Samuel yelled and fired his combat rifle, part in anger and part in revulsion as his mind was flooded with memories of how the bone worms would hunt rats in the steamy darkness below Assemblage 23. He felts as if he was living in a nightmare and pulling the trigger was the only way to wake up. In seconds, his magazine went dry and his fury was spent, leaving the shredded corpses of both the trooper and the worm floating in the fetid water.
Samuel reloaded and looked at his two remaining troopers. He found them to be shaken, but not broken. The three of them turned away to continue toward the pylon.
Samuel saw the white sheen of mucus on the lip of a nearby sluice pit just before another worm reared up and charged them, only this time they were on guard for such attacks. Between the marine and the troopers they gunned down the worm in a hail of fire.
Samuel realized that the mucus was an indication of which pits were likely inhabited and which weren’t, so he did his best to lead the squad on a path that would take them wide of worm pits. It slowed their progress considerably and by the time Samuel and the two troopers were within range of Pylon 4 it was clear that the situation had gone from bad to worse.
Boss Ulanti and George Tuck stood behind the meager remnants of their portable barricades, guiding the defensive efforts of a scant handful of cor-sec troopers. It was clear from a swift tactical scan of the area that Pylon 4 had suffered the brunt of the attack, and though they had repulsed the enemy for now, the cost had been great.
The corroded and smoking bodies of cor-sec troopers were scattered across the base of the pylon, joined by the armored remains of two salvage marines. Stalker corpses peppered the area, though more were taking cover in the pits surrounding the pylon and exchanging fire with the dug-in Grotto soldiers. Samuel couldn’t see the welding team, though from the activity behind the barricades it was likely their numbers had dwindled since Boss Ulanti’s last plea for assistance.
Samuel turned back to the two cor-sec troopers and indicated with his hands that they follow him and they were more than eager to obey. This was a shooting gallery, with minimal cover for any of the combatants beyond the shallow pits and the shadowy shroud of the half-light, which Samuel doubted hid much of anything from the sight of the Stalkers. The only reason the Grotto soldiers were still holding this ground was the portable flak board barricades they had been issued as a protective measure for the welding crews, and of those, very few remained.
Ever since the Haggard Sons had blown the metro line nearly a month ago, Reaper command had been using support crews with hand tools for much of the salvage work. That meant much more intensive manual labor, but there also happened to be a displaced urban population that was more than happy to have a chance to earn some cash and a hot meal. Those who couldn’t cut it as cor-sec were laborers, and it was with muscle and bone that much of Vorhold had already been picked clean.
Samuel moved towards a better vantage point and found a pit that gave him enough of a view of the battlescape that he could provide covering fire for the defenders of the pylon and engage Stalker targets. The marine took a deep breath and raised his rifle to his shoulder to draw a bead on the back of a Stalker as it fired shot after shot from its slime gun.
The marine toggled over to three-round burst and then squeezed the trigger. The Stalker jerked violently, and for a moment Samuel thought it was going to return fire. He saw that its mouth hung open in shock, its ribcage blown out from the impact of his rounds. The creature splashed face first into the pit and sank into the rancid, shallow water. To the cor-sec troopers credit they managed to intuit their best use, and employed their short range shotguns to deadly effect against another Stalker who attempted to flank Samuel as he focused intently on executing his marksmanship.
More shots rang out with the familiar signature of a Grotto combat rifle and Jada Sek appeared out of the darkness on Samuel’s right. She fired at a steady pace as she waded across the pit adjacent to his and between the two of them another three talkers were cut down. Several slime rounds hissed and splashed into the pit where Jada was standing and she was forced to hurl herself into Samuel’s, surfacing again as she found her footing in the murky, but only waist-deep liquid. One of the cor-sec troopers screamed as she was enveloped by a slime round and fell into the water as the left side of her body disintegrated.
“Over the side!” shouted Samuel. He grabbed Jada by the shoulder and helped her jump and roll over into the pit in front of them.
