The Sanna Menace. An earlier version.Chapter One

Gale force winds swept the barren terrain.Dark clouds unleashed a torrential downpour.It wasn't a nice place to be.

This thought was especially dominating the fleeing figure of a man,desperately scrambling his way through this rocky landscape.The man was known as Reynolds,a dark skinned man,who was lucky enough to be armed,but certainly unlucky to being chased at this very moment.

Reynolds had to look back periodically,checking on his pursuers.He could see they weren't that far behind him,and if they caught him,it was definitely curtains for him.

He looked back again,and was more than dismayed to see the distance decreasing between them.His pursuers were heavily armed men,and every one of them,was determined to catch him.

Reynolds made damn sure he stayed out of their weapons range.He knew where he was heading,and felt reasonably confident he could get there.

Several bursts on the ground close to him,really knocked his confidence,as Reynolds heard his pursuers open fire on him.He wasn't hit,but Reynolds knew he had to double his efforts to reach safety.

'Give yourself up,Reynolds!'A man's voice shouted from behind him.'You can't escape!'

Reynolds didn't reply.He needed all his breath to stay ahead.

More weapons fire tore into the ground close to him,but finally,Reynolds reached his objective.It was a large cave opening,and he hurried inside.

Quickly,Reynolds raced deeper into it.He still wasn't safe,until he reached the metal covering.

When he reached it,Reynolds took out a small control device,and activated it.This made the covering open up for him.A long steel ladder,led downwards from the top.

Immediately,Reynolds carefully entered,and began to climb down it.He made sure he closed the hatch covering,and it was then,that he heard his pursuers running feet.

Well aware they'd hear him on the ladder,Reynolds stayed where he was,and tensely listened.

++

Reynolds pursuers came charging into the cave,where they'd seen their target enter.Nasty smiles were all on their faces,as they knew they had Reynolds trapped.

However,after a quick search,their smiles disappeared.Not one of them could find Reynolds.

As they continued to search,a woman entered the cave and joined them.Like them,she too,was armed,and her eyes were cold.

She walked up to one of the men,and demanded brusquely.'This is where he came in?'

'Yes,Major Harris.'This particular man's reply was nervous.He knew Harris didn't like bad news.This could have fatal consequences,as it had been done so before.

'So,where is he?'

'Uncertain,Major.We're looking now.'

'I can see that,you fool.'Harris' voice turned nasty,which made everybody more nervous.''Keep doing so.I want this bastard alive.'

Somewhat relieved,her people did so.Harris waited impatiently.She looked more closely at the cave's interior,and could see it was a fairly large one.

After a negative search,the infra-red scanners were bought in,and put to use immediately.Every one of the men used the scanners carefully,but again,there was no positive result.

Harris however,knew Reynolds was here,and wasn't going to give up so easy.She just ordered another sweep,when suddenly,a familiar,but much despised man's voice spoke into her headset.

'Harris,this is O'Rourke.Do you have him yet?'

Harris just fought down the urge,to tell him where to go.However,she responded back to him,albeit through clenched teeth.

'Harris here.Nothing yet.Still searching.'

'Don't bother.'His own response totally surprised Harris,and everybody else.'Pull out.'

'What the hell are you talking about,O'Rourke?'Harris was somewhat stunned,hearing what he just told her.

'The Sanna are here.'This time,O'Rourke's voice wasn't friendly to hear.'We've been ordered to pull out.Immediately.'

'Damn it,O'Rourke.'Harris protested angrily.'Reynolds is here.We can get him.'

'I hear you,Harris,but the order is to pull out.Now.'

O'Rourke cut off his end of the transmission,and enraged,Harris ordered everybody out of the cave.With some relief visible on their faces,her men did so.

'You got lucky today,Reynolds.'Harris shouted into the cave's interior.'But I promise you,you're luck's not going to last.You're already dead meat.'

If Harris had hoped for a defiant response,she was disappointed.However,she gave one last glare around the cave,before angrily storming out.

++

Still motionless on the steel ladder,Reynolds kept his ears open.He heard Harris' voice very clearly,but he was glad to hear his pursuers leave.This made him lean his face against the steel rungs in utter relief,before he started a slow,and weary descent into the gloom.

When Reynolds finally reached the bottom of the ladder,he could now see light,but he knew precisely where he was.He'd found this place by sheer chance,hunting around for somewhere to hide from the likes of Harris and O'Rourke,and of course,the Sanna.

It was some kind of military underground base.Reynolds was very pleased,to find it was still powered up.Here,he could shelter from the elements,and much to his delight,he found edible food and water.

As well as finding that,Reynolds had also found a fully equipped armoury.There were many weapons here,and although he could tell,that they hadn't been used for quite some time,Reynolds personally checked every one of them,and had made them for use once more.

Reynolds was exhausted from that chase.He remembered Harris' warning,and wondered if his luck would finally run out.He'd ambushed one of her supply columns,blowing up a lorry,laden with ordnance.The results had been spectacular,as the lorry blew into a fierce fireball,killing several of Harris' men.The explosion had also allowed him time to make his escape,but they were racing after him in no time.Reynolds was glad to get back here.

