<It should be,> Gokhead replied. <Yes. I’m checking now. Gondral is on the bridge.>
<Then what is that?> Arion asked of the prone thermal source.
Blazer looked again. The thermal source was a larger Gorvian, but not ninety metra. There was more as well, an energy source sat below it. His gut told him that the creature within posed no threat, but he couldn’t take a chance on that. <Guns up. Silent takedown if possible. Take positions.>
The pair did as instructed and took up positions on either side of the door before Blazer keyed it open. The trio burst into the room to find it all but empty. Their thermal source turned out to be a massive medical bed sustaining a headless Gorvian. <Tell me that’s not what I think it is,> Blazer said as he laid eyes on it.
Gokhead rushed over and scanned the body. <Worse. It’s the Gorvian you killed. And if I’m reading this right, it’s pregnant. I’d say it happened right after you killed it?>
<That makes zero sense,> Arion replied.
Blazer approached; his gun at the ready. He looked at the headless body. Tubes ran into the sealed neck hole as well as various other points and orifices. <Someone went through a lot of trouble to keep this Gorvian alive.>
Gokhead perked up at that and examined the medical bed. <That they did, and I bet they’ll do anything to keep it that way.>
<What are you thinking Weaver?>
<I think I can insert the package in here in such a way that it can tap that secure data trunk and that’ll make it integral to this thing’s function.>
Blazer considered that for a moment. <Do you need anything else to make it happen?>
<No, the data trunk runs right beneath here. I can insert the package and drop a set of repair microbots to build a short-range router onto the data trunk. They can then go into hibernation until the link cuts and build a new one. That way if the Gorvians find the linker they’ll assume it's the actual unit. So long as they don’t take ugly here away, we’ll be all set.>
<Make it happen.>
Gokhead took a knee beside the medical bed and went still. A moment later the back of his MeG-CE opened and he crawled out. He clambered down the side of the skin suit and opened a panel in the leg to pull out the cylindrical device that was the key to their plan. He continued to poke around inside for a moment and removed a second, smaller cylindrical unit. He then played with a hatch on the side of the medical bed and after opening it, crawled inside.
Blazer and Arion remained on guard, their weapons at the ready. A hint of static came over the link a few pulses later but before Blazer could contact the rest of the team Arion cut in. <Why aren’t we in our normal fire teams?>
Blazer resisted the urge to look at his old friend and kept his focus on the giant door towards the bridge. <It made more sense to have Wolf lead the rest of the team back in case they ran into trouble.>
<You don’t think that Marda could handle it?>
That breach of communications etiquette drew Blazer’s eyes. <Med One,> he corrected, <will have her hands full monitoring the stasis tubes. Plus, she’s been acting off all mission.>
<Fine. Then what about Flyer One, or me?>
Blazer had had about enough of this. Arion had grown increasingly insubordinate this entire tour. Maybe it was contact with the Gorvians, the beings who had caused the death of his girlfriend Alieha, but Blazer had grown tired of his old friend’s skulking about. <Wolf tends to treat situations with greater subtlety than Flyer One. As for you. You’ve been itching for a fight this whole campaign. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you’re always the first one to shoot, or read the reports of what happened when we took that corvette. You were unstable. You’re here out of duty, but you’re acting out of revenge. Alieha is dead. She wouldn’t want you being so reckless.>
<Low blow B.>
<You know it’s true. I’ve monitored your telemetry. You’re looking for a fight even now. You target every Gorvian we pass, your hand on your weapon. You almost made us a good half dozen times. And it’s not just here. You’re out of focus in the cockpit. The other WSOs have mentioned it. They’re taking up your slack.>
Arion said nothing for a moment, his shoulders slumping. <I hadn’t realized. Are you going to declare me unfit for duty?>
<Not yet. But get your head back on your shoulders. Talk to someone if you must.>
<Sitrep!> Blazer ordered and stepped away from the medical bed.
<We’ve been compromised. Details later, but we are making a fighting retreat to the ship and are taking heavy damage.>
<Losses?>
<None as yet. But Flyers One and Three, Recon One, and Med One have all taken fire and can’t sustain a fight.>
<Can you make the hangar?> Arion asked.
