Hunter, Warrior, Commander

by Andrew Maclure

  “I told you, I am no ordinary AI.”

  “OK. But how will you get the security and surveillance services up and running if it has been destroyed?”

  “I am re-purposing the hospitality and entertainment AI, so you won’t be able to book a suite or a seat at a show for a while.”

  “Very funny. I hope you know what you are doing.”

  “Of course I know what I am doing, but it will be some time before I can control doors or anything else on the habitat. Until then everything is on manual. I am trying to get the doors to the passenger dock to open. It appears that the outcasts transports are all in the freight dock, but I can’t be certain of that yet.”

  “OK, keep me up to date with your progress.”

  Their lander exited the wormhole in the Celestial Heavens system and sped towards it.

  “There is an issue with getting the dock doors open.” Sergeant Broffal broadcast. “We have access and override codes, but the habitat is not responding. Ah, the doors are starting to open. The Triumphant will perform a full scan of the dock and if all is clear, we’ll take the lander in. Prepare to disembark as soon as we hit the deck and take up defensive positions.”

  “I’ve got the doors open. My drones are inside, it’s all clear.”

  “How did you get the doors open? Have you fixed the security AI?”

  “No, I told you it is not fixable, its core has been destroyed and its personality terminated - murdered in your language. I need to replace it completely and that’s why I am using the entertainment AI. I have its complete functional specification from the Operators. To get the doors open I simply re-purposed the waste disposal AI. The toilets on the habitat won’t flush now. I should also be able to control the internal doors to the freight dock soon.”

  “How will that help?”

  “You’ll see. I have a cunning plan.”

  “Don’t the People have rules against AI’s being involved in fighting?”

  “Yes, I am fully aware of the limits imposed by the People, but I am just supporting you. I will not take an active part in any military action even though they have killed an innocent AI personality. Be aware that I cannot open the door from the passenger dock to the front desk area. It can only be opened manually until the security system is running again. This is a security door that is strong and heavy. The manual lock is operated by a wheel that requires hands to open it, which I don’t have. That means I don’t know what is on the other side until I can get my drones in there.”

  “Understood.”

  “There are four more of my drones in your backpack. Please discreetly release them as soon as practical after you have disembarked.”

  “Six of them in total. I noticed that you do nearly everything in sixes. Why is that?”

  “I thought that was obvious, but I’ll explain later. Focus on the mission.”

  “Don’t I always?”

  “This is different. We don’t know what to expect and you could get killed here.”

  The lander settled on the dock with a thud. The door snapped open, and without waiting for the ramp, Sah Lee and her squad leapt out into a defensive line, Por Aruf’s squad followed and ran through to take up position in front. Sergeant Broffal jumped down and took up position at the rear.

  “Unit two, ready yourselves to enter as soon as the door is open and take defensive positions. Unit One, follow through and reinforce if there are hostiles present, otherwise form a defense line beyond Unit Two.” she ordered.

  “She may not have any experience of this, but at least she’s read the manual.” Sah Lee said to Por Aruf on the private link.

  Sergeant Broffal jogged to the door and spun the wheel to unlock it. When the wheel stopped, she turned to the Corporals and gave a nod, then flung the double doors open. Por Aruf and her squad ran through the door and formed a semi-circle, weapons up covering the desks and doors of the front desk area. Sah Lee led her team right behind them, running through and dropping into a crouch with weapons ready. The room was empty and silent. The desks were clear, and the chairs pushed in tidily behind them. It was twenty meters square; each of the other three walls had a door in the center with a short row of symbols above them that Sah Lee didn’t recognize.

  “All clear.” Sergeant Broffal said as she pushed through the line. “Weapons down.”

  The words had hardly left her lips when all three of the doors burst open and hostiles rushed in firing and throwing fragmentation grenades. Sah Lee’s field armor took the impact of the fire and shrapnel that hit her. The green line in the periphery of her vision that showed the state of her armor turned red and showed its integrity was down to fifteen percent.

