by Jan Domagala
Backing up the stairs and firing at anything that came through the doorway whilst trying not to get hit took all of Hawk’s concentration.
Plasma bolts singed the air around him, fired by the wounded man who had been the first to emerge at that level. It would only be a matter of time before his wild shots found their mark and his struggle would be over.
A gunshot from over his shoulder startled him until he heard a familiar voice in his ear bug.
“Just a few more feet Matt, hurry, we’ll hold them off ’til you get here,” Colonel De Boer said, firing his Remm Mk III assault rifle again in a short, controlled burst. The plasma bolts struck another Rover5 as he tried to gain ground on the fleeing form of Hawk. The bolts struck the Rover5 high on his chest stitching a path up from his sternum through his throat and finally destroying the head in a haze of blood and gore.
Hawk saw his chance now that he had backup and he turned and sprinted up the final few plascrete stairs, his arms and legs pumping as he raced ahead of imminent death.
Once through the door he was followed closely by the Colonel, who asked, “What now, Matt?”
“We’ll have to reach another exit tunnel entrance on this level, and fast,” Hawk replied, his voice stern and full of purpose.
Just as they were getting ready to move, a doorway facing them in the corridor ahead opened, and out rushed three clones all dressed the same, full battle gear with Remm Mk III assault rifles aimed at them.
“Oh shit!” exclaimed one of the marines close to the front of the group.
“Freeze, don’t move,” one of the clones ordered.
Another door opened and then another followed by yet more doors, clones pouring out of each one. Before long they were faced with what seemed an impenetrable wall of man plus firepower.
From the doorway Hawk came through the group to stand next to Tanya who asked in a very scared voice, “What do we do now?”
Looking at what stood before them and knowing what was coming up behind them he replied, “I’m working on it.”
22
Wilde was pacing the bridge of the Nemesis like a caged tiger, waiting for some word from his troops down on the planet when ops said, “Sir, we have two hyperspace windows opening nearby.”
Spinning around he glared at the man and said, “Tell me.”
Swallowing hard, ops said, “We have two more cruisers, sir, they’re charging their weapons and locking on to us.”
Thinking rapidly, Wilde came up with a solution and contacted Rygar down on Earth. “We’ve run out of time, we’re under attack by four cruisers and fighters, we have to leave in the next few minutes if we want to survive. Tell me you have Sinclair and my daughter alive,” he said through the com. channel via his NI.
“We do, sir,” Rygar replied just as he was about to give the order to kill them all.
“Good, leave now, no questions. Drop everything and bring Sinclair and Tanya here now, you have less than five minutes,” Wilde said urgently.
“What about the others, sir?” Rygar asked, halting the clones firing.
“No time, leave them. Just make sure Tanya and Sinclair are alive, now get moving man or we are all dead,” Wilde almost screamed at him.
Rygar didn’t know how bad things had got on the Nemesis, but now he had some idea from Wilde’s words and tone. He was normally cold, efficient and unflappable, so things must be bad.
Wilde turned back to ops and said, “My daughter’s NI is coded to pass through our shields so keep them up and keep our weapons tracking those cruisers, stall them for as long as possible. As soon as Rygar gets aboard, jump to our secondary base.”
“Aye, sir, but I’m not sure how long the secondary shields will hold out,” ops replied.
“We have triple hull plating, if that gets breached close off the entire section. I’m not leaving until Sinclair is on board.”
“Aye, sir.”
* * * * *
Rygar singled out Tanya Wilde and he knew Sinclair from his time with the Black Knights. Under the threat of certain death from so much firepower, Hawk had lowered his Sig and had urged the rest to do the same. A gunfight inside a confined space against overwhelming odds like that was just plain suicide and Hawk had opted to stay alive, for while life remains, hope endures.
When Rygar grabbed Tanya and went to pull her from the group, Hawk reacted instinctively. He grabbed Rygar’s hand in a vice-like grip and twisted it from her arm then punched him full in the face with a straight left that caught him off guard and put him on his back.
Before Hawk could do anything else there were three clones battering him in the back, ribs and head with the stocks of their assault rifles.
Under such a barrage of blows not even someone as powerfully built as Hawk could cope and he went down, vainly trying to cover up. Once he was on the floor the three clones continued to kick him.
Rygar got to his knees, spat out a wad of blood red spittle that contained a few broken teeth, then stood up. With a wave of his hand he called off his dogs and said, “You must be the hero, coming to the rescue.”
Hawk looked up at him through pain-filled eyes and his cold stare spoke volumes. Rygar understood that look, had seen it many times from many men. It meant he was a dead man, yet there he stood, alive. This time would be no different he supposed.
“Well, if you’re the hero that makes me the bad guy, but in this version the bad guy wins,” he said with a smirk. Turning to his men he said, “Bring her, him,” indicating Sinclair, “and bring him too,” pointing to Hawk who was being manhandled off the floor by two burly clones. “I’ve not finished with him yet. The rest leave behind, we have to leave now, no time for fun, that’ll come later,” he finished then led the way to the door.
