This is the closest I can take us in before she gets picked up on the long range scanners captain, Max heard Sparrow call out through his headset.
Max and his four squad mates were in the armory, gearing up for their descent to the surface of Leoria. Their mission this time would be one of the most dangerous yet, but Max had his orders and would follow them to the letter; that’s what a soldier did.
Is it really the closest, or is it the closest someone who is as incompetent a flyer as you are can get us? Captain Strickland rumbled over the intercom.
Maximus seethed in silent anger at his derisive captain who, himself, was probably the most incompetent person that Max had ever had the misfortune to serve under. The man was constantly asleep or drinking in his personal quarters and left all of his work to Max and the other officers. The fact that Strickland had the gall to harass anyone for being incompetent was a subject of bickering amongst Max and his fellow officers and crewmates.
Just a few missions left until Strickland retires, Max began to chant his silent mantra, willing himself not to put his foot in his mouth and say something that he shouldn’t. Sparrow was certainly an incompetent pilot, especially since he was freshly graduated, but Max would be damned if he agreed with Strickland on anything.
We all eagerly await your response Sparrow, Captain Strickland pressed again, his tone taunting not just the hapless pilot, but daring anyone to speak out in the poor boy’s defense.
It’s the closest someone as incompetent as I am can get us, sir, Sparrow relinquished, knowing that his superior would hound him until he answered.
I wish any one of us onboard could say that we’re surprised by that admission, Sparrow. Unfortunately, we can’t, Strickland blathered. Lieutenant Laurentius, start the necessary paperwork to strip him of his wings when you complete your mission.
Max pinched the bridge of his nose and took a steadying breath, using every last remaining ounce of his self control to keep his temper in check. Another stack of papers was about to be added to the already overwhelming amount of busy work that waited for him back in his cabin.
Do you copy Lieutenant Laurentius? Captain Strickland asked Max.
“I hear you captain,” Max called back across the radio, sighing in exasperation and surrendering himself to the additional hours of clerical work that his insipid superior had just burdened him with.
Marcus clapped him on the shoulder and grinned broadly, “Paperwork comes with the territory Lieutenant, that’s why I’m not an Officer.”
Max collected himself and grinned at his friend. Petty Officer Marcus Valerius was a good natured guy that had served under Max for the last half year; hard headed and loyal to a fault, the dark haired man was as tough as they came.
“Can you even spell your own name, Marcus?” Maximus ribbed back.
“I think it starts with a Z, sir?” Marcus chuckled. “Besides, more paperwork means less time with the ladies. I couldn’t do it to them, sir. It wouldn’t be fair.”
“I spoke with the rest of the ladies… Turns out we would manage just fine,” Max tried to hold in his laughter as one of his two new squad mates, the only woman, spoke up for the first time. She had her shoulder length brown hair tied back in a ponytail and was checking up and down every inch of her sniper rifle. He hadn’t seen her shoot yet, but he knew the rumors preceded her.
“Well said Petty Officer Amantia,” Max smiled.
“Sir! Julia is fine, sir!” She sounded off.
Max snorted and looked at his final two squad mates, a sapper and tech specialist named Caius who Max had previously worked with on a few missions and his team’s medic, a rookie fresh from boot camp.
The poor kid looked all out of sorts, Caius talking him through proper procedure and making sure that he was outfitting himself correctly.
“Lieutenant, why did they give us a rookie?” Caius sighed. “Isn’t this mission straight from the top?”
“It is,” Max agreed with Caius. “As to why we have a rookie, your guess is as good as mine. I follow orders, same as you guys do.”
A buzzer sounded off in the cargo bay, red lights flashing and notifying Max and his company that the mission was beginning.
Twenty four hours to complete the mission and get to the rendezvous, Lieutenant Laurentius, Captain Strickland spoke through his headset into Max’s ear. We’ll be out of communication range until the designated time, 07:00. If you miss the window you’re on your own until we can make another pass.
I don’t need to remind you of how important this mission is, Lieutenant. Max nodded to himself as he went over the key points in his mind, only half listening to the captain. The Republic needs these documents to really put the screws to the rest of those Senate bastards, so don’t fuck this up. If you do, I’ll make sure that you live to regret it.
Max joined his team next to the cargo bay doors that were beginning to slowly open. His heart quickened in anticipation for the upcoming drop down to the surface as he locked his helmet into place.
“We won’t let you down, captain,” Max promised his superior as the hangar lights began to flash green. Marcus leapt through the hangar doors into the open sky and was quickly followed by Julia and then Caius. “See you on the other side, sir.”
Max kicked the rookie in the small of his back since the poor kid stood trembling in fright thousands of meters above the planet’s surface. He laughed at the high pitch scream of the terrified Rook and leapt from the door right after, beginning his own descent towards his mission below.
