108242-rocios-story-daggerclaw

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Chapter 15: Daggerclaw
 
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On the surface of the moon, an ancient crater stretching nearly 3 miles wide left a large wall of rock jutting out of the moon’s surface.  The slope of the rim crested sharply upward and it was into jagged edge that the Ikthians had planted their lab.  The lab was not large by their standards.  It served as a collection and holding area for their live captive victims. 
 
Explorer Maxfox Shytail, Corporal Iscariot, Tahm Loneflower, Koss Flintstrike, Lieutenant Ekraa and about 20 others took their places to perform a daring escape. There was only one way inside the lab and one way out.  The rescue would be difficult, but they had the element of surprise on their side. 
 
Out in the open, Maxfox looked over his shoulder nervously, trying to keep his knees from shaking. He was in sight of the lab now. Two other FCON troops were with him, disguised in civilian clothes. 
 
“Say Max!” One said loudly. “Are you sure this is the right way?”
 
Maxfox pretended to be clueless. “Uh…  I don’t know!  You know how Nooks Barkbiter likes to hold the map upside down!”
 
“You got the coodinates from Nooks Barkbiter?” The other soldier waved his hands. “You’ve got us lost haven’t you?”
 
Maxfox looked hurt. “It’s not lost! It’s exploration!”
 
All the commotion got the attention of the Ikthians who began to gather up outside the entrance of their lab.  Maxfox didn’t have to feign his terror.  “Look out! It’s the Ikthians!”
 
They all took off running. The armed fishmen pursued them across the crater bowl.
 
From her spot on one side of the ambush, Ekraa smiled. “On my mark boys… 3… 2… 1… Fire!” 
 
The FCON troops, hidden by grey dropcloths, sent out a rain of death into the alien horde.  Meanwhile, Iscariot, Koss and Tahm and 10 other fighters emerged from their hiding spots at the entrance to where the remaining Ikthian guards had stood. The guards left at the entrance of the lab were no match for FCON trained fighters.  Tahm lifted his rifle and fired two shots into one who was trying to stop Koss. It fell back with a screech.  Iscariot barged inside, swinging his enormous blade like a conductor’s baton, cutting them down left and right.
 
Tahm followed them inside, turning around and panning his weapon about looking for anyone who may come behind them.  The FCON troops took no prisoners, exacting a terrible retribution on them for their bad habit of kidnapping.  
 
Iscariot wiped the blood from his weapon on a sprawled body and looked up at the fluid filled tanks that were holding the live specimens.
 
Maxfox entered the lab, his eyes widening at the sight of so many dead.  Then he turned to the tanks.  “There they are!” He squeaked, approaching one of the largest tanks which held the missing explorers all together. “How do we free them?”
 
“I heard that Ikthians control the system with their minds. I don’t think we can hack into it.” Koss said.
 
Iscariot shrugged. “Well… I guess we try the old fashioned way.” He turned his greatsword to the flat side and swung it like a bat against the glass tank. 
 
The tank cracked, leaked and then shattered.   Maxfox managed to catch one unconscious explorer before he hit the floor. 
 
The explorer twitched, then turned his head and vomited the water from his lungs.  “Max!  Thank the Weave you’re here, mate!” He said. “I thought we were goners!”
 
The rest of the FCON troops set to freeing the remaining Exile prisoners, some who had been missing for days, wrapping them in warm blankets and outfitting them with temporary space helmets made of cloth for the way back.  Ekraa checked their vital signs and tended to any other wounds they had sustained.
 
But the tanks weren’t just filled with Exiles.  Dominion citizens were also suspended in the strange fluid.  Tahm turned his head and spit, then raised his rifle, his eyes cold. “Now who’s the Dawngrazer?”
 
The weapon was suddenly wrested from his hands.  Iscariot eyed him, holding it out of his reach. “I gave you no such order recruit.”
 
Tahm snarled. “You know they’d do the same to us!”
 
“This is a rescue mission.” They were still close to the line of contention with the Dominion forces and it was likely they would be looking for their missing citizens, too.  Iscariot was not willing to risk unnecessary conflict to satisfy Tahm’s bloodlust.  "Should the Dominion be too slow to help their citizens, they'll die anyway."
 
Tahm had no choice but obey his superior, his eyes glowing with barely contained rage.
 
They all filed out of the lab.   Despite their ordeal, the freed Explorers were in good spirits, trading hugs and giving each other happy slaps on the back.  Koss divvied out the extra rations and made sure they were well fed for the long journey back to the FCON camp.
 
