Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen! The Will of Revenge continues, with Ester and the rest of her team currently stuck between hammer and anvil. How will they get out of this? Read and find out.
But before that, reviews.
To RoySuperior: Oh, that already happened in the previous story.
To DevilEmperorDragon: Thank you.
To SupremeSupra: That was not my intent, but okay.
So, with that done, let's get to it, shall we?
Chapter 9
June 9, 2166
20:43
Servu IV, Maraqs fortress
"Well, shit."Norrine said.
Everyone looked at the Maraqs aiming their weapons at them and the smiling officer looking at them. If smile could kill, they would already be dead, that's how toxic and poisonous that smile was. And officer just stood there, looking at them, not saying anything.
"So."Ester finally said.
"So."officer said.
"Who the fuck are you?"Emmy asked.
Officer snorted.
"You really have no respect for the ones better than you."he said."But I think you should know the name of your killer."
He bowed.
"I'm general Cirien Iken of Maraqs Confederacy Special Research Division."he said."And I command this facility and the project that it holds."
"Good to know."Elsa growled.
Delilah looked at the burning corpse of queen Kalisa and Shakayan commando.
"Let me guess."she said."That project is that black goo?"
Cirien laughed.
"Indeed!"He clasped his hands."This is our greatest project. Living, sapient virus, which works like a parasite and takes over the host's body, changing that body into it's vessel. We plan to produce it on mass and share this weapon with our allies, so we can win and rule the galaxy as the only ones! And thanks to this, I will get my place as the Head of the Council of Confederacy and rule it all and lead the Maraqs people into a brighter future!"
Shakayans, Humans and Faliens looked at each other. There was another power hungry maniac, trying to get power from creating some super weapon and using it to win the war. But if they wanted to give it to all other members of the Concordance, then it would mean the end. Seeing what it did with a single person, they were terrified to think what it would do in highly populated areas.
Ester looked at Norrine and nodded. Norrine nodded back. They were expecting such situation, so they devised a plan. Now, they hoped it will work.
"Hey, buddy."Ester said.
Cirien looked at her.
"You're talking to me?"he asked.
"Yes."colonel nodded."You know, you may have caught us. But you made one big mistake."
"The one, which every villain does."Norrine added.
Maraqs officer risen and eyebrow.
"What is it?"
Blue flames appeared along Norrine's arms.
"You told us your entire plan."Norrine replied and pushed her arms outward.
Wave of blue flames shot from her arms, flying towards the Maraqs Marines and Cirien. Seeing this, officer widened his eyes and quickly ducked down, with the flames passing over him. It instead hit the soldiers standing behind him, starting to melt their crystal-organic bodies. Marines started screaming, as flames burned through them.
Using this moment of confusion caused among the Maraqs, soldiers quickly went towards the entrance, walking around the mass burning and melting bodies, and left the room, leaving the flames behind.
Cirien looked in the direction they went and at the flames consuming the organic parts of his soldiers' bodies and melting the crystal ones.
"Sir…?"one of the surviving ones asked.
"What?"Cirien asked back, with anger.
"Your hat…"
Cirien risen an eyebrow, but it was at this moment, that he noticed his head getting warm. He quickly grabbed his burning head and threw it onto the ground.
"Should we pursue them, sir?"another Marine asked.
"Of course! After them!"general ordered.
Marines which survived the sudden blast of flames quickly left the room.
In the corridors…
Ester and the others were quickly making it through the corridors of the base. They had to get to the maintenance shaft and get out of here. Quick.
"Nice trick, Norrine."Kenya said.
"Thanks."Norrine replied."I trained it for some time."
"And I knew it will come in handy."Ester said.
"What now?"Elsa asked.
"We go to the maintenance shaft and get out of this place. Then, we contact the ship in the orbit and tell them to blast this place into oblivion. If what that guy said about that black stuff was true, we can't let them produce more of it."
"And what if it's not the only facility where they make it?"Macy asked.
"You heard what the guy said?"Delilah asked."He wants to get in control of the country thanks to it. He's to power hungry to share with anyone."
