Heritage (Under Revision)

Chapter 21 - Leon

“Get dressed, we have to see what’s going on!” Stella yells, jumping up and grabbing our clothes.

She tosses me my clothes and I quickly put them on. I don’t bother taking the time to put my tie on or button up my jacket. I take Stella’s hand and we walk out of the Sky Deck.

It’s seems to be a whole new world we step into, as there are Cadets and ship personnel running all over the place, nearly colliding with Stella and I.

I stop one of the cadets rushing by, “What the hell is going on!?” I ask.

“You guys gotta get out of here, we’re under attack, all Cadets are ordered to go to the escape pods!” he yells quickly and then runs in a panic.

“Shit, mom and dad! I have to get to them Stells, you get to the escape pods, I’ll be there shortly,”

“No, if you’re going, I am too, I’m not going to let you leave my sight.”

“Stella, I’m not going to let—”

“Save it Leon, I’m going and that’s final,” Stella says, cutting me off.

I sigh in concern and take her hand once again as we start to run down the hallway. The ship rumbles and shakes as it takes missile hits from the attackers, causing Stella and I to lose balance here and there. We arrive at the control center, breathing heavily as we enter.

“Stella? Leon? What the hell are you two doing here, get yourselves to the escape pods right now!” my father yells out of frustration, sweat beading down his face.

“I was just seeing if you were alright dad,”

“Your mother and I are fine Leon, you two need to leave right now,” Dad says sternly.

“Your father is right Leon, it’s not safe for you and Stella here. Now go, the both of you,” my mother says. I grit my teeth in frustration and begin to leave the control center.

“Leon wait...” my dad says stopping me.

“Take this, just in case,” he says handing me his old pistol from the war.

Taking it in my hands I can feel its memories, the numerous scratches etched into the grip showing the number of Sekrid lives it took. The faded chrome plating, and the newer engraving carved into the slide in remembrance of my father’s fallen comrades.

“Are...are you sure you want me to have this dad?” I ask.

“Yes, you’ll have better use of it then I will right now, now go, get off this ship,” Dad answers.

I nod my head in acceptance and Stella and I continue on our way out of the control center. I place my father’s pistol in the dress uniform holster required for all dress uniforms.

Stella and I make our way to the escape pod room, hurrying as fast as we can. We arrive at the door, sweat dripping from both of our faces. I wave my TAPs over the doorpad. There’s a buzzing sound the pad turns red giving me a denied signal.

“Oh, come on damn it! Open!” I yell in anger and irritation.

I continue to wave my TAPs over the pad to no avail, as it keeps denying it. I slam my fist against the door and look through the window as pods start to lift off. My eyes widen at my next sight. A missile, hurling at least Mach three screams toward the pod bay.

“Get down!” I scream jumping towards Stella, covering her from the blast.

The missile impacts, causing a huge rumble in the ship and blowing the door off the it’s hinges. Debris and the door itself land on top of me. Shattered glass from various places around us falls, some cutting my face and tearing holes in my jacket. I wince as more and more rubble piles on my back. It finally stops and my arms begin to tremble as I try to hold the debris up.

“You ok?” I ask Stella.

“Yeah, I’m fine, what about you?” Stella asks back with a concerned look on her face.

“One second...” I say with a grunt.

I push my arms up, lifting myself off the ground and pushing the debris off of my back.

I help Stella to her feet, “Now I’m alright,” I say brushing dust off of my uniform.

Stella manages to produce a smile at the small amount of humor I put into the situation.

“Come on, we have to head back to the control room,” I say taking Stella’s hand once more.

We rush back towards the control room and in the midst of our running the wall explodes in-between Stella and I, sending us flying back in opposite directions. Rubble topples in the path, blocking our way to each other.

“St...Stella! Are you there?!” I yell between coughs.

“Yes, I’m alright,” she responds.

