Mission Born: Space Twins - Chapter 6
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And now, the moment for which you've been waiting, the official, exclusive release of Chapter 6:
Jess strode quickly to the command deck. As the entry door slid open, she could see
the fleet out the viewport. The warships
were aligning. They would make a
translight jump soon, and the chase would be on! She wanted her brother back. Those orcs would pay for everything they had
done, especially abducting Wally! The
captain motioned her over to his command chair.
As she approached, Captain Argent moved his hand in a ‘quiet down’
motion, and then whispered to her, “Jess, you need to get a fast shuttle
ready. We have problems….”
Her eyebrows shot up in alarm. “What do ya mean Cap’n?” She enunciated her
words low and slow.
“The Admiral is planning a full bombardment of the orc
planet once we’ve pinpointed their main base.
Nothing is going to live through it.
It will take a bit, but we will find it, and then your brother is in
trouble. The fastest shuttle we have is
a prototype ether-energized shuttle. We
were going to use it for recon. In and
out missions. This looks like your best
bet to get your brother, but…you won’t be able to come back.”
“Why won’ we be able ta’ return?”
“You will have to steal the ship, Jess. After that, I will have to make it seem like
you were the traitor that worked the software into the system, since I would
like to continue captaining this ship.”
He looked her squarely in the eyes, “I’m sorry Jess, but
this is the best I can do for you.”
Sighing, Jess nodded weakly, “You’re right….When d’ya wan’
me to take the ship? I mean it can’t be
‘til we get to th’ orc planet right?”
“Jessica, make preparations now, we hit orc space in about
one hour. If I don’t see you again, keep
each other safe. May God be with
you….” He straightened up in his seat
and returned his voice to full level.
“Lieutenant, please check on the Landing Bay, and make sure all systems
have been repaired. We might need the
crafts that are left in the upcoming fight.”
“Yes, sir!” Jess
saluted in Navy-fashion, and then turned about and walked out the door.
Captain Argent saluted and watched her walk off. His face contorted into a fragile smile and
then fell away. “That girl has more guts
than any marine I have ever seen.” He
commented to himself under his breath.
“Good luck, kid”
Entering
the main command area of the citadel, Walter could see massive columns of
sanded stone sculptures. The pillars
looked like serpents entwined around massive arms with fists raised to hold the
ceiling in place. At the back wall, there
was a large command chair with plush upholstery and a leather backing. On either side of the command chair sat huge
displays of global and orbital readouts.
Two smaller orcs operated these systems, and continued talking quietly
into their headsets, obviously giving orders and carrying out the business of
the fortress city. The person, sitting
in the command chair was ominous, in size and aura of command. The orc leader looked like he could literally
eat Walter in one bite, if that was their way, which Walter hoped it was not.
The
leader turned to him, and his manner seemed too calm. His hands were folded in his lap, and his
face was solemn with a thoughtful look in his eyes. “You are the one they brought from the
cruiser?”
“Um, yes…look I don’t know what….”
“Silence!” It was a
command, not shouted, but in a normal tone that conveyed more authority than
Walter had ever heard. Walter quickly
closed his mouth. “You are to be our
guest for a while, child. We have need
of a bargaining chip. Hopefully, your
people will listen.”
He nodded to the four guards surrounding Walter. “Take him
to the guest chambers near my office and post a guard.” The guards stamped their right foot down in
unison, and maneuvered Walter toward an elevator in the wall to his right. He did not like his prospects, since he knew
his people well, especially the council and its military leaders.
As they
dropped out of translight speed, Jess flipped on several switches on the
prototype shuttle’s dashboard. Most of
the lights lit up green, and when one showed red, she got agitated and hit it
with her fist. The light turned green in
affirmation of her query. She smirked
and then strapped herself in tight. The
maneuvering thrusters were very responsive, and she was able to make her way
gracefully out of the cruiser. Once she
hit open space, she kicked in a small translight boost to get her right on the
envelope of the planet’s atmosphere. She
glided down quickly, which saved her from a large amount of the defense
cannons’ fire. Yet, the cannons, though
late, started nonetheless and she had to use all of her piloting skill to dodge
and weave past the defenses. Once she
hit the treeline, she was too hard for the cannons to target, and the barrage
of cannon fire stopped abruptly. She
realized that the orcs had given their base’s position away in firing at her,
so she glided the shuttle into a small meadow, and kicked all systems off
quickly. The shuttle door was opening as
she unstrapped herself and slid to a compartment to get the things she would
need. As she left the ship, the doors
closed with the use of a remote and the ship made a whirring noise as a camo
net spread itself over the hull of the ship.
