Why won’t you just fucking die!? Alex screamed internally. On the outside, however, he would have looked to be scowling at the creature with burning hatred. He felt his anger bubbling to the surface due in part to the ordeal they had just gone through and survived, the injustice of seeing this creature survive when so many innocent men and women were taken by this thing’s kind with such indifference had felt wrong on so many levels.
His jaws were clenched shut, a snarl appeared on his face as he watched the colossal alien insect excavate itself from the burning wreck it created in the Atlantis and stand tall above the wreckage as if to proclaim itself the rightful ruler over the survivors and this world. Alex knew no one here would let that happen.
By this time, the bunched-up survivors had all jumped to their feet and retreated a few steps away from the Atlantis, gawking at the survivor of the alien creatures.
“What the fuck is that thing!?”
“Oh my god, we’re all gonna die!”
“There’s no escape!”
To some small comfort, one of the survivors emerged from the group and stood five meters ahead of the rest of the survivors. He had a bulky, muscular physique shaped and moulded through decades of intense fitness and training. In his left arm, the man held a compact bullpup rifle with a variable optic scope attached and a grenade launcher situated below the barrel. The man spun around to look at the crowd and waved with his free hand over.
“Marines!” Fёdorov bellowed out. “Two lines, front and back!”
A whole cascade of “Yes sir” rang out from the crowd. Over a dozen survivors dashed forward to regroup with the Major and organise themselves into two rows of six marines each. Each one trembled in their place yet simultaneously knew it was their duty to protect the others and kill this creature. As if it somehow knew, the creature let out a warbled roar as its mouth appendages flared wildly in the air.
“Front row, target its joints! Back row prepare grenade artillery!” Fёdorov commanded.
His soldiers quickly shifted their stance. The soldiers in the front kneeled while the back row aimed their rifles high in the air. Fёdorov shouted a command, a chorus of hollow thump sounds from the launchers swiftly followed as grenades were propelled from their tubes. Shortly after firing, there was an encore of explosions as they detonated upon impact, some hitting the creature and others missing entirely. One grenade managed to hit one of the creature’s large joints which caused it to lose balance and slide down the side of the wreckage. From there it let out a roar, appendages flailing as it came crashing down on the ground with a thud that could be felt even from where they stood. After getting itself off the ground and getting its bearings it begun to charge towards the firing line which had already begun spraying down the ginormous insect with bullet fire.
Samantha had already started moving towards the Atlantis, was she trying to charge at it? No, she looked at the group of terrified crew and waved them over. “Quickly!” she said. “Everyone back inside!”
As stupid of an idea as it seemed, Alex had to admit he didn’t have anything better to propose. From a tactical standpoint they were completely exposed and there was nothing for as far as the eye could see that would grant them any safe passage from the alien. That is except for the Atlantis. Sure, it now served as a wreckage; carrion for scrappers to come by and pick the bones clean. However, it also serves as the only dense cover that they could hide in. Winding, narrow corridors and multiple decks suddenly made the ship protect them once again.
The plan seemed good except for one minor detail; the only visible way in was through the fracture they emerged from. And as it stands, the creature happened to be standing in front of it.
Alex ran up to Samantha who had already broken into a steady jog. Lykan’s were known for their exceptional speed, some even clocking speeds of up to 60 kilometres per hour in a full sprint. On top of that, he also knew what feats Samantha was capable of so he knew full well that Samantha wasn’t pushing herself to her limits. Perhaps she paced herself to allow her group the opportunity to keep up. He grabbed her shoulder, she turned to face him with a raised eye ridge.
“Contact Fёdorov and tell him and his troops to draw that thing away!”
She nodded affirmatively then ceased her jog. Alex took the lead and guided the survivors around the hill and towards the breach. His breathing became laborious and hot, his heart pounding in his ears with the ferocity of taiko drums being beaten mercilessly. He could hear Samantha’s voice instructing the Major through her Wrist-Pad before he looked over to where the assembled soldiers had broken from their formation and into an abstract shapeless puddle of mixed species and rifles firing at the creature as it swung its formidably large limbs against the Terran defenders.
Its large right appendage swung at the ground kicking up dirt in front of the soldiers who continued to step backwards and fire upon the creature. Its shrieks made even the air vibrate as its fury could be felt in its mere presence. One by one the crew were able to pile themselves in the breach and even manage to get back up on the deck above them. Gunfire rang out echoing inside the crashed spaceship, Alex looked behind him to see if anybody else was coming and he was delighted to see Samantha running at full pace.
Even for her superior physiology, Samantha was hunched forward taking in large, raspy breaths. She then pushed herself upright and made eye contact with Alex. “Jesus, that fucking thing is… Where do I even begin?!” She said in between heavy breaths.
Alex was certain that if she were human, or if she had the glands to do so, she would be sweating profusely through her suit judging from the state of her breathing.
Alex pointed at her wrist. “Get the Major and tell him and his men to get back here.”