I peer through the rubble and catch a glimpse of something heading towards Stella. My brain switches to panic as my eyes are graced by the presence of Sekrid commandos.

“Stella, run! Run now! Sekrid, behind you!” I scream.

Stella whips around, and before she can run, they grab her and start to drag her off. The other commandos see me through the rubble and begin firing their weapons. The rounds tear through the debris and I dive behind a corner just in time to evade the bullets.

The rounds collide with the walls and I stand against the wall I’m concealed behind gritting my teeth and clenching my fists as tears roll down my face. The gunfire stops and I hear footsteps fade into the distance. I stand there, remaining still, grasping the situation.

“Ahhhhhhh!!!!” I scream releasing my anger and hurt while simultaneously punching the wall.

I place my forehead against the wall, tears falling from my eyes and slowly slide down to my knees. Out of my peripheral vision I see a boot land directly to the side of me. I slowly turn my head to the side and run my eyes upward.

My jaw drops and my eyes widen as I fall backwards, beholding the sight of a six-and-a-half-foot creature staring at me with his neon orange eyes and grinning.

“Hello there,” he says in a raspy voice. I try crawling my way backwards, but I’m stopped by another rough surface landing into my back. I look up and see an identical view of another Sekrid commando. He gives the same twisted smile and clutches my throat.

With no effort he lifts me up off my feet and begins gripping my throat even tighter. My vision starts to fade and I see spots in front of my face. I desperately fight for air as I feel myself becoming unconscious.

It’s then, I remember the pistol I still have in my holster. The effort is doubled due to the lack of oxygen as I lift my hand to the holster, unbuttoning it, and pulling out the pistol.

The Sekrid soldier seems to be so focused on my death that he doesn’t notice me lifting the pistol to his chest. I close my eyes and pull the trigger. I hear a loud bang and an instant release on my neck as I drop to the floor, gasping for air. The Sekrid falls to the floor with a loud thud, twitching, but not making any normal movements.

The other commando turns and screeches in anger and begins to walk towards me, ready to tear my throat out.

“I’m going to crush you like a worm,” he says through his teeth. I can only sit there, I’m too weak to do anything due to the length of time my body was stripped of any and all oxygen.

I close my eyes and wince, anticipating my death, when all of a sudden, I hear a sickly gurgling sound. I open my eyes to investigate the strange noise. I see a miracle before me. The Sekrid soldier is standing there, a knife embedded into his lung, luminous blue blood pouring out of his body. His body is tossed to the side and I see my father standing there. His clothes are tattered and torn, blood runs from his mouth, and are painted on his arms and face.

“Dad, are you ok? Where’s mom?”

“They have her son, they over ran the control center and I wasn’t able to get her out.”

“They have Stella too dad, we were separated and they took her.”

“Don’t worry Leon, they won’t kill either of them, they’ll use Stella and your mother to get to us. They know who both of us are,” my father says, reassuring me.

He helps me up and looks over my shoulder at the Sekrid lying on the floor dead.

“Hm... Actually, used that gun huh?” he asks.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for your gun dad,” I pick up the pistol and hand it back to my father. He puts his hand up and shakes his head.

“No, you keep it son, it’s yours now, that gun has already seen too many battles with me, it’s time it saw battle with someone else,” he says.

I nod my head and return it to its holster.

“Come on Leon, we have to get somewhere safe,” my father says motioning for me to follow him.

I follow him without protest as we slink throughout the station, evading Sekrid soldiers on their patrols. We stop at a corner and my father waves his hand in a downward motion, telling me to crouch down. I do so and he quickly but quietly walks around the corner.

A few moments later I see him drag a Sekrid behind the corner. My father then leads me to a dark room and we crouch down so that we can’t be seen through the window giving us a small amount of light to work with.

“Okay, right now we are in the east wing of the ship. The armory is in the north wing, we need to get there.”

“Why is that dad? You aren’t...”

“Oh yes, I am son, I’m going to get my damn ship back...”