Exosquad: Act 3, Part 7


	Part 7: Fire in the Sky The last two hours had been a blur. Plans were made, reinforcements called for, and the preparations were made. All Admiral Winfield could do now was assemble the troops, stand ready, and wait. He took a breath in, and let it out again. No matter how many times he sent troopers into battle he would never get used to the uneasy knowledge that some of them would not come back. Winfield touched a button and the door to the conference room opened. All the major players were present, Jackson, Jamison, Marsh, all the Exosquad and Jumptroop commanders, even Sterling was there, the young man whose short stay in this system had effected its history so profoundly. Everyone stood to salute as Winfield entered. Winfield went to the podium at the front of the room, "Be seated, please." The gathering sat in chairs arranged in rows in front of the podium. "Time is short, so I will get to the point." began Winfield. "As of two hours ago, a fleet of 45 Eltorian ships emerged from deep space and are en route to our current position. Their intentions are hostile. I won't downplay our situation, it is grave." Winfield paused a moment to let his words sink in. "We are not without options however. Due to successful negotiations with elements within the Eltorian government, we need not defeat the whole fleet. In order to win, we must destroy the alien flagship. It will not be easy. The fleet on its own lacks the necessary firepower to break the eltorian front line and then destroy the flagship. So instead, our Exocarriers will form a line extending as a tangent from Chaos orbit. The rest of the fleet will flank the exocarriers and provided covering fire where necessary. The main mission will be carried out by the E-frames and Jumptroops. A boarding shuttle will be piloted from the Resolute II to the enemy flagship. Under E-frame support fire, the ship will land on the hull and blow its way inside. A single Jumptroop platoon will then carry out a strike mission to take out the ship's two main power supplies. Once destroyed, the ship will soon follow. So the explosives will have to be set off once the platoon returns to the shuttle. In the meantime, support E-frames will have to defend the shuttle until the platoon can make its way back out. All other E-frames will provide diversionary fire on the Eltorian capital ships." Winfield motioned to Sterling, who was sitting in the front row. "Exotrooper Sterling has volunteered to help lead the Jumptroops through the ship. Given the risk involved, I am asking for volunteers for the shuttle crew and its escort." The room was silent J.T. looked at Colleen, she nodded solemnly back at him. "Admiral Winfield, Able Squad volunteers to escort the shuttle." said J.T. A moment later Colleen spoke, "Charlie Five volunteers to staff the shuttle, sir." Winfield noted both offers, "Very good. The rest of you will receive orders within the hour. Good Luck to you all, Dismissed." The gathering dispersed and J.T. found himself with Colleen in the hallway. J.T. stared at Colleen, "Promise me you will be careful." "Only if you promise the same." answered Colleen. He took her hand in his, "I'll do my best." Colleen kissed him and they parted company. J.T. headed for hanger five. Along the way he ran into Sterling, his uniform had the addition of an odd looking black backpack. It was roughly in the shape of a hexagon and was made of some type of metal that looked almost organic. Under one arm, Sterling carried a blue helmet, the type used for space walks. "What's that on your back, Sterling?" asked J.T. as he walked behind him. "Insurance." answered Sterling. His voice was hard, his manner determined. J.T. had noticed that since Nara had been captured Sterling had gotten less friendly. That worried J.T. "Hold up Trooper." Sterling stopped and turned to face J.T. "Is there something I can help you with, Commander Marsh?" "Your attitude for starters." said J.T. "What of my attitude?" asked Sterling somewhat gruffly. "I've seen the type before, you're not looking to come back are you?" J.T. eyed him closely to see if it got any visible reaction out of him. It didn't. "It doesn't matter, as long as the mission gets accomplished." Sterling turned and began to walk away. "In this military, Trooper, disrespecting an officer it is not tolerated." J.T.'s voice was slightly aggravated as he spoke. Sterling turned to look at him, "I am an officer, that's easily had four times the experience of you, or your finacÈ, at this. Don't tell me how to do my job, I've been doing it far too long to forget." Sterling continued to walk away but was again stopped by something J.T. said, "What would Nara think if she could hear you now?" Sterling didn't turn around, "I don't know what she would think. I wasn't with her long enough, and because of this war, I may never be with her again." "That's no reason to give up hope." said J.T., the hostility in his voice was gone. "Perhaps. Good day, Commander Marsh." Sterling continued down the hall, the manner in which he carried himself was as ambiguous as his words. * * * Sue Worthington finished her preflight check to find Stan Remes staring at her. "You be careful out there." he said. Sue jumped down to the hanger floor. "Is that concern I hear in your voice?" she said playfully. "You're damn right it is." said Stan softly as he grabbed Sue by the hips and kissed her full on the lips. Sue was too shocked to say anything as Stan strode off to his own frame to begin his own preflight check. "Another romance in the squad." mused Maggie as she watched the exchange between Remes and Worthington. "It seems to be the trend nowadays." replied Alec. He was adjusting the comm system on his frame. "Did we start it?" asked Maggie. "Its possible. Yeah, actually, I think we did." said Alec. He finished what he was working on and closed the access panel on the back of his e-frame. "Any regrets?" asked Alec. "No," said Maggie, slightly offended, "None at all. What about you?" Alec smiled, "Well, maybe one." Maggie raised a dubious eyebrow. "I did have to die to really get your attention. There should have been an easier way." Maggie