Chapter 39: Friendlies
Paulie and Jakiikii moved through the streets towards their destination with speed and grace, but not much stealth. The time for hiding was long past now, they had but a single opportunity to achieve victory. And time was quickly running out.
The duracrete was hard underfoot, and Paulie’s boots made soft thuds as he and Jakiikii moved at speed along the darkened edges of the road. Many of the overhead lights were out or flickering fitfully, the ill-maintained side way had clearly seen better days. The often bustling streets were empty, silent. The night air was chill, but Paulie didn’t feel cold. He glanced at Jakiikii, the termaxxi woman’s skin was pale. Paler than her normal brown and tan hue, she must have been at least as nervous as he. She noticed him looking, two of her six petal-like eyestalks turned his way as the skin above those deep orange eyes crinkled into her version of a smile.
Her alien mannerisms were so familiar to him now, he could see the subtle movements of the muscles in each gracefully sculpted petal. The way the longer fur on the back of her neck stood slightly on end. The slight dilation of her slitted pupils when she gazed his way.
Paulie smiled back.
“What are you smiling about?” Jakiikii asked, a hint of playful knowing in her voice.
Paulie smirked and then skidded to a halt, posting up on the corner of a building with his Nemesis pistol held high and at the ready. Jakiikii’s hardened tri-cloven hooves made a little less noise as she slowed to a more graceful stop beside him. Her dense muscles made for higher gravity than this, as were his own.
He gave her a short look, “I was just thinking how nice it is to be here, right now. With you. And that I can’t think of anyone I would rather have at my side right now.”
She made a low gurgling noise in her chest, her lower breathing slits flaring as she chuckled. “You would say that if we were waist deep in the sewers or trapped in some frozen zalc-cursed cave. Besides, how many other people do you even know?”
He nodded. "Doesn't make it any less true.”
She punched his shoulder, her skin flashing white briefly. “Sure, but one thing at a time.. Human. Afterwards though..” She trailed off and he smirked again.
Paulie nodded after another moment. “I hear gunfire nearby, is that the direction we need to go?” He asked her the question, but he already knew the answer.
She shrugged. “Yup, Rozz did warn us there was heavy enemy activity in the area. Damn cultists. What do they even want with the monarch?”
He followed her as she pranced off, a gun in each of her two middle arms. She still had her rifle slung over one shoulder, he had seen her use it. She was an incredible marksman, he blamed it on her strange array of mobile eyes. She likely had better depth perception than he could imagine, certainly good enough to land precise shots with the energy weapons. In addition to the large gun, she also had the two energy pistols. More than enough firepower to deal with whatever lay ahead, he hoped anyway.
Paulie and Jakiikii reached the edge of the street where it opened to the more open space of the large car park. As opposed to the tall parking structures he had seen in other public area of the city, this one was simply a large flat parking lot. Very similar to the one he had seen outside the hospital where Mack had received care. And across from them, flashes of light and the stench of burning plastics.
He watched as the bright purple streaks of plasmafire neatly immolated a small decorative shrub of some type, the yellowish leaves of the plant crisping nearly instantly from the intense heat of the roiling plasmic energies. The dessicated remains charred a deep, smouldering black.
He searched for the source of the fire, immediately seeing a large group of aliens dressed in mismatched armour and dark clothing. It made them hard to pinpoint in the dim light, but he located the source of their anger right after.
A group of adjudicators and civilians looked to have become pinned down near to the wreck of a large transport vehicle. It looked like one of those public transport things he had just been calling buses, but it was obviously damaged. Smoke belched from the front compartment, the thick white clouds telling of ruptured powercells and the chance of imminent fiery explosion. Those civilians needed to get back, but they were pinned down behind a low row of duramite barricades. Unable to move for the weight of hostile fire being directed their way.
