Cyber Viking 1

by Marcus Sloss

  “Fuck me,” Perci said. She then turned to the Mother Hens bringing plates of food for the table. “Everything inside!”

  I overrode every single Gpad linked to our Gtower. “Emergency broadcast. An alien invasion is coming. I say again. Look at the video I am making available. Seek immediate shelter. Seek immediate shelter. If there is a god, may she or he have mercy on our souls.”

  My Gpad swapped to my citizens only. “Get your asses back here now! If you are inside the Stronghold, get your weapons and be ready. Keep working, when you are needed for the wall, you will get the call. Parents, get the children into the barn and start a movie night.”

  I looked at the image of Xgate 232, and things went from bad to worse. There were twenty plus gargoyles outside the portal, stomping around in agitation. They parted for a leader that stepped through. I saw flapions shocking the massive beasts with their electrical weapons. A back leg shot out in a kick, sending three flapions to their deaths. The surviving little creatures flew back to their gloomy planet. The largest gargoyle smelt the air. Its head spun to where the thousands of humans were panicking on the road to reach us. My weapon went into the air, angled slightly forward.

  “Cover ears!” I bellowed.

  Crack! My carbine barked in the night sky as the sun dipped below the horizon.

  The pack of gargoyles stopped when they heard my gunfire. I released a second round. A breath later, a third. Then a fourth. The pack split. Six bounded for my gunshots at speeds beyond that of a greyhound. My jaw dropped. Fuck. So much for getting work done while we waited. They would be here in less than thirty minutes.

  The main pack went for the mass of humans that were now scattering. The alpha gargoyle seemed unfazed when my additional shots reached its ears. The nose kept sniffing for the group of desperate humans caught out in the open.

  I flicked my view to those on the road north. A majority were going back for Aspen. Some ran into the woods. Others went toward the aliens unknowingly. The cars that were still a half hour away sped up.

  I looked at my teams’ locations. Eddy was nowhere close to being home. Slister just hit the dirt road and should have time. If they risked it, they could arrive without too much concern. Mclain’s team was east of the dirt road. There was no chance either Mclain or Eddy would make it in time. Mitchell’s team had taken a wall break for looting, but were thankfully back for the night shift swap. My mind processed my options. None were good for the teams still in the field. I dialed up the command channel.

  “Slister, pedal to the metal. Eddy, Mclain, go silent. Set the best defense you can where you are. Jevon I want gunfire every five seconds. Nancy, get your team to pull out the heavy weapons. We’ve got thirty minutes or less.”

  “Come on, we're going into RV3,” Perci said, picking up her pace until it was a jog.

  Willow and I trailed behind her. The door was already open with Jevon giving out orders. The table was packed with sergeants and officers getting briefings. I went for the bedroom and saw our drone operators sitting against the back wall. I thumbed for Felix Delcroy, Dalila Mclain, and Erik Mitchell to get out. I glanced at the view screen wall. There were two videos up on the display. The Xgate was oddly quiet on the left, and the right had six charging monsters heading our direction. Perci flinched when a trooper fired right outside the RV.

  I pushed Perci into the booth once the space opened up. I spun, gave Willow a deep kiss, and said, “Go find Nancy. See you on the wall soon.”

  Her desire to pout was suppressed. “Yes Cap!” She said proudly and was gone.

  Perci waited until she was far enough away to say, “Those refugees are fucked. We might even be with just the six. They look like they have armored skin.”

  “We have fifty caliber sniper rifles, missiles meant to bust tanks, and nowhere to run to. We fight or we die. They have a home to run to. That makes a big difference in a battle. The only way those creatures are getting to my kids in that barn is over my corpse,” I said with a grimace.

  A radio was handed to me by Jacky. It was the Aspen radio that was giving static feedback.

  “Colonel, this is Cap,” I said.

  “My observers have noted the coming enemy. We are securing those we can on a temporary basis. I heard your warning. Good luck, Mansion.”

  “Good luck, Aspen. Cap out.”

