Star Force: Survivor (SF52) (9 page)

Fatigued, injured, and in constant pain…Rio was good
to go. Being back inside their own territory and out of the firing line of
walkers and fighters alike was enough to make him hopeful. He could handle the
Skarrons, and if he guessed right the route the Archon had given them would
take them through areas too small for the big ones to go…leaving them with
Hobbits, Hobbits, and more Hobbits to block their path, and those he could eat
for breakfast fully armored up, which he now was.

“We good?” he asked, looking at everyone else.

“I was born for this,” the injured one said, his wound
also obscured beneath a fresh set of armor.

Rio pointed and the nearest commando to the door hit
the release and they began filing out, ten commandos
strong,
and dropping back into a well-practiced mobile formation designed for hunting
rather than running. With no hope of a clear route ahead, they were going to
have to fight their way through, and to do that they were going to have to play
offense rather than defense.

Which was fine for Rio.
He’d
had enough falling back. Now they had an objective and a way out clearly marked
on his battlemap. It was like thousands of challenges before, only this one was
a single try, do or die. All the others, with so many opportunities to repeat,
had taught him well how to handle the moment and the nerves, and he was
pleasantly surprised that now, in the moment when it mattered most, his mind
was completely calm. He knew what he had to do and that he could do it…with a
resolution that if he failed it wouldn’t matter.

The path ahead was the only way to survive, so he
committed himself to each step he took forward, not looking or thinking back,
and focused on shooting every flat headed little Skarron minion he came across
before they could kill him.

9

Rio ducked down behind a potted tree, with the bark on
the trunk exploding above his head with plasma hits. He and the others were
stuck in an interior park that was only a few sections away from their LZ, but
it was their only way through and the Skarrons had turned it into a temporary
base of operations…with three of them and a horde of Hobbits in play. The
bigger Skarron plasma rifles/cannons had already killed one of the commandos
when he got ambushed by a group of Hobbits and forced out of his cover. Rio
thought the hit was more blind luck than skill on the Skarron’s part, but the
plasma orb hit him square in the helmet.

He fell to the ground, the plasma burning through an
already damaged section and penetrating his skull. After that the fighting had
grown into more or less of a standstill, with every Hobbit the commandos took
down being replaced by others coming in, getting them nowhere and the clock
still ticking. They all knew it, and knew if they played by the usual rules the
enemy would win by default.

That meant it was time to get reckless…but in a smart
way. The 9 of them had a lengthy, yet choppy conversation as they continued to
fight in and around cover, then Rio finally got the signal and popped up,
taking a few hits to his shields immediately as he sprayed suppression fire in
a particular area.

His armor took several more hits then he ducked back
down, glad that none had gotten through as two more commandos popped up and
continued to bathe that particular area with blue streaks…then another came
around a blind in the park, essentially a small booth with a V-shaped wall, and
jumped into the mess of the now ducking Hobbits, firing as he landed amongst
them.

A second tone signaled throughout all their helmets
and Rio popped back up, his shields not having enough time to reform, and fired
at whatever Hobbits were shooting back at the others as four of them converged
on the same point and slaughtered the enemy there. The incoming plasma hit them
hard, and Rio did his best to down their shooters or make them duck for
cover…then he was on the move, transitioning to another preplanned spot as he
saw one of his fellow soldiers go down.

Soon he was behind a bench and doing his best not to
get mauled by the Skarron closest to him. His barricade didn’t last long, being
blasted apart by the plasma, but it did draw off those shots from the others
before Rio leapt up and targeted the unarmored Skarron, trying to be as evasive
as possible in his movements. It worked at first, allowing him to land several
hits to its midsection as the enemy’s shots missed to the sides…then one of the
other commandos got the jump on it and literally stepped up onto its back and
fired down into the top of the creature.

Rio added a few more shots until the thing went down,
then both of the commandos ducked for cover as more Hobbit-sized plasma flew
their way. Rio felt a burn cut into his left leg then he was in a side alcove,
temporarily out of the firing line but also pinned down. Several pings on the
battlemap later and he took off, running out into the open again and shooting a
few Hobbits on the go as the rest of them continually took the offensive and
hoped that the enemy would blink.

