Bystanders II: Trophy Hunters Read online

  Bystanders II: Trophy Hunters

  Phillip Murrell

  © 2017 Phillip Murrell

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 1979559120

  ISBN 13: 9781979559126

  This book is dedicated to the people that helped spread the word of the Bystanders series: Ron, Greg, Dan, and Melissa. It’s also dedicated to Simardeep for helping me to get an authentic feel of India.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  The Bystanders Series

  A Note from the Author

  Chapter 1

  Earth is visible against the black canvas of space. It sits, almost timidly, unaware of a significant first encounter. With an anti-climactic lack of a flash, a moderately damaged spaceship appears in orbit. The outside of the battle-scarred hull reads: Olympus. It’s large and holds several hundred crewmembers.

  The exterior of the Olympus is unorthodox. Angles intersect with smooth curves. It doesn’t look like it should be able to fly, even if it was in perfect shape. The laws of aerodynamics should make this vessel as ill-equipped for flight as a bumble bee. Still, like the insect, the ship slices through the sky.

  The interior of the bridge glows with red lights. Several armored figures, sans helmets, sit at their respective battle stations. “Medieval space knights” is the best way to describe them. They all have distinctly human faces of both genders. The clear leader of the ship is a determined woman in her mid-fifties wearing apple red armor. She would be beautiful, except for the numerous scars on her face. They speak the tale of a hard survivor of several grim battles. This is Eve. She’s the captain of the Olympus.

  “Odin, where are we?” Eve inquires.

  A grizzled man in his late forties turns to answer his captain. He wears thick, snow-white armor. His beard is impressive and combines with his own scars to complete his barbarian visage.

  Odin quickly answers his superior with a hint of concern in his voice. “Eve, we’re in the Solar System. It’s at least nineteen parsecs outside of civilized space.”

  Eve nods. “Good. We’re significantly off the path. Mercury, did it work? Did we evade pursuit?”

  A young man looks at his captain. He wears a helmet without a face shield adorned with two wings. His body is significantly smaller than his fellow crewmembers.

  Mercury’s face isn’t optimistic as he answers. “I don’t think so. They’ve tracked us for the last four hops, and I’m still picking up signatures. At least three, possibly more.”

  The mood of the crew dampens.

  Hades voices what they’re all likely thinking. “Are you sure? This can’t be possible! Did you check the prisoners for trackers?”

  Hades points an accusing finger at a brawny man with crossed swords on his back and a similar emblem on each shoulder of his sand-colored armor.

  Amun crosses his arms in apparent defiance of Hades’ bluster. “Yes.”

  Hades doesn’t seem satisfied with Amun’s curt response. “Clearly you didn’t do a good enough job.”

  Amun doesn’t allow himself to be antagonized. “It isn’t my people.”

  Eve attempts to regain control of the conversation. “Silence! We--”

  Alarms interrupt Eve. The klaxon distinctly answers Eve’s original question of evasion.

  A large, muscular man rushes over to Mercury’s station. He also sports a magnificent beard, something that seems almost necessary for males of the crew. His body and golden armor are adorned with lightning bolts. He’s Eve’s executive officer.

  “Out of the way, Mercury!” Zeus commands.

  Mercury quickly obeys.

  Zeus sits at his station and looks at the readings. “Eve, it isn’t good. The kid was right. We have three corvettes that just entered the system. Normally I wouldn’t worry about them, but the Olympus took a pounding when we captured the prisoners. Plus, we lost the Cornucopia during the last hop. We won’t be able to teleport extra ammunition. What we have is it.”

  Zeus’ reminder of the costly battle that preceded their most recent hop brings a wash of anger and sadness among the crew.

  “Understood,” Eve says. “Is the web still good? We don’t need to make it easy for them and let the Malignant just teleport over to us. They’ll have to board this ship the old-fashioned way and fight for every inch.”

  “The web is still up,” Amun says.

  “Good.” Eve looks over at the pilot’s station. “Apollo, I need you to keep us alive and give Poseidon his shot. You’ve been doing it all night. No reason to stop now.”

