The Colony

by John M. Davis

and explosives here boss.” Twiggy said.

  He was rather short for a man of uniform, yet stocky. Of everyone in the unit, Twiggy was certainly the most unkempt, appearing as though he were simply drafted from the streets of cardboard box living.

  “Yea, but you're good at what you do.” Jack said with a confident nod.

  “Damn right boss.”

  “I'm putting us right on top of the beacon. Should be less than a hundred yards away when he hit soil.” Avery said, buckled in the pilot's chair as he turned back to make the needed calculations.

  “Alright guys, prepare for the hop. Bronson, keep your com on.” Jackson said, trying to calm his own nerves in the process.

  “You got it.” Bronson replied, clicking a button on his shoulder com, a green light brightening.

  “You reading us?” the soldier asked, leaning his head to the side a bit as he spoke.

  “Loud and clear.” Chandra replied, her voice a soothing tune to the ears of a very nervous Jack Strong.

  “Hold the fort down now.” Bronson said with a bit of cockiness, settling in comfortably.

  Within an instant, the chopper began a free fall without warning, eventually becoming a dedicated nosedive which brought it closer to the planet's atmosphere.

  Please just land. Please just make it. Jack thought, his mind racing back to a time when he and his crew weren't so lucky.

  He waited impatiently for the sound of thrusters, thinking of his wife and little girl as a feeling of helplessness surged throughout his entire body.

  Where the fuck are the thrusters? Jack wondered, still waiting for a sound that never came. He did, however, begin to hear a loud sound that was nearly ear-shattering. Oh God, not again.

  Moments later, however, both of the chopper's thrusters booted into full blaze, the torque of such powerful engines bringing a welcomed relief to the group's leader.

  Fuck it. Two tears in a bucket.

  “Wooooo!” Renaldo yelled, startling half of the crew with his sudden outburst.

  “Avery, what the hell is that sound?” Jack Strong asked, having to do so in a near-yell to overpower it.

  “Rain sir. A lot of fucking rain.” Avery replied.

  “Yea, no kidding. I can barely hear myself think.” Lieutenant Jack Strong replied.

  “I guess we know why these fuckers haven't answered their radios,” Bronson said, tapping his unit several times. “The rain is so thick, I'm not getting anything on here.”

  “People,” Jack said, casting a glance to Bronson. “They're people, just like the ones we have waiting for us back home.”

  “Wouldn't matter if their coms were satellite dishes, they ain't getting shit out through this rain,” Bronson replied, slowing his emotions a bit. “Sir.”

  “He's right LT, I can't see a foot in front of me. The rain is too thick.” Avery added.

  “Just double check the calculations. We may not be able to see, but we should be fine once we hit soil.” Jack replied, resting either knowing they would land in one piece.

  “Yes sir.” Avery replied, tuning to review his calculations of the colony's beacon.

  “What are you talking about? Didn't you guys verify working equipment?” Bailey asked.

  “Yes...of course. They were coming in loud and clear.” Chandra replied.

  “How can that be? Their com system dropped just like that? And you are still picking up their beacon?”

  “Yes sir. It's coming in crystal clear. Looks like they are planning to drop within feet of the colony's beacon.” she replied, turning to verify her statement once more using a set of blue-screened computers.

  “Alright,” Bailey said, looking through the hardened glass which lay out in front of the pilot's chair, exposing a swirled-blue planet below them. “Just keep your ears glued to the com. Lieutenant Strong knows how to take care of himself. We'll wait it out, for now.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Alright men, listen up.” Jack said, their chopper having finally touched down on the drenched soil of Tanilia Moon.

  “You'll have to speak up, we can't hear you over this fucking rain that we're about to march in.” Bronson said loudly.

  “Yea, I hear you,” Jack replied with a bit of a grin. “We're all going to get a bit wet, it's why we make the big bucks,” he added, bringing a chuckle throughout the group. “Bronson, you take Twiggy and Avery, head straight for the beacon to have a look see. We'll prep the chopper for an emergency lift, just in case, then we'll catch up to you.”

  “You got it boss.” Bronson replied, relishing in the role of calling the shots. Even if it was temporarily, and two a group of merely three.

