They all aimed their rifles at once. When nothing happened, they looked at their weapons and back at Lee.
He drew his projectile sidearm—version two-point-zero. He shot the four on the left through their helmet. Their heads exploded in a red mist carried away instantly by the high winds.
Sweeping the sidearm around to the opposite side he shot the others. Only one shot left in his sidearm. He might need it later. He holstered the weapon and readied himself. The remaining troopers closed and swung wildly with their useless rifles.
Lee ducked under the first three swings, the weapons clanged together above his head. Still crouching he swept his left foot around and the three on the right fell.
He pivoted and swept the legs out from under the others to his left. He balled his bionic fist and smashed each through the faceplate. Bones crunched with each blow.
Lee grabbed one of them by the ankle and swung the body into three more charging him head on. He leapt in the air and came crashing down on a goon to the left with his knee in the trooper’s chest.
That wouldn’t hurt the little goon through his armor.
The goon reached up and grabbed Lee by the neck. Lee grabbed his arm with his bionic hand and twisted it in a way arms shouldn’t twist. The armored shell protecting the man’s arm crumpled at the shoulder joint and took his shoulder with it. Lee’s fingers crushed the trooper’s neck.
A weight rammed him from behind and something else hard hammered the base of his neck.
He reached behind with his arm, gripped the offender and tossed him over and away. The discarded trooper regained his feet.
The goon looked around, realized he was alone and scrambled off. Lee chuckled inwardly—that was probably the smartest of the lot. Any direction away from Lee was safer at this point.
He’d cleared the immediate area. Only the troopers’ mangled bodies remained.
He entered the base.
Chapter 25 – All You Have Left
The man had continued his staring game for days. Saying nothing. All the while Avery never had control of his eyes. He’d lost all sensation of time. How long the man played this game he’d never know. The only physical thing he did was inject nutrients into Avery.
Avery unwillingly admitted this was some unique torture. Another hiss of air signaled another visitor.
This time the staring man dragged in someone from the box.
“Commander, they said if we give them what they want, they’ll let us go. We’re so thirsty, sir, the box is driving us crazy.”
“Don’t listen to them, crewman.” Even as he said it, he knew he wasn’t convincing. These young men and women hadn’t in their wildest imaginations expected to meet this kind of fate out in the black.
The crewman continued. “I’ve told them no one but a starship captain would know these things, please, sir, tell them so we can go home. We can’t take this anymore.”
The staring man held a weapon to the crewman’s head. Still silent, he looked towards Avery.
The crewman pleaded one last time. “Sir, please . . .”
Avery opened his mouth, then shut it. The weapon discharged, and the crewman slumped to the deck.
Avery didn’t react. He wanted to rip the killer’s head off. Just like the crewman, he wanted to be rid of this place. He’d do anything just to be able to stand or move his head, or wiggle his toes. They’d made him a prisoner inside his own mind.
They’d broken him down without inflicting an ounce of physical pain. He wanted to tell them everything. He couldn’t remember what it was like to move. The isolation, the immobility—it was a descent into madness.
If he held long enough, maybe he would go insane and then he could no longer have cognitive thoughts, and they wouldn’t get what they wanted anyway, because whatever they did or didn’t do to him wouldn’t matter.
What would an insane person care? He’d just imagine himself on a beach all day with—
Who was staring man? The water glistened in the distance. Palm trees blew in the wind. The sand got in his eyes. He could go swimming forever. He bit the inside of his lip and gums so hard the blood dripped out the corners of his mouth.
Staring man left. Tears streamed down his checks.
It was all he had left.
The man returned with another crewmember. It was the same thing. He held the weapon to a young woman’s head. What was her name? She’s a technician. Chief . . . Niri.
Then the surface shook. Thunderous booms reached his ears.
He could hear the noise, the door to his room was unsealed. The man yanked Niri out and shut the door. His friends had come. He almost felt sorry for these ORA bastards now.
Almost.
Chapter 26 – No Giant Too Large
“Now let’s use those fancy maneuvers you and I have been itching to practice” – Aaron Rayne
Phoenix
A searing pain passed through Aaron. He felt a wave of emotion flow through him. His head felt light for a moment. He couldn’t remember what he’d been thinking.
Hang on, Vee, we’re coming. He shook the feeling away. Time to deal with this behemoth.
The sensors tracked the dreadnought as it took position.
When Lee first told Aaron about a large blip of gravity waves and the possibility of a three-kilometer long behemoth lurking nearby, Aaron hoped it was an inaccurate sensor return.
Now here it was in all its grandeur between him and the planet. Between him and his crew.
Flaps was back at the helm. Ayres took the secondary tactical station where she could assist with analyzing the enemy ship’s movements, spot weaknesses well ahead, and increase Phoenix’s overall effectiveness.
“Commander?” Flaps queried.
Aaron repeated it. “The damn thing is three-point-four kilometers in length. It’s got thirty missile batteries, dozens of point defense towers, endless plasma turrets and . . . who knows what else…”
“We did our best. It’s got to count for something.”
“Indeed, Yuri. But I’ve been dead before and I didn’t like it. I would consider it a personal insult if these ORA people were the ones who do us in. Let’s get to it shall we?”
“Aye, Commander.”
“My hands are full here, Ensign. Evasion and initiative at your discretion, if you see something we’ve not yet noticed, which is very likely, point it out I’ll give you a yay or nay. We’ll be trying to stay alive and keep that thing distracted as long as possible. If we’re forced to disengage or destroyed, they’ll deploy whatever reinforcements they’ve got to the planet.”
Flaps looked around. “Understood, Commander.”
Aaron nodded. “Now let’s use those fancy maneuvers you and I have been itching to practice.” Flaps worked better if he didn’t feel pressured. Aaron had to show the ensign, show them all—that nothing phased him. It would inspire their confidence. But in reality, the dreadnought’s sudden appearance brought with it Trident’s final moments. It seemed the memory would forever plague him like a bad virus for which there was no cure. His dead crew called out to him.
He pushed the darkness away, his demons would have to haunt him another day. The dreadnought was six million klicks away—twenty light-seconds.
Phoenix carried him to his destiny.
***