He fought down a wave of worry. He knew the mission to Gorthore was as good as signing a death warrant, but it still offered the slim possibility of survival. Hope was a powerful thing, even if it was mostly just an illusion. The likelihood of surviving Gorthore alone was zero. He hadn’t even considered the possibility of being stuck on the alien planet alone until then.
A yellow warning flashed in his visor, indicating his elevated heart rate. He went through Chao’s breathing exercises again and brought himself under control. The levels in his visor dropped closer to normal.
There was no use hanging around worrying over what might or might not be. He unbuckled his harness and fell against the pod’s cover. Getting it open with the pod on the ground would be a nightmare without a TEK running on full power. He got a sure grip on the lever and pushed up with all his might.
The cover swung open with surprising ease.
Grimshaw tumbled through the air. Greens, greys, and browns smudging together. He jerked to a sudden stop.
He looked back and found himself dangling upside-down from a tree. Beyond the sky was grey and not as dark as he expected given where he was supposed to land.
Thick green vines knotted around his ankle. The top of his helmet was inches from a bubbling pool of dark green at the tree’s based. Dark shadows swam in circles just under the surface. Perhaps they were fish, but something in the way they moved indicated something more sinister than carp. Either way, he had no desire to find out what they really were.
The pod was further up in the tree’s branches.
A particularly large bubble grew on the mossy surface of the water and popped, splashing the side of his visor. The outside of his helmet began to smoke. Grimshaw wiped the liquid away frantically as he twisted in circles under the vines.
He leaned up and clutched at the dark brown rope and pulled himself upright. He got the vine between his thighs and pulled himself higher. The nearest branch that could support his weight was at least another ten feet up.
He made it a few more feet when the vine gave way. He held on for dear life as if that would stop him from becoming acid-pool monster food.
The vine jerked taut, the slack suddenly ending, the force almost causing him to let go.
He looked down and found his boots almost touching the surface of the pool. The acid bubbled violently under him as the creatures got excited. A dark brown thing launched from the pool and latched onto his foot with its mouth. It looked like an overgrown leech with a stinger on its rear. Smoke drifted from the metal around its mouth as it clung to Grimshaw’s leg. Another sprang from the liquid but missed and plopped back into the pool.
Grimshaw kicked the creature off and it fell into the broiling mire, leaving a streak of slime on his suit.
Before any more of the damn things could get him, he carefully pulled himself up again, fighting the temptation to move faster. If the vine snapped, he’d end up as Gorthore leech food.
The vine held.
He scrambled onto a branch thick enough to bear his weight.
The pod was at least sixty feet up the tree, and his equipment was still inside the rear storage compartment. The chute was further up and looked shredded. He checked out the leaves and found them hard as stone with razor-sharp edges.
He started the climb, the TEK’s servos bearing the brunt of the effort. He moved cautiously but reached the upper branches in short order to find the torpedo shell held precariously aloft by a web of twigs, parachute cable, and narrow vines.
It was a long way down, and Grimshaw wasn’t keen on ending up in a pool of acid filled with whatever hellish creatures could thrive in such an environment.
He took a tentative step onto a thinner branch, holding onto another above his head in an attempt to distribute some of his weight. TEKs were marvels of engineering, but they were damn heavy.
He took another step and the branch under his feet bowed a little. He pulled harder on the branch above and it creaked as though threatening to snap. He froze for a moment and found that it bore his weight.
He took several quick shuffling steps, supposing he could move faster than the branch could break. The limb below gave way as he lunged into the air.
He landed inside the pod. It rocked wildly, the branches above bending and moaning in objection.
He hastily removed the shielded storage compartment panel and retrieved his pulse rifle, sidearm, survival kit, and medical bag.
He crouched inside the wobbling pod, like a small canoe on wild water. He was about to leap for a decent-sized branch when the sound of breaking wood crackled above. The torpedo jerked violently before stopping again, strange leaves, splinters, and bits of ligneous rope and synthetic cord raining down around him.
