Star Brigade: The Supremacy (SB3) (6 page)

Before he could properly process what just happened, Kingston heard Naomi squeal in both pain and surprise. He wheeled around to see her clutching her left hand. “The door!” she gasped. “It’s white-hot!”

Kingston furrowed his brow in alarm. White smoke started curling off the door’s center. He eyed his tech team handling the complex’s security. “Do a diagnostic on the northeast entrance,” he commanded.

For the next macrom, everyone waited in taut silence as the techs worked, during which Kingston could feel tangible heat roiling off the round door. Was it an attacker or just a heat upsurge? Kingston did not have a clue. The occasional whimpers from the caged Korvenites broke the quiet, to which Ishida systematically retorted, “Shut it.” Always aware of his priorities, that Ishida was.

Finally, unable to take the tension, someone blurted out, “Well?”

The lead tech, a stout West African named Chidi Okafur, looked over his shoulder while clacking away at a wall console. “Every sensor in that tunnel is dead,” he reported, reviewing the holoscreen projecting from his console wide enough for everyone to see. “Same with all the holovids.”

Worry rippled throughout the cell. Kingston remained composed. “The destromechs?”

Okafur shook his head. “No response. Those were our only ones. Told ya we should’ve—”

“…gotten more, I know!” snapped Kingston. Definitely an attack. “Check our other surveillance—”

“Already did.” Okafur brought up multiple holoscreens before turning to face Kingston. “All report no activity. If we were under attack, one of those channels would have caught it.”

“All right,” Kingston replied briskly. Only one viable option left at this point. He turned to Ishida. “Get your team and gun down anyone who tries to enter. Once we’ve evacuated, cover our exit. Chidi…”  He wheeled back around as Ishida began assembling his assault team. “Transmit sensitive data to our vehicles. Wipe the rest.” Okafur spun around to carry out his orders. Kingston then raised his voice to address the whole group, “Everyone, evac protocol. Move the Korvies and clean this place out.”

The alarmed looks and murmurs were to be expected, but once Kingston gave their orders, his diligent team began deconstructing their headquarters of the past month, thanks to all equipment being made of collapsible tech. In the lowlights of the sewer, Kingston smiled.
Humans united can do anything.

Meanwhile, Ishida had positioned his team in front of the compromised entrance. Ten operatives stood at the ready, including Ishida, all military trained and wearing light helmeted CoE armor. Five men in front crouched while five others stood upright behind them—all ten aiming sleek, black pulse rifles at the doorway. Kingston’s proud smile soon gave way to an arrogant smirk.
Try getting past that.

Mute tension riffled through Ishida’s elite team in waves. The CoE operatives stood gallantly before Kingston with erected blue, translucent energy shields at their front that they could fire through. Tepid lights cast a cold aura over what was formerly a bustling Children of Earth headquarters.

While the assault team waited, Kingston glanced at the operatives busily cleaning out the complex still. Computer consoles were now collapsed and packed up, and several subordinates used repulsorlift platforms to move the four cell boxes with their Korvenite prisoners to transport vehicles. Kingston would only board a transport when all evidence of their stay had disappeared.

Two operatives began fitting a repulsorlift under the smaller fifth cell. Kingston eyed the cargo warily. The last thing anyone needed was that thing inside getting loose...

“Hear that?” Ishida barked. Kingston snapped back to his immediate surroundings as the assault team repositioned their guns for better aim. Kingston frowned, hearing nothing.

Then the ringing caught his ear, steadily increasing.
Skreeeeeeeeeeeeee—

Kingston motioned everyone else to speed up their cleaning-up efforts. “We’re out of time!” he hissed. Whatever this noise was drove the Korvenites crazy; they began grunting and squealing in varied degrees of agony. The ringing grew louder, now afflicting all complex inhabitants. Kingston, in his discomfort, realized the sound was not coming from the circular entrance at all.

—eeeeeeeeeeeSHAKKK!!

The eruption unleashed pure sound and fury, hurling metal and ferroment chunks all over. All of Kingston’s bones rattled as shockwaves sent him sprawling, the wind knocked out of him.

Dazed, he rolled around onto his stomach. A gaping hole in the southwest wall now flooded the complex with smoke. Despite his blurred vision, Kingston saw a few operatives previously cleaning up now motionless under tons of debris. Others scattered and ran like a disrupted ant formation. Out of the breach emerged three figures: a tall, crystalline being wielding some type of quarterstaff, followed by a slender human female and a stocky metal figure soaring through the air.

