The Apex Warriors

by Marc Stevens

  “Commander, they are very competent operators. I think this is just a waypoint to determine if they are being followed.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because it's what I would do.”

  Who was I to question a Troop Master? “What do you want to do Klutch?”

  “Commander, if it were me, I would place sensors in the building or explosives devices to kill anyone who was following me. Either way, they would know they have been compromised.”

  “I get it Troop Master, but the longer we wait out here, the greater the risk of losing them altogether.”

  I was not a patient human and boosted over the warehouse and landed next to Klutch. He was slowly turning in a circle looking at everything around us. The nearest structure to this one was another warehouse, but it was partially collapsed. It was close to the edge of the warehouse district and separated from the main thoroughfare by another large fence that was also toppled in places. Both were probably victims of overpressure from the terrorist bombing attack.

  Tria reported back to us. “Nathan, all three of our targets entered the hold of the freighter. We have established observation points and awaiting further orders.”

  “Tria, you and Coonts hold tight. Klutch and I have lost sight of our targets and are attempting to reacquire them. I will comm you back.”

  “Holding.” She replied.

  I tapped Klutch on the shoulder to get his attention. “What are we doing Troop Master?”

  “Commander, whoever these people are, they are professionals and know exactly what they are doing. They have intricate knowledge of the area. That tells me they have been here a while and reconnoitered every inch of this place. The escape routes alone would have taken weeks to establish. I don’t think this has anything to do with the Galactic Union. This operation has been going on since the terrorist bombing attack.”

  I glanced around at our surroundings. Klutch was right. They would have to crawl around the entire area to know where the breaches in the container lot fences were. The pipe the other targets escaped through was another indicator of how well these people knew the area of operation. I was starting to get a creepy feeling.

  “Tria, contact Bond and find out how long that freighter has been sitting in the docks.”

  “I already have Nathan. I told him to be very careful who he asks for the information. He said he would get back to me as soon as possible.”

  I was not the only one who was starting to worry about what was going on. I knew Klutch had an idea but has yet to say what was on his mind.

  “Klutch, I think you know what's going on, but you're not telling me. Let’s hear it, Troop Master. What the hell is going on here?”

  “We are being hunted Commander.”

  His statement gave me goosebumps. “I hope you are going to give me a little more than that.”

  “The terrorist attack has been deemed a failure by those who orchestrated it. I think this crew has been sent to complete the job. This outpost has been linked to us and was our last known contact point. It would be logical to continue hunting for us here. The game they are playing by exposing themselves is to see if they can draw us out. I do not think they know it yet, but their plan has worked.”

  I suddenly felt like I had a giant target painted on my back. “C’mon Commander. I think I know where they are hiding.” Klutch said.

  I knew Klutch well enough to be cautious about his intentions. “I hope you are not going to trip their trap?”

  “No Commander. We need to establish how many Throggs we have to kill first.”

  Klutch boosted up and started heading to the back of the warehouse district. I was going to ask where he thought they were hiding, but when we reached a row of buildings that looked like they were still in use, he made a turn back toward the rundown part of the district.

  “Where are we going Klutch?”

  It was probably irritating to have to keep answering my questions, but he obliged me. “We are not going to knock on the front door Commander. I think they are holed up in the collapsed warehouse. It has a good view of the area and no one would want to go snooping around in it for fear of it collapsing.”

  “Tria commed me back with more intel that was convincing me Klutch was correct. “Nathan, Bond has informed me that the freighter has been on the outpost for months. It has faulty stardrives and the owner cannot afford the repairs. It is scheduled to be salvaged, but we destroyed the salvage docks back when we kept the terrorist from escaping. It has been sitting where it is ever since.”

  “Can you find out who owns it?”

  “I am one step ahead of you Nathan. Bond has been getting his information directly from General Bonaparte. The General told him the freighter is currently owned by Interplanetary Enterprises. The company went bankrupt a short time after being formed. He says that is the standard procedure used by most shell companies to launder illicit funds. I bet you can’t guess who previously owned the freighter?”

  I wasn’t the brightest shining light in our crew, but it didn’t take me long to come up with the correct answer. “Carsoon shipping?”

  “You got it first try,” Tria said.

  “Keep a close eye on the freighter. Klutch and I are still trying to find out where the Tibors are hiding. We will keep you posted.”

  “Okay Nathan, please be careful. This team appears to be a step above the rest we have encountered. They are definitely ex-military, and very good at their tradecraft.”

  “Roger that, anything else I need to know?”

  “Yes, Bond’s security team is assembled in a shuttle and will back up whatever we do. He has also advised me to keep things as low-key as possible. The Galactic Union is still snooping around and he would hate to see them get involved with our activities.”

  It seemed that hard luck and trouble were getting together for a surprise party. I hated surprise parties. Klutch was quietly listening to our conversation. His bright blue avatar waved at me to get my attention. He pointed toward the ground a good two hundred yards from our objective.

  We landed pretty much out in the open and I wondered why. “Klutch, I know our cloaking is first class, but don’t you think we should find some cover?”

