by Jedi Reach
It was a smooth, light tech mask made of titanium. There were scratches from old combat, including a long scar running across one of the eyes of the bio-mask. The Nova Leader recalled how it happened. He remembered the Scions he had to detain, and he remembered the ones he had to abandon.
“Remember, she is the reason we’re going in there…” Jace flashed a holographic picture of Lea to the team. This was a second chance to save Lea, one of his own. He wasn’t going to let that opportunity slip again. “…watch your fire, we need her alive. And boys, we have no idea what exactly we’ll be dealing with once we land. Stay on guard.”
“Yes sir.” the soldiers replied.
“Squad A,” Jace pointed to the six soldiers on the left. “Will go with me. We’ll be on investigative duty.”
Aiden moved behind Jace.
“Squad B,” Jace pointed to the rest of soldiers. “Will be on flank duty with Aiden. Aiden will take charge of B…” Jace pressed buttons on the holographic interface. A blueprint of Plancks emerged. “…rendezvous at ground zero once the area is secured. Is that clear?”
“Yes sir.” the crew announced.
Jace found the courage to put his aged bio-mask on once more. “I want all of you to stay in contact at all times. We’re in this together.”
Scott came to Jace’s side with a surface pad in hand. He slid his finger across the interface, checking data on Plancks and various mission details.
“There’s a built-in fail-safe phaser. In the event any of you take near-fatal damage, you’ll be teleported back to the ship. Everything you encounter will be recorded for data analysis and collection.” Scott notified the team.
The soldiers checked and armed their assault rifles. Scott handed Jace a one-handed weapon that resembled a P90 submachine gun, only, it fired plasma pulses instead. Aiden holstered a minigun on his back and caught a glimpse outside the ship’s windows. He noticed Plancks in the distance. For Aiden, this wasn’t about finding Lea. Although he respected Jace’s ideology behind retrieving the lost Scion, Aiden could care less about Lea herself. What Aiden really wanted was a way out for good. Job details didn’t matter.
**************
The Nova aircraft arrived at Plancks near the parking lot and deployed the teams through short distance teleporting. Scott stayed on board the aircraft as the team’s operator. The Engineer remained fixed behind multiple computer screens, checking the cameras on each unit’s suit and their vitals.
“Let’s keep this clean gentlemen.” Jace said to his men.
Plancks was dead silent. There were a few abandoned cars and the doorways to the facility were wide open. The Nova crew cautiously proceeded as they went inside, observing every corner and double-checking their peripherals.
“Radiation levels are fine, go on.” Scott announced over the group’s comms while he observed the readings of the place. After the crew entered the main entrance, they saw trails of blood on the floor.
“Scott, are you getting this?” Jace asked, his suit’s camera feeding back to the ship.
“Yeah, I see it. No energy signatures nearby though. What could’ve caused this?” Scott quizzed.
The teams followed one of the trails, leading down a series of hallways and corridors with flickering lights. Outside the facility looked abandoned but inside was a different story. The walls were painted with blood, bullets were scattered on the floor, and various areas were damaged from violent impacts. Dead bodies of scientists and armed guards became more frequent the further the team ventured into the complex.
“The hell happened here?” Aiden kneeled and observed a fallen guard. He paid close attention to the bullets around them and the state of the bodies. “These men were shooting in all directions. They had no idea what hit them.”
A shadow darted across one of the hallways. One of the Nova soldiers caught a glimpse of it. He spun around with his rifle drawn.
“Royce? What did you see?” Jace asked.
“Something moved over there!” Royce replied.
“Scott?” Jace radioed.
“I’m not getting any signatures here.” Scott frantically searched for the culprit.
“Squad A move with me. B, cover us.” Jace led his section toward the sighting while Aiden and his unit kept the area secure behind them. There was nothing of threat Squad A could see, even in alternate vision modes. Nothing besides the dead bodies yet crawling between the slithers of the broken parts of the ceiling, shadowy, tailed creatures lurked. The beasts kept silent, patiently leading on their prey.
