Alpha squad part 4 - Belly of the Beast

[Sonny]

Alpha squad returns - heading straight for the Terran warpgate. You can read the whole series here: www.talesfromauraxis.com

ALPHA SQUAD PART 4 - BELLY OF THE BEAST

The Sunderer heaved back and forth as it bounded over the rough gravel road. Marius snapped opened his eyes with a start. He cursed to himself as the sharp stabs of pain from misaligned nerves and muscles returned. Fowler was such a rookie with the medi-gun...

“Are we there yet?!” Marius coughed, barely holding himself up with a freezing, shaking hand.

Banks laughed deeply from the opposite bench of the passenger bay, his cheerful face mottled with dark bruises.

“No man, you’re just in time!”

Wincing, Marius slowly pushed himself up and clambered over piles of hastily-discarded Terran munitions and armour to the driver’s seat.

“So, scrub, how does it feel to wake up to your entire platoon dying?” Vickers spat venomously as he limped past. Marius avoided his stare.

“You heard me.” the barrel-chested giant continued drily “We shoulda just taken our chances through Vanu territory. At least there wouldn’t be 10,000 troopers waiting for us there, eh? Now we’re serving ourselves up on a plate. You think they’ll just let us drive straight into the warpgate and teleport to Amerish? No, they’ll capture, torture and kill us the moment they see us. Nice job, Acre, nice job. Now we’ll never get home. Landiss would have been proud.”

Marius’ mouth went dry with shame. He recalled the debate of the night before. As the freezing snowstorm that battered the stolen truck, the squad had reluctantly sided with Gregson’s radical idea, despite Vickers’ vehement opposition.

Gregson craned backwards as far as his thick neck would let him, glancing past Marius to the centre of the truck with disdain.

“Will you shut up Vickers? Your constant whining is boring!”

He shook his head at Marius, singed blonde hair drooping over his round face.

“Hmm. He’s what we call a ‘glass-half empty’ guy. Trust me - the odds are on our side – we’re de-spawned, we have a Terran truck and we’re doing exactly what they least expect us to do. We stay calm, we’ll make it.”

“OK Gregson. I hope you know what you’re doing…”Marius smiled weakly.

Suddenly, the clouds from the seemingly-endless snowstorm cleared. Ahead of the truck was the fizzing red glow of the Terran warpgate. Three curved prongs lanced in a half-circle, hundreds of metres in radius, towards an intense white glowing central light. The outer shield hummed with flowing, coalescing, spurting energy – the mysterious product of ancient, encrypted alien technology. Marius felt a knot lodge itself in his throat as the enormity of their task became clear. There were thousands of Terran soldiers standing within that dome. Tens of thousands. Maybe Vickers was right. This was a stupid idea.

Banks jumped his feet, smiling broadly at the sight.

“I can’t believe it. We made it. I never thought I’d see this. I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a boy. I imagined that I’d have an army behind me, of course. Do you know how many NC troopers have made it this far?”

“Hmm… Five. Plus me. I mean, probably.” Gregson muttered.

“No way man - Gregson. You’ve been here before?” Banks blurted.

“Well, I realise I may seem like an idiot, but I’m still a damn good infiltrator.”

“Bullshit, you couldn’t hide in a maze!” Vickers laughed.

“Hmm well, I’ll have you know that I was there when we took down the Terran spawn bank…” Gregson stuttered in protest.

A flicker of metal in the sunlight caught Marius’ eye. He snapped to attention. “Guys – let’s quiet it down, we’re coming up to the checkpoint.”

The squad rushed into action, doing final checks on their ‘borrowed’ Terran weapons and armour. Marius smiled nervously to himself. This leadership thing wasn’t so hard if you sound like you mean it. He drew himself to full height, clapping his hands with forced enthusiasm.

“OK everyone, stay quiet and look professional. You all look like Terrans. Make them believe you are Terrans. Let Gregson do the talking. We WILL make it to Amerish.”

A couple of hundred metres to the front of the truck, a column of three Prowler heavy tanks pulled out of the Terran checkpoint at the gate. Marius felt his heart rush with adrenaline.

