Ep.#1 - "Escalation" (The Frontiers Saga: Rogue Castes) (6 page)

“Doran!” Michi yelled from behind.

Doran turned his head, spotting the Nifelmian doctor kneeling beside one of his wounded security guards. Doran scrambled back to his feet and ran over to them. He looked over at Michi’s partner, Doctor Megel, who was kneeling next to the body of his other officer. Doctor Megel looked at Doran and shook his head.

Doran looked back and Doctor Sato. “How bad?”

The wounded officer spoke first. “I can… I can…” He swallowed hard, trying to breathe through the pain. There was an open wound in his abdomen, the edges of which were still smoldering, and his left arm was severed just below the elbow. “Give me… my weapon. I can… still…”

Doran watched the young man take his last breath, then reached down and picked up the dead officer’s energy pistol from the pavement. “Take this,” he told Doctor Sato as he handed her the weapon. “Shoot anyone dressed in black and red.”

“I’ve never…”

“Just point and shoot,” Doran instructed, “and don’t stop until the person you’re shooting is dead.” He turned to Doctor Megel. “Turi, take that man’s weapon, and do the same. Understood?”

Doctor Megel nodded, then pulled the energy pistol from the dead officer’s hand.

Doran turned toward Lael. “This one is yours. Use it if you must.”

“What are you going to use?” Lael asked.

“Theirs,” Doran replied, as he started walking across the street toward the dead Jung soldiers.

“Maybe I should take it?” Yanni suggested, noticing Lael’s trepidation at holding a weapon.

“You get one of these,” Doran said as he picked up the first Jung energy rifle and tossed it to Yanni.

Yanni caught the weapon, nearly dropping it in the process. It was lighter than it looked, with a folding stock and a long black barrel with a surprisingly large diameter. Yanni looked at the trigger mechanism, and the various dials and switches on the side of the weapon’s main body. The writing was familiar, however, he had never learned to read Jung. Not seven years ago, nor since.

Doran slung a Jung rifle over his shoulder and picked up two more before returning. “We need to keep moving. Someone will notice that these men are down, if they haven’t already.”

“I’m not sure if I know how to use this,” Yanni admitted.

Doran walked up to Yanni. “Hold it like this,” he explained, bringing his own rifle’s stock up against his shoulder. He took aim at one of the dead soldiers across the street, then pressed the firing button and held it for a few seconds. A series of red bolts of energy leapt from his barrel with a screeching zing. It sounded like the air was on fire. “Now you try.”

Yanni raised his rifle in similar fashion, took aim, and pressed the trigger, releasing it immediately. Three bolts of energy left his rifle’s barrel, slamming into one of the dead soldier’s bodies.

“Tap once for a single shot, hold down for one second for a triplet, or keep holding it down for continuous fire,” Doran explained. “But not for more than ten seconds straight. These things can get hot, fast.”

Yanni looked surprised. “How do you know all this?”

“Telles told me, a long time ago.” Doran handed him another rifle. “Sling this one over your shoulder, just in case.”

“
Ranni Base, Ranni One,
” Doran’s headset crackled.

“Sheehan! Is that you?”

“Loki!” Lael exclaimed.

“
Chief!
” Loki called over Doran’s comm-set. “
Where are you? Are Lael and Ailsa with you?
”

“Yes! They are with me! We’re at Brighton and Mickleson, just south of the Wesley Amphitheater! I’ve got Yanni, Sato, and Megel with me as well. There are Jung everywhere. The Avendahl sent a rescue shuttle, but it was shot down on approach. Are you in contact with the Avendahl?”

“
The Avendahl is gone,
” Loki replied solemnly.

“She jumped away?”

“
No, she was destroyed! We’re coming to pick you up!
”

“That ship won’t hold all of us!”

“
The hell it won’t,
” Loki said.

“It’s too dangerous,” Doran insisted, as more Jung fighters streaked overhead. “There are enemy fighters everywhere! They’ll tear you apart!”

“
We weren’t asking your permission, Chief,
” Deliza commented over the comm-set.

“
Head for the amphitheater!
” Loki instructed. “
We’ll set down on the foreyard, in front of the east entrance, in three.
”

“Shit,” Doran muttered. “Copy that.” He looked at Yanni. “Your wife is one stubborn young lady, you know that.”

“Tell me about it,” Yanni replied with a sigh.

