{"id":2504,"date":"2018-08-18T07:14:18","date_gmt":"2018-08-18T12:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ajscifistories.com\/?p=2504"},"modified":"2018-08-25T07:16:38","modified_gmt":"2018-08-25T12:16:38","slug":"master-of-violence-part-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ajscifistories.com\/?p=2504","title":{"rendered":"Master of Violence – Part 27"},"content":{"rendered":"

Master of Violence<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

by AJ Marks<\/span><\/p>\n

Part 27<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Angie looked up at the night sky while lying on her back.\u00a0 The ground wasn\u2019t that comfortable, but she had gotten used to it, or at least as much as she hoped to get used to it.\u00a0 Above her the moonless sky twinkled with stars.<\/p>\n

She could imagine that one of them was the sun which Earth orbited around and wished she was there instead of here.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou still awake?\u201d Heather asked beside her.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, can\u2019t sleep,\u201d Angie replied hearing Heather laugh a bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cYa know, I\u2019d kill for a razer about now,\u201d Heather said.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t what Angie expected to hear and turned slightly to look at her friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy, the ones who need a shave are the guys, all of them have beards, and Ben, well, he just can\u2019t grow on very well,\u201d Angie said.<\/p>\n

That caused them both to chuckle again.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, despite my protest, I\u2019d like to shave my legs,\u201d Heather said.<\/p>\n

Angie thought about that and realized her friend was right.\u00a0 Despite all their protests about it, jokes and such, there was something which she associated it with being civilized.<\/p>\n

She looked back up at the sky going quiet again.\u00a0 The forest was quiet and under the night sky she could see the stars quite well.\u00a0 Taking a second she frowned, and looked again.\u00a0 It appeared there was a few lights which were moving, and it seemed strange.\u00a0 She started to say else when a slight vibration startled her causing her to sit up straight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d Heather asked but Angie ignored her while quickly trying to fish the phone out of her pocket, a slight sense of excitement coursing through her.\u00a0 She fumbled with it a bit and finally managed to turn it on.<\/p>\n

The screen came to life and there it was, a text.<\/p>\n

\u201cJack, Ben, everyone!\u201d Angie yelled causing everyone to jump up.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou trying to get us killed Angie?\u201d Jack asked rushing over.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re here,\u201d Angie replied, showing him the screen.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve arrived, await instructions.<\/em><\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Joe Niewen waited in the seat of his fighter as the Enterprise counted down to exit hyperspace.\u00a0\u00a0 His mission would be to launch and establish control of space for the landing troops which would be heading down to the surface of the planet.\u00a0 No one had any idea what they might expect around the planet.<\/p>\n

He felt the familiar vibration of exiting from hyperspace as the dampeners of the artificial gravity would not keep up with the deceleration of the ship before the announcement to launch was received.<\/p>\n

Joe launched with the rest of his squadron finding himself out in space and, surprisingly, rather empty.\u00a0 He fully expected to see more than what he saw.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo hostile ships in sector six B,\u201d the report came.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn it,\u201d his squadron commander said, as they all turned and headed in the direction of the ship.<\/p>\n

The scanners identified it as two smaller ships, neither one really should pose much of a challenge to the fleet.\u00a0 Both ships appeared motionless in space as they advanced and Joe wondered if they even knew they were there.<\/p>\n

He lined up with is wingmate, Carl, as they headed on their attack run.\u00a0 Both the fighters and the enemy ship seemed to open up at the same time.\u00a0 He concentrated on his attack hitting the enemy ship rapidly even as he pulled out and tried as many evasive maneuvers as possible.\u00a0 Carl was right with him as they moved away and the fire died down before looking on for another attack run.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnemy fighters,\u201d the report came.<\/p>\n

Joe looked down at his screen and noticed the fighters coming up from the surface of the planet.\u00a0 He turned to engage along with the others as the fleet continued to close in on the planet and the two enemy ships.<\/p>\n

