Chapter 32: Rough Landing

Chapter 32: Rough Landing

“Do we know where we are headed!?” Paulie had to shout to be heard over the screech of the sukk-sou’s engines as they arrowed through the air over the dense city of Korscam.

Mursk waved an armoured arm as if to signify agreement, then switched halfway through to indicate dissent. After another moment he made a gesture that Paulie knew to mean that he was unsure. Paulie threw his hands up in mild annoyance at the unhelpful answer.

‘That’s just great.’ He muttered to himself silently. They were stuck in the belly of some big fat armoured cow, carrying enough firepower to level his home town, and they didn’t even have a clear target in mind. Mack had seemed to indicate he would send them clearer data when he had it, but if it had arrived then Paulie had not yet seen it.

Jakiikii leaned into him and rumbled low, her voice just audible over the background noise. “We are heading towards the industrial zone, but there is likely no good place to set down in that maze, it is full of rogue criminal elements and crawling with unsavoury sorts.”

“So, what?” Paulie retorted. “We might have to walk into whatever place we are eventually heading to anyway, what if we set down in the middle of some big-ass parking lot then we find out that we need to go in the complete opposite direction?”

The termaxxi’s eyes flicked around as if trying to find the answer in the details of the soldiers that surrounded them. She focused on him with five eyes a moment later, “Well, then we do what we have to do. Nothing is ever simple, is it?” She asked sweetly, her voice only just audible over the roaring engines.

Paulie sniffed pointedly, his nostril flaring as he suddenly gripped his restraints harder and screwed his eyes shut. “What!” He grunted as the craft made an abrupt and rather surprising maneuver like a horse trying to avoid a snake underfoot.

As if to answer his unfinished question the running lights in the bay flashed from a muted white to a solid green, not a good sign as green was the universal GGI signal for all that was bad and negative. There was a whooping siren blast and then the craft banked again.. HARD.

Paulie’s jaw clenched tightly and his teeth tried to rattle their way out of his skull as he tried to imagine he was just on some wild amusement ride. Not the whirling rotors of potential death. He was only marginally successful.

He felt a pair of hands over one of his own and the gut-wrenching fear lessened slightly, his anxiety skyrocketed though as he was reminded that if he died here then so did Jakiikii. He managed to crack open one eye just long enough to see she was pale as a ghost when there was a terrific noise and a flash of light near the rear of the craft. His whole world was shunted sideways as the sukk-sou started to vibrate in an altogether too concerning manner.

“What’s happening!?” Paulie shouted as he stared through the air of the bay, air that was rapidly filling with dark, choking smoke.

“We definitely just got hit by something, and I have a guess as to what!” One of the drab-green armoured PDF soldiers nearby shouted over the din to his comrade next to him.

The other alien responded, their voice only partially audible. “..then we should.. ..to the ground without any..”

Whatever else they may have been trying to say was cut short by the sound of the engines reaching an even more feverish pitch, this was quickly accompanied by gravity changing abruptly. Everything seemed to angle as the nose of the gunship tilted alarmingly downwards. What followed next was a brief sensation of weightlessness and then the returning of gravity hard enough to make Paulie grunt. What might have been an uncomfortable level of deceleration for his human physiology was clearly hell on many of the assorted aliens in the bay as more than one cried out in pain or vomited down the fronts of their uniforms from the intensity of it.

The gunship vibrated violently then slammed into the ground hard enough to buckle at least one of its reinforced landing struts, the whole thing tilting alarmingly as it skidded on its chin the last few meters and came to a shuddering stop amid the sound of shattering duracrete and tearing metal.

The cargo bay was a scene of pure chaos at that moment, multiple PDF soldiers were injured from the extreme deceleration and crash landing. At least one of the royal guardsmen was cradling what looked to be a broken arm and Paulie himself was almost as white as Jakiikii from the associated stress and anxiety.

One of the camouflage wearing troopers stood quickly, a bulky looking alien with three arms and legs and an odd triangular head. Paulie could have sworn he had seen this alien before, and as the large frill of colorful skin flared open on either side of its strangely shaped face he remembered why they looked familiar.

Commander Slallm roared, “Get yourselves together, you have had rougher landings in the shower after a hard day of physical training! If you are injured, form up at the front of this can and get yourself seen to. The rest of you slimeoids, get yourselves together and prepare to move out!”

Paulie had to admit that the alien’s commanding tone did the trick. The chaos almost immediately shifted to disciplined order, with those worst injured by the sudden crash landing hauling themselves to the front of the gunship’s passenger bay while the more able-bodied amongst them formed up in neat and ordered lines in front of the side exit.

The royal guardsman who had been injured was being taken care of by another power suited figure, this one a mendagoonian guard in armour that had a distinctly different shape and trim. This armour was not sleek the black and orange that Paulie was familiar with, but instead it was a pale lavender with deep red accents and much bulkier. Given the fairly obvious blue medical symbols on the uppermost arms he deduced they must be some manner of field medic or trauma response professional. He supposed it made sense for them to send one along, they had expected trouble after all.

He shook his head and chuckled darkly to himself. Well, maybe not this soon though.

Turning his attention back to the others, Commander Slallm was pacing at the front of the assembled group. His strange boneless appendages waved in the air as his padded feet made soft thuds on the shuttle’s flooring.

“We got hit hard, somebody that clearly has a sillum to pluck with us, well.. we will pluck right on back! And we will keep on plucking until the only thing left to pick are the scraps of their padded boots! Do I make myself clear!” The alien screeched.

“Yes Commander!” Came the chorus of replies.