"Sounds good to me."Heley said.
They made it around another corner.
"Okay, we just…"Ester said.
But didn't end, seeing a big group of Maraqs Marines approaching them from the direction of the power room.
"Nooooope!"Ester exclaimed, turning around."Norrine!"
Without a word, Norrine once more used her power, making a wall of fire, cutting the way to the power room and blocking the Maraqs Marines. Now, they were running in opposite direction.
"Great, now what?"Emmy asked.
"No idea."Ester replied.
"Just amazing."Norrine said through gritted teeth.
Situation repeated few more times. Each time they tried to get into another corridors, they saw enemy troops swarming them and forcing them to block the way with Norrine's fire. Although they knew it was a temporary solution. Now, they had no idea how many enemy troops they had behind them.
"How many soldiers does this guy have?!"Macy shouted.
"All of them!"Emmy simply replied.
"There!"Ester exclaimed.
She was pointing at a giant, round hatch in the wall.
"I don't think we will like it!"Norrine stated.
"We have to other option! Get in!"Ester stated.
Agreeing with her words, everyone quickly made their way towards the hatch. To Ester's relief, it didn't close just before all of them got in. Once everyone was inside, Ester pointed at the control panel inside of the chamber beyond the hatch.
"Ves."she said shortly.
Warrior Bunny didn't need to be told twice. She quickly opened the panel and attached the cable from her hand terminal to it. She started clicking on the screen. But it was taking a bit too long.
"What's going on, why is it taking so long?"Delilah asked.
"These fuckers are trying to beat me back."Ves replied.
"Is this a big problem?"Elsa asked.
"No, I'm already breaking through. But if I try again, they will already know my ways."
She clicked for the next three minutes. In that time, Ester saw Cirian at the head of numerous Maraqs Marines approaching.
"Get them!"general exclaimed.
"Ves!"Ester exclaimed.
"Got it!"hacker squeaked.
She clicked one last time and the hatch started closing. Enemy troops picked up the pace, but this didn't help them. Hatch closed right in front of their noses. Cirian and his troops came to a quick stop. One of the soldiers came up to the hatch and started kicking it with full might of his anger.
"Damn you, Human and Shakayan scum!"he exclaimed.
"Wait."Cirian said.
Soldier looked at him.
"What? We have to open this thing!"
"Or maybe not."Cirian smiled wickedly."Remember all our failed experiments?"
Soldier needed some time to understand, but when it downed on him, he smiled as wickedly as his commanding officer.
"Understood, sir."he said.
And then, both Cirien and all his soldiers erupted with laughter.
Back in the chamber, even the hatch couldn't stop the sound of laughter coming from the other side. In the darkness that covered the chamber, they could only use flashlights, or fire in Norrine's case, what allowed them to see their own displeased faces.
"And they're laughing at us."Emmy said."Fucking amazing."
"At least they're there and we're here."Macy said.
"As long as they won't open the hatch from their side."Heley said in pessimistic tone.
The pessimism immediately took over the others, both Humans, Faliens and Shakayans.
"Let's not be downers."Ester said."We should focus on a way of getting out of here."
One of Shakayan commandos started shaking his head and came up to a glassy wall and leaned on it.
"It's game over man, game over."he said."We failed the mission, the queen is dead and we're stuck here, between a rock and a hard place. We're done."
Gerion growled.
"I don't accept defeatism, soldier."he stated.
"Bullshit, sir."commando said through gritted teeth."You saw what they did to her. This mission was a failure since the very beginning. We shouldn't even come here!"
"Watch what you're saying!"another commando said.
"Fuck off."
Right then, commando noticed, that everyone's eyes widened. He risen his eyebrow.
"What?"he asked.
One of Faliens, a Siren, started pointing at something behind him. Commando slowly turned around…
…and got scared to his shit by a roar, which came from a creature behind the glass. Commando quickly jumped back with a squeal, right into the arms of other Shakayan commando. Everyone looked at the creature behind the glass. It looked like a giant dog, with numerous spikes growing on it's head and back. It tried to break through, but fortunately, the glass was strong enough to stop it.