<We have a straight shot to the hangar. So long as no troops are present we should make it.>
Blazer kicked the side of the medical bed. <Weaver. Time’s up, we need to move.>
<That’s what I’m trying to tell you Lead. All routes are cut off.>
Blazer looked over at Arion as he glanced his way. <Copy that Big Eye. Fulfil the primary objective and prepare to lift. Will advise on our escape route when able.> Blazer cut the link before Bichard could reply and brought up a map to plan an alternate escape route.
Gokhead scurried out of the med bed a moment later and after securing the hatch began to crawl back up into his MeG-CE. <That didn’t sound good. Do we have an escape route?>
<Working on it. The package?>
<In place,> Gokhead replied as he climbed into his mech suit. The computerized hacking device Gokhead inserted was one of his and Que-Dee’s own creation. Using what they’d learned studying the odd carrier signal they’d been chasing down, the device would not only send the Confederation additional intelligence, but could take commands. Its default would be to disrupt the Gorvian’s repair efforts, to delay them and if possible insert faults for the Confederation to exploit. There was still so much they didn’t know about the Gorvians and the Planet Slicer itself. They had only theories, many of which just didn’t make sense. This might give them the edge they needed.
Blazer stood by as Gokhead’s mech suit came back to life. He watched the head pop up and jerk back, freezing in place. Blazer was about to ask why when he realized that the door behind him had opened. His spine quaking, Blazer turned to behold Gondral filling the doorway.
Even in the MeG-CE the sheer size of the Gorvian General overwhelmed Blazer. Holograms and images were one thing, but to see something that large in the flesh chilled him. He stepped back as Gondral took his first purpose-filled stride into the room. He could hardly believe that anything that big could walk on two legs; its thick limbs looked strong enough to serve as starship support members. “Move away from High Lord Gondish!” Gondral roared, storming into the room.
Blazer and the others hurried away as Gondral rushed towards the life supporting casket. The conflict within Blazer spiked at that moment. He had a chance to possibly bring the conflict to an end in an instant, the gun in his hands already. Doing so would cost all three of them their lives however. The distraction might allow the rest of the team, along with the prisoners, to escape. When he thought about it that way he saw no choice. <Take him down!>
Blazer brought his cannon up but before he could fire Gondral lashed out at him, knocking the weapon from his hands. Blazer scrambled back towards the weapon. Gondral moved with greater speed than Blazer could have imagined and grabbed hold of him. “What manner of heretic are you?!”
Blazer struggled to get free but Gondral’s grip remained and ripped at the flesh suit; exposing the mechanical arms within. Gondral stared at Blazer for a long moment as if searching for something. “Dondick Scum!” he yelled; Arion and Gokhead opening fire on Gondral
.
The blasts seemed to have no effect on Gondral as he continued to crush Blazer’s suit. The geysers of the blood that burst forth instead seemed to enrage the giant further. That bought Blazer a moment’s respite as Gondral tossed him aside to rush after Arion. Arion kept firing even as Gondral bore down on him. He might as well have been firing a peashooter at a tank for all the good it did. <We need bigger guns!>
Gondral seemed to smile in response to that and punched Arion hard enough to knock the weapon from his hand. As Gondral pulled his hand away it offered Blazer a view through the shredded skin suit. The impact had collapsed the chest of Arion’s MeG-CE. Arion stumbled back and collapsed to the deck. <Heavy Arms!> Blazer called out.
<I’m alive. He collapsed my pod though, having to reboot.>
Gondral reached down and began to crush the shoulders of Arion’s MeG-CE together. <Not for much longer,> an alien voice hissed over the link. The signal was almost unintelligible over the alien language crosstalk.
<Is Gondral in our link Weaver?> Blazer asked, running for his rifle; the muscle fibers and servos in his arms whining with every motion.
<I think so Lead.>
Gondral paused his assault at that and turned back towards Blazer. “Lead,” he snarled. “They called Vaughnt that.”
