Crusade For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 2) (40 page)

The screen in front of them blanked and flashed a bright pink before reverting to all black.  In simple white text were the words:

It’s Hanna, who else?  Valerie, only you would manage to break out of a maximum security prison before we got to you.  You’ll never guess who’s heading your way though.

“Who in hades are these people?”  Quin asked and Valerie smiled.

***

Red lights flashed and alarms sounded all around Button.  He smiled inside his helmet.  Was there anything the kid couldn’t do?  “Crew quarters are sealed, Hanna has control of the sensors and camera’s.” Lieutenant Saito said over the com and Button’s smile got a little wider. 
Evidently not
, he thought as the Lieutenant continued.  “She has confirmed Major Carter’s location in Wing Six, Level three.  Button and Wester, get those doors open.  We’ll be right behind you.”

“Copy, Lieutenant.”  Stealth was now a thing of the past.  He rose from his position and charged towards the blast doors.  With a flex of a muscle in his left arm he engaged the Plasma Cannon attached.  Wester was right beside him, with her Plasma aimed at the door in front.  At twenty metres they both opened fire.  White balls of heat and energy shot forward and hit the thick metal in the centre.  Button and Wester were well briefed on this type of door and each sent a second and third blast into them.

When they arrived, a hole big enough for even their armoured forms had been melted in the centre.  In a well-practised manoeuvre, Wester dropped back enough for Button to leap through the hole dripping with metal, before following him.  Landing on the other side, Button cleared the way for Wester as he searched for targets.  None could be seen.

“All clear,” he reported.  His armour’s sensors continuing to sweep around them.  At his command, a schematic of his area of the Rock came up on his HUD, showing Alpha team’s location.  They were underneath the shuttle bay situated at the top of Wing Five.  To get to Wing Six they would have to use the lift shafts connecting the two wings.  As part of the lockdown, Hanna shutdown the power to all inter-wing lifts, Alpha team would be walking through those tunnels.  The shaft they needed was accessible a little further along from their entry point. 

In the other direction, Button could see the massive doors Hanna’s activation of the lockdown caused to lock into place.  They would not be easy to re-open.  The Plasma cannon on his arm would not be strong enough to burn through, even if they combined all five of their fire power.

Alpha team were the first to arrive and were ahead of the Helos carrying the rest of the Company.  The plan was for them to secure Wing Six’s shuttle bay in preparation for the Company’s arrival.  To enter the wing itself, to free the prisoners, they would need to enter via the shuttle bay, go across the top of the wing, through the administration area and back down the other side.  They expected the heaviest resistance to be in that admin area.  It would make the most sense for the guards not caught in the lockdown, to stand their ground there.

Lieutenant Saito and the other two caught up.  He waved for Button to continue on point.  None of the remaining doors were locked and Button stalked down the corridor.  They were thinner than the one they left.  There was plenty of room to move on his own, but it would be difficult for one of the others to walk next to him.  They proceeded along in single file.

An icon flashed on his HUD.  “I’ve got life signs, LT.  I’m checking it out,” he reported.

“Copy that.  Wester, back him up,” the Lieutenant ordered.

“On it, LT.”  Wester’s signal moved up closer behind Button, ready to assist him if needed.  The door opened easily to his touch and, with his Plasma Cannon leading the way, he stepped through.  He wouldn’t actually use the Plasma, the twin Pulse guns on his wrist would be more than sufficient.

The room was a mixed sex toilet.  Stalls with closed doors ran down one side, with sinks on the other.  His HUD easily identified three life signs hiding in the last three stalls.  Button concentrated to keep the laughter from his voice and switched on his external speakers.

“I can see the three of you in here.  Step out of the stalls or I will open fire on my count of three.  One, two.”  At the very moment he began the t of two, all three stall doors slid open.  Two men and a woman tumbled out.

They got a good look at Button’s wide, matt black, hulking shape.  He had disengaged his armours camouflage system, when he had charged the blast door, so they got to see him in plain sight.  One of the men took one look and threw up all over the floor.  Fortunately none of it splattered onto Button’s mechanical boots, the other two weren’t so lucky.

“Don’t kill us.  Please!” the woman begged and the second man wasn’t far behind her.

