Dropship One

by L. D. P. Samways

  “You reckon there are survivors?” Anthony asked.

  I looked at him and then back at the fireball and sighed.

  “I don’t think anybody survived,” I said, starting to panic.

  I shot back up to my feet and ran to the edge to get a better look. I couldn’t believe what I saw. The platoon that had been guarding the square were dead. Their bodies scattered around the concrete like mashed flies on a fly-swatter.

  “Fuck,” I said, feeling a sudden wave of emotion crash over me. I then turned my head to the pathway on the left, expecting to see the same sight, but amazingly, my eyes deceived me.

  “What the hell?” I said, a smile forming on my face.

  “Nice to see that you made it, Kid,” Spooks said, standing tall with the rest of our squad. He was holding a rocket launcher and plumes of smoke were whisping off the end of the gun.

  “Is anybody hit?” I asked.

  “Besides from the guys in the square? No. But count ourselves lucky that we aren’t dead. I’ll get in contact with Command and tell them about the attack. But this isn’t no time to mourn their loss. The city needs us. Apparently some major-league shit is going down, and I don’t know about you lot, but I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Spooks said.

  I nodded, but I couldn’t help but feel sad for the guys in the square. They’d been completely destroyed by the pirates. And since setting foot on the Tribeca planet, this had been the first time I’d seen so many of our own die at once. I knew that these reptiles were well-equipped, but I didn’t know they had that much fire-power. I was starting to feel like maybe there was more to these pirates than I’d originally thought.

  “You going to stand there all day, looking like a lost child at the supermarket, or are you going to join us down here and march toward payback on these son-of-a-bitches?” Spooks asked.

  “Be down there ASAP!” I said, forcing a smile.

  But I didn’t feel like smiling at all. I felt angry. Angry that this many men could lose their life. Angry that our own airships were nowhere to be seen. Angry that this was still a fight to the death, where in my mind, we should have won ages ago. But I suppose the little victories add up to the big ones. In my mind, I wondered which side had actually won this fight. Was it us, or them? A lot of reptiles had died, but so had a lot of Marines.

  I guess when it comes down to it, the last man standing wins. But how long would we be standing for? Could we walk out unscathed of this thing, or would every man fighting on this planet face the same fate as the men who’d died in the square?

  Death will come for all of us in the end. But the question is, in the end will death come to them too? Or are the pirates destined to win this?

  Only time will tell. And I had a feeling that time wasn’t on our side.

  Chapter Eleven

  March to the city

  Walking out of the high-rise, I was immediately taken aback by the utter destruction that surrounded me. I was careful not to step on any of the dismembered body parts that lay all over the square as I made my way toward the pathway which the others were standing on. By now, they’d walked back toward the square and met us on the lip of the path.

  “Pretty rough firefight,” I said, looking back at the men on the floor, or what was left of them. Streaks of smoke kept billowing into my helmet, steaming it up.

  I batted the smoke away, gave a quick glance to the high-rise in which the aircraft had smashed into and then looked back at Spooks and the others. By now, Pea Shooter and the other two had started mingling with the other Marines. It was as if they couldn’t wait to get off the square and onto the path, like the square was burning their feet or something.

  And in truth, it was burning mine too. Being surrounded by this much blood and guts, it was just easier to switch off and joke around with your brothers in arms. But I wasn’t in the mood for joking.

  “What’s going to happen to these guys?” I asked.

  Spooks blinked at me a few times and then raised his eyebrows.

  “They will get picked up by the clean-up crew. I wouldn’t worry about it, Jensen. They’ll be taken care of,” he said.

  I frowned.

  “Clean-up crew? Taken care of?” I repeated. “Surely we should stay with them until they get picked up? What’s the point in saying we leave no man behind if we actually do?” I asked. Spooks was starting to get annoyed, and by now, the rest of the squad had stopped talking amongst themselves and were paying attention to our conversation.

  “Take it easy. Who said we were leaving anybody behind? We have a mission to complete, and in this case, that means that we have to leave these guys unattended for the time being,” Spooks said.