Frag me sideways with a rusty mace! Blazer grabbed hold of his rifle and fired, walking the shots up Gondral’s torso as he released Arion to rush Blazer. Both he and Gokhead continued their assaults. In three lightning steps Gondral crossed the room and crashed into Blazer. The impact sent Blazer flying, the sound of wrenching metal ringing through his ears.
“Switch to voice comms,” Blazer ordered. It was just like with the other Gorvian, Gondish. Gondral could somehow piggyback their micomm link.
A second blow slammed into Blazer; the stress meters in the suit spiking with each strike. Alerts rang out, each one worse than the last. Blazer tried to figure out what to do as his visual link began to falter. He brought up his arms to defend himself. The first blow to follow shattered the left arm and sent him into a spin. The sound of plaser fire ceased and Blazer thought that his audio pickup might have failed, but he continued to hear other sounds.
<You couldn’t be the one who took my Gondish!> Gondral roared. <How could such a pathetic fighter possibly have taken my Childe?>
Things began to make sense in that moment. Blazer and Zithe had killed Gondral’s heir, drawing the Gorvian leader’s ire. They may have been in telepathic communication at the time.
<Hey big ugly!> Gokhead called out as a kick trashed Blazer’s right leg. <If your kid is so important you might want to look this way.>
The beating stopped, but Gondral grabbed hold of Blazer with his lower arms as he turned to look at Gokhead. Through the backup visual link Blazer saw the Drashig in his MeG-CE standing beside the medical bed, blaster leveled at its control board. <Let him go. Or I fry this thing and your ‘Childe’!>
Gondral roared at Gokhead, but instead of releasing Blazer grabbed his rifle from the floor and fired on Gokhead. The blasts tore into Gokhead’s MeG-CE shredding the whole left side of the unit; tearing off the arm. Gokhead stumbled away; balancing systems unable to compensate for the sudden shift in mass.
Arion pounced onto Gondral’s back and slammed both of his damaged arms down onto the base of the giant’s back. Gondral roared out in pain and slapped at Arion, loosening his grip on Blazer. Blazer seized the opportunity and broke his right arm free and extended his monomolecular blade. In desperation, he swung up towards the huge Gorvian’s head. To his amazement, he connected.
The strike sliced off a hunk of Gondral’s head, and with it one of his five brain tails. The fleshy appendage fell away. A fountain of grey-green blood sprayed the area, slapping against Blazer’s face. Gondral reeled back, clutching at the wound while blood cascaded through the gaps in his fingers.
Blazer slammed to the floor and began backing away. Every servo and muscle fiber in the MeG-CE cried out as Gondral crashed around the room. What Blazer could only guess were Gorvian curses drowned the micomm link. Pain seemed to accompany every phrase.
Blazer struggled to get up, every system in his suit on the brink of collapse. His sensors were a jumble of missing frames and complete black spots. He looked around to find the door to the bridge open again, and Gondral gone. He did his best to survey the scene. Gokhead lay on the floor beside the medical bunk, his MeG-CE clawing at the deck as he attempted to stand. Arion sat across the room, his unit coated in thick grey blood and cerebral fluid. Beside Blazer sat the pulsing brain tail he’d cleaved free. “Can either of you move?”
“Barely,” Arion replied.
“Might need some help,” Gokhead reported.
“Then let’s get the Sheol out of here,” Blazer ordered and commanded his MeG-Ce to stand. The gyros protested the whole way, but he managed to stand up. “Weaver. Find us an escape route.”
“I can barely keep this moving. There’s no way I can make the hangar. I doubt any of us could.”
Blazer regained his feet and bent down to pick up the severed brain tail. Gokhead was right. There was no way any of them would make it far; it would be suicide to try. Clutching the bloodsoaked, throbbing appendage, he looked towards the door Gondral had escaped through. It led to the bridge of the Planet Slicer, the very nerve center of the ship. Once again, he found himself with an opportunity to end the conflict. The price however was sure to be his own life. I could just run in. Set my suit to self-destruct. The force of the explosion should be enough to kill it.
“You’ll never even get close Lead,” Arion called out as he climbed up the side of Gondral’s bed. “They’d get you before you cleared the passageway.”
