Chapter 9       "Set up a firing line right here!" ordered Longfeather. His Jumptroopers quickly assembled side by side on their stomachs in front of the main entrance. They were flanked by the two e-frames from Able squad. "Pellegrino! Wright! Open it up!" shouted Longfeather. The separated from the rest of the firing line, coming forward a bit. Crouching on one knee, they readied their rocket launchers. "Ready!" they called out. "Fire!" Twin rockets leapt from their respective barrels, each striking one half of the base's massive outer doors. Pellegrino retracted his launcher and held his rifle ready. Wright loaded another rocket and waited as the doors collapsed in a flash of light and a deafening boom. As the dust settled two figures were seen moving out toward them. More of a stumble than a run, the two seemed in quite a hurry to get out of the base. Longfeather hesitated as his men looked to him for the order to fire. Sterling grabbed his shoulder and pointed, "That's Shanita! Don't fire!" He pushed past him and ran out to her as she finally emerged from the dust and debris. "Hold your fire!" ordered Longfeather.       Shanita wiped the ash from her eyes and was greeted with the sight of unhappy jumptroopers. Arsis froze next to her, not wanting to make any sudden movements. "Shanita!" She spied Sterling running toward her and smiled as he wrapped his arms around her. "You made it back." she said. Longfeather's troops got to their feet and began to secure the area beyond the doors. "Thanks to you." returned Sterling as he released her. "Oh...its you." said Ellen as she casually walked by. Shanita nodded at her. "I am pleased to see you as well." "Yeah, right, whatever." muttered Ellen. Pellegrino nudged his rifle into the small of Arsis' back. "What about this one?" Shanita grabbed hold of his rifle and pushed the barrel down. "He helped me escape. His name is Arsis and he works for the Eltorian High Council." explained Shanita. "You mean he claims to work for them." answered Pellegrino as he again raised his weapon. Shanita was about to respond when Longfeather cut him off. "We have a way to ID him." He clicked open his helmet comm unit. "Worthington, bring Wang up here."       "Roger that." Worthington looked over her shoulder at Wang. "Time to earn your keep." The e-frame rolled forward using wheels mounted in its feet. Mandy noted the groups clustered around a large Eltorian. He, and the weapon he carried, were familiar to Mandy. The e-frame stopped and slouched down as the canopy opened. "This is your stop." commented Worthington. She hopped down from the cockpit and gave Mandy a little help duplicating the maneuver. Behind them, Kaz's exofighter was coming in for a landing. Mandy slowly made her way over to the Eltorian and stared at him. "Is he the one you saw before?" asked Sterling. "Yes." said Mandy numbly. Her hands were shaking as she spoke. Arsis looked down at her. "Please understand Ms. Wang, what was done in the Venutian forest was to both keep you alive and my deception a secret." Mandy nodded again. "What was on the disk you left for me?" "Three data files. One gave the coordinates for this base - your timing is excellent by the way - another gave you schematics for the Elionite doomsday weapon, and the last gave you the data collected from Shanita's battle armor." Sterling nodded as he extended a hand toward him. "Then I owe you my thanks." Arsis wrapped his large hand around Sterling's. "You are welcome." Kaz strode up next to Wang and rested a hand on her shoulder. "You did well." He turned to Worthington. "Get her back to the ship." "No." interrupted Arsis. "We need her here." "What?" said a disbelieving Mandy. Longfeather looked to Arsis, "I'm afraid you're going to have to explain that one to me too. She I.D.'ed you. Her job is over." "The Elionite leader - he who calls himself Malice - he fears this one." "You've got to be kidding!" blurted out Ellen. Mandy shot her a hurt look. "Sorry, but like, you're not exactly a fierce warrior or anything." "Exactly." concurred Pellegrino. "Are you sure about that?" Arsis nodded. "The mission we undertook to Venus. Our main target was not Nara Sterling." He looked to Wang. "It was you." "M-me?" stuttered Mandy. "What did I do?" "I do not believe that it was anything you did, but rather what you will do." * * *       The door to the main chamber opened and Malice entered followed by Scourge. The area was large and open, though most of the walls were covered with machinery. The room itself had three entrances and was circular in design. A large conical device emerged from the ceiling. It was responsible for the room's environmental needs as well as its chief source of light. Malice strode over to a machine near one end of the room and turned it on. '(The files we liberated from Vesta will serve us well. None must escape our vengeance.)' Scourge nodded a silent approval. The machine hummed to life. Malice brought it up to standby mode then walked over to a nearby monitor. As he turned it on, Wrath entered the room from the opposite side. '(Sir. I am here.)' '(Repairs have begun on your fighter?)' asked Malice. '(Yes sir.)' Malice fiddled with the keypad near the monitor, intent on learning what was transpiring outside. '(They will not finish in time. But they will do enough for you to carry out your last mission.)' Wrath nodded. '(What is my mission?)' '(Arm the device. Then make sure it reaches its target.)' answered Malice. '(And then?)' asked Wrath. Malice glanced back him, '(I would think the answer to be obvious.)' '(Yes, sir. Of course, I will see you at the rendezvous point then.)' Wrath bowed slightly and left the room. Malice focused on his monitor as he said, '(No. You will not.)' * * *       Shanita's head darted about, as if looking for someone. Kaz picked it up instantly and left Wang's side heading toward her. "Where is Hallas?" she asked. Kaz grabbed hold of her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Shanita's face dropped. "No." "I'm sorry. I know how much he meant to you." She said nothing, and only stared blankly at him. "Are you okay?" He watched her facial expression, which did little to conceal what she was feeling at the moment. It changed quickly and smoothly from an expression of shock, to remorse, and finally anger. "I will survive." "You're part in this is essentially over, Nita. I can have Worthington take you back to the Vigilance if you'd like." Her eyes hardened, indicating her distaste of the thought. "Fine." said Kaz. "But if you're going to stay, I need you focused. No agendas or vendettas, got me?" "Yes Sir." she replied.       "Lt. Takagi?" Kaz turned his attention back to Arsis, Longfeather, and the others. "What's up?" Longfeather arched a finger at him. "You'd better hear this." He pointed to Arsis. "Go ahead." "The weapon described on the disk I sent to you, it is here in this base. It has not been launched yet, but it may be soon." "Can you show us where it is?" asked Sterling. Arsis nodded. "Finding it will be easy, getting to it could prove difficult. I recommend a two team initiative. One group will find and disable the weapon. The other will strike at the command center." "Sounds reasonable." concluded Longfeather. "I'll leave two units here to keep the area secure. The remaining unit comes with me to assault the command center. Takagi, you take your people, Arsis, and Sterling and take out that weapon." "Right." Kaz signaled to Worthington and Remes. "We're moving out!" "No." said Arsis. "What?" asked Kaz. "I will be of greater use guiding the other team. The command center is buried deep in the heart of the base. The weapon is easy to find. Go down the corridor to the left until you can go no further. Then go right and then the second left. That is the launch chamber." "Got it." said Sterling. Remes and Worthington approached, a rifle in each hand. Kaz took one from Remes and Sterling relieved Worthington of her spare. Kaz darted off in the direction indicated by Arsis with Sterling, Remes, Worthington, and Shanita in tow. Longfeather watched them go. Turning to Arsis, he asked, "Anything else?" "The girl. She must come with us." Mandy froze, no longer clinging to the illusion that they had forgotten about that little detail. "I'm not a soldier." she nervously sputtered. "It does not matter." stated Arsis. Wright stepped forward. "I'll keep an eye on her." "You've got the job then." said Longfeather, no longer wishing to argue the point. "Move out!" Wang tapped Wright on the shoulder, "What should I do?" Wright stepped in front of her. "Stay behind me at all times. You hear a shot, you duck and cover. You hear a rocket, run from it as fast as you can. And most importantly, if you get shot, try not to die. Any questions?" "Uh, no." replied Mandy. "Good. Now let's move, cause we're falling behind the rest of the platoon!" * * *       Malice scanned over the images presented before him. Images of the battle raging outside. He stopped on one in particular and stared at it. '(No.)' he whispered. '(No!)' The monitor suddenly shattered, as if it had decided to do so on its own. Malice let the anger he felt drain out of him. He turned to Scourge. '(You saw the terran female?)' Scourge nodded. '(Kill her. All else is secondary.)' Scourge nodded again then turned to leave. He took one step before Malice spoke again, prompting him to stop once more. '(Once she is eliminated you may kill at your leisure.)' Scourge smiled, but not with a happy-carefree grin. Instead he flashed a malicious smirk, one that indicated he enjoyed his dark duty and would perform it with excessive zeal and brutal violence. '(Carry on.)' ordered Malice. Scourge left the room, leaving Malice to ponder his next move. * * *       The shot was perfect, landing dead center. The last guard toppled over, leaving their way unguarded. "This should be it." Sterling pointed to the door ahead. Kaz regarded it with a touch of skepticism. "If our source was playing it straight with us." "He was. I know it." Shanita stated flatly. "I hate uncertainty." said Worthington. "Ditto." added Remes. Sterling pressed a button on the wall, opening the door with a 'whoosh!' The chamber beyond was cylindrical, rising up and out of the mountain. "Someone's already opened the launch doors." observed Worthington. Kaz peered straight up, seeing the Venutian sky above them. Remes lowered his rifle and walked up to the railing in front of them. Apparently they were not on the 'ground floor' of the room. It sank into the ground for at least one level and rose above them another three. A series of circular catwalks ringed the device they had come to shut down. It was about the length of an exofighter but a tad longer. It was also much thinner, resembling a smaller version of man's earliest spacecraft. "It looks like its in two stages." commented Sterling as he looked the missile up and down. "Note the seal about two thirds the way up the shaft." He pointed out the area he spoke of. "The bottom portion is just to get it into orbit. Its the top section that is the actual device." "So its about the size of my frame, minus the chin guns and legs." commented Worthington. "That's about right." concurred Sterling. "So?" blurted Remes expectantly. "What?" asked Sterling. "Put a hand on it, give it a good jolt, and let's go home." "It not that simple." explained Sterling. "Why not? Its not a bomb. You won't set it off." Worthington paused a second before asking. "Will you?" "That's just it. I don't know if I will or not. And until I get a look at its internal wiring to make sure, I'd rather not take that chance." Shanita pointed upward. "There. It looks like some type of control station. We should start there." Kaz looked where she was pointing. It was two levels above them. A rectangular section of the catwalk that was crammed with computers and wiring that extended to the missile itself. "Looks like a launch station. At any rate, it looks like a good place to start." He gazed to his left, noting a staircase leading the catwalk above. "Looks like we can get up there from here."       A barrage of burning green plasma began to rain down on them. They scattered and regrouped near the entrance to the launch room. "Anyone see the shooter?" asked Kaz. "No." replied Shanita. "Nothing." stated Worthington. "Nada." added Remes. "I think I see him." Sterling pointed to the catwalk below the control station. A large armored figure stood with his wrist launchers at the ready. "That's our guy." said Kaz. "He doesn't look like the other terrorists we've run into." commented Sterling. "So what? Let's take him out." said Sue as she stepped forward. Shanita caught her arm. "No. He's right. Look at the forearm cannons he wears." Kaz squinted a little to see. 'They're gray. Is that important?" "That means he's Elite." stated Sterling. "Elite guardsmen, elite?" asked Stan. "Yes." Sue and Stan froze, not liking the idea of fighting what was essentially a genetically engineered killing machine. "Everyone stay low and spread out." ordered Kaz. "Don't shoot unless your behind cover. Let's not make this easy for him." Kaz and Shanita stepped forward a bit and separated. Worthington and Remes went wide right. Sterling went wide left. The Eltorian on the catwalk reacted quickly, firing off shots at each of them. Shanita rammed herself into Kaz, taking him to the ground and out of harm's way. Worthington and Remes dove behind a computer, which took the hits meant for them. The shot fired at Sterling found only empty space when it reached where he was. It struck the ground. The man it was meant to hit, however, had disappeared. Kaz and Shanita scrambled back to their feet and headed to the door. A few more shots followed them. "He has us pinned down." observed Shanita. "Worthington, Remes, stay where you are!" ordered Kaz. Shanita brought her rifle up and kneeled. She drew a bead on their assailant and fired. The shot looked good until the Eltorian saw it coming and moved to dodge. The shot sailed harmlessly over his head as he returned fire. Kaz grabbed Shanita's uniform and yanked her backwards, the Eltoian's shot barely missing.       "Damn he's good." hissed Kaz. "Better than you could ever hope to be, terran." "He has excellent hearing also." commented Shanita. "Not all of us are as weak as you, female." Shanita clenched her fist and screamed out a response. "I am not weak!" The Eltorian seemed to relax his posture a little as he responded. "You were taken prisoner twice. Once by the terrans and once by us. If that is not a sign of weakness, I do not know what is." Kaz grabbed her shoulder. "Easy. Don't let him goad you." "I am Wrath. I kill, not goad." Kaz turned his attention back to the Eltorian named Wrath. He had to keep him talking. Kaz had noticed Sterling's disappearance. He was up to something. Kaz just had to keep this guy busy until he could pull it off. "Well, Wrath, I'm Lt. Takagi, commanding officer of Able Squad. And we're here to take that machine apart. The only question I have for you is, are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?" "I will not surrender. If your Able squad fights like it flies, I am in no danger." returned Wrath. Kaz considered the statement for a moment. It looked to him like he was wearing something similar to a flight suit. "A fan of the color red are you?" Wrath laughed. "And would you favor blue?" "I would." growled back Kaz. Shanita stared at Kaz, her expression asking for him to explain. "He killed them." whispered Kaz. "He killed Hallas and Dirk." Shanita's body began to quiver with anger. Wrath noticed. "They meant something to you, female? Good. I want you to know. It was easy for me to kill them. They just placed themselves in front of me, practically begging to be destroyed." Kaz grabbed hold of Shanita as she started to move forward. "Don't listen to him Shanita." She batted him away and continued on, her weapon blazing. Wrath opened fire with both of his fusion cannons. One struck home, blasting Shanita back onto the floor. Kaz was on her in seconds. His hands gripping the uniform around her shoulders, he pulled her to safety as fast as he could. She got to her feet almost instantly. "Are you okay?" asked Kaz. "Fine." she replied. "He hit the rifle instead of me." She tossed it aside, no longer useful because of the damage it sustained. "Good thing you were carrying across your chest. Now..." "I know, I know," interjected Shanita, "Stay put and no more reckless behavior." "Exactly."       Once Shanita was out of his line of sight, Wrath stopped firing. Suddenly his left side became alive with a blunt pain as he flew to the catwalk floor. He rolled with the blow, coming into the one-knee position and opening fire. His assailant became a blur of motion as the shots were deflected in random directions. When he finally became still, Wrath noticed armor plates over his forearms. They were blackened slightly from the shots he had just deflected. "My name is Sterling." he said. Wrath lowered his weapons and slowly got to his feet. His armor hand-guards morphed into their offensive configuration, which was two slender blades extending from the back of each hand. "I know who you are." He raised the his hands, the blades pointing up and clearly visible. "I have met your wife." The implications of his statement registered with Sterling in an instant. Then he was in motion. Wrath slashed wildly. Sterling ducked under the first slash and blocked the second with one of his forearm guards. Wrath redoubled his efforts, slashing again and following it up with a round house kick. Sterling jumped upward and flipped behind Wrath, landing an open palm shot to his back in the process. The floor rushed up to greet Wrath as he fell face first. He rolled over, whipping his legs into a scissor kick. Sterling dodged easily. Wrath sprung to his feet and slashed again. Sterling caught Wrath's right wrist with his left hand and pulled it taught while he rammed his right elbow straight into his face. Wrath stumbled back. Sterling came at him again and Wrath slashed blindly. Sterling backed away his hand covering the spot on his side where Wrath had sliced through. Wrath smiled triumphantly. "This battle is mine. For I had the foresight to engineer the toxin to work on both you and your mate!" Sterling feel to one knee, apparently groggy. He mumbled something under his breath. Wrath drew closer. "You have a final word?" Sterling looked up at him. "I said, 'Too bad you didn't actually cut me'" Wrath stared down at the blades on his right hand. They had been melted away. As his eyes shifted back to Sterling the fist was a fraction of a second away from impact. Wrath spun like a top, but somehow stayed on his feet. Sterling delivered another shot to the jaw, and another. Bloodied and battered, Wrath barely had the strength to stay on his feet. Sterling's right hand began to pulse with energy. "This is for what you did to Nara!" He rammed it forward into Wrath's chest plate. The combination of the discharge and the force of the blow sent Wrath flying all the way to the other end of the catwalk. He slammed into the wall and slouched to the floor. Sterling calmly started toward him.       Wrath struggled to get his breath. The half-breed caught him off guard and he had paid dearly for it. If he didn't think of something soon, he was dead. He looked up and spied the piping over the catwalk he sat on. He quickly snapped up his arm and fired off a shot. The pipe he aimed for burst open, spewing its contents all over the path between himself and Sterling. Sterling halted as Kaz, Shanita, Remes and Worthington came up behind him. "He is getting away!" yelled Shanita. Sterling caught her arm. "No! That's liquid nitrogen! It'll freeze you solid!" He turned to Kaz, "We have to get off this catwalk before it shatters!" "But we just got here!" wined Remes. "Not now, Stan." said Worthington. "Let's go! Get off the catwalk!" ordered Kaz. They made it to the stairs just as it began to shatter under their weight. The entire structure, or what was left of it, broke free from its wall moorings and crashed to the floor below. "Do you see him?" asked Shanita. "No." replied Sterling. The base intercom suddenly came on-line, '(Launch sequence, initiated.)' "That did not sound good." commented Remes. "I think we should leave, now." suggested Sterling. Two levels above them they saw Wrath, damaged chest plate and all, standing over the controls. His arms were stretched outward as he laughed at them, "Your end is near terrans! We win! Long live Eliodon!" Shanita grabbed Kaz's rifle to fire off a shot at him. But Wrath was long gone by the time she took aim, having escaped the room through a hatch near the top of the missile silo. A rumble from below began to fill the chamber. "Everyone out of here, NOW!" ordered Kaz. They scrambled for the exit as the rocket flames began to fill the room. Sterling was the last out, using his sturdy frame to brace the door as the rocket within rose to the sky above. When the worst had passed, Sterling quickly turned to Kaz. "You have to go after it!" But he was already gone, Shanita as well. Remes tapped him on the shoulder. "I think they realize that, big guy. Come on, we've done everything we can here. Let's see if Longfeather needs backup." * * *       "Sir we've lost contact with one of our units. I think they may have wandered into a shielded portion of the base." "Carry on, Corporal" Longfeather considered the information, not sure if he believed the suggestion. "Want me to go look for them?" asked Pellegrino. "Good idea. Find them and bring them back here. I have a feeling we'll need all the help we can get." Pellegrino saluted, "Sure thing Lieutenant." "Hey!" yelled Wright. "You want company?" Pellegrino shook his head. "Nah, I'll be back in a jiff. Besides who'll baby-sit Wang?" Mandy was perched quietly behind her, trying not to look as scared as she felt. "Good point. Have fun." * * *       "I'm still not getting anything." Scourge watched the three terrans lumber around trying to get their bearings. To say he watched them though was a tad incorrect, he studied them. What weapons