by Jan Domagala
In its right hand was the torso of what was left of a human being. She couldn’t tell what gender it was because the head had been torn off.
“Boss, get over here now. I found the serum, it’s inside some thing,” Gina said through the battlecom channel.
Just as the words left her mouth the ‘thing’ attacked.
20
I
“Okay people, let’s move it. Gina has found something,” Jake sub-vocalised through the battlecom channel.
He didn’t like the tone of Gina’s voice, she sounded spooked and it took a great deal to spook that girl. Whatever it was they might need all hands to help out with it.
They all met up then double-timed it to Gina’s location. Before they even got there they heard the noise.
Jake was the first to reach the habitat. As he was about to enter Gina came rushing out firing her M25 behind her.
She glanced at him, eyes wide in fear as she screamed, “Run!”
Jake was a Recon Delta Marine and what’s more the leader of the Wildfire Team, he didn’t run. It was a decision he was about to regret.
He brought up his pulse rifle ready to fire and braced himself for whatever came through that door. He was completely unprepared though for what he saw.
Fallon was completely changed into a huge hulking War Dog by this time and as he came barrelling through the door he was so large he took part of the framework with him.
Jake’s eyes went wild as he saw the creature, for it was no longer human. Fallon was experiencing the folly of wanting Garrison to alter the original serum in this way and then taking a concentrated dose. His plan had backfired in the worst possible way and he had paid the ultimate price.
He was no longer human, but instead some hybrid of alien/human DNA combo. He was unable to think coherently, his only focus now was to act on instinct and that instinct told him to destroy.
Jake opened fire on fully automatic.
He watched as the pulsed plasma bolts tore into the huge chest of the creature.
Fallon carried on, ignoring the pain, his only focus was on the fleeing small thing and now the other miniscule being barring his path.
Jake rolled free at the last second as the creature barrelled past him.
“I think we need bigger guns,” he said to the others who had watched in wide-mouthed astonishment.
Joe and Mack opened fire along with Alex. Although their salvos stopped the beast in its tracks, it appeared that it was nothing more than an annoyance to it. It turned its huge head to look at them and Gina opened fire from behind.
The battlefield was compact.
They were inside the tunnel separating the various habitats with nowhere to go.
If they didn’t expand the kill zone they knew they would be the ones lying dead on the ground when this was all over.
Jake opened fire on the wall of the tunnel blowing a hole large enough for them to evacuate into the night air.
They all followed, fanning out on the ground keeping their weapons trained on the exit hole. The beast bellowed its rage at them for daring to escape, the noise echoing off the walls of the tunnel.
Gina was at Jake’s side in a flash.
“What the fuck is that thing, I thought we killed all the War Dogs on the station?” she asked slightly breathless.
“So did I,” Jake replied as he eyed the monster through the hole in the wall.
“This is like those yet different somehow. My guess is whoever that was took some of the serum that Garrison altered,” he continued.
“Is this what you expected Alex?” Jake asked the newcomer to their team.
Alex stared at the beast as it prepared to come after them.
“Sort of, this thing is definitely like the War Dogs who were altered on the station, which we all encountered, but this thing seems more so somehow. I agree whoever that was took a concentrated dose of the serum,” he said.
Jake turned from Alex as he heard the beast roar at them.
He brought his pulse rifle up to his shoulder ready to fire.
“Get ready guys, the second that thing makes a move towards us we take it down,” he said.
II
Black saw a group of people blast their way through one of the connecting tunnels in the habitat settlement.
He held up a closed fist, the universal sign to halt.
“What... what is it?” asked Johan and with a stare Black pointed to the small group emerging from the tunnel.
Black grabbed the man by the throat and slammed him to the ground aiming his rifle at his face.
“You’re giving our position away every time you open that slit of a mouth of yours. Do it again and I’ll shoot you myself, do you get me?” he hissed into his face.
A sudden bestial roar grabbed their attention and they looked up in the direction from which it originated. What they saw took their breath away.
The mutated Fallon came charging through the wall of the tunnel straight for the tiny group who suddenly looked small and insignificant against it.
“What the fuck is that?” muttered Johan.
“What you came to find, an altered War Dog,” Black said coldly.
21
I
As the altered Fallon came charging through the tunnel wall Jake and the rest of them opened fire with their M25s. They gave the creature everything they had and still it came on.
All the gunfire and additional noise from the creature roused the rest of the settlement. Alarms were raised and before long others were coming out from sections the Wildfire Team had yet to investigate.
Joe saw some of them out of the corner of his eye. “Boss we’ve got company,” he warned.
“Fan out,” Jake ordered and the team spread out so that the onrushing creature couldn’t make contact with any of them.
They continued to fire but Fallon, in his altered state, simply ignored the pain.
The beast became aware of others coming at him from all sides. Deep in the creature’s mind there still lurked some memory that these people were his friends, his comrades. What took over though was the desire to kill.
