They had no information of the size of Elder Joleen’s forces, and how many would stand by her and how many would back down when it came to close quarters combat. Arthur was hoping many had agreed to follow Ajoch to spare their lives, but until they were aboard and in the thick of it, he had no way of knowing. He felt like he was back on the hive for a moment, fighting for his freedom against the Mori oppressors.
“Go go go!” Arthur yelled, punching the button to open the two heavy doors.
The soldiers advanced as soon at the doors began to open, four tight lines of ten Teleri each. Arthur, Gwen, Lance and Triltan followed at the rear, checking their corners as the soldiers advanced rapidly through the hangar bay.
A small cluster of guards and engineers were startled by the advancing soldiers, dropping their equipment as they held their arms tightly against their sides, trying to pose as little threat as possible. The line of soldiers on the left moved without needing to be told, securing the prisoner’s hands and attaching small disruption devices to each of their necks, disabling the capsules that each of them had. It was only a matter of time before Elder Joleen and her Followers knew about the Trojan Horse in their hangar bay, but every second they could delay that discovery slightly increased their chances of victory.
The remaining lines of soldiers had moved to cover the large exit corridor from the hangar deck. Once the prisoners were secured, Arthur addressed the soldiers quietly. “Right, okay,” he began. “It only gets more difficult from here. The shortest route to the train is straight down this corridor, left at the end, and then a right. We’ll be advancing in the open with little or no cover, and once we’re spotted everyone on this ship could potentially be gunning for us.
“If those in your way surrender, great. If not, don’t hesitate to defend yourselves. Elder Joleen’s got them riled up into a frenzy of hatred and blood lust, and they’ll more than likely kill us if they get the chance.
“Just keep pushing on the train.”
The soldiers made a quick motion of agreement and pressed on, rifles tucked tightly into their shoulders as they hurried along the corridor in formation. It looked just like the Ardent Dawn; brightly lit, with white walls covered by flowing symbols. Just as Arthur had described, there was no cover, and every step forwards was one step further from the safety of their ship.
The soldier froze at the t-junction before spilling forwards, weapons covering left and right. The path to the right was clear, but a small group of Teleri walking quickly towards them froze, eyes growing wide with fear. The two officers stood stock still, holding their arms at their sides, while the three guards behind them reached immediately for their weapons. Caran Doc’s soldiers cut them down, perfect shots to the centrer of their large faces, but as soon as the first shot was fired the ship’s alarms began to wail all around them.
The walls changed colour, the symbols all red and flowing more quickly than before. The siren was almost deafening, a high pitched screeching that was impossible to ignore. The two officers tried to turn and run, away from the noise and the murder of their colleagues. The foremost soldier raised his rifle to fire until Lance reached out and grasped, making his blasts strike the wall instead.
“They’re running away!” Lance hissed. “They’re no longer a threat!” The soldier stared furiously at Lance, but reluctantly lowered his rifle.
Weapon fire from behind them forced them back into the corridor towards the hangar deck. The two soldiers who had been covering the right corridor were thrown backwards, their chests burnt through by the blasts.
“Lance, Gwen, cover our back,” Arthur ordered, pointing back towards the hangar. “Commander, get eyes on the threat to the right.”
“If I may?” the Teleri Commander said, removing a small device from one of the pockets on his armour. Arthur had no idea of its function, so nodded in agreement.
The Commander edged along the wall until he reached the corner. Once there, he squeezed the device and threw it towards the sound of enemy fire. There was a whump and suddenly the enemy fire sounded quieter.
The Commander Ordered his forces to advance left and Arthur followed them, turning to look at what had happened to the enemy guards. As he peered cautiously around the corner, he could see that a section of the corridor had filled completely with a hardened foam, muffling the sound and absorbing the weapon fire.
“It’ll last for two, three minutes at the most,” the Commander said, “until they cut through.”
“Good job, Commander,” Arthur replied. “Keep pressing forwards towards the lift.”