“There’s nothing here, sir.” Royce reported to Jace. Aiden and his men moved into position. Jace and his squad weren’t far ahead, it wouldn’t take long to catch up. Aiden stayed in the middle of his pack, his eyes straight ahead on their destination.
The beasts stalked Squad B, their dark tones and subtle radiations making them invisible both to detection and sight. As Squad B turned the corner, the creatures moved into position. A sharp tail penetrated the chest of the last soldier turning the corner. He instantly dropped to the ground and vanished from sight. Before anyone could even register what happened, Scott glanced at his vitals, then found the soldier teleported back to the ship in a comatose state.
“Jace—” Scott stumbled on his words.
Beasts swarmed from every corner. Their fangs, drooling with an undying lust to tear and rip flesh.
“Light them up!” Jace commanded his teams.
The Nova squadron opened fire and snagged two creatures in the immediate distance. A horde showed up moments later, enraged by their fallen kin. They lunged for the Nova crew, but the squadron pressed on with heavy firepower. The beasts realized they couldn’t claw their way through the firestorm, so they regrouped and retreated to find another way.
“Where’d they go?!” Aiden yelled, hungry for blood.
“Heads up! I’m getting readings everywhere!” Scott said.
The Nova squadron’s radars were beeping but nothing could be seen. The men looked around, desperately trying to find where the next attack would come from. The ceiling caved in and the beasts pounced from above. One soldier was sliced across the chest and another was lunged on and bitten on the neck. Another monster lunged on Aiden, but the Viking tossed the crazed serpent aside and unleashed rounds of his minigun on it.
Jace realized it was time for the big guns. He stretched his hand at the oncoming horde and they immediately fell to the ground lifeless. More of the savages turned the corner and set their sights on the crew. Aiden stomped on the ground and a powerful shockwave rushed from his stomp that floored the new batch of incoming monsters, giving the teams enough time to reload and open fire. They managed to bring down more of the shadowy creatures, but it was as if their numbers were endless. The more the Nova team put down, the more hordes arrived. The team caught a small break in between the waves and reloaded their weapons, only to hear the howls of the beasts, and a sudden retreat.
“Where’d they go this time?!” Aiden demanded; his fingers gripped on his trigger. Jace looked around at their surroundings. His neural visor displayed the loss of half their squad.
“Scott how are our men?” he asked.
Scott was busy on the ship trying to attend to the comatose soldiers.
“Not good,” the engineer seemed nervous. “There’s some kind of reaction. I need to put them into cryo-stasis!”
“Reaction?” Aiden overheard the comms.
Both him and Jace glared at each other.
“An infection, disease or something, I need to get them back to Site X! I don’t have the tools to operate here!” Scott scanned the vitals of the soldiers. They were screaming and squirming on board the ship.
“Sir, what about us? Are we staying?” Royce asked.
“They retreated, clearly we made some ground.” Aiden said, intent on going in further and finishing the mission no matter what.
“They didn’t retreat. They were called back.”” Jace discerned.
“Called b
ack? What do you mean?” Royce questioned.
“Those were the hunting dogs, the welcoming party.” Jace moved closer to the beasts to observe them. He reached out to touch one, but it suddenly turned to smoke and ash. Aiden glanced at the other fallen beasts. They did the same thing.
“The hell?” the Viking quizzed.
“Smart,” Jace stood up and paid attention to the interface on his mask. “They give off neurotoxins upon death. A great bio-defense mechanism.”
“Gets rid of the evidence too.” Scott said from the ship, observing the ashes.
“What are we going to do?” Aiden asked.
“We follow them. If everything goes south, we’ll fall back to the ship.” Jace said confidently.
“Jace, I don’t know how long these men are going to hold on. We need to get them back to the base.” Scott said over the comms.
Jace looked at his battalion carefully. He didn’t want to risk another man’s life, yet he wanted to go on.
“Scott, how long for their drop-off at home base?”