“You two stay with them and make sure they stay here. Give us thirty seconds then follow on, seal the door after you to make sure they don’t follow,” Rygar said to two clones standing by the door.
De Boer stood powerless to help the three friends being taken by Rygar and inside he raged with pent up frustration and fury.
A glance from Sinclair told him not to attempt anything for fear it may cost the lives of those innocents present and it was all the Colonel could do to comply.
Rygar led the way, sprinting up the stairs with his men behind. Hawk was being closely watched even though they had all been stripped of their weapons. Rygar had contacted the team that had taken out Ops Centre and ordered them to rendezvous with him and the rest at the drop site where they would hitch a ride back to Nemesis.
Hawk had a few cuts on his face, one above his right eye and on his left cheekbone, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, his ribs were bruised from the rifle butt blows and from several kicks and his back was sore, but apart from that he considered himself to be in pretty good shape considering what could have happened.
What to do about their present situation, now that was the problem? Unfortunately it was a problem he couldn’t resolve at that moment. The situation he was in may have its advantages he realised, once he knew he was to accompany them and not be put to death by the man in charge. Clearly he was not a clone and Hawk wondered if he was the one who had led the attack on the shuttle and even further back, on the compound? If he was the one then both of them would view this similarly and have scores to settle with the other. The merc would want to get even for Hawk continuing to escape and on the other side Hawk would want revenge for the deaths the other man was responsible for in their first encounter. Again, unfortunately, the other seemed to have the upper hand so Hawk would have to wait patiently for the moment to come when he could reverse that trend.
As they reached the surface, the first of the two Hurricane C230 troop carriers from Fort Bragg was approaching. The C230 from the Nemesis was already on the ground having landed after getting the call from Rygar to come back for the evac.
Recon Delta marines in full battle gear began to rappel down to the ground from the C230 sent from Fort Bragg. Before any co
uld even reach the ground though, Rygar had organised his clones to fire on them with some success. Two groups of five Rover5s stood on either side of Rygar’s team and fired on the marines as they approached the ground. Rygar led the rest of his group including his captured prisoners towards the C230 on the ground which had already started to warm up her engines in preparation for a rapid take off.
The pilot of the first C230, who was hovering so that his cargo of marines could debark, saw the Rover5s firing on the defenceless men on the rappelling lines and knew that if he didn’t take action he would lose all of them. Quickly he brought his craft’s pulse cannons to bear on the men shooting at the marines and fired. The pulsed plasma bolts struck the ground in a line leading to their target, breaking up the plascrete until it reached the five Rover5s to Rygar’s left.
Bodies were blasted to bits by the cannon fire in a shower of blood and gore. With them dispatched, the pilot trained his cannons on the other group firing on the marines. He made short work of them too having found the range, destroying them with a hail of pulsed plasma that sent them flying like their comrades.
As soon as the resistance had ceased the marines began to hurtle to the ground in ever increasing numbers.
Rover5s began to fall under the blistering fire from both the marines who had landed and the C230 that brought them, giving the second C230 the chance to debark her entire cargo of troops safely.
Rygar saw his transport a scant few dozen feet away and his protection of Rover5s dwindle to dangerously low numbers. Already he’d lost all the mercenaries that had formed his original team before being given command of the clones and now that too was almost gone. Firing his assault rifle from the hip he cleared a path for himself and the three captives along with the eight remaining Rover5s.
Quickly they boarded the ramp of the troop carrier just before her engines were given full vertical thrust making it seem like she almost leapt into the air. The pilot fired pulse cannons at the first troop carrier making her swerve almost into the path of the second, then he fired a brace of Sabre missiles at the second C230 as the pilot of that craft fought to regain control after the near collision. The C230 carrying Rygar and the rest managed to get clear in the ensuing chaos.
On board the escaping C230, Matt Hawk was cheered by the fact the odds against them had dwindled immensely and, although he was still outnumbered by quite a large number, he took heart from that. He was certain an opportunity would present itself soon to thin those odds down even more. He just had to wait, be patient and above all, vigilant so that when it arrived he would be ready to take advantage of it.
* * * * *
Colonel De Boer was not going to take this lying down, he was going to do something about it, but as he watched Hawk get beaten and then, along with General Sinclair and Tanya Wilde, get singled out to be taken away he wondered just what it was he could do. Outnumbered and out-gunned he saw little hope in mounting any sort of resistance, and the glance from the General telling him not to put the group’s lives at risk was the clincher.
He had run out of options, or so he thought.
The moment he saw the hostiles filing out of the door with their three captives an idea struck him.
Only two hostiles were left behind with orders to wait for thirty seconds then follow on after sealing them in, not a great deal of time to implement his plan but it would have to do. Thirty seconds didn’t give him any time to discuss the merits of his plan with the others either, which meant whatever he planned on doing he would have to do it alone.
During the time that the hostiles were leaving he had managed to position himself at the front of the group facing the two men who had been chosen to remain behind.
A distance of only a few feet separated them from the two hostiles. The other marines had taken their lead from the Colonel and had worked their way to the front of the group and now, like De Boer, were steadily inching forward, crowding the men guarding them.
