Chapter 42. Angel

“We need to get back to Base camp,” I finally said after several minutes of silence.

Jax had joined us by this time and the entire team was ready to go. All that was left to do was loot the Rerek bodies. I would let the crew handle that task; I had my fill of death today and was just ready to get back to camp and start planning our next phase.

“I’m bringing the Pup in now. We can get back to base camp as soon as you are ready Captain,” Tiff said.

“Copy that. The crew will need a few minutes to loot the corpses and then we can go. CJ, can you get the Rover loaded and ready?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m on it, Andy. Why don’t you head on in and take a load off we can handle the cleanup?” he replied.

I walked into the Pup and sat in the Co-pilot’s chair. I sighed heavily and leaned my head back against the headrest while I closed my eyes. Sleep shouldn’t come easy, not after what I just did. Did it make me a bad person that all I wanted to do right now was sleep? I didn’t have much time to dwell on that before I passed out.

When I woke, we were back at base camp. CJ grabbed my shoulder to wake me.

“Hey, Andy, we’re back at base camp. It’s time to wake up, buddy.”

I rubbed my eyes and stretched trying to shake off the sleep. "How long was I out?” I asked.

CJ sat in the pilot's chair beside me. He rested his elbow against the headrest and propped his head up. “You alright, man? What you did back there, what you have been doing so far, this is all crazy.”

I just looked down at the floor as he spoke. I could hear the words, I understood him, I just didn’t want to talk about it.

“Listen, Andy, we are in completely uncharted waters here. It is okay to talk about it, just promise me you won’t put this all on yourself. You aren’t alone here, and you can't just escape to your little cabin by the river when people get too close.” He wasn’t going to let this go as he stared directly at me.

“I know CJ, I know. I’m just trying to process all of this. A little over a month ago we were on Earth, we were surviving and trying to build something. I had done things since the drop, terrible things, but those things were done to survive or to help other people survive.”

I took a deep breath trying to shake myself out of this fog, this thick feeling of anxiety and confusion.

“None of this makes sense to me. It seems like every race out here just wants to kill us, just for being Human. I have some alien superweapon that is genetically bound to me, and I don’t even fully know how to use it. I mean damn it bro I’ve nearly died three times now but somehow, I’m supposed to save our planet? I can barely keep myself alive, much less a crew.”

CJ stood up and walked over to his drop suit. “Look Andy, I don’t know what you are dealing with. I can’t start to comprehend the pressure you must feel. I do know that we are still alive, and we are winning. You say you nearly died three times? Well, I say you survived three times. I say you have saved lives and brought people together to work toward a common goal. Maybe you aren’t the best choice, but you have made the best out of a bad situation so far, so get your damn head up.”

He walked toward the back ramp of the Pup then turned and looked at me again.

“Those aliens that want us dead are still out there. You have a crew inside that HAB out there waiting for direction and they have all agreed that you are our Captain. Whether you like it or not what happens next will depend completely on you. We are going to kill more people… aliens… whatever you want to call them. You need to accept and be okay with that because they are going to try and kill us first. If we are going to get through this it’s going to be because of you, now get up and be a leader.”

I sat there for a few more moments before I gathered myself and walked toward the HAB. CJ was a dick most of the time, but he was exactly what I needed right now, and I wasn’t going to let him down.

“Okay team, what kind of loot did we get back there?” I asked as I walked into the HAB.

Everyone was busy at the moment, either getting food or breaking down and cleaning weapons and gear. Tiff looked at me and nodded when I entered. It wasn’t much, but I knew that was her way of letting me know that what happened back there was okay. I’m sure there would be a conversation later on though.

“We have four keys now. The announcement was made when you were…when you were fighting that Rerek. I don’t think you noticed,” Tiff said.

“Well, that leaves one group remaining besides the Lacertine faction. They already have two keys, so they are more than likely pushing the last group as we speak,” I said.

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Matty walked up and sat down at the table with Tiff, “Well we haven’t seen an announcement yet so if they are going after that key, they haven’t gotten it yet.”

“What makes you think they aren't just coming after our keys first?” CJ asked.

“We have four keys, and they have two as of now. My guess is they might just be waiting for us to get five and then ambush us as we approach the relay station,” Jax said as he sat down beside Matty.

I walked over to the ration station. It wasn't much, just a table setup with all of our field rations stacked up on top of it but there was something new.

“Is this coffee?!” I asked surprised to see what looked like a single cup coffee maker.

“Yeah, I asked Elvis to make us one before we left. I just didn’t have time to set it up until we got back earlier,” Loren said.

I drank coffee from time to time, but seeing this coffee maker here reminded me of home. It reminded me what we were fighting for, and it gave me hope. It’s strange how something so seemingly insignificant can hold such emotional value, but at this moment it made me feel like I had a little piece of home here with me.

