“Do you know you could have killed out there, you stupid Navy bastard! Do you know what those aliens are capable of, they will blow your head clean off.”
“I know, I saw them attack the landing party I was with, we should go back for them,” Michael replied.
“Forget it, there all dead,” Vargev replied dismissively.
“You don’t know that Major!” Michael retorted.
“I know enough not to go looking for them and wind up dead too Lieutenant. We are holed up down here for a reason, the aliens haven’t come searching down here yet, they don’t think there is anything down here,” Vargev replied.
This got Michael thinking. “They mustn’t have the same drainage systems that we have wherever they come from. By the way the aliens are called Krenarans.”
“Whoop de doo, now that the pleasantries are over with, I say the only good lizard head, is a dead lizard head!” a soldier shouted, as he high fived another.
“Quiet!” Vargev shouted sternly.
“You’re all commandoes, right?” Michael asked.
“Yeah, so,” Vargev replied.
“You’re a long way from home; you’re based at bravo base, Alpha Centauri.”
“Yeah, we were sent on a training mission here a week before the attack on the Montfort. The whole colony went crazy, riots all over, people fighting and dying just to try and get off the damn planet, and then amongst the craziness those Krenarans attacked.” He bit into his lip as he remembered the carnage, before speaking again. “They seemed to have attacked at just the right moment to cause maximum casualties, with the troop division and the colony police trying desperately to keep a hysterical population in check, they were easy pickings,” he sighed. “To them we are only two things; slaves and food, it’s that simple. If the slaves co-operate they live; if not, they are fed amongst the others.” Vargev said with a genuine hint of sadness.
“How do you know this?”
“I’ve seen them in action, the population gets rounded up into slave chains, hundreds of meters long, then those ships come down and cart them off to god knows where. If any resist they are simply shot and left to rot,” Vargev replied shaking his head sadly.
“Not an end I would like,” another of the soldiers replied.
“How come you guys survived?” Michael asked.
“My detachment was 27 men strong when we arrived. We accounted for 44 of those lizard headed fuckers, then we were overpowered, started dropping like flies; constantly pushed back, until we arrived here, only ten of us made it, those Krenarans you call them don’t come down here, the other six died conducting lightning raids, so that’s it; just the four of us, nice and cosy.”
“How did you manage to kill so many of them?” Michael asked again.
“Got a lot of questions haven’t you navy boy, because we are tough sons of bitches! And because of our weaponry; we all carry the Armschlager. 44 calibre heavy machine gun. For some reason their armour seems to be vulnerable to solid ammunition; what have you got?”
Vargev walked over to Michael and checked out his weapon. “It’s one of those new fangled pulse rifles, which is absolutely useless; unless you hit them in the head.”
The Russian walked over to the rear of the platform and picked up another Armschlager that was leant against the wall; handing it over to Michael.
“Take this, it was Karllsons he was a good man; so take good care of it.”
Michael silently took the weapon, “so how long have you been down here?”
“Eight days,” Vargev replied nonchalantly.
“Eight days!” Michael repeated amazed, “how have you survived? What about food and water?”
“For food, we take what we can while out on raids, as for water there is plenty down here, Jackson has a purification kit in his pack.”
Michael tried to contact the Ulysses from his wrist-comm. blissfully unaware of the events in orbit. There was no reply.
“No ones answering”
“Forget it; they’re all dead, I saw the wreckage burning up in orbit just before I found you. Looked like a bunch of smoking meteors,” Vargev said without emotion.
“So I’m the only one left; Dylan, Captain Wainwright, all the other crew and the friends I served with all dead; damn this stupid fucking war!”
Vargev stomped over to him, “snap out of it soldier, its war, people die! Do you think I like being in this hell hole, drinking water that tastes like piss, day after goddamn day! I’d rather be sipping vodka in the motherland, but I’m not; the reality is we are here, and unless we are very careful, we might all fucking die; am I clear!”
“Yes Major”
“Am I fucking clear!” the Russian snapped.
Michael stood rigid, “yes sir.”
“Good.”
Later that day Vargev showed Michael how to operate the Armschlager, and not to waste his shots as ammunition was very limited.
He also explained that the average Krenaran was nearly 8 feet tall, and weighed approximately 400 pounds. “I’ve seen one of their punches snap a mans neck; so going in hand to hand is a no-go, instead we’ve got to pick our targets and out shoot them. We need to stay in cover. Our Armschlagers have a far greater rate of fire and are more accurate than their weapons, so we have the advantage, however theirs are much harder hitting.”
“I’ve seen what their weapons can do to a person.”
Later that night; Michael ate a ration pack, drank some of the purified water, and slowly drifted off into an uneasy sleep wondering how the hell did it all come to this?
Next morning he awoke to the sound of a shouting Vargev, “get up Lieutenant, we have work to do.”
“wha…What time is it,” a groggy Michael replied rubbing his eyes.
“Its 6.15 in the morning, scope has just located another slave chain, and we are going to free them.”
“Who’s scope?”
“That’s Jackson’s call name,” Vargev said pointing to the dark skinned man covered in camouflage drapes.
“The other two are hunter and piranha, I’m simply Vargev, and you shall be called.” Vargev stopped short thinking for a brief moment; “fodder,” he said with a mischievous smile.
He turned towards the other soldiers and said. “Now, let’s move out!”
In an instant the other soldiers were awake, had their weapons and were ready for action. Vargev handed Michael two magazines for his weapon.
“These are 30 shot magazines; so you have 60 shots in all, remember what I told you and make them count.”
“I will.”
“Oh, and one last thing; don’t try and be a hero out there, I know you’ve lost people you care about and your angry, but now is not the time to be like the Terminator; we don’t want to have to carry your sorry ass back as well.”
Michael wondered how the Major knew, but simply replied “yes, sir.”
The four of them headed out at a steady pace. Within minutes they were at the manhole cover.
Hunter slowly and silently lifted the cover; just enough to slip a mirror through the gap, turning this mirror he checked for any signs of lurking Krenarans.
After a few seconds he whispered, “clear.”
Quietly he crept out of the manhole, and allowed Vargev, Michael, and Piranha to do the same; before slowly and quietly closing it again.
Silently they made their way through the dusty desolation that had once been the Agemman colony. Far off in the distance Michael could hear weapons fire and small explosions; must be some other resistance cell, he thought.
As they carried on their seemingly endless journey, Michael grew more and more amazed at the skill the other commandoes were showing. Barely a sound was made as they moved through rubble and dust; always taking care of their footing and always keeping off the roads; silently but quickly moving from one building to the next.
Hunter held out his palm to the other commandoes, and then waved to the ground. The other commandoes flattened to the ground and stopped still, Michael followed suit.
One of the dark, evil looking stealth ships gently glided overhead, its wedge shaped black and silver form casting a deep shadow over the ground where they lay. Its engines resonated with a distinctive low pitched ‘thoom’ noise. Within a minute it was gone; lost over the horizon.