Authors: Ronan Frost
Shaun grinned widely and allowed a moment to
congratulate himself. But it wasn't over yet, he reminded himself.
He had to reach the ship.
Just as he started out of the chair vibrations
rippled through the deck, followed by a deep whoomph! He fell back
into the couch as a rush of air pushed at him from the open
doorway. He felt the steel girders creak from strain of the
explosion.
Shaun grinned yet again. His bomb had been successful
after all. He leapt through the door and out of the room, darting
immediately to the right.
He came face to face with a guard in full-scale
battle armour. Shaun's face smacked into the Sunlord's impregnable
chest plate and he reeled back in shock. He drew his knife but knew
it was futile against this armoured leviathan. The Sunlord smirked
wickedly beneath his face plate. Most of his features were hidden
by the maze of gadgets attached to his face; the microphone, the
view finder, the regulator. But that smile was clear despite the
orderly profusion covering his head. Shaun didn't like it.
The shell shocked human found himself staring down
the barrel of a wide muzzled rifle as it was brought to bear. Shaun
could already hear other guards approach from the other end of the
corridor - he was trapped.
Shaun's eyes caught on a glimmer of motion beyond the
towering Sunlord's shoulder. It was a small video camera, seemingly
grinning with the pleasure of a spider gloating over its prey. Deep
revulsion welling within his heart Shaun found his will resolving.
Summing up his opponent in a single glance he broke the shackles of
awe that would have daunted many people into inaction. The guard
reached out to grab the human prison and Shaun reacted with
lightning speed. Ducking quickly from the steel glove swiping his
clothing he dove to the floor, ploughing his face into the metal
grating then rolling between the guard's pinnacle legs. The Sunlord
guard whirled as he brought his heavy duty blaster around. The
guard stopped and looked about cautiously. The heat sensors buzzed
in its ear, informing the prey was beneath him. The guard lowered
its weapon gingerly as there was still no trace of the prisoner
that had been there moments before.
Then realisation struck as roving eyes caught on an
open service hatchway leading down. The rat had gone down through a
thirty centimetre square opening and had crawled through a mass of
live electrical wires.
The Sunlord swore beneath its breath.
Metres away Shaun half-fell, half-scrambled head
first vertically down a power cable - exhausted and sweaty but
exuberant.
* * *
Ashian found he had been holding his breath for the
past few minutes and let it out raggedly. His eyes never left
Capac's form as he stepped out into the clearing. Long tense
seconds dragged past.
Then Capac's strange cry rang out, implying surprise
rather than alarm. Huso instantly leapt forward in unswerving
loyalty to aid his companion, Myshia cautiously following. Try as
he might, Ashian could not bring himself to move, his joints locked
with panic, and was forced to watch and wait.
Still nothing moved, and finally Ashian though it
high time to find out what in the name of Abas was going on. Laying
trembling upon a log he cautiously emerged to step warily through
the tangle of palms and thorny bushes - and into the clearing.
In it was a pile of metal objets; boxes, crates and
other waste. The smouldering remains of an android lay at their
feet, smoke drifting lightly from its joints and skull. Huso and
Myshia stood tense and alert as Capac examined the turmoil of dirt
at his feet.
"I just don't understand it!" cursed Capac. "These
marks here and here...the Sunlords have been here recently." He
lowered himself to one knee to examine the prints more closely.
"But they didn't stay for long. See these boot imprints? Single
file, flanking some sort of heavy vehicle making very deep
imprints. They made off in that direction."
"Whoever they were after they went pretty quick about
it." Huso stopped as something clicked in his mind. Capac's gaze
locked with Huso's in mutual understanding. "You don't
suppose..."
"...our tracks," finished Huso. "The ones that we
made last time."
Myshia stepped in. "They cannot follow your trail.
You are the best hunter and tracker in the village, nobody can
track you."
Capac shook his head. "It is unwise to underestimate
the Sunlords...their magic is very powerful and their machines see
everything." Ashian and Capac exchanged glances, each hardly daring
to say what lurked in each of their hearts.
The Sunlords are heading for the village.