I grabbed a cup that was lying on the table and placed it under the spout. I pressed the button, and the hot brown liquid began to dispense, steam rising from the cup as it brewed. The strong earthy aroma was familiar and made my mouth water. When the coffee was brewed and my cup full, I grabbed it and held it under my nose just taking in the scent of home. I could feel the steam on my cheeks. I sipped it slowly and the bitter concoction filled my mouth as I stood there with my eyes closed.

“Ugh, do you need a room, bro?” CJ asked jokingly.

“No, but I needed this cup of coffee. Thanks, Loren, this was thoughtful, and I appreciate you thinking of it,” I said holding the cup out toward Loren in a gesture of thanks.

“I think we need to plan to hit the Lacertine faction,” I said.

Everyone looked at me with surprise on their faces. The move wasn’t exactly the easy way out since the Lacertine faction was around 40-strong, by far the largest faction in the dungeon.

“You sure about that, Cap?” Jax asked, “That is just asking for trouble if you ask me.”

“Look, the Lacertine faction is big, and it won’t be easy. I’m pretty sure they are going to take out that last remaining faction and engage us after. That is if they don’t come directly after us first. My money is on them coming after us last. We have proven that we are capable, even dangerous. The other remaining faction hasn’t gotten a single key yet. If I were the Lacertines I would go after the perceived weak target first. Once they are eliminated, they can throw the full might of their faction at us. They won’t chance coming after us first and suffering losses that could put them at risk against the remaining faction,” I said.

Jax and Matty looked at each other and nodded. Tiff gave me a nod as well. Everyone seemed to be getting on board. Now we just had to make a plan.

“Makes enough sense Cap, but we still have to figure out how to hit the bastards,” Matty said.

“We are going to let them hit us first. We're going to weaken them, catch them off guard, and then we are going to punch them square in the face,” I said. “We have to hit them hard and hit them repeatedly. We are going to need to employ some guerilla tactics. We aren’t gonna fight this battle on their terms,” I replied.

“We are going to spread them thin and whittle them down. We will fight this battle on three fronts.”

Tiff stood up, obviously surprised by something. “I show an enemy approaching on my mini-map,”

Sure enough, as I looked at my interface, I could see a red dot approaching on the fringes. It wasn’t moving fast, and it was only one.

“Jax, Matty, with me,” I said as I stood up and equipped my armor.

Jax and Matty grabbed their rifles and activated their gilly suit ability. When they had the ability active, they were nearly invisible. It was similar to those predator movies from the 80’s. They were invisible but the space their bodies were in was distorted. I could see them because I knew they were there, but it would be hard to notice them if you were an unsuspecting enemy.

We ran out of the HAB into the hot red sand toward the approaching red dot. As we got closer, we were all surprised at what we saw running toward us.

The man was tall, taller than the average human male, probably 6ft 7 or 6ft 8. He was muscular and wearing what looked like a silver chest plate with white pants. He had blonde hair to his shoulders and a square jaw. None of that is what stopped us in our tracks though.

The man had two wings protruding from his back. The wings were massive, they were pure white, and they reached from his shoulders to the ground.

“Jesus, is that….Is that an angel?!” Matty asked.

“Did you say Angel? Like from Earth mythology?” Tiff asked.

“Hey, careful how you use the word mythology!” Matty retorted.

“Yeah Tiff, it looks like an angel. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I asked.

“It’s a very bad thing, Captain. That is a Malakim, they are extremely dangerous and extremely loyal to the Council,” she replied.

“I’ve got a shot, Cap,” Jax said.

This thing was alone and hadn’t yet shown any aggression toward us. I had to come to terms with killing to survive. I had to come to terms with killing to try and save Earth. I would not come to terms with killing in cold blood. I was no murderer.

“Hold, Jax,” I said.

“Cap, I can take him out,” Jax replied.

“I said hold, Jax!” I put my fist up to reinforce the order, “That wasn’t a suggestion.”

As the Malakim got closer I could see he was injured. There was red streaking his otherwise white left wing and he was limping severely. The blood was coming from a large wound on his side that he was holding with his left hand.

“That’s close enough!” I yelled to the alien.

He held up his right hand toward us. “I mean you no harm, Humans. I am injured and my faction was betrayed. I seek only to escape this moon with my life!”

With those words, he fell to his knees and rolled to his side, convulsing as he fell.

“Tiff, he is injured. He just collapsed. We have to help him,” I said over the comms.

“He is Malakim, Captain!” she replied.

“I don’t care what he is; right now he isn’t a danger to anyone! If we can heal him, he may be able to give us some information about the Lacertine faction. He hasn’t shown any aggression yet, I have to try to help him.”

I rushed over to the Malakim who was still convulsing on the ground. I had one more of the superior health stims that I had looted from the Lycoans. I jabbed the stim into the Malakim’s neck. The convulsing stopped and the wound started to heal but the alien was still unconscious.

“Let’s get him back to the HAB,” I said.

“What is happening out there?!” Tiff asked.

I looked at Matty and Jax who were now visible, “Well, I think we have taken an angel prisoner.”