  “And what is our mission exactly? Take heavy fire and die? Let these bastards win? Have no air support? Fight in splinter groups instead of hammering them as a collective unit? Forgive me Sir, but I’m starting to think that we don’t have this as covered as you’re leading us to believe. It seems that with every firefight we encounter, we walk away by the skin of our teeth, so please tell me how fucked we are. Please enlighten us and tell the whole squad how outnumbered we are compared to the pirates, and while you’re at it, tell us how the hell we’re going to win this thing with no aircraft, no nukes and fewer men?”

  Spooks was about to open his mouth and lay into me verbally when we heard a vehicle horn. We all turned around and saw a land vehicle approaching us. The vehicle was Earth-issued, so we knew it was friendly.

  “The cavalry is turning up to save the day,” Pea Shooter muttered.

  “Our ride is here. I’d appreciate it if the rest of you keep your opinions to yourself. There're some high-ranking officials on board that vehicle, and I don’t want you to go sticking your foot in it,” Spooks said, addressing everybody but me.

  Then he laid his eyes on mine and snarled.

  “As for you, Jensen, I’d keep your mouth shut and know your role in this outfit. You don’t need a reason to be here, nor do you need me to justify shit to you. You’re contracted to kill and keep your opinions to yourself, preferably till you get home and suffer an episode of some sorts where they declare you shell-shocked and you live the rest of your days on uppers. Whatever happens, I don’t care, as long as you do as I say.”

  I laughed. The others around me looked worried. You could cut the tension with a knife. A knife I wanted to plunge right in that arrogant fuck’s head.

  “Yes sir, duly noted,” I said, gritting my teeth.

  Spooks nodded and turned around, grabbing his kit off the floor. The vehicle pulled up beside us and a guy stepped onto the path, smiling from ear to ear.

  “It’s a God damn minefield of pirates up there, what you guys do, kill every single one of them?” the guy asked.

  No one said anything. The guy’s smile faded as he spotted the mass of chaos behind us in the form of body parts missing their original owners.

  “Gosh, I do apologize. It’s a tough old business this,” the guy said, ushering us into the large vehicle. We all got in and the guy closed the sliding door shut.

  “Welcome on board the Messiah. You ready to bring the second coming to these pirates?” he asked.

  As I sat down on my seat, I plonked my railgun beside me and unstrapped my rifle.

  “What happened to the first coming? They all die?” I asked, smiling as I stared at Spooks, who wasn’t returning the smile. But he was returning the stare, though.

  “You know how it is,” the guy said. “Some of us make it, while others don’t. I guess we’re the lucky ones,” he said, banging on the side of the vehicle, signalling the driver to start moving.

  “Yeah, the lucky ones,” I muttered, closing my eyes and slumping back in my seat.

  ***

  I sat in my seat drifting in and out of consciousness. My head was hurting and I was in dire need of a drink, but unfortunately, my suit was out and so was the so called Messiah we were travelling in. Pea Shooter was sitting next to me, oblivious to the cluster-fuck that
we’d just witnessed.

  I mean, call me crazy and all, but leaving men behind to rot in the harsh sun just so we can get to the frontline and take another pounding doesn’t make much sense to me. What happened to the loyalty that we were taught to possess at Bootcamp? Is it as dead as the men that fought beside us? Whatever was going on, I wasn’t happy about it. This ordeal was starting to feel a little one-sided. Sure, we were winning and all, but at what cost? How many more of us were supposed to die before our wins actually counted and this thing was over?

  “Ten minutes until we reach the city,” Spooks said, standing up and facing us.

  He didn’t make much eye-contact with me. I sensed that if he did, it would turn into something else entirely. The tension between us was starting to escalate. It didn’t help that I’d been adding fuel to the fire. Bickering with him whenever possible. Outwardly questioning this whole mission. In his words, that isn’t what Marines do. So I begged the question, what is it that we exactly do? Die with smiles on our faces?

  “What’s the plan when we get to the city, boss?” Pea Shooter asked.

