“He’s fucking gone…in pieces!” Bronson yelled, never slighting on his attempt to seal the entrance. “Now somebody help me get this door shut!” he added, trembling hands working hard against the steel locking mechanism.
With the immediate help of both the general and Lieutenant Jack Strong, steel connected once more, forcing the horrors of the damning rain to remain outside.
“Oh fuck.” Twiggy commented, sliding down to a sitting position.
“Someone is going to start telling me what the fuck is going on!” Jack said, pulling his shotgun back to the ready while adjusting his aim to the general.
“Please.” the older man said, holding his hands up a bit.
Determined to get answers, however, Jack remained dedicated with his weapon. Until he noticed a small child approaching them, followed by several more survivors.
Finally lowering his weapon but never losing sight of his chilled stare onto the general, Jack nodded a bit.
“Start talking.”
“We call them demons. Succubus. But the truth is we’re not sure what they are.” the general said.
“Sounds about right to me,” Bronson yelled, still trembling a bit from fear. “Fuck sakes!”
“Bronson,” Jack replied, staring to the man while thinking of the children looking on. “Shut up.”
“We were colonizing, doing things according to protocol, and honestly, everything was going smoothly,” the general added. “Then one day, people started missing. At first we suspected our own as though a criminal lived among us, but we began to see this demon. Very tall, very pale. Wings.”
“Wings?” Jack asked with suspicion.
“Yes wings,” the general replied firmly. “Not made of feathers, mind you, but steel. Sharp as blades.” he confirmed. “I finally convinced the others to pull back closely so we could better watch our people, but then the succubus creatures began come here. They don’t fear us, don’t fear weaponry. They just come here and murder.”
“You said they… how many are we talking about?” Jack asked.
“We still aren’t sure. Maybe just a handful, maybe dozens,” the general replied. “Maybe more.” he said with regret.
“Don’t matter how many,” Bronson added, his normal calm beginning to settle back in a bit. “We encountered just one. Chopped Avery up into pieces with its wings and damn near got me.”
Jackson looked at him for a moment, trying his best to soak up the entire statement, before finally turning back to the general, who now had all of the survivors behind him.
“And you didn’t once try and radio for help?” Jackson asked.
“Of course we did. When everything first began, we tried. We did everything we could to get a transmission through this damn rain,” the general responded. “As a last ditch effort, we sent a group out to try and trigger the distress beacon on the far side of the colony. But they never returned.”
“Your group did you proudly, our ships picked up your beacon several days ago. That’s why we’re here.” Jack replied.
“We didn’t know what else to do, so the general and I moved our children here. We wanted to keep them safe. Their parents agreed to fight the demons long enough for us to get here, and we’ve been locked in ever since.” the female survivor said, her voice warm but desperate.
“Julia, it’s alright. I’m sure we are to be safe soon enough.” the general replied.
“Well you were right to bring the children here. This building acts as a fallout shelter, and I assume that the general’s training served you well in this case.” Jack said.
The general simply nodded, priding himself with being such a resourceful soldier.
“The bad news is, however,” Jack said with pause. “Help may not be on the way. At least no time soon.”
“I don’t understand?” Julia asked.
“Well ma’am, the ship we have in orbit is a small marine vessel. What you see in front of you, plus the six aboard our ship in orbit.” Jack replied.
“Can’t you call for help?” she asked.
“No ma’am. Less than a minute after hitting the atmosphere, we lost all ability to communicate with the ship in orbit. The same rain that stopped your calls for help I’m guessing.”
“Won’t they eventually send more soldiers to look for you?” Julia asked, her concerns growing deeper.
“Eventually, yes. But the mandatory time frame is thirty-days, at which point they’ll dispatch an Earth Defense Carrier to come find us.” Jack replied.
“Any mech units on your ship?” the general asked.
“Two, but they’re engineering only.” Jack replied.
“I don’t understand? Mech units are supposed to be the ultimate soldiers, the protectors of our race?” Julia asked, unsure of their chances of surviving.
“Yes ma’am, and the soldier variety are. But we also have a lot of engineering versions in service, and the two aboard my vessel are just that. They can weld with the best of them, but aren’t programmed or equipped to fight.” Jack replied.
“So we have no chance then?” Julia admitted with disgust.
“What the Earth Defense Marines did send, ma’am, is the toughest group of soldiers this side of Twalian. I’m well-trained,” he said, turning to his soldiers. “We all are. Survival is very much a possibility, but we are going to have to be smart about things.” Jack replied with a smile, his attempt to comfort her.
“Our chances of surviving greatly increased when you arrived, if nothing else. And for that we are grateful.” the general said.
“As you already know, we’re just doing our job,” Jack replied with a nod. “But I do need to know of any other possible entry points into this building. Any venting systems, tunnels?”
“No,” the general replied. “All of our breathable air comes in through steel grating on the roof. It’s then put through a filtration system and pumped inside using holes on the upper-walls that are smaller than an everyday coin. Our venting systems are safe. No tunnels, no windows. Just that single door.”
“Good, that’s a start,” Jack replied. “Renaldo, you and Wesley stay with the door. We’ll rotate shifts on it. Make sure it remains locked up tight at all times,” he ordered, gaining a nod from both soldiers. “Bronson, you and Twiggy find something to get cleaned up a little bit. Check your weapons and report back to me in fifteen.” he added.
“Anything?” Bailey asked, approaching the small bridge of their ship.
“Nothing sir,” Chandra replied. “They should have at least checked in by now.”
“I agree.” the XO commented, staring through the plated glass which overlooked the small moon.
“What should we do?” Chandra asked.
“Get Lincoln on the com, tell him to get his ass up here.” the XO replied.
“Yes sir.” Chandra replied, turning to digitally call throughout the ship using her com system.
“Yea, I’ve fought a lot worse than what’s outside of this building.” Jack replied, answering the question directed to him by a near-starved six-year old.
Julia glanced to him with approval, knowing the children needed to feel hope.
“Fought against much worse.” he added.
“Will we get to see our mommy and daddy soon?” a young girl asked, catching the soldier by surprise.
“I,” he began to reply, doing everything he could to hold things together emotionally, eventually kneeling down to face the young girl. “I’m not sure sweetie. I’m not sure,” he added, turning to glance at Julia for a moment. “But I do know that your mommy and daddy stayed outside to fight for you. To keep you safe. And that’s our job now, so if they are still out there,” Jack said, fighting back tears. “We’ll find them.”
Thank you. Julia motioned with her lips, eyes crisped with tears for the children.