  “Renaldo, you get on the com and try to touch base with our people in orbit one more time. Wesley and I will reset the systems for takeoff.”

  “Yes sir,” Renaldo said. “But I'm not sure it will do a lot of good in this atmosphere.”

  “It won't,” Bronson commented, the reinforced rear hatch of their chopper opening slowly to expose the thickest rain any of them had ever seen. “But fuck it.”

  Two tears in a bucket. Jack thought, nodding to the three men who were departing into a mess of falling water.

  Two tears in a bucket. A saying that had stuck with the man since the first Sky War. It had been coined by his XO, Lieutenant Masterson, and had carried them through some of the toughest of times. Times when friends were falling around him to their deaths, almost as quickly as the rain fell on this very day.

  Whenever his unit had been up against it during that first war, his XO had pushed them through it with the same phrase.

  Nobody knew what it actually meant, and most questioned if Lieutenant Masterson himself actually knew. Still, the catchy words strung together was often times enough, and had forever been etched into the mind of Jack Strong.

  Sealing the hatch once more, Jack turned to the remainder of his group. Renaldo and Wesley.

  “Nothing doing sir.” Renaldo said, still unable to gain a clear link with their ship in orbit.

  “Alright,” Jack replied with a nod. “Record a message to let them know we were unable to make contact because of the rain, then put it on loop. That way, if we get hung up for some reason, they won't come in here guns blazing,” he added, turning to watch the rainfall hammer down through the shatterproof windshield of their chopper. “Cause it's looking pretty damn calm to me.”

  “You got it boss.” Renaldo replied.

  “Wesley, grab the must have supplies. A few rations, a bit of extra ammunition,” he said, turning back to Renaldo. “And you may want to fetch a thermal scope so we can see in this shit.”

  “Already got one attached.” the proud sniper commented with a smile.

  “Way to be one step ahead,” Jack replied, his confidence in the soldier verified. “We move out in five.”

  “I got nothing on thermal.” Renaldo said, his oversized rain suit of solid green seeming to engulf nearly half of the length of the sniper rifle which he pressed his eye to.

  “Alright, keep moving up,” Jack said, motioning Wesley to the front. “I'll be right behind you. Renaldo, cover our six.”

  “You got it boss.” the sniper replied, turning to use his thermal on their backside.

  “Up ahead. I can see a large door.” Wesley said, his two machetes strapped down to his thighs as he held a semi-automatic rifle in hand.

  “That's the spot. Should be where our beacon is, along with the rest of the team,” Jack said, rain showering down around them in the deserted gravel lot of the colony. “Let's check on these people, tell them to answer their damn radio and then get the hell out of here.”

  “There's no power.” Wesley said, the group reaching the large door, which was nearly nine-feet in height.

  “What?” Jack replied.

  “I mean on the door. There's no power. I got the Earth Defense override code right here, but without power I can't punch the damn thing in.” Wesley replied, his voice barely able to penetrate the thundering sound of ra
infall.

  “Ah shit,” Jack replied, just as tired of the falling water as those in his group. “Try knocking, but do it loudly. Let them know you're an Earth Defense soldier.”

  Rather than reply, Wesley began to hammer the flesh of his fist into the thick steel of the door, casting a deep and throaty echo for several hundred yards.

  “Got something!” Renaldo said, kneeling as he began to watch the thermal scope with intensity.

  “What is it?” Jack asked.

  “I dunno LT, but it was moving quickly.”

  “Bronson's group?”

  “No. I only saw one heat signature, and it was hauling ass.”

  “Keep your eye to the scope,” Jack said, turning to Wesley, who continued his loud knock onto the door.

  “This is Lieutenant Jack Strong of the Earth Defense Marine Core. I am hereby instructing you to open the door, otherwise we'll have no choice but to cut through it.”

  Several latches began to unbolt, each of them done so with caution by someone on the building's interior.

  “I guess I should have threatened them with a cutting torch that we don't have.” Wesley commented, smiling at his XO.

  “Just ready your rifle and make sure it stays that way, at least until we find out what in the hell is going on.” Jack replied, prompting the soldier to shoulder his rifle at the ready.

  “Identify yourself!” Renaldo yelled, trying to keep the heat signature in his scope.

