"Okay, fine. Lena, you're staying behind with Rayne." He assumed Rayne didn't want to be parted from Lena. They'd become pretty close over the last two weeks and Lena was the only person who could interact with the girl.
Lena wasn’t happy about being taken out of the action, but could see the sergeant was in a difficult position. Someone needed to look after Rayne, and that someone could only be her. She turned to Rayne and took her arm as if to guide her toward Dr. Little's lab. Lena was surprised when Rayne pulled away and stood her ground.
"Sgt. Weber, I know I am no marine, but I will not be left behind. Those are Tau Ceti who killed my family, and I will see their death. Neither you nor all of you standing here will stop me." Rayne fought for control as she restrained herself from howling in anger and screaming for death. That wouldn't do her any good here. She needed to display some level of sanity or she'd never get close enough to the fight to kill like she wanted.
Everyone but Lena stood shocked. Those were the most words Rayne had spoken to anyone but Lena, and the first show of independence she had displayed. She had simply followed the group without saying a word. They all looked to Sgt. Weber to see what he would do and you could see the wheels spinning in his head as he thought it through.
"Okay, you can come on the shuttle, but you’re not leaving it, and Lena stays with you. That's the only compromise I'll make. If you won't agree, we'll fight it out right here." He crossed his arms and prayed. Neither option was a good one. If he allowed her on the shuttle and she was hurt, he would be in some serious trouble. If they had to fight her, he thought they could win, but at a cost that would likely leave half the squad out of action. On the other hand, the girl could fight. He had seen that for himself. If she wasn't so screwed up in the head, he'd put her in the gear and have her lead the formation.
Everyone stood tensely for several seconds while they waited for Rayne's response. She finally gave a short nod and they all breathed a sigh of relief.
***
The squad lined up at the door to the shuttle, waiting anxiously for hard dock and the doors to open. The lights had been dimmed and they all wore their IR goggles pulled down over their eyes. Silenced weapons were gripped firmly in gloved hands and they checked and rechecked their gear before the door opened and the chaos began. Jackson was on point and would be leading the team down the corridor, calling out threats and doors as they went, signaling those following to take cover or peel off to search adjacent rooms. Sgt. Weber stood at the back, positioned so he could oversee the action and direct people to where they were needed most in the confusion.
The sergeant made a final comm check.
“Pilot says thirty seconds to hard dock. Everyone sound off.” Each member of the team repeated their number and used one hand to slap the back of the marine in front, to let them know they were ready. The shuttle came to an abrupt halt as it made contact to the outer hull of the Tau Ceti vessel. Electromagnetic locks engaged and the door opened onto a narrow corridor, dimly lit with red emergency lights at long intervals.
Jackson moved smoothly out the door and left toward the engine room. They moved at a medium, smooth pace. There was no running or shouting; at least not yet. That would certainly come later when the bullets started to fly, but for now, until contact was made, they would proceed quickly and quietly.
“Open door left.” Jackson called out quietly over comms and stopped to cover the corridor as two marines automatically split off to search the room while the remainder of the team waited in the hallway. Everyone knew their job and didn’t need to be told what to do. The room was empty and the two marines called out before reemerging to prevent the possibility of friendly fire. Sgt. Weber marked the room on his tactical heads up and the group continued down the hall.
They moved forward for several minutes in like fashion without meeting any resistance, until finally reaching the engine room.
“Stack up on the door,” Sgt. Weber directed. “Flash and clear.” He gave the order to use flash grenades before entry to blind any hostile force. The grenades let out a high intensity burst of light without sound to allow them to continue their mission with the stealth needed to prevent the rest of the ship being alert to their presence.
