“We didn't see anything nearly as bad on Acherus,” Garcia said. “Some of them had changed, but I wonder if the length of infection makes a difference. Nothing we saw had grown any appendages.”
“Or maybe there's more to feed on here,” Swan added. She'd been quiet up until this point, which was her MO nearly all of the time. “You can't grow new limbs without some form of sustenance. And I doubt the virus wants these things to eat each other. From your vids on Acherus, they were only caged together.”
“Keeps getting better,” Reap said as he returned to the group before several more blips showed up on every team member's scanners. “More incoming.”
Nine more infected had heeded the call of their fallen sibling. The first four emerged from the corner of another prefab down the road, while the other five seemed to just appear from the fog. Most were similar to the first, while one of them was substantially larger. It was at least 12 feet tall, yet had retained both arms. Its hand, wrist, and forearm bones seemed to have fused into scythes and it grew a third leg from its tailbone. The feet of the monster had similarly fused, and the entire creature looked nothing like its original human form. Every appendage was sharpened, while its chest cavity sported a pustule covered carapace of sorts. The elongated face of the creature was perhaps the most unnerving as its skin tone had changed to a sickly yellow and red.
“I think your theory may have just been validated,” Garcia said to Swan. “That thing's fucking huge.”
Before Reap could give the order to fire, Alistair grabbed his hammer and sprinted toward the largest infected.
“Let's give the guy some cover,” Reap said as he raised his magrifle and unleashed a tungsten bolt with devastating accuracy, turning another mutated head into puree and mist.
The rest of the team followed suit and before long they were out of targets. They changed their focus to Alistair, who had just reached his gargantuan foe.
The beast took a swing with it's right arm, which Alistair countered with a counter strike from his shield – the claw didn't even scratch his shield's hardened surface. The scythe, conversely, cracked loudly and the creature howled. Alistair took the shriek as a sign that it needed to be put out of its misery and kept up his momentum to deliver his shoulder into the monster's chest plate. A sickening crack filled the air as it tried to impale him with its left arm. Alistair tried to deflect with his hammer, but the spike still managed to graze him, tearing a plate from his right pauldron. The creature's claws were sharp and disturbingly robust, easily piercing Alistair's armor at the joints.
The two crashed to the ground after Alistair put his full weight into the tackle and before the monster could recoil and strike again Alistair slammed his hammer into the hardened bicep of the remaining scythe. The skin was like treated leather, but he could feel muscles expanding and squishing together under the enormous force imparted by his hammer. The creature shrieked again and tried to use any of its legs as a weapon, but Alistair lifted his hammer again and silenced its shrill cries with a blow to the face. Sharpened fangs shot out from its unnaturally long face as the blunt side of the hammer relentlessly compressed and spread whatever was in its way.
He stood and looked down at the shattered remnants of the creature while mentally chiding himself to use his ranged weapons first next time. The rest of the team watched, impressed at his bravado, but also thinking the exact same thing.
“If you die out here, The Commander's gonna string me up,” Reap said. Alistair could hear the smile in his voice.
The group closed in their formation and headed for the first hot spot that The Ubik's scanners were able to pick up from low orbit. The fog still hung heavily overhead as they marched, beams of light streaking from their chests into the dark abyss beyond.
Chapter 70
Aboard The Ubik, Lili had found a nearby flat landing to touch down. The initial plan was to take up a low holding pattern over the city, but now the crew decided that it would draw too much attention from the infected. They were to land out of harm's way and Lili had decided a clearing along the road between Kalys and Port Stout was the best place. The overgrowing vegetation of the planet just made it too difficult to find a spot that wasn't a mess of overgrowth, shrubs, and vines. And without the navigation satellites in orbit there was no LADAR survey data to determine what was flat and what wasn't.
“Maybe we should set up camp. It's quite a big clearing, I think they were going to build something but never got the chance,” Mel suggested.
“The air is totally clean, it might not be a bad idea,” Rachel added.
Lili looked at the women and tried to determine if they were making a logical decision or letting their personal feelings interfere. She was worried about the insertion team as well, but didn't want to risk having to confront the creatures now wandering the planet.
“It would help to set up some defenses, especially if they do find any refugees. They'll have to bring them somewhere and we can't exactly land in town now.”
Lili looked at the limited survey data and nodded. “Let's see what we can come up with.”
She tapped her PCD and summoned the two troopers still on board The Ubik. They were initially to be part of the attack, but decided Garcia and Stewart would make suitable stand ins. It was supposed to be a joint mission, after all.
A moment later, Pork and Teakettle joined them on the bridge.
“Rachel and Mel think we should set up a staging area here,” Lili said as she pointed to the survey data on her screen. “I was thinking we could set up barricades and some turrets from the armory.”
“Not a bad idea. We can't land in town without risking the ship. And look,” Pork said as he pointed to a nearby outcropping of trees. “We can cut these down and build wooden barricades. It won't be much, but it could funnel any strays that come our way into the turret's field of fire. What do you think, TK?”
“Better than sitting here with our thumbs up our asses.”
