CHAPTER 31

CAVALRY

I.S.A. Tyndale – Over Hanger doors

'Coming in on the hanger now,' John said.

'Landing cameras online,' Sam said, checking her screen, 'Wow, Shirp did a number on that hanger bay.'

Looking at the screen, the doors of the hanger bay had a large gaping hole. Debris were scattered across the landscape. The left most door had been blown off its rails and was slumped downward, resting on the hanger bay floor.

'Is it big enough for us?' John said.

'Should be.'

'Taking us in,' John said.

'Hang on, I've got something else on sensors.'

On her screen, Sam watched as a group of ships winked into existence on her scopes. They were arrayed in formation. They surged to life and moved toward the planet.

Sam toggled the ships communication system. 'This is Captain Samantha Geer of the United Planetary Navy to unknown vessels, please identify yourselves.'

John looked nervously at her. 'More drones?'

'I hope not.'

'This is Captain Zao of the U.P.N. Grimshaw, please send your encryption codes immediately.'

'Negative Captain Zao, we're not on board our normal craft, we don't have access to our Guardian or it's encryption system.'

There was silence on the other end.

'What now?' John asked.

'They'll probably ask to board us, they'll see who we are, and then we can go home.'

'Maybe we can crack open Exo's base and get Dan out.'

'I hope so,' Sam replied.

'This is Captain Zao, I've got it on good authority you are who you say you are.'

Sam frowned. 'What authority would that be?'

'That would be your mother, a one Ayla Geer. She was the one that summoned the task force.'

'My mother's on board?'

'No Ma'am, she'll be coming here on board the craft that came and called for help. The U.P.N. Kanto. We didn't have any spare advocates that could fly it back, and its jump drive wasn't recharged yet, she agreed to do it.'

Sam was shocked. Her mother wanted nothing to do with Guardians since her younger days. She'd pushed that thought aside and focused back on the task at hand.

'Captain Zao, we have a situation we could use your help with. We've got a crew member who's in a facility on the planet below that's being held by a rogue Guardian unit. We had to leave him behind, but we can retrieve him now that you're here.'

'You left him behind? We heard a bit about the Guardian from your Guardian. Is there anything else you can tell us about it?' Zao asked.

'He actually stayed behind so we could escape. As for the Guardian, its designation is XO-33, and it's been completely independent of an Advocate for close to forty years. We've found it experimenting on animals and behaving in a hostile manner toward us. This thing is very dangerous and was not hesitating to destroy us.'

'I... see. Very well Captain Geer. If nothing else, this bears an investigation. My task force will deploy a marine squad on a lander craft. Follow it in, and help us through this.' Zao said.

'Just as a word of caution, the Guardian has many humanoid robots with limited combat capabilities, and seems to be able to control the animals in the facility.'

'How many animals are present?'

'A large number. It's a conservatory down there.'

'I will inform the commander. Captain Zao out.'

***

Sam stood inside their ship, waiting for John to land it in the hanger. Jing, Victor, and Ise stood around her. They all had their weapons drawn.

The ship gave a little shudder as it touched down on its landing struts.

'Popping the ramp captain, I'll meet you down there,' came John's voice over her suit comms.

The ramp slid downward and stopped on the hanger floor.

They walked down it. The devastation caused by Shirp was more clear this close. Many of the old ships had been damaged either by weapons fire, or by having debris from the massive hanger door crushed against them.

U.P.N. marines moved through the hanger in all black, armoured, space suits, checking the debris and wrecked ships.

One marine walked toward them. John came down the ramp behind them.

The marine came to a stop in front of them and saluted. Sam returned the salute.

His all black faceplate became transparent, showing his stern and alert face.

'Commander Garr, 17th Space Marine Division. My men are checking the hanger bay now. I'd appreciate it if you could fill me in on the layout of the base.'

Sam turned to Victor, who pulled out his tablet and handed it to the Marine.

'Victor here had time to upload all of our readings into something of a map. It'll show the areas we've been, but in the lower levels, it'll be of less use, as we discovered that some walls are reconfigurable.'

Commander Garr took the tablet and entered commands on it. 'Thank you, Captain. I've uploaded the map to my suit and sent it to my men. Where should we be headed?'

'Down. I believe the Guardian's mainframe is located on the lowermost floor,' Sam said.

The marine nodded. 'Let's get moving.'

Two marines stayed with the landing craft, and the rest fell in around their commander as they started for one set of doors to the hanger.

