30

30

When Spencer awoke, he hanging upside down by a rope around his angle, over a very deep pit that would kill him if he fell.  At first when Spencer awoke to this he panicked and shouted for help, but he quickly realized there would be none.  He looked around and realized he didn't know were he was.  He remembered now about the Adican who had taken him, it had felt like a dream to Spencer last night..

"Let me go!"  Spencer shouted.  "What do you want?"

"Well isn't it obvious,"  Spencer heard a voice say and he spun his head around to see the Adican who had kidnapped him yesterday.  "We want you.  That's why we captured you."

"Who are you?"  Spencer asked the Adican.

"My name is Jazo." the Adican said.  "I am a leader of Adican on this planet known as the ax.  We are here to make sure you terrorists don't get any farther."

"Uh, okay,"  Spence said.  "Why kidnap me though?"

"To kill you of course!" Jazo responded excitedly.

"The why tie me up?" Spencer asked.  "Why keep me alive?"

"Well we need to execute you on camera of course!"  Jazo answered happily.

"Why on camera?"  Spencer interrogated.

"So everyone can see it!"  Jazo said to Spencer.  "You killed our planet's president on camera, so we kill the Silver Company's leader.  An eye for an eye sort of thing you know?"  Spencer remained silent as Jazo continued talking.  "Plus it will completely demoralize you armies!"

"It won't matter."  Spencer said.  "The Silver Company would continue to fight the Adican with or without me being alive."

"That's precisely what I thought!"  Jazo shouted.  "But, don't you worry Spencer, I have that all taken care of."

Spencer was slightly confused by what Jazo had just said.  "What do you mean, taken care of?"

"Well I'm sure you need most of your army to win wars." Jazo said.  "Fortunately you left a third of yours on this planet for me to destroy."

"How are you going to destroy an army of that size?"  Spencer asked slyly.

"Well it's quite easy really!"  Jazo replied as he pointed to the door behind him.  "Through that door we have created a passageway that leads to the very center of the planet!  There, the ax has brought a large nuclear bomb.  Once we detonate this bomb, the planet will implode into itself, destroying the planet and your army in the process!"

Spencer was both baffled and horrified by what Jazo had just told him.  "Are you crazy!  Millions of innocent people will die!"

"Not true,"  Jazo said plainly,  "This planet is full of rebellious Corinian.  The Corinian are definitely not innocent."

"You can't do that!"  Spencer shouted.

"Yes I can, Spencer."  Jazo said as he turned his back to Spencer, examining the wall behind him.  "It is for the greater good of the galaxy."

Spencer had to escape he had to stop this nuclear device, or at least warn the planet and The Silver Company that they need to escape before the planet is destroyed.  He looked around for a way out.  Nothing, not even something to grab onto.  Spencer looked at Jazo, and could see a fairly large knife in his pocket. Jazo's back was turned to Spencer and he was rambling on about something.

As quietly as Spencer could, he began to swing his arms forward and backward slowly moving him forwards and backwards.  With each swing Spencer got closer and closer to Jazo. After a few seconds it looked to Spencer it would take one more swing to grab him.

"Am I correct?"  Jazo said as he stopped rambling and turned around.  Spencer swung and grabbed Jazo by surprise.  Jazo struggled to shake Spencer off of him but Spencer held on tight.  With one hand Spencer quickly grabbed the knife at Jazo's waist and in one fluid motion cut the rope holding him upside down.  Spencer collapsed onto his back and after a second quickly pushed himself up and started to charge towards Jazo, who was several yards away, but stopped near Jazo when Jazo pulled out a sidearm Spencer hadn't noticed earlier and pointed it at Spencer's face.

"Stop!"  Jazo said.  "Try anything, and I'll kill you.  Now give me that knife."

Spencer walked forward slowly, "this knife?" he continued to slowly advance towards Jazo with the knife clutched in his right hand..

Before Jazo could answer, Spencer grabbed the gun with his left hand and pushed it away.  The gun went off sending off a laser that burned a small hole in the wall.  Jazo pulled back his other hand ready to punch Spencer with his metal arm, when Spencer quickly thrust forward and stabbed Jazo in the throat.  Jazo began to make choking sounds as he reeled away from Spencer, with the knife still in his throat.  He tried to grab the knife but Spencer could tell he was growing weak.  A few seconds later, Jazo collapsed onto the floor and lay still.

