Once Upon The Stars (Updated 08-22-04)

[Atrocities]

Part XVI Buried Alive

Trax waited patiently in his hiding spot, his OMN off until the time was right. The humans had just cleared the Last of the ice from the hull of the object. Trax knew it was a space ship, most likely one of the many ships that had attempted to land on the planet over the millennia but were repulsed or destroyed by the old orbital defense of this planet. Trax never believed that the Human could have ever had the technology to build such devices let alone travel the stars, but something, something deep within him told him that there was more to the universe than he could possibly believe.

Trax could not explain it, but something deep inside of him believed in something that was much more than mere word could ever possibly explain. A force of life, a sensation of nature, or even perhaps the universe it’s self, a being or substance that was far more than flesh and bone. Trax did not understand why he believed in this, he only knew that he did. The humans call this thing God, but Trax felt that it was far more than what the humans had come to believe it to be. Some how the word God paled in its descriptive ability at describing what it was that Trax had been touched by.

As he activated his OMN, Trax could not help but reflect back upon the day that he was touched. Prior to that day he could kill without regret, without concern, and without guilt, but now, after that day, he knew to kill a living being was evil act that that brought pain and sufforing to all. He now felt anguish over having to take a life, he never felt that prior to his day of enlightenment, but now, now he knew taking a life was an indeed a truly evil act, an act that was both as wrong and as in moral as any act that could ever be committed by a living being against another.

Trax truly hated having to kill, especially now that he knew it was wrong, but he was what he was engineer to be, a cold-blooded killing machine, and nothing, not even the will of God himself could ever reverse the horror that he has caused, or will continue causing. All he could do now, when forced to kill, was to make it as painless as possible for his victim, and hope that when his time came, God would have mercy upon his sole.

With deliberate will of force Trax, hidden by the cloud of his Optical Masking Net, (OMN) moved slowly toward the two men standing near the entrance of the tunnel that lead to the surface. He had drawn his Taber, a doubled sided blade of polished dorinium with a dark Decka wood handle, and had crept up to the first man. With out pausing he sliced the blade of his Taber through the mans neck severing his arteries, bone, muscle, and flesh from the mans right ear all the way over to the left ear. The cut took only a millisecond to perform, and the man never cried out. His hands never made it to the lethal wound, as he was dead before his mind could grasp the horror of the situation. The poison on his blade saw to that. The second man, having just been hit by the spray of the dead mans blood as it pulsated out of his neck wound in several great streamers of crimson, which faded in seconds as the mans heart stop beating, turned and before he could control himself, let out a blood curdling scream that was heard for miles.

Sergeant Ruddy Arnold had seen his share of death but nothing in his life had ever prepared him to for this. The sudden shock of seeing a man die only seconds after having talked to him was more than his mind was prepared comprehend. He had screamed before he realized he had done it. By instinct alone he had raised his pulse rifle in a split second, clicked off the safety and squeezed the trigger. The pulse rifle, utilizing a compressed pulse antium coil, erupted into action firing twenty round pulses per second of positively charged depleted uranium 980 pellets. The effect of which instantly shattered the surrounding ice along the walls of the tunnel like glass. Ruddy fired the rifle at first blindly in all directions, then slowly gaining control of his fear and allowed his military training to take effect, began to control the direction of his fire. He held his fire and swept the tunnel from side to side while looking down the sights of the rifle. His COM chirped once then twice again before he felt secure enough to respond.
“What in the hell is going on?” Yelled a voice. Ruddy did not at first recognize it, but as his heartbeat slowed and his mind began to clear, he replied.
“PFC Ledie is dead.”
“Ruddy this is Tom, what in the hell is going on? Why are firing?”
Ruddy continued to scan the hall as he slowly backed his way out toward the surface. He could hear other soldiers coming up behind him as their feet compressed the snow.
“I say again, something just killed PFC Ledie.”

