By: Emily Rudgers
In the war hardened lands of future Earth, humanity has been brought to its knees and tested.
The only possible saviors of the world being skilled soldiers whose abilities are put to the test.
This is the story of the remnants of unit 412.
Author's Note: Again I want to reiterate the warning I issued previously. If language, battle scenes, or mild gore descriptions bother you then please discontinue reading. Thanks to djkauf for editing.
July 5, 2032
As I walk through the city I hear large groups of Beag off in the distance so I start heading towards them. By midday I stumble upon several full battle forces of Beag. I failed to kill the Beag leader but I can cause a nuisance by removing groups of warriors. With such a large group in this one little area I manage to pick off stragglers who are moving to join the group. Peering from the safety of a window a block away I see them preparing for some form of attack. They cannot possibly know where I am because I have been extra careful with dispatching bodies then moving them out of eye sight so I’m not overwhelmed in gun fire. From the distance I can hear a commander shouting.
“The Recas (humans) have another fort with the last of their people. We are going to show them once and for all that Beag are superior. We attack shortly, be prepared. Terrorlings in the back, warriors in the front.”
Moving through several building I see that there is a large group of Terrorlings. More than I have ever seen set up in a location where they can release their spores downwind providing very long range covering fire. From my position on the roof I see a large group of humans organized in a fortified construction site, using the large concrete slabs and dug out foundation troughs as cover. Looking to the left and right of my position I notice that the Beag have the entire compound surrounded with an endless ring. I hear the battle cry of a commander and I see the Beag start to move in slowly, being smart. They use the cover to hide their position, allowing them to get as close as possible before being spotted. With the main force moving away I jump down from the roof of my building with a crunch of my knees. In mere seconds they are fully healed and I run towards the Terrorlings’ position. With a very large group of Determiners they might be able to hold off the Beag long enough for me to kill their leader. Maybe then the Beag will descend into chaos while they fight desperately over who is strong enough to lead.
I make it to the first floor of one of the buildings and find fifteen warriors standing guard as protection from sneak attacks. I make quick work of them as their guns prove ineffective against my skin. Moving to the roof I find thirty Terrorlings on this one roof top and another fifty on others. As the first barrage of spores is released I see Determiners liquidized by the acid. I barrel into the closest Terrorling and slice my blades through the acid sack. I continue running dragging both hand blades in each one’s body. They were always terrible at close range combat, but with my body’s immunity to their acid by being able to heal quickly, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. As each body erupts in acid I feel myself change more. Eventually the acid does little more than run off my skin like water.
Ten minutes later
The Terrorlings proved to be unworthy of a challenge. All of them fell to my blades with ease. I move towards the line of progressing Beag in hopes they prove to be more worth my time. With the sounds of war going on all around I easily can sneak up behind and rip warriors, commanders and even a few Facpor apart before I have swept through their attacking line. I push to the left where there are more Beag from a failure of the humans to adequately defend their flank. I butcher as I go, using large sections of concrete pipe as tunnels to move from group to group without facing too many bullet holes.
As I leap off a section of steel beams down on a Facpors skull, slicing it in two, I find myself trapped between the human and Beag lines.
Without any suitable cover between me and the Beag I push towards the humans. I am met with several sniper rounds in my upper body and a hail of shots hitting me from behind. Ducking inside a dumpster I give my body a moment to heal. I see several blasts from an electric pulse fly over the dumpsters opening and hear the roar of a Facpor. I climb out of the steel coffin and feel another couple sniper shots find my hip, face, and shoulder. I push through the pain and round a corner of pallets, coming face to face with a small group of Determiners. With the sound of several shot gun blasts, any chance of me sparing them is erased as survival instincts take over. I chop the three of them up while they try to flee from my grasp. The Beag use the hole I’ve punched through the human line to get close. Those that can see me keep their distance but they follow me none the less in an effort to make it to the heart of the human camp and disable the strange weapon frying Facpor.
While breaking through the human line I start slashing at everything moving. The trench they have dug out as an easy defense point proves to be a channel I can move through without being afraid of enemy bullets. Four human bodies lay decapitated behind me as I push further into the heart of their force. I make it to the group of ten snipers and start flaying them one by one. During my ecstasy of blood craze I take note of their faces, seeing their fear and pain. On my last human I look into the face of Kilp.
