by Jack Hunt
“Someone put him out of his misery.”
Heart was still rolling around in agony. The Taurgon’s venom had burned through the metal fast, and then found its way to the skin. It would eat away slowly at the flesh causing untold pain. So far there had been no medical treatment for it, as no one had got close enough to capture a Taurgon except for the Echobi, who seemed to have a connection to them the way humans might to a savage dog that they’d trained.
No one wanted to take the life of those they worked alongside. If Heart could have done it himself he might have but his hands were melted down to the bone. Stansfield didn’t even blink; he turned and fired a round into Heart and his screams ended. Stansfield glanced at Sophie, smirked and continued engaging with the enemy. The guy was a fucking lunatic. How he managed to pass the psych test was a mystery. Then again she had met her fair share of soldiers with egos the size of a planet. At times, it served them. It enabled them to do the dirty work and get jobs done but she had noticed how it could eat away at people and change them into nothing more than a shell of their former self.
Four smoke grenades rattled across the ground making both sides’ job of seeing each other that much harder.
“Thompson, the helitank is approaching, you might want to get your asses up here,” Michaels shouted over the comms.
“Roger that.”
As Sophie and the others continued to lay down the heat, Thompson darted across the room and tapped Stansfield on the shoulder; he rolled back and tapped Sophie. She remained in place.
“Let’s go, Sophie.”
“Get the ambassador out first.”
Thompson dashed into the back room and down a set of stairs towards the safe room. Castle came down from the roof to take Heart’s position. He glanced at his lifeless body and shook his head. She could see the fury in his eyes. He snarled and unhooked two scavengers from the back of his armor. They were metallic devices that when tossed in front of the enemy, they would scuttle across the floor and locate a large group before exploding. It was like a cluster grenade except a hell of a lot more intelligent and devastating.
Castle ducked for cover, and body parts came flying through the window. Chunks of blood, flesh and bone scattered across the ground and slapped against the sides of the wall turning it into a bloody mess.
Sophie continued to unload round after round, dropping the threats like flies. As Castle shifted position, he turned into a round from an Echobi’s gun. It cracked right through his visor and knocked him back eight feet. Not even a sound was made. It had torn through the back of his head and ended him right there.
“We need to go, Sergeant,” Stansfield said, realizing they were losing ground.
“Commander, have you got the ambassador out?” she yelled.
“Roger. Move it.”
Over the comms unit they could hear yelling. It was hard to distinguish what was going in on amid the hail of fire and dust filling the air. It was pure chaos and only years of being in the field kept Sophie from losing her mind. It was what they trained for. It was rare to see marines back away from their position unless instructed to. They were in it until death or retirement, whichever came first. Heart’s and Castle’s lives wouldn’t be mourned, they would be celebrated. In the eyes of those who joined the UEDF, it was an honor to go out with their boots on. It’s what they signed up for. Their names would be forever remembered.
No sooner had they made it up one flight of stairs than two things happened: The Echobi charged the embassy, and their extraction helitank was hit by a plasma launcher. Its whirring sound, followed by the rumble as it hit the top of the roof, then went over the side, wasn’t disappointing, it was heartbreaking. It didn’t just mean that their ride was now gone, it meant that an entire team had been wiped out before they could even give them aid. A sudden explosion on the west side of the building rocked the walls, and caused the ground beneath them to shake. She knew there was no escape now but that didn’t prevent her from continuing to fire at every single Echobi that stepped into the kill zone as she backed up the stairs.
When she burst out onto the top of the roof, a dark cloud of smoke rose high in the sky and blotted out what little red could be seen. Soon the roof was swarming with the Echobi.
And still they fought back.
Sophie wasn’t sure if it was the strike to the back of the head or the fall that caused her to lose consciousness, but that’s when the world as she knew it ended, and a greater horror replaced it. The last memory she had was the triumphant cries of the Echobi mixed with commands to take them in alive.
Chapter Ten
“This is bullshit!” Bulldog said tossing his rifle on his bed as they all returned from another round of PT. All of them staggered into the barracks sweating and cursing. They had spent half the day learning about SOSR tactics, then the rest going over the Echobis’ choice of weapons, their method of attack and the use of Taurgons.
“This is a suicide mission,” Phantom bellowed grabbing up his towel before making his way out to the showers. He could barely lift his arms after the grueling regime Reid had put them through. It wasn’t like they weren’t familiar with boot camp but this was nothing like what they had to endure when they went through to become a marine.
“I swear there has to be a law against this. A human rights violation,” Woodpecker muttered. “I would like to know what they aren’t telling us.”
“I can tell you that,” Viper chimed in as she collapsed on her bed. “This isn’t a simple extraction mission. They are going to use us like suicide bombers. Think about it. If the Echobi cut through a battalion like a hot knife through butter, what the hell are they going to do with a group of us? No, we are the distraction.”
“Expendable,” Skinner said.
“You got that right. My bet is they are going to drop our asses into some hellish zone on the planet to distract them while the real team sweeps in, scoops up the ambassador and returns to collect their medals. Meanwhile, we’ll all become Taurgon chow.”