Button let them get it out of their system for a moment before raising his arm and directing his guns away from them.

“Is there anyone else in this area?  Any guards?” he asked.

“No, no one.  Just us.  We were down here running maintenance when the lockdown started.  We thought the prisoners had escaped and hid here!”   The woman explained. 

The man who emptied his stomach on the floor and was now on his hands and knees looked up.  “Are you here to rescue us?”

Again Button tried to keep the laughter out of his voice.  For these people it really wasn’t funny, but there was a certain irony to him being here.  Normally it would be exactly what Shadow Company would be doing.

“No.  We’re here to rescue the prisoners.”  Their faces went even paler than they already were.  A thought occurred to him.  “Is there a way to get to Level three of Wing Six from here without going through the wing’s shuttle bay?”

The man and woman who were still standing, looked at one another and then back at Button.  He leaned in a little to add some menace.  They backed away hurriedly and the man on the floor looked like he was going to be sick again.

“Yes,” the woman answered.  “There’s a conduit shaft going all the way down to the bottom of this wing.  Down there, you’ll be able to find a maintenance tunnel running to Wing Six.  If you follow it through, it will take you to the main lift banks.  From there you have access to every level.”

“What do you mean by the shaft?” Button asked and shifted his arm down slightly to increase the level of menace he was projecting.

The woman got the message and held her hands up in front of her as she cowered further back.  “D, don’t shoot!” she said hurriedly.  “The lifts here don’t go down that far, only the shaft.  It’s too narrow for them and it’s used as a utilities trunk only.”

“Show me,” he told her and projected the holomap procured by the Rebellion in front of them. 

The woman pointed to the lift tunnels the team were planning to use and indicated an off-shoot.  On their plan, it didn’t go anywhere.  “It’s just here.  You’ve got a general schematic, rather than the maintenance version, so it’s not showing.”

“Good, throw your wristcomps on the floor in front of me.”  They complied and his armoured foot crushed them into smithereens.  “I’m going to seal the door.  Stay here and you’ll be safe enough,” he ordered.  The door slid shut behind him and a small plasma torch, which flipped out of his right wrist, stopped it from opening again.

“Good work.”  The Lieutenant congratulated him.  His armour had relayed the entire conversation to the rest of the team.  “Change of plan.  We’ll go straight for the Major.  Get us to the shaft, Button.”

“Yes, sir,” he responded.

Around the corner sat the nearest entrance.  All of the cars were scattered up and down the shafts, none were in their way.  The doors opened easily with a little encouragement from Button’s powered muscles.  Inside it was pitch black, with no light sources in the tunnels.  It did not matter with their armour’s night vision and sensor capability.  What Button saw on the screen in front of his face, gave him a perfect view of every facet of the tunnel around him.  He led them to the point the woman indicated.  The conduit shaft was right where she said it would be.

With Button in the lead, the team jumped down the shaft, using grav-belts built into the armour to descend.  The trip down was a smooth one.  A release on the door at the bottom allowed him to open it without resorting to force.  Ahead of him ran a long straight corridor, just as the woman said.  Wester was right behind him.  They stepped out in a defensive formation while the rest of the team arrived. 

“Chao!”  Hanna’s voice said over his com.  “You’re not going to believe this.  Valerie’s escaped and has taken control of her floor.”

“Excellent news, Hanna.  You really should be talking to Lieutenant Saito, though,” he chided her gently.

“Oh, to lightning with that.  He’s never met her.”  Hanna replied indignantly and Button couldn’t help but smile.  No matter what she did, there was something very likeable about that girl.  Just about everyone in the Company were looking after her and Deni like they were their kid sisters.

“He’s still in charge.  I’m putting you through to him now.  LT, I’ve got Hanna on the line.”

A slightly sulky Hanna repeated her message to him.  “Can you get us a com link to her?” the Lieutenant asked.

“No, the only coms they have are from the guards,” she answered.  “They’ve all been shut down.  It’s some sort of failsafe in case the prisoners get hold of them.  Someone in that wing is thinking on their feet.”

“Agreed.  Get that information through to Sergeant Major Bickerstaff on Helo One.  It’ll mean he could be meeting organised resistance.”