The cor-sec trooper behind Samuel fired into the blackness as he backed up, and the marine vaulted over the edge. Samuel turned and began searching for a target when his field of vision was overwhelmed with buzzing orange light. He instinctively ducked into the water; his last vision before going under was the cor-sec trooper’s silhouette as he faced a fusillade of slime rounds. The impact shook the pit and Samuel could hear the sizzle of the metal and see water burning, so he kicked off the bottom and emerged from the pit with his rifle at the ready. Jada Sek emerged at the same time and together they went full-auto, hurling a combined two magazine’s worth of bullets chewing through the small squad of Stalkers that had been harassing them.
“Fancy meeting you here, soldier,” smiled Jada as she swiftly re-loaded while the two of them sloshed through the pit towards Ulanti’s position.
“Boss Marsters said you were making a lone wolf thing happen,” Samuel joked before squeezing off another three-round burst that forced a Stalker to dive into a nearby water pit. “I didn’t want to miss the show.”
“One minute to full cut,” reported Boss Ulanti in their com-beads, “Everyone on me. When we’re through, I want all elements moving out. Boss Aiken, we are coming to you, can’t hold this position any longer.”
Jada and Samuel rushed up the steps and without needing to be told, each half-slung their rifles so that they could be fired from the hip with their left hands. With their right hands they each lifted the most intact flak board they could find and held it aloft like a shield. George Tuck did the same and soon another five of the cor-sec troopers were following suit. There were only three welders left, but as they sliced through the last centimeter the cheer that went up from them sounded as if they were making up for the other seven who lay dead at their feet.
“Form a square, center on the welders,” barked Boss Lucinda as she took up her own flak board and half-slung her rifle, “Reapers on the corners. Let’s move!”
The haggard unit retreated from the dais and began making their way across the treacherous expanse of sluice pits.
“White mucus on the edge of the pit means it has a worm,” stated Jada as the formation worked its way forward, exchanging fire with several Stalkers as they went, “Can’t imagine what they’d do to a person if they got hold of you.”
“It’s not pretty,” said Samuel in a low voice before peeling a few rounds into the legs of a Stalker, who was then finished off by a hail of pistol fire from several cor-sec troopers.
One of the troopers went down screaming as a slime round corroded away his flak board just before a second splattered against his pelvis. His body soon floated in two smoldering pieces, slowly sinking beneath the slop as the formation closed ranks and pressed on.
The Stalker attacks had somewhat abated and soon Pylon 2 was in sight. They had lost two more cor-sec troopers in making the journey, and both Samuel and Jada had discarded the melted and useless remnants of their flak-boards.
Samuel heard the harsh inhuman voices of the Stalkers to his far left and turned to face them just as two groups attacked them at once. He could hear Bianca shouting for him, both in his com-bead and his raw ears, and all around him the world erupted into chaos.
Stalkers had dropped down from the ceiling and were fighting among the Reapers and cor-sec troopers, somehow also having awakened one of the bone worms. In the back of his mind Samuel suspected that the Stalkers had captured the worm and dropped it on the squad to break their formation before making the assault, though the very thought of it was so di
sturbing he pushed it away and focused on the fight.
The worm’s head was burrowing into a trooper’s wet guts and the creature’s thrashing body knocked Samuel off of his feet and over the side into another pit. The marine pushed off the bottom and broke the surface of the water only to go under again as a Stalker leapt upon him.
He could feel strong jaws clamp down on his armored neck while clawed fingers probed the joints of his armor for an opening into which to dig as the creature used its superior strength to pin him down and keep him submerged. Samuel reacted swiftly and let go of his combat rifle, trusting in the sling to keep it attached to his body, and reached for his service pistol.
The Stalker managed to tear away one of his torso plates and bury a claw in his side just as he pressed the barrel of the gun to its chest and squeezed the trigger. Round after round drilled into the creature and soon it went limp on top of him. Samuel rolled it away from him and despite the pain in his side got to his feet. In the time he had been submerged, Squad Aiken had apparently executed a counter-attack, as Bianca, Patrick, Holland, and even Boss Aiken all stood in the waist deep water with smoking gun barrels.