“Alright, let's look through the armory and see what we've got,” Lili said. “I wouldn't be surprised if Alistair hasa stash of land mines somewhere.”
“Actually...” Cairenn said. “I have a good idea. Let me talk to the ground team and see if it'll work. You're brilliant, Lili!”
Lili smiled in thanks but was perplexed as to what she said that was so brilliant.
Chapter 71
“Sure, give me one sec,” Garcia said to Cairenn. He turned to face the group, a mostly useless gesture when entirely shielded with powered armor. “She said she wants some really in-depth scans to try and find genetic markers that differentiate between human and infected.”
“Simple enough,” Reap said as he pointed to a nearby infected corpse he'd just partially vaporized with his magrifle.
Garcia walked over to the corpse, waved his mechanized arm over it a few times, and sent the scan data to The Ubik.
“That work for you?” he asked.
“Yup! Perfect. Now we won't blow you to pieces when you come back. Good luck!” Cairenn replied over the entire team's channel.
They all paused for a moment, confused, then decided to not worry about it until later. They continued their trek through town, having now encountered several dozen infected. They had disabled their flood lights, as dawn was slowly creeping up and they didn't want to draw too much attention to themselves.
“If this keeps up, we're going to have to switch to plasma. We don't have nearly enough ammo to take out an entire city,” Trip said.
“Just send Alistair after them,” Daisy said with a chuckle.
“Up ahead,” Reap interrupted. He was used to his crew's chatter and didn't see any reason to chastise them for it. They kept their spirits high by shooting the shit whenever possible, and it had never caused any issues before. “We've got quite a few infected outside that building. It's the local high school, looks like.”
They had moved further into the city and were now on the main road running through the center of town. The width of
the street allowed for better visibility but it was also cluttered with all manner of trash, scrap, crates, and various civilian supplies. The soldiers had to move slowly in order to make sure they didn't find any unpleasant surprises popping up behind them. Further down the road was a large concrete and metal building surrounded by infected on all sides.
They slowed to a stop and fanned out to defensive positions, covering flanks and the rear.
“I see life in the windows upstairs, I think. They've got shit jammed in front of the downstairs doors and windows, but the upstairs is wide open. Anybody else see that? Third window from the right,” Garcia pointed out.
“Good eye, I see it now. They don't look infected, but the fog is obscuring them still. Their movements look human, at least,” Swan said. She adjusted her suit's magnification as much as she could, but it couldn't see through a solid wall of fog. Fortunately, it was starting to thin out as the sun came up.
“Thoughts, Reaper?” Alistair asked.
“If they're human, we clear the area and go in. If not, we move on. Let's get somebody closer to look around. Stewart, Trip – take your time but get us a feed. We'll move in once we all agree.”
“Roger,” both men said as they grouped up and slowly worked their way closer to the school.
Using various pallets, garbage, and even piles of bodies as cover, the two armored men worked their way closer and closer until sending their recording to the rest of the team.
“Those are definitely people. They're too close to the windows, though. As soon as one of the infected sees them, they'll go ape shit and tear that building down. Only a matter of time,” Stewart said.
“Agreed. Let's scout our flanks a bit, then move up slowly,” Reaper ordered.
Alistair and his remaining teammates took left while Reap and his group went right. They wanted to make sure they weren't going to get ambushed while clearing the infected around the high school.
“Clear right,” Reap said after a few minutes.
It took another minute before Alistair replied “clear left.”
“Meet back on the street, then we'll set up fields of fire.”
As they regrouped in the street, they all saw the horde of infected start to stir. One of the creatures shrieked and the team quickly saw why – a woman was trying to look out one of the windows. As soon as the horde started to shriek and reach for her, she disappeared.
The damage was done, however, as creatures of various sizes and shapes began trying to climb the walls, claw through the doors, and even bite through the walls. They had almost no sense of self preservation.
“Shit, we need to get their attention. Loud speakers,” Reap said, calm as can be. “Form up a firing line at 75 yards.”
The group rushed forward until they were 75 yards from the increasingly agitated horde, then Alistair, standing in the center of the line beside Reap, slammed his hammer onto his shield. Reap, meanwhile, took a knee and began firing. The rest of the team followed suit.
Between Alistair's thunderous blows and the firing of 7 magnetic weapons, the horde very quickly realized there was prey outside of the school. They turned, almost as one, and rushed the group.
“Rear still clear,” Garcia said. He and Swan were watching the team's flanks.
The horde numbered in the hundreds, and what started as 75 yards quickly became 65, then, 50, then 40.
The magrifles simply couldn't fire fast enough to keep up with the tide of bone, flesh, and sinew surging their way.
“Leapfrog back, fifteen meters at a time,” Reap said. “Bravo first.”
Reap and his squad fell back exactly fifteen meters before turning around and returning fire, then Alistair's squad did the same thing. It still wasn't enough.
Sensing that they would soon be overrun, Alistair decided his wrist mounted mag pistol wasn't doing the trick.