"What the fuck is that?"Norrine asked.
"Looks like shikar."Gerion said."A predator native to Maraqs homeworld."
"Why is it here?"Siren recruit asked.
Right then, Ester noticed traces of black substance on the creature. She felt her heart squeeze, when she understood, what that meant.
"Can anyone find the light switch?"she asked.
"Why?"Emmy asked.
"Just do it."
And so, everyone started searching for anything that could be used to turn on the light. It took them several minutes, but ultimately, it was Macy that noticed a button on the other side of the hatch.
"I think I found it!"she exclaimed.
"Press it."Ester said.
Macy did what she was told. And as she did so, the lamps on the ceiling started lighting up. And when they did, everyone gasped in surprise and horror.
Before them were numerous prison cells with glass entrances. And each cell held some kind of creature. From tall, humanoid creatures with one hands comprised of nothing but tentacles, giant insectoids to blobs of flesh and limbs. And the worst of all, all of them had traces of black substance on them.
"You've got to be kidding me!"Norrine shouted.
Meanwhile…
UNSA San Antonio
The atmosphere aboard the ship was tense. It's been some time since the operation begun, so it was normal for everyone to be stressed. But there were other things that made them stressed.
"When was the last contact?"handler asked.
Comms officer gulped.
"Around five hours ago, sir."he replied."When colonel Barkhorn explained their plan to us."
"And how are our contact trials?"
"They all failed. Something jams the signal."
Handler slammed his fist on the console.
"This is getting ridiculous!"he exclaimed."What is going on down there?"
"We would like to know too, sir."comms officer said.
"Monitor the situation and tell me everything."
Officer saluted in response.
Handler, in the meantime, walked away from the communication console. He came up to the captain of the ship.
"I don't like it at all, Phil."handler said.
"Nor do I, Vadim."Phil replied."If something went wrong…"
"Don't jinx it, please."Vadim stopped him.
"Sorry."
They both stayed silent for some time. Truth be told, they both wanted to get out of here as fast as possible. Being so deep behind enemy lines was the worst possible location one could end up in. They hoped everything will be taken care of quickly and they'll be able to get out of here within just few hours. But now, it didn't seem so plausible.
Right then, a light appeared on the holo-table.
"Uh-oh."Phil said."Higher ups are calling."
"We can't avoid this."Vadim shrugged.
They approached the table and pressed the button. Soon, hologram of director Sanjrani appeared in the air. They both saluted.
"Director!"they exclaimed.
"Captain, handler."Sanjrani said.
"What is the reason for you to call us, sir?"Phil asked.
"I wanted to know the progress on your operation."director replied."How is the saving of the queen going?"
Phil and Vadim looked at each other. The latter cleared his throat.
"Five hours ago, colonel Barkhorn called and told us a plan they came up with alongside Shakayan commander."he started."They were supposed to firstly split into two groups. First was supposed to get inside enemy fortress through a maintenance shaft and open the way inside for the second group. We haven't heard from them since."
Sanjrani nodded.
"I understand."he said."But now, I would like to tell you something important."
"What?"Phil asked.
Then, director proceeded to tell what he had to tell. Hearing this, everyone on the bridge either held their breaths, gasped or widened their eyes.
"Is that true?"Vadim asked.
"We got confirmation from Shakayans."Sanjrani replied.
"Understood, sir."Phil said."Whenever we make contact with the ground team, we will inform you and come back."
"Good. I wish you luck."
After this short conversation, hologram disappeared. Vadim and Phil looked at each other once again.
"If they won't come back within the next three hours, we're leaving."Phil said firmly.
"As you say."Vadim said and walked away.
June 9
21:35
Prison chamber
It's been nearly an hour since Ester and the others closed themselves in the prison chamber filled with, as they decided to call them, failed experiments. By that whole time, they got accustomed to the presence of these infected creatures, which did pay attention to them, but were closed behind, fortunately, hard glass doors. Soon, they simply sat on the ground and started thinking of a way out of this situation.