  Concentrating her GSA20 fire on one of the hostiles, she shouted out “Forward!” and ran towards the central group. Some hostiles were dropping as their armor was overcome with KE weapon and GSA20 fire took them down. She was aware that some of her soldiers were dropping too. When she was eight meters from the hostiles, who were starting to give ground and move back to the doors, she called out, “Close combat, charge!” She reached over her back and pulled out her hunting knife. Taking two quick steps she dropped her GSA20 and flipped her helmet visor up and out of the way. Her lips came back in a snarl and she fully extended her sharpened claws. She leapt at the nearest hostile. Her AI overlaid a red dot on her vision, showing a weak point in its body armor under its armpit and another at the back of its throat, just underneath its helmet. She swept its arms and weapon upwards and thrust her knife into the hostile’s armpit, twisting it as she pulled it out and for good measure stabbed the hostile in the neck, pushing the blade in until the point hit the helmet on the other side. She spun round and kicked out at the hostile next to her connecting with its knee, hitting it hard enough that she felt the joint suddenly give as it dislocated; it screamed as it dropped to the floor. Stamping down on its hand as she continued over the top of it, she stooped down and picked up its RX4040 KE weapon. Holding it by the barrel she spun round and swung it at the next hostile as it tried to bring its own weapon to bear on her. As she knocked its head to the side by the blow from the stock of the RX4040, she rammed her knife into its neck, lifting it off the ground with the force of her attack.

  “That may not be a good idea Sah Lee. You have the barrel of that weapon pointing at you. Using it as a club may cause it to fire when it strikes your opponent. You could try turning it round and firing it.”

  Sah Lee leaned to the right as she swung her left foot up and planted it into the abdomen of the hostile next to her. Flipping the RX4040 over, she held it to the hostiles head and emptied the magazine into it. The hostiles field armor, already weakened, collapsed and the burst of bullets punched their way through its helmet and exploded its skull. As it fell, she dropped the empty RX4040 she was holding and snatched the falling hostiles weapon. She turned to her right and saw one of her squad struggling with a hostile that was considerably bigger than he was. She leapt on its back and yanked its head back. Seizing the opportunity, the soldier reached up with a short sword and drove its blade up and into the hostiles throat, his arm jarring as the blade struck the helmet at the top of its head.

  “Good move soldier.” Sah Lee said. As she dropped down, she quickly glanced round looking for another target and spotted a hostile pushing itself into the corner of the room, firing a particle beam weapon at her soldiers. Firing the RX4040 held in her left hand in a continuous burst, she ran at it, jumping and spinning in the air, she struck it in the chest with both feet. As she dropped face down to the floor, she released the RX4040 and bounced up on her arms. She turned onto the sprawling hostile, grasped its helmet and yanked it upwards, at the same time giving it a sharp twist. She heard a satisfying crack as the vertebrae in its neck parted. All the hostiles were down, except one which was running to the door ten meters away from her. She threw her knife and hit it square in the middle of its back, but it could not penetrate the body armor and dropped harmlessly to the floor.

  Sah Lee ra
n over to recover her knife and looked round the room. There were eleven soldiers still standing. She saw Sergeant Broffal laying on her back with multiple particle beam and bullet wounds to her abdomen and head. Then she saw Por Aruf, laying on her side in a pool of blood. She ran to her side and released her backpack, then rolled her onto her back. Por Aruf's body flopped over, lifeless. For a moment Sah Lee was looking down into Tir Mal’s dead eyes, back on Aarn. She almost choked as the cold fury she had felt on the death of Tir Mal flared up; she felt like a star had exploded inside her. She reached under Por Aruf’s body with her left arm and lifted her, holding her inert body tightly to her, with her right hand supporting her head and pressing it to her shoulder. Without looking up she called out, “Terminate the injured hostiles, attend to our wounded.” She smoothed the soft feathers on Por Aruf's head, closed her eyelids and gently laid her down.