Max caught up with Rook, righting the helpless kid in the air as the two of them broke through the cloud cover and got their first glimpse of Leoria. The surface of the planet was a dense green jungle with intermittent mountains and lakes breaking up the never ending sea of monotonous green. Max slapped his armor, activating its cloaking feature now that he was below the clouds, and to his pleasant surprise, Rook quickly followed suit.
Maybe the kid isn’t hopeless, Max dared to dream. The tracking feature in his helmet pinged their LZ and he steered himself and Rook towards their destination. When they were close enough, he activated the thrusters on his suit to slow himself down into a controlled landing.
He and Rook touched down in a small clearing next to Marcus, Caius, and Julia who had already taken to securing the area. Rook quickly stripped his helmet off and heaved the contents of his stomach onto the ground, gasping and spluttering on all fours.
“All’s clear, lieutenant,” Marcus reported to his superior, trying unsuccessfully to keep the smile from his face as he eyed the rookie. “Must have been the kid’s first jump, sir?”
“Looks like it,” Max laughed at the unfortunate boy. “Our destination is over ten klicks away through dense jungle so let’s get a move on. The sun sets in a few hours and I want Senator Viskal’s estate in sight before we lose the light. Radio silence until you’re told otherwise. And get your helmet back on Rook.”
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Max and his squadron took off, Caius leading the way as he hacked through the underbrush. They stopped once to water for only a moment and then pressed forward again, Marcus now taking his turn at the front of the procession so he could tear through the denser fauna.
After three grueling hours in the humid jungle, the squad broke out from the underbrush, coming upon the edge of a ravine that spanned over a hundred meters with sheer cliffs on either side. A great river down on the canyon floor snaked its way between the cliff walls that were over twice as deep as they were wide.
Rook collapsed into a heap and removed his helmet again, this time so he could drain his water; Max smiled as Marcus bent down to encourage the rookie. Julia was standing at the edge of the cliff, peering down into the canyon with the scope of her rifle so Max went to stand beside her.
“How many are down there, sir?” Julia asked, still keeping a watchful eye on the activity at the end of the canyon.
Senator Viskal’s estate was a palatial fortress located at the bottom of the canyon. Overwhelming in it’s opulence and magnificence, the mansion was constructed of gray and white stone and towered over every other smaller home and building that had sprung up around it. The palace sat at the crest of a hill that overlooked the surrounding community and was virtually unassailable from any point thanks to its strategic vantage.
“Intel suggests that the Senator is away in the capital,” Max told her. “So if the information supplied by our informant is to be believed, the Senator and most of his retainers shouldn’t be at home.”
“And you really believe Xital to betray his people?” Julia asked her senior. “When have you ever heard of a Panthara selling out one of their fellows?”
The Panthara were an ancient race of herculean felines that made up one of the five ruling races of the Galactic Council. The six-legged cat people averaged at least three meters when they stood on their hind legs and they were brave, proud, and loyal to a fault. Every Panthara was conscripted into their nation’s military and had to serve for a minimum of three years in the Pantharan Fleet.
“Never. Which means unfortunately for us Xital is almost certainly not a betrayer to his people,” Max agreed with Julia. “That’s why orders from the brass said we should infiltrate at a different date and time than what was suggested by Xital. Bottom line is the Republic needs whatever is on those documents and we have our orders.”
“Hmm,” Julia grunted. “I still don’t like this mission sir, it doesn’t sit right with me.”
“You’ve never fought a Panthara before Petty Officer?” Marcus joked as he walked over to stand beside Max and Julia. “Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet?”
“Has anyone ever been able to hold their own or win in a fist fight with one of them before?” Julia frowned. “They’re the strongest warriors in the galaxy.”
“Not in living memory,” Marcus grinned. “Lieutenant here has probably been one of the few that have lasted for more than a few seconds. What was your record again, sir?”
“30 seconds…” Max sighed as Marcus continued to badger him. “But that’s 29 seconds longer than you, isn’t that right Petty Officer?”
“Too true, lieutenant,” Marcus laughed again. “I’ve sparred with Panthara on three different occasions. They all knocked me out in one hit.”
“And yet you got assigned to this mission because…?” Julia trailed off, raising an eyebrow underneath her helmet’s visor.
“My charm?” Marcus quipped, not missing a beat.
“Right, if things go south, you talk them to death while I run,” Julia nodded. “That sounds like a solid plan to me.”
“Alright, enough chit chat,” Max turned away from the cliff edge. “Let’s set up camp for a few hours and then when the sun goes down, we’ll infiltrate the mansion. I’ll keep watch, I want all of you fresh.”
——————————————————————
Max was shaking awake his squadron just a few hours later. The sun had been down for over an hour now and the clock had started; 16 hours until sun-up. Max went back to watch the jungle as his teammates roused themselves; he had heard two different patrols since his squad had started to sleep, neither of which had come anywhere close to the clearing that he and his team were in.
“What’s our plan of approach then sir?” Marcus asked, as he joined his superior along with the rest of the squad. “I’m assuming the passages that Xital mentioned are heavily guarded so do you know another way in?”
