The Legacy of Tain Part 4: Peace Through Power

“Frell”, meekly said Hasaran looking at the pile of rubble that was once Dranta’s hospital. It best summed up the situation. The cure to the most horrific disease in Sebascean history was now almost certainly buried under the tons of concrete, lost forever. Billions will now most likely die, PeaceKeeper scientists estimated that it would take a minimum of a cycle to complete. Hasaran knew that an investigation into the explosion was prudent, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to stay on this planet another minute.

The city was dead, by now the living had become little more that a liability. Hasaran hated virus carriers, even feared them. Though he was safe in his bio suit, surrounded by six heavily armed Serpent Order agents he felt vulnerable. It thought that he could feel the virus trying to break into the suit, to ravage his brain and turn him into a mindless killer, or just mindless. The smiling face of a virus carrier haunted him for the moment. A large, almost clown like grin. The only problem was that the grinning head had no body. Ghastly sights such as this covered the city. Seeing that there weren’t enough civilians to help (not that he really cared), Hasaran knew that he would have to call in a “dust off”. Not like the human term, dust off was the nice term PeaceKeepers used for wiping plague cities from the face of planets. He sighed through his mask. “Lets get the frell out of here”, he said. “Kill anyone you see”, he added.

As they marched down the main road, Hasaran thought about Tavek. “Please let that bastard have the Plague, I wish he was stark raving mad right now, killing his crew”, he thought. But he knew that the son of Tain would not be so easy to get rid of. He was brought out of his waking fantasy by the sound of someone falling to the ground. The entire squad turned to the right, weapons ready. One of the suited agents pulled himself of the wet pavement, an uneven surface the culprit. Hasaran saw a slight stain of red on the concrete. Tiny droplets of blood were escaping from a tear in the agent’s suit on his left knee. “Oh no, no!” yelled the panicked young man. The squad focused on Hasaran who nodded his head. With that, the whole squad opened up on their unlucky companion. He lay crumpled on the sidewalk, blood forming a pool under him. He motioned them forward. He wasn’t looking forward to the decontamination process when he got back to the ship.

“The sole city of the Dantra colony was wiped from the face of the planet today”, reported the PeaceKeeper newsman on the TV. A graphic of the hospital district was shown being leveled by a frag cannon blast from the orbiting command carrier. “This necessary action was taken when the city was judged as a level 9 city, meaning a majority of the population has afflicted with the Space Farer’s Death”. “Our condolences go out to the 100,000 civilians of Dantra”, said the choked up reported. “For the PeaceKeeper news service, this is Yatz Pinile reporting”.

Tain flipped off the TV screen in his hidden quarters. A smile came to his face. Another settlement wiped out, another failure for opposition groups to use against the current government. And the death would not end soon. Tavek had succeeded in taking out both the scientist and his research. Tain still held the only cure for the disease, and only his most trusted men and women had received it. But soon, the plague will once again be over shadowed by war in Section 2. Ryken would soon be smashing through rebel defenses. Tain hoped that Crichton has still alive; his wormhole knowledge was vital to defeat the military. The ability to hide ships from sight and sensors would also prove useful. He had faith in Ryken and Sun, he knew one could capture Crichton. If they failed, he would once again have to send his son to take care of the situation. But, first thing was first. Tavek was zeroing in on Hasaran, and after a few weeks of stalking and preparing, he would capture the traitor.

Tavek kicked the chair across the small room, barley missing Jena’s head. The cheap metal chair shattered in a hail of legs and rivets. “I said don’t kill the messenger!” screamed Jenovian before she could think of the words coming out of her mouth. She braced herself to be punished for her disrespect, but Tavek simply stood behind his desk, resting on the top. This briefing room doubled as Tavek’s quarters, though it was about the size of a dorm room, maybe smaller. In comparison a Serpent Order Attack Ship was almost a tenth the size of Moya, but boasted maneuverability beyond that of almost any capital ship.