One of the guards glanced at the chronometer on his wrist and, as the second guard became distracted by the slight movement, De Boer saw his chance and rushed them.
The marines with him were just half a step behind and when he moved they followed by rushing the two clones.
The Colonel slammed into the clone to his right, one hand pinning the assault rifle to the man’s chest as they collided with the wall behind taking the other clone with them.
The marines being that half step behind were ready to grab the clones as they bounced off the wall.
The marines quickly subdued the two clones using a savage series of blows, leaving them unconscious on the floor.
“C’mon, we have to move, we’ve got to help the General and Matt,” De Boer said as he opened the door to the exit tunnel. They all left the hallway and ran after the fleeing group who had their friends captive.
* * * * *
Hawk managed to get himself seated as close to General Sinclair and Tanya Wilde as possible. The latter two were the real prizes here; Hawk was merely the bonus, a little toy that Rygar planned to have fun with later.
His ear bug was still in place and he heard a familiar voice, “We’ll be with you in a few seconds,” De Boer said, his voice coming through loud and clear but only to him.
Hawk scratched his right ear keying the ear bug and said, “We’ll soon be aboard the Nemesis, General. I wonder what your father has in store for us, eh Miss Wilde?” as he leaned forward to talk to his fellow captives and answer the Colonel’s statement.
“Copy that, we’ll get to you somehow, just sit tight and keep them safe, De Boer, out,” the Colonel replied. Hawk knew there was no need to respond; he would do everything he could to safeguard the lives of the two people with him.
Rygar looked at Hawk and with a sneer said, “Oh you don’t need to worry about them my friend. Her father will indeed keep them, entertained shall we say, while you on the other hand…” and he left the sentence to hang in the air.
Tanya asked, “What… what about him?”
Hawk looked at her and smiled then calmly said, “I’m to entertain him.”
“I don’t know what that means,” Tanya said naively, looking firstly at Hawk who sat serenely across from her then at Sinclair sitting next to her.
“Best that you don’t my girl,” he said, placing a calloused hand on top both of hers in her lap.
“Don’t worry Tanya,” Hawk said soothingly, “I’ll be fine and so will you.”
“How?” she asked in a little voice, trying her damnedest not to show her fear.
“Yes, hero, how are you going to accomplish that little feat? As the bad guy I have a vested interest,” Rygar said, hoping to show the futility of their hopes of salvation.
Hawk looked at him with ice-cold eyes and said, “Simple, first I kill you then I rescue them.”
Rygar was taken aback by his blunt, confident words and the manner in which they were delivered, not with passion or histrionics but simply stated as matter of fact. His eyes, the coldness of his stare, chilled him to the bone and he found himself wondering if bringing Hawk along was such a good idea after all. He started to think that perhaps safety might have been more prudent than self-indulgence and decided he would kill him as soon as they were on board. He would do it personally to ensure that it was done right.
Finding he could no longer hold Hawk’s stare he had to look away saying feebly, “We’ll see.”
23
The Nemesis was surrounded by the four cruisers. The Justice and Legend had each contacted other starships and had been rewarded with the knowledge that the Odyssey and Atlantis would follow as soon as possible and it was they who had joined the battle.
Once the four cruisers were in their relative positions they could circle the Nemesis, evading any fire from her whilst counter attacking.
It would be almost impossible for the carrier to escape whilst being surrounded by those four cruisers, but Wilde was determined to try. He had come so far and got too close to his ultimate prize
to lose it all now. The prize was still his for the taking and he would grasp it with both hands.
* * * * *
The troop carrier that held Rygar, Hawk, Sinclair, Tanya Wilde and the remainder of the Rover5 squad, left Earth. At first the pilot was worried about the fighter craft attacking the Nemesis and having to navigate a way through them, but as they neared their objective he noticed they were busy. That wasn’t to say their passage would be easy, far from it. The four cruisers were still attacking and the carrier’s shields would have to remain up. Rygar contacted Wilde to inform him they were on approach and was told to come ahead as a diversion would be staged so they could get through the blockade.
Ordering the captain to concentrate all his firepower on one of the cruisers, didn’t matter which one, he wanted to cause enough damage to get her to pull out of the attack.
The Justice was targeted and the carrier’s pulse cannons were fired and a full spread of Sabre and Hammerhead missiles was sent her way. The amount of firepower unleashed upon the one craft was staggering and overloaded her shields within seconds and she began to sustain heavy damage. Explosions erupted down her flanks and, unwillingly, she had to pull out of the fight until repairs could be completed.
The second a gap appeared in the cordon around the Nemesis the C230 powered through it passing harmlessly through the carrier’s shields and straight into one of the flight deck bays.
The Legend, Odyssey and Atlantis closed that gap by altering their courses and firing patterns, battering the larger craft hoping to disable her.
The Nemesis had taken a pounding from the cruisers around her and her armament was quickly becoming depleted, but the news that the prisoners were on board was just what Wilde wanted to hear.
“Captain, hail the respective captains of those cruisers and inform them that we have General Sinclair on board with us and if they do not cease firing immediately, I shall execute him,” Wilde said with a satisfied grin.