Tom and the others had heard the scream then the gunfire and had all taken cover. Tom knew that Ruddy Arnold was not a man easily frightened, and if he was firing his rifle, then it was to save his own ***.
“Sergeant, what is your situation?” Tom asked in an official tone of voice trying to get Arnold to respond with more information.
“I am working my way out of the entrance tunnel, something killed PFC Ledie, slit his throat while he was standing right next to me.”
“Did you hit it?” Captain O’Connor asked over the COM.
Tom had not yet dismissed the Captain as he had just returned to the excavation site when the scream and shots rang out.
“I don’t know sir, I am shooting up the tunnel pretty good though, and I can’t imagine anything surviving it.”
“Sergeant ceases your fire. We are sending in reinforcements.” Yelled O’Connor into his COM as he gave a gesturing order to two armed troopers to head out.
“I think I got it.” Replied Arnold as he held his fire and swept the ice corridor from side to side with the muzzle of his pulse rifle. Two troopers came down the corridor from the main chamber heading toward him, and another two came up behind him, guns ready, but nothing to shoot.

The diVersion had worked perfectly and Trax was well clear of the entrance shaft a good millisecond before the surviving trooper opened fire. As the drama played out, Trax made his way toward the main chamber and the exposed bulkhead of the alien ship.

The humans were all hiding or attempting to do so as Trax slowly made his way through them. By the time he reached the bulkhead several of the armed humans had already left the chamber no doubt on their way to assist their comrade in arms. Trax smiled to himself, rather astonished at how well his diVersion had worked. In the hours before the humans resumed excavating the ice chamber, just to be on the safe side in the event that he had he been discovered, Trax had taken the precaution of planting a few Micro Taterium Explosives (MTE), in various locations of the tunnel and could have detonated them cutting the chamber off from the outside. The few humans that would have been left in this chamber, cut off from reinforcements, would have posed no problem for him. But as it now stood, he had gained access to the object without interference, and would most likely not need the MTE’s. He had long since learned the lesson that it was better to keep them active then to deactivate them therefore he did not deactivate prior to morphing through the hull of the ship.

Tom was standing with Colonel Rogers and Carl Wilhelm when Sergeant Harris and Captain O’Connor escorted Sergeant Arnold into the main chamber. Tom could tell instantly that whatever had happened, it had had a profound impact upon Arnold for he was as pale as the snow out side.
“Whoever it was knew what they were doing.” Commented Captain O’Connor. “It was a clean kill.”
“Ruddy, what happened?” Asked Tom.
“I don’t know General, Ledie and I were just shooting the fodder about nothing in particular when he stopped talking. It was just then I felt something warm hit me and I knew instantly that it was blood, but I had no idea.” He paused and just looked blankly at Tom.
“Now idea about what?” Tom asked him.
“No idea that man could be killed so quickly.” The look he gave Tom would forever haunt Tom’s dreams. It was a look that Tom had never seen before, one that he prayed to god he would never have to see again, the look of absolute fear.
“Carl I want you to take Arnold top side and see to him.”
“Yes General.” Carl voice was sincere. He stepped forward and took Arnold by the arm. “Come on Ground Pounder, let’s go get you something warm to drink.”
Tom had never considered, not even for a second that Carl had reformed, but after seeing this display, Tom had no doubts that Carl Wilhelm had indeed changed.

For the next hour and a half Colonel Rogers, assisted by Nina Smith worked on deciphering the alien language. Nina Smith first course of study was in language and mathematics, and was proving to be invaluable. Colonel Rogers had expressed privately to Tom that she was impressed with Nina’s skill and that with her help they should be able to decipher the alien language sooner than she had hoped for.

Tom had decided to hold off on having Sergeant Harris and Captain O’Connor relieved of duty in light of what had happened earlier. It was now clear to everyone that they did indeed have an un-wanted visitor. Who he, or she was Tom did not know, but one thing was for certain, whoever it was, was one highly trained individual. So far no one left alive had seen the intruder, there was no evidence to account for his presence that is except for the death toll, which now stood at five.