“Ten to fifteen minutes in total between flight time and getting them to the doctors.”
“Take them to home base and get back here.”
Aiden looked at Jace.
Are you serious? The Viking thought.
“Jace, if I leave, all of you are wide open. You won’t be able to teleport to the ship. You sure about this?” Scott warned.
“That’s an order. Get those men back home and you get back here. Double-time, let’s go.”
“Roger that.” Scott said.
Aiden confronted Jace face-to-face.
“You know this means we’re on our own, right?” the Viking asked.
“We’re too close to go back now,” Jace faced the rest of the squad. “Let’s move.”
**************
The remaining squadron followed a trail of blood leading deeper into the complex. They double checked every corner they turned, paranoia creeping up their spines after the vicious attack earlier. Jace led his battalion confidently. This was a chance to complete their task, he knew the risks and he accepted he might not come back. Aiden wasn’t too far off from similar thoughts. Both Scions had seen enough in their lives to fuel their need to end their duties as weapons. If this was their last mission, so be it.
The heads-up digital display on the men’s shared interface hinted they were arriving at the spot where Lea was determined to be – the same room Jace reunited with Scott a few days prior, but the room was not the same the way Jace found it days ago. The lights were broken, the equipment; thrown about everywhere, and it seemed like a good deal of the technology was missing. Yet that wouldn’t prepare the Nova team for what was in the middle of it.
“Is that…” Royce stuttered.
“Keep your voice down!” Aiden shushed him.
Standing in the middle of the room was The Shadow, the creature that took Lea. Only problem was, where was Lea? Did it kill her? Did it eat her? So many questions swarmed the men’s minds. The creature had his back turned at the Nova team, his hand stretched, using psychokinesis to reconfigure one of the technological marvels Scott created.
“You see it?” Jace said to the squad, his sight fixed on The Shadow Man.
“Yeah, I see it…” Aiden was still coming to his senses. It was one thing seeing the creature on the video feeds but in person? A whole different ball game. “…what are we gonna’ do?”
This was an ambush opportunity since the creature was preoccupied. Jace maneuvered through his neuro-linked visor and displayed a plan to the rest of the team.
“I want a sniper at six, one flanks him. Aiden at four, one flanks him. I’ll take eight, Royce cover me. Rest of you sweep the area with mines for the dogs. No one gets in and no one gets out. Once the mines are set, we fire on sniper’s queue. Let’s move.”
The team assembled into their positions, making sure not to alert their target. They set the mines by the entrances to the room, armed their weapons and waited for the go. The Shadow didn’t pay any attention to them. He was too busy with his work. It was as if he hadn’t a clue they were there.
“Remember, Scott should be inbound in two minutes. If anything goes south, stall as much as you can.” Jace’s voice came through the men’s comms.
The sniper felt his palms sweating. He took a long, hard gulp, then looked through the scope and pointed the bullseye right on the back of the head of the creature. This was it. One shot could end everything. He aimed and squeezed the trigger.
The bullet smashed into black goo that acted as a shield, sprouted from the creature’s back. The Shadow turned around, its hellish eyes staring into the sniper’s. Howls from an incoming horde sounded in the distance.
“Light him up!” Jace ordered.
The mines went off from the dogs flooding through the entrances. The sniper and his flanker opened fire on the dogs, only to find themselves overwhelmed. Aiden squeezed his trigger and opened a hailstorm of firepower on The Shadow backed by his flanker while Jace and the rest of the soldiers kept the incoming dogs at bay.
The Shadow Man blocked Aiden’s fire using its organic shield, then hurled mutated, long-reaching arms from that slammed into Aiden, Jace and the rest of the team, hurling them into the walls. Aiden was furious. Something went off in his brain. Unlike the others who took a moment to catch themselves, Aiden immediately got off the ground and charged into the creature like an American football player.