They chose a slower route, mindful of their rescues.  Getting out of the crater was much more difficult than getting in.  They joined hands and helped each other up and then down the lip of the bowl. Once back on flat terrain, they had travelled a mere half hour when a call came out over their commlinks.  “Is anyone out there?  Can you hear me?”
 
“Iscariot here… who is this?”
 
“It’s Barrentree! We’re pinned down with heavy fire! Rally the troops!”  The coordinates were sent automatically through their helms.  “We’re not going to last much longer!”
 
The FCON team leaped to the ready, weapons drawn. “They’re close!” Koss said. In the distance he could hear the steady rattle of gunfire.
 
“Maxfox! Take the Explorers to safety! The rest of you! Follow me!”  Iscariot took off towards the battle, moving with surprising speed for a Granok. The fighting was taking place around the curve of the crater.   As soon as they turned the corner, the charging soldiers dove headlong into the fray.
 
Barrentree was fighting valiantly at the entrance of a cave against a group of Chua, using a protrusion of rock as cover and darting out to pounce on anyone who came too close.  He was bleeding from several wounds but still unleashed a fury on his opponents who littered the ground in pieces all around him.
 
Iscariot slew three in a single sweep of his blade. Ekraa bodychecked another who tried to lob a grenade, using her resonators to melt him from the inside out.  The Chua, shaken by the arrival of fierce reinforcements, turned and fled up the crater ridge.
 
Barrentree burst from his cover and pursued them. “Don’t let them get back! They’re going to give away our position!”
 
Tahm stopped running and aimed his rifle up the slope, bringing down one, who tumbled like a sack of flour.  Koss shot once, missed and tried again hitting the Chua in the foot.  He fell and was dispatched by Iscariot who was bulling up the ridge after them.
 
The fleeing Chua reached the top of the ridge and disappeared over the other side of the near vertical slope in their effort to escape. But the slope ended abruptly in a cliff. “Halt!  Everyone! Stop!” Iscariot ordered.
 
The other side ridge was covered in tiny pebbles that offered no traction at all. The FCON troops watched in morbid fascination as the Chua slipped uncontrollably, clawing and screaming and trying to climb over each other in an effort avoid falling to the rocks below.  Though the gravity was less than Planet Nexus, there was nothing to cushion their landing. 
 
Barrentree leaned against a stone, trembling as his rage left his body fatigued. When Ekraa tried to use her resonators to heal him, he waved her away. “I’m fine. Just a few scratches. My boys in the cave need a lot more help than I.”
 
“What are you doing out here?” Iscariot asked.
 
“We got a tip from our Black Hoods Aurin.  The Dominion is on the move.  Those Chua were from a scouting party. We ran into them and they chased us here. I have to warn the General.”
 
Out of the scouting party, two Aurin had died.  Barrentree chose to leave them there at the cave, piling rocks over the entrance.  He turned to Koss.  “I heard you were a fast runner.”
 
“Yessir.” Koss said.
 
“Run ahead of us. As fast as you can.  Tell the General what’s coming.”
 
 
Gatun the Chua had only played dead and, after the Exiles were out of sight on the ridge, slid trembling behind a rock to hide, listening to the hapless screams of his fellow minions as they plummeted to their deaths in the crater.  This was supposed to be a simple scouting mission.  How could this have gone so horribly wrong?  And what was he going to tell the Overseer?
 
He made the long journey back to where Sata’s caravan was still rolling, the dust trail now visible a mile out.  As he walked, he rehearsed. “It was… 50! No!  100!  Yes. 100! Exiles! Big ones!” He paused, gesturing with his hands to show just how big they were. “And fierce! And only I escaped! Because we fought! We fought them! And we killed some! Yes! That’s what I’ll say!”  He let out a little whimper. “Please don’t kill me Overseer!”
 
Catfive spotted the ragged scout returning from where he was perched as a look out ahead on the road. He pressed the commlink on his collar. “Mother, a scout. Only Gatun.”
 
From within the covered flatbed of an armored vehicle, Overseer Sata massaged her temples as she leaned against her masterpiece.  She was tired.  Why did the Exiles have to be so far away?  The long journey was full of moondust and they had to stop every few miles to make sure that none of the fine material was interfering with the Daggerclaw’s delicate processes.  Now was a good time to pause as any. 
 
“Stop the caravan.”  She stepped out into the open and sat on the edge of the flatbed as her troops rallied around her.
 
