Specialist Demina,

Okali 424th Landstriders

Wreto Prime, Wreto System

Yil’kaa Territory

We were not here by choice, this entire ground battle was born of desperation and the need to flee a sinking ship. Or to be more precise, a ship that was currently careening through the planet’s atmosphere in very large pieces. The Turtledove was a troop carrier, nothing more, certainly not made to withstand the brunt of an enemy battleship’s broadside. I hoped the captain had made it out, I would have liked to get to know him more once this was all over, if I happened to survive it.

On the surface we weren’t attempting to build bases or achieve some strange objective like taking out enemy leadership, this was purely hunker down and wait for extraction, while killing anything that got too close. Which was… everything. Everything was trying to kill us and was getting too close for comfort. Why I could actually make out how many mandibles were on those ugly faces without looking through the scope on my rifle.

The Banshees had returned and were holding back on the sound front, relying more on their rifles than anything else. But that sound system of theirs was a godsend regardless, allowing them to give callouts over the sounds of battle.

We were hunkered down in a crater, one slowly filling with the thick blood of our enemies and the strange living structures around us. My rifle kicks gently against my shoulder, the recoil negated, otherwise it would have torn my arm clean off hours ago. Each shot sent another explosion of bone and flesh flying into the air. My Okali brethren were pressed against the lip of the crater and firing steadily, while the humans were setting up a heavy emplacement. At the bottom of the crater sat a mortar team, lobbing shells without care into the enemy swarm. No point in giving orders to them when it was a target rich environment. Now and then though one of my unit would spot something potentially valuable and give coordinates, the mortar soon reduces that target to bubbling flesh and broken bones.

“Banshee two-one, status report?” That voice sounded familiar but I couldn’t quite place it, and the unit leader, a human, ducked to one side and hunched over, pressing a hand to the side of his helmet.

“Command, current situation is untenable, requesting immediate combat evac and close air support.” He said, and there was a moment of silence.

“Understood Banshee two-one, evac is enroute with air support and… scratch that. New orders. H.I. Intra has detected an anomalous signature about two klicks due east from your position. You are ordered to investigate.”

That couldn’t be right? The moment we break cover we’d get murdered! I balked at the order, and it seemed so did the CO.

“But Command, we’ll get slaughtered if we move!” He said, holding back a string of curses that I would have been unable to resist.

“Affirmative. That’s why we’ll be clearing the way and sending reinforcements. Prepare for combat drops around your position.” Whatever had gotten Intra’s attention was clearly worth sending more meat into the grinder.

“This is Intra. Combat drops prepped and standing by. Deploying in three, two, one. Deployed. Initiating orbital bombardment.”

“Everybody get your heads down!” Our CO yelled, and we all ducked. The sudden cessation of fire from our crater had the Yil’kaa growing bold and pushing in, only to watch in surprise as massive drop pods slammed down right on top of them, disgorging walkers and Rustwraiths, the latter raising shields and weapons rather than charging ahead.

Thunder boomed across the sky, and then it started to rain. Hundreds of shots streaked like meteors towards our position and began to pummel the enemy, the walkers raising powerful barriers to protect us from the heat and shrapnel produced by the attack. Each shell churned the flesh and dirt beneath it into a slurry of mud and blood, what had once been a building filled with Yil’kaa became virtually indistinguishable from a pile of goop. And it just didn’t stop. Intra was laying into the Yil’kaa like an angry goddess, walking her fire away from our position and due east, clearing a path just as she had said she would.

When finally it came to an end, there was this… silence that hung in the air over all of us, and then with a whine the walkers began to move, lifting one leg at a time and bringing them down with force enough to make the ground shake.

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“Well… I guess we have our orders.” Our CO said, standing and clambering up out of the crater as the others packed up their emplacements quickly. “Command, any orders on what to do when we get there?”

“Reconnoiter and report back to us. If necessary, destroy the signature with extreme prejudice.” Now it was just Intra talking, and the CO nodded.

“Understood Command, Banshee two-one out.” He shifted and then stood, rifle lowering slightly. “Alright kids, let’s move out! Got a job to do for the spooks up in orbit, so let’s get it done and go home!”

We all sighed, but I seemed to be the only one that wondered why in the universe he’d just called us kids, he was younger than all of us!

Still, we moved out, walking in the shadow of the warmachines.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

Col. Sebastian Terrell,

29th Terran Praetorians

Attached to 212th Banshees

Wreto Prime, Wreto System

The Okali had proven themselves to be quick, dependable and downright terrors at long range, I had a newfound yet deep respect for the overly tall species now, and I couldn’t be happier that I had somehow ended up in this mess with them watching my back. Especially now, as we moved through enemy territory. There was no frontline on this planet, so an attack could come from any angle.

