by Jan Domagala
Stryder saw the ball of fire coming and knew there was no way to outrun it. They would be dead in seconds if they didn’t find shelter.
GENERAL SOLON WAS JUST exiting the facility when the explosion shook the entire building. He spun around to look behind him and said, “Well, that can’t be good.”
He turned back and continued on his way. “Maybe waiting for Anders and his team will be a waste of time. If there are any more explosions like that then they might not get out before the whole place goes up in flames.”
Seeing his shuttle in the distance on the landing pad, he quickened his pace. Accessing his NI he called Anders through a combat channel. “Anders, your time is limited, locate and capture Captain Stryder and bring him to my shuttle on the landing pad. Is that understood?”
Anders replied almost instantly, his voice seeming to echo in the General’s brain, and he said, “Understood, sir.”
STRYDER DIVED TO COVER Hardy with his body as the wall of flame engulfed them both. The heat was unbelievable. He could feel his clothes burning and his skin begin to blister as the heat boiled away its moisture.
The second before he landed on top of Hardy he saw the terror in her eyes and heard her scream as she realised what was about to happen.
Pain assailed his senses as the flames washed over them. Unbelievable pain as the temperature soared to extreme heights in the space of a few seconds. The human body was not designed to withstand that kind of abuse as Stryder was well aware and trying to withstand the pain from the heat his thoughts dwelled on how he had failed his mission and in doing so had cost the life of a lovely young woman with whom he had fallen in love.
The fireball passed them by searing everything in its path and, amazed at the fact he was still alive, he rolled off Hardy screaming in agony as his clothes were still smouldering, nothing but rags left of them. Hardy was up in a flash rolling over to him, the thought that she was unscathed not even entering her brain. Her one and only thought was the safety of the man she loved, the man who had saved her life by risking his own.
Whatever she could do, she would, anything to help ease Stryder’s pain.
Stryder was rolling on the balcony trying to put out the flames in his clothing, or what was left of it.
His back, which had been in contact with the flames, was a mass of blisters, but amazingly the rest of him seemed almost untouched.
After he had put out the flames he stopped rolling and looked up at her as she crouched over him.
“You’re okay!” he said amazed at his success in keeping her alive and equally amazed that he too was still in the land of the living.
“How did you do that?” she demanded, knowing that both of them should be dead.
“I have no idea except to say that I’m not complaining,” he replied as he got to his feet.
“It must be your enhancements, they work better than even they expected,” Hardy said with the biggest grin across her face. They had both cheated death and perhaps, just perhaps, they might make it out of there alive after all.
“Does your back hurt still?” she asked amazed at being alive.
“It’s easing off now. Wow! That was intense!” he said, and looking over his shoulder he saw the blisters begin to dry up right before his eyes. He was healing himself at an amazing rate, one he never thought possible.
Hardy saw the expression of wonder on his face and looking at his back was speechless at what she saw. The blisters were almost all gone by that time, having dried up and new skin forming over the burnt areas. As they both watched, his body formed new tissue to replace all the burnt and scarred tissue that moments earlier had covered his entire back. Within a few minutes he was as good as new.
“I think the greater the threat, the faster the immune system kicks in,” Stryder offered as he got to his feet.
Hardy looked at him and smiling said, “I’m not complaining.” It was then that he saw her eyes wander over his body and he realised that he was wearing nothing but tatters. All his clothes had been shredded by the blast of super-heated flame. His shirt hung from his broad shoulders in shreds exposing his muscular torso and washboard abs whilst his leggings were nothing more than strips of seared cloth hanging from his waist attached by the belt.
“Plenty of time for that girl,” he joked. “Let’s get off this planet first before we make any plans though.”
“What do you think happened down there?” Hardy asked dragging her mind back to the job at hand and off his perfectly formed abs.
Peering over the edge of the balcony he looked down the shaft to where the fireball originated.
“It looks like the slab from the walkway damaged one of the Life Support generators,” he said after assessing the damage below.
His brain was working faster than he thought possible dealing with many issues, multi-tasking faster than he thought a human brain was capable of, consciously at least. He was aware that the subconscious mind was capable of many things that the conscious mind could not even comprehend. Now though he seemed to be able to do more, concentrate harder about more than just one subject and correlate plans and strategies for each topic he was mulling over.
“Will that affect us in any way?”
“There’s no way of knowing that until we get down there and look,” Stryder said and led the way towards the elevator to the next level.
Elevator was perhaps the wrong word to describe what it was. A slab of plascrete attached to a belt at right angles that ran up the wall was all it really was. To use it you simply stood on it and the belt took you up to the floor you needed. On the other side of the belt it travelled in the opposite direction and took you down to the level you wanted.
They grabbed hold of the handles placed at head height and, stepping onto the ledge, they allowed it to take them down to the next level. Just one more level to go and they would be at the bottom where the Life Support station was. Smoke was billowing up from the blown generator and filling the shaft making it hard for them to breathe. Tears began to stream from Hardy’s eyes as the acrid smoke affected them.
