Gabatrix: The Cipra Campaign

Chapter 11: The Skirmish at Tazhong Valley

The interior bridge of the MMACC was filled with applause as Nari appeared. She was followed up with a set of her armed marines. Behind them was Dean and Iz'tre, that had their cuffs taken off. However, they were still being escorted inside to meet with Kosai.

Kosai respectfully used his non-injured arm to give a salute to Nari as an act of profound respect. The thought was what mattered. Nari halted as she gave a salute to the Kosai in return. Both were smiling at each other.

"Of all the things I didn't expect, and it was a good one," Kosai stated. He extended his hand to her.

"I was wondering when something would crawl up the UHN's ass to come and help us out," Nari replied. She grasped his hand and shook it with pride.

"Likewise," he replied. "Took a fucking year before they decided to do it. Of course....we had some help along the way."

"I saw," the officer stated. She turned to look at Iz'tre. "Itreans fighting Itreans. You had to ally with them to stop the others."

"Hold on one sec," Kosai turned to look at one of the lead driver of the enormous vehicle. "How long before we reach near the southern tip of the northern wall of Tazhong Canyon?"

"Approximately twenty minutes, sir," the helmsmen replied.

"Good," Kosai turned to look at Nari. "We're on present course to rendezvous with the rest of your forces. Good to have reinforcements when we needed it the most."

"It wasn't easy," Nari explained. "I'm pretty sure you know nothing about what happened after Cipra fell, right?"

"No. According to T'rintar intelligence, everyone on Cipra was most likely dead."

"They were almost right. Fuck....where the hell was the UHN a year ago? The entire fleet just got up and ditched us. They left us in the hands of the Aksren forces."

"I can't fully defend the UHN in their choices, but I do know the fleet was getting decimated. We almost lost the war, Nari. If the T'rintar clan didn't ally with us, then the entire UHN fleet would have been wiped out. Cebravis, Mars....everyone would have been dead. Cipra was beyond hope."

Nari didn't seem angry, but her head lowered down. "I see. It pretty much confirms what I read from your pilot's tablet." She walked over to an empty seat on the console and sat down. "I lost count in the number of times I should be dead right now."

"Kosai, to bridge," a woman called out on the comms. "Corpsman Kendra on the line. Sir, I'm currently trying to get as many of the new personnel vaccinated as possible. I'll need to get officer Nari and her team vaccinated as well. If she gets the chance, tell her to come to sickbay."

"I'll get down there as soon as possible," Nari replied on the comms. "Focus on my other men, first."

"Roger, ma'am. Corpsman Kendra, out." The comm line went out as Nari gave a big nod.

"Rest of the marines, you are dismissed," the female officer commanded. "Get yourself vaccinated and report to the other vehicles. I want this fleet ready to move out in forty minutes."

"Aye!" the other soldiers responded. They quickly started to leave the room to head out to the other compartments of the MMACC. One of the men stopped and looked at Dean. He gave a respected nod to him as an appreciation for getting everyone together. Dean took it as a commendable comment and gave him a thumbs up.

Iz'tre remained quiet. Both of them had long had their hands uncuffed, but they were still disarmed. The Itrean woman simply had her hand wrapped around Dean's. At the moment, it was the only person she felt genuinely safe with. The act, in itself, was enough to help deter anyone from having serious problems with the alien deserter.