***
Meanwhile deep in the underground tunnel network, things were not looking particularly good for Saleek and Kracht either. They had unwittingly walked into a very large chamber which possibly served as some kind of equipment storage room for the aliens that lived and worked there. Regardless of its intended function, it was very large with a surprisingly high ceiling for an underground chamber. It was also full of both hiding places and hostile creatures with weapons.
‘Damn it!’ cursed Saleek as he slid back behind cover to avoid an incoming burst of laser fire.
He and Kracht were both hiding behind a collection of stacked heavy boxes on one side of the huge room. Dotted around the rest of the chamber were multiple hostiles, seemingly all with a firearm of some description. They would lean out from behind cover, unload a barrage of rounds and get back behind cover again before Saleek or Kracht could return fire.
‘Raaaaa!’ yelled the lyan as he stretched out his arm and fired blindly around the corner, hoping that a blast from his pistol would get lucky and take at least one of them out.
The resulting barrage of plasma bolts, laser blasts and ballistic rounds seemed to indicate that he had not been so lucky. They impacted around and behind the pair, causing sparks and pieces of crate to fly around like miniature missiles. Before long, the air in the chamber was becoming thick and hot due to the prolonged weapons fire. Saleek glanced at his companion.
‘Any ideas?’ he asked hopefully.
‘Just one: next time you ask me for help, I say “no”,’ replied Kracht wryly.
‘We must be gettin’ close to Patrick if they’re defending this place so heavily. That’s gotta be good, right?’
‘What good is it if we can’t move from behind these crates?’ said Kracht as he sidestepped out from behind cover, fired a volley of laser blasts from his rifle and ducked back behind cover again.
One of the blasts caught an unsuspecting creature on the shoulder and he performed half a somersault before landing on the ground, clutching his smouldering shoulder in agony.
‘There’s gotta be something we can do,’ said Saleek determinedly.
He glanced around but could see nothing which they could use to their advantage.
‘I could take ‘em all out, one by one,’ offered Kracht as he fired his weapon again, ‘but it’ll take a while.’
‘We don’t have time for that. There’s gotta be something...’ said Saleek, his voice trailing off. Suddenly his eyes lit up.
‘Wait a minute!’ he exclaimed excitedly. ‘I’ve got it!’
‘Got what?’ demanded Kracht in confusion.
‘We’re goin’ about this all wrong. Like I said, this was supposed to be a stealthy rescue mission, not walkin’ straight into a full blown fire-fight, right?’
‘Yeah, try tellin’ them that!’ said Kracht as a bolt of plasma exploded a few metres away.
‘Here’s the plan: we’re gonna stop firing at them and instead we’re gonna sneak through this chamber and take ‘em out at close range from behind their cover.’
‘Are you nuts? How are we gonna do that? We can’t even get to the next bit of cover from here. As soon as we step out from behind these boxes, we’ll be shot!’
‘We’ll do it with a little help from something I prepared earlier,’ said Saleek, grinning from pointy ear to pointy ear.
He quickly opened the storage compartment on Kracht’s armour and removed the drone he had put there earlier.
‘That little thing? How’s that gonna help?’ asked Kracht, totally bewildered by Saleek’s attitude.
‘You’ll see,’ came the confident retort as the lyan pressed several buttons on the sleek brown disc that was the drone.
The lights on it soon began to flash much more rapidly than before.
‘OK, whatever happens next, just remember that it’s all for show and none of it’s real,’ said Saleek before pressing a final button and throwing the disc up into the air.
Kracht was about to say something but before he could open his mouth to speak, the drone activated. The chamber was suddenly filled with a deafening cacophony of noise which sounded like overlapping explosions and about twenty spacecraft taking off at once. After Kracht recovered from the initial shock of that, he poked his head out from behind cover and gawped at what he saw. There were attack drones everywhere, flying at great speed throughout the whole room. He could also make out bright flashes and explosions which sent sparks and smoke flying through the air.
‘What the hell is that?’ asked Kracht as he looked back at Saleek, who was still grinning.
‘That drone is a countermeasures device designed to confuse the enemy. It projects holographic images of attack drones and explosions along with some pretty convincing sound effects, but none of it’s real,’ explained the lyan, looking exceptionally pleased with himself.
‘Seems real enough to me,’ said Kracht as he looked out from behind cover again.
He watched carefully as he saw another explosion which appeared to send thick black smoke billowing upwards towards the high ceiling of the chamber. Seconds later, the smoke faded before vanishing. Remarkably, there was no visible damage at the point where the explosion appeared to occur. Kracht suddenly understood what was going on and a slightly evil smile crossed his lips.
