by G J Ogden
“It doesn’t matter if there are ten warriors in there or a hundred,” Sterling replied, flatly. “We have to take them out, no matter what.”
“Aye, sir,” Banks replied without hesitation. “We’re ready to move on your order,” she added, hand poised by her neural interface, ready to give the command to attack.
Sterling dug the butt of his Homewrecker into his shoulder then sucked in several deep breaths. He was about to give the order when a new link formed in his mind. It felt familiar, but he couldn’t quite make out who it was.
“Wait one, I’m receiving a communication…” said Sterling, again dropping to one knee while he dealt with whomever was trying to reach him. However, while the link was strong, he still couldn’t get a clear impression of who was on the other side.
“A link from who?” Banks asked. Like Sterling, Banks knew that Shade was already in action in the CIC, while Razor and the commandoes were still linked in with her.
“I don’t…” Sterling began, then it felt like an arrow had just been shot through his skull from temple to temple. Sterling dropped to his hands and knees, completely blindsided by the pain.
“Captain, what’s wrong?” Banks grabbed Sterling’s shoulders and lifted him off the deck.
Sterling tried to speak, but the pain was utterly incapacitating. It was like there was a cattle prod being pressed to the back of his neck.
“Lucas!” Banks cried, shaking Sterling as if trying to rouse him from a bad dream. “Lucas, talk to me!”
Sterling was still unable to speak or even move. Then as suddenly as it had begun the pain vanished, and all that remained was a powerful neural link. However, this time Sterling knew exactly who was inside his mind.
“Hello again, Lucas,” came the voice of Emissary Lana McQueen. “I’ve been expecting you.”
Chapter 13
An old friend returns
The sound of Lana McQueen’s voice in Sterling’s mind was a like shot of adrenalin to the heart. His strength returned and he stood tall, his body now gripped with anger instead of pain.
“It’s McQueen, isn’t it?” said Banks. Sterling could see that even speaking the former Omega Captain’s name caused her muscles to tauten.
“She somehow managed to break through over my open neural link,” Sterling said, as McQueen’s voice invaded his thoughts again.
“Come on, Lucas, I know it’s you,” said McQueen through the link. “Don’t play coy with me. It’s not your style.”
“Shall we hold the attack?” said Banks, oblivious to the whispers of the Sa’Nerran Emissary in Sterling’s mind.
Sterling shook his head. “Take command of the operation and move in now,” he said while McQueen continued to taunt him. “I’ll keep McQueen distracted while you take care of business.”
Banks nodded. “Aye, Captain,” she replied, turning to leave. She then paused and glanced back at Sterling. He could see that McQueen’s presence was also playing on his first officer’s mind, though in a very different way. “Be careful with her, Lucas,” Banks continued. “Neural weapons aren’t the only way she can twist your mind.”
“Concern yourself with the mission, Commander,” Sterling ordered. Now was not the time for sentiment or trepidation, and he needed Banks to realize this. “I can handle McQueen. You handle the Sa’Nerra.”
Banks’ eyes narrowed a touch and Sterling saw a flash of anger behind them. His blunt response had caused her to bristle, but it had also done the trick of getting her in the correct frame of mind.
“I’ll take care of it, sir,” Banks replied, with none of the disquiet that had been in her voice earlier. She then hustled away without looking back.
Sterling didn’t enjoy being the hard-ass out of the two of them, but he couldn’t afford to allow his bond, affection even, for Banks to get in the way of their mission. That went against the core principles of the Omega Directive. He might have hurt her with his reply; at the very least he’d pissed her off. However, he knew that anger would help to keep her focused and alive.
“Really, Lucas, the silent treatment doesn’t suit you.” McQueen’s voice had been relentless in Sterling’s mind the whole time he’d been speaking with his first officer. “Or are you afraid of me?”
It was this last part that really got Sterling’s goat. Now that he was free to respond to the Emissary, he intended to play McQueen at her own game.
“What’s to be afraid of, Lana?” replied Sterling through the link. “You were always second-best to me in everything, and that fancy alien armor and trumped-up title don’t change a damned thing.”
