The statue Nancy had hidden behind disintegrated. She was forced out into the corridor where at least two blasters caught her full in the chest simultaneously, blowing her backwards. Her defenders returned fire while others picked her up and pulled her farther away down the corridor. Sergeant Jacobs stopped long enough to give her a quick examination. She was unconscious, her body armor destroyed, but he knew it had saved her life for at least a little while.
Suddenly, three gleasons made it past Otis and rushed toward Nancy. Her Protectors met them head on in a frenzy of shooting, knives, and hand to hand fighting. All the defenders died, and so, too, did two of the gleasons, but a third made it through. Jacobs was all the protection remaining to Nancy. He fired, but the gleason was on him in an instant. Knives appeared in Jacob’s hands and flew through the air, both striking the gleason in the head. Several well-placed shots from Terry Washburn, farther down the corridor with Krys, hit at the same time. The gleason went down, finally dead. Jacobs went to each of the three gleasons and made certain they were dead. When he got back to Nancy Shaw, she was already in Washburn’s arms and headed away from the fight.
Grenades began flying in both directions, killing and injuring Otis’ men and gleasons alike. Smoke filled the corridor, making targets hard to see. Otis roared out a command for a general retreat. He threw a handful of flash-bang grenades toward the gleasons and fled with the rest of his men.
He made a brief report to Josh as he leaped down the corridor. “You’re clear.”
* * * * *
Josh received the message from Otis, but every piece of the puzzle had to be in place before he brought Ellie out. He ordered his radio man to check with Chandrajuski. “Are you in position?”
“Yes, and Waverly is on his way.”
Josh called Major Barnes. “Have the control centers fallen?”
“Yes, sir, all three of them.”
Josh checked in with Val. Struthers was still seated in the center of the first line of tables on the dais speaking calming words to the gathered senators, assuring everyone that the fighting was expected, the attackers were small in number, and that his men would prevail. The evening festivities would take place as planned. Val still believed gleasons remained within his chamber.
Josh gave the signal. Great Cats raced ahead to clear the stairwell leading upward through the levels, stunners and blasters ready. Rebel guards positioned at regular intervals along the stairways, already nervous from the presence of gleasons, didn’t stand a chance against the cats. Indeed, the very sight of the fierce cats stunned most of them into inaction before weapons could be raised in defense. The Great Cats never even slowed, leaving their Terran partners behind as they used stunners on everyone, soldiers and civilians. Silence was a priority during this part of the attack. The Terran Protectors were not far behind the cats, and Mike and the Queen were not far behind them.
Great Cats flowed out of the stairwell on the main level near the entrance of the chamber and split up. Some headed for ramps to the balconies. Others raced through the corridors on both sides of the chamber clearing soldiers and civilians alike. At the sight of Great Cats fully stretched out and on the attack, throngs of people, even the guards, cowered. They had no place to run, and the Protectors silently stunned everyone. There wasn’t a single person standing as the Terran Protectors followed at a more established gait, making certain that every single body was stunned again.
Another group of Terran Protectors reached the main level and went the other way. For the first time, Josh’s men showed themselves outside. These men deployed outside to cover every entrance to the chamber, and a large number of them raced toward the entrance Otis would eventually emerge from. Fighting positions were set up as nervous eyes searched for Rebel reinforcements. Josh’s surveillance teams reported nothing worse than small groups of soldiers exiting the chamber, probably scared out of their wits by Otis’ attack. Josh’s men had no cover on the wide walkway, so anyone who fought back was gunned down. Those that surrendered were stunned and hand-cuffed.
Mike, Ellie, and Josh exited the stairwell, turned left, and raced through the full length of inside corridor. The silent mayhem that greeted them did not surprise Josh, but to Mike and Ellie, the eerie silence was awesome.
When they reached the door leading to the front of the chamber, Josh kept them waiting just long enough to confirm that Protectors assigned to the balcony were in position. Their commander reported ready. Josh checked that stunners had been replaced with blasters in everyone’s hands and gave the go-ahead.
