by Mia R Kleve
The planetary government had proved cooperative, yet unaware of the cause of the Peacemaker’s disappearance. Gormanlu’s diplomatic mission had produced a map of the likely crash sites as well as where the local Zuul forces had already searched. There were specific details of where they had found some remains as well as evidence of the Peacemaker’s passage.
Naturally, Dani’po was not predisposed to trust such information, but it provided a starting point. She set her team to search the untouched areas to give the appearance of confidence in the information. Meanwhile, she focused the shuttles on searching for the wreckage.
Peacemaker Hezel confirmed via drones that they were following signs of the Zuul Peacemaker’s passage. They’d briefly picked up a beacon from the B’tweny Wun, Zelko’s ship, but it disappeared as soon as they got a fix. The trail was somewhat obvious—a little too obvious.
“Blue Ground Lead, this is Overwatch Two. I have what I believe is the wreckage of Peacemaker Zelko’s ship. I’m coming about to observe more closely.”
The ground team leader raised her hand to stop the team’s progress while she processed the data. She knelt, crushing some leaves as she put a hand down to brace herself. The statement itself was simple enough, but the Veetanho felt there was still a disturbing lack of data.
Too easy.
“Overwatch Two, please clarify. Is there doubt as to whether or not it is B’tweny Wun? Are you seeing debris and are merely unsure whether or not it is the correct wreckage?”
If it were the latter, that would be more troubling. How many aircraft had crashed here? Was there some planetary effect that could cause ships to crash, or was there a more nefarious reason? Experience argued for the latter.
Some native insect buzzed in front of her face, and her hand shot up and snatched it out of the air. Certainly, nanites would kill most maladies these creatures might carry, but one never knew.
“Blue Ground Lead, Overwatch Two. I am yet uncertain whether or not it is wreckage. Approaching now to clarify.” There was an uncomfortable pause. “Yes, it is indeed the wreckage of an aircraft. It looks slightly swallowed by the jungle, which is why it was hard to discern. A beacon activated which lead me to it.”
A beacon spontaneously activated?
It also occurred to her that a crashed vessel which had been there long enough to be overgrown was definitely not the vessel in question. Dani’po scratched her temple where another insect landed, adjusted her goggles, and blinked. Unless someone staged the vessel to look that way…
“Lieutenant Dani’po, I’ve found our Peacemaker!” This was from Shi’in. Dani’po, the exemplar of emotional restraint, visibly recoiled.
Too easy, indeed…
“Covering positions, team. Move to enclose. Shi’in, maintain a healthy distance until we’ve authenticated. Eyes out, everyone.” Dani’po rose to a crouch and scanned the area. The rest of the team was still up, standing tall, and spreading slowly toward the forward right flank where Shi’in was located. Rajeur, her opSha, was squinting as if focused on a specific sound, or possibly sounds. Something caught Hezel’s attention, and she crouched, peering intently into the forest, tightening the grip on her rifle.
“I do not understand, Lieutenant, we found Peacemaker Zelko. He seems weak and injured, he needs some water, I’m going to—”
She was cut off when the unmistakable report of a muffled laser pistol echoed through the forest. A laser pistol normally posed no threat to a Goka. Unless, of course, someone jammed it down their throat.
The rest of the team, in unison, jerked their heads in the direction of the shot, where Shi’in and the presumed survivor were. Their training should have saved them.
“DOWN! AMBUSH!” Leaves and dirt kicked up from her boots as she dove for the cover of a nearby tree as the forest erupted in a wave of gun and laser fire.
Flashes and slugs poured into Olben, the most obvious and heavily armed target. As his body shuddered unceasingly from the withering fire, his right arm dropped uselessly to his side and released his giant rifle with a heavy thud. He began to roar, but a scorching flash to the throat interrupted him. Stumbling back half a step, his head lolled drunkenly to the side with empty eyes. His knees buckled, and the Oogar Enforcer crumpled into the forest floor.