I swing both blades to bring them down on her skull when I stop myself. She has been my friend; I can’t let myself kill her. It takes everything in me to stop myself from raking down the front of her body. The motion would be so easy and the delicious sounds that follow would bring me pleasure but I hold fast.
She looks into my eyes in recognition, her own shot gun now idly aimed into my stomach while her mind swirls. She knows who I am, and she can see me refraining from unleashing my fury upon her. I slowly lift my blades away from her skull. I look behind me at the countless number of bodies forming a trail of death along my path. Beag and human both lay side by side, for none could escape my wrath. Around me the battle still rages but in this moment the force of my humanity takes hold of the mindless beast I have become. I regret every kill I have done and fear what is yet to come. Grabbing hold of Kilp’s shotgun I pull it up to my head and motion strongly to her. I try for the best pleading look I am capable of with starry eyes. Looking straight into my eyes she gets the hint. “I’m sorry,” she breathes while she pulls the trigger. The blast feels painful but I find myself on my back and not dead. My changed skin is proving to be as tough as a Facpor hide. I stand back up while Kilp looks at me in disbelief. My desire to kill the person who tried to harm me resurfaces and I feel my body start to react. My arm makes it to her stomach when I stop myself, the blade resting on the surface.
Pulling my arm away I cast my vision to the ionization weapon, the barrel is lined up directly at me. With feelings for her I didn’t know I have I find myself pushing her out of the way, fearing harm will come to her. The ion weapon pulses and connects with my body. I feel every part of my skin catch fire as every cell in my body tries to pull apart. I drop to my knees and hunch forward in agony.
Smoke rises off of my body as the shot ends. I sit there on my knees taking slow deep breathes when another shot is fired at me. The pain of this shot more distant as my body starts to shut down pain receptors in overload. As the second blast passes I feel myself taking jagged breaths. Slowly lifting my vision I look at the tank in hatred. This pathetic device does not deserve existence in my city. I run straight toward the metal beast. It fires over my shoulder killing a Facpor in the distance. Several more shots whiz by before I find myself on top of the hull ripping the cap open. Jumping inside I do what I do best, I coated the interior with the blood of my attackers.
Crawling out from inside the beast I see Kilp running over to me with her shotgun still in hand. My mind clicks her weapon as a threat and I find myself jumping off the hull and bringing both blades to close around her neck. As I hit the ground I find my blades scissoring her neck, the only thing stopping me from beheading my friend being our bond. I look into her eyes, like I have many of my prey. I see compassion despite my terrible actions; she understands I can’t entirely control myself. I also see fear, not the fear I have seen in so many before but fear to continue living in the world we do. Sadness washes over her face in despair for all the terrible actions we both have had to do in the name of survival. With the sweet smell of her fear my alien mind washes through me and I relieve her fear of continuing to live. As her head falls to the ground I surrender to the alien portion of my brain entirely. In this alien portion I feel no remorse, no sadness, and no regret.
My blood craze courses through my being. With the battle still raging around me I feel high on the level of fear, of the smell of blood, of the cries in pain. Looking out across the landscape I see my first target. The leader is fighting alongside a large group of Beag and has successfully pushed through the enemy lines now that the tank is out of commission. I charge straight for him. Bullets hit my skin and do little more than fall off my ion toughened hide. Their leader sees my charge and does a motion similar to our first encounter. When we first met I still had a piece that was fighting for humanity so I moved and fought in part like a human, he still seemed to expect me to act in such a way. I move with an alien precision and speed, I manage to get under the swing of his multiple arms and drag my blades up his rib cage to his arm pit. Then take my right arm and thrust both of my now perfectly formed blades through the center of the leaders face before pulling back and slicing straight through the skull.
All Beag fighting in the immediate facility stop in horror. Their great leader has fallen without a single scratch befalling me. The level of fear surges to new heights and I get drunk from the rush. I show all remaining on the battle field they are right to fear me as I slaughter any living creature I see without a moment’s hesitation.
