The sounds of the explosions got abruptly louder, and then they heard yells.
Jess started running and they came around the corner in time to see the outer doors explode inwards, with a percussive shock that nearly knocked them off their feet. “Breach! Breach!” Jess yelled into her com. “Seal the ring! They blew the outer door!”
Dev heard a deep rumbling sound that rattled her bones and as she glanced behind her she saw huge portals sliding shut blocking off any escape back down the corridor. As they closed she felt the air compress around her, and then they were in two sets of curved hallway blocked off from anything other than whatever was making so much noise up ahead.
“Down!” Jason bellowed, and they all fell flat on their stomachs as fire came down the hall, slamming into the wall behind where they’d just been standing.
Jason and Jess started firing back, spraying the opening with heavy blasts as they spotted friendly fire from inside the alcove shooting back at the blasted outer door. “We have enemy action on the dock.” Jess called into the com. “We’re moving in. Stand by to vent on my mark.”
“Standing by. Shuttle crew sealed their flight deck, ops.” The com came back. “They took some heavy damage.”
“Roger that.” Jess started swarming forward across the ground, firing as she moved. Jason angled after her getting a slightly different line of fire and crossing hers as they covered the opening and prevented anything from emerging from it. “Too bad. They could just lift and end our problem.”
Dev clipped her gear to her suit and copied Jess’s motions. She tried to keep behind the two ops agents as best she could, without bumping into the stolidly crawling Brent.
She felt a little helpless, and looking at her fellow tech, she thought maybe he did too, since he looked like he was in a very bad mood and he flinched every time the weapons made a loud noise.
He glanced at her. “Don’t like being a target.” He muttered. “Sucks.”
Dev nodded in sympathetic agreement. “It would be better to be flying.”
For a moment, Brent stared blankly at her, then faintly, his lips twisted into a reluctant smile. “Yeah.”
“Movement!” Jess aimed down a line, and blasted a red flare towards the smoking entrance, as Jason rolled to one side and took his own aim, hopping sideways at the very last moment as a blue blast scored the ground where he’d just been lying. “Watch it!”
“Same you!” Jason saw a round blob travel inside and caught it with his blaster, sending a wave of energy through the hall along with a booming roar. “Trigger bomb! Watch your eyes!”
Then all at once a lot of things happened. The opening they were moving towards filled with big, blocky figures and Jess and Jason hauled up onto their knees, blasting away as fast they could as the intruders blasted back at them.
Fire landed all around them and Dev rolled over and hugged the wall, ducking her head as a bolt hit the surface just over her so close she felt the heat against her shoulder blades.
“Duck!” Jess yelled, as she removed something from her belt and threw it, then went flat to the ground and covered her head.
A guttural yell was heard, then a moment later a deep, violet flash flooded the hall, followed by a ripping sound and a huge, ear rending thump.
“Clear!” Jason yelled a half second later, and the two agents scrambled to their feet and bolted forward, with their techs a couple steps behind them. The opening was now empty, and the steel stained a deep, smoky black and they ran through a field of energy that made them all twitch.
It was almost painful. Dev almost cried out. But it faded as they jumped over the still bodies on the ground and they were in the outer entry.
It was almost unrecognizable. The door to the shuttle bay had been blown apart, and the console Dev had first seen as she entered was nothing but shards. As they crossed the threshold there was movement to their left and Jess turned and aimed in a motion so fast and smooth it seemed there was no thought at all involved.
Her eyes tracked and targeted the motion and just as quickly, she turned her weapon aside and then turned 360, checking for other intruders as she trusted her senses in marking the threat as a friendly.
The motion continued though, and through the haze and smoke a figure appeared with a blaster in hand and joined them. “Thanks for not blasting me, Drake. Would have been a pity after all that.”
“Doctor Dan.” Dev blurted, in deep surprise.
“Yes.” Doctor Dan tipped the blaster muzzle up and let it rest against his collarbone. “Haven’t had to do that in a while.” He observed the destruction, and the scattered bodies on the outside, as well as the pile of silent figures on the inside. . “Nice grenade hit.” He complimented Jess.
“Thanks.” Jess regarded him in bemusement. “Was that you laying down fire from the back there?”
“Mmhm.” Doctor Dan produced a brief smile. “Certainly got the old blood pumping, I’ll admit.”
“What the hell happened?” Jason asked, as both he edged out into the pad, and swept the area. Overhead, the sound of a carrier engine was heard, and they looked up to see four of the big vehicles hovering. “Are we clear?”
“Affirm, ground ops.” The com crackled. “We’re clear airside. BR76004, BR76003, remain in formation until released. BR75003, BR74034, return to base.”
“BR74034, clear.”
“BR75003, clear.”
Two of the carriers split off and disappeared, while the remaining to started a slow circling patrol over the shuttle bay.
“We’re clear groundside.” Jess reported. “Six down need a cleanup. Drake on com.”
“Affirm, will send, thanks Drake.”
Brent was kneeling beside one of the intruders and he kicked them over with his boot. “Stormers.” He glanced up. “They get dropped? Where’s the log?”
Dev slowly looked around at the destruction, and then at Doctor Dan, who was standing easily with the gun resting against his shoulder, as natural with it as Jess had been. He turned his head and looked back at her, his gentle smile appearing.
“You all right, Dev?” He asked. “Terrible way to wake up, isn’t it?”
“Different.” Dev acknowledge. “I took no harm.” She added. “Did you?”
“No.” Doctor Dan shook his head. “Despite me being far too old to be messing with these things, I managed not to crack anything besides a smile this time.”
Jess came back in from the pad, shaking her head. “What the hell was that all about?” She wondered. ‘This is the most heavily defended part of the citadel and they know it. What were they after?”
Doctor Dan cleared his throat. “Me, probably.” He said, in a diffident tone. “I was about to board the shuttle to leave.” He peered outside. “I heard the engines overhead and got back inside just as they came down right on top of the pad.”
“You?” Jess stared at him.
“Mm.” Doctor Dan thumbed the safety back on the gun in his hand. “Apparently I’ve made a breakthrough they don’t want continued.” He said. “Somewhat the same as the vegetation advance you will likely be trying to circumvent on that side, Agent Drake.”
“Breakthrough.” Jess turned and looked at Dev, then back at the doctor, her eyebrows lifting.
Doctor Dan shrugged modestly. “I was listed on the passenger manifest.” He indicated the grounded shuttle. “I should be flattered. They sent a six man team in. I suppose they were supposed to get me between when I left the citadel door and before I cleared the hatch.”
“And then what?”’
“Well, either kill me or take me.” Doctor Dan said, dryly. “They’ve got their own bio alt program, you know. Never got very far though. They just have some very basic models.” He smiled again. “The one thing I suspect they didn’t expect is that I’d know who they were and start shooting at them.”