I surveyed my surroundings and saw several beings were occupying the common area at the time we made our entrance. A few of the things floating around were identifiable as Murlak but a lot of the remains were anyone’s guess. I heard Klutch talking to the Scrun, and he told him if he said anything he would die. Coonts gave his boosters a small shot and landed on the wall next to the blinking light. After a few seconds he boosted back to us and we crowded together with the Scrun shielding us against possible retaliation. The little Grawl informed us the door was locked but only required an access code, a code he was sure Limbus knew.
Klutch pushed Limbus toward the door sending him tumbling end over end. The Scrun was zero G savvy and quickly righted himself and grappled the airlock door frame. Limbus did well considering the Scrun only had one functioning hand. We boosted after him to insure he wouldn’t open the door and disappear inside. Limbus entered a code, and the door opened. We all stepped inside and I felt a gravity field. My HUD verified we also had an atmosphere. I had a feeling we were being watched. The inside door cycled open to a dimly lit bulkhead about twenty feet in front of us and dark corridors going aft on both sides. I heard Klutch ask Limbus which way and he pointed to the right-hand side. Going left I peered down the darkened corridor. I could see three doors on the right side of the wall and nothing but large piping and instrument panels on the left side. The corridor dead ended one hundred and twenty feet away at a large console.
I turned to Coonts and said; “Cover this side while Klutch and I check out the vault.” Coonts acknowledged my order and took a position so he could peek around the corner. Klutch pushed Limbus ahead of him as we cautiously moved down the other hallway.
This side of the corridor had the same number of doors as the other only they were on the left instead of the right. Limbus told us the vault was the second door down. We had taken about ten steps when the first door slid open lighting the hallway. A rapidly spinning grapefruit size orb floated out of the doorway and turned in our direction. Klutch yelled “Homing grenade!” I instinctively jerked my shotgun up and just like shooting quail back in Missouri squeezed off a quick shot. I don’t know who hit the grenade because Klutch fired at the same time. The resulting explosion blew us back up the hallway into the bulkhead next to the airlock. What was left of Limbus was splattered all over the corridor. Whoever launched the grenade probably wasn’t expecting it to explode in the doorway.
I heard Coonts yelling over the comms he had movement then heard him open up with his launcher tube. The staccato blasts from high explosive rounds detonating in the other corridor injected much needed adrenaline into my system. I got to my feet and charged down the corridor to the doorway. As I turned the corner I was surprised to see two combatants sprawled on the floor trying to get to their feet. They were both wearing Zaen battle armor. I could see two more on Coonts’s side of the hall just outside of the door across the room. I pulled my beam weapon up and fired from a distance of about ten feet striking the first battle suit dead center. The energy release blanked out my HUD and I found myself against the hall wall face down on the floor. I could feel a jerking sensation when I regained my senses. It was Klutch trying to drag me up the corridor. I finally got up on my hands and knees under my own power. As Klutch and I came around the corner by the security lock we were met by Coonts also scurrying on all four. “Commander they have Zaen Armor!” I got up on shaky legs. “What happened to the two on your side of the doorway?” The Grawl stood up and said, “I am not sure Commander the corridor blew up and I found myself back here.”
Klutch brought us all back to reality by shouting out. “Commander we must re-engage before we lose the element of surprise!” We charged back down the corridor and entered the demolished room. We were greeted by the lower half of a Zaen battle suit and another missing an arm, shoulder and its head. There were the remains of at least a dozen dead Murlak and what might have been a couple of Grawl scattered around the control room. Out in the opposite hallway two Zaen battle suits were trying to regain their footing.
I had lost my shotgun and did not have a clue where it was or if it even existed anymore. Klutch and Coonts did not hesitate, they both opened fire with explosive penetrator slugs. The rounds did not penetrate the armor but the kinetic energy they transferred to the suits was brutal. The two battle suits were once again in a heap out in the wrecked hallway. Klutch stood over the two with his beam weapon pointed in their faces. He told them if they moved they would die.
Coonts and I went out to the corridor and down to the next doorway. It was a vault door, and it was locked. Whatever Eiger had left behind he thought was important enough to not let anybody else have it. Coonts raised his shotgun. I put my hand on his shoulder. “We have wasted enough time in this sewer.” We retraced or steps and collected Klutch. He asked me about the two in Zaen battle armor. I lifted my beam weapon and pointed it at them. The beast inside of me was screaming out to kill them but I reined the demon in. “Do not interfere or you will die! Do you know where the encryption key to the storage vault is?” One of the pirates replied in Murlak. “The captain had it when Eiger left the ship.” I turned to Klutch who started backing away from the two downed combat suits. If the captain was on the bridge, it was no longer an option to recover the key. “I will try to cut the storage room door.” We retreated up the hall and my crewmates flattened themselves against the bulkhead across from the airlock and gave me a quick acknowledgment. I stuck my arm around the corner and sighted with my HUD. I aimed for the frame about waist high and fired. The bright flash hit the door a glancing blow cutting a huge swath out of the wall and setting off an atmosphere alarm somewhere in the control room. The door was askew and hanging out into the hallway. We went around the corner and ran down to the vault. The bottom half of the door was hanging loose and Klutch pulled it back far enough we could crawl into the room.
