breaking their stride by so much as one step – which convinced the other prisoners that these people were to be left well alone. The other Blood Hand prisoners still alive ran on behind them, about thirty armed troopers all together, staying close by and following them into the elevators when they approached it again.
"Sergeant Dern" one rough looking Scarran announced "Bloodstar command! I am pleased to be extracted from this cell block – my own trial for defying the Hierarchy was not long from now. What's the situation up top?" Talannah told him the full story – which soon had Dern nodding and insisting on accompanying them into combat. "I have a blade, I have a gun, and I have the will – what else do I need?" he told them all spiritedly "The Kalish here will need someone to watch her while you fight – she does not look like the fighting type. I will do that for you – I am still not at my full fitness and health, so this should be well within my capabilities".
Not many Bloodstars remained alive inside the judgement chamber now – a considerable number had perished from the overwhelming weight of numbers and firepower directed against them by the Praetorians. There were few Praetorians now as well, since Lazarus' Tactical units were able to shoot down any who they saw with little risk to themselves – making makeshift defences from rubble and dead bodies to hide behind. Inside the chamber, the fire still sang in Harrigan's veins as he lashed out and punched a Praetorian's skull right off his spine in one blow – Harnak tired with surprising strength to land a blow on Harrigan, his wrist blades slipping through a damagaed portion of the carapace plating already hit by a plasma blast, but Harrigan flailed away and pushed him aside.
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"You will not beat me, traitor!" Harrigan howled back at Harnak – who ordered three more heavy-gunners to fire on Harrigan. Two of the three shots hit, knocking him over – but while Harrigan was clearly severly injured, he managed to haul himself upright again and send a lightning blast into those who fired on him before the fire rushed through him with renewed vigour – making him shudder excitedly with the feeling of barely contained power.
"NO YOU WILL NOT!" he howled more manically – Troll recognising the signs of being high on drugs from his old haunts in big cities before he joined the Air Force "NO WAY, SIREE!" before wading in again and hurling Harnak bodily into the wall. Harnak tried to se his speed to evade any atempt at recapture – but Harrigan's multilayer nervous system in conjunction with this last augmentation ut paid to that plan and Harrigan leapt atop him and started to beat him senseless, yelling and screaming all manner of profanities in every language his changed brain knew of.
"You have beaten him, War Commander…" a very bruised and bleeding and battered Shor told him, barely able to stand up "Kill him if you like – but most of us will need a medic if we're to live beyong a couple of days from now! We must leave!" Harrigan's drug-fuelled gaze turned to Shor, frighteneing the young man quite badly – but soon started to dim, if just a little, enabling Harrigan to see some reason again.
"Good I-I-idea…" he stuttered as the drug started to leave his system "We have…overstayed our welcome at this…hotel. Trashed the rooms…burnt the lobby…we should leave before the manager turns up with the damage bill…". He stamped on Harnak's quivering chest, dripping his own blood all over him as his wrecked body tried as hard as it toculd to repair the damaghe and keep him alive. "You…" Harrigan growled "Will not be coming with us, Harnak the Wraith – the other commanders have told me about you and your deeds, and it's my pleausre to kil you for them". He levelled his Steyr at Harnak's eyeball before blowing Harnak's brains all over the florr and saying "Ding, dong – the Wraith is dead! Let's get out of here!"
"Harnak's changes show a troubling development in Hierarchy technology" a surprisingly unbeaten Hallith replied "Your doctor is one of the very few who may be able to uncover and make use of that technology for us and yourselves. His body should be retrieved and examined and studied at length until how he could do what he did could be determined with clarity". Councillor Shuljek called "Over here!" as the remains of his own force pushed the Praetorians outside the main chamber "There is a small PDA here – perhaps droped by the Wraith during combat! It has a lot of data in it which I cannot understand – should we take it with us? It might prove valuable or useful" "Bring it" Harrigan stuttered, coughing up a little blood "We need to leave fast – I need a painkiller and some food, my gut is killing nme with hunger. With battle damage too, of course – but the doc will have to deal with that".
