by REM
“Let’s go. Get to your craft!” Rolly ordered.
Scope and Bor had already started for their ships; Scope to his modified striker and Bor to a small transport that Rolly would be piloting.
Everyone blasted off into space, where Captain Scope called for a protect formation around the transporter carrying Rolly and Bor.
As Josh was finding to be a standard procedure, their group entered the Cosmolis extremely low. Surprised the Mercen haven’t caught on to this by now, he thought, marveling at the colorful lights that never seemed to get old.
They flew in a tight formation, keeping a careful eye on radar for any Mercen patrols. Rolly had transmitted along the way that allies were keeping watch for shadow fighters heading for the aurora, and that reservists were working up distractions on their nightly patrols. I hope this goes smoothly, thought Josh.
Josh and the team entered Zint from the west and flew low to the surface. They approached from the opposite side of the mountain where the Mercen base was located.
When they neared their destination, all pilots cut their main thrusters and cruised in for a landing not far from the entrance to the cave.
Josh saw where a few Mercen craft were parked across the way.
The pilots hurried down from their strikers and hustled over to where Bor had just stepped out from the transporter. The ‘ultimate’ marine began handing everyone a laser-mitigating vest.
Josh took one and slid his arms through it. At that moment he noticed the huge machine gun Jekel was carrying, along with the ammunitions wrapped around his upper body. Crazy son of bitch. That thing belongs in a museum. “What about Rolly?”
“He stays with the ships,” replied Bor, pulling the laser rifle from his back and whispering, “Move out!” He turned into a crouch and dashed toward the base of the mountain.
Josh and the others did the same. Josh glanced over at Jekel, who was having the hardest time keeping up. They should’ve had him stay with the ship and Rolly come with us, he thought.
Once they were at the hillside, Bor signaled a stop with his fist, scanned the area, then motioned the crew to push on up for the entrance. He ordered another stop before entering the cave, crouched along the right wall.
Josh was hoping the Mercens didn’t see any use in guarding a base so heavily damaged. Those hopes were dashed, however, after seeing two enemy soldiers chatting with guns in their hands. It was so dark that they didn’t notice Josh and his crewmates sneaking toward them.
Bor motioned everyone to a halt about fifty yards out from the Mercen guards. Josh watched the marine screw a silencer onto the tip of his rifle. Once attached, Bor lay on his stomach and pointed the barrel while peering through a scope.
Thoot! A laser flashed out from the marine’s rifle and splattered the Mercen on the right’s skull. The other jerked away in shock, twisting toward the dark section of the cave with its weapon raised. Thoot! A second shot from Bor’s rifle cut through the air and tore through the Mercen’s face.
Damn, all headshots, thought Josh.
“Go, go!” Bor whispered, hustling to his feet and leading a crouched sprint for the circular room ahead. He dropped a grenade in the process, but Ven picked it up quickly.
Josh gripped his blaster tight, hurrying behind.
Their group halted at the intersecting of rooms to peek inside. They then crept in to the right and stopped before reaching the door way to the large computer room.
Bor looked at Scope and motioned his head toward the pilots.
Scope slid the backpack from over his shoulders and pulled out four detonators. He handed two to Josh, the rest to Ven.
“Scope and I will eliminate whatever’s in the computer room, then secure a captive. You two take that elevator downstairs and place your explosives evenly.”
Josh nodded. He heard Ven say, “Sure thing, mate.”
“Jekel, you cover the main strip,” said Bor.
Jekel nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Bor peeked into the computer room and saw four guards, plus three scientists, at the back of the room.
A guard walking toward the door saw him and cried out, “Aaiiee!” The three other Mercen soldiers sprung to alert with their weapons raised.
Thoot! Thoot, thoot! Lasers zipped out into the circular room.
Bor snapped his head toward Josh and Ven while reaching for a grenade. “When I throw this, you two dive across the doorway and get to that elevator!” Neither had time to reply before Bor turned and slung the grenade around the side of the wall, taking care that it didn’t reach the scientists.
