Chapter Four:
They continued their trek through the recesses of Downtown, following the most direct path available on the conclusion that Caskar would have wanted to make his own path as simple as possible, so to not get lost in the dark, labyrinthine streets of the subterranean realm. The commandos made good time, running into no opposition and covering a good distance over the proceeding hours as they gradually closed the gap between themselves and the renegade commando. They moved quickly through Downtown, ever vigilant for any potential ambush from the local residents or, more specifically, the foul creatures they were now certain resided in the darkness, watching and waiting.
The Lieutenant eventually called them to a stop to make camp for the night, choosing the third and top floor of a squat, rectangular building that looked out over a parking lot, a number of rusted hulks of centuries old vehicles dotting the space. The base allowed them a good vantage point from which to see anything that approached the building for 270 degrees around it.
The third floor was broken up into three rooms with the commandos occupying the largest and most central. A flat circular device lay in the middle of the room, giving off a soft glow that illuminated its centre, leaving the edges and corners of the room bathed in shadow. The six commandos sat gathered around it, with their helmets and blasters by their sides, within easy reach. They sat around the light conversing softly among themselves and sharing a meal of combat rations. Despite the centuries of technological advancement, the quality of field rations hadn't improved a great deal since the 21st century, but at least they still got a hot, nutritious meal that tasted decent.
Grim ate in silence, lost in his own thoughts about the mission at hand and his personal rivalry with their quarry, his mind swirling back and forth between memories and plans for the future and how what he knew of Caskar could potentially aid them in apprehending him.
Cash finished his meal, sighed, and took a swig from his canteen, deciding to leave the energy drink ration for the morrow.
"What're you sighing about?" Jet asked, finishing off the last traces of his dinner.
Cash shook his head and smiled. "Nothin' kid, forget about it. It doesn't matter."
Across from them Cram smirked. "He's missing out on a social event of some sort," he explained to the rookie, who was still getting to know his squad mates.
"Ah!" Jet said with a nod. He glanced at Cash, "Well there'll always be plenty more," he said.
Cash scoffed and took another drink without saying a word.
"And probably a date with a beautiful, young woman," Cram added.
"Yep," Cash uttered, with another sigh as he took another swig from the canteen and replaced its top. "Of all the things I could be doing right now, I'm stuck here," he said, with a look of disdain.
"Get used to it Sargent!" Grim interjected. "You're not the only one who would rather be elsewhere. If you think any of us are thrilled about being here, you're wrong. Dead wrong," he said, his tone betraying nothing of his emotions. He gazed around the circle of commando's, looking them all in the eye one by one. "That's the price we pay as soldiers of the Federation. That's what it means to serve the state. It's the sacrifices we make that ensure the safety of its citizens, and we do it because no one else can," he said, his tone flat and matter of fact.
His subordinates all nodded their understanding and voiced their agreement, the conversation around the light fading away as they sat there in silence; the Lieutenant's pep talk effectively killing the mood as he put them in their place.
A couple of minutes later, unable to stand the silence any longer and finding himself short on conversational material Jet spoke to no one in particular. "I didn't really have any plans. It was just another night yanno? If I wasn't on deployment I'd probably be in cyberspace, doing some bulletpod racing or taking part in a Battle Royal," he said naming two of his favourite past times to indulge in within the virtual reality realm of cyberspace.
"Cheater," Wes joked. "That military training gives you an unfair advantage in battle royals."
Jet grinned in response, while Cram shook his head in amusement.
"Give it a couple of years. When you've done this enough in real life, you lose the passion for Battle Royal. The reality of war sucks any fun out of it," Dex said.
Jet's smile faded as he considered Dex's words. "I guess it would," he replied, a few seconds of silence passing by before he asked Dex. "What would you be doing now?"
Dex took a few moments to think about it before replying. "Probably reading something, I'm currently reading a book about the development of hologram technology and the impact it had on society," he said.
Jet nodded in acknowledgment and turned his attention to Wes.
Wes shrugged. "Nothing special, most likely sitting on the couch watching some holo-series. I'm a big fan of Blazers," he said, naming a popular comedy series.
Cram chuckled. "I'm more a fan of The Board. Although it's probably a bit too serious and complicated for you boltheads," he joked. "But to answer the question, I'd probably either be doing some unarmed combat training or hitting the gym, as boring as that sounds," he said. "But I always try to get a few extra sessions in each week to keep on top of my game."
Jet turned to Grim. "What about you chief?"
Grim looked at Jet, his expression impassive. "Preparing for war."
They rose after a scheduled 6 hours sleep, and after a quick meal set out for the day's trek, the lieutenant insisting they make haste to catch up with Caskar as soon as possible. A few hours after setting out they stumbled upon the first signs of life they had encountered since questioning the vagrants. Unlike the first group of Downtown's inhabitants they had encountered, this group had been taken unaware of their presence and went about their daily business, the scene resembling a 11th century village, but lost within the darkness of Downtown, kilometres below 26th century civilisation.