  I spent the next five minutes watching my troops prepare from outside RV3. I stood there like a lazy ass captain should.

  Having the whole picture was far more important than moving weapons or fixing gear on soldiers. I needed to be ready to instantly give out orders. Torrez found me to wait at my side. As a veteran, he knew I would need people to help adjust to the developing situation.

  Mr. Wang and his wife were a prime example. The duo ran to me.

  “Report,” I said.

  “We need help securing the elderly. We cannot -”

  “They are to remain in place. Use the empty beds in the other rooms to block the windows, balcony, and finally, the door. Make it happen.”

  They gave a slight bow and sped back for the mansion. Clive shook my hand, wishing us luck before heading to the barn with his two kids and his niece. Gary asked to keep working until the last minute, which I approved. The Gtower said it would rain any minute, and the more cover we had before then, the better. Norm asked to move vehicles in front of the barn for a fallback defense. That was the cue for Torrez to leap into action. Felix stole his spot at my side while the situation developed.

  Jevon was barking out orders from up high on the hesco barrier. Our sergeants were staggering troops. Civilians were handing out preloaded magazines. The food had been brought in and the trailer blocking our hesco opening was swapped for a dump truck. Harvard came to my side.

  “They can jump the hesco containers, even when stacked two high. Just saw one leap a copse of twenty foot tall trees and fly over it. I do not think they can fly for long, but this wall will be nothing to them,” Harvard said. I knew better than to reply. The man was back inside the RV digesting the additional details.

  I saw Willow and Nancy hauling an anti-tank missile. Jevon directed them down the line. An alert hit my wrist. The flapions were exiting the gate now in droves. They swarmed the landscape in the hundreds and then the thousands. I knew they feared the gargoyles, as I had termed them. I also think they had zero control over the gargoyles’ actions. I assumed the flapions were here to clean up the mess. As far as strategies go, it was fairly brilliant in its simplicity. Unleash fearsome killers, let chaos ensue, and then collect what you could.

  Two key things happened in the next five minutes. Mclain was hunkered down inside a gas station. The six gargoyles heading our way sniffed for their direction. You could see the pack catch their scent. Our rifle fire kept them focused; with only that slight hesitation, they continued for Stronghold Mansion. The other big news was the salt trucks pulled forward into the kill zone as Slister’s team slowly rolled in. The beep of the trucks reversing was drowned out by the discharge of a rifle.

  I dialed Dedric, who immediately answered. The older black man appeared to have developed additional gray hairs from today’s events. “Go.”

  “They can jump the wall. I need collision drivers stationed outside,” I said dryly.

  “For the community.”

  The call was cut out when he closed the connection. The two dump trucks drove forward to position spread up outside the wall. RV1 joined them with three other trucks. I watched the video. While the gargoyles could crash through trees, they preferred not to. The six heading our direction arrived on the dirt road. I switched my view to the larger pack. I instantly regretted my decision.

  The refugees fleeing for here were dying in droves. The only saving grace was the gargoyles were feasting as they killed. So many had unwittingly gone in the wrong direction that it was giving the others time. The humans were trying to fight back. Two of the large beasts were dead. Harvard came out after I saw that.

  “Shoot the eye
s.”

  I repeated the information area-wide and heard Perci giving the same information to the Colonel via the radio.

  I watched the footage of the dozen gargoyles swap from eating to killing. Shooting them, while valiant, enraged the beasts. The change from killing for food to killing for pleasure was instant. The battle was in full swing between the exposed humans and the mighty monsters. The leader of the pack leaped into flight and crashed into the middle of the resistance the refugees had formed. People scattered, desperate to survive. Three more gargoyles perished as the fight concluded swiftly. Hundreds of human bodies lay strewn across the county road.

  The boss gargoyle cried into the moonlit night sky with a howl of anguish and anger. The six charging paused just short of our clearing. I knew Mitchell was on the fifty caliber sniper rifle. The weapon shattered the sudden calm that came after the howl with an immense snap. As if on cue, the rain cascaded down from the heavens as the round soared through the night. Whatever orders from the big boss gave to his split pack were overridden by Mitchell.