“Already done, Michio.”  Button could hear the delight in Hanna’s tone as she used the Lieutenant’s name.  He might have to point out to her she was actually allowed to do that.  Though her place in the Alliance was loose at best, her seniority in the organisation gave her the authority of a Captain.  He’d have to wait until the right moment to burst her bubble around that particular rebellious streak.

“Excellent, Hanna.  Saito out.  Button, the Major is waiting.  Let’s hustle.”

“Yes, Sir.  Hustling now.”  Button responded and loped off down the corridor.  Wester and the rest of the team behind him.

“Five minutes out.”  Rush’s voice said over the Helo’s com.  Julianna tried to shift her shoulders to ease some of the tension.  Her armour and the straps holding her securely in her seat, prevented her from doing so.  Instead, she moved her head from side to side.  The movement now came naturally to her, unlike when she first donned her armour.

When they gave her the suit of close fitting Medium Power armour, she stumbled all over the place.  It took time to get used to the servo assistance.  Hers was a lighter version than the FPB armour used by Shadow Company.  It would protect her against all, but the unluckiest hits from a Mag round and most Pulse rounds.  The servos doubled her speed, strength and agility and took the most time to learn.

After Major Forlani’s strict and intensive training, Julianna and all of the Rebel fighters felt confident in their new equipment.  That was about to be put to the test.  Nerves were affecting her and she wished her cousin was in the Helo with her, rather than out on the Rock with the rest of First Platoon’s Alpha fire team.

Combat was not a new experience for Julianna.  She had been in a number of harried fights against police and Legion forces.  This was different though.  All of those battles were on the ground, generally in cities and armed with very different weaponry and armour.  She could see the other two Rebel fighters sitting next to her were also nervous.  Both shifted in their seats as much as they were able, their hands clasping and unclasping around their Pulse rifles.

The Shadow Company stood like statues, in two lines down the centre of the Helo’s main bay.  They were forced to stand with their feet magnetically clamped to the floor.  Their armour was too big for the seats.  There were no nervous movements from them, occasionally one would shift their arms or body slightly, but that was all.  Across the bay from Julianna, sat the other two members of her fire team.

Those two didn’t display any more nervousness than the Company troops.  The man actually moved less than them.  The woman’s head was constantly roving about as she took in what was around her.  From experience Julianna knew Troll would be talking almost incessantly, while Barney sat there and listened.

She met the two Enforcers when they were put into the same company by Major Forlani.  They arrived with quite a reputation among the other criminals and then word got out they had fought alongside Carter numerous times.  That went a long way with the members of Shadow Company.  Julianna actually thought Troll would have been picked to lead their fire team over her.  When Lieutenant Saito told them it would be Julianna, Troll hadn’t argued and that was a surprise as well.  The woman seemed to comment on just about everything else.

The tall redhead must have seen her looking and her com flashed up on Julianna’s HUD.

“Don’t worry, this is nothing,” the other woman told her.

“Oh, really?  Done many space assaults, have you?”  Julianna couldn’t help the edge in her tone, the nerves were getting to her more than she thought.

Troll just laughed.  “You should ask Rush or Hobbs.  They’ve got a mean story about our second Job with Carter.  They were stuck in the back of a recycling lorry with her, while Rush drove it by remote.  She had him ram a building with it.”

“And where were you?”

“Barney and I were giving covering fire from another building.  It wasn’t too bad, only a couple of dozen goons from a rival gang.”

“Stealing their stash?”  The edge was still in Julianna’s voice, she couldn’t relax it.

“Nah, rescuing Hanna.  Sneaker annoyed a rival Boss so she took Hanna as payback.  Carter was a bit miffed.”

Curiosity got the better of her, stories about Carter were becoming legendary in the Alliance and she had to ask.  “How miffed?”

“We didn’t know it at the time, but there were about a hundred goons before she went in.  From what we heard afterwards, less than twenty got to walk away.”

“And she ram-raided their building with a recycling lorry?  How many people did she take in with her?”

“Rush, Hobbs and Sneaker, and it wasn’t the hairiest.  The Heists we pulled that year with Carter were awesome.  Been a bit quiet since she left.”

