Ace Rimmer spread the blueprint out across the table.
"Just as I thought." He pointed to a ring of steel girders right in the centre of the ship. "It's been a while since I was on my vessel, but this is identical! Nine explosives. If my quick mental calculations are correct, that would require just under one tonne of explosives to completely sheer the ship into two." He grabbed a marker and started drawing circles around joints in the girders. "Here, here, here and here." He looked up at Torsky. "Ready for some fun, Shrub? It's gonna be tight, but I think we can do it!"
Zerstoren - Part 3
Added : 22nd April 2009
"That's it men! Make sure you take them all out! I don't want any surprises waiting for us!" Zvelter was loving the carnage and destruction. There was a loud boom from inside the flight deck. "We must have hit a fuel tank! Keep it up!"
Jayne thumbed the starter of her fighter jet and the engines ignited with an ear splitting boom. She engaged the loudspeaker.
"Everyone down!" She yelled as her fighter lurched into the air and spun to face the doors of the hangar.
The terrorists heard the voice over the loudspeaker and stopped, turning to look at each other questioningly.
"What was that?!" One asked, looking around the door of the flight deck. His eyes went wide with terror as a huge laser blast passed through his head, showering the others with his blood and brains.
Three more blasts tore through even more of the small, growing smaller, group of German terrorists.
"Take that you Nazis!" Jayne shouted with joy as she blasted away at the doors. She knew she was tearing holes in the interior walls of the ship, but she didn't care.
"Nazis?! Nazi is so last century!" Zvelter pulled out a hand full of frag grenades and ripped the pins out of them all. "We'll see what your precious ship makes of being torn apart by shrapnel." Between laser blasts he dived past the doorway, looking right into Jayne's eyes as he threw the handful of grenades at the cockpit. A blue flash tore through his legs and left him disabled on the floor, bleeding heavily.
"Jayne!" Phil called too late. The grenades exploded sending shrapnel flying in all directions. The screams from his crew told him there was more than one casualty. The sound of a fighter crashing into something followed by an explosion also told him that there was going to be a funeral for Jayne when all this was over.
Ace Rimmer spread the blueprint out across the table.
"Just as I thought." He pointed to a ring of steel girders right in the centre of the ship. "It's been a while since I was on my vessel, but this is identical! Nine explosives. If my quick mental calculations are correct, that would require just under one tonne of explosives to completely sheer the ship into two." He grabbed a marker and started drawing circles around joints in the girders. "Here, here, here and here." He looked up at Torsky. "Ready for some fun, Shrub? It's gonna be tight, but I think we can do it!"
Torsky grinned, ready for some proper action. His grin subsided when Ace grabbed his stomach in agony, doubling over with a quick groan. He held out his hand as Torsky went to help him upright again.
"No!" He stood up straight again and undid the bandage. Jay gagged as he saw the mess under Rimmers shirt. There were many people fainting as he stuck his fingers into his own bullet wound and pulled out a large, cylindrical round from his belly. "Want a souvenir?" He asked Torsky as he fainted himself and landed flat on his back.
Someone had re-done the dressings on his wound with proper bandages when he opened his eyes. He could also tell from the lack of pain that someone had given him some strong sedatives.
"Sorry about that people, now where were we?!" He jumped up from the floor where he had collapsed and checked his watch. "Just nine hours left. Where's Shrub?"
"He set off half an hour ago, said there was no way we can reach those bombs in time." Jay sat down in his chair. "Didn't stop him trying though."
"What a fella! I admire gusto!" Ace grinned and flashed the Captain a wink before he set off himself. Reaching the door he stopped. "Make sure he does well, Captain. The guys a true hero!" With that he left
"Good luck, Ace!" Jay called after him. "Ace Rimmer. What a guy!"
Phil ran toward the flaming wreckage of Jayne's Space Eagle. Micky was already there, working at removing the debris with his robotic arm. Efof was there too, as was Chris Harris. Phil felt a strong wave of pride sweep over him as he watched his, er, Jays, crew doing their best to save another crew member. Even though he could see most of them were badly injured themselves. Lt. Cliggs and Reggie Shayne had been nearest to Jayne's ship. This meant that they took the full force of the frag grenades and had been killed instantly.
There was nothing left of the terrorists either, or at least none had the ability to fire a gun, as there were no more shots after Phil saw that guy throwing the grenades get blasted in half.
"I can see her!" Called Chris, trying to pull a twisted piece of hull away.
"Where?!" Shouted Micky as he dived over to where Chris was pulling at the metal plate. He got hold with his robotic arm and pulled.
There was a sound of twisting and snapping metal.
"About time! You can't let a man do anything around here without taking forever to get it done!" Micky pushed the steel plate back closed to shut Jayne's voice back in with her. He straightened up and dusted himself down and smiled at the others.
"She's fine."