Davis was in second position and pulled the pin on the flash grenade. He held it up for everyone to see. They all turned their heads to the side and closed their eyes tight as he tossed it through the open door. With the IR goggles on, a burst of light could be temporarily disorienting. The goggles automatically adjusted for different lighting conditions, but took half a second to adjust, which was long enough to lose the advantage a flash grenade provided. A silent, supernova of intense light blew through the darkened doorway, followed immediately by the marines. Silenced weapons chattered as marines moved through the room, eliminating threats as they went. In less than ten seconds the room was clear and quiet, without the Tau Ceti getting off a shot.
Sgt. Weber was very pleased with the results of the mission so far. They had hit their main objective, cleared the bad guys without casualties and done it without giving away their presence. This would allow them to continue through the remainder of the ship, while still holding the element of surprise. He didn’t allow himself to get too cocky, though. By his count, there were only a dozen downed pirates in the engine room, which left about another forty in the remainder of the ship somewhere.
Automatic gunfire echoed distantly through the quietness of the ship. The squad listened for several moments to the intermittent bursts of fire intermixed with the muffled sounds of yelling and the thump of a grenade. Not sure what was happening, Sgt. Weber signaled the team to move down the main corridor running the length of the ship, clearing each room as they went. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone but Tau Ceti on board, so if they were fighting amongst themselves, that was alright by him. They’d take their time, let the enemy fight it out, and mop up what was left.
***
Lena’s gut told her something wasn’t right. Her experience with Rayne practically screamed it. Rayne had always been nervous and jumpy at the slightest sound, touch or movement. She’d always seemed on the verge of losing it and bursting forth in a fit of anger and rage. The Rayne that sat before her now was a completely different creature. She was…it was hard to even describe. Still or expectant might be the right word for it. Not tense, but not relaxed, just simply ready. It was like the calm that settled before the first strike of lightning during a storm, and she could almost feel the electric charge building in the air.
Lena thought to warn Sgt. Weber, but he was focused on his preparations as they neared the disabled vessels and she didn’t want to knock him out of his rhythm if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. What would she tell him anyway? That Rayne was unbalanced and she had a gut feeling something bad was about to happen. No, the sergeant needed to stay focused on what he was doing and the squad didn’t need the distraction. Whatever was about to happen, she would have to deal with it herself.
The shuttle jolted to a stop and several seconds later the squad filed through the door and into the near darkness of the corridor. She listened to the comms crackle in her ear as they moved quietly through the ship. Rayne stood and moved to the door. Lena stepped in her way, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“You can’t go out there. You told Sgt. Weber you would stay here. That was the agreement.”
“I’m going to kill them, Lena.” She pulled an automatic pistol from her waistband. “You can come or you can stay, but you can’t stop me.”
Lena knew she right. They’d spared enough for her to know that. Even at half speed, Rayne couldn’t be touched despite her best efforts and Lena had not been able to stand against her speed and agility. Lena was no slouch when it came to fighting, but Rayne was wicked fast even when she was holding back and Lena knew she’d never win the fight short of shooting her. Now that she was in possession of a weapon, there was really on
ly one option: stick with Rayne and try to keep them both from dying.
She was going to get into some serious trouble for this, but if they were going to do it, she’d make sure Rayne had the right equipment. She reached into an equipment locker and pulled out the spare body armor stored there.
“Put this on. Can’t have you getting all shot up or I’ll be in more trouble than we’re already going to be.” Rayne shrugged herself into the armor and Lena helped her strap in. She held up the IR goggles, which Rayne took and tossed to the side. “You’re gonna need those, girl.”
“No, Lena. I won’t.” Rayne moved forward, her automatic pistol pointed forward and held tight into her body. Her vision slid to infrared and she overlaid it with a heat filter. She moved to the doorway and put out a low-powered ping. The waves burst out, bouncing down the dark corridors and reflecting back to give her a three-dimensional image of her surroundings. With a predator’s grace she stepped into the hallway and began stalking her prey.