“Are you okay?” Stryder asked when he noticed she was struggling. His own eyes were coping far better than he thought possible, again another new development from his enhancements that he never expected.
“Can’t see a damn thing through this blasted smoke, my eyes are streaming,” she replied reaching out a hand to touch him for reassurance.
“You’ll be fine, just keep hold of me and I’ll make sure we get there okay,” he said, clamping his hand on top of hers on his forearm to let her know he wouldn’t abandon her.
“How come you can see where we’re going and I can’t?” she asked, almost knowing the answer before he gave it.
“Must be another advantage of these enhancements they gave me. I’m not knocking it if it helps us get the fuck out of here with both our skins intact,” he replied.
“Me neither,” she said through gritted teeth.
As they hit the bottom floor Stryder helped Hardy off the belt elevator and as he tried to get his bearings through the dense smoke he heard something that put him on edge. Grabbing Hardy by the scruff of the neck he pulled her down to the floor roughly just in time as a series of plasma bolts seared the air above them.
“What the fuck?” Hardy asked as she hit the floor.
“Guards,” Stryder said as the bolts went harmlessly overhead striking the walls behind where they had been standing mere seconds earlier.
“How the fuck did you know they were there?” Hardy asked.
“Heard them,” he replied quickly. Then, taking his assault rifle from his shoulder, he returned fire. His plasma bolts struck nothing except the far side of the chamber. He would have heard the shots hit bodies if his aim had been true.
“Damn! They’re wearing visors,” he said when he realised why he had missed them. The visors had increased visual acuity and because they were fixed to a full-face mask it enabled them to breathe in the smoke-filled shaft.
“We’re screwed,” Hardy said, when she realised what they were up against. They had no idea where the guards were, what they were armed with or even how many were there. The worst part of it for her was that in her present condition she could not help Stryder. She could not see anything at the moment because the smoke had rendered her eyes useless.
“C’mon, we have to keep on the move, they can track us via infra red and all I’ve got is my hearing to help us, my eyes may not hurt but this smoke is too dense for even me to see through,” Stryder said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her after him. There was a doorway to his left, which he pulled Hardy towards. Although the smoke had not affected his eyes in the same way he still couldn’t see anything farther than a few feet in front of him, so he did most things by relying on his hearing and his sense of touch.
Another burst of plasma fire struck the doorframe to the side of him helping him decide whether to go through the door or not. He went through as fast as he could, closing the door behind them.
Hardy was doubled over in a coughing fit as her lungs tried to purge the smoke from them. The air inside the room they had just entered was fresh and clean with just a trace of the smoke that had followed them inside when the door was opened. Stryder could see clearly again and quickly took in his surroundings as he waited for Hardy to get her breathing back under control. They were at the very end of a corridor, a few feet from a corner, and the thing that had niggled at him since the very first attack by the guards soon became apparent.
He had wondered why the guard’s gunfire had been so erratic and unfocused. None of the shots had come close enough to warrant any danger. Certainly they had had to move out of the way for fear of getting shot, but the accuracy he had expected was just not there, almost as if they had been herding them in a certain direction. But why would they try to herd them in a direction when Stryder and Hardy were running away from them? It didn’t make any sense until Hardy stood up. Two figures dressed in combat fatigues and armed with assault rifles walked around the corner and blocked their path.
Stryder recognised them instantly as two of the Marines who had received the serum. He had no idea how he knew, just that he knew. Almost like when a soldier recognises another in a crowd due to shared experiences and training, Stryder just knew that these two Marines had received the serum. It might not be the same serum that was administered to him, and it might not have the same effect on them as it had on him, but they had definitely been given a variation of it.
“Fuck!” Hardy said when she saw them. She too recognised that these were not just guards but soldiers like her and therefore would pose a bigger threat and harder obstacle to overcome.
“Don’t move!” said one of them as they both brought their assault rifles down to aim at Stryder and Hardy.
Before any of them could react, Stryder dived at the two Marines so fast that even with their enhanced reflexes they didn’t have time to react.
Their assault rifles went spinning from their hands as they were sent crashing into the corridor wall. Stryder landed heavily on top of them and aimed a fist into the face of the nearest one smashing through the Marine’s helmet visor and breaking his nose and teeth. Blood spurted out and covered the man’s face.
Snatching the Marine’s dagger free from its sheath Stryder rammed it up into the chin of the other Marine, the blade penetrated the skin under his chin and thrust up into his brain severing the brain stem and killing him instantly. Pulling the blade free he slashed it across the throat of the other Marine before he had the chance to react after the punch to his face. The force of the blow to the throat slashed open the carotid artery sending a spray of arterial blood several feet into the air to splash across the walls of the corridor.
The entire action took less than three seconds and at the end of it two Marines lay dead. Hardy was absolutely amazed at the swiftness and severity of Stryder’s action.
Getting to his feet Stryder said, “Couldn’t afford to let them take us or to live. They had the serum inside them and with it the Alliance could make more like them. Soon we’d be facing an army of soldiers that can heal themselves and are faster and stronger than all of our regular troops.”