Blaster fire sounded from the balcony at the same time as charges set on the doors on both sides of the dais went off. Josh’s men moved in, taking out a large number of unsuspecting Rebel reserves waiting in the room. These men had been stunned by the explosions, but blasters were the weapon of choice now and all of them fell. Two squads of Protectors on each side of the dais barely even slowed as they moved onto the dais from both sides. Some raced up the isles, taking out the five guards on each side, then spreading out and positioning themselves with weapons pointed toward the senate floor.
Two more squads stepped smartly into the chamber with Mike in their midst, his First Knight’s Medallion prominent on his chest. All of them moved immediately to the center of the dais. Weapons pointed in every direction, including toward Struthers and his followers, though Mike had eyes only for Struthers.
Struthers stood, his attention focused on Mike. “I knew she would come!” he shouted in triumph. He raised a hand. Two invisible gleasons left their perches on the wall behind him, crashing to the tables and instantly leaping into the Protectors. But blasters were ready, fingers already lightly touching the firing studs and needing no delay. The gleasons were hideously injured before leaving the tables. Great Cats fell on them, holding nothing back.
During the intense distraction, Struthers raced behind his fellow conspirators in a crouch, a blaster held in one hand. Mike jumped up on the tables and raced after him. Struthers rose up, his weapon aimed at Mike and a look of utter pleasure on his face. Mike didn’t give him time to get the weapon lined up. He fired, and the arm holding Struthers’ weapon disappeared. Jessie was on Struthers a moment later, hauling him across the tables and throwing him to the floor. She stunned him, then hauled him into the holding room on the far side of the dais and left him to the Protectors there. Someone would take care of his wound, but it wouldn’t be her or Mike.
Struthers’ secret weapon, the gleasons, were dead. Struthers himself had been taken captive. To the senators, everything happened in under a minute. Silence descended on the great chamber as shock set in.
Josh received a report that the balconies were clear. His gaze traveled to the ceiling display he so loved and he studied it briefly, knowing that it had probably experienced a first in its long history. His gaze went to the senators, then to his men standing guard along the walls.
“All clear,” he announced.
He assigned two Terrans to keep an eye on the group of 12 Chessori, then limped over to Mike. “You’re on, Sire.”
He and Mike locked gazes for a long moment. The two of them had traveled a long road to reach this place. Mike put a hand on Josh’s shoulder and nodded, then moved to the center of the dais. He drew his First Knight’s Pendant from under his armor and held it out to the senators. He passed his other hand over the Pendant, and it sprang open. Ellie’s countenance sprang into existence, a hologram of her face looking out toward the senators.
Mike did not speak. It was not his place. It was hers. He turned toward the holding room with the Pendant still held high. Ellie stepped onto the dais escorted by her personal Protectors. Every eye among the senators shifted from Mike to her. An awesome silence gripped the chamber until she reached Mike’s side, then a few senators rose to their feet. Flames briefly shot from the nostrils of a great, yellow dragon whom Mike suspected was Senator Truax. More senators rose, though still only a light shuffling sound could be heard.
Sudden
ly, shots sounded on the balcony level. A moment of stunned inaction followed, but only a moment. Mike took Ellie’s arm, another Protector took her other arm, and they raced her from the dais. Her feet never even touched the floor. He dumped her into the far holding room and turned back to the dais. Pandemonium had broken out.
More shots sounded from the balcony. Josh had made plans for a serious fight within the chamber even though he had desperately hoped to avoid it, and Mike had a part in that plan. He turned on his microphone and started repeating over and over again, “Get down. Everyone to the floor!”
Two Protectors on each end of the dais took prone firing positions and focused scopes on the balcony. Tables on the dais were tipped onto their sides, and most other Protectors on the dais picked firing positions behind them. More Protectors entered from both sides of the dais and moved out into the chamber.
A crash sounded as a table shattered among the senators near the back of the chamber. Then another and another and another. Snipers wounded one gleason as it jumped from the balcony, its camouflage shimmering as it fell through the air. The rest remained intact.