they carried, how fast they appeared to be, and how easy they would be to kill. The terrans were in a shielded portion of the base, the area they carried out their experiments with the GraF technology. The shielding insured the energy spikes generated would not be detected. Right now the area was abandoned and dark. The room was circular, with the two exits at opposite ends and rising off the floor with a few steps leading up to each. The center had a large circular table that once held up the device that was most assuredly on its way to the terran sun. Scourge was perched high on the ceiling, anchored using one massive hands to dig into the wall. After determining he could learn no more from them, he decided to take action. Releasing his grip, he fell to the ground. The fingers on his right metallic hand turned into sharp claws. The terran below him suddenly looked up as Scourge landed in front of him, raking him from neck to groin with the claws. He screamed and fell backward. As the other two turned to fire, Scourges powerful legs shot him upward once more. His left hand took the form of an ax while the other became the barrel of a blaster. As he buried his ax into one terran, he shot the other. They both fell swiftly. A noise at the door way caused Scourge to spin towards it, hands in attack posture. A lone jumptrooper stood there, staring back at him with his rifle ready. To Scourge's surprise, he lowered the weapon. He held it loosely in his right hand as he stared expectantly at him. "You remember me?" He lifted his left hand with the palm up and planted the edge of it on his chest plate. He then slide it across, mimicking the slashing motion of an ax. Scourge's eyes narrowed and the corners of his mouth twitched. "Yeah, that's right. The one that got away." He brought his rifle up and switched off the safety. "Let's dance motherf#@%er!!!!" * * *       Arsis pointed to the door ahead. "This should be it." "What do you mean should be? I thought you knew this place." asked Wright. "Please understand that although I do know the layout of this base, I am uncertain about where the Elionite leader is currently located. I think we stand the best chance of finding him in the room beyond." "That's good enough for me." said Longfeather. He pointed to two men and then to the door. They quickly went to work on its locking mechanism. "Got it sir." reported one of them. He pushed the release button and the door swooshed open. The jumptroops slowly made their way inside. The room was huge. Oval in shape with a very high ceiling, it was perhaps the largest room they had seen thus far. The only source of light was a large pyramid-like device that hung upside down from the ceiling. Given its size, it appeared to be responsible for the room's environmental conditions as well as its lighting. "Look!" Wright pointed to an all to familiar set of machinery that was set up across the room. "A ring system." whispered Longfeather. "They obtained the plans for that device during the raid on Vesta." offered Arsis. "They sent the schematics here using a tight-beam coded transmission just before they set the bomb that destroyed the complex." "What are they going to do with it?" asked Wright. "Destroy another solar system." answered Arsis. He pointed to the tracks laid out in front of the ring system. A remote controlled machine was set up on it. It looked a little like a hover bus, except that it carried a large missile on its top. Judging from the machinery built into the contraption, it looked like the thing was designed as a mobile launcher for the missile. Once it got where it was going, the missile carriage would rise up off the back end and into the full upright position. From there all it needed to do was ignite. "What kind of missile is that?" asked Wright. "Its another one of those weapons." answered Wang hesitantly. "One that makes a star go boom." "I thought that thing was in another portion of the base?" asked Longfeather. "It is." answered Arsis. "I don't know what Malice is planning to do with this one." "What I plan is of no concern of yours, traitor." * * *       Scourge leapt forward, his right shoulder pad enlarged and ready to protect. His left hand became a hammer-like blunt object. Pellegrino reacted swiftly. He opened fire while simultaneously using his jumpjets to carry him to Scourge's far left. Scourge missed him by a wide margin, which is why he didn't even attempt to swing his hammer hand at Pellegrino. What shots Pellegrino fired bounced harmlessly off of Scourge's shoulder shield. His trigger hand darted to the attachment below his rifle's main barrel and he let loose several plasma grenades. Scourge jumped into a forward arc, both hands morphing into energy weapons as he did so. As the grenades struck below him, he opened fire from above. Pellegrino jumped back, both shots missing completely. Scourge, in the meantime, came in for a landing right next to him. His right hand took on the appearance of razor sharp claws as he slashed at Pellegrino left side. Pellegrino raised his armored forearm in defense. The contact of metal on metal produced a small shower of sparks. Scourge pressed his attack with a swift kick to Pellegrino's stomach. He flew backward spinning, then landing face first on the ground. Scourge rushed for him, weapons ready. Pellegrino rolled to his side, snapped his left leg up to face level, and fired the attached jumpjet. Scourge caught a blast of thrust in his face, causing him to stagger backward. Pellegrino planted his right hand and increased thrust, performing a cartwheel-like movement that brought him to his feet. He brought his rifle up to fire. Scourge reacted quickly, slashing the weapon in half with a sweep of his left hand and knocking Pellegrino to the ground with his right. Scourge prepared to impale him as Pellegrino lay on his back with his knees arched upward. Taking advantage of his position, Pellegrino activated two of the rocket launchers attached to his thighs. They spun backward and fired directly at Scourge. In reaction, Scourge brought his arms together and they merged into a large blast shield moments before impact. The blast hurled him backward as Pellegrino got to his feet. Bringing the remaining launchers on-line, he didn't even wait for a target lock as he fired all six of them. Scourge got to his feet and bolted to his right in attempt to evade. Pellegrino tracked him, firing his launchers with virtually every step he took. Scourge bounced and weaved between the explosions, his shoulder pads enlarged and no doubt taking much of the force from the blasts. Pellegrino activated his missile launcher. The barrel extended upward and loaded a missile into it. He brought it over his shoulder, aimed for a spot a few feet in front of Scourge, and fired. Avoiding another barrage of rockets, Scourge glanced at his opponent. His mouth opened in shock as he saw the missile headed right for him. Pellegrino kept the pressure up with his thigh rockets, literally herding Scourge toward the incoming missile. Scourge stopped short, his shoulder pads suddenly growing ever larger. What happened next, Pellegrino could not tell. The thigh rockets and missile struck all at once, creating a blinding flash of light and a deafening explosion. * * *       Kaz scrambled up his exofighter and quickly strapped in. He noted that Shanita got into Worthington's