SHOCK Chronicles - Chapter 3

SHOCK Chronicles - Chapter 3

After such an awesome mission, I was punished by two whole months of monotonous crap. All of it consisted of three points. Go somewhere, kill everything and go back home. Seriously, I only received minor wounds during those. I was slowly getting used to the rules of the real battlefield. In any case, after that, there came a new assignment.
At first, it didn't seem like anything interesting. It was just dubbed 'Mission' and that's usually not a good sign. However, when I got onto the Pegasus, awaiting another monotone operation, I was pleasantly surprised. Well... kinda'.

******

There was again ten of us in the carrier. One Sergeant, as always, four Troopers, me included, two Snipers and three Cleaners. Now I had mentioned something about Cleaners... but not enough to fully describe this branch of our military forces. As you would expect, every single one of them is a pyromaniac. But these take it to the extreme.
Each is given several types of fuel to use in his flamethrower, depending on which smell they like the most. And of course, the type of flamethrower they would like to use. Some are strictly a close-range weapon, the flames of which burn even through vehicle armour, given time. With small modifications, some literally throw fireballs at distant targets, effectively becoming ranged weapons. All have one thing in common, though. Enemy morale falls into the deepest of pits when faced with these. Not surprising, I mean, would YOU want to be burned alive? I didn't think so.

This time, the holo-map only showed a massive hole in a mountain and a small, explored part of the caves within it. The system of pathways undoubtedly stretched deep into the planet, too. This time, a female voice came:
“Today, we have been hired by several corporations. Tajako Tech, the Maldari Industrial Conglomerate, the Naltana Weapons Company and the Dragon Bio-engineering Corporation.” this alone caught our attention. Two corporations joining together to accomplish a single goal was uncanny, but four? This mission's importance was, on a scale of one to ten, somewhere near twelve. That's always a good sign, “during a mining operation, which was financed by Tajako Tech, the miners discovered something strange. And were never heard from again. Further scouting by security forces confirmed, that they had unknowingly dug into a Tarsec hive. The forces have maintained a perimeter around the hive entrance, so far succeeding in keeping the hordes outside. Since the Tarsec could overrun the entire sector, the three other corporations joined with Tajako Tech, hiring us. This shall be a large military operation, with many of our forces deploying at the main mining site and assaulting the hive from the front. Ten other squads, you know who you are, will, however, use another mining drill to gain access to the tunnels. Your mission will be to kill the Tarsec queen, effectively destroying the entire infestation. This mission shall be extremely dangerous, everyone. May your bullets strike true.”
The transmission ended and one of the Cleaners commented:
“Yeah, so our fire will miss now. Thanks, lady.”

He tried to lighten the mood, to no avail.
Tarsec. Encountered during the first phase of colonisation over two hundred years ago, they are the second alien race we humans made contact with. Well, contact... more like all-out war. Ya see, Tarsec simply ain't a very friendly species. They tend to have others for lunch.
We marked them as 'insectoids', but they're far more. Even the smallest can reach the size of tanks. Hungry tanks. Genetic mutation is the name of their game. Even among the legions of basic drones, diversity is at extreme levels. Some may be spider-like, others can walk on two legs. Whatever their shape is, they deserve a hefty dose of bullets.
The first hives we found were located above ground and the Tarsec there hunted surrounding wildlife. And humans, if they got too close. Recently, however, hives have also been appearing underground, where they live quite differently. Instead of hunting, they grow all kinds of fungi on their own bodies, which others then pick and eat. We do not know how their queens got so deep and had not left a mark on the surrounding soil. What we do know, however, is as soon we make holes into the tunnels during mining or similar operations, they stop growing mushrooms and go for flesh. They're simply made for killing.
The real danger these bugs pose, however, is in their spores. If they are allowed to set up more hives on the surface, these will release said spores into the atmosphere. Given time, these can reach space and from there, just float around. Hey sometimes stick to space craft or other things that pass by them. This way, the spores can reach other planets and, during the course of a couple of years, you've got a new infestation. Most, if not all, of the surface-hives have been destroyed, so only the underground ones pose a threat.