Gatun was brought to her; he was wringing his hands and skipping from one foot to the other.
 
“What happened? Where’s the scouting party?”
 
Gatun gulped. In his nervousness, he had forgotten his entire story and only gaped. “Ah… Ah…”
 
“Out! Out with it!” Sata snapped.
 
“Er. Urgh.  Argh.   Exiles!” He finally blurted.
 
Sata snapped to attention, leaping off her perch and grabbing him by collar. Her space helm pressed against his. “Where?”
 
“Um ah.”  He pulled out his tiny datachron and spoke out the coordinates.  “They’re moving! H-here!”
 
She snatched the datachron and pushed him away. He landed hard on his backside and got up rubbing his spine furiously.
 
“How many?”
 
“One hundred! Not Two hundred! Moving quick!”
 
“Half our number. It is good. Good.”  Sata nodded, her eyes blazing with excitement. “We give them traditional Chua greeting, yes?”
 
The troops laughed and cheered.  “Sata! Sata! Sata! Daggerclaw! Daggerclaw!”
 
“Start the caravan! We go now!”
 
 
The main troop column of FCON was setting a lightning quick pace toward Dominion territory.  Pasha struggled to keep up, trying to keep an eye out for Tahm as she did so. She was horribly worried for him and Koss. They had been gone for a day with no word at all.  The troops were practically jogging and they had skipped the midmorning rest.  Axta was kind but firm. They were to keep moving. They would rest at noon.
 
“Keep putting one boot in front of the other!” She bellowed. “Nothing like a good march to stimulate the appetite, sonnies!”
 
“My feet are going to fall off!” Malinea moaned. “Why are we in such a hurry?”
 
Axta didn’t respond.  The truth was a huge chunk of meteor ahead that rested along a long ridge on the edge of a canyon. It was an excellent spot to camp and stage an ambush. It was easy to defend as well as it was only accessible from 3 sides. And from the ridge they would be able to see any incoming forces without them seeing the FCON campsite.
 
They reached their staging grounds a bit after noon.  The troops practically collapsed at the halt order.  But there was much to be done.  While the tents were set up, General Kerreg put the more energetic troops to putting up sand bags and razorwire and assembling turrets.  As the day turned to dusk, the camp was fully battle ready.  He stood at the top the ridge, awaiting Barrentree’s return.
 
Pasha sat down with her plate of food looking miserable. 
 
“I’m sure they’re fine.” Malinea sat next to her and gave her a pat on the hand.
 
“I know. I can’t help but worry though.”
 
“Private Pasha Sunleap?”
 
She looked up. There was an Aurin officer looking down at her. “Come with me.”
 
“O… okay.” She stood up and shrugged, looking over her shoulder at Malinea.
 
She was taken to where Rocio was being held. He was bound hand and foot. From where she could see he was in a very uncomfortable position and looked exhausted.  Every few seconds he would shift and wince. A medkit was shoved into her hands.
 
“Tend to him. We’ll return later.”
 
And just like that the officer left.  She hurried over to Rocio and looked at him. “You’re hurt?”
 
“Nothing you can’t fix. Just a little chafing.”  He held out his hands and she saw where the restraints had rubbed him raw. “Are you okay?”
 
“I’m fine…” She opened her kit and only saw a small vial of antiseptic and bandages.  “This… this might sting a little.”
 
“You don’t look alright. Ow! You weren’t kidding.” Rocio squirmed as she applied the medicine.
 
“Sorry…” She pulled out some bandage tape and wrapped his wrists.
 
“Where’s Tahm?”
 
She glared at him. “I don’t know!”
 
“You don’t know? They’re not back yet? Ouch!”
 
Pasha worked around the shackles on his ankles.  “You shouldn’t ask so many questions.”
 
“Oh great! Now you don’t trust me either.” 
 
“Well why should I? No one else does. And you acted like you were going to kidnap me!”
 
Rocio looked contrite. “I’m sorry, Pasha. I didn’t know what else to do. I was only trying to help… and now look where that’s gotten me.”
 
Pasha blinked. He seemed genuinely regretful.
 
“I’m under orders not to say anything. I wasn’t supposed to say anything to you at all.  I wasn’t supposed to help the Explorer. I wasn’t supposed to do anything.  I guess it’s true, what the humans say. No good deed goes unpunished.” He gave a humorless smile that faded quickly.  “Just promise me that when things start going bad, just come and get me so I can at least help protect you.”
 