  Chapter Eighty Six

  The Savage Attacks

  Sah Lee stood up and looked around. Three soldiers were still checking hostiles, kicking away weapons and looking for life signs. If they found any, they used their blades to dispatch them. Two of her soldiers on the floor were still alive. Each of them had four soldiers kneeling next to them giving pain relief and first aid. “Show me the vital signs for the two wounded, interpret them and give me a prognosis.” Her AI retrieved the health monitoring information from the soldiers AI’s and displayed a graphic of each of them, overlaid on Sah Lee’s vision.

  “Serren Af Bort is a mammal. He has several kinetic energy weapon wounds in his lower abdomen, hips and upper legs. He has lost approximately one point two liters of blood and is in shock. Private Serfal is treating him to reduce the blood loss, and she has given him medication to control pain and reduce his heart rate, but his blood pressure is dangerously low. You have suitable blood plasma in the supplementary field medical pack in your backpack, also in Por Aruf’s backpack. I appreciate how deeply attached you are to Por Aruf, but I advise you to take everything from her backpack you might need, starting with the plasma for Serren Af Bort. He is in urgent need of proper medical attention.”

  Sah Lee grabbed Por Aruf’s backpack and flung it to the soldiers kneeling next to Serren Af Bort. “There’s plasma in the medical pack. Get a drip into him - now!”

  “Barst Kellan is a reptile. He has a knife wound in his armpit which is not life threatening. His lower spine is fractured, and his right knee dislocated. He has been given pain control medication. Both should be evacuated. If the hospital is functional, they can be treated there.”

  “Aren’t you in contact with the medical AI? And how are you communicating with the other AI’s if the comms are down?”

  “The medical AI refuses to communicate with me. And communicating with them is an AI thing.”

  “An AI thing? Really?”

  “Yes.” Her AI answered with uncharacteristic brevity. “Would you open your backpack please, I would like to deploy the additional four drones.”

  Sah Lee opened her backpack as requested and the four tiny drones shot out of it and disappeared. “Are you monitoring Sergeant Broffal’s drones and crawlers?”

  “Yes, but I will get better coverage with mine.”

  “Serfal, Derett! You stay and guard the casualties. We’re going to liberate the hospital. We’ll be back for you as soon as we can. The rest of you, with me!”

  “You might consider going on a detour before you go the hospital Sah Lee.”

  “The hospital is our priority. We haven’t got time to chase around where you want to go on a whim.”

  “Two guests are being tortured to death by hostiles. Do you think they should have priority?”

  “Shit. Do we have a clear path to them?”

  “Yes, this way.” her AI said, putting a map showing the location into Sah Lee’s visual field. “They are not far. I can update the situation; the male hostage is now dead. You can save female if you take the route indicated.”

  “Listen up! We have a detour to rescue a hostage who is being tortured. Follow me at the double!” She took off at a run with the nine remaining soldiers behind her. The map led them to a massage salon two hundred and fifty meters away. They could hear the screaming from a hundred meters away. When they burst in a dead civilian lay on a massage bed, his body mutilated and dripping blood. A female mammal was being held down by one hostile, a grinning heavily muscled hairless mammal, while a reptile was working on her hand with a large bladed knife. Her other hand had the fingers missing and was covered in blood. Both hostiles had removed their body armor. Blood covered their hands, the hostile holding her down also had blood around its mouth. They both looked up, startled. Sah Lee dropped her GSA20 and pulled off her helmet as she ran towards the hostiles, teeth bared, and claws extended.

  When she was two meters away, she launched herself at the hostile with the knife. It was a slender reptile with large black eyes and a small mouth full of sharp teeth. It swung round bringing the knife up to defend itself. Sah Lee swept its arm aside and clamped her teeth on its cheek. As her momentum carried her past a great chunk of flesh tore away from its face and it gave out a piercing scream. She lashed out with her left arm as she hit the second hostile and raked her claws down its face, leaving its nose half severed and part of its lip and cheek hanging down to its chin. White bone and teeth showed through where her claws had sliced through the skin and muscle. The hostile staggered back in shock as Sah Lee dropped to her feet and spun round, swinging her right arm round and ripping open its left shoulder with her sharpened claws, slicing open its anterior deltoid muscle, severing the tendon at the top of its bicep and then ripping down, pulling the unattached muscle away from the humerus. Screaming in pain, the mammal swung its right hand, fingers extended, towards Sah Lee’s eyes in a desperate attempt to fend her off. As the hand came towards her, she grasped the wrist with her left hand, sinking her claws in and ducked her head towards it, biting off two of the fingers in a quick move. She spat them out and pushed the mammal hard in the chest sending it toppling over an adjacent massage table.

