As the others went back to their bunks, Ryan couldn’t help but wonder how many of them, if any, would still be alive this time tomorrow. Even if they succeeded in reaching their suits and removing the Kleese collars, they still had to take over the exploration ship, and Ryan wasn’t sure that was even feasible.
-
It was early the next morning, and at any time the Nabians would be bringing them their morning meal. Lauren and Alexander were standing close to the hatch along with several other Marines. If the Nabians followed their normal procedure, the two conscripts in battlesuits would enter first, taking up positions on each side of the hatch. Then the two Nabians would enter with the food carts. Fortunately, there were two bunks close to the hatch and that was where Lauren and Alexander were. The Nabians wouldn’t think there was anything suspicious about the Marines being there.
Their plan was quite simple. Two Marines would tackle each of the two battlesuits in an attempt to knock them off their feet, while Lauren and Alexander would attempt to open the small recess compartments on the top of the suits, just below the neck, and press the switch, which would automatically open the suits. Even if they couldn’t knock the two conscripts down, it was hoped the suddenness of their attack would surprise them enough to give Lauren and Alexander time to flip the switches.
“I’m nervous,” said Casey as she stood next to Ryan’s bunk watching the hatch. “A lot depends on us getting control of these two battlesuits.”
“It’ll work,” Ryan replied. It had to or they were all dead. He reached out and took Casey’s hand squeezing it.
He had a lot he would like to say to Casey, but here in this crowded room was not the place. Looking over at her he could feel how warm she made him feel and how important she had come to be. If they got out of this, he was going to make her well aware of just how important she was to him in no uncertain terms.
“Do you think we’ll ever see Vesta again?” To Casey, Vesta was home. It was where the cloning facility was and where she had attended the academy. It was also where she had met Ryan.
“I hope so,” Ryan answered.
-
A few minutes later, the hatch began to open and two conscripts in Type Two battle suits carrying stunners stepped inside the room. They were quickly followed by two Nabians wheeling in the food carts. Ryan nodded imperceptibly toward Lauren and Alexander. He clenched his hands into fists and he could feel his heart hammering in his chest.
“Now!” shouted Lauren, as she leaped onto the back of the battlesuit nearest her as several Marines slammed into the legs of the conscript, nearly toppling him. Lauren felt herself nearly thrown off as she struggled to find the small recess compartment that held the suit opening switch. With anxiety, she saw one of the Marines helping her suddenly fly across the room to strike the wall with a sickening thud. Several other Marines then launched themselves toward the conscript in a desperate attempt to bring down the battlesuit. Then her hands found the cover and, flipping it open, she reached her hand inside and flipped the switch. Instantly the battlesuit toppled over backward as Lauren flung herself to the floor, rolling and coming to a stop against one of the bunks. Struggling to her feet, she saw with relief Alexander had his battlesuit down and several battered Marines were pulling a shocked Nabian out.
“Corporal Parker, get inside that battlesuit and use the stun rifle to knock out all four of these Nabians.”
“Stop, you will be killed for this!” warned one of the Nabians, looking around in fear at the humans.
“Gureen will activate your collars,” threatened another.
“Screw you,” spoke up Private Rios, his face covered in anger. It was all he could do not to strike out at these four Nabians.
Alexander quickly lay down inside the battlesuit as several other Marines rolled it over and flipped the switch back up and closed the small compartment on the upper part of the suit. Instantly the suit sealed itself and Alexander stood up. Without a moment’s hesitation, he raised the stun rifle and fired it at all four of the now speechless Nabians, knocking them unconsciousness.
“We did it,” spoke Casey with relief in her voice. She looked over at Ryan seeing the relief on his face.
“Yes, but not without cost,” Lauren said. She was leaning over the Marine that had been hurled against the wall. “Private Velum’s dead. I think his neck’s broken.”