  Both Jack and Wesley turned, realized their sniper had indeed seen something caution-worthy. But, moments after, the steel door began to creak open.

  “Get inside.” Jack ordered, both of the soldiers under his command doing just that.

  A frightened man backed away just a bit, noticeably malnourished.

  “I'm sorry,” Jack said, slowly pushing the rifle of Wesley away from the man's face. “We're Earth Defense Marines.”

  “You...you shouldn't be here.” the strange man replied in a shaky voice.

  “Again, we're Earth Defense Marines. Your colony hasn't answered any communication for at least two weeks. It's standard procedure to deploy a group of marines to check on you, and, well, we're that group.” Jack said, looking around the room, seeming nothing more than a dusty warehouse.

  “Where is everyone else?” Wesley asked, lowering his rifle, though hesitant at first.

  “Dead, mostly. A few of us were able to fall back here and hold position. But going outside of that door is suicide.” the man answered.

  “Dead?” Jacked asked, offering his full attention.

  “That's right. It's all on record, but you need to come this way. Quickly.”

  “You statement sounds military?” Jack asked.

  “I'm a retired general,” the man admitted. “Please, this way.” he added, leading the three soldiers to the rear of the building.

  “Anything on thermal?” Jack asked.

  “No, steel is too thick.” Renaldo replied.

  “Stop,” Jack said, halting everyone. “Listen, I've got men outside those doors and I've got no intention of leaving them. So you're either going to wait here and answer my questions general, or we're all going to take a trip back out into the rain to look for them.”

  “You can drop the general son, I'm not enlisted anymore. And I've got people too, hidden in the floor at the rear of this building and scared shitless. Most of them women and children. While I understand and respect the concern for your people, you'd be wise to give me the same. Otherwise, we're going to have a problem.” The general said bluntly.

  “Children?” Jack asked.

  “Please,” the general said, pausing as if to ask for compassion. “This way.”

  “You two stay on this door. Anything comes in not wearing our uniform,” Jack said, turning to look at both of his men. “You know what to do.”

  “You got it boss.” Renaldo said, reinforcing his statement by a bolt-action slide of ammunition to the ready.

  Though a single building, it was indeed large. Meant as the central part of the colony, a government building, which doubled as a fallout shelter. No windows, and a single entrance.

  “I need to know why most of the colonists are dead. And I need you to carefully think through your words before answering, as I'm forced by Earth Defense code to report your answer directly back to my superiors.” Jack said.

  “Your superiors are of no concern to me,” the general replied with hesitation. “The real judge, jury and executioners are beyond that door.”

  “Who?” Jack asked, stopping the general for a moment with the strong grip of his hand.

  Offering no reply, the general instead broke free of the grasp, lowering himself enough to begin lifting a large grating of steel. A portion of the floor, exposing ten survivors.

  “Dear God.” Jack said, his emotions staggered as he caught sight of nine children, none over the age of seven. Each of them sitting in the small hole with a civilian woman.

  “This is all that remains lieutenant,” the general said, turning as he stood up once more. And the answer to your question is demons.”

  “Demons?” he asked with a puzzled voice.

  Before a reply could follow, however, gunshots began to crack loudly in the background.

  “Report!” Jack yelled, turning to hustle back to the entrance.

  “Earth Defense weaponry, but not ours. Bronson's group maybe?” Renaldo said.

  “Open it!” Jack demanded.

  “Lieutenant, wait,” the general pleaded, doing his best to catch up to the soldier in wait. “If the demons are outside, opening the door will seal all of our fates.”

  Taking a moment to consider the pleas of a retired general, Jack began to think of his men in the rain. Gunshots firing wildly outside of the thick plating of the door.

  “Open it.” he finally ordered, grabbing a small shotgun from his back and readying it with a single hand which held the weapon by the fore-end.

  And with Renaldo laying prone, his scope to the door and rifle at the ready, Wesley slowly began to pull the door open.

  Startling them all, Bronson nearly dove in, his body covered in a grimy mixture of blood and rain-drenched soil.

  Twiggy staggered in as well, beginning to shut the door on his own. Or at least offer an attempt.

  “Shut the door,” Bronson yelled, moving in to help his shell-shocked friend. “Shut the fucking door!”

  “Wait, Avery.” Jack said, starting to intervene.