She nodded, then she brought up her Wrist-Pad and spoke into it.
“’bout friggin time, ma’am!” Fёdorov replied hastily.
Alex stepped away and went to the breach sticking his head out. He saw the Marines running towards him at full sprint. The creature, the alien queen or whatever it was stood at least over fifteen feet tall and was pursuing the soldiers towards the Atlantis. At first, it would have been easy to assume this creature would have moved much faster than its current speed would suggest. If this thing was indeed an alien queen or some equivocal role in the species hierarchy then it was likely it wasn’t used to running wildly in vast open spaces rather than the conditions this thing came from.
Out in the open, under full clear lighting of the stars above, the creature’s body was similar to those of the smaller foot soldiers Alex had become acquainted with. Much like them, the Queens body was covered in thick armour plating all over, its joints being the only exposed parts of its lithe musculature. As it drew closer, it became apparent that the Marines assault on the creature had already resulted in one of its chest mounted limbs getting removed. Its flat wide head reared up, exposing nearly all its mouth appendages and pedipalps flailing around freely to allow the creature’s mighty bellow to vibrate within the air.
Four marines who were among the first of the fifteen or so soldiers practically dived right through the breach in the hull, one Lykan soldier who was lagging behind the rest of the group must have gotten his foot caught in something as he lurched forward and fell face first into the grass. The Queen barely lost any momentum as it brought its two large limbs down on the soldier resulting in the ground trembling from the impact. Still, almost seemingly without stopping, the Queen brought its head down and reared back up, the remains of the Lykan she killed slowly being forced down her oesophagus by the small limbs surrounding her mouth pressing down her latest meal deep into whatever the equivalent of a stomach was.
Two crew members reached down the ledge offering their hands to help Alex and the retreating Marines back up to the deck. Within his glove, he felt his own skin losing its grip on the human who tried pulling Alex up. He then took notice of just how much he was perspiring and it was in that strange moment, as he was slowly being pulled up to the deck plate, that he noticed just how warm the air of Savannah was.
One could be forgiven for thinking that the ambient temperature of their location felt equivocal to the first warm week of spring when the atmosphere started to pick up in temperature and the sun would start to intensify its solar assault on the planetary surface.
Alex heaved up on the deck and spun around on his knees and hands and offered his hand to the retreating soldiers. In their haste to get as far away from the alien creature pursuing them as possible, several marines opted out of taking a hand to lift them onto the deck and instead crouched then jumped up where back-mounted thrusters located within their armour-plated life support units ignited and forced its wearer into the air. The thrusters remained active for only two seconds which had provided enough thrust to launch the marines onto the deck in a timely manner. The impacts the large creature made with each step it took of its spindly limbs quickly grew in intensity as it drew closer, the nerves in Alex started to jitter as he wondered just how much time they had left.
Fёdorov entered through the breach in a full sprint, his arms were thrown in large arcs while wielding his rifle. And just like the rest of his subordinates, he had used his thrusters to elevate himself up onto the deck. The Major spun around to check if anybody else was behind him.
“Anybody left behind?” Alex asked.
“Da, Corporal Mallory.” He replied with a quick nod.
It was at that exact moment that one final soldier, a human male with tanned skin who looked no older than twenty-five years old came rushing in. His face was drenched in sweat, and even from a distance Alex could hear the heavy exertion in the man’s breathing as he ran purely on an adrenaline-fuelled sprint that had left his body devoid of any stamina. Mallory already started hunching forward to catch his breath and rest his upper body.
You fucking idiot, move! Was all Alex could think of as Mallory slowed down.
He hadn’t even engaged his thrusters to get himself up. Did this man have a death wish or something? Just as Mallory began towards the deck to take the hands of those who offered to help him the creature slammed into the hull of the Atlantis head first. Everyone was thrown to the ground. Most had scattered further into the bowels of the Atlantis whereas Alex, Samantha, and Fёdorov remained near the breach. Within the span of five seconds, Alex had a noticeable gap within his memory. From his perspective he remembered standing up and reaching down to help Mallory get away from the creature, then he heard a loud clang that left a fierce ringing in his ears. The next thing he remembers is seeing the ceiling and experiencing a skull-splitting headache that left him partially disorientated, the ringing sound didn’t help in the slightest. Yet, what he couldn’t remember was how he was thrown to the ground.
When he got back up to his feet, it was just in time to see the creature's flat, broad head poking through the metal hull it crashed through and the upper body of Mallory sticking out of its mouth. The alien didn’t seem that interested in the others.
Its mouth was a curious assortment of pedipalps, external fangs and various other limbs with fine hairs covering the surfaces. Lining along the side of its broad head where it flattened out and grew wide were three sets of bulbous, black compound eyes that Alex could have sworn were looking directly at him as it slowly nibbled away on its recently acquired snack. As if to mock him and intimidate him by saying ‘This is what I intend to do to you and everyone else. Just surrender and let me make it easy on you.’ As if he was going to take this lying down. But the truth of the matter was that not was Alex absolutely terrified looking at this monster he began to wonder if it could be defeated. He tried his best to push his fear and terror down as his own mental capacity could allow to not show that he was losing control and giving this thing what it wanted. At the same time, he was deeply glad that whoever suggested that these suits they wear be equipped with a catheter and wastage reclamation system should deserve the Medal of Terran Excellence and no less than a twenty million terra payout.