laughed lightly at his comment then turned serious, "Don't go doing that again, OK?" "I don't intend to," replied Alec, "But the same goes for you."" Maggie gave him a hearty hug, "Deal." * * * "So you see, using this console you can observe almost every part of the ship." explained Darzurb. "That's nice." said Jamia, who had become more interested in the external viewing devices than the internal. "I'd rather look at the stars though." Darzurb bowed slightly, and seeing no harm in a little stargazing, left her alone. Jamia played with the controls and adjusted the view. In the distance, a planet came into view. "Chaos." muttered Jamia. She stopped, puzzled that she knew the terran name for the planet. It was unmistakable, she remembered being on the planet even though she was told she had never been there. Jamia's head started to pound. It was times like this that she usually quit what she was doing and rested. But this was important to her, at least, she thought it was. She focused hard, trying to remember as she massaged her temples. It was coming back to her. A room with music, a bar, humans were there and a friend of hers named..."Rita". As she uttered the word aloud, the back of her head began to pound. Jamia instinctively stopped and massaged the back of her neck. That's when she felt something odd, it was metal and it was sticking out of her neck. For some reason that didn't seem odd to her, except for the fact that it was sticking out more than it was supposed to. She brought her other hand behind her head and began to fiddle with the metal object. She felt something click and a piece of it fell into her hands. At that precise moment, the fog that seemed to cloud her mind lifted. She paused to collect her thoughts, and found for that first time since she arrived, she was able to do so. The object was rectangular and slightly raised. It had two small prongs in it. "Designed to fit into my cyberjack." she said aloud. At the same time, she remembered what a cyberjack was and what it was used for, and she remembered something else. She looked in the mirror, it was still the image of an alien that greeted her. She felt anger within her, "This isn't me! I'm Nara - Lt. Nara Burns from Venus!" "I'm sorry to hear you say that." Nara turned to see Darzurb standing behind her. "I'm afraid I have to take you back to the medical station, for further adjustments." he said. Nara got to her feet, "I won't go willingly." Darzurb smiled in satisfaction, "I was hoping you would say that." * * * Lt. O'Rielly walked the line of her assembled troops. Pellegrino and Longfeather stood at rigid attention with no fear in their eyes. Poedowski and Mathison were visibly more on edge but none the less ready. "Alright people, you know the drill. Sterling is our point man. We follow him in, set the charges and get the hell out." Colleen paused a moment before adding, "Any heroes in here?" A unanimous "No sir" filled the hanger. "Good, lets move it out!" yelled O'Rielly. She put on her exoarmor helmet and headed for the boarding shuttle. Sterling was just ahead of her wearing a vacuum helmet and an odd backpack. "Don't let me down, Sterling." she said. "I'll try not to." he replied. With all aboard, the pilot radioed the bridge. "Boarding shuttle to Resolute, we are ready to launch." J.T. listened to the comm line as the boarding shuttle checked in. It was followed by Epsilon, Baker, Gamma, and Beta squads. "Able squad to Resolute, ready to launch." said J.T. While they awaited the response, J.T. thought of Colleen, Maggie and Alec exchanged a loving look, Thrax tensed for the coming battle, Rita thought of Jared Mathison, Stan focused on the closed doors and thought of nothing else, Sue couldn't stop staring at Stan, and wondering about what had occurred earlier. Kaz sat in his exofighter, thumbing the controls. He fished a photo out of his pocket and looked at it. It was a picture of him and Ellen Wright. He wedged the photograph between two displays, pressed to fingers against his lips, then placed them over Ellen's image. "For luck." he whispered. "Resolute to all assault ships, you are cleared for launch." The doors creaked open, and Able squad launched into space to meet their destiny. * * * Nara flew through the air only to come back to the floor face first. She flipped herself over, glaring at Darzurb and holding her now sore stomach. "Give up yet?" he asked. "Never!" yelled Nara as she charged him. Her speed was considerable, even by eltorian standards, but for Darzurb she might as will have been moving in slow motion. He lazily dodged her, and slipped behind her, bringing his right arm around her neck and looping it in his left. He then brought his left hand behind her head and pressed it forward. The resulting pressure cut her air supply off. "I am impressed by your spirit, but combat with me requires more strength than you have." Nara struggled to free herself but to no avail. Darzurb was far too strong for her and there was nothing she could do about it. * * * '(High Counselor Eliodon, the terran fleet has launched an assault force, they headed straight for us.)' the officer reported. The bridge was silent as they awaited his response. '(Launch all guardsman and take whatever measures are necessary to destroy all terran forces. There shall be no mercy. This conflict will end, badly, for the terrans here.)' The bridge came back to life as the orders were given. * * * "Reading multiple launches from the capital ships, J.T. Looks like their sending us a welcoming party." said Alec. J.T. clicked his comm line open, "Understood. All E-frames, hostiles are on the way. Gamma squad, stay with us and help us blast a path for the shuttle. All other squads concentrate fire on the capital ships. Good hunting." As J.T. finished giving orders, the first elt-frames came into view. There were waves upon waves of the red battle mecha. As they approached, it indeed looked as if the sky was on fire, a fire that threatened to consume humanity. The shuttle rocked slightly, and in that moment Colleen knew that the battle had begun. "Be careful J.T." "I've got one on me!" yelled Stan. "I'm on it." announced Kaz. He