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The Tactical units darted forward to retrieve these prizes, though Ryalla stayed beside Hellbolt with Shor and continued to support him. He has proven himself more times than I can count, she now knew as she wiped away her own blood from her brow – and he still smiles at me and tries to flick my pony-tail! We were right in making him part of the Irregulars – I will make it my business to train him up to A-team standards when we get out…maybe with a few closer training times in more agreeable skills to reward him, too…
Rulok saw the battle was going badly for the Praetorian force as soon as reports of Harrigan tearing into Harnak almost unhindered reached the general comm-net. "Time to leave!" he told his fellow team members "We will have to leave by the drainage tunnels and air pipes – the regular exits are blocked with rubble – and call the Switchblade to us. It is not longer safe for us around Scarran space now – questions will be asked about why we survived that we cannot answer well enough to save us from execution, so we must find ourselves new employment elsewhere in the Uncharted Territories. Annik, Darrek – get that grille open,we'll take to the service tunnels and leave that way if they are still usable!"
Talannah darted forward to her battered and heavily damaged husband – and despite him being so much larger, she still offered her should for him to lean on. His shuddering and stuttering subsided noticeably when he made contact, and s soon as he had calmed down even a little she called "Move out, everyone – best safe speed to the fall-back point!" and coming Kylith's team and Karath to scout out the way back to their original entry point. "We cannot hold for long if more Praetorians appear" she told Harrigan to reassure him "And I MUST get you to doctor Nrakal for medical assistance – you need it, as does almost everyone we still have!"
The remaining Blood Hand troops, the freed prisoners, and the Irregulars walked and staggered their way back out of the judgement complex the way they came in over the next arn or so – moving slowly to avoid aggravating their injuries beyond the capabilities of their few combat medics to handle. They had just made entry to the motor pool, much to the surprise of the few Kalish still present there, when Karath shouted "CONTACT! ENEMY CLOSE ABOARD!"
"Hold!" Rulok commanded, raising one hand "Despite our appearance,we do not wish ill of you – we have also pushed our luck too far with the Hierarchy and wish to leave. Can you not let us do so? We are not making any hostile act against you". "They are Praetorians!" several Blood Hand troopers – all Bloodstars – objected, but Harrigan shook his head to dismiss that objection and asked "Where…do you think people like you…will find work? You fought for the…Hierarchy…as any who know politics can tell!"
"The big one has a good point there…" Krynak said gruffly "Where can we go? Even with the Switchblade, our options would be limited – those ships are unheard of outside political and special opes circles".
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"Anyone got any bright ideas?" Judduk asked his team mates "Right now's a good time to voice them if you have them…".
Rulok took Lirak aside and whispered "Our options are thin indeed, Lirak! That big man has a good point – the Praetorian's reputation is well known, and our restraint in Scarran space won't be worth a breath of air to anyone out there! Hey will see our armour and it weill tell them we are Praetorians and no one would hire us for so much as a cargo hauling!" "Much though I am loath to do so…" Lirak rumbled back at his commander "I am forced to suggest, for all our wlefare, that we request sanctuary with these people. I do not know how well those troops would receive us – but their Commander and even the woman with him apear tobe people of their word. We gain their assurance of safety and we will be set. We can even offer the Switchblade as incentive to take us – it is a good ship and a valuable prize for them".
Lirak spent ten momens polling the member of his team, sounding them out for their opinions of this option. Most could see they had no other option, and those who did not approve were just willing to trust their commanders with this – so Lirak stepped forward, right up to Harrigan's feet, and asked "On behalf of my Lieutenant, sir, I request snactuary and safe conduct for our team. We have a fast and powerful ship that we can bring for you in payment – it would be a great help to you if you intend making a living by your skills. We also, if I read my commander's intentions, would be willing to sign on with you also".
This plea set of a huge argument among many in the Blood Hand – Shuljek and Harrigan tried to maintain order, but it took a bellow and screch from Harrigan to get everyone to shut up so he could ask Talannah's advice. "Despite their origin…" she told him "I think we can trust him – at least this far. He shows some evidence of god faith by offering the Switchblade ship – which is probably what I was brought here on – for our use. It's worth taking them in for that alone".
"Right…" Harrigan told them after getting a stunned agreement from Lazarus not to kill any of them "We'll keep this simple! Are you willing to serve in the Irregulars under my command and that of my officers? Are you willing to fight for us as we would fight for you, risking your lives if called for? Will you remain loyal to me and your new comrades?" Rulok looked at his team – who evetuallly nodded, hwoever reluctantly, one after another – before nodding to Lirak, who told Harrigan "We will do these things – for your safety and our own".