Samantha and Zakhar Fёdorov got back onto their feet and watched with horrified fascination at what was happening to Mallory.
His upper body was sticking out of the mouth of the creature. His screaming was a mix of terror and pain. Sweat dripped down from his head and onto the ground below. Or perhaps were those tears? It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Several of the larger appendages danced along Mallory’s body while two limbs that had large flat chitin armour attached pressed down on his sides, forcing out yet another shriek of pain. Several of the appendages that danced along Mallory’s body were equipped with a finely curved hook that came to a fine point, now and then one of these wet black hooks would suddenly move so fast that the human eye wouldn’t catch its motion in its entirety, but after seeing a few instances of this Alex noticed that each rapid strike would elicit a pained groan from Mallory that was separate from his shrieking. Alex wondered if these were fangs meant to inject venom into the creature's prey item.
It started to twist and shake its head about, and the cries for help from Mallory grew slovenlier and more lethargic, with less effort. As if he no longer cared. The creature's appendages spread out and it threw its head up slightly and Mallory was gone.
There was nothing that could be done, he was done the moment it grabbed him and started probing him with its appendages and injecting copious amounts of venom.
Alex felt guilt and sadness at the sight of what he had just witnessed. Fёdorov shouted Russian obscenities that Alex could only partially understand given the context. Samantha was already a few feet behind the two as she began tugging on Alex’s neck ring as she started running.
“We need to get out of here!” She shouted.
It took Alex a split second for him to snap out of his hypnosis of the creature’s feeding habit, process the words from Samantha, and then react accordingly. No sooner did he signal his body to turn around and start running did the creature thrust its head violently against all sides which sent him down on the ground once again. He felt the Major’s large burly hands slip under his right elbow and forcefully pull up before the Major broke into a full sprint, his armoured body thumping down on the damaged hull. It was near common knowledge that the power armour the Major wore weighed nearly a few hundred kilograms between the titanium plating, the hydraulics that enhanced the user's reflexes, strength, and stamina, on top of the life support unit mounted on the back near the fission powered battery which also provided the power to the suits onboard thrusters. And yet it was a testament to the man’s overall fitness that he was able to move about in it as though it wore next to nothing.
All that put together and you get a trained soldier capable of becoming a walking tank. Near bulletproof and capable of lifting a lone tonne above their heads.
Samantha had already run down the corridor and Fёdorov was picking up the speed which had left Alex to lag by several metres. He dared to look over his shoulder to see if the creature had tried to pursue them. A brief spike of panic threw his heart into an ever-increasing pace when he couldn’t see the creature. ‘Out of sight, out of mind. My ass it is’ was all he could think. The fact he couldn’t see it meant that it was somewhere else and the fact it could be anywhere made him anxious of every corner, every ventilation shaft.
BANG!
He looked over his shoulder again and saw the creature’s large set of limbs pierced through the hull.
CRASH!
Again, this time a few metres behind him. The integrity of the outer hull must have been severely weakened from the excessive exposure to intense heat. Microfractures and metal fatigue must have been prevalent all throughout the structure of the ship which made the hull brittle enough for this thing to punch holes in it.
Samantha stopped ahead where a support beam had been dislodged and blocked their passage. She backtracked a few steps and ran her hands along the wall on her right, then opened a door and gestured for the two men to follow her.
When Alex approached the door, he realised it was a maintenance tunnel. A series of networking corridors that made up the ship's inner workings accessible for repairs and upgrades. Inside the small room was only a ladder that ran the height of the ship. Surrounding the base of the ladder was a small hole cut in the floor that allowed the ladder to continue to the deck below him, except when Alex looked down he could see that the deck below was ruined beyond repair from the impact.
The trio climbed nearly three decks high but not before Alex sealed the door behind him shut before the creature would know where they were. Every now and then he could hear its muffled shrieking coming from somewhere, perhaps it didn’t know where they were and instead resorted to randomly punching holes into the Atlantis.
Samantha looked down past her shoulder, nearly making direct eye contact with both Alex and Fёdorov. “Jesus, that thing doesn’t let up. How were you not able to kill that thing, you had a firing squad!”
“Hey!” Maj. Fёdorov barked. “You do not see me criticising your command. Or should I remind you navy types that my guys are supposed to touch solid ground and not your ships?”
Goddamn. On the one hand, Alex considered chastising the Major, saying something along the lines of ‘we had to make an emergency landing’ or ‘we were damaged and were falling from orbit’. Defending Samantha from a departmental dis. And yet, at the same time he had to give credit where it was due. The part of him that stared wide-eyed at the Major in amusement and surprise felt the need to praise the man for such a surgical yet vicious criticism. In the end, Alex chose not to say anything and let the humorous jab at their profession wash over him.
