Beyond Sol B. 01

Authors note:

I'm still alive and kicking everyone, apologies for being so quiet. Work has been kicking my ass lately and living that single parent life has been far more challenging for my mental health than I would openly admit to most people I know in real life.

I know a bunch of you have been waiting for an update to Six of a kind, but this story hasn't actually taken any of my writing time since I wrote it so fucking long ago and left it in editing limbo. So, I decided to take a couple of days to knock the rust off my beloved space fantasy adventure and share it with you all. Part 4 is also complete, and I'll be editing that when I don't have any writing inspiration for Six of a kind (its next, I promise) and Beyond Sol book 2 (Excited!)

Anyway, for those who have already read this, I apologise for it not being anything new. But I will have you covered soon enough.

Peace out and stay awesome.

D.A

Chapter 11

"No shit," I said, catching my weapon belt as Shara tossed it to me. "The Picasso on the wall over there was one of them."

I waved my arm in the direction of the splatter of blue blood and gooey flesh that had fused to the metal wall after Hayzi had deleted the blue-skinned goon. The wall was scorched black around the solid projectile that had removed the thug's body from existence, but around the blackened steel was an arterial mess of mostly unidentifiable body matter.

"That's what woke me up," Shara said.

I clipped my weapon belt on and fastened the thigh holster to my right leg, noticing I only had one of the Reaper-X hand cannons. I glanced to Shara just in time to catch my baton, still strapping it to my left thigh as I stumbled out the front door after my companion. The second Reaper-X was strapped to the small of her back at an angle, the grip sticking out slightly for easy draw from her right hand.

"You think we'll need these?" I asked, gesturing to the weapons as I took the jacket from her hands.

"I think we'll need them very soon," she replied, her eyes scanning our surroundings.

I slipped the Matrix-like coat on over my shoulders ands marvelled at the fit. It was like a master tailor had crafted the garment specifically for me, but that was impossible. It was like the jacket adjusted its size to match the wearer, making it a perfect fit for anyone. Once I had it how I wanted, I followed Shara's gaze through the semi-crowded street and spotted what she was looking at. Three men in high-collared black suits with red stripes down the sleeves were moving through the crowd. The general public must have known who these men were, and they got the fuck out of their way with only a few getting shoved aside. Each man had a weapon drawn, but they scanned the crowd as they moved, indicating they hadn't spotted either of us yet.

"Two more down that way," Shara gestured.

In the opposite direction of the first three were another two black and red uniformed men. One with orange skin and jet-black hair, the other was white as snow with no hair, each one held a pistol in their grip.

"What do we do?" I asked Shara.

"Kill them before they kill us," she replied.

"What about auto-defences?" I added, remembering what she'd said earlier about the station's defences.

"If they're coming after us like this, they've disabled the defences in this area," she said.

"Can they do that?" I asked.

"Only one man can give that order," Shara growled.

A shout interrupted our conversation, and one of the trio was pointing our way. The three men charged through the crowd, slamming civilians aside in their haste to get at us. A shout from the other direction told me the other two uniformed men had also seen us.

We were about to get hit from either side.

"I'll take left, you take right," I said before my brain could register that I was giving an order to Shara.

She nodded, drew her Reaper-X, and darted off to engage the three men. They were still a good distance down the street, with plenty of obstacles blocking line of sight and giving potential cover. I turned to the left keeping my eyes on the two goons just in time to see one of them raise his weapon. The shot slammed into the steel wall of the building right beside my head. Civilians around me began screaming in terror as they ran in every direction imaginable, panic taking hold. I even saw someone leap at least three metres into the air, clearing a hovercar that was blocking the road before bounding down the street like some sort of frog-man hybrid.

I acted without thinking and dove to the ground just as two more blasts slammed into the wall where I stood. I hit the ground hard, the impact driving the air from my lungs and causing spots to dance along my vision. The men began firing through the crowd, not caring if they hit civilians in their attempt to get me. A shriek of pain from nearby snapped me out of my daze, and I watched in horror as a woman with light blue skin slumped to the ground, the hole in her chest oozing dark blue blood. Her death-glazed eyes seemed to stare at me, boring into my soul and blaming me for her death. These men were here for Shara and me, but innocents were being harmed instead. It was about time I gave these assholes what they wanted.

