The Planet 11.2

11.2 Retaliation

I saw then my way out. I moved towards the nearest branch and used it to propel myself up. I climbed from branch to branch. I was making some progress then without the droids blasting at me. Or at the Core Domain.

“Stop!” Daniel appeared. “You must not leave.”

I ignored Daniel to continue my climb. The branch of stone dissolved in my hand. It was as if it was never there. I did fall then when the other branches below me all dissolved. I had the free fall feeling then and soon found myself lifted. I looked down or was it up. I lost the sense of direction.

It was a droid.

The battle droid was back.

I had landed on the droid who was hovering up. I landed on its chest, ironically it could be flying somewhere and I had become its new baggage. I had to balance myself on it but with it double my frame, I managed hold on. I adjusted my frame on it with the caution on the droid either turning over or leveling its cannons onto me. I may be a mercenary but inside me I am still a human, and we are prone to wounds that bleed with death as its ultimate prize.

But I lived.

The droid flew me across the cavern at the Core Domain. .

It was then I saw more droids were dropping in. There were more of the battle droids and then the working droids. There were about fifty or more of these droids. They were all aiming for the Core Domain. The stone branches soon resumed again but that time it was intense and dense in dimension. Some of the droids were seen hitting through the branches of stone and still headed for the Core Domain.

I climbed off the droid to free fall again. I was not keen to rejoin with the Core Domain.

During my second round of free fall, I saw the new intruders.

Corsairs.

Those mercenaries were into the fight, with the new battle suits that I was testing then at Kingsley. It was a full droid battle suit with the height of eight feet where the human operator resided inside and be part of it. It covered the whole body and with shoulder and elbow pads. The chest was covered by the thick plate while on the rear was the energy pack. 

On the right shoulder was the mounted mini cannon that were on a swivel stand which gave it an one hundred degree coverage from front to the back. The lower limbs were covered with the armored pads and the boots have build-in jetpacks. Each mercenary carried on their arms, the rotary mini cannon rifle model PH-500C.  The rifle was loaded with a five rounds pack.

There were about a hundred of them.

And then I saw Machete, Duggan and Nguyen among them.

And there was Kingsley.

They were all wearing Corsairs colors. Matt Kingsley could not resist the battle even though he was the head of a corporation. Those other three were my team mates and we were not with the Corsairs before. It was all baffling then. I presumed dead but there they were battling with the Corsairs.

“Keep the blast on the Core.” I heard Kingsley gave the command. I dropped off the droid and fell towards the wall. The cavern was still free of gravity hold. I stood there looking at the droids and battle suits fought it out with L 391-1 extended stone branches. More branches sprouted out to replace those shot or broken off.

I saw Nguyen approached me then.

“Hello, John.” Nguyen smiled from behind the clear visor on the battle suit head piece. “We were rescued by the Corsairs. They got us to safety and here we are now fighting on their side.”

I glared at healer who had then stood before me. He reached out with his armored right arm and to swing it at my head. I would had been hit if not for the intervention of the dusts. It formed a block of dusts on the swing to prevent it from hitting me. Nguyen was surprised by the move but his battle instinct got him to aim the shoulder mounted cannon at it. The block of dust dissolved but by then another branch of stone had grabbed Nguyen on the lower limbs. It jammed the jets propulsion on the boots and moved up to the waist level. It stopped there and then I saw the effect of the attack. It was like a swarm of small spikes that pierced the battle suit inside the encased stone. The spikes pierced through the battle suit and into the human operator.

Nguyen screamed out in pain but by then, his body was severed into two parts. His upper part of the body floated in the anti gravity condition with his blood spurting out alongside his severed organs. I tried to grab him by his arms but he was soon flung across the cavern by another branch.

I saw the shots then and jumped aside. It was Duggan and he was shooting at me. I rolled and ducked form the shots. The commander was raving mad then and accused me of killing Nguyen

“You killed him!” Duggan ranted on while shooting at me. I could not evade him for I was without any weapon. I kept on using my legs to run or jump in random moves. I jumped high with my arms reaching out for the nearest branch when Duggan shot me. I felt the right arm gave way but there was little pain. The arm dangled at the elbow area.

“Arghh!” I then screamed out in pain. It was a delayed reaction to the damaged arm. I rolled onto my back and felt something hard on it. I reached with my left hand and pulled it to the front. It was the cannon rifle that was Nguyen. It was floating there and I grabbed it. I leveled the rifle and pulled the trigger. The shot propelled me to the cavern wall but it also blew Duggan’s head off his shoulder. The remaining battle suit of Duggan then broke open at the fixtures that held the human operator. It then ejected the headless body out before it remained floating for a new operator. It was one of the features of the battle suit.

There was no time to lose. I jumped towards the unit and slipped it on. The broken arm was difficult to adjust to and then I made the decision to detach it. I pulled it off at the elbow and tossed it aside. With my left hand, I punched in the codes which will activate the suit. It sealed on my command and then did a diagnostics.

“Head piece missing. Re-calibrate the coordinators and signals.” All it was one second for it to get it operational. I was undecided to join the battle or escape.

I chose the second option. It was then I saw Machete. He had his right hand on my energy pack. I felt the vibrations and then the stiffness.