Two Hours Later
As the blood drips from my heavily used blades I retract them into my skin. I climb up onto of the tank and use it as my throne over my domain. Looking out I see the ground littered with bodies. The number of Beag outnumbered the humans easily thirty to one, but in the end they died. A few escaped back into the refuge of the city but now they are the ones afraid of being hunted to extinction. I will track them later to remove the last traces of Beag filth from my home. I am queen of this domain and they are nothing but lambs to be slaughtered.
My thoughts break when I hear a noise I recognize. The distant rumbling causes me to break into a run. I go deep underground in one of the nearby buildings. If this is their solution then they are mistaken.
“Atace to submarine Vengeance, situation classified FUBAR. Commence nuclear strike on the city.”
“Sovereign, the Recas (humans) have destroyed their own city to kill the Surra.”
The sovereign slowly closes her eyes in exasperation, “Foolish pigs. Contact their moving island, we must do the unthinkable and ally with them if we are going to stand a chance against this genetically engineered abomination. I won’t let another planet end up like our home world.”
July 8, 2032
My body sears as every nerve explodes in agony. As the air hits my burnt out eye sockets I cry out in agony. Unable to move any limb I lie under the deep pile of rubble while my body slowly rebuilds itself. They destroyed my city, my home. They will all pay with their blood; I will not stop until every last one of them is erased from existence. I claim this planet as recompense for their actions.
This marks the end of Determiner Unit 412. The unit who tamed an alien race in allegiance, the unit who gave up their lives in protection of humanity. In the official record Mast died in the Yactas Research Facility in an effort to retrieve the ionization weapon. The creation of the alien Surra was written off as a failure in Beag science to create an intermediary between the two races. The Gremlins surrendered shortly after they realized humans and Beag were no longer at odds with each other.
July 23, 2032
I break through the last layer of rubble and look out on a barren wasteland of destruction. Crawling free of my prison I taste the post nuclear air, the first moving air I have had in weeks. Time for a little game of search and destroy.
The End
Author's Note 2: I want to apoligize now for how this story ends. Given the circumstances I have made in the story however, it was the only real option.
Comments
Not the usual BigCloset story.
This story might make a good horror movie, especially if the pathos is played up between the newly created Surra (I cannot give such a thing a name, neither human nor alien) and Kilp, as well as other humans she encounters. I had really hoped for a return to humanity for Mast, but that is not in the cards in a true horror story, which you have definitely created here. I'll just say one more thing: in the best horror stories, the monster must have some humanity remaining at the end when it seems nothing is left for it. That's the final tragedy that, when done well, raises simple horror into the realm of art.
SuZie
SuZie
Unit 412
went through hell and back to do their duty. Will they be honored?
May Your Light Forever Shine
= )
Bloody brilliant. In more ways than one. :D
Rough Story
It seems to be a complete tragedy. All the continuing death of humyn and beag; with all the high tech of both worlds and, by accident, a super-survivor, monster/killing machine is created. It's all down hill from there. If the surra was killed in the nuclear strike, someone might have been left on the badly scarred and ruined Earth, but the beag can't be trusted and humyns instinctively kill off each other in groups and individually.
I still liked the story. It was gritty and nasty, but well written, good sci-fi concepts and different from everything else we've had in a while!
Thanks for your time and effort.
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee
Stan,
It seems that the surra will try to kill any intelligence alive that it can find. I don't know how it will get to an aircraft carrier or a nuclear sub, but the surra continually evolves and at the end of the story, it has never been defeated. If any humyns are left at the end of some time period (how ever long the surra takes to become amphibious and kill all the naval vessels), they might remember 412, but will probably do it while taken off planet by the beag!
Emily: It is very interesting that another killing machine monster appears to have come about before and ravaged the beag home world. I think they've got to stop this kind of thing from happening so often! ;-)
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee
Thanks!
That was my exact thought when I wrote that part. Darn Beag and their careless science!
Emily
I love the Author's note 2.
I love the Author's note 2.
Many would have hijacked its careening course in some messy compromise, but you drove it straight into the inevitable wall.
Brilliant stuff.
XX
AD