Katrina and Mk10 cautiously approached the flight deck doors, bazookoids ready for anything. One lone terrorist jumped through the doorway with a high pitched scream shooting frantically at Mk10. He landed and kept shooting, bullets ricocheting off his body. When the clip in his pistol had run out, he kept pulling the trigger with a 'click click click'.
"Metal body, moron." Mk10 informed the terrorist before blowing him to pieces with his bazookoid.
"Anyone else out there?" Katrina asked with her back pressed against the wall, waiting to move out.
"I don't think so."
She spun round and dashed through quickly looking about, ready to blast anyone left standing. It was a mess here. All body parts and gaping holes in the walls where Jayne had gone mad with her Space Eagles weapons. There was only one person left alive, legs missing, trying to pull himself closer to the pistol he dropped earlier. Katrina kicked it away and pressed the barrel of her bazookoid into the back of his neck.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't pull the trigger."
Torskys intercom came to life as Ace Rimmers voice blared out.
"Shrub! The Captain told me you'd gone on ahead. I admire that. Just be careful when you're diffusing the bombs, they could explode."
"Ace! Good to hear your voice!" He didn't slow down, running for the location of the first bomb. "I'm guessing you're heading out for the second explosive?"
"That I am!" There was a pause. "You're a good man, Torsky. People will be hearing about you for years to come!"
Torsky smiled to himself as he came to the first location. He looked around as a wave of panic came over him.
"It's not here!"
"Can you see the joint in the supporting girders?" Ace asked quickly.
"Yeah, it's not there!"
"Don't panic, Shrub!" Ace reassured him. "You'll find it. You just need to use your instincts."
Torsky stood and blinked for a few seconds, thinking.
"Stop thinking about it, Torsky! You know where it is!"
Torsky knelt down and lifted the floor panel to reveal another joint. There, attached with gaffa tape was the bomb.
"They're under the floor panels!" He called down his intercom. "But how on earth do I disarm it?!"
"I don't know until I see one for myself. I should be at the next bomb site in about four minutes."
"To hell with it!" Torsky pulled the wire nearest to him and the small timer switched itself off. "I did it!"
"Well done! Using your instincts?!" Ace sounded pleased with him.
"No, I just guessed!"
Katrina and Mk10 slumped the bleeding and dying terrorist leader into the chair in an interview room opposite the main security office.
"Why us, Zvelter?" Katrina asked him. He just laughed, coughing through it with the pain. He was turning a grey colour and Katrina knew he wasn't going to last long.
"Katrina! Zodar!" The intercom poured out Jays voice. "I need you to head to the life support systems and get them back online. We're going to need them working again!"
"I'll be back to deal with you later." Katrina told Zvelter, knowing full well he would have bled to death by the time she got back.
Jayne scrambled out of the wreckage and immediately ran over to where Micky sat on a crate. She slapped him so hard he fell off the container, landing hard on the floor.
"Woah!" He shouted as he clambered to his feet. "I was only having a laugh!"
"You left me in a wreckage!" She slapped him again, twice. "I could have done the same to you before!"
"Okay! I'm sorry!" Micky couldn't help giggling at her angry face.
He knew this was a mistake when she punched him on the nose.
"Jayne!" Phil called and restrained her. "Come on! Let's get you looked at. We need to get everyone up to the Medi-Bay. We have a lot of casualties." He took out his comms unit. "Vanessa, we need you, Keto and any other medical staff you can get your hands on in the Medi-Bay. We've got bleeders."
When Jayne had calmed down, she realised Micky was bleeding badly. Not just the nose she most likely broke, but from his leg. A lump of shrapnel stuck out of his thigh just above his knee.
"That looks painful." She said, concerned.
"What does?" He followed her gaze down to his wound. "Oh, yeah. Look at that!" He pulled out the lump of metal and inspected it closely.
"Does it not hurt?" Jayne asked, confused how the man who cried like a baby when he got a splinter could do that without so much as a wince. Then she realised. "You're drunk aren't you?!"
"Ummm..." Micky knew there was going to be another fight, so he held his hands over his face so she couldn't finish off his swollen, bloody nose.
The intercom around Ace's ear came to life.
"That's it, I've got the last of them!" It was Micky, he had just got his third bomb. The last of the nine. Ace Rimmer had, obviously, found and disarmed the other six in the meantime.
"Well done Shrub!" Ace sounded calm and collected. "Get back up to the drive room as quick as you can. I'm here with the captain now."
"On my way." The intercom went silent. Jay was first to speak.
"Thank you so much Ace. I don't know what we would have done without you."
"No need to thank me, Captain. You would have done the same." Ace was holding the wound on his stomach tightly so as to try and reduce the bleeding. "But I should get going, there's someone I need to find."
"Please, Ace, let us help you. You need to see our doctor." Ace shook his head.