He drew a deep breath; glad his suit’s environmental systems were keeping control of his temperature. Otherwise, he’d be soaked in sweat.
His stomach fell away as the pod fell further. The shell spun this way and that as it bounced off the tree on the way down. Grimshaw held onto the harness below for dear life. Even with the strength of his TEK, he almost got tossed into the swamp below.
The pod struck the pool with a thunderous clap, sending splashing waves to the nearby shore. Bubbles popped around the exterior as countless shadows splashed wildly under the rolling mists rising around him.
He used the butt of his rifle to paddle the pod as close to the shore as he dared. By the time he was near enough to jump, he caught sight of acid inside the pod through breaks in the thickening smoke.
He leapt for the bank of dirt and just about made it. He turned on his back in time to see the pod vanish under the murky surface amidst a deadly cloud of vapor.
The butt of his rifle was smoking.
He fished the emergency water canister from his survival pack and doused the weapon. The vapor cleared, leaving streaks and scars where the metal had bubbled and melted. The acid acted faster than any chemical he’d ever seen. He wondered what the monster leeches were made of to be able to live in a habitat so hostile to life.
He had a quick look around to make sure the immediate vicinity was clear of similar threats.
The few Confederation Intelligence Division recon drones to make it back to base had recorded half a dozen local fauna specimens. Every one of them looked bizarre and dangerous.
Team Zeta spent much of the ride into Krag space coming up with names for the beasts.
Several reptilian creatures looked like combinations of frog and lizard covered in warts and horns.
The razor bear appeared particularly ferocious. It was about the size of a large grizzly with sharp needles in place of fur. It had a huge maw and elongated canines.
‘Sex toy’ was tossed around for a while as a naming option for an average-sized purple snake. The team settled on the less exciting and very unoriginal title of ‘purple snake’. That creature didn’t look overly threatening, but anything that slithered was bad in Grimshaw’s books and even more so when it had unusual coloring.
Knowing such things moved under the jungle canopy didn’t make the idea of being alone on Gorthore any easier to live with. And that was before considering what other horrors intel hadn’t discovered.
Satisfied he was alone for the time being, Grimshaw put his back against a broad trunk and checked his rifle over. The metal casing around the butt was a mess, but the power core remained untouched, and the weapon was functional so far as he could tell without firing it. He couldn’t risk drawing any locals.
Something clicked in the trees ahead.
His eyes were still figuring out what was happening when gunfire erupted from the undergrowth. A bolt of plasma struck the tree next to him. He ducked and levelled his rifle in the general direction of the plasma fire. He remained deathly still, waiting for something to move.
“It’s me,” a familiar voice said on the short band vox.” A figure appeared from the bushes, holding their hands up. It was Garcia.
“Garcia. What the hell?”
S
omething fluttered on the ground by his side. He turned to find a winged insect as long as a spaniel struggling in the mud. He jumped aside. The creature was some twisted combination of dragonfly, wasp, and bird.
It flapped its broken wings but failed to lift off.
Garcia approached and stomped with her boot. Its head caved in with a sickening crunch. “Better watch out for the bugs down here. Nasty bastards.”
“What the fuck is that thing?”
She shrugged. “Looks like some kind of mosquito.”
“Biggest damn mosquitoes I’ve ever seen.”
“Watch out for those stingers on their heads. One went straight through my TEK before I could bring my kinetic barrier online.” She pointed at a messy repair job on her thigh. “Liquametal sealed the hole in my suit, but damn sting hurts like hell.”
Grimshaw clutched the medical bag attached to his hip and reached forward. “Let me take a look at that.”
Garcia slapped his hand away. “We don’t have time for that shit, Grimshaw. My levels are reading fine. We need to find the others.”
