by Sid Kar
“I am glad you came to that conclusion,” Barryett said, “I was going to remind you of that if you were unconvinced.”
“You don’t have to, Vice-Commodore,” Kyrtar said, “Fact is, I am a soldier and officer of Starfire Army and above all else my duty is fighting for Starfire nation and my role in particular for our starships. Dark Star Company is the enemy through and through and I will make common cause with you to defeat them. I will surrender myself to you if I live through the confrontation. I ask you to trust me as one soldier to another as one Starfirian to another. We all revered the same heroes growing up: King Starryvk, Col. Sthykar, Detective Sayett…”
All heads turned to Raptor who looked down, scratched his chin then looked up again, “Release him,” he said then dialed a knob and spoke on his radio, “send me Capitan Gonzovyk and ask him to bring the Stardjacker armored suit, right now.”
“Yes sir,” an officer in communications section replied.
A starship guard released Capitan Kyrtar’s hands from the chains and removed a couple of electronic tracking devices attached to his uniform.
“What are you going to do?” Capitan Styx asked, “Maybe try to clear that bridge for Tollvyk and his team to make another attempt.”
“No, they will have fortified the bridge even better by now,” Kyrtar replied to Styx then turned to face Raptor, “I request that you let me make the plan. I know my capabilities on a personal level, the rest of you have only a textbook understanding of them.”
“Alright, but you will tell me your plan before I let you leave this room,” Raptor said.
“I will, Commodore,” Kyrtar saluted him crisply and stomped the ground with his boots in a metallic thump. Raptor saluted him back in the same fashion.
The silence amongst them for the next two minutes was only broken when Capitan Gonzovyk walked in carrying the Stardjacker suit in his arm. He saluted Raptor and said, “Commodore, we managed to repair the protective and combative features of the suit but we still can’t retrieve the data on the secret superweapons locations.”
“Can’t use them damn superweapons against the mercenaries inside our ship,” Raptor said, “give it to Capitan Kyrtar.”
Kyrtar took the suit from Gonzovyk and quickly put it on including the horsehead mask with glowing red eyes, that was one of the symbols of Starfire, representing its history as a nation of horsemen from steppes on its original home planet.
“Eradicator, display blueprints of the two atriums occupied by Dark Star mercenaries connecting to Strike Soldiers’ barracks,” Stardjacker said.
Eradicator: On the left and right screens.
Stardjacker stared at each one intensely; he zoomed in a few places, and then looked at the general map of the starship. But he had it mostly memorized; the Stardjackers were specialized fighting unit for only one particular starship.
“Capitan Styx I need four Grade-Three-Max explosives, configured for infantry use,” Stardjacker said, “Do you have them?”
“Will get them right away,” Styx said.
“And it’s not necessary, but I want to consult a team leader or specialist in heavy laser cannons,” he added.
“I will get that one too,” Styx said and left the command room.
“You aren’t thinking…,” Tollvyk said, “how many mercenaries are in there?”
Eradicator: They are moving in and out but the average is 250 biologicals in each atrium.
“You can’t fight all of them,” Raptor said, “Even with your suit and training.”
“I don’t need to knock them all out,” Stardjacker replied, “Just long enough to destroy the heavy laser cannons.”
“Commodore, Capitan Kyrtar,” Styx walked in with a fellow with ash and splinters on his uniform, “This is Corporal Landtar Mykar. He is in charge of a four heavy laser cannons team and a cannon master. I have seen him take one apart, inspect it and put it back with just hand tools.” He also had four rectangular silvery, metallic bricks five by two inches which he carefully handed to Kyrtar.
Corporal Landtar was a thick man with whiskers who felt awed giving expert opinion to the Commodore and saluted him with a big grin.
“How is it going out there?” Raptor asked.
“Tough but holding, so far…” Landtar answered.
“Corporal Landtar, what do you know of Dark Star Company’s heavy laser cannons,” Kyrtar asked.