“Go left, Gregson.” He said coldly, his hand on the back of the Sunderer’s driving seat. The Prowler tanks accelerated with a low rumble.

“Left, Gregson! Terrans drive on the left!”

The lead tank, bringing its cannons to bear barely 100 metres away, blared a deafening fog horn, shaking the brittle windscreen of the damaged truck. Gregson finally swung the truck over to the other side of the road, sending Marius clattering into the side wall. Nakano shuddered into wakefulness in the passenger seat.

“Shit, you’re right. Sorry.” Gregson mouthed, red-faced.

“For God’s sake…” Marius shook his head. He wondered again why he was trusting this guy.

The Terran checkpoint was rapidly approaching. A formidable red gate shield stood firmly alongside a matt black bunker that towered over the approaching truck. In front, four Terran troopers in stock red and grey waited expectantly behind a pair of menacing AV cannons. One soldier, slightly taller than the others, waved them down with a black-gloved hand, right arm firmly clutching a TRAC-5 carbine. Marius settled back down on the bench in the passenger bay. Kissing the lucky charm that hung from his neck, he prepared himself for the oncoming trial, pulling nervously at his bare chin. As the truck drew to a halt, he could just make out the dull face of an officious Terran border guard through the driver’s side window.

Gregson saluted “Morning, soldier. Loyalty until death.”

The Terran guard saluted instinctively and gazed dumbly through the side window of the cab at the squad. He slurred slowly in a low, Hossinian accent.

“Yeah, Loyalty ‘til… whatever – You having trouble driving your truck?”

“Not at all, corporal. We took a hit to the axle back at Nott. Drives like a three-legged mule.” Gregson gave a slightly-too-loud, hollow laugh.

“Uh-huh.” Nodded the Terran dumbly, his mouth ajar. He chewed mechanically on a thick wad of black gum. He flicked his head back down to a screen in his left hand.

“So, what regiment you from?”

“Ghost corps.”

“Hah. Ghost corps?! That’s new. I ain’t never heard of no Ghost corps.” He scanned some sort of list on a handheld tablet. “Here say your vehicle is registered with the… 5th Cavalry at Nott. One second –“ He looked up, puzzled.

“Hey Jimmy! You ever heard of a ‘Ghost Corps’?”

Marius’ heart started to race. Rumbled already…

“Look, soldier.” Gregson muttered desperately through clenched teeth. “Ghost corps is above your clearance. We are de-spawned infiltrators back from a sabotage mission at Eisa. Now you let us through or I’ll take this up with your superiors.”

The soldier turned back with a start “What you say, de-spawned? Like, no spawn?”

Gregson nodded several times in frustration “Yep, of course, that’s it. Check for yourself.”

“Alright…” The soldier brought out a small handheld device and aimed it carefully at the side of Gregson’s head. A red laser wave danced over his skull. After five seconds, Marius heard a negative beep.

“Well shit.” The soldier brought a hand up to his face as if to pull back his words. “I’m sorry sir. Sorry t’have questioned you. We – we really appre’sate what you people do for the Republic. Puttin’ your lives on the line and all.”

Marius sighed with relief. He recalled the legends of the ‘de-spawned’. The most hard-core soldiers of the entire army. Without the activated implant that broadcasts their location to friendly spawn banks, the de-spawned don’t trigger the automatic sensors that litter enemy facilities, making them the best infiltrators on Auraxis. The downside – only one life to live. Only the most loyal, crazed soldiers volunteered for such a fate.

A second trooper, a tall, lumbering brute, reached the window. His face appeared equally as dumbstruck as the first.
“What’s up, Dale?”

Dale pointed at Gregson like a museum exhibit.

“Say Jimmy, these troopers are done been de-spawned. How abouts you show them some respect.”

The big guy turned to the driver’s seat.

“De-spawned?! For real?! We really appreciate –"

Gregson held his hand up in acknowledgement.

“Yes, yes comrades, your appreciation is welcomed, but we cannot stay long. Now, we’re coming back from an important mission and need to meet with our superiors for debrief. If you could point us in the direction of the main warpgate compound I would be thankful.”

The pair shot each other a puzzled look, as if Gregson was speaking a foreign language.