Blazer looked at Arion. He was right, but what else could they do? “Set your suits to autodestruct and prepare to go to ground.”
“Hold that thought lead,” Gavit chimed in and a pulse later a hovering utility sled crashed through the hatchway. “You guys want a lift?”
Blazer couldn’t help but sigh in relief. “Mount up people,” he called and limped towards the conveyance.
“You starting a collection?” Gavit asked, pointing at the brain tail.
“It’s one of Gondral’s. Intel will want to see it,” he explained as he helped Gokhead aboard.
“Nice, what about that?” he asked, pointing at Gondish’s body.
Blazer had to think about that. With Gokhead’s package inserted into the unit it was an invaluable tool now. “Leave it.”
Bridge, Planet Slicer
The world continued to spin around Gondral as fas personal doctor attended to fas wounds, doing mor best to seal up the injury. Pain wracked every thought, shooting through fas nerves like lightning. “What, what is, is their, po, po…”
The internal security officer turned to Lord Gondral and pointed to a spot on the projected map, avoiding any looks at Gondral’s wound. “Four of them have just breached the siege line back into hangar 112 on a utility sled. They appear to be the three that attacked you and one other.”
“What of, of, High, Lord Gondish?”
Gondral’s aide waddled up. “Moe remains unharmed Lord of All. The cowards dared not harm mor.”
Gondral slumped to the side, the mental chatter of the Gorvian overwhelming almost worse than the pain. Gondral tried to look up and a new red spot appeared on the map. “What is?”
The security officer checked; eyes rigid in shock and fear. “Lord of All. Your private kitchen. There has been an explosion, the chef and all stores have been destroyed.”
Rage overrode all sense and Gondral lashed out, knocking the doctor away. The wound reopened, spraying the smaller Gorvian in a deluge of blood. Gondral’s mind cleared for but an instant and fae jumped up. The clarity didn’t last and Gondral tumbled back into the seat, the defiant gesture taking everything out of fam. “Destroy, find, destroy, them, find…” Gondral blubbered before passing out.
Vec’Lina
Blazer held on
for all he was worth as the pilot maneuvered their captured ship out of their pursuer’s line of fire. The ship rolled, pinning him to the deck; their damaged MeG-CEs clattering in their racks. Blazer pulled himself back up in his jump seat and looked towards the cockpit. “How much further?”
“About two minutes to the jump point. Damn, these things are all over the place. Disorganized as fuck, but all over the place. Hold on!”
The ship rolled again and Blazer held tight. Marda’s face was pale beside him as she fought to keep from throwing up again. “We have precious cargo back here!” Blazer snapped. The utility carts stowed in the nearby lockers rattled and slammed into the door with each maneuver.
“This guy flies harder than Mikle,” Gavit sneered and looked at his squad mate. “No offense.”
“None taken.”
“Holy shit!” the sensor officer called out. “We’ve got multiple contacts coming through the jump point. Three heavies with escorts.”
“IFF?” Matt called looking towards the main viewer, the one non-constricted spherical jump point filling their view.
Three ribbed, wedge shaped ships emerged from hyperspace together. Blazer recognized the Cenobite class destroyers in an instant. He breathed a sigh of relief as the massive asteroid cannons flanking the tapered forward fuselage fired, lobbing high velocity rocks at the enemy. Blazer felt an almost hysterical laugh begin to well up in his throat in response but choked it back into a smile. “Saved by the fragging Marines.”
“Vec’Lina, Archen Actual. We’ve got the Blake and Nasin here to cover your retreat,” the captain’s voice blared over the speaker. The multiple banks of beam cannons on the trio of ships and their corvette escorts lanced out.
The pilot pushed the ship to its limit in response and drove on towards the jump point. Blazer couldn’t tear his eyes away from the screen as the destroyers twisted about; their asteroid cannons requiring them to aim with the whole ship. The rocky spheres struck their targets with great affiance, collapsing the shields of the Gorvian pursuers and crumpling their hulls like paper. At the velocities the rocks flew, few shields could hold them back.