Tavek was filled with rage, but it had not risen to level where it would over take him. He often seemed to go into a dream state when angered, a haze of red would over take him and he would loose all control. It was in this state that he committed his greatest acts of violence. This had come upon him when Velorek died during interrogation. Tavek seemingly watched himself throw the traitor down onto the ground and smash the man’s face in with his boot. He kept smashing until he heard the satisfying crack of bone, only stopping because he didn’t want brains on his boot. The red madness had tried to over come him again, but this time he was able to forced the fog from his eyes.

He had just received the casualty report from the battle of Sykar, it seemed like a sick joke. Ryken had wasted dozens of ships on a worthless, no beyond worthless, a dying planet! To add insult to injury, Talyn Sun was killed, as was the informant. In turn Crichton’s “Coalition” lost a paltry few ships, mostly the Raider class shuttles, next to worthless combat fighters. By now, news of Ryken’s victory over the Coalition would have reached the troops back home; they would undoubtedly throw more support behind Ryken to become Chairman. Good thing the friendly casualties were not listed in the propaganda reports. This “Fatal blow” to the Coalition was the exact opposite. The vast number of ships destroyed, combined with the fact that most of the heavier rebel ships escaped the battle would be a coup for Coalition PR. Scientist from all over the Serpent Order were now studying why a vast majority of rebel weapons passed straight through the defense screens. When this secret was discovered, it would be another weapon to turn against the Military. Still, Ryken’s incompetence and arrogance had cost many ships, ones that could have been used to attack the military. Sun was also a valuable resource, an idle for many commandos; he could have brought unknown numbers of “Black Ghosts” to fight along side the true patriots.

He stared into the frightened eyes of Jenovian. Her feelings meant very little to him, but he felt almost guilty about the look in her eyes. He walked towards her and she took a step back, tensing her muscles. “I’m not going to hurt you”, he said in what passed for his sincere voice. That was probably about the third time he had said that in his life and the first time he actually meant it. He grabbed her trembling hand. “I’m sorry,” he said moving in closer to her face. A small sliver of steel was stuck in her forehead, and already blood was beginning to pulse out of the puncture with every heartbeat. For a trained pain causer he removed the steel intruder with care and threw it across the room. The day he was assigned a breeding partner, he half wished it to be Aeryn, which would have been a sick twist. But he was just as happy when this femme fatale introduced herself at a star base. Her friends considered her the luckiest woman in the Union, the opportunity to combine genes with the best soldier in the Union. He of course knew that he would also pass on his genes to several other females, in an effort to create the PeaceKeeper’s perfect soldier. He felt disgusted when she was sent to seduce Prince Clavor. When her mission was over Tavek wished that he could have some fun with the little beady-eyed noble. The Scarren had done a nice job of it, and Crichton was very helpful in keeping the Scarrens off of the planet. He did the Order a favor; maybe Tavek would return it when they captured him. He could go a little easy on him, try to control his temper. “Hey, can’t rule it out”, Tavek thought.

A tired looking Riplous walked into the room, seemingly half awake. “Ryken wants to talk to you”, he said in his deep voice. The cold ship was really taking a toll on the large reptile, making him lethargic and lazy. He was an entirely different man in the proper temperature. Tavek sighed and threw on his eye piece/headset. Riplous’ tongue flicked out of his mouth and he immediately perked up. The forked tongue touched the air again. He looked at Jenovian, about to wipe the blood from her forehead with a cloth. “Stop!” exclaimed Riplous grabbing the hand with the rag. “Don’t waste it”, he said staring at the blood coming from her head. His tongue again flicked out with eagerness. “Do you mind?” he asked Jena. “Go ahead”, answered Tavek for her. She gave a worried look as the massive reptilian killing machine walked towards her. He put his powerful hands on her head and put his lips to her wound. The forked tongue quickly lapped at what blood had drained down her face. The forehead of a Sebascean was almost as sensitive as the lips, and she enjoyed the experience much more than she would admit. Riplous drew away from her, the blood gone from her head, the cut already scabbing over. She quickly applied her towel, whipping the saliva off her brow. Riplous licked the last of the crimson fluid from his lips. He gave a satisfied hiss. “Thank you”, he said satisfied. “I would never do so, if it weren’t for the fact that I haven’t eaten in a while”, he said in an apologetic voice. “Your hungry again, you ate an entire trader not two weeks ago” said Tavek. “Yes, but it seems that the rumors of inbreeding out here have some substance, that was one of the worst meals that I have ever eaten”, he said in his deep voice. “Once we find Hasaran, you will have a command carrier full of pure blood food”, replied Tavek, as if the PeaceKeepers were some kind of food animals. Tavek lowered the eyepiece and began to converse with the Commodore.