Grim signalled for the commandos to halt and take up defensive positions, the squad ceasing their march and quickly dispersing across the street as they spread out. In the debris strewn ruins of Downtown it wasn't difficult to find some appropriate cover to position oneself behind. The lieutenant motioned for Cram to follow him and he and the sergeant moved out from behind their cover and casually approached the small community, alert and ready for trouble, but presenting a casual and relaxed demeanour so to not alarm the locals.
Grim mentally selected some options from his helmet's HUD and his live feed was slaved to the units in his squad, the others all seeing a small screen that displayed his point of view on the right side of their own displays.
It didn't take long for the locals to notice the two commandos walking up the street, Cram tagging along behind and to the right of his superior officer to provide him with back up, should he need it. Some of them quickly shuffled off, running inside to hide from the soldiers, while others kept their distance, watching them with a keen interest.
Grim came to a stop in the middle of the street. "We are soldiers from the world above," he began, his voice being projected out by the helmet's external speakers. "We mean you no harm and are travelling through your home, I wish to speak to your leader," he said. "Help us, we will leave you in peace and you will never see us again." He stopped, watched and waited. For some time nothing happened and he was about to speak again, more forcefully, when an elderly man came shuffling towards him from further up the street, flanked by four rugged looking individuals bearing melee weapons who he assumed were bodyguards of some sort. Grim waited for them to approach and nodded in greeting to the elderly man as he came to stand before the commando.
"Greetings sir," the old man said with a solemn nod. "You here for other like you?" he asked, in the same broken English the vagrants they had questioned earlier had spoken.
Grim guessed that centuries in isolation had led the inhabitants of Downtown to gradually develop a dialect of their own, that was more basic, primitive and direct than what the commandos were used to. "Yes," Grim confirmed with a nod. "He's a wanted criminal. We are here to hunt him down and arrest him," he explained.
The old man looked at him with a quizzical expression, as if he didn't understand. The lieutenant realised they probably had a limited vocabulary. "He bad man, we are here to catch him," he reiterated, cringing at having to talk like a simpleton.
"Ah!" the old man said. "He come this way, two days ago, want our help."
"Did you help him?" Grim asked. "What did he say?" he inquired, relieved to hear they were successfully closing the gap.
"Yes, we help all who ask," the elder replied. "He not say much, keep to himself. Say he want meet friends, they come get him when he ask. He no ask, talker no work, too far. He get closer, make meet point, then they come get him," he said to the lieutenant.
Grim was pleased to learn that their suspicions had been correct, although the options available to the renegade hadn't been many to begin with. "How did you help him?" he asked. "Can you tell us which way he went?"
The old man closed his eyes momentarily then opened them once more with a nod. "Yes, we help, tell him way to go, where he can make meet place," he confirmed. "Tell you how find him, follow path he take and find him you will," he said nodding sagely. "We want no fight. None our problem, no sides, friend or foe nobody," he said, staring hard at Grim's glowing red visor.
"I understand, yes. Thank you for help. Now what path he take?" the commando asked. It took a painfully long time for the old man to explain the directions, with his simplistic language and attempts to explain ruined landmarks Grim had never seen before it was a long, frustrating, and tiresome affair. They got there eventually however, and Grim had constructed a basic map, stored within his helmet's intel files of where Caskar was headed and what path he had taken. The old man seemed non-pulsed by the whole business, remaining calm and nonchalant throughout the process.
Grim signed inside his helmet, immensely relieved the ordeal was over. He bid the old man farewell and returned to his men who had remained in position, should anything go wrong. "Okay, good news," he declared. "I know where Caskar is headed and what path he took," he said, updating his men, who he had muted during his conversation with the old man to spare them the torture. "The leader of this village was happy to oblige us and see us on our way," he added.
"Good. Wise move on his part," Cash said. "I'd hate to have to start busting some skulls to get answers."
"Oh?" Cram asked, feigning surprise. "Since when?"
They could practically hear Cash grin inside his helmet as he replied, "Since just now."
Chapter Five:
They had been continuing their trek through the abyssal cold, dark depths of Downtown for a few hours before they stumbled upon a place where the buildings spread out, became smaller and opened up into what had once been a large housing estate. Once green, vibrant well-manicured lawns had been reduced to dirt. What had once been a symbol of quiet, suburban life was now a bleak, dark, desolate wasteland where nothing grew and an air of melancholy settled itself over the team of commandos, so thick it felt like an invisible blanket had been dropped over them, shrouding them in an atmosphere of despondent hopelessness.
