Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to or mentioned in this draft and am most certainly not making any profit off of it.
Things are starting to fall apart. This is demostrated by the quick switching from scene to scene, so most of the segments will be somewhat brief. It's almost finished, so enjoy the action and suspense of the last chapters. If you would like a sequel to this story because there are some unanswered questions, let me know. Otherwise, I may start on a totally knew story.
Chapter 14
Jess walked down the corridor and through the door that lead to Seymour's office. She looked around and tried to find the door she heard so much about. The only thing that had Seymour's coat of arms, however, was a part of the wall that protruded about four feet out. She didn't see any keyholes, doorknobs, or anything that resembled a door in any way. Thinking back about the gun rack and desk, Jess remembered that Seymour was quite crafty and effective at hiding things in such a way that the average person wouldn't be able to find them using conventional means. Letting out a sigh Jess started to look around. "Time to start thinking outside the box." She began to look around the room in order to find anything that looked like it could be manipulated in any way. She looked at the desk and noticed that one of the drawers had a lock on it. "Well, it's worth a shot." Jess took the key and put it in the lock. Oddly enough, the key turned and opened the drawer. Sliding out the drawer, she saw a box of .454 ammo and a note. Jess looked at the note. The note was full of more cryptic clues and cloak and dagger puzzles for her to sort through. It was a good thing that she told the guards that she would be working in here; she was in for a long haul and was probably going to need a drink afterward. Something with a little kick.
-----
"Engine room, what is our status?" Grant said.
"Hull integrity is at fifty-eight percent. If we take three or four more hits like the last one, then we'll be down for the count. We have some serious leaks in the aft compartments. I recommend sealing the bulkheads. That will give you some more time to work with, but it won't stop the ship from going down. The engines are flooded and circuit breakers are beginning to trip. I'm afraid we're dead in the water. Give it another forty minutes and the targeting and firing controls will go offline. I would say that the ship has about three or four hours left before she hits the bottom."
"Three or four hours? That's not a lot of time." The situation looked pretty bleak. They were on a sinking ship. They had nowhere to go. The Shroud was still in pretty good condition, but she wouldn't last long on her own. Grant was forced to give an order that he never hoped he would have to give.
"All hands, abandon ship. Repeat abandon ship"
Meanwhile, The Shroud was keeping the Blue Moon battleships pretty busy. The command ship had to fall back to lick its wounds, but its flanking support ship was pressing the attack and preventing any finishing blows. Without the Admiral, Field Marshal, or TA, the battle was lost from the moment the first Blue Moon ship sailed into view.
-----
Lash was sitting quietly working on some new design for a Black Hole tank, when suddenly a battle damaged Hawke entered the room.
"What in world happened to you?" she asked in shock.
"There is no time to explain. We must return to the ship and get out of here."
"Where's Seymour?"
"He stayed behind so that we could escape. Now hurry, get your things. We must leave. They will be here shortly…"
Just has Hawke was finishing his sentence, the doors burst open and a squad of Blue Moon Spetznaz troopers surrounded them. "Put your hands where I can see them! You!" the team captain barked at Lash, "step away from the table! Hands behind your head!" They both complied. "You're coming with us. We have orders to bring back any Black Hole personnel, though we were not told in what condition. If you behave yourselves, then we won't have any problems."
"Where are you taking us?" Hawke asked.
"You'll see when we get there."
-----
Seymour and Henson had been popping off shots at each other for the better part of an hour. Seymour could tell that Henson was running low on ammo: he was starting to pick his shots a little better. Seymour still had one and a half magazines left for his Lugers. Seymour was also making his way up to Henson's location. Henson seemed to have some specialized combat training, as if he was an ex marine, but he also seemed quite a bit out of practice. Seymour had never served as an infantryman, but had learned the hard way that it pays to be quick and quiet in the line of fire. He was just about on top of Henson when Henson decided to try to get the drop on him. The only problem was that Seymour was almost on top of Henson's location and the sort of collided. Henson was out of ammo at this point and was ready to do Seymour in with is knife. As Seymour was moving to find a spot to duck behind, he noticed a Blue Moon Battleship out of the open end of the hangar. "Great, they're already here." He knew that he could handle Henson in a straight fight. He also knew that he may stand a chance against regular Blue Moon infantry. However, He calculated that Blue Moon would send in their Spetznaz first. The Spetznaz rivaled Sensei's 182nd Airborne Infantry Division and Sami's 209th Mobile Infantry Assault Battalion. Simply put, the chances of him dealing with ten highly trained and conditioned Spetznaz troopers was not good. So, knowing full well that Henson no longer posed the greater threat, Seymour decided to evade Blue Moon capture and began to run across the catwalk that headed for a large steel door. Seeing that Seymour was going to escape, Henson took off after him. Seymour was almost across, while Henson was almost there, when the large steel door was blown right off its hinges by explosive charges. Two Spetznaz troopers stormed through the door, still shrouded by smoke, with their AK-47's at the ready. They saw Seymour charging at them with two guns in hand and opened fire. Seeing this theatrical outpouring of hostility, Seymour quickly hit the deck and dove under the line of fire. Henson, however, was not so quick, and soon became the unlucky recipient of a hail of gunfire. After realizing that they had just killed one of Sturm's men, the ceased fire and turned their attention to Seymour.
"Drop the weapons! Now!"
Seymour turned to face them. He was not happy. After all his best efforts, he had failed. He had failed his last mission for Green Earth. He began to think about his option and only one thought crossed his mind. You can't evade death forever. He quickly turned and ran for the guardrail of the catwalk.
"Freeze! Or we'll open fire!"
Seymour jumped from the catwalk onto the guardrail, and with a quick salute back to the troopers, dove in to the crushing black abyss that lay below. The troopers ran to the catwalk and looked over the edge, but they saw nothing but the dark, unforgiving waters.