  I had a feeling that he was only asking the question to annoy me. As he’d pontificated the question, he’d smiled at me with his stupid immature grin that he usually sported. I rolled my eyes, sat back in my seat and tried to ignore his baiting.

  “The plan is that you keep your mouth shut and do as you are told,” Spooks said. I immediately opened my eyes, he caught my stare and frowned. “And the same goes for you, Jensen,” he said.

  So he was looking for another argument. Pathetic! Just because I had the audacity to ask the questions that were on everybody’s minds, I was the bad guy! But I wasn’t going to rise to it. He could continue to throw some shade my way, but I wasn’t going to bite.

  “My lips are sealed, Sir,” I said, smiling from ear to ear, which obviously annoyed him, but he refrained himself and sat back down, facing frontwards once again.

  “Piece of shit,” I muttered under my breath, to the surprise of Pea Shooter who mock-shocked his facial expression like a bad actor on stage.

  “Language like that isn’t called for, recruit!” he said, also mocking Spooks’ voice.

  I started to laugh, which was unexpected. I usually didn’t fall for Pea Shooters’ jokes, but he did have a point. Spooks was a little uptight and had changed his tune drastically in the past few hours. Maybe he was also finding it hard to believe just how much of a piece of shit he was too.

  “This mission is starting to blow – hard!” I said.

  Pea Shooter nodded.

  “Yeah, you’re telling me! The moment tons of people start being offed, I call bullshit! What paycheque is worth all this hassle?” Pea Shooter said.

  “Anything to fatten their wallets,” I concurred. Somebody sitting in front of us sighed loudly, and turned around in their seat to face us. He was a mean looking motherfucker, and had one of those obnoxious face tattoos.

  “What the hell do you two know about fattening wallets? This isn’t about money, you twerps. This is about legacy. You think Earth are going to allow a couple of deaths to dampen their war efforts? Make no mistake, this is war gentleman, and if you two idiots think that a few dead Core members are going to stop the brass from rolling on forward, then you didn’t learn much in class, did you?” the guy said, scrunching his face up like a kid tasting apple sour candy for the first time.

  I smiled.

  “Just mind your own business, rookie!” I snarled.

  The guy’s eyes widened.

  “Rookie? You’re the same rank as me, you nit-wit! So keep your mouths shut and let me get some rest before we have to do this all over again!”

  I made a talking gesture with my hand. He didn’t appreciate it and was about to swing for me when Spooks’ loud voice bellowed through the tin can we were riding in.

  “What is the meaning of this?” he screamed, walking down the aisle toward the three of us. We were sat at the back. I originally chose the back to get some kip, but it was obvious that I wouldn’t be getting any sleep.

  “Nothing Sir, just talking about the virtues of victory amongst ourselves,” I said, smiling at Spooks who didn’t reciprocate.

  “The virtues of victory? Are you back chatting me, boy?” he asked.

  I frowned.

  “No Sir, I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing,” I replied.

  There was an uncomfortable moment of silence between the two of us. We now had an audience. The other Marines were watching with gleeful grins on their faces. Falling outs in the squad were common. The toxic mix of testosterone and egos was bound to cause some problems. And since I’d been in the Marines, I’d witnessed plenty of fights. But none of them featured high-ranking officers.

  “Good. So pipe down and get some shut-eye. Wasting our energies on fighting one another isn’t going to accomplish anything. Save your anger for the battlefield, where it counts,” he said, turning back around. He was about to walk back to his seat when Pea Shooter sniggered under his breath. Spooks must have heard because he was turning back toward us, an even angrier look on his face now.

  “Something funny, Peters?” he asked.

  Pea Shooter shook his head frantically.

  “No sir, just minding my own business,” he said.

  Spooks nodded and then looked at me.

  “What about you? Got anything else to add?” he asked.

  This was when I lost it. Who the hell did he think he was? The guy was obviously still butt-hurt over what I’d said to him earlier. And just because he had rank on me, he thought he could berate me without getting some back? I don’t think so.

  “Why don’t you sit the fuck back down and shut the hell up?” I said.