“Oh, ok.” murmured Dale sullenly. “The main warpgate compound – umm.. That’s straight up past four or five, then on the left.”

Gregson saluted at the two troopers. “Now, good day. Loyalty until death.”
The two slow privates threw their hands up to their helmets. Gregson pulled away as rapidly as he could without raising suspicion. There was a shout from behind.

“Oh wait, HOLD IT!”

Gregson cursed with frustration as he switched off the motor one more time. Marius clenched both fists in disbelief. The two troopers jogged up to the window once more. Dale dropped his head respectfully.

“Sorry sir, we just got new orders – all arrivals have t’be inspected. Trouble at Nott or somethin’. Not my choice, but I gotta call in Colonel Kruger.”

“Can’t we just - ?” Gregson pleaded, but it was too late, the guard was already on the radio.

“He’ll be here in two seconds. You just stay right tight here.” Dale nodded like a happy dog, grinning foolishly.

“OK.” Gregson sighed slowly. He turned back to the squad, shrugging. All were pinned to their seats in breathless silence. Marius, panicking, shouted in a loud whisper across the truck.

“Gregson! What’s going on?! I thought you knew what you were doing?!”
Gregson spoke out of the side of his mouth, still smiling “It’s routine, when the Republic are spooked by something, they do this all the time. Stay quiet and look Terran, they won’t come up with anything. All our NC weapons were chucked out, right?”

“Right.”

“Oh, and move Isla over to the side bench. He’ll come from the back.”

In a few frantic seconds, Vickers and Marius picked up Isla and put her on the side bench. She murmured feverishly as the pair carried her out of the path of the back doors. As soon as she was set down, there was a knock from the back doors.

“Colonel Kruger here. Inspection. Open these doors.” Came a stern, booming voice.

SEE SECOND POST BELOW FOR REST OF STORY...

[Sonny]

Marius, his hands shaking slightly, undid the latch and the portal swung open into the fresh morning air. A tall, broad officer in a black and red beret waited expectantly, arms crossed. He looked about mid-40s, with a bald head and pale skin tight to his square jaw. A cruel, almost imperceptible grin turned up either side of his thin mouth. He wore a dark red cape, fixed at the shoulder with a golden clasp bearing the Republican insignia. The two young gate guardsmen saluted stiffly to either side of him.

As he approached, he held a hand over his mouth “Smells like a wet dog in there.”

His heavy boots clinked on the back of the truck. “I thought we taught basic hygiene in boot camp.”

He turned back to the two guards, who waited expectantly.

“You two –“ he waved at them dismissively “Go back to your posts. The Nott brigade will be returning within minutes.”

“Yessir!” The two guardsmen shouted enthusiastically and jogged back to the gate.

The tall colonel ducked slightly to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling of the passenger bay. “Well, stand up soldiers! Where’s the decorum?”

Marius stood up rapidly and shot a wild salute. His legs chattered weakly as the colonel took off his beret. A thick, knotted scar ran from the top of his forehead to his neck. Kruger swung his skull from left to right to look at the squad.

“Christ, you sorry rabble are a mess. Who’s in charge here?” he thundered, freezing Marius with deep, black eyes; the terrifying side effect of permanent infra-red eye replacements.

“H –“ Marius, dumbstruck, pointed to the front of the truck.

“I am, sir.” Shouted Gregson from the front seat.

“Since when do squad leaders drive?”

“Our Sunderer driver is down, sir.” He pointed to Isla, who was breathing shallow breaths.

The Colonel nodded wordlessly. He peered under the blanket where Isla lay with the barrel of his rifle. Marius so desperately wanted to snatch it from his hands...

“Hmm. So you’re Ghost Corps, huh? It seems the Commanders don’t even deem to inform the officers these days.”

His head suddenly cocked upwards in surprise. Marius caught his breath.
“Sergeant -?!” the Colonel snapped.

“Gregson, sir.” Gregson stood on the driver’s seat in order to face the Colonel.

“Sergeant Gregson. You should know that we don’t allow Conglomerate contraband within the warpgate. This pistol should be handed to supplies ASAP, you hear me?”

