by Todd Mcleod
Elvin moved quickly, cutting down the alien and defending his friend. The chaos in the building proved too much, and the aliens separated from their weapons could not fight in close quarters. Elvin secured the area as best he could but could hear shouts of reinforcements coming. The pair looked out the now gaping holes in the front of the building. Most of their contingent was either dead or severely wounded. The battle was over before it had begun, and reinforcements very much not on the table. Brendan put a hand to his wound. Blood poured down his front, soaking his uniform and armour.
“They must have gotten better at controlling people. He was so convincing.”
“Such a bloodthirsty trap,” Elvin agreed, looking around for more options, “They do not desire anything from us but what they can take. You and I represent those who cannot be taken over.”
“You need to report this to the others.” Brendan took out the demolitions gear from his pack with his good arm, “I’m gonna set up the explosives.”
“What of you, my friend? We will go together.”
“This wound has already killed me. The fact I still stand is irrelevant. Get whoever can still fight out of here and find Vi. I’ll set off the fireworks and buy her some time.”
“You will be remembered as the hero of this mission,” Elvin said with a bow, “May God favour you in the next life.”
Elvin nodded, and as more alien soldiers stormed in from the side, he stood, sword drawn to meet them. He knew only evasion and speed would prevail, so he fell back to the rear of the building to seek another way out. Brendan used the confusion to sneak over to the discarded alien machine gun, setting the charges before drawing his gun and turning to the aliens.
“I am Cadet Brendan of the human race,” he said proudly, “I will never surrender to those who would seek to harm my people. You may have won here, but the human race does not give up so easily.”
As Elvin got clear of the area, he was shocked as the thunderous sound of explosions shook the building behind him, his friend becoming no more. He shook off his hesitance and continued on, blending in with the debris of the town, and slowly making his way as far from the fight as he could. He searched for signs of the others but found no one at all. He felt a desire to fight, a desire to avenge his comrades, but he was tasked with a greater purpose.
Chapter Five
Right on time an explosion went off in the distance. As anticipated, most of the aliens immediately left to check it out. Vi hoped her friends had succeeded in escaping and were now on their way back to the bunker. A harsh rain and wind fell upon the area, as if summoned from the explosion.
Vi snuck into the facility and found herself some manner of lab connected to the outside portal. She was about to move in but saw an alien guard standing over by some supplies. It seemed to be assessing them if they were worthy of taking or not. If she fired on him it would alert others. She looked around and realised that the lab contained locking safety doors. There was a procedure to engage them and get through, especially if one did not want to be trapped inside with what they were quarantining. If she could trap the alien inside, she might have a chance. She slowly made her way around the lab equipment, careful not to alert the ravenous alien. There was a control panel across the room, and it could be used to set a timer to lock down the room.
The alien still seemed quite preoccupied with the supplies, his friends having left to check out the diversion. At any moment the alien could look up and see her. She intended not to be in the lab when that happened.
She managed to get to the control pad and had to decide how to set it. She was about ten feet from the door and needed to get to it, open it, and close it behind her in time for it to lock. She began to hit the buttons, but something she hadn’t anticipated happened. The buttons had key tones. The beeping immediately alerted the alien who sprung up, turned, and looked right at her. She hastily punched in ten seconds and ran across the room, hearing the alien moving to intercept. She grabbed the door and ripped it open, but as she closed it behind her, the alien’s arm blocked it from closing. Vi pushed on the door, desperate to close it, but the door beeped an error, unable to complete the lockdown. She turned and ran, desperately hoping to reach the open hall before the alien opened the door and followed her. She reached it and was relieved to find no more aliens there. Vi paused to take a look at a schematic of the building and saw what she needed. However, she heard more sounds of motion and knew she had to get out of sight.
Vi thought about how to get to the monitoring room. The door to the hallway that led there had at least three aliens in front of it. Her other options were to go through the vents, or to use an exterior door and go outside to the adjoining hall. She worked fast, pushing a chair over to the vents and climbing up on it. She struggled to remove the vent as the chaos ensued behind her. She managed to rip the cover off of the vent and hastily climbed inside. She began to crawl, moving slowly, knowing that the monitoring room was at the other end. Vi wondered if any of the creatures were smart enough to follow her, but as she heard groaning behind her, she had her answer. She began to crawl faster, expecting to be grabbed at any moment. One attack from one of these aliens and she would be done for. She got to the other end, managed to hammer the casing off, and fell forward into the room.
Knowing she had but a few seconds to protect herself from her pursuer, she shook off the fall, and grabbed the vent cover. She put it back in place and took out a multi tool that was in her pocket. She managed to jam the door and quickly looked around for more. Vi worked as fast she could, pushing a large shelf in front of the vent and blocking it off. Even with the savage strength of one of these aliens, they wouldn’t have the leverage to move the grate and the shelf. Vi sighed in relief, taking only a moment as she had much more work to do.
She made her way over to the door leading to the outside, quickly opened it, and slammed it shut behind her. It was late in the evening, and the rainstorm had greatly intensified. There was a narrow walkway. It was soaked with water and besieged by brisk winds that threatened to toss anyone not careful off the building.
