A Galaxy Burning: A Starmade Fiction (Chapter #12)
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Authors Note: Full of emotions. Sad, sad emotions.
CHAPTER TEN - Planetary Assault #12, Part 2
Jeremiah\'s voice ringed over the comms. \"I\'m sending down some heavy weapons emplacements. I\'m keeping most of the men at the gate to keep you all covered; Once you\'re in, chances are that comms won\'t be able to punch through.\"
I looked up. A few of the shock troopers were loading injured troopers into drop pods. They helped them close the hatch, and the thrusters lifted them from the ground. Mingling with them was a small swarm of small, unique, yellow pods. As these pods neared the ground, boosters slowed them down, they unfolded into a stretch of cover. A few other yellow pods slammed down nearby and opened up to reveal a number of deployable heavy 15mm chainguns. Immediately the shock troops set off deploying the machine guns along the stretch of cover. They were long, triple barreled monstrosities that hooked onto pre-set tripods along the barriers; Once hooked in, microgenerators in the fields deployed a small, localized wall of shielding.
\"Excellent. Can you connect me to the Auditor?\"
\"One moment- done.\"
The Auditor\'s voice came over the comms. \"Is there something you need?\"
\"I\'m going into the compound; Jackson and his team is handling the shields. Any idea what I should be looking for? Or where I should be looking?\"
\"Keep an eye out for information banks, experiments, or anything. Jeremiah, if you\'d be so kind as to set his suit to record everything he sees- excellent. As for where you should look? I have no idea. It\'s a shame, but every Vaygr lab is laid out differently. However, I\'m sure your HUD can lay out the structure as you go through it. Am I correct?\"
Jeremiah\'s voice returned, \"Yes. Your suit will keep track of where you\'ve been. It\'ll make escaping easier, if you must.\"
\"When exactly should I be getting out?\"
\"You\'ll know once Jackson shuts down the shields, Andrew.\" Jeremiah said, \"The Auditor will start landing his troops.\"
\"We\'ll extract you out, Captain.\" The Auditor\'s voice was sincere, \"I\'ll send in a team of spectres to pull you out.\"
\"What do you plan to do with the station?\"
\"Scour it for secrets, make sure we didn\'t leave a trail... and overload the reactor.\"
\"Sounds good to me. See you on the flipside. Maria?\"
\"Yes, Andrew?\" She responded.
\"Lets go.\" I turned around, there was a few soldiers watching me, listening to the conversation over the short-range comms. \"You, you, and you!\" I said, pointing two troopers. \"Come with me; A little extra support never helps. And the rest of you?\"
\"Aye, captain?\" Said one of the squad leaders.
\"Make sure not a single man gets into this compound until the Vaygr lands, and let their ghosts past.\"
They nodded.
\"Ready, you four?\"
\"As I\'ll ever be.\" Maria responded. The three troopers seemed much more excited, on the other hand. They gave eachother high fives; Shock troopers were always hungry for a rush, that special kind of high that only repeatedly stepping into oceans of bullets and lasers can give you. We stepped through the hole. A few moments, and the comms went silent.
We were greeted by a long, silver-floored hallway with dark black walls. Neon Vaygr along the walls provided all the light we needed. Everything was eerily silent, the sound of gunfire behind us slowly becoming dimmer and dimmer, until I could hear was our footsteps and my own breathing.
There were doors along the halls; Large, steel squares with only a single button next to them. The Vaygr were never much for beauty when it comes to the dirty work. We took a hard right, and then a left, then two more rights. My HUD kept track of my location through a constantly developing three dimensional map on the bottom left. On the top right were four representations of the troops (and Maria) following me, mimicking their exact actions, providing me with a heart rate, and showing their immediate surroundings. On the bottom right was my ammunition count; Fourty-five in the rifle, and ten magzines strapped to me. My pistol waited in reserve. On the top left was a small representation of my own armor, allowing me to keep track of my own diognostics.
We checked every corner; Stacked near to the wall with one of the troopers taking point and another covering the six. With every turn, every twist, there was anticipation. Eventually, now deep into the first floor of the compound, the front trooper peeked from behind another corner. He immediately retreated his head back into cover.
\"What is it?\"
\"Two tangoes, sir. Right on our three. Neutralize?\"
\"Are they armed?\" I responded.
\"One has a handgun, the other an automatic rifle. Both are in unpowered armor; Nothing spectacular there. They look nervous.\"
\"Disable them.\" I slowly crept up and put my hand on the trooper at the corner. \"You take the closest; I\'ll handle the other.\"
\"Roger.\"
We waited in silence. I could hear their footsteps. I took slow, controlled breaths, pressed close behind the trooper in front of me. The footsteps grew louder and louder. I heard them chattering; They were nervous about approaching the gate. From what I could discern, we had cut a few powerlines in the facility when-
The tip of a rifle barrel peeked out from behind the corner. \"Gottem\" the trooper whispered, grabbing the end of the automatic rifle and yanking it away as he dashed out from the corner. I charged around the corner full blast. The trooper tossed the rifle to the side and quickly smashed the face of the unprepared soldier; His helmet cracked and shattered as the power-armored trooper wailed upon it.
The other solider, a short distance behind, began to raise his handgun. He took a step back in fear. I used the edge of my weapon to knock the barrel upwards; He pulled the trigger. The shell slammed fruitlessly into the wall, shattering a Vaygr logo. He dropped the pistol, and swung at me. Gripping my rifle, I heard a definite *crack* as slammed the but of the weapon into his elbow. He yelled, but took another swing. I ducked as he stumbled forward into me. Shoving my weapon under his neck, my armor hissed lightly as I lifted him above the ground and slammed him onto his back.