Marius felt a cold ripple of fear. Isla’s pistol, still strapped to her hip. They’d forgotten to check.

“Yes – yessir.” Gregson replied falteringly.

The colonel struck the metal floor with the barrel of his rifle. The squad jumped to attention.

“I see several problems here. Now you all get fresh armour from Supplies. You look ridiculous in this mis-sized shit. You aren’t cadets anymore!”
He pointed to the driver’s seat with his black gloves.

“You, up front! I want to see you too. Attention!”

Nakano scrambled up as fast as she could. Her bruised, cut face and arm sling cut a sorry figure in the weak light from the windscreen. The Colonel blankly held Nakano’s gaze for one second.

“Where are you from, soldier?”

“Searhus, sir.” She replied, coolly.

A gust of wind whipped through the back of the truck, making Marius shiver. Suddenly, the Colonel turned for the door.

“Well, it appears everything else is in order. Get to Supplies ASAP, return that contraband and fix up this joke of a vehicle. Other than that you’re clear to move on.”

The colonel bent down at the threshold of the back door. He took one last fleeting glance at the poker-faced troopers, replaced his beret and took a step –

Vickers launched himself at the Colonel, pulling him down from the waist. Kruger’s rifle clattered into the side of the truck, inches from Isla’s face.

Marius jumped in surprise “Vickers?!”

The Colonel crashed heavily to the ground. He shouted and elbowed Vickers in the stomach, but the bear-sized trooper was too strong to even notice. His cries were muffled by Vickers’ thick hand. The Colonel bit hard on his fist.

“HELP ME! CLOSE THE FUCKING DOOR.” Vickers roared, through gritted teeth.

Fowler rushed for the back door, slamming it shut as calmly as his frantic state would allow. Snapping into action, Marius dove onto the Officer’s elbow, pinning it to the cold floor as Banks fell upon on his flailing knees.

“FUCK ME! He’s got teeth!” Vickers cried out, launching a solid punch into the side of the bald man’s head. Dazed, Kruger head knocked the floor, and Vickers could finally remove his arm, now streaming blood from fingers to elbow. The Colonel began to yell at the top of his voice.

“HEL - !”

“SHUT. UP!” Vickers pushed his second hand over his jaw.

“Tie him up!” Barked Marius.

Marius struggled with the dazed officer’s loose as they rolled him onto his side. There was a dull ‘puff’ from the front cab. The sound of gunfire chattered distantly.

“Jesus. What the hell is that?!” Marius cried out, as quietly as his ragged nerves would allow.

“Decoy grenade!” Gregson cried from the driver’s seat, firing up the engine “That should keep the guards busy. I’m moving out, direct to the gate. Stay calm people.”

The distant shouts and thuds of Terran boots ran towards the source of the gunfire. Gregson guided the Sunderer crept surreptitiously onto the main road to the centre of the warpgate. Terran soldiers thronged every side of every turning – infantry brigades marching, armoured columns resupplying, aircraft refuelling over landing pads. None paid the Sunderer the least bit of attention. As Marius bound the Officer’s hands, he shook his head in disbelief.

“What the HELL was that, Vickers?” Marius shouted, enraged. “We were almost out of there. Jesus.”

With three men on top of him, they managed to bind Kruger with spare cord. Nevertheless, the Colonel restarted his struggle against the binds. Marius shoved a thick wad of cloth into the officer’s mouth so Vickers could finally remove his hand.

“Don’t be naïve, newbie.” Vickers grimaced as Fowler salved his bleeding hand with the medi-gun “He knew. Because of her.” Pointing at Nakano. She stared back, sullen and wordless.

“He’s right, Acre.” Gregson called back. “But we’re ok. Just don’t let him shout too much back there, we still have a few minutes till we’re out.”

Too late. The colonel had already torn through the cloth with hardened metal teeth.

“Hah! New Conglomerate scum. We will catch you and interrogate you until you are no longer human. We will bore into your mind until you can no longer think…”

He pulled his head upwards, holding a wide-mouthed, joyful smile.