Triltan looked at the foam admiringly as she followed them. “I’ve only heard of that used for hull breaches,” she muttered to herself.
They pressed on rapidly, along the corridor and to the right, tossing another of the foam grenades behind them and sealing off the corner. Ahead of them was the door to the train, closed tight. Unlike the doors along the corridors which were formed by the moving symbols, this looked more like the door to the cargo hold, solid and imposing.
“Triltan?” Arthur asked. “Are you able to get this open?”
“I’ll try,” Triltan replied, kneeling next to the control panel and beginning to tap icons. Every sequence she pressed was greeted with the same audible tone and a flash of red.
“Cover the corridor,” Arthur ordered. “Triltan, you’ve got thirty seconds.”
“I’m doing my best,” Triltan said meekly as another sequence rewarded her with a dissatisfied beep.
They stood tense, thirty-eight soldiers and Arthur, Gwen and Lance. Their eyes and their weapons were fixed upon the block of foam at the end of the corridor, the sound of the enemy weapon fire growing slowly louder as the foam was burnt away. Time stretched out before them, seconds becoming hours as their mouths became dry and their palms sweaty.
“Ten seconds, Triltan,” Arthur barked, louder and more angry than he intended.
“I’m, wait, got it!” Triltan yelled excitedly as the door hissed and began to slide open. The soldiers broke into two teams, one advancing rapidly through the slowly opening door and the other continuing to cover the corridor where the foam was all but burnt away. The train platform was empty apart from the two officers who were crouched in the far corner, trying to look small and insignificant.
“Everyone inside and seal the door,” Arthur ordered, stepping backwards but keeping his eyes on the corridor ahead of him.
As he crossed the threshold, the first of the enemy guards broke though and began to fire blindly along the corridor. The soldiers returned fire but it was already too late. Two more of Caran Doc’s finest were cut down, their corpses thrown backwards and onto the platform. Arthur ducked, reaching forward and pulling one of the soldiers to the floor as further fire struck the surrounding walls.
“Seal the door!” he yelled again, taking cover to the right of the door and firing blindly around it.
The soldiers fell back onto the platform and took up positions as best they could. Lance covered Triltan as she worked on the console, willing the door to close faster, throwing himself backwards just in time to miss another blast as it sailed past him.
The door continued to close slowly, the two halves creeping closer together. They could hear more blasts striking the surface of the door, but the odd one continued to pass through it. They were no longer in danger from the enemy weapon fire, but Arthur didn’t know what other weapons the guards might have. If they managed to get an explosive through the small crack, there’d be nowhere for them to run.
Arthur held his breath, watching as the two edges inched closer together. It seemed to take forever for them to meet, for the satisfying hiss as they sealed. “Make sure they can’t open it,” Arthur said with relief, his shoulders relaxing slightly as he took in the surrounding platform.
“Good job they didn’t have grenades,” he muttered to the Teleri Commander who moved to stand beside him.
“Explosive ordinance?” the Commander exclaimed, staring at Arthur wi
th amazement. “On a starship? They’d just as likely be sucked into the void as we were.”
“Of course, sorry,” Arthur replied, blushing as checked the two grenades were still attached to his belt. He made a mental note to mention it to Lance and Gwen; blowing things up had frequently been part of their plans when discussing tactics with Merlin.
“How are you doing?” Lance asked Triltan, looking over her shoulder at the console. He had no idea what the various symbols meant, but the increasing look of frustration on Triltan’s face suggested they weren’t what she was hoping for.
“Every time I try to lock it out, the system overrides it,” she replied.
“Stand back,” Lance said. As soon as she was out of harm’s way, lance raised his pistol and fired two shots into the console, turning it into sparks and molten metal.
“Or we could do that,” Triltan said with a smile, looking up at him.
Arthur called them over to a large display on the edge of the platform, which depicted two trains advancing towards them at speed. “I’m guessing we didn’t call them?” Gwen asked as she stared at the display.