Lena was mystified at how Rayne was navigating through the gloomy corridors. Her head was on a swivel and she was severely agitated as they moved past rooms without clearing them. Doing so ran cross-grain to Lena’s training and she had tried to pull Rayne back at the first doorway. Rayne had shrugged her off and said quietly that no one was inside. How could she possibly know that? But she said it with such confidence Lena reluctantly relented and they moved forward. They moved quietly for several minutes, when without warning Rayne punched out with her pistol and snapped off a short burst. The blast of gunfire from the un-silenced pistol echoed down the hallway and a body fell to the ground before Lena had even seen where it came from. She cursed quietly under her breath at having not thought to give Rayne a silenced gun. Now, everyone would know they were here.
Rayne punched out twice more, in short, controlled bursts as they moved through the corridors, and two more figures dropped to the ground. Lena inspected the bodies as she passed and found each with three holes blasted through the center of their faces.
Rayne stopped abruptly, pulling Lena into a side door. Footsteps sounded down the hallway and passed quickly by. She leaned out the doorway and let lose several quick bursts. Lena felt totally wrong-footed and off her game. She had no idea how Rayne had seen the Tau Ceti coming and was now feeling completely useless as Rayne had dropped half a dozen more.
“They’re swarming now.” Rayne said calmly, dropping a magazine and inserted a new one. “Time to move.” They took a back exit out the room and moved up an adjacent corridor. Gunfire erupted and bullets splattered on the bulkheads, spraying shards of sharp metal. The two women returned fire, Lena’s silenced rifle unheard over the roar of Rayne’s bursting automatic fire.
“Grenade out!” Lena yelled and tossed a plasma grenade down the corridor. The explosion rocked the corridor and the gunfire ceased. Rayne left cover and walked quickly to the dozen or so still moving, prone figures, and fired a burst of automatic fire into each, moving forward without pause. She was lost in rage now and continued down the corridor. Gunfire burst around her and she returned it with a roar of automatic fire of her own. Figures burst from a side door and she struck with vicious blows at a speed impossible to follow. Skulls cracked against metal bulkheads and bones snapped, followed by bursts of automatic fire as her gun fired from point blank range. She screamed in rage as she stepped into the middle of the remaining horde of Tau Ceti. The predator inside had finally broken completely free and promised death with every strike and pull of the trigger. Lena worked her rifle frantically, shooting at figures as they attempted to close in on the whirling tornado of death in their midst.
The last Tau Ceti fell to the ground with a sickening crunch as Rayne stood in the midst of the carnage. She was splattered in their blood and her chest heaved as she breathed in and out in great, shuddering gasps. Her fist was white as it grasped her gun and she let out a nearly inhuman scream of challenge and dominance.
Rayne fought for control over the beast inside as it howled again for its freedom. The freedom to hunt and to kill. She was the predator and she would not be stopped. Rayne pushed the rage down with great heaving gasps, and paced back and forth over her prey. She let out a short barking growl and began to gain control in small increments as her breathing slowed, taking deep breaths through her nose.
Lena watched from a distance down the hall, not sure if it was safe to approach. Taking a beating from the girl was one thing, but Rayne still had a weapon in her hand. She wouldn’t be sticking her head out until she was sure Rayne wouldn’t blow it off. She heard movement down the hall and cursed as she saw Jackson and the rest of the squad emerge from the gloom.
“Stop!” she practically shouted over the comms. “Don’t come any closer.” She waved her hands frantically for them to stay back.
Jackson pulled up short.
“Lena? What the hell you doin’ here?” He kept his voice low, unsure if there were hostiles in the area.
The squad took positions behind her, and Sgt. Weber carefully made his way forward.
“You’re supposed to be in the shuttle with Rayne.” He whispered forcefully. He looked around but was unable to see her in the darkness ahead. “Where is she?”
“Rayne finally went psychotic, Sarge…” she nodded up the corridor, “… and if you move any further up, you’re going to be joining the rest of the Tau Ceti lying on the floor.”
Are you serious?” Abena exclaimed.
“I knew something like this would happen,” Jackson muttered.
