Steel, Cold Steel Shall be the Master of Them All
Compiled from various Logs
We were driving hard in Decel but keeping it to three perceived so we did not lose what we had gained in the rest period. My concentration was broken by Ash screaming in my ears.
“Reaper, the ships are leaving; it looks like a Bug Out!”
“Crap, why would they be doing that? Do you have any Comms from the Mayflower yet?”
“Pardon me for pointing out that you are driving the Command Ship that has the steerable dish on it,” Ash drawled.
Fortunately, Mariana hit the kill switch on the transmitter while I turned the air blue and swung out the dish.
“Firebird, Reaper; Talk to me Girl!”
Broken and garbled through the mass of Mayflower came the reply, “About damn time Boss, we are getting pushed back here. They have some damn kind of shield. If we catch one by surprise we can splash it. Second shot don’t work worth a damn, Summer’s killed more with her knife than her guns.”
“And you got how many?” I drawled.
“My share Boss, my share!”
“Hold what you got Firebird, the ships have done a Bug Out and we will be there in ten. Stay Alive Girl, I don’t want to have to explain to your Father.”
“Reaper, Firebird; hurry, we are FidoFlued out the ass and we don’t have much left!”
I knew my voice sounded grim, “Inbound Firebird, keep your head Down. BREAK!
“Angel, you and I break and burn hard to match velocities. I would love to have a couple of Prisoners, think you might be able to handle that Big Guy?”
“If we can last long enough against this shit, no problem. What are you going to do?”
I turned, “Give me your knife Mariana. Gabe; Steel Cold Steel shall be the Master of them All.”
From the speaker came, “I think you are stealing my call sign but, give em Hell,” came Al Steel’s cold voice.
Mariana and Kat fought us down to the docks as Gabe and I readied to launch. We found the upper docks unoccupied and grabbed two separate Elevators down to the Main Bay. We launched out of the elevators behind a double Flash Bang toss. The place looked like the Middle Tail Race of Hell. Rubble was everywhere and the hall leading into the belly of the Mayflower was blown to Hell and only partly dug out. Alien bodies were everywhere as well as many Humans.
“Angel, let’s go get our Girl; OK?”
Gabriel Benjamin stared into the face of Death Incarnate, “OK, we need a couple of Prisoner’s Right?”
“Yeah, you take em; I am going to find Firebird.”
Angel moved up the corridor behind the wave of destruction. An Alien stuck his or it’s ugly head out of a side corridor. Gabe grabbed it and slammed it’s head against the corridor wall; “OK, not quite that hard Gabe,” as the brain matter oozed down the wall.
Gabe ran up the corridor, stopping only to slam the occasional Alien head into the walls with what he knew now was the appropriate force while, he tried hard to follow the Angel of Death. Andy was in The Reaper mode for sure. Gabe had only heard about Tehran and had seen Asteroid 5488 up close and personal. Andy had gone flat fracking Berserker. He was going to Firebird though all of Hell and the Devil stood between.
Guns holstered and rifles slung, The Reaper went up the corridor with Energy Knives in hand and the carnage was a sight to behold. It made no difference if you were Goonie or Alien.
Stand and Die…. The Reaper had come for you.
There were a couple of live Humans and Aliens laying in the corridors arms wrapped about their heads whimpering, Gabe just let them stay where they were for Ryu and May to deal with.
Suddenly he stopped, “LT Colonel, you had better assume Command. I think my Ass is out of it,” Andy grunted.
At that point in time he passed out!
Gabriel looked at Jaisa Benjamin (soon to be Pierce), “So now you know how Andy got that call sign!”
Jai’s voice rang out, “Medic, the Boss is down!” As she turned to look up the corridor she heard a thump and spun back to see her Uncle Gabe also in a heap on the deck.
Then she heard the greatest thing she thought she had ever heard.
“Kellerman here, two minutes from the dock. All I have to do is clean the puke off.”
“Kurt Hurry but, I am already here,” said Mariana as she stepped through the bulkhead. “Kat, Ryu and May are back there tying up the smart ones.”
“The smart ones?” Jai asked with a quizzical look.
“The one’s who dropped their weapons and quit,” Mariana said as she hung the IV bag. “Damn I wish he would not do this; both of them.”
Jai stared, “What drives them this way? I didn’t think that either of them were capable of that much hate.”
Mariana turned dumbfounded, “Hate, Girl hate can’t make Men do this. Hell Andy only truly hates one person in the universe and he passed on a chance for him to get back here. Listen to this?”
Mariana took the Comms recorder off of her belt and manipulated the controls until she had the stream where she wanted it. Then she held it up for Jai to hear.
It was a pair of voices that Jai knew all to well but there was a tone in them that she had never heard.
“Angel, let’s go get our Girl; OK?”
“OK, we need a couple of Prisoner’s Right?”
“Yeah, you take em; I am going to find Firebird.”
“Jai, did you hear any hate in there?” Mariana asked.
Jai had her turn to be stunned, “They sounded worried, even scared. But those two are never scared.”
Mariana gave her that Teachers look, “Not for themselves no. But for what they love, they live in fear. That’s what makes them Wolves and what lets them live in the Garden.”
Mike Reye came in to see a sight he had never seen, Jai “Firebird” Benjamin with tears rolling down her face being hugged by Mariana “Magic” Stuart. He decided to just leave.