"Welcome to the team, then" Harrigan told them before bellowing "SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU! IT'S MY DECISION AND I'M STICKING TO IT – AND SO WILL YOU IF YOU WANT TO STAY WITH ME! GOT THAT!" "Not so loud…"Talannah urged him with anxious fear "You are badly hurt and coughing up blood and can barely walk – Nrakal must look at you soon!"
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"Mo…move out!" Harrigan rodered before staggering in the throes of withdrawal once more. Please, Talannah, stay by me – I cannot do this without you! Her smile, even if it was tinged with fear for him, warmed his heart and helped push away the craving for that fire again – and many anxious and painful momens later, they staggered out through the air grating and into open air again.
Rulok flcked a finger at Shellek, who pressed a button on his wrist . Several kilometras away, on the other sode of the base where prisoners were boarding their own or any other ships they could find and bossting for orbit as fast a sthey could, a large and somewhat odd-lookig warship lifted off under remote control – its autopilot recognising the beacon in Shellek's armour as its owner and directing its flight to him. Talannah recognised they ship type as it flew into sight and landed slowly and carefully, where Darrek said "I am a combat medic, sir – many of your people look heavily injured! We can airlift them to your ship or take care of them ourselves if you like…". "Stay here!" Harrigan commanded "I'll call in our landers from our primary LZ and we'll fly up to the Cry Havoc as a group – that way neither our own small crew or that of our allied ship will open fire on us or you!"
"A most welcome order" Rulok agreed, waiting for Harrigan to summon his assault landers. Zarithak's lander pilots were getting very anxious when their call finally camer through – though Harrigan made sure to add "We've made a few new friends as well, their ship's here with us! Don't – I repeat DON'T – blast it!" It took all their willpower not to, even of the lander's turrets could only cause minimal damage at best – but they refrained from firing as they were ordered to do. "Get us back to the Harbringer" Harrigan commanded the lander pilot once Shor and Ryalla had helped Talannah get him to a seat and strapped him in "Kylith – I'm sending you and Karath's team with these newcomers to make sure they do what they've promised – so get int at ship with them and follow me back.
Rulok noted these orders as well and smiled the thinnest of relieved smiles – ordering Krynak to stay in his quarters while Kylith sat at his flight engineer's station on the Switchblade's small bridge. They, along with the rest of the remains of the assault force, stayed airborne while Harrigan, Shor, Ryalla, and Talannah, transfeered themselves unsteadily to the Harbirnger and took off as soon as Talannah had the controls in her hands.
Captain Zarithak's sensor operator called out "Conn, sensors – we have multiple contacts heading our way! All but one broadcast our own IFF code – but one larger one broadcasts that of the Hierarchy!" "Come about!" Zarithak commanded his helmsman "Make ready the guns! Send one Stryker wing to investigate!" "Don't worry you little ridged head!" Harrigan called,interrupting Zarithak's orders "It's us, alright – and that weird looking thing's puttering alongisde is now with us! We've made some new friends who've brought some nice toys for us to play with!"
"Very well, War Commander" Zarithak replied "Is Karath alive? May I speak with him?" "I am here, Captain" Karath replied, wearly and bloodied but still proud and alive "We sustained heavy losses, but retrieved the War Commander's wife and Sub-Commander as required of us. I must request surgeons be standing by – we have many wounded aboard. Including me".
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The same comm call was received on the Cry Havoc's bridge by Leasa – who ran over to the com desk and passed it onto her mother, her sister, and Doctor Nrakal. All of them jumped into Leasa's transit car whenr it reached them, Nrakal saying "The sick bay is ready – I only hope I can asisst our wounded in time to save their lives!"
The car reached the hammond side flight deck just as Talannah opened the deck doors by remote and set the Harbringer down in its usual place. The landers containing the Irregulars and a battered Sergant Leurik and his remaining four troops waited until their passengers had left before immediately leaving for the Sunbuster's own flight deck – after which Rulok and Lirak threaded the enormous bulk of the Switchblade inside the deck as well. There proved to be mopre room there than any of them had hoped, with plenty for their new acquisition and much left over besides – and as soon as the Switchbalde had touched down and the deck doors had closed again, Rulok and his team walked down the front drop tramp and onto their new home.