Coonts went back to see if the battle suited combatants were still in the hallway. He gave us a heads up they were no longer there. I was going to say find them but we heard the security lock cycle. Klutch joined Coonts, and they both went back up the corridor to make sure no reinforcements were coming after us. They quickly returned saying the enemy had retreated.
“Klutch, you keep an eye out for trouble while Coonts and I search the vault.” Klutch acknowledged and crouched down behind the lower half of the vault door with his weapon pointing up the corridor. Coonts and I scurried into the vault. There was several types of weapons scattered on the floor and some still in the racks lining the room. Most were Galactic military issue from what I could see. The vault had been hastily pillaged by Eiger’s clan and it was obvious they were more interested in getting off the battleship than taking everything with them.
Coonts said; “Commander I do not see the DEHD core but I have found two sealed lockers. We will need an encryption key to open them.” My patience was running out, but I knew if I tried to blast the lockers open I could possible destroy the core if it was inside one of them. Coonts was using his superior reasoning to our advantage when he commed me. “Commander, I have an Idea.” I was open to just about anything at the moment. “Let’s hear it Coonts.” The engineer pointed back the way we came. “We need to go back to the CIC and search the dead for the key.” While it was a morbid statement, it was also a great idea. We crawled back out to the corridor and Klutch joined us as we did our grisly search. We came up with seven encryption keys and could have found more but I felt like I had an acorn coming my way.
The third key opened the smaller of the two lockers and revealed a pile of credit vouchers. Either someone was holding out on Eiger or it was a settlement for having to stay behind. I scooped them up and gave them to Coonts to put in his storage pouch. Lucky number seven opened the larger locker. It had two sets of Zaen battle armor that could use repairs by the look of them. Eiger shouldn’t have been such a cheap shit and invested in the repair crates. In the bottom of the locker was a small ornate box that resembled a jewelry box back on
Earth. I reached down and picked it up closing my eyes and saying a small pray. I was startled when Klutch hollered over the comms. “I do not think it is wise to take a rest period with our enemies lurking close by!” I opened the box and the elation I felt when I saw the DEHD core almost made me shout out loud. Instead I did the prudent thing and called over the comms. “Mission accomplished we are on our way Troop Master!” We crawled out of the vault and ran with Klutch up the corridor to the airlock.
Apparently the retreating soldiers locked the security lock thinking we would pursue them. “Let’s get to the end of the hall and take cover. Klutch make a hole!” We ran to the end of the corridor and pushed flat against the wall. Because of the angle Klutch wouldn’t be able to hit the security lock square in the doors. At this point I didn’t care where the doorway was just as long as we got the hell out of there. Klutch leaned down so he would have protection from the lower half of the vault door that was hanging open. He double tapped the wall next to the doors blowing chunks of wall armor and debris back down the corridor. We immediately heard a very concerned Justice hailing us.
“Commander, are you ready to evacuate?”
The shielding around the CIC denied Justice any intelligence on our activities. I calmed his human like sensibilities. “No casualties and mission accomplished. We are egressing the target area.”
“Affirmative Commander, I am picking up a strong return from my dark energy drive core. Job well done!”
Everyday Justice was sounding more and more like a human. If that was not elation I don’t know what is. “How is Tria Justice?”
“I regret to report that I had to sedate her against her will when she attempted to remove herself from the med pod. I believe it was her intention to board the battleship in search of you.”
I grinned thinking it sucks to be you when Tria gets out of the med bay. With Klutch in the lead and Coonts bringing up the rear we ran to the hole in the side of the battleship. We felt the grip of the tow beam and the three of us were pulled across to the Legacy. I knew we had unfinished business.
Walking across the hangar to the ready room I put the jewelry box on the edge of my armor crate and opened it. I went to the weapons rack and took Tria’s shotgun and put a magazine full of buckshot on one side and slugs on the other. As I turned to leave Coonts came in and put the pile of credit vouchers on the bench by my locker. I nodded to him as he went about the business of replacing his expended magazines. Klutch soon joined us and did the same. My HUD came alive with the view of the battleship falling away from us. I saw three small blinking orange diamonds that turned into one of the damaged shuttles. We closed the distance and came alongside of it. I walked back out to the hangar and the pirate shuttle’s airlock was a step away from the Legacy’s hangar bay doors. The big rail guns on each side of the hangar door swiveled in the direction of the shuttle. I now knew for sure everyone on the damaged shuttles was from Eiger’s clan. “Hail them Justice and tell them all weapons in the airlock now and lay flat on the deck. If anyone disobeys, all will die.”
“They have acknowledged the message Commander and say they are complying.”
“Justice, tell them anyone that has combat armor is to put it in the airlock with the weapons.”
“Message sent Commander.”
About fifteen minutes later my limited patience was rewarded when the shuttles air lock opened and was crammed full of weapons and four combat suits. “Justice, can you crate that up and stow it in the cargo hold?”
“Yes Commander, I will scan for live munitions and catalog the equipment.”
