Wolf Pack_Invasion and Conquest

by Rob Buckman

  “Ruth, please take your team and have them each look inside those long containers against the far wall, then report back to me.”

  “Yes, sir.” She answered, looking puzzled. It wasn’t long before she found the answer to her unasked question, and came back, white face and seething with anger.

  “Anyone understand how serious this is now?”

  “Yes, sir. It’s crystal clear.”

  “Good. I have another puzzle I’d like to solve and we don’t have a lot of time to do it.” He explained to her about the flat sheets of body armor he’d found, and showed her the clamb shell armor from the barracks.

  “Seems to me they have a way of re-forming these sheets into body armor to fit each individual grunt.” Ruth answered.

  “They all look the same to me but there might be body variations and size between them.” Decker murmured.

  “Could be. It would account for sending them down as flat sheets. Save on shipping space.”

  “Good point. So, there has to be a forming machine around here.”

  “Why the interest, sir?”

  “First off, let’s find out how good they are before I answer that. Set a couple of them up against the wall and let’s go shoot them.”

  They did, and as Decker suspected none of their ammo had any effect. They didn’t even manage to dent the surface no matter how close they shot them. As an extra test, Decker took one up onto the catwalk around the top of the fence and hung the sheet on the outside of the wall.

  “Over-watch. You see this flat black panel?”

  “Ten-four, Wolfman.”

  “Good, give me a moment to get clear and put one armor piercing round, one normal round, and one explosive round into it.”

  “Ten-four, sir, as soon as your cute butt is clear.” She chuckled. Decker felt like saying something, as she’d said in on the TAC frequency so all the girls heard. Instead, he just growled and said nothing, as anything he said would only make it worse. No one heard any of the shots, just the impact as they hit the body armor. The last one made everyone cringe, and it should have blown a hole right through the sheet. It didn’t, not even a scratch.

  “Well I’ll be damned.” Ruth muttered when she looked at the sheet. “I’m glad we didn’t try to take the UFMs down on the road.”

  “You and me both.”

  “I take it you’re thinking of putting all the teams in this body armor, if we can find a way to reform it.”

  “That’s my thought, even more so now we’ve seen what it can do.”

  “My bet is their helmets are made of the same stuff.”

  “You’re probably right, but I’ll stick with what we’ve got. From the look of it they wouldn’t fit over our heads, and we have no way of working the instruments or equipment inside.”

  “Right, got you, but it brings up the question of where to shoot them.”

  “Most grunts are taught to shoot at the main body mass, not head shots, and I’m betting it’s the same with the aliens.”

  “So, we go for face shots if we run into them again?”

  “That would be my choice, and shoot at the eyes. That’s probably the weakest spot. The girls aren’t good enough; well a few of them are, but most aren’t that good.”

  “Hmm, like that horny little brat said, shoot low. This armor only comes down to their mid-section. Hit them there and you take out the abdomen and their legs.”

  “Good point.” Decker smiled. The girls had heard Joann's transmission. He was betting she’d catch hell from the rest of them tonight. “The one good thing is, our rounds can punch though their chitin and unlike us takes out their whole limb.”

  “Saw that. By the look of it the hydrostatic shock makes them explode when a round penetrates.”

  “Good for us.” As they chatted, they quickly poked about the barracks and storeroom, looking for something that might be used to re-mold the flat armor sheet. It was one of the team members who found it, a rather unimpressive device that looked like an old-fashioned clothes wringer. In operation it was simple, suggesting the grunts had limited intelligence. The unit was self-powered, and you simply put a flat sheet between two rollers and turn the crank handle. What came out the other side was a limp sheet, which you draped over something and let it harden again. They also found the material was stretchable to a degree. They also discovered that the machine vibrated when a lever on the side was pressed down, and it somehow cut the sheet. An ultrasonic cutter was Decker’s first thought. That was neat if they could come up with a hand cutter. They could then cut the sheets up to make body armor for arms and legs as well. That would have to wait for later, and more investigation.

