Axel picked up one of the folders, pulled the papers from the wall and shoved them inside. He found a bag in a draw attached to the tables and threw the folder in.
After one last look over the place, he climbed back out to the wreckage of Wizan's house and brought up the map on his wrist device. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing that the place seemed to be in the middle of the forest. On the one hand, he wouldn't have to drive through the carnage of the dying city. On the other, the woods provided an excellent open space for them to attack.
These aliens thought he was about to give himself in. If he wanted to save Striker, he was going to have to be sneaky and the only way to do that was with some sort of tactical strategy.
While being one of the nicest of Vaxorian Masters, Wizan was also a paranoid wreck. He'd been preparing for something to go wrong for as long as Axel had known him. It made him wonder whether that was because he knew what was to come. Wizan had put together an entire room in his mansion which he locked away with a key that only a select few people knew about.
It didn't take Axel long to figure out where all of the stuff was based on where they were originally located. He was lucky it was all stored on the ground floor, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to find it.
He wasn't, however, in luck about the fact that the rubble was all over it. Anything useful was buried underneath and there was no way he would be able to move any of that stuff. It piled too high.
Only two items seemed to be accessible. Axel picked up the multi-purpose screwdriver and a pair of cracked binocs which had just about survived the blast. If he had the time Axel would have tried harder to get to the stuff underneath. As he didn't know what the man was saying, there was no telling if there was some sort of timer in place. It was best not to stick around for much longer.
Axel slipped the binocs and the screwdriver into his rucksack.
Those trained at the Academy soon learned the art of maintaining a steady run. Most could keep moving at a reasonable pace for a few hours before they got tired.
Axel's feet crunched over the leaves as he followed the map projected in front of him.
Wizan seemed to know more about these aliens than he probably should. It was quite possible this entire attack was about the research his father and Wizan had been doing. But why would that be the case? What was it about these aliens that they knew?
He hoped he would find something in the folders he'd taken from the underground room. Now wasn't the time to study, only Striker's safety mattered.
By the time he stopped, he was around half a mile from the destination marked out on the map. According to his coordinates, their spaceship would be located directly ahead. If it was as big and bulky as those that were in the sky, it was likely that he would be able to see it. For some reason, he couldn't.
He hid behind a tree, pulled out the binocs and scoped the place out. Ahead looked to be a collection of trees, the rustle of their leaves sounded as the wind battered against them. Everything seemed to be normal. But invisibility shields were something that they prepared for at the Academy.
Axel moved his vision down to the ground, surveying the leaves very closely. It didn't take long for his suspicions to be confirmed. Several areas around them seemed to crumple down as if being stepped on by something unseen. He would bet his life that straight ahead of him a set of the aliens were waiting to ambush him. There was only one way he was going to be able to see them. He needed to walk through the barrier. But how far would he need to go?
There was limited data for him to be able to make this guess. From the ships he had seen above the city, Axel estimated the dimensions were around fifty foot by fifty foot, tracing this out his mind he ran as far towards what he assumed would be the back of the ship as possible. Next, he put his plan into place hiding behind one tree after another until finally he noticed the shimmer.
A shimmer was the start of an invisibility shield. The closer you got to the start of it, the more distorted the reality seemed to be. He hoisted himself onto one of the trees and climbed up it using the branches to give him the momentum. While being up here, he remained further hidden. He leapt to another tree and the shimmer dropped mid air. Then hopped from one tree to the next.
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The black dome came into focus. Around it a set of guards patrolled the area. Four muscular arms protruded from their broad shoulders. Their imposing figures stood at just over eight feet and marched around in their shining ebony armour. The only visible skin was their hands which revealed the colour as a shade of green. Deep eyes glared through the red visor of their helmet. These weren't beings to be messed with.
There were around a dozen patrolling the front of the craft, going back and forth. Waiting for him. Axel checked the coordinates on his map, Striker was positioned towards the middle of the ship. He was going to have to get inside if he had any hope of getting his friend without being spotted.
It was likely that the inside of the ship was also being patrolled. In a contained environment, he had a better chance than out here where it would be a free-for-all.
