War Dogs

by Jan Domagala

  Its huge head was distorted; a broad forehead overhung red-rimmed eyes that stared wildly at them. Long, lank hair hung down to its shoulders. A wide mouth filled with razor sharp teeth opened to let loose a bellow that was more animal than human.

  “Fire!” shouted Jake above the rage-filled war cry. They let loose with a hailstorm of pulsed plasma bolts. The creature was struck several times in the torso; blood sent flying from every wound but none of them stopped its advance.

  Jake saw the creature being hit and was confident the bolts would stop it, but all he witnessed was its progress being slowed down but not halted. Doubt began to filter through his concentration and he wondered what on earth this thing was made of.

  Bolt after bolt of pulsed plasma struck the creature and the closer it got to them they saw the impacts with growing clarity.

  Soon it was within striking distance, its face filled with pain-wracked rage. With a sweep of one massively muscled arm it lashed out at the nearest attacker. The arm connected with the shoulder of Joe as he tried to cover up, sending him flying backwards. Jake saw his friend go flying off his feet and just had time to duck before the massive arm swept his way.

  “Break away,” he said and the rest of the team separated, each going in a different direction as much as the space in the corridor afforded them.

  They all turned back towards the creature and resumed firing. It was clear the plasma bolts were having little effect except to slow it marginally and make it even angrier.

  Jake saw Joe get to his feet unsteadily; he couldn’t allow his concern for his friend to cloud his thought processes. He had to put this out of his mind and carry on.

  He saw Mack and Gina duck and weave out of range of the creature’s sweeping arms now outside of his peripheral vision. He kept firing, saw the pulsed plasma bolts slam into the already damaged torso with as little effect as before. Either the creature felt no pain or it was somehow blocking it out.

  What would they have to do to stop this behemoth?

  Mack was a step too slow for the marauding beast. It grabbed his arm as he tried to evade beneath it. Pulling back, the creature yanked Mack backwards almost off his feet then grabbed him with its other hand. Jake saw it happen and brought up his rifle to fire but couldn’t get a clean shot.

  “This is gonna hurt,” Jake heard Mack say as he was hoisted up by the huge creature. Jake watched his friend grimace as he readied himself for what he knew would come next.

  With a shrug of its powerful shoulders the creature threw Mack against the wall of the corridor.

  Jake saw his chance and the moment Mack was thrown he had a clear target once more and he fired a continuous burst of pulsed plasma fire. The creature danced with every impact but it refused to go down.

  With its head down the creature charged Jake and sent him sprawling as he dived out of the way just in time.

  Gina went over to help Mack who was just getting to his feet, still dazed from his collision with the wall. Jake got to his feet, glanced around to see the status of his team before returning his concentration on the creature. It had stopped its charge and was facing them once more.

  “Is everyone alright?” he asked, to which they all answered in the affirmative.

  “We have to end this now,” Jake said, emphasising the ‘now’.

  He watched as Gina ran at the creature.

  “Gina, what’re you doin’?” he shouted as he saw her closing in on the monster. He saw her slide under the legs of the creature and come up behind it.

  He fired his pulse rifle aiming at the creature’s torso to get its attention when he saw it look over its shoulder at what the diminutive woman was doing. The creature bellowed through its pain and bared its teeth at him.

  Jake saw Gina jump up onto the creature’s back. She reached around the creature’s head with her right hand, keeping a firm hold with her left. She was holding something in her right hand that she forced into the open mouth of the creature. Using both her hands she used all her prodigious strength and forced the monster’s mouth closed. At the last second she jumped off its back before the creature’s head exploded.

  The blast disintegrated the head of the former soldier spraying the corridor with blood and gore. The massive figure, minus the top half, dropped to its knees and then fell forward.

  A broad smile spread across Jake’s face as he saw the lithe form of his female teammate look at him and wink an eye.

  “You’ll have to stop showing us all up like that Gina, it’s bad for our rep,” Mack said through his pain.

  “At least we now know how to stop them,” Jake said.

  Joe said, “One down.”

  Jake said, “Right, now let’s go find Major Thorn.”

  7

  I

  Genotia

  Colonel Wade Black strode onto the deck of the shuttle. Before him were seated soldiers of the elite Home Guard, the Special Forces Regiment of Genotia selected for this mission. He looked down the rows of seats, his ice blue eyes taking in every detail of every face.

  “Okay people, what we have here is a search and destroy mission. We’re going to Research Station Nine where the last of the War Dogs are being kept. An attempt has been made to return the Dogs to their former status, human; we have to suspect this has failed. We have to suspect also that they have attacked everyone else on board the station or we would have heard from them by now. Here’s what we are going to do. We are going to enter the station and destroy every last one of them. Does anyone have a problem with that?” he said as he walked up the aisle between the two rows of seats.

  “Sir, what if it’s just a bad transmitter?” asked one of the young Marines.

  “With all the fail-safes in place that is virtually impossible, okay?”