  The fifty caliber round hit the leader of the small pack outside our wall. Its eye exploded in a juicy spray of clear fluid. The death was instant and the beast crashed to land with a resounding thud. Five voices roared in anger. I felt the ground shaking as they charged. I jumped and used my cybernetic arm to latch onto the roof of the RV. A quick empowered elbow rotation flung me up high. I braced myself for the impending fight.

  The beasts cleared the opening of our kill zone. A missile raced out to knock over the lead gargoyle. Weapon fire erupted from our line. A second gargoyle joined the first in a tumble. The remaining three leaped into the air, preventing eye targeting. I swore when I saw how far they could fly. Their underside was not as tough as their exterior. Two more missiles fired into soft underbellies; explosions upon impact sent gore and the gargoyles cascading down. The remaining monster landed on a truck not ten feet away from my RV. Bullets pinged as they ricocheted off the tough exterior.

  The cries of ceasefire echoed over the low growl of the monster. I put three rounds into the right eye, ruining its vision. The beast lashed out sending a vehicle flying. The twirling truck crushed two soldiers against the hesco berm they stood on. The gargoyle panicked at the loss of its eye. I saw the lid seal over the ruined mess. I waited on the RV rooftop for it to give me an opening. The crack of a rifle from the second-floor balcony provided the winning shot. I saw Torrez emptying his magazine into the remaining eye. When the bullet reached the brain, the animal staggered before collapsing.

  I leaped off the RV for the hesco wall. A team was trying desperately to get to the wounded. I used my cybernetic arm strength to help remove the car that had embedded into the dirt containers. The whining whirl of the machines servos provided the needed added effort. The mangled truck tumbled down the six feet. Underneath the impact site, there were only the dead. The bodies were unrecognizable from the impact. I glanced into the kill zone and saw the first gargoyle hit by the missile limping away. When it moved, our defensive firing line erupted again. I broadcast an emergency override for a ceasefire and then ordered Dedric to finish the job.

  Two of the dump trucks squealed forward, sprinting from the wall. The stunned animal was bleeding from thousands of bullet wounds and missing a chunk of its leg. The black beast swatted aimlessly in circles, clearly disorientated. The two dump trucks turned wide until they lined up on either side of the animal. When they neared, the monster was unable to dodge their charge. The first truck pushed it over while the second compacted the body that was no match for American made steel.

  The sounds of bones shattering reverberated through the air. The truck backed up, peeling parts of the body with it, making a slurping noise.

  “Brain these bodies, by shooting through the eyes. I want this interior one dragged outside. Reload and prepare for wave two,” I shouted over everyone’s Gpads.

  An alert hit my Gpad. Mclain was in a fight. I ran into the RV to look at the footage on the larger screen. Flapions were trying to assault the team. Troops fired out of windows, the horse trailer, and from cracked doors. He had pulled his troops into his vehicles and thrown out the loot. The strategy was working, as dozens of flapions died every second that went by. When the bodies piled up, the rest of the flock moved on, seeking easier targets.

  ‘They shorted the vehicles with those damn electric guns,’ - Mclain

  ‘Ammo?’

  ‘Solid.’

  “Hold tight.’

  I typed rapidly while watching the other screen. The eight remaining gargoyles were being surrounded by the main flapion flock. The bodies scattered across the trail of death were being stolen. This caused the gargoyles to swap from killing to defending their food. Flapions were sneaky little shits at hiding from their larger planetary cohabitants.

  The remaining humans with weapons were dropping flapions out of the sky. The two species cared little about the incoming fire. Their desire to eat the dead was the important battle. Flapion stingers were diving into bodies. Flapions teamed up in trios to haul a single body. I had no idea how they were communicating or remaining organized, but they were. Hundreds of flapions were racing for Xgate 232, desperate to return home with their gains. All that changed the moment a tank rolled down the road from Aspen. Woah.

