Refract: The Reclaim Series, Book 3.5

by J. A. Scorch

  He didn't seem to think much of the corporal's comment until he thought about the threat Matos had just promised. "Understood, Corporal. Heading there now."

  Larsen grabbed his LMG and tried to ignore the hint of apprehension he sensed in Saxon's voice. Without knowing for certain, he figured Matos had made her move. He only hoped she hadn't done anything too unredeemable by the time he got down to the basement.

  Chapter Five

  Larsen stomped down the creaking stairwell and found the ground a moment later. He would need to traverse the hallway next and find a second set of stairs down to the basement level. His flashlight bounced off the walls as he ran as fast as his armored space suit would allow. He wasn't wearing the exoskeleton-enhanced system that was available to most soldiers but the old design the MAF once wore. Skyresh wasn't considered a high priority on the SAF's agenda, so aging gear and equipment were all grunts like Larsen would ever see.

  He reached the basement stairs and charged down, holding his LMG in one hand while the other slid over the railing.

  "Don't do it, Matos," he said to himself off-comm. There was no point in trying to tell her over the radio. She wouldn't listen to him. Plus, the sound of his approaching steps would tip her off that he'd been ordered to check on Jarvis.

  He reached the bottom and raised his X556SAW, clicking off the safety a moment later. He didn't plan on shooting anyone in the confines of the narrow corridors of Venom Point, but it was better to be ready for anything given Matos' filling rage—not to mention Jarvis'.

  Larsen swept his weapon left and right, utilizing his fixed flashlight to cut through the dark. More dust and neglect met his eyes as he found abandoned equipment and dirty walls. Jarvis had been ordered to check on the backup power, so Larsen headed down another flight of steps to the generators in the bowels of the building. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he spotted Matos and Jarvis in the position he hoped not to find them.

  Jarvis was on his knees with his arms behind his head while Matos leveled her X762A1 rifle at his skull. Jarvis' weapon was out of reach on its side and bathing the room with half-blocked light.

  "Matos," Larsen called. "What are you doing?"

  "Piss off, Larsen. I'm not going to let this asshole get away with what he did to Miles."

  "Don't do it. You're better than this."

  "No, I'm not. You said so yourself. We are the worst of the worst. I might as well embrace that."

  Larsen took his eyes off Matos for a moment. Jarvis had lost his smirk. Instead, a valid bit of fear plastered his face. That was when he notices Matos slide her finger to the trigger out of the corner of his eye.

  "Lower your weapon," he yelled at her as he raised his sidearm from the leg holster of his armor. He swiveled the X556SAW to a locked position down his chest. At such a close range, the LMG would only kill his friend and cause untold damage to the generators standing behind Matos. Against EVA battle armor, the standard issue sidearm of the SAF was only capable of knocking Matos over with a few well-placed shots without killing her.

  "Last warning," Larsen said. He aimed for her shoulder. Two hits would knock her half over from such a close range given that the pistol fired .45 slugs.

  "No, it's not fair. He deserves this."

  "Larson," Corporal Saxon called over the comm. "Report. What's going on down there?"

  Larsen ignored the call and focused. "Matos. Think about this. I haven't told Saxon anything. If you stop this now, nothing has to come of it. Jarvis will agree right now not to tell a soul about this, will you?"

  "Ah, no. Of course not," Jarvis said. "Water under the bridge. Call us even."

  Matos sneered as she closed her eyes and yelled out loud. "Bullshit. He’s lying."

  Larsen’s eyes darted about as he tried to come up with a convincing enough argument to counter what they all knew to be true.

  "Please, Matos," he begged.

  "Fine, dammit. But this isn't over." She lowered her weapon and allowed the room a moment to breathe. Larsen felt his pistol begin to ease off as Jarvis let his arms drop to his sides.

  The three remained silent for a moment until Saxon chimed in.

  "Dammit, Larsen, I asked for you to report. What the hell is—"

  The comm cut off as something rumbled throughout Venom Point.

  "What was that?" Jarvis asked no one in particular.