Kingston gaped.
No way just three could pull this off.
He tried getting up, and got shoved back down. “Stay down, sir!” Ishida ordered, his assault team regaining footing to retaliate. “Get to the vehicle lot!” Kingston began crawling as ten plasma rifles barked, red bolts searing at their targets.

Just as quickly, the stocky metal creature, resembling one of those android-like Thulicans, lifted off and soared forth to shield its two cohorts. Every blast bounced harmlessly off the thing’s body.

The human female, clearly a race traitor, dropped to one knee, hands clasped and pointed like a gun at Ishida’s team. Right then, that ringing started again.
Skreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
—

White rings of energy issued forth from her hands, cutting a vicious swath through Ishida’s team. Kingston scrambled for cover, and still got lifted off the ground. “That woman’s a maximum,” he hissed, one of those abominations parading around as a human. The crystalline creature whipped about his staff, laying out several operatives with brutal strikes. He had heard of some UComm spec ops unit comprised of maximums, the
Star Brigade
or something, picking off CoE cells for the past month.

A number of Sons operatives kept carting off the Korvenite prison cells while others whipped out pulse pistols to return fire. The maximum dove behind a mound jutting from the ground, narrowly avoiding the hail of sizzling blasts. The crystal-like thing startlingly deflected several shots with his staff before following his teammate’s example to seek shelter. The Thulican continued soaring through the air as red pulse blasts bounced off its metal body. It let out an atrocious, motorized parody of mirth.

Kingston wondered why the Thulican laughed, and quickly saw the answer. A massive fiery blast was ripping through the outlet to the CoE’s vehicles. A cacophony of sound thundered, blinding flames burning away the shadows. Once more, Kingston’s team was tossed all over, some catching fire. The discharge threw every Korvenite cell off its repulsorlifts, all hitting the ground with several dull
thuds
.

Again, Kingston found himself on the ground, gaping in horror as his exit strategy went up in flames.

“Sir!” screamed Okafur on his wristcom, voice ragged with pain. “Vehicles destroyed. No way out. Now a frigging Kintarian and a…Ciphereen are tearing through our ranks… NO! AAARRRGGH!”

“Sounds like a party in there,” quipped Habraum as he stood in front of the scorched circular entrance, listening to the commotion behind it.

“Then get us in already,” Sam ordered, hovering with hands on hips. “We’re missing all the fun!”

Habraum turned to her with an amused look. “Yes, ma’am.” He raised two fists crackling with biokinetic power and unleashed twin crimson beams. Like battering rams, the force blasts punched the charred entrance inward and off its industrial-strength hinges.

Habraum immediately dashed inside with glowing fists cocked. Sam rocketed in after him, the air scorching in her wake—and immediately found her senses under attack.

Even wearing protective hololenses, the dusty smoke blanketing the room clouded her vision. A nonstop serenade of rapid pulse-rifle fire barked from every direction. Sam hovered near the floor, Habraum at her side as evidenced by his two glowing fists. She wrinkled her nose at the ionic stench of weapons fire. Sam’s eyes slowly adjusted to the smoke and new surroundings, just in time to catch a man less than a metrid away pointing a pulse pistol at her. Before she could dodge, Habraum snapped off a dazzling biokinetic blast. The assailant flew back, out cold before even hitting the ground. Sam nodded her thanks at Habraum and they moved past the bodies of CoE operatives already felled by Star Brigade. Suddenly, the scope of the skirmish grew clear.

From the distance, Sam spied Jakadda, the big Kintarian recon, wearing a sharp-toothed grin from his position at the entrance Liliana had breached. The massive colossus of tawny-furred muscle had been savaging his way through any hostile daring to face him. He snatched a smaller hostile by the throat with one arm, ramming him ferociously into the floor—once, twice, three times…
four
times—before carelessly tossing the now broken form aside. Before long, the CoE hostiles began running from him.

Khrome stayed airborne and kept mauling the Children of Earth with his usual brand of punishment. Pulse-rifle shots continued to ricochet off his metallic hide as the burly Thulican dove in quick and low, plowing into several operatives at once. Sam heard bones crunch and crackle against the torpedo of living metal, sounding like popcorn. Khrome abruptly pulled up from his dive, shaking off any last punch-drunk Children of Earth operatives clinging to him.