The main chamber had been scanned with a bio scanner, and aside from Tom, Colonel Rogers, Nina Smith, and a few armed guards, everyone else was either confined to the mess tent, aside from those operating the command, operations, and communication tent, or were out looking for the intruder. Obviously whomever it was had to have escaped out of the ice tunnels to the surface for no man could have survived the firestorm that Sergeant Arnold had unleashed into that ice corridor. Tom knew this, but something inside of him, deep down was driving him mad. Arnold did not see who killed the PFC, nor were there any footprints or any other signs that would indicate that any one other than the PFC and Ruddy were in that corridor at the time the PFC was killed. That left only two possibilities, Ruddy killed the PFC and was using this story to cover it up, or he was telling the truth in which case that meant that the attacker, ‘no’ assassin could not be seen.
Tom drew in his breath at that thought. He knew that Ruddy was telling the truth, for he had heard rumors about an elite assassins guild that had the ability to mask or otherwise hide their appeared. A rumor that Tom would have cast off as utter Dayton fodder if not for actually having seen one. It was on the Bridge of the Tempest, right before he killed that vol Devon Gore, that he, just for a second, off to one side, caught a glimpse of something moving. It was not a solid object it appeared to be more or less like a mirror being moved slowly through a room. Its reflection bending the light and objects it passed as it slowly traversed it course through the Tempests Bridge. It had vanished the instant he took notice of it, leaving him with the sensation that often has been describe as having been bushed by a ghost. A truly evil and dark feeling that send shivers up your spine generating goose pimples and razing the hairs on the back of your neck. Ever since then Tom could not sake the feeling that he was being watched.

Doctor Mentor and Doctor Ramzies had left the chamber to get something to eat in the mess tent, leaving no one in the chamber to monitor the seismic monitoring device. At first Tom felt what he could only describe as a wavy feeling passing under his feet, a quick glace at the others in the chamber confirmed that what he had experienced was not a solitary sensation. They all had felt it. Without being prompted Nina Smith moved over to the monitoring equipment and within a second gasped. She moved her hand to her mouth and looked up at Tom and then the others with a stunned expression on her face.
“The ship has begun generating heat.”
Everyone moved, except for Tom and the two troopers, one of which was Sergeant Harris, over to look at the monitors. Tom looked around the chamber and noticed that the ice was beginning to melt.
“Everyone out of here now!” He ordered.
Colonel Rogers, the two engineers from the GEC, sprinted toward the chamber exist and the long corridor that lead to an even longer corridor that lead to the surface.

Nina Smith started to grab equipment when Tom yelled at her. “Get out of here now, that is an order!”
The others had cleared the entrance to the chamber when the ground began to sake violently throwing Tom, Nina, and the two troopers to the ground. The seismic event continued for several seconds before calming down. Tom had barely begun to stand when the first explosion occurred. The walls and ceiling of the main chamber entrance collapsed filling the main chamber with ice particles and plunging the room into nearly absolute darkness.

It took several seconds before Tom’s eyes could adjust to the lowered light level. There was enough light penetrating down through the ice above them to give the chamber a soft eerie blue glow. There was not a lot of light, but enough to allow them to see. Just then a light beacon was turned on. Tom looked over at it as several chemical lights were activated and tossed out into the center of the chamber brightening up the area to an almost normal light level.
“PFC Hamlin is dead sir.” Reported Sergeant Harris.
“Nina are you alright?” Tom asked before he realized he had.
There was a cough or two before she answered. “I am fine. What in the hell just happened?”
“Good question. Sergeant, check your COM.”
Without replying Harris activated his COM and spoke into it.
“This is Sergeant Harris to command and operations, do you copy?”
There was not answer at first so he repeated his hail. This time a reply came through.
“Harris this is Lieutenant Winston what is your situation?”
Harris handed his COM over to Tom who spoke into it.
“Lieutenant, this is General Christopher, there has been an explosion in the one of the corridors and we are trapped in the main chamber.”
“Understood General.”
“Did any of the others make it out?”
“Colonel Rogers and the two GEC engineers made it out sir. They are shaken up a bit though, and have minor injuries. Nothing that a few liquid bandages can’t take care of. What is your situation?”
Tom looked around the chamber taking in the situation. “One down, PFC Hamlin, the rest of use, Nina Smith, and Sergeant Harris are well.”
“General this is Captain O’Connor, can you tell me what caused the corridor to collapse?”
Tom looked over at Nina then to Harris who was studying the ice at what had once been an eight-foot high by six-foot entrance into the chamber.

