**********
"No!" yelled Adrian as he lunged for Dorange. But he was immediately hit in the back of the head with the butt of a plasma rifle. He fell down, grabbing the back of his head. Doc then reached for the Gnol that hit his best friend, but another Gnol hit him square in the face with the butt of his rifle.
"That enough!" Dorange yelled as he walked back to Adrian. He forced Adrian to stand by grabbing his hair.
Adrian looked at Dorange with vengeance in his eyes. He couldn't get a decent look at Dorange's eyes because of the tinted visor on his helmet.
"General Palmer. I think you should witness this, so you will always remember how your family died," Dorange said.
Adrian shook loose of Dorange's grip and looked back at the mass of prisoners that this deranged Gnol was about to execute. He looked first at his beautiful wife. Anyta looked back with tears streaming down her face. She mouthed the words I love you back toward Adrian.
Adrian gritted his teeth. He looked at his youngest daughter who was sobbing in her mother's arms. He then looked at his best friend. Doc nodded his acknowledgment back with fiery eyes as he put his arm around Anyta. Adrian glanced at Sean. Sean had his head down and his arms around a sobbing mother with her newborn child, trying to console her.
"Captain, get your men into position," Dorange ordered.
The captain he was speaking to hand signaled the other Gnol soldiers. About fifty Gnol troops encircled the two hundred plus prisoners with their plasma rifles raised. Dorange grabbed Adrian by the arm and jerked him along to the outside of the circle.
Adrian tried to pull away, but it was no use. He was physically and emotionally drained. How could he live, knowing that his family, friends, and those he was sworn to protect were about to be brutally murdered by a madman?
Adrian suddenly felt a burst of energy. He didn't care anymore. If everyone he loved was going to die, then he was going to die along with them. He quickly pulled his arm away and threw a roundhouse kick directly into Dorange's chest. Dorange flew back about three feet and slammed into the black assault vehicle from which he had emerged.
Adrian frantically looked around and saw a plasma rifle lying next to one of his dead soldiers. He lunged for the rifle. But before he could get to it, he heard a shot and instant pain in his right arm. He rolled over in agony. He rolled back onto his back and saw another Gnol step over him and point his weapon directly between his eyes.
"No!" Dorange shouted. "Don't kill him! Lord Chast would be most displeased."
The Gnol soldier straddling Adrian nodded in acknowledgment and stepped away from him. Dorange then walked next to Adrian and landed a direct kick into his left side. Adrian felt one of his ribs crack as the air rushed out of his lungs.
Dorange bent over and grabbed Adrian by the throat. Adrian tried to wiggle free, but it was useless. He was out of strength now, especially with the added wounds to his arm and ribs.
"Noble ? but stupid," Dorange said as he slammed Adrian into the black assault vehicle. "Next time you try to be a hero, I will kill you myself!"
Dorange turned to the captain, who he ordered to encircle the prisoners. "Captain, on my mark ? open fire."
The captain let a wry grin spread across his face. "Yes, sir."
"Ready!"
Adrian felt so helpless. There was no way he could handle watching the mass murder of everyone he loved. But what could he do? They were all going to die, and he was going to be alive to see it.
"Aim!"
Adrian tried to hold back the tears. He tried to be strong, but he couldn't help it. He put his head down and began to close his eyes when he saw movement out of the corner of his left eye. He glanced up and saw Kylee and Celeste moving about thirty yards away near the computer terminals. Kylee was sitting up, wide eyed, against the wall with tears streaming down her face, and Celeste was slowly making it to her feet.
Adrian looked back at Dorange to make sure he hadn't noticed them. He hadn't.
Adrian closed his eyes again. He was about to witness the deaths of his loved ones, including his wife. He knew that if he lost her to a tragic end, there was no way he could stay sane. He had already lost two women that he loved very much to tragedies. Why was he being punished like this? What did he do to deserve this?
"Fi ? Wha ? Who?
Adrian opened his eyes and looked in astonishment. The Gnol soldiers that had the mass of prisoners within their sights were elevated about fifteen feet off the floor. Their weapons were still in their hands, but their arms were raised, unable to get clear shots at the prisoners.
Adrian looked at Dorange. He seemed frozen, but could still speak and move his eyes. Adrian saw Dorange's eyes move toward him and look beyond. "Celeste!" he yelled.
Adrian turned to look. There she was with her arms raised and a fierce look of determination on her face.
"Adrian!" she hollered. "Go now! I can't hold them much longer!"
Adrian turned back to the mass of petrified prisoners. They were all frozen in amazement. "Sean!"
Sean shot a look of fear at Adrian.
"Get as many people as you can into that Gnol assault vehicle," Adrian shrieked, pointing at the black hover ship, "? and then go and help Doc get Kylee and Celeste!"
Sean paused. He seemed unsure of what to do.
"Go now!"