frame. Given the circumstances, he would normally object to her coming along. But next to Thrax and himself, she was the best pilot in the squad and Kaz could use all the help he could get. His cyberjack connected and the fighter sprang to life as the canopy closed and the engines fired up. The ground below seemed to fall away from Kaz as he moved faster and faster toward space. He opened the comm line. "Shanita?" "Yes sir." "You see any sign of it?" "No." "Use your frame's computer to extrapolate its flight path based on its last known trajectory. Concentrate your sensor scans along that flight path." "Understood." replied Shanita. Kaz made the necessary adjustments to his scanner. Suddenly his query popped onto his sensor screen. "Got it. Change course to pursue." ordered Kaz. He brought his fighter around and accelerated with Shanita on his wing. "Visual contact confirmed." stated Shanita. Kaz stared out of his canopy. The rocket had just jettisoned its booster section. A series of small explosions blew off the outer shell of the device, revealing a smaller and sleeker missile underneath. Kaz noted the jet black coloration which made it all but impossible to see against the blackdrop of deep space. "Kaz, look at your sensors!" Kaz glanced down at his readout. The missile had vanished from them. "Some type of stealth shielding", commented Kaz. He immediately locked his eyes on the missile again. "Looks like they thought of everything." "If we loose sight of it..." began Shanita. "We lose everything. I know." finished Kaz. The missile's engine fired and it began to pick up speed. "After it!" ordered Kaz. "Bring engines to full thrust. The moment you have it in your sights take it out!" "Understood." replied Shanita. They fell in behind the missile and began to close on it. "Kaz, watch out!" Kaz rolled his fighter to the left, avoiding several shots. "It is Wrath!" yelled Shanita. She pulled away, heading straight for the red exofighter. "Shanita! Stay on course!" ordered Kaz. "I can not. Your fighter is faster than this frame. Only you can destroy that missile in time. I will take care of Wrath." "You can't beat him in that thing!" yelled Kaz. "Perhaps not." conceded Shanita, "But I can give you the time needed to complete the mission. Now go!" Kaz hesitated for a second, then begrudgingly accepted the truth of Shanita's words. He rammed the throttle forward and took off after the missile. "Good luck Lieutenant." * * *       "Malice." said Arsis. He stood across the room. He stared half-hazardly at them. As if they were beneath his notice. "Hold it right there!" ordered Longfeather. His men spread out, weapons at the ready. Malice calmly snapped his fingers. Suddenly shutters opened in the ceiling and gun turrets emerged from them. "Look out!" yelled Wright. They opened fire, turning the relative quiet of the chamber into a firestorm. "Take cover!" ordered Longfeather. As the jumptroopers darted behind anything that would withstand a blast, Malice calmly walked over to the ring system. He began to enter targeting coordinates.       Mandy Wang was crouched near the entrance, trying her best not to draw attention to herself. "Mandy?" She looked up from where she was hiding. "Cy! Do something!" She pointed toward Malice. He was working at the controls as the ring system powered up. "Stan, Sue, stay with her." Stan was about to say something but Sterling was already in motion. He weaved his way through the automated defenses, deflecting any stray blasts with his forearm guards.       Malice finished working with the controls and hit the activation button. He turned to leave, only to catch a fist across his jaw. He flew backwards, landing with a thud. He touched his lower lip, painfully aware of the damage done. He stared ahead of him, to see the body attached to the fist. "Taqueza." "I prefer Sterling." Malice rose to his feet. The muscles along his powerful frame tensed for the coming battle. His right arm snapped up, as the plasma cannon attached to it opened fire. Sterling deflected one blast as he charged forward. Malice took a step back and brought his arm down a little to compensate. But Sterling was too fast. Grasping Malice's right forearm with one hand and slamming his fist into Malice's face, Sterling put him down once more. Malice took a moment to recover, noticing that his plasma cannon had been slagged. He ripped it off his forearm and stood. "I have humored you long enough, half-breed. Now you die." Sterling charged forward. Malice remained perfectly still. Suddenly Sterling lurched backward, flung away by some powerful and unseen force. Malice raised his arms to waist level. The ground began to tremble as the plating around Sterling broke apart and flew upward. Sterling scrambled to escape, receiving only a few good shots in the process. A safe distance away he stopped to figure out what just happened. Suddenly one of the floor plates from before slammed into his right side. Then he was hit from the other side and every other angle as debris of every size and shape decided to strike him at high velocity. Sterling tumbled to the ground, unable to take the punishment any longer. The barrage ceased. Sterling lifted his head to see what had happened. Malice was floating a foot or two off the ground in front of him. He flicked his right hand at him in a dismissive gesture. Sterling flew from the ground and clear across the room. He smashed into the far wall and slumped to the floor. * * *       The numerous projectiles Pellegrino had launched created quite a debris cloud that now snaked its way toward him. He loaded another missile into his launcher and brought it over his shoulder. "Infra-red." The eye pieces to his helmet switched over to display the requested wavelength of light. From what he saw, the wall behind where Scourge was had either collapsed or Scourge barreled through it to escape. He focused on the collapsed wall. There was a room beyond and a large heat source within. Without a second thought, he aimed and fired on it. The missile streaked out of the room. The heat source suddenly stood up and pointed two appendages toward the missile. It exploded, creating a large fireball. This in effect blinded Pellegrino because there was now too much heat to successfully pinpoint the target. "Disable infra-red." The world snapped back to normal vision as Pellegrino retracted his rocket launcher and pulled two sidearms from holsters under each arm. The one in his left hand was a standard issue blaster, the one in the right hand was an old-fashioned slug thrower. The room visible once more, he made his way toward the hole in the wall. He hesitated just in front of it. Suddenly he jumped back, suspecting a trap. On the other side of the hole, Scourge dropped from the ceiling and charged through at Pellegrino. He opened fire. The bullets and the laser blasts bounced harmlessly off one of Scourge's shoulder pads. His hands shifted into claws as he slashed them downward at Pellegrino. Pellegrino stood his ground, blocking with his armored forearms. A metallic 'clang' was heard as the center of Pellegrino's forearm met Scourge's wrist. They stood locked in position for a moment. Pellegrino pushing out with his arms to prevent Scourge from pushing in and slashing him to pieces. Scourge cocked his head back and then slammed it forward. The right lens on Pellegrino's helmet cracked as he