“Can’t say for sure, but based on Strike Soldiers’ descriptions of their laser intensity, they must be similar in type to our own,” Landtar said, “Renegade Romvyk must have purchased cheap knockoffs of Starfire laser cannons from galactic underworld because he knows them best.”
“I will be using explosives that can destroy machines hardened with armor strength alloys within three meters radius,” Stardjacker said, “But where is a heavy laser cannon’s weakest spot? Where is the best place to attach these?” He held up one metallic brick in his hand.
“Should do the job, but a laser cannon’s external weakest spot is the firing pin,” Landtar said then laughed and shook his head, “Firing pin is a leftover term from the ancient days when cannons fired shells. They are actually charge modulators with the very important role of preventing overcharging of cannons that can burst them apart. In ours, they are on the left side in the rear. They have to be external so they can be snapped out in an emergency by the crew. Looks like a rod an inch in diameter and ten in length of the barrel. Most often is light blue, gray, white or cream colored because change in colors is a sign of improper electric charge conduction.”
“Thank you, sir,” Stardjacker saluted the corporal.
“Anytime, sir,” Landtar saluted him, then the Commodore and left the room with a big smile on his face. The command officers were trying other ways too, Landtar thought with satisfaction as he hurried back to the battle lines.
Stardjacker slowly rolled up the shutters and peered out and down into the atrium where he saw hundreds of men clad in total black toting laser guns mingling around and about, still alert but not really positioned at a place. A couple dozen next to the large connector were set and ready and the crew operating the four heavy laser cannons was on its feet but the rest had little to do. Their teams controlled all the hallways and corridors feeding into this large opening and they had sufficient time to get in position if Strike Soldiers made another attempt.
Tollvyk, Kartar, Agnosis, Hartar and twenty starship guards were on their bellies next to Stardjacker, clutching their laser guns and looking down with him. There was a small two feet of crawl space for electricians and repair machines in between the starship roof and the ceiling that held lighting fixtures. Rocket packs had not been of much use in narrow space such as this and they had crawled their way here after getting out of the ventilation system. Stardjacker had come up with this idea but Tollvyk had insisted on coming along to help him.
Two heavy laser cannons were placed near the entrance to the connector but to the sides and two more were placed far to the rear and again out to the sides. They could fire down the connector at a cross angle but not the complete length of it. What they lost in range they made up in protection as there was no easy shot at them from inside the connector. Strike Soldiers could see them but not hit them with the laser guns abroad their armored hovercrafts.
Meanwhile, Romvyk and Nanja Panga had returned to this atrium and were having a discussion.
“I am thinking of removing two laser cannons from here and two from your courtyard,” Romvyk said, “If we could trade one for one and take down four or five laser cannons from the command room, our final charge will have much greater chances of working.”
“Will Strike Soldiers notice and do you think they will try to take advantage?” Nanja asked.
“I might have tried one more attack in place of their Colonel,” Romvyk said, “That is why I want to remove the two in the rear, less likely for them to notice.”
“More risky,” Nanja Panga said.
“Two cannons can stil
l stop them, albeit with some difficulty,” Romvyk said, “But if our main attack on the command room fails, the rest of our mission is useless.”
Nanja nodded his head in assent with his commander but Romvyk would not get an opportunity to issue commands to his soldiers.
“How many mercenaries?” Stardjacker asked over his radio connected to the command room.
Eradicator: Exactly 262 biologicals at the moment.
“Commodore, tell Col. Maktar to be ready for his attack,” Stardjacker said.
“He is ready,” Raptor said.
Stardjacker looked at Tollvyk and then said, “Alright, I am ready.”
“You are going to climb down?” Tollvyk asked incredulously.
“Jump down,” Stardjacker replied.
“What?” Tollvyk exclaimed.
Stardjacker did not answer. Instead he rose up on his knees from his belly and took a stance like a sprinter at the start line.
“Cut lights,” Stardjacker said.
“Cut lights,” Raptor ordered and all the lights went out in the atrium below.
Stardjacker took a dive off of the open platform and plunged below in a free fall like a skydiver with hands and legs spread out in all four directions. But he landed on his feet with knees bent like a gymnast off of a bar.
