Asarlai Wars 1: Warrior Wench (24 page)

“Aye, Captain.” Gosta’s voice was clear and calm even though she knew he too would have been shocked by the destruction of the
Guardian
. “There is a pocket of plasma not far from here. Shall I move to it? The shielding on this ship is unlike any I’ve ever seen, we can safely stay there for some time. And it will help mask us from sensors should they come back.”

Vas glanced at Carrix, but if he realized that pocket was most likely the remains of his ship, he gave no response. Most likely he knew full well what it was.

“Aye.” She turned to Carrix. “Did they happen to mention if the ships were gray unmarked heavy cruisers?”

“Yes, two of them. You have dealt with them before?”

Vas sighed. “Yes. They destroyed Lantaria.” She clicked her comm back on. “Gosta, it’s the gray ships. Get close to that pocket as soon as the Flits and the refugee ships have gone through the gate.”

After a few more security commands, Vas called Deven and the others. She wanted them to continue their search, but they were now searching for hostiles, not potential victims.

“Did you recognize anything about the ground troops?”

Carrix rose and helped one of his injured men drink some water. Both were probably not going to survive.

“No, they have on heavy black atmosphere suits.” He turned and held her eyes. “They didn’t say anything except for one order. They demanded to know where the
Victorious Dead
was.”

Vas had been sipping out of her canteen and almost choked. “What? They asked for my ship?”

“Demanded,” Carrix said. “I told them they could go to hell.”

“Damn it.” Vas clicked open her comm again. “Gosta, they came here looking for the
Victorious Dead
. Make sure your codes are scrambled. Only call down when you have to. Otherwise maintain comm silence.”

Gosta’s response was a crisp affirmative, then a few muttered comments about missing ships.

Vas smiled. She knew she wasn’t supposed to hear that part; clearly her navigator was more than a bit frazzled. “I’ll keep my end open, you just listen and record. Just don’t respond unless it’s desperate.” The recordings from her comm could be important if they didn’t make it out. She contacted Deven and asked him to warn the rest of the teams. She also suggested they regroup into teams of eight.

“What did Gosta say about looking for the
Victorious Dead
? His speech was too fast for me to hear.” Carrix said.

Vas flashed her old friend a smile. “You shouldn’t be listening in on other conversations, old man.” She trusted Carrix and his people but she couldn’t be sure that their base wasn’t compromised. They’d clearly left it more than once. If those gray ships and their mysterious black-suited fighters were looking for the
Victorious Dead
instead of the
Warrior Wench
, let them.

“He was being his usual smart-ass self. Don’t worry; he’ll keep my ship out of sight.” She should just grab her people, Carrix’s people, and flee. The instant he’d mentioned the gray ships she knew it was too late. The only reason they hadn’t attacked yet was probably because they were trying to confirm it was the
Victorious Dead
out in orbit. Which meant her people were already targets.

She rose then went to the back of the room. A pile of golden brick rubble showed where a wall had once been. Beyond that was another, larger room. Part of the ceiling had crumbled, but it would hold her people.

“Deven, we need to pull back and get back on the shuttle. Call back all groups and meet at my location.”

“Aye, Captain. We haven’t seen anything, but there are too many ruins to check. I’ll—”

An explosion rocked the building as well as knocked out the comm signal. Vas was flung to the floor as more of the unstable building tumbled around her.

“Crap, what was that? Deven? Report.”

“Gon here, Captain Vas.” The deep rumbling voice filled the airwaves, but still cut in and out. Whatever the blast had been it had physical destruction as well as EMT after-effects. “We’re near the outer rim of the town. Someone has destroyed our shuttle.”

Vas rubbed her face. She hadn’t thought someone would be able to hack through their system to drop the shuttle’s shields that quickly.

Unless they’d used enough fire power that they destroyed the shields instead of hacking through them.

She almost called Gosta, but the fact that he hadn’t contacted her with the destruction of the shuttle confirmed what her gut was telling her.

At least one of the gray ships was up there right now.

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Damn it. Gon, get your people back here. Do not go near the shuttle wreckage under any circumstances. Lock into my location and get back here as fast as you can. The hostiles are here and in space.”

It seemed like hours, but was most likely only minutes before the rest of the teams came in. But not Deven’s.

“Gon, did you see any of Deven’s team?” She knew he picked up a second team, but they should have made it by now.

“No, Captain Vas, I have not seen him.” The giant man turned back toward the entrance. “I’ll go get him?”

Vas almost laughed; no doubt he’d probably pick Deven up and put him over his shoulder. At least that was the tone of his voice.

She’d glanced outside when she let Gon’s group in, still a few hours from nightfall. Deven would have called if it had been safe, or he could have simply found something and gone to track it down.

“No, we wait. He knows where we are. If he doesn’t show up soon, we’ll go out for him.” She turned to her people. “And no comms. From here out, we assume the enemy can hear us.”

“It is generous of you to stay and die with us, but how do you intend to leave?” Carrix had been silently sitting in the corner. However, he’d obviously heard everything.

