Gunship - The Series
Page 10
As the approached the marked building, Avery checked his watch before informing the rest of the group that the Colonial force would be striking in less than twenty-two hours. “Still plenty of time, go in quietly and don't get sloppy. Now move!” the Lieutenant said quietly as Steiner pushed the large red door, which was made of reinforced red steel, opening it slowly with a small creaking sound.
The room was pitch dark, as Steiner moved inside slowly, his large shotgun in front and at the ready. Following closely behind, Roman and Dalton moved inside of the military target, Roman with a standard issue rifle while Dalton insisted on using his not so standard pump shotgun.
Suddenly, the interior lights came on, giving the soldiers an immediate picture of the building's interior, which was flooded with Legion soldiers who had all four of the strike team members kneeling at gunpoint.
“You're late.” one of the ranking Legion officers said calmly as Lieutenant Avery pointed his pistol directly at the skull of Roman.
“I'm late because your damn sniper pinned us down.” Avery replied sternly.
“Anwick requested you hold these three until he arrives.” Avery said with a more relaxed tone as the Legion officer nodded.
“You should know, I make it a point to kill anybody who pulls a gun on me twice.” Roman said calmly, his hands behind his head.
“I'll make a note of it.” Avery replied, motioning a group of the Legion soldiers to lead Steiner, Roman and Dalton to a holding cell.
As they were leaving the large storage area, they were unfortunate witnesses to Legion soldiers firing a single into the head of each of the strike team members, killing them on the spot.
As they arrived to the holding area, the Colonial sniper lay in the corner of the room, badly beaten and unable to stand.
“Get inside you Colonial pieces of shit!” one of the Legion soldiers said, pushing Steiner into the cell with the backside of his rifle.
“Looks like I don't want to kill you so badly after all.” Steiner said to Roman as Dalton tried helping the sniper to his feet.
“We got to warn the Fleet, they, there is an entire regiment of Legion soldiers here, Commander Blaine is walking right into a trap.” the sniper managed to say as he continued to fight for a deep breath.
“First thing's first. We gotta get out of this holding cell.” Roman said with purpose as he extended his hand to the much larger, former foe Steiner.
After the two combat juggernauts shook hands, which sent a shiver up the spine of Dalton, who imagined the possibilities of both men fighting together; they began pacing the cell and looking for anything that may aid in their escape.
“So, you're thinking my father's offer over seriously then?” Sarah asked as Michaels read through a stack of papers in his room aboard the Colonial Star Five.
“Of course, just the idea of starting over scares the hell out of me.” Michaels replied, continuing to glance at unclassified military reports as he tried to get himself up to speed on the war between the Colonial and Legion armies.
“Well, you know, starting over with me at your side might not be such a bad thing.” Sarah said convincingly as she slowly walked over to him, putting her arms around his neck passionately.
“Wait.” Adam said, jumping to his feet.
“Wait? I thought that's what you wanted? What we both wanted?” Sarah said, very confused by the Captain's sudden change of heart.
“No, wait.” Michaels said, holding a single piece of paper in his hand, then grabbing several more as he read them thoroughly.
“Who was in charge of your security detail back on Tameca?” Michaels asked impatiently.
“Um, Lieutenant Avery, I think, why?” she asked curiously.
Adam bolted out of his room without explanation, several papers tightly in his grasp as he sprinted through the halls of the huge ship on his way to the commander's quarters. Everyone he passed taking a second to watch his movements, wondering about his sense of urgency.
“Commander, Adam Michaels here to see you sir?” a Colonial soldier said softly, as he held the door of Blaine's cabin open.
“By all means, send him in.” the commander said politely as he sat in a very lush leather chair behind a huge wooden desk that looked as sturdy as the ship it rested on.
“Adam, I take it that you have thought on my offer?” Commander Blaine said hopefully.
Throwing a small stack of documents onto the desk, Adam tried for a few seconds to catch his breath. “It's a trap.” the Captain finally managed to squeeze from his lungs.