stumbled back. Scourge hesitated slightly, taking a moment to shake off the hit. Clearly he had hurt himself as well. Pellegrino fired a shot from his blaster. Amazingly, Scourge failed to block it and it hit him square in the stomach. He emitted a low grunt then charged forward, tackling the jumptrooper to the ground. In the process he slapped Pellegrino's blaster away with his right hand and drove his left hand - in the shape of a lance - through his right shoulder. Pellegrino let out a scream as he was literally brought down and pinned to the floor. He quickly brought his left forearm up and stopped another attack which produced another metallic 'clang'. Scourge loomed above him, his face as placid as ever and his right wrist pressing on Pellegrino's free forearm. Scourge's fingers couldn't quite reach him but that was not a problem for much longer as they slowly began to elongate and sharpen. Staring face to face at each other Pellegrino noticed the corners of Scourge's mouth twitch. Almost like he was threatening to smile over his impending victory. Scourge's finger tips grew closer to Pellegrino's face plate. He pushed as hard as he could but could not push Scourge away. He started to grunt deeply as if he were moving in a way that caused him great pain. - CLICK -       Scourge's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open as he felt something under his chin. Pellegrino surmised that Scourge had forgotten about what he still held in his right hand. "Oops." said Vince. "You blew it." BLAM! * * *       Wrath saw the blue exofighter accelerate and pursue the missile he had launched. Having faced its pilot once before, Wrath was well aware of the fact that he had the necessary skill to both catch up to the missile and destroy it. This meant it would be in his best interest to destroy him first. However, the other e-frame with him didn't allow for that possibility. He opened his comm line. "I warn you now terran. If you give up your foolish endeavor, I will let you live." A familiar voice answered him. "I would rather die first, terrorist." Wrath smiled. "So, the little girl wishes to battle, in a slower and less maneuverable e-frame no less." "And you in a damaged exofighter." returned Shanita. She maneuvered in front him and accelerated. Wrath matched her trajectory, bringing them head to head. "So be it." stated Wrath. He opened fire. The purple e-frame ducked under the volley and popped up again only to return fire. Wrath barrel-rolled his fighter, bringing it back on course once her shots were avoided. The two e-frames streaked by each other, missing by less than a meter. Shanita pulled hard on the control stick, trying to bring her frame around before Wrath could. Her proximity alarm sounded, she jerked the frame to the left. Several shots whizzed by her canopy as the red exofighter slipped in behind her. Wrath opened fire again. Shanita pulled up hard and into a wide loop. The exofighter, however, was a faster and more maneuverable vehicle even though it was damaged. Wrath easily countered the maneuver, settling his fighter in perfect firing position behind her. "You will have to do better than that." he taunted through the comm line. He fired again, this time hitting his target. Alarms sounded within the cabin as Shanita's frame reported damage along the left side. She banked to the right, mumbling to herself, "Clearly." Wrath followed, intent on finishing the job he started. * * *       The automated defenses continued their attack keeping most of the jumptroops pinned down. Wright saw the fight between Malice and Sterling. She also saw Sterling lose. "I don't believe it." whispered Remes. "Believe it." said Wright. "If you want to save your solar system then you're going to have to do it yourself. Now come on!" She hopped out from behind cover and drew her missile launcher. Taking a knee, she fired. The missile headed straight for Malice. He seemed only mildly concerned over the matter. He stared at the incoming projectile. It began to slow down, stopping halfway between Wright and himself. Suddenly the missile flipped around, pointing back at Wright. "Oh no." She got to her feet as Malice 'released' it. She hit her jumpjets, taking herself over and away from it. Behind where she had been, Remes, Worthington, Arsis and Wang scrambled to get out of the way. The blast rocked the room, sending Worthington and Wang to the floor. Remes stayed on his feet. Arsis not only stayed on his feet but returned fire. Malice easily avoided. With a gesture, more of the floor plating ripped itself up and flew towards Arsis. He calmly pointed his weapon at the incoming debris and fired. The white hot energy blast incinerated the incoming projectiles and shot past Malice, just barely missing him. Malice glanced at his crimson cape, which now had a large hole blasted through it. His eyes narrowed and Arsis flew backwards, crashing into the wall and dropping his weapon. Worthington rushed toward him. He emitted a low grown as he laid on his side. "He's alive." said Worthington. "A condition I shall soon remedy." uttered Malice. He lurched forward and fell to the floor, his cape all but incinerated and his back scorched. Sterling stood behind him, his hands pulsing with power and ready for battle. "We're not through yet." he said.       Wright grabbed Wang by the collar and hoisted her up. "You're coming with me!" she ordered. "Me? Why?" asked Wang nervously. Wright pointed to the active ring system. It was opening a rift as she spoke. "Because of that! Everyone here that knows anything about it is busy with that psycho, except you! You're going to shut it down. Now move!" She pushed her along, herding her towards the ring system. Mandy broke into a run, trying her best not to get shot by the automated defenses. "This is crazy! I'm a business woman, not a soldier!" "Just keep moving!" ordered Wright.       Malice glared at Sterling as he rose to his feet. He raised his hand, lifting Sterling from the ground. Sterling thrust his hands forward, sending out a cascade of energy. Striking the ground in front of Malice, it knocked him back and broke his concentration. Wasting no time, Sterling rushed forward, connecting with a solid shot to the jaw. Malice spun and regained his footing, the flesh of his jaw still sizzling. He let loose a guttural growl, the only outward sign of the pain he felt. Sterling shot another blast from his right hand, striking Malice in the dead center of his chest. He flew backward, sliding before coming to a stop. As he rose, he noticed two terrans near his ring system. Sterling pressed his attack, letting loose another blast. Malice dodged and to Sterling's surprise attacked physically. He rushed forward to meet him, slamming his fist into Sterling's stomach. The force of the blow knocked the wind out of Sterling and pushed him back a few feet. Malice thrust his hand out, sending Sterling flying once more across the room. He landed hard, literally embedding himself into the wall. With the half-breed temporarily out of the fight, Malice turned his attention to more immediate concerns.       "Well? Can you stop it?" Mandy looked over the controls, her hands shaking a bit. "I think so." She called up the programmed memory. "These targeting coordinates look familiar." "You've seen them before?" asked Wright. "Yes. Its your home. He's sending one of these to your reality." Mandy stared up at Wright then beyond her as something there riveted her attention. Wright quickly turned around. "So it is you." said Malice. Wright paused, she had to know. "Why?" she asked. "You know of my organization. Therefore you represent a threat to me and must be dealt with accordingly." "You'd destroy an entire solar system just to protect your interests?" said a flabbergasted Wright. "I suppose there is a small amount of personal gratification involved. You did spoil one of our operations." Wright opened fire. The armor Malice wore protected him from any real damage. Wright activated her missile launcher. Malice threw her aside with a simple gesture of the hand. With Wright gone, he had a clear view of the woman behind her. Malice identified her instantly. "You!" Wang panicked and ran. Malice prepared to attack. "You will die by my hand!" He raised his arms then suddenly got hit from behind as Sterling tackled him. Wright got to her feet, a little shaky after being thrown. Sterling and Malice were going at it again. She turned her attention back toward the ring system. The terrorist weapon launcher was moving along its tracks. "Oh no you don't." She brought her missile launcher over her shoulder and fired. The device rolled forward until it was blindsided by Wright's shot. The blast not only derailed the launcher but scrapped most of the front end of the device. "Yes!!!" yelled Wright. With one well placed shot she had saved her entire solar system. "No!!!!" Wright saw Malice yell in frustration. Sterling had him in a headlock from behind. Malice elbowed him hard to get free then backhanded him away. Malice reached out for Wright. She flew into the wall behind her. A jagged piece of flooring ripped up and flew toward her. Ellen saw it and gasped, suddenly remembering how this world's Ellen Wright had died. She rolled to her right. The flooring narrowly missed her, sinking into the wall. The walls erupted and began to collapse. Wright got to her feet and activated her jumpjets. She flew to her right, only to find a large chuck of the chamber wall falling into her path. She stopped short and fell to the floor. Another wall chunk landed to her left and another in front. Another piece loomed overhead, threatening to crush her. With left, right, and up eliminated as possible escape routes, she glanced behind her. "The ring system." she said. It was her only way out and it was set to her home reality. "I was planning on leaving soon anyway." Her jumpjets sprang to life as the huge section of the wall began to descend. With just one second to spare, she made it through the rift before the entire ring system was crushed. * * *       Shanita jerked and rolled Worthington's e-frame in every way she could think of but it was still taking damage. She had to face the facts, it was only a matter of time before Wrath would destroy her. The thought of Hallas' killer winning filled Shanita with rage. She would not allow him the satisfaction. She signed deeply as she steadied her flight path. "I am coming Hallas." She suddenly cut her engines and brought the massive legs of Worthington's e-frame forward. It was then that she reactivated them at full thrust.       Wrath fired again shooting up another portion of Shanita's e-frame. He had to end this and quickly. Every second he wasted on Shanita, was another her commander had to stop that missile. Suddenly the purple e-frame ahead of him steadied. He settled his target lights on the ship. "Excepted the inevitable I see." Suddenly, the frame shifted position and came rocketing straight at him. He pulled up hard to evade. The e-frame slammed into his fighter from underneath. "No!!" screamed Wrath. A fireball erupted from under the exofighter almost instantly consumed it, scattering what little remained of both craft to the vastness of space. * * *       "Escaped." hissed Malice. Clearly not happy with Wright's departure. He began searching for Wang only to find Sterling once more. The duo began trading blows again. Malice now fought with less restraint, becoming more brutal and less controlled. He threw a wild right hook at Sterling. He ducked it and connected with a powerful uppercut. Malice reacted instinctively lashing out at everything around him. Sterling flew backwards, along with everything else in a 4 meter radius. With a gesture, a large rectangular chunk of debris rose from the ground and slammed on top of Sterling. Pinned underneath it, Sterling remained helpless as Malice approached.       Mandy Wang watched the events transpire with great concern. She had spent the whole battle trying her best not to get killed. But she hadn't helped anyone either. She had to do something, but what? Staring at Malice and Sterling she stopped short, her foot tripping on something large and metallic. She looked down. It was the rifle belonging to Arsis. She bent down to pick it up. She soon discovered that if she had reached the rifle first back in the Venutian forest, there was no way she could have lifted it in time. The thing felt like it weighed a ton. Her muscles strained considerably as she finally lifted from the ground. She held it at waist level, but only barely. She pointed it toward Malice. "Hey! Over here!"       Malice stopped and turned his attention to someone on his right. He saw the woman from before holding the weapon of Arsis. Malice burst into a hysterical laugh. "I defy you and my destiny! You hold no power over me!" He began to raise his right hand, as he had done so many times before. Mandy did her best to keep the rifle steady as she pulled the trigger. "Whoa!" she screamed as the recoil sent her flying backwards and into the wall. She hit her head hard and fell to the floor unconscious. The blast shot nearly straight up, missing Malice completely. Sterling heaved the chunk of debris off himself and got to his feet. He readied to attack. Malice prepared himself. Suddenly, Sterling looked up and stopped. He put his hands down, turned, and ran. Malice watched him go. "So, you are a coward after all." He heard a thunderous crack and lifted his head straight up. The triangular structure which supplied both light and environmental conditioning to the room had been damaged where it connected to the ceiling. It pulled itself free at the exact moment Malice looked up. "No!!!!" he screamed as several tons of machinery crashed down upon him. The crash disrupted power to the automated defenses, shutting them down. "Everyone out!" yelled Longfeather. Wang stumbled to her feet, barely aware of what was going on. Sue Worthington held her upright. "Whaz happen?" she asked. "You killed the bad guy." returned Worthington. "Oh gooy." Her head slumped forward and she passed out. Worthington hefted Wang onto her shoulders. "Sue, over here!" called Remes. She headed toward him with Sterling behind her. Sterling carried Arsis on his left shoulder, and held the fusion rifle in his right hand. Longfeather stood in the exitway. "Let's move! This whole room is coming down!" The next few minutes were a blur. They moved as quickly as they could to safety. Though only one chamber actually collapsed, Longfeather felt that this mission had enough surprises already. So he ordered a full retreat to the exterior of the base. Once outside, the medics began to tend to the wounded. Sterling stood next to Remes, Worthington, and Longfeather. A medic was tending to Wang. "No offense to Mandy, but if I hadn't seen it, there is no way I would have believed it." "You and me both." said Stan. "So is it over?" asked Worthington. "For us it is." answered Longfeather. "The rest is up Kaz and Shanita." added Sterling. * * *       "This should be interesting." commented Kaz. Thanks to Wrath's brief intervention, the missile had managed to fairly far ahead of him. Due to the fact it was still close to Venus, it needed to keep its engine active to stay on course and at top speed. Once it cleared Venus, however, the engine would deactivate and the lack of resistance to a body in motion in space would do the rest. With the engine deactivated, the missile's white-hot ion trail would disappear, rendering it all but invisible in deep space. That meant it was imperative that Kaz get in firing range of it before the engine cut out. Otherwise, he would surely lose sight of it at the present distance and consequently doom the entire solar system.       