Upon ascending to the fifth deck, that being the fifth floor the trio had climbed up to and not the actual Deck 5 since the official number of decks was now inconsequential due to the lower levels getting flattened and pancaked against each other upon impact as well as several others collapsing in on each other entirely. Samantha lurched off the ladder with a wide gait and helped Fёdorov up onto the deck, Alex was swiftly next.
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Outside the maintenance access, Samantha raised her wrist up to her face and began contacting the rest of the crew.
“We’re currently hiding in the galley, ma’am.” The voice on the end of the call said.
Alex couldn’t tell if it was a male or female voice, but the one thing he could recognise was the panic and fear in their voice.
“Most of us have barricaded ourselves in here. A few guys here left to go raid the armoury so we would be armed if that thing comes by!”
Subtly Samantha’s body posture eased ever so slightly. Not enough for her relief to be broadcasted for all to see, but enough tension was released to show she was doing her best to remain calm and controlled.
“Hopefully your heavy weapons still function.” Fёdorov chimed in. “If it were my men that went to the armoury, then they will grab everything not bolted to the floor, strap it to their body, then go out and fight that until they run out of ammunition.”
Alex took a step forward as he spoke. “There’s no way, even with lots of weapons that thing isn’t going to go down easily. Don’t you remember how long it took you to take down one of those things?”
“Da. I informed them to aim for the joints and its eyes.”
“I don’t think conventional weapons are going to cut it this time.” Alex countered.
Samantha concurred.
“Hopefully the armoury has High Explosive ammunition, grenades and rockets we can use.” Fёdorov remarked.
Several impacts against the hull could be heard in the distance, the direction of which was hard to pinpoint. Sometimes it sounded closer and other times it sounded like it was getting further away. But it was a constant reminder of the creature’s presence. Not that his racing heart and the freshly minted memory weren’t serving their role of reminding him of the threat that was scanning the hull for any evidence it could burrow in.
“What about the weapons systems?” Fёdorov continued. “Can we fire missiles at it or-or use the cannons?”
Samantha shook her head. “No,” she said solemnly. “We ran out of ammunition in orbit. Missile pods and Close In Weapons Systems are dry. Gauss rounds too.”
“What about the lasers?”
“They draw their power directly from the engine.” Samantha rebutted. “You forget that those fuckers blew up my engine room, and my fuel reserves are probably spread out over a ten-thousand-kilometre area.”
In that instance an idea popped into Alex’s head. He looked up at Samantha and began to open his mouth when he was interrupted by a loud impact crack against the hull. A roar came from outside albeit muffled. Alex swallowed nervously. It sounded way too close to their location for the trio’s comfort.
“We gotta get out of here!” Samantha suggested.
Maj. Fёdorov and Alex nodded in agreement and followed her down the corridor.
The alien queen continued to bang its limbs against the walls behind them, following them. Alex began to wonder if the creature could sense their presence and hence why it was following them. Resentment fuelled Alex’s legs, powering his sprint down the hall. Resentment towards this thing’s tenacity, for not showing a sign of weakness he could exploit.
He had to suppress his disdain for the alien that hunted them to focus on an obstruction ahead. One of the support beams that held up this deck had partially collapsed, exposing bits of the roofing above. Samantha deftly shifted her weight to her legs and allowed her momentum to effortlessly glide under the gap. Fёdorov’s clamber underneath the steel beam was less graceful but just as effortless. In one swift motion he had dived head first toward the gap and spun his body around mid-air, while gliding along the floor he had reached out his hands and grabbed onto the other side of the support beam and push against it to allow the rest of his body through so he could swiftly stand on his own two feet.
Alex was just about to climb under the support beam when it started to shake and loose bits of metal, insulation material, and other assorted bits of debris consistent throughout the Atlantis started falling down on him. Two chitinous fingers larger than he was dug in through the ceiling, fished out the support beam and tossed it away from the wreckage like a child discarding a toy that no longer interested it. Deck plating and liquid pipes that were held in place by the support beam came collapsing down, an electrical junction box hidden away in the maintenance tunnel spilled out with half its wires frayed beyond usability. It all happened so fast that it was a blur in Alex’s memory, he didn’t even remember moving out of the way. He just knew that instinct had taken over and that his body lunged forward. Unfortunately for him, as impressive as his reaction speed was it was still not fast enough to avoid the detritus coming down on his leg and pinned him down.
To his surprise, he didn’t feel any pain in his left leg, all he could feel was a numb presence applying pressure on his foot.
“Gah, Sam… Major…” Alex groaned. His hand outstretched reaching out to drag his body away.
When he looked over to see the alien queen through the gap in the roof, he could see it looking down on him, it chittered and clacked its mandibles together while it observed its trapped prey. Alex wasn’t going to let himself go out like Mallory.