Ryken wanted five agents to infiltrate Servec and capture Crichton. Tavek had reminded him that he was the Serpent Order’s servant, not the Order his. Tavek did not want to give up five good agents for a futile attempt. The Sykarain transport that they were to use as camouflage would not last long against any Coalition ship, let alone the new Bird of Prey. But, his men were the best, and if anyone could do it, they could. He chose his old friend and long time ally Sergeant Andren to lead the mission. Andren had become jealous of Riplous becoming Tavek’s right hand man. Tavek trusted no one more than the sergeant. He would loan them to Ryken, but they would still follow Tavek’s agenda. Ryken wanted Aeryn dead; Tavek wanted her very much alive. They were to bring both back to the nebula instead of Ryken’s command carrier. Tavek stood with his old friend. “I will bring them back to you sir, I swear in the name of Tain”, said the well muscled thirty plus cycle aged man. Though about four years older than Tavek, he looked to the Sadukara for advice. “You will not fail”, said Tavek. The black haired man lead the agents into the small shuttle and took off.

The news of Andren’s death at the hands of Crichton brought Tavek’s rage to a boil. If it weren’t for Ryken’s stupidity, his friend would still be alive. Tavek only cared about three people beside himself, his father, Jenovian and Andren. Tavek wanted Crichton more than ever. He would soon have the Human and his bitch Aeryn. Tavek thought about all the despicable ways that he could kill them. He though “Rape Aeryn, torture her, and…” he thought for a second in a moment of clarity in his rage “And make Crichton watch”, he thought. “Then feed her to Riplous”, thought the sadist.

They were both nearly in reach, the Coalition was being beaten on all fronts, their meager resources her quickly being expended. It was discovered that by matching weapon frequencies to defense screens made the screens useless. Some quick adjustments on the ships made them formidable once again. Best of all, only a few rebel ships had experienced this and they were all destroyed. Ryken could lure the Coalition into a battle, and slaughter them in one big engagement. The place, Nazin, a world with several of the Coalition’s best ships in orbit around it. The Coalition would soon be brought to its knees. The plans changed however, when the Teherans entered the war on the side of the Coalition. An important figure in their government was supposedly killed by the Serpent Order, but it sure as frell wasn’t any of Tain’s men. Hasaran was still engaged in his search for Tavek and couldn’t spare any elite guard to do the deed. I didn’t take a genius to figure out what happened. He was killed by the Coalition, the Serpent Order just the scapegoat. Andren’s team was evidence of Serpent Order activity in Section 2. Now the isolationist Teherans wouldn’t listen to reason. On the first day of their involvement, they ambushed and destroyed an entire squadron of battle cruisers. Still, even with the advanced weaponry of the Teherans, the Coalition was doomed. The fleet at Nazin though much smaller than expected was completely wiped out. The battle was a feat of pure tactical genius by Ryken; he didn’t even loose a single ship. Ryken was one of the Union’s best leaders, and he actually showed it here. The Coalition was now out numbered and demoralized. Tavek knew that Crichton would either die fighting in space, or commit suicide to escape capture. The only way to secure the prized criminal was to send in a covert team of agents once again. But despite intense training, the three-man team failed, all killed by Crichton himself in a shoot out in Servec’s courtyard. Tavek wasn’t surprised that the risky venture fell through. Now, the only hope was that Crichton would surrender or be captured in battle.