At least five or more metrids away from Sam, Arcturus and Crescendo were in a firefight with several Children of Earth operatives. Arcturus squeezed off several shots from his pulse pistol, as did Crescendo by means of her sonic blasts. Some shots hit dead on, taking targets out of the fight for good. Nevertheless, their foes outnumbered them six to one—pinning them down behind a frail embankment that warped and dented under the Children of Earth pulse-rifle fire. Khrome almost flew to help the two fend off the enemy, but Habraum waved him off.

“Find our mark, Khrome,” Habraum ordered into his comband before looking up at Sam. “Heatstroke, I’m not loving their guns.”

“On it,” Sam replied, and instantly hurtled towards the thick of the gunfire. Bright and fiery, Sam lit up wherever in the complex she soared past. Some Children of Earth engaging Liliana and Tyris wheeled about to aim up at Sam, their rifles unloading bright and blistering discharges.

Years of aerial-combat experience came into play, with Sam weaving through the blistering volley. Despite the thick barrage of energy lancing up her way she smiled impishly, loving every instant.

Habraum was always partially watching his subordinates during any field op. He and Sam trusted each other unwaveringly on the field. Regardless, he gave her an assist with a quick biokinetic blast, drilling one operative firing at Sam. This drew away the attention of those firing on Sam, Tyris, and Liliana—distracting them long enough for Sam to zoom past with one fiery arm outstretched. Instants later, agonized screams rang out as the Sons all hurriedly dropped their red-hot weapons.

From above, Sam caught a subtle hand gesture between Khrome and Tyris that most missed, after which the Thulican touched down to grab the much taller Tanoeen’s uniform, hefting him up over his right shoulder effortlessly and tossing Tyris like a javelin at the newly disarmed CoE operatives. The Tanoeen sailed forward at high speed, fists aimed at his targets. Some scrambled out of the way, others not moving quickly enough. The “Ice Rocket” maneuver, as Khrome called it, took out five operatives with ease, ending with Tyris tumbling into a forward roll and skipping up back to his feet.

That maneuver instantly shifted the tide back in Star Brigade’s favor. Habraum, tall and strapping, stood back to back with Liliana near the battered embankment. With her blindingly white sonic blasts and his crimson biokinetic beams paired in offense, each fired precisely at any armed CoE hostiles ahead. Watching from above, Sam glimpsed V’Korram and Jan’Hax pick off hostiles trying to flee through the two exits.

From the far right, Sam watched in alarm as two sizzling pulse-rifle blasts streaked for Lily. But Habraum, one eye always on his team, grabbed the back of the doctor’s neck to push her down. And the shots sailed harmlessly overhead. Seeing the Cerc in action, the the ease and confidence in every movement never failed to captivate Sam. Liliana popped back up and returned fire in concert with Habraum. A torrent of white rings and a jet of concussive crimson energy smacked the female terrorist dead on, rocketing her off the ground and into a wall.

Habraum glanced over at Lily. “Y’ollrigh, Crescendo?” When she nodded, the Cerc grinned. “Some stragglers left. Nothing the others can’t handle.”

With sparse words and gestures, the team’s chemistry and coordination resembled a ferocious dance, throwing the Children of Earth into utter chaos. Sam hovered for a moment to just watch, proud of what CT-1 had become.

And after this mission, she would no longer be part of this. Suddenly Sam ached for her teammates, her family.

Her gaze fell on the four cell boxes holding the Korvenites. Wiping away any self-pity, Sam flew from the main skirmish to the containers. All the boxes lay askew on the ground, knocked off their repulsor lifts. Sam landed beside a cell box on its side. The fires wreathing her body winked out and she pointed a finger, shooting out a torch-like jet of orange flame.

Moments later, she had nearly finished cutting a wide circle through the container’s bottom…and felt a rush of movement from behind.

Sam tensed and ducked—hearing a hissed curse as a sizzling stun baton swiped over where her head had just been. She popped up to catch the second swing, hooking the larger attacker’s arm under her own.

“My turn, asshole,” she sneered. Instead of scalding Ishida’s face off with her pyrokinesis, Sam doubled him over by swinging her forearm low, striking him hard in the groin. Still in motion, she reared up with an elbow to Ishida’s windpipe. She whirled as he gagged, lifting his arm overhead and slamming the elbow across her own shoulder. The sickening snap of Ishida’s joint popping out of place and his choked howl sang above the battle din. Spinning back around, Sam grabbed the collar of Ishida’s fatigues and head-butted him in the face. She let go of his collar in disgust as if he were soiled, letting Ishida slump in an insensible heap.