And I thought out loud:
“I wonder who's going inside the hive.”
Sarge looked at me and replied:
“I don't know nine of the teams... but I do know I received the special orders before the mission. We're going to kill a queen, it seems.”
“Oh, goody.”
“Prepare for landing, boys.” came from the cockpit.

Within two minutes, the Pegasus touched the ground and we exited. The other transports released squads similar to ours, just with some added Guardians and three Obliberators. In their black, exosuit gauntlets, they carried two gatling guns and what looked like a plasma cannon. Plasma is cool. Melts lotsa' stuff. Kinda' unstable, though.
We greeted and then all walked up to a small group of humans in mining suits. Those were pretty much like combat armour, just made to withstand larger crushing forces. Theoretically, that should provide a higher survival rate... but in the depths those guys work, it doesn't really matter. You still die, because no one else can get to you.

They told us how this was gonna' work. They'd drill the hole... and the run the Hell outta' there. Pretty standard plan, if ya ask me.
We set up a defensive perimeter around the drill. Cleaners were the first battle line and everyone else was on elevated positions, so that the flames wouldn't endanger us. The miners got the signal and started drilling. After a few minutes of incredible racket and dodging chunks of rock, the wall before us suddenly collapsed. A brief look to the left told me the miners were already running. Typical.

My thoughts were interrupted by something akin to high-pitched shrieks and the sound of at least a hundred claws impacting rock. They were coming. Instinctively, my rifle's sights were at the hole, my finger ready to pull the trigger. And the first of their misbegotten kind showed its ugly, many-eyed head. Before we had the chance to react, ten more were outside, ready to tear us to shreds. The Sergeants yelled 'FIRE!', even though many of us were already filling the things with holes.

But the damned bugs didn't care. They rushed through their dead brethren, many-parted jaws snapping. It was like a sea of green death. Well, mostly green. I did spot brown and even orange hues here and there. They were about fifty yards away from the Cleaners, and it looked like they push through. But the pyromaniacs had a different plan.
Soon, the entire area was lit up by a blazing inferno. The Tarsec front rows were in chaos, since the burning bugs went into a berserk fury, cutting everything around them. A blue explosion appeared somewhere in the middle of the horde. I didn't even need to look at the plasma cannon-wielding Obliberator to know it was his handiwork. I kept shooting, trying to not get distracted. I do know I noticed a green limb fall next to my foot, though.

And, surprisingly, the whole barrage of bullets and flames only took around ten minutes. To me, it had seemed like hours. Guess that was the whole 'brain working faster' thing. In any case, we all slowly made our way towards the entrance, guns ready to fire any second. We didn't utter a word. At least, not for five minutes after the attack. That's when one of the Cleaner's shouted:
“Don't you just love the smell of napalm in the morning?”

Most of us just chuckled. One of those ancient movies deemed good enough to be viewed even today. And one of few such things actually kept on Earth. 'Course, we had gotten it the digital way. Much more efficient, if ya ask me. But I digress. Man, this whole storytelling thing is so much fun!

Anyway, we then decided to enter, proving that we were all quite sane, indeed! The three exosuit boys were in the front, ready to blast any ugly bug, that would dare attack us. We walked in four lines, the passage too narrow to allow more men to pass at once comfortably. Of course, that did mean we were a bit vulnerable, should the Obllis fall. Our firepower could not be concentrated, you see. But there were no Tarsec in sight... which was definitely not a good sign.
Tarsec may be fairly primitive, but they are tricky by instinct. Seriously, while all-out horde charges are their forte, ambushes are not that uncommon, either. And since we were in their homes... we sure as Hell didn't know what to expect.

As we went deeper, light became more scarce, so we all tuned on our weapon-and-armour-mounted flashlights. I noticed some kind of slimy, brown substance covering the walls. First only in small spots, but it soon covered everything, ground included. It was a bit slippery, I could tell, but our boots were made with spikes, so no worries there. But it stank. I could feel that stench even through my helmet's filters. Like if someone puked on a rotting corpse kinda' smell. God-damnit, I almost threw. Considering I had my helmet on, that would not have been sanitary, so I held it.