“Excuse me?” Blaine said, standing out of the chair in search of an answer.
“Lieutenant Avery is working with the Legion. Right here in the documents are at least a dozen cases where his group came under assault from either Legion or Hunter forces, every single time he was the only one to survive. The Hunters do not leave survivors, trust me on that one.” Michaels said confidently.
“Adam, that's outrageous. Avery is one of my most trusted officers.” Blaine replied skeptically.
“Commander, your daughter's security detail back on Tameca, Avery survived that assault as well. Believe me, I met the monsters behind that, we damn near didn't make it out of there ourselves.” Adam said in an attempt to force the commander to see reason.
“He's right father, Lieutenant Avery was acting strange that entire day. Our group was hit by four Hunters as well as a full squad of Legion soldiers. When I was taken into custody, I thought for sure that we would surely die, the rest of my detail already lay slain.” Sarah said, arriving at her father's quarters and nodding in the direction of Captain Michaels to let him know that he had her support.
Commander Blaine stood silent for several very long moments, trying to connect the dots inside his mind.
“Commander, two of my crew are with the strike team. All I ask is the use of a ship; give me a chance to rescue them if I'm right about this.” Michaels said.
“If you're wrong?” Blaine asked quietly.
“If I'm wrong, then I will apologize to Avery myself. You told me that my heart was in the right place, well my heart tells me that our men are in trouble.” Michaels responded.
“Alright. I'll give you a chopper and a four man strike team, on one condition,” the commander said as he slid a small blue box across the fine wood grain of the desk into the direction of Adam. As Michaels slowly opened the box, he was nearly taken over with emotion as he saw the insignia medallion of a Colonial Lieutenant. “The only way any of the soldiers on this ship will execute an order from you, is if you are a commanding officer. Besides, I know I can trust you with my daughter's life.” Blaine said firmly.
“Sarah's life?” Adam asked, confused.
“That's right. You don't honestly think I plan on letting the man I'm in love with go it alone do you?” Sarah relied.
“But I don't thin... ” Adam began to respond as he was quickly cut off by Commander Blaine.
“Don't worry Lieutenant, she's plenty capable. Who do you think trained many of the Special Ops soldiers aboard this ship?” Adam gave a long, blank stare in her direction.
“I know, I know. Us girls and our secrets.” Sarah said as she smiled wide.
“You have a go Lieutenant.” Commander Blaine said as Michaels was still in shock over the events of the past several minutes.
“Yes sir.” Adam finally replied, turning to leave the commander's quarters.
“So we wait for Anwick to arrive, more than likely escorted by a couple more Hunters, and then we overpower them as soon as the cell door opens? Seriously? That's the plan?” Dalton asked in a joking manner.
“Do you see any other way out?” Roman replied, confirming the plan he had helped Steiner design.
“Look, I'm one for a fight, don't get me wrong. Hell, I'm even one for fighting against the odds; but damn, we are talking about a small group of heavily armed HUNTERS HERE,” Dalton replied loudly. “We are talking suicide and everyone in here knows it!” he added.
“So let's think of something that doesn't involve everyone in this fucking jail cell dying!” Dalton responded animatedly.
“All systems are checking out fine.” Kelly said as she flipped several switches at the helm of the reconstructed Gunship. It still had plenty of wrench time ahead, but the craft was starting to slowly look like a spaceship as a small crew had joined Kato in working on it around the clock.
“Getting good readings on life support, navigational and cabin pressure.” she added, yelling the information out of a small hole in the side of the bridge that was being reinforced with plated steel.
The mechanical crew continued working with engineers as several Spartan model fighter ships also were receiving repairs in the same area of the Colonial vessel. Kato had paused for a few moments, watching the welding torches piecing the small ship to ship fighters back together; wondering what it must be like to fly something that was incredibly fast. The speed was offset by the disadvantage of having only a dual gun mounted to each wing that was capable of firing quick bursts of tracer rounds. It sounded good in theory, however, against a larger ship the tracers were only potent when the Spartans attacked in great numbers.
