Gabatrix: The Warrior of Silence

"ARGH!" Stone screamed as he kneed the Shal'rein in the gut. It amazingly worked as the Shal'rein withdrew her savage bite. Her weakened state was just enough that she was starting to gasp for air. Blood was coming out of Stone's shoulder as he grimaced. He lifted his other arm to face her as he showed that he wasn't going to give up.

Shaka'ra's mouth was dripping with blood as she happily smiled at him. The teeth of the shark displayed the rows of edges as she started to lick her chops.

"You taste so good...." She said as she made a step forward. "Time to d...."

There was a blast that echoed in the room. The right rear portion of the Shal'rein's body suddenly exploded as blood was shot outward. The eyes of Shaka'ra went wide as she had realized that she had taken a mortal hit. Stone himself was surprised by the explosion even if the Shal'rein was the one that absorbed most of the blast.

Stone turned his head to look at Ioren. She waited for the best opportunity to fire the last explosive tip grenade from her AKT-2.

Shaka'ra, on the other hand, turned her head to look at her injury. The explosion was deep, and she could barely account for the blood and mild gore that fell to the floor. Without her armor, the explosive round had torn her lower right back and hip. She felt her body lose its strength. She collapsed to the floor on her side as she lay dying.

Stone wasn't going to give any further opportunity to this woman. He was breathing hard as he started to walk towards Ioren. The Itrean was trying to get up. She could see the blood that was coming out of Stone's shoulder. It looked terrible, but much of the Mclevar vest had absorbed the bite. Regardless, it was barely enough, and he was scarcely able to move his wounded arm. The teeth still penetrated and cut several areas of the surrounding area and tissue. He used his working arm to hold it out to Ioren. The anger on his face had subsided, leaving a hollowed-out exhausted statue of a look.

Ioren dropped her gun as she tried to stand up. The blow to her body was intense but not overwhelming. Stone used his strength to lift the Itrean onto her feet. She could see her significantly bent tail. Any attempts to move it only resorted to feeling grievous pain. She placed one of her hands over her chest as she went and retracted her helmet. It was here that Stone could briefly see the sheer exhaustion on her face.

Stone reached down and grabbed his Desert Falcon. He then stepped aside Ioren and began to push her shoulder forward gently. No words were said at first as the coaxing got her to move forward. They both almost staggered walked towards the mortally wounded Shal'rein.

Shaka'ra was clinging to life as the two walked up to the Shal'rein. Stone then walked over and picked up one of the other guns that weren't far from him. The head of the shark-like woman was able to gaze upon Ioren's face for the first time.

"Heh......heh....." Shaka'ra said as she was gasping for air. "Golarren.......I.....still......win....."

Ioren was far from convinced. Her opponent had been clearly defeated. The Itrean turned to see that Stone had picked up the police chief's gun. He walked over, and she happily accepted it. She looked up at the marine as he looked upon the Shal'rein.

"Go ahead and finish the job," Shaka'ra said. "For if you let me go, I will hunt you down and kill you."

Stone looked at Ioren. "At the count of three," he told her. He then looked upon the Shal'rein and raised his powerful pistol with one hand. He pointed it at her head. Ioren responded the same as she lifted the handgun and pointed it at her opponent's head. There was a faint smile that developed on her face.

"One........two........three......" Stone calmly said as he pulled the trigger of his gun. Almost at the same time, Ioren also pulled the trigger as well. Two shots echoed in the empty space as the bullets went into the brains of the Shal'rein. All life vacated from the woman as she lay dead on the ground. Stone knew that the mission was completed. The leader of the Dragon's Eye Syndicate was eliminated.

The marine reached into the back of the corpse as he pulled out his knife. He wiped the blood off his shirt as he retracted the blade and put it away. He holstered his empty gun back and looked at Ioren.

"Are you well enough to......" Stone was about to ask more towards Ioren as there was a deep rumbling. Outside the vast open door of the loading garage was a sound that began to pick up. The landing pad was seemingly moving. The marine's augmented vision couldn't reveal what the cause was, but the rumbling persisted. Both of the two stood in bewilderment at what was going on.