He had positioned his fall near the rear laser cannons and the one on the right was within his arms reach. There was one soldier in between whom he kneed in the stomach then punched him through his helmet. He ripped off one metallic brick of explosives attached to his armor through magnetic force and attached it to the ‘charge modulator’ of the cannon. Then he jumped on the cannon and using it as a springboard bounced all the way over the other cannon’s main gun and to its far side. He pressed a button in his belt and the first cannon exploded but Stardjacker was shielded from the blast wave by the second cannon.
“Night Vision! Night Vision!” Romvyk screamed. He had anticipated the Starship command cutting off their lights and their helmets incorporated night vision which the soldiers switched on.
Four soldiers aimed their laser guns at Stardjacker. He let himself fall to the floor and swept the legs of the two in front of him. The other two lowered their laser guns at him but didn’t fire because their own were tumbling over him. Stardjacker rolled across the smooth floor and knocked the other two off of their feet. Tens of soldiers came running at him. Stardjacker attached another metallic brick to the charge modulator of the second cannon, jumped over it and rushed forward while pressing the button sending a radio signal to the explosive on the second cannon, blasting it to smithereens and killing multiple mercenaries close to it.
There were over a hundred soldiers in between Stardjacker and the other two cannons placed up front near the entrance to the connector. Stardjacker rushed at them and the frontline soldiers unleashed a rain of lasers pelting his armor and bouncing off. In less than two seconds he was amongst them and then started punching and kicking and chopping and kneeing his way through them. He was grabbing one by the leg and other by the arm and flinging them into the air and over others. He brawled forward but the mass of soldiers was too many. They all pounded on him.
“Floodlights,” Stardjacker said in his radio.
“Floodlights,” Raptor barked the order and all the lights came back on instantly but this time on the highest intensity enough to force temporary blindness on every soldier especially those with night vision. The Dark Star’s mercenaries yelled and thrashed about as a flood of lights invaded their eyes, some ripped off their helmets, some banged at the switch for night vision and most turned to the ground and held their eyes shut.
Stardjacker took advantage of the opportunity and furiously rammed his way forward throwing away mercenaries left and right. He was almost near to the third cannon, the one up front and to the right, when a dozen soldiers who had switched their helmet vision to auto-adjust ran to him on all sides. Stardjacker knew he could not make it to the third cannon, in split second he ripped off the third metallic explosive and lobbed it at the charge modulator of the cannon. The soldiers took him down to the ground but not before Stardjacker had pressed the button on his belt and the explosion destroyed major parts of the cannon rendering it inoperable and killing the soldiers on top of Stardjacker who was himself shielded from the shockwave by their bodies.
“That’s a damn Stardjacker,” Romvyk yelled, “Bastard Carvyk had said he would not be a problem. What the hell? Nanja go stop him.”
Romvyk’s voice was transmitted through Stardjacker’s radio to Tollvyk and his team and to the command room. Raptor and everyone else was stunned. This was a direct acknowledgement of Carvyk’s involvement, what they had only suspected up till then, and VC Barryett clenched his fist and said, “I would like to be in the firing squad for bastard Carvyk.” Raptor had never seen Barryett like this before, his face tense and his eyes glowing with pure rage. He quickly recovered himself and turned his face away.
Stardjacker pushed away the bodies atop him with great exertion and stood up. The soldiers were rushing to the connector and firing down the length of it. Col. Maktar and Strike Soldiers had heard the third explosion and were not waiting anymore. They had gotten in their armored hovercraft and were accelerating down the connector firing their rapid fire hovercraft laser guns. Dark Star company’s mercenaries were now focused on stopping the strike soldiers. The crew of the last laser cannon standing started firing wildly into the connector.
“Open fire on Renegade Romvyk,” Tollvyk shouted and his team also started raining down lasers and a few mercenaries turned around, looked up and engaged them. Tollvyk had identified Romvyk as he was visibly seen giving directions and concentrated his firing on the Dark Star commander.