Moving through the neighbourhood Dex shivered as the feeling noticeably settled upon the team. The other commandos of Revenant squadron shifting uncomfortably in their armour or clearing their throats audibly. He set his mind to pinpointing what it was that caused this morose atmosphere and quickly came to a solid conclusion he was fairly certain of. Although the look had certainly changed in the centuries since, the area still represented the image they could all relate to of a stable, happy, safe and secure life where people achieved their dreams of home ownership, settling down and having a family. It was symbolic of the life people strove for, in one way or another. To see that image in a state of broken desolation was to destroy the symbolic ideal at its core, thus it now represented the opposite of that ideal, hence the current atmosphere.
"Whoa, what was that?" Cram declared, shaking Dex out of his musings.
"What was what?" Cash asked, puzzled.
"I just saw something fly by between those rooftops," Cram explained, gesturing vaguely. "Something big, like the size of a big dog."
The commandos looked around as they moved though the ruined streets of the suburb, their attention focused on the dark, formless sky above.
"I don't see…." Wes began, before Jet interrupted him.
"There!" he declared, pointing his rifle in the direction of the flying creature he got a glimpse of. "I see it too!"
Dex looked and watched for a few moments, but it didn't reappear.
"We've got a situation here," Grim said flatly. "Switch over to infrared," he instructed before anyone could respond.
The rest of Revenant squad did as directed and immediately their HUD's burst to life with dozens of glowing, red targets that hung from a ceiling no more than twenty meters above the festering remains of the housing estate. The base of a structure of some sort that had been built over the top of the dwellings, back when Downtown was still part of civilisation.
"Holy Shit!" Cash exclaimed as he looked around them. "There's hundreds of them! We're surrounded!"
"What the shock are they?" Cram asked.
Without being commanded to Dex deftly climbed the side of a house and scrambled onto the roof, the others watching as he fiddled around with his helmet's computer and conducted a scan of one of the lifeforms. The scan was then transmitted to the Federation's encyclopedic database while he waited for it to come up with a match. It gave a beep as the words "no match, data unavailable," flashed before his eyes. "Shit!" he cursed. The commando considered switching over to his night vision but decided he could get a clearer look at one of them if he activated his torch. The cone shaped beam of light shot out from the side of his helmet and illuminated one of the creatures with a bright circle of light.
"What the….." he declared upon seeing the creature clearly. It was hideous looking. Hanging upside down from the ancient ceiling by a pair of rear legs that ended in suction cup like hooves. It was about the same size as a large dog. With scaled reptilian skin and two shorter front arms that ended in huge clawed talons before its folded, bat-like wings, that possessed an outer ridge of spikes that resembled chainsaw teeth. Its head resembled a snake's with two long canine teeth protruding from its mouth by several inches.
Dex had only just began to study it when its eyes suddenly flew open, growing a neon green as it gave a high pitched shriek and hissed at him, suddenly leaping from its perch and onto the commando, knocking him from the roof of the building as it clawed and snapped at him.
Dex fought fiercely against it. Having dropped his rifle in the sudden attack he punched at it and tried to hold its claws at bay as they scratched deep gouges in his armour.
A volley of blaster fire hit the creature in the side as pieces of meat and green blood splattered his armour. It howled in pain before another bolt hit it in the side of the head with an explosion of brain matter and skull fragments.
Before any of them could act the entire colony came to life with deafening, ear piercing shrieks that made the commandos instinctively duck and cover their ears.
"Shit!" Grim snarled. "Not good!"
Then the hideous, flying creatures were everywhere. The flock took to the skies and launched themselves at the commandos, diving, swooping and dropping onto the squad in a feeding frenzy.
Blaster fire lit the night as the commandos opened fire, shooting at anything and everything that flew as they found themselves surrounded and caught in the middle of a maelstrom of snapping mouths, slashing claws, and flapping wings.
Dex scrambled to his feet. Ducking under a swooping beast, dodging another and diving aside of a third he managed to reach his blaster, scooping it up as he rolled over onto his back just in time to empty a volley of bolts into the underside of a creature descending upon him. He was splashed with a deluge of green blood and guts as its stomach burst open, narrowly avoiding its corpse crashing into him by rolling aside at the last second. He scrambled onto his knees and blasted another that came flying at him, the barrage of blaster bolts tearing it apart with a spray of blood.
Grim grit his teeth in a barely contained rage and opened fire on the flying monstrosities as they attacked. One swooped down at him, only to catch a volley of bolts that tore apart its wings, chest and head before it fell to the ground, a mutilated and bloody mess. He barely had time to gather his wits before another came flying at him with a shriek. The lieutenant leapt aside as it grazed him, the gust of wind from its descent rushing past as it screeched in rage and pulled up to turn about and make another sweep. Before it had the chance, he put half a dozen rounds into its back, making it convulse with the impacts and drop from the sky like a stone. "Revenant Squadron; reform on me!" he barked, falling into a crouch and cocking the grenade launcher as a grenade was loaded into the rifle's lower barrel.