“And you, you Searhus bitch. We will break your kind like no other. Do you know what we did to the lowlands of Searhus last month? You’re from the lowlands, right? We burned down the villages. All of them. Your fucking dog family are all gone.”

Nakano leapt out of the front cab seat like a cat. She clattered into Marius and Vickers, pushing them aside. Tearing Isla’s rebel pistol from her holster, she pushed the weapon into the Colonel’s forehead.

“Do it, scum.” Laughed the bloodied Colonel, holding his icy grin.

Marius placed his hands gently on her quivering back and the pistol barrel. She flicked her head to face him. He spoke to her as calmly and softly as he could with a shaking voice.

“No, Naka… He’s lying. He wants us to kill him so he can respawn within the minute – he’ll shut down the gate and we’ll all die.”

Naka’s brown eyes were red and swollen; tears were edging down her cheeks. She shook her head in disbelief.

“He’s lying?” She whispered.

“Yes, Naka. I promise you. Later, when we get through this, we’ll take him out. But not now. Not here. Please put the pistol down.”

She nodded softly and lowered the pistol. Suddenly she pulled the Colonel’s face just inches from her own, staring at him silently. He laughed softly, spit and blood flowing from his face. With her left hand she swung the weapon between her legs and fired into his kneecap. Blood showered the squad. The colonel roared with pain, limbs flailing wildly in all directions.

“NAKA?!” Marius shouted in disbelief as she calmly stood, throwing the pistol at the wall.

“He’s not dead.” She shrugged, and slumped down behind the driver’s seat, armed crossed over her shoulders. Her dark eyes barely seemed to register the bloody scene in front of her.

“That’s not helping, guys!” Gregson barked desperately.

Vickers once again covered the Colonel’s weeping face with both hands to mask his cries. Banks and Marius held his body down.

“Can SOMEONE here hold it together, please?!” Vickers shook his head “Fowler, fix this fucker up. We can’t have him bleeding everywhere.”

As Fowler lit up Kruger with the Nanite stream, the anaesthetic drugs kicked in and his struggles lessened. After a few seconds, Kruger’s arm no longer resisted. Marius was finally able to stand up and check on their progress.

Gregson had latched onto a convoy of supply Sunderers that were snaking their way to the final ramp into the centre of the warpgate. The vertical white beam shuddered just 20 metres from the squad. A background hum vibrated louder and louder as the Sunderer approached. A mounting excitement welled up within Marius; so close to freedom!

“Are you sure we can get through, Gregson?” Marius asked breathlessly.

“Positive. The warpgate can’t tell that were NC as long as we’re de-spawned.”

Marius put a hand on Gregson’s shoulder. “I don’t know what we’d have done without you. Thanks, Gregson.”

Gregson nodded his head. “Anytime. And call me Frank.”

The Sunderer pulled into a queue of three other troop transports that wound their way up the shallow entrance ramp. As Gregson parked the truck in second place he sighed with relief, his head on the wheel.

“I got to get another job…” he murmured.

Suddenly, humming silenced. the cone of light disappeared. The whole convoy was left adrift in the middle of the centre of the warpgate. A siren blared from all directions, a female voice shouted calmly from hundreds of invisible speakers.

“WARNING. EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN INITIATED”

Red lights rotated rapidly atop the cold, stony buildings that surrounded them. Marius collapsed into the back of the driver’s seat.

“NO?! But we’re there!” he cried.

“It’s game over guys!” Vickers threw up his hands. The Colonel began to laugh once more.

Gregson hit the wheel with both arms. He turned back to Marius, a pained, resigned look creasing his thick cheeks.

“Someone tripped the alarm…”

“Wh- what do we do?!” cried Fowler from the back doors.

Gregson was silent for a few seconds, his elbows resting on the wheel, deep red light passing over his head. Suddenly, Marius had a brainwave. Crazy, but better than nothing...

“Wait – I have an idea. Now listen to me. Everyone grab a rifle and wait for my signal at the back door. We’re gonna have to surprise them…”

[Micro]

Dat ending... Gimmeh part 5!
Seriously, you are a great writer and I love this series!
Great work, once again!

[CraazyCanuck]

lol Sonny - way to leave us in suspense

Great job.