“Go plasma, full auto,” he said as he stood up and charged the swarming horde. His hammer and shield both made effective weapons and his almost inhuman reflexes kept him from being impaled or ripped in pieces.
Most of the infected were of average human size, between six and seven feet tall. Only one in the horde was as hideous and large as the three legged giant Alistair had toppled when they first arrived. It took quite a few rounds from their magrifles but the beast was brought down without incident. Claws, fangs, and carapace splintered as Alistair used his melee weapons with great effect, an almost poetic mixture of grace and violence. His suit's servos whirled and screamed while the exhaust turbines spewed super heated air - all contributing factors to the disturbing beauty of pure, unbridled carnage. A cacophony of chaos as man and machine seemingly became one in an effort to overcome insurmountable odds.
“We've got a group coming from behind, they must have heard us. Nothing to worry about yet,” Swan said. Her voice was impossibly calm given the circumstances.
After a few brutal minutes of constant firing, the team had eradicated the last of the infected. They all kept their wits, however, as they'd only killed a very small fraction of the city's population. Fresh bodies littered the street and Alistair walked from creature to creature smashing their skulls with his hammer, boot, or the bottom of his shield. The monsters' focus on him saved the team from having to retreat and they all began to see the validity of his melee kit.
As they regrouped and advanced on the school, most of the soldiers locked their magrifles to their suits while pulling out their secondary plasma weapons. They had a higher rate of fire and significantly larger energy reserves, making them optimal offensive tools against a foe only armed with blades and spikes.
They approached the front steps of the school, kicking aside the corpses they had first taken down as they were getting the horde's attention.
“We don't have much time, if there's anybody in here that's uninfected, let us know now,” Reap said, his voice immediately more pleasant as he attempted to deal with traumatized civilians – a professional through and through.
“Holy shit.. hold on! We'll come down! Don't leave!” a man shouted.
It took several minutes, but eventually a group of about thirty people had filled the front lobby to the school, pushing aside the makeshift desks and chairs that formed their last ditch barricades.
“How many total in your group?” Reap asked.
“32,” the man said. “I'm Councilman Dannesh. What the hell took you so long?”
“I'm sorry?” Reap was immediately annoyed, although he did a good job of hiding it.
“One would think so! We've been hiding in that school for a week now waiting for the Republic to send help. With all the tax hikes and the dwindling supplies being sent out, I figured we'd get help after maybe a day.”
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Does anybody here need medical assistance? Or are they all set to travel? We've got to move soon.” Reap wasn't going to take the bait and argue with the councilman.
“We're not going anywhere! We built this city with our bare hands! Now where are the rest of the troops, we need to take it back!”
Reap sighed, glad that his suit hid his face. “Again, are there any wounded?” He said as he gently brushed passed the man to scan the faces of the rest of the group. Swan and Garcia had already moved to help patch a few minor scrapes and bruises, but all in all the survivors seemed to be in good shape.
“We're clear to move, Reap,” Swan said. Her main position was as medic, but she was a remarkably proficient sharpshooter as well.
“Roger, let's go then. Dannesh, we'll fill you in on the way.”
“That's Councilman Dannesh to you. And just because you're some grunt marine doesn't give you authority over me.”
As Reap debated popping the man's head like a pimple, Alistair walked up the concrete steps to the school, retracted his face shield, and stared Dannesh dead in the eyes. He flicked his hammer, sending out a stream of infected blood and goo that splattered along the stairs.
“We don't have time for this. When more of them show up
, we can't guarantee we'll have the firepower to take them out. You can stay here if you want, but we're heading back to our LZ and taking any of these people with us who are smart enough to see reason.”
He immediately closed his mask, turned around, and headed back down the steps. The survivors all followed, carefully avoiding Dannesh. He wasn't used to being told no and was very clearly accustomed to being in a position of authority.
The rest of the team fanned out and formed a protective diamond around the group with Garcia in the rear. They made their way down the road toward the edge of town, where they would have a three kilometer hike to reach The Ubik's landing site. Dannesh kept quiet for fear of being left behind or, worse in his mind, being verbally reprimanded in front of his constituents.
Chapter 72
The crew of The Ubik had kept themselves busy fortifying the evacuation point. The two troopers used the added strength of their powered armor to rapidly build a wooden palisade with two points of entry, both of which were protected by automated ion beam turrets. Cairenn had kept herself busy by printing land mines in the ship's workshop. They were standard issue hopping mines, which used a small jet turbine to leap from the ground and compressed air jets to propel themselves toward their target. Republic military forces called them 'poppers'. She'd been able to print several dozen of them and took Mel to evenly space them out beyond the palisade.
Meanwhile, Lili and Rachel were working to get food and basic medical supplies unloaded in an effort to easier treat wounded survivors. Hearing that the infiltration team had successfully rescued over 30 people raised the spirits of the crew dramatically, but they were starting to feel fatigued from the heavy labor and lack of sleep. Nobody had gotten any real rest since they started their approach to the Kalinar system.
“I still don't see why we had to make the place so damn big,” Lili said. “You guys don't have to show off, you know. We could easily park ten ships in here.”
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