For the first time since the link had been established, Emissary McQueen was silent. However, Sterling could feel the rage bubbling inside her.
“Being Griffin’s lapdog didn’t make you better than me then, and it sure as hell doesn’t now,” she spat back. Sterling smiled. Turned or not, he still knew how to push McQueen’s buttons. “You are now just another pathetic species that the Sa’Nerra will crush.”
“If I’m Griffin’s lapdog then what does that make you, Lana?” Sterling replied, keeping his cool. “You’re a member of that ‘pathetic species’ you just talked about. Do you really think that once these alien assholes have had their way with humanity, they’ll let you sit around the council table as one of their own?”
“The Emissaries of fallen worlds all take their rightful place among the leaders of the empire,” McQueen hit back. The Emissary’s fury now flowed freely through their neural link like poison. “It is why I tried to offer you the same privilege, to save you from what is to come.”
“And what is to come, great emissary of the Sa’Nerra?” Sterling said, using a deliberately mocking tone.
“The Sa’Nerra will press humanity into bondage and force your people to work until their hands bleed,” McQueen replied, speaking as if giving a rousing sermon. “We will strip your world of every valuable resource. Then, when we have worked your species to the brink of death, we will exterminate what remains and leave. And I, as Emissary, will take my place amongst the honored elite.”
Sterling laughed, both out loud and through the link. It wasn’t a forced laugh, but one that was spontaneous, free and easy. McQueen’s speech had genuinely amused him. It sounded like something from a bad TV show script.
“You dare to mock me?” McQueen raged through their connection.
“If you knew me as well as you think you do, then you wouldn’t need to ask that question,” Sterling hit back, ramping up his own level of aggression. “You’re a fool, Lana.” Sterling was feeling genuine contempt for the woman he had once respected. “Once humanity has served its purpose, the Sa’Nerra will get rid of you too. But none of that is going to happen, anyway. Do you know why?”
“Why don’t you tell me?” McQueen said, answering with the same contempt that Sterling had shown her.
“Because even if you destroy Earth, and even if you wipe out the inner colonies, you’ll never win,” Sterling replied. “Because if humanity is going down then I’m sure as hell going to make sure the Sa’Nerra go down with us.”
He felt a swell of rising panic grip McQueen like a vise. Plasma blasts filtered along the corridor and Sterling knew the attack had begun.
“Clever…” McQueen said through the link. “But ultimately futile. My warriors vastly outnumber yours.”
“The only number that matters is the number left standing, after the shooting stops,” Sterling answered, raising his Homewrecker to his shoulder. “I’ll look for you in there, Lana. I hope you still like a good fight.” He tapped his interface and closed the link before McQueen could respond. There had been enough talk already. Now it was time for action.
Chapter 14
A bridge too far
Sterling pressed on into the reactor control room, moving past the bodies of dead Sa’Nerran warriors and stepping over the wreckage of smashed Obsidian Soldiers. Their pincer maneuver had worked and the aliens were caught in a crossfire in the center of the room. Sterling
could just about make out McQueen at the main control station, protected by a squad of warriors. However, with the main body of her forces already engaged, no-one had spotted Sterling’s careful approach on the upper level.
Ducking down to maintain his cover, Sterling saw an opportunity to rush the control station and end the battle decisively. If he was quick, he could flank the Sa’Nerran position and take out McQueen’s guards, leaving the way open for Banks and the others to secure the critical facility.
“Warning, reactor containment failing. Critical breach in eight minutes,” announced the voice of the Vanguard’s AI. “All hands abandon ship. Repeat, all hands abandon ship.”
Sterling cursed, realizing they had far less time than he’d hoped for. He looked for Banks then saw her on the lower level, in the thick of the fighting. Her armor was splatted with blood, but he could see that it was the darker crimson shade of the Sa’Nerra, rather than her own. He tapped his neural interface and reached out to her.
“Mercedes, don’t look now, but I’m on the upper-level east side,” Sterling said. He could see from Banks’ reaction that she had heard him and had resisted the urge to turn her head and potentially give his position away.
