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Empty, empty is all I could see along the streets I grew up knowing, the burning chill of the toxic land within my bones. After they, came they left it barren except for a few empty shells of homes and a few bags of Cheetos blowing in the toxic wind, finally coming back up to the surface for a mission that had a good chance of ending horribly.
The memories of the seven grueling days of fire raining from the sky, the desperate scramble to the few surviving colonies that were forged from the ground up by those who had way too much money for their own good, little utopias of snobs who got there first looking upon those left behind with no pity what so ever.
When I was little and people would utter words of how the apocalypse would start as a joke would come to fruition, I would be chuckling with absolute certainty thinking about how you lost your marbles, and if the world were to end it wouldn’t be by the hands of giant crustation riding superhumans with armor welded to their hides. The ignorance I wish I had sustained after all these years. I wish I could whitewash the view of the long decaying society before me that once was a little town with children playing in the street under the sun that gave off a calm residue upon the burning concrete and sprinkler wetted grass, adults looking on thinking about ye’ olden days.
I felt a nudge upon my lower leg, a half-deflated ball with little flowers painted on long ago, abandoned that once was owned by the young family down the street with a feel that radiated youth, long gone and faded into the back of my head, just an afterthought.
It sounds kind of funny talking about youth even though I’m still only 23 years of age, but in retrospect it isn’t, people’s life spans have been shortened a good chunk with risking our lives to stay on a far gone planet, not to mention I have somewhat survived five years without a real cup of coffee, not that cheap fake powder stuff they serve in the canteen but the good stuff, made with actual coffee beans and you actually get a kick out of.
My thoughts were interrupted by a voice from my six, Leo, the medic that had been assigned to or mission “ it would be for the greater good they said, you will become a hero they said, but I didn’t sign up for this” Leonard always complaining about how he is a medic, not a solder and should be in a nice clean office praised for his knowledge and how it’s Leo, not Leonard, I’m not your god damned father kid. He’s always been the kind of voice that will be in the back of your head judging you with words of annoying correct facts about safety protocols, the overprotective dad friend.
“How bizarre, not a single mutated rat in sight.” Fritz had always been one for extreme sarcasm and arrogance, but the tone in his voice was more serious than he had been through the two years of training back at the metal walls of the training camp that we had suffered together. But looking at the dingy buildings sinking into the long decaying ground that had been shattered, not a single rat was there, not one unwanted rodent insight.
“We are three miles away from the launch zone, and something is already acting out, you want a professional opinion I’ll give ya one, this is a terrible idea and we are strutting to sudden death at any moment.”
“Leonard has a point, this is off, not even a strider out patrolling we haven’t even had to deal with a single conflict. Keep your eyes peeled. ” My tone is strong to give my comrades some comfort, but I’m not, I can feel that the mission is going to turn around any moment and get us in some deep trouble.
The silence enveloped us again and we were on edge, almost on cue my second in command Oliver, a smart man, cold calculating with nerves of steel and a heart to match,(stuck up as all hell, if you catch my drift) piped up. “I’m picking up some strange readings, I can’t tell whether it’s a new weapon of our foe or just a new storm formation caused by an atmosphere change .” The ground began to shake a shadow came and our crew was enveloped in shadow as we turned around to see what was a creature I could only describe as horrid.
Its head appeared to be hidden under a large horse skull but it had ram horns sprouting from beneath, its body looking like a deformed dear and a tail reminiscent of a devil, and there was an oil-like substance oozing from every orifice, towering over us like the new sky born battle cruisers that were recently put in commission. It was meandering around with a murderous air to it. We scrambled into an abandoned supermarket, diving through the doors that were overgrown with the few species of plant that had evolved to survive, and with all the flickering lights and overturned display shelves, it was reminiscent of something straight out of a zombie movie.
The creature's steps rattled the building, and it peered into the sliding doors we had dashed behind a moment earlier its vocal cords admitting a low growl. Although we were sheltered by the overturned shelf it felt like it was staring into our very souls, fear was the only thing on my crew’s minds, like ice water and long expired mints coursing through my veins, my thoughts were careening towards the negative, what if this is the end, what if my crew parishes by this thing! I don’t even know what it’s supposed to be... It actually smells really rancid, I don't know what I was expecting but honestly, it’s like a mix of rotting flesh on a dock full of oil, fish guts, and sludge, the smell strangling my senses. My crew going a nauseating shade of green.
The creature started to nose its way through the broken down, long decayed, sliding doors, the doors creating a terrible ear-splitting screech. The nose of the beast was weaseling its way closer snot and all, the security detail that we had brought along as extra support, which consisted of four or five fellows, were quivering with fear praying toward some all omnipotent being or itching to fight with the sky-scraper of a beast with enough energy and courage to wrestle a full-grown lion. But none of them make the move, until one fellow I believe his name was Chadwick, pulled out his military issue g-45 phaser, threw himself over the barrier kicked the beast in its schnoz with such vigor the beast temporarily backed up with a yelp. But Chad had gained much too much confidence and high-tailed it after the beast, out the door, and seconds later there was a small war cry from the man and then silence, with the beast retreating. Chad wasn’t seen after. The crew although morning did not want to waste his heroic actions and kept trudging forward through the desolate waste of the town just as fast as before if not faster even with the weight of a missing crew member on our shoulders like trying to carry a calf upon them.