The Veetanho gave him only a fraction of a thought as she searched for targets to return fire. Smoke and splinters flew from the tree next to her as it absorbed slugs and burns in its thick wood. Dani’po allowed herself a brief calming breath before returning fire wherever she saw any hint of her opponents. There were seven, maybe eight, in an arc around their position. Recognizing her exposure to one on her left flank, she flattened, took quick aim, and fired three rapid shots. The Zuul attacker was either hit or keeping its head down.
“Overwatch Two, contacts from the ground. Looks like smoke plumes. I’m marking the positions.”
Well that sounds like missiles. Wouldn’t they know if there were missiles in the air? Unless, of course, they were not expecting it. The air assets were just as complacent as the ground team had been.
Maintain vigilance, the Buma had said. Dani’po had taken the advice somewhat superciliously. Of course, a Veetanho would maintain vigilance. What she had not done was convey that advice to her team. They were paying the price. They had operated under the belief that no one would attack a large group of Peacemakers, especially with a command ship at the stargate and representatives at the nearest settlement. She assumed they would hold the appropriate vigilance, as they should have. That had been a false assumption. It was a failure of leadership.
Refocusing, she alternated her attention between picking targets and sorting out where her team was. Somewhere, off in the far distance, was a deep popping noise.
“Blue Ground Lead, Overwatch Three. Overwatch Two is down.” He sounded surprisingly calm. “I’m defending against multiple launches. Looks like—Entropy! Ah, uh, no launch sites. I think they’re all trooper portable launches. Not sure if I can—ahh, I’m hit! There’s another—” The transmission ended. A sharp crack! echoed around her.
Rajeur crawled on all fours, dragged his rifle by the sling along the dirt, and scrambled for cover behind a dried-up old bush. His forked tail was up in the air, twitching nervously. The enormous ears were upright, as hard as steel. His head frantically jerked about as he attempted to visually acquire his echolocation contacts.
The leaves on the bushes wavered as if caught by a gust of wind. Something unseen impacted him through the foliage. He gasped and lowered himself weakly to the ground as if lying down to sleep. A moment later, a grenade exploded in the bush he’d used for cover. He would not be waking up.
Her XenSha had also arranged herself behind a tree for cover, but instead of returning fire, she clung to her rifle for dear life, practically hyperventilating, tentacles spasming. Without looking or even turning her body, she flipped her rifle, gulped, and fired a few useless shots around either side of the tree.
“Calm yourself, Hezel! Get low, roll over, look for targets. Remember who you are and what you’ve been trained to do.” It was difficult to know whether the tentacled Peacemaker even heard her over the fire, but Hezel took a calming breath, closed her eyes, scooted down, and rolled over to face the enemy. Another grenade exploded off to their right.
“Ground Lead, Flight Lead, sitrep.”
Fighting for our lives with no time to make a progress report, you smug little feather brain.
That was not fair. The Buma was simply trying to determine how bad things had turned. He had given all the right guidance. Their situation was entirely her responsibility.
“Flight, Ground. Taking fire, multiple casualties. Request air cover but be advised, there are trooper portable anti-air missiles. Will update as able.” Her tree was still thumping away as it absorbed slugs and scorches, though fewer than before.
From on her left flank, there was a hiss and a crunch. Sparing a glance, she caught sight through the branches of Ka’Ri’s muscula
r, tan fur. The Zuul that Dani’po had shot rose into the air, run through by a blade. It choked and spasmed as Ka’Ri kicked it and drew out the blade with a loud sucking sound. After another low growl, the Pushtal lithely sank back down out of sight without a sound.
Hezel focused, clearly picking out the heat signatures of the enemy Zuul through the foliage and took aim. Her tentacles lay flat against her back. She frequently flinched from return fire, but she was in the fight. She fired and something downrange gave a growl of pain. Hezel grinned, turned her head, and nodded to Dani’po. Then, a laser flashed from behind her and burned a neat hole through her head. Her entire body slackened, and her eyes, still fixed on her lieutenant, glazed over.