swooped his fighter behind the two mechas on Remes' tail. They opened fire on him and missed as he rolled hard right, "Hurry up, they're all over me!" "Got'em" said Kaz as fired. The blasts streaked through space to find their targets. Both Elt-frames exploded. Kaz heard his proximity alert go off and instinctively jerked on his stick, a number of green globs of energy streaked by him. The mecha that had fired them exploded a second later as Thrax streaked by. Kaz took the opportunity to slip in behind Thrax and target the two boggies on his tail. He fired on the one to the left and a nailed its boot thruster which exploded and sent the craft flying into its neighbor, killing both pilots. "Your tail is clear, Thrax." "They're trying for the shuttle!" yelled Rita. She brought her frame around and chased after a flight of Elt-frames that had just rocked the shuttle with a barrage of fire. "I've got your back, Torres." announced Maggie. Torres quickly targeted a mecha and fired, the pilot saw it coming and rolled out and away, breaking off from the rest of the group. Torres and Weston continued to pursue the rest. Weston charged up her chain lightening cannon and fired. True to its name, the bolt bounced at seemingly improbable angles until the entire flight was destroyed. "Good shooting Weston!" said Rita. "Rita on your right!" yelled Maggie. Torres entered a tight loop, reversing her course, the mecha that had broken off from before tried to follow her. Except, a missile got in his way. As the fireball disappeared, Alec's voice was heard over the comm line, "You're clear Torres." * * * Nara struggled against Darzurb, refusing to give up. What an idiot I am. thought Nara as she remembered that she didn't need strength to win this fight. Darzurb suddenly felt an incredible force prying his arms off his captive, though she did not seem to be the source. It was as if he was fighting his own body. "What's happening!?" he stammered. The answer came not in words but action as Nara broke from his grip and swung her leg around to connect with Darzurb's head. He staggered under the blow and tried to react, but couldn't. Nara maintained her concentration and struck again, this time to Darzurb's...lower regions. Darzurb let out an extremely high pitched yelp that sounded nothing like his lower, normal voice. He doubled over in pain. The sight made Nara laugh, and lose her concentration. Darzurb flew into a rage as her swung his arms wildly at her. Nara jumped up and over Darzurb, landing neatly behind him. Darzurb spun around, "I do not care what Eliodon thinks you are, no one embarrasses me like that!" Darzurb rammed his fists into the ground and pulled up the metal plating, much like one would yank a tablecloth out from under a set of china. The resulting maneuver put Nara on her back. Darzurb seized the opportunity by jumping forward onto her, landing with his elbow to her stomach. He wrapped his hands around her neck and began to squeeze. "Say goodbye to this world, terran!" * * * "Status report, Able Squad and Gamma Squad." ordered J.T. "Able squad accounted for." reported Torres. "Gamma squad has lost one frame." reported Gamma's flight leader. "Alright, close it up around the shuttle people, we're coming up on the flagship!" J.T. looked ahead of them, the huge ship loomed before them, all that stood in their way was a sea a red mechas. * * * Admiral Winfield watched the battle from the bridge of the Resolute. "How are they doing?" he asked. "The shuttle is closing on the flagship, loses minimal. Though some of the capital ships appear to be breaking formation." answered Jamison. "They're going to try to break through our line. Looks like there headed for Jackson's section, advise him of the situation." ordered Winfield. "Yes, sir." answered Jamison. * * * Nara could have felt a lot of things at this moment, fear being the most obvious. But instead she felt anger, anger at her situation. It seemed that she had finally gotten her life in order only to have it end. No! It's not going to end this way, its not!! The emotion seemed to build up inside her making her feel like she was going to explode. Instead of merely feeling it she channeled it. He hands pulsed with power, her eyes glowed green, Nara screamed (or at least tried to) at the top of her lungs as she used every last ounce of her will to lash out at Darzurb. The energy surrounded Darzurb and thrust him at high velocity into the air. He struck the ceiling, only to find it partially give way behind him. Nara pressed her attack and slapped the deck with her hands. In response, Darzurb came crashing down to embed himself into the floor. Darzurb staggered to his feet, refusing to give up. His face was bleeding. Nara stood in fount of him, her eyes pulsing with power. For the first time in his career, Darzurb knew had no chance to win. To his credit, he did not ask for mercy...and none was given. * * * "Hurry up J.T.!" blurted Alec. The Elt-frame on his tail just got a firing lock on him. A second later he exploded under J.T.'s assault. "Got him. You OK, Alec?" asked J.T. "Fine, just don't cut it so close next time." answered Alec. "Don't worry, I can't let my best man get blown away before the wedding, now can I?" answered J.T. "Not if you want your rings back." quipped Alec. "Commander Marsh, we've reached the flagship!" announced Worthington. "Take up patrol zones around it, nothing gets near it, its our friends' only ride home." said J.T. Sue brought her frame around to face a flight of five Elt-frames. She opened fire and blasted one. The other four scattered and flew around her, reforming behind her and heading for the shuttle. "Four got by me, in pursuit, need assistance!" reported Worthington. Remes brought his frame around and locked onto the lead fighter with his cluster rockets. They launched from his frame's "shoulder" and streaked out in space to find their target. The explosion consumed one of the others. Sue locked onto the last two and they quickly followed suit. She took position in front of the shuttle and locked onto a new squad that was closing. She began firing, taking out a number of them, but they still kept coming. "Sue! Get