Ryan stared at Velum’s motionless body for a moment. He hadn’t expected to lose anyone at this juncture. “Private Rios, get in the other battlesuit. Corporal Adams, you and Private Swen will be accompanying us. We’re going to the compartment where the other two Type Four suits and the single Type Three are. Casey, you’ll remain here with the rest of the platoon and make sure these four Nabians stay knocked out. Don’t let anyone in through the hatch unless it’s one of us.”
Casey nodded. “Private’s Hatterson and Matheson, move Private Velum’s body to the shower facility.” Then she turned back to Ryan. “We’ll be waiting.”
“Let’s go,” ordered Ryan, as he stepped into the corridor and looked both ways. Once everyone was outside, he shut the hatch but didn’t lock it. “Follow me. Corporal Parker and Private Rios, remember, you’re supposed to look like guards escorting us.”
“Got it,” Alexander said in a low voice.
“Good, now follow me.”
Ryan led them down the corridor and then turned into the side corridor, which led to the small storage room that was their destination. They passed two Nabians on the way and neither paid much attention as Ryan and his small group were being escorted by two battlesuits.
Reaching the compartment, Ryan opened the hatch and they all quickly stepped through. He shut the hatch behind them and then looked around. The suits were still there. “Corporal Adams, take the Type Four. Private Swen, take the Type Three. Taking a deep breath, Ryan hurried over to his command suit and, turning around, stepped inside. Instantly the suit closed up around him and he felt a slight prickly feeling as the neural interphase connected. With relief, Ryan confirmed it was indeed his command suit.
Closing his eyes, Ryan concentrated and accessed the suit’s central computer, searching for anything that might allow him to deactivate the Kleese collars. With surprise, he suddenly heard a voice he recognized. It was Marken’s.
“Hello, Ryan,” the Kivean said in a calm and soothing voice. “If you have activated this program then you have been captured by the Kleese and are wearing one of their obedience collars. I am truly sorry for what you must be going through. Harnett and I greatly feared for your safety when we heard you were joining the special program. Shortly before you deployed, I made sure your suit, as well as Major Stevens’ contains a program, which should deactivate the Kleese collars. That program is currently running and is analyzing the collar around your neck as well as searching for the correct combination to unlock it. In the HUD screen, you should see a blinking red icon. When it turns green, the collar will be safe to remove.”
Marken’s voice stopped and Ryan’s gaze shifted to his HUD screen. Sure enough, there was what looked like a rapidly blinking red cursor.
“Lieutenant, what now?” asked Lauren as she stepped up close to him in her recently donned battlesuit.
“Just a moment,” he replied as he watched the icon. The icon continued to blink and Ryan was afraid it wasn’t going to find the combination Marken had spoken of. Then suddenly it turned green and he heard a low clicking noise.
“The collar is now safe to remove,” Marken’s disembodied voice spoke. “You will now see a new blinking green icon on the far left side of your HUD screen. Just concentrate and the suit will emit the necessary commands to disable any Kleese collar within ten meters. Be cautious as ten meters is the maximum range the small transmitter, which is sending the deactivation commands, can function. It will only take a few seconds for the collars to be deactivated.”
Ryan instantly activated the program with a quick command through his neural implant. The other Marines in t
he room were all easily within the ten-meter range. He then activated the suit’s opening program and stepped back out. Reaching up, he removed the Kleese collar and looked down at it.
“You should now be able to remove your collars,” Ryan said, looking at the others and letting his collar drop to the floor.
“Was that the click I heard?” Lauren asked as she opened up her suit and stepped out. Hesitantly she reached up and removed her collar. She gazed at it as if not willing to believe she was finally free of it.
“Yes,” Ryan answered as everyone else removed theirs. “Marken put a program in the suit’s main CPU which can disable the collars.”
“Guess I get to keep my head after all,” muttered Alexander as he dropped his to the floor.
“Guess that means we will still have to hear you grumble,” commented Lauren. Even though she wouldn’t admit it, she really didn’t mind Alexander’s antics.