  "Corporal?" Larsen called over the comm. "What's happening up there?"

  Static filled the headphones in their helmets. The three privates stared at one another for a few seconds until an explosion ripped through the base overhead, causing the world to shudder for a moment.

  "We have to get out of here, right now," Larsen yelled. He grabbed Jarvis' rifle and handed it to him before bolting back up the stairs. The two soldiers followed his lead out of the generator room. Matos and Jarvis made no attempt to murder one another as pieces of the base began to dislodge in the narrow corridors. Dust kicked off the walls, and metal bars clanged about as the vibrations continued for a moment longer.

  Before they got to the next set of steps that led up to the main building, the shaking stopped as if everything were back to normal. The three halted their climb and looked at one another.

  "Corporal Saxon?" Larsen called over the comm. "Corporal? Are you there?"

  No reply came as the base fell silent.

  Chapter Six

  Larsen led the charge as the three privates headed back up from the basement through the main building of Venom Point. Only moments ago, an explosion rocked the outpost to its core and silenced their team leader.

  "Corporal," Larsen yelled into his suit. There was still no response over the comm. When he found daylight and headed outside into the open area of the base, he spotted something that had not been sitting on the ground of Venom Point when they arrived.

  "What the hell is that?" Matos asked out loud as the three approached a steaming hot sphere. The partially buried object was the height of an average soldier and appeared to be made from metal.

  "Did it fall off the roof or something?" Matos continued.

  Larsen kept his distance as the others gathered around the ball that had a slight purple tinge to it. He had never seen anything like it at Skyresh or at any of the other outposts they regularly visited.

  "Stay back, guys. I don't think we should be touching that thing."

  Jarvis scoffed. "Come on, Larsen. It's not every day something like this just falls out of the sky."

  Larsen shook his head. "Leave it be," he said directly to Jarvis. The soldier had apparently forgotten about coming close to death at the hands of his vengeful comrade only minutes ago.

  Jarvis swung his head around with a screwed-up brow. "I don't take orders from you, Private."

  "While you are out here serving 4th Squad, you will obey the chain of command. I'm second-in-charge on this fire team." Larsen lifted his LMG up as proof.

  Jarvis took his eyes off the object. "I'll never listen to a piece of shit 4th Squad loser like you."

  "Shut the hell up," Matos said.

  Jarvis spun around to her. "Or what? You'll shoot me. I don't think so."

  The arguing continued between Matos and Jarvis until Larsen intervened. "Both of you, can it. We shouldn't be messing around so close to this thing. We don't know what it is."

  Jarvis took his eyes off Matos with a smile as he faced Larsen. "What? Do you think it was sent from the Zeal?"

  "Could have been," Larsen said with a shrug. "Why else would it just appear out of nowhere?"

  "Bullshit," Jarvis declared. "It's probably a new weapon the SAF are testing. Looks like a drone or maybe a—"

  A loud hiss filled the air around the sphere. Four identical compartments that appeared to be hidden only a second ago cracked open and folded out from the object. Jarvis and Matos both backed up and raised their weapons without another thought. Larsen crept back with his X556SAW aimed directly at the sphere.

  "What's happening?" Matos asked.

/>   "I don't know," Larsen replied. "Just keep your rifle trained on that thing. You too, Jarvis."

  "Don't tell me what to do, Private."

  Larsen let a groan out. Of all the moments Jarvis chose to be himself, now wasn't it. He didn't have time to negotiate with the ass from 1st Squad, so he continued to aim at the sphere as he made sure he had solid footing.

  Silence filled the air once again as the object stopped making noise. Four dark, open compartments stared back at the three from within the sphere. Larsen let his weapon lower ever so slightly as he took half a step forward to try and gauge why this random ball would just appear out of nowhere after an explosion and begin opening.

  "See. Told you it was nothing," Jarvis said as he took his gaze off the sphere. His arrogance was answered a moment later when a new object burst from the dark void with a shriek.