out of there! They're gonna nail you!" yelled Remes. "No can do," answered Sue, "There is no one else close enough to stop them, if I leave they'll get the shuttle." Sue held her ground, blasting a few more members as the made their pass. Her words to Stan proved prophetic as if they had fired in unison on the shuttle. It would have been seriously damaged. Instead they fired on Sue. Her frame took a number of hits, blowing off one of the legs of her purple rapid assault e-frame and riddling one side of the frame with holes. The frame was badly damaged, but stable. The pilot was miraculously ok as well. However the flight of elt-frames left a parting gift in the form of a plasma missile intended for the shuttle, it would have hit the fuels lines. Sue knew this, and knew it would mean the end of the mission. That's why she maneuvered in front of it. The blast caught the chin cannons and destroyed them instantly. The explosion of their power cores rocked the e-frame and almost took the nose off. Amidst the deafening explosion that was heard over the comm line, Able squad heard Sue Worthington scream in agonizing pain, and then heard nothing at all. * * * The ventral portal opened, revealing the bluish glowing hull of the flag ship. "Ok, stand back." said Longfeather as he activated a cutting torch. Sterling looked at him like he was crazy, "Are you serious!? That will never get us through!" O'Rielly snapped her head around to look at him, "You could have told us that before we left, what do we do now?" Sterling moved in front of Longfeather and rammed his fist into the hull, "I never said we can't get in, I just said we can't get in that way." His fist came alive with raw energy as it flowed out of Sterling and into the hull. An opening almost instantly appeared and widened to fill the whole portal. Sterling stood up, "We need to set up a support frame to prevent the hull from closing." O'Rielly blinked twice and came to her senses, "Right," she pointed to two troopers, "You two set up the frame and guard the portal, the rest of us are going in." Sterling jumped through the hole and drew his weapon, Charlie five followed. "Are you sure you don't want exoarmor?" asked Mathison. "No, I have my own, and I will use it when I need to." Sterling patted his backpack. No one seemed to understand what he was talking about. He removed his helmet and tossed it aside, as if anticipating the question he answered "I won't need that." Just then a squad of about 12 guardsman came around the corner, Sterling didn't hesitate as he opened fire. The raw energy of his weapon ripped clean through the squad in seconds. "Hey, save some for us!" said Poedowski. Sterling looked at him, "Don't worry, there will be plenty to go around." * * * "Sue!!!" Remes banked hard left and headed straight for Sue's frame. Kaz turned his frame around and turned the volume up to maximum on his comm line. He heard the faint sounds of someone breathing at the other end. He lowered the volume and radioed J.T. "She's still alive, Commander Marsh. Requesting permission to get her back to the Resolute." "Get her out of here Kaz, Remes fly cover for him." responded J.T. Kaz brought his fighter in above Sue's demolished frame, he extended his ship's landing claws and grasped either side of the damaged frame. With Worthington in secure toe, he radioed Remes, "I've got her, watch my butt all the way back cause I can't maneuver too well now." "Understood." responded Remes, the strain in his voice was obvious. J.T. watched the three frames leave, "Gamma Squad, I need you to help us cover the starboard side of the shuttle." * * * Another group of guardsman tried to scramble out of the way, and another failed as the blast ripped through them leaving none alive. "The concept of overkill doesn't mean anything to you does it?" asked Mathison. Sterling lowered his weapon, "No, it doesn't." "Makes me wonder why you need us here at all." suggested Mathison. "The reason you need to be here is that I can only be at one place at a time." Sterling pointed down a hallway, "Half the group should go this way. The passage splits then comes to an elevator, take it down to the bottom level. The power station is located there. The remaining group will come with me to take out the power station located at the front of the ship." "Alright, Pellegrino take point group and half the squad with you and take out that station. I'll take Longfeather and the other half with me and go with Sterling." ordered O'Rielly. Pellegrino nodded, "You heard the lady, lets move!" * * * The medtechs eased Worthington out of her frame and carried her off to medical. Kaz wasn't an expert but based on what he saw, or didn't see, of her left leg it didn't look good. Satisfied that things were stable he climbed back into his exofighter and found Remes getting back into his frame as well. "Are you sure your up for this?" he asked. Remes closed his frame and opened his comm line, "Positive, the squad needs us, lets go." Kaz closed the hatch to his fighter, "Alright then." * * * "We have six cruisers heading for us Admiral!" reported a bridge officer. "I see them." replied Jackson. "All ships concentrate fire on the lead ship!" Streaks of lazer light transversed the distance between the ships in seconds. The lead ship slowly buckled under fire and exploded. The remaining five cruisers continued forward and fired on Jackson's ship Nautilus. "Sir we're taking heavy fire! Should we pull back?" reported the bridge officer. "Negative, that's what they want us to do. Give them opening to the inner solar system, maintain position!" The barrage continued and the Nautilus began to crumble. "Sir we're losing containment on the main reactor!" Jackson thought fast then smiled. "Order all ships in our vicinity to pull back. Then order all hands to abandon ship! Now trooper!" The orders were given as the ship began to break apart. The eltorian captain watched the action on the vid screen with renewed interest. At first it looked as if the terrans were not going to retreat, but then part of the fleet pulled back leaving what looked like the lead ship by itself. It was smoking and badly damaged. As