\"Engage speaker system.\" I told my armor. He could now hear me, raspy and angry over the external speaker. \"Best start talking, son.\" Anger filled me. I hadn\'t encountered the Vaygr since I left Pragni. And now that I had a moment to get it out? It felt nice. Sweet, even. \"Or I\'m going to teach you how we do it where I\'m from.\"
A little bit of resolve came back to him. \"Do what? You really think you\'re gettin\' away? You can\'t do this!\"
\"Well considering all those please you sent didn\'t get through, yes.\" His eyes widened in fear. Although revenge felt nice, it wasn\'t truly revenge. These were not terror fleet soldiers; they were just Vaygr troops, civilians who joined the military and managed to get placed in the wrong place at the wrong time. \"Look, son. We can do this a few ways; There\'s a bunch of people out there who would rather take you prisoner. But me? I would be a lot happier with you dead. Trooper, your guy geting this?\" I looked to my left. The three troopers were around the Vaygr soldier, one holding him against the wall, the others had their guns pointed directly at the captives head. The trooper looking at me nodded.
\"He\'s hearing it sir.\"
\"Now if you just stay nice and calm, the big guns outside can have their way, and you might get to live. Let\'s keep this clean, alright?\" I nudged the barrel of my gun into his throat, \"Try to say something if you understand.\"
There was a mumble of words as he tried to get something out. \"Good enough for me. Maria, I\'ll hold him down. Check his body. You troopers, frisk your man. When you\'re done, tie him up and give him a headache.\"
I stood up, and motioned for the soldier to get up. Keeping my gun pointed at him, I quickly took the grenades strapped to his belt and tossed them far out of range. Maria came up and began frisking him down; Pockets, sleeves, everything. We tossed anything not useful aside; Practical measure to make sure they don\'t slither there way over to them once we were done with them.
Maria eventually found a small little card. \"Got something, Andrew.\" She said, examining it. \"Perfect, access.\"
I smiled. \"Excellent. You boys find anything?\"
A trooper with a deep voice responded, \"Yeah, one of those cards and a belt of grenades. I\'ll hold onto this.\" He laughed, \"I\'m sure we can find a use for \'em.\"
Maria tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention back. She held a small little holographic device: It was a holographic map of the compound. \"They shouldn\'t have had this. In a facility like this, only high ranking officials should have such detailed maps. They were trying to escape.\"
\"No,\" I responded, \"Vaygr don\'t try and escape. They were trying to get somewhere.\" I took a jab at the Vaygr with my rifle, hitting him in the gut. \"Alright, where were you headed?\"
\"I\'m not talking.\"
\"Yes you are.\"
\"No I am NOT!\" He lunged forward at me. I quickly sidestepped, and he fell fruitlessly to the ground. He looked back, his eyes filled with horror. I pulled the trigger. There was a loud blast, a clean little hole, and a dead man on the ground. I walked over to the other Vaygr pinned to the wall.
\"He didn\'t exactly think things through very well.\" I took a deep breath, and looked at Maria. She was watching me closely; I could feel it. \"But you have another chance at this. Where were you heading.\"
His eyes darted around. He sighed. \"Hold... hold up the map.\"
Maria held it up in front of him.
\"Containment bay sixteen.\" He said. Instantly, a little red line flew from our position, whizzing around the facility and up to floor nineteen.
\"You better not be lying I said.\" He shook his head in fear as one of the shock troopers raised up his rifle. His eyes began to tear as he was filled with the reverence of death. \"No, don\'t kill him.\" I said. The trooper lowered his rifle. \"Tie him up. Leave him here. The Ghost\'s will pick him up.\"
\"Thank you.\" He said, his voice nothing more than a whimper. The troopers ripped his clothes, and used it as makeshift rope. In moments, he was nothing but a tied ball on the ground. He rested his head against the wall; His face was, strikingly, full of contempt.
\"Speaker systems off.\" I took a deep breath, and sighed.
The trooper with the lighter voice spoke first, \"Didn\'t kill him... you know, Captain? You know what?\"
\"What?\" I asked him.
\"That ain\'t so bad. Proves we\'re better than what most people think mercs are, lot better.\"
The other troopers nodded in agreement. The third, with a raspy voice, spoke up. \"I\'ll tell you what, cap. The pay alright, the food\'s pretty good, but I\'ll be honest with ya, in all my years of fightin\', this is the best crew I\'ve ever fought with.\"
I smiled. Maria tuned in, \"I told you.\" She said.
\"I never said you were wrong.\" And with that, we returned to walking down the hallway. Maria walked next to me, giving directions provided to her by the holographic map. Left, right, left, straight, up these stairs. The silence was eery, so I decided to start up a conversation. \"You three, what are your names?\"
\"Corporal Dickson.\" Said the one with the deep voice, who was toting the grenade belt.
\"Private Mark.\" Said the light voiced one.
\"Jack. Sergeant Jack.\" Said the raspy-voiced one.
\"Glad to be on a mission with you men. Jackson been keeping you all in shape?\" I asked.
They all broke out laughing. \"In shape, Captain? That man has us running like machines.\" Jack said.
\"Damn right he does,\" Commented Dickson \"But it keeps us running right and tight.\"
\"Damn straight!\" Mark said, giving Dickson a little fist bump and laughing.
Maria tuned in, \"Well you\'re all pretty optimistic, considering the circumstances.\"
\"Well, Ma\'am,\" Jack said, \"There ain\'t much reason not to. Ain\'t no point in getting sad and depressed on the midnight train to hell. You know where you\'re going, so might as well make the best of it.\"
\"I see your point.\" Maria responded, \"How long have you been doing this, Jack?\"
\"Twelve years. Spent six of them with the DFN, five and a half with a security team on Zanzibar, and for the last six months I\'ve been making sure these clowns keep their head in the game.\"
I laughed, \"Jackson sure does recruit a colorful bunch.\" There was an elevator in front of me. I walked up and pushed the button. A glowing number above it began ticking down. We all formed in a semi circle in front of the elevator doors, with Dickson and Mark kneeling and covering the rear. The elevator doors opened. I tapped Dickson and Mark on the shoulder, and keeping their weapons facing to the rear, we entered the elevator. It was a button array for floor selection; Primitive, but on something this huge it prevented directional errors. I clicked the big 19. The elevator began climbing upwards.