“Now, let’s suit back up and return to the barracks. We’ll deactivate the rest of the collars and then head to where our equipment is stored. Once everyone is in a Type Four battlesuit and we have our weapons, we’ll see if we can find the rest of our Marines.”
Ryan quickly led them back to their barracks. They passed half a dozen Nabians on the way. Several paused, gazing questionably at the different battlesuits, but upon seeing the two Type Two suits continued on their way. Opening the hatch to the barracks, Ryan quickly stepped inside while the others waited out in the corridor.
“Everyone come close,” ordered Ryan, searching and finding Casey sitting expectantly on her bunk. In moments, everyone was around Ryan and he was running the program to deactivate the collars. Over a dozen clicks indicated the collars had been successfully disarmed. “Leave the collars on for now. We don’t want and Nabians we pass in the corridors to grow suspicious. We’ll act the same as we do when we’re going to the training facility. We’ll go in double file and follow Corporal Parker and Private Rios. Hopefully any Nabians we pass will not realize anything is out of the ordinary.”
A few minutes later and they were moving rapidly down the corridor. Ryan was directly behind Alexander and Private Rios, telling them which corridors to take. They were nearly at the cargo compartment holding all of their equipment when they passed a group of Nabians heading in the opposite direction. One paused and then stopped, gazing at the Type Three and Type Four suits in confusion. He suddenly stepped over to the wall and accessed a comm unit.
“Quickly,” Ryan ordered as they entered the corridor holding the storage compartment. They instantly began sprinting toward the hatch, which Ryan quickly flung open, gesturing for everyone to enter. “Get inside; find your suits and weapons. We’re committed now. We’re either going to be free or were going to die fighting!”
-
A few minutes later Ryan was holding a fully loaded RG rifle in his armored hands and his Energy Lance was belted to his waist. All of his other Marines were suited up and fully armed. They had even found the suit explosive rounds for the tubes on the back of the suits in one of the crates. However, all of the small nuke charges were missing.
“No nukes,” Corporal Adams reported. Lauren had gone through the entire storage compartment searching all the crates for the powerful nuclear explosives.
“We won’t need them,” Ryan said. “We need to find Major Stevens and our other Marines.”
“We need to split up,” Casey said as she checked her Energy Lance, feeling satisfied she clipped it to her waist and picked up an RG rifle.
“I want two Marines with those stun rifles,” Ryan ordered. “They’re quiet and will take down a Type Two suit without blasting holes through it. Casey, I want you to take Corporal Parker and eight other Marines. I’ll take Corporal Adams and the remaining seven. We’ll start our search from the main corridor that runs in front of the barracks room where we were being held. If you find anyone, contact me over the suit comms and I’ll meet you back here to disable their collars.”
“Got it,” Casey replied as she quickly picked out the Marines, which were going with her.
The two groups split up with a Marine in a Type Four battlesuit in each group carrying a stun rifle. The two Marines had orders to stun anyone they came across. There was no doubt that by now the Nabian, who had been talking on the comm system, had passed on concerns there might be something going on with the human captives.
-
Ryan’s group had gone down two long corridors without finding any of their Marines. In the process, they had stunned eight Nabians and one battlesuit. Ryan was just about to order them to retrace their steps and try a different corridor when they came to a locked hatch. Opening it, he stepped inside to see a shocked group of Marines.
“Lieutenant Nelson?” asked Lieutenant Autumn Guthrie, rising up from her bunk in confusion. She hadn’t been expecting to see a Type Four suit step through the hatch.
“Yes, it’s me,” answered Ryan, raising his visor so Autumn could see his face.
“How?”
Ryan quickly activated the program to deactivate the collars of the Marines in the small barracks. “I tricked one of the Nabians into leading me to our suits,” he explained. “I told him I would show them how they operate and it would get him in good with the exploration ship commander.”
“Wish I would’ve thought of that,” Autumn said, as she heard a click at her neck. “What was that?”