Boom! The explosion sent fire flaming back out through the doorway.
Josh rose up with Ven at his side and dashed for the elevator. When in it, he saw Bor and Scope lean around the side of the doorway to fire shots into the computer room at the same time that lasers were zipping out.
Those two are pro; they’ll get it done, Josh thought, as the doors on the elevator slid closed.
“Follow my lead, mate,” said Ven.
“You follow my lead! I’ve been out in deep space longer than you,” Josh replied. Much to his surprise, Ven didn’t argue.
“Don’t get us killed, mate. I don’t have time for any sissy shit.”
I have to watch my back for this guy just as much as I have to look out for Mercens, thought Josh.
The elevator stopped.
Josh raised his gun and glanced at Ven. When the doors opened he stepped out with it aimed while scanning for enemies. Looks clear, but it’s so long down here it’s going to take a thorough search to be sure.
“We’ve got to split up, mate, if we want to get this done quick.”
Josh kept scanning in the opposite direction. He turned and said, “Okay. I’ll go east. You go west.”
Ven moved to the left without replying.
Josh went right.
There were various single-room buildings in addition to tunnels. Some of the structures had been exploded and most of the tunnels had been collapsed. They probably didn’t have enough explosives to blow them all the last time we were here, thought Josh. Would have helped if that marine didn’t get killed when we were entering.
He thought he heard something and swung his gun to the right. It was nothing. Never did like being underground, he thought, peering up. Either someone from upstairs turned the lights on, or there’s definitely someone down here.
Josh stepped over a pair of dead Mercens and continued toward the far end. He glanced at the detonators attached to his waist. These are far more powerful than the ones they used before. “I better place one right here,” he muttered, detaching one of the devices and adhering it to the wall.
After that Josh searched the only two rooms on the right side of the eastern cavern with their structural integrity intact. Both were clear. Off to the left, he thought. No need to check the tunnels. Doubt any Mercens are in those, plus we don’t have the time.
Josh cut across to the sole room intact on that side. He heard movement from within and crept up to its front. The door was locked. Hmm, better place the detonator first. Josh crept alongside the structure and placed his detonator on the wall. Once it was set, he snuck back toward the front of the building.
There was a small hole in one of the structure’s walls that he’d missed before. Just great, thought Josh, peeking in at the two Mercen children playing with rubber ropes. He heard a faint rustle from behind—then felt the point of a blaster jab at his lower back.
“Could have killed ya, mate. You’ve got to pay better attention,” said Ven, startling Josh, but only for a split second.
Josh didn’t appreciate the scare and said, “Did you place your detonators?”
“Done, mate. Came to see what’s taking you so long. We’ve got to get the hell out of here. The officers are going to be disappointed.”
Just then, both pilots heard a transmission from Bor in their earpieces: “Get your asses up here. We’re moving out.”
Josh glanced at the deto
nator he’d just placed and thought, If I disarm that one the mission will still be a success and those kids might have a chance at getting out alive.
“What’s in that room, mate?” asked Ven.
Josh felt a surge of nervous energy. It took him a second or two to reply. “There’s two Mercen children, Ven. If we leave all but that explosive over there activated, we’ll still accomplish what we set out to do and they might have a chance. They’re innocent.”
Ven’s expression soured. “There ain’t no innocent Mercens. You know that. They’re going to grow up to be little killers just like the rest of their species.”
“We don’t know that for sure, Ven. No one’s ever been to the Mercen planet. For all we know it’s just their military that’s evil.”
“Sympathizers are the ones that become traitors, mate.”
“I’m far from it. These kids can’t be any older than five or six.”
“Future shadow fighter pilots.”
Josh saw there was no convincing Ven. “Fine, we’ll kill them. Let me make sure my detonator’s armed,” he said, turning and jogging over toward the device.
When Josh had arrived at the wall, he heard: “Get away, mate. I’m blowing it down.”