Priest knelt beside his bed, clutching his rosary in his hand and mumbling some prayer.
“What do you say, Priest?” Viper asked.
“I’m asking the Lord about it.”
“Oh yeah? What does the big cheese think our odds are of surviving?”
“He said he’s put the kettle on and is looking forward to seeing you.”
“Me? What about you?”
Priest cast a glance over his shoulder and smiled. “I’m his anointed, there’s no touching me.”
“Yeah, right, you’re probably gonna be the first to suck down Taurgon dick,” Bulldog said. They laughed and Skinner high-fived Bulldog.
“We’ll see, Bulldog. We’ll see.”
One by one they piled into the showers. All of them were getting lathered up and shooting the shit about how they wished they were back in the brig when Woodpecker went to leave and noticed the door was locked.
“Which one of you fools locked the door?”
“It’s not locked, you pussy, give it a shove.”
He shouldered it hard but it wouldn’t budge. Right then the showers went off, the steam cleared and the vents began pumping out some gas.
“What the hell?” Viper said. The first one to hit the floor was Woodpecker, the others then began scrambling towards the windows only to find they were locked. Priest hopped up on the back of Phantom and began beating the window with his steel cross but it wouldn’t break. Within a matter of minutes, they were all out cold. The sound of a vacuum kicked in and all the gas that had been pumped into the room was sucked back out. A few minutes after, the door cracked open and Reid stood there shaking his head.
“These assholes don’t stand a chance.”
He turned and headed off to see Captain Kane. He was fuming. It was one thing to insert a team that had been fully prepared to deal with an enemy, it was another to send in a bunch of chumps who had just enough training to make themselves dangerous.
When Reid arrived at
Kane’s office, he was in the middle of a call. He entered without knocking, then pointed and gestured for him to hang up.
“Um, Sergeant, can I get back to you?”
He chuckled as if this was all just one big joke.
“Reid, what can I do for you?”
“You can speak to the admiral and tell him that this is not going to work. I need my team not these knuckleheads. They aren’t soldiers. I don’t know what game you are playing but this is my head on the line, not just theirs and I won’t head into an operation without a few good men.”
Kane picked at his teeth with a knife. “What’s the problem?”
“What isn’t the problem? They are out of shape, out of line and out of their fucking minds. Seventy-two hours is not enough time to get them ready for an enemy like the Echobi. You saw what happened four years ago. We sent an entire battalion in and they practically wiped us out.”
“You made it out.”
“And?”
“What matters is the mission was completed.”
“Mission completed?”
“The Echobi pulled out, Reid.”
“Yeah, not before the planet was turned into an ocean of blood.”
“Some lives have to be lost, for ground to be gained.”
He chuckled. “Let me guess, that’s what they told you when you got promoted?”
“God’s sake, Reid, get over it.”
“Yeah that’s right. You want to forget about all those lives that were lost. As long as you got that promotion, who cares, right?” He stared him down. “Does Katherine know you left those men to die?”
Kane scowled. “You self-righteous prick. Don’t forget you left with me.”
“Did I have a choice?”
“We always have a choice, Reid.”
“I was following orders.”
“And so was I. They knew what they signed up for and so did you. We are in the fighting business. This isn’t about swooping in and bringing home medals. People are going to die under our watch.”
“But that’s the thing, they didn’t die on our watch. They died under yours.”
Kane stared back at him with a look of disdain.
“Do you sleep well, Kane? Do you see their faces?”
“Fuck you, Reid. I did what I had to do.”
“You left behind refugees and our platoon.”
“They couldn’t have all fit on the craft.”
“They could have if you had made the call for more air support.”
Kane got up and scoffed. He went over and got himself a coffee. “What matters more, Reid? Your men or a species that is eventually going to become humanity’s bitch?”
“We were there to support and extract.”
“We were there to protect our interests in a planet with valuable resources. Our relationship with that race depended on them staying alive. We failed. They failed. I was not going to die on that planet, and don’t tell me you were. You wanted to come back for your daughter. You wanted to be there for Katherine. That’s why you got on.”
“Bullshit. I got on because you told me they were dead.”
“They were going to die. You know it. I know it. There was no point in all of us dying. I saved your life.”
“You asshole. What the hell happened to you, Kane?”
He chuckled as he took a drink of his coffee. “We’re not kids anymore, Reid. We change. The military changes you. I’m sorry you don’t understand that. There are rules that need to be followed. There are more people that are alive because we are alive. So we lost a few. Look at history, how many men have died on Earth in wars? Do you think they are bothered by what we did or didn’t do?”
“Maybe not. But their families are and you weren’t the one that had to go to their homes and tell them that their loved ones were not coming back. Hell, we didn’t even have their bodies.”
“That’s the cost of war in space, you should know that better than anyone.”
“You son of a bitch. I hope they pay you well.”
Reid turned to leave.
“They do, because I do my job. Now do yours.”
He stopped at the door and balled his fists. It took everything within him to resist the urge to knock him out.
