Transmission Lost (76 page)

In a flash, Ara'lana unsheathed her claws on one hand and swung it up. Aria screamed as the razor-sharp claws slashed through the left side of her face, up her cheek and across her eye. Instantly, everything to her left went dark, blood gushing from the gashes torn into her flesh and pouring down her face. She reeled away from her mother, disoriented and in some of the worst pain she could ever remember experiencing.

-Overconfidence,- Ara'lana said. She laughed, wiping the blood from her own face as she came way from the wall. -It's a killer.-

******

Brooke was gasping for breath, but she was keeping up well with Jack. He had been right about the Pteryd. After killing the first in the basement of the palace, they had been dodging more of them on a near-constant basis, and the word seemed to have spread among the rest of the rebel soldiers who remained in the palace. They'd been met at several hallway intersections on the way up by squads of two and three rebels, and Jack would either have to double back and find another way around or fight his way through. Up to now he'd managed to get them through the encounters alive, but several near misses had left him with graze wounds on his arms and legs, and one direct hit had mercifully been stopped by the stolen armor he was wearing. He was running low on ammunition, he was exhausted, and he was growing less certain by the minute that he and Brooke would be able to find a way out.

“Are we any nearer the exit?” Jack shouted to the slave girl, leaning around the corner to shoot down the hall at one Pteryd that was keeping them pinned down. He knew they were on the ground floor of the palace, but he was so disoriented that he couldn't tell exactly where.

“I think so,” Brooke said. She was flinching, her ears covered by both hands against the noise of the weapons firing. “If...I'm not sure, but I think if we go down that hall, there's a door that leads out into the gardens! I...I'm so turned around right now...”

“Fuck me...,” Jack groaned. He leaned his head around the corner. The Pteryd soldier was advancing on them, and it raised its weapon and fired just as he ducked back. He stuck his hand out into the hallway, bracing the rifle against the wall as he fired blindly. “I hope you're right about this.” His gun went empty, and he released the magazine as he reached for the last spare he had. He jammed it into the weapon and yanked the charging handle. With a deep breath, he took his rifle in both hands and knelt on the floor. Jack leaned around the corner again and squared his aim on the Pteryd, firing a three-round burst that took it right in the head, splintering the carapace around its brain as the bullets tore it to shreds. The insectoid alien dropped to the floor. “Goddamn, they just keep coming...Come on, let's go!”

He reached back and grabbed Brooke's hand. Together they ran down the hall towards the door at the end. If he got out of this alive, Jack promised himself that he would never take sunlight and fresh air for granted again.

******

-I would have given you everything, you know!-

Aria staggered to one side as her mother kicked her in the ribs, the pain from what was already broken amplified by the force of the attack. She fought to keep her feet, trying to push down the rising panic from being half-blind. Ara'lana gave her no quarter, her aggressiveness worse than ever. Her claws had opened more wounds on her arms, and though Aria was giving it back as much as she could, it wasn't enough. Her mother was just too good, and though Aria was tough, she didn't think she was going to be able to overcome her. She was losing a lot of blood, and dizziness was starting to come over her.

-You would have been a princess!- Ara'lana went on, shoving her with both hands. Aria stumbled, going down to one knee. That opened her up for a kick to the underside of her chin, and she collapsed onto her back. -Our family would have become the most powerful in the entire Ascendancy! Our people would have claimed their rightful place as the leaders of our race.-

Aria tried to respond, but she was choked as Ara'lana came down on top of her and pressed her hand around her throat. Her mother's fingers squeezed with a vice-like grip, cutting off her air as she held her down. She kicked her legs up in an effort to dislodge her, but the rebel leader had too good a position. She couldn't get her off, and her vision was starting to go black as her lungs grew desperate for oxygen. She racked her brain for something, anything she could do. As she thought hard, a sudden thought flashed into her head. She still had her knife strapped to her belt. In the stress and pain of the fight, she'd all but forgotten about it.

-You get to share in none of it, now,- Ara'lana said. She stretched her free arm back, all of her claws extended. Aria knew that the next blow would be straight at her neck. -Give our ancestors my regards.-

As her hand came down, Aria snatched her knife free from the sheath at her hip. Ara'lana's eyes widened in surprise as the polished metal caught the lights overhead, but she had nowhere to go. Aria thrust the knife up and plunged it into her chest, stabbing the blade deep into her heart up to the hilt. Her mother gasped, a gurgle coming from her throat as her face screwed up in pain and confusion. She twisted the blade violently, and Ara'lana retched as blood sprayed from her muzzle. The white-furred woman looked down at Aria, her eyes glazing over, and then she went limp.

With as much of her waning strength as she could muster, Aria rolled her mother's corpse off of her. Breathing was the hardest thing in the world right now. With the fight over, she could feel all the pain that her rage had been keeping dormant. She knew she had lost a lot of blood, and that she had broken bones all over her body. But her prey was dead, her fight was won, and the room was quiet.

The last thought that went through her head before unconsciousness took her was that she would have loved to have seen Jack one last time.

******

-Looks like some of them are giving up,- Lieutenant Ayalis said. She was watching the area around the palace through her rifle scope, with several of the human SEAL snipers nearby. Down in the gardens and the courtyards of the palace, numerous rebel soldiers were laying down their mostly empty weapons and stepping out from behind cover. Sporadic gunfire was still being exchanged, with the majority of that coming from the Pteryd.

For the most part, though, it seemed as though the battle was coming to an end. The commandos who had breached the palace were reporting back in, stating that the building had been almost completely cleared, apart from a few scattered areas. The airspace around Hayikwiir City was all but pacified, and the influx of human soldiers and armor was driving the rebels away. Mari didn't want to rejoice just yet, but in their sector of the planet, at least, it looked like the battle was close to being won.