  A youthful man lacking a beard sits at the helm in sky blue armor accented with a golden sun draped on his shoulders. His face lights up at the opportunity to engage in evasive maneuvers.

  “I love this job!” Apollo exclaims. “Eve, no reason to expect a boarding. They have to hit us first.”

  Outside the destroyer are three corvettes. They’re smaller and nimbler than the Olympus. They spread out to envelop their prey.

  The portholes on the outside of the Olympus open. Giant, four-inch barrels rotate as they fire rockets at the nearest corvette. The explosions are unimpressive as the lack of oxygen quickly steals the bright flames. The ship’s shields glow purple as they absorb the first half dozen rockets. Unfortunately, for the crew of the eager corvette, the remaining twenty atomize it.

  On the bridge of the Olympus a cheer erupts from the crew. The quick, albeit small, victory is a relief and inspires them to do the same with the remaining two.

  “Good shot, Poseidon,” Eve compliments.

  An athletic man in his early thirties smiles at the acknowledgment. His armor is a majestic blue, the color of the sea.

  “Thanks, Eve,” Poseidon responds. “It won’t be long until I add two more to my tally.”

  “Good to hear, Brother,” Hades announces across the busy bridge.

  The loss of a third of their power changes the tactics of the remaining two corvettes. They maneuver to both the port and starboard sides of the Olympus. They then fire large missiles that exit their tubes and quickly vanish from sight.

  At his station, Mercury’s eyes go wide. “Eve, we’ve got jumpers!”

  Eve doesn’t hesitate with her orders. “Poseidon, quickly launch scatterpoint countermeasures!”

  “Already on it, Eve,” he replies.

  The Olympus fires off a dozen blue-white spheres. They travel a quick distance away and enlarge to mimic the current physical appearance of the Olympus while the real Olympus rapidly maneuvers to a new area of space. Now there appear to be thirteen ships instead of one. No sooner than they finish their transformation, the jumper missiles re-appear in real space.

  The jumper missiles are “confused” by the numerous decoys, and both slam into a countermeasure. The holograms flicker for a moment as the missiles pass through the deception, then explode. The missiles found the blue-white centers of the scatterpoints.

  Eve barks another order. “Poseidon, don’t squander this opportunity!”

  “I’m way ahead of you.”

  Poseidon lines his crosshairs up and unleashes a torrent of four-inch rockets on the second corvette.

  The corvette dives to the left, to evade a spectacular demise, but the never-ending trail of rockets keeps up with the maneuver and anticipates the ultimate location. A few moments later, a second corvette explodes in a near fireless death.

  At his battle station, Poseidon mimics guns with both hands and, in the cockiest way possible, blows
the ends of the imaginary barrels.

  “Don’t these people understand that space is my ocean? I know the currents. They can’t escape.”

  Zeus stares at his brother. “You’re not deep.”

  The crew laughs. A small moment of levity.

  Eve redirects their focus. “Knock it off, people! We still have one left. Where is she?”

  Mercury scans his readings. “You’re not gonna like it. She’s lined up behind us.”

  The last corvette unloads with both jumpers and rockets at a dangerously close distance. They consistently slam into the rear shields of the Olympus, with a diminishing shade of purple after each connection.

  Several small dropships separate from the corvette as thick tethers connect the enemy vessel to the Olympus. The dropships speed to various points along the outer hull of the Olympus. A final ship detaches from the corvette and drifts, silently toward the top of the ship. It’s larger than the other boarding vessels. While passing over the center of the Olympus, a lone, armored figure separates and silently falls over the scuttled ship.

  The crewmembers hold onto their chairs with each barrage.

  “Eve, they’ve disabled our engines,” Zeus somberly reports.

  “They mean to board us,” she informs. “The Malignant want to rescue their commanders.”

  Hades shifts from foot to foot. “Eve, I suggest we eliminate the prisoners now.”

  “Shut up, Brother!” Zeus exclaims with apparent disgust. “We are not cowards. We can repel one insignificant corvette.”