Sean scrambled and began barking orders to the civilians to load into the vehicle. The mass of prisoners sprinted toward the craft.
"Doc!" said Adrian as he turned and looked at his best friend. "Grab a weapon and go and protect Kylee and Celeste! She won't be able to hold them for long!"
Doc nodded, grabbed a weapon, and sprinted toward Celeste and Kylee.
Adrian ran to Anyta and Lexis. He hugged and kissed them both, so grateful they were still alive, at least for now. He led them to the hover vehicle and made sure they were secure. As soon as he stepped off the craft to help other civilians, he saw Celeste's legs tremble, and then she collapsed to the floor.
The Gnol troops fell to the ground and scrambled to their feet with weapons raised. They began firing volleys of blasts into the civilians who had not made it to the hovercraft yet, hitting a few. Adrian grabbed a gun from the floor and fired at the troops.
Suddenly, there was a large explosion in front of the Gnol troops. A handful of the fifty plus troops were thrown into the far wall of the hangar. Adrian looked up and saw two Wildcats and a shuttle swoop down into the hangar. The shuttle landed on top of the other Gnol troops that were struggling to get away as the two Wildcats hovered above and provided cover fire. The remaining civilians and rebel troops scattered to the shuttle.
Adrian turned his attention back to Doc. "Do ?"
Adrian stopped as he saw that one Gnol soldier had seized Doc's weapon. The soldier was escorting Doc back to Adrian's position. Adrian noticed that Celeste was unconscious again, and his daughter unconscious as well. He prayed that they weren't dead.
Adrian raised his gun as the soldier approached with his weapon pointed at Doc's head. "Let him go!"
"I don't think so," said a voice from Adrian's left.
Adrian turned around. Dorange stood about two feet away with his weapon pointed at Adrian's head.
Adrian raised his arms and dropped the gun.
"Well done, Corporal," Dorange said as he nodded at the soldier who had captured Doc.
The corporal escorted Doc next to Adrian and stood next to Dorange. Both Gnols continued to keep their weapons on Adrian and Doc.
"You thought you could get away," Dorange said. "You need to understand something, General Palmer. This is a war you can never win. ? Corporal!"
"Sir?" said the young Gnol.
"On my mark, we will execute these two resistance leaders together. But first ?" Dorange reached up and grabbed the visor of his battle helmet.
"No!" yelled Doc. He reached out, grabbed the corporal's arm and twisted. The gun fell to the floor as the Gnol's arm cracked. The young corporal screamed in pain. Do
range turned his weapon and took aim at Doc. But before he could get a shot off, the gigantic doctor picked the corporal up and threw him into Dorange.
The corporal and Dorange fell to the floor.
Doc grabbed Adrian, and they both ran to one of the assault vehicles. "Go now! I will get Celeste and Kylee onto the shuttle."
Adrian jumped into the vehicle and turned around. Doc was about to run toward Celeste and Kylee when Dorange grabbed him and threw him against the craft. Dorange then grabbed Adrian, pulled him out of the vehicle, and raised his gun to Adrian's face. "I have been waiting so long for this," he said.
Adrian tried to break free of Dorange's grip, but his injuries had finally caught up with him. He didn't have any more strength. Adrian saw Dorange slowly squeeze the trigger on his gun. He closed his eyes.
"No!"
Adrian opened his eyes and saw Doc barrel his two hundred fifty pounds of muscle into Dorange. Dorange flew to his left. Doc then grabbed Adrian and threw him into the assault vehicle. "Get ou-"
Adrian looked and saw his friend, with his eyes wide open, slowly fall to the hangar floor. Blood began to flow from his mouth. "No!" he shrieked as he looked up and saw Dorange with the smoking gun in his hand.
Dorange was about to get another shot off when Adrian hit the button that shut the door. The door slid shut just as Dorange fired. The plasma bolt sparked against the armored door.
As the remaining rebel force ascended out of the hangar, Adrian looked down with tear-filled eyes. He first saw the lifeless body of his best friend, the friend who had sacrificed his life to save his. He scanned the rest of the hangar and saw several Gnol soldiers and Dorange encircle Celeste, Kylee, and Sean.
Adrian felt his wife slide into the seat next to him. She hugged him, and the two sobbed together. "I am so sorry, Anyta. I pray that we will see them again."
"When will this ever end?" Anyta said as she kissed his forehead.
Adrian shook his head. "I wish it was over now. I don't think I can take this anymore, Anyta. Bantyr's missing. Kylee, Celeste, and Sean have been captured. "And ?" Adrian wiped the tears away that were flowing from his eyes. "? Doc's been killed. I can't take losing the people I love anymore. Why am I being punished? Where is God?"
Anyta didn't respond. She embraced her husband, and they sobbed in each other's arms.
Worlds Without End: The Mission (Book 1) Page 58