"This is nuts."Norrine said."We're stuck here, with these infected freaks, while there is an entire army on the other side."
"And we failed the mission."Emmy added."The queen is dead, probably now a pile of dust in that room and we have no way of getting out of here."
Ester just sat there, listening to their words and watching a group of infected lion-like alien creatures, which jumped around their cell. Sometimes, they even stuck to the ceiling and walked on it. They were actually pretty interesting to watch, but it couldn't just occupy all of her attention.
"Stop spreading defeatism."she said."We have to get out of this place, somehow."
"So, you're saying, that you have a way to get out?"one of Shakayans asked.
Ester escaped with her eyes.
"No…"she admitted."Buuuut! I AM thinking of a way out."
"Good luck then."one of Marines said.
Colonel just sighed. In fact, her head was completely empty and she had no idea how to get out of here. She simply sighed, realizing how awful their situation actually was.
She looked to the side. There, she saw Elsa, Macy, Heley and one of Falmartian Fighter Infantry recruits in form of a Lamia. Actually, colonel was interested to know, how a half-snake made it's way into the elite formation, but she wouldn't judge. After all, he made it through with them from the research room.
"Man, what am I even thinking about?"she thought."We have to quickly come up with something. REALLY quickly."
Right then, her secretary, two Warrior Bunnies and Lamia started walking in her direction. She stood up.
"What is it?"Ester asked, when the four stood in front of her.
"I think we might have a way to get out of here."Elsa said.
This immediately piked Ester's attention.
"Really?"
"Yes."Macy said."Me, Elsa, Heley and Zym here…"
Lamia man nodded.
"…were thinking about all these things around us."
Ester then looked around at the various infected creatures in the cells.
"Yeah?"
"However, to test it, we need to turn off the light and we want everybody to NOT turn on their flashlights!"Heley said loudly, so everyone could hear her."But you can turn on your night vision in your helmets!"
Soldiers looked at each other, not knowing what was gonna happen, but decided to go with the flow. Everything was good, if it would help them get the hell out of this prison. They nodded in agreement.
"Good. Delilah, could you?"Heley asked.
"Sure."commander of 1st Warrior Bunnies replied.
She came up to the light switch and turned off the light. The whole chamber was covered by darkness. Some people turned on their night vision to see what was happening.
"Alright, now what?"Delilah asked.
"Now…"Macy replied from the darkness.
Then, she turned on her flashlight.
"I thought we had to not turn them on?"someone asked.
"Easy, let us show you."Macy calmed them down.
She then pointed her flashlight at a random cage. Immediately, the tall, humanoid creature inside started moving. It came up to the door and started hitting them with it's tentacled hand. Sound spread around the chamber.
"What was that supposed to show us?"Norrine asked.
"Wait."Zym said."Now look."
Macy turned off the flashlight.
"The ones with night vision, what do you see?"Elsa asked.
Soldiers which had the night vision turned on in their visors looked at the same cell that Macy lit up. There, they saw the creature walking away from the door and deeper into it's cell.
"Hey, it just stopped."Marine said.
"Yeah."Shakayan command said."But why?"
"So our theory was right."Zym said.
"What theory?"Delilah asked.
"Something was going around in our heads."Elsa said."Mainly the fact, that the creature in that cell didn't react on that guy leaning on it. Only when we shone a light in that direction, then it decided to move."
"We decided to check, if it was actually as we thought."Heley said.
"And turns out that yes."Macy said."This virus, or whatever that black thing is, probably 'turns of' most of host's senses. And it only reacts to light and, possibly, touch, judging from what happened back in the research room."
"Only the intensity of reaction is different."Zym finished.
Everyone listened to the theory with interest, while someone went and turned on the light. Ester nodded her head, after thinking through everything they were told.
"Sounds…plausible."she said."I can go with it. And you?"she turned to others.
Soldiers simply threw up their arms.
"Sounds good to us."Gerion said and his commandos nodded.
"Honestly?"Norrine asked."At this point? I will go with everything."
"Okay then."colonel said."Tell us your plan."
Elsa and her planners nodded.