A trio of the winged abominations came flying at them like fighter jets zooming in for the kill.
Cash turned at Cram's exclamation of surprise and began pouring blaster fire into them. The rifle bucked with the sustained automatic fire as the whining click of blaster bolts sounded throughout the battlefield. The beasts screeched in agony and rage as the bolts tore through them, quickly tearing them to shreds as Cash kept up the salvo of fire, the continued assault turning them into mince as they crashed to the ground in bloody heaps of mangled meat.
Another, drawn to the noise created by Cash's onslaught swooped at the commando while he was distracted, opening its mouth in a silent roar as it reached out with its talons, the webbed suction cups on the rear legs folding in and revealing two long, cone like spikes.
"Cash, on your three!"
Cash barely had time to turn his head before the shrieking horror was upon him, getting a close look at its gaping maw before its head burst apart in an explosion of blood and brains and the thing barrelled into him, taking him down with it.
Cram rushed over and helped Cash shove the corpse off him, offering to help pull the commando to his feet. "Whew, talk about a close call," Cram said.
"Great shot!" Cash replied with a grin, as the two of them acknowledged Grim's order and began making their way over, through the chaotic turmoil of screeching winged beasts swooping, diving and flying all around them, and the bursts of blaster fire that peppered the air, launching a crimson light show of deadly energy into the sky.
Wes peppered one with a volley of bolts, the fiend being more savvy than some of its brethren dodged and weaved around the shots, managing to avoid most, but several tore through its wings, yanking it from the sky as they became useless and it howled with rage. The creature landed on its feet and shrieked at him before it charged the commando, gaping jaws snapping as it rushed him.
Wes brought his rifle up and pumped several rounds into the creature's skull as it approached, stopping it dead in its tracks.
One of them dived at him, dropping from the sky above with a shriek.
Wes looked up just in time to see it come hurtling towards him, "Oh fuck!" he cried as he leapt aside, its talons scrapping his armour as it pulled up with a shriek and began to come around for another attack. He hit the ground hard with a roll and came up in a crouch, retaliating with a salvo of blaster bolts at the careening beast as it banked and conducted a tight turn, narrowly avoiding his weapon's fire. Wes flicked a switch and hit a button on the side of his rifle and a burst of flame erupted from the barrel as its flame thrower incinerated the thing, making it scream with agony as it burst into flames and frantically tried to escape.
Crashing to the ground beyond him it withered about, screaming in pain as it was burned alive.
"Copy boss, on my way," Wes replied to Grim's order.
Jet fired frantically at the creatures that filled the sky, their sheer numbers and ferocity overwhelming the rookie as he felt his pulse quicken and breathing become heavy as the onset of panic begin to inch its way into his heart. "There's too many of them!" he protested, unsure what to shoot at as he was overwhelmed with enemies flying all around him. He fired a volley at one that swept past, peppered another with bolts as it began to dive towards him, turning in alarm when he heard someone shout a warning at him over the comm.
The winged monstrosity tore past him, slashing at him with its claws and opening three deep cervices in the left side of his armour as it passed. The force of the impact made Jet stumble backwards and fall with a grunt as fear seized him in its icy grip and he felt himself begin to panic. Rolling over he climbed onto his hands and knees, looking up to see the lieutenant standing in front of him, appearing as if from out of nowhere.
"Relax kid, you're going to make it out of this alive," Grim said, his attention elsewhere. Before Jet could utter a word, the lieutenant's rifle roared to life with a burst of super-heated crimson bolts, the projectiles flying through the air and tearing one of the winged creatures to pieces with splatters of blood and gore.
The rookie climbed to his feet just in time to see the lieutenant calmly turn and launch a grenade. The explosive rocketed through the air, hitting one in the chest as it exploded, an expanding ball of flames consuming two others as the explosive detonated and consumed them before they could attempt to flee. Shrieking, the nearby members of the colony retreated, but kept the commandos well within view as others to Jet and Grim's rear continued their assault on the commandos, flashing past as they slashed, hacked and bit at their intended prey.
Wes quickly joined them, with Dex running in a zig-zag pattern joining them seconds later as Grim provided him with cover fire while Wes and Jet kept any attackers at bay with targeted fire.
"Cash and Cram?" Grim asked, not shifting his attention from the abominations that filled the sky, gunning them down with lethal efficiency as he put two rounds into the mid-sections of every target, dropping them to the ground, either dead or dying.