After ten minutes of walking and being paranoid, we reached... a fork in the road. Both paths seemed to go straight, their ends fading in the darkness. We did not utter a word, only split our forces in half. Our group got the plasma cannon, so all was cool.
And, with neatly split forces, we moved. Our half took the left route. And after a while, when we started heading downwards... it seemed like we had made the right choice. Well, right... depends on point of view.
In any case, thoughts about returning didn't even cross our mind. After all, hundreds of good men were putting their life on the line to make sure we reached the lowest parts of the hive. And the distraction seemed to be working like a charm, since no other bug was in sight.
But soon, a sort of vapour started filling our surroundings, probably emitted from that weird slime. It didn't stink or anything, not in my helmet, but it prevented the light from our flashlights from reaching further than a few feet. Our walk became slower, since danger could have been waiting anywhere.

And it had been, for suddenly, I heard a shriek. But it was not of insectoid nature. No. It was quite human. They were hunting us, while we were blind. There came a shout from the darkness:
“There's cracks in the walls!”
To which, sarge responded with:
“Then form two lines, maggots! Facing each!”
God... can't imagine how we would have without Sergeants. The way they can keep a cool head in any situation... yup, their cloning template is good. Of course, maybe it's just the feeling of having a shotgun in your arms. Shotguns are awesome.

Anyway, we followed orders and swiftly repositioned into two lines, back-to-back. Our weapons were aimed at the walls before us, ready to attack at the slightest sign of movement. I was with a Cleaner, I remember. The fuel tank pushing against me revealed that fact. I could hear a faint hiss in front of me. I was supposed to be next.
“Looks like the bug thinks you're tasty.” the pyro spoke.
“That's too bad, cause he's gonna' be on a lead-based diet.”
A claw hit rock. I could almost make out its form through the mist. And I had no intention of just standing there, waiting to get pounced at. So, I pulled the trigger and didn't let go. Everyone did the same and the tunnel was soon filled with gunfire, flames and random battlecries. I swear, one of the guys screamed 'For the Waffle kingdom!'. I'm dead serious. Really!
Familiar shrieks soon joined in, louder than our weapons. But we didn't care how much it hurt them. They would have showed no mercy, so we were just returning the hospitality. After about a minute, there was just us and the rock around us. No bugs. The mist seemed to be slowly vanishing, too. But there was no time to appreciate our victory. We still had a queen to take care of.

After ten more minutes of being, as orks would say, 'reel sneeky-like', we reached what seemed to be a massive cavern. Massive, as in, a cruiser could fit in it. And the walls and floor were covered by small, blue, orb-like growths. We walked slowly, making sure to not step on one. I was close to sarge, so I whispered:
“Sarge... what are these things?”
“Oh, you know what they are, Steel. Eggs.”
“Eggs?! But... there must be...”
“Thousands. The queen puts 'em on the ceiling, too. If this batch hatches, no defence line on this planet will be able to stop 'em. Fortunately for us, these are young.”
“How can you tell?”
“The colour. When they're ready to hatch, they turn black.” as if his words had been a signal, the eggs around started changing rapidly, making small spikes grow around them and turning black, “shit. We have to find and kill the queen before these fuckers hatch.”
Losing my concentration for a bit, I... stepped on one of the things. Looking down, I saw a small, writhing larvae beneath my armoured boot. Its scream echoed throughout the cavern.
“Oops.”
“Great job, Steel. Remind me to punch you once we get outta' here.”
“Of course, sarge.”
And then, a response to the little one's cry came, in the form of a deafening, monstrous roar... from above. Only few of us dared to turn our flashlights above, me being one of them. The rays just barely reached the ceiling. And what we saw, made us reconsider the common sense of being down here.
We saw a creature, whose head was little more than one gigantic maw, probably five times as large as a human when fully opened , filled with thousands of small teeth. But those looked more like the kind that wouldn't chew... but hold prey. For those with lesser imagination... that bitch swallowed prey whole. And yes, I will refer to the thing as a 'she'. The skin around the mouth was of a dark yellow hue and her body seemed to be... split into segments. The queen roared again and started walking along the ceiling, uncountable segments with small, red legs attached, passing out of the flashlights' range. Of all the mutated beasties it could have been... why a centipede-like critter? Well, a centipede of the 'eats souls in your nightmares' kind.