Using his binocs, he clocked the location of as many troopers as he could. They had a very tight watch on all of the entrances to the ship. There was one place which seemed to have been left untouched; the roof.
Maybe they didn't consider it viable that Axel would be able to get in. He grinned as he realised that they had underestimated his climbing ability. Moving the binocs towards the roof he could quite clearly make out what could be a ventilation shaft.
There was, of course, the other option; that he had guessed wrong and all of this was about to blow up in his face. There didn't seem to be another option than to save Striker. At least when they were together, two minds were better than one. They might be able to figure out a way off this planet to warn the rest of the Vaxorian race and find his father.
Axel hurtled himself through the sky. He kicked his legs to give himself enough momentum, his hands clapped against the branch of another tree. It towered over the top of the spaceship.
Axel halted for a moment, then made sure that no-one had noticed him. He was in the clear. He grinned. This was actually going to work! He gritted his teeth as he lowered himself down the tree. Each movement kept his heart pounding in his ears. All it took was one of the troopers to spot him and he would be dead.
Somehow, none of them noticed him climbing down. He stopped when he was level with the surface. There was nothing else for it, he kicked off from the tree and fell through the air. His legs buckled as his feet hit the metal ground. He rolled himself up and held his arms out to steady himself.
Adrenalin pumped through him as he ran for the ventilation duct ahead. It was screwed on pretty tight but it was nothing that Wizan's screwdriver couldn't handle. The metal hatch came free. It flipped open and Axel crawled into the shaft and shimmied his way through.
His stomach jumped as he realised there was no going back now. The shaft was dark and empty. Metal clangs caused the hair on the nape of his neck to stand on edge. The general sounds of a spaceship. Axel had heard of pilots who claimed their vessel was haunted. Most of the time it was down to imagination. An artificial light glowed up ahead.
It was coming from the cracks of the grate which lead down a corridor below. He remained silent and surveyed the scene. The corridor seemed to be empty. No guards patrolled.
Axel unscrewed the gate and lowered himself down. Then dropped to the floor. The interior of the ship was built from a strong black metal. The walls were broken up with different tubes and contraptions. Axel steadied himself again. They were emitting a low hum. He brought up the map; he was close to Striker now. Just needed to find the room he was based in.
Axel crept along the corridor until he stopped at an automatic doorway. It slipped up and allowed him onto another corridor. This one was lined with more entrances. He clutched his T-60 tightly as he made his way through. It led to a set of staircases.
His co-ordinates said Striker was only two floors below him. He walked down the stairs and waited at every corner. Then peered around to see if anyone was there. He stopped at the floor Striker was on.
He stifled a gasp when he saw two troopers patrolling the area. One door stood at the very end of this one which opened up into what looked to be a control room. Stealth had never been Axel's strong point.
His heart thumped, his clammy hands held onto his gun. The adrenalin teetered out and left him with only his own thoughts. How was he going to get Striker out of here? Was he in over his head? Why didn't his father and Wizan warn him about the attack? His friends could have been spared.
Footsteps brought him back to reality. Not the footsteps that he was waiting for. Someone below him was climbing the stairs. He jumped up and ran up the steps then slid into cover at the start of the next turn. He held his T-60 steady and readied himself for attack.
The troopers turned the corner and started towards him. There were two of them, both green skinned and wearing the same bulky armour as those patrolling the outside.
Axel took his moment, he stood up and shot one square in the head. The laser rebounded off its charcoal black armour. They were on him in seconds. His T-60 rattled across the floor. They grabbed his collar and slammed him against the wall.
"Your leader wants me here," he said, knowing that any attempt to communicate was futile. The trooper said nothing. Frowned. He surveyed Axel. Then used his hand to slip a device out of his pocket. It showed a projected image of Axel's face with alien writing swirling around it. He studied the picture which must have been taken from his communication with the man at Wizan's house. He wished he could read the writing. Maybe it would give him a clue as to why these aliens had taken Striker hostage. Why they wanted him to come here.
The trooper looked down at him again and took a moment to consider his next action. He lifted his gun and Axel closed his eyes and waited for the end to come. Then something cracked into his forehead and he fell backward as the world blacked out completely.