A primal scream of sheer undiluted rage tore from her throat as Jen stared at the tags that had once been worn by the men in her unit. Fourteen tags… fourteen lives that were now gone. It had been one thing to think that she would never see them again because she was now on another world, but to know that they were now dead… that realization filled her with a broiling rage that she'd never known before. She snatched up her helmet and climbed to shaking legs as another scream pierced the air. That was quickly followed by a wordless snarl of rage as she stormed over to the lifeless body on an alien that she'd killed the day before.
She hauled back her right foot and gave the corpse a solid kick. That was quickly followed by another. Then the sound of armor snapping into place was heard as Jen kicked the alien body again. This time the corpse almost exploded as it flew across the clearing to slam into a tree with a loud and sickening wet crunch as it literally splattered against the trunk.
R'ka watched in stunned shock as Jen went from apparently happy to murderously irate in a single instant. The plasma casters on each shoulder were armed, active, and humming away as the tips spun in preparation to fire. That was when she saw Jen start kicking one of the males. On the third kick she activated the inertial magnification system in the boots with devastating effect. Suddenly both plasma casters were firing in an alternating sequence that timed the shots so that there was very little gap between the bursts of plasma.
The remains of the alien corpse that hadn't been reduced to a pulp by both the tremendous kick and hitting the tree were quickly reduced to nothing as the plasma bursts continued. Then, Jen was whirling around to storm towards another of the corpses. Armored gloves snapped into place as Jen jerked the headless body into the air and began to pummel it ruthlessly and mercilessly. The loud crack of snapping and shattering bones echoed through the clearing as Jen continued to pound on the alien body. Then with a spinning kick that corpse went flying through the air to crash to the ground a fair distance away. Jen paid that no mind as she began kicking another of the aliens who she knew… just knew had been responsible for the deaths of her men.
She was their Commanding Officer. She was the one who was supposed to look out for them; protect them from the enemy by acting competently on information regarding enemy placement. She was the one who was supposed to protect them from incompetent orders made by idiotic political leaders. She was the one they relied on to keep them safe when it hit the fan. She was their mother hen, their worrier, their confidant, and their problem solver because she was the one in command. She was the one who they relied on to go with them and plan out all of their missions so that the op didn't turn into a one way trip. She, Jennifer Allison Greer, was the one that they relied on to make sure that all of them made it home in one piece.
She had failed. She had failed them, she had failed herself, and she had failed the Corps. They hadn't died while facing superior numbers of Terrorists. They hadn't died because of some orders made by a stupid politician who didn't know the first thing about combat. They hadn't died because they were out numbered while surrounded by the enemy. They had died because they were at the largest Military base on U.S. soil, while getting ready to face their C.O. in order to test something that would help to ensure that they always made it home in one piece.
It was something that tore at Jennifer's heart because she would never see their smiling faces, hear their often stupid, though usually sexist jokes. She would never again be able to offer the advice that was often sought from her simply because she was their C.O., nor would she ever again be able to offer the insight of a woman for their personal relationships. She had been everything one could imagine in a responsible leader for them, up to and including a best friend. They had been far more than a simple team or unit… because after relying on each other time and again for their very lives, they had become closer than most families could ever hope to be… and now… now those men were dead.
Jen's breath came in controlled inhalations as her extensive training allowed her to pulverize the alien's carcass. Neon green blood splattered across her body with every smash of her armored fists. She didn't even think about the fact that she was using the inertial magnification system extremely effectively; all she was thinking about was her team… her men, and the families that they would never speak to again, families that would never see them again… families that she would never be able to face and explain why none of her men would ever come home again.
Still seething in rage, Jen actually looked at the body of the alien she had killed the day before. She had beaten the corpse to a bloody pulp of a mess. If she had to guess, she'd say that not one of the bones in the upper body was broken in less than thirty places. This one was no longer good to pound on. Barely even thinking about what she was doing, her plasma casters fired in rapid succession.
Shoulder mounted, it weighed in at just under four pounds, but it was the most effective weapon in her arsenal. That weapon was her mind, filled with training, combat experience, and now… now it was also filled with rage. Jen wasn't a cold hearted or uncaring bitch, but she didn't see herself as being merciless or cruel either… she just did what needed to be done in order to keep other people safe. But that was before she had been brought to this strange world, before some group of alien had planned to rape a woman, before she learned that that same group of aliens had killed her team. Now? All she wanted was to pay those bastards back for what had been taken from her. Those men had been hers! With a snarl of rage, she turned away from the now vaporized remains of the second alien and headed towards the third with a cold and deadly purpose.
