Gunship - The Series

by John Davis

  During the enraged scream, several of its teeth were jolted from their sockets from a hard right hand thrown by Roman, who had lost his usual ice cold swagger and let emotion take control of his moves as he followed with several more punishing hands to the face of the beast. Not used to the defensive side of battle, the Husk could do very little to block the flurry of commanding fists flying in his direction. Letting a loud and tearful yell of his own out, Roman threw a punch that quickly turned into a cupped hand as it penetrated the throat of the monster, ripping several throat organs out in the process. The monster fell to its knees, slowly dying from the wounds as Roman kicked it in the chest firmly, pushing it onto its back in a large puddle of water. Roman fell to a knee, obviously in pain, slowly making his way back to his feet in an effort to check on Troy as did Dalton, who was sprinting to the child's location.

  “Impressive. Stupid, but impressive.” the crew heard from behind them as the Husks handler stood with a large automatic pistol pointed in the direction of the group.

  Three sharp shots later, he lay face down in the rain, Sarah Blaine standing behind him holding an assault rifle that had been kept in the Rover.

  “No sir, that's impressive.” Adam said, giving a long look of thanks to the woman who had indeed saved his life at this very moment.

  “How bad off is he?” Sarah asked, sprinting over to check on the seriously injured youth.

  Dalton looked up at her with the most serious look she had ever seen him carry. “It's bad.” he replied, immediately looking back down to help aid in any way possible. The next few minutes played out as if they were but a faint memory that had been faded with time, Michaels rushing Sarah to the spacecraft of the Husk; boosting the signal as much as possible before sending a message to her father of their position and condition. It was a long shot that he would even receive the distress call, however there was no time to properly prep the ship and hit orbit. They had to hope and pray that the long range com unit would do it.

  As they returned to the nearby village, Dalton and Roman had assisted some of the locals in making Troy the best possible recovering setting possible inside one of the huts, placing him on a soft stack of grass and trying everything to keep fluids in the young man.

  “We have to go. Now. Otherwise, the boy isn't going to make it.” Roman said in a grave tone, passing the Captain and his newly found love.

  “Can't do it. Help is one the way and we have to be here when they arrive.” Michaels replied as several feet of heavy rainfall distanced the men.

  “I wasn't asking permission, I was letting you know that I'm going to prep the ship for takeoff.” Roman replied.

  “That's not going to happen Roman, don't press the issue.” Adam said, hoping the former special forces soldier would come to his senses.

  “I won't let him die Adam, don't try and stop me.” Roman said firmly, turning to walk in the direction of the vessel.

  “ROMAN! We WILL wait on help to arrive, that is a direct order!” the Captain said, pulling his revolver and aiming it at the hardened warrior. Stopping in his tracks, Roman turned to face Adam; both men giving impenetrable stares.

  “I'm through taking orders from you. What? You plan to shoot me?” Roman said, walking closer to Michaels until reaching the end of the revolver barrel.

  “I don't want to, but I will and I think we both know it,” Adam replied, pulling the hammer back on the weapon, setting it ready to fire with just the slightest pressure. “You are a member of this crew until we're back in the system. That said, you WILL obey my direct order.” the Captain added, calling Roman's bluff.

  “The boy dies, and I'll kill you and anyone else who tries to stop me.” Roman finally replied, walking past both the Captain and Sarah who continued to stand there for several minutes, finally returning to Troy's side.

  “He ain't fucking around Adam.” Dalton said, staring out of the small hut window as Roman sat on a large stone directly in the path of the relentless rainfall, a strong grip on his combat sidearm.

  “Neither am I,” Adam replied, giving Dalton a look to reassure him of that fact. “I don't want anything to happen to Troy any more than he does, but I'll be damned if I put the rest of my crew in danger to fly back into the system for a single person.” Adam added.

  The next few days were a mixed bag as Troy continued to fight for his mortality, Roman kept to himself, only leaving the confines of his hut to sit by the boy's side; Kelly and Kato made a list of everything they needed to get the Gunship back into the sky and the rest of the crew stayed right by the side of Troy the moment Roman left it.

  The crew, they all were heroes to the people who lived in this village on what could be considered one of the more primitive planets in the star system, or even uncharted space for that matter. They all knew that eventually Adam and his crew would be leaving by sky, to visit other planets that were much more civilized than this one; still, they made every effort to show their thanks to the heroes of the Gunship.

  Every night filled with immaculate dinners and only the best lodging available, which wasn't much, but it was a gesture of gratitude that the crew wouldn't soon forget.

  “Quick Captain, come quick!” one of the village natives yelled as he burst into Adam's sleeping quarters, which was nothing more than a back area of one of the larger huts.

  As he jumped to his feet, revolver swiftly in his right hand, he could see the native pointing to the sky. “Quick, come!” he restated as he rushed back outdoors. As Adam stepped outside, he immediately recognized the sound of the sonic booms caused by several ships hitting the planet's upper atmosphere.