  The young soldier nodded his head once realising his mistake in questioning his superior. Black went on past him and said, “Right, let’s make this clear, these War Dogs are to be terminated. I have this by the highest authority; General Matthias has signed the executive decision personally.”

  Nothing else was offered. He walked on to the end of the shuttle then turned around and returned to the front of the craft and his seat. He looked once more down the rows of Marines. With a satisfied smile on his thin lips he sat down allowing the harness to fasten around him.

  “Let’s do this,” he said.

  II

  Research Station Nine

  The Wildfire Team continued deeper into the station. They followed continual updates from their AI on the Pulsar as to where to go.

  “Artie, where is the next nearest transformed War Dog?” Jake asked through the internal comm channel they all shared.

  “It is coming from the next habitat over, sir. It seems they all have become aware of your presence on the station,” replied the AI.

  “Are they all coming to intercept us, Artie?” Gina asked.

  “Yes sir, from different directions so their ETA will differ.”

  “Will we reach Colonel Thorn before we have to deal with any more of the War Dogs?” Joe asked wincing from the pain generated by his bruised ribs.

  “That’s an affirmative, sir.”

  “Right people keep your eyes open for any sign of these things. Artie, the second any of them change their route I want to know,” Jake said.

  “Copy that, sir,” the AI agreed.

  “Sir, I have been examining the logs for the station and have found an anomaly,” Artie said.

  “Go ahead,” Jake said as he listened intently.

  “It appears that another ship arrived at the station before the comm channels went down. It remained docked for two and a half hours and then left.”

  “Any ID on the visiting craft?” Jake enquired.

  “It is listed as an Orion shuttle, sir.”

  Jake stopped in his tracks and said, “What the hell was an Orion shuttle doing on the station?”

  “What was a shuttle from the Orion Cartels doing this close to Genotia? I thought their sto
mping grounds were out near the Independent Worlds?” Gina commented.

  “There’s more to this than we were first told,” Joe observed.

  “Obviously,” Jake said then added, “Let’s get to the C and C fast and see if we can learn what really happened here.”

  They moved on along the corridor towards the central hub hoping the interconnecting tunnel they were in did not house another of the War Dogs. The consensus was that they would rather face them once they had a battle plan in place and not have to react like the last time.

  They reached the end of the corridor and a huge hatch faced them. It was the entrance to Deck Two of the Central Hub.

  Jake nodded to Joe who got to work on the locking panel to get it open. Everything past the docking bays would be on total lockdown mode since the incident and all hatches would need to be circumvented. Joe simply hacked the chip inside the locking panel via his NI and entered an unlock code. It was a military code accessible to certain sections, usually those cloaked in secrecy, as much as anything in the twenty-fifth century could be, and specifically designed for situations such as this when someone needed to gain access to an area after a lockdown for whatever reason.

  “Ok people, stay frosty, we have some idea of what we’re facing here but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any surprises along the way,” Jake said.

  They all nodded to indicate they had understood and then he gave the signal to Joe who opened the hatch.

  The huge door slid into the recess in the wall allowing them to enter.

  “Artie, where are the other War Dogs now?” Jake asked.

  “The remaining four appear to be converging on your location from every direction, sir. You should move directly into the first section you see. It will give you adequate cover should you decide to fight and other options for egress should you decide differently.”

  “You heard the man, let’s go,” Jake told the rest of his team.

  They entered the Hub and were met by another corridor that ran around the outside of the Hub. Doorways to each section were dotted along the way, spaced at regular intervals. The nearest door to them was just to their right and they moved towards it.

  A roar of primal fury made them all look in the direction it had come from then at each other.

  “Move!” Jake urged them.

  At the door Joe did his thing towards getting it open. Mack went in first moving to the right followed by Gina who went left covering all angles. Jake looked at Joe and said, “Are you okay? You took a big hit off that monster and I’ve seen you holding your ribs, will you be able to continue?”

  “I’m fine Boss. I won’t lie, my ribs hurt like hell but I’ll be okay I promise,” Joe replied with a thin smile.

  “I know you won’t let us down,” Jake told him patting him on the shoulder before entering the room allowing Joe to bring up the rear.

  The room was a huge chamber filled with equipment that at first glance gave them no indication as to their purpose. Tables were lined up in rows down the length of the room each with a monitor placed on top.

  “Major Thorn, we are in the Central Hub on Deck Two. What is your present location?” Jake said. The others listened in to the conversation but kept their attention on the job at hand as they moved forward. There was another door at the far end of this one that led to who knew where and that was where they were heading.

  “I’m on Deck Three at the moment but I’ll make my way to you. Try and avoid any contact with anyone,” Alex said, his voice sounding soft as if he was avoiding being overheard.

  “You mean the War Dogs, too late I’m afraid. We’ve already encountered one and are keen not to relive that particular experience,” Jake told him.

  “And you’re still alive, I’m impressed. We may just have a chance of getting out of this alive after all.”