With Nrakal's wholehearted (if wary) approval and over Harrigan's objections, he and the others were rushed to sick bay – where Nrakal and Moratha and her daughters were rushed off their feet in surgery to repair the many and varied combat injuries amongs them all. Almost ten arns later, with many Irregulars taking up hospital beds, Moratha finaly plucked up the courage to ask "Where is my husband, War Commander? Where is my Kran?"
Harrigan bowed his head sadly, not able to bring himself to look into Moratha's eyes – which told her far more thanshe wanted to know. "He is dead, I am afraid" Captain Lazarus said for him "Killed in action". Moratha called her daughters over to her son's bedside and cried for her late husband, though after fifteen momens she sniffled and said "I half-expected he would go like this – in combat. With Bloodstars down both sides of Kran's family very little else could have happened. But I am so sad to see him go, Commander – he was such a bright light in my life, despite his gruff manner and battle rage, he was a fine husband and a good father for our daughters and our son".
"Without his sacrifice, many more would have fallen" Lazarus told them from his bed, where an only slightly less hurt Koronna was fussing over him and tending his wounds "He held his flank on his own purely by the force of his will – holding on for far longer than any of us would ever have asked him to do and taking down many times he number of his own forces before finally succumbing to his injuries". "What will become of us?" Karoch asked Harrigan bluntly "Especially my mother and daughters? I can be a soldier for you – but none of them have shown the Bloodstar trait or much ability in soldiering, though Urana has some interest in that path. Will we be permitted to stay?"
"For as long as you wish to" Harrigan responded immediately, holding himself on his feet and stuffing a can of hot rations down his throat before responding again "You're all welcome for your own selves as well as in grateful thanks for the fine service rendered by Captain Kran in his final hours. I am still sorry I was unable to return him to you, Moratha…".
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"Do not be" she sniffed, before standing upright and proud "My Kran knew in his heart that he wanted to serve with you – and probably knew also that it would cost him his life. At least now, with your promise, we have a secure place for myself and my children to live and grow and make a life for ourselves".
Trannak sat by Caseya's bed, watching as Leasa came by to monitor her again. Her own change – which Nrkal had deteremined wa approximately that of the first half of the project he had started – was responsible for saving her life, and with her being overdue for her eating time as well, Tranak happily and gladly kept pssing her self-heating ration cans until she had eaten her way through eight packs of savoury meat stew and six cans of what the label said was some kind of sweet pudding. Harighan tried to keep her mod up by bolting down rations as fast as she did, which made her laigh a little – but eventually collared Lazarus and staggered off up to the transit car – and after there, to the bridge.
"Gonna need you a minute here, Cap" Harrigan told Lazarus as he slumped into his command chair and flicked open a concealed panel, pressing four buttons thus revealed "Go sit over at the security desk on the back wall". Once he did so, sirens blared throughout the ship as Harrigan ordered the autopilot to bring them into high orbit around Serakaa IV – with the Sunbuster keeping station to their hammond side easily.
"Now hear this, now hear this!" Harrigan announced "Stand by for immediate WMD release – arming seismic disruptors one through three…now!" before preesing one last button and holding it down. "Copy WMD release replied the computer "Request confirmation by additional superior officer – expiring in…fifteen microts". Just two microts later, Talannah announced "Sub-Commander Talannah. Positive confirmation of WMD release", followed by a muttered "I hope you know what you're doing, Harrigan…" from where he stood beside Koronna before he added "Captain Lazarus – positive confirmation of WMD release". "Copy two positive confirmations of WMD release" the computer replied "All seismic disruptors are armed and at your command, War Commander".
"Saturation barrage with all weapons" Harrigan ordered as Rulok finally made his way onto the bridge and stood beside Captain Lazarus "Destroy the planet knows as Serakaa IV". Whe he released the button he was holding down, the computer's attack plan swung into action and huge waves of energy slammed into the small moon below, shaking it to pieces and eventually pulversiig the entire moon into pieces not larger than a grain of sand.
"The best send off I can give, Captain Kran…" Harrigan muttered softly "You departed from us with the biggest bang I could send you off with…" before he shut down the seismic disruptors and finally succumbed to the terrible pain of his injuries, blacking out in his chair…
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