DJ's Mission (29 page)

Marines never leave a man behind.

DJ had to smile when Kaitlyn said, “We gonna help
or just watch?”

“It’ll be dangerous.”

“And your point? You didn’t teach me to shoot just
to plink targets.”

“That’s my girl.” He nodded toward some crates
nearby. “Let’s use those for cover.”

Kaitlyn guided her father to the crates. Once he
was set, she pulled out her spare magazines and placed them in easy reach.
“Good to go.”

DJ reached out and kissed her forehead. “Have I
told you how much I love you lately?”

“Nope…but I know. Now, let’s kick some butt.”

“Roger that, Squirt. You work right to left and
I’ll do the opposite.”

“Gotcha.”

DJ raised his Graver Mk7 and pointed it at his
target and squeezed the trigger.

*   *   *   *   *

Spike was just thinking that this had been too easy
when all Hell broke loose.

The whole group had just stepped into the open
when they heard gunfire off to their right. Everyone turned to look in plenty
of time to witness several SIS officers fall over dead.

Someone yelled, “Ambush!”

Spike saw Mörder whirl around faster than he
would’ve believed possible as the other ambushers popped out of cover. Even as
they began firing, Mörder was on the move. Shooting as he ran, the pirate king
attacked.

As some of the enemy fire pinged off the tarmac next
to them, Spike and Sponge Bob fell into old habits; backing up next to each
other, they squatted down and began their own assault.

*   *   *   *   *

When the gunfire erupted to his right, Jagger Jax
knew that it had to be Kassinger’s men trying to rescue him. Truth be told,
he’d been expecting it the whole trip to the surface but hadn’t seen any other
options.

Once the battle began, it was total chaos.

Kassinger’s men had the numbers and the superior
positions but the pirates were hard men. Used to fighting overwhelming odds and
losing battles. The ambushers first assault had been designed to be devastating
but something or someone had disrupted that and now the pirates were fighting
back.

Jax noted a missile warning flashing on his HUD.
The suit’s AI showed it’s predicted and intended targets; the small knot of
pirates five feet ahead of him. Unfortunately, Venus was in that group. Without
thinking or considering the risk, Jax dropped the Sheriff and launched himself
forward. All sorts of alarms were going off in his helmet as he roughly tackled
the redheaded pirate.

She rolled to her knees and pointed both her guns
at him. Her eyes were afire with anger until she saw what was left of the three
pirates she had been standing next to mere seconds earlier; boots, blood and
bits of charred flesh. Immediately, her anger dissipated and a mischievous grin
came over her face. “Thanks.”

Jax pushed himself up and pulled his out his
blasters. “That’s one.”

Before Venus could ask what he meant by that, a
red and black starship buzzed the flight deck.

Its distinctive dual oscillating engines and twin
boom, the dual rear fuselage where the tail planes and vertical stabilizers
were mounted, marked it as a Kestrel Mk3. Ignoring the stray gun fire that came
its way, the Kestrel wheeled in place and landed gracefully fifty meters away.
None of the pirates paid the ship any attention, at least not until a second
Red Falcon stepped off and began firing indiscriminately at whoever crossed his
path or was stupid enough to shoot at him. That was enough for the pirates.
Those that were still standing made a run for their ships. Anyone not fast
enough got left behind.

The newcomer spied Jax and yelled, “Imposter!”

And the battle between the two was joined in
earnest.

*   *   *   *   *

When DJ saw the faux Falcon step out of the black
and red Kestrel, his heart fell into his stomach. The only good thing about his
arrival was that it convinced the majority of the pirates to flee. The SIS and
factory guards were slowly being whittled down. As a matter of fact, all the
thugs were down on the side closest to them.

DJ turned and looked at his daughter. “Katilyn, I
need you to stay here and stay safe.”

“Why? Where are you going?”

“I have to help Jax. He’s only in this mess
because of me.”

Kaitlyn nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“No. I want you safe.”

“Listen here Dad, where you go…I go. Besides, do
you really think you could stop me or even make it to Jax without my help?”

DJ grinned. “Good point. Let’s go, Squirt.”