“We’ll find a way. Our enemy, whoever in the hell they are, isn’t as on top of things as they appear.” She nodded up to the ceiling indicating the sky above them. “Things aren’t what they—” Her words were cut off as another explosion rocked nearby, this one clearly ground based and far too close to their hidden location.

Vas counted her limbs from the gravel-filled pit she’d been flung into then called around for the others. “Is everyone okay?” The responses varied in tone, but all reported positively. She was heading for the doorway when rapid weapons fire echoed through the tight buildings near them. Damn it. How could they compete with high-tech weapons when they only had bows and swords?

A memory of something Gosta had said about the newest toy he’d invented trickled into her mind. Swearing to herself she scrambled to her pack and dug through it. She hadn’t paid much attention to Gosta, but it seemed he thought his toy could knock out tech weapons for a period of time. Of course he wasn’t completely sure for how long, nor how far it would reach. Nor if it even worked.

She said thanks to whatever deities were listening when her hand hit something small, round, and cold. “Ha!” She triumphantly pulled out the sphere and sprinted toward the entrance.

“Vas, what are you doing?” Carrix yelled at her as she leapt over piles of debris.

“Leveling the playing field.”

The two people she’d left in the front were gone, hopefully hiding. There was still no sign of Deven and his people. She didn’t want to use Gosta’s toy until the enemy was closer, but at the same time, she might not have that luxury. If she waited too long the enemy could blow them away without ever getting close.

The dust from the previous explosion still flittered in the dusky air, and she found herself fighting to keep from coughing. Ripping part of her undershirt off, she made a mask over her nose and mouth. While it kept out most of the dust, it didn’t block the sudden stench of death that rose up as the wind changed. They must be downwind of where Carrix’s ground team had been ambushed.

Vas breathed through her mouth as well as she could. She didn’t know what she was waiting for, but this gizmo of Gosta’s might be their best hope and she didn’t know if it would work more than once. If it worked at all.

The sound of people running hell-bent toward her location bounced down the empty road.

Followed by the very unwelcome sound of blasters.

Vas let out a breath and set the command on the small sphere. Now she wished she had paid more attention to Gosta when he had been babbling about this thing. The only thing she remembered was that she didn’t have to throw it. Just set it, and then watch as all the blasters died.

God, she hoped Gosta was as good as she thought he was.

Pushing the final sequence she watched the people running toward her, some of Deven’s people, but no Deven. Behind them ran about twenty ominous black suits calmly firing but herding more than trying to kill.

A wave of light burst out of the sphere. She almost dropped it out of surprise, but she hadn’t felt anything.

The bastards in the suits did, however.

Their blasters locked up. A moment later the ones in the front exploded, taking out the people holding them as well. Unfortunately, it only took out a dozen; the rest threw their weapons away too fast. Vas stepped back as six of her people dove for the building’s doorway.

“Where’s F’vain and Deven?”

“F’vain got taken out by those bastards. Deven sent us here and tried to draw the bulk of them away.” Mac swore as he wiped dust and blood from his face. “It was useless though. Too many of them followed us.”

Vas looked back out where the black suits were retreating. She knew they wouldn’t be gone for long. Just long enough to load up on low-tech weapons. She stored Gosta’s sphere back in her bag. She’d have to give that man a promotion one of these days.

“Carrix, we need a better place to fight. This is too damn small and there’s only one way out.”

The small reptilian smiled at her from where he attended one of his dying men. Dead men actually. Both had passed away and he was administering last rites, or whatever their religion followed.

“Do you think I am a fledging?” He nodded toward the back wall. “All is not what it seems.”

Frowning, Vas walked to the back. What was the old lizard babbling about? There was nothing here except…. Pushing aside what appeared to be a solid wall of rubble she saw it opened to a cavernous room. The fake wall was actually a mimicking fabric. Perhaps the room beyond had once been a ballroom, royal chambers, or warehouse—the original purpose of it was long lost. Whatever it had been, it would be a decent place to defend. Normally she wouldn’t choose to fight in a building, but she didn’t like the odds against them outside. Clearly there was something or someone that gray ship in orbit wanted alive otherwise they would have just started blasting when they destroyed the shuttle. Their orders had changed since the attack on Lantaria.

She was just getting her and Carrix’s fighters in place when the black-clad fighters broke through an outer wall. They did it without tech unless you counted the suits themselves. Yelling commands, she settled in for an ugly fight.

*****

Deven swore when he heard the explosions. Clearly all of the hostiles hadn’t followed him. He grimly studied the bodies surrounding him. At least he’d taken out some of them.

He started to pick up one of the blasters laying near a fallen enemy, when a light flooded the area and all of the blasters gave a high-pitched whine. Swearing, he threw it and dove behind a pile of rubble. An instant later all of the weapons exploded.

Crap, he could have used those. However, judging from the direction of that light wave, it may have been something from Carrix’s people.

Deven heard the fighting up ahead, but there were no sounds of blasters so whatever had blown up the ones near him must have destroyed them all. He easily found the group of buildings they were fighting in. It surprised him that no one was on guard, then realized they were either dead or had fallen back to the others.