“An explosive device.”
“Colonel Rogers is telling me now that the ship is also generating heat and we all have felt the seismic activity.”
“Affirmative.” Replied Tom.
“I will have a team start digging you all out momentarily Doctor Mentor is alarmed by the seismic activity and wants to do a quick scan of the ice to determine if he can safely excavate the area. He also wants to see if he can determine what caused these seismic events, and if we can expect more.”
“Tell him to hurry Captain, the ice down here is melting rather rapidly as the temperature continues to rise.”
“General, what is the ambient temperature at this moment?” It was Doctor Ramzies asking the question.
“Bill I’d say it’s about a degree or two above freezing and getting warmer.”
“Ok General, we are going to start digging you out now. We can’t afford to wait for Doctor Mentors results.”
Tom looked at both Nina and Harris and could see that both of them wanted the hell out.
“Make it quick Captain. Being buried alive is not how I invisioned I would be spending the day.”

[ May 25, 2003, 15:28: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

[Ruatha]

Ahh, this time I got all the action I needed!!!
Blod and explosions! And Trax isn't all bad either!
Where will this lead us???

[Atrocities]

XVII Revelations

Over the next thirty minutes Captain O’Connor’s team worked feverously to clear the ice from the corridor. Only a small section, about six meters or so had collapsed and his team was making good time. The fear was not another collapse, but rather how much oxygen was left in the main chamber. Their first order of business was to drill a hole through the ice in order to allow fresh air into the chamber. That was accomplished within the first fifteen minutes of the rescue operation.

In the mean time Doctors Mentor and Ramzies, using the Gravimetric Core Sampler, scanned the ice around the main chamber. What they discovered was startling. The ice had not only begun to warm in and around the chamber, but around the entire object.

“General Christopher, I estimate that the object will melt the surface ice over it within twenty six hours.” Said Doctor Mentor in what could only be described as a tone of utter despair.
“Why is it melting Doctor?” Tom asked more than a little annoyed.
“Our best guess Tom is that the ship itself is generating the heat.” Replied Doctor Ramzies.
“Bill we already know this. The General wants to know why.” Snapped Nina Smith over her COM. Tom was standing about ten feet from her and hadn’t considered that she had anything to offer to the conversation. He was wrong.
“Nina, we don’t know why it is generating the heat. We can only speculate.” Replied Doctor Mentor.
“Lets here your best guess then Doctor.” Tom said.
“I believe that something, perhaps our proximity to the vessel itself has triggered an automated response. This response has in turn activated some kind of system that is now attempting to free the ship from the ice.”
‘Oh that is just great,’ thought Tom to himself. “Captain how much more time is your rescue operation going to take?”
It took several seconds before O’Connor could respond. “About two hours give or take an hour.”
“General Ron Lindley here, the ice is a lot softer and our team is going through it rather rapidly. We have to be careful though as this ice is not like the ice we first excavated. That ice was compact and hard as steel, this ice is less dense and could give way to more collapse.”
“Thank you Mr. Lindley.” Replied Tom as he lowered the COM. Tom was not prone to fear attacks, but the prospect of being buried alive under a hundred tons of ice did not appeal to him, and he could feel the chambers walls beginning to close in on him. Nina Smith was trying to organize the Monitoring equipment; a useless task as most of it was damaged beyond repair and the equipment that was functional had no power to operate with.