"It's.......coming from the loading ramp....." Stone sternly commented. He narrowed his eyes as he began to think back on what Shaka'ra had said. He could see the landing pad was more than just a pad. It was a set of large floor doors. The dust-covered edges started to get swallowed up as it was opening. Within a few seconds, the edges had completely opened up as if it was struggling to do so.

He stepped up forward to continue observing the scene. They could see below in the vast openness of the landing pad was a vessel. It was some sort of constructed transport ship. It was large, measuring at about a length of 140 meters. It was mostly a tall rectangular frame with four sizeable rotatable thruster nodules on the sides that pointed downward. Six small tanks could be seen on the sides with a bridge on the top bow and stern. A circular section could be seen in the mid-frame of the ship. There were no weapons on it, at least what could be seen visually.

"Son of a bitch....." Stone commented. "The schematics of the prison said that they had a basement down there.....not a whole fucking hangar facility. The bastards got a....."

His words were interrupted as the transport's engines were activated. It was doing what some could consider an emergency takeoff. The four thrusters emitted an intense amount of flames as the vessel was struggling to lift off. Finally, as the engines revved up more, the blocky-looking ship had gotten off the ground. Despite the intensity in the ship's volume taking off, Stone still spoke out loud that Ioren could hear it.

"What are they trying to gain?!" he told her. "Do they really hope they can escape?"

With that, the ship had lifted from the bottom facility as it was gaining altitude. The four thrusters were now lighting up the seemingly dark sky. It spun a little bit in the air. The vectoring thrusters were pushing it to the left a little bit. The rotational thrusters turned as they began to propel the transport into the sky. It was gaining more and more speed as Stone pulled out his tablet. He began to activate the emergency transponder beacon.

Ioren briefly looked at the disappearing transport. Its four glowing thrusters were all that she could see as it was gaining altitude and speed. She turned to see the marine was doing the same thing as before. His tablet was in his hand. He was walking out into the open a little bit as he was trying to connect to the satellite array. He transmitted the message priority one.

Stone shook his head. "They will probably see it on their sensors," he said. "Nothing leaves the island."

He sighed a little bit as he could feel the vestiges of the battle had come to an end. Now what was left was to stop this last transport. His gut instinct told him that they wouldn't make it, but Ioren felt a chill run down her spine. As she thought more and more about it, she considered what Shaka'ra had mentioned earlier. They were too late.....but how?

A channel had been opened as the CO of the UHN Dellaire had reappeared on Stone's tablet device. Faraj's eyes briefly looked upon the marine, but his eyes seemed transfixed onto the console from where he was stationed.

"Master Sergeant," Faraj called out to him. "I'm a little busy at the moment."

"Captain," Stone addressed him. "Are you tracking the transport that is leaving the Dragon's Eye perimeter?"

"We are. One Lental class light transport. Our satellite system is arming up and launching an EMP missile towards it now. Don't suppose you are responsible for this somehow?"

"Sir," a woman's voice called out to the Captain. Stone couldn't see the woman from the screen, but he knew it was one of the bridge crew. "Oshun's defense satellite has fired two missiles straight towards the transport. Estimated impact is three minutes."

"Roger, arm EMP missiles and stand by to fire," Faraj replied.

"Aye, sir."

"I.....we managed to take down the syndicate operation here, but they took off with a whole fucking transport," Stone told Faraj.

"Sir, we are picking up an energy surge coming from Fort Kajuru," a male voice interrupted on the channel. Again, Stone could only see that the Captain was busy.

"What do you mean you are picking up an energy surge?" Faraj asked, turning his head away from his console.

"Uh......they report that the gate array is powering up! It's unauthorized. It's opening a gate near the Paloran asteroid belt near Oracip."

"What!?" Faraj asked. "That's impossible."

It had dawned on what was happening that Stone had just figured out, but it still didn't make sense. The thugs that had left in the transport were making a desperate gamble towards the gate array on Fort Kajuru that was in tethered orbit above the planet of Oshun.

"Faraj," Stone addressed him. "I believe that the criminals are trying to make an escape to Palora. The leader that is dead said something about this. You must stop these people. They have military-grade weapons onboard! Shoot them down!"

"They won't get far," Faraj replied. "How they managed to do this, though....."