\"Well, this sure has been quiet.\" Jack said, \"Either really good, or really bad.\"
\"Let\'s hope the first choice.\" I said. \"Everyone holding up?\" Everyone nodded. \"Alright, let\'s hit this floor and see what else we can-\" I was interrupted by the sound of a massive explosion, and an orchestra of twisting metal. The lights gave way. The elevator grinded to a halt. \"Dammit.\"
Maria chimed in, \"Shield generators probably hit.\" She scanned the room around her, her suits nightvision clicking on. She pointed her rifle up, and fired off a few rounds. A panel of the roof of the elevator fell. \"Follow.\" She said. Her limber body easily leaped up through the hole, her body almost clearing the height of the jump perfectly.
\"Damn can she jump.\" I heard Jack comment.
\"Tartaran physique.\"
Dickson scoffed, \"Don\'t forget that extra power armor.\"
\"I\'d like to see you do it, trooper.\" Maria responded sarcastically. She reached down for me, and helped me through the hole. We both helped lift the shock troopers in their bulkier, external exoskeletons through the hole. She grabbed onto one of the elevator cables, wrapped her legs around it, and began pulling herself up. I grabbed beneath her, and the troopers started climbing the other cable. \"What floor did we stop on?\" She asked.
\"Four.\" Dickson responded.
\"Alright. I\'ll keep count.\" She responded. \"Stay quiet.\"
Silently, we moved our way up the elevator shaft. I was surprised to see the lack of an elevator ladder, but I presume it was a precaution to prevent precisely what we were doing. Boy, did I love power armor.
\"Think we should have just taken the stairs?\" Mark asked.
\"Shut your trap and climb.\" Jack responded. We all continued up the elevator. I heard Maria mumbling under her breath, counting as we passed the floors. It took a few moments, but eventually Maria held out her hand for all of us to stop. She leaped over to the door platform, and grabbed onto the pipes next to it.
\"Hear anything?\" I asked.
\"Yes. Sounds like a few of them. They\'re yelling about something.\"
\"I have an idea. How fast can you yank those doors open, Captain?\" Dickson said, with a sly tone to his speech.
\"In these suits? Should be able to swing them open like nothing.\"
\"Fantastic.\" He responded. \"Can you get under the door?\"
\"Sure, yeah.\" I stuck out my hand, and Maria stuck out her leg. \"Seriously?\"
\"Most of the grip is in my hands. Take it or leave it.\"
I sighed. I grabed her foot, and used it to swing under the elevator doors, grabbing onto the ledge. I found a place for my footing a few feet down; I was a little scrunched, but it worked.
\"Alright, Captain, take this.\" Dickson said. I turned my head to see him handing me a grenade, the pin pulled but the spoon held down. \"Careful...\" He whispered as I gently took the grenade from his hand, making sure to keep the spoon held firmly down. No ordinance warning symbol filled my HUD. I sighed in relief. \"Alright, here\'s the plan. Open that door just a bit, real slow like, and throw that grenade through. Make sure it won\'t damage the door. Right after it goes off, yank the door open. We\'ll jump in. Just let us get a little higher...\" They climbed farther up the steel line to make the jump easier, \"...perfect.\"
\"Ready?\" Maria asked me.
\"Ready.\" I responded. She inched the door open with her free hand. I stuck my arm through the crack. I chucked the grenade in, and Maria let the door shut. Immediately I heard yelling in confusion. It didn\'t take them long to see the grenade; Luckily, five seconds isn\'t a very long time. There was a huge explosion. Maria yanked the door open, and the three shock troopers jumped one by one into the room, each covering a lane of fire. I hear their 10mm rifles roar to life, catching the vaygr off guard. But I heard return fire, and Jack shouted for them to take cover.
\"Is it clear enough for me to enter?\" I yelled over the comms.
\"HOLD ON ONE SECOND!\" Jack screamed back, \"DICKSON, ANOTHER GRENADE!\"
\"Got it!\" He responded. Another explosion, some more screaming, and with that as my cue, I pulled myself into the room. Holding the door for Maria, she quickly followed suite. We dove for cover behind a large, metal file cabinet, next to Jack. The other two were ducked down behind a flipped over metal Vaygr statue, with Mark providing covering fire. Bullets wizzed around us.
\"How many?\" Maria asked.
\"At least eight left.\"
\"What\'re we dealing with.\"
\"All I can see from here is a big ass hall, but a couple of them ran into a room on the right. I assume that\'s where we go, Captain.\"
\"Like it.\" I said. I popped my head from behind cover, and fired off some more rounds. I pegged a Vaygr right in the face when he popped his little head from out of cover. It was going well; These Vaygr were still startled, and didn\'t have the time to properly prepare. Some wore full battle gear; Others were stuck in civies and equipped with nothing more than an autopistol. Curiousity filled me. What was in the room? What were those Vagyr soldiers guarding? What were they hiding?
I heard an explosion from the room. The Vaygr soldiers we were fighting turned in horror towards the door on the right. I heard noises. Noises that were vaguely familiar. Noises that gave me nightmares.
\"No....\" I said. I grabbed Maria. \"Everyone, follow me, NOW!\" I ran forward, firing into the horror-filled Vaygr. Maria and the Troops followed suit. I ran into the room on the left, slamming on the open button. I practically threw Maria through, and everyone quickly rushed in, with me coming in last. I shot the door button; The default emergency systems kicked in, a siren sounded, and the doors slammed shut.
But I got one good look at it. Square in the eyes; Not frozen. Bigger. Meaner. The EV glutton looked me square in the eyes, filled with infinite hunger as it devoured the soldiers next to it. It let out a piercing scream. And then the doors shut.