he spotted a number of shuttles departing it, he knew it was dead in space even before it began to drift out of formation with the fleet. '(All craft, ignore the damaged vessel and concentrate on punching a hole in their line.)' "Sir it worked, they're ignoring us." reported the bridge officer. "Good, get the shuttle ready, I'll be with you in a moment." the officer saluted and headed for the hanger. Jackson went up to a specific console and pressed in a coded sequence. He then pressed his hand against a scanner. "Identity confirmed, proceed Admiral." said the computer. "Activate self destruct, time lapse 5 minutes, on my mark, mark." said Jackson. "Acknowledged." said the computer. Jackson then hastily made his way to the hanger. As his shuttle sped away from the ship he whispered, "Sorry to do this to you old girl." The five eltorian ships broke formation, to go around the crippled ship. They assumed the exofleet would not fire on them because they were close too close to a vessel which may still be carrying terrans. The exofleet didn't fire on them, but for reasons totally unclear to the eltorians until the Nautilus exploded. The blast destroyed the lead ship almost instantly and took two others out a second later. The remaining two were damaged but still kept coming. Against the more numerous exocarriers, they were destroyed within a few minutes. * * * "J.T. we lost three more members of Gamma squad." reported Alec. "With Kaz and Remes gone we are not going to be able to supply effective covering fire for much longer." "I know." replied J.T. "But we have no choice but to try." J.T.'s proximity alarm went off and he instinctively juked his frame to the right just in time to avoid a number of red globs of energy. "I've got trouble." announced J.T. "I'm on them." reported Torres. She pulled in behind J.T. and a moment later his pursuers were no more. * * * Resistance had been minimal, and that worried Jared Mathison because this mission should not be that easy. Pellegrino raised his hand, calling for a halt. He looped his hand in the air and lowered it palm down. It meant spread out and get down. Pellegrino peaked his head out around the corner and noted the presence of about 15 guardsmen. Behind them stood a huge cylindrical structure, it vaguely resembled the reactor core of the Resolute. He brought his hand forward and the troops set up around the corner. "We move on 3; 1, 2, 3!!!" The squad leapt around the corner with guns blazing. About half the guards went down in the first volley. The other half managed some resistance but the squad had more weaponry and more manpower, and so they quickly fell. "Alright people, 2 minutes. Poedowski, strap enough explosive to this thing to blow it clear off the ship. Mathison, help him. The rest of you, stand guard." ordered Pellegrino. In the scaffolding several meters above them, a squad of armored guardsman waited. The squad leader had arrived too late to help their unarmored counterparts, but not too late to avenge them. He gave the signal and they attacked from above. "Look out!" yelled Pellegrino. He brought his rifle to bear and opened fire, striking a descending guardsman. He spiraled out of control and crashed into the wall. The remaining guardsmen opened fire and a number of troops were hit. "Fall back to the hallway!" ordered Pellegrino. Mathison patted Poedowski on the back, "Lets go!" Poedowski refused to move saying, "I'm not done yet." Mathison stood his ground, covering him, "We've got to get out of here! They're going to cut us off from the rest of the squad!" "We can't leave! The mission depends on us taking this thing out!" replied Poedowski as he planted another explosive. "We can't do that if we're dead!" yelled Mathison as he launched a grenade at an approaching guardsman, the blast destroyed him. "Buy me a few more minutes!" yelled Poedowski as he darted around the other side of the power station. Mathison took cover next to the power station and clicked his comm line, "Pellegrino, Poedowski is setting the explosives, but we're cut off. Can you spring us lose?" Pellegrino noted the guardsman between him and the power station. The span between the hallway and the station offered little cover, which is why the the guardsmen had taken to the rafters again. They fired down on anyone that tried to cross that span. Pellegrino's position didn't allow for a good shot at them, neither did Mathison's. But at least Mathison was spared the heavy blaster fire. Probably don't want to hit the power core. thought Pellegrino. "Just sit tight and keep working, we'll get you out." said Pellegrino. Yeah right thought Mathison. "How's the situation?" asked Poedowski. "We're screwed unless we can come up with a way out of here." replied Mathison. Mathison ducked behind the power station with Poedowski to avoid a volley of blaster fire. Poedowski had finished planting the explosives and was staring at the ceiling, fascinated by its construction. "What the hell are you doing?" asked Mathison. "You know what I used to love doing as kid?" he asked. Mathison fired a few quick shots around the corner, "How should I know!" "Building card houses." replied Poedowski. "So what are you going to do, distract these guys with playing cards?" said Mathison as he looked around the corner. "No, but it taught me that one misplaced element can bring even the best designed structures down." said Poedowski. Mathison, finally catching on, looked at the ceiling. The rafters formed a series of spokes that connected to one central pillar which then connected to the ground. "Can you pull it off?" asked Mathison. "Of course, just be ready to run like hell." Poedowski stuck his leg around the corner and five mines shot out to attach to the pillar in the center of the room. Poedowski counted down, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go!" The duo scrambled around the corner just as the explosives went off. The blast distracted the guardsman who suddenly became aware of the fact that the high ground was falling out from under them. Poedowski and Mathison hit their jets and made a break for the hallway. Pellegrino and his troops provided covering fire as the