“Did she kill them all?” Sgt. Weber asked, incredulous.
“I got a few in but, yeah, she killed them all.” The squad expressed the surprise as one.
Sgt. Weber let out a string of curses, closing his eyes tightly, and waiting for a few moments for his brain to find its footing. “What’s her status now?” He asked, finally looking up.
“I think she’s back from her trip, but I’m guessing she’s going to need a few more minutes before its safe for anyone to move up.”
“I ain’t going down there,” someone said from the darkness.
“Oh, hell, no,” came the reply.
“I wasn’t talking about you morons,” Lena bit back. “I’m not even gonna go down there right now.”
“Shit. Okay, Jackson, take your team and make sure the rest of the ship is secure. Taft, Abena, Callahan. Secure this section and make sure we’re clear while Rayne finishes her vacation.” The sergeant turned his attention back to Lena. “What the hell happened?”
“Soon as you guys left she got up and headed for the door. I stepped in her way and tried to talk her down, but she was going to go right over the top of me if I tried to stop her.”
He nodded in understanding. He didn’t like it, but given a similar set of circumstances, he knew there really wasn’t any other choice that could have been made.
“Where the hell did she get a weapon?”
“Hell if I know, but she pulled it out and said she was going to kill them all. Told me I could get out of the way or come with. I chose option “B”. I figured I’d lead the way and keep her out of trouble if I could; turned out it worked the other way around.” She took a deep breath and continued. “Sarge. She’s not wearing IR goggles but she didn’t need’em. It’s like she can see in the dark and knew where the bad guys were headed before they knew it themselves.”
A low laugh sounded from the darkened corridor where Rayne stood. She let off a stream of curses, damning the Tau Ceti to whatever burning hell they believed in and several bursts of automatic fired assaulted their ears.
“I think she needs a little more time,” Lena said seriously.
“Good plan,” the sergeant agreed.
After ten minutes, Rayne had finally fallen into silence and Lena felt safe to make an approach.
“Rayne? You okay?” She edged further into the gloom and stepped across the bodies sprawled on the fl
oor. “Rayne, where are you?”
“Here,” came the soft reply. She sat in a darkened corner with her back to the bulkhead. She felt tired but strangely calm and satisfied. Lena sat down beside her.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” Lena looked her over in the darkness, but couldn’t see that she was injured, though it was hard to tell with the Tau Ceti’s spattered blood covering her clothing.
“No,” she replied. “I feel just fine.” In truth, she’d taken several deep slashes on her arm, a stab wound that had punctured a lung and a few bullets through her thigh and calf. However, the bio gel now integrated with her DNA had sealed the wounds and started to regenerate damaged tissue and there was already no evidence of injury.
“That was some crazy shit, girl.”
Rayne laughed quietly.
“Yes.”
Lena wasn’t sure what to say to that, but reached for the first thing that came to mind.
“Good shootin’.”
“Lots of practice.”
Lena snorted. “I’ll bet. Let’s not do that again for a while, okay?”
“Sure,” came the tired reply.
***
Jackson had returned with his fire team from his sweep of the ship, declaring it clear. Mike circled them up, with the exception of Lena, who was quietly talking with Rayne at the end of the corridor.
“I just gave the all clear. The maintenance crews should be here in about an hour, so we’ve got that long to get our stories straight.”
“What ya mean, Sarge?”
“Don’t be thick, Taft,” Davis said punched him in the arm, drawing a mild protest. “If anyone finds out Rayne not only took part in this op, but went on a murderous rampage and killed most of the Tau Ceti before we could get to them, they’ll lock her up and Sarge and Lena will take the fall.”
Understanding dawned on Taft’s face.
“Shit.”
“Shit is right,” Jackson said. Everyone waited intently for Mike to continue.
“As far as everyone is concerned, Rayne never left the shuttle.” They nodded their assent and Mike let out the breath he’d been holding. It was always nice to have it reaffirmed that your squad had your back.