I rolled to my right just in time to avoid another flurry of shots. The energy projectiles scorched the road where I'd been only a half a second earlier, leaving tiny craters and a plume of smoke. I pushed myself to my knees behind the hovercar and peeked over the front carefully, praying I didn't have my head shot off as soon as I did.

Both men were approaching the car from different angles, the street now clear. They'd seen where I'd escaped to and were trying to close me in. I drew my Reaper-X, thumbing the safety off and checked the magazine was loaded. I knew the weapon was loaded and primed, but it never hurt to be sure, especially since I didn't have a HUD telling me how many bullets I had left in my gun.

I chanced another glance and saw the goon to the front of the car was much closer than his comrade. His gun was raised and ready to fire, and I got my head out of the way just in time for a blast of blue energy to sear a hole through the hovercar. These guys were far more alert than the two I'd dealt with in Hayzi's store, and I wasn't sure I was able to take either of them out without taking a bullet from the other. They could have orders to take Shara alive, but I was of no importance to these men or whoever they were working for.

I glanced in Shara's direction to see if she was okay, but their conflict was out of sight. The sound of gunfire being exchanged told me she was holding her own. She was faster, stronger, and a much better soldier than I was, but I still worried about her, probably more than I worried about myself.

I had to act now before they came at me from both sides.

I moved to the back of the hovercar to engage the second goon. This goon hadn't engaged with me previously, so I suspected he didn't know my exact location as of yet, giving me a slight advantage. I checked my weapon once more, took a deep breath-then sprang up from my cover. Time seemed to slow as I revealed myself to my enemy and readied my weapon. The surprise on his face was plain and clear, he hadn't been expecting the push, and I was lucky enough to catch him with his weapon down, giving me just enough time to get a shot off. I might not be able to turn fast enough to drop his friend, but at least I'd take one of these fuckers down with me. I just wished I knew if this was the guy who killed the innocent woman.

I aimed for centre-of-mass, hoping a chest shot would be enough to drop this guy, but he was raising his own weapon at the same time, and I ended up hitting him in the hand. The goon's hand exploded, sending his mangled, useless weapon skittering across the ground. He slumped to his knees, clutching his ruined stump, and began screaming hysterically, right before I put another hole the size of a tomato can through his skull, sending pieces of grey matter and chunks of bone flying through the air to paint the street.

I turned to face his friend just in time to see a white energy beam tear through his chest. The blast melted through his body like a hot knife through snow. The gunmen fell to the ground with a wet thud as the remainder of his organs that hadn't been disintegrated spilled onto the road.

I turned to the origin of the blast and spotted the elf-like Hayzi stood by her store entrance. The massive cannon she'd saved my life with earlier had been replaced with a smaller rifle that still looked large in her tiny hands. The weapon's long, cylindrical barrel was about as wide as a baseball and glowed like heated metal before fading to the same dull grey of the rest of the weapon. This girl definitely had a thing for guns that could kill a dinosaur.

"Thanks again," I shouted.

"You're welcome," she smiled and waved.

More gunshots broke out, drawing my attention back to Shara's conflict.

She had taken on more of the goons than I had, and she didn't have Hayzi backing her up. I'd seen her in action and knew she was tough, but I still worried she might be overwhelmed.

"Come on," I ordered Hayzi to follow me.

Hayzi nodded and hefted her rifle before running after me. She was quick on her feet and kept pace easily with my longer strides. We rounded the corner in the direction I'd heard the shots come from and nearly bowled straight into Shara. She gave us both a smile, then holstered her weapon with practised ease.

"Were you worried about me?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course. You had three to deal with," I said.

She gave me a small smile, then glanced at Hayzi. "You coming with us?"

"Oh! Can I?!" Hayzi beamed.

"What do you say, Jason?" Shara turned to me.

Both her and Hayzi were staring at me now. Shara had a half-smile and a playful look on her face while Hayzi showed off her perfect white teeth as she openly displayed her excitement.

"Sure," I shrugged. "Why not."