-Rifleman in the open!-

The warning came from one of the other Royal Guard snipers perched among the buildings. The lieutenant got back on her rifle, scanning the ground below. -Where?- She reached over and slapped the arm of the SEAL next to her, letting him know to be ready.

-West side of the palace,- her soldier radioed to her. -I don't have a good angle.-

-I see him,- Mari said after searched for a few seconds. The human male soldier had come out of a side door into the gardens. “West,” she said to the SEAL.

“Got him,” he said. “He's got a weapon. There's a girl with him. Hostage?”

“Maybe,” Mari said. She zoomed in on the man. She could tell he was injured, but he had crimson body armor on and was carrying a rifle. He had what looked like one of the palace slaves by the hand, dragging her along with him, and he was looking around frantically.

“I don't think the guys on the ground have seen him,” the SEAL judged. He tightened his grip on the rifle. “I'll take the shot.”

Lieutenant Ayalis kept her scope on the man, something nagging at her in the back of her mind. The man turned his head, looking up at the sky, and then she had a quick realization. “Wait!” She dropped her grip on her rifle and lunged to the side, grabbing the SEALs rifle and jerking his aim off. “Not a rebel.” She got on her radio to the soldiers on the ground. -A human just came out of the palace, west side into the gardens. He is armed but he is
not
a threat. Get someone to him and bring him to safety.-

******

-Damn it all!- Admiral Kris snarled. Alarms were sounding all over her bridge, and more alerts from her captains were pouring into communications with each passing minute. The human ships and the Ailian reinforcements were tearing into her fleets, and though she was trying to manage things as best as she could her ships weren't able to fight back effectively enough. Her flagship was the least damaged of all of them, and even her shields were starting to buckle, and the human fighters had taken out nearly half of her ship's weapons. The battle was spinning out of control for her.

-Another group of ships coming out of hyperspace!- one of her radar officers called up to her. -An escort carrier and a formation of cruisers.-

Admiral Kris stared out of the forward viewport as the new group of human ships entered the space around Lirna. -What the hell are those Pteryd doing? Our flank is totally unprotected!- As she spoke, the fighter bays of the new carrier emptied, bombers and interceptors streaming out to join the fray. She stood up from her chair and went to the railing overlooking the crew deck, leaning down. -Someone get me the Pteryd commander on comms right now!-

-Admiral?-

The admiral turned around, her arms crossed over her chest as she regarded one of her junior officers. She did her best to look aloof and intimidating, but the effect was reduced when the fur on her tail was bristled out. -You had better be here telling me that the engineers have repaired the damaged shield generators.-

-No...ah...No, m'lady,- the lieutenant said. She swallowed. -Communications has been intercepting royalist transmissions from Lirna. They're reporting that Admiral Me'lia has been killed.-

Admiral Kris' eyes widened, and for a second she felt like her heart stopped. Her ears swept back as she crossed the distance between her and the lieutenant and grabbed her shoulders. -How reliable are those reports?- she demanded, shaking the officer violently.

-Th-The intelligence division thinks they're authentic,- the terrified lieutenant replied.

Selina cursed and spun away, her thoughts jumbled by this new information. She thought about the reports she had been receiving from the planet's surface. Eight of her fifteen ground commanders had failed to report in as scheduled, and the casualty numbers were not favorable. If Ara'lana had been killed, that was a further blow to their command structure. Some sort of miracle would be required to win this battle now, at least as long as those goddess-forsaken Pteryd held their hands behind their backs.

-Admiral, transmission coming in from the Pteryd.-

-About time!- Kris growled. She went back to her command chair and activated her comm system. A holographic image projected itself in the air before her, but it was not the Pteryd that she expected to see. -Seirin-143? Where is Admiral Tailin?-

The Pteryd envoy clacked its mandibles.
~The admiral is tending to the fleet and is busy. You wished to speak. Speak.~

-We are being decimated out here!- the Ailian admiral said, barely restraining her voice from a shout. -We need your assistance to drive back the humans.- She looked at her radar readouts, her eyes scanning back and forth. -Why are you pulling back your ships?-

~Admiral Me'lia is dead,~
the Pteryd said without inflection or feeling of any kind.
~Our soldiers on the ground informed the Combine before they were killed. The humans have changed the equation. This battle is lost. We intend to minimize the losses we will take and are falling back to positions in the Inner Colonies. You may stay and continue this futile endeavor if you wish. It would be much more prudent to conserve strength for the future.~

Admiral Kris bared her teeth at Seirin-143's image. -You are retreating? What cowardice is this?-

~It is not cowardice. It is a simple risk and benefit analysis. If you live, I look forward to speaking with you again, Admiral.~
Seirin-143 cut off the transmission on its end. Almost immediately afterward, Pteryd ships began disappearing from the radar screens as they jumped into hyperspace, leaving the system.

Selina clenched her fists, and then she slammed a hand down and snapped the armrest of her chair off. She was as furious as she could imagine herself ever being. -Damn those bugs...I told Ara'lana...-

-Admiral...-

-What!?- Admiral Kris snapped, spinning in her chair and glaring at the lieutenant who was still standing behind her.

The officer pointed at the forward viewport in answer. Admiral Kris turned back around just in time to see more human ships exiting hyperspace, smaller ships that seemed more suited to border patrols, but additional firepower nonetheless. She did the math in her head, and she leaned back in her command chair. Coldness washed over her. There was no way they could win this now.

-Admiral, what are your orders?-

Selina covered her eyes with one hand, and she clenched her jaw so tight that it ached. -Recall all fighters. Form up the fleets. Issue abandon ship orders for the most heavily damaged vessels, and gather escape pods as you can.- She lashed the air behind her with her tail once in anger. -Full retreat. The homeworld is lost.-