"We're gonna do this…"she said and started explaining.
Few minutes later…
On the outside, Cirien was getting really impatient. Enemy soldiers were sitting inside the prison chamber for over and hour now. Honestly, he thought, that they would get out immediately after seeing what they closed themselves with. But they didn't. And it was slowly starting to piss him off.
"Sir?"
General looked to his side, at one of the Marines that spoke to him.
"What?"Cirien asked back.
"We've been thinking with the boys…"Marine said.
"That's not what I pay you for."
"We know, but…wouldn't it be easier to open the cells and let the failed experiments to deal with them?"
Cirien narrowed his eyes. Of course it would be easier, he knew that. But there was one thing, which characterized Cirien very well.
He didn't like anyone doing his job instead of him.
"No."he said firmly."We're gonna get them out of there and make them SUFFER!"
Marines looked at each other.
"Yes, sir."they replied.
Right then, general heard ringing coming from his pocket. He pulled out his phone and accepted the call.
"Yes?"Cirien asked.
"Sir."the voice on the other side said."I'm calling from the cyber security…"
"Yeah?"
"We're detecting enemy trying to get into our network from inside the prison chamber again."
"For what?"
"Apparently…they are going to open the door."
"Which one?"
"The main one."
Immediately, a big smile appeared on general's crystal face.
"Finally."he said.
"Should we stop them?"cyber security officer asked.
"No. Let them come."
"As you wish, sir."
The call ended and general waited with anticipation for what was about to come.
Inside the chamber, everyone was preparing to perform the plan Elsa and the others came up with. All preparations were complete. Now, they just had to enact it.
"Ves, how is it?"Delilah asked.
1st Warrior Bunnies hacker showed her thumbs up.
"It goes good."she replied."As it turns out, these cells are connected to a completely different security system. And thanks to this, I can mask my presence in it."
"Good. Now, let's pray that the plan will work."
"Oh, all the gods…"
Meanwhile, the four main planners watched the preparations go on.
"I just hope this plan works."Ester said.
"Are you losing hope, Ester?"Elsa asked with smirk.
Ester looked at her.
"You know, I preferred you when you constantly told me what to do, because I constantly lazed around, not doing the paperwork."she said.
Elsa shrugged.
"Honestly, in case of an actual war, I prefer you to teach me."she admitted."How is it?!"
"Everything is ready!"everyone replied.
Elsa, Macy, Heley and Zym nodded.
"Good."Heley said.
"Remember, when the lights go out, don't turn on your lights and turn off the ones in your helmets. Only then will this work."Zym said
"Understood!"everyone replied.
And so, everyone gathered as far away from the cells as they could, which meant the back wall. Only Ves, Shakayan hacker and Macy stayed. They were going to do the main part of the plan.
Macy stood in the center of the room and pulled out a light stick from her belt.
"Do it, Ves."she said.
"Sure."Ves replied."Just be careful."
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
"We hope so."Shakayan hacker said.
Next, Ves turned back to her hand terminal and started clicking something on it. And not long after that, everyone heard the sound of hermetic glass door opening. Everyone held their breaths, hearing this sound.
"If this doesn't work, I will kill you all in hell…"Norrine whispered.
"Stop whining."Ester said.
Macy took a deep breath and breathed out, grabbing the light stick and shaking it. Soon, it started shining with red light.
Immediately, infected creatures started to stir inside their cells. A bit unsure about what was going on, creatures started leaving their cells. They walked out, for the first time in a long time free from their confinement. Although, it wasn't sure, if being infected with the black substance actually wasn't actually another form of confinement.
But that wasn't important now. All creatures' eyes immediately turned towards the red light that shone in the chamber. Feeling and hearing what was going on, Macy started running through the chamber towards the main hatch.
"Open!"she shouted to the Shakayan hacker.
Hacker immediately got to work and after pressing some stuff, the hatch started opening, while infected creatures followed Macy.
In the meantime, Cirien saw the door opening with a big, shit-eating grin on his face. In his mind, he already won.
"It would appear, that they finally decided to surrender."he said.
