“You heard me. We knew the dangers of such a mission, but we cannot allow the Kryth to capture this ship and its intel,” Nevlen shouted. “Make the jump to hyper-space, now. That’s an order!”
The Rapide’s engines glowed bright as the ship jumped out of the system.
Data Cell 22
The mining facility was crumbling; both weather and time had stripped the outer façade and shattered windows away. An assortment of mining machinery was distinguishable from the surrounding rock piles as the rust-covered metal hulks blended well into their landscape.
Ramek approached with Jens draped over his back. He scanned the structure with his helmet’s sensors.
“It’s abandoned. No sign of life or activity. The radiation levels are in normal range. I think we will call this home until a rescue shuttle arrives,” Ramek said.
Ramek entered one of the openings he found in a wall.
The interior of the old facility wasn’t in any better shape than the outside, Ramek thought. It was at least cover from the elements or from whatever unseen creatures lived on this mineral-rich planet.
He spotted some stairs that led to a third story, safer than the ground floor. The third level seemed to have all of its walls, less broken windows, and some old storage containers.
This will have to do for now, laying Jens down against a pillar near the center of the room.
“We will rest here while I try and make coms with the Rapid,” Ramek said.
Jens winced in pain. His breathing became more labored as he spoke. “Do you have anything to eat?”
“I have a couple protein gels. Not much more was recoverable from the wreck.”
Jens’ shaking hands took the gels.
It was just a matter of time now, Ramek thought of his friend’s condition.
Ramek found a seat next to Jens.
“This place smells,” Jens commented.
“It can’t smell any worse than you, buddy,” Ramek said, trying to lift the mood.
Jens managed a smile.
His friend was drifting fast. Ramek needed to keep Jens focused.
“Remember our first mission? Ramek asked.
Jens coughed again. “Against the Mertiklask? Those ugly bastards, how could I forget?”
“That was the one.”
“What about it?”
Ramek began to chuckle. “I remember the look on your face,” he began to laugh even harder, “when you bumped into that stub tree. And you had your face plate open. Remember?”
Jens smiled. “I remember.”
“You began to scream and dance around,” Ramek couldn’t hold back his laughter, “arms flailing around like some pissed-off and crazed tember monkey. We had no idea what had happened until that stub weaver spider dropped to the ground.”
Ramek doubled over snorting, trying to catch his breath.
Jens began to laugh a little too. “You would have done the same.”
Ramek caught a breath. “We called it the spider dance. The thing landed right on your face.”
“That thing was the size of your big head,” replied Jens.
Ramek was about to lift his face plate from all his chuckling when his heads-up display beeped a warning.
“We have incoming targets,” Ramek said.
“Is it Nevlen or stub weaver spiders?”
“Good question. Glad to see you’re in lifted spirits. I wouldn’t mind seeing that spider dance again.”
Ramek stood and approached the window. He was waiting for the yellow triangle icons to change to green regarding the unknown targets that had appeared. They didn’t -- they went to red.
“We have ten Kryth soldiers inbound and…” he paused, “Damn. And two Aythras, about 100 meters out,” Ramek replied.
Ramek wasn’t worried when he spotted the Kryth. He knew with cover of night and the advantage of elevation they would not be a problem. It was the Aythra’s he was more concerned with because of Jens’ condition.
“Nasty creatures, those Aythras are. Too bad it wasn’t the spiders,” Jens concurred.
“We have no time to set up a relay for coms with the Rapide. I’m going to have to fight,” Ramek said, looking towards Jens.
Jens coughed.
A red texture now covered his lips. He spoke. “It’s obvious I won’t be any help to you in this fight, my friend. But you,” his breathing difficult, “you will have a better advantage from the shadows.”
Ramek knew his friend was correct; even though he wanted to argue his point, he knew it was of no use.
He approached Jens and got down on one knee.
Jens had already begun to eject his micro gyro-jet rounds from his forearm launcher.
Ramek released the seal on his helmet. His face plate lifted.
“Ah, don’t look at me, Ramek.” Jens voice cracked, not wanting his emotions to overcome him.
Ramek reached out his arm to his friend.
Jens met his arm as the two men clasped forearms.
Ramek spoke first. “I will make it their last stand, not ours.”
Without looking at Ramek, Jens handed the rounds to him.
When Ramek finished loading, he knew what was coming next.
Jens lifted and, with what little strength he had left, untied and held aloft his Reaver regimental sash handing it to Ramek.
Ramek took it.
“You will not be forgotten, my friend. The Kryth will suffer this day.”
“I have no doubt about their suffering from you, big man. I can’t wait to hear their screams.” Jens lifted his head to look upon Ramek. “It has been good knowing you my brother. Now go. No time to waste on me. I will hold them off if they come my way. I still . . . have a few tricks up my sleeve,” Jens said, smiling.
“Farewell, Reaver.”
Ramek released his grip with Jens and headed towards the shadows of the complex.
∞∞∞
The Kryth had approached the same way the footprints led into the complex.
Sontar Jal knew the hunted were wounded and in no shape for a fight.
