[font=Lucida Sans Unicode]Thanks to the information derived from close questioning of the two Hessian guards, Rage knew exactly where Blutauge was. He left the two Hessians trussed up in the generator room and moved his men out in the direction of his quarry. That was three levels down and to the north. He plotted a round-about approach that he felt would be less traveled.
Everything went well and they avoided any more enemy contact until they got to within sight of the strategy room where his nemesis was holed up. It was occupied by quite a crew by the sounds of it. Rage signaled for stun grenades to be deployed and the raiders followed them into the chamber, dispatching anyone that was left standing with a hail of plasma fire.
Rage singled out his adversary writhing in agony on the deck, apparently incapacitated by a grenade. He moved over to him, put a boot on his neck and smiled. “You don't know me, but I guarantee I know you pal. Too bad I'm under orders to bring you back alive.”
Just then reinforcements began to arrive! Rage looked up to assess the situation and caught a vicious boot in the groin from the man on the ground. He buckled up and fell over on his face. The next boot landed square in his face, knocking off his helmet and breaking his nose with a sullen pop. Blood oozed down into his eyes. Several more kicks to the kidneys and gut area turned him into a solid mass of pain, gasping for air. Blutauge gave him one last parting kick and moved off to marshal his forces.
Rage's mind grappled with his condition, trying to focus, make his body respond. He had a vague, befuddled notion that things were going badly for his men but he couldn't bring himself out of it enough to verify anything. Breathing seemed to take up all the energy he had. He thought he probably had several broken ribs, possibly a punctured lung... The screams of battle and the blasts of deadly arms shook the air around him and still he lay there, combat ineffective.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder pulling him across the deck, then it fell away with a cry and the weight of a body slumped across his. He heard the distinct commanding voice of the sergeant several times, which gave him hope but there was no way of knowing who was winning. Then the sounds of combat finally died.
The engagement lasted mere moments that felt like an eternity...