Inside, Macy already ran up to the hatch and with a swing, she threw out the light stick through the gap that already opened. Next, she quickly rolled out of the way, while creatures continued their chase.
The light stick flew out of the chamber, right under the legs of one of Maraqs Marines. He knelt down and picked it up.
"A light stick?"he asked.
"What, are they trying to enlighten us?"another Marine joked.
Marines and even Cirien laughed at that.
But their laugh quickly vanished, when the hatch was literally pushed open, slamming into the wall. Marines were terrified to see, that instead of enemy soldiers, the failed experiments stood in the hatch and looked at them, with black substance moving around their bodies. They were turning their heads, looking around. Because there was the light in the corridor, they were not interested in the light stick anymore.
Cirien quickly shook his head and regained composure.
"Fire!"he ordered.
Marines didn't think twice. They simply lifted their weapons and fired at the big, humanoid in the front. When the bullets hit, it didn't do a lot of impression on the creature, which simply roared and charged at the Marines. It swing it's tentacled arm and slammed three Marines into the wall, shattering them into little pieces. Other creatures also didn't wait and simply jumped on the soldiers, which now started to fall back, terrified by what was happening. One of the Marines decided to change into original Maraqs form, which was a simple ball of crystals, and tried to fly away, but didn't go far, when tentacled arm grabbed him and slammed into the ground, shattering him. Cirien was, of course, running as the first in the line, as infected creatures chased them down the corridors.
After waiting few minutes, until everything calmed down, Humans, Faliens and Shakayans came out of the chamber, observing and listening to what was happening.
"Looking at all that"Norrine said, pointing at the crystal shards, which used to be Maraqs"I think that your plan worked out.
"Can't argue with that."Ester nodded.
"Okay, so, what now?"Gerion asked.
Ester started thinking about their next step.
"I guess we should somehow get a ship to get out of here. Preferably from the hangar. Wherever it is."she finally said.
"And quick."Emmy said."I don't see myself sitting between these infected bastages."
"None of us do."Elsa said.
"Ekhm."Ves said.
Everyone looked at her.
"What is it?"Ester asked.
"I thought of that fact, you know."Ves replied."So I uploaded a complete map of this facility. I can lead us to the hangar, where we can get a ship and come back to San Antonio."
Ester put her hand on Ves' arm.
"Ves."she said."If I wasn't married, I would kiss you."
This got out a chuckle from the soldiers.
"Okay, people. Let's get out of this rock."Ester ordered."Lead, Ves."
"On it!"Warrior Bunny replied.
With that, the whole group followed Warrior Bunny hacker to the hangar.
June 9
22:12
Near Cirien's office
General Cirien Iken was running as fast as he possibly could. He hoped, that he will find a safe refuge in his office, from which he will be able to call help and get out of here. After all, he could still repeat his experiments somewhere else. This facility, as well as this planet, were already lost anyway.
It didn't take long for the failed experiments to spread through the facility, it basically happened within just minutes. Corridors were being filled with corpses and pieces of Maraqs and although some creatures were felled too, it didn't mean a lot. The substance, as designed, made their bodies even more durable. Again, his mistake, but at the same time, he never expected that his men will be forced to fight them.
All the floors below his current position were already lost. Failed experiments were closing on the fortress' command center and it was only a matter of time, before it falls and with it, the whole fortress.
But what mattered now, was his own life. Nothing was gonna stop him from reaching his goal.
He ran up to the door leading into his office and quickly entered the code to open them. The door opened and general ran inside. He let out his breath, which he held unbeknownst to himself, and came up to his desk. His desk was fused with holo-table, as Maraqs liked to do, so it would be easier to access it.
Cirien ran up to the desk and pressed the button, which was supposed to turn on the holo-table and it's communication mode.
Nothing happened.
"What the…?"Cirien asked.
He pressed the button several more time, but still nothing happened. He gulped. And heard sizzling.
When he looked in the direction of said sizzling, he widened his yes, shocked to see a giant hole in the wall, in the place, where most of the cables ran. He gulped again. This couldn't mean anything good.