Spencer took a deep breath before moving on.  He grabbed the gun that Jazo had dropped, then walked over to his dead body and pulled the knife out of his throat.  Spencer then walked towards the door Jazo had previously told him could take him to the center of the planet where the nuclear weapon was.  He kept his gun raised, prepared for other Adican in the area, however when Spencer walked out there were no other Adican here.

Spencer looked around the room to see what looked like some kind of cart that lay on a track that seemed to stretch in a straight line indefinitely.

I guess this is how I get to the weapon,  Spencer thought to himself as he opened the kart and climbed inside.  The inside of the cart was bare, save a single green button at the front.  Spencer took a deep breath, and the hit the button.

Spencer was hit with a sudden burst of speed that sent the cart flying forward.  After a few seconds the cart slowed down in a different location which Spencer could only assume was the center of the planet.

Spencer tried to look around the area he had arrived in for anything that looked like a bomb when he heard the sound of Adican footsteps.  He grabbed his knife ready to kill if he had to and crouched still in the cart, ready to spring out of it.

Spencer heard the Adican directly above him mutter something to himself as he opened the kart Spencer was in.

"Well, Hello there,"  Spencer said to the surprised Adican who was reaching for his gun, but Spencer quickly lunged forward and buried his knife into the Adican's chest. The Adican stumbled backwards before collapsing dead on the ground.  Spencer then, with a great deal of effort, pushed the body into the open kart he had climbed out of and shut the top.

Spencer took a deep breath before he continued deeper into the facility.  From where he was he couldn't see much except for a steel flight of stairs leading into what looked like a cave. Seeing no other option, Spencer advanced up the stairs, with the gun he had gotten from Jazo's body raised, ready for any soldiers who could be inside.

After a short walk through the cave Spencer came to a room where he saw an Adican sitting at a computer, and out the window in front of him, a bit in the distance, he could see a large flashing item that Spencer assumed was the bomb.

The Adican must have heard Spencer enter the room because he quickly stood up and spun around, facing Spencer.

"Don't take another step!"  The Adican said to Spencer causing him to stop although he still pointed his gun at the Adican.  "Move and I'll start the detonation sequence on the bomb."

"You're bluffing,"  Spencer said.  "You'd die."

"Try me," the Adican replied to Spencer.

"I could kill you right now,"  Spencer said.  "How would you detonate the bomb then?"

The Adican took a deep breath before he replied.  "I'm not.  The detonation has already started.  I'm just stalling you now."

"Well shut it down then!" Spencer said to the Adican.

"I can't, even if I wanted to." the Adican said to Spencer.

Spencer thought for a second and remembered that Jazo told him they were going to escape the planet on a ship before the detonation.

"I know you're going to escape on a ship."  Spencer said to the Adican.  "Where is it?"

"I don't know,"  The Adican said.

Spencer shot his gun just left of the Adican frying the wall behind him.  "Where is it?"

"I-It's down that hallway," the Adican stuttered.

"Can you put the bomb into the ship's bay?"

"No, I can't,"  The Adican said.  "It's the truth."

"The how can I disarm or move the bomb?"  Spencer asked.

"You can't disarm the bomb while it's outside the ship."  The Adican told Spencer.  "If you're able to get it into the ship, Adican systems automatically disarm explosives entering in order to keep everything safe."

"How do I move the bomb?"  Spencer asked.

"If you follow the hallway towards the ship,"  The Adican began.  "You'll find a door to your left that leads towards the bomb and from there you can find a platform with a console and move the bomb."

"Thanks,"  Spencer said as he walked towards the Adican and slammed the Adican's head against the computer knocking him out.

Spencer continued down the hallway, encountering no resistance until he found a console that was already powered up.  He found controls to move the bomb and saw the ship on the far side of the area.  Using the arrows on the console, Spencer piloted the bomb, which was on a platform with wheels, towards the ship but stopped just short of the ship.  The bay doors were closed on the ship stopping the bomb from entering.  Spencer would need to get to the ship and open the doors manually.