“SPREAD OUT!”
Came a command and we listened. The monster's head appeared a few metres away from me and it swiftly gobbled up over seven of us in a single attack. Definitely not a good start. Of course, the exosuit guy was near us, trying to aim his cannon. But the thing was fast. Hellishly fast. And those segments of hers were uncountable, effectively splitting the cavern in half.
In a couple of seconds, she was already charging from a totally different angle altogether. And her target was the Obliberator. I acted in a heartbeat, somehow subconsciously knowing we were all gonna' die without the plasma cannon. And so, I ran and slammed into the guy. Combined with the weight of his weapon, that was enough to push him oughta' the way. It also left me with about two seconds of time to gaze at the tunnel of teeth before me. And the bitch swallowed me whole, along with two others. She chomped once, however, and the two were crushed right there. So, I was the only thing alive inside a gigantic centipede's digestive tract. Which, as you can imagine, is not a good thing.
I remember that the queen kept changing position rapidly. As a result, I kept hitting the walls of its body almost constantly, not knowing where up or down was. But the true Hell was only coming. For then I reached the stomach. And the acids. Oh, GOD, the acids. I fell right into a small pool of them or somesuch. At first, I didn't feel a thing. But I saw lots. The stomach's fleshy walls, weird, vent-like formations emitting some sort of gas.
And then... I felt an incredibly, burning pain. As if my entire body was on fire. I looked at my hand, where it had started, and saw, that my armour was slowly being dissolved. And the flesh underneath went away even more quickly. And all I felt was pain. It soon got through my helmet, burned through my skull and into my brain. And then... I healed. The dissolving started all over again.

You thought healing was cool? Wait 'till you get close to death again and again, wishing the cold grasp of the Reaper would just take you already and instead... it all just starts over. My entire world was filled with pain in those moments. Unending, incredible pain. I don't remember what exactly I did. I probably went berserk or something and started punching, biting and whatnot. I do know, however, that queeny didn't like it, since she roared and started moving rather uncontrollably. But I didn't care. I just wanted it to end.
A flash of bright blue light brought back my sanity. It came somewhere from above... at least, I saw it as above at first. The beast then fell to the floor with a mighty racket and 'above' became 'in front of me'. I crawled, still filled with pain, since most of my body was somewhere in a mid-dissolved phase. And I exited the neck, since her head had been blown clean off. I noticed smoke coming from the plasma cannon. God, I love big guns.

Sarge came closer to me, with a kind of expression not out of place on a witness of a horrible carnage. I said only two words:
“Shoot me.” without thinking, he pulled out his pistol and sent a pulled through my skull. In ten seconds, I stood before them, good as new, if naked, “new orders?”
“Yeah. You don't have to remind me about punching you, anymore.”
“Thanks, sarge.”
In twenty minutes, we finished rigging up lots of explosives. LOTS. And we swiftly made our way up the tunnels, since they were timed charges. Thirty minutes can be such a short time, too. But, with a reserve of five minutes, we made it to the surface, through the main dig-hole. The bastards at the defence line almost shot us, too. Uncountable Tarsec corpses laid all around us and proved, that SHOCK gets shit done.

In four minutes, I stood in a miner's uniform, whose owner had called in sick due to a bad case of 'decapitation'. Sarge was next to me, a cigar in his mouth.
“Want one, Steel?”
“Hmmm?”
“A cigar, idiot. You've earned it.”
“Why, certainly.”
And every soldier just stood there, waiting for the fireworks. When the flames blasted out of the hole and the tunnels collapsed, we looked like the most badass things this side of the planet. Also, I learned, that the taste of cigars was awesome.