And his thoughts were confirmed, when he heard a move above his head. He looked up…
…only to see two insect-like failed experiments, which looked down on him from the ceiling. He was too terrified to see them and the hole when he entered his office. And this couldn't be good.
"Don't you dare…"he whispered with as much bravery as he could muster.
They didn't listen. They leaped from the ceiling, straight onto him. Soon, the office was filled with his screams of agony.
June 9
22:27
Corridors
Ester and the others continued to make their way through the corridors of the fortress, passing by what was left numerous members of the base's personnel. Crystal shards littered the corridors, alongside several infected bodies, which were less numerical.
"I think they're not doing very hot."Norrine laughed.
"And we're gonna end up the same, if we don't do something."Kenya said.
"So we have to get to that hangar as fast as possible."Emmy said.
"Ves, how far?"Delilah asked.
"Just one hundred meters."Ves replied.
The group continued to run, with sounds of gunfire and roars, as well as screams, as their only companions. They preferred not to think what was happening to the Maraqs, although judging from all the shards laying around, they didn't have to think, just look.
"Okay, here we are."Ves said, when they ran the said hundred meters.
They all stopped and Ester, Delilah, Norrine and Gerion moved to the front. They peaked around the corner into the hangar.
Inside was surprisingly quiet. There was no sign of either Maraqs or infected creatures. But the fighting surely took place here, as shards were even here, alongside several destroyed machines. But, fortunately, there were some fighters, as well as dropships, intact. Ester sighed with relief.
"Okay, the coast is clear."Ester said."There are several dropships, including heavies, there. So let's better get to them quickly."
"What about their air defense?"Delilah asked.
"I took care of that."Ves replied.
Everyone looked at her.
"Did you really predict everything?"Emmy asked.
"Who do you think I am?"Ves risen an eyebrow."A precog or something? I simply thought, that it will be useful."
"Either way, well done."Gerion said."Let's get out of here as fast as possible."
"Sure."Ester said.
She signaled to everyone to move quickly. They entered the hangar and started scanning the area, just awaiting the infected or Maraqs to jump out of hiding and simply decimate them. Fortunately, none of that happened. It seemed that really all forces that were in the base were engaged with trying to contain the infected creatures.
They ran up to one of the heavy dropships and quickly set up a perimeter around it. Ves again went to quick work, trying to open the machine's door. Everyone was tense, as they still awaited enemy forces to appear.
"Got it."Ves said after few seconds.
Back ramp of the machine opened and everyone started boarding it. Norrine's platoon was the last to enter, as they were still covering the soldiers boarding the machine. When both Shakayans and FI soldiers were aboard, Marines quickly followed and soon, fortunately, everyone managed to fit aboard. Ester and Delilah quickly made her way towards the cockpit, while the others strapped in.
"You can pilot this thing?"Delilah asked.
"I can try at least, right?"Ester replied.
She looked at the console. She knew how to fly it, she often looked such things up, if she ever needed to use this knowledge. But majority of the buttons were signed in Maraqi language. She started to really regret the fact, that she didn't knew anything in this language except 'Surrender!' or 'Hands up!'.
Right then, Norrine barged into the cockpit and started clicking buttons on the console.
"Norrine, what the hell?!"Ester asked.
"Nothing."Norrine replied.
She continued to click, until finally, everyone heard the sound of engines activating. Ester and Delilah looked at Marine commander.
"How did you…?"Delilah asked.
"I know a thing or two about alien languages."Norrine replied."I spent a lot of time learning them. 'Know your enemy', as they say."
"We need to have a serious talk when we get back."Ester stated.
"If we get back."Norrine said, pointing forward."Look!"
The two looked in the direction they were pointed and through the crystal window, they could see a squad of Maraqs Marines running into the hangar. They quickly set up around the machine, aiming their weapons at them. There was also a bunch of soldiers setting up a heavy MG emplacement.
"Seems like they finally decided to take care of us."Ester said.
"Pull up a bit."Norrine said.
"Huh?"
"Just do it."