Part of him wondered what the fighters were like, as they had yet to engage them.\u00a0 None of the attacks had yet encountered such a ship, now he moved in and attacked.\u00a0 Carl stayed with him and he noticed something almost right away, they broke apart, all acting as single individuals.<\/p>\n

He lined up his first boogie and quickly destroyed him before Carl added a second one.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe, noticed anything strange?\u201d Carl said as they turned to line up another one.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, they all operate individually, no coordination at all,\u201d Joe replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s take advantage of it,\u201d Carl said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo problem there,\u201d Joe stated as he fired destroying another enemy fighter.<\/p>\n

He took a moment to look at the organization of the enemy, they seemed to just be moving and firing with no plan or anything else.\u00a0 He wondered if they ever faced such an opponent before, or were such tactics enough to defeat other races?\u00a0 He knew such tactics would never be used in any such fight on Earth, it was a recipe to lose the battle.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommand wants a corridor cleared to the planet\u2019s surface,\u201d the instructions came.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoger,\u201d Joe heard his squad leader say.\u00a0 \u201cAll right, let\u2019s sweep the space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe turned again taking out another fighter even as he watched one of his own be destroyed.\u00a0 Turning he went on the hunt.\u00a0 They turned and spiraled in battle.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou picked one up, don\u2019t stop turning,\u201d he heard Carl say.<\/p>\n

Not breaking from the one in front of him he continued on the hunt before hearing the tone lock and fired.\u00a0 His weapons opened up destroying another enemy as he turned his attention back to behind him.<\/p>\n

\u201cBreak hard left, now!\u201d Carl\u2019s voice said.<\/p>\n

Joe turned hard feeling some g\u2019s slam into him but trusting what Carl said to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cClear,\u201d Carl said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n

He heard Carl acknowledge it before heading back into the battle.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Mark watched as the fight continued on for supremacy in space.\u00a0 Gaining and holding that would prove critical for the invasion part later on.\u00a0 The fleet had closed in on the two enemy warships, both appeared to be smaller ships which they had not yet encountered, nor had the rebellion encountered.<\/p>\n

Hans figured the ship to be some sort of patrol ship and not a regular warship.\u00a0 The fighters had been a bit of a shock to them, as they had yet to encounter such ships but the engagement appeared to be going in their favor at the moment.<\/p>\n

They had already contacted Earth to let them know the battle was engaged, and Victoria kept them up to date with how things were going.\u00a0 So far there appeared no reason to retreat from the mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst enemy ship is going critical,\u201d Mark heard one of the bridge officers say.\u00a0 He looked down at the scanners and noticed indeed the ship having problems before it was lost on the scanner.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnemy ship destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

It left the enemy with just one more ship and the remaining fighters.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny contact with the surface?\u201d Mark asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, we got a message, they are ready for whatever we need,\u201d Joaquin replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood,\u201d Mark said.\u00a0 \u201cGo ahead and inform them where we need them.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a risk, but they were to be the spies on the ground looking for where they might be able to land easier in the city once they began to head down.\u00a0 He had no idea how far away they were, or if they could even reach the area before troops began to head down.\u00a0 The battle was progressing faster than he expected and a corridor for the troops was almost established.<\/p>\n

They had no idea what type of resistance they would find upon their arrival, and it was actually smaller than he thought it would be.\u00a0 Now the fleet concentrated on one enemy ship, something he wanted to eliminate rather quickly so he could focus on defense and a possible retaliation strike.<\/p>\n

The fighter groups seemed to be having no problems with the enemy fighters, and received minimal losses.<\/p>\n

It took a while longer but finally the reply came they had a clear path.\u00a0 He looked on seeing the enemy ship was still under attack and the few fighters were almost gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cSend the first wave, inform the group on the ground,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes sir.\u201d<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Angie made her way through the clearing once they received the message.\u00a0 It energized them all to know that fleet of ships from Earth was in orbit and fighting the O\u2019krad in an effort to free them.<\/p>\n