The remote had quite a few other functions, but only one was needed to
save Walter, and she would use it only when she had him in custody. The hike to the base wouldn’t take too long,
but she had planned this to the ‘t’, and it would take less time than
walking.
She
made it about one mile from the ship when she heard motorized vehicles coming
from the base. She swung her hands into
the air, to let them know she was surrendering, and hopefully they would not
fire on her. The moist air of this
swampy planet made her hair stick to her face, and she tried to spit it out of
her mouth as the vehicles emerged from the thick vegetation.
“Down! Get Down!” One of the guards shouted towards her.
“You got it buckaroo!”
She quickly fell into a kneel, and the guard moved forward through the
thick grass. She could hear someone
rushing headlong at her from behind as well, and her hands were grabbed roughly
by the reptilian hands of another guard.
Her arms were forced behind her back and large shackles were placed
around her wrists. As the in front of
her approached, both guards grabbed her by the shoulders and guided her
brusquely to the waiting vehicle. Jess
looked at the archaic vehicle and realized just how low-tech these orcs really
were. There is no way they could have
boarded the Heavy Cruiser without inside help.
The
ride to the citadel was quick. They came
into the mesa from the other side, which Walter had not seen, but it was just
as impressive. The entrance had metal
and stone entwined to form a massive serpent mouth. Two large fangs protruded out and into the
soil, on the sides of the entrance. The
entryway and further in resembled an old-style warehouse from the Earth video
clips she had seen from Wyatt’s own investigations of history. The three-tiered structure started further
inside, and she was impressed with the massive amount of construction labor
this place had to have required. They
parked the gas-powered motorized vehicle outside of the structure and
transferred her to an electric vehicle to take her further into the mesa
fortress. She became enraptured with the
artwork inscribed into the stone of this place.
“Wow, you guys really go all out!
Why’ya usin’ stone though? Metal
‘as ta be better’n stone.” The guards
ignored her and kept their eyes straight ahead.
This didn’t stop Jess from talking.
“So…are we there yet?” She
smirked, yet the guards kept their stern looks forward. “Okayyyyy….
So, my name’s Jess, and I can’t wait ta meet your leader. We ‘ave a lot of stuff ta talk ‘bout.” Suddenly, the vehicle stopped. They were in front of a large central area,
where a building resided in an open cavern of rock and steel. Tunnel tubes extended from the upper parts of
the building into the three-tiered monstrosity around it. “Woah!!
Nice!!” Jess belted out her
comment in sincere appreciation of the structure.
She was
ushered into the same command room as Walter had been. The fists still supported the roof with
ease. Natural light poured down into the
room, and the rays of light rested on the ‘throne’ of the one she had been
hoping to meet. The orc was massive, and
though he was impressive, Jess decided she would not be intimidated. “We need ta talk, you and me, ‘ere and
now!” The leader looked over at Jess and
frowned. “Quiet child! I will ask questions, and you will answer!”
Jess looked at him sideways, “No, I need ta’ tell ya’
somethin’ before we get inta that! Your
people are all gunna die, if you don’ listen!”
The orc seemed to draw himself up, but at the end of her
statement he looked at her with a tilted head.
“You have my attention, little one.”
“They are gunna bombard this place inta smithereens! They don’ care if you ‘ave Wally, and you
will lose ev’ryone!” She knew this was a
risk, but it was her only avenue to freeing them both.
The leader looked to his people on their monitors. “Well?”
“Sir, she may be right.
They are aligning the ships in a bombardment formation, which we pulled
from the data files…. The Heavy Cruiser
is the only ship not aligning for some reason….”
“Hmmm, signal the evacuation, the tunnels are our only
hope. Leave as many volunteers, as it
takes, to make it seem that they were successful. Calculate the number, and make it happen!”
The realization of what he said shook Jess to the bone. Their people were so loyal as to sacrifice
themselves in an attack that left no doubt that they would all be killed
instantly. To make the bombardment look
like it had been effective, would mean that they would need at least half to
three-quarters of the people in the base to stay.
“Mobilize our own craft and be ready to defend the base with
our cannons against any invading craft.
This will not be our end, but we will let them think it is! It is good that you warned us child. I owe you a debt of honor, many of my people
will be saved due to your warning. I
will allow you both to leave, but make it quick!” He turned away from her, as he continued to
manage the coming war. The guards around
her took his words as a command and guided Jess into the elevator, keying the
correct floor and waiting with her as the elevator ascended. Now, they just needed enough time to get out
of the citadel and back to the shuttle.
As the elevator slowly dinged at each floor, Jess felt the enormity of
the real value of time.
(Click to "turn the page" to Chapter 7)
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