Dex joined him, the sniper's assistance paying off as they built some distance between themselves and most of the colony, he was able to properly scope and bring them down one by one with a head shot to each target. One of the creatures screeched with fury as its mate was shot out of the sky, it's cry being cut short as its head exploded with a spray of blood and brains.
"Right here boss," Cram said over the comm as they came running up the street to join the rest of the team.
"Excuse the delay, we were held back by some fans," Cash jested. "I just can't seem to escape the ladies wherever I go."
Grim only grumbled something intelligible as the rest of the squad laughed. He gestured to a two-story house on their three O'clock. "Take cover in that building, regroup and reassess the situation," he ordered. "Now move it!"
The commandos assumed a rough oval formation as they rushed towards the dwelling, jogging as they kept up a steady stream of blaster bolts to hold the creatures at bay. The creatures now moved to avoid the weapons fire, having learnt the streams of crimson energy brought pain and death with their touch.
The commandos made it safely inside the house without much trouble, Cram and Dex stationing themselves near the windows to fire on any of the creatures that approached. For now, the winged beasts had ceased their attack, seemingly content to sit and wait for them to emerge from their hiding place.
"I want an update, how're we all looking?" Grim asked, requesting an assessment of his condition from his own armour. A readout scrolled up his screen and he scanned it briefly, noting the important information, his lips mouthing the words as he read them. "Systems at 70% power, armour 90% operating capacity." He had taken some minor damage during the battle with Gorgotha and the attack from whatever these things were. Mostly cosmetic from the looks of things.
Cash hit the release on his blaster and an empty magazine clattered to the ground as he shoved another into its place. "Lookin' green, 90%," he said with the others all confirming they'd suffered nothing more than some relatively minor damage thus far. "What the shock was that all about?" Cash demanded. "Did the old man tell you about these things?"
"No. He didn't mention it," Grim said, his mind wandering as he pondered it. He pushed the thought aside and returned to the job at hand, that could wait until later. He nodded in response to Cash's assessment. "Good, prepare to move out. We're not going to sit around waiting for them to decide we're dinner," he said, cocking his rifle's grenade launcher once more. "The plan is we keep moving. If we stay in one spot, they're sure to overwhelm us, so we stay on the move and keep close together," he said, his voice stern. "We took them by surprise with the initial battle, but they've quickly learned what we're capable of and are ready for us."
"We can't fight all these things," Wes said. "We'll run out of ammo well before then. There's hundreds of them, maybe thousands."
Jet, looking out across the street which was littered with their corpses nodded. "No matter how many we kill they just kept coming, like it doesn't even bother them."
"They're animals," Dex replied. "Obviously predators, their life revolves around the cycle of hunt, kill, eat, sleep. The most primitive of urges are all they experience."
"Thanks for the nature talk doc," Cash snickered. "Next time maybe don't poke sleeping predators."
"Our goal is to get out of here in one piece," Grim cut in before Dex could retort. "Keep moving, stay together and be conservative with the ammo, semi-automatic only, make every shot count," he said, moving towards the door. "Ready grenade launchers and let's move out." The lieutenant led the way, the other commandos forming up around him in a rough, close quarters oval shape upon exiting the building. They continued to move through the estate at a jog.
It didn't take long for the winged beasts to notice they'd left the sanctuary of the house, almost immediately high pitched cries of alarm sounded from all around them as the creatures began to take flight once more, circling the group of commandos as they tracked their path through the ancient ruins of the housing estate.
"I don't like this," Wes commented, watching the creatures fly around them in lazy circles, keeping a good distance between themselves and the soldiers.
"Yeah, talk about creepy," Cram agreed, tightening his grip on his blaster.
"I suddenly know what it feels like to be a mouse," Cash added. "Not a fan of knowing I'm on the menu."
"Be ready to launch grenades on my order," Grim said. "I'll go first then we go round clockwise, only fire when I give the order. Otherwise fire at will," he clarified, wanting to space out the grenade attacks to achieve optimal efficiency over the greatest period of time. For another slow, agonising minute nothing happened as the commandos resumed their journey and the animals continued to stalk them.
Then suddenly without warning the foul creatures attacked.
The commandos opened fire, the whine of blasters echoing all around as streaks of crimson energy peppered the darkness, plucking winged beasts from the sky and sending them plummeting to the ground. A duo of the creatures banked, dived and came hissing towards their formation at a 45-degree angle, as if challenging them.
Grim raised his blaster and fired the grenade launcher, the projectile trailing a path of smoke as it flew through the air, hitting the creature on the left in the chest as it exploded. The explosion turned both of the winged terrors into hunks of flaming meat as the explosion rapidly expanded and two others exploded and three more caught fire, screeching in pained rage as they fluttered about aimlessly, losing altitude as the membranous flesh of their wings burned and they spiralled towards the ground.
