Starship Vengeance

Chapter 12

***A/N***

This chapter is a little shorter than normal, but I wanted to post it quick to make up for that awful cliffhanger I left you with. Let me know what you think of the fight.

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"Fire!" I yelled and five bodies dropped to the ground. Two more charged around the corner, but slipped on tiles that were now smeared with blood. Their bodies joined those of their comrades.  

"You have eight hostiles remaining" Sarah said. "It appears that the have split up and are attempting to flank the sides." Not only were they outnumbered two to one, we were better trained and now had deadlier weapons. Less than a minute later they attacked our left and right side simultaneously.  

"Sarah, they are way too coordinated to be acting independently. Find out how they are communicating and cripple it." 

"I'm on it. You have three more hostiles coming from the third floor. A larger group is starting to assemble on the second." 

"Everyone, this floor is clear. Let's move to the stairwell and use that as a chokepoint." We ran to the stairwell and took defensive positions around it. The door cracked opened and a small, silver canister was flung through the door. Our armor shielded us from the effects of the flash bang grenade. The three soldiers charged through the door, expecting to find a disoriented group. Their lives were ended before they realized their mistake.  

"You would think these guys would be smarter than that" Andrew said as he walked to my position.  

"This is what you get when working with unfamiliar equipment" I responded. I grabbed a concussion grenade from my belt and set it on a two second timer. I opened the door to the stairwell and looked down. I could see a black mass moving its way up the stairs. I activated the grenade and dropped it down the atrium. The moment the grenade left my hand I bolted to the door and yelled at everyone to stand back. The grenade detonated and flung the door off of its hinges. "Sarah, how many are still alive in the stairwell?" 

"I wish I could tell you, but your little trick destroyed the cameras. I'm trying to get a thermal view from outside the building. No motion from the stairs. The doors on every level were blasted off. It appears you killed an additional hostile on the main floor. He was guarding the door." 

"How about reinforcements?" 

"They just arrived and are setting up a perimeter." 

"Are the second and third floors clear?" 

"Affirmative. All hostile forces are on the ground floor." 

"Adri, go check the armory for some rope." He ran off the moment the order was given. 

"What do you need with rope?" Sergeant Collins asked. 

"The only way down is through that stairwell. What works for us works for them as well." 

A knowing look spread across his face. "You plan to repel to the second floor." 

"If we play this right, they won't even know we are there" I said with a grin. Adri arrived with five coils of rope. We immediately went to work tying them off. "Sofya, drop a flash bang down the stairwell and bring back the marines we left guarding it." 

"But the flash bangs are worthless..." she started to say.  

"I know they are. I want to keep their focus on the stairwell. It might not hurt to throw down a body or two." 

I grabbed Andrew, Lan, Sergeant Collins and two other marines and we slowly made our way to the second floor. I'm sure the troops keeping the perimeter around the building were surprised to see us descend. Lucky for us, Sarah had notified them of our plan ahead of time. While I waited for everyone else to descend, I contacted Sarah. "Sarah, I have an idea, but I need to know if and where the prisoners are being held." 

"It appears the prisoners are locked in a conference room. There are three guards outside the door." 

"You are sure there is nobody else?" 

"How dare you doubt my skills" she said playfully. 

"Notify the ground troops outside to attack on my command." 

"Andrew, tally how many non-concussion grenades we have." By this time everyone had arrived and were taking up defensive positions around the stairwell. 

He returned a moment later. "Five. They are all old style frag grenades." 

"Grab four others and position yourselves directly above where the enemy is most concentrated. On my signal I want you to create a hole in the floor and drop the grenade through." 

"I'm on it." 

I made my way towards the corner of the building and looked up the schematic Sarah had sent over. She was keeping it up to date with enemy locations. I looked around considering how I was going to pull this off. Inspiration struck and I walked several feet away so I was above the room next to the conference room. According to the blueprints it was a woman's restroom. I slowly started cutting a whole in the floor, large enough for me to squeeze through. Several minutes later, the floor fell through with a loud thud. 

"Andrew, drop the packages." I waited several seconds for sounds of the explosions. Soon the building shook violently from multiple blasts. I jumped down the hole, right in front of a very surprised soldier. I immediately brought my knee into his gut. As he bent from the force of the blow, I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave it a firm pull. A muffled popping noise was heard and the dead soldier's body went slack. I quietly laid him on the ground and slung his rifle around my shoulder.  

"Sarah, wait twenty seconds then give the order for all groups to engage." 

I didn't wait for a reply and burst into the hallway, cutting down the two remaining guards in the process. I grabbed their rifles and kicked open the door to the conference room. There were about a dozen people inside. I tossed the rifles in and said, "Guard the door." As an afterthought, I threw in my pistol as well. I exited the room and slowly peered around the corner. What was left of their force was in a state of pure panic. I stepped around the corner and started firing. This time I aimed to disable, not to kill.  

I had dropped two by the time the others responded to my presence. Three shots hit my chest in rapid succession, but I pressed on as if nothing had happened. My next shot sliced a soldier's collar bone in two. He dropped to the ground writhing in agony. The two remaining soldiers were similarly disabled. My suit was feverishly working to repair the damage it had just taken. There was an alert in my helmet warning me about the integrity of the chest plate. I was beyond caring. These men had attacked without provocation and killed members of my crew. It took a considerable amount of self-control to refrain from killing them all. 

I stood silently in the hallway, just waiting for something else to shoot at. As the sounds of battle died away, I heard an unknown voice say, "Building secure. All remaining hostiles have surrendered." I relaxed the vice grip I had on my weapon and made my way back to the conference room. I stood to the side of the door and knocked. 

"All clear" I said loudly. "I'm coming in." I slowly opened the door and stepped through the threshold with both hands in the air. Everyone visibly relaxed when they recognized my unique battle suit.  

A marine, who was wielding a rifle, walked up and asked, "Admiral Ryan, what is going on?" 

"The building is secure. It appears that an unknown group attempted to capture the building while another group attempted to assassinate Lisa. We've retaken the building and the assassination attempt failed." 

Another marine stepped forward and was inspecting the damage to my suit. "Well Admiral, one thing they didn't count on was your dedication to the crew. Thank you for saving us." The wounded were carried out to waiting medics while the dead were gathered. Ten marines had been killed in the attack. It would have been much worse if the building was fully staffed, but with Lisa gone for several days, the building was sparsely occupied.  

I stood outside the building, utterly exhausted. I watched as my commanders made their way over to where I was sitting on the ground. "What a mess" Andrew said as he sat down on the ground beside me. 

"Do we know who is behind the attack?" Daniel asked. 

"I have a pretty good idea" I said angrily. "There is only one group I can think of who would have enough connections to pull this off. Once we have proof, they will be apprehended and punished. Nobody messes with my crew."