by Jan Domagala
9
I
The Genotian military shuttle docked with the station. The Marines immediately left their seats and grabbed their pulse rifles on their way to the hatch.
Colonel Black stood waiting for the ‘All Clear’ sign to be extinguished once a seal had been established with the station so the door could be opened.
“Okay men, you know the drill. I want flanking positions on approach through the docking bay. Davis, you’re on point... go!” Black said as he stood to one side as the Marines filed out. He knew what these War Dogs were capable of and had no intention of throwing himself to them. His mission was to eradicate them and if it meant depleting the forces of the Home Guard in the process then it was a win, win situation.
“Aye, sir,” Davis said as he went through the hatch first.
Others followed until all twelve members of this special squad had deployed.
The expanse of the huge docking bay spread out before them as the hatch closed behind them.
Each Marine held a Remm M25 pulse rifle to their shoulder aiming down the barrel at any target that should present itself. They moved forward in double time in a ‘two-by-two’ formation with two outriders flanking the main group.
Black followed keeping a wary eye on the surrounding area ready for anything.
They were half way through the docking bay when the door opened at the far end. Framed in the large opening, backlit from the corridor beyond stood a huge creature. Alerted to the sound of running feet the creature postponed its pursuit of the Wildfire Team in favour of closer prey.
The Marines halted in their tracks and when Black saw the creature his expression hardened. His expectation that Garrison’s plan would fail had been correct, but he never expected this.
“Open fire!” he shouted.
The Marines all fired on the creature, the front few Marines going wide along with those flanking them to give those of their team behind a clearer shot.
A hailstorm of pulsed plasma bolts rained down on the creature that simply bellowed its rage at them before charging through the open doorway into the docking bay.
The first few Marines went down hard from blows swung violently at them. Then the creature grabbed hold of an unlucky Marine who had not moved out of the way fast enough. It hoisted the screaming Marine high above its head before hurling him at a group of his teammates. They forgot to cease firing even when their friend was in the line of fire and several bolts tore into the hapless young man before he collided with the group knocking them over like pins in a bowling alley.
Black felt his pulse begin to race as adrenalin flooded his system. His men didn’t seem able to halt this creature even with the formidable firepower at their disposal. What the hell had Garrison done to these people he wondered? He drew his sidearm and began firing at the creature as it grabbed another Marine and tossed him at the others with the ease a child tosses a doll.
As the mutated War Dog worked its way through the Marines a few of them continued to fire at it with their pulse rifles. The bolts tore into the chest area of the rampaging beast causing damage that would stop tens of normal humans but in its altered state the War Dog was able to shrug off the effects seemingly with ease.
One lucky Marine lost control of his rifle and a salvo stitched a line up the chest of the War Dog ending with a shot to the centre of the forehead. The top of the beast’s head exploded in a shower of blood and gore stopping it in its tracks. It dropped to its knees before keeling over, to land on its face, dead.
Black sighed a huge breath as he surveyed the carnage. Five of his men lay dead, whilst three more were wounded, one badly, whilst the rest were unharmed but spooked.
Out of the twelve that came with him only four remained fighting fit after just one encounter with a single War Dog. He reviewed their chances of completing their mission with what he had left and knew they needed a game changer.
“We need to get to engineering,” he decided.
II
Alex Thorn reached the main lab first. After learning that a shuttle from the Orion Cartels had docked with the station he had started to put things together.
What could a group of criminals, slash mercs, that remained out near the Independent Worlds possibly want on a research station close to the centre of the galaxy? If you put a few things together then things began to make sense.
Firstly, why did the War Dogs mutate into the creatures they are now after being subjected to a serum that was supposed to return their ‘fight or flight’ response to normal levels? Secondly, why was Garrison acting so strangely these past few weeks prior to the serum being administered and why did it have to be administered here on a station that had little or no security out in space when a secure facility on the planet’s surface would have made so much more sense had anything gone wrong?
Put them all together and the jigsaw was complete. He just needed to check out a few things on the computer and he would have his answers.
He logged into the main lab’s central computer via his NI circumventing the security protocols that Garrison had installed to prevent what he was attempting. As he stood at a workstation that had a monitor screen he had the computer replay the video logs he had wanted.
As the scene unfolded on the screen before him, a smile of understanding briefly played across his lips to quickly be replaced by a stern look. He had been right; all this had been planned.
His concentration had been so intense viewing the display that he had not heard the door to the lab open. His first alert to danger had been when all his senses went into hyper-drive as his subconscious picked up on the danger in the room.
He dived to the floor just as a huge fist slammed into the table at the side of the monitor smashing through it. When he looked up he saw one of the War Dogs glaring down at him.
His ‘fight or flight’ response kicked in overpowering the ‘flight’ aspect of it and all his thoughts focused on ‘fight’.