The creature stumbled a little from Aiden’s unexpected charge, only to react with a knee to the Viking’s gut followed by flinging him into the wall like a ragdoll. Jace had difficulty registering what he saw. Aiden was physically the strongest person he’d ever met, what the hell just happened? The Nova Leader reached into his consciousness and projected into The Shadow Man’s mind. Instead of dropping him unconscious, it froze him.
How?! Jace couldn’t believe it.
The Shadow Man moved his flaming eyes to his right. An alien dog jumped on Jace and pinned him to the ground. Royce opened fire on the vicious animal but suddenly found himself knocked unconscious by one of The Shadow Man’s long reaching arms. Jace got to his feet, but in the moment his eyes moved from the ground to the distance where the Shadow Man was standing, it was already in front of him.
Jace’s eyes widened. He was stupefied by this creature’s lightning speed. Before Jace could even fire, he was grabbed by the neck and pinned to the wall. The height difference between Jace and his attacker became obvious as Jace’s feet were barely reaching the creature’s abdomen. Those hellish eyes stared into Jace’s as he struggled and kicked to breathe.
“The Herald trusts you, doesn’t she?” the monster said with a guttural voice. The organic matter surrounding him dissipated around the head and neck, unveiling a face beneath the shadow. It looked humanoid, main difference being its grey skin, long face and black, beady eyes. “I am curious why.” His voice sounded different, almost human.
Jace reached for his face and projected a vision into his attacker’s mind. The Shadow Man writhed in agony, its grip, loosening from Jace’s neck. A plasma shot exploded on the creature’s left side, stumbling it a few steps while Jace fell to the ground, struggling to catch his breath.
Where did that shot come from?
Another plasma bolt slammed into the creature, then another, and another until only smoke remained. Jace looked to his right. There was another humanoid there, encased in light robotic armor from head to toe, sporting an otherworldly bio-helmet. He had a shoulder-mounted cannon and an array of gadgets and weaponry on almost every part of his body.
Who is that?
The alien dogs howled again. Another wave was coming. The newcomer turned his attention to the dogs and started firing his cannon at them while Jace got to his feet and assisted the newcomer and the remaining Nova units. It started becoming an uphill battle. Three of Nova’s soldiers were down. Royce was out cold, and Aiden was just starting to catch himself.
The Shadow man
reappeared behind the newcomer. The new guy spun around, only to get smacked across the room. The creature seemed intent on really punishing the newcomer. He used his lightning speed, but Jace froze him. Aiden got to his feet and unleashed a furious war cry. He charged into the Shadow Man again, throwing wild and powerful punches. The Shadow let Aiden have his fun for a few seconds, then returned a series of counterattacks. Aiden was completely outclassed, beaten to a pulp and slammed into the ground, knocked out cold.
The otherworldly newcomer shot a plasma bolt at The Shadow. The creature barely turned his shoulder to dodge the attack. The newcomer unleashed an energy whip from his wrist gauntlet and hurled. The creature caught the attack with his forearm, and it became a tug-of-war until Jace froze the shadow in place again, giving the newcomer the chance to prep his cannon and fire.
The plasma bolt went straight for the Shadow Man’s head. A portal opened in front of him, swallowing the shot, then another portal reappeared to the side of the newcomer and the plasma bolt smacked into him, sending him flying him across the room. Jace opened fire at the shadow man using his gun. A portal swallowed his fire and opened near the Nova Leader, sending his own attacks against him. Jace rolled to the side, barely dodging, only to be smacked into the wall by one of the Shadow Man’s long-reach arms.
“Jace, I’m inbound! Getting crazy readings here!” Scott announced over the comms. The Nova Leader looked at Aiden. The Viking slowly started vanishing, the fail-safe teleporter at work, along with the rest of the fallen men. The newcomer was nowhere to be found. Jace coughed up blood and observed his vitals. His suit was decaying from the damage he took, it wouldn’t be long before he was teleported away.
“Portals?” Jace blurted out loud, thinking about what could’ve caused them. A portal opened next to the Shadow Man and Lea walked out of it.