\"EV\'s!\" I yelled, \"They\'re holding EV\'s!\" I grabbed the metal Vaygr insignia statue next to me and tilted it, making it fall directly in front of the door. \"Everyone back away from the walls. This isn\'t going to end well.
\"Andrew?\" Maria said, looking at the holographic map.
\"What!?\" I yelled.
\"Where in the room they soldiers were going to guard.\" She responded.
I turned around. EV\'s everywhere, but not running freely; Contained along massive walls, held securely in gigantic tanks, in some kind of stasis. Most were gluttons but... there were others. An array of gigantic Horrors, twisted amalgations of flesh and bone, crude but fear inspiring. Their massive tentacles appeared to be made up of human arms; The EV\'s manner of quickly using fresh biomass. And then, in the floor of the very center of the room, was held... something. We walked towards it. Below us, in a massive plexiglass contained, and the top of it guarded by a row of fence, was a giant, coiled worm. It\'s body was made of multiple, heavily armored segments. But there was something... different about it. It didn\'t look like the others.
On the front segment, right in front of its massive, tentacle-covered mouth, was a branded Vaygr logo.
\"This isn\'t right. They tried to make EV\'s they could control.\" Jack said.
\"But they failed.\" Maria responded. \"Come here, Andrew.\"
I walked over to her, as the rest of the shock troopers scanned the massive room. Screams could still be heard from the hallway, but they were quickly being replaced by the defeaning screeches of the gluttons. Maria was standing in front of a large, touch screen terminal.
\"Look.\" She said. She had pulled up hundreds of files, all with big \'FAILED\' marks above them. \"They failed every time.\"
\"Did they ever get close?\"
\"The closest they got was slightly changing the genetic makeup of the kronoworm in the center and-\"
I grabbed Maria\'s hand. I saw something, something in the corner. It caught my eye. On the very right of the folder list on the top of the screen was something that seemed to beckon. It was titled \'Planetary Assault #12\'. I touched it.
The file opened. I began to shake. \"Andrew...\" Maria said, helping support my body as I felt a mad sickness overcome me. My body grew weak, but my hands clamped the computer as if it was my life depending on it.
It was a detailed recollection of Planetary Assault #12, by Terror Fleet #3. They had bombarded the planet, and allowed some of the people to escape by DFN transports, as usual. They took contained EV\'s, and bombarded the planet with them once all civilian transports had left. They used the system as a testing ground for the biological weapons. It stated that it was the first test of EV\'s, and that they we\'re not going to expand the project past this facility until more control over the EV\'s was provided. It was considered a mission failure.
\"I\'m going to destroy this whole fucking station, Maria. Every last man, woman, and EV on it. I\'m going to watch this bastard place burn to ash..\"
\"Andrew... They don\'t deserve that.\"
\"Dammit, Maria. Neither did I, Maria. Neither did I.\" I stared at the computer. My vision couldn\'t shift from the bottom right, nomatter how hard I tried. On the bottom right of the screen was a rotating picture of Pragni.
END OF CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER TEN - Planetary Assault #12, Part 2
Jeremiah\'s voice ringed over the comms. \"I\'m sending down some heavy weapons emplacements. I\'m keeping most of the men at the gate to keep you all covered; Once you\'re in, chances are that comms won\'t be able to punch through.\"
I looked up. A few of the shock troopers were loading injured troopers into drop pods. They helped them close the hatch, and the thrusters lifted them from the ground. Mingling with them was a small swarm of small, unique, yellow pods. As these pods neared the ground, boosters slowed them down, they unfolded into a stretch of cover. A few other yellow pods slammed down nearby and opened up to reveal a number of deployable heavy 15mm chainguns. Immediately the shock troops set off deploying the machine guns along the stretch of cover. They were long, triple barreled monstrosities that hooked onto pre-set tripods along the barriers; Once hooked in, microgenerators in the fields deployed a small, localized wall of shielding.
\"Excellent. Can you connect me to the Auditor?\"
\"One moment- done.\"
The Auditor\'s voice came over the comms. \"Is there something you need?\"
\"I\'m going into the compound; Jackson and his team is handling the shields. Any idea what I should be looking for? Or where I should be looking?\"
\"Keep an eye out for information banks, experiments, or anything. Jeremiah, if you\'d be so kind as to set his suit to record everything he sees- excellent. As for where you should look? I have no idea. It\'s a shame, but every Vaygr lab is laid out differently. However, I\'m sure your HUD can lay out the structure as you go through it. Am I correct?\"
Jeremiah\'s voice returned, \"Yes. Your suit will keep track of where you\'ve been. It\'ll make escaping easier, if you must.\"
\"When exactly should I be getting out?\"
\"You\'ll know once Jackson shuts down the shields, Andrew.\" Jeremiah said, \"The Auditor will start landing his troops.\"
\"We\'ll extract you out, Captain.\" The Auditor\'s voice was sincere, \"I\'ll send in a team of spectres to pull you out.\"
\"What do you plan to do with the station?\"
\"Scour it for secrets, make sure we didn\'t leave a trail... and overload the reactor.\"
\"Sounds good to me. See you on the flipside. Maria?\"
\"Yes, Andrew?\" She responded.
\"Lets go.\" I turned around, there was a few soldiers watching me, listening to the conversation over the short-range comms. \"You, you, and you!\" I said, pointing two troopers. \"Come with me; A little extra support never helps. And the rest of you?\"
\"Aye, captain?\" Said one of the squad leaders.
\"Make sure not a single man gets into this compound until the Vaygr lands, and let their ghosts past.\"
They nodded.
\"Ready, you four?\"
\"As I\'ll ever be.\" Maria responded. The three troopers seemed much more excited, on the other hand. They gave eachother high fives; Shock troopers were always hungry for a rush, that special kind of high that only repeatedly stepping into oceans of bullets and lasers can give you. We stepped through the hole. A few moments, and the comms went silent.