two dodged falling debris and enemy fire. Poedowski took a hit in the arm, causing him to drop his rifle, considering the situation, he opted not to go back for it. Mathison managed to make it back unscathed. The two lead the retreat as Pellegrino brought up the rear with covering fire. As they rounded a corner, they set up position and watched the room collapse on itself. A number of guardsman tried to escape but were gunned down by the squad. Pellegrino turned to Poedowski and Mathison, "You guys alright?" Jared looked at David, David gave a thumbs up. "Then blow that damn thing!" ordered Pellegrino. Poedowski pulled the detonator from his pocket, smiled and activated it. "Fire in the hole!" The ship rocked under the explosion and troops dove for cover to avoid being caught in the blast. After what seemed like an eternity the smoke cleared and a white foam fell from the ceiling. The lights had gone out, causing the troops to resort to their night vision goggles to see. "What is this stuff?" asked Mathison. "Fire retardant foam of some sort." said Pellegrino. Poedowski scanned the region where the power station had been. A charred shell was all that remained, the unit had been so deep inside the ship that it had not breached the hull. Poedowski turned to look at Pellegrino, "Mission Accomplished Sir." "Great job Poedowski. Mathison, call O'Rielly and tell her that we're done and are heading back to the shuttle." * * * The battle was not going as well as expected, the terrans were actually holding their own and to make matters worse, a group had penetrated the ship. Eliodon had tried to contact Darzurb to warn him of possible intruders, but he had not responded. So Eliodon assigned Rodar with the task of hunting down the terrans while he took two armed guards with him to check on Jamia. They entered the room to find Darzurb on the floor, his body folded in half, his neck and back clearly broken. Eliodon looked about the room to find Jamia. "Jamia!" he said. "That's not my name." a voice said. There was the sound of a scuffle and Eliodon and the remaining guard turned to see the Nara fitting a forearm cannon on her right arm. The owner was lying face down on the floor. She aimed the weapon at the remaining guard, "Don't even try it." Of course the guard ignored the warning, and Nara shot him. Eliodon stared at her, "Why Jamia?" "Don't call me that." said Nara. "But that is your name and I am your father." persisted Eliodon. Nara tossed a rectangular chip on the floor in front of him, "My father was from Venus, just like me." Eliodon reached for something behind his back, "Your just confused." Nara shot his arm, Eliodon staggered back holding his now bleeding arm. "One of us is confused, but it isn't me." replied Nara. Eliodon's eyes hardened as he prepared to charge her, "I will not let you leave." Nara said nothing as she fired. Eliodon's lifeless form collapsed on the deck, a smoldering hole in his chest. Nara opened the door to her chamber and ventured out into the rest of the ship. * * * "Pellegrino reports that their target is destroyed and their heading back to the shuttle." said O'Rielly. Sterling halted and noted a hallway heading to the the center of the ship. "Take your squad ahead, I'll join you as soon as I am able." O'Rielly grabbed his arm, "Where do think your going?" "Listening to my instincts, this will only take a few minutes." Sterling pulled free from her grip and headed off without them. "Should we go after him?" asked Longfeather. "No, the mission comes first. Besides, he can take care of himself." answered O'Rielly. * * * "DeLeon, on your right!" Alec spun his frame around in an attempt to dodge volley of plasma fire. One blast connected, causing minor damage. "They're still on me!" announced Alec. "We got your back." replied Kaz as his exofighter and a high speed stealth attack e-frame slipped in behind Alec's three pursuers. Alec relaxed a little as three explosions lit up the star line. "Nice to have the two of you back." said Alec. * * * Three guardsman walked around the corner and smack into Sterling. He reacted quickly swatting one against the wall and firing on the other two. Both were killed. The remaining assailant got to his feet and tried to raise his weapon. Sterling spun to stop him, only to find that someone else shot him first. He stared into the darkness of the hallway ahead, his weapon ready. The silhouette looked unfamiliar, though his apparently did not, "Sterling?" He recognized the voice in an instant, "Nara!" He sprung forward to greet her, only to find her backing away from him. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Don't look at me!" said Nara, covering her face. Sterling stepped forward and gently clasped her arm and pulled it away from her face. He was surprised at what he saw but kept that surprise hidden. "They did this to me." mumbled Nara. "It doesn't matter what you look like, your still the same person on the inside." replied Sterling. "I can't go back like this." said Nara as she shook her head. Sterling reached out with his hand and lifted her head by the chin to look at him, "I'll find a way to reverse whatever they did, I promise." He pressed his lips to hers and she brought her arms around him. Suddenly Sterling's eyes popped open and pulled away from her looking confused. "What?" asked Nara. Sterling held one finger in the air and began to feel around her waist, "Your skin is slightly charged, if I wasn't trained to look for it, I never would have noticed it." His hands darted about her belt looking for something he knew just had to be there. Finally, he found a small doubtful lump in the small of Nara's back. He concentrated and emitted a small charge from his finger tips and the device shorted out. Nara's features flicked and faded, leaving her true form underneath. Sterling stood up and smiled, "Now that's better!" Nara grabbed pony tail and looked at it, it was blond again. She threw her arms around him, "You did it!" "Lets go get the person responsible." suggested Sterling. "He's taken care of." said Nara. Sterling smiled, clearly impressed, "Then lets go find O'Rielly's group and get out of here." * * * Rodar