"No, really. This is something I need to do. I've seen a lot of things Captain. Great things. It's time for someone else to have the adventures now." Jay was baffled by this. Ace held out his hand and he shook it all the same. "It's time for me to leave. Take care Captain Chrysler." Ace chomped down on his cigar and flicked his hair out of his face then turned for the door. On his way out he spun round to face Jay. "Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!"
Jay looked on in admiration as Ace Rimmer walked off down the corridor to the elevators.
"Ace Rimmer! What a guy!"
When the elevator doors opened, Ace saw carnage. Body parts, bits of ship and shrapnel were skattered around the place. He had obviously missed a big battle. Regretting not being here to help win the fight, he stepped his way through the piles of twisted metal and German terrorists and headed for his ship, the Wildfire. He knew he didn't have long to find his next replacement and it wasn't going to be easy.
Torsky ran into the hangar as the Wildfire rose from the floor.
"Ace!" He called as he came to a halt a safe distance away as the engines screamed into life. "Wait!"
The Wildfire accelerated out of the inner door and Torsky watched as it closed behind him.
"What am I meant to do now? I can't go back to my old life." Torsky stared at the inner doors as though waiting for an answer, not knowing that his intercom was still connected to the one left in the drive room by Ace Rimmer. Jay was listening silently.
Katrina Salter and Chris Zodar were at the site of the first bomb, doing their best to get the life support systems up to full power again. It wasn't too difficult as the damage done wasn't as bad as first expected. All it took was an empty fairy liquid bottle, old cereal packet and some sticky back plastic.
The small group that had been on the flight deck when the battle was fought were now recovering in the Medi-Bay. Vanessa, Keto and the Pink tree were treating people with a professionalism you wouldn't normally expect from the crew of Blue Dwarf. Phil had his arm in a sling, but wasn't very badly hurt. Mk10 stood to one side watching as the humans and pink tree helped each other heal their wounds. Efof needed a piece of shrapnel removing that was lodged nicely into his brain, though, thankfully, there was no real difference made to his intelligence or personality. Jayne only had minor bumps to her head from the crash of her Space Eagle. Mickys leg was already stitched up and in bandage, with an ice pack on his face where Jayne had punched him not once or twice, but three times. A nice pair of black eyes were forming around his obviously broken nose.
Jayne walked over to him and silently lifted the ice pack from his face. He went to speak but she didn't give him chance. Jayne leaned over him and kissed him firmly on the lips. Micky was shocked. He had dreamed of this for a long time but never thought it would actually happen. He didn't want it to end when she straightened up again and pointed at him smiling.
"This doesn't mean that I like you, you know!"
James Torsky walked onto the flight deck. He wasn't expecting the standing ovation he got. He certainly didn't feel like a hero.
Jay came over to him with a huge grin on his face and shook his hand fiercely.
"Shrub, right?!" He had a beaming grin on his face, obviously pleased that his ship was safe. "I remember now! You were curled up outside Parrott's under that horrible fake bush!" Jay laughed at the thought. "Thank you, Torsky! Ace Rimmer couldn't have done all that on his own."
"But... I hardly did anything." Torsky replied, believing himself. "It was his plan, he is the hero here."
"Do you expect the JMC to believe me when I file a report telling them that a dimension jumping time-traveller came on board and saved the ship with a gunshot wound to his stomach?! Anyway, you were the one that set out first to the bomb sites. It was you that disarmed the first bomb." Jay was still grinning. "Torsky, It's thanks to you that this ship is now safe again. It's thanks to you that the thousands of people on board are still alive! I want to offer you the position of security liaison officer. I want you to be in charge of the people in charge of security. It's a job I just created for someone who is man enough to accept it. Are you in?"
Upon entering his new officers quarters, Torsky threw down his only bag wondering how he was going to fill all the space. The job he had been given was very behind the scenes, but more important than anything he had ever done before.
He stood in the middle of the room and looked at himself in the mirror in his new uniform, a warm sense of achievement washed over him, causing a small smug smile to form on his lips. Holly appeared on the monitor.
"I've got a message for you, sir. It's private, for your eyes only."
"Okay." Torsky replied.
When Ace Rimmer's face appeared on the screen Torskys knees went weak.
"Shrub! I'll never forget what you did today. You should be proud of yourself, you went above and beyond to save the lives of your friends and fellow crew. You know, I used to be a snivelling worm before I took on my role. If I can become someone, you're definitely gonna fly sonny Jim! Good luck S.L.Officer Torsky! Smoke me kipper, I'll be back for Breakfast!" The screen went blank and Torsky stared at it for a couple of minutes more. There was nothing more he could say...
"Ace Rimmer. What a guy!"
The End
**All crew members and actions that took place in the story were correct at the time of writing. The writer has complete right to tell anyone who begs to differ to smeg off. Anyway, it's just a standalone story for any newcomers to the group. Plus, this is the Red Dwarf universe, I don't need to explain anything!**