Commander Slallm seemed to nod once, his frill flaring again slightly. The bright greens and yellows of it contrasting wildly with his drab military gear. He waved an arm and then gestured to the doorway, “Alright. We move out, secure the immediate perimeter around the crash site and establish a defensive cordon around the area! Move out!” And with that the sillo’an man stepped to the side to allow the PDF troopers to get to work.

Mursk gestured at the man and then to Paulie. “You are a Lord, technically giving you direct superiority over this man, do not let him press you with his supposed authority if he tries. You have the say here on this mission, I was assured this by a message from the prince himself.”

Paulie nodded slowly, he might have the authority, but this gruff soldier clearly had him beat with experience. As he watched the door was opened, debris was cleared, ammo and weapons were distributed and the wounded were tended too. All in the span of a few minutes. Presently the man himself approached and threw a sort of salute towards Paulie and Mursk which Paulie did his best to approximate. This was met with a hesitant glance from the three-eyed alien and then it was brushed aside.

“Sir.. Lord, we need to establish a safety net around this area so we can call for an evac.” He said, pointedly referring to Mursk first then Paulie second. A slight, but perhaps not a purposeful one.

Paulie immediately shook his head. “No, not the mission. We make our way on foot if we have to, we need to reach the target before Visk or another assassin can take her out. The target could have vital information for the greater effort.”

The PDF officer glanced from him to Mursk standing next to him as if trying to confirm something, but Mursk had his helmet back on and kept his antennae perfectly still. He gave nothing away. Jakiikii on the other hand was much more of an open book, she fidgeted a little. Dancing from hooved foot to foot as she often did when stressed. As she saw him looking her skin flashed white then she gripped her weapon and regained her composure quickly, giving the scrutinising alien a look with all six eyes as if daring him to say something.

For his own part, Paulie stood ram-rod still with his head slightly cocked. One hand was holding his greatcoat back and resting on his side near his huge five-shot, rocket assisted revolver. Not in a threatening way, but more so the manner of a man who is accustomed to having to use it.

Finally the sillo’an seemed to stand up a bit straighter and then made a head-cocking gesture before he opened his strange three-jawed mouth and spoke, “Alright. We do it your way then. But my priority is the soldiers under my command. You get yourself into any big fluffs then don’t expect me to suicide charge my guys in there to get you out. Understood?” He asked, again that gruff tone coming through despite their strange gurgling accent.

Paulie just nodded and gripped his weapon tighter. Not to hold anything over the man, but the mission was more important than any single life, he glanced at Jakiikii, ‘Almost any single life.’ he muttered to himself silently.

Paulie glanced out the opening doorway and saw nothing but smoke and shadows outside. He readied himself to move, but was held back by Mursk as two of the royal guards he did not know rushed to the exit and then jumped out. He heard the loud buzzing of their wings as they took to the sky for better vision and vantage points.

Paulie grumbled, “What, you think it’s really that dangerous out there?” Mursk moved his hands in the gesture for yes and then pointed at the door. He snorted, maybe a dumb question now that he really thought about it. They had been shot down by somebody, so clearly there was at least some measure of threat.

“Scouts indicate the immediate area is clear of threats. Commander, I can recommend taking the structure directly to the north of our position while we come up with a plan of action. It seems the most stable and has third story access for good potential overwatch coverage.” He was tilting his head slightly as if looking at something, the scrutiny only intensifying as he stood there.

Paulie realised he must have been patched into the helmet camera feeds of the scouts and was looking through their real-time footage to make a clearer tactical decision. For his credit, the Commander seemed to understand this too and waved towards his own troops.

“Well, you heard the order. Move out, double time. Make for the north building, we will have to button the ship up or scuttle it if we can’t.” The last words came out with a pained look from the alien as he squinted his large, teardrop shaped eyes. The mention of scuttling the ship seemed to sit ill with him. Paulie had to agree, but having such an advanced piece of military hardware falling into the wrong hands would be far worse than reducing it to smoking rubble. Any of the weapons on it would be a potent force multiplier in the hands of near-do wells. And the crashed sukk-sou had a lot of weapons.

There was a bit of a commotion as the soldiers exited the ship down the ladder-like exit ramp, some of them having an easier time of it than others due to their confused mix of body-plans, arms and legs or lack thereof. But the action was completed without too much mishap, though there was one of the injured soldiers that lost their grip and would have fallen had Jakiikii not reached out and caught them with an arm. They seemed at once relieved and shaken by the ease with which the termaxxi had arrested their fall. Paulie had to remind himself that he wasn’t the only superman in their little group.

His own booted feet hit the shattered pavement without ever touching the ladder as he just hopped the short distance to the ground and absorbed the impact with his knees, much to the surprise of many of the PDF troopers till one of them mentioned him being the Hero of Korscam from the battle at the palace and then there was a lot of nodding and understanding murmurs. Though he did get stared at, they had at least switched from muted hostility and confusion to open admiration and wariness.

He shrugged to himself, it was better than being hated.

He moved quickly out of the open as Mursk had directed and to the side of a large defunct-looking structure. A factory perhaps it had been in its past, but now it was nothing more than four crumbling walls held together by corroded steel girders and rusty bolts. Still, cover was cover and he was feeling very exposed out in the open as they were.

Nearby there was a crash and a call of, “Door’s open!” and then soldiers and guardsmen started to rush inside to assess the state of the place. Paulie glanced back at the crashed sukk-sou one last time, the body of the large white craft was still mostly intact. But two of the wings were crooked and half of the thing’s rear tail had snapped off with the force of the original impact. It sat in a shallow crater dug into the ground as it had skidded to a stop.

Paulie took a breath and gripped his gun by his side, then turned around and entered the abandoned factory with the rest of the soldiers.