Scenes From Space

Chapter Forty-Two: A Battle

The Collective vessel hovered low to the ground and a platoon of soldiers dropped to the sand. The vessel raised up again and closed the exit doors.

"At least you guys make it easy to see which ones we're fighting," I joked as I took in the 20 bright blue and orange striped uniforms.

"Yes, Father is all about keeping the noble traditions of battle alive," Kuzzon sighed.

"Do we think that these soldiers could be reasoned with? Is that a thing to attempt?" I asked. "Three fighters, two snipers, and two infiltrators against 20 soldiers on the ground and god knows how many others on the ship are not good odds."

"This is your Prince!" Kuzzon shouted.

The soldiers took aim and fired at the rock we were crouched behind. Kuzzon, Ben and I moved closer together behind the rock.

"Alright then," I sighed, once the barrage stopped. I used two fingers and pulled a disk from the band. I crouched low and peaked left around the boulder. I flicked the disk and huddled back into the aliens. I winced as the disk exploded and there were several cries from the enemy combatants.

"Nartayah, what's the count now?" Kuzzon asked, his voice a little rough. I cleared my throat, that hadn't felt good. Fuck.

"13, Prince," she responded softly. "Should I start picking them off?"

"I don't really want to give that order," Kuzzon said. There was a brief pause. Total quiet across the battlefield. It was eerie.

"Try for non-lethal hits," Kuzzon ordered.

"Does that apply to all of us?" I asked.

"I would really prefer if you didn't intentionally kill my people," Kuzzon said.

"You mean the people that are actively trying to kill you?" I shot back and immediately felt guilty about it. "Right, sorry, non-lethal." Ben just cringed. Another round of blasts and bullets hit the boulder.

"Nartayah," Kuzzon ordered.

Nartayah started to shoot from her position. I got down low and peered around the boulder. I removed the gun from my vest and shot out someone's kneecap. I popped back behind the boulder when the attention was back on this rock.

"They're advancing forward," Nartayah warned. "Down to 10."

"Nine," Jein said shortly after. The sound of him clicking between rounds echoed through the coms. We could see the hovering spacecraft from our position. The silhouette of two figures was clear on the top of the ship. Somehow Heatheroon and Furheen had made it up there.

"Eight soldiers approaching," Nartayah warned. I glanced around the boulder again. All guns were pointing in the air, looking for our snipers. I shot another in the knee and the soldier cried out and fell to the ground.

"Seven," I said.

"They'll be in arm's reach in," Jein started to countdown, "Five," I turned over ready for a tackle.

"Three, two..."

I lunged at the first soldier, knocking his gun away, and forcing him to the ground. He managed to roll us so I was under him. I kneed him off me and sprung up out of the dust. He came at me with a series of punches. I dodged and ducked. He managed to catch my chin. I turned into his body and elbowed sharply where the plastic armor ended. He gasped and I kicked him back farther and took out his left knee.

I ran over to the soldier's dropped rifle and locked it into my shoulder. Kuzzon was facing off against two soldiers in hand to hand. Ben was doing the same. There were bodies everywhere. I aimed the rifle and shot out a soldier's ankle. He collapsed immediately and Ben could focus on just one guy, who he quickly locked in a chokehold. I swerved to Kuzzon's fight and again aimed low. My first shot missed and pinged up red soil. The second shot took out another ankle. Kuzzon knocked out his remaining soldier with an elbow to the temple.