  Immediately, the Marines that had been staring at us and smiling were all looking back front ways, shocked expressions on their faces.

  “What did you say?” Spooks said.

  I smiled.

  “You heard me, Sir! Why don’t you sit the fuck back down and stop harassing us? Since when did you own me? You don’t mean shit. You’re just another suit-wearing decision maker. So continue to bark your orders and throw your weight around, but even you know the only reason you’re still alive is because WE fucking got the job done. The only thing you did was shoot down an attack craft AFTER they took out thirty of our men!” I said, my fists clenched, ready to defend myself if need be.

  But Spooks just stood there, staring at me. He didn’t say anything for a whole minute. The atmosphere on the Messiah was rigid. The air going into my lungs was sharp. I was a ball of nerves. But then he replied.

  “Get the hell up!” he said, staring daggers at me.

  “No,” I replied

  He shook his head and walked toward me, but before he could get close, Pea Shooter stood up to block him.

  “Peters, you better step aside or I’m going to light your face up with a left hook.”

  Pea Shooter didn’t budge. I could see the anger in Spooks’ eyes. They looked like they were slowly drowning in flames. Flames that were about to explode out of his iris’s. Spooks pushed Peters out of the way and was about to grab me when Peters swung his right fist and landed a solid punch in the back of the Squad Leaders head. Suddenly, the whole squad began to scream and shout, and before I knew it, a mass brawl had broken out.

  I stood up and lunged onto Spooks who saw my attack coming and landed a hard right on my jaw. I nearly crumpled to the floor, but managed to swing a low uppercut toward his face, cracking him on the chin. People around me cheered and heckled. Some of them took their own frustrations out on each other. It was like a mosh-pit in a sardine can. The red sauce was flowing and noses were broken.

  The Messiah came to a stop and the side doors opened. The scene onboard was unbelievable to the onlookers outside. Unbeknownst to us, as the brawl continued, we’d pulled into an underground complex under the city where we were told our final mission would commence. And standing outside, watching us fight, was the General of ou
r division. He stood there, dumbfounded, as Spooks and I traded blows. Beside us, a riot had broken out, and four men were swinging at a group of five other Marines. The Messiah driver scarpered off the bus and approached the General who was speechless.

  “It got a bit heated in there, Sir. Thought it was best to let them sort it out,” I heard him say before Spooks hit me with a right and everything went dark.

  Chapter Twelve

  Underground Complex

  “I can hardly believe the complete and utter lack of professionalism coming from this squad. I mean, it’s preposterous! A mass bloody brawl onboard a rescue vehicle? A rescue vehicle taking you to your next mission? And you can’t even get along for ten minutes?” the General said to the lot of us. He’d lined us up against a wall, a few meters from the Messiah, where there were a few cleaners on-board mopping up the blood from our battle royal.

  Looking around, I saw a lot of battered faces. And If I’d been able to see my own face, I would have looked the same. A medic had snapped some smelling salts under my nostrils to wake me up a few minutes ago, and once I was awake, two guards had dragged me up to my feet and pushed me into the line of men I was now standing in. I couldn’t see Spooks, but then again, I couldn’t see much out of my swollen eyes.

  “It is a disgrace to this outfit that something like this could even happen! I hope the lot of you have an excuse, because believe me, when this is over, heads will roll!” The General said, wiping some sweat from his brow.

  He was a rather large man, and since getting a cushy officers job, he’d obviously let his once rock hard physique soften a little. His belly hung over his belt, as if it was trying to touch the ground beneath his feet. But it wasn’t his belly that had caught my eye, it was the murderous rage that was pulsating in them that frightened me. I’d never been involved in anything untoward since setting foot in the Marines, and this was technically my first ever proper telling off, so I was a little nervous, especially since I’d been the one to start all this!

  If it hadn’t been for me, then none of this would have happened and we’d all be getting some grub before leaving for our final mission. But no – there was no grub for us, the only thing being served up was contempt, and the General had plenty of it in stock to keep us nice and full.