Hayzi dropped her weapon carelessly and threw her arms around me in a big hug, squeezing with far more force than I thought possible for the small woman. Once Hayzi was done with me, she gave Shara the same treatment before retrieving her weapon.

"So, where to?" I asked Shara.

"We have to get off station as soon as possible," she replied.

"If they knew where we were, there's a good chance they'll be watching our ship," I said.

"You're right. We need some help. Follow me."

Shara took off down the street in the direction of Gaz's workshop. The streets were empty of all life now. The populace had fled at the first gunshot and, where we once encountered droves of aliens in groups making travel difficult, there was only empty road and sidewalk now.

When we arrived at Gaz's workshop, I could tell immediately that something was wrong. The street outside of the business was scorched and riddled with bullet holes. Three hovercars had been shredded by gunfire, and two of them were on fire. Apart from the dozen or more corpses that littered the ground in pieces, the street here was also empty. More than a few of them looked to be innocents caught in the crossfire.

"Fucking assholes," I muttered to myself.

Shara darted across the street and started banging on the closed shutters to Gaz's shop. A few seconds passed without a reply, and she started banging again. The shutters slid open smoothly, and the big alien man stepped out with a massive black revolver clutched in one hand.

"Thank the stars! You're alright, lass," Gaz said, wrapping a meaty arm around Shara.

"What happened? Is anyone hurt?" Shara asked.

"No one's hurt, thankfully. They came about fifteen minutes ago and started shooting the place up. We fought them off, and most of them scattered when they started losing men," Gaz explained.

"How many were there?" I asked.

"About twenty or more," Gaz replied, suddenly looking exhausted.

That number of goons would have been impossible for Shara and I to handle, even with Hayzi's help. It looked like whoever had given our position away hadn't known exactly where we were; otherwise, we would have dealt with far more henchmen than we had. It was more likely that whoever had sold us out had known where we were going and possibly where we might be after.

"I need to see Zullo," Shara said. "He could be in trouble."

"Are you kidding me?!" I shook my head. "He's probably the one who sold us out. We need to get back to the ship and get the fuck out of dodge."

"No. Zullo would never work with the Crimson Hand," Shara snapped. "I am not leaving until I know he is okay."

"I believe he may be right lass," Gaz said. "He's the only one who knew you were even on the station. Best to get out while you can, there's bound to be more Crimson Hand mercenaries on station."

Shara closed her eyes and shook her head, as if trying to make herself believe her own words. I never liked Zullo from the moment I met him, I didn't know the guy, but he and Shara seemed close. It couldn't be easy for her to even consider a trusted friend betraying her like that.

"Either way, I need to get to Zullo," Shara added with determination.

"I suppose there's no way for me to talk you out of it?" Gaz asked.

The stubborn look on Shara's face spoke more than any words she could have used. Gaz sighed as if he were dealing with a wilful teenage daughter that refused to take no for an answer. "Fine, but I'm going with you."

"You know you can't keep up with me, Gaz," Shara said.

"Then take Genry with you," Gaz said. "He's fast and a hell of a shot."

As if being summoned, a young man that looked about my age stepped up beside Gaz. He was short and stout but lacked the meaty limbs like Gaz, with short, white hair that spiked up like an anime character and bronze skin that looked metallic. He wore similar overalls to Hayzi and held a long-barrelled rifle in his hands. The way he handled the weapon told me he was very familiar with it.

"Keep her safe," Gaz said, clapping Genry on the shoulder.

He nodded but didn't say a word. By the way he looked at Shara, I guessed he would have done anything for her, including taking a bullet. It was a look I'd seen on a lot of men's faces since we docked on the station. Shara was an incredible beauty and seemed to stand out wherever she went, drawing glances from most men she passed with just the sway of her hips. It made me feel incredibly lucky to be her friend and travelling companion.

Even with the constant threat of death that lurked around each corner.

"You know where Zullo is?" Shara asked Genry.

The bronze-skinned man nodded his reply and headed off down the street.

"Jason, before you go," Gaz called out.

I turned back to see Gaz was holding my carbine rifle I'd left with him earlier, and a black bag. The weapon looked a little different than when I'd left it with the weaponsmith. The upper receiver was bulkier, with three blue LED lights on the left-hand side, and the magazine port had been modified, along with the loaded magazine.