  “Do you know anything about a shuttle from the Orion Cartels docking with the station just before the comms went down?” Jake asked. It was a long shot but he thought he might as well give it a go.

  After a pause Alex said, “That would explain a few things but it also raises a few more questions too. I’ll explain when I see you. Head towards the main lab and I’ll meet you there.”

  The connection was terminated between them so Jake asked Artie, “Give us the location of the main lab please.”

  “Copy that, sir,” replied the AI as it sent the co-ordinates to the team’s NIs.

  “Okay, we know where we have to go so let’s get moving before those things catch up with us,” Jake said with a sense of purpose. There were answers to all this and Jake was determined to learn what they were.

  8

  I

  Colonel Black despised the War Dogs and Major Alex Thorn in particular.

  He had fought in the Separatist war and had lost good men, many of who were friends and not just comrades in arms. For the government to dismiss his work and the sacrifice of all those who gave their lives in the war in favour of those freaks was just unforgivable. It was the reason why he turned towards the Separatist cause; he felt betrayed by the very people he had fought for.

  He was more than a sympathiser to the Separatist cause, he was still working for them under deep cover; a secret he kept from those he called friends. It had been decided by those in power within the movement that his best place was where he was, in command of his Marine Special Company in the Home Guard.

  The War Dogs had grabbed all the glory. His mission now was to eradicate them so that when the movement rose from the ashes of defeat there would be no one to stand in the way. This was necessary, Black thought, to eradicate the shame of all those who had died in the war.

  When the order came to exterminate the War Dogs, after they found out they could not repatriate them, he was given the task to hunt the bastards down. He almost had them all too, had it not been for the stay of execution order given at the last minute he would have succeeded.

  He knew the plan they had to change them back would fail. He knew he would get another chance at killing them and here it was. This time there would be no stay of execution, this time he would get them all, including Major Alex Thorn.

  He sat relaxed in his seat at the front of the shuttle watching the screen in the wall displaying the forward view from the sensors. He was filled with a restless energy as they approached the station. The closer they got to it the more he had to force himself to relax.

  The station loomed large in the small screen as the shuttle reached the point where the computer would take over the docking procedures. The calm image on the screen belied the turmoil that was taking place inside the structure as they approached.

  “Sir, there’s a ship already docked with the station. It’s not one recognised by our database,” the pilot said through an encoded comm channel only Colonel Black could hear.

  “Scan the station for intruders, relay their position to my NI and dock next to this ship. Keep searching for any information concerning this craft, find out where it came from,” he replied softly so that the rest of the Marines would not hear.

  Who else was on board the station he wondered? This was a new development, but one he would deal with as he always had.

  He took a deep breath to steady himself. It wouldn’t be long now.

  II

  As Jake and the team were about to enter the other room Artie’s voice came through loud and clear to all of them.

  “Sir, you have a Genotian military shuttle en route to the station. It is about to dock in the bay adjacent to my location,” it said.

  “Well, I can’t say that was unexpected. How many are on board, Artie?” Jake said.

  “There are the normal two flight crew and a full squad of Marines.”

  “Keep us updated as to their progress, Artie,” Jake told it and looked at the rest of the team.

  “This just keeps getting better and better,” Joe commented with a grimace.

  “Let’s keep moving. Until we know what the purpose of those Marines is we act as
if they’re possible hostiles,” Jake said.

  “Evade and deceive?” Gina asked.

  “You got it. We keep out of their way until we’re certain of their motives and agenda,” Jake told the team.

  Nods all round confirmed they understood and they moved on.

  Joe opened the door to the next room and they entered just as they had the one they just left. This one seemed to be similar to the last one, with workstations dotted around the room. They didn’t have time to stop and investigate for they heard the sound of another of the War Dogs getting close. It must have followed them into the last room and was coming for them.

  “Joe, lock that door the best you can,” Jake urged.

  “Already on it,” Joe said. He was at the locking panel by the door working feverishly to get it closed.

  With a sudden, ‘whoosh!’ the door closed. Jake saw Joe stumble back a couple of steps as the creature beyond slammed into the door with an almighty bang. The door began to bend inwards from the continual pounding on the other side.

  Joe looked at his friend with wide eyes.

  “Let’s go before that thing breaks through,” Jake said then turned with the others and ran for the other door.

  From their trajectory they seemed to be going deeper into the Hub and had it not been for the schematics uploaded to their NIs by Artie they would have been lost by this time.

  “We need to find an elevator so we can get to the main lab,” Jake said.

  “Aren’t they all on the outside of the Hub?” asked Mack wondering where Jake was going with this.

  “Yes, so we have to work our way around and back out there,” he said. He looked at each of them; Joe turned away then said, “No there’s another way.”

  Gina caught his drift and said, “Yes, we go deeper towards the centre where there’s a maintenance shaft that runs through the whole Hub right down to Engineering. We get to that and climb down to the main lab on Deck Four.”

  “Right let’s do it,” Jake said with a smile.

  He knew they worked best when under pressure and combined they would always come up with a plan.