noted the terrans' approach with something close to extreme disappointment. Taqueza was not among them, Rodar was almost certain he would be. '(Take them.)' he ordered. The guardsman descended from the ceiling and began to attack. "Incoming!" yelled Longfeather. He raised his weapons and opened fire. Several troops followed suit. The enemy units swooped down on them and returned fire. As they made their pass several troopers were hit, including Longfeather. "Ramon!" yelled O'Rielly. She ran to Ramon's side, he was lying on the floor. He rolled over to look at her. "Are you all right?" she asked. "Yes and No." he replied. "I"m fine, but the detonator is destroyed." He pulled a wreaked transmitter from his pocket, it had saved his life but at the price of the mission. "Is there anything you can do to fix it?" asked Longfeather. "Its slagged, we have to pull out." O'Rielly gritted her teeth as she gave the order, "Retreat!" A large eltorian with a cybernetic parts dropped from the ceiling and began shooting from cannons inside his fist. "Die humans!" he screamed. Several troopers were killed by his first volley. O'Rielly leveled her rifle and fired while Longfeather got to his feet. "Pull back!" she ordered. Rodar easily avoided her shots and returned fire. O'Rielly hit her jets and arced backward, still firing. Effectively covering her troops while they pulled back. As they left the room, the section commander reported to Rodar, '(Shall we pursue?)' '(Finish them.)' was the reply. "What's that?" asked Nara. "Weapons fire." said Sterling, "This way." They darted around the corner to the the connecting hallway to see O'Rielly's squad coming at them in full retreat. Behind them were a number of guardsman. Sterling looked at Nara, "Can you hold that many?" "Can you take them all out fast?" answered Nara. Sterling drew his weapon and stood ready. Nara waited for the group to get a little closer and then reached out with her power and grabbed hold of all twenty or so guardsmen. They froze in mid-air as Nara struggled to keep her hold on them. Sterling wasted no time snapping off a number of small, powerful bursts. Eight guardsman were no more, O'Rielly figured out what was happening and turned her squad around to help. The remaining guardsmen were quickly destroyed. Nara leaned on Sterling for support, her body weakened by the effort. O'Rielly noted Nara's return, "Following your instincts, huh?" Sterling shrugged his shoulders, "Did you get the target?" "No, our detonator is shot, literally. The mission is scrubbed." answered O'Rielly. "No, I will take care of the power station, you get your squad and Nara back to the Resolute." Nara began to protest as Sterling handed her over to Longfeather but he cut her off, "I'll be back, I promise." "How?" asked O'Rielly. Sterling activated his armor. The black pack on his back moved over the surface of his body covering it head to toe. A burst of light and a whiff of ozone marked the emergence of his forearm cannons, jet boots and pack. His wings extended and he hovered slightly off the ground, backing away from them, "As you can see, I come with my own transport." He increased thrust and rocketed down the hallway back to the power station. O'Reilly turned to her squad, "Lets get out of here!" Sterling landed at the entrance to the power station and retracted his armor. A single eltorian stood waiting for him. "I knew you would come." "The guardsmen?" asked Sterling. "A distraction, to ensure we had some measure of privacy." answered Rodar. "Perhaps you were hoping one of them would get lucky?" proposed Sterling. "To debate the issue is pointless, now I will finish what was started on the Resolute." stated Rodar. "Or I will finish what was started at Mars." added Sterling. Rodar's bionic arm twitched, perhaps in response to the comment. "Enough talk." he said. "Agreed." responded Sterling. O'Rielly returned to the shuttle to find Pellegrino and company waiting for her. "We done here, Lieutenant?" he asked. "One way or another, yeah. Everyone back in the shuttle, we're getting out of here." she ordered. * * * "Commander Marsh, this is boarding shuttle, we are ready to depart." "Roger that, boarding shuttle, we have you covered." answered J.T. "Gamma and Able squads, reform on the shuttle! We're getting out of here!" * * * Rodar brought his bionic arm to bear on Sterling, but Sterling was faster, blasting part of the arm away. "No weapons, please." he said. Rodar rushed forward and grabbed Sterling's weapon with his right hand and delivered an elbow with to the head with the other. Sterling instinctively release the weapon. Rodar crushed it in his hand saying, "Very well." Sterling spun to deliver a round house kick, but Rodar jumped to avoid it flipping over Sterling's head and coming to rest behind him. Rodar turned around, sweeping his leg as he went. Sterling fell backward onto the deck plates. He quickly rolled onto his shoulders and, coiled like a spring, shot his legs out at Rodar's head while at the same time flipping to his feet. Sterling followed the hit up with an open handed strike to chest and a spinning elbow which caught Rodar's bionic (left) eye, shattering it. Rodar yelled in pain and threw is head forward, delivering a head butt to Sterling. Momentarily stunned, Rodar took advantage of the situation by delivering a side thrusting kick to the body. The blow knocked Sterling off his feet and sent him sprawling. Rodar's bionic arm shifted slightly and small jagged blades extend from his finger tips. Sterling got to his feet only to be racked by them across the chest. He screamed in pain and delivered a spin kick that glanced off Rodar's back, imparting a fraction of energy to his assailant. Rodar hissed under his breath as his back sizzled. Sterling's hands and eyes began to glow. Rodar swiped at him with his clawed hand only to find that the blades were melted off in the attempt. Rodar quickly plunged his fist into the wall and tore off a piece of it. Using it as a makeshift bat, he swatted Sterling away from him. Sterling rolled with the hit and plunged his own fist into the floor. The floor in front of him glowed and lost consistency and