He scanned the structure finding one life form, slumped down on the third floor.
Was he too late for a live capture?
No matter, at least he would bring back a trophy of the first dead warrior Lintorth spoke of.
Sontar sent two teams of four with one Aythra as he, a soldier, and the other Aythra stayed on the ground monitoring what he thought would be a quick, easy clean-up mission.
The first team entered the stairs on their way to the third floor.
A Kryth soldier rounded the second floor stairwell when unseen shots flashed from above. The impact sent the Kryth screaming over the railing down to the ground below.
The remaining Kryth pulled back into defensive positions and began to pepper the stair shaft with weapons’ fire.
After a few seconds, they ceased.
Their weapons did not pick up any other life forms save the one still on the third floor, still not moving.
The Kryth continued their careful ascent to the second floor.
They entered the floor, scanning and tracking around the several dozen crates that littered the open space of the room. They went through multiple spectrum filters on their scanners but came up empty for any life signs.
The Kryth didn’t see the micro-wire that came from above as it wrapped around the neck of one soldier, sending him screaming through the air as his body was pulled upward into the dark rafters.
The remaining two soldiers fired up into the air not sure what they were firing at.
A body soon plummeted back down towards them. In reaction, they ripped the falling body to shreds as it landed in their midst, spraying blood everywhere. The body was the headless corpse of their comrade.
As they looked back up into the darkness, the severed head followed, hitting the floor and bouncing over the edge and down the stairs.
One of the last two Kryth fired a haphazard rocket into the rafter, erupting into a huge
explosion, shattering the remaining glass panels in the windows.
The blast threw Ramek backwards but he caught himself with his micro-wire, as he launched the wire upward, attaching to a top beam on the roof of the complex.
The metal sections around him blew apart from the Kryth rocket and fell back downward and onto the last two ill-fated Kryth from the first team below.
The explosion soon ended and human screams replaced the noise.
Ramek swung to a suspended catwalk along the far wall.
He ran down the old metal pathway as the anchors tore and buckled under his weight. The bending and creeks of the metal didn’t delay him from getting to Jens.
The screams were getting louder as Ramek approached a rusted half-hinged door. He smashed through and was now six floors over Jens’ position where he had left him.
What caught his eye next sent him into an instant rage.
An Aythra beast had Jens in its mouth, shaking him back and forth as the Reaver’s blood spilled out onto the floor.
Without hesitating, Ramek leaped over the railing high above the Aythra’s position.
As he fell, he noticed the other four Kryth on the second team were searching around.
Continuing to fall, he fired four gyro-jet rockets from his arm. Each found their Kryth target.
Upon impact, the Kryth bodies blew apart, showering the room in chunks of blood and bone.
Ramek issued a verbal command and, as all the blades on his armor extended, he landed on top of the great beast.
With a crash, the monster released its victim as Ramek began to eviscerate the creature under him.
The howls and bellows of the Aythra echoed throughout the hollow complex. The beast flung the Reaver from its bloodied back, throwing him against a pillar to slump to the floor.
The Aythra turned and stumbled, raising itself off the floor. It turned to move towards Ramek, but the creature, gurgling and gasping for air, spewed its throat interior out and onto the floor.
The monster dropped where it had stood.
Ramek raised and approached his dead friend, his armor soaked in blood.
But just as he got to Jens’ lifeless body, something caught the corner of his eye.
The second Aythra pounced from the shadows hitting Ramek sending both of them tumbling out the third floor window and onto the ground outside.
Ramek was first to stand, as the Aythra rolled and jumped to its feet.
Ramek fired a fifteen-foot micro-wire along the ground to his side.
The beast charged Ramek as he whipped the wire, sending it across the Aythra’s face, slashing and gouging one of its eyes.
The creature let out a horrendous cry as the wire tore into its flesh. Its movement was halted before it leaped at Ramek enraged, readying its serrated teeth for the kill.
The twin blades atop Ramek’s fists found the Aythra’s soft underbelly as the monster landed on top of him.
With a grunt, Ramek rolled the dying creature away.
He stood over the beast, ready to draw the last breath of its life, when the net found him.
The net wrapped itself around Ramek’s body, sending a high-powered volt of electricity through its interconnecting cross-sections.
Ramek dropped to his knees.
White tendrils of energy coursed over his violently shaking body.
With battle-hardened strength, he stood and turned towards the direction it had come.
His helmet’s display flashed an error. {Electrical Shielding: Failure}
Another jolt, much larger than the first, washed over him sending the Reaver to the ground, unconscious.
A laugh from behind issued against the crackling of residual energy coursing along the ground and through the net.
Sontar Jal approached his unconscious victim.
“Who’s the mighty warrior of the Domain now?” Sontar was fascinated by the armored creature before him. “Wait until Lintorth sees what I’ve caught.”
The last Kryth soldier approached Ramek.
The soldier bent over to remove the net as a stray volt arced up and tagged the Kryth’s hand, sending him flying back to the ground with a shriek.
Sontar Jal just stood there shaking his head at the foolish soldier. “Pathetic.”