He was on his feet in a flash squaring up to the seven-foot tall beast that was glaring at him, baring its teeth. He was unarmed but for him that was never a problem. His response was kicking in; hormones flooded his brain boosting his sight, hearing and strength enabling him to fight this creature. His changed response meant that to fight would be the only possible option for him.
He looked up into the red-rimmed eyes of the War Dog to see if he could find any remnant of the man it had been before, but there was no trace of humanity left in there.
Alex allowed the response to take control, allowed it to make him capable of what needed to be done and, once he felt the familiar surge of power, he attacked.
He charged at the creature and they slammed into one another grabbing hold, trying to get the upper hand. The creature was all primal fury, no subtleties just raw power, whereas Alex could still strategize so he attempted to grab a better hold to gain the upper hand.
Before he was altered Alex could quite easily bench press five hundred pounds but now in the throes of the response his strength was boosted to almost twice that and even so he found himself being forced back effortlessly by the huge creature.
Alex switched his grip to lower down the creature’s arms but suddenly felt himself being lifted off his feet. Before he knew it he was flying across the room. He just had time to brace himself before he crashed into a table loaded with equipment over thirty feet away. The impact knocked the breath from his lungs momentarily and as he scrambled to his feet his anger took over and he rushed at the creature once more.
He leapt into the air and landed a flying kick squarely into the face of the beast but it was like kicking a wall. He rebounded from the head of the beast to land on the floor in front of it, his coordination good enough that he landed on his feet. He just had enough time to look up, see the War Dog give him an evil grin before being swotted away like a bothersome fly.
Alex hit the floor and went skidding across to come to a stop against a chair that had been placed by a table. He got to his feet
, picked up the chair and hurled it at the creature in one fluid movement.
The War Dog brought up a massive arm to shield its face against the hurled object and Alex rushed it once more. The chair had served its purpose, to distract the creature enough so that it would not see what he did next.
Picking up a knife from a table Alex ran at the War Dog. He sprang into the air ready to strike.
As the War Dog swatted the flying chair out of the air, its attention diverted momentarily by it, Alex saw its eyes return to him. Surprise registered in those orbs for a second and he wondered if there was some hint of humanity left in there. It was too late to stay his hand though as he was within striking distance. He landed on the creature’s shoulders and plunged the knife into the War Dog’s neck as far as his prodigious strength would allow.
Alex twisted the blade cutting as much flesh as he could, aiming for the main artery in the neck. He knew that these creatures could repair quite a lot of damage to their bodies but if he managed to sever a main artery the rapid blood loss would at least slow it down before it could repair itself.
The creature thrashed around trying to pull him from its upper body while bellowing from both rage and pain. Alex hung on with sheer determination twisting the blade further to inflict as much damage as he could, making the wound as deep and wide as possible.
Finally, he could hang on no longer and pulling his legs up and bracing them against the creature’s waist he thrust himself away from the War Dog yanking the blade free from its neck.
Blood spurting high into the air from the severed carotid artery and as Alex landed heavily on the floor and rolled to a kneeling position he saw the creature hold one giant hand against its neck. Its red-rimmed eyes that seemed to glow with the intense fury burning from within actually appeared to dim as the blood loss took its toll. Alex watched as it staggered backwards a few steps. Had it worked, had he defeated the creature?
Blood ran freely down the front of the immense beast and it took one faltering step forward then fell to its knees. Alex knew that this had to end and now.
He ran forward and plunged the knife straight into the right eye of the creature. In its weakened conditioned it put up no resistance and as the blade pierced the skull and into the brain Alex swore he could almost see a smile cross the contorted face of the mutated soldier. Almost like it was grateful for the release into death.
The creature dropped its arms to the side as blood still pumped from the severed artery, slowing now though as life ebbed from it, then it fell slowly forward onto the floor.
Alex watched it all seemingly dispassionate about the whole thing but deep down, what he thought he’d seen, touched something inside him. He felt he hadn’t as much taken a life but saved one from purgatory.
He took a deep breath to calm down and bring the response back under control and looked up to see four figures standing looking at him.
“Major Thorn, I presume,” said the one in front.
10
I
Jake and the team had arrived at the main lab just as the fight between Alex and the War Dog was coming to an end. They saw the two of them locked in combat with the smaller man on the larger creature’s shoulders holding a knife in the neck of the War Dog.
What came next gave them all pause for thought. They knew what they were capable of having been subjected to an enhancing serum not so long ago, but to witness Alex in action was something else.
“You are the people I spoke to earlier I take it?” Alex said, his voice still a little shaky after his struggle with his former comrade in arms.
Jake stepped forward and offered a hand, “I’m Captain Jake Riley, these are my team, Lieutenants Mack Cooper, Joe Vance and Gina Torres, we’re the Wildfire Team,” he said by way of introduction.
“You’re the... what now?” Alex asked taking the offered hand in a firm grip. He looked at each of them taking in their measure.