“My command suit can deactivate the collars,” Ryan answered with a smile. He quickly moved through the room making sure it was safe for everyone to remove their collars. “Corporal Adams, escort Lieutenant Guthrie back to the compartment our equipment is stored in so her platoon can get suited up.” Ryan would feel a lot more confident once he had a second platoon in Type Four suits and armed. If he could just find a few more platoons of Marines, they might have a shot at taking the ship.
-
Casey had checked four corridors and hadn’t found any Marines. They had stunned over a dozen Nabians and two battlesuits. She watched pensively as Alexander opened a locked hatch and stepped inside. She could hear excited human voices and hastily entered the room. A full platoon of Marines were inside and, looking around, she saw a sergeant talking animatedly to Corporal Parker.
“This is one of Colonel Stratford’s platoons,” Alexander spoke over their private comm. “Let’s get them back to the cargo compartment so they can have their collars deactivated and get suited up.”
Alexander was fearful they were rapidly running out of time. At any moment, he expected to see the corridors fill full of Nabians in their Type Two battlesuits. Once that happened, the battle would be on.
“Agreed,” responded Casey. “Sergeant, if you and your people will follow us we’ll get those collars off and show you where your battlesuits and weapons are.”
“You can remove these collars?” asked the sergeant, his eyes growing wide at the thought. “How?”
“Lieutenant Nelson can with his command suit,” Casey answered. “But we need to hurry, there’s no telling how much longer we can move about the ship before the Nabians or the Kleese realize what we’re doing.”
With the freed Marines following, they quickly made their way back to the cargo compartment where Ryan was waiting. Casey had used her comm to notify him they were on their way back with a platoon of Colonel Stratford’s Marines.
“We can use you, Sergeant McElroy,” Ryan said, seeing the man’s name on his shirt. Ryan quickly used his suit to deactivate the Kleese collars and instructed McElroy’s platoon to suit up in their Type Three battlesuits. That gave him nearly sixty Marines now suited up and armed. If they could just find a few more platoons before the alarms sounded, they might have a real chance of taking the ship.
“Let’s spread out and move quickly,” Ryan ordered. “I want all the connecting corridors near the training facility we’ve been using checked. We’ll go there and then move out across the ship.”
“Ryan,” spoke Casey with an odd look on her face. She
had opened her visor so she could more easily speak to him. “Why don’t you stay here with a squad of Marines and let us send anyone we find to you.”
Ryan took a deep breath and blinked. He knew that Casey’s suggestion was a good one. “All right,” he replied. “But let’s move quickly.”
-
Over the next twenty minutes three more platoons were found, two of theirs and one more of Colonel Stratford’s. Ryan was tremendously relieved when he saw both Lieutenant Felton and Major Stevens step inside the compartment.
“Corporal Adams says you can remove these damn collars,” uttered Stevens, seeing Ryan standing in the center of the room.
“Yes, sir,” Ryan answered. “Marken put a program in my suit as well as yours that can neutralize the collars. I’ve already activated it and as soon as everyone is inside this compartment, they can safely remove them.”
Mark reached up to his neck and, grasping the collar, pulled it away from his throat. He stood gazing at it for a moment before dropping it and looking round the room. He spotted his command suit and quickly hurried over to don it. Once he had it on and had found an RG rifle, he returned to where Ryan was standing.
“We still haven’t found Colonel Stratford,” Ryan reported. “Though we have found two of his platoons and freed them.”
Alarms going off and red lights flashing interrupted his report. “Crap!” Ryan uttered with unease. “I think the Nabians and the Kleese have figured out what we’re up to.”
“They’ll be setting off the collars on the rest of our people,” Mark said his eyes narrowing sharply. “We need to start moving and see if we can take this ship.”
“We only have a little less than one hundred Marines in battlesuits and armed,” Ryan reported with concern in his voice. “I’m not sure that’s enough to take the ship.”
It was going to be nearly impossible to take the exploration cruiser without the rest of their people. They would be facing hundreds of Nabians in Type Two battlesuits as well as however many Kleese were on board.
Galactic Empire Wars: The Alliance (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 4) Page 20