Data Cell 23
The Orion’s Rage jumped into the Montis system near the planet Geens. The great ship approached the location given for the conference, drawing ever closer to the world, and the future ahead.
“Send out our arrival notice, Kansec,” Droe said to the bridge officer.
A male officer near the front console responded to her command. “Copy, Lieutenant Commander. Arrival notification has been sent to our Kryth hosts.”
Droe walked down the steps of the command platform and up to the front of the fore-deck. She wanted to see the greeting party awaiting them, since only command cruisers could attend the conference.
The Kryth were trusting or reckless, she thought. She noticed no warships or navel fleets around the planet. One would think a military presence so vast would be present, considering the events that transpired a month ago in Sol.
She wondered what lay out there in the blackness of space ahead of her. Were the Kryth setting a trap or would they let their newfound enemies have a seat at the table?
Only time would tell, she imagined.
Looking over at the large docking stations around this side of the planet, Droe could see many of the other races’ ships had arrived. She guessed the number to be between seventeen and twenty so far.
There were also smaller service shuttles going to and from the planet surface, no doubt controlled taxis, as the Kryth disallowed self-transportation to the conference center below except for their own. Convenient indeed, she thought.
This wasn’t an open, free to come and go as you please conference, but a controlled one. One in which the Kryth could pull the strings of the other subjugated races at will.
As the Orion’s Rage approached, she saw the largest ship there, second only to the Rage of course, a Vrae dreadnaught-class cruiser. The Vrae ship was close to two thousand meters in length.
“I hope we get to park next to that one,” she said, “Give them a little size envy.” She laughed.
“We are clear to dock at station three,” Kansec spoke.
“Good. Move us into position and alert the delegation.”
Droe would remain onboard the Orion’s Rage as Commander Parejas, Keeper Alon, Kason’s team, and two of Nevlen’s troopers led the human party to the conference floor where they hoped to be allowed to speak and to explain in detail why they were there.
She wondered to herself why the Assembly moved up the date so soon after the invasion of Sol. No matter. Even if it didn’t go as planned, they had contingency plans and she was ready for any surprises the Kryth could throw at them.
The Orion’s Rage came to a rest alongside the docking port of the station. The great ship dwarfed the station in its entirety.
Shenta Parejas could imagine what their Kryth hosts on the other side of the air-dock were thinking as humanity’s greatest asset moved into position.
The air-dock released and parted.
∞∞∞
Commander Parejas and the delegation moved forward to the final sealed door through the connector tunnel of the Kryth station.
The door slid upward and a small Kryth hosting party met their new human guests.
Parejas stepped forward first to greet them.
The three Kryth hosts’ eyes were wide at the sight of the humans.
Parejas knew it was mostly due to seeing the Reavers. The Kryth on average were seven feet in height, where Parejas and Kason measured 6’2” and 6’5”.
The Reavers should be getting a few more glances throughout the conference, Parejas thought. He wasn’t sure if that worked in their favor, but knew if it didn’t, he didn’t care. If anything, he wanted to send a message. A message that, if anyone were fool enough to attack like their Kryth ho
sts, they would deal with the same Reavers they stared at now.
Shenta nodded to his hosts.
The only thing that bothered Parejas was the conference only allowed a ten-person group, including any security detail. The Kryth wanted to keep this tight, Parejas noted, as they should, with what had happened.
The Kryth spoke the formal greeting in their own language first before handing Parejas a universal translator.
Parejas waved his hand, denying the device and replied in Krythtinian.
“Thank you so much for the warm greeting. I assume you will be escorting us to the conference floor?”
The three Kryth looked at each another, stunned that this race knew their language. If that surprised them, they would be astonished to learn how much the humans knew of their culture.
The main Kryth host responded. “Welcome, Commander Parejas. Yes, I am your guide to the conference floor. Please, have your delegation follow us.”
The Kryth began to move towards the other side of the station, where a Kryth shuttle awaited them. The Kryth motioned the human party to enter.
As they entered, Kason looked around at the shuttle interior.
“This looks familiar,” Kason said.
Keelen followed his comment. “I hope this one rides better than the last one.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t the shuttle but your flying skills, Keelen,” Maddox responded.
“My flying’s fine. I was just a little tired, that’s all.”
“The ‘midget’ Cuukzen could have flown it better,” Maddox replied, getting another shot in on Keelen.
“Say what?” Keelen snapped.
Alon broke the banter. “Gentlemen, I presume you will act in accordance to our mission statement and be perfect guests to our new friends, errm, enemies. We wouldn’t want to give any wrong impressions now would we?”
“A little late for that now, Keeper,” Maddox replied.
Alon turned around towards the two Reavers and chuckled, as he agreed with their sentiment.
The shuttle entered the blue atmosphere and headed to a bluff overlooking a coastline near a vast sea.
The conference complex was brilliant as the sun’s rays reflected off its marble crystalline surface. The shuttle rolled in to one of the many landing pads, just outside the conference grounds.
Annals of the Keepers: War 267 (Book 1 in the Gashnee Saga) Page 14