The fiends around the explosion screamed in alarm and dispersed, their numbers rapidly thinning around Revenant squadron's formation as they moved through the streets. Diving back for another attack the creatures strafed the commandos, swiping talons, jagged wings and snapping jaws lashing out at the soldiers as they flew past, climbing into the sky once more before they banked in tight turns and came back around for another attack.
Blaster bolts lit the night as the commandos fired on their attackers, dropping them from the sky as corpses littered the area around them.
Several bolts tore through a wing of one of them, it screeched in pain as it fluttered to the ground in a controlled fall, landing on its four legs as it ran at the group of commandos with a roar.
"Wes! Look out!" Cram shouted over the comm, his squad mate barely having time to turn his head to the source of his team mate's alarm before he saw it come snarling towards him, barrelling into him with an impact that knocked him off his feet. Wes dropped his blaster as the weight of the creature hit him like a truck. Hitting the ground with a heavy thud it leapt on top of him and began clawing and snapping its jaws at his armour, determined to pry it apart and get at the flesh beneath. Wes instinctively brought his arms up to protect himself, frantically trying to push the rabid beast off him to prevent it from tearing his armour open.
It roared in fury, snapping its jaws inches from his face, revealing rows of long jagged teeth that looked like they could shred the armour from his body. It dragged its talons down his chest, the metal screeching in protest as it dug a series of gashes in the chest plate.
He punched it in the side of the head again and again, which only served to distract it momentarily.
It hissed in response, gnashing its teeth centimetres from his visor as he tried to inch away from it.
"Help!" Wes pleaded over the comm; the distress evident in his voice.
It roared with fury and placed both its taloned claws over his face, seemingly to rip the visor from his helm.
Its head burst in an explosion of blood, bone and brain matter, cutting its cry short.
"Head shot!" Dex declared, turning and returning his attention to the creatures dive bombing their position. The sniper's aim was deadly, one shot one kill, with each bolt being expertly placed through the skull of every target.
"Fire!" Grim barked.
Cram's rifle bucked with the launch of a grenade as it plunged into the stomach of a passing target and exploded, practically vapourising it and blowing two others to pieces as they fell to the ground, husks of dead, charred meat.
A dozen of the creatures came running out of the darkness on their left, hissing and snarling as they hurled themselves at the commandos, who had their attention fixed on the enemy above.
"Incoming hostiles on our 8 o'clock, down low!" Cash warned over the com, being the first to spot them as they came running at him. His rifle bucked as his grenade launcher fired, emitting a plume of smoke as the projectile burst from the barrel. It hit one of them in the head and exploded, the explosion taking out four of the creatures in a shower of blood, guts and entrails as green slime flew in all directions, the pungent smell of gore and viscera making Cash want to retch.
The other eight kept coming, opening their mouths to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth as they hissed.
Jet whirled around to come to Cash's aid, adding his own fire to the sergeant's as they tried desperately to stem the surprise attack before the creatures were among them. "Get some! Get some!" he snarled blowing a hole in the side of one's head and putting a trio of bolts down the side of another as its stomach fell open and its guts spilled out onto the ground.
"Jynx! Fuck! There's more of them!" Cash screamed over the comm as another dozen landed and joined the fray, running and hissing in excitement as they joined the others.
"Cash, give me a visual feed," Grim said, a smaller screen of his sergeant's POV appearing on the right side of his view screen a few seconds later. He grit his teeth and growled as he assessed the situation, they were now under attack from two fronts. Keeping the creatures at bay had been difficult enough when they were just attacking from the air, but now with them attacking from the ground as well they weren't just out numbered, but under manned to defend their formation as they tried to flee. "Reform!" Grim yelled over the comm, "Jet, Cash and Cram cover us from the ground attack! Wes and Dex you're with me, let's keep these mongrels off us!" he said. "By the way Wes; fire!"
The grenade rocketed into the air and exploded, taking out four of the creatures as blood and guts rained on the soldiers.
The other commandos acknowledged the order and altered their positions to reflect the new arrangement, Cram moving to join Cash and Jet as they fought furiously to keep the horde of creatures from overwhelming them, blaster bolts tearing through flesh and dropping the abominations to the ground, either dead or screeching as they bled out.
Cash fought with both his sidearm and rifle, blasting away with one, then the other.
As he gunned one down, another leapt aside and swung around to come back at Jet, lunging at him from the side and wrapping its clawed limbs around his legs. It yanked the surprised commando from his feet and began dragging him away from his comrades, the soldier screaming in terror as its jaws snapped at him.
"Help!! It's fucking got me!" Jet shrieked, his eyes wide with fear as it began chewing at his armour, another quickly joining it to devour the commando.
