Crusade For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 2)

by Adrian D. Roberts

  “We can’t know for sure, Hanna,” Shannon said a bit brusquely, “but we’ll operate as though they have and keep an eye on them in the meantime. Valerie, I’m going to get moving on shifting the prisoners now. Our people are trained for it and they know the plan. I want you on the first bus out.”

  “No, I stay until the last.” Valerie told them firmly.

  “Valerie, this has all been about you,” Hanna interjected. “We need you out of there in one piece.”

  “Will Shadow Company’s Helos be first out, Shannon?”

  “You know they won’t.”

  “Then I stay.”

  “Valerie, I need you...” Hanna began to say. “I mean we, the Rebellion need you.”

  The emotion in Hanna’s voice caught Valerie off guard. She knew she meant more to both Hanna and Deni than friendship, but what she heard in the girl’s voice was something else altogether. An emotion she couldn’t recognise rose up inside of her. In a flash of realisation it came to her and tears formed at the corner of her eyes. As she stood there surrounded by her team and the dead, an enormous gulf opened in her mind, threatening to suck her down into it.

  All of her defences slammed into place, forcing the emotion back down, deeper than it had ever been and it was with a cold icy voice she replied. “I don’t leave until my Company is ready to go. We’ve got a lot of work to do, so I suggest we get on with it.”

  ***

  “Anybody got any grenades?” Troll asked.

  Julianna checked her belt dispenser. “No, I’m out.” This was the fifth room they entered since the booby trap caught Beaumont. Troll, Barney and Julianna were going through room after room, finding a few guards in each one. It seemed whoever was in charge on the other side tried to set up a staggered defence through the area, but only made it easier for the three of them to kill the defenders.

  They were all sat with their backs against a sturdy piece of machinery. Beyond it were six guards, who were also hunkered down into some cover. Julianna had a bandage over her upper left arm, the skinseal she applied wasn’t strong enough and blood was leaking out slowly. It stung constantly and gave a sharp stab of pain every time she moved it. Troll favoured her right side, a Pulse burst clipped her under the arm. Not enough to penetrate her armour, it cooked it enough to burn the skin underneath.

  Barney wasn’t unscathed either. A guard surprised them from behind. It was fortunate she was out of ammunition and only left with her energy baton. She managed to take a clean swing at Barney’s head, leaving him dazed. He had mostly shaken that off, but still sported a dent to his helmet that interfered with his HUD.

  “Great. Now what?” Troll said as Barney shook his head in answer to her question.

  “I could call Bickerstaff for back up,” Julianna said. “But from the updates, sent via the Hive, they’re facing a barricade with heavy weapons at the moment.”

  “What, ask for help? For six measly guards? No chance.”

  “We’re out of grenades and low on ammo. Have you got a better idea?”

  “Well no, not yet.”

  “The Eydon Job.” Barney said.

  “Hey? The what?” Julianna asked.

  “Ahhh. The Eydon Job.” Troll said. “Good thinking, Barney. Anyone got a spare clip?”

  “What are you two talking about, Troll?” Barney dug into one of his packets and passed a Pulse ammo magazine to the tall Enforcer. After seeing the extra ammo, Julianna stared at Barney. “I thought we were almost out?” she accused.

  “You and me are,” Troll answered for Barney. “He always carries extras for emergencies.”

  “Three per person. That was all they could give us. Where’d you get extras from?”

  “Barney knows a gal.” Troll said with a shrug. She pulled a couple of tools from her belt and started to work on the ammo magazine.

  “He knows a gal? How can he know a gal? He never says anything! No offence, Barney.”

  The man shrugged back to show he hadn’t taken any and just infuriated Julianna even more.

  “Some people like the quiet ones. She says he’s a great listener.” Julianna stared at Troll. She wondered how this woman, out of anybody, could have said that with a straight face.

  “Right, OK. I’ll leave Barney’s love life out of this for a minute. What are you doing with that clip and how are you not going to kill us all?”

