Three

Live-fire training base

Planet Val-kyre

6 August 2017

"There's a Guardian down here!"

Frost barged into the command center just as the shout followed by static came over the com. Colonel Markson pursed his lips in consternation. He saw the corporal out of the corner of his eye, and turned toward him. "Let me guess. The princess woke up, told what happened, and you came to warn us." Frost nodded. Markson shook his head. "A little late, but we still have a chance."

He issued a warning to the commanders of Beta and Charlie platoons as to what they were facing, and to take out the enemy by any means necessary. Markson scrambled Alpha to take up defensive positions around the command center while he, Apone, Frost and two others scouted the area.

Markson had a bad feeling that he knew how the Guardians were deployed, but he had to make confirmation. The shadow on the surveillance footage was slender along feminine lines, meaning the attacker was either Hawk or Falcon. Given the rather blurry shape of the staff weapon he had seen for a split second, Markson was betting on Hawk.

Private Andros was in the nearest intersection with one of the new tracking units. "Hey, corporal," he called out to Frost. "I think we got something here."

Markson and Frost hurried over to look at the display. A red dot glowed at the top center of the display. That meant that whatever was out there, it was directly in front of them. The group was a few paces from a four-way intersection of corridors. The object on the tracker was straight down the main corridor where most of the lighting was inoperative.

Naturally.

Markson ordered them to spread out and proceed cautiously. Frost and Andros took point, weapons raised, searching for targets.

"Why does it always have to be dark creepy corridors?" Frost muttered.

"You know who we're after?" Andros whispered.

Before Frost could answer, a screeching rasp of metal on metal came from somewhere ahead of them. Both soldiers froze, scarcely daring to breath. Seconds later, the rasping came again. It was almost musical, in a way. A way that made Frost's stomach drop into his feet. A sick sensation washed over him threatening to make him vomit.

Andros suddenly snapped his rifle up to his shoulder and fired off several bursts into the shadows. Colonel Markson had to repeat his order to cease fire several times until the private stopped shooting.

"Report," Markson demanded.

"I saw…s-something," the kid gestured down the corridor. "Down there."

"What?"

"Something big. Only saw a shape, but it was there! I swear it was right there."

Frost said, "Black, about six feet tall, vaguely insectoid-looking?"

Andros nodded. "And those eyes."

Markson had a sudden tightening in his gut. "Eyes?"

"Silver orbs shaped like eggs and glowing?" Frost asked, fear creeping up his spine.

Andros answered, "Yes."

Colonel Markson shuddered. "War Wing," he and Frost said in unison.

"War Wing? Seriously?" Andros hissed, voice cracking.

"Welcome to the Red Shirts, kid," Markson said, grimly.

He watched the heads up display in his helmet with mild interest. The first phase of the operation had gone according to plan. Well, almost. Claw getting blown up with the last Shrike hadn't been a part of the plan, but the end result was effective. Hawk had done just as well, but not without a price.

"Hawk, what's your status?"

There was a ten second pause before Sonya Boradni answered. "Delta has been eliminated."

"Suit status?"

"Not good. Left arm severely compromised. Left leg barely functional. Combat capabilities below fifty percent," Sonya reported.

"Head over to the southwest sector and assist Falcon. Captain Takamora will know how to fight her. Do what you can. If all else fails…" he left the order unfinished. There was no need to finish it.

"Understood," Sonya replied after a long pause.

Within the limits of the operation, all was going well. He'd had reservations about the parameters, but, then, lots of operations ended up being so constrained in order to be valid test. This was more of a test of the platoons than the Guardians.

Adrian called up Blitzkrieg and Gatling Arm. "Claw is down. Hawk is compromised. Head over to sector two and take out Beta platoon."

"Are you planning on taking on Alpha all alone?" Jake Rockwell said.

"Well, it'll be the highlight of the party," Adrian answered, absently. "Besides, the colonel will be disappointed with anyone else. Don't worry, Jake. You're reputation for recklessness is secure. Enjoy!" He closed the channel before Jake could make a suitable response.

As soon as the remaining platoons were engaged, Adrian made his presence known to Alpha. The new kid, Andros, was quick. Too quick. Jumping at shadows. A sign of inexperience. This was gonna be fun.

Captain Hohiro Takamora led his team through their assigned area; Colonel Markson had informed him as to who he might be facing. Hawk hadn't shown up yet, but if Delta managed to wound the Guardian, that gave them a chance. The question was, who was lurking in Charlie platoon's area. With the APCs down, there was no way to coordinate activity effectively. The only way for the remaining platoons to talk to one another now was by linking into the spotty base comm system. Hohiro hopped that whoever attacked the carriers had been taken out by them.