The conclusion was stunning in its simplicity and
devastation. Without its hunters the innocent Eloprin would be
helpless. It was the final irony.
"Capac, what path did you take going home?"
interrogated Ashian.
"We backtracked over the mountains and looped around
the back of the village." Capac swept his arm in a broad gesture to
encompass the nearby hills. "If we move quickly we may be able to
intercept them. Let's move - there's six hours travelling time to
cover before sundown!"
Capac and Huso took off without a second thought,
followed closely by Myshia as she stowed her bow over one shoulder.
Ashian paused glancing left and right, torn between pathways. To
the left was the smoking debris of the Sunlord encampment. There
was so much to learn here, so much valuable and useful information
about the Sunlords. Yet there was no doubt in his mind that the
Eloprin of the village came first. He couldn't let them die.
Ashian darted over to a pile of Sunlord rubbish on a
sudden impulse and lay his hand on whatever he came across first,
stuffing it into one of the large pockets of his jacket. Less than
two seconds later he emerged sprinting after his companions that
had disappeared into the jungle. Following the trail of destruction
that the Sunlord vehicle had left he soon caught up with the
Eloprin.
Myshia had noticed his absence and was waiting. A
small flicker of a smile touched her lips as she saw the Currach's
bulging pocket. "One day your curiosity will land us all in big
trouble, Currach."
Ashian shrugged, bemused. It was the first time he
had seen the female smile. He had now reached her and slowed for a
rest, but no such luck befell the exhausted clergyman. He had just
slacked his pace when Myshia took off at a run again calling after
him, telling him to hurry up. Ashian drew in a breath to smooth out
a stitch forming in his side and began to run again after the
receding backs of the Eloprin.
They ran swiftly, haste driven into their muscles at
the thought of their people dying. Ten minutes past, then twenty.
Still the pace did not relent.
Ashian brought up the rear, panting. They had to be
quick, he thought. The more he thought the greater his anxiety. He
feared they may already be too late. Very soon his thoughts were no
more - all his concentration was focused into putting one foot
before the other.
Two kilometres away a tank rumbled and groaned
through thick undergrowth. Its auto-guiding mechanism plotted the
most economical path through the trees without losing the track of
the natives that had passed through the previous day. The trail was
scant, and the computer duly recorded this. This time the prey was
not blundering farmers who left broken and uprooted shrubs in their
wake; this time they tracked skilled hunters.
Eight Sunlord A-squad troops marched aside the green
camouflaged tank and two more troops kept a watch behind and they
brought up the rear of the small elite strike force. All troops
were wired up with visual aids and electronics scanning devices
including twin cameras mounted upon either side of their full face
helmets providing Avatar with a stereo image that allowed depth
perception and distance estimation. The armoured suits they wore
were designed especially and ingeniously using principles of
leverage and hydraulics to magnify every motion, giving the
Hartrias troops superhuman strength that made running easy. The
troops held their Gauras laser rifles at their sides, a long sleek
weapon of destruction.
And, of course, the android took the lead. It ran
fifty metres ahead as a scout, its mechanical limbs never tiring.
It was the perfect reconnaissance vehicle, moving swiftly, able to
send crystal clear images in all ranges of the spectrum, and also
heavily armed. It was a new machine and hadn't been damaged and
worn as many others in the Hartrias army had; it's unmarred surface
freshly taken from a bath of oil. As a result it hadn't accumulated
a name yet, for names were given to androids by their Sunlord
companions. Until such time as it grew battered enough for the
Sunlord crew members to see it as an individual it would be known
by its serial number; 87-DE.
The computer aboard the tank suddenly detected red
spots of heat appearing on the heat scanner. The surrounding forest
was blue, and now between the trees were glimpses of red and
yellow. The troops saw this through the heads up display on their
goggles.
The microphones burst into activity as each of the
troops confirmed they had a sighting. Instructions were relayed
from the computer controlled tank. "Bravo One, Bravo Three, and
Zeta Five skirt to the left. Bravo Two and Zeta Four to the right.
Bravo Six hold position. Hold fire until command."