Harris was just sitting on one of the durra pLastic chairs holding his rifle and staring at the entrance. Tom could tell that Harris was feeling the pressure the same as he was. They both wanted the hell out of this tomb before it became a permanent resting place.
Without warning Harris jumped to his feet and looked around the chamber then directly at Tom.
“Sir did you hear that?”
“Hear what Harris?”
“That popping sound?”
“I hear it too,” Replied Nina. Being trapped in an ice chamber with Harris had not caused her any undo stress, or at least none that Tom could see, but he knew she was uncomfortable in Harris’s presence.
“There it is again.” Commented Harris, as he moved toward what appeared to be a hatch on the alien ship. “It’s getting louder.” Tom could hear it now too, and was growing concerned.
“Harris your side arm.”
Harris looked over at Tom and without comment tossed him his pistol. Tom cleared the safety of the gun and raised it. He also lifted the COM to his mouth and spoke into it rather softly. “O’Connor we may have a new problem.” There was no response. The COM was dead. Nina checked hers and it too was dead.
The rapping sound grew louder and started to change pitch, it was now more like a whine the kind that a flash would make as it was building a charge.
“Harris get back away from that thing!” Harris did not have to be told twice, he moved away from the hatch, as did Nina Smith. Both moved over to where Tom was standing.
“The whine grew louder and louder and then the bulk head began to change. At first Tom could not believe his eyes, it was as if the metal had come alive, had some how began to alter its structure into a human form. Both he and Harris raised their weapons.
“Hold your fire Mr. Harris.”
“Sir with all due respect, if that thin moves so much as an inch toward me I will shoot.”
“And if he doesn’t I throw snow balls at it!” Replied Nina who was now hold snowballs in her left and right hand.
“Lets see what it does before we kill it people.”
The form began to change color it took on a more humanoid appearance before collapsing to its knees. Tom knew instantly what it was he was looking at. The form solidified into a humanoid body, covered in a deep black armored uniform. The uniform was like nothing he had ever seen before, but somehow it looked familiar.
“Who are you?” Tom asked out loud.
The humanoid form did not respond, instead it collapsed to the ground. In the distance the rapping sound began again. This time it was far more intense than before.

Tom moved over toward the humanoid and knelt down beside it. Harris was covering him and Nina was covering Harris. Tom rolled the form over and he could see what looked like release fasteners on the part of the armor that covered the humanoids face.
“Sir are you sure that’s safe?” Asked Harris in a concerned voice.
“Well soon see.” Replied Tom as he clicked the fasteners and removed the humanoids helmet reveling the face of a man, a human man.

Nina gasp and Harris’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
“Oh my god, he is human!”
“And he is still alive.”
“Sir, what in the hell kind of man is he?”
Tom took several seconds before he answered Harris’s question. Tom had never seen this man before, but he knew him and he knew what he was.
“This is a member of the assassins guild.”
Harris’s face instantly went from one of shock to one of utter hatred. He took several aggressive steps toward Tom and the unconscious body of the assassin.
“Step aside sir.” Harris barked.
Tom looked up at Harris and understood what it was he was planning on doing.
“Stand down Sergeant.” Tom ordered but Harris did not respond. “I said stand down Sergeant!” This time Tom rose to his feet and Harris leveled his pulse rifle at the man on the ground.
“He killed my trainee and four other good men sir, he deserves to die.”
“I said stand down Sergeant!”
“I can’t sir, I hav-” In the middle of a word there was a rather loud thonk and Harris’s eyes rolled upward and he collapsed to the ground. Standing behind him was Nina Smith holding one of those useless monitoring device wearing a wicked grin. “Oh that felt really good.”

[Ruatha]

You are productive today!
And keeping good quality aswell as quantity!
What happened aboard that ship? Is it a human ship?
I want MOOOOOOOREEEEEEE!!!!!

[Atrocities]

Thanks Ruatha, I had to get it to paper as it was eating my mind to death.

I promise you the next two installments are going to really be interesting.

I just wish I could learn how to use my comas right.

When I sat down to write Part XV, I did not know that I would be up all night writing. I have completed two more installments past the ones posted here. I am tired and am going to crash now. I will polish them up later and post them tomorrow.