Ven had pulled the pin from the grenade he’d picked up earlier and tossed it at the structure the kids were playing in.
Josh thought to say, “No!” but had to run and dive in the opposite direction.
Boom! The building blew into a ball of flames.
Josh had his hands over his head while feeling debris coming down over his body. He looked toward the inferno—and couldn’t believe how cold-bloodedly Ven had murdered the Mercen youths.
“Let’s go!” said Ven, turning into a sprint.
Josh hustled to his feet and ran for the elevator. Ven punched a button once Josh was inside.
You heartless piece of shit! thought Josh, between staring down and glancing up at Ven.
The bad-boy rookie had his chin held high and looked pleased by what he’d done.
When the doors opened up top, Bor, Scope, and Jekel were standing over a sedated Mercen. Josh glanced to his left and saw every other Mercen was dead.
“Move your asses!” said Bor, reaching down with Scope to place the Mercen scientist over their shoulders.
“More enemies could’ve been called to this planet,” said Jekel, making sure that point was clear to Josh and Ven.
They all hustled down the main strip and out through the entrance.
The prisoner was loaded onto the transporter while the pilots hurried to their ships. A moment later the small Creston fleet was airborne and flying out from planet Zint.
No shadow fighters were encountered en route from the Cosmolis into Creston space. When approaching the M.N. Rampage, Scope transmitted, “Well done. It’s time for phase two. Pilots, follow me. Route formation.”
Josh saw the transporter diving in for a landing. He tilted his stick to a side and flew to Captain Scope’s wing.
The four strikers streaked through space on course to the coordinates Commander Clint had passed on to Captain Scope. It didn’t take long for Josh to realize they were veering much farther northwest than he’d been when encountering the unknown alien species. Interesting, he thought, wondering how Commander Clint had concluded the probability of the Mercens’ secret route. He has his ways.
They traveled for roughly an hour and a half before Captain Scope led the group into a descent.
“We’re almost to the suspected travel route,” Scope transmitted. “We will split at the location in four directions. Any sign of enemies on radar, and you are to bait them into thinking you’re a lone fighter on patrol. Ping us your coordinates. The rest of us will intercept from all sides to ensure a fight. One enemy craft has to survive so I can track it the remainder of its route. Which also means the enemy craft must be forced to flee deeper into Creston space—not back toward Mercen. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Josh transmitted, along with his colleagues. How the hell does he plan on tracking a Mercen ship without being detected? Either Scope has some special tech I’ve never heard of, or that’s not happening. A moment passed. Yeah… he’s definitely got some special tech.
They flew for nearly thirty minutes more.
“We’re here,” Captain Scope transmitted. “This is the general area the Mercens are figured to be sneaking into Creston space. The radius spans for thousands of miles in many directions, so we have a lot of space to patrol. Look at the information I’ve uploaded to your panels. On my call, everyone is to split to your assigned route. For Creston’s sake—let’s hope we get lucky. Break!”
Josh soared up into a twist and curled his striker southwest. Jekel veered west, Ven east, and Captain Scope continued northwest.
Where’re you hiding, you slippery snakes? thought Josh, pressing his throttle and adding some serious heat to his thrusters.
He flew for miles upon miles in search of an enemy. After a while, he started feeling tired. So much for sleep. This really does feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Josh tilted his striker right and zoomed past a dimming star.
More and more time passed without anything on radar. Josh eyed a rust-colored planet in the distance and wondered doubtfully if the Mercens might be lurking there. He punched the coordinates into his computer. A message popped up stating the planet to be toxic. Nope, uninhabitable.
Josh set his fighter to auto-cruise and dug his shoulders into the seat as best he could. Hell, I could probably just idle. Doubt it’d make much difference.
His eyes had sunken closed for much longer than he’d intended when—Josh jolted to alert hearing beeps from his monitor. He stared wide at the screen as if it were on fire. “That’s Jekel,” he said, peering at the pinged coordinates, followed by gripping the controls and tugging his striker into a U-ey.