Julianna shook her head and felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips.  “I can imagine.”

“One minute.”  Rush said over the com.

“We’ll watch your back.”  A deep rumble said over Julianna’s com.  She needed to double check the HUD to see who it came from.  She couldn’t remember the last time Barney spoke to her.

“It’s what we do best,” Troll confirmed.  “We did it for Sneaker and Carter.  We’ll do it for you.”

That made her feel quite a bit better, her shoulders relaxed on their own and her breathing felt normal as she readied her rifle.

“Thanks,” she told them and the two Enforcers nodded back confidently.

The Helo shuddered slightly as it landed and the rear ramp slammed down.  The armoured forms of Shadow Company’s First Platoon charged out.  Charlie team went left, Delta right and Bravo straight down the middle.

“Let’s go!”  Julianna ordered and hit the release on her seats straps, jogging to the end of the ramp.  Troll and Barney beat her to it and crouched on either side, their rifles scanning for threats.  Beaumont and Haworth weren’t far behind Julianna and ready to go on her word.

With Button and his team already on the rock, Helo One had five free spaces.  Julianna and the others were picked to make up the numbers.  They came through training with the highest scores.  Sergeant Major Bickerstaff made it clear to her, they were not to leave the Helo until he gave the all-clear, so she held her team on the ramp.

As though he was listening in on her thoughts, his rough voice spoke on the com.  “Bay secured, no hostiles.  Move it out, Julianna.”

“Yes, Sergeant Major,” she replied and switched to her team’s net.  “We’re all clear.  Our objective’s the control room.  Troll and Barney, you have point.  Go!”

There was no hesitation and the two Enforcers dashed out into the massive bay.  Designed for cargo shuttles, the Company’s Windsoar class Helo looked like a minnow in the cavernous space.  She heard the engines whine and the Helo took off behind her.  With their servo-assisted speed, the two Enforcers and three Rebel Fighters arrived at the door to the control room quickly.

The door didn’t open initially and Barney’s armoured fist smashed into the control plate.  Troll was right beside him and connected up her wristcomp expertly.  Unsurprisingly, this was something the Enforcers didn’t need to be shown in training and Julianna let them get on with it.  In almost no time at all, the door slid open and Julianna was first in.  A small crew lounge was to her right.  A glance showed it was clear.  She raced up the stairs to the control room.

Another locked door was at the top and she followed Barney’s example with a well-placed fist.  Troll hadn’t wasted any time and was right behind with her wristcomp at the ready.  Barney stood at her shoulder with his Pulse rifle aimed at the door.  Julianna took up position on the other side.  A nod from Troll was their only warning.  The door slid aside.  Mag rounds careened from Barney’s armour as he stormed through the door.

Men and women cowered behind ripped apart consoles.  Bits of wire and circuit boards lay all across the floor.  Two held Mag pistols and fired almost blindly from behind what cover they could find.  Barney’s shots found the first one, his Pulse rounds tearing through a chair in front of her as though it was made of tissue paper.  Julianna shot the second, her first burst catching his shoulder and throwing him back, to allow a second burst to take him in the centre of the chest.

Troll stepped in between them, her rifle up and ready, but it was all over.  The surviving five technicians raised their hands and shouted their surrender.

“Wow, they’ve made a bit of mess in here.”  Troll said.  “Do you think there’s something they haven’t taken apart?  Wait, I think that VI screen is still in one piece.  No, sorry.  They’ve ripped out its holo projector.”

Barney didn’t reply and began hauling the cowering techs out from where they were trying to hide.  Julianna waved to Beaumont and Haworth who were just outside the door.

“Get this lot down to that crew lounge and lock them in.”

“No problem, Julianna,” replied Haworth and waved the barrel of his rifle at the newly acquired prisoners.

Looking around, Julianna didn’t like what she could see.

“What do you make of it, Troll?  Do we need to put any of this together before the shuttles get here?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Troll replied, shaking her head in disbelief.  “Even if Hanna unlocks the controls, we won’t be able to shut the doors.  It’s already fifty degrees below out there and dropping fast.  The prisoners will freeze before we can get them on the shuttles.”