  “We had this Job in this little town called Eydon. Should have been an easy number, a couple of local guards, decent score. You know the type of thing.”

  “I honestly can’t say that I do.”

  “Well, anyway. They lied to us about the guards. It turns out there were ten of them, armed and armoured like these goons here. We got cornered and then this guy we were with at the time, Outback. Don’t ask me why he was called that, stupid name.”

  “And Troll isn’t?” Julianna couldn’t help being drawn into this whole irrelevant conversation. It was silly, but it was also a welcome distraction.

  “There’s a story there. If we get out of this, I might even tell you it someday. So Outback asked me for a Pulse clip. Being a trusting sort, I hand one over. He then takes out the regulator, like I’m doing here, flips it over, puts it back in and you have an instant grenade.” Troll slotted the piece into place and there was high pitched whine building louder and louder. Half rising, the Enforcer threw it at the guards and ducked back down.

  The explosion ripped over their heads and the three of them came up with their guns ready. The guards’ cover was blown apart by the powerful detonation. All six of them were down and three wouldn’t be getting up again. Two lay in sight and died instantly. Pulse bursts ripping into them. Julianna darted out of her side of the machinery, they were using for cover, and Barney went the other way. Troll rolled over the top and they swiftly searched for the last guard. They found him unconscious in a corner and Julianna put a burst into his head.

  “Troll?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Why didn’t you do that as soon as we found we were out of grenades?”

  “Oh, because there’s about a sixty percent chance it will explode in your face, rather than after you throw it. I heard it’s what happened to Outback. He blew himself up.”

  “Right, so we’re not doing that again then.”

  “It depends if we get cornered, I guess.”

  “Only one left,” Barney interjected.

  “Hah, that answers your point then. We haven’t got any more we can use.”

  “I think I quite like that. I’d prefer not to be blown up accidently by someone on our own side.”

  “There’s no easy way to go,” Troll pointed out with a laugh. “Whose turn is it to do the door lock?”

  “Barney’s and from my map this should be the last room in this section.”

  “How accurate has it been so far?”

  “Once we got into here, pretty good. I think Hanna pulled in some updated spec’s and sent them over to C&C.”

  “Sounds about like her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s monitoring our feed, to keep an eye on us.”

  “Where did you find that girl?”

  “We told you already.”

  “Yeah, but Sneaker doing someone a favour by training a street kid, hardly qualifies as an explanation.”

  “What can I say? That’s all there is to it. The kid has a gift and was fortunate enough to find out what it was. Now are we going to open this door or what?”

  “Alright, Barney, your turn.” Julianna set herself, ready to assault the door and Troll joined her on the other side as Barney put a burst into the door lock’s panel. As they had come to expect, it exploded like all the rest.

  The door slid open, but this time there was no shooting or grenades coming through. Julianna was about to order Troll in with herself, when a shout came from the other side.

  “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! We surrender.”

  “Well, that’s no fun,” Troll said.

  ***

&nbs
p; “Ma’am.”

  “Yes?” Captain Maritta Percival said turning to the communications Tech in the Rock’s Command Centre.

  “I have Senior Guard Nanjappa from Wing six. She says it’s urgent.”

  “It’s all urgent!” Maritta snapped before stopping herself and taking a deep breath. All five prisoner wings were under attack by forces unknown. They had lost communications with the commanders of one, two, three and four, almost straight away. What guards they were able to get hold of were ranting and raving about heavy armour before they died. “Put her through.”

  “It’s audio only,” the Tech said.

  She nodded in acknowledgement and Nanjappa’s voice spoke through her com. “Captain, we’re under heavy fire,” the guard shouted. In the background Maritta recognised the distinctive roar of Plasma Cannons and the high pitched clatter of Blasters. “We‘ve been attacked from the rear by soldiers in heavy armour.”

  “Have you seen them?” Maritta said brusquely. She could not believe the Rebels managed to find even one suit, let alone enough to storm the Rock. All the other reports were second-hand or cut off halfway through.