Rodar found himself sinking in it. Sterling stopped his assault and let the floor harden around Rodar. Rodar struggled to free himself as Sterling came at him. Sterling drop kicked Rodar's head and grabbed his bionic arm. He eyed Rodar coldly for a second before he proceeded to tear it off. Rodar winced in pain but refused to scream. He looked at Sterling defiantly, "Finish it." Sterling said nothing and walked away from him. "I knew you were weak. Next time, when I have the upper hand, I will not hesitate." stated Rodar. Sterling turned and looked at Rodar, the noted the power station behind him. "There won't be a next time." * * * Kaz's proximity alarm sounded, he rolled hard left and avoided enemy fire. "Two boggies behind us, Thrax change course two degrees and pull in behind them." "Understood." said Thrax as he swung in behind Kaz's pursuers. "I have them." he announced as he opened fire. Needless to say the enemy pilots didn't stand a chance. The Resolute loomed in the distance. J.T. opened a channel to the boarding shuttle, "Marsh to O'Rielly, why haven't the fireworks started?" "O'Rielly to Marsh, we never got the chance to takeout the second power station, Sterling stayed behind to take care of it." answered Colleen. "You just left him?" said J.T., a little shocked. "He has his own transport, I'm sure he will be fine. We found something of yours while we were there." said Colleen. J.T. paused for a second trying to think what anything of his would be doing there, "What do you mean?" "A certain Lieutenant under your command, I thought you'd like to know that she's alive and well with us." answered Colleen. J.T. smiled, "Give Nara my best, Marsh out." * * * Sterling raised his hands over his head and focused. As he cupped the hands together, his characteristic blue energy filled them. He focused harder and the energy seemed to build. Soon both his arms were consumed. The energy seemed to grow more and more intense. The power radiated out in blue lightning bolts, striking various surfaces and partially melting them. Sterling face contorted, under obvious strain by the effort. In his mind he saw images of earth, his squad, Nara, and his parents. He remember their execution, let the anger grow inside him and channeled it into his will. The room was as bright as day as Sterling bellowed like a Norse god and brought his hands down in front of him. The energy ripped apart his gloves and sleeves as it shot from his hands. Rodar screamed as it came towards him and reduced him to something less than ashes. The power continued on, bulldozing its way through the power station and onward through the ship. From a distance, Able squad watched as part of the hull seemed to expand and bubble out until finally a ray of pure energy pierced the hull and flew into space. Inside the ship an exhausted Sterling quickly extended his armor and took off down the passage as the explosion of the power core seemed to tail him. Winding his way through the passages of the ship, he increased thrust, pushing the machine as well as the man inside it to its limits. As he neared the exit hole the boarding shuttle had made, he powered up to maximum speed, no longer hampered by the close quarters of the ship. He shot out into open space and the ship tore itself apart behind him. The resulting explosion was very hard to miss. * * * The bridge crew of the Resolute cheered in triumph as the alien flagship exploded. "They did it!" yelled Jamison. "That they did," Winfield said with a smile. * * * On board another eltorian flagship, Zairum smiled at the destruction of Eliodon's flagship. '(Raise what is left of Eliodon's fleet and tell them to withdraw.)' The communications officer and immediately sent the message. Well done Sterling, very well done indeed. * * * "Admiral, the remaining Eltorian forces are withdrawing!" reported Jamison. "Order all exosquads to let them go and have them return to the carriers. This fight is over." said Winfield. * * * Nara watched the rubble of the flagship for the slightest hint of survival. The shuttle's cargo bay was silent. Jared Mathison broke that silence, "I'm sure he made it, he's too tough not to." Nara said nothing and continued to look out the window. Outside the ship, Thrax activated his comm unit, "Commander Marsh, there is something coming our way." "Friend or foe?" asked J.T. "Uncertain, it appears to have been damaged, comm systems may be down." reported Thrax. "Its one of those Elt-frames." announced Kaz. "I'm not registering any of the power spikes associated with an active weapons system." said Alec. A black elt-frame came into view and gradually made its way into formation. It flew along side Marsh's frame, turned its head to him and gave him a thumbs up. "I think he's with us." said J.T. Able and Gamma squad came in for a landing. As the shuttle opened and Able squad got out of their frames Sterling retracted his armor. His uniform was in a mess, his gloves and sleeves missing, and his shirt torn. Nara rushed to greet him, throwing her arms around him. "I told you I would be back." he said. Nara didn't say anything, she just held him as tight as he held her. Rita got out of her frame to find Jared waiting for her, "Nice to see you made it back, Sargent." "You too." she said. Jared put his arm around her and they began to exchange stories. Remes left for the infirmary almost immediately. Thrax and Kaz congratulated the jumptroops, who in turn thanked them for the air support. Alec and Maggie quickly found each other, as did J.T. and Colleen. Long feather gave Poedowski a hearty slap on the shoulder after hearing of his efforts in the ship from Pellegrino. Poedowski grabbed his wounded shoulder and yelped in pain. Longfeather, of course, immediately apologized. Winfield came down to the hanger deck and found J.T. and Colleen, "I just want to congratulate you both on a job well done." He shook both their hands and noticed Sterling and Nara in a passionate embrace. He turned back to J.T. and said with a chuckle, "I'll congratulate them later. They deserve a little time to themselves." J.T. put his arm around Colleen, "As do we all, Admiral, as do we all."
	On to Part 8