This post started off as a one-off response to a writing prompt in the Freewriters Community. Then I wrote a part 2 (with the outcome literally determined by a coin toss).
But that naturally leads to a part 3, which is where this short series comes in. I felt that doing it in just one post really wouldn't give enough time to build up a bit of suspense 😀 Enjoy !
Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio
It was hard to miss the Type 17 battle cruiser as it came in low over the mountains heading for the landing pad at Meranda Base. The thing was nearly a mile long, a black silhouette that filled the sky for a moment, and the deep rumble of it's drives could be felt rather than heard.
In the distance, a few minor rockfalls could be seen, triggered by the vibration. More worrying for Dafang was Wardek pointing up at the almost invisible black dots it was scattering in it's wake.
"Drop ships. Probably Passault V's. Look like they're starting up sweep patterns. We need to move, fast and unobtrusively. If they spot us there's no way we can outrun them with our old relic, beautiful as she is."
The other three veterans were already loading their drone control units into their craft, and Wardek and Dafang jogged over to get the thing buttoned up and in the air.
Ten minutes later, they were flying low over the rolling grey hills of Meranda. Very, very low. And very slow.
Trying to restrain his frustration, Dafang asked, "Can't we go any faster ? Where are we going, anyway ?"
Wardek grinned, a cunning look on his weathered features. "Oh, we're just ambling from settlement to settlement. In a generally away kind of direction. They're looking for a Passault, the only one here that's not one of theirs. Flying this low and slow, on sensors we'll look just like a private hovercar travelling from one settlement to the neighbouring one. Admiral Maraz will do this all by the book, and that makes him predictable."
He twiddled a dial, and music started to play. "That should complete the illusion if they do a sonic scan."
"Oh good grief..." Dafang groaned. It was the kind of folk music that was in vogue here, and had been in vogue everywhere else about twenty years previously. Lots of slow electric sitar and soft digeridoo with droning, crooning vocals that always seemed to involve loosing a favourite goat.
By the evening they were about three hundred miles from Meranda Base, and all heartily sick of the musical torture they'd been enduring all day. Except Wardek, who seemed to either like the stuff or at least be immune to it.
They settled the Passault into the lee of the most overhanging cliff they could find, in a steep valley, and powered everything down to minimise their signature to any probing sensors.
As they organised watches and prepared to bed down for the night, the comms unit in the shuttle crackled to life, receiving an external signal.
"ASU-Ober-Shakari Sebb Waldek, this is Kailen Merdiu Hamatre of the 6278 Imperial Marines. We know you're out there. Give yourself up and you'll come to no harm as long as we get the ex-governor. It's only a matter of time before we find you."
Looking at Wardek, Dafang raised an eyebrow. "You never told me you were an Ober-Shakari, Wardek; now I know why the guys look to you for leadership."
With a slight smile, Wardek countered, "You never asked. But Garnes must have really leaned on the Admiral to send a full Kailen after me, I'm just a retired senior NCO."
"Yeah, a senior NCO in the Advanced Strike Brigades. That makes you pretty darn special, and retired or not the Marines will probably feel rather out-classed."
Dafang shook his head with barely concealed amazement. ASU troopers were the toughest of the tough. Not many survived to retire, and for all his act of being a quiet retired veteran Wardek probably had more combat experience than all the Marines in that battle cruiser combined. And he had three other ASU veterans on the team.
Perhaps they had a chance after all.
Previous posts in this series;
- @alonicus/24-january-2025-mariannewests-freewrite-writing-prompt-day-2626-mother-love - the post that started it all, and introduced the spine-spiders
- @alonicus/escape-from-the-caves-of-meranda-iv - the sequel, where the science team escapes back to base and recommends the planet not be colonised. They were too late.
- @alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-1 - we meet the Governor Dafang and get the first hints that the colony isn't going to plan
- @alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-2 - Governor Dafang takes a trip to the Greenfields settlement, only to find it is not there any more
- @alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-3 - a fractious meeting of the co0lony's government, and a worrying foreshadow
- @alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-4 - this is where things start to really go sideways for the colony
- @alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-5 - Doctor Helen Thwaites returns to Meranda to reveal the cover-up
- @alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-6 - Garnes tries to arrest Helen, and gets told to go away
- @alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-7 - Meranda Base finds itself surrounded by a broad band of patterns
- @alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-8 - Mr Garnes makes his move
@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-9 - Mr Garnes' juniors aren't impressed by his self-promotion
@alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-10 - Wardek breaks Dafang out of prison, but Doctor Thwaites is swallowed up by the ground. - @alonicus/the-colony-on-meranda-iv-part-11 - The fugitives use micro-drones to find out what Garnes is up to.