We were greeted by a long, silver-floored hallway with dark black walls. Neon Vaygr along the walls provided all the light we needed. Everything was eerily silent, the sound of gunfire behind us slowly becoming dimmer and dimmer, until I could hear was our footsteps and my own breathing.
There were doors along the halls; Large, steel squares with only a single button next to them. The Vaygr were never much for beauty when it comes to the dirty work. We took a hard right, and then a left, then two more rights. My HUD kept track of my location through a constantly developing three dimensional map on the bottom left. On the top right were four representations of the troops (and Maria) following me, mimicking their exact actions, providing me with a heart rate, and showing their immediate surroundings. On the bottom right was my ammunition count; Fourty-five in the rifle, and ten magzines strapped to me. My pistol waited in reserve. On the top left was a small representation of my own armor, allowing me to keep track of my own diognostics.
We checked every corner; Stacked near to the wall with one of the troopers taking point and another covering the six. With every turn, every twist, there was anticipation. Eventually, now deep into the first floor of the compound, the front trooper peeked from behind another corner. He immediately retreated his head back into cover.
\"What is it?\"
\"Two tangoes, sir. Right on our three. Neutralize?\"
\"Are they armed?\" I responded.
\"One has a handgun, the other an automatic rifle. Both are in unpowered armor; Nothing spectacular there. They look nervous.\"
\"Disable them.\" I slowly crept up and put my hand on the trooper at the corner. \"You take the closest; I\'ll handle the other.\"
\"Roger.\"
We waited in silence. I could hear their footsteps. I took slow, controlled breaths, pressed close behind the trooper in front of me. The footsteps grew louder and louder. I heard them chattering; They were nervous about approaching the gate. From what I could discern, we had cut a few powerlines in the facility when-
The tip of a rifle barrel peeked out from behind the corner. \"Gottem\" the trooper whispered, grabbing the end of the automatic rifle and yanking it away as he dashed out from the corner. I charged around the corner full blast. The trooper tossed the rifle to the side and quickly smashed the face of the unprepared soldier; His helmet cracked and shattered as the power-armored trooper wailed upon it.
The other solider, a short distance behind, began to raise his handgun. He took a step back in fear. I used the edge of my weapon to knock the barrel upwards; He pulled the trigger. The shell slammed fruitlessly into the wall, shattering a Vaygr logo. He dropped the pistol, and swung at me. Gripping my rifle, I heard a definite *crack* as slammed the but of the weapon into his elbow. He yelled, but took another swing. I ducked as he stumbled forward into me. Shoving my weapon under his neck, my armor hissed lightly as I lifted him above the ground and slammed him onto his back.
\"Engage speaker system.\" I told my armor. He could now hear me, raspy and angry over the external speaker. \"Best start talking, son.\" Anger filled me. I hadn\'t encountered the Vaygr since I left Pragni. And now that I had a moment to get it out? It felt nice. Sweet, even. \"Or I\'m going to teach you how we do it where I\'m from.\"
A little bit of resolve came back to him. \"Do what? You really think you\'re gettin\' away? You can\'t do this!\"
\"Well considering all those please you sent didn\'t get through, yes.\" His eyes widened in fear. Although revenge felt nice, it wasn\'t truly revenge. These were not terror fleet soldiers; they were just Vaygr troops, civilians who joined the military and managed to get placed in the wrong place at the wrong time. \"Look, son. We can do this a few ways; There\'s a bunch of people out there who would rather take you prisoner. But me? I would be a lot happier with you dead. Trooper, your guy geting this?\" I looked to my left. The three troopers were around the Vaygr soldier, one holding him against the wall, the others had their guns pointed directly at the captives head. The trooper looking at me nodded.
\"He\'s hearing it sir.\"
\"Now if you just stay nice and calm, the big guns outside can have their way, and you might get to live. Let\'s keep this clean, alright?\" I nudged the barrel of my gun into his throat, \"Try to say something if you understand.\"
There was a mumble of words as he tried to get something out. \"Good enough for me. Maria, I\'ll hold him down. Check his body. You troopers, frisk your man. When you\'re done, tie him up and give him a headache.\"
I stood up, and motioned for the soldier to get up. Keeping my gun pointed at him, I quickly took the grenades strapped to his belt and tossed them far out of range. Maria came up and began frisking him down; Pockets, sleeves, everything. We tossed anything not useful aside; Practical measure to make sure they don\'t slither there way over to them once we were done with them.
Maria eventually found a small little card. \"Got something, Andrew.\" She said, examining it. \"Perfect, access.\"
I smiled. \"Excellent. You boys find anything?\"
A trooper with a deep voice responded, \"Yeah, one of those cards and a belt of grenades. I\'ll hold onto this.\" He laughed, \"I\'m sure we can find a use for \'em.\"
Maria tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention back. She held a small little holographic device: It was a holographic map of the compound. \"They shouldn\'t have had this. In a facility like this, only high ranking officials should have such detailed maps. They were trying to escape.\"
\"No,\" I responded, \"Vaygr don\'t try and escape. They were trying to get somewhere.\" I took a jab at the Vaygr with my rifle, hitting him in the gut. \"Alright, where were you headed?\"
\"I\'m not talking.\"
\"Yes you are.\"
\"No I am NOT!\" He lunged forward at me. I quickly sidestepped, and he fell fruitlessly to the ground. He looked back, his eyes filled with horror. I pulled the trigger. There was a loud blast, a clean little hole, and a dead man on the ground. I walked over to the other Vaygr pinned to the wall.
\"He didn\'t exactly think things through very well.\" I took a deep breath, and looked at Maria. She was watching me closely; I could feel it. \"But you have another chance at this. Where were you heading.\"
His eyes darted around. He sighed. \"Hold... hold up the map.\"
Maria held it up in front of him.
\"Containment bay sixteen.\" He said. Instantly, a little red line flew from our position, whizzing around the facility and up to floor nineteen.