What didn’t make sense was that Patrick and Bianca were holding George Tuck by the arms and preventing him from running off into the darkness. Samuel went cold as he realized that Jada Sek and Boss Ulanti were both nowhere to be seen.
THE STALKER IN THE DARK
"They took ‘em as breeders, Boss," Vol said gravely, using an already filthy rag to clean out some of the gore plugging the barrel of his bayonet pistol. "They'll be alive for a long time and worse for it."
"We heard the same from other downspire folk back in FOB Specter," added Samuel as he looked at Ben and Harold.
"Two weeks sidelined with the locals, you get told some stories," said Harold. "Women and children being carried off, people disappearing around corners like they just vanished into thin air. Spooky stuff."
"Stalker tribe don't have soft meat," spat Vol, holstering his pistol. He pointed at the catwalks leading deeper into the Basin towards the warren. "Nothing weak survives down here, and Stalker been the big bogeyman a long time."
Boss Marsters listened to the marines and the ganger speak, though his eyes never left his weapon as he field stripped it, cleaned it, and re-assembled it in record time with the kind of precision that only comes from obsessive practice. Once finished he slid his last magazine into the receiver and racked the slide, and then handed it to a surprised Virginia as he stood up to face the remnants of Tango Platoon. He toggled the protective shielding of his helmet's faceplate to transparent so that everyone could see his face as he spoke.
"Boss Aiken, I am relinquishing my command of Tango Platoon and the cor-sec attachment. Upon completion of my final orders you will be platoon leader," Boss Marsters began, eliciting troubled looks from the assembled marines and cor-sec troopers, along with a frown from Boss Aiken. "I will be recovering Boss Ulanti and Jada Sek myself, as I have no intention of leaving them in the hands of the enemy."
"Let's go get ‘em, I'm ready," said Ben, causing many of the assembled soldiers to look between him and Boss Marsters.
"If Jada is still alive there's no way I'm not going with you sir," George Tuck stated before Boss Aiken stepped in front of Boss Marsters, "I've got a quarter tank left on the flamer, there's got to be something down there that will burn."
"I cannot allow this kind of unsanctioned action," Aiken said, facing off with Marsters while his hand strayed to the auto-pistol at his hip in an open display of defiance. "After witnessing the combat capability of these hostiles it would be an unjustifiable risk of human resources. Two marines are a loss, adding three more to the balance sheet is unacceptable."
Wynn Marsters shifted his weight on the balls of his feet and all of the tension seemed to leave his body at once. It was the smallest of movements, and barely noticeable by anyone but those standing right next to him, however, everyone in the assembly knew as if by some primal instinct that the platoon leader was poised and prepared to unleash terrible violence. Wynn's facial expression never changed, and his eyes never left Boss Aiken's, but everyone saw the promise of death coiled and waiting within the Reaper.
Boss Aiken slowly and carefully stepped backwards and moved his hand away from his sidearm. From his rapid breathing into the open com-bead channel it was clear he'd gotten the message.
"Consolidate all available combat rifle ammunition from the platoon and distribute evenly to the highest ranked shooters available, right now that's Tillman and Green," said Boss Marsters, removing the small platoon leader disc magnet and tossing it over to Boss Aiken, "Sidearms and boarding knives for everyone else. Boss Aiken, I want this unit double-timing back to Reekertown and the extraction point. Put Spencer on point, cor-sec and marines in the middle, with Tillman on rearguard. My recovery op will likely draw most Stalkers away from the unit, but stay sharp.
Once we have our Reapers recovered we will be at the extraction point, but the charges above are on a schedule, so if we aren't there before the trigger goes green, leave us behind."
"I'll track ‘em out for you, Boss.” Vol interjected. “Stories say those warrens are tricky, tricky," Vol then pointed upwards to the distant ceiling of the Basin. "Nothing for the Kings up there anyway, just soft meat and too much light. Better to bang with the Stalkers."
Boss Marsters nodded curtly at Vol, who hooted and sprang forward to search for their path. Wynn began making his way through the sluice pits towards the warren catwalks. He had only gone a few steps before George Tuck, Ben, and Samuel moved to follow him. As they splashed into the first pool Marsters turned back to face them and the assembled unit.
