Project - Prometheus Ch. 23

"Acknowledged," Delilah answered.

******************************

"I'm fresh out of ideas! The only thing I can think of is using that shield again! Think you can bring it up?" Inari asked over the chatter of gunfire.

"I can try!" Alex told her and holstered his hand cannon. He brought his hands together and closed his eyes, focusing on making the shield again. He focused and willed the energy to come to him, but it hovered just out of reach. Alex kept pushing himself, but it was no use, he couldn't reach it.

"Fuck! It's not working!" he groused as he drew his weapon again.

"What about the others? Maybe they can try..." Inari started before a scream sounded.

"What the fuck was that?!?" Priya asked.

"No idea! Is it any of you guys?" Inari called out to the crew.

"No!" Korsa answered in response.

"Then who the fuck is it?!?"

"What the shit!?!?" they heard the lead ganger calling out to his men.

For the moment, they were distracted, and that was all the opening the crew needed. As one, they broke cover and fired at the remaining bounty hunter and gangers who had tried advancing on the crew. Several of them fell to the onslaught and some even panicked and ran.

Most of the bullets directed at the bounty hunter bounced off the big man's armor and he laughed, before bringing his auto-cannon to bear. But then Korsa drew and threw her Thuun'tara blade, which flew forward in a tight spin. With a shrieking sound, it punched through the armor of the bounty hunter, hitting him center mass, killing him instantly.

"Fuck! Blood Drinkers, fall back!! Move your asses!" he screamed, running as fast as he could.

The rest of the Blood Drinkers obeyed their leader and ran, not wanting to stick around now that their covering fire had been obliterated. Breaking cover, the crew of the Darkstrider opened fire and shot at the retreating gangers. Several of them fell where they were hit, but no one stopped to help them. The others just ran for their lives, hoping to escape the vengeful crew. Korsa ambled up and retrieved her Thuun'tara blade as she watched the Blood drinkers retreat.

"What the hell distracted them?" the big woman asked.

"That's what I want to know!" Natalya agreed. Their answer came in the form of two women who walked over to the crew. One of them was recognized immediately, and shock rippled through the crew at her appearance.

"Jaesa?!? What the fuck are you doing here??" Alex exclaimed.

"No time for that now, sir. I think it's past time we got going back to the ship. I've been monitoring the feeds and communications on the station. The gang you faced are called the Blood Drinkers, and they must have some contacts among station security and the port authority. The feeds have yet to issue an alert, but I recommend that we get aboard the Darkstrider, before a station wide lockdown happens," the AI replied.

"She's right. Act now, ask later," Inari agreed.

"All right. Get in touch with Stanley and tell him to prep the Darkstrider for takeoff. We need to leave, now!" Alex ordered as the rest of the crew mustered.

"On it, sir!" Jaesa said as she reached out to the Darkstrider and established a comms link.

"Stanley, come in! Stanley, are you there?" Jaesa called out.

"Jaesa? What are you doing here? I thought we left you behind on the Perseus," Stanley replied.

"No time to explain, but we need you to fire up the engines and load up the cargo that's waiting on the docks! We need to leave, now!" Jaesa told him.

"The Sentries have already commenced loading. Should I put additional bots on that detail?" he queried.

"Yes, immediately! We need to be ready to leave before the port authority locks down the station!" she told him.

"Understood. Orders have been sent and they should be done loading withing four minutes," Stanley informed her.

"Thank you, Stan! Jaesa, out!" she finished transmitting, before jolting most of her processes back to the android. Several subroutines were still in cyberspace, monitoring the port authority and security systems. They were responding, but with any luck, they would be out of the station before they even realized what was going on.

******************************
The Blood Drinker leader, Moloch, sat nearby and cursed his luck. This was supposed to be a simple snatch and grab, but leave it to a couple of idiots to fuck shit up! The bounty hunters he'd hired were supposed to be the best on the fucking station! Now they were nothing more than slabs of meat, lying pools of their own blood. He looked back, searching for their pursuers, but didn't see them.

Thinking this was odd, Moloch backtracked to the ambush site, thinking they might be waiting for them, but found it abandoned. Well, except for the bodies of his fellow gang members and the three bounty hunters. He stared down at the body of the sniper and saw that he still had his weapons, as did his friends. In the scuffle, no one must have thought to pick up their weapons, and in that moment, an idea came to him.