“You don’t have to validate your actions to me Kurt, I totally agree with you. I just never thought you could move so fast,” she replied.
“Our only chance is that the serum hasn’t taken full effect on them or they haven’t yet learned just how to access their new abilities. Nevertheless, it’s our only chance to be able to combat them as equals,” Stryder said, running multiple scenarios through his mind as he spoke to Hardy.
“We’ll have to be careful, I think the others could be close by,” he said after a moment’s hesitation.
“What makes you think that?” she asked
“It seemed strange that the guards’ aim was so off when they fired at us. They had infrared visors don’t forget so they could see us clearly. They should have hit us on a few occasions yet they didn’t. They came close enough for us to think they were aiming at us but now I think that they weren’t. I think they were simply herding us in the direction they wanted us to go and now we’ve made contact with the Marines it’s obvious where they wanted us,” he explained.
“Here?” Hardy said still not quite seeing the full picture.
“Yes, here, where the Marines could capture us. Don’t you see they still want us alive to manufacture the serum from my blood?”
“He’s right you know,” Anders said from farther down the corridor. He appeared around the bend just as the first two had, and he also had his assault rifle at high port across his chest. “Captain Stryder is a very valuable commodity.” Anders added then lowering his assault rifle said, “You, on the other hand, are not,” and he shot her full in the chest on maximum power. The plasma bolt hit her square in the middle of her chest and burned through as it picked her up and smashed her against the door through which they had just come leaving a trail of her life’s blood in the air. As she hit the door she bounced off leaving a gory smear of her blood over the impact zone. She died instantly, her young life ripped from her in the blink of an eye.
Stryder saw Anders drop his rifle to aim at them but never expected what was to come. He saw him tighten his finger on the trigger and in total disbelief saw him fire the weapon. His head spun around to see Hardy, the woman he had grown to love, struck by the full power of the plasma bolt and die before his very eyes.
A million emotions raced through him at the sight of the young woman being killed before him. The fact that he had been powerless to save her was etched on his mind forever. Firstly, total shock as he watched the plasma bolt strike her, lift her off her feet and slam her broken body into the wall, and watching her slide down that wall as her life’s blood traced her path to the floor. Then disbelief as he couldn’t conceive what his eyes had seen and finally a rage like he had never felt before, and probably never would again, overwhelmed him. A rage he could not control and which would only be satiated by the death of the man who murdered his love.
Slowly, he returned his gaze to Anders, the man he would soon kill.
“You will come with us Captain Stryder, you have no choice,” Anders said.
“Wrong,” Stryder said and he leapt at them covering the distance in a single bound. Landing on top of Anders he ripped the assault rifle out of his hands and as they crashed to the floor he hurled it from him. He was going to kill him, of that he was certain, and it would be with his bare hands.
Springing to his feet he spun around and with a spinning back kick kicked the first unsuspecting Marine squarely in the chest sending him crashing into the wall. Placing his foot down, he spun and kicked the other Marine sending him crashing into the other wall opposite. As he bounced off, Stryder struck him beneath his helmet across his throat crushing his oesophagus. The Marine went down clutching at his throat trying to force air into his lungs.
The other Marine lunged at Stryder, who blocked the attempt and grabbed his he
ad in both hands then twisted it violently one hundred and eighty degrees snapping the man’s neck like a twig. He died instantly and fell to the floor in a heap. Stryder stepped over to the choking Marine and dispensed of him in the same way. Then, stepping over the body, he stood in front of Anders who by this time had regained his feet and had been forced to watch the destruction of his team by one man. Unlike his teammates his helmet had fallen off when Stryder had collided with him so he had no protection for his head, something that bothered him even more in seeing how swiftly Stryder had dispatched his two colleagues who were both wearing theirs.
“See, I do have a choice,” said Stryder.
Anders in desperation attacked Stryder with a series of punches.
Stryder carried on talking as he deftly evaded each punch with ease.
“You see if you had kept Hardy alive, that’s the young woman you shot by the way,” he said as he ducked beneath a haymaker right cross then blocked a series of left and right jabs, “then I might have had no choice but to do as you wanted to preserve her life. Killing her took that edge away.”
Anders sent a straight right punch aimed at his head and because the serum was beginning to take effect the power he put into it would have demolished a normal person’s face. Stryder simply swayed to one side allowing it to sail past his face. Grabbing the wrist and twisting to force the arm to go against the joint, he brought his other hand down on the upturned elbow, smashing it.
Anders let out a howl of agony, but instead of falling down in pain he threw another straight punch with his left arm with the same result. Stryder caught, twisted and then broke the elbow leaving his foe with two useless arms.
“Now then, I’ll give you the same choice you gave Hardy shall I? Oh and by the way, if you’re wondering who she was, I’ll tell you. She was going to be my wife!” His voice rose at the end so that the last seven words were shouted in rage into the face of the man before him.
Stryder struck Anders on the point of his nose in an upward palm heel strike which pushed his nose straight up into his brain killing him instantly.