Not long after the failed attempt, the unthinkable happened. Ryken’s seemingly undefeatable Command Carrier was ambushed and destroyed by a Coalition/Teheran task force. The cowardly fool Ryken didn’t even take the honorable way out. He surrendered his task force to the Coalition, ending the invasion. Thought heavily out numbered, out classed, and out gunned, a band of rabble defeated one of the top PeaceKeeper officers, a feat not even the Scarrens could do. Now, the Coalition had the Leviathan Gun Ship, two Birds of Prey, Crichton’s wormhole knowledge and a small fleet of PeaceKeeper ships. As with every other sentient being in the galaxy, the crew of Tavek’s attack ship watched the surrender ceremony. The one-eyed Commodore begrudgingly signed the papers of independence and recognition for the Coalition, the Urvidians, and the Teherans. Crichton accepted the papers in an old PeaceKeeper Captain’s coat. The ceremony made Tavek sick. Tain had ruled out a third invasion attempt, and the military couldn’t afford to send anymore ships to Section 2, not with the Scarrens building forces along the border. It seemed that the “hidden wormhole weapons” ploy had finally worn out its welcome. The Space Farer’s Death and the Insurrection had taken their toll on the PeaceKeepers, showing that they were in fact defeat able. More than likely, ever power and conquered territory would try and get a piece of the PeaceKeepers, playing into Tain’s hands. It wasn’t the expected result, but it would spread out the military forces, leaving the Home world vulnerable. Tavek knew that Ryken could not fall into the hands of Hasaran interrogators, he knew far too much. Tavek could not trust the job to anyone else; he would have to take out Ryken himself. It took little effort to track down the striped Battle Cruiser that served as Ryken’s flagship for his beaten fleet. The Coalition took the pick of the litter and loaded the entire invading force onto what was left, ships filled to three times the norm. Tavek could easily infiltrate the ships as a tech or a cook. Ryken was guaranteed death, Tavek just wanted to make sure he kept his mouth shut when he went.

Tavek pulled at the dirty cook uniform as he entered the halls of the overcrowded cruiser. He hated being demoted the lowest form of life. The marines and shock troopers all gave him angry looks, like he was inferior to them. What he would give for the opportunity to slaughter them all. Tain could call a wave of Attack Ships to destroy the pathetic fleet and punish the lot for the ineptitude. However, all would be lost if Serpent Order ships were seen destroying the fleet. Tavek accepted the container of soup from the pretty cook. He didn’t have time for her now, and a crowded cruiser wasn’t the place. This soup was destined for Ryken, who was more than likely lounging in his private, spacious office. Tavek forced his way through the cramp, foul smelling halls towards Ryken’s office.

The stench of blood and burning flesh filled the office. Tavek smiled at the corpse of Ryken, a pulse wound still smoking in his right temple. Tavek quickly put the gun into the limp Commodore’s hand. No need for an autopsy, it was pretty obvious what the cause of death was. Tavek quickly placed the suicide note that he had written in Ryken’s other hand. The security force would arrive any microt, to find a bloody mess that was Ryken’s guards and a scarred cook that found the body. Tavek tried his best whimper as the sound of black boots clanked on the metal floor behind him.

The news of Ryken’s death brought a smile to Tain’s face, much more a smile of relief than pleasure. Ryken and his fleet would have been very useful against the military in the time to come. However, Ryken’s defeat had brought on attacks on the PeaceKeepers by other powers, but not yet the Scarrens. Tain now began to plan for his own little insurrection. He would reveal himself at Hasaran’s execution, and then he could get a fix on his available resources and forces. He estimated that it would take almost six months to be ready for combat against the Military. Covert shipyards and weapons stations had to be built, manned, and supplied. But now, Tavek had to capture Hasaran from a full Command Carrier, using a hand full of Attack Ships. This would be a stealth/infiltration mission, meaning his son would have to surrender himself.

