Path of the Hunters [PART 3]

Without hesitation, the five of them jumped onto the ship. Sol and Nova quickly got the two girls strapped in. "Get us outta here!" Cross commanded, his blasters firing wildly out the rear hatch they entered through.

"With pleasure!" Called back the pilot as the hatch shut and the ship cloaked and took off vertically, slamming everyone to the floor that wasn't strapped in. "This pelican four-zero-nine reporting all clear. Squad leader, you are clear for rescue op. Get our boys out of there!"

"Roger that four-zero-nine. Commencing rescue op."

The pelican leveled out and flew off towards their original destination before the kidnapping.

"One here, nice working with you Cross, see you on the beach!" Chuckled the ODST.

Cross got to his feet, smiled. "You guys did real good, back there. I'll put in a good word with Damien, for you guys."

Nova sighed. "Damn. Glad that's over with."

"They had a lot of brass, messing with our girls," Sol said, scratching his back. That's when he noticed something protruding from it. With a sharp grunt, he pulled it out. His eyes widened at the sight of a bloody knife in his hand. Then, his vision blurred, and he fell in a heap on the floor.

"Sol!" Cross rushed over to his best friend, jaw gaped at the knife and the blood stain on his back. "...Medic! Somebody get a medic over here! First Aid, something!"

The pilot called back, "The only medic is one of the ODSTs, but there's a first-aid kit on the rack above you!"

Cross quickly snatched the kit from its perch, and got right to work on Sol. "Dammit, Sol. Not after we've come this far... Don't you dare die on me! The team still needs you; your family still needs you; I still need you!"

"Cross, realx!" Nova said firmly. "Gettin' all melodramatic ain't gonna make it better."

...Nova's right," Sol said, coughing up blood. "Besides, we've been in tougher scrapes than this..."

The co-pilot got out of his seat and moved back to them. Kneeling down beside Cross and looking over to him, "How bad is it?"

He shook his head. "It missed his spine. But it looks like it punctured his lung, but only barely. Besides that, the only problem is the bleeding. I wrapped this thing five times over, and it's still flowing."

"I'll be fine," Sol said raggedly. "I can make it..."

The co-pilot nodded and grabbed the can of biofoam in the medkit. "A little bit of advice, this is gonna hurt like bitch." He jabbed the nozzle into the wound and pulled the lever, sending the biofoam in to seal it. "That'll stop the bleeding and keep him alive for a few hours..."

Sol's eyes widened, teeth gritted as he fought against crying out in pain, instead groaning. It felt as though he was being stabbed with thousands of tiny knives, as if being stabbed by one big one wasn't enough.

Unable to take any more, Yue jumped out of her seat, nuzzled her father. "Are you gonna be okay, Papa?"

Sol managed to force his grimace into a smile. "Don't worry, kiddo," he said amidst his groaning. "...Nothin' your old man can't handle..."

Still concerned, she started to nibble softly at his ear. Sol managed a chuckle, and stroked his daughter's soft red hair.

"You're doing better than most due on the first experience with this stuff." Chuckled the co-pilot. "Just be careful, that stuff is temporary at best, and movement is not recomended unless necessary. At least, that's what all the medics say."

"...Fair enough." He groaned loudly. "This pain gonna numb off, soon?... Or these thousand-odd tiny knives gonna be in my back the whole way?"

"The numbing agent will kick in shortly." He replied as he stood up and walked back to the cockpit. "At least I warned you before hand."

"Yeah... Much appreciated..." Slowly, but surely, the intense pain ebbed away, and his groaning lessened until it was gone, replaced by a sigh of relief.

Yue stopped her nibbling, looked her father in the eyes. "Okay, now, Papa?"

He smiled at her. "Yeah. Papa's okay, now. Can't move much, but I'm okay."

The girl smiled her relief, and sat in front of him. "Then I'm okay, too."

He chuckled, stroking her hair. "Good to hear."