  As it fell, she turned to the reptile which had its left hand clamped to the side of its mostly missing face. It was holding the knife in its right hand in an attacking stance. Sah Lee paused and spat out blood from the mammal. She grinned mirthlessly, feinted to its left then leapt to its right. She grasped its wrist with her right hand and yanked the arm straight, at the same time, turning with the blow, she hit the back of its elbow with the heel of her right hand putting all her weight and strength behind the blow. The elbow joint dislocated with a sharp snapping sound and the reptiles arm bent ninety degrees the wrong way. The knife fell to the floor, and the hostile screamed again. Sah Lee tugged it towards her with its ruined arm and releasing the wrist, hit it under the chin with the heel of her right hand. As its head snapped backwards, she ducked her head in and tore its throat out with her teeth. She lifted her head back to spit out the flesh and blood and flung the body to one side. Taking two quick steps to the mammal laying on its side, panting and moaning in pain, she drew her knife, leaned down and grasped the hostile by the right shoulder, digging her claws in as she pushed it on to its back and thrust her blade deep into its throat.

  Chapter Eighty Seven

  Heavenly Hospital

  Sah Lee stepped back and turned to look at her soldiers. They stood staring at her, stunned by her savagery. She looked down at the hostage who was whimpering and trying to push herself away from Sah Lee. She had seen what looked like a wild animal rip into the two hostiles, heard their screams and saw the blood spraying from them. Now she could see a female standing looking at her with blood splashed over her hands, arms and face and dripping off her chin. Her terror had gone up a notch wondering what was going to happen to her next.

  “You are safe now.” Sah Lee said, stepping forward. The hostage scrambled back further.

  A soldier stepped forward and pushed in front of Sah Lee. “Private Teng Rass of the Galactic Savior Army. We are here to rescue y
ou and remove the outcasts from the habitat. This is Corporal Sah Lee. She is our ranking officer. I apologize for what may seem to be her unsettling actions, but as you have seen, she is very proactive in tackling the invaders.”

  The woman still looked terrified but reached up to Teng Rass with what was left of her good hand, casting a frightened look at Sah Lee.

  “Thank you Private.” Sah Lee said. “Please take care of the civilian.” Turning to the woman, she smiled at her, which wasn’t comforting, as Sah Lee’s bloody, curved canine teeth showed. “We have no medics with us, but Private Teng Rass will give you first aid and pain relief. We're on our way to the hospital. We don’t know what the situation is there, but if it's been attacked, we will clear it, so it can be used. We've got casualties of our own and expect more during the mission.”

  The woman looked too frightened of Sah Lee to be taking in what she said. Teng Rass administered a pain killer and sedative, then, with his GSA20 clipped to his backpack helped the woman to her feet.

  “I understand your heightened emotional state Sah Lee, but as commander of this mission you must exercise restraint and use minimal force to attain your objective. Your responsibility precludes you from taking personal revenge. I strongly advise you to control your emotional response. You might consider washing the blood off you before you frighten any more of the guests. There are washing facilities on the left.”

  Sah Lee retrieved her backpack and helmet but didn’t respond to her AI. She was full of rage towards the outcasts, angry with herself for letting it take her over and angry that her AI had to admonish her. She rinsed her hands and splashed water over her face. “Have you communicated with the medical AI yet?”

  “No, it said it thinks I am part of the outcasts invasion and refuses to talk. I have assured it I am not, providing it with credentials that should reassure it. If it doesn’t talk by the time we reach the hospital, I will use coercion to gain its cooperation, but I would prefer not do that.”