Commander Clint’s a genius if this turns out to be Mercen craft. I wonder how many we’re dealing with! thought Josh. He raced through space for thousands of miles.
A second ping came through with slightly different coordinates. There was also a message attached: “Hurry!”
Hold on, Jekel. Josh whipped through space, eventually receiving transmissions from the rest of his team.
“I’m coming in from the northwest. Make sure we pin them from all angles,” Captain Scope transmitted. “ETA, six minutes.”
“I’m about ten minutes out,” Ven transmitted.
“Eight here,” said Josh.
“Okay, sync your speeds for ten minutes so we all hit at the same time. Jekel, what’s your status?” asked Scope.
“I’m doing fine so far. They quit chasing me, but I looped around and poked at them. Now we’re going back and forth between chase, poke.”
“Don’t make it obvious,” the captain replied.
“What’s their numbers?” asked Josh. Scope had already been informed.
“Five. Four shadow fighters. They’re guarding a transporter. Can only imagine what’s on it,” said Jekel.
“I want it taken out,” Scope transmitted.
Four shadow fighters ain’t bad at all, so long as they’re not all marked fighters. We’ve got a decent squad out here, thought Josh.
There was quiet over the transmission for a stretch, until Josh heard Jekel transmit, “They’re all over me now—they’ve had enough of the games!”
Shit, thought Josh, looking down at a timer he’d started and the last set of coordinates pinged by Jekel.
“Failure will be inexcusable. Do not err!” Scope transmitted.
There was heavy breathing from where Jekel was going to transmit, but was heard jockeying his stick instead.
“Less than a minute,” Josh transmitted, now able to see his team on radar.
“They see us. Don’t let them pull off, mate,” Ven transmitted.
Wow, thought Josh, at sight of Jekel being chased into a broad curve and a multitude of lasers whizzing past his striker. Okay, you bastards, time to eve
n things up!
The shadow fighters split off in different directions to counter Josh and his crew zooming into the fight.
The struggle became a hot mess with fighters looping and swerving in a variety of angles. Josh locked onto an enemy ship and dove after it into fierce weaving. The pace was fast and furious. “Oh yeah!” Josh muttered under his breath, working his stick hard to keep tight on the Mercen’s rear. Fuckin Dazzler would’ve already killed one by now. I know it! slipped through his mind. He fired a shot that missed, then rode the shadow fighter into another arduous wind.
“The transport ship’s hightailing it,” Ven transmitted.
“I want Josh on that transporter. It can’t get away!” Scope transmitted.
“I’m so close to nailing this shadow fighter,” Josh responded.
“Get on that damn transporter!” barked Scope.
Damnit! thought Josh, cutting off from the chase in the opposite direction. “Yes, sir. It won’t escape,” he transmitted, giving his striker everything it had. The shadow fighter he’d been chasing slashed after him. Great, now the son of a bitch is on me.
It wasn’t long before Josh had gained on the transport ship and was closing in on shot.
A missile launched from the Mercen vessel and blazed toward Josh’s striker. A quick slap of his fingers to the mini-missiles counter system was all that was needed to ward off the threat. His striker tore through the flames. Successive dual beam blasts flashed out from his cannons and set half of the enemy craft on fire. It only took a couple seconds for the rest of it to blow. “Transporter down,” Josh transmitted.
“Good job. Get your ass back here—I want us fighting as a group,” Scope transmitted.
Josh twirled hard to avoid a pair of enemy beams, then hooked wide and belted toward the main struggle. All enemy fighters are still up. This is going to be a stiff fight. Just as soon as he’d thought that, a bright light flashed out from the rear of Captain Scope’s ship, followed by a second. The modified striker curled around and lit up the disconcerted shadow fighter.
The Mercen craft that’d been pressuring Ven broke pursuit to swerve onto the captain’s trail.
Ven didn’t go after it. Instead he bent right to join in where Josh was dipping and dodging from the same relentless shadow fighter.