Spencer ran back to the hallway that would take him to the ship where he would load the bomb.  As he ran through the hallway he ran head first into an Adican running the opposite direction.  Spencer was knocked flat on his back and looked up at the Adican who also appeared a little dazed.  The Adican quickly noticed Spencer and pulled out his gun and aimed it at Spencer.  Spencer anticipated the Adican's shot and rolled out of the way, just in time to see sparks fly just where he was a moment ago.  Spencer stood up and pulled out his gun.  He was about to fire when the Adican grabbed Spencer's wrist and turned the gun to the side causing Spencer's shot to fly into the ceiling next to them.  They struggled for a little before Spencer's gun flew out of both their hands out of reach of both Spencer and the Adican.  The Adica then turned his gun towards Spencer but Spencer quickly pulled out his knife and stabbed the Adican's wrist causing him to drop his gun.  Spencer reached down for it but the Adican kicked it far out of reach.  Spencer took several steps back and looked around him before he noticed the Adican also backing up towards one of the guns.  Spencer charged the Adican with his knife and the Adican decided to charge towards Spencer as well.  It looked to Spencer like he was going to collide with the Adican, but just before they collided Spencer slid under the Adican with his knife raised above his head.  As Spencer slid through the Adican's six metal legs, his knife pierced the Adican's flesh and sliced it open.  As Spencer stood up on the other side, the Adican tried to turn around, but as it turned it began to sway and then fell over dead.  Spencer took a deep breath, grabbed one of the guns, and continued down the hallway.

Spencer reached the ship, and after a quick look, found no hostile Adican in the area.  He approached the ships bay where the bomb was just outside.  Spencer knew he had to act quickly, the detonation had already begun and who knew how long he had before the bomb exploding, taking him, the silver company, and this planet down with it.  He studied the large black swing-open doors that opened into the bay of the Adican ship.  Spencer was trying to figure out how to open the doors when he noticed a terminal several feet away from him.

Spencer walked over to the terminal and turned on the screen.  Conveniently for Spencer, a list of possible commands came up, one of them being 'ship #4325 main functions.'  Spencer clicked on the command and a list of the ship's functions came up.  Spencer selected 'open bay doors' and the black doors on the ship pushed themselves open.

Spencer walked back towards the ship and the bomb and ,with effort, pushed the bomb into the bay of the ship.  Inside the bay it was fairly dim, but Spencer could see several other boxes and a bulky suit that looked like nothing he had seen before.  It was made of metal and covered the entire body including the head and face.  On the chest and legs where what looked like small thrusters.  Before Spencer could speculate any further, voices arose behind him.

"Get the ship ready for takeoff," one of the voices said.

"Aye, sir, we'll be departing shortly," a second voice said.

Spencer quickly scuttled behind the nuclear bomb he had just loaded into the ship and peered over the top, looking for the source of the voices.  Soon two Adican soldiers came into view.

"Who left this open?" the first Adican asked.  "Get it closed damn it!"

"Yes sir," the second Adican said.  "Anything else you need sir?"

"That's all for now, corporal." the first Adican replied.  "Soon this planet will be destroyed and we'll be with our allies on the other planets those buffoons have captured.  The nukes are loaded for the other planets, yes?"

The bay doors began to close and the last thing Spencer heard was the corporal saying "yes sir," before he was plunged into silence in the bay of the ship.

Spencer was worried about what he had heard, he knew this ship contained more nukes to be taken to the other planets The Silver Company had captured, to Grace.  He knew he would have to find a way to destroy this ship and the nukes inside of it.  If he didn't the axe would keep trying to destroy them in the insane way they were know.  

Spencer's thoughts were halted for a second as he heard the ship's engines rumble to life.  He barely managed to keep his balance as the ship began to rise.  Spencer searched the nuke he had loaded and found a button that would resume the detonation sequence.  He checked the sequences timer and found he would have very little time to escape when he started the detonation.

Spencer looked out the small window the bay had.  He needed to be far enough away from the ground as not to damage the planet and anyone on it, but close enough to the ground to get back to the planet.

Spencer watched the ground fall away from him for a minute before he decided they were far enough away.  He hit the button to resume the countdown when he realized he didn't know how he was going to get out of the ship.  Frantically Spencer looked around for something until he laid his eyes on the suit he had seen earlier.  The thrusters on the chest could hopefully bring him to the planet safely, and he didn't really have any other options.  Spencer struggled into the suit and once it was sealed messages flashed on the glass in front of his eyes reading: Systems Online, Pressure at 100%, prepared for drop.

Spencer ignored the messages and ran to the bay doors and tried to open them, locked.  Spencer was seriously panicking now.  He had little time left and needed to escape.  He took a step back and used his last resort strategy.  He was encased in metal and began punching and kicking one of the doors as if it were a sandbag in a gym.  Slowly Dents appeared in the door and then, a piece broke off!  Quickly after, the pressure drop inside the bay caused the door to come clean off.  Relieved and out of time, Spencer didn't even have time to think before he jumped out of the ship.