He paused when sporadic reports came in that Beta was under attack. Definitely a Guardian, but they had no idea as to an identity. After listening for a few moments, Hohiro returned to the task at hand. His people waited expectantly.

"We continue with our orders. Move out!"

They secured the first sub level in short order. Moving down to the second level, Charlie platoon spread out by teams continued the search. Hohiro had been in some creepy places in the past, but this training base took first prize. It'd make an ideal place to have a haunted house every year. Or that he was living a horror movie instead acting one out for Hollywood.

The captain shook off those gloomy thoughts and concentrated on his work. Reports came in of strange mechanical sounds coming from due south of their position. Hohiro ordered them to approach with caution, but not to engage under any circumstances.

The rest of the platoon moved to surround the intruder. Hohiro guessed the enemy was likely to Hawk. That she was making so much noise meant that Delta hurt her worse than expected. Confirmation came minutes later when they spied Hawk in combat form painfully making her way through the darkened corridors. Because of the ammunition they were using, there were no visible signs of damage, but it appeared that the left side was all but locked up.

Hohiro had his people arrayed in a cordon that left no escape for the damaged Guardian. Everything was set. All he had to do was give the order to fire. He was about to issue said order, but a sudden warning flared in the back of his brain; the sixth sense combat veterans developed. Something about this setup suddenly seemed wrong to him. The Asian fell back on the teachings of Sun Tzu to analyze the situation. He had what he wanted. An inescapable cordon to take down the enemy who was damaged and unable to offer an effective defense. It was perfect.

Too perfect.

"A diversion," Takamora whispered. There was another Guardian close by waiting to strike the moment Charlie platoon committed to taking the obvious target. The problem was, he had to take the bait. Even damaged, a Guardian was extremely dangerous. He did a quick reorganization of the attack, pulling back several squads to counter the counterattack. "All squads set?"

All squads called in that they were ready.

Takamora gave the order.

Hawk never had a chance. But, then, she knew that going in when she and the Sorceress planned their trap. Hohiro would figure out it was a trap just before he committed to taking Hawk down. Sorceress knew it, and that he would pull back several squads in reserve. That's why they chose sub level two, because of the claustrophobic quarters provided by tunnels, rather than the more open third sub level for the strike.

Even as Hawk fell under the withering fire from over fifteen assault rifles, Falcon made her move.

Blue globes soared from out of nowhere to impact with several members from each of Takamora's reserve squads. Those people reacted quickly, their attacker was already on the move.

"Shit! It's Falcon!" someone snarled.

A frantic sixty seconds passed before a lull in the battle fell. Several squads had also fallen to Falcon's energy globes. The survivors regrouped and pulled back to a more defensible area. Unfortunately, Falcon was waiting for them.

"Sorceress," Hohiro greeted his opponent.

"Hohiro," Sorceress answered. She was protected behind a shield dome, falcon staff loosely grasped in her right hand, the faceplate of her new helmet open.

"I like the new helmets you designed. Gives the combat modes more character."

"Thank you. I was inspired by the old Val-kyrie battle armor in their museum." Sorceress changed the subject. "You seem a bit on edge."

"Well, it's been a long day. I don't suppose it would do any good to ask you to stand down?" the Asian asked.

Sorceress cracked a partial smile. "Now where would be the fun in that?"

Hohiro sighed. "Adrian's been rubbing off on you."

"Don't forget your hand in this. Your martial arts training came in handy on the last two missions."

Hohiro nodded. "Let's dance!"

The faceplate snapped into place as the feathers on the sides of her helmet fanned back up. Automatic weapons opened up from all sides, but none of the rounds got through. The shield flared with a kaleidoscope of color. Ripples swarmed all over the surface from the physical impacts like throwing stones into a pond.

Hohiro pulled his squad back as Falcon lashed out with blasts from the falcon staff and blue globes thrown from her left hand. They didn't have the firepower to drain the shield before everyone in the platoon was neutralized. Thinking fast, he pulled a combat knife from the sheath on the left side of his vest, flipped it to grasp the weapon by the blade, lined up the throw, and let it fly.

Travelling at a slower rate than the bullets, the tumbling knife easily penetrated the energy shield and slammed into the base of falcon cap on the staff. The impact ripped the staff out of Falcon's gauntlet and skidding away across the floor.

Flexing her hand more from the surprise attack than any real damage done, Sorceress commented, "You remembered. I wondered how long that would take." The shield dropped away as she prepared for the end game, pulling stun batons from sheaths on the thigh armor. The tips crackled with electricity. "Time to get personal."

"You're enjoying this," the captain stated, surprised by what he was seeing.

Chuckling, Sorceress replied, "You have no idea!"

