Chapter 6:
"What
was that explosion?" Ens. Rose demanded, trotting
to where Searsk stood armed with a bolt rifle.
"Some kind of
explosive shell," Searsk informed him. "It
came from that wooded area adjacent to this wall."
Vearth ran up to them,
handing Ens. Rose his bolt rifle from the ship.
The three of them watched the trees carefully as
several more Tarcesian soldiers joined them. No
one saw anything, though. That was when another
explosion rocked the base, striking the eastern
wall.
"They're obviously
using the trees," Searsk shouted, running for
the gate controls. "We'll have to find them
before they shell the entire base!"
"Our 'friends'
from the ship?" Vearth said. "Do you think
that they followed us?"
"Not a doubt in
my mind," Ens. Rose answered, following Searsk
and five other soldiers.
Cirtha was loading
another shell into her massive weapon when she noticed
the soldiers leaving the walled base. She adjusted
her magnifier goggles to get a better look. There
were seven soldiers armed with rifles of some kind,
but as far as she could tell none of them had discovered
her location.
"Seven armed individuals
departing main gate," she reported. "Their
current movements take them southward."
"I read, RP1,"
Dertcha answered her communication. "We'll
be ready. This won't even be a challenge."
She snorted at his
response after she cut communication. She wasn't
about to underestimate an unknown enemy force. She
reloaded the weapon and slung it back over her shoulder,
preparing her two energy pistols. She swung silently
from the tree limb she was on to another tree.
It was a sudden thought
that convinced Ens. Rose to have Vearth and Searsk
go with him into the other end of the wood line.
They moved as quietly as possible through the woods,
watching the bushes and trees.
"Why are we looking
over here?" Vearth demanded. "The shots
came from over there."
"I know,"
Ens. Rose agreed. "But, the shots were moving
in this direction. That last one seemed too easy
to track."
Then they noticed a
very slight movement in the trees ahead. A dark
figure was quietly jumping to another tree. He motioned
for them to spread out a little.
The figure seemed to
notice, and turned with a very large weapon aimed
at them. Vearth fired a shot from his bolt rifle,
but the attacker leapt to another limb and fired.
The shell exploded as they scattered. Then it leapt
to the next tree.
"We've got to
time our efforts," Searsk advises. "Vearth,
fire at her. Michael and I will hit the nearest
limbs. With any luck, we'll shoot the perch out
from under him."
Vearth
fired quickly at the figure, as Ens. Rose and Searsk
blasted the two nearest tree limbs nearby. As they
had hoped, the figure landed on one of the limbs
just as they blasted it, sending limb and all crashing
down into some bushes below. The three of them rushed
to that position, aiming their weapons at the dazed
being in the bushes under the tree limb.
The being sighed and
raised its hands slowly in defeat. They quickly
disarmed the alien soldier and led it back to the
base. The soldier said nothing at all, simply trudged
along. Searsk was carrying the weapons, utterly
amazed at them.
Back on the Ulysses,
Capt. Gamble and Com. Ison are alerted that Capt.
Vorsethaine's ship is nearby. The Red Alert was
sounded as Comet Chaser 'surfaced' nearby, slowly
circling around. The big ship stops a short distance
away. Abruptly, the forward energy weapon bank began
firing!
The Ulysses banked
hard, narrowly evading the blasts. As it swung around,
one of the large torpedo banks on Comet Chaser fired
an alarming number of energy torpedoes. Ulysses
somehow managed to avoid most of them, but four
struck the shields, dealing severe damage to them.
Ulysses fired several
photon torpedoes. Two struck Comet Chaser, but it
was unclear how much damage it had sustained. It
moved quickly away and suddenly 'dove' again, vanishing.
Another group of torpedoes struck Ulysses, draining
the shields around the nacelles. One final torpedo
struck part of the left nacelle, severely damaging
it.
The ship was visible
again to their left, apparently ready to strike
again. However, a group of four smaller ships arrived
and began attacking the Comet Chaser. Unable to
combat all of the ships at once, it finally dove
and retreated.
"USS Ulysses,
this is Tarcesian Fleet Commander Daruth. We thought
you might appreciate a little help. If you'll come
with us, we have a spacedock. It may be sub par
to your own, but we can fix your ship."
"Commander Daruth,
this is Capt. Gamble," the Captain responded.
"We do appreciate the help, and we'll take
you up on those repairs. Thank you."
That having been said,
the four Tarcesian ships led Ulysses to their spacedock
to receive repairs.
Chapter
7:
"Ok," grumbled the Tarcesian
Base Commander, circling their captive impatiently.
"Let's try this again. Ask her again, Searsk."
"Who are you people?" Searsk
demanded. "Why are you here and why did you attack
the base?"
"Tir Cirtha, Recon Pack,"
the captive replied for the fourth time in an hour.
"Mission designation RP1."
"This guy is no help at all,"
Searsk muttered. "He's not talking."
The captive stared blankly at Searsk,
then suddenly unlatched the body armor and dropped
it on the floor. With the armor gone, a rather feminine
bust was evident beneath the gray uniform.
"Excuse me," Cirtha growled
irritably, "but I'm a female."
Ens. Rose began to laugh as Searsk
took on a slightly embarrassed expression. Once he
had regained his composure, he looked back at Cirtha.
She stared right back.
"Your other group is going to
walk right into a trap," she finally said with
a sigh. "I might as well tell you, since they
won't bother trying to get me back."
The Base Commander headed for the
door quickly to try to alert the other five soldiers
that had gone to investigate earlier. Searsk and Ens.
Rose stayed with Cirtha.
"Ok, so we've made some progress,"
Searsk said. "Why are your people attacking us?"
"Do you think they tell me anything?"
she laughed. "I'm only a female. No one tells
me anything. All I heard was something about an analysis."
"I take it your society is male-dominated?"
Ens. Rose commented.
"Yes, that's right," she
grumbled. "Entirely. Those females that are in
battle are expendable. But, I think it's better than
being a housekeeper or someone's breeder."
"You're obviously not pleased
with that," Searsk remarked. "Why are you
still doing it?"
"Well, I'm not as complacent
as some of the other females," Cirtha answered.
"Many are too afraid to stand up for themselves
or just accept it as the way things are. As far as
leaving, just where would I have gone?"
Continued-->>
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Personnel
Update 
for a few minutes before she stopped them, pointing
up ahead. The group of Renac soldiers was crouched
in the thick bushes, the large Dertcha behind them.
He had replaced his mechanical forearm with some kind
of four barreled energy weapon. A few yards away,
the Tarcesian soldiers were headed right for them.