“Your call,” he said, wanting to check all the same but knowing better than to argue with Garcia. She wasn’t a commanding officer but serving with Sergeant Richards on several missions had earned her a special kind of respect. “Before we figure out where the others are, we need to figure out where we are. It’s dawn already. I think we landed closer to the temple compound than planned.”
“I was trying to figure out our coordinates when I saw your beacon. Visuals aren’t matching with anything I have on the map. I’m cross referencing our current location with the recon drone data intel gave us. If we gather enough data on the visual feed, I might be able to figure out the direction of the rendezvous point.”
“Where do we even begin?”
“Come on,” she said, checking her SIG. “This way.”
3
Welcome To The Jungle
Over an hour had passed by the time they entered the small clearing. He looked up into the sky. It was still heavily overcast but had grown much lighter since their arrival.
The jungle was alien by every definition. They managed to avoid an encounter with deadly creatures, but there was no shortage of nefarious-looking plants too. They came in all shapes and sizes. Some even had what looked like mouths filled with teeth. Grimshaw wasn’t keen on getting a closer look at those to be sure and Garcia wanted to keep on the move, explaining that the more ground they covered, the quicker they’d find out where they were and where they needed to go.
Even the trees were strange. Some resembled trees on earth, but most had dark purple bark, and some were even a bright yellow. He stayed well away from those for they screamed danger.
The clearing alone was a good analogue for the jungle as a whole. It was surrounded with black trees, red trees, trees with waving vines that looked like tentacles, and trees that looked like giant humanoids frozen in contorted forms. Some had bark that glittered. Others had strange upturned root systems covered with tiny wriggling spikes.
“Is it just me or does this jungle get weirder the further we go?” Grimshaw said flicking through the mission files. “It’s nothing like the images from the briefing. We’re lost, aren’t we?”
“We were lost on arrival, Grimshaw.”
“I mean we’re still lost. Your image cross referencing thing isn’t working.”
“We need more time. More visual data.”
“Time is something we don’t have, Garcia. If we miss the rendezvous point, the others will move on without us. Six Marines against a temple full of Krags isn’t going to go down too well.”
“What do you suggest we do?”
“Maybe we should have waited inside our pods as ordered.”
“If you did that, you’d be swamp soup by now,” she said while checking her readings.
“You know what I mean. If we’d stayed at the pods, Lynch would be able to find us.”
“We were so far off course, I don’t think she could have.”
He sighed. “Well, running around out here blind isn’t helping either. There’s gotta be something else. We should climb a tree, get a look above the canopy.”
“We’ve done that three times already. It’s an endless sea of trees no matter which way you look.”
“It won’t hurt to look again,” he pushed, scanning for the nearest and safest looking tree on the clearing edge.
“Listen, Grim—” Garcia let out a cry and doubled over.
Grimshaw rushed to her side and put his hand on her shoulder. “Is everything okay?”
She moaned in pain and pushed him away, struggling to stand erect. “It’s nothing. Sledge didn’t refill the damn coffee this morning, so I ended up with the dregs. They always get me in the gut.”
“I can run a quick medical scan to be sure.”
Garcia shook her head and sighed. “I’m fine really. It’s just cramps. Besides, you said it yourself. We don’t have all day. Let’s give it fifteen more minutes…wait. Did you hear that?”
Grimshaw didn’t hear anything. “What?”
“Hush,” she held up a finger for silence.
Grimshaw increased his TEK’s audio amplifier and listened. “Is that gunfire?”
“Yes, it’s coming from that direction.” Garcia pointed. “Come on!”
Garcia limped several times before breaking into a run.
Grimshaw followed half-expecting her to collapse, but she picked up speed.
They ducked, weaved, and cut their way through the brush until they got within earshot of the gunfire.
Soon, three new orange blips appeared on his map indicating other team members. They must have stumbled upon Krags.
“Sounds like they’re in trouble,” Garcia whispered on the short band even though no one outside their helmets could hear them. “Coming from just beyond that line of trees.”