  Within seconds, the sky was littered with military jets flying overhead, no doubt doing scans of the ground below as Dalton broke a red flare across his upper thigh and threw it to the ground. The markings on the ships as they flew overhead were unmistakable. They were the Allied Colonial Forces, Sarah's father had arrived.

  As the ships broke into formation and began doing defensive flyovers, several heavily armored space to surface choppers began a descent, followed by a solid chrome shuttle. The choppers landed with a compelling thump as dozens of tactical soldiers, much like that of Roman's former employer, began doing security sweeps of the village and surrounding areas. As the shuttle touched down,

  Sarah sprinted to reunite with her father, who had exited and was waiting with open arms. He was a tall, well dressed man who obviously had the respect of his men. His white hair and peppered beard were indications that he had plenty of experience, and to the crew's delight, he had indeed brought a lot of firepower with him.

  Rather than introduce himself to her father, Adam quickly explained Troy's condition and need of medical treatment, prompting a team to attend to the young man. Seeing the severity of his wounds, they escorted Troy to a nearby chopper, who was carried in the arms of Roman Raines.

  “We picked up a small Legion fleet of ships approaching as we hit orbit. No doubt locked onto your distress call as well, may be a bit of a bumpy ride out.” Commander Blaine said quickly to the crew as he hurried Sarah to his private shuttle. The remaining members of the crew, including the Captain, hopped aboard one of the choppers.

  “Thank you for the drink my friend, we will return one day soon enough.” Dalton said as he boarded, arms full of the local tonic of choice, doing his best to wave for a moment before the chopper door came to a close.

  They had only been airborne a couple of minutes when everyone heard the first explosion. Moments later, it was followed by several more thundering booms as dozens of ships began firing tracer rounds. Adam was in a position to see out of one of the small windows of the crew area, and was simply in awe of the firepower that he lay witness to. Legion ships, three capital ships from what he counted, escorted by several smaller cruiser style ships. He only counted one capital ship bearing the Colonial marking, although there were wave after wave of ship to ship fighters that had launched from it.

  He had known for a while that the star system
was on the verge of a Civil War, however he had no intentions of being caught in the middle. He quickly realized, however, with the throaty sound of the ship's pounding cannons; that he was indeed witnessing the first acts of this inevitable clashing of the system's two powers.

  As their chopper began docking to the Colonial capital ship, the entire crew could see that it had taken a brutal beating in an effort to rescue them. The docking area looked more like a make shift hospital as dozens of wounded were being pulled from Spartan star fighters as dozens more were suiting up to launch and try to replace the fallen. Soon after their craft had successfully landed and the rest were accounted for, a sequence of loud beeps rang throughout the ship. None of Adam's crew knew Colonial code, although it obviously seemed to be some type of general retreat order for the fleet, who began landing in the docking bay by the dozens.

  It was only a few minutes after the loud screeches of military code that the capital ship began doing a full burn, all four of the huge thrust engines firing as the huge space fortress had soon put a great deal of distance between the fight and themselves.

  “Father, this is Captain Adam Michaels. Adam, my father, Trevor Blaine.” Sarah said nervously as she entered the heavily guarded bridge area of the ship along side her new found love.

  “Captain, welcome aboard the Colonial Star Five,” Commander Blaine said, firmly shaking Adam's hand for a moment before hugging his daughter with great joy. “We were able to bring your ship up from the surface before jumping away, my engineers are working on it for you as we speak.” Blaine added, bringing a smile to Adam's face.

  “That's great news. Thank you very much, for the rescue as well as the hospitality.” Adam replied, much politer than usual.

  “I'm afraid I do have some bad news. Our scout teams have reported that Legion forces have combed the uncharted planet. There is a good possibility that the native camp you were holding up in has been wiped out.” Blaine said, reading from a paper report he held in his hands at the moment.

  Michaels was taken back by the news, almost putting him in tears. “I don't understand that. They were of no threat to anyone. They had nothing to do with any kind of war, they were just innocent people; good people trying to survive.” Michaels replied dramatically.

  “I understand your frustration Captain. It's that very same reasoning that led to my taking a position with the Colonial Army. I will not fight under a flag who's military slaughters innocent human beings. The sole purpose of the Colonial Alliance is to put an end to the tyranny and death that the Legion uses to maintain its power,” Blaine replied. “I must attend to repairs throughout the ship Captain, I apologize. However I would like to talk to you about this in much greater detail a bit later?” the commander asked.

  “Of course. Again, thank you.” Adam replied, ending the tense conversation with a quick handshake.

  “What in the fuck is that?” Dalton said to Kelly as he lowered a shiny metal cup from his mouth in awe.

  Neither of them had ever seen anything like it before. Standing nearly seven and a half feet tall, it was a soldier of some type, pure titanium exoskeleton with mechanical features intertwined with human bone underneath; its solid steel skull moving from side to side as the soldier patrolled that area.

  “First time seeing a Goliath unit huh?” one of the Colonial engineers said, raising his head from the thruster of the Gunship that was undergoing repairs by himself as well as Kato. “They're a spectacle, no doubt about it. If you look closely at its right arm, you'll see that it's nothing more than a mini gun built around a titanium rod, damn things can fire up to five hundred armor piercing rounds per minute. That's enough to take down a small aircraft or a whole lot of anything on foot.” the engineer added before turning back to continue working on repairs.