From where he stood he could already see several still bodies, civilian and adjudicator’s forces alike. They were a lightly armed policing force after all, not heavily armed enough to push off this manner of invasion that had suddenly been launched against them. The planet had local defense forces too, but from what he had seen they had either not been deployed effectively or had been overwhelmed in the initial assault.
Paulie and Jakiikii locked eyes. He immediately knew what they had to do, as did she.
“Cut wide under stealth and I will draw their fire. When I reach cover on the far side of the lot and their attention is on me then start clearing them out.” He said, she nodded.
He tensed, taking a deep breath in preparation to sprint. But she stopped him, grabbing his arm and tugging his body close to hers. He made a small noise of protest but it died quickly in his throat as she pressed alien lips to his in a quick but passionate kiss, the tip of her long hollow tongue touching his lips.
“I love you, be careful.” She whispered as she pulled back slightly, just loud enough to be heard over the sound of the gunfire.
He smiled wide despite the chaos that surrounded them, his eyes finding hers in the half light of the dimly illuminated side road.
“I love you too.. always.”
And then she released him, shimmered like a mirage and was gone.
Paulie took another deep breath and then catapulted himself across the street in a single huge leap that saw him flying meters through the planet’s lower gravity. He hated doing it as it always disoriented him, but when in a fight it was always best to use whatever advantages one had at their disposal.
Paulie landed hard enough to bounce slightly before taking off at a dead sprint for the cover of the barricades nearest the pinned officers. As they noticed him he shouted as loudly as he could, “Korscam adjudicator’s friendly! Don’t shoot!”
He skidded on his side into cover just as some of the sporadic outgoing fire was directed his way. One of the bright blue beams of an electron pistol carving a glowing furrow out of the low barricade where he had been only a moment before.
“I’m a friendly god damn it! Don’t shoot!” he screamed in frustration as at least two more wild shots were directed his way from the pinned down adjudicators.
He heard shouting and a scuffle before an answering voice was directed his way. It was a yipping bark. “Friendly? What department!”
“Narcotics and trafficking!” He shouted back, hoping the answer would suffice.
There was another sound, this time like a tin can being dropped as something was thrown towards their assailants.
The voice shouted again, “Good enough for me! I popped smoke, my last one. Get your hindquarters over here into solid cover!” The last bark ended in a growl that sounded definitively feral to him, but it was an invitation he would happily acquiesce.
Popping up and taking two quick steps in the direction of the voice he swore as the random fire coming through the smoke nearly gutted him. One plasma bolt passed close enough to singe his coat, a curl of smoke wafting from it as he leapt for the cover of the double barricades, slapping his side to stem the burning sensation of the scorched fabric.
There was a little bit of confusion before he found himself at the end of several guns, and not the friendly ends.
Putting up his hands but not letting go of his own weapon, he spoke as calmly as he could. “H-hey.. we are all on the same side, guys.”
The barking voice from earlier asserted itself and a slight heechian female pushed one of the nearer officers, a young looking nerivith with stubby pink horns. The heechian’s head twisting almost all the way around like an owl before that angular head turned back in his direction.
“He is that urrenian. That one that took out all of Ooounoo’s guards single handedly, what do you think he is going to do to you if you try to shoot him, Kreenin?” The uniformed alien said, slapping the aforementioned officer on their shoulder.
Now through chastising the pink-skinned alien, the adjudicator turned to him. She was slight, even for the generally lean heechians. Her mottled blue and purple skin only showed on her wrists and hands, all the rest of her body covered except for her canine-like head. Small, barely visible fangs protruded from her reptilian mouth as all six of her eyes focused on him.
“You, good timing. We are pinned down and taking casualties, do you have an idea of the larger situation?” She made a hand gesture he associated as a neutral greeting and introduced herself, “Lieutenant Flaxiga."
“Paulie Marmook." Giving her a polite nod in return.
Paulie paused, looking around at the group, and what he saw made him despair. Instead of the elite forces of the adjudicators, many of the others cowering behind the barricade with him were civilians. Cold, scared and likely at the end of their mental fortitude. Two were also carrying guns, probably given to them by the officers. Maybe even taken from the corpses of the dead adjudicators nearby.