Tavek skimmed through the information on the Command Carrier he received with Jenovian and Riplous. Riplous peered at the hologram display through a pair of goggles. The eyewear viewed light and interpreted it as heat for Riplous’ unique vision. The hologram showed the interior of the massive ship, divided into hundreds of room. A docking bay highlighted. “I will land the marauder here, wait five minutes after I am taken away and then begin”, he said. Riplous and Jena would conceal themselves in the transports floor, allowing them access to the ship. Jena would disguise herself as a tech, proceed to engineering, and disable the internal sensors and external communications. At the same time, Riplous had a special mission.

An image of a wall gun appeared. “These remote pulse guns are spread through out the ship, they are program to fire on any life form designated or can be set to fire on any life form not logged into the computer”, said Tavek. “They could hold off an entire army by themselves”, he added. “Riplous, you will proceed under cloak to the gun control room, annihilate the crew there, and await Jenovian’s arrival”. “Once it is secured, I will make my escape,” said Tavek. “Jenovian, you will rig the guns to attack all registered life forms and ignore us”, ordered Tavek. He handed her a disk. “Instructions for the guns”, he commented. “And my advice is, don’t get discovered, those guns are all over the ship and will kill you in half a microt”, he added. “Go over the layout thoroughly on the way there, get your gear and meet at the Marauder in 20 minutes”; he said shutting off the hologram.

Riplous tucked on his pure black body armor, checking it for weaknesses. The obsidian suit accented his golden eyes. He clinched his right fist and the dual wrist blades extended over it with a satisfying shink. Next he picked up the tan battle spear. He spun the five-foot weapon around, giving a few practice stabs. With a press of a button, two serrated blades extended from the blunt end. He then took a couple of swipes with the cutting end before collapsing the entire spear into a foot long tube, the points being covered by the metal casing. He slid the weapon into a snap holster on his left thigh. Next he strapped the disc and its box like holster to his right thigh. Finally, he lifted a small device to his shoulder. It was a small cannon with a triangular barrel, with a small hole on each point of the triangle. The barrel itself was circular. The cannon or disrupter caster snapped onto his right shoulder. He attached a strap with five buttons to his left arm. He slipped an eyepiece over his right eye and pushed a button on his left sleeve. The points on the triangle began to glow orange. A triangle aiming cursor appeared in his right field of vision. As he moved his eyes, the cursor followed his gaze. With every look, the disrupter caster made a minute correction. Instead of a laser, concentrated, invisible heat rays aimed the gun. Riplous picked up an electronic pad and tossed it in the air. The gun followed the falling object and Riplous pressed a button on his left arm. A bolt of green light followed the pad and shattered the pad in a cloud of smoke, metal, and glass. Riplous deactivated the weapon and smiled.

“Who?!” asked Hasaran with disbelief on the Command Carrier’s massive bridge. “Colonel Tavek sir”, replied the female communications officer. Hasaran’s heart raced with that name. It had to be a trap, why would he surrender if his death was assured? “His ship is approaching”, reported the sensor officer. “Attack Ship?” asked Hasaran. “No, a Marauder”, he replied. Hasaran knew that this wasn’t right; it had to be a trap. His brow furrowed with thought. “Send an Attack Ship to escort that ship into the upper docking bay”, ordered the Proconsul. “I want two shock trooper units standing by, full armor and weaponry”, he ordered with a cautious smile.

Tavek watched as on of the three Serpent Order Elite Guard Attack Ships broke from its escort position and flew towards him. The commander of the Attack Ship contacted him. “Dock at the top docking bay, any attempt to power weapons will be met with immediate deadly force”. Tavek looked back and smiled at Jenovian and Riplous. “Take your positions”, he ordered. The pair quickly slipped into two hidden compartments in the floor, slipping floor panels over them. Tavek sat back as the tractor beam pulled the transport into the massive hanger, filled with Prowlers and Marauders.