With her help, they made it to the side of a yard
dog, the nickname given to aircraft tractors. They were only about thirty feet
away from the pinned down companions. Even as they watched, Jax got knocked
back by a missile barrage from the faux Falcon. The blast had been big enough,
that DJ was unsure if Jax was still alive after that hit. Sure the CSA armor
was tough but he didn’t know if it was resilient enough to resist that much
damage.

DJ was impressed with the two SWAT officers when
they shifted their positions until they were in front of their downed
companion, giving him cover from the faux Falcon. He was doubly surprised when
the redhead stepped in between and blocked the aggressor’s shot.

“Stand aside wench. This is between the imposter
and I.”

Venus shook her head. “Not so fast asshole, this
guy just saved my life. I’m not too keen on owing anyone anything.”

Mörder stepped out from behind a nearby truck. He
was covered in blood and carried two gleaming powered gladii, both were still
dripping blood. “I want to know how there are two of you?”

When DJ saw the twin swords that were identical to
his liberated pair, alarms went off in his head. Seeing the animalistic grace
which with he moved and DJ knew that this pirate was a Praetorian. And that
meant trouble, big trouble.

The faux Falcon pointed at Jax. “This bastard has
stolen my likeness and has been passing himself off as me. I want his head.”

Before DJ could stop himself, he stepped out from
behind cover. “No!”

Everyone whirled his direction.

“What,” asked the faux Falcon.

“He is not the Red Falcon, I am.”

Mörder asked, “Who in the Hell are you?”

“Staff Sergeant Scott DeJarnette, retired, of
course.”

The faux Falcon pointed his gun at DJ then back at
Jax. “You’re saying that you’re the one who stole my identity. Then who’s
that?”

Jax struggled to one knee and with his left arm,
the only one working at the moment, reached up and pulled off his helmet.

But it was the redhead who said, “Jagger Jax!” She
rushed to his side and gave him a big hug. “That’s why you saved me.”

“Hiya Hurricane, you’re looking good.”

Mörder roared, “Jagger Jax! What did I tell you
the last time I saw you?”

With Venus’s help, Jax stood up. “That you would
kill me where I stand. Well, I’m standing. Come and get me.”

Mörder grinned. It was an evil grin. “I’m glad you
remember. I will carve it on your tombstone.”

“Enough!” shouted the faux Falcon. “He’s mine.
He’s guilty just by wearing the armor. He dies and then, the other one dies.
Honor demands it.”

A loud voice from overhead caused everyone to pause.
“You have no honor!”

*   *   *   *   *

Virginia absentmindedly chewed her lower lip when
she noticed three waves of blips on the radar, all inbound and heading right
towards them. The dreadnaught’s AI had not been initialized and it was beyond
their ability to get it working. That meant anything they wanted to do on the
ship, they had to do the old fashion way…manually. Without the AI to act as a
buffer and interpreter between the HUD and the sensors, they had no way of
translating the IFF signals given out by the incoming ships.

All navigational systems work on data. One of the
easiest and most reliable data is gleaned from the electromagnetic field given
off by a starship’s engines. This field can be identified and tracked by a
device called the IFF or Identify Friend or Foe transponder. But just because
the sensors could detect the IFF signals, without the computer to translate
they were just numbers on the screen.

Only moments ago, they witnessed a lone ship come
in fast and hard before landing on the tarmac. Now, they could see a dozen
ships taking off from the same airstrip. The question was, who had landed and
who was escaping. Now they had nearly thirty ships converging on their position.

Alex sat calmly in the command chair for only a
moment longer before moving to the helmsman station. “Lieutenant, disengage the
dampeners, blow all moorings and standby for launch.”

“Aye, aye sir.” Without hesitation, Virginia did
as directed and moved to the weapons console. “Plasma cannons online and
charging. They will be available in one point three minutes.”

Alex looked over his shoulder at her. He could see
the fear on her face but she was ready to follow orders and to do her duty,
even if that meant they had to scuttle the ship. After what they had learned,
they couldn’t let it fall into the hands of pirates. He had tried several times
to raise the nearby Dragon pilots but to no avail. Something was blocking their
transmissions and now, there were three separate waves of inbound ships. Well,
if they wanted the Horus they could only have her over his dead body.