Doran took a deep breath. “All right then. Everyone, stay tight on my six, stay against the buildings, move quickly, and never stay out in the open for more than a few seconds, if at all. If anything looks like a threat, shoot it. Understood?” Doran scanned their faces. They were not the most confident-looking bunch. He closed his eyes a moment and sighed. “Remind me to ask your wife for a raise later,” he said as he turned and headed down the street.

“How are we going to fit six people back there?” Deliza asked.

“We don’t have to,” Loki told her, as he punched in the first jump coordinates. “If I know Doran, he’s not planning on going. He won’t leave his family behind.”

“That still leaves five people, for three seats.”

“Lael in one holding Ailsa, Sato and Megel in the other two. Yanni can sit on the floor.”

“Can this ship get that many people off the ground?”

“If it can take six people with full fuel and luggage, it can take seven and a baby, with…” Loki glanced at his propellant indicators. “Shit.”

“What is it now?”

“We’re down to twenty-three percent.”

“Twenty-three percent of what? Propellant?” Deliza’s expression turned fearful. “Is that going to be enough?”

“We’re only going to get one chance at this,” Loki warned, “if we still want to have enough fuel left to land somewhere safe.” Loki activated the jump sequencer. “Hold on, we jump in five…”

Doran took aim with his Jung energy rifle and pressed the trigger. A bolt of red energy streaked from his barrel, blasting through one of the amphitheater’s gates, blowing it apart. “Through here,” he instructed the others. “Watch the edges. They’re still hot.”

Yanni helped Lael through the opening in the twisted metal gate, steadying her to make sure that neither she, nor the infant she was carrying, came close to the still-glowing ends of the sheared metal. “Michi,” he called, after Lael was safely through.

Doctor Sato was next through the gate, stepping through carefully, then followed by Doctor Megel, Yanni, and finally Chief Montrose.

“
Doran, we’re about to jump in!
” Loki called over Doran’s comm-set. “
Are you at the amphitheater?
”

“Yes!” Doran replied. “We’re entering the foregrounds now!”

“
Is the landing zone secure?
”

“There’s no ground forces following us, if that’s what you mean.”

“
Ranni One, Jaker Six!
” another voice called. “
Ground troops moving toward the amphitheater!
”

“Giortone, is that you?” Loki asked.

“
Affirmative!
” Lieutenant Giortone replied over comms. “
Riordan and Masa are with me!
”

“You were supposed to bug out to the Glendanon!” Loki said in surprise.

“
If the daughter of Casimir Ta’Akar is going to put herself in harm’s way, then we’re going to cover her!
”

“How many, and how far?” Loki asked as he punched the next jump coordinates into the shuttle’s jump-nav computer.

“
Three groups, maybe twenty men total!
” Lieutenant Giortone replied. “
Two minutes, max!
”

“You copy that, Doran?”

“
Copy that. We’re ready here. Suggest you jump in right on top of us.
”

“I can’t do that,” Loki insisted. “The shape of that amphitheater will concentrate the shock wave and would most likely kill you. I’ll jump in outside the amphitheater, then slide in overhead and set down. I suggest you find cover, because there’s going to be a lot of thrust wash.”

“Get behind to the sides, behind the concession counters,” Doran instructed, pointing to the long counters along the edges of the grassy foregrounds.

“
Suggest you jump in low, over Brighton between Andowl and Forrester. Might slow some of them down a bit,
” Lieutenant Giortone told Loki over the comms.

“
Copy that,
” Loki replied. “
Jumping in five seconds.
”

Chief Montrose moved in beside Yanni, Lael, and baby Ailsa, crouching down behind the concession counter. He helped to shield the infant in her mother’s arms from the upcoming thrust wash.

“
We’ll be there in ten!
” Lieutenant Giortone added.

“Be ready on that hatch!” Loki called to Biarra in the back of the shuttle.

The cockpit windows turned opaque for a moment, as the shuttle jumped from high orbit over Corinair, down to the city of Aitkenna below. When the windows cleared a second later, the view of the planet was replaced with the view of the tops of buildings rushing toward them.

Loki pushed the lift thruster throttles full forward. All four engines screamed at full power, as they fought against the sudden effects of the planet’s gravity trying to pull them to their deaths. Despite their modest inertial dampening systems, the shuttle shook violently from both the sudden resistance of the atmosphere, and the force of deceleration. It had been a long time since Loki jumped into any world’s atmosphere at such low altitudes. Such maneuvers were forbidden on inhabited worlds, and their tiny shuttle wasn’t designed for such stresses.