Stardjacker took one step towards the fourth cannon when Nanja Panga showed up in front of him a few feet away. He had ripped off his helmet and thrown it away. Stardjacker instantly knew it must be the notorious Nanja Panga, Romvyk’s second in command and a rhinoid with intense strength that came from his species having been evolved from a rhinoceros like creature found on his home planet. He had been a fighting champion before joining Dark Star, having defeated all the other powerful rhinoids from his civilization. He might have been the most powerful creature abroad this starship.
Stardjacker was tired. His armor stopped penetration but not the entire force of the blows. He did not want to fight Nanja. He tried to jump over Nanja but Nanja reached over, jumped himself and grabbed Stardjacker in his strong, muscular arms. He turned around and slammed Stardjacker into the metallic hull of the fourth cannon, then while still holding turned around and threw him into the metallic heap of rubble from the third cannon.
Stardjacker was starting to feel pain and weakness. The armored suit was breaking and giving way. But he reached down to his willpower and charged forward. He dropped to the ground before reaching Nanja and kicked him hard in the knee, then kicked him hard in the same knee from the back. He swept Nanja off his feet and the rhinoid slammed hard on the ground. Stardjacker leapt up in the air and threw himself into the fourth cannon and attached the final explosive. He turned around and Nanja was back up and running at him.
With no place to escape Stardjacker charged forward and threw a hard punch to Nanja’s face. Stardjacker and Nanja started fighting for punches with each punch landing like a hammer on other’s skull. Both were bloodied and more of their face bones were splintering with each blow. But they still kept fighting.
Romvyk witnessed this scene and walked over with his laser gun drawn at the two brawlers. Stardjacker was slowly gaining the upper hand and wearing Nanja down.
“Open fire,” he ordered to a gaggle of around twenty soldiers who had assembled to watch the fight. The soldiers were hesitant with Nanja in their line of fire.
“Fire!” Romvyk yelled and let loose a volley of his own laser beams. His soldiers followed suit and tens of laser beams struck Stardjacker and Nanja. Nanja was penetrated by a multitude of lasers and dropped dead to the
ground in an instant. Stardjacker’s armor held but it was rapidly melting at numerous spots and Stardjacker was feeling the rising heat and even the burns from incessant laser strikes. He had no time to get away, a few more seconds and at least one laser would go through.
He pressed the button on his belt and leaped forward in the air to escape the shockwave. The metallic explosive blew apart the fourth cannon, the shockwave struck many soldiers and even reached the airborne Stardjacker propelling him over a hundred feet further in air where he crashed to the floor.
Tollvyk, Kartar, Agnosis and Hartar were all concentrating and trying to hit Romvyk. Romvyk was thrown back by the explosion and this time Tollvyk and team did not miss. Their lasers hit Romvyk all over and dropped him dead full of holes.
Less than half a minute after the fourth cannon blew, a slew of Strike Soldiers dashed through the connector in armored hovercraft firing the mounted rapid fire laser guns at the mercenaries, clearing them off left and right. Then Strike Soldiers jumped out of the hovercraft and engaged the invaders in short range laser fights.
The atrium was swept clean of Dark Star Company’s soldiers in less than ten minutes and Col. Maktar ordered his soldiers to sweep through the rest of the Starship. That would take time, a few hours, but eventually entire Starship Conquistador was taken back, every last inch of it. Dark Star Company’s back was broken after their commanders were dead, each of their team fighting individually, now pinned down, on one side against incoming strike soldiers and on the other by starship guards and armed crew. Many were shot down, some surrendered, and no one escaped.
But before that, Commodore Raptor and Capitan Styx along with a contingent of Styx’s best starship guards made a quick trip in armored hovercrafts to visit Col. Tollvyk and team who were watching a medical team working on Stardjacker.
“How is he?” Raptor asked Tollvyk.
Tollvyk turned around with sadness on his face, almost a tear in one of his eyes.
“Doctor doesn’t think he will make it,” Tollvyk said.