Still struggling to free himself with the weight of the space materials pressing down on his foot Alex tried desperately to free himself before the alien creature decides to snack on him. The numbing sensation on his foot slowly transitioned to sharp pain piercing his ankles with unrelenting scrutiny. It became unbearable and painful within the span of a minute.
Fёdorov pushed on Samantha’s shoulder with one hand and reached for his holstered sidearm attached to his hip. “Grab him, I’ll cover you!”
Several shots from the sidearm cracked through the air like thunder, striking down on the giant creature’s head. It shrieked angrily and reared its head back so its neck was in an S-shape bend before quickly throwing it back down on the ship. Samantha used her enhanced strength and wrapped her fingers around Alex’s wrist and was able to free him at the last second before he was ensnared by the creature’s fangs.
Fёdorov let off another two shots point blank at the Queen’s face, intent on aiming at her bulbous black eye. One of them at least. Alex and Samantha took a few steps back away from the creature's broad, flat armoured head. Its mouthpieces flailed about to spit out the inedible material and Alex got a good look at the creature up close before he spun around and ran down the hall. Just as he did another shot from the Major rang out and one of the creature's eyes popped explosively, spraying a white, pus-like substance from the socket. It roared angrily and hastily tried to remove its head.
After rounding a corner and going down a steep ladder to the deck below the trio stopped for a moment to catch their breath. Alex placed his hand on Samantha’s shoulder and said “Thank you.” Between each breath.
“That was way too close!” Alex exclaimed.
Samantha breathlessly swore, clutching her chest with one of her hands. It appears she too was beginning to exert herself beyond what she is used to whereas Fёdorov’s chest heaved steadily. He looked like he just got off a ten-minute jog on a treadmill. His face was red, but only a few droplets of sweat could be seen on his forehead compared to Alex who was certain there were noticeable damp stains visible on his suit.
“So, to clarify…” Fёdorov said addressing Samantha. “We have no weapons of sufficient firepower that can deal with this thing?”
“I told you already. Ammunition reserves are zero, our missile pods are empty. We might have flak rounds but that isn’t going to work well with this thing right in front of the cannons. And even if we had any ammunition there is still the issue of the fact that half our guns got ripped off on re-entry and our munitions loader is a delicate piece of machinery in the best of circumstances. A fall like this and half the tubes are probably warped beyond any usability.”
Unbeknownst to Samantha in that moment, a lightbulb lit up inside Alex’s head where he was reminded of the idea he wanted to bring up earlier.
“I may have an idea about that.” He spoke up.
Both officers looked at him with a curious expression.
“What are you talking about?” Fёdorov crossed his hands against his chest.
Alex turned to face Samantha with a grin creeping along his mouth. “Sam, earlier you said that one of the lasers still works, right?”
Her eyes darted around the room, looking for something that wasn’t there before recentering them on Alex. “I did yes. Have you already forgotten that I said they draw their power directly from the reactor? Because the last thing I need right now is a mental patient who can’t retain something three minutes from now!”
Inside his mind, Alex rolled his eyes at her. Of course, he hadn’t forgotten, but that is what made his idea all the more worth considering.
“I know that,” He groaned. “But if we can still gain control the emitter then we may be able to reroute power from the emergency battery reserves to give it enough power to fire.”
In that instance, Alex realised he had struck gold. Both the Major and Corvette Commander looked away as they thought hard about what he said, the looks on their faces told him all he needed to know, that he wasn’t going to get rejected on this idea.
“It’s possible… yes… maybe. If we…” Samantha said mumbling to herself. She was thinking aloud. “Yes, yes. If we can get to the where the emergency batteries are located then we may be able to redistribute the power directly to the weapon system. It may take time but I think I can make it work, providing that the electrical grid around the emitter isn’t damaged.”
Fёdorov growled softly. “Are we not forgetting something? Lasers in the atmosphere suffer greatly from diffraction and create a blooming effect. If that thing isn’t close, then all we are doing is tanning it.”
Samantha looked over to the Major with bewilderment. He returned her gaze with an expression of confusion.
“Why are looking at me like that?” He barked.
Fёdorov’s tone snapped Samantha out of her stupor suddenly and she shook her head. “N-nothing, nothing…’ She replied. “It’s just that I didn’t expect you to know about diffraction.”
Fёdorov narrowed his gaze at her as he growled with restraint. “Right, and I assume you thought that my branch are nothing more than muscle-headed, knuckle-dragging, crayon eaters with double-digit IQ’s, right!?”
Good night Samantha. The look on her face went from surprise to abject horror. Had she been human there would have been no doubt that the colour in her face would drain completely. Her eyes started darting between the Major and Alex, as if to somehow say ‘Oh fuck, I fucked up. Alex, please help me!’ And while he did think about stepping in and do his best to prevent his Master-At-Arms from defending the honour of his beloved Marine Corps. In fact, it was one of the first few things he learned about the Major when they were first introduced; Not only does he believe in the integrity of what the Marines stand for but contrary to their depiction in the media he had always had an air of sharp intelligence and a cunning mind that could plan every engagement with as many factors taken in as possible.