"Can you shut off the gate array?" Stone asked.

The captain was preoccupied as he was waiting upon the reports. Stone had to consider what else was happening. He knew that the transport was heading westward when it took off. This was the same direction as the continents were and where the gate array was located.

"Sir," the same woman told the captain. "Estimated impact of the missiles is in two minutes. The transport is four minutes from reaching the gate array at its current course and speed."

"Gate array formation is at 15% and growing," the same male voice said to Faraj. "Fort Kajuru is attempting to override the command algorithms and deactivate the forming wormhole. It will take five minutes to do it."

"Do you have a wormhole collapser missile?" Ioren's tilon stated out loud. Stone briefly turned his head to see that Ioren was holding her device as it was translating her words for the Captain to hear.

"Collapser missiles?" Faraj asked, only hearing the synthetic reptilian voice. "No.....this isn't an Itrean vessel. We don't have that sort of warheads onboard. It won't matter. The satellite missiles will take them down."

That odd feeling could be felt again as Ioren was starting to wonder about that. It was impossible, and yet, the escapees were still getting away. Yet, somehow, she began to think that they were going to succeed. She turned and shook her head at Stone, in which he seemed to acknowledge it.

"I didn't see any weapons on board that transport...." Stone said as he thought about it. "They can't shoot their way out. Regardless.....in order to activate the gate array.....Captain, it's possible that whoever gave the....."

"One minute before the missiles impact," the same female voice told the Captain. It interrupted Stone's words.

"Whoever gave the military weapons might have given these escapees something else, Captain," Stone raised his voice to the screen. "Have every military asset proceed and shoot down that transport! Before they make us look like goddamn fools!"

This seemed to convince the Captain as he seemed focused on his screen. Stone knew that he was watching the location of the transport. It was less than three minutes from reaching the gate array.

"Sir," the male voice told the Captain. "Gate formation is increasing. Fort Kajuru's command reports that the gate array's controls were overridden by command codes submitted by the transport currently en route. The UHN Yamamoto and UHN Kenyatta are trying to converge to the gate array, but it will take them three minutes before they reach weapon's range."

"And the fortress doesn't have any weapons on board," the Captain said. "Prepare to fire the EMP missiles onto the transport."

"Sir!" the female voice called out. "The satellite missiles have gone off course. The transport has submitted a signal and is overriding the controls of the guidance lock. The missiles are heading towards us!"

"Launch countermeasures and use AIO turrets to destroy them," the captain ordered. Stone felt a surge of anger rise in him. Everything was beyond his control now.

Ioren could see the frustration in the marine. She saw his free hand was fidgeting from the emotions that were raging through him. She kept one hand on her tilon as she reached forward and lightly touched his hand. It only caused him to give a scornful look towards her direction, but he didn't shove the hand away. Instead, he simply kept watching the events going on screen.

"The bastards were preparing for this...." Stone almost whispered to Ioren so that the Captain couldn't hear it. "If only I were onboard that transport right now."

"We are exhausted," she typed. She kept her audio low.

"No....." he stubbornly replied.

"Yes, we are." She hissed a little bit as she put her hand to her chest. She looked down as Stone's eyes went to her. For a moment, he was reminded about the injury to his shoulder. It only seemed to agitate him further.

Stone, for a moment, looked down for a little while. He turned his head to look at the dead Shal'rein woman. He had almost forgotten that the channel was still open as the Captain was preoccupied. Finally, the conversations going through the tablet continued.

"Intercept missiles have been fired at the EMP missiles and will impact in one minute," the female voice said. "We have a lock on the transport."

"Launch salvo," Faraj ordered.

"Firing!.....EMP missiles are en route. Estimated time to impact is two minutes."

"That won't be enough time," Stone said. "Does the space station have any weapons?"

"Negative," Faraj told him.

*******

High above orbit of Oshun consisted of a sizeable tethered fortress. Shaped like a giant key that was on its side, the base was little more than a space conduit. On one side was a large ring that was connected to a massive spinning rod. Docking ports and the great space cable were attached to this rod.