\"You better not be lying I said.\" He shook his head in fear as one of the shock troopers raised up his rifle. His eyes began to tear as he was filled with the reverence of death. \"No, don\'t kill him.\" I said. The trooper lowered his rifle. \"Tie him up. Leave him here. The Ghost\'s will pick him up.\"
\"Thank you.\" He said, his voice nothing more than a whimper. The troopers ripped his clothes, and used it as makeshift rope. In moments, he was nothing but a tied ball on the ground. He rested his head against the wall; His face was, strikingly, full of contempt.
\"Speaker systems off.\" I took a deep breath, and sighed.
The trooper with the lighter voice spoke first, \"Didn\'t kill him... you know, Captain? You know what?\"
\"What?\" I asked him.
\"That ain\'t so bad. Proves we\'re better than what most people think mercs are, lot better.\"
The other troopers nodded in agreement. The third, with a raspy voice, spoke up. \"I\'ll tell you what, cap. The pay alright, the food\'s pretty good, but I\'ll be honest with ya, in all my years of fightin\', this is the best crew I\'ve ever fought with.\"
I smiled. Maria tuned in, \"I told you.\" She said.
\"I never said you were wrong.\" And with that, we returned to walking down the hallway. Maria walked next to me, giving directions provided to her by the holographic map. Left, right, left, straight, up these stairs. The silence was eery, so I decided to start up a conversation. \"You three, what are your names?\"
\"Corporal Dickson.\" Said the one with the deep voice, who was toting the grenade belt.
\"Private Mark.\" Said the light voiced one.
\"Jack. Sergeant Jack.\" Said the raspy-voiced one.
\"Glad to be on a mission with you men. Jackson been keeping you all in shape?\" I asked.
They all broke out laughing. \"In shape, Captain? That man has us running like machines.\" Jack said.
\"Damn right he does,\" Commented Dickson \"But it keeps us running right and tight.\"
\"Damn straight!\" Mark said, giving Dickson a little fist bump and laughing.
Maria tuned in, \"Well you\'re all pretty optimistic, considering the circumstances.\"
\"Well, Ma\'am,\" Jack said, \"There ain\'t much reason not to. Ain\'t no point in getting sad and depressed on the midnight train to hell. You know where you\'re going, so might as well make the best of it.\"
\"I see your point.\" Maria responded, \"How long have you been doing this, Jack?\"
\"Twelve years. Spent six of them with the DFN, five and a half with a security team on Zanzibar, and for the last six months I\'ve been making sure these clowns keep their head in the game.\"
I laughed, \"Jackson sure does recruit a colorful bunch.\" There was an elevator in front of me. I walked up and pushed the button. A glowing number above it began ticking down. We all formed in a semi circle in front of the elevator doors, with Dickson and Mark kneeling and covering the rear. The elevator doors opened. I tapped Dickson and Mark on the shoulder, and keeping their weapons facing to the rear, we entered the elevator. It was a button array for floor selection; Primitive, but on something this huge it prevented directional errors. I clicked the big 19. The elevator began climbing upwards.
\"Well, this sure has been quiet.\" Jack said, \"Either really good, or really bad.\"
\"Let\'s hope the first choice.\" I said. \"Everyone holding up?\" Everyone nodded. \"Alright, let\'s hit this floor and see what else we can-\" I was interrupted by the sound of a massive explosion, and an orchestra of twisting metal. The lights gave way. The elevator grinded to a halt. \"Dammit.\"
Maria chimed in, \"Shield generators probably hit.\" She scanned the room around her, her suits nightvision clicking on. She pointed her rifle up, and fired off a few rounds. A panel of the roof of the elevator fell. \"Follow.\" She said. Her limber body easily leaped up through the hole, her body almost clearing the height of the jump perfectly.
\"Damn can she jump.\" I heard Jack comment.
\"Tartaran physique.\"
Dickson scoffed, \"Don\'t forget that extra power armor.\"
\"I\'d like to see you do it, trooper.\" Maria responded sarcastically. She reached down for me, and helped me through the hole. We both helped lift the shock troopers in their bulkier, external exoskeletons through the hole. She grabbed onto one of the elevator cables, wrapped her legs around it, and began pulling herself up. I grabbed beneath her, and the troopers started climbing the other cable. \"What floor did we stop on?\" She asked.
\"Four.\" Dickson responded.
\"Alright. I\'ll keep count.\" She responded. \"Stay quiet.\"
Silently, we moved our way up the elevator shaft. I was surprised to see the lack of an elevator ladder, but I presume it was a precaution to prevent precisely what we were doing. Boy, did I love power armor.
\"Think we should have just taken the stairs?\" Mark asked.
\"Shut your trap and climb.\" Jack responded. We all continued up the elevator. I heard Maria mumbling under her breath, counting as we passed the floors. It took a few moments, but eventually Maria held out her hand for all of us to stop. She leaped over to the door platform, and grabbed onto the pipes next to it.
\"Hear anything?\" I asked.
\"Yes. Sounds like a few of them. They\'re yelling about something.\"
\"I have an idea. How fast can you yank those doors open, Captain?\" Dickson said, with a sly tone to his speech.
\"In these suits? Should be able to swing them open like nothing.\"
\"Fantastic.\" He responded. \"Can you get under the door?\"
\"Sure, yeah.\" I stuck out my hand, and Maria stuck out her leg. \"Seriously?\"
\"Most of the grip is in my hands. Take it or leave it.\"
I sighed. I grabed her foot, and used it to swing under the elevator doors, grabbing onto the ledge. I found a place for my footing a few feet down; I was a little scrunched, but it worked.
\"Alright, Captain, take this.\" Dickson said. I turned my head to see him handing me a grenade, the pin pulled but the spoon held down. \"Careful...\" He whispered as I gently took the grenade from his hand, making sure to keep the spoon held firmly down. No ordinance warning symbol filled my HUD. I sighed in relief. \"Alright, here\'s the plan. Open that door just a bit, real slow like, and throw that grenade through. Make sure it won\'t damage the door. Right after it goes off, yank the door open. We\'ll jump in. Just let us get a little higher...\" They climbed farther up the steel line to make the jump easier, \"...perfect.\"
\"Ready?\" Maria asked me.