  “Commander, the Tibors we are pursuing are not your regular mercenaries. These are well-trained first-line Troopers. They are displaying excellent training and discipline. See all those poles that are sticking up around the rear of the warehouse? Those may look like random used junk but they are there to keep us from flying in low to the rear of the warehouse undetected. Every object out here that is big enough to hide behind, will have a trap designed to let them know they have been discovered. They are aware we have cloaking capabilities and will take steps to negate that advantage.”

  “You sound like you almost respect them.”

  “There is no almost about it Commander. I respect their professionalism and suspect they are being led by a Troop Master. I hope to find out who it is before we take them out. Make no mistake about it Commander, we will have to kill every one of them because they will not stop until they do the same to us.”

  Hearing that coming from Klutch, made my sphincter tighten uncomfortably. I was standing close to him and centered his avatar in my HUD. The expression I could make out on his face was dead serious. “Okay Troop Master, I will follow your lead. How do you want to do this?”

  “Commander,” Klutch said as he pointed at the back of the warehouse. “You don’t set up a death trap like that without having some way of escaping it in a hurry. They have to be using the old service tunnels under this complex to get around without being observed. We just need to find out which one they are using as an escape route. There is a good chance only one or two are passable by a Tibor. If I were running this operation, one of my egress routes would be somewhere that was occupied and accessible. If scat suddenly finds its way into a ventilator, you can slip away with the civilians that are evacuating the area. Let’s move to the closest warehous
e that is still in use.”

  We lifted off and went back the way we came. The closest warehouse had a prominent sign over a big entry door. It was in the Ilor language and it read Clek Recycling Company. Just outside of the partially open door were two Ilor. They were busily rooting through a large bin full of metal scraps. We slowly passed them by and slipped through the top of the open entrance. It was noisy inside. There were several more Ilor standing next to conveyors and working the controls on the machinery generating most of the racket. It appeared they were sorting the scrap moving down the conveyors. In the back of the building was a large booth with windows that looked out over the operation. The Ilor sitting behind a large desk in the enclosure was not wearing a pressure suit. I assumed it was Clek. The atmosphere in his office was being controlled. Two large ducts came up out of the floor and connected to the wall of the office. The atmospheric equipment was under their feet. There had to be a service door somewhere near the ductwork. We worked our way to the back of the building. There was a large hatch on the floor near the back corner of the building. We were going to have some trouble accessing it. An Ilor was standing next to it stacking boxes of materials on a gravity sled. Klutch held a finger up to me and slowly dropped down next to the sled. I saw his avatar reach out and engage the drive on the sled. The sled lurched forward with the Ilor giving chase. He was screaming words my translator could not make out, but they sounded plenty filthy. Two Ilor in the path of the runaway sled dove out of the way as it crashed into a conveyor. The place erupted in chaos. The guy in the booth was shouting over a loudspeaker and the workers on the floor were all using language similar to the one that was stacking the sled. I could hear the Troop Master snickering over our comms. It was a dirty trick, and I hoped the poor bastard didn’t lose his job over it. We had no problem accessing the hatch. All eyes were on Klutch’s victim.

  I lifted the hatch and we slipped inside. It was a tight space for our combat armor. We were forced to get on our knees and crawl under a lot of piping and conduits. After about thirty feet of crawling the headspace opened up.

  “Commander, the filters for the atmospheric equipment are behind us. The Ilor would have no need to come this way unless they had to perform major repairs.”

  I didn’t like crawling around in confined spaces because every time I did, something bad would happen. I was also a touch dismayed by the way the Troop Master got us access to the hatch.

  “What is your point Klutch?” I curtly replied.

  “Look at the dirt on the floor Commander.”

  It was the last thing on my mind, but I gave it closer scrutiny.

  There were footprints in the dirt. Tibor have very unique feet because they similar to an elephant’s in many ways. It was easy to see the tracks were from Tibor boots. Klutch hit the jackpot. If you wanted to catch a sly Tibor, you needed to think like one. These guys had nothing on Klutch, he was born devious. I peered out into the darkness wondering if they had a lookout stationed somewhere close. I’m sure the Troop Master was doing the same.

  We carefully followed the tracks and found two different passages. Both would require another low crawl. I shook my head in derision. It seemed the more I disliked something, the more I had to do it. It brought back my earliest childhood memories. One of my most despised chores was cleaning manure out of the animal pens. I had no problem telling my grandpa how much I hated it. He in turn had no problem telling me I didn’t have to like it, but I damn sure was going to do it.

  The tracks led to the lefthand passage that went in the direction we were wanting to go. Klutch started to enter the opening and suddenly stopped so abruptly I almost collided with him.

  “Did you see something?”

  “No Commander, go back the way we came.”

  I shuffled backward until I was outside of the passage. Klutch did the same and stood back up and walked to the other passage. I looked on the ground and it was obvious there were no tracks. Klutch got down on all four and put his face close to the ground then looked up the righthand passage. My no-light sensors had to be reading the same as his.

  “What’s up Klutch? Is it some kind of trap?”