Not far from the space station was a luxury space yacht ship that had been interrupted in the queue time of trying to get through. The darkness of space was able to easily highlight the activity that persisted in the gate ring itself. In the center of the halo was a wormhole that was forming. The swirling mass of purple and blue particles was forming a vortex. It was just near the early stages of being created. Seeing that there was delay and trouble at the established protocol of events, the delta-winged gate jumper was veering to the side. It was struggling to get out of the way of the ring for a good reason.

In the great distance was the UHN Dellaire. The small cylindrical warship had a mid rear rotating series of box structures that were generating centripetal force for its inhabitants. There was a dorsal and ventral mounted railgun that could be barely seen on it. The EMP missiles that had been closing in on it were destroyed by the intercept missiles that slammed into them. Meanwhile, two additional large warheads were heading near the gate array. They were gaining speed and heading towards a target of interest.

It is here that the box-like transport was moving at blazing speeds from the lit side of the blue planet. All four of its thrusters were fully active and continuing to propel the ship to greater and greater velocities. It was closing in on the gate ring and looked like it was going to fly into at any moment.

The Dellaire's EMP missiles were closing in on the transport. Despite the speed of the ship, the missiles were getting closer and closer to hitting it.

Warning lights were being given off from the gate array. The approaching transport was heading into an unformed wormhole. Its speed and trajectory were outright insane. Any vessel that was in its path had the risk of a substantially horrible collision. It didn't seem to matter. The escapees were committed in their attempt to flee Oshun for good.

It all happened in less than ten seconds. At the near last possible second, the wormhole stabilized as the lightning erupted in its vortex. The swirling particles had conjoined to show that a connection point had been established lightyears upon lightyears away. At the same time, the EMP missiles were seconds upon impact. All ships had cleared from the vicinity as the transport flew like a bullet. Its destination point took it directly into the stable wormhole. If one had blinked, it was possible to have missed it. Upon flying into it, the gate ring shut down a couple of seconds later. The wormhole collapsed as the EMP missiles went through the center ring, missing the targets it was intended to hit. The transport was long gone.

*******

"Sir....." the woman told the captain. "Our EMP Missiles have negative impact. Transport has cleared its jump to the Paloran system. Sorry, sir......"

Stone's hand tightened into a grip. He shook in his spot as he did what he could to contain his anger. He was still on the line when the news was told from the ground.

"Notify UHN command of the events that have transpired," Faraj stated. "Stand down from General Quarters. Ready the shuttle....." Faraj looked down at the marine. "I don't have to be the bearer of bad news on this, Stone. You already know."

"Mmmph...." Stone said as he shook his head.

"Regardless....I might as well congratulate you for what you were able to do.....you and your partner. I can tell that you are wounded. I will notify the medical teams. Do you still need that pickup?"

"Quite....." Stone sternly answered. "Just send them to the prison facility where my partner and I are located."

"You got it. It will be good to see 'Avalanche' Stone in person again. I will have a shuttle down there in about thirty minutes. Hang in there, both of you. UHN Dellarie out."

With that, the channel closed. Stone practically tossed his tablet to the ground. Ioren watched as he lifted his hands into fists. Ioren could see that the marine was in a foul mood. Despite the amazing victory that had transpired at the prison, a small number of prisoners had managed to do the unthinkable. They had escaped the penal colony of Dragon's Eye and with their cargo of ill-gotten goods.

"ARGH!" Stone yelled out as his voice echoed out in the open loading garage. The rain was starting to pick up as the marine screamed his emotions out. When all was done, he finally had vented his frustrations out. He was breathing hard as he almost collapsed to the floor.

"Please...." Ioren typed. She closed her tilon up as she felt her body had gotten weaker from the fight. She was tempted to take the armor off her and rest, but she had to stay strong to be with Stone.

"Ugh.....so.....tired......." Stone said with exasperation. "A marine never sleeps.....a marine never sleeps."

Ioren used her sign language to convey one word to him. "Rest....." The offer tempted stone. For once, he had to agree with her. The mission was finally over.....

Chapter 15: About-Face

The interior hallway that led to the Admiral's room was quiet. Oshun's UHN headquarters was vacant where Stone and Ioren were heading to. The central room connected to a variety of hallways as other staff members avoided the menacing arrival of the towering figure of the marine.