  The universe appears to accept Zeus’ boast. The power is momentarily lost on the bridge of the Olympus, quickly replaced with the eerie red glow of auxiliary power. Eve sighs and locks her helmet into place. Each of her crew does the same.

  Eve speaks into her helmet’s internal communicator. “Vishnu, are you there?”

  Eve hears Vishnu’s voice, slightly muffled as he struggles putting on his helmet. “Why did I get the feeling you were about to contact me?”

  Eve smiles inside her helmet. “You must be clairvoyant. Are your marines ready?”

  “You know they are,” he responds.

  “Good. Prepare to repel boarders. Make sure you use melee weapons and shockers only. We don’t need our hull pierced by an errant shot, and I guarantee the Malignant will come armored.”

  “Understood, Eve. I prefer it this way.”

  “I know you do, old friend.” With that, Eve ends the conversation. She looks around the bridge. “Zeus, give me the bad news.”

  “We’ve lost everything that auxiliary power isn’t supporting. Our shields, propulsion, weapons, et cetera. All we have left are life support, the web, and control of escape pods. Or rather, Planicus has that. We need to get her support. She won’t be any good in a fight.”

  Many Gudz grumble their agreement.

  Eve silences them with a helmeted stare. “Understood. I’ll go and support her. How many dropships are boarding us?”

  Mercury answers his captain. “I’m not entirely sure. For the moment I had before power was lost, I saw at least half a dozen.”

  “Good!” Amun excitedly exclaims. “Plenty for all of us.”

  Eve considers this information briefly. “That corvette can’t carry too many invaders. This shouldn’t take long. Just make sure they don’t release Whiro and his commanders. We’re Gudz! We’ve fought too long in this war and lost too much to give up our prize so easily.”

  “And to an inferior force,” Odin says.

  The crew erupts in cheers. Eve grabs her flail. It has a long wooden shaft, but the end of the chain doesn’t have the traditional ball with spikes. Instead, Eve’s has a metal apple, and the spikes are decorative, metal worms. The weapon is exceptionally deadly.

  Eve assembles her team. “Poseidon, Odin, Amun, and Adam. Follow me. Zeus, watch the bridge.”

  Zeus shakes his head. He slaps his two weaponized gauntlets together. Lightning sparks with each clap. “Eve, I want this opportunity to kill more Malignant.”

  “I know you do, Zeus, but I need someone competent in here to protect Mercury.”

  The crew laughs at Eve’s joke. The junior officer feigns annoyance.

  “Let’s go,” Eve instructs.

  Eve leads the way. Following her are Poseidon, with a trident, Amun sporting twin scepters and a brown ram helmet, and Adam, wielding a spear. Adam’s armor mimics the human physique and meticulously details each muscle group. He uses a cloth to wipe an oil over the tip of his weapon.

  “Really?” Eve asks.

  Adam shrugs. “The poison is slow acting. Anyone cut will have plenty of time to get an antidote. Assuming they win, that is.”

  “Exactly why you don’t need the poison,” Eve says. “Nobody is beating my husband.”

  Adam shrugs again, but continues to apply the poison.

  “Odin, let’s move it,” Eve says after the rest of her team assembles.

  Odin grabs his spear. “I love this stage.”

  “Hades,” Eve says.

  “Yes?” he replies.

  “Do you mind scouting the way for us? Nobody does it better than you.”

  Hades hesitates. “You sure you don’t need me on the bridge?”

  Zeus attempts to seize an opportunity. “What’s the matter? You don’t want to spill Malignant blood, Brother? I’ll take his place.”

  Adam laughs and slaps Hades playfully on the shoulder. “Hades teases. Come on, old man.”

  Hades sighs and grabs his bident. The twin prongs gleam red. He already wears twin scimitars on his back.

  “I wish I had my dog with me right now. Scouting doesn’t feel the same without Cerberus.”