  “Yes, Ma’am. I managed to get a glimpse before they tore through my position, like Cerberus herself has been unleashed from hades.”

  “What? Describe them!” Maritta demanded.

  “Matt black. Plasma Cannons on the left arm. Blasters on the right. Missile systems on the shoulders. Thankfully they haven’t used those on us.”

  Maritta felt light headed as the blood drained from her face. Anyone could paint armour matt black, but only one Fully Powered Body armour system had an electron cell powerful enough, to mount both a Plasma and a Blaster, while being small enough to enable them to walk around the Rock.

  “Did they have an insignia?” she asked quietly.

  “I only saw it for a split second. A white circle with a black shape in it. I didn’t have time to make out what it was.”

  Reaching behind her, Maritta found a chair, pulled it out and sat down heavily.

  “Where are you, Nanjappa? Are you safe?”

  “For the moment, Ma’am. When they hit us, I was knocked down by some debris and managed to crawl out of the way. I think there are more coming down the corridor. Yes I can see them. That’s... How?”

  “What is it, Nanjappa?”

  “I think, I think they’re prisoners, Ma’am. They have guard armour on, but none of it fits and they have yellow armbands. It looks like they’ve been taken from prisoner jumpsuits.”

  “Surrender.”

  “Ma’am? We can’t surrender. They’ll kill us!”

  “Those are Legion Commando Devils out there, Senior Guard. I don’t know what game the Families are playing, but someone has sent them. If you try and fight, you have no chance. It won’t mean anything to you, but those Devils are from Shadow Company and they’re a legend, even in the Commandos. Surrender is you’re only hope. It’s the only hope any of us have of getting out of here alive.”

  “I. Yes, Ma’am. I understand. I’ll try and get word to our people here. Good luck.”

  “You too, Senior Guard Nanjappa.” The com clicked and Maritta sat staring at the floor, seeing nothing. With the feeling of finality and a head heavy with the gravity of a black hole, she looked up. All her energy was gone, all her drive to find a solution to this assault on the base she was responsible for, was gone.

  The eyes staring back at her from around the room knew it. They had seen and heard her react to the call. They now knew they faced something only the enemies of the Pantheon should need to fear. Maritta turned to the Communications Technician.

  “Do we have any news from Commandant Polledo?”

  “Erm. Yes, Ma’am. He and his detail have managed to exit their powered-down lift car and are using the tunnel to bring them back to here.”

  “Very well,” she took a deep breath. “Get him on the com as soon as you can. Have the rest of your team contact whoever they can get hold of and tell them to surrender.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  “Is Carter still over there?” Billy Bacc demanded.

  Sneaker saw Forlani’s back stiffen slightly as she leaned over the tactical table and she stifled a sigh before it could become too obvious. Billy was back at his place in the centre of the room, watching the main display as the next flight of shuttles loaded with prisoners left the Rock. The Rebellion equipped the Wandering Pony with livestock freight modules, so they would have the life support to carry over twenty thousand people without running out of air.

  There were commercial passenger modules available, but they would have caused a lot more scrutiny. The prisoners would not have a comfortable ride to their final destination and there had not been time to clean the pens out properly, so they still smelled horrible. Sneaker could not see any of them complaining about their newfound freedom though. Each module included its own docking bay and would make unloading easier.

  With a total lift capacity of three thousand, two hundred people, they needed six round trips to get everyone onto the freighter. The third flight was leaving the Rock now and Valerie was still not on board. Sneaker smiled wryly to himself and decided he would try to explain her to Billy.

  “She said she won’t leave until the Company do and she means it.” Sneaker told him.

  “If you don’t order your people to drag her onto the next flight, Sneaker, I’ll order mine.”

  Forlani spun round. “You do that and you’ll have a stand up fight with my Company, Billy.”

  There was a clear ten metres between the tall, broad shouldered leader of the Rebellion and the short, blonde commander of Shadow Company, and still the air crackled with tension between them. Sneaker stood and interposed himself, his hands up, palms outward.