The windows overlooking the landing bay were set to fully opaque.  Probably by the tech’s they just captured when they saw the Helo coming in.  Fortunately that was one control still in working order.  The windows cleared at the press of a button.  Julianna looked out and could see the three heavily armoured teams of Shadow Company, each at their own objective.  The Helo itself sat to one side, giving the two much bigger shuttles room to land.

Behind the Helo was the cavern entrance.  The blackness of space looked back through a slight blue haze.  The haze defined the energy field holding the air inside the bay, resisting the pressure of the vacuum outside.  Airshields did an excellent job at allowing ships to land and take off, while stopping people from suffocating, but they could not prevent heat bleed.

With the doors open for over two hours, the temperature had been dropping the entire time.  As Button’s team could attest to, the FPB armour was designed to operate at minus two hundred and seventy degrees centigrade, the average temperature of space this far out in a solar system.  Her own teams MP armour would still be working at minus one hundred degrees, keeping them alive if it dropped another twenty.

Neither of those options were available to the prisoners.  Unless they got the doors closed, no one would be able to leave.  She checked the chrono on her HUD and calculated the timetable of their plan.

“Shuttles are five minutes out, Troll.  Do whatever you and Barney can in that time to give our techs a head start.  I’ll take Beaumont and Haworth and see if this place has an umbilical cord we might be able to jury-rig.”

“OK, Guv.  We’ll see what we can do,” Troll replied.

“One-bravo-one, Julianna.”

“Go ahead,” the Sergeant Major replied.

“Things are pretty busted up in the control room.  The techs are going to have to put it back together before we can shut the doors.  I’ve got Troll and Barney working on it.  I’m going to bring my team to you and see if there’s an umbilical we can rig up.”

“There’s an equipment bay here that might have something you can use.  I’ll let the tech’s know what to expect and see you over here,” he answered and the com clicked off.

Jogging down the stairs, Julianna found Haworth and Beaumont outside the sealed crew room.  She waved for them to follow her across the bay.  Five black armoured figures stood in a rough ring around the bay’s main entrance.  The door was shut for the moment.  Julianna knew one of the Sergeant Major’s team were hooked into the cameras.  They would be watching carefully what was on the other side.  The plan was to wait until everyone had been assembled before continuing the assault.

One of them pointed to the side.  Julianna thought it was Corporal Ulrich from the markings on the armour.  It led her to a large door a Helo could fit through.  Fortunately it wasn’t locked and opened easily at a press of the button.  The lights came on automatically and didn’t really help very much.  It looked like whoever ran this bay, kept it clear by simply throwing everything into here.  It was a complete jumble of parts and equipment, slung in a seemingly random manner.

“How are we going to find anything in there?” Beaumont asked.

Julianna quickly glanced around and estimated distances in her mind.  “We’ll have to pull it all out.”  She pointed to the side opposite the bay entrance.  “If we put it over there and keep it close to the wall, we won’t get in the way of the Sergeant Major or the incoming shuttles.”  She spied several grav-lifts just inside and pointed them out.  “We’ll use those and at least we don’t have to worry about damaging anything.  Let’s get to work.”

Though Julianna was sure it wasn’t what their designers had envisaged, the MP armour was of great help.  If they cared what happened to the stuff they didn’t need, maybe not, but with the extra strength the servos gave them, they were able haul stuff out much quicker and easier.  They worked as quickly as they could, hauling, pushing and throwing everything out of the way while they searched. 

MP armour regulated the temperature inside to account for whatever its occupant was experiencing.  When they were inactive, it stayed warm and reduced the temperature when working heavily, like now.  Even with all of its technological marvels, it could not stop the human body from perspiring.  It occurred to Julianna, as the sweat beaded down her forehead and in her armpits, most soldiers who were standing and doing nothing while others worked, would be engaging in some sort of banter.

There was none from the Sergeant Major’s team.  All five of them stood silently, their complete focus on the door.  They were more than capable of a joke.  She played cards with many of them over the last couple of months.  Her cousin invited her to a few games and so did a number of other members of the Company.  It seemed that now was not the time, as they bent all their concentration to the task at hand.