Fallon had become a true Berserker now and he lashed out with savage ferocity at anything within reach.
Several figures stopped short when they saw the sight of a strange beast-like creature in their camp. Before they could react Fallon was upon them.
Massive arms lashed out striking anyone within reach sending them flying through the air. What he didn’t strike he grabbed hold of and tore apart or simply threw through the air to collide with others.
It was chaos and carnage as the creature tore through the ranks of those Cartel members who had suddenly appeared.
“Aim for its head,” Jake ordered and immediately they all changed their shooting pattern.
Fallon threw up his arms to ward off the stinging plasma bolts that began to strike his face and his thickly muscled arms took the brunt of the barrage.
The Cartel members fell back and regrouped as the other intruders took on the beast for them.
Jake saw Gina alter her aim and he wondered what she was doing. As he continued to aim at the upper part of the beast he saw his teammate fire her pulse rifle at the beast’s right leg. Through his peripheral vision he noticed chunks of flesh blasted away from where her bolts hit and within a short time bone was being exposed. He knew the pain must have been excruciating for the beast and he heard him bellow both in rage and agony from the continued barrage.
The beast tried to move his leg away from the plasma fire but Gina was persistent.
Jake saw her tactic pay dividends as Fallon inevitably tumbled to the ground in front of them, his damaged leg no longer able to support his massive bulk.
As the creature fell Jake saw an opportunity. As Fallon landed on the ground his arms went flailing around to try and balance himself leaving his head exposed. Jake was the first to see this and fired on fully automatic. The rest joined him and the beast’s head exploded showering the gr
ound around him with blood and gore.
The massive creature twitched once then lay still, finally dead.
Jake and the team couldn’t relax though because by this time the other Cartel members had regained their wits and began firing hastily gathered weapons.
Jake returned fire and three figures went down. He hastily changed the battery clip in his M25 and began firing once more killing two more before they looked for cover.
Joe, Mack and Gina had each taken out members of the Cartel before they watched them disperse to find cover.
Jake said, “Regroup back at the Switchblades,” and began to move when he felt something was wrong.
Jake looked around, “Where’s Alex?” he asked.
II
Alex had escaped with the rest of the Wildfire Team through the tunnel wall and joined in the attack on the huge beast.
When he saw the Cartel members emerge from other sections of the settlement he made his move.
Dodging back from the firefight he made his way to another section of the habitat. His prime directive on coming on this mission was clear –he had to prevent the Cartel from using the altered serum. Seeing as how he had witnessed the beast he knew they had used at least some of it, he had to find and destroy the rest.
He ducked inside another of the rooms away from the fight that was raging with the others and held his rifle to his shoulder, ready to face any threat.
He quickly scanned the immediate area but found nothing. Lowering his M25 he began to search for any signs of the serum. Their earlier search had drawn blanks all around which was why he tried someplace else.
A sound alerted him to someone entering behind him.
He spun around bringing up his rifle ready to fire just as a burst of plasma bolts peppered the wall where he had been seconds before.
He fired off a quick return salvo without having time to aim. He was lucky as the first few bolts struck one of his attackers high on his chest sending him spinning around, spraying blood from his wound.
The other attacker dived for cover behind some furniture.
Alex used this momentary respite to find cover of his own.
“You won’t find it,” shouted the remaining attacker over the top of his cover.
“What makes you think I’m searching for something?” Alex asked trying to stall.
“I’m not stupid, you’re here for the serum.”
“So am I,” another voice said from the doorway.
Alex recognised that voice. He glanced over the top of his cover to see a figure standing in the doorway with a rifle aimed at the back of the other attacker. He fired before the other had time to react killing him instantly.
“Colonel Black, we must stop meeting like this,” Alex said standing up.
III
Black saw the group below engage the monstrous War Dog.
As their fire from their weapons tore into the creature he watched as one of their number detached himself from the main group.
“Thorn,” he muttered when he recognised him.
To Johan he said, “You take care of those down there, I’m going after Thorn.”
He followed his former comrade towards the other habitat and waited for him to enter. When he saw the other two figures appear and follow him inside he quickened his pace.
Oh no you don’t, no one gets to kill him except me, he thought.
As he reached the doorway he heard gunfire and thought he might be too late until he looked inside.
“Hello Alex, bet you thought you’d seen the last of me,” he said as Alex stood up to face him.
Both of them had their rifles trained on the man facing him, neither trusting the other.
“I must admit I did wonder if you’d show up again but I needn’t have bothered. Like the proverbial bad penny you always show up sooner or later,” Alex replied staring down the man opposite him.
Black said, “So where is it then?”
“I have no idea.”
“You wouldn’t lie to an old friend now would you Alex?”
“You and I were never friends so don’t even pretend.”