They did, for the most part, but another commando went
down by the time they got the second Skarron. The eight of them finished off
the third then had an easier time with the Hobbits, though more were still
coming in. Rio managed to get to one of the fallen commandos and found that he
was still alive. Coordinating with the others via comm and battlemap, Rio
pulled the pain riddled commando over his shoulders and carried him across the
park as he got confirmation that the other was dead.

With the commandos screening for him, Rio made it
across and into an
exiting
hallway, now not able to
fight aside from one handed. He held a pistol at the ready, with his rifle now
tucked underneath the commando’s body on his back, and hoped he wasn’t going to
need it. He followed the others, monitoring the battlemap closely as they
scouted out ahead and kept the area behind him clear, essentially giving him a
bubble of protection as he carried the wounded one…up until one section over
where they hit another bottleneck.

The commandos poured directly into it, with Rio
falling to the back and those behind him rushing ahead. He was told to keep
moving no matter what and did so, coming out into a long hallway with plenty of
weaponsfire ahead but several dull white armored suits in between him and it.
Rio ran as fast as he could with the other man
overtop
of him, then finally ducked inside a side hall that had a waypoint on it. Down
some 50 meters was a stairwell with one commando already there, clearing the
way and a few Hobbit bodies in between them.

Rio stepped over them as he heavily jogged forward,
then
took to the stairs for three flights before meeting up
with the others after they took another route up, with both groups arriving at
a skywalk that connected two of the buildings within the city.

The skywalk was simply a clear tube walkway across the
open road below, but it made for a perfect defensive point and the Skarrons had
already set up there…hastily it seemed, for the others got the drop on them and
downed many before Rio had to set his man down behind an ornamental wall barely
a foot high and get into the fight himself.

There wasn’t a lot of cover, which meant it was
whoever shot first that was going to win. That’s why Rio had to join in, for
their armor and shields would only offer them a bit of an advantage. Pulling
out another pistol he dual wielded and ran forward, pumping lances into Hobbits
as three of the others took on the Skarron with them. A bloodbath quickly
ensued, with one of the commandos going down and the others all showing burn
injuries save for one, though his armor was so melted in places it looked like
it was all but breached.

Two of them headed across the skywalk while Rio went
back for his man, picked him up,
then
headed across
while one of the others held back as a skirmisher to protect their rear. As
they ran out into the open Rio looked to the side through the glass walls and
saw the streets below, mostly empty but with a few visible Skarron units moving
about, including some of their elites with the shiny battle armor that almost
made them look like tiny mechs.

A flash on the left resulted in the glass melting into
a puddle, then several more blasts hit and eventually shattered it as some of
the Skarrons on the ground noticed them and opened fire upwards. Rio tried to
ignore it and just kept going, with waves of the plasma coming through and him
moving to the far side to keep as much of the floor between him and their
firing lines as possible.

A short gauntlet run later and he was on the other
side and headed down another stairwell. A bit of clear running later and they
were back into the undercity and fighting through a scattering of unorganized
resistance that barely slowed their run…with the others getting far enough
ahead of Rio and the other commando carrying a man that they didn’t even see
the fighting, only the bodies as they ran past them.

Eventually they came to their LZ area, another
building with a small pad on the roof. They hit the stairs and clawed their way
up some 42 flights with Rio ignoring his dead muscles and focusing on the way
out. It was so close ahead that he could literally taste it.

Just then, he rounded another turn in the stairwell
and saw a group of some six Hobbits in the hallway adjacent to the stairwell
take aim at him. Not knowing what to do he just kept climbing stairs and
mentally flinched, expecting a shower of pain. Several plasma blasts hit him in
the chest and even his faceplate, then a flash of silver entered his vision and
only a few more white orbs came at him.

One burnt through and he felt his left lung deflate,
nearly toppling him over as he stepped out of view of the enemy. He caught
himself on his upright knee,
then
forced himself up
the next step with the other commando still on his back…and the next, and the
next. He had a small window, for they could be coming right up after him, and
he had to make use of it.

He climbed, willing all other thoughts aside, and
somehow made it up the three more flights to the roof. When he came out he saw
a dropship waiting with its rear hatch open and he dragged his legs across the
short tarmac and up into the craft, dumping his fellow commando onto the floor
as he collapsed himself. Knowing there was still danger he twisted himself
around and held up his pistol, ready to shoot out the entrance if anything came
into view but the only things that did were his fellow commandos popping out of
the stairwell and running across to the dropship.

