First of the First

by Andrew Maclure

The map zoomed out so Mike could see the white dot that represented Brel Edd Senn moving towards the back of the building.

  “Zoom back in so I can see where the hostiles are, and give me a total count, so I know what I’m up against.”

  The map zoomed out to encompass about a half of the warehouse. It showed a group of four red dots moving her way down a central corridor which led from the pallet door. “There are a total of thirty seven hostiles, including the six that Sally disabled. They are in a dormitory that’s being used as a hospital, but only seem to be receiving minimal medical care. They do not have a medibot on site.”

  Mike ran to the door and through into the corridor. “Drop your weapons and hold your arms out!” she ordered. As she expected, they raised their weapons to fire. Four quick bursts from her Mark Eight and the hostiles all dropped to the floor.

  ‘This is too easy.’ she thought as she walked over to the bodies. She felt uneasy, almost as though she was tainted for having killed them so easily. Then she remembered how they opened fire on her when she was unarmed and unarmored, protected only by the hostile she held in front of her as a hostage, and they shot him dead without any hesitation. They then shot her as she ran away. If Mark and Sally hadn’t arrived when they did, she would have been dead.

  During the brief exchange of fire, she had been hit by six bullets from their KE weapons. Her energy field armor had easily deflected them, but the vertical bar on the edge of her peripheral vision had gone red and showed its strength had dropped to twenty percent.

  She examined the body armor the hostiles were wearing. It wasn’t Herassan army issue, and she didn’t recognize it. She checked with her AI. It didn’t recognize it either but told her that it only had detailed specifications of body armor used by Sally’s army, from species that they had come into conflict with or the many freely available armor patterns that anyone could get hold of. Brel Edd Senn must have got these, or the patterns for them, from somewhere outside the Herassan Empire. Following directions from her AI, Mike carefully went over the body armor so that all potential weaknesses were cataloged and mapped. Next time she saw a hostile in this type of body armor, her AI would be able to highlight the vulnerable areas for her. She was surprised that they weren’t using energy field armor, it seemed a major strategic error not to have them properly protected. It made the field attenuator clamped to her left arm redundant, but as it hadn’t been tuned to any energy field armor they might have, there was no guarantee it would have worked anyway.

  She checked the weapons they were carrying.. They were a version of the old RX4040 assault rifle, popular with outcasts, vigilante gangs and criminals. Patterns for the weapon and ammunition were easy to come by and didn’t need a particularly high specification synthesizer to make them. They performed fairly well in the field, though they didn’t have the rate of fire, or the flexibility to hold magazines of both armor piercing and explosive ammunition that the AKE17 kinetic assault weapons used by Sally’s army had.

  “Hostiles approaching.” her AI warned her and brought the heads up display back into her vision.

  Further up, the corridor branched to the left and right. Four red dots were coming from the left. “Give me a live feed from a drone.”

  Her AI responded, showing her four of the hostiles, all wearing body armor but no sign of an energy field generator on their backs.

  She ran to the junction where the corridors met, paused a moment to draw in a deep breath, then jumped into the middle of the corridor intending to warn them to drop their weapons, but was met almost immediately by a hail of fire. She must have tripped an alarm as they were clearly ready for her. The bar showing the level of her energy field armor flashed red and the armor went offline. She felt the thud of large caliber heavy metal bullets hitting her body armor as she fired four bursts of particle beam pulses and the hostiles dropped to the floor, their chests perforated with the holes punched right through them by her Mark Eight.

  It would take some time for her energy field armor to recharge. Until then, she was vulnerable to their weapons. Her body armor was a much higher specification than the hostiles, but it wouldn’t last forever, and if they had pulse weapons, they would go through her as easily as her weapon was going through them.

  “Show me the whole building.” she told her AI.

  The map zoomed out to show her a yellow line from her position to the room that Brel Edd Senn was in, with seven of his henchmen. She stood at the junction of the two main corridors that quartered the building. Straight ahead of her, the first door on the left opened onto a large cafeteria. About a dozen green dots were moving to the back wall, away from the direction the gun fire had come from. Further along on the left, a smaller side corridor branched off with doors leading to smaller rooms. On the right a door led into what appeared to be an open plan office.. At the end of the corridor a door opened into a smaller sized room and continued to the right. Four red dots stood just behind the door to the open plan office. The corridor to her right had a door about fifteen meters down that led into the open plan office and another four red dots stood by it. Further up on the right another four red dots stood inside a door and finally in the corridor behind her, the map showed another four red dots behind a door ten meters away.