[Atrocities]

Part XVIII Demons

Several minutes passed before the assassin regained consciousness. Tom had searched the man for weapons, having found many, he removed them all, but was still keeping his pistol leveled on him as a precaution. The man moved his hand to his head and blinked several times before sitting straight up. The speed at which he did this amazed Tom, he had never seen a man move so quickly, well almost never.
“Who are you?”
The man looked up at Tom and started to stand. Tom kept the pistol leveled on him the entire time.
“Your fast friend, I’ll give you that, but I sincerely doubt that you’re fast enough to evade simultaneous fire from two direction. The man looked at Tom then over at Nina who was holding the pulse rifle like a hardened pro.
“Go ahead vol rectum, try something.” She said coldly.
The man looked back at Tom and nodded ever so slightly.
“We have to leave and leave now. You must order the destruction of this ship before it frees itself from the ice.”
“What is your name and who in the hell do you work for?” Asked Tom firmly.
“We have met before, do you not recall?”
“Listen friend, I don’t know you, and right now I am searching for a reason not to blow your ugly *** away.” Replied Tom.
The man was obviously smart enough to know that Tom was not bluffing. His demeanor changed considerably at this realization.
“In about twenty or so minutes what is in that ship is going to open that hatch and come out after me. Trust me when I say this, they will not be friendly, and they do not take prisoners.”
“Why should I believe you, you still haven’t answered by question.”
“You already know what I am and who I am therefore I can see no reason to waste time discussing it while all of our lives depend upon you doing as I say and destroying that ship before it can free itself.”
“Answer my god damned question or so help me I will kill you.” Tom was serious, more serious than he could ever recall being. Tom knew, as did the assassin that he would kill him if he did not answer his question and soon.
“I am a scientist.”
“Vol ****!” Tom stated flatly as he took a step toward the man bringing his pistol muzzle right up into his face. “Scientist to employ morphing nets and walk around hiding under a cloak. They neither carry explosives nor pulse weapons.”
The man turned his head away, obviously not affected by the threat the pistol possessed.
“Regardless of what you believe, believe one thing, if that ship breaks free of the ice that currently is keeping it captive, every Last man women and child on this planet will die. Of this I assure you.”
“He’s full of vol fodder sir.” Said Harris as he stood up rubbing his head and flashing Nina a quick dirty look and getting a smirk in return.
“Glad to see that you have rejoined us Mr. Harris.” Commented Tom.
“Do you hear that sound, have you not noticed that it has become louder in the Last few moments?” Asked the man honestly.
Tom had to think, he was correct the sound had become louder.
“What about it?” He asked.
“That is the sound of several hundred bad things restoring power to a ship full of many thousands of bad things. And Within the next few minutes, many of those bad things will figure out where I have gone, and will come through that hatch looking for me. And when they do, nothing will hold them back, they will descend upon us in feeding frenzy and leave nothing but bone.”
“What?” Asked Nina in a vicious tone of voice.
“That ship, my dear, is full of a race known as the Huron. A race that came to this planet a long time ago in search of food, in search of us.”
“That’s vol fodder! There is no life outside of Pandora, and we all know that.” Replied Nina coldly.
“If you wish to test that theory, then stay here and await your death. In the few moments that you do live will prove to be the most enlightening of your life.
“Enough with this fodder! How do you know the things in there are hostile?” Snapped Tom rudely.