  “He's fucking gone...in pieces!” Bronson yelled, never slighting on his attempt to seal the entrance. “Now somebody help me get this door shut!” he added, trembling hands working hard against the steel locking mechanism.

  With the immediate help of both the general and Lieutenant Jack Strong, steel connected once more, forcing the horrors of the damning rain to remain outside.

  “Oh fuck.” Twiggy commented, sliding down to a sitting position.

  “Someone is going to start telling me what the fuck is going on!” Jack said, pulling his shotgun back to the ready while adjusting his aim to the general.

  “Please.” the older man said, holding his hands up a bit.

  Determined to get answers, however, Jack remained dedicated with his weapon. Until he noticed a small child approaching them, followed by several more survivors.

  Finally lowering his weapon but never losing sight of his chilled stare onto the general, Jack nodded a bit.

  “Start talking.”

  “We call them demons. Succubus. But the truth is we're not sure what they are.” the general said.

  “Sounds about right to me,” Bronson yelled, still trembling a bit from fear. “Fuck sakes!”

  “Bronson,” Jack replied, staring to the man while thinking of the children looking on. “Shut up.”

  “We were colonizing, doing things according to protocol, and honestly, everything was going smoothly,” the general added. “Then one day, people started missing. At first we suspected our own as though a criminal lived
among us, but we began to see this demon. Very tall, very pale. Wings.”

  “Wings?” Jack asked with suspicion.

  “Yes wings,” the general replied firmly. “Not made of feathers, mind you, but steel. Sharp as blades.” he confirmed. “I finally convinced the others to pull back closely so we could better watch our people, but then the succubus creatures began come here. They don't fear us, don't fear weaponry. They just come here and murder.”

  “You said they...how many are we talking about?” Jack asked.

  “We still aren't sure. Maybe just a handful, maybe dozens,” the general replied. “Maybe more.” he said with regret.

  “Don't matter how many,” Bronson added, his normal calm beginning to settle back in a bit. “We encountered just one. Chopped Avery up into pieces with its wings and damn near got me.”

  Jackson looked at him for a moment, trying his best to soak up the entire statement, before finally turning back to the general, who now had all of the survivors behind him.

  “And you didn't once try and radio for help?” Jackson asked.

  “Of course we did. When everything first began, we tried. We did everything we could to get a transmission through this damn rain,” the general responded. “As a last ditch effort, we sent a group out to try and trigger the distress beacon on the far side of the colony. But they never returned.”

  “Your group did you proudly, our ships picked up your beacon several days ago. That's why we're here.” Jack replied.

  “We didn't know what else to do, so the general and I moved our children here. We wanted to keep them safe. Their parents agreed to fight the demons long enough for us to get here, and we've been locked in ever since.” the female survivor said, her voice warm but desperate.

  “Julia, it's alright. I'm sure we are to be safe soon enough.” the general replied.

  “Well you were right to bring the children here. This building acts as a fallout shelter, and I assume that the general's training served you well in this case.” Jack said.

  The general simply nodded, priding himself with being such a resourceful soldier.

  “The bad news is, however,” Jack said with pause. “Help may not be on the way. At least no time soon.”

  “I don't understand?” Julia asked.

  “Well ma'am, the ship we have in orbit is a small marine vessel. What you see in front of you, plus the six aboard our ship in orbit.” Jack replied.

  “Can't you call for help?” she asked.

  “No ma'am. Less than a minute after hitting the atmosphere, we lost all ability to communicate with the ship in orbit. The same rain that stopped your calls for help I'm guessing.”

  “Won't they eventually send more soldiers to look for you?” Julia asked, her concerns growing deeper.

  “Eventually, yes. But the mandatory time frame is thirty-days, at which point they'll dispatch an Earth Defense Carrier to come find us.” Jack replied.

  “Any mech units on your ship?” the general asked.

  “Two, but they're engineering only.” Jack replied.

  “I don't understand? Mech units are supposed to be the ultimate soldiers, the protectors of our race?” Julia asked, unsure of their chances of surviving.

  “Yes ma'am, and the soldier variety are. But we also have a lot of engineering versions in service, and the two aboard my vessel are just that. They can weld with the best of them, but aren't programmed or