“N-no! Of course not,” Samantha stuttered. Her attempts at backtracking already failing miserably. “It’s just that I didn’t think they were teaching your lot the sciences behind these things.”
She looked back at Alex with the same set of eyes that pleaded for an intervention, he complied.
“Major, I believe Corvette Captain Hammer was trying to say that she wasn’t expecting anyone outside the Navy to know about the effects of the lasers in an atmosphere.” Alex said sternly. “Now, can we focus on getting rid of this friggin alien?”
Samantha nodded.
Fёdorov nodded, albeit hesitantly.
“Good,” Alex sighed in relief. “Now, what do we need to do get that laser working?”
“I’ll need a few of my more mechanically minded crew to assist me in diverting power to the emitter,” Samantha started. “Depending on how long it takes to get the backup battery to direct its energy it could be fifteen minutes, maybe more if there are complications. After which all you would need is to gain control of the turret and pull the trigger.”
Alex nodded. “Alright, then do it!”
“There is one other problem,” Samantha said raising a finger. “Alex, if this works, we may have enough power for one brief shot, in fact I can’t guarantee more than a second of continuous fire. After which we won’t have power for anything.”
“I understand, do it.”
The trio swiftly exited from their confined closet and split up in separate directions. Fёdorov followed Alex to the Bridge while Samantha left to go find the survivors. Their journey remained free of the creature pursuing them, yet its attempts at breaking into the Atlantis were held at bay for the moment. Upon returning, and seeing the bodies that littered the floor space Alex was already keen on not returning here. The Major stood still, uncertain of how he could be helpful in this regard, the only thing Alex could make the Major do to contribute was to stand guard and make sure the Queen alien didn’t smash its head through the walls and try to feast on them.
Alex approached one of the consoles and removed the body from the chair and sat down. His fingers tapped the black screen furiously to provoke some kind of response from the monitor's touch sensors. He was rewarded with the screen flashing white briefly before turning into a dark grey background with a large circle in the center. The circle had five smaller rings, each one smaller than the last. The center of the circle was a text box that flashed the words RADAR OFFLINE.
He looked down at the corpse he had so callously discarded and tsked. A radar technician, he looked young, his head was shaven clean and the epaulets on his shoulder signified him as an Ensign. Poor bastard was probably within his first year on the job, possibly his first posting. Then without further delay, he returned his attention to the screen and began switching it out to one of the weapon control displays. First, he loaded up a diagram of the Atlantis that displayed each weapon that needed to be controlled, then filtered them out to display the locations of the laser emplacements. The Atlantis was a corvette, and not a large one either, but it was outfitted with six of them placed an equal distance apart on both sides of the vessel. According to the system layout, there was one laser emitter on the starboard side still functional.
Alex pressed on it enthusiastically and the monitor switched to a staticky live cam feed from the emitter’s perspective. On the left of the screen was a table of contents related to the status of the emitter. Most of it looked unfamiliar except for the dataset that was in relation to the emitter’s inner workings such as the temperature of the emitter itself and the alignment of the tiny refracting mirrors inside the machine.
Only an engineer with a certain level of skill and a certificate that states the competence of operating on the emitters were the only ones even allowed to make the adjustments to the internal machinations. That didn’t stop Alex from knowing what the right variance of each of these pieces was supposed to be, and according to the diagnostic table on the right side of the screen it had shown that by some miracle or divine intervention, the emitter remained within operational parameters.
At the bottom of the diagnostic screen, it displayed the status of the charge of the emitter, which was zero. Unsurprising, but he had hoped that she and her team of specialists would be able to get this done before he got to the bridge. Not that it mattered anyway, barring any unforeseen complications with manipulating the energy grid, they should be close to getting it ready any moment now. All that was left for him to do was sit and wait. And Alex hated it.
Fёdorov walked around the bridge with his rifle raised as he peered out of each window, the creature’s roars seemed distant and Alex would have loved to let its existence leave his mind, but he couldn’t do that.
“Looks like its tearing into the engine room.” Fёdorov grumbled.
His monitor beeped to alert him of something and Alex looked at his screen. There, at the bottom of the diagnostics table in front of him were the words that brought him joy. The emitter had been fully charged and it was all that Alex could do to stop himself from punching the air in jubilation. His restraint was rewarded as he took control of the cannon and began to rotate it to target the enemy.
There, in the corner of the screen he could see the creature’s backside bouncing up and down as it used its front set of limbs to pry into the dishevelled mess. One of the added benefits to the laser emplacements was their ability to rotate 360° and cover a massive area around their emplacement due largely in their part to their ammunition not requiring to be belt fed or mechanically loaded before firing.
The emitter was about to turn and angle downwards to aim at the creature when the emitter stopped in its place. Alex cocked an eyebrow as he pulled the emitter back a few degrees before getting it to rotate again. It stopped.