Listening to Norrine, Ester grabbed the rudders and pulled them up, making the machine fly up. Norrine, in the meantime, started pressing other buttons. And from the inside of the cockpit, Ester and Delilah observed, as weapons attached to machine's underside and wings opened on the Maraqs. Marines, unable to hide, were quickly decimated by the machine gun fire and auto cannons. MG emplacement was thrown into the air, alongside it's crew.
"Done."Norrine said.
"Good that we have you on our side."Ester sighed."Let's get out of here."
Saying that, she turned the rudders and machine started turning, with it's front facing the hangar door. She pushed the controls forward and dropship shot forward, leaving the inside of the fortress and quickly turning towards the sky. Down below, fortress was being consumed by fire and infection.
"Norrine, could you try and contact San Antonio?"Delilah asked.
"Sure."Norrine replied.
Marine commander again worked her wonders on the console, as the machine continued to climb in altitude, already reaching the atmosphere.
"Who is it?"asked the voice from the speaker.
Everyone sighed.
"This is major Norrine Bauer!"Norrine said."We're in possession of stolen Maraqs dropship, don't fire on us!"
"Good to finally hear you, major. Is everyone alright?"
"Mostly. But that's not important now. You have to fire at these coordinates."
She relayed them.
"Got it?"
"We do. But why…?"
"We'll explain everything aboard! But his this thing with something stronger, like a nuke! You understand?"
"Understood."
Aboard the ship, communication officer turned to the captain and explained what he just heard.
"Did they say why do we have to do it?"Phil asked.
"No. They said, that everything will be explained when they're done."comms officer explained.
Phil nodded.
"Right. Open fire then."
Weapons officer nodded and quickly entered the coordinates into the targeting computer. Right missile was loaded into the firing tube and the target was found. Officer pressed the button and the missile was fired.
Flying towards their ship, Ester, Delilah and Norrine saw a small light coming in their direction. As it came closer and closer, they recognized a missile, which passed by them, flying towards the ground.
"I just hope they got something strong to do it."Ester said.
"So do I."Norrine said.
Missile flew faster and faster towards the surface of the planet, piercing through the atmosphere among the flames. It didn't take long for it to reach the ground and the fortress, in which it slammed, piercing through the ground. Underground, the warhead exploded and it's power was released.
Ester and others didn't know it yet, but San Antonio was equipped with a prototype weapon, only recently introduced into service among both UNSA and, in limited numbers, ICTA. It was newly developed anti-matter IMB-44 warhead, the strongest and most powerful weapon of mass destruction ever constructed. And today, it was used for the first time in it's history, razing the fortress and it's underground with the ground, leaving nothing behind, but a giant, gaping crater on the surface of the planet.
While this was happening, dropship already reached San Antonio and landed in the hangar.
June 9
22:49
UNSA Sand Antonio, hangar
Dropship landed, opening it's back ramp. All the passengers started leaving the machine, with commanders leaving at the end.
"Well, that didn't go well."Ester said.
"Hey, it wasn't that bad."Norrine shrugged."At least we, fortunately, didn't lose anyone."
Right then, she realized, that Gerion was standing next to her.
"Sorry."she said.
"Don't worry, we're always ready for that."Gerion replied."But we have to bring the bad news home…"
Others simply nodded. This was their second mission in their new role and they failed miserably. Queen was gone and now, everything was going to fall on the shoulders of prince Lukrik. Probably at the worst possible time. At least they could cheer themselves up with the fact, that no parasitic black goo would spread across the galaxy.
Right then, passing by the leaving soldiers, Vadim rushed into the hangar and after noticing the four, he quickly came up to them.
"Colonel Barkhorn."he said.
"Sir, we…"Ester wanted to say, but was stopped by Vadim lifting his hand.
"Not now. We are to immediately come back to our space."he said.
"Why?"Delilah asked.
Vadim looked at Gerion. He gulped and said:
"A strong, joint Nakatan-Laconian fleet managed to brake through the main frontlines and is closing on Shakaya. They will soon enter Shakayan System.
XXX
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