There was also something special about this place too.Reynolds knew there was some kind of high tech defence here.He recalled Harris ordering the use of the infra-red scanners in the cave,and normally,they would have picked up his hiding image.

Yet strangely,they'd failed in that.Reynolds didn't know what had caused it,but he was damn grateful to the base designers.They'd saved his life.

Reynolds made his way wearily,towards the control room.Here,he could watch out for anybody,that was approaching the cave.There were many hidden surveillance cameras,that Harris and her people failed to find.There were indeed,many cameras scattered all around,and Reynolds would be able to see anybody approaching him,long before they would be able to see him.

Reynolds watched the retreating figure of Harris and her men.He was pleased they were going,but it still made him uneasy,that they knew his last known position.It was still puzzling him,as why they'd left him.

However,Reynolds got his answer to that,as the monitor screen he was watching,now showed Sanna transport vehicles approaching.Within moments,the vehicles stopped in front of Harris,and Sanna humanoid troopers exited from them.

Sanna troopers were tall figures,and held a very powerful physique.Each of them wore,heavy duty battle armour,and they always carried their dreaded weapons.Being shot by them,meant a brief,but agonizing death.Reynolds had seen this,and knew these humanoids took a lot of punishment,before they went down.

He watched them,as the humanoids now approached Harris,and the much despised O'Rourke.The hidden cameras also had sound speakers,and there was one close to Harris' position.Reynolds hurriedly activated it,and listened intently.

+++

Harris and her men had made it back,to where O'Rourke was waiting for them,standing with his own bodyguards,in the lashing rain.Harris made it blatantly obvious to him,that she was furious with his earlier decision.

'Why the hell are the Sanna here,O'Rourke?'Harris didn't ask it,she demanded it.

'Unknown.'O'Rourke admitted.'But one thing I do know,is we'd better stay out of their way here.'

Harris was still mad at not finding Reynolds,but before she could go on,all of them could now see Sanna transport vehicles approaching them.

They stopped close by,and almost immediately,heavily armoured Sanna troopers came out,carrying their energy bolt rifles.They all eyed the small group of humans,with utter contempt,but didn't fire on them.At the present time,there was an agreement between these two types.O'Rourke was actually a collaborator,with the invading Sanna.Harris was his second in command,and neither they,or their men's actions,weren't pleasant to say the least.They fought ruthlessly and savagely,inflicting fear and terror amongst their victims.Many people had died because of their actions,and O'Rourke was hoping this would impress the Sanna.

It would have appeared to have done so.O'Rourke had actually offered his services to the Sanna,and much to his surprise and delight,they had agreed.Although,Harris could see the Sanna were only using them,for their own nasty purposes.She'd promised herself,to watch her back.

One of the Sanna strode up to them.Both O'Rourke and Harris recognised him,as a senior commander.His eyes glared at them both.

'You will leave this area immediately.'The Sanna's voice,was almost a snarl.

'Why?'Harris did snarl back in response.'We almost caught a known terrorist,before you lot showed up.'

'Do as I command.Harris.'Evidently,the humanoid knew her.'We will take over here.'

Harris wanted to continue the argument,but O'Rourke was already heading back to their own vehicles,so she settled for giving the Sanna a defiant glare,before she too,reluctantly followed O'Rourke out.Within a minute,they'd all driven away.

Satisfied the humans had gone,the Sanna commander turned to his colleagues,who were now setting up their own equipment.

'Make a thorough search.'he ordered them.'We must find it.'

The rest of the Sanna contingent nodded at him,and after preparing the needed equipment,all of them began to search through the terrain.

+++

Still watching them like a hawk,Reynolds tensed,as the Sanna moved forward.He could see all of the humanoids,were holding something in their hand.

Reynolds looked more closely at this,and had to admit he didn't know what this was.It looked like some sort of scanning device,he mused to himself,but it didn't stop him worrying.

Reynolds' worries increased,as he then saw a Sanna trooper move into the cave,where Harris and her people had just been.The humanoid held his device outstretched in his hand,and stood there for quite some time.Reynolds remained tense.If they discovered he was here,Reynolds was fully prepared to use the base's defences.He'd discovered several weapons cunningly hidden,and would easily down a Sanna tooper,but Reynolds knew it was best to remain undiscovered.

After a tense,agonizing wait,he breathed a sigh of relief,as the Sanna lowered the device,and exited the cave.He or no more Sanna returned,and after watching the rest of their movements carefully,Reynolds was finally satisfied,that they had no idea where he was.At last,he was grateful for sleep.

He made sure the alarms were still active,ready to detect any more intruders,before Reynolds made his way to his own sleeping area.As soon as he collapsed on the bed,sleep overcame him.

He could have sworn that he'd just closed his eyes,when Reynolds was sharply awoken by the base's intruder alarms.

Chapter Two to follow....