\"Ready.\" I responded. She inched the door open with her free hand. I stuck my arm through the crack. I chucked the grenade in, and Maria let the door shut. Immediately I heard yelling in confusion. It didn\'t take them long to see the grenade; Luckily, five seconds isn\'t a very long time. There was a huge explosion. Maria yanked the door open, and the three shock troopers jumped one by one into the room, each covering a lane of fire. I hear their 10mm rifles roar to life, catching the vaygr off guard. But I heard return fire, and Jack shouted for them to take cover.
\"Is it clear enough for me to enter?\" I yelled over the comms.
\"HOLD ON ONE SECOND!\" Jack screamed back, \"DICKSON, ANOTHER GRENADE!\"
\"Got it!\" He responded. Another explosion, some more screaming, and with that as my cue, I pulled myself into the room. Holding the door for Maria, she quickly followed suite. We dove for cover behind a large, metal file cabinet, next to Jack. The other two were ducked down behind a flipped over metal Vaygr statue, with Mark providing covering fire. Bullets wizzed around us.
\"How many?\" Maria asked.
\"At least eight left.\"
\"What\'re we dealing with.\"
\"All I can see from here is a big ass hall, but a couple of them ran into a room on the right. I assume that\'s where we go, Captain.\"
\"Like it.\" I said. I popped my head from behind cover, and fired off some more rounds. I pegged a Vaygr right in the face when he popped his little head from out of cover. It was going well; These Vaygr were still startled, and didn\'t have the time to properly prepare. Some wore full battle gear; Others were stuck in civies and equipped with nothing more than an autopistol. Curiousity filled me. What was in the room? What were those Vagyr soldiers guarding? What were they hiding?
I heard an explosion from the room. The Vaygr soldiers we were fighting turned in horror towards the door on the right. I heard noises. Noises that were vaguely familiar. Noises that gave me nightmares.
\"No....\" I said. I grabbed Maria. \"Everyone, follow me, NOW!\" I ran forward, firing into the horror-filled Vaygr. Maria and the Troops followed suit. I ran into the room on the left, slamming on the open button. I practically threw Maria through, and everyone quickly rushed in, with me coming in last. I shot the door button; The default emergency systems kicked in, a siren sounded, and the doors slammed shut.
But I got one good look at it. Square in the eyes; Not frozen. Bigger. Meaner. The EV glutton looked me square in the eyes, filled with infinite hunger as it devoured the soldiers next to it. It let out a piercing scream. And then the doors shut.
\"EV\'s!\" I yelled, \"They\'re holding EV\'s!\" I grabbed the metal Vaygr insignia statue next to me and tilted it, making it fall directly in front of the door. \"Everyone back away from the walls. This isn\'t going to end well.
\"Andrew?\" Maria said, looking at the holographic map.
\"What!?\" I yelled.
\"Where in the room they soldiers were going to guard.\" She responded.
I turned around. EV\'s everywhere, but not running freely; Contained along massive walls, held securely in gigantic tanks, in some kind of stasis. Most were gluttons but... there were others. An array of gigantic Horrors, twisted amalgations of flesh and bone, crude but fear inspiring. Their massive tentacles appeared to be made up of human arms; The EV\'s manner of quickly using fresh biomass. And then, in the floor of the very center of the room, was held... something. We walked towards it. Below us, in a massive plexiglass contained, and the top of it guarded by a row of fence, was a giant, coiled worm. It\'s body was made of multiple, heavily armored segments. But there was something... different about it. It didn\'t look like the others.
On the front segment, right in front of its massive, tentacle-covered mouth, was a branded Vaygr logo.
\"This isn\'t right. They tried to make EV\'s they could control.\" Jack said.
\"But they failed.\" Maria responded. \"Come here, Andrew.\"
I walked over to her, as the rest of the shock troopers scanned the massive room. Screams could still be heard from the hallway, but they were quickly being replaced by the defeaning screeches of the gluttons. Maria was standing in front of a large, touch screen terminal.
\"Look.\" She said. She had pulled up hundreds of files, all with big \'FAILED\' marks above them. \"They failed every time.\"
\"Did they ever get close?\"
\"The closest they got was slightly changing the genetic makeup of the kronoworm in the center and-\"
I grabbed Maria\'s hand. I saw something, something in the corner. It caught my eye. On the very right of the folder list on the top of the screen was something that seemed to beckon. It was titled \'Planetary Assault #12\'. I touched it.
The file opened. I began to shake. \"Andrew...\" Maria said, helping support my body as I felt a mad sickness overcome me. My body grew weak, but my hands clamped the computer as if it was my life depending on it.
It was a detailed recollection of Planetary Assault #12, by Terror Fleet #3. They had bombarded the planet, and allowed some of the people to escape by DFN transports, as usual. They took contained EV\'s, and bombarded the planet with them once all civilian transports had left. They used the system as a testing ground for the biological weapons. It stated that it was the first test of EV\'s, and that they we\'re not going to expand the project past this facility until more control over the EV\'s was provided. It was considered a mission failure.
\"I\'m going to destroy this whole fucking station, Maria. Every last man, woman, and EV on it. I\'m going to watch this bastard place burn to ash..\"
\"Andrew... They don\'t deserve that.\"
\"Dammit, Maria. Neither did I, Maria. Neither did I.\" I stared at the computer. My vision couldn\'t shift from the bottom right, nomatter how hard I tried. On the bottom right of the screen was a rotating picture of Pragni.
END OF CHAPTER TEN
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Reading this is the best way to spend a break away from hw. That bio lab is reminding me of Prototype2. Absolutely loving it.
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When it said \"sad, sad emotions\" I thought someone was going to die, that made me sad just thinking about it... Luckly it didn\'t happen! Whew!
