decreasing gap in the gate. He could swear he could feel the
thing’s breath on his neck making his skin spasm in protest. A few paces from
the gate he dived and felt something swipe in the air where his head had been
an instant before. He landed in the base and heard the gate clamp behind him,
followed by a sickening squelch that he saw was half of the alien’s head when
he turned around.
Jack
knew that he needed to report in and that most of the other marines were
staring at him after his entrance. He got up and, instead of walking to his
commanding officer, went straight for the nearest ladder up the barricade on
the inside of the wall. At the top he could see out over where they had crashed
with the buggy. Soldiers lined the top of the wall with crates full of
ammunition and extra rifles. They were prepared for the siege but had not yet
begun to fire.
Jack
marched quickly to the nearest crate, picked up a long barreled rifle, and
loaded it without even looking at any of his fellow marines. He looked down the
scope at the buggy. He knew it was too late for Scott but he had to do
something.
“Sir,
we haven’t been given the orders to fire at the Dross yet. We’re to wait until
they get closer.”
“I’m
not going to fire at them,” Jack grunted back without taking his eye from the
scope.
Through
the lens he saw more of the aliens than he could count. The number he had seen
when the pounders were initially activated must have only been a small
fraction. A storm of dust followed behind them and from this distance it looked
like the aliens had become the ground, one green entity shifting toward them
like a tsunami. He focused on the buggy and saw Scott still in the driver’s
seat. He was dead and something was eating him.
The
front runners of the alien army were already around the buggy though the
majority were still a few minutes away. At least three of the Dross were eating
Scott with a few more tearing through parts of the buggy to get close enough to
join in. Jack had to contain the sudden white hot rage that flared up in his
chest. He carefully lined the cross hairs on the fuel tank of the transport,
inhaled, and squeezed the trigger twice in succession.
Even
at the distance he was from the buggy, up on the wall, Jack’s face was still
bathed in the orange and red light of the explosion. The aliens let out a
different screech as they died, only slightly different, but he hoped it signified
their pain. He put the weapon down where he found it and climbed back down the
ladder.
The
wall of the base was made of six parts that made a hexagon barrier around the
buildings and people within them. The main structure in the center of the base
was a pounder not unlike the smaller ones that he had just returned from,
excepting that it was many times larger and more powerful. It dominated the
base as a tower of their operations and the beacon that would lead the majority
of the aliens here. Jack hadn’t felt the vibrations from it yet but he saw that
the massive metal cylinder was moving slowly upwards now, warming up to begin
slamming into the ground.
The
walls, he knew, extended deep into the earth to protect them from underground
assaults as well as attacks from above ground. He pictured it like a mechanical
claw that dug deeply into the earth as if to scoop out a large crater worth of
soil, but halted after clamping together. He had heard other soldiers talking
that the barrier had a weakness in the center most point, and that the battle
would be one against the time it took for the Dross to discover that flaw. Jack
didn’t know what to believe.
The
tower had a secondary wall around it, standing nearly a dozen meters in the air
as a last defense if the outer wall failed. Jack saw his commanding officer
standing near the only open entrance to the secondary wall. He was clustered
with other officers busily barking separate orders into their headsets for the
multitudes of squads around the base. He nodded to
thing’s breath on his neck making his skin spasm in protest. A few paces from
the gate he dived and felt something swipe in the air where his head had been
an instant before. He landed in the base and heard the gate clamp behind him,
followed by a sickening squelch that he saw was half of the alien’s head when
he turned around.
Jack
knew that he needed to report in and that most of the other marines were
staring at him after his entrance. He got up and, instead of walking to his
commanding officer, went straight for the nearest ladder up the barricade on
the inside of the wall. At the top he could see out over where they had crashed
with the buggy. Soldiers lined the top of the wall with crates full of
ammunition and extra rifles. They were prepared for the siege but had not yet
begun to fire.
Jack
marched quickly to the nearest crate, picked up a long barreled rifle, and
loaded it without even looking at any of his fellow marines. He looked down the
scope at the buggy. He knew it was too late for Scott but he had to do
something.
“Sir,
we haven’t been given the orders to fire at the Dross yet. We’re to wait until
they get closer.”
“I’m
not going to fire at them,” Jack grunted back without taking his eye from the
scope.
Through
the lens he saw more of the aliens than he could count. The number he had seen
when the pounders were initially activated must have only been a small
fraction. A storm of dust followed behind them and from this distance it looked
like the aliens had become the ground, one green entity shifting toward them
like a tsunami. He focused on the buggy and saw Scott still in the driver’s
seat. He was dead and something was eating him.
The
front runners of the alien army were already around the buggy though the
majority were still a few minutes away. At least three of the Dross were eating
Scott with a few more tearing through parts of the buggy to get close enough to
join in. Jack had to contain the sudden white hot rage that flared up in his
chest. He carefully lined the cross hairs on the fuel tank of the transport,
inhaled, and squeezed the trigger twice in succession.
Even
at the distance he was from the buggy, up on the wall, Jack’s face was still
bathed in the orange and red light of the explosion. The aliens let out a
different screech as they died, only slightly different, but he hoped it signified
their pain. He put the weapon down where he found it and climbed back down the
ladder.
The
wall of the base was made of six parts that made a hexagon barrier around the
buildings and people within them. The main structure in the center of the base
was a pounder not unlike the smaller ones that he had just returned from,
excepting that it was many times larger and more powerful. It dominated the
base as a tower of their operations and the beacon that would lead the majority
of the aliens here. Jack hadn’t felt the vibrations from it yet but he saw that
the massive metal cylinder was moving slowly upwards now, warming up to begin
slamming into the ground.
The
walls, he knew, extended deep into the earth to protect them from underground
assaults as well as attacks from above ground. He pictured it like a mechanical
claw that dug deeply into the earth as if to scoop out a large crater worth of
soil, but halted after clamping together. He had heard other soldiers talking
that the barrier had a weakness in the center most point, and that the battle
would be one against the time it took for the Dross to discover that flaw. Jack
didn’t know what to believe.
The
tower had a secondary wall around it, standing nearly a dozen meters in the air
as a last defense if the outer wall failed. Jack saw his commanding officer
standing near the only open entrance to the secondary wall. He was clustered
with other officers busily barking separate orders into their headsets for the
multitudes of squads around the base. He nodded to
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