The link went dead for a moment. No one even let a stray thought or side conversation through.
Motioning towards the hatch, Blazer leapt out of cover, Zithe and Fealgud in his wake. The passageway was not what Blazer had expected. Unlike the round corridors of the rest of the ship, this didn’t seem to have walls at all. Holographs of destroyed ships and various battlefields flowed together to either side of the trio, each an example of the Gorvian Death Fleets’ assaults. Blazer almost came to a dead stop at one image. The ship could have been any Mangler Corvette in the galaxy. Maybe it was the starfield beyond, or some unusual feature of the craft, but Blazer knew that ship. The Watlen, the observer corvette, that had fallen first to the strike corvette that had attacked them at the academy.
Even Zithe saw the image and faltered a step. This place was a museum of carnage and lost life. Blazer would have liked nothing more than to blast the whole corridor to its constituent atoms. Instead, the sound of plaser fire ahead urged him on.
They emerged from the passageway atop the great ziggurat of the bridge. They were already too late. The scene was like something out of an ancient ritual. The remains of the four marine MeG-CEs lay strewn about Gondral’s feet. Blast marks covered the units, sparks flying from the joints where the Gorvians had ripped their limbs free. Before Blazer could even raise his rifle, two Gorvian guards grabbed hold of him. Two more seized Zithe, with Fealgud nowhere to be seen.
Gondral turned towards the two latest intruders as they fought against the six hands holding them in place. He dropped the MeG-CE he held aloft. After it crashed to the deck, Gondral stomp on its head; obliterated it. A cruel smile crossed his massive gnarled lips: Gondral approached the pair. The air of a conqueror radiated from him. “Two more sacrifices? Or might these two manage to put up a real fight?”
Zithe rallied against his guard’s grips as Blazer checked his command map to find Fealgud. He couldn’t believe he’d run straight into a trap like this. He’d let emotions and the heat of battle cloud his judgement.
“Release us and find out,” Zithe growled.
Gondral turned back to the tiers of bridge officers. “This one has fire in its belly.” Turning back, he grabbed the faceplate of Zithe’s MeG-CE.
Zithe’s movements were as fluid as a trained assassin and he took the opportunity Gondral had presented with his proximity. Zithe extended his monomolecular blade. With a simple movement, he slashed off the hand of the guard to his right. Driven by the instinct to project the pack leader, he twisted about, killing the injured guard before driving the blade into the guard on Blazer’s left. The weapon severed the head effortlessly before Zithe pulled his arm back around to bring it against his other guard.
Blazer didn’t argue and smashed his elbow into the face of his remaining guard. The guard faltered but didn’t let go before Blazer flipped it over his shoulder towards Gondral. The guard released its grip and Blazer dove for his rifle near the edge of the bridge. The blip of Fealgud’s mech moved about on the tier below. He grabbed for his weapon. But Gondral’s great hand snatched his arm from the air.
“VAUGHNT!” Gondral roared, his brain tails all twitching as almost every eye on the command level turned towards him. Pressure sensors across Blazer’s right arm rang out in alarm at the pressure exerted upon them. The systems that extended the monomolecular blade all went black. Gondral lofted Blazer off the deck, raised him to eye level, all four brain tails twitching.
Extending the blade from his left arm, Blazer struck out. Gondral was ready for the attack. He swung Blazer about like a rag doll before throwing him towards the back wall of the bridge. It was a surreal moment as he flew backwards. Blazer took in the scene as four Gorvians fought to keep Zithe down. Fealgud was still nothing but a blip on his scanner before he slammed into the wall; his scanners flashed in and out of function.
Docking Bay C-98
It had been ages since Arion had driven with such reckless abandon. His academy instructors would have torn his arms off and beaten him to death with them after how many obstacles he ran right through or over. His father would have done even worse. He’d never felt so driven to reach a destination quickly as he was at this moment. Not only did he have to get his injured marine charges and teammates to their escape ship; he had to do it in time to effect a rescue of his best friend.
The focus and clarity that offered was beyond anything he’d felt since Alieha had died. No matter how many Gorvians he’d killed, or prisoners they’d rescued, that specter had hung over him. He had failed to save her; had ended what remained of her. The threat of losing his best friend made all that fall away. It might just be the redemption he needed. It was an odd sort of peace, and tenuous, as it hinged on rescuing Blazer. He could accept it however, and he crashed through another line of Gorvians blocking his way.
Gray-green blood splattered against the window and he almost laughed before the locator link from Blazer’s MeG-CE flew across whatever space it was within. No MeG-CE moved that fast on its own. Blazer was in trouble. They had to get back to him. Arion powerslid the transport around a corner towards the hangar. Sparks flew as the transport ground against the wall. Arion lined up with the door that was clearly too small for the transport, and gunned the throttle.