  “Who want to volunteer to get topless in front of the man?” Ruth asked with a smile. That brought a few laughs, which helped lighten their mood.

  “I’ll do it, as I know you are all eager to see my manly chest.”

  “Well, we know of one girl who wants to see you naked and not just your chest.”

  “Put a sock in it, Gladis and show a little respect.” Ruth grumbled.

  Decker stripped down to his undershirt, then thought better of it. Without knowing how hot or cold they’d be, he thought he might want to wear clothes under the armor, so he put his shirt back on, and said so.

  “Got a point there, Boss.” Turning to watch as the black sheet passed through the rollers.

  “You two hold each end so Wolfman can put his head through the hole.”

  They did and Decker ducked under and pushed his head through the small opening. They then lowered each side, and he molded it to his frame, pulling and stretching it to fit. The sides overlapped and gave him better protection, and just touching them together, they locked in place. A light tug pulled them apart, and much to his delight the armor flexed as he moved, rather than being stiff and awkward like his old armor. This was very different from any armor he’d worn before, and it felt more like a piece of clothing than anything else. Whatever engineering went into this, the material hardened quickly and retained its new shape, even to forming a collar around his throat and neck. Taking it off was just as easy, pull the sides open and lift it over his head. He did, and looked around the group with a broad smile.

  “Now then, who wants to shoot me?” He asked, slipping the armor back on.

  “What?” Ruth looked outraged.

  “Have to test it and find out what the impact is like from the other side. I’ve been hit a few times in my old body armor and it hurts like hell, and even cracked a rib.”

  “You sure you want to do that, sir?”

  “Not really, but what choice do we have? We have to know how effective this stuff is, or we can’t use it.”

  “What if you bust a rib this time, or it doesn’t work for humans?”

  “We haven’t got time to f… muck around. One of those destroyers could be back any minute, so for Christ sake, draw and fire!” Ruth growled and pulled her sidearm and fire at him, point blank. Decker took a step back and blinked. It wasn’t the hit that drove him back but reflex.

  “Damn! That was no harder then someone punching me in the chest.” He looked down and saw the spent 9 mm bullet on the floor, mashed flat from the impact. The standard 9mm ammo in the Glock had a muzzle velocity of 1,230 feet per second, and that was a lot of energy to stop at such a short distance, yet it felt like nothing more than a hard push.

  “Wow.” Thinking back, Decker remembered reading an article about reactive body armor using nano-technology. The harder you hit it the stronger it got, before returning to a normal soft, pliable state after. This had to be something like that, but much more advanced.

  “Ruth, get your Team together and grab a load of those sheets. Take them and that machine to the CP Alpha team has set up in the Builder’s Mart up the road, I’ll send Delta and Echo Team to move up here. Times a wasting.”

  “Ten-four. Let’s move it girls.”

  As they took off, Decker continued searching, wondering how the aliens communicated, but he co
uldn’t find anything remotely resembling a radio. He then checked of one of the alien weapons, something that looked like a rifle, but it didn’t have any trigger he could recognize, and no butt, just a short bar of something. Three indents on the underside of the bar had him puzzled until he looked at the alien’s hand. This had three fingers and an opposing thumb, or claw, guessing they fitted into the indents. Finding a detached arm, he held the hand up against the weapon, and by moving the clawed hand around, he found their hand fitted around the bar, and the three claws fitted into the indents. Cutting the hand free of the arm, he wrapped it and the rifle in a bit of old clothing and left it by the gate. After which he wiped his hand clean of the sticky green/yellow goop that passed for blood in these things. Delta and Echo teams arrived, and he sent them to look inside the containers. One of them was Joann, now free from over-watch duty. She walked up, looking a little green and very somber.

  “Guess I know what we’re fighting for now.” She was on the verge of crying, and before he could stop himself, he’d wrapped her in his arms. She only cried for a short while before pushing him away.

  “People might get the wrong idea if you hug me.”