The next message had been instructions to head towards the city and wait for further instructions.\u00a0 They had quickly packed up and headed in the direction while looking up.\u00a0 At one point Angie thought she saw a large flash in the sky and wondered what that was.<\/p>\n

They had not received any new messages and she hoped it wasn\u2019t one of their ships being destroyed.\u00a0 The group reached the outskirts of the city faster than anticipated, which Angie figured was due to the fact they were excited.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow what?\u201d Heather asked as they reached the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s see what they are doing?\u201d Aku stated, and send that back up to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d Charlie said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll stay here with the women, we\u2019ll make a central base here to operate out of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can be just as stealthy as they can,\u201d Crystal said.<\/p>\n

Angie wasn\u2019t going to complain, she would rather wait here than go on down and had a feeling Heather felt the same way.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right, then you can go with them, I\u2019ll stay here with the other two,\u201d Charlie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you two are all right with that?\u201d Crystal said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYep,\u201d Angie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on,\u201d Sven said.\u00a0 Angie watched as they slipped out into the darkness.\u00a0 Off in the distance she noticed the lights and what appeared to be a lot of new construction.\u00a0 Gone were the familiar buildings she had grown up with seeing and now, a series of strange, short interconnected buildings from what she could tell, to go with one tall, needle-like structure.<\/p>\n

She looked on, holding her phone waiting for it to buzz again.\u00a0 Time seemed to pass slower now that they were at the city waiting for the next instructions.\u00a0 Had they done the right thing in heading out to investigate what was going on?<\/p>\n

Charlie shifted as the sound of branches breaking reached them.\u00a0 To her relief Jack appeared and quickly sat down next to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, what\u2019s going on?\u201d Charlie asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Sven and Ben are heading to check out off to the east, while Aku and Crystal went west,\u201d Jack said to them.\u00a0 \u201cFrom what I could tell, there is a lot of confusion going on down there.\u00a0 A lot of guards, they are rounding up all the prisoners and herding them off somewhere, couldn\u2019t tell.\u00a0 Sven and Ben went in that direction, hopefully we\u2019ll know more when they return.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre they expecting a ground attack then?\u201d Charlie asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, but their defenses looked rather strange,\u201d Jack said.\u00a0 \u201cThey are standing out in the open.\u201d<\/p>\n

Angie heard the confusion in Jack\u2019s voice, and even she knew you got into a defensive position and cover from watching TV and movies.<\/p>\n

Jack took the phone quickly sending off a text message of what he saw and waited a few moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it went through, but no reply,\u201d Jack said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCould be busy,\u201d Charlie said.\u00a0 \u201cI mean, after all, they are in a fight up there, been watching it for a while now.\u00a0 Still seeing small flashes up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

They looked back up in time to see a larger one, similar to the one Angie had seen earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooks like a larger ship was destroyed,\u201d Charlie said with little emotion in his voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, but which side?\u201d Jack replied.<\/p>\n

The comment left them all sitting there wondering at least until the phone vibrated.\u00a0 Looking down there was a new message on the screen.\u00a0 It appeared that the landing forces were about to begin down to the planet\u2019s surface and wanted to know where they were.<\/p>\n

Angie watched as Charlie took the phone and quickly tapped out a reply to the message before looking at the others.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it appears this is what we\u2019ve been waiting for,\u201d he said to them.<\/p>\n

Angie looked back up in an attempt to see if she could see the first of the landing craft.\u00a0 Things were about to change, hopefully for the better.<\/p>\n

End part 27<\/p>\n

Continued in part 28<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Master of Violence by AJ Marks Part 27 Angie looked up at the night sky while lying on her back.\u00a0 The ground wasn\u2019t that comfortable, but she had gotten used to it, or at least as much as she hoped to get used to it.\u00a0 Above her the moonless sky twinkled with stars. She could […]
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