Machine Planet (Conquest of Stars Book 4)

by Sid Kar

  But Stardjacker had not landed for a moment with a loud clanking of his boots on the airship floor formally announcing his arrival, when he flipped around in a spinning cartwheel kick, without breaking his momentum from the jump, instead channeling it into a hard kick to another alien who smashed into a third alien shooter on the other side of the airship and both of them went out flying that way.

  A couple of aliens tried to take a swing at him, but Stardjacker was now down on the floor and he swept their legs, then kicked them in turn with both of his boots, pushing them out of the airship through either side. Only two shooters and two pilots of the airship remained. The two of them still standing aimed their laser guns at Stardjacker who lurched at one of them, speared him against the airship’s interior hull, then lifted him up and turned around on his heels in the same instant and charged at the second alien shooter who hadn’t pulled the trigger for fear of striking his companion.

  Stardjacker threw the alien in his arms at the second one and before either one could hit the floor, he himself jumped in the air and drop kicked both of them out the other side. Then he turned to the two pilots who had just now realized the precariousness of their situation and were reaching for their laser pistols while trying to keep the airship steady in the air.

  He grabbed each of them by their hair, yanked them backwards over their seats, and then flung them out of the airship from either side simultaneously by a strong stretch and jerk of his arms. Next moment the airship flipped on its side and Stardjacker reacted instantly. He jumped up and out the other side’s opening that was now at the top, stepped on the hull for a second and pushed hard for a jump away from the airship as it went down hard to the ground and smashed into the street with a loud explosion sending debris flying in every direction. Stardjacker landed on his feet like a gymnast fifty feet away and then rolled on the ground to avoid getting hit by the flying shrapnel.

  Tollvyk and Rockvyk had seen the fight from behind the cover of the building corner. They had ducked back just as the airship had crashed into the ground but now walked out towards the Stardjacker. Tollvyk had seen their previous Stardjacker perform a similar stunt from an even greater height abroad their starship but Rockvyk was awestruck and had grabbed his head with both of his hands.

  “I have never seen…” Rockvyk began to speak when the chants of ‘STARDJACKER! STARDJACKER!’ started loudly in the earnest from the civilian crowd and the soldiers alike.

  “I am glad the Stardjacker is on our side this time,” Tollvyk said.

  “What do you mean? I am always on your side, right?” Norvyk the Stardjacker asked in puzzlement while he looked around at the sky for the presence of any more alien airships. But the rest of them had taken off a while back towards other targets.

  “Tell you later, first we need to reach Raptor,” Tollvyk said, “Last I left them, they were out in the open and might need our help.”

  “Let’s go,” Norvyk replied then turned to the small crowd of soldiers and civilians that was watching them from a distance. He turned on the loudspeaker in his helmet and spoke, “All civilians should seek cover inside buildings, tunnels and other large, metallic structures. All soldiers return to the nearest army base. This is a direct order from an officer.”

  “Yes sir,” the soldiers saluted him and rushed towards their transports and civilians stumbled around. But Norvyk, Tollvyk and Rockvyk had taken off in full sprint towards their AirJets and Norvyk slowed down to keep pace with the other two. As soon as they reached the parking disc, Norvyk jumped on his AirJet and Tollvyk on his own, while Rockvyk hitched a ride behind Tollvyk and they hovered up and accelerated towards the forest.

  “Apologies for the delay, Commodore,” the leader of the starship guards said to Raptor after a salute as he walked out of the forest, “chopping down trees with lasers was easy enough, but properly covering up a large object with leaves, bushes and tree branches is a long lost skill. Something we have only read in adventure novels of our ancient history. We had to look up an arcane army manual that we didn’t even know existed and do a makeshift job, best we could.”

  “I understand,” Raptor said. He was pacing the lush rolling meadows and was actually enjoying the stroll. “No doubt our ancestors would have made quick work of it. It is strange how many techniques get lost to history even when science and engineering progress. But, what of our airship transport?”