Orders were carried out. The tank did not stop its
steady rumbling path as its momentum carried it through the growth.
The men on either side peeled off and spread in both directions.
One shifted slightly, but remained directly in the rear of the
tank. He soon stopped and took cover behind a tree, gun butt firmly
into his shoulder.
The tank careened into the clearing, its burbling
motor at last reaching the villagers' ears. Those closest, who were
washing and bathing in a stream, leapt up, fear in their eyes. The
computer detected speech, but it did not slow. The left track spun
slightly faster to bring the tank around in a lazy right-hand turn.
The cannon turret hummed smoothly around and locked onto their
targets. A red light on the inside board flashed showing the
weapons were armed.
A moment of silence followed, as if everything had
been immersed into thick liquid. The villagers stumbled over
themselves, their mouths an O of terror. The tank looked down upon
them, an unwelcome intruder upon the people's homes. The Elder's
heart leapt into his throat as for that split second he did not
know what to do. One thought shot through his mind.
Where were the protecting hunters?
The instant was shattered into unearthly chaos as the
swivel mounted machine gun upon the tank erupted into life, casting
villagers backwards spilling crimson blood into the air.
Fingers tightened almost involuntarily upon triggers
as the heat of the moment exploded - suddenly the troops found
themselves adding to the hail of projectiles to bring down the
fleeing natives. In a second the village was segregated into two
groups; those who lay convulsing and splayed upon the earth, and
those who screamed and ran for cover. But those who had by chance
survived the initial strike did not consider themselves fortunate,
for they knew that their death was close at hand.
The tank fired, the cannon blast one single
ear-shattering shell. A hut exploded in angry flame, killing those
inside immediately. Smoke filled the area until the breeze picked
it up and dispersed it, showing the full extent of the ravages of
the shell. A second incendiary shell from the tank shattered a row
of huts with a blast of heat. Still the troops fired, each
controlled burst finding a target - the villagers were dropping
like flies before the deadly ravages.
Nobilor clutched his sword in one hand, the other
beckoning his companion towards him. He was in the shelter of a
large tree with his back pressed firmly against the bark. The only
other hunter in the village was in the open, bow at the ready but
was otherwise at a loss. Six of the hunters had been lost when
their first village was burnt, and three had disappeared with the
Currach. Now two had fallen under this new attack by the Sunlords.
Nobilor cursed the day he had brought the Currach to the village -
if not for him they would still have five hunters and a chance of
survival. But it was only Coire and himself against what seemed a
million Sunlords.
Coire dived and skidded the last metre into the cover
of a large tree. On both sides dirt billowed as bullets churned the
earth. Wide eyed and breathing heavily he brushed his legs and arms
shakily, almost afraid to believe that he had made it
unscathed.
"Take aim with your bow," said Nobilor urgently. "I
will go for the jungle and try to take them from behind."
Before Coire could say a word Nobilor disappeared. He
started at a run towards the cover of the trees, zig-zagging in an
attempt to throw off the aim of the attackers.
Coire moved dreamily to draw an arrow, his mind
numbed with the devastation. Pulling back he let fly in the
direction the deadly hail, hoping it would be enough to draw
attention away from Nobilor as he buried himself deeper into the
forest.
Coire's arrow arced through the air and found its
mark, an A-squad trooper outraged to discover the wooden missile
sticking obscenely from the joints of his armour. It did not pierce
the armour, but it undignified the Sunlord. The computer strapped
to his waist tracked the source of the arrow, and a grin spread
across his wolverine like face as he squeezed the trigger in a long
savage burst. The tree Coire hid behind lost its bark and splinters
flew off in all directions, pelting Coire with shrapnel - startling
and driving him into the open. It was his immediate death.
By this time Nobilor had circled about, undetected as
the A-squad troop was not paying attention to his tracking screen.
Nobilor paused for a split second as he examined his foe's hard and
alien back. Moments flashing past Nobilor knew he had to act even
if he didn't know where to hit. He swung at whatever presented
itself to the swinging blade of his broadsword, the heavy weapon
whistling through the air in Nobilor's muscled arms.