“That’s true, oh well never mind,” Black sighed and then pulled the trigger.
22
I
The plasma bolt struck the rifle Alex was holding knocking it flying from his hands.
He quickly dived for cover before Black could fire again. Grabbing his pistol from the holster strapped across his chest he jacked the slide to prime the battery clip.
“You can’t hide forever, Alex. Why not put your head up, give me a clean shot and I’ll end this quickly for you?” Black teased.
Alex picked a fallen cup and tossed it across the room. Black heard the cup shatter when it landed and turned to see where the noise had come from. Alex saw his opportunity and rose up.
Holding his pistol in a double-handed grip he fired off a fast double tap at Black but his aim was off. His rushed shot missed the target by inches instead alerting Black to his true position.
The latter spun around firing his pulse rifle on fully automatic. The barrage of plasma bolts tore up the cover Alex had been hiding behind as he dived across the floor to evade getting hit.
As he slid across the polished floor Alex fired a few shots off in Black’s direction hoping to hit a foot or ankle.
Alex heard Black pepper the tops of the desks in the room destroying items that were laid on top and sending others skittling across onto the floor. He knew Black had paused when he heard him fire his pistol and because Black saw no flashes he knew what to expect.
Alex heard Black slide onto the top of a desk taking his feet off the floor then fire his rifle down through the gaps in between what few desks remained.
Alex braced his shoulder against the nearest desk and pushed it up to form a barrier. He then hurled it at the off balance Black.
He dashed across the room heading for the other exit he had spotted and without looking fired off a couple of shots at Black.
He managed to reach the door and jump through just as a barrage of plasma bolts peppered the doorway.
II
“Have any of you seen where Alex went?” Jake asked looking around their immediate area.
Figures were coming from everywhere all of them armed with either rifles or pistols and all intent on their demise.
Jake received no replies from any of the team and he had to make a quick decision. They were in danger of being overrun by members of the Cartel who seemingly were popping up from nowhere.
“We need to evac,” he said as they all backtracked to where their Switchblades had been left, firing as they went.
“We’re not leaving him behind surely?” Gina asked, outraged that Jake would even consider it.
The look Jake gave her was answer enough.
“Artie, locate Alex now,” he said through the comm link they shared with the ship.
“Major Alex Thorn is moving out of the habitat to your immediate right, and he is moving fast, sir,” replied the Pulsar’s AI.
All heads turned to see Alex come running towards them.
“I don’t think we’ll find any more of the serum here,” he shouted as he came hurtling down the corridor.
Plasma bolts traced a path on the ground leading to him as Black fired his pulse rifle after him.
Jake looked around and saw more and more of the Cartel members suddenly appearing.
“Where the fuck are they all coming from?” he asked of no one in particular.
“Sir, there is an underground cavern system all around this settlement. They extend for over twenty-five miles from the middle of the settlement in all directions and descend for at least thirty miles. I cannot accurately assess the actual number of people who are down there, for my scanners cannot penetrate that far down,” Artie said, then added, “If you do not move now you will be overrun by them in less than five minutes, sir.”
Jake looked at his team and his stern expression said it all.
�
�This is now a bust, we’re leaving,” he said and firing his pulse rifle at the onrushing horde, headed for the Switchblades.
As he saw the one-man vehicles parked where they had left them he also saw something else.
A group of soldiers ill equipped with old tech and weapons were guarding the Switchblades.
There was no way they could get off the planet now, their escape route had been cut off.
They were trapped.
23
I
“Open fire!” Jake heard someone say in front of them. He appeared to be the leader of the group and clearly in charge.
Jake and his team already had their M25s at their shoulders and without having to order them they all fired first.
The first salvo from the Wildfire Team cut down seven of the group in front of them and the rest broke in panic at the sudden onslaught.
Jake continued firing as did the rest of his team and within a few minutes the rout had turned into a massacre. Without Johan as leader the rest of the Marines fell apart.
“Quick we need to get away from here,” Jake ordered, as he was about to throw a leg over the nearest Switchblade seat.
He saw Alex appear, followed by another figure he recognised as Colonel Black. He had an old Mk II pulse rifle aimed at the Major’s back.
“Alex behind you!” he shouted.
II
Alex saw the devastation the Wildfire Team had wrought on the Marines as he approached. He was nearly with them when he heard Jake shout a warning.
He dropped into a tuck and roll and came up facing the opposite direction, his pistol aimed at Black who was about to fire.
“It’s over Black, why don’t you admit it and let it go,” he said keeping his aim steady on the approaching Colonel.
Alex chanced a quick glance around and saw all the other figures coming towards them. None of them had any idea of the numbers the Cartel had on this planet and seeing them now was frightening.
“Nothing is over until it’s finished between you and I,” Black shouted back at him.
“What is there between you and I? We were part of the same thing, we both fought for our world’s freedom, what made you change sides?”