Kwei could not believe what he was seeing. Jen had somehow very skilled in the use of the inertial magnification systems in her boots and gloves. The thought of using those systems in such a way had never occurred to him, but now he was seeing the results of what they could do when properly used in combat. He knew that Jen, being ooman, did not have anywhere near the physical strength that he did, and he knew that he didn't have the strength of those Black Yautja males. They couldn't even do such things to each other, but Jen was literally pounding their headless bodies into boneless pulps! He knew with a single look that she was angry… in a near senseless rage might be more accurate, but she had to actually think to use her weapon systems, and that is exactly what she was doing. The idea of practicing on targets was not a new one, but using the bodies of defeated foes for it was! He watched as she strode over to the third of the males and kicked the body high into the air. Then the whirling plasma casters on her shoulders spit forth bolt of hot plasma at the flying corpse. Kwei was pleased although completely stunned to see that there was nothing left to hit the ground.
Jen glanced at the remains of the one that had been shredded by the high explosive grenade that she'd planted on him before spitting in his face. The targeting reticule followed her gaze, and Jen gave a silent snarl as she opened up on him. Then shrieks of primal fury rent the air as three large creatures burst forth out of the trees. Jen never hesitated as she pulled her .44 and dropped the first with three shots right in the center of its forehead. It stumbled and slid a good distance to stop right at her feet. In a seemingly deathly calm, she stepped on its head, and up onto the creature's back to take aim at the closer of the other two. The unsilenced and thunderous noise of the weapon had brought the other two to a confused halt, and that proved to be their undoing. One shot, one kill, right between the eyes. When the second creature dropped, Jen then killed the third with the same ruthless efficiency as she had the other one.
"Is there any other motherfucker out there who wants some? Come and get it then you piece of shit! I don't give a damn if you're a he-demon, or a she-devil… I don't give a shit if you're a fucking God; I'll send your ass to hell so fast you won't even remember the trip!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.
Jen took a shaky breath as she turned around and stepped down off the dinosaur looking creature. She looked up at R'ka and saw that the alien woman was frozen while staring at her. For that matter, both of the aliens seemed to be frozen. She took a deep but ragged breath and walked over to where R'ka was standing next to one of the crates.
R'ka stared at Jen with no small amount of concern, and even some fear. Never had she witnessed a rage like that! One moment, the female seemed to be happy with the finds, and then she had become a raging machine of destruction who had threatened a God. It was not only disturbing, but frightening as well. She watched in silence as Jen approached her.
Jen took another ragged breath and let it out slowly. "I'm sorry." She said softly.
To say that R'ka was confused was an understatement. "For what? Why do you apologize?"
"For flying off the handle like that." Jennifer said heavily while looking at the ground.
"It's just… these tags. I don't guess you know what they mean, so I'll tell you. They hold written information on the person who wears them. They are identification with name and rank, pertinent medical information like blood type and allergies, and religious beliefs. Each person has their own unique set of dog tags. These belonged to my men." Jen said as her breathing became ragged once more.
"These men were under my command R'ka! They looked to me for answers. They expected me to bring them home safely, because they trusted me; followed my orders, and obeyed my commands. Now they're dead, and I wasn't there to help them." Jen blurted as tears of grief and anger began filling her eyes.
Beneath her mask, R'ka's eyes widened in astonishment. She hadn't been very sure of Jen's combat ability, but now she was beginning to understand that Jen was indeed experienced in battle.
"Am I to understand that you are an Elite Warrior?" Kwei asked in surprise.
"We all are… were." Jen answered nearly in tears.
"You are assigned to lead Elite Warriors in battle?" Kwei asked as his surprise grew into stark disbelief.
Kwei had watched Jen's outburst in shock. He could see an almost instinctive use of the weapons that had been incorporated into her armor. He knew that, because with the intensity of her rage, there couldn't have been any room for actual thought. It wouldn't have occurred to him to kick an opponent with the inertial magnification system in the boots, but she had done so without appearing to think about it. Then there was the sheer speed with which she had eliminated three large and dangerous creatures. It was a clear and obvious example of training at its finest. So he had some strong suspicions that Jen was experienced in battle, but he would not have guessed that she was an Elite! That had come as a shock, because she wasn't just an Elite Warrior, she was a leader of Elite Warriors, and that said volumes.
"Yes." Jen answered plainly.
"Then those things you hold in your hand are proof that your men are now dead?" R'ka asked softly.
"Yeah. They weren't just troops who followed my orders… they were my friends, my family… and now they're gone." Jen answered softly.
"Then you must remember them, and honor their memory. That is all you can do for them now." Kwei said seriously.
"You're right, Kwei. Their memory is all that's left of them now, and I will never forget them!" Jen answered in firm resolve.
"Good… Don't!" Kwei said approvingly. "The best thing you can do to honor them now is survive."
Jen nodded her head and turned back to sort through the various crates that were scattered around the strange campsite.
It was obvious to Kwei that Jen was young, and although she was apparently highly skilled in battle, she had still needed to be told one of the lessons that he'd learned a long time ago. I was something which told him that Jen had concentrated on mastering her combat skills to the possible exclusion of many other things. It was something that he would have to help her with. When the ooman female resumed sorting through the crate that had contained evidence of her now deceased team, Kwei looked over at R'ka and shook his head in a silent signal not to bother Jen for a while. Then, he began sorting though another of the crates.