“No,” Arthur agreed sullenly.
“And those symbols mean they’re both full,” Triltan added, pointing. “They’ll be here any second.”
“Commander, what was that you were saying about explosive ordinance?” Arthur asked.
*****
Caran Doc gripped the rail tightly as the bridge shook around him. “Report!” he barked to the officer to his right.
“Antimatter missile hit to the forward shields,” the officer replied. “Shields now at eighty-three percent, and we have minor hull breach on level nineteen, behind the main hangar doors.”
The bridge shook again as a further missile exploded against the shields. Caran Doc looked towards the large monitor which depicted a tactical display of the battle.
The smaller fighters were still engaging each other, thousands of them worming around each other in a never-ending dance of destruction. The fighters he could deal with, but more of Elder Joleen’s larger ships were entering the fight. As he watched, the display warned of a further antimatter missile, launched from the Vibrant Heart.
“All firing stations, this is Principal Caran Doc,” he announced. “Targeting of Elder Joleen’s fleet is authorised. Repeat, targeting of Elder Joleen’s fleet is authorised. Disable where possible, but the Ardent Dawn is not going down.”
“Officer,” Caran Doc said more quietly. “Any sign of them arming the singularity cannons, you order the remainder of our ships to jump immediately. We just need to give the strike team a little more time.”
“Yes, Principal,” the officer replied, though her hands were visibly shaking as she turned back to her console.
*****
“We just need to damage the track,” Arthur said as he jumped from the platform and into the tunnel opening. “Strand them inside the tunnel.”
“We could breach the hull!” the Commander cautioned.
“We’re as close to the centre of the ship as we can be,” Arthur replied. “And if those trains arrive, we’re dead anyway.”
As Arthur spoke, the faint lights of the foremost train appeared in the tunnel ahead of them, approaching rapidly. The Commander turned and ran, leaping up onto the platform as Arthur unclipped one of the grenades from his belt, pressed the small button on top and threw it along the tunnel towards the train. He sprinted as fast as he could towards the platform, just making it as the blast wave erupted from the tunnel mouth.
The shock wave blew him off his feet, the wall of flame scorching the hairs on his neck as he flew forwards onto the platform. The sound of the explosion was followed by the creaks of twisted metal as the foremost train struck the wall of the tunnel, wedging it between the distorted tracks and the wall. A moment later, another crash heralded the arrival of the second train as it ploughed at full speed into the first.
“You still alive?” Lance asked, as he smothered the smoking hairs on the back of Arthur’s neck.
“Ow,” Arthur replied, rolling onto his back.
“Is he alright?” Gwen asked, running over. “Arthur, is anything broken?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Arthur replied, grimacing. “Everything is just, ow.”
“Come on,” Lance said, offering Arthur a hand. “Up you get.”
Lance helped Arthur to his feet, Arthur rolling his shoulders to get them moving. Everything felt stiff and hurt all the more for moving. “I’ll be okay,” Arthur said, smiling at Gwen. “Come on, let’s get moving.”
Smoke rolled slowly from the tunnel mouth, but there was no sign of the trains or the soldiers who had occupied them. Arthur walked stiffly towards the display, where the right side of the screen was flashing a variety of symbols.
“Good job, Arthur,” the Commander said, mirroring Arthur’s words.
“Yes, great job,” Lance added. “Now there’s no train for us to ride to the bridge.”
“But there’s also no soldiers shooting at us,” Arthur replied, making Lance smile.
“The train is still the most direct route to the bridge though,” Gwen said. “So if we just follow the tracks, we’ll be heading straight for it, yes?”
“You think we should run along the tracks?” Arthur asked.
“It’s either that, or try to make it through a maze of corridors,” Gwen replied.
“I’m not sure if I mentioned it, Gwen?” Lance said sarcastically. “Great plan, really. Fantastic.”