  “We contacted an independent operator who agreed to take cash,” the guard replied, “but he has only one large airship that can fit sixteen of us and it is currently delivering passengers. It will reach here in fifteen minutes.”

  “Alright, let’s take a walk,” Raptor said, “His pilot won’t miss us on the open ground even if we walk some distance.”

  The rest of the starship guards then walked out of the forest and saluted Raptor. Raptor turned around and led them on a stroll down the meadow towards the city. They had not even walked for three minutes when they heard the sound of an airship swooshing through the air. Raptor and the guards looked up and saw two airships flying towards them.

  “He must have sent us two to charge us double,” one of the guards muttered.

  But Raptor was flummoxed. He had never seen airships like these but something at the back of his mind said he had. Yes, in the debriefing after their battle against Mercurian Fleet at Nestor. These were slightly different but had the same structure, insignia and metallic signature as the ones he had seen on the recorded videos. His right hand instantly reached for his laser pistol and he turned around to face his guards.

  “That’s Mercurians!” Raptor said, “fall back to the forest. Retreat, fast!”

  His guards were confused a bit, they were in charge of starship’s internal protection and had no participation in external battles. But they saw their Commodore rushing back towards the forest, waving with his laser pistol for them to follow him and they took the hint.

  The two Mercurian airships swung around and came low and then a door flung open on each of them revealing laser gunners who opened fire on the fleeing Starfirians on the ground. Raptor and his guards were still a distance away from the forest and Raptor fired his laser pistol over his shoulder and so did some of his guards but their aims were off for most of the shots. Mercurian airships had now steadied in the air and its soldiers were firing accurate laser shots, downing a starship guard every other second.

  “Guards, we must provide cover to our Commodore,” the leader of the guards yelled, stopped, turned around, went to his knee, took aim at one of the airships and fired away with his laser gun dropping two Mercurians dead who tumbled out and crashed into the grassland. The rest of the starship guards stopped and turned to engage the Mercurians in a laser fight. Raptor kept moving. He hated the idea but this was the Army protocol and he knew it was correct. The battle commander absolutely had to stay alive to lead the battle even if it meant the sacrifice of some soldiers to keep him safe.

  Raptor crossed the treeline in ten seconds, turned around and saw the scene, which was now a carnage. His Starship Guards had all been shot dead by the Mercurian laser gunners. They had managed to score six kills of their own but there were still over a dozen Mercurians in the airships and the airships were descending to the ground. Raptor was angry and opened fire with his laser pistol. He was accurate enough a shooter that he managed to knock a couple of Mercurians out before the Airships turned their armored front side to him and approached the forest.

  That was a bad idea! Raptor thought. He had to get to the spy ship. That was his only hope of escape and survival. The forest was large enough but he wasn’t a trained Jungle Trooper to dexterously hide out amongst the trees. He didn’t even know if Starfirian Army even had a specialist Jungle Corps anymore or for the last couple thousand years.

  He quickly but quietly moved towards the spy ship. He hoped his guards hadn’t done too excellent a job of hiding it. He dare not use his radio beacon to try to locate the spyship for fear of interception and trace of the radio
signal.

  The two Mercurian airships floated above the forest and then one of them flew out ahead. Then they both stopped and six Mercurian shooters rappelled down into the forest from each of the airships on the front and rear side of Raptor.

  Bastards! Raptor thought but he knew he should have expected this tactic. Now a few of them were in between him and his spaceship and a few were closing in from behind.

  Then he heard a thunderous roar in the sky, far above the Mercurian airships, and the next moment he heard the air buzzing with a couple of rockets and then both the Mercurian airships exploded. The thunder subsided in a few seconds. Raptor knew that sound very well, it was the sound of Starfighters flying in a planetary atmosphere, starfighters likes of which he had abroad his own Conquistador. Their own Starfighters were now airborne and were hunting the invader airships.

  Great, but his bad luck that they were two seconds too late. The Mercurian soldiers in the forest were still his problem to deal with.

