Pan Away

Darkness Falls

PETERS' WRECK
Western Moriah

Emeks joined Jet and Young at the wreck. Hopkins had told him a lot and he wished that he could rip Khorlev to shards with his bare hands.

"We have to get the hell out of here," said Braun, pulling in front of Emeks.

"This fucking planet is a big load of shit," Jet growled.

"Captain Emeks!" Young cried sharply. "You have to see this!"

Emeks noted the horror in her voice. Perhaps she spotted some Xepods; Hopkins' lab wasn't far away. Jet followed as Emeks and Braun approached the rocks near the shipwreck were Young was standing.

In the rocks where Young
pointed was a gruesome sight. There were three bodies sprawled hideously on the rocks. All three were Berg Moriah's councilors. Emeks looked closely hoping to be wrong, but there was no doubt about it. His brother Vohfaren Braun Haut lay among them. Dead.

Across the rocks, Emeks counted four more corpses of the other councilors. You didn't need a soothsayer to tell you what had happened. It wasn't done by Xepods because from the sprawled posture and the gruesome sights of protruding limbs, it was obvious they had been thrown from the top of the cliff.

Young threw up while Jet and Braun crowded in. The reverent silence was split by loud voices from above.

Tod der Auslander

The crew looked up and saw a number of Panese rebels on the cliffs above them. The moment the cry ceased, the rebels above them tossed their explosives. The crew took cover behind the rocks as the explosives detonated. Emeks was comforted that none of his crew were hurt.

Soon the Panese set up their makeshift cannon. Firing from the edge of the cliff and shooting, the Panese rebels were able to pin Emeks and his small crew down. They had to stay behind the rocks if they had a fat chance of leaving the planet whole.

"Fuck, Captain," Jet said. "If we attempt to get to the fucking truck, those fucking pans will blow us to bits."

"One of us will have to get to the rocks behind those emplacements and kick their asses," Emeks replied.

"I'll go." Braun volunteered

Emeks glanced around him. Braun picked up his rocket launcher and crawled towards the wreck away from the rebels' aim. He kept going until he reached near the wreck and then took cover at its edge. So far the pans didn't notice him and kept pounding at the rocks.

Emeks glanced again at his brother's lifeless body crumpled ten feet away from him. Vohfaren had landed beside his council members with his body covering theirs as if to shield his descendants from any more harm, even in death. Emeks thought he had lost his brother twenty years ago but now his brother was really gone, killed by his own offspring.

Emeks crawled to the other direction to provide Braun cover fire. The Pans turned their intensifying fire at him almost immediately. This gave Braun a good opportunity to fire his rocket. Emeks poked his head up as the missiles hit the rebel position. He heard the shrieks of the rebels as their explosives lit up like fireworks sending them directly to hell.

The crew didn't have time to celebrate as more Panese rebels approached. Emeks stumbled from the cover of the rocks and headed towards Jet and Young who was still crouching behind some rocks. There he saw Jet groaning and holding his knee with Young beside him.

"How do you feel?" Young was asking as she tried to form a tourniquet. Emeks could see the hole a panese shrapnel had torn in Jet's thigh. Jet's face was drawn with perspiration dripping from his dark forehead.