  “Too late for that, girl. Get up the road to the new CP with the others,” he brushed her hair out of her eyes so she could put her helmet back on, “and take that package with you.” He pointed to the sacking wrapped bundle.

  As soon as Delta and Echo Teams had their look around the compound, he sent them up the road, wanting to get them under cover as quickly as possible. Once one of those destroyers came back and found this mess, the shit would hit the fan. The aliens would know there was someone out here that could hurt them. It was unknown what they’d do about it, but he didn’t want to stay around and find out. He had the thought of staying and trying to take out the destroyer that landed here, but thought better of it. The risk didn’t outweigh the rewards, as much as he would have liked to kill one of those yellow skinned UFMs. After one last look around, Decker set fire to the breeding and egg storage sheds, now soaked with gas, and took off up I-178 and the town of Mountain Visa. As he’d thought, before he was half way there, an alien destroyer turned up and went into hover mode over the base. It then slowly descended out of sight behind the hill into the black smoke from the burning base. That made him break out in a sweat, knowing how close they’d been to being caught inside. Just in case he took a knee just at the edge of town and waited to see what would happen. Kneeling beside a low, dried out bush he ran over the operation in his mind. Thankfully it had gone just as he planned, smiling slightly at how Burrole died, thinking it fitting. That brought up another question, and he keyed his TAC unit.

  "Wolfman actual to SSM, how do you read?"

  "Four by four, Wolfman."

  "A UFM destroyer just turned up at the base - make sure our people are under cover."

  "Ten-four Wolfman."

  "By the way, what did you do with the rest of Burrole's mates?" There was a hesitation before Grace replied.

  "We… I… we couldn't just shoot them out of hand, that would be cold blooded murder, as much as I would have liked to."

  "So… what did you do?"

  "Made sure they'd never carry a weapon, or rape another innocent girl again." Decker didn't like the sound o that.

  "The girls cut off their dicks and all their fingers." She said at last. Decker winced thinking about that, but it was justice.

  “Wolfman to SSM. I concur with your decision.”

  Now the question was, had the destroyer turn up due to the lack of regular communications, or was this one of its regular visits. Not that it mattered except he was hoping it would turn up later, after dark so they could put distance between the base and the Pack. With the craft safely out of sight, he took off at a loping run the rest of the way to the Builder’s Mart and got under cover himself. It was well he did as more destroyers turned up and began flying over, quartering the countryside out from the base. Even so, they still ignored the few horses and cattle wandering about, but they did shoot up the odd building here and there, probably to see if they could get something running.

  “See what I mean about them ignoring livestock?”

  “Yes, sir. Even if they shoot, don’t run.”

  “Except on all fours like a dog.”

  “Or a wolf.” Someone added with a chuckle. Decker had to smile. It was clear the girls were getting it now. While they waited for nightfall, Decker took the time to gather the team leaders together for their daily training sessions. Passing his knowledge to them to pass to their teams later.

  Once darkness fell, they were on the move again, with the teams gradually settling down into their allotted positions. Now they moved as a unit, with less and less questions being asked, or instructions about what to do. Each person now had a job to do, once the team leaders found where they fitted best. Decker had the biggest job as he had the largest team, but even so, between him and Grace they found out where each of the girls was happy and helped them learn how, and what to do. It was hard for some, especially the more sheltered members of the pack, who’s never been exposed to violence or hardship before. Yet even now, sadly, they still lost several girls who simply wandered off and never came back. Decker didn’t waste a lot of time looking for them, as he’d said at the beginning, stay and fight or find some other place to be. Where possible he taught them unarmed combat, knife fighting and some of the dirtier tricks, emphasizing that war wasn’t a game. There was no second place prize, as they'd be dead. These girls needed as much combat training as he could give them, if they hoped to survive as individuals, and as a troop.