“Because I accidentally awoke them up while attempting to download there ships computer files. I can only conclude that the ship had a defensive system that detected my presence and brought those thing out of their hibernation. Regardless of how they were awoken, I have spent that Last few hours fighting for my in an attempt to escape.”
“What in the hell were you doing in there in the first place?” Asked Harris.
“Gathering information.”
”For who?”
“I told you that I am a scientist.”
“Say that one more time and I will put a round through your knee and leave you here for whatever those things are in they’re to find. Do you understand me?” The man smiled and nodded in agreement.
“Now tell me who you are an who you work for.”
“As you wish. My name is Orata, and I am a member of the underground science guild an organization filled with enlightened minds dedicated to the discovery of technology by other races.”
“That is Pathor fodder, you’re an assassin! Sir with all do respect, I recommend that you just shoot him.” Commented Harris.
“Quiet Harris.” Ordered Tom sharply.
“Ah guys I don’t think we can waste any more time on talk, whatever those things are that are in there, look like there about ready to come out here.” Nina was referring to the hatch. It had been opened about quarter meter and several claw like hands were visible at the base of the door attempting to lift it.
“Whatever they are, they aren’t human!” Nina commented as she backed away toward the collapsed entrance to the Chamber.
“And they look hungry.” Harris added as he reached for his pulse rifle and Nina handed it to him.
“As I have already stated. Now I would suggest in the strongest terms possible that we retreat and seal off this chamber before they manage to get that hatch all the way open.” Commented Trax flatly.
“In case you haven’t noticed Farta, the way out is blocked.” Commented Harris in less than a friendly tone.
Orata looked over at him, somewhat offended by his insult, but not showing it, then glanced over toward the entrance. He quickly looked back at Tom, and Tom didn’t not see what he expected to see, as the man did not appear in the least bit concerned about what he saw. In fact, he smiled at Tom and Tom knew instantly that it was this man who had caused the collapse.
“You’re the one who sealed us in here.” Tom said angrily as he lowered his pistol slightly and took the man by the arm. “Harris cover that door, if anything comes through it,” Tom looked back briefly, “kill it.”
“Our COMs are still down.” Commented Nina.
Tom flashed Orata a dirty look. “Are you responsible for that as well?”
Orata looked over at Nina and said. “Try them now.”
Tom then directed Orata’s attention toward the equipment that was set out on the floor of the chamber. “This is your stuff, is there anything there that we can use to our advantage?”
In the background Nina began using her COM.
“No response,” she said, “just static.”
“Keep trying.” Replied Tom.
“Nina Smith to any one who can read me.” This time a respond was almost instantaneous.
“By God we thought we had lost you. We are almost through the ice, give us another ten minutes.” Replied Ron Lindley excitedly. Tom lowered the pistol and raised his COM.
“Ron, step on it, we have a bad situation brewing in here and may not be around in ten minutes.”
“What’s the problem General?” Asked Captain O’Connor.
“Captain, I am ordering you to start pulling your people out.”
“Pull my people out General?”
“Affirmative. I am giving you a direct order to pull your people out and advise Global Command that this site is to be destroyed. This ship can not be allowed to free itself from the ice.”
“General are you issuing a Trident Alert?”
“Affirmative Captain, full scale Trident Alert. We have less than twenty four hours to obliterate this thing before it frees itself.”
“Understood.” Replied O’Connor. He knew that when a Trident Alert was issued it meant business. Without question he issued the order to clear the site, and relayed the command to Andover Base. Within the hour this site would be completely evacuated. Within twenty hours a Tsunami class Destroyer would launch a fusion missile and wipe this ship and all evidence of its existence from the face of Pandora forever.