“Oh, just shut up,” Gwen replied playfully. “Get yourself down on the tracks.”
The soldiers reformed their four lines as they jumped from the platform and onto the train tracks, with Arthur and his companions at the rear. The tracks led from the platform and into another tunnel, dark and foreboding a short distance ahead of them. They soldiers each had lights on their rifles, but they were reluctant to switch them on, fearful of making them easy targets to anyone ahead of them in the dark.
“Stay to either sides of the track,” Arthur instructed, stepping forwards. “I’ll move along the middle and light the way.”
“Arthur, you can’t,” Gwen protested.
“We need to move,” Arthur told her. “I’m sorry, Gwen, one of us has to.”
“Then let me,” Gwen said.
“I’ll do it,” Lance added.
“No,” Arthur said sternly. “From now on, we’ll make decisions together, but in battle I’m still in charge. That’s the way it has to be.”
Lance and Gwen exchanged worried looks. Arthur was right; they could talk endlessly and debate how Camelot was ruled, but when decisions had to be made in a heartbeat, only one of them could make them. He was the King, giving him both the right and the responsibility that went along with it.
“First sign of trouble, duck,” Lance said helpfully, making Arthur smile.
Arthur switched on his light and moved quickly along the centre of the track, lighting as much of the way ahead as he was able. As they approached the next platform on the route, he switched off his light and advanced slowly, but the platform was clear. The following platform was similarly empty, but the one after that had four nervous guards clustered against the far wall. As soon as Arthur slowed and peered around the edge of the tunnel, the guards opened fire.
Arthur leapt back and the soldiers to his right dropped into a combat stance and returned fire, shooting blindly around the corner. “Stop, stop,” Arthur ordered, placing his hand on the closets soldier’s rifle.
“You, out there,” Arthur continued. “Drop your weapons and surrender, you don’t have to die today.”
“We’re not Followers of Ajoch,” one of the guards called back. “Elder Joleen’s people, they were ejecting everyone from the airlocks. We only said we’d join with them, that’s all.”
“Then drop your weapons,” Arthur replied.
There was a clatter as the guards tossed their rifles towards the tracks and stood still, arms held tightly at their side
s. “It’s okay,” Arthur said to them, climbing up from the tracks and onto the platform. “We’re not going to hurt you.”
“Please,” the guard continued.
“Tell us what happened?” Gwen asked.
“Elder Joleen was on the bridge with the other Elders,” one of the guards began. “She made the announcement, and then Principal Jacan spoke to the ship. He said not to follow her orders, but then there was a shot and he was killed. Elder Joleen had people all over the ship, demanding we join the Followers of Ajoch. Those who didn’t were killed. We just wanted to live through it all.”
“I understand,” Arthur said. “I really do. We’re here to try to put things right.”
“Is Elder Joleen still on the bridge?” Gwen continued.
“Yes, I mean, I think so,” another of the guards replied. “Principal Jacan and the senior officers refused to help her, but she couldn’t kill all of them. She needed some of them to control the ship. I heard her best people are on the bridge with her, making sure they do as they’re told.”
“Not all the Followers are like this,” a third guard said. “I’ve served with them, they’re good people. I think most of them are as scared as we are.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Gwen replied with a smile. “Stay here and stay low, try to keep out of sight.”
“You’re really not going to hurt us?” the first guard asked again.
“No,” Arthur promised. “Be safe.”
*****
They returned to the tracks and pushed forwards to the final platform which would allow them access to the bridge. Arthur disabled his light as they approached, the glow from the platform lighting the tunnel mouth ahead of them. He’d heard something, but he couldn’t say exactly what, just that the noise had sounded like it had come from directly ahead of him.
He couched and closed his eyes, straining his hearing to pick anything out. Once the soldiers had stopped around him, the tunnel itself was silent, as was the platform ahead. He was about to push onwards when he heard it again, a barely audible hiss.
X-Calibur: The Descent Page 15