The buildings shot up on either side of them as the shuttle settled into level flight a mere ten meters above Brighton Avenue. Loki glanced at the external camera screen, which showed the street directly below them. He could see the bodies of four men, all of them clad in black and red armor, lying motionless in the street.

Loki fired the deceleration thrusters at full power as the shuttle raced toward the amphitheater two blocks ahead of them. Several jump flashes appeared in the twilight above him, as the last of the Avendahl’s fighters jumped in to provide cover for their rescue.

“
Jaker Six! On station! Attacking forces to the south!
” Lieutenant Giortone announced as his fighter jumped in overhead.

“
Jaker Two Two, attacking the guys to the west!
”

“
Jaker Four Six! New bandits! Six of them to the north, ten kilometers! Closing fast! Turning to intercept!
”

Deliza’s eyes grew wide, pushing back in her seat as if to brace herself for collision as the amphitheater rushed toward them.

“
Mas! Join up with Rio on the intercept,
” Lieutenant Giortone ordered. “
I’ll deal with the ground targets!
”

Loki’s eyes danced back and forth between his console and the forward window, waiting and calculating, betting that full lift thrust would eventually raise them up a few more meters to clear the top of the amphitheater’s hillsides.

“
Copy that, Gio,
” Ensign Masa replied.

“
Glendanon to all Rakers!
” the Glendanon’s captain called over the comms. “
We’ve got company coming. Two gunships! We bug out in two!
”

“
Rakers, Rakers, Rakers! This is Jaker One Six! I’ll keep the gunships off the Glendanon to buy everyone a few more minutes! Just move your asses, damn it!
”

“
Just buy us three minutes, Sissy!
” Lieutenant Riordan replied.

“
One Six, Eight Five!
” another pilot called. “
I’m fifty clicks to your starboard, joining up to attack the gunships!
”

Loki watched as the shuttle climbed up just enough for the amphitheater’s hillsides to slide under them. A wave of relief washed over him as he prepared to descend into the middle of the amphitheater’s grassy foregrounds.

“
Ground forces approaching from the south are destroyed,
” Lieutenant Giortone reported.

“
New bandits!
” Ensign Masa exclaimed over the comms. “
Six more just jumped in! Two clicks to my… They’re firing!
”

Loki glanced to his left, just in time to see six Jung fighters speeding toward him, two of them firing at Jaker Two Two. A small explosion appeared in Ensign Masa’s right wing, and it began to trail smoke as it lost altitude.

“
I’m hit! I’m hit!
” Ensign Masa shouted. “
Two Two is going down!
”

“
Punch out, Mas!
” Lieutenant Giortone ordered.

“
No time! I’ll try to put it into the…
”

Loki’s eyes were fixed on his console as he reduced his lift thrust and started his descent into the middle of the amphitheater.

“
Mas is down!” Lieutenant Riordan exclaimed. “He dove and put his ship right into their ground forces!
”

“
Ranni One! Climb, climb, climb!
” Lieutenant Giortone ordered urgently.

Loki didn’t question it. He pushed his lift thrusters to full power again, causing the tiny shuttle to leap upward. The shuttle suddenly jerked hard to starboard, as if something had slammed into them and knocked them into a spin. Warning alarms went off in the cockpit, and the hatch that separated the cockpit from the passenger compartment suddenly closed.

“We’re hit!” Loki announced as he struggled to regain control of the damaged shuttle. “We’ve got a hull breach, and we’ve lost the number four lift thruster!”

Deliza twisted to her left, looking aft through the window in the hatch that had just closed automatically behind them. There was a gaping hole in the port side of the shuttle, exposing the passenger compartment to the outside. Debris flew around, and there were loose wires and pieces of the cabin’s interior flailing about. Then she spotted Biarra, still strapped in her seat, half of her body seemingly ripped away. “Biarra!”

More shots streaked past their windows as Loki fought to keep the shuttle from falling to the ground.

“
Get out of here!
” Doran ordered over the comms.

“Find Dumar!” Deliza ordered. “Find Dumar!”

“
Stretch! Jump now!
” Lieutenant Giortone ordered. “
Montrose! You’re clear to the east! Forces approaching from the north, one minute out! I’ll try to slow them down while you make your escape!
”

“
I copy all!
” Doran replied from the amphitheater below. “
Moving east.
”