“No,” he growled in a hushed tone that slowly escalated. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no!”
They were so close, so close to ending this nightmare for good! Anger and frustration briefly took a hold of the captain as he balled his fists so tight that the carbon in him would have turned to diamond before bringing his fists down on the console’s keyboard with a loud bang.
He shot out of his chair, seething through clenched teeth. Anger controlled him as he raised his right arm and aimed at the console screen and thrusted his arm as hard as he could. Cold, metal fingers grabbed his upper arm and stopped it in its tracks. They held on with such strength that it stopped the Captain from throwing the punch. He was so angry that he didn’t even register the stranger’s grip, in that moment his mind only knew that something stopped him from lashing out against the computer and that it needed to be dealt with. He looked over to see the square-jawed face of Maj. Zakhar Fёdorov. The scar over his left eye a few shades lighter than his skin and stubble visible on his cheeks and neck. The Major looked at him with eyes of sympathy as he maintained a fierce grip on Alex’s arm. Looking at the man, Alex realised what he was doing and reason and logic returned to him. He stopped his attempts at punching the screen, in response, the Major let go.
“I’m sorry for that,” Alex mumbled. “the emitter… it won’t turn, it can’t hit the damn thing where it is.”
“Are you saying it won’t work?”
Alex shook his head. “The emitter will fire but someone needs to lure it away and into the emitter’s range.”
Fёdorov nodded in understanding. He was about to turn his back and head out the way they came through when Alex reached out and grabbed the Marine by his shoulder.
“No,” Alex begun. “give me your weapon, I’ll lure it out.”
Fёdorov narrowed his eyes at Alex as his head tilted to the side. If Fёdorov knew what it was that Alex was planning to do then he gave no indication.
“Sir?”
Before he could hear any word of “No arguments, Major. You are just as capable of operating the emitter as I am.”
“Sir, I am a Marine. I point and shoot, I don’t sit and press buttons like some lethal office worker.” Fёdorov retorted.
Alex pushed the Major with all his might towards the console and gestured to a series of buttons on the keyboard and on the screen respectively. “It’s easy; you aim the emitter with this key here, then in order to fire you press this button. But don’t fire until you have it in sight. If Captain Hammer is correct then we literally only have one shot at this.”
He expected the Major to rebuff his request. Or perhaps use one of his gauntleted fists to knock Alex out and lure the creature out to be killed thus putting himself at risk. Maybe even provide some kind of analysis that his tactical mind took after assessing the situation for a brief moment. But in some small way, he was relieved that he wasn’t challenged any further.
Fёdorov looked him up and down then in a quiet voice said to him. “I understand, sir.”
Before Alex could spin on his heels and run for the breach he was stopped by Fёdorov’s vice-like grip. He had just inhaled deeply in preparation to give the Master-At-Arms an earful for disobeying his order, he opened his mouth preparing to reprimand the Marine when he stopped to see the Major presenting his bullpup rifle. A silent acknowledgment between the two officers was exchanged, the captain graciously took the rifle, pulled the receiver bolt back and quickly glanced into the barrel before letting it slide back into place. Next, he reached for the magazine held in place underneath the weapon and ejected it to check the bullet count. He frowned when he saw he only had a third of the rifle’s forty-eight bullet capacity. Almost as if the Major could read his mind, Fёdorov pulled out a fresh magazine out of his waist pockets and handed it to Alex.
“Give it hell.” He growled.
Alex nodded affirmatively.
As far as he could tell, the creature still seemed intent on tearing into the Atlantis’s engine room for reasons unknown. He would have liked to have said he knew why it was so interested but considering how the creature was hunting them earlier he had to guess it was upset that it lost its prey and now decided it was time to take its frustration out on some weakened bits of metal. He ran out of the breach and into the warm spring air, the golden fields radiated with a bright orange as if they glowed like molten metal. The sky was now a few shades darker, he looked up to see the suns were closer to the distant mountain ranges while the storm clouds from there started rolling his way.
The air was warm with the homely scent of petrichor washing over him, the wind slowly picked up in speed while the golden grass fields continued to glare bright into his eyes. He took a second to inhale deeply as he thought about what he was doing, about why he was doing this. He knew at what point the turret was blocked so if he drew the creature away from the Atlantis’s stern then Fёdorov would have a clear shot of hitting this thing. Provided they aren’t too far away.
His Master-At-Arms was right about one thing; these weapons lose their efficiency dramatically in atmosphere, a medium that amplified the emitter's ability to keep its focused beam of energy in a steady, coherent, narrow stream more difficult and painstaking than it already was.
He was already at the top of the hill where he could see the functional emitter atop the ventral hull. He couldn’t tell, at least not accurately from this distance but it looked like a nearby CIWS weapon was dislodged from its place and rested next to the emitter, possibly the reason why it was preventing the emitter from moving any further. But if that was the case the motors that rotated the device were strong enough to deal with this. Alex shook his head, whatever the case was, it didn’t matter. All that did matter was he drew this things attention.