Grimshaw hugged his rifle close. “You take the right. I’ll take the left.”
She nodded and hurried off to the right, her feet moving fast but silent.
Grimshaw did the same, heading in the opposite direction. The maneuver would bring them in on either side of the gunfight, hopefully giving them an advantage in whatever situation they found themselves in.
Grimshaw pushed draping vines aside using his pulse rifle’s barrel.
Instead of Marines fighting Krags, he found two Marines in trees, firing at some colossal beast.
It took his mind a second to register that the creature was a spike bear. Unlike the image the intel drone recorded, it was the size of an elephant.
Grimshaw recognized Sarge high up in one tree and Perez high in another. Chao started climbing a third tree in an effort to get away from the monstrosity bearing down on his position. A damaged pod lay on the other side of the clearing.
Two streams of pulse energy exploded from Perez and Sarge’s rifles.
The spike bear progressed unimpeded, approaching the tree Chao was climbing. The gunfire peppering its prickly hide seemed to bother it about as much as a hovering fly bothered someone reading a book.
Chao was nowhere near high enough to escape the beast. Its massive muzzle touched his back as it sniffed.
He twisted mid-climb and grabbed the rifle dangling across his chest. He pointed it at the beast’s face and pulled the trigger.
The giant bear went into a rage and gave a thunderous roar as it raised on its hind quarters. A huge paw swiped at Chao, knocking him out of the tree.
Garcia hurried from the trees and took cover behind what remained of the pod. She signaled to Grimshaw that she was ready, and they opened fire, rifles hammering the creature from four angles.
Ignoring them, the behemoth descended on Chao, mauling him with its giant head. Sickening screams rang out above the beastly groans and gunfire.
Grimshaw noticed a darkened patch on its hind quarters where Perez or Sarge had thinned the needles. He focused fire on the area. “The needles are thinner on the dark patches. Shoot
it there,” he said on the short band.
The creature suddenly took notice and reared up again, Chao between its bloody jaws. It clenched its jaws, dismembering the Marine, sending body parts tumbling to the jungle below. It landed on all fours hard, causing the ground to rumble. It turned on Grimshaw.
It was about to lunge when fire exploded from the beast’s side, scattering needles everywhere.
The spike bear shrieked before dashing off into the jungle, flattening trees like blades of grass.
The rumbling paws and horrific cries faded into the distance.
Sledge emerged from the trees to Grimshaw’s right, a grenade launcher in one hand. “Looks like we almost missed the party.”
Sarge crouched next to what was left of Chao’s TEK. He pulled the dog-tags from the gore-covered shoulder plate.
Grimshaw didn’t need to look too close to know there was nothing he could do.
Sarge looked at Grimshaw. “Glad you and Garcia showed up when you did.”
“Yeah, we thought you were both dead,” Sledge said, pocketing a handful of spike bear needles.
“We appreciate the vote of confidence,” Garcia said. She rested on the pod wreckage. “We landed way off course. A damn monster mosquito almost got me, and Grimshaw almost took a bath in acid.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re alive and well,” Sarge said.
“Alive, yes,” Grimshaw said. “As for well. I’m not so sure.” He eyed Garcia’s wound.
She shot him a glare. “I’m just glad we found you, Sarge. All things considered.”
Bushes rustled and everyone turned their weapons on the tree-line.
Lynch scrambled out of the trees behind him, carrying a large pack on her shoulders.
“Spike bear got Chao,” Sledge said nonchalantly.
Sarge turned on him. “I ordered you to wait at the black tree,” Sarge said with more heat in his words than usual. “Last thing we need is for others to go missing.”
“Sledge ran this way when he heard gunfire,” Lynch said, breathing heavily. “I followed in case the idiot got lost. What the hell happened?”
The Galactic Sentinel: Ultimate Edition: 4 Books with 2000+ Pages of Highly Entertaining Sci-Fi Space Adventure Page 118