"Hyst, fall back with Tango Platoon. Boss Aiken is right, this is an unsanctioned action, and pursuant to Reaper Code 267 the beneficiaries of any marine killed in such an action will be denied payment of the offending marine’s death benefit," said Boss Marsters, his otherwise iron hard demeanor slipping for an instant as he looked at Samuel. "I had them put that Augur spine in you and if you die it’s your family that gets saddled with that debt. I don't want that on my soul. Fall back, Hyst. Now."
Samuel stopped half-way out of the first sluice pit and stood still for a moment as the weight of Wynn's words hit him with the force of a gunshot.
Samuel felt tears of rage and frustration sting his eyes. He gritted his teeth and watched George leap over the side of one pit and into another as he followed the former platoon leader into the darkness. Ben paused next to Samuel and clapped his shoulder plate.
"Boss is right, brother, think about Sura and Orion." He nodded at Samuel and moved into the next sluice pit, then turned back and displayed his boarding knife with a smile. "Let the rest of us kill some monsters for once, Prybar!"
Samuel tried to laugh at Ben's boasting, but it tasted false in his mouth. Behind him he heard Boss Aiken barking crisp orders at the rest of the platoon and the cor-sec troopers. The marine took one last look at the three Reapers disappearing into the murk then reluctantly returned to the column.
Samuel walked past Virginia and handed her his remaining magazine, which was only half-full anyway, then slung his rifle across his back before drawing his side arm and unsheathing his boarding knife. The remaining cor-sec troopers and welders had formed up in the center with the Reapers spread amongst them. It was going to be a long march back to the extraction point, and Samuel knew that despite Boss Marster's hope that the recovery would draw most hostile attention he knew their retreat would not go unopposed.
"Vol was right, there's nothing up there for any of these people," breathed Virginia as she looked upwards while the platform rose through the breach, the lift wench groaning as it struggled with the weight of so many bodies, "No choice but a life-bond or the red list."
"Most of the ones who qualify for a work assignment will choose the bond," said Boss Aiken as he joined the two marines in watching the lift reach the top of the breach and begin disgorging its cargo of refugee
s. "And they'll find meaningful assignments in the labor pool or cor-sec; at least until the Vorhold project is completed."
"What then?" asked Samuel, his voice flat in anticipation of an answer he already knew.
"You've been around, Hyst, as have you, Tillman;" answered Boss Aiken, "You know just as well as I do that once Vorhold is scrapped only a small percentage of the bonded will be re-assigned within the Grotto workforce. The rest will be re-classified as non-essential and their employment will be terminated."
"Without work they'll default on their life-bond repayment and be dropped into the penal system within a few months of termination, especially since we've just cut up and sold off their entire civilization," groaned Virginia as she stepped back from Aiken a few paces and turned her face away from the lift and the two marines.
"Certainly this is all speculation, Tillman, and I apologize if this line of conversation is upsetting," said Boss Aiken as he looked to Samuel for support, "But this is how business is done. For one to rise, another must fall, it’s the Grotto way. It’s our way. You must see that."
"I know, the Grotto way, they drilled that into us during basic," grumbled Virginia as she squared her shoulders and did her best to shrug off her rising temper. "They’ve been conquered and there isn't much profit in mercy. I see that very clearly, doesn't mean I have to be happy about it."
"This job will eat at you from the inside out if you let it, Tillman, your mistake is thinking that human rights matter to the Bottom Line," Boss Aiken replied, reaching out to touch the base of the platform as it descended once more. He began waving on the next group of refugees while speaking through the com-bead, "No corporation is going to feed, clothe, house, and educate these people without some mechanism for a return on that investment. The only value these people have is their capacity for labor, and Grotto will extract that value one way or the other."
"Slavery or the red list," Samuel said into his com-bead as he helped an old man and several children onto the platform before giving a thumbs up to Boss Aiken, who then pulled the lever and sent the platform rising upwards, "Tough choice."
Dead Worlds (Necrospace Book 2) Page 7