Jake said, “That doesn’t matter now. We’re here because a friend of ours alerted us to a friend of his being in possible danger. I know this is strictly speaking not our jurisdiction but having seen what has happened here it seems to me we arrived just at the right time. Although watching you handle that thing makes me wonder if you do need our help after all.”
“That thing used to be a friend of mine,” Alex told him as he stepped back.
“I meant no offence Major.”
“No, I apologise Captain, I know I ended his life and part of me knows there was no way that he could be saved, but part of me still thinks of him as he was, a friend. The hard part is I don’t know who he was, I can’t recognise who he used to be and that saddens me.”
“Jake, call me Jake. I’m sorry for your loss. Do you have any idea what happened here?”
“I think I know exactly what happened here, Jake.”
II
Black and his men reached the end of the docking bay without any further incident. He led them to the nearest elevator and accessed the door panel.
“You two remain here with the worst of the injured whilst the rest of us go down to Engineering. As soon as we get down there I’ll send the elevator back up for you so follow as soon as it arrives. If any more of those bastards show up aim for their head, that seems the only way to stop them,” he said to the expectant faces all looking to him for leadership.
When he was sure they had understood he opened the door and said, “Right, you lot, you’re with me.”
They all crowded inside and once they were all in he accessed the deck he wanted. The elevator travelled down to the lowest deck on the station where Engineering was located and when the doors opened Black checked to make sure there was no danger present. When he was sure it was clear the rest of his men joined him sending the elevator back up so the others could join them.
He looked around for what he needed for his idea to work. After their encounter with the creature earlier he was determined to end this. He planned on destroying the station and everyone on board. If that meant those others from the strange craft that had also docked here died as well, so be it. His mission for the Movement was paramount and he would allow nothing to get in its way.
He found what he was looking for on the main control panel in the centre of the room located in front of the huge reactor that powered the station.
“Talbot, fix a couple grenades to the shielding on that reactor but tie them into the control panel so that we can delay the detonation until we get off this rig,” he said to the marine close by him.
“Copy that, sir,” replied the young marine who set about his appointed task.
Black stood back and let him get to work then turned to look around the large room. Everything seemed as it should, no signs of any creatures lurking where they could pounce on them and he began to relax slightly. He began to think this might actually work.
He walked casually across the room pretending to look at various pieces of equipment until he reached the edge of the room where they had entered.
As he walked to the door the rest of his men had exited the elevator and were coming towards him.
“Talbot is over by the control panel,” he said to them, “make sure he finishes what he’s doing without any interruption.” After they had entered the large chamber he walked into the empty elevator and closed the door behind him. He headed back up to the docking bay and with his sidearm drawn he carefully exited the elevator. He breathed easier when he saw the corridor was empty so he ran into the docking bay. As fast as his legs would propel him he sprinted across the chamber towards where his shuttle was docked. The last thing he wanted this close to the finishing line, was to run into one of those mutated things.
He opened the hatch and threw himself inside the shuttle and gasped, “Launch the shuttle, get away from the station as fast as you can, it’s going to blow.”
The pilots never questioned the order, simply rushed through the release sequence and fired the shuttle’s engines powering the craft away from the station.<
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When they were a few hundred yards away from the station the pilot asked, “What about your men, sir, what happened to them?”
“They’re all dead,” he answered suitably grief stricken then thought: Or they soon will be.
11
I
Talbot finished up what he was doing and turned to say, “All done, sir.”
He looked around the room then asked, “Where’s the Colonel?”
A bleeping sound made him turn around back to the reactor where he’d just placed the grenades and he knew in that instant exactly what was going to happen. He shouted for everyone to get down before the three grenades exploded.
The triple blast blew outward from the reactor sending debris and shrapnel across the room in a wave of pure force. Anyone caught in the blast wave had their internal organs mashed from the concussive force.
The force of the explosions damaged the reactor’s shielding and when Talbot looked up from behind a table where he had landed he knew what would happen next.
Slowly the shielding would weaken until it gave way and the reactor would explode, not in a nuclear explosion but with enough force to obliterate the station and kill anyone left inside.
“The bastard has left us to die,” Talbot said when he saw no sign of their commander. It was the only explanation. But why would a decorated officer act in such a way, it made no sense?
Then he remembered the other craft and realised that maybe there was a way off this junk pile after all.
II
“Sir, my sensors have just detected an explosion in Engineering. I am also reading elevated levels of radiation emanating from the reactor. It seems that the shielding has been damaged and it is heading towards exploding,” Jake heard Artie say.
“It’s heading for a meltdown?” Joe asked.
“No sir, just a release of energy that the shielding is in place to contain. It will not release radiation such as in a nuclear explosion but the force will be great enough to destroy the station,” the AI explained.
“Oh that’s okay then, just as long as it’s nothing serious,” Joe said with a sardonic glance at Jake.