  Mike barely had time to register this before all four groups burst out into the corridors, the two groups on her right firing KE weapons at her. She dropped into a crouch to present a smaller target and returned fire. She had managed to drop four of them before the two hostiles coming from her left crashed into her, knocking her down and sending her Mark Eight flying. Almost before she hit the floor her arms were grabbed and her hands pulled behind her. She felt the cold metal of handcuffs clamped to her wrists. She felt the blow of a boot as she was kicked in her stomach from the right, followed almost immediately by a kick from the left. A hand grasped the handcuffs and yanked her to her feet, straining the tendons at the tops of her arms. She opened her mouth to speak, but a hostile in front of her hit the side of her helmet hard with the stock of his RX4040, knocking her head sideways and blurring her vision. Large hands grasped her upper arms and dragged her along the corridor, her feet barely touching the ground.

  At the end of the corridor they turned right and after a few more meters stopped at an open doorway. She was thrown through it, with the hostile on her left sticking his foot out so she tripped as went in, landing on her face on the floor.

  Chapter Forty Two

  Brel Edd Senn

  “That’s not a very regal way to make an entrance.” a deep voice said. “Get up in the presence of the leader of the Herassan rebel movement!”

  She felt another boot kick her in the side, then her helmet was wrenched off her head.

  “Piss off you bastard!” she hissed at the hostile who had just kicked her and pulled her helmet off. “I’ll kill you when my hands are free.”

  “You are assuming that you will live that long.” the deep voice said.

  “Who the hell are you?” Mike asked.

  “I am the leader of the Herassan rebel movement, my name is Brel Edd Senn.”

  “I know your name. Now tell these freaks of yours to untie me!”

  “Maybe, later. You’ve proved to be rather dangerous. Last time you were here one of my men ended up dead and six were badly injured. We’ll keep your hands tied for the time being.”

  He clicked the claws on his right hand together and one of the hostiles pulled her up by her bound wrists, then turned her round and thrust her onto a stool. He pushed her down so hard she didn’t have time to get her tail out of the way and sat awkwardly on it, bending it in a way that it wasn’t supposed to go. A sharp pain shot up the lower part of her spine. She couldn’t help wincing as she lifted up and settled back down with her tail hanging down behind her.

  “I hope you are comfortable now.” Brel Edd Senn said.

  “Never better.” she answered, and continued as though nothing had happened, “Last time I was here, the dead one was k
illed by one of your own. The other six, well, I wasn’t in any condition to do anything, was I? Your murderous thugs were shooting me and damn near killed me!”

  “You’ve proved quite resistant to my efforts so far, and to be fair, you have just shot dead twelve of my loyal supporters.”

  “Your loyal supporters? That’s one way to describe them, but not the words I would choose. I challenged them and gave them the opportunity to drop their weapons. They chose to fire on me instead. I acted in self-defense.”

  “You may call it self-defense. I call it breaking in, then attacking and murdering my men. Any civilized organization would see that as a capital crime. That is what I will judge you for, and as you’ve admitted to your crime, there is just the question of the sentence – which I will defer for the moment.”

  He nodded to his armed ‘loyal supporters’, and they left, closing the door behind them.

  “Now, Hess An Sur, First Born of First Family of the Herassan Federation of the Five Planets, what are you doing here? My information is that once my obedient servant Tarb Af Ack disappeared in mysterious circumstances, you cooperated with my colleagues who escorted you here.”

  “What gave you that idea?” she asked.

  “One of the team was able to give me a full account. Unfortunately he found the experience somewhat stressful which seemed to have brought on a fit of convulsions which he did not survive.”

  “And the others?”

  “I thought you might have more knowledge of their whereabouts. We haven’t seen them since they brought you here. And you have sent those two cowards who were supposed to be guarding the entrance, to the safe keeping of your friends. Don’t worry about them, I have something planned for them. A little surprise.”

  He smiled, which Mike found a little chilling. There was something not quite right about him, It was almost as if he had been born disfigured and whoever had remedied the disfigurement had got it almost perfect, but the remaining imperfections left a sense of otherness, of not being quite natural.

  “Good luck with that. I think you should send all your loyal supporters to surprise them.” Mike said with a forced smile.”

  “You mean because your friends are that mixed race bunch of misfits led by the pathetic mammal that calls herself Colonel Sally? And the puny little pre-emergent mammal that’s supposed to be a Friend of the People? The fact that he’s got hold of one of their ships is just proof of what a good thief he is.” Brel Edd Senn grinned at this, which Mike found even more unsettling than his smile. “If he survives this, I might have a place for him in my organization, even though he is a mammal.”

  “I look forward to seeing how that pans out.” Mike said, this time with a genuine smile. “And I have to correct you, she calls herself General Sally now.”

  Brel Edd Senn stepped forward and slapped her with the back of his clenched fist so hard that he knocked her off her stool. She tasted blood as she lay on the floor.

  “Get up and sit back on the stool!”

  Mike rolled over and got into a kneeling position, then rocked backwards up onto her heels and stood. She bent her knees and picked up the stool behind her with her bound hands and stood it up, then sat on it.