  Larsen tightened the grip on his X556SAW when what appeared to be a spinning robot the size of half a soldier spat out of the ball and spun in his direction. He started to wonder if this thing was indeed an SAF experiment gone astray as he lined up his sights. Larsen fired without much more delay, unleashing a full burst of HE rounds at the charging object. Half of his shots missed despite the close range, but the ones that landed stopped the robot in its tracks, forcing it to open from its ball and reveal not a government experiment but a small Zeal soldier covered in jagged armor from head to toe.

  "What the ...?" Larsen let out, trailing off as the alien in front of him flared out its sharp, reinforced limbs at him with a shriek. Each purple arm and leg were enveloped in thick, metallic blades that looked as if they could cut a soldier down in a flash. The creature was unlike anything the Zeal had ever thrown at humanity before.

  "Keep firing," a voice called over the comm. A second later, gunfire hit the alien in the back and knocked it forward as Corporal Saxon shot from the walkway. Every bullet from his rifle landed with perfection—surprising Larsen more than anyone else—but the creature seemed to have most of its armor on its back.

  Larsen, Matos, and Jarvis all fired at the lone alien and lit it up from multiple angles, ripping it to shreds with enough firepower to turn its purple body within the armor into liquid.

  Despite their onslaught, the Zeal soldier took an absolute beating before it gave up and fell into a heap.

  Larsen let out a sigh of relief and stared up to the walkway. Corporal Saxon was reloading his rifle and shifting targets to the ball. The move sent a shiver down Larsen's spine as he realized why.

  "There's more of them," Saxon called. "Fall back to my position on the double."

  The three privates didn't need to be told twice as they charged past the sphere and ran toward the corporal. Another three aliens poured out from the fallen ball with a shriek and gave chase. Jarvis was trailing behind, possibly hesitating for a moment when his brain received an order from a 4th Squad soldier.

  Larsen span around as one of the creatures was almost upon Jarvis. He opened fire with his LMG from a side angle and slowed the Zeal down enough for the private to escape.

  "Move it," Saxon yelled as he aimed his rifle at their location. He couldn't shoot without tagging one of the three.

  Larsen let Jarvis pass him as he continued to hose down the Zeal while they gave chase. Each burst from his LMG slowed them up enough but failed to do any lasting damage to the thick armor the aliens wore. While they were spinning, each bullet was deflected with ease. Only when the creatures were stationary and out of their protective ball mode did his shots take have an impact.

  The three scaled the steps as Saxon began shooting down on the Zeal. "Jarvis, Matos," he yelled. "Grenade launchers, now."

  "Yes, Corporal," Jarvis replied. The menace of the Zeal pulled the 1st Squad soldier in line as Larson continued to unload everything he had on the three spinning aliens. He heard the corporal's command and swiveled around to bolt away from the threat as fast as he could up the steps.

  Jarvis and Matos switched firing modes and lined up their weapons to hit the Zeal with 40mm grenades from their under-barrel launchers.

  "Fire."

  Their synchronized shots popped out of their rifles and exploded on impact at the base of the aliens' approach. The close-range hit knocked all four soldiers back a touch, causing them to stumble. It went against every rule in the book to fire a grenade in such a way, but desperation overrode all reason.

  The three Zeal soldiers twitched about around the small dents in the ground the two grenades created. Saxon finished off one of the aliens with a half burst prompting Larsen to add his LMG to the party.

  After a few more hits, the creatures stopped moving, allowing the fire team a moment to reload their weapons and catch their breath.

  "What in the hell were they?" Jarvis asked out loud.

  "Zeal, I guess," Saxon answered. "And there's more of them. Opposite wall I spotted another one crashing down from the sky. It hit a small fuel tank and exploded on impact. Don't know if they survived or not."

  "That's not all," Jarvis said.

  "What do you know, Private?" Saxon asked.

  Jarvis stepped forward. "When I was sweeping the basement, I found the main power line coming from the reactor had been slashed to pieces. I didn't get a chance to report this before we got interrupted." Jarvis gave Matos a quick glance.