  Raptor decided to pull a move of his own. He turned around and started walking back towards the meadow. The Mercurians in his rear would not expect him to move towards open ground but that is exactly what Raptor was going to do. The Starfleet Command must have ordered most of their starfighters and airships to take to the air now and he could radio them for help. Now the open ground would be to his advantage if one of their own Airship could protect him from the sky.

  He sent a distress code for immediate help over his personal radio to the Starfleet Command. A Commodore’s request would receive top priority and he activated the ‘Trace’ feature on his radio that would allow one of Starfire’s airship to hone in on to him. The Airship may not have the time to load with the troops but it would definitely have a laser cannon or two. That’s why he had to get visible from the air and Raptor slowly moved taking cover behind a large tree trunk or a dense bush, watching for a couple of seconds, then crawling out quickly for another couple of seconds before hiding once again.

  He saw two Mercurian soldiers moving through the bushes twenty feet to his right. They were silent but walking upright, perhaps overconfident about facing just a lone opponent. Raptor looked around the thick trunk of the tree, aimed his laser pistol and fired five shots, knocking both of them out. Then he quickly went on all fours and slipped away.

  He heard a few laser shots bounced in his general direction. There were four more Mercurians in the vicinity who came rushing, saw their fallen comrades and took positions and listened for any sound and watched for any movement.

  One of them was dead ahead of Raptor. Raptor was hiding behind a bush but he could not make a move. The Mercurian soldier, dressed in blue-green uniform with a strange mask of the same color on his face, was positioned behind a fallen log, his eyes scanning 180 degrees and his long laser gun moving with them. The forest had started to thin out here and the open vista of the rolling meadow was visible a hundred feet away.

  Raptor had to act fast but he could not hide from the soldier in front unless he took a long detour. There was no time for that. He was hearing fast but distant footsteps. These must be the Mercurians that had been dropped ahead of him. Once they arrived, there would be enough numbers to close the circle on him. He had to act now, take a risk now.

  Raptor lifted up his pistol through the bushes, steadied it with both of his hands, and fired a single shot through the mask of the Mercurian soldier, seeing a spurt of strange blue colored blood but the Mercurian tumbled over the log.

  The other three Mercurians were nearby, got up from their positions and rushed in the direction of Raptor’s bush. He could not crawl around now, they were closing fast. Raptor got up and sprinted towards a thick tree. The Mercurians opened fire just as Raptor had jumped behind the tree, but a laser bolt struck his right calf.

  Raptor cursed loudly. The pain was high but tolerable and dissipating after the initial strike. The three Mercurians kept firing at the tree and chipping off its trunk with each shot of laser. Raptor had to move again. He fired back with his laser pistol forcing the Mercurians to take cover of their own. Then he started running towards the open ground and the three Mercurians ran behind him.

  They were firing lasers at him but Raptor ran zig-zag across the forest and the trees and the branches deflected the laser shots. His calf had once again started crying in pain but he ran with all his strength. The Mercurians sure were. He took out his personal radio and now spoke freely, “STAR DOWN! STAR DOWN! I need immediate help against Mercurians. STAR DOWN!” Raptor shouted. That was the army’s distress code and he could wait no longer. An airship better come in the next minute or he was most likely dead, Raptor thought as he ran out of the treeline of the forest and into the open meadow. He kept running and the three Mercurians chasing him jumped out of the forest the next moment and aimed their laser guns at him.

  Raptor turned around quickly and fired a laser shot at the lead Mercurian dropping him to the ground. The other two Mercurians jumped behind a tree each.

  Raptor rushed forward with all his strength.

  Then he gave up with a cry of defeat and his feet would not drag because he had spotted the other six Mercurians who had now caught up and were fifty feet to his right. Raptor turned to them and aimed his laser pistol their way. But he knew it was game over. They were six and they were all on the open ground. Raptor’s finger was heavy and he attempted to squeeze the trigger but his willpower gave up. The pistol fell out of his hand. His face twitched in the anguish of the final defeat and the inevitable end.