‘That’s fiendish,’ he said, nodding his approval. ‘I’ve gotta get me one of those.’
‘That thing won’t distract them forever. We gotta get from here to that exit on the far side of the room. Come on, let’s go!’ said Saleek as he darted out from behind the stack of crates and ran towards some free-standing shelves packed with spare parts.
‘Remember to leave some for me!’ insisted Kracht as he followed his spiky companion as quickly as he could manage.
The hostile aliens were thoroughly confused and scared – some ran away, others cowered behind cover, whimpering in fright while a handful tried to fire at the drones and shoot them down. In the chaos of noise and light, none of them noticed that their blasts did not miss their targets, they simply passed straight through them. As Saleek carefully yet briskly made his way from cover to cover, he soon found himself standing in front of three shocked creatures, all of them sat on the floor and cowering. For a few seconds, Saleek was caught in two minds. On the one hand, if he ignored them and kept going then they might choose to follow him and attack from behind. On the other hand, they didn’t seem like any threat at the moment so it seemed unnecessary to hurt them.
Just as Saleek was wrestling with this moral dilemma, Kracht caught up to him. Upon seeing the three aliens the big warrior lurched forwards with a surprising amount of agility considering his size and clobbered them all with the butt of his laser rifle. Moments later they were all laid out unconscious on the floor.
‘What was that for? They weren’t attacking us,’ said Saleek, his mouth open in disbelief at his companion’s actions.
‘You’re too soft, Saleek,’ replied Kracht. ‘Any of these guys could attack us without warning. Did you think this was gonna be a nice, easy rescue with no casualties at all? Look around you. We’ve created an underground warzone down here!’
Saleek swallowed hard – he realised that his ally was right.
‘C’mon, let’s keep goin’! Before they realise what’s really happening,’ said Kracht as he stepped in front of Saleek and moved off.
Somewhat reluctantly, Saleek followed him. As Kracht rounded a pile of stacked machinery, he came face to face with a group of four aliens who were all wildly spraying rounds into the air in a futile attempt to destroy the holographic drones. They didn’t even notice the armour-clad warrior sneak soundlessly up to them until it was too late. Kracht slung his rifle over his shoulder which freed up both his hands then he grabbed the first alien and lifted him off the floor with ease. The poor creature yelped in surprise before being unceremoniously thrown at the second alien. They both fell to the ground in a surprised heap. Kracht then stepped forwards and kicked the third alien
in his chest. The attack was so powerful that the creature’s ribs cracked instantly and he was catapulted over a nearby pile of metal sheeting to land somewhere out of sight. Just as the fourth alien was backing away and bringing his weapon to bear, Kracht calmly and smoothly took back control of his laser rifle and fired a burst of three blasts before the other alien could get off a single shot. Sparks flew and the unpleasant odour of burning flesh began to fill the immediate vicinity as the alien fell to the ground, dead.
Kracht quickly lowered his rifle and moved onwards. It was then that Saleek arrived at that point in the chamber and automatically let out a low whistle. Even though he didn’t like all this unnecessary violence, he had to admit that Kracht was one unstoppable fighting machine when he got going.
‘I’m so glad he’s on my side,’ said Saleek in a low voice before continuing on.
Kracht moved smoothly and methodically through every remaining part of the large storage room, clearing out resistance wherever he found it until he and Saleek were both standing at the exit and there were piles of unconscious or dead bodies littering the ground.
‘Aren’t you gonna call back the drone before we get outta here? We might need to use it again sometime,’ pointed out Kracht as he looked at Saleek.
‘Can’t,’ the lyan said simply. ‘The guy who sold it to me didn’t have the remote control for giving it commands.’
Kracht looked incredulous as he said, ‘Then why the hell did you buy it from him?’
Saleek gave Kracht a look which suggested he thought the reason was obvious. ‘Do I look like the owner of a private military organisation? I can’t just shop at military hardware stores, I’m a civilian. I bought it cheap on the black market ages ago. Thought it’d be useful if I ever needed a distraction to make an escape from somewhere.’
‘Whatever,’ said Kracht dismissively as he began to sniff the air.
He could just about make out the scent of more aliens – and they were close by.
‘I can smell more hostiles. Follow me!’ he said as he took off once more.
Saleek took one last look at the carnage he had helped to create before turning on his heels and following his companion out of the large room.
The Hidden Treasure of Darfor Page 45