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Ok. Ok. From the praise and the three sentences of your Written Thing (screw the word prose) that I\'ve read, it seems good. Great. Fantastic. Let us just say, for our purposes, your Written Thing makes Satan weep in defeat. I\'ll read it later. I\'m sure it\'ll be entertaining. I have faith. Unshakable faith.
BUT!
The TITLE.
The tiiiitttlllleeee.
Ok, A Galaxy Burning. That sounds cool. Because, I mean, galaxies are big, and so it takes a really cool ambitious arsonist (You see, COOL, because he\'s an arsonist, and they light FIRES, and fires aren\'t cool. Well, they\'re cool, but they aren\'t... chilly. Like, cold. You get my drift? My GLACIAL DRIFT? EHHHH?) to light that thing on fire. If you\'re into Game of Thrones, you would say it was \"The Biggest Fire the North Had Ever Seen\", and you would be wrong because it\'s more than one north. I remember a site that said there are around 160 billion planets in a galaxy, and as you know if you\'re into Doctor Who, you know that \"Lots of planets have a north\". ANYWAYS, the point is, galaxies are big and difficult to set on fire, and also, tons of people live in galaxies, because they\'re so big, so what about the people in the burning galaxy? They\'re getting BURNED, RIGHT? Because their galaxy is on fire? Are you keeping up? Is this making sense to you? It should.
BUT
You might know that most of a galaxy\'s mass is made up of stars. Most people do. And you might know that stars are gargantuan balls of plasma. If you\'re into Angry Birds Cosmonautical! (Or whatever), you might know that stars are actually eggs, and inside them gestates non-euclidean terrors the likes of which our universe has never seen, and can never see, else the Ones Who Watch the Depths awaken, and twist reality in such a way as to slowly pull every object, every speck of matter in existence, apart from all others-to loosen the forces that make material itself possible, over millions and millions of years, until finally, eventually, the last quarks fly away from each other, and collide against the walls of our reality- and shatter, and shatter, until there is no more.
That is Angry Birds, right?
ANYWAYS
The point is, all stars, which make up most of the galaxy, are plasmatic, and also have nuclear reactions going on constantly inside of them- if you don\'t count the loser brown dwarfs. And this state of being comes with a fair degree of heat, . It also comes with a fair degree of light. Both of which are constantly streaming out of you. This kind of is the definition of fire. Well, not the actual definition, but you know.
So, I think your title describes all galaxies, everywhere. Which is FAIRLY harmless, but really. REALLY. But it sounds cool. But think about what your title, seemingly innocent, is doing to the CHILDREN. They\'re going to go around thinking that Galaxies aren\'t on fire, and that they can be set on fire. So they\'re going to aspire to set OUR galaxy on fire. So they\'ll form a League. A League of Galaxy Arsonists.
And then they\'ll ARSONIZE THE GALAXY.
And it\'ll be firmly your fault.
BUT!
The TITLE.
The tiiiitttlllleeee.
Ok, A Galaxy Burning. That sounds cool. Because, I mean, galaxies are big, and so it takes a really cool ambitious arsonist (You see, COOL, because he\'s an arsonist, and they light FIRES, and fires aren\'t cool. Well, they\'re cool, but they aren\'t... chilly. Like, cold. You get my drift? My GLACIAL DRIFT? EHHHH?) to light that thing on fire. If you\'re into Game of Thrones, you would say it was \"The Biggest Fire the North Had Ever Seen\", and you would be wrong because it\'s more than one north. I remember a site that said there are around 160 billion planets in a galaxy, and as you know if you\'re into Doctor Who, you know that \"Lots of planets have a north\". ANYWAYS, the point is, galaxies are big and difficult to set on fire, and also, tons of people live in galaxies, because they\'re so big, so what about the people in the burning galaxy? They\'re getting BURNED, RIGHT? Because their galaxy is on fire? Are you keeping up? Is this making sense to you? It should.
BUT
You might know that most of a galaxy\'s mass is made up of stars. Most people do. And you might know that stars are gargantuan balls of plasma. If you\'re into Angry Birds Cosmonautical! (Or whatever), you might know that stars are actually eggs, and inside them gestates non-euclidean terrors the likes of which our universe has never seen, and can never see, else the Ones Who Watch the Depths awaken, and twist reality in such a way as to slowly pull every object, every speck of matter in existence, apart from all others-to loosen the forces that make material itself possible, over millions and millions of years, until finally, eventually, the last quarks fly away from each other, and collide against the walls of our reality- and shatter, and shatter, until there is no more.
That is Angry Birds, right?
ANYWAYS
The point is, all stars, which make up most of the galaxy, are plasmatic, and also have nuclear reactions going on constantly inside of them- if you don\'t count the loser brown dwarfs. And this state of being comes with a fair degree of heat, . It also comes with a fair degree of light. Both of which are constantly streaming out of you. This kind of is the definition of fire. Well, not the actual definition, but you know.
So, I think your title describes all galaxies, everywhere. Which is FAIRLY harmless, but really. REALLY. But it sounds cool. But think about what your title, seemingly innocent, is doing to the CHILDREN. They\'re going to go around thinking that Galaxies aren\'t on fire, and that they can be set on fire. So they\'re going to aspire to set OUR galaxy on fire. So they\'ll form a League. A League of Galaxy Arsonists.
And then they\'ll ARSONIZE THE GALAXY.
And it\'ll be firmly your fault.
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The POINT is, you can\'t burn galaxies. Because, you know. The stars are already on fire. And also too much vacuum. I didn\'t say it in the post, but really. You\'d have to fill a ton of empty space with fuel. Maybe like, a Metaliter. Or an Omniliter. An Infinigallon.
But yeah, the story seems cool enough. I\'ve read the first chapter. I\'ll do the rest later.
But yeah, the story seems cool enough. I\'ve read the first chapter. I\'ll do the rest later.
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