Reports came in to Colonel Markson of the assault on Beta platoon. It appeared that Blitz and Gatling Arm were making an all-out attack and things were not going well for either side. The runner returned from scouting the last APC to go silent and found Claw along with the APC driver. He wasn't sure what happened, but both were down for the count.

So the tally stood at one platoon wiped out. Guardians Claw and Hawk confirmed neutralized. Blitz and Gatling Arm engaged with Beta platoon. Charlie platoon currently engaged with Guardian Falcon. That left Alpha Platoon to deal with Guardian War Wing.

I'd rather go back to that penal planet, Markson thought grimly. He spread his command out to try to contain Adrian, but he knew it was pointless. His plan was not to be contained. It was to wipe out the colonel and his command or go down trying.

"Colonel, Beta reporting in, sir," a very young voice announced over the tac net.

Markson keyed his headset. "Markson. Go."

"Private Jefferies, sir. The Guardians have been neutralized. They self-destructed somehow."

"Elaborate, Jefferies. What happened?"

"We had them surrounded. Took out Gatling Arm first as he was taking out several squads. We were repositioning to take down Claw when he set off some kind of energy device. A wave radiated out from him destroying himself and anyone within twenty yards. I was the furthest out so I was late getting back into position-"

"Don't blame yourself, kid. Nothing you could have done. Captain Takamora just reported in," Markson said, reading a brief note a runner handed him. "Guardian Falcon has been neutralized. He has a few survivors heading our way. Link up with him and get back here. Double-time."

"Yes, sir," Jefferies acknowledged.

"All right, people. We're the last ones standing. We take out War Wing here and now. By any means necessary. Let's move out!"

Captain Majourny returned to the observation room after making a tour of the ship and making sure that Ace was ready to take them down to the base when ordered. "How are things going?"

"Well, Hawk went down without taking anyone else out," General Hammond replied. "Beta got their revenge on Gatling Arm. He only managed to take out one squad before they got him. Blitz used the self-destruct to take out everyone else."

Since they were monitoring the improvised communications net Private O'Rourke set up, they heard Private Jefferies report in.

"It appears everything is right on schedule," the Queen Mother commented.

Commander Harana raised an eyebrow. "Remind you of anything?"

Silvara absently rubbed the bruise on her left cheek. "No."

Jo-jo couldn't resist. "What happened?"

"I…got overconfident," Silvara confessed.

General Hammond turned away from the bank of monitors. "Who hit you?"

The Queen Mother resolutely stared at the monitors refusing to answer.

"Tell them or I will," Harana warned. Silvara glared at her warningly. "It's going to come out sooner or later."

Silvara sighed heavily. "You are aware that we Val-kyrie prefer one-on-one engagements? Well, I thought I could take on War Wing and win."

Harana snickered. When Silvara glared again, she hastened to explain. "I was the last one standing and decided that coming out on top was not an option. With everyone else neutralized, the only option left was mutual destruction."

"I'll bet that was difficult for someone used to always winning her matches," Jo-jo commented. "Anyssa told me," she added at Harana's confused look.

"Well, Falcon is down," Hammond said. "For someone as gentle and even-tempered as the Sorceress, she really seemed to enjoy herself."

Jo-jo frowned. "I'd like to believe she's just practicing her roleplaying skills for that bounty hunter alter ego you won't let Adrian put down for good-"

When she didn't finish her thought, Harana said, "But you don't." Jo-jo shook her head.

"It's always the quiet ones," Hammond said. "Looks like the colonel is making his final push."

Colonel Markson tried to pen War Wing in, but all he accomplished was losing two squads of people. Frustrated, he regrouped and tried a different tactic that seemed very out of character to those who didn't know him very well. Instead of trying to find the enemy, he issued taunts in an effort to drawn him out.

"This is your strategy?" Apone growled. "Taunting him is like poking a stick at a hornets nest. Sooner or later you get zapped."

"It's what he wants. And so do I. We're not getting out of this alive, so might as well go down swinging," Markson beamed with a grin.

Hefting his weapon, Apone said as dead serious as he ever got, "Just be glad this is an exercise and not for real. What he can do to people with those creature forms would not be pretty."

"Trust me. I wouldn't want to fight the Guardians for real," Markson assured Apone. And certainly not Adrian, he added to himself.

Frost wondered how long Adrian was going to make them wait. Everybody was jumping at shadows because of his ability to strike from the shadows. Frost had never really been afraid of what his friend could do because they were on the same side. Now that they were on opposite sides – even if it was only a training op – Frost was terrified. He was beginning to understand why Adrian had such misgivings about his morphing abilities. It was because this was only an exercise that the colonel felt confident in taunting him. Even so, the guy had a way of getting a point across.