The very familiar sound of two dozen pulse weapons powering up greeted Tavek as the Marauder door opened. The completely black armor covered shock troopers trained their weapons on the legendary warrior. “On the ground now!” ordered a shock trooper in a nasal voice through his gas mask. Tavek graciously lay on the ground, spread eagle. The massive tide of black closed on him, weapons ready.

Jenovian listen carefully as the sound of boots faded away from the ship. She looked at her time keeping device and took a deep breath when it reached zero. “Show time”, she said lifting the floor panel. The well-muscled reptile followed suit, easily flipping to the ship’s deck. Jena slung a tool bag over her shoulder. “Good luck”, she said to the empty air that Riplous had occupied. “You too”, came his deep voice from right in front of her. His barley visible form trotted out of the Marauder. Jenovian took a minute to prepare herself for the task to come, and walked calmly out.

It was him! No doubt about it. Hasaran starred at the restrained Tavek. The soldier hung by his wrists, feet not touching the floor. His feet were also shackled. Two of Hasaran’s elite guard stood behind him. One wielded a pulse powered MAC-11 known better now as a Crichton Gun. Tavek’s evil grin still stayed on his face, and his killer’s eyes seemed to stare into Hasaran’s soul. Hasaran would enjoy breaking the son of Tain, hear him scream and beg for mercy. What torture implement to use first? Heat knives, electro shock, or maybe some old-fashioned bone breaking.

“Hello Tavek”, said Hasaran, smacking Tavek square in the jaw with a retractable baton. Tavek didn’t even reward him with a grunt of pain. Tavek just looked back. “Harder please”, he said in a cocky tone. This warranted two more smacks. Tavek began to let loose a hideous, evil laugh. “Your technique is lacking”, replied Tavek, hocking a big, bloody luggie in Hasaran’s face. The infuriated Proconsul began smacking him in the forehead repeatedly until Tavek passed out. Hasaran pried his head up with the baton and took it away. Tavek’s head slumped, he was knocked out. “Great!” screamed Hasaran. He turned to his guards. “I’m going to make a report to the Chairman, watch him and stay out of his reach”, ordered Hasaran wiping the blood/spit combo from his forehead. He exited the dark room, leaving Tavek alone with the guards. As soon as the door closed, Tavek’s head sprang up. “Hey pretty boys”, said Tavek with a cruel smile.

Jenovian exited engineering. Disabling the systems had been a snap, no one even bothered to check her ID. She had managed to disable the alarm system, the non-gun cameras and sensors and external communications. She began making her way to the gun control room, their fates now in Riplous’s powerful hands.

“That damn door is malfunctioning again!” complained the gun control officer. The three other people in the room, all techs, stared at the automatic door. It had popped open as if someone had triggered the pressure plates. But, no one had entered. Glass surrounded the room on three sides, with only one black bulkhead in the back. Monitors and computers littered the room. The only armed one of the group was the LT, a tall female. Two weakly looking males and a petite female stood with her. One tech, a small, brown haired man slowly stepped backward. “Did you see that?” he asked panicked. “See what?” asked the LT. The tech pointed behind the Lt. In usual horror movie fashion, she turned around just in time to die. The simultaneous sounds of the cloak deactivating and the spear extending meshed into one horrible sound. With a quick swing, the dual serrated blades separated the Lt’s head from her body in a spattering of blood. Before her head could hit the ground, Riplous made a diving swing at the closest two techs. Their heads rolled on the steel floor after one quick strike. Both bodies fell to their knees, al the blood in their upper body rushing through the open throats. The tech that had noticed Riplous’s outline was now frantically pressing the alarm button, to no avail. “No!” screamed the little man backing into a corner. He felt a rush of warm wetness run down his pants as he put his face in his hands. He meeked out “Gun room to security….” His message was cut off, his fingers slipped from the comm. His lunges were pierced, and even worse, his attacker was lifting him up. Riplous’s spear had completely gone through his upper chest, barley missing his heart. Riplous held the struggling little man up with one hand. With a deep grunt, Riplous tossed him against the back bulkhead; the satisfying sound of the spine breaking on impact filled the room. Now, Riplous was alone, in a room full of blood and bodies. “Ah food”, said Riplous satisfied.