  The Mercurian soldiers fired at him and two of their laser bolts struck him, one in his left shoulder and the other in the right abdomen. The searing pain rushed to his brain and Raptor yelled instinctually. Another laser hit him in the back spine that was fired by one of the two Mercurians behind him in the forest.

  Raptor fell on his back and writhed in agony. He saw the red sky of Rainmar above him. He heard thunderous booms in the distance. He tried to imagine his Starship Conquistador somewhere far out in the space above. What would it be doing now? He wondered. My Starship. Raptor thought and a half smile curled across his lip as he closed his eyes. The pain was still there but had steadied. The micromachines embedded inside his body were releasing pain countering medicines and his senses were dulling and numbing. All of his boyhood and most of his youth he had dreamt of only one overarching ambition for his life: to become a starship commodore. Many years later he had nearly given up on the dream, resigning himself to the fact that his scores in battle exercises were mediocre at best. But he had shined where it mattered, on the battlefield. Was this how it was, he wondered, for all those Starfirian warriors for thousands of years…

  Then he lost consciousness.

  “I see the alien soldiers standing over a body in the meadow,” Stardjacker Norvyk communicated over the AirJet’s intercom system. He was flying ahead and Col. Tollvyk and Rockvyk were on Tollvyk’s AirJet right behind him. They were flying over the forest cover but not by more than twenty feet above the taller trees.

  “Can you see the uniform?” Tollvyk asked. He moved his AirJet to the right but the sight was still beyond the visual range. Stardjacker was using his zoom lenses embedded in the mask’s eyesight.

  “Damn…I see the Commodore’s shoulder patch,” Norvyk said.

  “RAPTOR!!!” Tollvyk yelled then shook his head despondently. Detective Rockvyk put his hand on Tollvyk’s shoulder to calm him. He had known both of them for years on planet Bravo and they were the best of the friends, inseparable and with complementary personalities.

  “Hold on,” Norvyk said, “I think he might be alive. Not moving, but not dead either. The way those soldiers are looking at the symbols on his uniform and conversing. They must have guessed by now that he is a senior officer. Maybe debating whether to give him medical aid and take him prisoner.”

  “We must reach there fast,” Tollvyk started accelerating his AirJet to top speed when Stardjacker accelerated right in front of him.

  “Wait
Toll, if we storm them from the air, they will start shooting lasers at us and we can’t return fire for fear of striking Raptor,” Stardjacker said, “they might even shoot him for good if he is still alive.”

  “What do you recommend?” Tollvyk asked fighting back tears from his eyes and slowing down once again.

  “Let’s get below the trees when we get near and lunge at them with our fists and kicks,” Stardjacker said, “I can take them out without using lasers.”

  “Alright,” Tollvyk nodded his head. He would have loved nothing more than to go in lasers blasting but if there was even a slightest chance Raptor was alive, they had to take it.

  A couple of minutes later they decelerated and lowered their AirJets into the forest where they abandoned them. Then they started walking on foot with Stardjacker in the lead. They were walking briskly, nearly running, every second counted for Raptor, and the thunder of Starfighters flying in the sky covered the noise of their boots.

  The eight Mercurian soldiers were curiously looking at Raptor’s fallen body and had formed a circle around him. Their medical database had no information on the Starfirian biology, not even a mention of them. They didn’t even know if he was alive or dead. With their own airships taken out, their command had gone and they were all of the equal rank but the one who was most senior was acting as their defacto leader. He was posing questions to others and trying to think of their choices. This fallen enemy appeared to be of a considerable rank. That they could tell. He could be a source of great information as they knew nothing whatsoever about Starfirians or their starships. And the eight of them would receive great commendation for bringing in a high ranking prisoner. As they were discussing amongst themselves they did not hear the rustle near the treeline.

  Stardjacker came out of the forest first and sprang at the Mercurians like a panther. Before all of them had even turned around, Stardjacker had speared a Mercurian soldier with his helmeted head and had him down on the ground, knocked out cold. He kicked the second soldier in his chest, then followed through with a spinning kick to his face landing him flat on his back.