Chapter 666: Airship
The siren woman glared at him for a few moments before sighing. "Very well. But-" She stopped as a ship flew overhead. In fact it flew right over them as its turbine wings swiveled so it could slow down and lower itself. It was an airship that was clearly designed exclusively for flight in atmosphere.
The turbine wings were two tubes that rotated to adjust how it was flying. With more mechanical parts than electrical parts. It hovered in a circle for a moment as it stabilized before it began to lower down to a dock.
At this point Jace was above the airship. He moved out of the communication room and to the edge of the stairs. He watched from above as a group of soldiers dressed in different regalia stepped out of the back of the airship as it hovered just above the water.
"Those are not the clothes of the people that invaded our village." The siren woman pointed out.
From their view of above they could see the Muddied Salamanders were moving into positions just out of view. He spotted Captain Adrian and he made some hand signals toward Jace.
Jace nodded and stepped back a few steps. He set down his satchel of explosives. "I suggest you hide for a moment." He ran forward and off the stairs. He had to adjust his strength so he would land on the airship rather than overshoot it.
He moved on a downward arc and landed a few inches away from one of the turbines which he could tell was trying to suck him in as it funneled air downward to keep itself afloat.
Thunk!
Even he could hear the sound of his landing on the roof of the airship. He dashed toward the back of the craft and slid along the last foot. As he came off the edge of the back of the airship he grabbed the edge and used his momentum to swing himself into the open back of the airship. Catching the enemies by surprise as he slipped right overhead of two of them.
Ten of the enemies had already moved out of the airship. The last two were carrying a large container between them. Which he crouched behind to use as cover as he quickly surveyed the inside of the airship. It only took him a moment.
There was a pair of pilots at the front of the airship in a cockpit. There was also a pair of soldiers who appeared to be standing near side entrances that could open up and swivel out a heavy mounted weapon. The guards looked at Jace in surprise while one of the pilots glanced back at him for only a moment.
Jace dashed forward toward the cockpit, completely ignoring the guards. After the first step he frowned as he felt the metal on the ground of the airship had given away slightly. He slowed his speed as he approached the pilots by sliding his boots along the floor and activating magnetic locking.
There was a screech of metal as he slowed down. He reached forward and grabbed the co-pilot by the scruff of the neck and yanked them out of the seat and towards the back of the craft while zapping enough electricity from their body to only put them unconscious.
The pilot did not even glanced at Jace as he reached for something that was most certainly a radio. They knew the occupiers of the planet did not use them intentionally, so it must be reserved for an emergency. Like if a patrol like this was attacked.
Jace grabbed the man’s arm. "Aaargh!" He screamed in pain as Jace yanked him out of the seat. Jace could both feel and hear a pop as the man’s shoulder was dislocated and he was pulled out of his seat.
Jace released his arm and sat in the co-pilot’s seat. He looked over the controls long enough for the pair of guards to finally pull out their weapons. But he already had an idea of how they operated as he pulled a lever and pulled back on the stick.
The airship began to turn its nose upwards as the back door led to the swamp water and the guards, pilot, and co-pilot fell out of the airship and into the water. "Aaahhh!" They screamed in surprise as Jace reorientated the airship and flicked a switch to close the back door of the airship. He could see through the cockpit window as the entire enemy unit was confused for only a moment before the Muddied Salamanders began to reveal their presence while the enemy unit was stuck in the open of the dock they used as a landing zone.
These soldiers were dressed in blue as opposed to the beige and green mix the original group they killed were wearing. Which only confirmed that they were from a different nation. The enemy commander’s behavior only confirmed it as shouted something and began to toss down his weapons and held his hands up. The rest of his unit did the same, aside from the ones that helped their comrades get out of the swamp that Jace had dumped them into.
He watched for a few moments. He wished he could hear them but the turbines of the airship were incredibly loud. He checked the airship’s controls for a moment and even saw they had a clock aligned with the planet set up. The planet had thirty three hours in a day and it was already a few hours past midnight and when they landed.
As he floated he looked for a place to set down the airship and noticed Captain Adrian signalling for him to land the airship. He also noticed that the enemy soldiers, all fourteen of them, were all being properly restrained.
He sighed as he put down the landing gears and spun in a circle for a moment in the airship before moving to a large patch of swampy water that had patches of dirt and mud coming up to just under the surface of the water. It was the only safe spot to land in the nearby area.
It lowered until he heard a plop and the airship settled into the mud. He powered off the airship and then stood up. He could go through the back entrance or the side entrances, all of them had manual and electric releases. But he looked at the top and jumped up, pulling a lever to the side before pushing it up and open. The hatch opened up as he climbed out. It would be easier to just go this way.
As he stood on the roof of the airship he looked to the swamp village which was across a deeper part of the swamp. He could go through them, but the commotion had awoken the creatures that lived in the swamp. Which were large slimy slugs that were already chomping away at the remains of the dead soldiers that were being dumped in the swamp.
Jace took a moment before jumping from the airship to the branch of a tree. When he landed he had to steady himself. The branch was coated in a slime or oil that made it difficult to stay on an incline. After a moment he jumped to the next tree and then the next. Making his way through the treetops until he jumped down onto the village’s wooden walkway and made his way towards the prisoners and Captain Adrian who was waiting for him.
But the siren women he was talking with before approached him first. "Can we keep the weapons and gear they brought?"
Jace nodded, "Please do." He answered, "make sure any of your people that are already trained are teaching those untrained."
"That was the plan. Here." She held up the satchel he dropped earlier. He picked up his bag full of grenades and put it back over his shoulder as she followed him. "They elected to have me in charge for the time being. So I would like to hear what this group has to say."
"Very well." Jace nodded as they approached Captain Adrian who was standing away from most of the prisoners. Aside from the commander of the patrol who was kneeling with his arms restrained behind his back. "Adrian, explain."
"I am sorry commander. They surrendered almost immediately when they realized they were outnumbered." Captain Adrian explained with a nod at the group. "Apparently those were the orders they were given if they met with resistance."
"Is that all?" Jace asked.
"No." The enemy commanding officer spoke in the vexical dialect that he was talking in with Adrian. The way he spoke showed he had a grasp of the language but not a good one. Only enough to get by. "I was also informed to supply you with any and all information and to not hold anything back. I passed the same information onto my soldiers who will also follow all directions and remain model prisoners." Adrian looked shocked at the enemy commanding officer.
"Why?" Jace directed his question to the prisoner this time.