  Blessed darkness brought a sense of relief to everyone as they got on with the journey. Their next goal was Weldon, about fifty miles from Mountain Mesa. If they made ten miles a day, they’d be lucky, considering the precautions they needed to take. Trying to move too fast could be fatal, as a group of ‘animals’ moving in one direction could attract unwanted attention. That meant they’d need a week, mostly moving at night along the highway across flat, open country with little or no cover or places to hide. For whatever reason, the aliens moved their search closer to Lake Isabella, with only the occasional Destroyer flying over them in the darkness. Even so, it was a nervous few hours before Decker thought they were clear of the immediate search area. The scouts did manage to find a deserted farmhouse or grove of tree for the team to hide out during the day. Any house, farm, or store they came across along the way, Decker sent a Team on a scavenger hunt, and a few times they got lucky and brought back loaded backpacks of supplies, but mostly the pickings were slim. Decker went on a couple of scavenger hunts with a team, but came away feeling depressed. One was a KOA campground they moved into just before dawn.

  As soon as they settled in the girls started the hunt, keeping a wary eye out for other scavengers and patrolling Destroyers. For Decker, it was sad to enter the forgotten trailer and see the remnants of the family or the people who’d lived here. In a few, it looked as if they’d just stepped out to go to the pool, or start a BBQ while in others it was a bloody mess where the asshole scavengers had killed everyone inside. He didn’t want to think what else they might have done. At no time in his military career had he ever hated the enemy he was sent to naturalize or kill. They were just targets he had to take out, but now he did. He hated the aliens for what they done to his world, the lives they’d stuffed out, and the destruction they’d caused. This was his world, his and the rest of the human-race, and he wasn’t about to let any ugly mother fucking aliens take it away from them. They’d made the mistake of turning the sheep into wolves. Between the aliens, the marauders, the weather, disease and lack of food, they’d killed off the weak, stupid, and unlucky ones, and destroyed their peaceful little world. The remaining sheep no longer had any illusions about who the wolves were, and what they had to do about them. More humans would die before this war was over, but given half a chance they'd die fighting and taking the aliens with them. As he and the girls proved, t
he aliens weren’t invincible, despite all their high-tech weapons and ships, and they could be taken down with the right weapons and tactics. Maybe that little package he carried might give them the edge they needed to take the fight to them. Their reactive armor was another edge the UFMs didn’t know they had, if the eggheads at ‘Norden’ could figure out how to make, or duplicate the stuff. With that, and the right weapons, they could take the fight to the aliens and hopefully kick their skinny asses back off the planet.

  CHAPTER TEN: GIFT FROM HEAVEN

  Decker took time during the day to have the flat armor sheets molded into body armor for each of the girls, and after a quick demonstration, they were all smiling. At least it would stop any human rounds. He fiddled around with the alien weapon, and using the desiccated claw hand got it to fire a couple of times. The results were impressive as the beam, or whatever came out of the business end of the weapon blasted a hole right through a concrete wall, but it wouldn’t fire after that. Decker thought it might be due to lack of power, and the output could be varied for different targets. At full power, it didn’t last long, but with no way to recharge the power pack, it was just a paperweight right now. All he could do was take it with him and hope the eggheads at ‘Norden’ could figure out how to recharge the power cell.

  As it turned out, after seeing the inside of those containers, the whole Pack picked up their speed, and they made it to Weldon in four days instead of five. Decker took an extra day to rest and redistribute the loot they collected along the way, giving the bulk of it to Echo team to carry. He wanted his point and flankers to be as mobile as possible. They made the distance between Weldon and Onyx in one night, and due to the increased destroyer activities, they quickly went into hiding in the trees along the dry riverbed. The aliens were taking more interest in the small towns along the way, even going so far as to blow up a few of the more substantial brick and concrete buildings. Maybe they were making the assumption humans would take shelter in them instead of the flimsy wood frame buildings around them. They waited out the heat of the day the best they could, and conserved water as much as possible. Water was their biggest challenge, and the one major thing they had to find each day. It was impossible to carry all the water they needed, and relied mainly on their camel packs. Their next leg took them to Canebrake, and on this leg, Decker opt to move along the dry riverbed at night, and stay under the cover of the trees, as an extra precaution. All went well for an hour until his radio crackled to life.