Story Time 1.8 - Heir Hunt

WARNING: The following is not edited and there will be spelling and grammar mistakes. Sorry.
Please read forgivingly (and if you have the time corrections are welcomed).

The Colonel was right about the door, no one came to get him before he heard the shooting start outside. After the going over they treated him to they obviously did not expect him to be able to withstand another session too quickly, they had forgotten they were dealing with a combat veteran. They were not the first people to hold him prisoner and this time more than any other he had a very good reason to force himself up and moving. The next few minutes would be extremely painful, there was no way to avoid the burns the striped down rifle would give him, but he would gladly take the injuries to protect his young charges.

He was so proud of his cadets when he opened the door to their cell. The eldest ones were up and defending the youngsters, ready to fight whoever came at them. Of course they were scared but they were doing their best not to show it.

There was the inevitable moment of shock when they saw him, he had not seen himself in a mirror but he could guess he was a awful state to behold. “We've got reinforcements outside. Let's go.”

Hesitation evaporated with the order to move. They were good cadets.

It was a blood bath, there was no way it could have been anything else, but as Chase crouched at Jona's side, closing his blank eyes, he wished he could have thought of a better way. He had already lost so many men, letting another one go was hard, but at least it had been a clean shot, a heavy rifle shot to the chest had killed him instantly.

The blast of the Colonel's rifle scythed through the cave and added further madness to an already chaotic battle and a blackened apparition appeared at the head of a dozen young warriors.

“Captain Chase, I presume.” the apparition spoke

Chase looked up at the figure. “Yes, sir.”

“Good. I think now is a good time to leave, don't you.”

“Retreat, all squad, retreat, by the numbers, we have what we came for.” Chase knew a hint when he heard it and their objective was now achieved. “Is this all of you?”

“Yes.”

Chase nodded and led the way, seeing out of the corner of his eye the teenage boy who knelt briefly at Jona’s body and retrieved the rifle and comm-unit. He froze when he realised what he was seeing but he forced himself to move again, Jona no longer needed the equipment and if the boy was anything like Se-se he would be able to make good use of it.

Somehow the retreat was orderly, and they returned to the outside of the caves to find not one of the false aliens in sight, they had all been dealt with in short order when the attack began.

As a final parting shot, Castleman discharged the last of the energy of his heavy rifle into the cave entrance. There were a few short screams from inside and then nothing.

Unceremoniously, he then dropped the remains of the heavy rifle and was offered an M82 rifle by a boy at his side. He looked at it and raised a hand to take it but cancelled the gesture as he covered a grimace. “You keep it, Dosser, the Captain's going to lend me his pistol.”

Chase opened his mouth to object but stopped himself when he realised the Colonel had turned down the weapon most likely because he would have struggled to hold it. The burns from the cut down heavy rifle were masked by black charring but would be enough to make shouldering a rifle all but impossible. Feeling for the older man as his own injury left him finding the use of his rifle getting steadily harder, Chase unclipped the holster at his side and handed over his father's pistol, the weapon he had been gifted with when he completed officer training. He had never let anyone else handle it, giving it to the Colonel was an honour the man would not understand.

“Thank you,” Castleman automatically checked the magazine and chamber before subjecting this younger officer to a searching look. “Where’s my Sergeant?”

“In the forest, I was hardly going to bring her into this.”

“Good. Lead the way.”

But before they had even reached the edge of the trees there was the blast of a heavy rifle and a short, high pitched scream.

“Babel!” Castleman roared, and then shouted a series of words in a language Chase had never heard before.

The teenagers around the Colonel suddenly disappeared into the forest.

“Colonel what-?” Chase questioned, running to keep up with the elder officer who was making an impressive turn of speed for someone obviously so injured.

“They know what they’re doing, Captain.”

Crashing through the forest without any pretence at quiet, they arrived at the glade moments behind Babel squad.

A young boy stood beside the body of Bateman, the fallen man’s rifle already in his hands.

Castleman looked at the lad. “Lin.” he prompted.

“Single shot to the head, sir, no other signs of injury. And no sign of the Sergeant.”

A tall girl emerged from the trees. “Three people came in, four left, one being carried. It’s an easy trail to follow, they weren’t being subtle.”

Castleman nodded and turned to Chase. “How many men have you got?”

Chase winced. “There are-” his jaw clenched and he tried not to look as an injured Leeson was carefully sat down by Felton and Shaw. “There are four of us.”