His fighter was presently at maximum speed and he still failed to gain on the missile. He checked his position and noted what could be his last chance. In order to leave Venutian space, the missile was apparently programmed to go around the ship building yards and into deep space. A smart strategy given the chaotic nature of space fairing traffic in the area. All ships that were not being worked on were always diverted around the shipyards. Any ships that entered the yards dropped to a speed akin to a snail's pace in order to safely avoid the myriad web of materials and personnel transports. If Kaz were to stay at maximum speed through the yards he would pop out the other side virtually right on top of the missile. Assuming of course he didn't crash into any number of construction vehicles. He opened his comm line to the channel used by the yard's traffic controller. "This is Lt. Takagi of Able Squad. I have a class 1 emergency and need immediate clearance through the yard. Over." "Negative, Lieutenant. The pattern is full at the moment." came a garbled answer. "Unacceptable." replied Kaz. "If I don't get clearance right now, billions of civilians are going to die. Do you understand me?" The line was dead for have second. They were probably checking his credentials. "We'd like to help but there's no way we can clear that many ships so quickly." "Clear as many as you can, I'll avoid the rest. Takagi out." The outer border to the yards loomed ahead. As he entered, transports of every size, shape, and function could be seen moving busily about massive metallic skeletons that would one day be space liners, mining vessels, or exocarriers. "Here we go." whispered Kaz. He rolled his fighter onto its side and squeezed it between two slower ships ahead of him. The next ship moved out of his way. After he left, Kaz discovered why. A large tanker was coming to a stop for repairs. Kaz pulled up hard. His hand hovered over the throttle, tempted to reduce his forward thrust. He planted it back on the stick and pushed it forward, cascading over the top of the tanker and underneath the mining vessel beyond. A materials transport shot in front of him, Kaz jerked the stick to his right. The fighter rolled out of the transport's path and directly in front of an unfinished exocarrier. "I'm gonna get killed if I stay out in the open much longer." said Kaz. Then it dawned on him that there was no traffic on the inside. The carrier ahead was essentially an empty shell. He could bypass most of the yard by flying through its super structure. "Could be fun." rationalized Kaz. He maintained course and shot through an opening in the ship's bow. The interior was more complete than Kaz originally suspected. As a result he had to twist and turn his fighter through the internal support beams and completed deck sections. His jaw dropped upon seeing the rear of the carrier. To his horror he discovered that the engines had already been installed, leaving him no exit.       He thought quickly. The engines may be in place but they most assuredly were not fueled and flight ready. He hurriedly scanned for the main thrust manifold. Having located it, he locked on with his forward lasers. The manifold led directly into the thruster housing. If he could blast it open, he could follow the line to the rear engine outlet and consequently get out of the ship. "Got it." Kaz fired, his laser slicing the massive tubing open. He headed for the opening. "This is going to be close." The fighter dove though the opening. The passage proved to be a tight fit. Kaz's wing tips generated sparks as they scraped the walls to either side of his fighter. Suddenly, the line came to an end with a series of closed horizontal shutters. Kaz locked on with a missile and fired, blowing out a small section of one of the shutters. With no time for a second shot he did his best to aim for the exit hole. With a jarring bang, the fighter smashed itself through the hole and leapt into open space. "Warning, structural damage to fuselage has resulted in a destabilization of the main fusion drive. Engine restart recommended." announced the computer. Kaz ignored the warning as he cleared the unfinished carrier. He was nearly out of the ship yard. "Warning: If fusion core is not shut down and restarted, destabilization will result in overload and detonation." Kaz scanned the star line. To his relief, he spotted the familiar white ion trail of the terrorist missile coming in on his left. He brought his fighter around and readied his weapons. "Warning, destabilization has reached dangerous levels. Automatic system shut down commencing." "Override." commanded Kaz. "Warning, further use will result in detonation of main fusion drive. System shut down must commence." "Override!" screamed Kaz. The computer fell silent but the warning lights continued to flash. The missile was coming up fast from behind. He would have only one chance. His display was going berserk, flashing any and all warning lights. He had 15 to 10 seconds before the fighter exploded. The missile was parallel with him in five. Kaz wrestled with the stick, desperate to get his target lights over the escaping missile. "5 seconds to detonation." announced the computer. "...4...3..." Kaz fired, raking laser fire all over the top of the device. "...2..." His target light's settled firmly over the missile's nose cone. "Rocket away!" "...1..." "System shut down!" commanded Kaz. The cockpit went dark as all systems went dead at once. "Come on, come on!" urged Kaz as his rocket closed. It slammed into the missile near the base of the nose cone. The detonation ripped it completely apart. "Yes!!!" screamed Kaz as he nearly jumped clear out of his cockpit.       He settled back in his seat and began flipping switches. "System restart commencing." announced the computer. Slowly but surely the fighter came back on-line. Given the damage his fighter had taken while going through the shipyard, a nice slow trip back to the Vigilance seemed in order. "Takagi to Shanita, come in." No response. "Takagi to Shanita, respond." Again there was silence. Kaz had no way to know for sure, but somehow he realized the truth. "Goodbye, my friend." He slowly turned his fighter around and set course for the Vigilance. His thoughts full of the good friends lost, he could only take solace in the knowledge that the battle was at long last over. On to the Epilogue