“No, we’ll have to make our own,” Max began to wind himself up to go over the finer points of the plan that he had been formulating. “That’s why Caius is---”
“Contact!” Julia screamed as she tackled Rook out of the way of a pair of massive broadswords. A sleek black Panthara had burst out of the jungle and only Julia’s lightning reflexes saved Rook from getting his head cleanly separated from his body by the warrior’s massive sword. Julia scrambled to regain her footing as the massive feline attempted to engage her in combat and a second Panthara immediately engaged in a fight with both Marcus and Caius, trying to prevent either of the two men from helping out their squadmate.
Julia would have to hold out on her own for a minute because Max was left to deal with the third enemy that was currently sprinting out of the jungle on all six of its legs, eyeing the prone rookie and making him out to be the easiest target. Max quickly raised a gauntleted hand, calling upon the power of his augment, which brought the dashing Panthara crashing down to the ground.
“Thank you, sir!” Rook called out as he jumped to his feet.
“Help Julia!” Was all Max had time to shout before the lithe Panthara he had just tripped up got its legs back underneath it and set its gleaming orange eyes onto Max.
The tan and black-speckled Panthara that Max was squaring up to fight was the smallest of the three, but calling her small would have been the punchline of a bad joke. She easily towered over Max, cautiously drawing two gargantuan spears and flexing the powerful muscles in her arms as she circled the lieutenant warily. Max could tell with a glance that even one of the two obsidian spears was probably too heavy for him to properly swing and he tried to remain calm as the massive warrior easily twirled the two weapons effortlessly amongst her four arms.
The feline called out to Max, a cacophony of grunts and hisses but Max said nothing, having no clue what the cat was trying to do.
“Of course you don’t speak Panteran,” The feline then spoke in perfect English. “Why would a human bother to learn any language other than that of your homeworld?”
“You speak English?” Max asked, a bit taken aback that his foe was willing to converse with him. Maybe he could talk his way out of this situation. “This is all just a big misunderstanding. My squad and I had to make an emergency landing in the jungle a few klicks from here; our starship malfunctioned. If you sheathe your weapons we could talk this out, I could lead you back to our ship and you could help us be on our way?”
“I think not, little one,” The Panthara sneered haughtily. “One of our own, Xital, spoke of a group of foolish rats that we should be on the lookout for. We expected you over a week ago, and now that I know you waited, maybe you are not as foolish as we thought you to be. And if you are not foolish, then you are dangerous.”
She lunged forward with one of her two spears and Max dodged to the side just in time, barely avoiding getting run through with the spear’s barbed tip. The Panthara pivoted to give chase to Max, so he quickly scrambled to draw the shortsword he had belted on his hip, barely unsheathing it in time to deflect the next of her spear strikes. The battle had just started but already Max swung his sword in desperation against all of her follow-up attacks. Between a combination of jumping to the side and deflecting her heavy blows, it was all Max could do to stay in front of the two spears.
On the Panthara’s next thrust Max extended his hand and weighted the spear head down, bringing it crashing into the dirt where it firmly lodged itself. Trying to not give the Panthera anytime to retrieve her spear from the ground max unholstered the pistol on his hip and pointed it directly into the face of the feline, unloading all of the energy in the pistol’s magazine. Caught off guard, the Panthara barely removed the shield from her back in time to deflect all of the energy bullets. Max lunged forward with his sword and attempted to impale his foe while she was hiding behind her shield but unfortunately for Max, she wasn’t as distracted as he thought. With one of her free hands she grabbed the wrist of Max’s sword arm, easily shattering it in her powerful grip, and sent Max to the dirt with a shield bash to the back of his head.
“Dishonorable human!” the Panthara sneered, though Max found it difficult to focus on what she was saying over the ringing in his head. His eyes returned to focus as his adversary prepared to deliver the killing blow.
“Drop the spear!” Julia yelled, halting the Panthara in her tracks. “You so much as move a single muscle and I’ll blow your fucking head off! I’ve got armor piercing rounds so you won’t be able to deflect them!”
Max held his breath as the Panthara narrowed her orange eyes and rumbled a low growl in the back of her throat but he breathed a sigh of relief as she eventually lowered her spear.
“You want to bind her lieutenant?” Julia gasped. “Hurry, I can’t hold on much longer.”
Max looked over in horror to see that his soldier was missing her left leg. It had been severed cleanly by a swordstroke from the first Panthara and lay to Julia’s side a few meters away.
Max quickly got to his feet and cuffed the Panthara’s four arms together, sealing her strength away along with any other hidden tricks the feline might be trying to conceal until the opportune moment. With the prisoner secured and Marcus and Caius still holding their own against the final Panthara, Max rushed over to Julia who was now being attended to by Rook.
What he saw made his stomach churn.
In addition to his sniper being permanently hobbled, the body of the first Panthara lay twitching in the grass, it’s head completely pulped into a bloody mess by Julia’s rifle.
The mission had just gone from bad to worse.