It took a moment for his eyes to adapt to the dark inner room, but eventually he saw the only ones here were dead. Two Silantians, laid out too peacefully to have fallen in this fighting. Three black suits crumbled to the ground, not so peacefully. No one from the
Warrior Wench
yet. Stalking forward with his sword out, Deven entered a large room. At least thirty black-suited warriors were fighting his people. Vas was surrounded by at least three and couldn’t seem to keep up with them.

Something was very different about these fighters. The ones he’d destroyed outside were good, but not like this. These people were speeding up even as he watched, flashing throughout the room.

Vas wasn’t going to make it.

Deven ducked as a flung blade missed him by inches. He couldn’t afford to worry about Vas. If he were killed it would do her no good.

Regaining his balance, Deven swung his sword up just in time to block an impossible shot to his head. He thrust back, only gaining a small bit of breathing room. There was no way whoever was in that suit could move like that. It wasn’t real. The person flipped over its own shoulder, then turned to strike down one of the Silantians. Two Silantians swarmed the attacker, but couldn’t hold it off for long. With a yell, Deven leapt into the fray, slicing as he went. He had never felt so helpless in his life. At least not when he had a weapon in his hand. These people in the black suits were fighters beyond the ability to imagine. He would think they were AIs but their movements were too fluid, too adaptable, for artificial intelligence.

“Deven, behind you!” Vas yelled from across the room.

Deven swore again and ducked. That suit of armor had gotten in behind him before he’d even seen it. Or had it? He swore as the realization hit him. He hadn’t noticed the small devices they were wearing at first, but he saw them now.

“Vas, they’ve got scramblers. We need to have the ship send a block.” Deven leapt at the new aggressor. Yelling it across the room probably wasn’t the most strategic way of communicating. If their attackers had translators they knew what was coming next. But at this point Deven’s only goal was to get as many of their crew out in one piece.

The fighters were fast, but they were also using a highly illegal technology. Scramblers could affect time in small doses; just enough to move in on a victim before they could tell you were there.

“Shit.” Vas yelled back. “Gosta, you heard the man. Aim some blocks down here or you’re becoming the new captain the hard way.”

A low-level hum filled the room. Their attackers didn’t react at first, then one by one the company was able to start taking them down. The black suits noticed that.

“There is no way in hell I ever want your job.” Gosta’s voice came out over the speakers. He was broadcasting to the whole company. If Vas didn’t care who heard, neither did her navigation man. “That gray ship is moving in closer. Should I engage?”

Vas dodged and sliced down two attackers with a stunning leap and a quick sword hand switch. Deven took a second to admire her. He might be the better swordsman in terms of technique, but no one could out-fight Vaslisha Tor Dain when she was in the moment.

“Negative, Gosta. That ship is off limits.” Deven said back over the comm. That ship would massacre the
Warrior Wench
if she came out of that plasma pocket.

“Just stay ready. We may have to try that new tech we got.” Vas yelled.

“Vas, we haven’t even tested it.” Gosta never called her Vas unless he was really upset. Even with his teke powers blocked, Deven could tell the navigator was really, really upset. Not that he blamed him. The idea of transferring cargo via that particle mover wasn’t too bad. His own people hadn’t been too far away from such tech when he left. But living people?

Looking around he realized they might not have a choice.

With the scramblers disengaged, the company held their own, but they were still outmatched. This fight couldn’t go on too much longer if they wanted to get out with anyone still alive.

Hrrru went down as he lost against a pair of the black-suited fighters. “I think you’re right, Vas,” Deven yelled as he sliced through two of them to reach the downed man. Hrrru was still breathing, but barely. The sword had missed both of his hearts by inches.

“Okay, Gosta, whatever you have to do, do it. Get Flarik to help. She may know the tech. All of our team plus…Carrix.” Deven heard the sorrow in her voice as Vas realized the remaining Silantians hadn’t survived. “We need evac now.”

“Aye.”

It was amazing how much anxiety could be conveyed in one word.

Sorth and Gellio both collapsed as their attackers brought them down. Gosta and Flarik would need to move fast or there wouldn’t be anyone to save.

Carrix and Hrrru vanished. The Silantian captain had been guarding the injured Hrrru and they were closest to the edge of the fighting. Deven really hoped they’d made it to the ship.

To his right, two more of the ship’s company vanished. The black-suited fighters fought harder as their foes were taken from them. That there were fewer to fight wasn’t helping the remaining ship’s company. Jakiin got pulled away just as three black suits were closing in.

“Faster, Gosta, or you’ll be pulling corpses.”

Deven didn’t want to panic the man, but they weren’t going to make it.

Gosta didn’t respond, but the next pair went faster. Clearly he was stuck with only two at a time but he was increasing the turn-around.

Vas swore as she was pulled up with Mac, leaving Deven and Gon. The huge fighter unfortunately was close to six of the black suits and he stumbled as they literally launched themselves at him. Deven saw him go down but had his own group to hold off, and an instant later light filled his vision and his senses went inside out.

He floated for what seemed like eternity. Briefly, he wondered if perhaps it hadn’t been Gosta who pulled them out but the gray ship. Or maybe the machine hadn’t worked at all. Eventually the light faded and colors and sounds slammed into his head.