grease.
Solair motions for the rest of us to come out of hiding as well.
“Come on, folks, let’s show our hand. I believe we may have found potential allies.”
Brax and Solair come together, standing a few feet apart in the smoky tunnel. Solair is not a small member of our species, but the eight-foot-tall furred Odex dwarfs him. Still, Solair doesn’t seem the least bit frightened.
“Brax, is it? I take it you’re seeking to penetrate the Starcorp building as well?”
“I will not give away our mission to a…”
“Brax,” the Pi’Rell says with admonition in his tone.
Brax sighs, and nods his shaggy head.
“Yes, that is our goal. The project Blue Dawn scum have stolen Tur’s pet, and apparently there will be a mutiny aboard our ship if I didn’t agree to rescue it.”
“Num’s not my pet. He barely even likes me. Dott gets along with him way better than I do.”
Brax glares at Tur until he goes silent. Kintar narrows his gaze on the tattooed Pi’rell.
“Those brands… the sign of a Raith’Pa master.”
The Pi’rell arches his brows and nods.
“Indeed. You’re quite well-informed, sir. Phyn’Ro at your service.”
He bows his head, and Kintar returns the gesture.
“Kintar, a simple steward, but pleased to make your acquaintance.” Kintar turns to Solair and grins. “You can relax, Solair. The Raith’Pa would never serve a cause they deemed immoral.”
“Yes, I’ve heard.” Solair puts his hands on his hips. “Their name translates to followers of the Precursors, something near and dear to my own heart.”
Brax stomps forward and growls.
“Before we all start performing fellatio on one another, I’ll remind you—all of you—that we have a mission to complete.”
“Indeed.” Solair gestures at our crew. “If we work together, that mission will be much easier, yes?”
“I need no help from a Kilgari.”
“Brax…” Phyn’Ro purses his lips and glares at the big Odex.
“Oh, all right. Fine. But you’ll follow our lead.”
“You mean you want to go first?” Solair chuckles and gestures down the sluice. “By all means, lead on.”
Brax growls, and then turns about to trudge up the pipe. Our crew falls in with them, and the others seem friendly enough. Except for Gyn, who seems to be the strong silent type.
“Are you sure we can trust them, Solair?”
He turns to me and shrugs.
“What’s that Varia said? The enemy of my enemy is my ally?”
“Close enough.” She squints at the massive back of Brax. “I recognize the big guy. He used to be a pit fighter, but I don’t know the others.”
“I recognize the Shorcu.” Fiona nods to herself. “He was recently put on trial on Titanus Vox. Found innocent, but then his house got burned down and he went missing.”
“Well, he landed on his feet.”
Brax holds his fist in the air, and we all halt in our tracks. He comes back to confer with Solair.
“My man Gyn’s eyes work much better than ours. He claims that a quarter mile down the tunnel it opens up into the industrial park, but there are over a dozen guards.”
“I see. If you take the left flank, we’ll take the right.”
“Ha.” Brax guffaws with great peals of laughter. “You’ll be lucky if we leave you any scraps at all. Contras—attack!”
Their crew takes off at a dead run, and we fall in behind them. I’m more than willing to let these apparent Contras take the brunt of the enemy’s assault.
Weapons discharge as soon as the blue-sky aperture comes into view, as Brax’s crew unload with high-tech, high-caliber weaponry. Except for Phyn’Ro, who is throwing daggers. Daggers.
Who brings a knife to a gun fight?
The Star Crushers aren’t amateurs. They utilize concrete slabs as cover. This puts the Contras at a disadvantage because there’s no shelter to be had in the smooth walls of the flood sluice.
Our unit comes up to offer fire support, laying down a suppressive barrage that gives the Contras a chance to storm their front line. Brax lashes out with his massive foot and smashes one of the concrete barriers to rubble, sending the men behind it flying through the air to land in crumpled heaps. I ply my weak force pistol to good effect, dissolving another of the barriers so Kintar and Montier can lay waste with their rifles.
When the smoke clears, we are the only ones left standing.
“Casualties?” Solair glances around at our crew.
“We’re all unharmed, Captain.” I eject a spent energy cartridge from my pistol and slap in a new one. “Let’s go get our people.”
The Contras are already swarming across the industrial yard, busting in the rear entrance without