War Zone

by Seven

Disclaimer:  Earth: Final Conflict and its characters are copyrighted by Tribune Entertainment Company.  All rights reserved.



Author's Note:   Takes place late in S2. Thanks to Umrathama for the idea of calling Jaridians "Jardies."



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The shuttle had crashed almost a week ago, and Liam was living on rations. They had the consistancy of cardboard, and much the same flavor, but he choked them down just the same.

He might have felt better if the planet he were on weren't so incredibly ugly. Everything was a dull red-orange-gray mishmash, even the sky. Liam turned his hand around, looking at the strange effect that this light had on his skin tone. He just hoped there wasn't any harmful radiation in it.

The shuttle had been totalled, beyond any hope of repair, and Liam had injured his leg in the landing. It throbbed painfully as he walked, and he only hoped that it wasn't getting infected. The best medical care he could provide for himself on this God-forsaken world was lying down and taking deep breaths.

It also didn't help that, following protocol, he had to take the memory core with him. The thing would have been easy to carry, but Liam's increasing fatigue coupled with the distance of ten miles make it feel like he was carrying an easy chair on his shoulders.

"HALT!" screamed a voice.

Liam instantly stopped. The voice was harsh, male in timbre, coming from the huge rock cliffs on either side. He slowly began to raise his hands.

"Drop the weapon!" the voice commanded.

Liam began to protest that the object in his hand was a shuttle's memory core, not a weapon, but he heard a slight clicking noise as someone readjusted their weapon.

"I'm going to drop it, okay?" he called. "No itchy trigger fingers."

He dropped the core. And then a figure, clothed in the same orange-red hue as the rest of the planet, appeared. It was a human woman, dark hair pulled back in an untidy ponytail, her black uniform's arms ripped off, a Taelon energy rifle clutched in her hands. Her face and body were coated with sweat and dust, and her skin was smudged.

"Who're you?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

"I'm Major Liam Kincaid," Liam said. More figure began to descend from the rocks. They were all in roughly the same state as the young woman: dirty, sweaty, clothing ripped up. About two dozen of them.

The girl tilted her head. "Da'an's protector," she said dubiously.

Liam began to reach for his pocket, but was stopped by the clicking of an energy rifle. The woman glared at someone behind him. "Lower it, Sanchez."

"He's trying to trick you," a burly man behind Liam announced.

"I'm just trying to get my ID," Liam stated, holding out his hands.

"Shut up, you imposter!" snarled Sanchez.

"Shut up yourself, Pablo!" shouted the woman. "Lower that rifle or I'll lower your skull!"

Sanchez lowered the rifle, and Liam rapidly pulled his ID from his pocket and handed it to the girl. She looked at it and raised her eyebrows. "The gen-oo-wine article," she drawled, handing it back to him. "I'm Roberta Martin. Volunteer Squad Beta-6."

"Volunteers?" Liam asked. "You don't look it."

A man with unusually long arms and legs and a shock of pale blond hair laughed curtly. "Yeah, rookie. We've been on this hellhole for almost two months now."

"Al," warned Martin.

"TWO MONTHS?" Liam asked, barely able to believe his ears. "Why haven't you been relieved?"

Martin shrugged and scratched her back. "We've been out of communication on this useless rock for all that time. Our ID portal was destroyed to keep it out of Jardie hands, so we've been waiting for the Taelons to pick us up."

Liam felt shell-shocked. "Look, I don't think the Taelons are coming for you."

Sanchez muttered under his throat. Martin scowled. "What are you talking about?" she asked suspiciously. "You're a Companion protector. You of all people should be confident about them."

Liam thought fast. "Look, not ALL the Taelons know that you're here, or they would have sent people after you. Exactly what was your mission." "To hold this planet," Martin said, holding her rifle up at the ready. "And we will do that, until we die."

Liam started to answer, but suddenly felt dizzy. He was unconscious before he reached the ground.

****

Liam awoke inside a very small tent, the same red-orange as the planet. Martin was sitting beside him, smiling and holding a bowl. "Hungry?" she asked, offering it to him. "You passed out in the ravine, so we've dealt with your leg. Nasty cut. Got infected, what did you do to it?"

Liam moved his leg a little, noticing that black, silver-striped fabric had been used to bandage it. "I was in a shuttle crash. One of the engines malfunctioned, and I was going into a death spiral above this planet."

"And the roof caved in during reentry."

"Yup," Liam chuckled. "Isn't it awful?"

Martin laughed again, handing him the bowl. It was a meat stew of some sort, and Liam ate it hungrily. Halfway through his meal, Martin commented, "You've got a pretty strong stomach. Some people can't stand to eat that stuff because of what's in it."

Liam stopped eating, the spoon halfway to his mouth. "What do you mean?"

Al stuck his head in, grinning. "Couldn't help overhearing. Thought you might need a chaperone." Martin swatted him playfully, but he only said, "Beetles. Big beetles, could gnaw off your fingers."

Liam choked on his mouthful of stew. Martin and Al laughed. "Sorry," Al commented. "Anyway, how's the leg holding up? That's my uniform you're wearing, buddy."

Liam shrugged and set down the bowl. "I'll return it to you in the same state I found it."

Both of them laughed again. "Hoo boy, you're a breath of fresh air," Martin commented. "Two months, trapped on an alien planet with the same people, day after day, you get a little crazy."

Liam shrugged. "It might be that you won't have to be here much longer. They'll be sending search parties out to find me."

"JARDIES!" shrieked Sanchez's voice. There was the roar of Jaridian war shouts, and firing. An energy beam lanced through the tent. Liam dropped to his stomach next to Al and Martin. He found himself staring into Al's pale blue eyes. "I wonder," Al said sarcastically, "if they'll be here in time..."

TO BE CONTINUED