“What do you mean, Rocio? Please just … just say what’s going on!”
 
Rocio shook his head. “I already said too much. It doesn’t matter anymore. Just tell me where Tahm and the others went.”
 
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General Kerreg raised his eyes to the horizon.  He knew only one Aurin with that long stride. It was Flintstrike.  He used his spacehelm visor to zoom into the distance. The recruit was alone.
 
Koss half crawled up the ridge gasping so hard he couldn’t speak. “Gen… Kerr… Urgent…” He stammered.
 
“Easy there boy.”
 
A medic hurried over and picked him up and carried him to the medical tent. General Kerreg supported an oxygen mask over the Aurin’s face while he spoke.
 
“Chua attacked Barrentree. At least a dozen of them. We managed to come to help but we lost two of our scouts to them.  Barrentree reports a large group of Chua headed this way. Not two days out. They’re very well armed sir. About 200 of them. I ran as fast as I could to get here.  Barrentree and the others were too slowed up by their injuries.” He took a few deep breaths. “Iscariot and Tahm and the others are coming with the Explorers and the other captured Exiles.”
 
“Good job, recruit, rest up.”  Kerreg considered himself a man of caution.  However, a force twice as big as his own were coming toward him, itching for a fight.  He needed to know who his opponent was and what they were capable of.
 
Rocio was still smarting from his injuries when Kerreg approached him.  At the sight of him, Rocio scowled up at him with a reproachful scolding glare.
 
“’I told you so.’ Is that want you want to say? Then I suggest you hold your tongue.” Kerreg snarled.
 
Rocio grinned. “I didn’t know there were Granok Espers.”
 
Kerreg fought to keep from strangling him. “You’re in the same ship with us, Aurin. So what happens to us happens to you. What do you know about these Chua?”
 
Rocio sighed. “You have to trust us, General,” he said, referring to his fellow Black Hoods. “Let me go.”
 
“You’re the only source of intel we have on this…”
 
“I can’t tell you why but I’m your best hope for survival!  Let me out of here!” Rocio pleaded. “I swear it on my life. You know this is bad. But if you keep me here, it’s going to be worse for you!”
 
 “Releasing a spy is a Class A felony. Resulting in prosecution and dishonorable discharge.” Kerreg grumbled.
 
“I’ll be sure to relay your innocence to Avra Darkos.  I escaped.”
 
 
Nikolai and the other Black Hoods rode out on their  hoverbikes.  The FCON group was marching into battle and the Daggerclaw was still functional.  Nikolai’s commlink beeped.
 
“Who?”
 
“It’s Rocio.”
 
Nikolai hit the brakes. “Where are you?”
 
“I’m heading away from the FCON staging ground.  North North east.  Sata is less than a day north and heading south quick to meet them. If we do this now we might have a chance.”
 
“Good work. Though when this is over, be sure that I will be recommending disciplinary action.”
 
“I understand.”
 
“Where is he?”  Galina asked.
 
“It doesn’t matter. We have to move against Sata now.”
 
Rocio was running full tilt to where Pasha had told him Tahm and the others were.  He saw them after a short time.  He waved to them. Sata’s group couldn’t be far away and he was happy to see them until he saw that Barrentree was with them.
 
The ill-tempered Aurin immediately attacked him.
 
“Oh, no you don’t!” Rocio dove to one side and barely escaped being impaled. “Stop!”
 
“I warned you.” Barrentree snarled.
 
A mere a thousand yards from where they were, peeking over a large dune, Sata was observing Rocio and Barrentree with binoculars, perched on her Daggerclaw’s cockpit.  “Oho! Ohohoho! Ooohhohohoo!”
 
The troops behind her looked at each other in amazement. They rarely saw Sata genuinely smile. But here she was laughing!  Unsure of what else to do, they all started laughing too.
 
She whirled on them. “Why you laugh?! Silence!”  Rolling her eyes and grumbling about dumb minions, she turned back to the object of her amusement. Her face again broke out into a grin.  The Exiles were fighting each other!  Now was the perfect time to strike!  She slipped into the Daggerclaw and closed the cockpit.  “You stay here! Wait for testing to be over!”
 
Unaware of the impending doom, Maxfox bounded forward in an attempt to separate the two fighters but Barrentree pushed him away, sending him sprawling into the sand. “Stay out of this, Explorer!”
 
Tahm and Iscariot escorted the rest of the group away from the scrap, leading them down into a shallow ravine.  “Keep them moving, Tahm!” Iscariot said. “I’ll break up the fight.”
 