“Move up along the west flank and draw their fire,” Sterling continued. “I’m going to rush them.”
“Aye, Captain,” Banks replied, crisply. He could feel her energy again. Every rapid thump of her powerful heart and tightening of her muscles felt like his own.
The link went dead then Sterling watched as Banks directed the Obsidian Soldiers to move up. He could see the smashed remains of more robotic warriors littering the room, in amongst the bodies of Sa’Nerran warriors and at least two commandoes. Every loss they took was potentially crippling at this stage, no matter whether it was human or robotic. Even so, Sterling found himself wondering – and even hoping – whether the troublesome leader of the Obsidian Soldiers was amongst those destroyed. He had enough to deal with just managing his own quirky gen-fourteen and its delusions of grandeur. Another AI with a chip on its shoulder was the last thing he needed.
Suddenly, the Obsidian Soldiers attacked and the remaining Sa’Nerra moved to defend their position. In order to execute his plan, the robotic soldiers had to give up their stronger positions and had become more exposed as a result. Already one of the machines had been blasted to pieces. McQueen then joined the attack, blasting an Obsidian Soldier in its cranial section with her plasma pistol. The robot’s optical sensors were destroyed and the machine began firing blind, as if suddenly gripped by terror. It blasted one of its own robotic comrades at close-range, before the warriors finished it off, quickly turning it to molten wreckage.
With the aliens distracted, Sterling crouch-ran along the balcony and hurried down the stairwell to the lower level. The bulk of the warriors now had their backs to him, but two still covered the rear. Aiming his heavy Homewrecker rifle at the first of the two warriors guarding the rear, he opened fire. The shot flew into the warrior’s face, popping its head apart like a piece of fruit exploding in a microwave. The second warrior tried to spot the shooter and finally locked its yellow eyes onto Sterling, but it was too late. Sterling’s next shot blasted the alien’s left arm off below the elbow, while a follow up shot destroyed its right shoulder and the top part of its leathery chest.
“Move up, press the attack!” Sterling heard Banks cry out.
The fighting intensified further and Sterling knew he had to make his move. Darting out of cover, he blasted a warrior in the gut, burning a hole clean through its tough, sinewy flesh. Shots came flying back at him and he took a glancing blow to the thigh, but it was now clear the Sa’Nerra were outmatched. Squeezing the trigger of his powerful heavy plasma rifle, Sterling cut down three more alien warriors as easily as dead-heading daises. The reactor control room was thick with the stench of burning flesh and electronics. The smoke stung his eyes and water streamed from them, making it difficult to see his next target. The Sa’Nerran warriors began to pull back and Sterling saw McQueen retreating alongside them.
“Oh no you don’t,” Sterling grunted to himself, pursuing the fleeing aliens and their leader.
McQueen hissed at the warriors in their own language, her teeth clenched like a rabid animal. Then her eyes met Sterling’s and suddenly all her rage and bitterness was focused solely on him.
“Take their captain!” McQueen yelled, pointing her armored finger at Sterling, before ducking behind her warriors for cover. “Seize him and bring him to me!”
Sterling fired into the throng, blasting fleshy chunks out of another two aliens. Then he saw McQueen fall and his heart leapt. One of his shots had snuck through, but it wasn’t a killing blow, instead merely glancing past her leg. Leathery, alien fingers pulled the Emissary up and dragged her toward the exit. Raising his rifle to fire again, Sterling was hit and knocked flat on his back. The Homewrecker fizzed and crackled in his hands. Luckily, the alien shot had been absorbed by his weapon, sparing him from injury. Yet Sterling was undeterred. McQueen is not getting off this deck, he told himself. Even if I have to cut down her guards with my bare hands!
Pulling the captured Sa’Nerran half-moon blade from his armor, Sterling sprang up and charged forward. Clearly expecting Sterling to be dead, the warrior that had shot him was caught with its guard down. Sterling slashed the serrated blade across the alien’s throat and was showered with hot, Sa’Nerran blood. The metallic, salty taste of the alien’s life essence was repulsive, but Sterling didn’t attempt to spit it out or wipe his face clean. There would have been no point since he only intended to taste more of their blood before the day was done.