Josh wasted no time. “Gleasons on the floor,” he announced to his men. “Snipers, remain in place. Squad six, up the center isle to the rear. Squad seven, center left. Squad eight, center right. Squads three and four, front left and right. Squads one and two, remain with the Queen.” Josh raced toward Mike and Jessie, both of them exposed on the stage. “Get behind a table,” he ordered.
Mike felt the blood pounding through his ears as a sudden wave of fear coursed through his body. They might have only seconds before the gleasons were upon them.
An explosion ripped through the waiting room to Mike’s right, the room he and Ellie had used to enter the chamber. When the dust cleared, he saw Rebel soldiers wrestling a heavy weapon from the outside corridor and moving toward the stage. Josh called for external reinforcements as he and two cats fired into the room, taking out at least one Rebel and possibly more. He and the cats raced to either side of the door, turned quickly and fired into the room, then immediately stepped back and hit the floor. Another explosion sounded. Dust and smoke poured from the room, obscuring the dais.
Mike heard occasional shots from among the seated senators. He guessed that Josh’s men were using stunners sparingly, maybe held above the head of senators, to locate the gleasons, then following up with blasters.
As the dust thinned, Mike heard several sharp bangs from Josh’s direction. He and the cats had tossed flash-bang grenades into the room. They immediately rose and attempted to enter the room, but they were forced back by Rebel reinforcements firing wildly from the main hallway. Mike and Jessie chose targets among the Rebel reinforcements, taking out several while Josh and the two cats withdrew.
Josh’s voice came on the command circuit again. “Foxtrot team leader, are you clear?”
“Foxtrot clear,” came the response.
“We need the scree. I want you to take out a Chessori. Just one. Wait a few seconds, then take out another one, but only if necessary. Understood?”
“Understood.”
A blaster sounded from the balcony and a Chessori fell. It’s comrades looked at it, stricken. Another shot sounded, and another Chessori fell. The scree sounded instantly. Anguished screams erupted throughout the chamber as senators writhed on the floor in agony, some even making it to their feet, holding their heads to flounder among their brethren. Josh raced into the holding room, killing everyone in the room. The two cats, struggling against the scree, dragged the heavy guns to the corridor entrance and remained there, manning the guns and looking for anyone else coming in their direction. Josh detailed one of Ellie’s protection squads to guard the corridor on the far side of the chamber.
The shooting dropped to sporadic single shots as Josh’s men sought targets, but if any gleasons remained, they were hidden among the senators. The Great Cats near Mike struggled mightily against the scree to aim weapons, but there were no ready targets.
Suddenly, the scree stopped. Mike and Josh exchanged surprised looks, neither of them knowing why but both of them recognizing the danger. They raced to cover the entrance to the room occupied by Ellie. Josh spoke into his communicator, ordering his men to be alert for gleasons back at full capacity.
Two gleasons, both wounded, fought their way through four Protectors to reach the dais just as Mike and Josh took up their new positions. Mike shot one, and though it fell, he continued shooting at it to make certain it would never rise again. Josh grabbed the leg of the second gleason as it raced by him and tripped it, then instantly fell on it with a knife. The gleason twisted as it went down, landing on its back, and Josh fell into its clutches. He didn’t hesitate. As arms and legs and a vicious mouth tore into him, he pushed a heavy knife into and through the gleason’s head. The two were engulfed by two cats who ripped the gleason from Josh’s grasp and blew it apart with multiple shots from close range.
Josh was down, his body armor shredded by the gleason’s claws, his right thigh sliced along its length. Blood poured down the front of his uniform. The blood flow quickly subsided, probably due to his Rider. Mike and Jessie stood guard over him while a medic, working incredibly fast, placed field dressings over the wound on his thigh, then bound the entire thigh with tape, pants and all. Josh rolled over onto his belly, his blaster aimed at the chamber, looking for more targets.