“My squad need any spare comms and weapons you have.” There was a sympathetic look from the Colonel. “You need all the help you can get.”

As Castleman spoke one of the older teenage boys from Babel disengaged himself from the rest of the group and made a beeline for Leeson, talking quietly and reassuringly as he made expert use of the triage kit Lin liberated from Bateman's body and threw to him.

All of the other remaining supplies were divvied out, but there was not enough for everyone. Even so, none of the children complained, instead they waited patiently for the Colonel to address them.

Castleman waited until they were kitted out and the marines who were able were on watch around them before he took a long breath and spoke. He hated himself for using the children like this but it had to be done. “We have one priority now, to retrieve Sergeant Elisia.”

There was a nod from his young Corporal. “Retrieval with extreme prejudice as per last summer’s exercises, sir?”

“Well remembered, Mike. This time we’re not fully equipped so pair up if you’re lacking. Jayne, you’re on point, show us the way. Joe, you missed the exercise so you hang back with me, you’re good on your feet so if we need a runner it’s you. No getting cocky, no heroics, this is not an exercise, this is real.” Castleman looked from face to face. They all looked back with sombre expressions, there was fear in their eyes but also determination. They would make him proud. “Find them, surround them, pick your targets and wait. Nothing happens until I give a go. Any questions?”

Babel squad were silent.

“Good. Go.”

Within seconds, the children were gone, melting into a forest they knew well.

Chase turned to the Colonel then. “I have a question. What do we do?”

“You’re back up.” Castleman shook his head. “If you had a full team I’d have sent you ahead, but you’re battle scarred and Babel do know what they’re doing. Whether they realise it or not, they’ve been training for this all their lives, I just didn’t expect them to be needed so soon.”

“You expected trouble?” Chase frowned, wondering if he had missed something.

“The Empire isn’t without enemies. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. If nothing else, I was hoping all the training would help them in the future. They’re good kids.” Castleman turned to where Leeson was still being dealt with. “Jay, how are you getting on? Can he be moved?”

There was a moment of hesitation from the teenager. “I need longer and I'll need an extra pair of hands to get him up but we won't be quick.”

“Do the best you can. You've got an extra pair of hands right there, I'm sure he won't leave his buddy behind.” Castleman indicated to Shaw as he hovered worried beside his badly injured friend.

“No, sir,” Shaw confirmed. “I won't.”

“Follow us as soon as you can and do your best to keep up, I hope we won't need you but,” the sentence was left unfinished.

“Understood, sir.” Jay did not need the full sentence, he had heard Se-se's scream and knew there was little chance of finding her uninjured from the way it had cut off so sharply.

Joe looked up expectantly at the Colonel. He was new to Babel, only recently having joined their ranks from the much simpler club that was Nova, and he wanted to understand what the Colonel was talking about but he did not want to let the squad down and look like a complainer.

Castleman looked down at the gangly lad. “Let’s move.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Chapter 5

Moving silently, watching for any changes in the trail, Jayne led the squad. They were out of sight behind her, but she knew they were there. She was used to being on point, her parents were the colony hunters and they had taught her tracking from a very young age until she could almost see the quarry from the trail they left. It was a source of pride for Jayne that the Colonel thought so highly of her skills and asked advice from her at times on tracking techniques.

The main worry on Jayne’s mind as she followed was that Se-se was obviously being carried and whilst there was no blood, there was no way of knowing what condition Se-se was in. She had to concentrate, to settle into the hunt and treat it like one of the many exercises the Colonel had set up for them in the past. That was all it was, another exercise that would end in a little party around a fire with well done sweets and the usual fun. If only she could believe it the situation would be so much easier. She narrowed her eyes and stopped, crouching. “New trail.” She stared at the tracks in the dawn gloom, daring them to give up their secrets. “Four more people joining the quarry, moving fast but heavy. They did not stop here.”

“Acknowledged,” came the response from Castleman. “Continue.”

At the back beside the Colonel, Chase frowned at the noise greeting his ear, he did not understand a word of it. He looked across at Castleman for an explanation.

“Babel, no one listening in can understand it.”

“Including me.” Chase grumbled. He was feeling strangely detached and confused. They had found the Colonel and rescued the children at such a high price only for those children to be behaving in like well trained soldiers and taking it all in their strides with nearly superhuman calm.

Castleman relented, the Captain had done his best to help and for it had just lost a lot of his men. They both had their own issues to overcome. He gave the required translation.

FraidyKat Runs - from Pain Pixies