"My, but we're getting a little big for your britches, aren't we?" Adrian said, his voice amplified by the suit. He stepped out into the dimly lit corridor only ten meters in front of the colonel.

Soldiers scrambled out of the way and took up station at what they thought might be a safe distance away, mindful of the weapons pods currently retracted behind Adrian's shoulders.

"I'm tired of the game," Markson growled. He lunged straight at the Guardian, igniting a beam saber as be closed on target.

Adrian automatically snatched the saber stored in the right thigh, ignited it, and snapped the blood red blade up to block the colonel's glowing green blade. The pair separated and traded a flurry of blows. Since Adrian sometimes lived his life like he was filming a comedy, he couldn't resist calling out the parries and thrusts. The pair locked up again, their faces inches from the crossed blades.

Popping open his faceplate, Adrian said, admiringly, "You've been practicing."

Markson replied with a wink, "I got a few pointers."

Adrian could have easily overpowered the colonel using the mechanical strength of the battlesuit, but it wouldn't have been much fun. Sensing danger to his left, he snapped out the saber from the left thigh and barely brought it up in time to block an amber blade. All without looking, though he knew who had the audacity to strike at him.

"Ballsy," Adrian said approvingly to Corporal Frost. "Stupid, but ballsy."

"Let's get this over quick," Frost declared.

"Okay!" Adrian shoved the colonel away, snapped up his right foot and gave him a short blast from the boot thrusters.

Surprisingly, Frost held his own over the vicious assault from two red sabers. A few swipes did get through, however, leaving his left leg numb and right arm paralyzed at the shoulder. The saber fell from Frost's useless right hand. The activation stud released, extinguishing the blade. The handle clattered to the deck and rolled away.

Adrian deactivated one saber and returning it to the left thigh storage slot. "If it's any consolation, this will hurt you a lot less than it will me."

"Man, just do it already." An incredible pain lanced through his body as the saber slammed into Frost just below the sternum.

Adrian gently lowered the corporal to the deck. He didn't have time to ponder what he had just done because automatic rifle fire opened up all around him. The faceplate snapped closed and he stumbled away to cover behind a dead piece of equipment. The AI displayed a rough damage assessment. Both weapons pods had taken sufficient hits to disable them.

"In the back?" Adrian snarled angrily. "Dick move, colonel."

Adrian looped around through the maze of corridors to take the next squad from behind. A wire diagram on the heads up display showed exactly where he was in relation to the enemy. The shoulder pods were disabled, but he still had the sabers, twin blaster cannon on the right arm and energy projector on the left to work with.

The targets retreated at War Wing's approach. The blasted away bravely, but ultimately futilely. The Guardian started to grow confident that maybe someone might survive after all. Captain Takamora and whomever was left from Beta and Charlie platoons arrived to get in on the kill.

Adrian realized too late that squads were sacrificing themselves to take him out. The colonel had used Adrian's aggressiveness against him. Five minutes after starting his latest rampage, War Wing entered the main junction twenty yards from operations. The remaining people swarmed into position to fire from all sides, and yet, didn't. They were waiting for the colonel's orders.

Markson stepped into the open. "Last chance to end this."

"So true," Adrian agreed, raising his right hand. It clutched a simple cylinder with a plunger under the thumb.

Shock slowly spread over the colonel's features as it downed on him that Adrian had played into his hands with an end game of his own.

"FIRE!" he screamed, snapping up his rifle and squeezing the trigger.

Hundreds of rounds blasted through the intersection. Some hit War Wing. Some hit the corridor walls. Some even hit other soldiers. Despite the shear amount of firepower unleashed in the seconds it took for the rifles to empty, Adrian still managed to press the plunger.

A powerful energy wave blasted out in all directs with War Wing at the center. Guardian and surviving soldiers all collapsed where they stood.

General Hammond, Captain Majourny, and the two Val-kyrie sat in stunned silence after witnessing War Wing's final stand.

"That was dramatic," Harana said. "Not at all like yesterday. Well, not entirely."

Jo-jo thumbed the comm panel. "Okay, Ace. On the next orbit take us down."

Ace replied a moment later, "Yes, ma'am. It's over all ready?"

"Just get us down," Jo-jo said, sternly. "You can worry about the betting pool later." She thumbed off the comm before the pilot could reply.

General Hammond looked bemused. "Lost another one?"

"How did you do? If you don't mind my asking, sir?"

Hammond laughed. "I learned my lesson long about betting on games. I just spectate and participate on occasion."

Harana smiled. "Tomorrow's debriefing is going to be very interesting. Adrian's not going to soon forget the colonel shooting him in the back."

Yes, tomorrow was going to be very interesting. Jo-jo was tempted to bet on whether or not it stay civilized much less professional, but she decided it was best to quit while slightly behind.

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