  “Put your helmet close to the ground and look at the righthand passage closely and tell me what you see.”

  I did as instructed. I was ready to tell him there was nothing. But then I saw a pattern in the dust. It had been disturbed. Someone had dragged a piece of cloth or something over the dirt and then fanned it out. It was a good effort to conceal the tracks that were once there. Klutch was right about these guys, they knew all the tricks. I had a feeling we would have never made it out of the obvious passage alive. They were making it blatantly clear they wanted someone to follow them down a path of their choosing.

  “What tipped you off?”

  “It just didn’t make any sense. Why be so careful on the surface and then decide to be sloppy enough to leave a clear trail down here.”

  He had a good point and it was something I would remember. “Do you think they will have motion sensors in the passage?”

  “I don’t think so, Commander. In the confines of the passage, they would be very easy to detect. They will most assuredly have some kind of manually tripped device that doesn’t emit a power source. Follow me at a distance and no comms unless I do it first. Watch my hands for signals. If I open fire, we need to advance as rapidly as possible.”

  “Got it. Anything else Troop Master?”

  “Yes, Commander. If I back up quickly, please don’t make me wait on you.”

  Words from the wise. I gave Klutch a thumbs up. He ducked down and slowly crawled into the passage. I checked my passive sensors and negation systems one last time, then gave the Troop Master a solid minute before crawling in after him. There was no doubt in my mind that death and destruction were on the other end of the passage. I hoped it was theirs and not ours. I was impressed with how quiet the Troop Master could be when he wanted to be. We had crawled for about fifteen minutes when Klutch held a hand up for me to stop. I froze in place and saw him inch forward then disappear into an opening. Several minutes passed and I was getting antsy. Just when I thought I should check on him, Klutch appeared back at the passage. He was beckoning me forward. I carefully moved forward until I exited the crawlway. We were in a much larger service tunnel. It was lined with a huge assortment of pipes and wiring. There were three more crawlways connected to it. Klutch got down on one knee and inspected the floor. He pointed to a passage on our right we could pass through without crawling. I was all for it. I would much rather walk to my death, than crawl to it.

  Klutch put his hand on my shoulder and bent me down so my helmet was against his. “Commander, there are two tripwires in the entrance of that passage. They are about six feet apart. I do not want to disturb them so step over them carefully. We are very close now. Follow my lead. I will throw a grenade then open fire. You do the same as soon as I do.”

  I nodded and we each pulled a grenade. Klutch unclipped his shotgun and checked to make sure it was as ready as he was. I unclipped mine and set the selector to explosive buckshot. We cautiously entered the passage. Klutch made sure I wasn’t fixated on the passage up ahead and had eyes on the first tripwire as he stepped over it. I waved him on and we cleared the second. We went about thirty feet and Klutch held up a hand. He cupped his gauntlet to his head like he was listening. I stopped for a second and heard what got his attention. Voices were coming from somewhere up ahead. They were speaking Tibor and it sounded like an argument. I heard someone say they were tired of hiding. By the sound of it, at least three more different voices were in agreement.

  Another voice boomed out over the others. “If I hear any more of that insubordinate scat, you can wait on the freighter with the Scrun.”

  We heard at least two more Tibor laugh. “You would fit right in with those worthless Throggs.” One of them said.

  “All twelve of them could not muster enough courage to fill my drinking cup.” The other laughed.

>   Another spoke up. “We have been playing this game for an extended period and have had no contact. I say we detonate some of our charges and see if that brings a response from that coward they call the Demon Warrior.”

  There it was. Klutch was right, we were being hunted. Someone with deep pockets sent big-time hitters this time around. Any number of our enemies might be involved in this operation, but Canik’s face was the one I was putting with it.

  “Shut up!” The voice of authority said. “You are being paid ten times what Glock pays. I am going to give you a choice. You can walk away with nothing and your life, or you can spout some more of your scat, and I will gut you like a farm animal and leave you here to bleed out.”

  The grumbling promptly ceased. No one wanted to screw with the Tibor in charge. The name Glock was familiar to us. He was a person of interest and on our radar. We had made plans to pay him a visit but got sidetracked. We associated him with a Kasulla criminal named Cralmo. This new bit of intel said we had the attention of all the wrong people, and they were making a concerted effort to stop us. I caught the faintest whiff of the Tibors, it was nauseating and I shut down my olfactory sensors. Klutch stiffened at the scent. It made me wonder if he could tell who they were by the odor. The Tibors started talking again and I was hoping to get more intel about the operation.

  The Tibor that got threatened with death had a much different tone now. “I was not trying to disrespect you, Troop Master. I am not used to hiding in the shadows or laying in wait to ambush hapless cowards who hide behind masks. I would gladly face the Demon Warrior and put an end to his interference.”

  Klutch was officially two for two. A Troop Master was indeed leading this crew. If he was anything like Klutch in combat, we needed to put him down fast. I wondered when Klutch was going to start our party, but he was patiently listening. I think he was hoping someone would call the Troop Master by name.