Frantically, Dani’po searched for the attacker and found several Zuul moving through the trees. She fired a few covering shots in their direction and dodged to the side. Another growl meant another dead Zuul to her front. Taking a risk, she moved around to the chewed up, burnt side of the tree, and scanned for targets. One brazenly stood and took aim at her. She fired first. As the tall, brown furred canine fell backwards, she spotted Ka’Ri in a paw-to-paw fight with a Zuul. The large, tan, feline favored her left arm and looked ragged. In some places, her hair was singed and her skin charred, in other places, the hair was matted with blood that may or may not have been hers. Likely some of both.
Scanning right, she picked out a few more enemy corpses leading in the other direction, with no clear indication as to the method of their demise. The enemy Zuul raked Dani’po’s tree with fire from the other side, effectively evening out the damage. She poked out the side, took aim, fired, and quickly ducked back before the enemy riddled the spot with return fire.
Sensing movement immediately behind her, she found Ka’Ri had dragged herself up behind Dani’po, coming to rest on her right elbow. The Pushtal’s right eye was swollen shut and the entire side of her face was wet with blood. Her left paw clutched her side to hold her insides together.
“Cleared…that quadrant.” She coughed and took a heavy breath. “Saw Ch’rli skitter away, one of them is…out there.” She grimaced and scrunched her eyes closed. Dani’po found an uninjured spot on the Pushtal’s shoulder and gently touched her.
“You’ve done very well. Rest a moment while we finish them off.” Ka’Ri nodded and settled back. Dani’po pulled a nanite injector from her belt and jabbed it into the Pushtal. To stay put would be death for both her and Ka’Ri. She tightened her grip on her rifle and pushed herself into a crouch. Naturally, the next best piece of cover was the tree Hezel had used, albeit on the other side. Dani’po leaned right, fired twice, leaned left, fired twice, and sprinted for her new tree. Barely staying ahead of the fire, she landed behind the tree, spun, and found two targets from her new angle. She put them both down.
A series of explosions echoed in the far distance. They were definitely on the ground, not the air.
Only the Goka and she remained in the fight, so she had no fear of fratricide. She unclipped a grenade from her combat harness and tossed it. When it went off, she moved toward different cover. She found one more target crouching low and took it out. Almost subconsciously, she released the drained power cell and slapped in another one.
Boots crunched into leaves nearby, and a large gray canine peered around the tree, gun muzzle raised and aimed. The Zuul took half a step forward before either could fire, and convulsed. Dani’po shot it squarely in the chest. The muzzle of its weapon dropped and fired harmlessly into the ground. Its jaws hung open, blood and drool dripping out, and it fell forward, flat on its face. A giant black insect clung to its back, and he jerked out two knives he’d buried deeply into the assailant’s sides. The insect’s black orbs darted about hungrily, looking for more prey. Without a word, Ch’rli skittered away.
The sounds of destructive chaos ceased, replaced with the simple sound of her own blood beating loudly in her head. While she calmed, she crouched warily, and ran from cover to cover back to her original tree. Ka’Ri had ceased breathing. Another expended nanite cartridge lay at her side, dropped from her hand. It had not been enough.
Dani’po stalked carefully from one team member to the next and checked for signs of life. There was none. After confirming each loss, she removed and collected their identification, comms, translators, and any personal effects they carried. She occasionally caught a glimpse of the Goka skittering in the distance.
She returned to the clearing where the engagement had started. The poor black-shelled Peacemaker lay alone and unmoving on a patch of grass in front of a fallen old log. There was no sign of any fighting or resistance, just boot impressions trailing out, heading toward where the rest of her team had been. She crouched in front of her dead teammate and lifted his head. Externally, there was no sign of damage, but the smell of burnt insect permeated the area. Shi’in had innocently marched in, attempted to help what he thought was their downed Peacemaker, and swallowed a laser before he knew what was happening. Dani’po had not commanded the vigilance he had needed to survive.
The Veetanho Peacemaker sat softly on the log, which was where the imposter Zuul had sat.
“Blue Flight Lead, Blue Ground Lead. Engagement is over. Only Ch’rli and I remain. The rest of the team is confirmed deceased. Still no sign of Peacemaker Zelko.”
There was an infuriatingly long delay in the response. In the distance, she heard a series of explosions reverberate through the forest.