The wall exploded around them. Arion slammed the brakes as hard as he could, grinding the transport to a halt before the splotchy red and black skin of the strike corvette. The sight should have conjured up memories of Alieha’s death. Instead he saw a tiny baby, Chrisvian. That image reminded him that he had to save Blazer. Arion twisted out of his seat as the others just stared up at the corvette through the holes in the transport.
Several MeG-CEs ran down the ramp to meet them, laying down suppressive fire on the Gorvians following them. There was no time to be gentle. Arion grabbed two disabled marine MeG-CEs; their pilots still trapped inside. He dragged them up the ramp as the rest of the Blade Force ushered the rest aboard. Taking one last look back to ensure that everyone was clear, Arion activated a command through his suit. The transport exploded, engulfing the entrance to the hangar in fire to deter the approaching Gorvians. Once clear of the ramp, he ran for the bridge.
Bursting onto the bridge, he locked onto Trevis.
Arion almost punched the big Tomeris. He had cut off their only way back into the ship.
Trevis turned back towards Arion. The swagger in his movements made him seem ready to twist the featureless faceplate into a cocky grin.
Bridge
Every functioning servo and muscle fiber in Blazer’s MeG-CE wailed at him as he jumped aside to evade Gondral’s latest kick. It was obvious that Gondral was just toying with him. Every punch or kick, whether it connected or not, brought forth a new cheer from the crew. Blazer had no idea how long he could keep this up. Even with the stimulants coursing through his blood, he was beginning to feel the fatigue.
He took a quick look over at Zithe as he continued to fight against his captors. Another burst of static screeched across his damaged primary comm link. By the underlying tone, it was Fealgud. Blazer had tried to find out their plans, but it was to no avail. While his micomm still functioned, he dared not use it near Gondral. Experience had taught him that these larger Gorvian could intercept the artificial telepathic signal.
&
nbsp; One signal did manage slip through however; a warning from Zithe’s onboard medical system. SILVERTOOTH INFUSER DISCONNECTED
The message caught Blazer by such surprise that he’d halted for an instant. That was all Gondral had needed to land another hard punch on Blazer. The blow sent him sliding across the deck, the head of his unit caved in. Staggering back to his feet, Blazer’s optics fritzed in and out. Through the blanking images, he spotted a MeG-CE climb up through the deck beyond the medical bunk behind Gondral.
“Gondral!” she cried out, nestling the barrel of her rifle against the side of the medical bunk.
All other motion on the bridge ground to a halt as Gondral turned to face Fealgud. The rifle sat levelled on the headless Gondish’s engorged belly. Even without saying another word, Fealgud’s intentions were clear, surrender or she’d kill the unborn Gorvian child. Gondral took a step back, raising a hand towards Fealgud. “Stop there. Do not harm the Childe.”
Blazer gasped for breath; took the momentary respite to take in the scene, and set his auto repair protocols to work. There was little they could do. If he did nothing, escape would be utterly impossible.
“You took everything from me!” Fealgud spat. “You tried to turn me into one of your little monsters; robbed me of any future children!”
Blazer’s focus returned to Fealgud, his conversation with Priest from before the mission springing to mind. “The sanctity of children, deformed or not.” Then how close she’d gotten with Gokhead. It was no secret that they were screwing on a regular basis. Blazer had no idea if Gokhead had had his conception blocks reenabled after their first mission to the Planet Slicer. He wondered if Fealgud’s remained disabled as well. How many prepouchlings had she killed before they could be transferred to Gokhead for fear of deformation?
“Harm that Childe and there will be no safe harbor for your entire genetic line in all the universe!” Gondral roared.
“My genetic line ends with me!” Fealgud hollered and her rifle discharged. An explosion of grey-green blood coated the interior of the plasma-perforated glass cylinder.
A collective roar of such anger that it rattled Blazer down to his base atoms filled the bridge. Every Gorvian, even those on the lowest tiers of the command ziggurat joined in the cry, then ran for Fealgud. Those on the lower tiers climbed, trampling each other in their mad dash towards the slayer. On this deck, Gondral and the guards holding Zithe sprinted towards her.
Fealgud responded in kind and cut loose with her rifle; dropped several more rounds into Gondish and the medical pod for good measure. It was beyond chaos, but Blazer had to help her as best he could. He ran after Gondral before a howl erupted from Zithe’s MeG-CE.
A glance back revealed the unit up on all fours, head cocked back. He leapt forward, the nature of the movement all too familiar. Zithe was no longer in control; he’d allowed himself to transform within the suit. He was now less a man, and more of a feral animal. Zithe tore into the guards and any Gorvians that reached the command deck. Metallic claws rent Gorvian flesh with the abandon of a trapped wild animal.
Blazer continued towards Gondral, each movement drawing further protest from his MeG-CE. Plaser rounds exploded from the deck, tearing into Gondral’s side.