  “Yea, a shit load.” Dalton said in amazement as he took another long drink of his brew, unsuccessfully offering a sip to Kelly.

  Roman sat in Troy's room patiently waiting for a miracle to happen.

  He never really considered himself to be a religious person, although he had to wonder why any God would allow such a young child to lay here like this. Troy should be out doing things that normal children do, like playing games of chance or pulling pranks on one another. Yet here he was, no family, no home and very little chance of surviving. Maybe he felt guilty, the boy having help save his life only to find himself fighting for his own.

  Maybe it was the need to be there for a young man who was doomed to the same kind of childhood he had thrown on him. Being homeless with no family and no means of survival was the biggest reason he had joined the Gali Army to begin with, or at least what he had claimed to be the Gali Army. When a person is faced with insurmountable odds like that, one of two things happens. Either you succumb to the odds that have been stacked against you, or you say fuck the odds and learn to take what you need. That was his attitude, and that's what made him such a dangerous person. Roman quickly stood to his feet as Troy's doctor entered the room.

  “The plan is a simple one,” Commander Blaine said as he looked throughout the crowd, which included Adam, Sarah and Dalton among many high ranking military officers and several dozen of the best soldiers that the Colonies had to offer. “A small team inserts near the heavily fortified compound currently being used as a staging area for the Legion, uses timed explosives to take out its major surface to air defense systems. We then hit them in force, crippling their ability to defend themselves, much less continue killing innocent civilians.” he added, getting nods of encouragement from most of the room as well as a few loud chants of Colonial patriotism.

  “Captain Adam Michaels will lead the first team, which will be comprised of highly trained Spec Ops soldiers as well as a handful of Husk loyalist warriors.” the commander said, immediately taking the breath of his daughter Sarah.

  “You can't!” she said in a low but frantic voice, having fallen in love with a man that would be walking into a hornet's nest of murderers.

  “Someone has to show these bastards that they aren't the highest on the food chain, not anymore.” Adam responded proudly.

  “That someone would be me,” Roman said as he entered the room, turning the head of everyone as he did so. “I'll go in his place.” Roman added, approaching the commander.

  “I appreciate the offer friend, however, this mission is for only the highest qualified of soldi, .” Commander Blaine had said, trying to reply as two of his personal escort soldiers approached Roman, holding him at the gunpoint of their battle rifles.

  Pausing for a moment, clearly thinking of his next move, Roman struck one of the soldiers in the neck area, grabbing the rifle from his clutches as he fell to the ground. Before the second soldier had time to respond, Roman pulled two vital pins from the gun, disassembling it into three large pieces and using the stock that was no longer attached to the weapon, slicing the soldier across the face and rendering him defenseless.

  Several more soldiers rushed into the room, weapons drawn and ready to kill if it meant protecting the commander.

  “I'm the most qualified son of a bitch in this room. All I know is killing, and I'm particularly fond of killing Hunters, which also makes me the most dangerous,” Roman said, throwing the cluster of loose combat rifle parts onto the ground; showing Blaine that he had no intentions of harming him. “You just give me a weapon and tell everyone else to follow close behind and pick up as many of the body parts as they can; I'll kill every one of the bastards myself, and the weapon is optional.” Roman added, having gotten the news that Troy would eventually recover to full health and feeling in the mood for revenge.

  “I can see you are indeed qualified. Captain?” the commander said, asking permission before allowing Roman to go in his stead as armed soldiers continued to hold Roman at gunpoint.

  Looking at Sarah for several tense moments, Adam once again focused his attention on the commander. “I owe this man a great deal. My life, an apology,” Adam said, turning to Roman with an apologetic gla
nce. “If it's his wish to go in my place, then all I ask is he kill as many Hunters as possible.” Michaels added, smiling at the natural born killer.

  Indeed, the plan was a solid one. From the personnel who would infiltrate the stronghold, to the weapons and tactics that would be used once they arrived and now the addition of Roman, whose hatred for Hunters nearly matched his skill in combat. A solid plan indeed. It would have to be, the Legion and its Hunter faithful were no pushovers. One of the more feared races in the charted star system, now with the backing of the Legion army as well as the news that Commander Blaine was about to unveil, the Hunters were even more of a solid opponent.

  “We have confirmed through spies within the Legion Army that the Hunters have genetically developed a new breed of killer,” Blaine said as the room quickly became deathly silent. “A super soldier if you will, matching many of the dimensions of our own Goliath units, the Hunters are calling this unit the Fang.” The commander added as he pressed a couple of buttons on the podium that stood in front of him, displaying a series of photos onto the wall behind him with vivid detail.

  “We are not exactly sure how many Fangs exist, only that they are currently being used as more of a tank, in terms of being accompanied by a small squad of Hunters. We believe there are not many of them yet, which is why it is imperative that we strike them now, before they have a chance to manufacture any more.” Blaine added as he waited for a response from anyone in the crowd of gathered military brass and trained warriors.