"I couldn't effectively make the ammunition you needed in large quantities, so I did the next best thing and modified your weapon."

I took the rifle from Gaz--noticing immediately that the weapon was noticeably lighter--and ran my eyes over the changes.

"I changed the weapon's calibre to the standard caseless ammunition used and sold everywhere in Union space. I also added a cooling pack to stop the weapon from overheating," Gaz explained. "The pack will need recharging after roughly two hundred shots. When the last of those three lights are out, the weapon will shut off until a new pack is installed. It's to stop you from melting your gun. I've added two more fully charged cooling packs in the bag for you along with another five loaded magazines and four boxes of bullets."

I ejected the magazine and inspected the loaded ammunition. They were a brushed steel in colour--instead of brass like I was expecting--but they looked to be a similar size to the bullets I'd been using in the rifle. I was far from an expert in matters of firearms, so I took Gaz at his word. I loaded the magazine and automatically went for the priming handle, but it wasn't there.

"Self-loading," Gaz grinned.

"Thanks," I swung the weapon over my shoulder and took the bag, fishing out the Glock.

"I added a similar modification to that one, but it doesn't require the cooling packs."

"Awesome, that should make finding ammo a lot easier," I said.

I holstered the modified Glock before slipping two magazines for each weapon into the cargo pockets on my trousers, then slung the bag over my shoulders. I took a moment to arrange the straps and the rifle so I could access the weapon smoothly. I was kicking myself I hadn't brought my chest-rig along. The extra, and easily accessible storage would have been appreciated in a gunfight.

"Alright, let's go," I said, turning to the group.

Each member of my small party was patiently waiting for me. None of them looked annoyed at the holdup or even in a hurry to go. They actually looked like they were waiting for me to give the order and jumped to obey--even Shara. I had zero experience in giving orders and leading people--I couldn't even get trainees at work to do what I wanted--and even less knowledge about the station.

I was not leader material.

We moved out at a jog through an eerily quiet space station, with Genry leading the way. Now that the hustle and bustle of the crowds was gone, I could finally hear the constant thrum of machinery that kept the station running. The clang of metal as the station creaked, the slam of a door a few streets over, and even the flow of air from nearby vents we passed.

I never thought I'd wish for the sensory overloading sensation of large crowds in confined spaces.

"How much farther?" I asked, jogging up beside Genry.

"Not far," he replied, keeping his eyes forward.

"Care to elaborate?" I asked.

Genry slowed his jog until we both stopped in the middle of the wide corridor, then checked back the way we'd come. Shara and Hayzi were a good ten metres behind us. I had the idea to spread us out a little while we travelled in case of an attack. But now I was worried we were too far apart.

"Next sector is where Zullo spends most of his time. But I do not know if he will be there. He has many safe houses and rarely stays in one place long," Genry explained.

"So, this could all be for nothing," I sighed, running my fingers through my hair in frustration.

"Yes," Genry nodded. "But it is our best shot."

I nodded to the bronze-skinned man, then checked to make sure Shara and Hayzi were still with us. The women were travelling within three or four metres of each other and had stopped when we did, with Shara facing the way we'd come in case of trouble, while Hayzi seemed to be looking off into space with a goofy grin on her face.

"She troubles me," Genry said.

"Hayzi?" I asked, turning back to him.

"Yes."

"Why's that?"

"She is always smiling," he replied. "Even when there is nothing to smile at."

"I know what you mean," I chuckled. "But she seems nice, and harmless. Well, mostly harmless anyway."

"If you say so."

The image of Hayzi obliterating the two guards from earlier flashed in my mind. She had saved my butt on both occasions, but I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of fear towards the short, elf-like woman with black eyes. A fear that was outweighed by how gorgeous and adorable she was.

"Jason!" Shara shouted. "We need to move, now!"

I whipped my head around and cursed when I saw what had alarmed Shara. Behind us--maybe thirty metres--a squad of fifteen soldiers in black and red uniforms rounded the bend in the corridor. We had no cover and nowhere to run except straight ahead; the only advantage was the passage was only wide enough to comfortably fit four men shoulder-to-shoulder. The disadvantage was clear as soon as I saw the group.