"Fuck!" Cash shouted as he watched Jet get dragged away from them by one of the creatures, quickly gaining the attention of other members of the colony who moved to join the feast. "Cram!" Cash called out to his team mate, the other sergeant turning as he threw his blaster to him, catching it in one hand and tossing it up and catching it again by the handle as he now wielded two blaster rifles.
Cash withdrew his other blaster pistol and ran to Jet's aid. He shot one right between the eyes, leapt onto its head and used it as a springboard to catapult him into the air as he came down firing at another, placing a volley of bolts into its spine.
It screamed with pain as it collapsed and entered its death throes.
Cash hit the dirt and slid across the ground towards Jet, pistols blasting away as he put a salvo of shots into the chest of the creature that had the rookie pinned to the ground. It reared up and shrieked in agonised rage, then went silent as he put another bolt through its skull.
Jet rolled aside as it crashed to the ground where he had lain moments before. He climbed to his feet as he and Jet fired at the creatures descending upon them, intent on surrounding the commandos and isolating them from the rest of the group.
Noticing the way the creatures recoiled from the flames and the way the creature he'd awakened had reacted upon shining his torch on it an idea occurred to Dex. As one of the beasts swooped at him, he turned his torch on, the long cone of light flashing to life and stretching across the darkness to illuminate the creature. It shrieked as soon as the beam of light touched it, recoiling as if in pain, fear, or possibly both? Dex smiled behind his visor. "Bingo!" he declared. "Activate your torches!" he shouted to the others. "They don't like the light!"
"What?" Wes protested, slightly confused.
"It either hurts them or they're afraid of it; but they avoid it at all costs," Dex replied.
Without any further pause the torches on all the commando's helmets flashed to life, beams of light illuminating the darkness around them.
It worked like a charm. The creatures shrieked and began to retreat, not daring to approach the beams of criss-crossing light as the commandos regrouped into an outward facing close formation. They stayed out of range of the light, fluttering around the soldiers just beyond its reach, not daring to move any closer, but reluctant to give up the hunt.
"Nice work," Jet commented, clutching his rifle in both hands as he walked backwards, the group staying close together, well within the sanctuary of the light as they moved through the suburb.
The creatures continued to follow them for some time, circling their formation as they looked for an opportunity to attack the soldiers. Occasionally one would get brave and attempt a swooping attack, only to be repulsed by a torch flicking in its direction, bathing it in light as it let out an ear-piercing shriek and quickly retreated beyond its reach.
The commandos continued their journey through the suburban neighbourhood until they reached what resembled the ancient, crumbling remains of an industrial area. One which, thankfully, the creatures didn't follow them into, the flock breaking off and returning to their nest as the commandos crossed the boundary of their territory.
Chapter Six:
"What the fuck was that?" Cash snapped, his voice echoing throughout the ancient factory. "Someone explain to me what happened there, because I have no fucking idea."
Dex nodded. "Apart from the obvious it would seem the village elder neglected to mention that part of the journey to us."
"Intentionally?" Jet asked.
"Possibly," Dex replied, going over an assessment of his equipment and weaponry as he sat with his back against the wall.
"Yes," Grim replied. Standing away from the camp he turned to face them, the light of the lantern in the middle of the floor casting shadows across his scarred and battle-hardened features. "It was a trap," he said matter-of-factly. Wes went to speak, but Grim raised a hand to silence him. "I know Jax Caskar well. We served together in the same unit for a number of years. He's a cunning and ruthless opponent. The old man gave up information too eagerly, it was too easy. Why? Because Caskar had convinced him to do so; and instructed him to give us no information about obstacles and threats we would encounter along the way," Grim said, his impassive expression becoming a sneer of contempt.
"But why do that and allow us to follow him? Why not have the old man tell us the wrong directions that leads to us getting hopelessly lost?" Cram asked.
Grim shook his head. "The old man wouldn't agree to that. There's too much of a chance we'd catch on and find our way back to him, and he wouldn't want an angry team of commandos to deal with," Grim explained. "Caskar wants us to follow him so he can lure us into a trap and finish us off himself," he added. "He reasoned that command would send the team of his greatest rival to hunt him down, and he set about preparing for that by luring us into a battlefield of his choosing and making us run a gauntlet of sorts."
Jet, who was applying a solvent to his damaged armour, looked up. "So, there's more to come?" The solvent would fill the gouges in his armour and harden into metal as it oxidised, providing makeshift repairs for the damage done.
"Yes, Caskar's probably been planning this since he crashed. Even going the way of Gorgotha's lair was intentional to throw something in our path. He's alone and prepared. Probably been conserving his own power as much as possible and saving his ammo," Grim said.
"Meanwhile we've dived in after him packs raging at full capacity and blasting away at everything that moved, draining our equipment, power supply and ammunition in the process," Cash said, catching on.
The lieutenant nodded.