The tech’s message had pretty much fallen on deaf ears. All security teams were either guarding Tavek or on their sleep cycle. Only two seven-man teams were on standby and neither was in a rush to get there. Normally, only one guard would go, but on heightened alert status, entire teams had to be sent. Teams Charin and Deltan were the two available units. Each was coming from barracks on different sides of the gun control room. Deltan was coming from below, going past engineering. That’s where they ran into Jenovian.

Riplous had warned her that the tech had gotten off a message and that two teams were on the way. She stood in the most isolated hallway that they would use, waiting for her time to strike. The unarmored security personal passed her at a slow run, paying no attention. She crept behind them as they gathered near a door. She got right behind them, not three feet away, and took another deep breath. She stuck her hand into her tool bag, putting one hand under its front end. The front of the bag exploded in a firestorm of pulse blasts. The bolts of light easily tore through the unarmored flesh of the security guards, scattering them in different directions. They all fell, smoldering, dead to the floor, not one shot fired by them. She quickly put a burst in each ones head just to be sure. She quickly sealed the door that they had entered from. She unzipped the bag and removed the sub machine gun that had been concealed in it. She planted a new clip and zipped it back in the bag. Riplous was by now engaging the second team; she wondered how he was faring. A panicked voice cracked over the dead Lieutenant’s comm. “Deltan, get here now! We can’t hit it, its like a ghost, get her n….”, the message was cut short by the sound of Riplous’s disc. She quickly exited, locking the other door.

Jenovian threw down the bag as she neared the door that would lead to the hall outside the gun control room. She readied her SMG, butt stock out. She braced herself as the door slid open. Ahead of her was a small corner, not ten feet away. The wall facing her was covered in blood. A large gash was cut into the metal wall; the cut had a bizarre arc, more than likely from Riplous’s disc. She slowing sneaked towards the blood soaked juncture. She quickly strafed the corner, weapon ready. A feeling of shock overwhelmed her. The bodies of four dead security men, including their Lieutenant were scattered. The Lt and a private laid headless, blood still flowing out onto the ground. The private was directly in front of the Lt; obviously the disc had torn through him first. Another private lay in a pool of blood, the top right of his skull/face gone, brains exposed, at least those not on the walls. The final one was leaning near a side door, his throat slashed. The position of his body showed that he hadn’t died instantly. They probably had been the victims of a good solid spear swipe. Pulse blasts scorched the hallway, and the smell of chakan oil almost matched that of blood. Where were the rest of them, and Riplous? Three flashlights caught her eye. They were patrolling the room next to the gun control area. A large two level room holding a power distribution node. They were patrolling the bottom level, below the catwalk.

The sergeant tried not to breath heavily as he led what was left of his squad through the darkness. Most of the lights had burnt out, leaving it semi-lit. He took point, his men barley behind him. The area seemed empty, but this monster could turn invisible, only appearing to attack. He thought about holding outside the room and waiting for the other squad, but if this thing got loose, it could kill unmolested. He suddenly got a feeling in his chest, a burning sensation, like a beam of sunlight hitting his black shirt.

A burning green bolt flew from a rafter right in front of them. The disrupter blew out the Sergeant’s midsection, ripping him in half. His torso fell backwards, smoldering at the bottom. An electric sound and Riplous has cloaked again. The pair of privates began to fire randomly, screaming all the time. They desperately tried to get a fix on the blur bouncing from rafter to rafter overhead. The blur lunged towards the forward private from the rafters. Before his feet touched the ground, Riplous had already decloaked and cut the private’s throat out. He bounced back up to the second level, already cloaked again.