“Ground Lead, Flight Lead. Copy all. I’m calling the operation off. I’m sending Overwatch Four to extract you while we still can, Overwatch One will provide cover. Break, break. Overwatch One and Four, find a secure landing zone near the team and relay position.”
“Copy all, Flight Lead.”
Dani’po numbly looked around. Her collection of the lost team members was complete. She reached down and grabbed Shi’in’s knives, comm piece, and translator pendant. He and Ch’rli, unlike the others, had not carried any forms of identification. These were the only effects she could collect.
Though she had heard nothing, she found Ch’rli had settled next to her, calmly watching her take the equipment from his partner. She bagged the comm and pendant and offered the knives to him. Ch’rli turned and, without breaking eye contact, slowly accepted them.
“Ground, Overwatch Four. There is a clearing eight hundred meters, bearing zero one five from your position, on the other side of a ridge. Circling to track down ground threats. Notify when five minutes from the clearing. Overwatch Four, out.”
She and Ch’rli were still staring at each other. “Are you ready?” she asked.
Her last surviving team member nodded. Panning the map on her slate, she located the identified extraction site. She stood and slowly moved in that direction. Ch’rli, eyes darting left and right, disappeared into the undergrowth and shadowed her.
* * *
They were nearly to the extraction site when a twig snapped. Dani’po leapt and tumbled behind the nearest tree for cover. She jerked her rifle back up to a ready position and she leaned out. Squinting through the trees, she saw a gray furred Zuul trudging toward her. She aimed but held her fire.
This Zuul was not armed. He was scrawny, weak, and wore the tattered remains of coveralls. A black streak scuttled behind him.
“Ch’rli, STOP!” Breaking cover and dropping her rifle, she sprinted toward the new arrival. She and the Goka arrived simultaneously. She grabbed a handful of fur on each side of his waist and wrenched him around to block him from Ch’rli. The three collapsed into a heap. “It’s Zelko! This is our Peacemaker. Ch’rli, stop! We found him!”
The Goka took two cautious steps away, knives at the ready, still poised to strike. “Prove it.”
The Zuul, unmoving, stared at her with weary bloodshot eyes.
“Peacemaker Zelko?” she asked.
He nodded, swallowed dryly, and croaked, “Heard fighting, had faith you would win.”
Just barely. Dani’po reached into her memory of his file. “What was
your graduating class?”
He gulped, and she could see him working his tongue around, fighting to gather the saliva with which to speak.
“8-2-0-8-0-6,” he croaked out. She nodded and motioned for Ch’rli to lower his knives. He did not.
“Where was your commissioning mission?” she asked.
With a pained expression, he swallowed again and took another long moment to speak. “Vega Three One.”
A boom sounded in the distance, followed by a string of scorching laser fire and a few loud cracks.
Dani’po repeated her motion to Ch’rli. “It’s him.”
“Excellent,” Ch’rli stated. “It might have been useful to discuss those questions with the rest of the team.”
She silently agreed. After handing a water bulb to the recovered Peacemaker, she asked, “Peacemaker, do you have any injuries?” He shrugged. Nonetheless, she quickly stabbed him with her last nanite injector before he could protest. He tensed, snarled through clenched jaws, and kneeled on the ground. “Can you walk a little further?” He nodded.
A blinding light lit up the forest. Squinting and peering through the trees, the light dimmed, and in its place they could see a telltale mushroom cloud rising into the sky. A nuclear device had been set off. Soon, a great roar permeated the forest, followed quickly by a strong rumble through the ground.
“Ground, Flight! A nuclear device has just gone off in the city. Overwatch Four is approaching the extraction site. Get there now! We have multiple missiles tracking on your position inbound from orbit. I assume they’re planning to nuke the entire area. Move!”
“Climb on,” Ch’rli said calmly. The Zuul complied, and the Goka began crawling quickly toward the extraction site. Dani’po raced to keep up.
The deafening roar of engines overpowered her senses, and there was a blast of wind as they approached the clearing. The HecSha pilot brought the ship in quickly, killed the velocity, and dropped into the grass. The trio charged up the ramp, found seats, and strapped in. Before they could buckle in, the shuttle lurched back into the air.