  Eve addresses her whole crew through her helmet communicator. “Gudz, listen up. We have one corvette’s worth of intruders. They picked the wrong ship! There may be a dozen entry points, so watch closely. If you see the white, hot burn of a boarder’s torch, prepare your ambush. It’ll take them a little time to cut through. They won’t sneak in. These are the last of the enemy, and then we can take our prize home.”

  Eve finishes her announcement. She looks around her bridge, one last time and turns. The attack party finally leaves on their mission.

  Vishnu is a large man with numerous weapons hanging off his light blue armor. In fact, he has two additional robotic arms attached to his armor that grip pistols. His actual arms hold a mace and chakra.

  Vishnu stands with two dozen of his best marines. Principle among them are Thor and Arthur.

  Thor holds an impressive hammer. He swings it around in anticipation of the impending battle. He stands taller than all others present. His impressive muscles also make him wider than his fellow marines.

  Arthur carries a broadsword and shield. He’s in the minority of Gudz who carries a defensive weapon. Arthur also wears a full length red cape on his shoulders. He’s significantly less physically imposing; however, he carries a determined confidence.

  Vishnu settles the nerves of his marines. “Be ready, Gudz. Nothing that comes through that door will make you forget your duty. Nor will it survive longer than it takes for you to swing your weapon.”

  Thor seems jubilant. “I can’t wait. Why are the walls of the Olympus so thick? If we had one of those inferior corvettes, I’d be killing by now.”

  Vishnu activates his internal communicator. “Osiris, how are things on your end?”

  Vishnu listens to his friend’s response. “I hear them breaking through. The Animal Pack is ready.”

  “Fewest kills buys the drinks?” Vishnu suggests.

  “You’re on.”

  Arthur casually looks around at the waiting marines. The men and women sport an eclectic array of weapons and armor. They appear to be more of a militia than a professional military.

  “Have you ever noticed how many people chose lances as a weapon?” Arthur asks.

  “What?” Thor asks.

  Arthur continues his point. “We’re allowed to pick any weapon to fight with, but
I count a lot of lances.”

  “Huh,” Thor muses. “I guess they’re a pack of leminals. They must follow the lead of others. None of that for me.”

  Thor swings his hammer for emphasis.

  “Or maybe they just realize that range is a distinct advantage,” Vishnu offers to appease the slightly insulted marines who must have heard Thor’s comment.

  Arthur points at the nearby wall. “Vishnu, I think they’re almost through!”

  The walls in front of Vishnu and his crew glow red, then white. The slag melts and falls off in molten chunks. Two orbs are thrown through the “door.”

  Upon impact with the ground, the orbs flash and smoke. Vishnu grips his chakra.

  Armored bodies, a uniformed lava orange, spill into the halls of the Olympus. Vishnu throws his chakra and connects with the helmet of the lead intruder. The weapon ricochets back into Vishnu’s hand, and he clubs the man with his mace. The man lies prone on the ground and is impaled by Arthur’s sword.

  “He was mine, rookie!” Vishnu shouts.

  “Sorry! Sorry. It’s my first boarding.”

  Thor pushes past the two and dives into a newly emerged trio of Malignant soldiers. “Then stand back and take notes!”

  Thor hits the first soldier in the helmet and uses the force of the impact to launch another attack into a second warrior.

  He speaks to his hammer as he fights. “Excalibur has already tasted Malignant blood. We must catch up, Mjolnir.”

  The Gudz and Malignant continue to clash in the narrow confines of the hallway. More Malignant pour forth from the breach and force the remaining Gudz away. Dozens of Malignant head down the opposite hallway, away from Vishnu and his marines.

  Several armored Gudz stand near a second breach point. They all have helmets depicting animals from across the galaxy. The eagle figure is in charge.

  “Wait for it,” Osiris commands.

  Osiris’ black-green gauntlets clench his sickle and whip. Once again, the new opening in the hull permits the entrance of two spheres. These flash and smoke, but something is different about them than at Vishnu’s site. The Gudz begin to scream and claw at their armor, their weapons dropped and immediately forgotten.