Riplous observed the last private screaming and firing wildly with his heat vision. The bolts and their places of impact all glowed a bright white, sticking out in the wash of blue. The private turned, giving Riplous his opportunity. He hit the floor, ten feet away still cloaked. The private immediately turned to him, weapon clicking dry. “Oh no, no!”, screamed the PeaceKeeper reloading. Riplous’s cloak faded away as he drew his spear. His forked tongue stuck out down to his chin as he gave a hungry cry/hiss. He stood his ground as the private loaded and aimed. The private quickly squeezed off three rounds. He watched in horror as Riplous deflected the bolts with his spear. As the third blast was deflected, Riplous drew his wrist blades. He ran at the PeaceKeeper, deflecting several more shots. When he got with in two feet, he began to spin clockwise. The spear in his left hand first severed the arm holding the rifle, which fell to the ground with the arm. Next, the wrist blades came around slicing the chest in a cloud of blood. The spear came around again, this time catching the privates back. Riplous spun behind the almost dead privates back. Holding his head still with his left forearm, Riplous made a long, slow cut across the private’s throat. The body fell to his knees, head back. Blood spewed upward like some foul geyser. Riplous smiled as the light shower of blood covered his face, his mouth open, drawing in the vapor. The geyser stopped after a few seconds, and Riplous shoved the body carelessly to the ground, face first. He gave a satisfied hiss and went to join Jenovian.

Jenovian wiped the blood off the main computer screen. Even after all the killing she had seen and done, this room still made her sick. Once activated, the guns could sweep the whole ship clean except for the bridge, which had no guns. The Serpent Order hack disk easily took control of the gun computer. With a few quick adjustments, Jenovian made the computer believe that every registered friendly was an enemy (except Hasaran who was needed alive) and anyone not registered a friendly. Jenovian hesitated to push the activation button. One press of this would kill almost one thousand PeaceKeepers. This bout with conscience lasted for about five microts before she pressed the button.

Tavek looked at the gun turret in the corner. The light suddenly changed to red and the gun came to life. “Nice knowing you fellows”, said Tavek. The wall gun opened fire, instantly killing both guards. Tavek laughed at their deaths.

Jenovian watched on the screens as the guns did their work. They mowed down troopers in the halls, in their beds, mowed down techs in engineering and the hangers, and even killed patients and doctors in the infirmary. The carnage was over in two minutes. The computer reported. “All hostiles in range eliminated, total killed, 1,053”, it reported bluntly. She click on the holding sell gun camera. Sure enough, Tavek was alive, handing by his hands in a room with two bodies. She slowly aimed the manual crosshairs on the chain and fired.

Tavek fell to the floor, landing easily. He quickly searched the body of the guards, finding the key to the cuffs. He picked up his coat and hat from the floor and took the MAC-11, the pistol, and some extra ammo for each.

The deadly trio met outside the sealed bridge door, weapons ready. A pack of explosives was placed on the large metal door. Tavek patted Riplous on the back. “Remember, we need Hasaran alive, do not kill him, understand”, said Tavek. Riplous nodded.

The doors well through the room as the explosives detonated. The flying door crushed the helmsman. Riplous lead the charge into the bridge, deflecting pulse blasts and firing his disrupter caster simultaneously. Tavek followed up, his machine pistol threw out a constant stream of red blasts, with the pistol providing supporting fire from his left hand. Tavek’s dual weapons mowed down four officers, Jenovian’s SMG another two. Hasaran and a guard were all that was left. They both threw down their weapons. The guard’s head was blown off by Riplous’s disrupter caster. Tavek smiled as he walked up to Hasaran. “Hasaran, you are now officially my bitch!”, he said, kicking the Proconsul square in the jaw, knocking him out.