  “Now, now. I know we’re all a bit stressed here, but starting a new fight on the Rock won’t do any good. Nor right here, for that matter.”

  Sneaker turned to the Rebel leader. “We can’t do anything about Valerie, Billy. She’ll leave when she’s ready and not a minute sooner. She wouldn’t be half the person you hope she is if she did.”

  “Billy?” Sutherland, the Rebel Intelligence Officer interjected.

  “Yes, Alan?” Billy asked.

  “I’ve had a report, Carter has left the bay.”

  “What? Where in hades has she gone?”

  “Into the lift tunnels with a small group.”

  Billy rounded on Forlani. “Major?” he demanded and Sneaker grimaced.

  Forlani met Billy’s eyes for a moment before activating her com. “One, this Lead,” she paused as she listened to the response only she could hear. “Are you with Major Carter, Saito?” The pause was longer this time. “That’s something I really needed to know, Lieutenant. Alright, I understand. We’ll talk it through in the debrief later. In the meantime, keep getting the prisoners ready for transport.”

  Frowning, Forlani deactivated her com and looked over to Sneaker and Billy. “Major Carter took Julianna and a few others into the tunnels after talking to Hanna. She refused to tell Saito why, and ordered him to stay quiet.”

  A glance at Billy, showed he was about to explode and Sneaker immediately keyed his com for Hanna directly.

  “Hey, Sneaker,” her voice spoke out to the room.

  “You’re on speaker, Hanna,” he told her. “Valerie’s gone off into the Rock after talking to you. Do you know why?”

  “She asked me not to say.”

  “Well, I’m asking you to tell me. It’s important and if we have to, we can ask Captain Benz what he overheard.” There was a long pause from the other end before a big sigh.

  “That’s cheating, but alright. It’ll get garbled if I don’t tell you myself. I found the Rock’s Commandant.”

  “He’s not in the Command Centre?” Forlani asked.

  “No, he was unlucky and caught in one of the lifts when I shut the place down.”

  “Where’s he now?” Sneaker asked.

  “He was on h
is way to Wing Six. I have him on the lift car’s camera, leaving the car and entering the tunnel. There aren’t any sensors or cameras between the stops and intersections, so I can’t see him right now. I plotted the locations he entered the surveillance systems envelopes and gave them to Valerie.”

  “Send it to my screen, Hanna.” Sneaker told her and an instant later it was there. He forwarded it to the main display.

  “Where’s he going?” Sutherland asked to the room at large. The route the Commandant was taking was convoluted at best. At first he had been heading towards Wing Six, only to divert down parallel with the wing, before going towards Wing Five.

  “If you match the time stamps to the change in direction, it corresponds to when the assault force arrived and the surrender.” Hanna told everyone since she’d had more time to study the data.

  “It makes sense,” Sutherland said. “He starts heading towards the prisoners to try and prevent a breakout. When he finds out that’s beyond his capability, he goes for the computer core, thinking he can interrupt our control.”

  “That’s my conclusion, certainly,” Hanna agreed. “He was either the one who ordered the surrender or at least agreed with it, and turned away, rather than risking his people by angering us.”

  “No one here disagrees with you, Hanna.” Billy said, his voice tight with anger. “What I want to know, is why you specifically told Valerie this, and why she’s gone haring off after the Commandant.”

  “If anyone knows anything on the Rock about Valerie’s capture or her family’s death it will be him.” Hanna replied firmly.

  “We didn’t come all this way and risk all of our lives for her personal vengeance!” Billy roared.

  Sneaker quickly shut off the connection to Hanna before she said something they would all regret.

  “That’s her mission, Billy!” Forlani snapped. “You knew it as well as I did before we agreed to this, so don’t try and change things now!”

  Billy swore loudly, threw his hands up in the air and stormed out. Sneaker shook his head and joined Shannon at the tactical table.