Jen began to pull everything else out of the crate. She found a small case of fifteen cigars that she knew had belonged to one of her men. Fifteen high quality cigars that were always smoked by everyone upon completion of a successful mission. She knew the case also contained a cutter for the cigars, and it hurt that she now had them, because she knew that she and her team would never get to enjoy them together.
Jennifer wiped the tears from her eyes and began pulling out everything. The M-60 light machine gun was louder than a rock concert, but when everything hit the fan, there was no better way to make the enemy crawl in a hole and pull it in after them. Then there was the AA12 fully automatic 12 gauge shotgun. It was a devastating piece of equipment in the right hands. Various harnesses, holsters, and other things along with numerous belts and clips of ammo. At the bottom of that crate, she pulled out a holster containing what just had to be the biggest pistol she had ever seen! She slid the pistol from the holster and examined it. It was definitely old, she could tell that much because of the dull color… plus the fact that it was a black powder weapon. She looked closely and her eyes shot wide when she discovered that it would hold eleven shots from a .44 Magnum, and a single .410 shotgun blast from a center barrel! If there was such a thing as a pistol made in hell this was certainly it. She slid the monstrosity back into the holster and set it aside, while she retrieved more stuff from the crate.
By the time Jen had gone through six of the crates, she knew there was no way of taking everything that she wanted with her. There was far more here than her team had possessed, even though she could see that most, if not all of their gear was here as well. Everything from dozens of packets of instant coffee, up to a large red and lockable duffel bag that contained nothing but paramedic gear complete with several bottles of prescription only medications like liquid morphine and hydrocodone that had to be injected.
Jennifer knew that pain killers of that caliber could be dangerous if the dosage was too large, but she'd had at least some training as a field medic, so she knew how small the doses needed to be for her at least. She had no idea what a dose would be for Kwei or R'ka… if they could even take those medications! Then she shook her head as she remembered that the stuff they had was much better!
"We should take these things back to your ship and store them there. My cave isn't large enough for all this, and there is much here that we can use." R'ka said as she looked up from one of the piles of stuff she had created.
"I agree. It will take us several trips to get everything there, but given the way Jen has been sorting things, I think she is familiar with many of the ooman weapons, and those should not be left behind when she will know how to use them effectively. In addition, there are other things here that will make life a bit easier for us as well, and certainly should not be abandoned." Kwei replied quickly.
"Wait! You have a ship? Why not just bring it here and load everything up?" Jennifer asked after reading the translations.
"My ship can not be flown. While I can control it from the library computer even though the flight controls have been destroyed, the sensors have also been destroyed so it would have to be flown blind. The atmospheric engines still function, but it is completely worthless for interstellar flight because of the damage to the engines needed for it." Kwei answered. "As it is, the only good it does us is that we can still use some of the equipment on board, and we can link our masks to it to analyze things that we've encountered, or download more information."
"By mask… you mean these things we're wearing as helmets… right?" Jen asked and continued when Kwei only nodded. "Can you link these masks to the computer for a real time link, so that the computer would show what the mask sees?"
"Yes, that is how a Chiva is monitored when they take place." Kwei answered somewhat puzzled by where Jen was leading with her questions.
"In that case hang one of our masks on the outside of the hull and use that to see where you're going. Unless the link doesn't reach that far." Jen stated hopefully.
"In order to use the computer fully, I would need to use my mask to see it, so one of you would have to give up yours for the duration of the task." Kwei replied gravely.
"Well honestly… this thing takes some getting used to, because it doesn't allow me to use my own eyes to see anything, at least not that I've found so far. So use mine!" Jen suggested.
"Jen… if you are willing to give up the one that was made for you to use, would you not be more willing to give up the other two that you can not use?" R'ka asked with her head tilted in confusion.
"Wait! You mean to tell me there's two more of these things that we can use to make your ship flyable, and you haven't done it yet? Why not?" Jen demanded quickly.
"Because those are your trophies of battle against those who held us captive! I would not dishonor myself by insisting on using them for such purpose." Kwei answered with a growl of anger.
"Okay, so you aren't insisting… they belong to me right? So I am insisting that you use them to get your ship working again!" Jen shot back quickly.
Kwei gaped at the small ooman female in shock. The mere suggestion of actually using one's trophy to benefit someone else was unheard of! It was extremely dishonorable to even ask such a thing, but here was this ooman suggestion just that! It was a concept that made his head hurt.
Kwei bowed his head in acknowledgment of the incredible honor that Jen was now bestowing on him. "I will return them undamaged when we have finished moving the ship to a new location."
Author's Note: In case some of you are wondering… that monstrosity described is an actual pistol from the American Civil War called "1867 Navy Colt". If they ever make one that can use modern ammunition it would be Dirty Harry's wet dream! A special thanks to GodHunter for his help and knowledge about military grade weapons. Please review… those are inspiration for me and food for the Plot Demons!