“I'm heading down ahead of the fleet.” Adam said. Kato pulled himself the rest of the way out of the confines of one of the ship's thrusters long enough to see Adam decked out in the Colonial blue and gray, complete with his Lieutenant insignia pinned to the collar of his tightly pressed shirt.
“I like what you guys have done with the ship. Good job. I'll be back soon enough.” Michaels said, nodding his approval before walking further down the maintenance deck.
“What was that all about?” Kelly asked, glaring through the temporary hole of the Bridge.
“I dunno. Did he shave or something?” Kato replied, clueless as to Adam's life altering decision to join the fleet. Grease smeared across his face as he held a massive chrome wrench in his right hand, once again pushing the creeper he rested on back under the work at hand.
Adam stood there for several tense moments, looking at the four man team of soldiers that had been assigned to him. Already seated aboard the Colonial chopper, they were ready to launch at the order of the newly pinned Lieutenant.
“Alright, listen up. “I'm sure you all have ready the mission brief and I'm confident that you know what you are doing. Simply put, we get in, get our soldiers and get out. Safely. All weapons stay suppressed unless ordered otherwise. If the intelligence on Lieutenant Avery is incorrect, we will then fall under his command and assist the first team with operations until the Colonial Fleet arrives. Any questions?” Lieutenant Michaels asked as the soldiers simply nodded firmly in compliance before looking into the direction of the loading door on the craft.
Sarah had joined the group, wearing an elegant red colored dress, she had accented her already perfect face with vibrant makeup and had her hair arranged as if she were about to attend a social dinner. Adam stood there speechless, wondering how many more tricks the woman of his dreams had up her sleeve.
“What? A girl's gotta look good.” Sarah said comically as she finished boarding the chopper, hoisting a large black combat rifle in her right arm.
“Yes, you do.” Adam replied as he sat down in one of the rough black leather seats near the cockpit area, nothing short of speechless.
“We've been cleared by the bridge sir. On your order.” the pilot said in a disciplined tone as Lieutenant Michaels gave the go ahead, looking one last time at the safe confines of Colonial Star Five. With his order, the chopper slowly pulled from the thick steel flooring of the shipping bay, turning slowly as several of the crew aboard the capital ship looked on. Seconds later, the small craft executed a full burn, disappearing from sight and showing up on the Star Five's radar system.
“I'm telling you, it'll work,” Dalton said loudly to the others, referring to his plan to stage a fight and try to lure one of the less prominent Legion guards to the cell. “I saw Adam do it once in the public jail on Star City.” he added.
“A little difference between a local jail on a space station and a heavily fortified compound led by Hunters.” Steiner replied grimly.
“It's the best plan so far.” the Colonial sniper said, speaking up for the first time since being reunited with the group.
“Thank you,” Dalton replied sincerely. “What's your name again chief?” Dalton asked. “Corporal Lassiter.” the sniper replied, obviously still reeling from the injuries he had suffered during his interrogation time.
“See, I figure we stage a fight. Hell, Roman and the Husk population aren't exactly on the best of terms anyway. The guards come in to shake down the cell, we turn on 'em and get the fuck out of here.” Dalton said, as if he were throwing a sales pitch for a new home, even closing things with his own variation of a realtor's smile.
“Sounds like a solid enough plan.” Lieutenant Avery said as he approached the cell. Roman cut his eyes at Dalton for a moment, as if to mentally slap him across the face, before turning his attention back to Avery. “Now, let me tell you a really solid plan. The Colonial Fleet arrives, we purposely hold back our rail guns and surface to air missiles, convincing them that you idiots were successful. Then, once they are far enough in, we launch everything we have from the far side of the planet. They will be outnumbered at least three times over, crushing the backbone of the Colonial Army with one fail swoop.”