  "Jesus," Saxon said. "That explains the power. There must be more of these pods around. These alien bastards have probably been ordered to sabotage the base or something. I'm surprised we didn't stumble across them when we arrived."

  Larsen felt his heart pounding harder in his chest than he knew possible. He'd never been in combat before today. He stared at Saxon and stepped toward his team leader. "Corporal, we need to kill them."

  Saxon nodded. "Damn straight. Command will need to hear about this, too. I'm going to order an immediate evac so we can—"

  Saxon never finished his sentence as one of the Zeal balls leaped over the edge of the walkway from outside the compound and pulled the corporal down by hooking one of its claws over his shoulder. Saxon tumbled backward in silence and fell the two levels to the hard ground below with a thud.

  Larsen charged for the side a second too late and found the corporal in the dirt surrounded by four of the aliens as they started hacking into his armor at lighting speed.

  Larsen never got a word out before his team leader was ripped apart before his very eyes.

  Chapter Seven

  Matos pulled Larsen back as he fired down on the four Zeal soldiers who had just butchered Saxon in an instant. "We have to go," she yelled. "There are more of them coming."

  Larsen spun around at the exact moment another sphere landed in the dirt beside the first with a thud. The pod had torn through the sky above, concealed by his gunfire, to land in the exact spot the Zeal wanted it to.

  Its doors remained shut, but more of the deadly aliens inside would soon spill out and hunt them down. Matos led the three along the walkway, utilizing its capability to bypass any Zeal within the base. She ran at full speed to a corner tower where mounted coilguns and autocannons once existed to defend the outpost. With the recent stripping of Venom Point, the towers were nothing but the higher ground.

  The three ran inside the tower as yet another sphere landed. They pushed through two doors of the tower with urgency and sealed them both shut, manually locking them a moment later. With no power, they could not flood the tower with breathable air. Darkness met them instead.

  Larsen switched on his flashlight and swept the area. The tower's stairwell was covered in dust, having not seen action in an untold number of months. He aimed his weapon up the steps to see if any of the Zeal balls had found their way inside.

  "Looks clear," Matos said by his side. "We should head up top and take a decent look at what's going on out there."

  Larsen went to answer her but the image of Saxon being ripped apart, limb from limb, was still fresh in his mind, burning itself permanently into his memories.

  "Larsen?"
>
  "Yeah?" he asked.

  "Up top?" Matos asked again.

  With Saxon dead, Larson was now in charge of the fire team. "Sounds like a plan. I'll take point." He started to head up the steps and spotted Jarvis pacing around, not following either soldier.

  "Jarvis, you coming?"

  The soldier muttered to himself off comm, his face all twisted up and ready to explode.

  "Jarvis?" Larsen half yelled.

  "What?"

  "Are you coming, Private? We need to move, right now."

  Jarvis stared Larsen and Matos down. "Fine. Hurry up, already." He shoved through and took point. Larsen followed behind, realizing it was best for him to be the buffer between Matos and Jarvis should they decide to continue their discussion from earlier.

  The three reached the top of the tower and proceeded through two sealed doors. The room required its occupants to be wearing full EVA suits so they could function half out in the open atmosphere of Mars.

  The three made sure the area was clear from any Zeal. Within the spire, the dwindling fire team was safe from attack as the tower was only accessible from the sealed walkways or via a closed tunnel that led to the basement level of the outpost. The design made it harder for the enemy to infiltrate each corner of the base where heavy weapons were supposed to be operational.

  "Let's take a peek outside," Larsen said as he approached the shutter control. Where each gun would have sat were armored shutters. They could still be manually operated during power failures. He pumped the covers open using a lever located underneath the main panel. After a thirty-second effort, daylight spilled into the room.

  Larsen stared at a 360-degree view similar to the one he found in the control tower. Instead of consoles and equipment he had no knowledge of the towers were once loaded with mounted cannons and supplies. Of course, the tower they stood inside had been completely cleared of its deadly contents. The only advantage the room allowed them was a comprehensive view of the entire outpost.