I looked at Coonts and Klutch. “Gentleman, let’s go see what kind of Throgg’s we have hiding in there.” I almost laughed out loud when the two of them gave each other funny looks then both looked behind themselves. Justice cleared the airlock with the tow beam and we jumped across to the shuttle. Coonts cycled the hatch and Klutch bulled his way in front of me. The inner door opened and the floor in front of us was full of Murlak. There was sixteen Murlak in a shuttle designed to hold a dozen. They were so crowded together some were on top of each other. I yelled for them to stand up with their hands on top of their heads. They complied without saying a word. Justice played back the video of Eiger in our HUDs and then freeze framed it so we had a good mugshot to compare faces. Klutch and Coonts stood on each side of me with their weapons pointed in the Murlaks faces. None were an exact match. It wasn’t hard to tell who had armor on because four of the Murlak were wearing the undergarments.
I took a step to the closest one. “Where is the coward Eiger?” Without hesitation the Murlak replied, he escaped and was assembling his fleet to return here and destroy you. I laughed in his face and told a partial white lie. “Kergan thought the same thing before I killed him and his crew. They also thought Eiger would return and the coward never did.” The statement wiped the smug looks off their faces. I turned my back on them and headed to the airlock with Klutch and Coonts flanking me. The airlock cycled and Justice whisked us aboard as we moved on to rendezvous with another disabled shuttle. “Same as before Justice.”
“Commander the Murlak say they will have to cycle the airlock more than once.”
“Roger that Justice, stow everything they got.”
“Acknowledged Commander.”
This time we got eight Zaen battle suits and more than fifty weapons, still no Eiger. Unless Eiger was hiding on the remaining shuttle, the Murlak we questioned was telling the truth. My emotions were a cesspool over the thought of letting him escape. I was biting down on my anger as best I could. It was the second time I could have changed things for the better and screwed it up again. Dealing with Drayen could not rid me of the bitterness of letting Eiger slip through my fingers.
Only one shuttle left, and I seriously doubted my luck was golden enough for Eiger to be on it. We pulled alongside and I held little hope for a second acorn. Justice hailed them and they seemed compliant right up until the airlock on the shuttle opened. I caught a glimpse of six spinning black orbs. In a blink of an eye the damaged shuttle seemed to jump away from us as Justice accelerated away from the homing grenades. My hopes got a little reinforcement because it might just be the last ditch effort of Eiger trying to avoid capture. The useless act did manage to get the prison I thought I had buried my rage in, to come back to light. I would throw the beast a bone. “Justice, take us back and detonate those grenades.” The Legacy made a turn, and the rail guns gave each a round. Out in the void between the Legacy and the shuttle I saw tiny sparks flare to life and then vanish. “Justice, can you determine how many hostiles are on the shuttle?”
“My scans reveal ten life forms and four of them are wearing Zaen battle armor Commander.”
I knew what the survivor count would be but didn’t care. “Open a comm channel to the shuttle Justice.”
“Comms are active Commander.”
“I was going to spare your lives as I have done for the other shuttles. Now you only have one choice and that is to kill those responsible for your failed attack. You have five minutes to comply or all will die.” The look I got from my crew was neutral and gave no indication what they thought about my murderous intentions. “Justice let them know I mean business, hole the hull just forward of the star drives.”
“It will not be necessary Commander, I just detected a hull breach and now another. A firefight is taking place inside of the shuttle.”
I knew it was grim reaper stuff to smile at what was going on in the shuttle, but it was their idea to attack us. The whole side of the shuttle suddenly blew out into the void. Somebody let loose with high explosives. “Are there survivors Justice?”
“I am picking up power sources on four armor suits.”
“Let’s go find out who the survivors are.” Justice was moving back toward the wreckage when we saw several flashes inside the remains of the shuttle. The grim smile returned to my lips. It was wiped from my face by a star bright explosion that consumed the wrecked spacecraft. One of the
survivors used an anti-matter round to kill them all. Several large pieces of the shuttle flared against our shields before they careened out into the void. Now all I had were the hollow words of a Murlak pirate that Eiger had escaped. “Justice, destroy the rest of the battleship I want nothing left to salvage if Eiger survived. I turned my back to the hangar doors as they closed. My HUD came alive with a view of the derelict battleship. Six white lines appeared and moved swiftly toward the pride of Eiger’s fleet. Justice coordinated the time on target attack with our main weapons and all that remained of the ship was an expanding debris cloud. The surviving unshielded shuttles would most likely be destroyed by the high velocity shrapnel that was traveling several thousand feet per second. I would lose no sleep over failing to honor my word. I let the pirates live but gave no guarantees for how long. When I entered the ready room, I noticed the ornate box was sitting on my locker bench with all the credit vouchers neatly stacked in it. “Justice was your jump core damaged?”
“Negative Commander it has only degraded eighteen percent from maximum efficiency. Having the core cycle through several recharges will bring it back to maximum output efficiency. After installing and running diagnostics, I began a deep charge to re-energize the matrix woven throughout the Legacy. There will be an extended accumulation period but the Legacy will be capable of transitioning back to Alpha base in approximately five hours.”
First of my Kind Page 54