He shook his head slowly, passing a hand through his hair as he thought fast. He needed to tell them what was going on while not causing unnecessary panic to the noncombatants. Swallowing, he nodded towards the precinct. It was out of sight around the cover of nearby buildings, but the side offices were visible through the smoke that wafted across the parking lot.
“The energy walls are up. No getting inside, but I am on a very specific mission. I need to get to the palace as fast as possible.”
It seemed to take the lieutenant a second to catch his meaning, and then she cocked her head slightly. The loud groaning of the precinct’s Zirco shield was just audible through the snapping of gunfire if you were looking for it.
She shook her head, primary eyes closing as the smaller secondaries looked around. Ever alert. “I thought I heard something ominous in the air. Zalc.” She looked at him, bright eyes snapping back open. “What’s going on, really?”
He shook his head. “One problem at a time. I need covering fire, get their attention on us.”
Lieutenant Flaxiga hesitated for only a single heartbeat before nodding. “Ok.” Tapping the shoulder of the deflated nerivith man, they took up positions and then signalled readiness to him.
“Now, draw their fire towards us! Don’t get hit!” Paulie shouted, popping up just far enough to aim and fire. The first shot was another brass solid, the double crack of its rocket motor igniting making his ears sting a little. It impacted the distant barricade with enough force to carve a crater into the material more than ten centimeters across, spraying red-hot shrapnel and gravel across the enemies hiding behind it.
Joining him, the two officers' MDF pistols left bright streaks of energy that lashed out towards the enemies like ghostly blue strings pulled impossibly taut. Where they hit they left glowing, semi-molten craters. One of them reached out and clipped one of their assailants, throwing it screeching to the ground.
This caused the remaining cultists to duck, their own dominance shaken ever so slightly. They were more outmatched than they may have guessed, for as they cowered behind the cover, streaks of light reached out from atop a nearby light pole and cut them apart in a flurry of accurate fire.
Paulie waved a quick hand, “Hold fire, hold fire! That’s a friendly.” He stood and then stepped from cover as the astonished officers watched. A shimmering haze slid to the bottom of the pole, materialising into the smug form of Jakiikii as she stalked towards him like a tiger hunting prey.
He smiled as she nodded towards her work. “They didn’t even have time to scream.”
“Blew the hell out of them alright.” Turning to the others, he gestured to her. “Jakiikii, meet the new squad. Squad, meet Jakiikii.”
Lieutenant Flaxiga was the first to react. The adjudicator stepped forwards and offered a neat salute. “Well met, Jakiikii. I assume you and Paulie are together?” The termaxxi nodded smartly, her eyes smiling but her posture still dangerous. As if she was still expecting danger to pop up at any moment.
Jakiikii spoke quickly, her clipped tone leaving little room for interpretation. “Yes. We need to get to the palace immediately. We were only here to commandeer a vehicle, rescuing you was a bonus.”
Flaxiga gave a yipping chuckle, almost akin to that of a hyena. “Ha! I like you. We need to escort these civilians to safety first.
Jakiikii pointed to the two holding weapons. “You two!” They flinched at first but then stood. “You are deputized, officially. You are to escort yourselves to safety, go that way. It was clear when we got here, take cover and shoot anything that looks.. Unfriendly.”
Officer Kreenin seemed ready to protest, but was cut off by Lieutenant Flaxigan. “No, she is right. We are needed in the fight, not out of it. I place myself under your command, what’s the plan?” She asked, canine head cocked and tall ears perked.
“Save the queen.” He muttered in response.
Paulie looked around, his eyes scanning the lot for something.. anything.. that might help them get to the palace in a hurry. He paused, and then looked back at an imposing shape sitting between two omniwheeled police cruisers. And smiled.
“I think I found our ride.” He said, a smile crossing his grim features.