  There was cheering from those watching the live feed. Even Douglas shouted for joy in the RV. The turret swiveled. The barrel lined up the alpha gargoyle. The drone camera flashed white from the round rocketing out of the turret. When the picture returned, the monstrous beast staggered. The round had gone in and out during the loss of vision. There was a gaping hole and a trail of gore strewn across the road from the exit wound. A second gargoyle looked to its leader in confusion, who was not submitting to its inevitable death. The sound of the first round reached my ears when the second round drowned out the camera again.

  The second gargoyle’s head was a ruined mess. A giant seam ripped the skull for a clean shot. The alpha fell after the second body hit the road. That did the trick. The seven remaining gargoyles snatched a body in their mouths and fled. Desperate flapions were decimated as trucks full of citizen soldiers surged forward, firing from open beds and out windows. There was no mercy as the flapion were routed. The trucks drove faster than the desperately fleeing aliens still carrying human parts; even faster than those ditching their meals.

  I sighed in relief. Our first real test was over.

  “Dedric, go rescue Mclain. Nancy, take your team with them. Eddy, break defenses and come home. Torrez, I need two graves dug outside with the backhoes. If your name was not called, get to work helping build the third roof. This rain is supposed to keep up all night.”

  Perci cleared her throat for my attention. “I told the Colonel we defeated a smaller force here. That is not the only news, though.”

  I watched the convoy of a dozen cars turn for Denver instead of our stronghold. I pointed at the screen in confusion.

  “Yeah, I called them to get numbers because we have space for a hundred people tonight. That bitch with the autistic son answered. They were never coming here. They wanted to move into Marble Heights to loot first before going into Denver.”

  “She said all that?” I asked, perplexed.

  Jacky raised her hand. “We were nice to her. I pretended we didn't know she stole those cars.”

  “Eddy, this is Cap,” I said over the Gpad command channel.

  “Go ahead.”

  “That crew that robbed Desmond is heading your way. Eta five mikes. You’re the commander on the scene. I doubt they will get aggressive, but they might. They plan on passing through,” I said with a grunt.

  “What are your orders?”

  “Use your discretion. Enough humans have died, while at the same time, they are thieves. Not that we are above stealing,” I said with a shrug. “Let me know what you decide to do.”

  “You mean, do I want to get into a firefight against a conniving mom with a disabled child? No, I do no
t want to kill her, not even for stealing the vehicles. If they test us, we will end them though. Eddy out.”

  There was nothing I could do at this point. I went out of the RV to see the body of the gargoyle up close. The rain soaked me instantly. The downpour was diluting the pooled blood not five feet away. The stone skin was thick leather meant for heat. The wings were a thin stacked layering of a material I had never seen. The teeth were massive. A tow chain had been linked around the neck of the beast. A dump truck fought to pull the animal outside our walls. When the body slid forward, I saw three dogs buried under the corpse. The poor dogs were squashed flat. For whatever odd reason, my heart tugged more at the thought of the dead animals than the soldiers. There was something wrong with me. I went back into the trailer.

  “Perci, where is that ugly -”

  Perci pointed to the seat I normally occupied. The bulldog was snoring contently. Huh, guess they were shitty guard dogs. I decided to watch the two sets of vehicles pass each other. They did so peacefully and I knew that would come back to bite us. They would be scavenging ahead of us into Denver. That was where I wanted to expand our looting. Could always kill them later while saying they started it. I grinned at the thought.

  The backhoe rolled out the gate. The two dead soldiers were Oscar Havier and Lina Lawson. Both veterans from Saudi Arabia. Died to a flung truck. Instantly dead. I sighed and went back into the rain. The men on the walls stayed there. I was not going to pull our entire forces off defense for a funeral. The smushed bodies were put on stretchers after the grisly task of removing the valuable gear. I followed the bodies to their final resting place. Our graveyard went from one to three in a single night, and I was so damn lucky it had only gone up two.

  There was no ceremony or benediction. I would schedule that for when the area was clear of threats and the weather was nice. For now, the bodies were lowered into their graves and then covered up. Jevon arrived with two markers to place at the head of the graves. We solemnly walked back into the Stronghold.