“Never ignore a Marine,” a tiny voice called out. Sergeant Laxe stood there, bloodied, and broken he wrapped his arms around his MeG-CE’s plaser pistol and hefted it aloft. He squeezed with both of his mighty arms to actuate the trigger. The rounds were wild but proved to draw Gondral’s attention away from Fealgud long enough for her to turn her rifle towards the horde climbing towards her. Gondral responded with a swift kick to a MeG-CE at his feet. The disabled mech suit skidded towards the Marine. It crashed into him, the force throwing him from his feet and tumbling towards the lower parapets.
That diversion, though costing the sergeant his life, was all Blazer needed. He jumped towards Gondral. Despite it being disabled, Blazer swung his right arm around into the back of Gondral’s trunk like legs, toppling him to the deck. Gondral’s speed almost matched Blazer’s and he flipped about to engage his attacker. Gondral landed a blow across Blazer’s chest, but he was ready. Maglocks on full power, Blazer’s MeG-CE held firm and he punched back with his left hand; caught the monster across the side of the head.
Roaring, Gondral grabbed hold of Blazer with his lower hands. He tried to lift him from the deck but the maglocks held. Then Zithe attacked, smashing face first into the side of Gondral’s side. The feral Lycan drew back as if expecting blood and flesh, but the suit possessed no mouth. Before he could strike again, Gondral backhanded him with his upper arm. The blow sent Zithe spiraling towards Fealgud and the devastated medical pod. Blazer had no time to lose focus. He wrapped his damaged arms around Gondral’s lower wrists. He locked the limbs in place; commanded them to continue to squeeze. Locked in place, he initiated his MeG-CE’s self-destruct protocol.
Taking the risk, he activated his micomm. He needed it to activate his command override. He sent the self-destruct code to the damaged Marine MeG-CEs as well.
Blazer ejected from his MeG-CE. Emergency separation charges detonated, launching the head of his unit forwards before the top hatch above him shot clear. Rocket motors attached to his shock frame fired, propelling him up and out of the shock gel he’d spent the last several cycles in. The G-forces slammed into Blazer in an instant and he took in the scene. It wasn’t something he’d wanted to see - Gondral reaching for him with one of his free hands.
Blazer checked his countdown. The ejection rockets extinguished and the MeG-CE exploded. The power core ruptured, obliterating the armored mech and launching debris in all directions. The blast threw Gondral back, both lower arms blown free. The whole front of his body was a mass of blood and flaming shrapnel. Screaming in pain, Gondral landed beside another MeG-CE. It exploded a cent later tearing up his side, throwing the Gorvian leader down towards the lower tiers. Blazer lost sight of Gondral as he fell into the lower depths, and his own course reached its zenith.
Blazer looked up and spotted the overhead silicasteel dome. A Gorvian strike corvette hovered just beyond its casements.
There was little Blazer could do to comply. He twisted about in midair and fired his suit jets before two plaser rounds pierced the dome. He looked back; air whistled through the twin ruptures, the silicasteel around them cracking.
Trevis didn’t even bother to reply before both MeG-CEs leapt towards him. Only a few cents later, the rest of the Marine MeG-CEs exploded. The blasts tore the deck apart and shredded the already battered bridge crew. Blazer flipped back around as the damaged panes of silicasteel gave way. The atmosphere exploded into the void, sucking everything it could with it. Firing his suit jets, Blazer zipped through the damaged panes. Fealgud followed, rocketing towards the corvette. Zithe flailed about, his wolfen form unable to handle the disorientation.
Arion replied with a laugh.
An emergency message flashed in over Blazer’s micomm. Fealgud’s medical scanner reported heavy trauma.
UCSB Date 1004.069
Medical Bay, UCSBSP Klesh, Troshen System
The door to the medical bay closed behind Blazer and Gokhead with a whoosh. Fealgud lay unconscious beyond, Que-Dee’s interface unit in Gokhead’s hand. “Are you sure about this?” Gokhead asked, half of his head shaved for his advanced micomm implant. The device was a micomm in name only. While it was based on micomm technology, the additional processing power, memory capacity and interfaces it offered required external placement of several key components. “She was terminating her own pregnancies?”
Blazer nodded and looked at the interface unit. “Que-Dee?”
“She made me keep it a secret Gokhead. I’m sorry, but none of them were viable. Her inability to emit pregnancy pheromones should have been proof of that.”
Gokhead felt his belly. His pouch had yet to unseal, despite him spending so much time with Fealgud. Were her body unaltered, the pheromones she’d release would have commanded his body to release the hormones needed to open the pouch so he could carry the pouchlings to term. “I get that, but what about her career?”
“If she ever wakes up,” Blazer began, looking back towards the bay. “She’ll be discharged. She’s been injured far too severely, and I don’t just mean physically.”
Gokhead nodded, looked down at the interface unit again. “Que-Dee. Are you sure you want to interface with me? Even after what you went through with Fealgud?”
“I don’t have much of a choice. This interface shell is limited in its functionality. I needed that modified personnel droid, and we lost it with the Mercy. Are you having second thoughts? You got that enhanced micomm mostly for this purpose. There’s enough of my tech in there that if you don’t do this it’ll have to be torn out.”
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