“Lieutenant, once we clear the factory, lock your
cannons on any ship that gets within ten thousand meters.”

“Aye sir.”

“If they break the five thousand mark, you have
full weapons release authority. Do you understand?”

“Aye, aye, sir.”

Now that was settled, Alex turned his mind back on
flying the ship. It had been nearly seven years since he’d flown a ship and
nothing near this size or advanced. Right now he wasn’t using anything but
maneuvering jets which was still touchy.

They had just cleared the highest part of the
factory and got their first look at the ongoing battle on the airstrip. If Alex
didn’t know better, he could swear that he saw two bounty hunters in red armor
blasting at each other. All around them were explosions and blaster fire. It
looked like a mini-war.

Their radio crackled for a second before a man’s
deep voice came over the speakers. “Unidentified warship at sector twenty-two
thirty-one by seventy-eight, please identify yourself and state your
intentions.”

Alex nearly leapt to the command chair. “This is
Commander Alexander Cline of the UNCF Dreadnaught Horus and our intentions are
simple, no one is getting this vessel. Approach at your peril.”

A slight chuckle came over the speaker. “No
offense but you look a little rough around the edges.”

“True but she is fully functional and battle
ready. I must implore you not to try our resolve,” responded Alex.

Another snort. “Try your resolve? Not in this
lifetime. I just wanted to know if you are intending on shooting at my friends
down on the tarmac.”

Alex looked over at Virginia who shook her head.
According to her readings, the closest ships were still three minutes out. Alex
keyed his mic again. “Identify yourself stranger.”

“Negative. You’ll know in a minute or two. By the
way, just in case you’re not as functional as you’re stating only the ships to
your starboard side are hostile. That would be the JDL trying to jump on Kassinger
while he’s occupied but they wouldn’t be opposed to raiding and boarding a ship
like yours. The other two groups are friendlies.”

“Thank you but why can’t you identify yourself?”

A different, very feminine voice answered. “I’m
sorry sir but the Captain is no longer available.”

*   *   *   *   *

Everyone still alive on the tarmac paused in their
battle and glanced up as the largest ship built by the Terrans crested the roof
of the factory. Even though there were numerous holes in her hull where she
wasn’t completed, the Horus was still impressive. She was two hundred plus feet
in the air and still, she was gigantic.

The bow’s shape was reminiscent of an arrowhead
and had to be twenty stories tall. The rest of the ship was blocked behind the
bulk of the factory but in the dark skies of the far side of Titan, the Horus
seemed overly large and ominous. Just as everyone was coming to terms with the
huge warship hovering overhead, four searchlights blinked on and the ugliest
ship ever built by the Terrans appeared out of thin air as the Nemesis
uncloaked.

Seconds later, the cargo bay door in the front of
the ship, below and in between the three ‘heads’ that gave the Cerberus class
warships its name, opened up and bathed the underside of the ship in a red
light. A figure in black and silver armor stepped out and fell the hundred or
so feet to land on the airstrip with a big thud in between the faux Falcon and
his intended targets.

Iaido looked over his shoulder at his friend. “You
okay there, Marine?”

DJ grinned. “I am now. What took you so long?”

Iaido gestured toward the Horus. “Traffic.”

Mörder pointed one of his bloody swords at the
newcomer. “Who in the Hell do you think you are? Personally, I’m not impressed
by your fancy armor or your ugly ship.”

Iaido turned his attention to the pirate. The
grinning skull which appeared to float on his opaque mask seemed to mock the
pirate king as he talked. “You would know me as Achilles.”

Iaido looked at the false Falcon. “And you know me
as the Spartan. You both have this one chance to depart. These people are now
under my protection.”

The faux Falcon pointed at DJ and Jax. “They stole
my identity.”

“No, Nichols…you stole mine.”

“What did you call me?”

“John Nichols; you were a buck-sergeant with the
One-Five until you were dishonorably discharged for disobeying a direct order
from your superiors which lead to the death of twenty-five men.”