Chapter Eleven
The warfare simulator took up the largest amount of space on UEDCC Six. There was no better way to prepare soldiers to fight a species than to drop them in at the deep end and nothing did it quite as well as this. It was the closest thing they would get to battle. Though they wouldn’t die, they sure as hell would feel like they had. It was like virtual reality without headsets or any of those archaic devices. Soldiers would gear up in a VR body suit below their actual gear in order to feel what it was like to be shot, stabbed or decapitated. For some, it was too real. Reid had seen many soldiers lose their head and scream to be let out, others would piss themselves in fear.
Once they were inserted into the empty chamber, the computer system could conjure up different planetary environments. Beneath their feet rocks would form, trees would soar and the elements would beat against them to create the illusion of being on an operation. Hundreds of years ago, the military would have created life-size buildings for special op teams to rehearse in. It was a long and arduous process that was prone to flaws, simply because no one could predict what another human being was going to do in that situation. They could train over and over again on kicking down doors, clearing rooms and going up against a terrorist but it was nothing like the real thing.
The simulator used artificial intelligence. The enemy was as real as it could be. It was capable of inflicting pain, creating fear and thinking its way out of situations. The UEDF’s greatest minds had created an almost flawless simulator that was used to prepare troops before going into battle. It helped the weak to overcome fear, it helped the military to weed out those who would cost others their life. It was an expensive state-of-the-art technology and Reid was about to dump their sorry asses into it.
“Listen up,” Reid said stepping into the room.
They stood before him in a line gazing around at the empty stadium-like environment wondering what the hell they had just got themselves into. Those in the Space Marine Corps had used a system similar to this but it had been tweaked after the loss of life four years ago. Up until then, due to the demand and fast pace of training, not everyone had the chance to use it. Now it had become mandatory for all recruits to go through it at least once. Even then, if soldiers failed they usually weren’t kicked out. The demand for troops was too great. It had become a numbers game. Defending Earth required everyone’s involvement in one aspect or another.
“Usually you would begin at the lowest level of this simulator, unfortunately we do not have the time or luxury. You are going to be thrown in at the deep end, and you will either sink or swim.” He stopped in front of them. “Believe me, if I could delay this I would but it’s not up to me.” He gazed down at the floor feeling sorry for them. Down on Earth, humanity saw the UEDF as this elite fighting machine that cut no corners, and yet that’s all they did and it cost lives.
But that was war. War didn’t wait for anyone to be ready. It showed up at the door and obliterated everything in its path. The harsh reality was they were doing the best they could under extreme circumstances.
“What you are about to see, hear and experience will push you to the limits of what you think is possible. I want you to know that your strength is found in each other. Don’t look to save yourself, look to save the one beside you and maybe you’ll succeed.” He paused in front of Viper. “You are going to lead this team.”
“What about you, sir?”
“What happens if I get killed? You can’t rely on me. You need to look to each other.”
“Sir, permission to speak,” Priest said.
“Go ahead.”
“Sir, where is Captain Kane?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I would like to know that too.”
“Sir, are we being graded he
re?” Phantom asked.
“Yeah, you get top marks if you make it out alive,” Skinner replied then shook his head. “Of course we aren’t, dickhead.”
“Listen, there is no way to prepare you for this. Seventy-two hours doesn’t even scratch the surface. Do your best. Forget the captain. Hell, forget the fact that they have put you in this situation. Work together; remember what you learned yesterday about your enemy. Your mission is to get from point A to point Z, how you do it, is entirely up to you. When you are out there, nothing matters except gaining ground and getting your REP safely to the extraction site. Good luck.”
Reid began walking away.
“Sir,” Bulldog hollered.
“Yes?”
“Hoo fucking rah!”
He smirked and shook his head before exiting the arena and entering the command room. An officer engaged the environment while Reid watched through a viewfinder as the once empty chamber began to change. The sounds of rocks cracking, buildings appearing, trees and plant life growing up around them in an instant caused them all to look on with a degree of shock and surprise. Viper stumbled a little as a cliff rose beneath her feet lifting her up twenty feet in the air. Below her, Phantom found himself wading through a lifelike river to the edge of a bank. Bulldog ducked into a building doorway that appeared beside him only to reappear on top of the roof. He shouted down to the others and for a moment they thought it was just a game. The atmosphere above them changed in color from light to dark red, a brutal wind began to whip at their gear and a heavy rain began to fall creating a humid environment. The older system, which most of the marines were trained in, placed them in a room and had them make choices the way a kid might respond to a video game or a flight simulator. This was no video game. Their perception of reality would change before them. Sound, smell, even taste would be stimulated to make them believe they had just stepped off a Phoenix onto the planet Drozleon, and once the battle started, they would know for sure, this was no game.
“Regroup,” Reid’s voice bellowed over a speaker. It was the last thing he would tell them before it began. One by one they made their way back together, and Viper brought up the map in her HUD. Reid could see everything playing out before him on multiple screens, each one corresponding to their helmets.