He walked over to the sniper's body and scooped up the rifle, checking to make sure it would still work. Once he fired off a round, he was satisfied and marched as quickly as he could to the docks. He might not be able to collect the bounty on those women with the bounty hunters now being corpses, but he could exact some revenge for his dead friends. He moved quickly, hoping that he could catch these merchants before they left the station.

******************************

The crew ran as fast as they could to the docks, everyone keeping pace. They arrived maybe five minutes later, just as the cargo hatch was being sealed. Sentries were just walking into the ship as Alex, Inari, Priya and Natalya took up guard positions by the entry point. Everyone was so focused on getting onto the Darkstrider, that they didn't see the red laser dot dancing among them.

"Taal'ani, watch out!" Tahral cried out in alarm as he pushed her out of the way, seeing the dot at the last second. He knocked her to the ground the moment a rifle shot sounded. The Artucian man screamed in pain as the shot blasted his shoulder, spraying purple blood everywhere.

"Sniper!" Alex called out and everyone hit the deck.

"I told you I always get what I want!" a voice called out from behind some cargo.

"That fucker! Damned fucking coward!" Natalya cursed.

"Any idea where that shot came from?" Inari asked Priya.

"Yeah. Over there, by that bunch of crates. But I don't have a shot at him!" Priya stated as she stared and pointed in the shooter's direction.

"I'll distract him! Get everyone on board!" Alex told the crew.

Before anyone could protest, he broke cover and dashed back to the docks. Several shots rang out, but they missed him, which said a lot about the gang leader's skill with a rifle. With the shots being directed at him, the rest of the crew did as ordered and got aboard. Alex soon found himself pinned behind another stack of crates, more than enough to shield him for the moment. The man was at least several dozen meters away from him, but trying to get close would risk getting his head blown off.

"You know, it's a shame that I have to kill you. You've got some pretty fucking good skills, but no one keeps a prize from Moloch," he taunted, the man's voice carrying through the crates.

"Moloch. The ancient name for the Ammonite god of child sacrifice. Some would also call him a blood god," Alex quipped.

"Ah, an educated man! Again, a pity that I have to kill you!" Moloch laughed.

Alex sighed and knew that he was out of options but had an idea. He picked up a piece of scrap and threw it out in towards the station. Several shots sounded, and Alex rolled out and brought his pistol to bear, seeking the gang leader. He picked him out quickly by the glint of the scope, perched atop a cluster of barrels. Alex had no shot and hoped that he'd be quick enough to get out of the way.

He then noted that the barrels beneath the man contained methane gas! Alex aimed and pulled the trigger, just as Moloch brought the rifle to face him. The barrel ruptured and exploded, bathing the gang leader in flames and he screamed in pain. The whole crate went up seconds later, the force of the blast enough to send Alex flying back at least dozen meters. He breathed heavily as he got to his feet, staring at the explosive mess he'd caused.

"Burn in hell you son of a bitch!" Alex grunted as he holstered his weapon. He then ran back to the Darkstrider and raced aboard, the hatch closing behind him.

"He's in! Let's get out of here, love!" Priya called out.

"Gladly!" Inari stated as she pulled the ship away from the docks, getting it ready to leave. The doors to the station were closing, as the port authority had finally enacted the lockdown.

"Damn it! We're not going to make it!" Natalya cried out.

"Oh, we'll make it. Pree?" Inari asked.

"Ready on your mark, love!" Priya told her from the tactical console.

"Hold on!" Inari called out and activated the hyperdrive, allowing the Darkstrider to jump past the doors in the blink of an eye, just seconds before they closed too much.

******************************

And that's a wrap on chapter 23 everyone! More will be coming soon as the adventures of the crew of the Darkstrider have just truly begun! What will they find on Prodosia, when they look for Alex's descendants? What of Alex's abilities spontaneously manifesting? Those answers and more, will be forthcoming in the next several chapters as things start heating up in so many ways!

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read my work and I hope that you've enjoyed it! I'm open to constructive criticism and will seriously consider any suggestions made about various story arcs. Please rate and comment on my work down below and ask me questions if you wish, as I love hearing from my fans! If you like what I write, don't be afraid to follow and share with your friends, though your views, ratings and comments are enough for me.

In the meantime, this is C.H. Darkstrider, signing off to grab a beer and some quality time with the wife! ;) You will attain whatever you most desire, as long as you believe in yourself. Cheers!