Grabbing the warrior whose throat he had just opened, Sterling drove on, using the alien as a shield. Blasts hammered into the warrior’s back, stinging Sterling’s eyes with smoke from yet more charred flesh. He threw the body at the alien shooter, causing the warrior to stumble and fall to its knees. Sterling hammered his elbow into the back of the Sa’Nerran’s neck, striking one of the weak points in the alien’s otherwise robust anatomy. The warrior crumpled, quivering and spasming from the effects of its nerve cluster being crushed. Sterling left the alien to suffer. It was no more than it deserved.
“Captain, we’ve secured reactor control,” came the voice of Mercedes Banks.
Sterling heard the announcement, but he wasn’t finished fighting yet. Picking up an alien rifle, he blasted another of the fleeing warriors that was protecting Emissary McQueen. Like worker bees defending their queen, others immediately moved in to seal the breach.
“Fight me, damn you!” Sterling cried out to the Emissary. “Fight me McQueen!”
Sterling squeezed the trigger again and again, but each blast was merely absorbed by the living shield of warriors that continued to defend their leader.
“McQueen!” Sterling yelled again.
“Reactor containment online. Reactor level stabilizing,” intoned the dull voice of the Vanguard’s AI. “Critical breach averted.”
The computer’s message barely registered in Sterling’s ears. He was still too focused on McQueen, who was now mere seconds from escaping. He wasn’t about to let that happen.
“Captain, fall back, we have the room!” Banks yelled. This time there was panic in her voice.
Sterling pressed on, firing again and again until the alien plasma rifle was empty. Roaring a curse into the smoke-filled air, Sterling hurled the rifle at the retreating warriors.
“Coward!” Sterling cried out as the exit door swooshed open and the warriors piled through it.
“Lucas look out!”
Sterling spun around, but was too late to avoid the attack. The butt of an alien plasma rifle smashed into his head, knocking Sterling to the deck.
“The Captain is down, move up!” Banks yelled.
However, even in his dazed and incapacitated condition lying on his back, Sterling knew they didn’t stand a chance of reaching him. Leathery hands closed around Sterling’s arms and gripped his armor,
then he was dragged in the direction of the fleeing warriors.
“Lucas!” cried Banks, but his first officer’s frantic shouts were growing rapidly more distant.
Blood streamed from Sterling’s nose and into his eyes, but he could still make out that he’d already been dragged clear of the reactor control room and into the corridor outside. Doors swished shut and he heard the crackle of Sa’Nerran plasma rifles sealing them behind him.
Blinking blood from his eyes, Sterling looked up at the faces of the warriors who were carrying him. Their expressions were as blank and unreadable as ever, and their hisses just as meaningless. Then he was dumped to the deck like a butchered carcass and the warriors disappeared from his view. His breath was still heavy and his face was burning from the earlier blow. Then Sterling saw another face appear above him. However, the expression on this new face was as clear to Sterling as mountain dew. It was an expression of pure delight, with a promise of cruel intentions to follow. And it was worn on the face of Emissary Lana McQueen.
Chapter 15
Playing it rough
Sterling opened his eyes and immediately an intense stabbing pain throbbed through his temples. He tried to reach up to massage away the pain with his fingertips and discovered that his arms were bound to whatever bed or table he was lying on. His legs were also bound at the ankles, while another strap pressed tightly across his chest. He felt his heart begin to thump and his pulse pound in his neck. Being contained like an animal was one of Sterling’s most basic, primal fears. Panic swelled in his gut, but he fought against it. Two years spent learning to control his mind and body in order to cope with his frequent nightmares had given Sterling mastery over these intrinsic human emotions. Gathering his senses he turned his head to the side, trying to rub his neural interface against the bed to initiate it. Unlike the rest of his body, his head had not been restrained and he was able to apply enough pressure to his aching temple to activate the device.