Rocio was managing to dodge Barrentree’s assault. “You’re pretty good,” the stalker had to admit, pausing for a moment.
 
Maxfox got up.  “I don’t know why you’re so… so mean to h-h-h…” The Explorer’s eyes widened and he pointed mutely into the distance.
 
Rocio turned around, his ears flat to his head and his tailfur standing on end. “… oh … no…”
 
A 4-foot cannon extended its length over a faraway hill. It was pointed straight at them.
 
“Scatter!” Barrentree roared.  He grabbed Maxfox and pushed him back to the ground.
 
Rocio’s mind conjured up the strongest shield he could muster but even then he was thrown back by the force of the missile impact, bouncing and skidding across the moonsurface and hitting every rock along the way. He came to rest, half buried in the dirt.  He climbed his way out, a thin crack forming in the visor of his spacehelm.
 
“Geist!”
 
His psionic twin burst from him in the form of a Hoogle, speeding toward where the large warbot was beginning to take a clumsy diagonal track down the sandy dune.  Sata had not driven her machine much in low gravity and the feet of the machine was sinking into the soft sand.
 
“Bah!” she snapped, firing the rear rocket engines and lifting her into the air. Once on solid ground, she made a bee line for them. The strength and speed of her device gave her a blissful thrill!  She closed in on her targets. “First test!  Machine guns work on Exile target!”
 
Inside the ravine, Tahm spurred the rest of the Explorers away before turning around and running back, his gun drawn.
 
Liutenant Ekraa shouted after him. “Tahm! Come back! Tahm! That’s an order!”
 
Barrentree came out of stealth and saw Rocio heading straight for the machine.
 
“No! No! No!” Maxfox wailed, looking for his friends. 
 
“Get back to camp!” Barrentree snarled at him. “We’re not far. Go!”
 
Rocio saw rather than heard the volley of ammunition, bullets the size of giant mountain hornets, coming at him.  He lifted his mental power and darted away, muttering. “Come on. Come on. You dirty, filthy piece of kurg dung…”
 
“Exile target faster than expected parameters.” Sata spotted something moving to her left and fired, screeching, “Die! Die!” but there was nothing there.  She suffered a brief moment of confusion. Then her face darkened. Her teeth chattered with fury. “Stop. Being. Difficult!”
 
Rocio was leading her along back toward the sand. Perhaps if got her back to soft ground, she would get stuck.  Geist and Rocio kept up their deadly game of keep away, leading her in a zigzag pattern back to the dunes. He then saw several sparks explode from the machines cockpit.  Someone was shooting at her machine! 
 
Rocio saw Tahm at the edge of the ravine, aiming and firing his rifle.  “You IDIOT!” he shrieked.
 
Sata was enraged. “How dare you!” The machine’s cockpit swiveled on its axis in a sudden about face. Tahm dropped to the ground as shrapnel and stone exploded everywhere around him. Rocio ran back, lifting his hands and conjuring blades into the air. He struck her once, then twice!  Barrentree emerged from stealth, ramming his claws into the machine’s right ankle joint before restealthing again and doing the same to the other side. 
 
Iscariot hurried to where Tahm lay limp among the debris and picked him up. “You’ll be alright, son.”
 
Tahm whimpered and nodded, his face pale, blood oozing through his uniform. He gasped once and his eyes fluttered shut.
 
Iscariot held him close. “You would have done well here, Tahm. You were just taken too early.”
 
Sata was horrified. Daggerclaw was limping. Why?  Rocio was in her sights.  The machine took one step forward and sank into the sand. Unable to regain its balance due to the damage to its legs, Daggerclaw tipped forward and hit the ground, its nose burying itself in the soft earth. Sata was thrown forward onto the controls, having neglected placing any safety restraints inside. The bruising pain made her eyes fill with tears. “My baby! Oh my baby! I’m so sorry! What have I done?” 
 
She looked up and spotted Rocio and Barrentree making their escape. Her sorrow quickly turned to blazing fury!  They would pay! Those stupid Exiles would pay!
 
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Next Chapter: https://forums.wildstar-online.com/forums/index.php?/topic/108442-rocios-story-the-battle-of-kerregs-ridge/	
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			I liked it :)	
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Thank you very much BigV~ :D
 
Please stay tuned for the exciting next chapter! "The Battle of Kerreg's Ridge"!	
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			I like your adventures, Rocio! Keep them coming :)	
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