Tom, who had never taken his eyes off of Orata, had noticed that he was looking at several small black semi flat objects sitting in a pile to one side of a empty Depleted Uranium Pulse Pistol.
“What are those?” He asked.
“Explosives.” Replied Orata simply.
“Show us how to use them”
“As you wish.”
“Nina take Harris’s rifle and watch that door. Harris get over here.”
Nina and Harris did as they were told as the hatch on the ship slide open another inch.
Orata explained the how to operate the explosives in short order. Tom handed Harris his pistol and picked up a few of the explosive devices and planted them near the hatch. One of the arms kept reaching out at him as he deployed the charges. Tom was close enough to see into the crack as the door continued to inch open centimeter by centimeter. What Tom saw was enough to cause any sane man to challenge the sanity of his own mind. They were alien; of that there was no doubt. From what Tom could see, they were short light bluish purple creatures with deep red eyes. Tom did not need to be a mind reader to know that these things were not friendly at all. He finished planting the Last charge and stepped back. He kept a couple in his pocket to be on the safe side. Tom walked backwards keeping the hatch in view.
“Why did you collapse the entrance?” Asked Harris as he stood there guarding Orata.
“In case I failed to escape, they would have been contained.”
“Contained only until their ship was free.” Commented Tom as he stepped up next to Orata holding a small device in his hand.
“This activates the explosives, and the detonates them?” He asked holding the device up for Orata to see.
“Yes, only the ones that have been assigned to the controls will detonate as you activate them. You do realize that if you do detonate them, we will all be crushed by the ice”
Tom had programmed the device according to Orata’s instructions, assigning each explosive to a remote trip switch that he alone held. He could blow them all, or one at a time. Tom even programmed the two devices in his pocket to the controller.
“And yes that does include you.” Tom said with a smirk. “That little trick you did where you came through that hatch, well I found the power source and well,” he pauses slightly, “see for your self.”
Orata seemed to look away for a second, at some point just past where Tom was standing. He did not smile at what he saw, only ever so slightly frowned.
“Very clever of you General.” Orata Commented. “My environmental suite has just enough reserve energy to keep me warm for a few more hours.”
“Hopefully long enough to get you back to Andover Base.”
“Tom!” Yelled Nina as she opened fire with the Pulse Rifle. Here target was the first of the creatures to squeeze past the hatch. It did not survive the experience as the depleted uranium pellets “Shells” pummeled its body into paste. Many of the shells penetrated the darkness behind the hatch and vicious screams let out, loud enough to shatter glass and evil enough to convert even the staunchest atheist to the religion.
“General? General what is going on?” Asked Ron almost yelling over the COM in concern. “We hear weapons fire?”
“Ron just get us the hell out of hear.” Replied Tom.
Just then the hatch on the alien ship seemed to melt into the wall as literally dozens of barbaric looking little alien creatures, humanoid in form, but as un-human as insidiously possible aggressively fought their way past one another through the hatch. Nina opened fire once again reducing many of them, if not all of the first ones, to dead heaps who were promptly pulled back in through the hatch as more attempted to get.
“Keep firing!” Yelled Harris as he kept the pistol aimed at Orata who seem not to care at all.
Nina continued to fire at the little demons, yes, that is what they looked like, those little demons she had seen in old religious books. They were depicted as the evil servants of those who angered God into cleansing the universe of all life say for that which lived on Pandora. How then could these things be alive? How could God have missed them? Nina maintained her fire but the little monsters were gaining ground as more and more of them tried to come through the hatch.
“Ron tell me you almost through?” Yelled Tom into his COM to be heard over Nina’s firing. There was an uncomfortable long pause before Ron replied.
“General we have just been ordered to evacuate.” Replied Ron in what was a sincere ton of regret. Tom looked at the COM as his anger began to mount.
“Come again?”
“General Christopher I have been ordered by Global Command to evacuate all of my men immediately.” Captain O’Connor said over the COM. “I am sorry sir, but you and the people with your are on your own.”
“O’Connor!” Yelled Tom into the COM with all of his anger. “You will disregard that order and continue to dig us the hell out of here!”
“I am sorry sir, I have been relieved of my command and ordered back to Andover. This site is now considered Omega.” Tom looked up at the ceiling as Nina continued to fire. He slowly turned toward the hatchway and looked around. Nina had decimated what appeared to be nearly fifty of those things, one could not be sure as they were being pulled back inside as they fell.
“I am sorry sir. God be with you.” Said O’Connor right before the COM went dead.
“What’s wrong sir?” Asked Harris.
Tom did not respond, he dropped the COM and just stood there. In all of his life, he had never felt as hopeless as he was feeling now. The realization that they were all doomed somehow didn’t seem real to him.
“An Omega site is the military’s way of saying those left behind are left in the hands of God.” He said just loud enough for Harris to hear. Harris looked lost; his expression was one of a man who seemed not yet ready to die, but one who would welcome death as an escape. Tom could not imagine why a man would ever welcome death say for one thing. Tom could not help but think of his wife and daughter as he looked back on his life.
Tom knew there fiats had been sealed; someone had made the call to condemn them all to death. Tom stepped forward away from Orata and Harris, and pressed the triggering button on the explosive control device for the first set of explosive planted near the hatch. Everything went white as the little explosive exploded simultaneously releasing their combined horrific power. The force of the bLast knocking everyone to the ground and caused tons of ice to come crashing down in front and around them.

[ May 26, 2003, 14:03: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

[The FryeR K]

Too much all at once my just finished
my brain hurts

NEED MORE