As if to illustrate the danger, the door flew open. An alien came out in search of where Vi had gone. The disoriented alien came out with too much speed, hit the railing, lost his footing, and went over the side. Vi lost sight of the alien instantly, claimed by the long fall to the valley beyond.
She carefully made her way along the catwalk, quietly and carefully opening the door. She got back inside, closed the door behind her, and moved slowly down the hall. The door to the monitoring room was right ahead. Vi went to walk, but the water on her shoes took a leg out from under her, and she fell onto the ground. A pair of aliens paused and looked directly at her. Vi struggled to her feet as the aliens ran to her. She rushed to the door to the monitoring room and opened it, barely managing to get it shut as the aliens reached it. They savagely banged on the door, desperate to get in. Vi locked the door and backed away, thanking her luck so far for barely holding out.
Taking a deep breath, she focused on the task at hand. She needed to take stock of things and see what her next steps would be. After double-checking that the room was secure, she went to the monitors and began to scan the facility. Luckily, most of the aliens left in the facility were guards and not heavily armed soldiers. The main forces were still investigating the demolition by the other group. The luck she’d had so far was based on the fact she was alone. They seemed to prioritise larger groups, and this was an advantage, though one that would most definitely not last very long. Vi wondered why the aliens’ general alarm had not gone off, and why there weren’t calls for help. She pulled up the camera by the control room, and there appeared to be no one there. The distraction had occurred on down time, and there seemed to be no one in command of the base. Vi decided that one way or another she had to get to the control room. It was the only place there might be some way to send out a call to off planet.
More vents led out to other places in the compound, but she had to
decide on the best route to take once out. She could get onto the roof and sneak to the control room, hoping the weather and conditions would allow her to safely reach it. Or she could get into the main hall and make a mad dash for the control room. That way was more direct, and hopefully, the aliens would be too distracted to stop her. She decided that outside was likely her best choice, as she was not super convinced she could outrun more aliens, and her luck would hold out.
It was not a hard climb into the other vent out and to the roof. Vi was greeted by even stronger winds and cold rain. As she moved across the roof, she realised this plan was not without its own unique dangers. Adding to the wind and the rain, the roof was not exactly designed to be walked on. It was slick and dangerous, and a misplaced step could easily leave her sharing the fate of the earlier alien. As she reached the area by the control room, there was a gap between the roof she was on and the one to the control room. It was only a five-foot jump, but with the conditions it would be very difficult to get across. There was really nowhere to climb down and nothing to make a bridge. She would have to jump.
Vi looked back and saw a pair of the creatures coming up. They spotted her on the roof. If she were going to make the jump she would have one shot, and if she missed would fall two storeys to the ground below. She backed up, giving herself a bit of a run at it. Her heart raced, and she struggled to keep the alternatives out of her head. She ran, desperate to gain enough speed, and made the jump. Just as she thought she had failed, her feet hit the other side, and she tumbled onto the roof of the control room. She looked back in time to see the alien guards attempt the jump. Both missed it and fell to the ground below. Vi picked herself up, going to the vent to get into the control room and hopefully fix the whole mess.
Though the control room did not have the equipment of the monitoring room, it was evident the base was in big trouble. All manner of emergency lights were on, aliens crawling around the facility, some beginning to return from the diversion. Vi didn’t have long. Although she was locked in, she could hear the aliens banging on the door, and they would be in very soon. She raced to think of ways to get out again but knew that the gig was up. This was not a thing she could do and still escape, so she had to buckle down and do what needed to be done.
Vi barricaded the door as best she could, buying herself as much time as possible, and ran over to the controls. She fired it up and started connecting it to the system. The aliens were likely jamming the main communications array, but she’d thought ahead for that. Brendan had helped her come up with an alternative. There was a support station in orbit mostly used to coordinate trade jumps. It was offline to save power when the invasion started, and all she had to do was start it up. It could send signals that relayed off of directional beacons. She would probably only be able to send audio, and not be sure how long the signal would last, but she had to try. She worked fast, hearing the aliens getting tools and trying to force the door open. Soon she managed to get the sub satellite station booted up, and the signal went in. As anticipated, it was at only twenty-five percent signal strength, but that was enough.
“Central command this is Cadet Locke on Kroni IV. This is an emergency transmission that could be cut off at any time.”
As if to illustrate the point, a red spot on the door began to light up as the aliens continued to cut through.
“This is central command,” a voice answered over the line. It was gravelly and distorted, but clear enough to be heard, “What is the situation?”
“A hostile invasion force has taken over the planet. I am under the command of Captain Stevens, and he has told me his confirmation number is eight-two-one-three-six-five. We require immediate assistance.”
“Confirmed. How effective would you rate this invasion force?”
“VERY! Extreme measures are advised.”
“We will respond immediately. Please hold out as long as you can.”
“We will,” Vi said as the connection went out, likely cut off from the aliens outside on the equipment. As the door was forced open, aliens entered the room, weapons drawn. She fell to her knees. The others would endure. Elvin would endure. But for her, it was seemingly over. She surrendered and could only hope that the others would do the best for the small victory her sacrifice had won them.