How was he meant to get its attention? Perhaps… Well, it might be stupid enough to work. He took in a deep breath, reaching out to utilise all of his chest muscles. Then suddenly he contracted his entire diaphragm, fuelled by the anger and fury he felt.
“HEY YOU GIANT FUCKING NUMBSKULL!” He shouted angrily. Spittle shot out of his mouth at each vowel he spoke. To further announce his presence to increase the creature’s awareness he raised the rifle the Major gave him and squeezed the trigger for a brief second. The rifle kicked into his shoulder hard. Seven shots were fired out of the weapon, each burst cracked through the otherwise still air, echoes returning from any available surface. The creature raised its head from the innards of the Atlantis and looked up.
Looks like that got its attention.
The creature briefly glanced around, looking for the source of the sound. It stopped as soon as it saw him standing by himself atop the rock on the hill.
“YEAH, I’M TALKING TO YOU!” He continued his screaming. “COME AND GET ME YOU OVERGROWN COCKROACH!” He concluded with another burst of gunfire that rang in his ears. His finger still squeezed on the trigger until he heard the rickety clicking of the hammer striking nothing, returning to its primary position and then striking an empty chamber once again.
The Alien Queen moved gingerly off of the ship and down the side of its scorched hull. Inquisitively it approached the nuisance that was making a lot of noise. It was one thing to see it distracted in the distance but it was something else entirely when it faced him down while slowly approaching him.
Alex released the magazine from the rifle and let it fall to the ground and inserted the spare clip he was given. He slammed his open palm on the bottom of the magazine for good measure, then aimed it at the insect queen.
Squeezing the trigger once again to allow another burst of ammunition at the creature. Bullets bounced harmlessly off its dark brown armour. In response it bellowed at Alex, signalling its intention to destroy the miniscule aggressor.
He felt his heart flutter in response to the air around him vibrating with its insectoid war cry, a trickle of fear slipped up into his mind, primitive fear telling him to run away and back into the ship. The creature was a hundred metres away and closing fast, he raised the rifle up and squeezed the trigger located under the tube that was attached to the underside of the main rifle barrel. He felt a kick and the sound of a hollow WHUMP could be heard.
The grenade left a small wispy trail of smoke as it arched across the surface until landed just behind the eyes of the creature’s carapace and the windy steppes rang with the sound of the grenade’s detonation exploding with enough force to make its head whip to the side briefly.
Now that it was fast approaching, he just needed to get it further into the kill zone, so he spun on his heels and obeyed his cowardly instincts and ran. For obeying that primitive, fear-filled part of his mind he was rewarded with a great boost in speed as his legs seemingly touched the ground for but the smallest fraction of a second before propelling himself forward. His heart pounded in his ears, throbbing so loudly he could almost hear his own blood sloshing through each major artery. In only a handful of seconds, he was able to cover a lot of ground as he seemingly flew right through the grass, he could sense the rapidly advancing presence of the creature behind him gaining at a rate that made his impressive feat of speed look pitiful.
He dared to look over his shoulder, dared himself to cast a quick glance and see the creature approaching him. Only he wish he hadn’t. It was almost on top of him, its shadow was rapidly approaching, the sound of its chittering grew louder while his own breathing became ragged. Surely he lured it far enough into the emplacement’s field of fire for Fёdorov to fire upon it. But what if he miscalculated?
What if, despite his own impressive speeds he wasn’t moving fast enough and still wasn’t in the weapon’s field of fire? Then he would be killed by this thing and that would be the end of it, the end of him. His lungs burned with the fury of a newborn star, air left his body far quicker than he was able to draw it in, Soon even his legs were on the verge of giving out. He knew that he wasn’t going to be able to maintain this burst of speed for very long, he was going to slow down enough for it to make an easy meal out of him.
He was just about to give up, tell his body to cease its futile attempt when his thoughts were drowned out by a low droning humming sound. It was loud, yet not in a painful way. It was an overwhelming sensation for sure that blocked out everything from the sounds the creature made to his heart beating ferociously in his ears to even his own thoughts.
He heard a loud, high-pitched bellow coming from behind and he looked over to the creature and what he saw he couldn’t suppress the smile on his face.
The waist-high grass and soil were scorched black, there was no fire, no smoke, no crater to indicate an explosion of sorts. The creature was splayed out flat on the ground, its chitinous armour blasted off from intense heat focused into a fine point with the same scoring around its carapace. Its thin midsection between the upper body and lower thorax was blasted clean off and its upper body. Internal flesh was exposed, more evidence of searing of the tender muscle tissue inside could be seen in the wake of the chitin armour being scorched black. In some futile attempt, it still retained control over its large upper limbs to drag its corpse across the ground. It dragged itself a few metres towards Alex, leaving behind a trail of its internal organs leaking out cream-white ichor in its path, raised its head gently off the ground, and ushered out one final, mournful roar. Then it stopped for good.