He counted, seeing that all of them had made it, then
as the last of them came up and hit the ramp retract button he let himself fall
down and curl up into a pain ridden ball that could barely breathe.

The commando that hit the button stared back out the
gap to make sure no one got a cheap shot in on them as they closed up, but then
the ramp locked into place only a foot off the ground. Frowning, the commando
hit the button again, getting it to rise another six inches or so before it
stopped again, this time with the pilot coming through on his comm.

“Hold up, there’s one more coming.”

“We’re all in,” he said, checking his battlemap and
seeing no other signals.

“I’m told there is and we’re giving him another 30
seconds.”

“Copy that,” the commando said, looking around and up
into the sky. He could see distant enemy fighters, hoping that they could get
away without getting shot down again.
A skeet
flew
past at a closer distance, meaning they had some air cover left which was a
small comfort, but they weren’t out of the woods yet.

After 23 seconds he finally saw an image appear in the
stairwell, staggering out and momentarily dropping to a knee before clawing its
way back up onto its feet.

“Damn…” he said, running and jumping off the ramp
towards
Iden
. He wasn’t showing up on the battlemap
and the damage to his armor clearly showed why. He was a mess of melted and
charred bits, with so many wounds to his body that he should have been dead…and
looked close to it, barely able to stagger his way across to the dropship.

A Hobbit came up the stairwell behind him and the
commando shot it dead before it could get a cheap shot off. He put himself in
between the Archon and the opening, covering him with his own body as more came
up. He shot them all down
quickly,
not giving them a
chance to group up, but still took a couple of hits, the first of which his
shields caught. The last one hit him in the leg on a portion of intact armor,
keeping him in the fight without injury.

When the Archon got to the ramp he rolled onto it with
his chest, then one of the other commandos yanked him up and hauled him inside
as the skirmisher hopped up and triggered the ramp closure…this time with it
proceeding normally and the dropship taking off before it even got halfway up.

The air seemed to get sucked out of the hold as the turbulence
outside increase drastically, indicating a rapid acceleration until the ramp
sealed up and left the commandos inside unable to see what was going on.

The one uninjured one sat down and pulled up his
battlemap to a larger view, tracking their progress and hoping beyond hope that
they made it out. He didn’t have another fight left in him, and if they went
down again…he would do what he could, as always, but he was nearly clocked out
with fatigue. He glanced at the others, seeing several on the ground and not moving.
Without anyone else doing anything he walked over to one of the emergency slots
on the walls and began pulling out rations and medical supplies, tossing the
former to the ones still on their feet and attending to those on the ground as
best he could.

Two more commandos came over to help, getting healing
patches on and pain meds in those that were blacked out…and finding one that
hadn’t made it.

The Archon was the worst off, with them getting his
helmet off and finding him likewise passed out with so much damage to his body
that the commando hoped he didn’t wake back up to feel it all. He injected him
with a pain numbing cocktail and put patches on the worst spots, but didn’t
dare try to remove the armor. Its inner layer had oozed gel out onto many of the
injuries and he was afraid the Archon was going to need every bit of help he
could get right now just to stay alive.

He wanted to get some ambrosia in him, but so long as
he was unconscious he couldn’t feed him. Eventually sitting down beside the
torn up silver armor that he was wearing, the commando waited perilously,
counting every second that went by and hoping beyond hope that they were
finally out of it. On the battlemap he could see them leave the city and shoot
off across the surface, with multiple enemy fighters in the area and only a
handful of Star Force ones…but those few were eating up the Skarrons and
providing them the diversion they needed to get away.

Still not convinced, he didn’t relax until they were
so far away that the Skarrons dropped off the map. When they did and they were
essentially out in the middle of nowhere alone, he finally removed his helmet
and sucked in a fresh breath of air, feeling several drops of sweat fall off
his hair and onto his neck as he did so.

They’d made it…the few of them that had survived,
anyway. Still shocked to actually have made it out, he stared at the ground for
a long time lost in thought until the ramp suddenly began to open and the
movement jerked him back to reality.

When it came down medics came in, attending to the
wounded and making him realize they’d arrived at a safe haven. He checked his
battlemap again to see where they were, finding them in a large city on the
neighboring continent, having flown some 800+ miles across a narrow ocean that
bisected the two.