The men stood there for a moment before Roman finally approached the front of the cell; thick steel bars the only thing separating him from Avery.
“So how much do they offer a gutless piece of shit like you to turn on his own kind?” Roman asked. Laughing for a moment, Avery returned the stone glare of Roman.
“Enough. Ask your friend Lassiter back there, they made us both the same offer, he was just too proud to take it.” Avery replied.
Roman glanced back at the sniper for a moment, nodding his appreciation.
“He'll live to see the end of this war. You won't.” Roman replied, walking away from the front of the cell.
“So sure are you about that? I plan to kill you myself when the Hunters arrive.” Avery said confidently.
“Yea, I haven't heard that line before.” Roman replied, sitting down beside Lassiter in the corner of the cell.
“Soon.” Avery replied, walking away to regroup with his security detail of two Legion soldiers.
Kato slid out from his workspace for a moment, wiping his face of excess grease and obviously in deep thought. He quickly grabbed a piece of scrap paper from his workbench and began writing several items down in a concentrated manner.
“What are you doing?” Kelly asked as she peeked through one of the cockpit windows.
“Hopefully, modifications.” Kato replied, immediately flagging down a deck hand to see if the listed supplies were available.
“Less than one minute out! Check your gear!” Lieutenant Michaels said loudly as the crew area of the chopper clicked over from red to yellow. The soldiers began checking their battle rifles and combat pistols, all of which had been previously double checked. The sun had started to break just a bit as the chopper hit ground, the cabin light turning green as everyone dashed out of the passenger door, their solid black boots crunching onto the brittle ground beneath. The chopper had to land farther out, obviously, because of the daylight that was upcoming; leaving the team with a good hike in front of them.
“Last chance?” Adam asked as Sarah just looked at him sarcastically for a moment before climbing down to ground level.
Everyone remained low as the chopper turned sharply, rising from the ground before hitting a full burnout. Shortly after they had made it to a small tree line nearby, two Legion jets flew past as a very high rate of speed. “Daggers. Moving fast, looks like the chopper didn't make it out of here off of radar.” Sarah said regretfully. They listened quietly as chatter came
across the Colonial com units of two fighter planes intercepting the chopper, soon after, the chatter was cut silent.
“Get in the supply kit and get the reflector blanket out, sure to be scanning the area soon.” Sarah said.
Sure enough, only minutes later the Dagger ships passed over their area several times, scanning the ground for heat signatures. The crew lay quietly under the reflective blanket, as its exterior digitally changed to adapt to the terrain, camouflaging them from anything overhead as they kept eyes open for anything or anyone on foot. Nearly an hour after the Daggers had executed their last flyover, Lieutenant Michaels deemed it safe to move as the squad made their way to the compound.
“Well, I guess we're back to plan B huh?” Dalton asked as the rest of the prisoners sat quietly.
“First person through that cell door is dead by my hands, and I pray that it's Avery.” Roman said softly, meaning every word of it.
“They will come at us heavy, knowing what we might be capable of,” Steiner said. “Best chance would be to play it down until we are all out of the cell and under gunpoint. More room to move around.” he added.
“For what it's worth, there's nobody I'd rather be busting out of captivity and more than likely dying with,” Dalton replied, trying to lighten the mood of the men, who had the gloom of a death sentence hanging over their heads. “Of course, I'd like to be doing it with a bottle of whiskey in my hand, but beggars can't be choosers.” he added, prompting the men to laugh for a moment.
Commander Blaine stood on an overhead catwalk as he watched regiments of men get into formation before boarding troop carriers. They would have to fly down under heavy Spartan escort, having no ship to ship weapons of their own. As impressive as the Goliath units were, there were still far too few of them to launch as an entire regiment, instead they were packaging two of them per troop ship in order to assist the ground forces. Little was known about the new strain of genetically enhanced Hunter, but he couldn't imagine anything strong enough to take down a Goliath unit, not even a Fang.