When the doors didn't open, Commander Garr signaled one of his men who had cutting equipment on his back. The marine cut through the door. As soon as he made the first cut, air rushed through the cut into the vacuum of the hanger.

When he finished his cuts, the troops took positions around the door, and pushed it down. On the other side, two humanoid robots, holding small metal rods, charged them. The marines opened up with their weapons, the robots blew apart in a shower of sparks and shrapnel.

'Close combat opponents. Stay sharp,' Commander Garr said.

They moved through the ragged opening in the door and down a long hall way. At the end, another door stood between them and further progress, but this one slid open. It lead to an open room that had a waiting elevator in its centre

Everyone paused.

'He wants us to keep going,' Sam said.

'Not keen on taking an elevator. Too little space, and he could just make it drop,' Commander Garr observed flatly.

They walked into the room, and the door slid shut behind them. Commander Garr didn't seem phased by it. 'We must cut through on our way back.'

Victor walked over to the elevator shaft and had a look at it. He turned around and motioned over to the marine with the cutting equipment. 'If you cut away along the corners of the shaft, we can get access to the magnetic rails that hold the car. We can then take them offline and drop the car so the Guardian can't use it. Then we just climb down the shaft. Won't have to worry about him dropping it with us in it.'

'Victor, that's a two kilometre climb down the shaft,' Sam said, 'We'll be too exposed.'

Victor shook his head. 'The animals won't be able to get into the shaft, and his robots don't have guns.'

'That we know of!' Sam exclaimed.

Commander Garr looked to his marine and nodded. 'Do it.'

The marine got to work. Commander Garr turned to Sam. 'We've got climbing gear. We'll rappel down.'

'Got any spares?' Sam asked.

'I'll leave two marines at the top to cover. You and one of your crew and use theirs. Your other crew will have to stay behind.'

Sam nodded. 'Advocate Okoh will accompany me.'

'Negative, Advocates are to stay out of combat situations unless strictly necessary,' Commander Garr said.

Ise stepped forward. 'I'm far less likely to be killed than one of your men.'

'Doesn't matter Ma'am. It's against protocol.' Commander Garr replied.

Sam looked at her men. 'All right, Lt Hale will come with us.'

Garr nodded and motioned to two of his men. They came forward and took off their climbing gear. Victor and Sam put them on and adjusting the gear so it would hold them.

Behind them, the Marine with the cutting pack finished his last cut. The corners of the shaft sat on the floor of the surrounding room, exposing the mechanisms for the magnetic rails. The marines slipped small charges into each of the openings and stepped back. When Commander Garr triggered the charges, the elevator car fell quickly down the shaft.

Without missing a beat, Commander Garr walked to the edge of the opening and anchored his climbing gear to the elevator shaft, the powerful anchor mechanism boring itself into the sides of the shaft. He handed his climbing line to the others, who ran it through their own climbing kits.

'I'll be the first anchor,' he looked at the other marines, 'Remember the drills. Anchor when needed, and advance when everyone's in position.'

He looked to Sam and Victor. 'You ever get training like this?'

Sam and Victor nodded. Commander Garr smiled a little and waved everyone forward.

Together they moved down the shaft. They climbed down the dark shaft for a little while, the glow of light from the conservatory getting closer and closer.

When they crossed the boundary into the conservatory, one marine paused.

'There's something you don't see every day,' he said.

'Keep it moving marine,' Commander Garr said, not missing a beat.

Sam looked around the chamber as she moved. A flying red creature was moving toward them. As it got closer, it reached out with its claws, spread its leathery wings, and slammed into the side of the shaft, right next to a marine. The clear casing of the shaft cracked under the impact, and the marine nearest was thrown off, falling down the shaft. Everyone stopped and braced for the line to go tight. His line caught him and pulled on everyone else. No one else fell.

Commander Garr aimed his gun at the flying creature and fired a burst at it through the weakened section of the shaft. Its leathery wings blew open, and with a screech, the creature fell helplessly from the sky, amidst a shower of fragmented bits of the shaft.

The fallen marine got himself braced and anchored himself to the shaft again.

'You okay Jason?' Commander Garr asked.

'Little shook up.'

'Let's keep moving. Shoot any birds on sight. Captain Geer, is this sort of thing going to be common?'

'You should assume the animals to be hostile,' Samantha replied.

'Right, if it moves, shoot it.'