Katherine piped up, "I've set up a meeting point. A couple of medics are standing by at another location to be picked up. They'll make sure to keep you going for this rather lengthy trip. Biofoam only lasts a couple of hours before breaks down." She sighed, "I'll contact Aurélie and Mani and fill them in on this." With that, she flickered out.

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Back at the island base, Katherine flickered into view in front of Aurélie and Mani, "Ok, mission successful. Though Sol took a knife in the back. Biofoam has been applied to seal the wound, and I've arranged for a couple of medics to meet up with them to keep him alive for the rest of the trip. They should be here in around four hours."

Crescent sighed. "I just want this day to end, already. It 'as been a little too much excitement for me."

"Damn straight," Nova agreed. "Right now, I just wanna curl up with my wife and kids, and get some quality shut-eye."

Cross smiled at the wolf. "You've really changed, huh Nova?"

Nova grinned back. "Get a family, and join the club, Cross. I'm sure that hedgecat of yours'll be happy to oblige."

"Yeah--W-who asked you?!" he snapped, red at the cheeks.

*

"And the girls," Mani asked quickly. "Is Elesis okay? Is my little Yue safe and sound?"

Aurélie looked up from her feeding daughter, frowning. "Oui, is everyone else is all right?"

"They're fine, except for Sol taking that dagger, though Elesis appears to be either a heavy sleeper or those sedatives they used on her were really powerful."

"'Ow badly was Sol 'urt?"

"It missed the spine, and made a rather small hole in his lung, it's more-or-less a lot of blood, but no real emergency. As I said, I have a pair of medics that'll be joining them shortly to keep an eye on him and check out Elisis." She blinked and started to laugh, "Wow...smooth Cross."

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Both pilots laughed at Cross's embarrasment.

"Smooth, man!" Laughed the co-pilot.

Aurélie lifted a brow, shifting Aurora back and adjusting her dress smoothly. "What 'appened?"

Mani managed a giggle. "Did Nova make a crack at Cross' romantic life?"

*

"Hey! Don't make me come over there!"

Nova laughed. "You can't hurt the pilots! They're flyin' the ship, man!"

"But I can hurt you!" Cross lunged at the wolf.

"You can try!" The two went into a tumbling tussle on the floor.

Sol laughed softly. "I swear, those two never let up, like a pair of brothers."

Yue giggled. "They're funny!" she said with a bright smile.

"Indeed. I even recorded it, sorry, sound only, though. Haven't gotten around to putting cameras in the troop bay..."

<//:START SOUND FILE//>

Cross smiled at the wolf. "You've really changed, huh Nova?"

Nova grinned back. "Get a family, and join the club, Cross. I'm sure that hedgecat of yours'll be happy to oblige."

"Yeah--W-who asked you?!" he snapped, red at the cheeks.

<//:END SOUND FILE//>

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Both pilots laughed.

"Hey man, Katherine just informed me that she shared a recording of your embarrasment with Mani and Aurelie."

Her lips twitched. "Tell Nova if 'e returns bruised by Cross after making it through a base of Baudoins and Laroche's, 'e'll 'ave fun sleeping on the floor for the next few days."

"What!" Cross snapped, glared daggers at Nova. "Now, I'm really gonna beat you senseless!"

"Wait," Nova said. "Aurélie heard that? Uh, oh! Now I really can't show up all banged up, much less from you, Cross!"

"We'll see about that!"

"Try me!" They went back to their tumbling and rumbling.

"Will do, dear!" Katherine said with a laugh. "Playing audio file through speakers in cabin."

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<//:START SOUND FILE//>


"Tell Nova if 'e returns bruised by Cross after making it through a base of Baudoins and Laroche's, 'e'll 'ave fun sleeping on the floor for the next few days."

<//:END SOUND FILE//>

Both pilots fought desperatly to not fall over laughing and send the ship plumeting to the ground. Though much banging of their seats happened.