  “We were getting on so well together, but I don’t much like being told I am wrong. Try not to do it again.” Brel Edd Senn said. “Tell me, in your own words, why did you come back here?”

  “You know why. I’m sure that Fet Al Dron would have told you before he succumbed to your interrogation.”

  “It was Rad Em Forb that was good enough to help us understand what happened. Neither Fet Al Dron or Sha Ast Ral have been seen since you were brought here. Do you mean that you don’t have them in the care of your friends? In that case, we’ll have to look for them a bit harder. But I did ask you to tell me in your own words. You know how people can sometimes get a bit muddled up when they are trying to tell you something when they are not feeling very comfortable.”

  “I’ll keep this simple; I don’t want to confuse you. I support the aims of the rebels to take power from the aristocracy and put it where it should be, in the hands of the people. That’s not what you’re planning though, is it? You want to replace the aristocracy with your so called loyal supporters and with you replacing the First of the First. I came here to tell you that I am replacing you.”

  Brel Edd Senn tipped his head back and laughed. The sound sent a chill down Mikes spine. His laugh didn’t sound like a normal Herassan. It was less of a chirp and more of a coughing sound. His smile, his grin, his laugh, it was like some kind of a parody of a Herassan. She didn’t believe in the supernatural, but she had been told the fairy stories that every Herassan child had heard, of the creatures that lived underground that had once been Herassans, but became twisted and changed by greed, jealousy and selfishness. They came out in the dark and hid under beds and in wardrobes, waiting for small children to be left alone so they could steal them away and eat them. Brel Edd Senn brought all these irrational, childhood fears flooding back. But one lesson she had learned from her carers was to always face her fears, that way she could overcome them. Giving way to them would weaken her, make her something less than what she was.

  “I don’t know what you are laughing for.” she said defiantly. “You have your chance to step down now, and you will probably be allowed to go free, unhindered.”

  “You are not really in a position to make such a demand, are you. I find your childish optimism quite amusing. Although, you are not a child, are you? I know that in different circumstances you might have expected to live for hundreds of thousands of years, so you might consider yourself to be at the beginning of your life. You are what, twenty five thousand years old? Hardly a child. If you were limited to your normal biological life, it would have come to its end, with memories of you so ravaged by time long ago that your very existence would have been forgotten long before now. That should make you feel a lot better about me bringing your life to an end here and now. You know, you really have made things much easier for me by walking in here yourself.” He moved towards her, drawing a blade from the sheath strapped to his waist.

  Chapter Forty Three

  Surrounded

  “We have company.” Mark said.

  “How many?” Simon asked.

  “Nineteen altogether.” Sally answered, as she had the same feeds from the People’s drones as Mark had.

  “Shouldn’t we go out and take them down?” Simon asked.

  “I’m tempted to stand in the doorway and watch them attack us.” Mark said. “It could be entertaining seeing them throw everything they’ve got at us and see it bounce of the phase shift protection.”

  “What are they armed with?” Orange asked.

  “They’re not particularly well armed.” Mark said. “According to the drone scans, they haven’t got energy field armor, they’ve got outdated non-army KE assault rifles, some old RPG’s and one up to date heavy caliber, rapid fire, tripod mounted KE weapon. They are carrying what the drones have identified as plasma grenades.”

  “Plasma grenades!” Simon said. "I can’t remember them ever being used. Don’t they know they are so outdated that they are worse than useless? They are just a distraction!”

  “Why are they just a distraction?” Mark asked his AI, as he had never heard of plasma grenades before.

  “Because they are totally ineffective against energy field armor. They would be slightly less dangerous to someone protected with even basic energy field armor than having an egg thrown at them.”

  “Do you think this Brel Edd Senn that’s taken over the rebel movement is a bit short of influence?” Seltet asked.

  Sally said, “Yes, it is a bit strange that someone who has the ability to get together a group of what look like specialist soldiers, take over a well-established political movement and turn it into a small army doesn’t have enough influence to get properly kitted out or armed, it doesn’t make sense.”

  “While your insights are fascinating,
” Simon said, “are we going to fight them or take this discussion outside and bore them into submission?”

  “Simon, aren’t you familiar with the concept of politeness?” Seltet asked.

  “Of course I am!” Simon retorted indignantly. “I always say ‘pardon me’ when I fart in company.”

  “So that’s a no.” Seltet said.

  “Whatever.” Simon said. “Are we going to stand here talking and pretend they’re not really there?”

  “No, I’ll send them all a message telling them to lay down their weapons and surrender.” Mark said.

  “Hold on Mark. Don’t send them anything until we’ve agreed on the wording.” Sally said, remembering his attempt to reconcile Seltet and her with an introduction that offended and shocked both of them.

  “Why? Don’t you think I’m capable of a simple communication?”

  “No. I’ll message them.”