"Then he can choose when and where we fight, set a trap, wait for us to arrive and finish us off," Dex concluded; before adding. "Whatever injuries or possible fatalities having been sustained along the way giving him a bonus advantage."
"Correct," Grim confirmed. "I don't know what else he has in store for us, but I guarantee it won't be pretty. So, we have to play it smart, keep on our toes and be ready for anything."
"Couldn't we find another route around the directions we were given?" Wes asked. "You know, act like we've fallen for his ruse, but then go an alternative route, come around and hit him from where he doesn't expect it. Beat him at his own game," he suggested.
"Negative," Grim said. "The risk of getting lost in unknown territory is too great. It would be too easy to think we know where we are, take a wrong turn and end up hopelessly lost. We have no choice but to play his game, as much as I hate it. There's no other option available to us."
Their situation wasn't looking good. With their power supplies falling to 60% battery power, equipment beginning to run scarce and ammunition now being rationed Revenant Squadron's capacity to engage in a pitched battle had been compromised. Their suits of armour had been sparking, hissing, smoking, and crackling for several hours after the battle as they all worked on repairing the damage sustained. Luckily apart from some bruises, aches and minor cuts and abrasions they were unharmed, but their armour had taken a significant amount of damage. Grim was glad he had insisted they all bring additional ammo, equipment and supplies. It weighed them down a bit more than was comfortable, but it had been worth it. In unknown, unpredictable situations such as this it paid to be prepared for any situation that could arise.
"We move out in six hours," Grim said. "Get whatever rest you can because you're going to need it. We're hot on Caskar's trail and we can't let up now, every moment we delay gives him more time to prepare and thus, more of an advantage."
After the exertions of the day they were all exhausted, sore and mentally drained. With Jax Caskar ready and waiting for them, and unknown challenges and horrors lying in wait they would need all the rest they could get.
Grim lay down and rested his head on his supply pack, using it for a makeshift pillow. The hard ground and armour didn't make for a comfortable bed, but after twenty-five years in the military he was used to sleeping in uncomfortable places. He had no idea what time or day it was. He had deactivated his suit's clock upon setting off on the mission, in order to better adapt to the eternal night of Downtown. A troublesome anxiety tugged at his mind, ever since they had cleared the territory of the flying monstrosities and he had realised they were being led into a trap it had been nagging at him. He was worried for himself, worried for the success of the mission, and most of all, worried about his men. Pushing the negative thoughts aside he tried to ignore the anxiety scratching at the edges of his consciousness, the foreboding sense of doom that penetrated the atmosphere of Downtown becoming more prevalent as he felt it like a physical weight pushing down upon him. With a scowl he rolled over onto his side and focused on more pleasant thoughts as he closed his eyes, relaxed, and gradually drifted off to sleep.
Cash felt like he had barely closed his eyes before he heard an alarm go off, startling him awake as the signal blared inside his helmet. It wasn't that loud, but in the complete silence it was almost deafening. After the incident with the flying beasts he had opted to sleep with his helmet on, so he was ready for action at a moment's notice, just in case. He groaned and dragged himself up into a sitting position, the alarms from the other commandos echoing throughout the empty warehouse as they were also roused from their sleep. Much to their chagrin their commander only allowed them a few minutes to quickly eat and prepare to move out, insisting that they get going asap and resume the hunt for Caskar.
With a sigh Dex hauled himself to his feet, joining the squad as they moved out, taking up the rear of the formation to watch their six. Despite his tiredness it had taken him a few hours to get to sleep, the four hours of restless sleep he did manage to get not leaving him feeling too rested as his muscles and bones still ached from the previous battle.
They marched along, constantly on the lookout for trouble as they followed the directions given to them by the villagers. They had to stop a few times to clarify which path they were to take as the reality of the terrain and environment was very different to the map Grim had drawn from the directions he had received. The map only consisted of the path they were to take and the major landmarks they would encounter along the way. Grim wasn't even sure they were going the right way, but they had little choice but to continue and hope they were where they were supposed to be.
Their journey came to an abrupt halt when they came to a fork in the road, the landmark being signified by a huge, towering building that stretched up into the abyssal darkness. Grim recognised the skyscraper as the one they wanted by the massive, ancient sign promoting Coca-Cola. He referred to the map on his HUD and noted they were to take the left-hand road here, the only problem being there were two roads that went left. One at their nine o'clock and another at their eleven. The old man hadn't specified which of the two was correct. They spent some time deliberating which path to take before Grim finally settled on the road at their nine o'clock. The way the elder had given the directions made him settle upon that path, although with some uncertainty. He had told them to take a turn left, the other path was more straight ahead than a turn, due to the angle of the roadway. It made sense, and he hoped he hadn't misinterpreted the man's fractured speech. Unsure of whether they had made the right choice; the commandos ventured forth down the road.