Luckily for us though as we traipsed along underneath one of Intra’s massive spider tanks, the machine in question was looking out for us. It could detect things long before organic senses could and it would stop, brace and then fire at unseen targets, eliminating a problem before it had a chance to cause any damage to me and my unit.

And what a strange unit it was, on the one hand there were us humans, Banshees included - though most of the rumors said they were more like the Rustwraiths than humans - and then on the other was the Okali. They looked prepared, but clearly this was the first real fight they’d had in a long time. I could see it in their eyes, they were armed and armored, but their minds just hadn’t quite gotten over the shock of open warfare just yet. Probably never would if I had to wager.

And then there were our non-organic friends. Us humans are now surrounded by things taller than us, but even the Rustwraiths loom over the Okali, and their armor is unreasonably fancy. Shit it looks like they should be on a parade ground not marching through a warzone. But I guess that’s the point, they look fancy, walk fancy, but when the shit hits the fan they turn into literal monsters, which only makes their fancy exterior more… unnerving.

I’m drawn from my musings when one of those Rustwraiths raises its hand, signaling a halt and then points at the ground.

“Anomalous signal originates from that tunnel. We shall remain here to guard the entrance. Good luck, Praetorians.” It said in that grating synthetic voice it had, and I shivered. I wasn’t the only one either, the Okali looked concerned about the machines, but they hadn’t started shooting them yet so that was good.

“Understood. Let’s get going. Banshees, spread yourselves out but keep to the periphery of the unit, everyone else, get in the center of the formation. If they have to go loud, you’ll be shielded.” I say, and we position ourselves properly before moving slowly into the tunnel ahead of us.

It's dark, and it doesn’t take too long before the air begins to grow stale, and it even leaves a light tingle on my lips which suggests it’s probably not fit for breathing.

“Equip your masks, switch to filtered air.” I order, and we all pause long enough to place the masks over our faces. It’s a full mask thing, complete with alternate vision modes for the visors, which is handy because it’s only getting darker as we continue on. I call a halt when we catch the sound of gunfire from behind us, but it’s long muffled now that we’re deeper.

“Banshee two-one, continue on, we are under fire but do not require support.” It was like the machines had read his mind and called ahead to tell him to keep going.

“Copy that… If it gets too bad, bug out.” I say, knowing that they probably wouldn’t. But I had to say it, I’d rather have them leave if the position became too hazardous, than stay and die. Silly and stupid I know, but that’s just how I work. I didn’t get a response from the machine, but I expected that and so we moved on. Delving deeper and deeper into the tunnels, we followed the signal we could now easily detect.

Ship sensors were more powerful and sensitive than anything that could be carried on a soldier, so it had taken us getting underground to detect it. It was strange, pulsing almost in a pattern vaguely reminiscent of a heartbeat. Which it very much could be, nobody had ever set foot on one of the core worlds of the Yil’kaa, so who knew what we’d find down here.

The fleshy growths on the walls began to emit a gentle light, probably to give the Yil’kaa something to see by without hurting their eyes, and we got a better look at our surroundings. It was like something straight out of Aliens, the walls like a Xenomorph hive just minus anything that wanted to lay eggs in you. Well… as far as we knew there wasn’t anything like that.

I hoped there wasn’t something like that down here, otherwise I’d be lobbing all of my grenades and running for my life. Turning a corner the signal was now accompanied by what did sound like an actual heartbeat, the sound deep and thrumming through the earth that we stood upon.

For a Yil’kaa planet, we hadn’t met any resistance which was worrying, but welcome in its own way. I checked my chronometer and noted that we’d been underground for a little over thirty minutes now, and something big must have happened on the surface as the ground shook from an explosion.

A Yil’kaa squad came bursting out of a secondary tunnel and was startled by our presence, allowing us to quickly cut them down, though the squad leader closed on me and forced me into melee. A flick of my arm caused the hidden blade to unfold and stiffen, allowing me to engage. The blade squealed against the natural claws and blades of the Yil’kaa commander, and we danced back and forth till I got lucky and removed one of their legs at a knee, causing it to stumble and falter. Without hesitation my blade sank deep into the Yil’kaa’s throat, then sawed upwards, splitting the insectoid head in half. Like a sack of rocks the alien crumpled, going limp and leaving me breathless for a moment. First time I’d ever killed a Yil’kaa in melee… I hoped I wouldn’t have to do it again.

Wiping the blade off I retracted it and got us moving again, stepping over the bodies we’d made and beginning the search for the signal again.

With every step we drew closer and closer to the signal source, and we weren’t sure just what we’d find, but hopefully it was something mundane, something we could just shrug our shoulders at and walk away. Maybe something that’d make a nice explosion… Now that would make this trip worth it.

We turned a corner, and stopped dead, my eyes began to widen as I looked upon the source of the signal, and what food that still resided within my stomach threatened to vacate.

“Good God…”