Our destination came into view, the old launch pad, it was crawling with striders patrolling the perimeter, the four long crab legs plated with steel-like material made a steady clicking sound that sent shivers down my spine. “Oliver, if you will, the mission briefing.”
“Our mission is to board one of the ships to find their base of operation and retrieve information undetected, remember this is a strict stealth mission so under no circumstances should we need to engage, and if we do then keep it quiet and to a minimum. Team B will plant the EMP to cause a distraction all the while team A will secure the vehicle. ” Oliver was as stoic as ever .“Good luck”.
Team A and Team B split going their separate ways, B splitting off from the main group, going towards the control tower, weaving through the enemy guards. Soon as the alarm system went down, we dashed for the nearest transport. A rusted supply cruiser carrying a few tired guards, their steads, supplies, and some food rations. The perfect cover for the mission, no one would suspect a thing, important enough to get where we need to go but not too much so that it would have more than the lift guarded with a few minor ranking officers. With my first officer by my side, A team hid amongst the metal crates in the transport.
A few hours have passed in the cold dark hull of the vehicle, it came to a sudden halt, then came the noise of metal scraping against itself. A cold luminescence came through the threshold that would be determining the future of the small crew that is dependent upon me during our journey, we heard a small exchange of unidentifiable chit-chat between the driver of the vehicle and a security guard as we snuck past. A sudden realization had stricken me at the moment, we were no longer on the turf we thought and planned to have landed on, we went into this mission thinking that the base was on the ground. We were in soo much deeper than we thought, the situation almost reminiscent of Napoleon's plan to invade Russia, in the middle of the freaking winter. We were in new territory, we were amongst the cosmos, I hadn’t prepared for a space-faring mission! The dread was slowly sinking in as we walked along the hallways. The vibe of the space vessel that was the encampment of the enemy was reminiscent of an old abandoned warehouse, flickering lights, gathering dust and all, but huge and with a million off branching passageways.
Weaving through the unending hallways my crew and I came across a room, stuffed to the brim with filling cabinets… I think. There were files spread everywhere, covering everything.
I crept forward into the room my small band of comrades, on edge, literally. I stubbed my toe on a sharp metallic object, I repressed several choice words. It was an information terminal, and the resident tech genius, Oliver, started bypassing the systems, it was far more complicated than I could understand but…hey, it was not my job to understand that. Things flashed on-screen circling through information on anything and everything as the technological wizard used his spells to sift through and download the information.
An alarm system started to sound its horrid song blaring through my eardrums, Oliver quickly retrieved the flash drive. Footsteps rattled passed in the hallway right outside of the metal door. My team and I plunged into the shadows and dark corners of the medium-sized room to try and find some sort of protection from the oncoming danger. Oliver and Leo hiding in an ajar air vent that was barely accessible as it was behind one of the many shelves, the two-person secretary detail that we had come with A team as an extra precaution had managed to climb on top of a large shelving unit not very far away. Fritz and I hid behind a large pile of crates by the doorway.
The door slid in and in jogged our foe. Up to this point, we had little to no significant knowledge of what they look like only the words of dying men. The two enemy troopers were about six Mabey seven feet in height with skin the hue of the night sky and large bulky armor that seemed far beyond the reach of modern technology while still having a vibe matching a knight’s armor from the medieval ages, but apart from that they appeared just as human as the next guy, just a little weird to say the least. The two had started to survey the room not noticing my comrades scooting up into the vent and out of the room, leaving me alone with the soldiers.
Although the strategy was sound, leaving only a single loose end in the mission instead of the possible many. But as I saw them retreating into the vents, something in my stomach sank. Unfortunately, I had felt this pit in my stomach before, a feeling I recognized more than I would care to say. Abandonment and the smallest twinge of desperation. For the first time in a long time, fear and weakness had taken over my whole being spreading like a virus corrupting my hardware. I sat in my little corner hopeless, the fear encircling my mind had a firm grasp, almost like sinking into fresh asphalt. The enemy is dangerously close to compromising my hiding spot, closer and closer. I braced knowing that once I was found by them I was done for. Why do these kinds of things happen to me?
Bang! A loud crash had come from down the hall, it was sudden and uncommon in the base that it had not just startled me but the hostile forces, as they skitted out of the room to check it out. I felt a hand upon my shoulder, Oliver.
He helped me up “Did you think I would really be leaving my captain behind? You really are dimwitted for someone who is supposed to command a band of highly trained operatives. Your crew wouldn’t have taken the oath if we didn’t mean it, now would we. ” His tone was steady and calm. “We don’t want to keep them waiting now, do we? Let's go.” We raced down the hall towards the docking bay we had arrived in, the crew waiting for us, impatient but waiting nonetheless.
The enemy battalions were in disarray, and a small explosion came from a small fighter ship causing a rather large ruckus. We made a break for a small empty cargo ship, it was cold as the rest of that god-forsaken space hub. Taking off from the station as it exploded in bright warm light with colors dancing magnificently like a miniature supernova, almost felt cold amongst the heat.
“That certainly wasn’t part of the plan.”Fritz called back from the cockpit “So much for subtlety completing a mission.”
“What did you expect, it’s what we are good at. Even if it means I have to constantly drag your sorry ass out of sticky situations, we are still crew whether I like it or not, am I still deciding if I do. You can choose friends but you can’t get rid of your family pal.” Leo remarked with prideful snark. I guess he was right when he said it, I still haven't gotten rid of them.