Occasional shots sounded from the floor of the senate as gleasons made their individual moves, but they did not organize to present a united front. Had they done so, the fighting would have been much more devastating to the innocent senators. As it was, snipers from the gallery picked them off one by one as they moved through the smoke. Once wounded, they were easy prey for the rest of the Great Cats and Josh’s men.
A full minute went by without any shooting, and the fighting appeared to be over. Josh ordered squads to re-secure the outside perimeter of the chamber while others began a systematic search of the chamber itself. Josh took the Chessori into custody and marched them up to the dais.
Mike turned and went to Ellie who was surrounded by her Protectors. He gave her a quick hug, then holding her with one arm, he held the microphone to his mouth with his other hand and began speaking. His voice rang out in the chamber, ordering everyone to remain on the floor until told otherwise. He continued speaking the same words over and over again as the senators gradually recovered from the effects of the scree.
A shout sounded from beside him. When Mike looked up, two cats, Jessie and Ellie’s chief Protector, had already leaped to intercept two wavering shapes. The cats fired on the two gleasons at the same time the gleasons fired on them. All of them fell, but the gleasons rose instantly. Their sharp claws shredded two Terran Protectors who stood in their way, then knives appeared in their hands. Their eyes searched intently, probably looking for the Queen. Mike threw himself across Ellie. Josh, from near the center of the dais, shot one of the gleasons from behind. The knives flew out of its hands as it was blown forward right onto Mike.
The other gleason released its own knives just as the first gleason fell onto Mike, all of them striking its comrade squarely in the back.
More knives appeared as the wavering demon felled Protectors with kicks, claws, and teeth. Ellie, to everyone’s amazement, reached out from below Mike with her own blaster and placed the barrel against the head of the gleason pinning Mike to her and pulled the trigger. She then calmly turned the weapon on the other gleason and shot it in the head. Two Protectors leaped onto its carcass to tear it to shreds, their vicious teeth and claws hacking it apart while others pulled the dead gleason from Mike.
Mike stood up shaking as a Great Cat checked Ellie over, then he pulled her to her feet and into an embrace. She swayed, then just leaned against him.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” she mumbled into his chest.
“No you’re not, Your Majesty,” he said. “You have a speech to make.”
“You’re hurt,” she said.
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“It’s not bad, and Jake is on the job. It’s your time, My Lady.”
She forced her eyes open, focused on him, then raised up on her toes to give him a kiss on the lips. “Thank you, My Love. I do have a speech to make, and I’m ready.”
She issued orders to Josh to seal all entrances to the Senate. No one was to leave. Mike collapsed onto the floor shaking uncontrollably while a medic bandaged him up. He hurt, hurt bad, but Jake was definitely doing his job. He had a chunk of flesh missing where the gleason had bit him on the shoulder, and his body armor had been raked by claws. The medic finished up, discovered his First Knight’s pendant lying across the room, and retrieved it for him. Mike put it in a pocket, then crawled to Jessie who lay unmoving on the floor.
He couldn’t find a wound, but she had clearly taken at least one blaster shot on her body armor and probably more. Another cat joined him, checked for a pulse, and found one.
“She’s hurt, Sire, but she’s not dead. Not yet anyway.”
“How’s the Queen’s Protector?”
“Sorry, Sire. He fell to the gleason.”
Mike hung his head. So many to grieve for if they made it out of this. There was nothing any of them could do for Jessie at the moment. She would have to hang on by herself for a while.
Mike stood up and moved to the doorway, his blaster pointed toward the senate in case anyone decided to take a pot shot at Ellie. She stood center stage, ordering the senators to their seats and calling the room to order. Josh and several cats stood a step behind her, their weapons lowered but ready. Mike pulled the pendant from his pocket, tied it around his neck, and after taking a deep breath walked out onto the stage to stand beside his Queen. He and the rest of the Protectors on the stage looked like wrecks, but she gave him a big smile as she proudly introduced him to the senate.
Voice of the Chosen (Spirit of Empire, Book Three) Page 42