Shattered Worlds - All that was old, is new.
===CHAPTER I=============================
1100 Hours, June 22, 3612 (Military Calendar) /
Serpent Nebula, Widow System, Planet W-080-13, Human 'Gateway' Colony.
“Hold!” The squad leader screams back to his troops with fist clenched tightly next to his face. Captain Reno, as the most senior man in a collective crew of three Terran Military frigates was landed with leading this foolish mission. It was difficult enough just keeping tabs on the fifty rookie marines following closely behind, this being the very first mission for many of them in their young careers. Each one nervous and with itchy trigger fingers.
Reno's hand returned to the barrel of his assault rifle, carefully examining the landscape. A city sized colony and its fifteen-hundred citizens and workers had fell out of contact three hours ago. It was clear as soon as he was dropped in, it wasn't just a communications fault with the plumes of black smoke filling the air. Reno again took his hand off of his weapon and moved his hand with index and middle fingers extended in a silent signal for the lead team to move forward. Three marines step forward and join him, each taking a position around Reno to keep every angle covered as the four slowly move into the colony itself.
The air was thick with the smell of fire, buildings on each side of the marines still burning fiercely. The larger marine force slowly follow behind the lead team at a a dozen or so meters as Reno and his team turn out of sight around a corner and into the colonies main square. Dozens of bodies litter the ground, the smell of fire is met with the smell of blood, too much for one of the rookies to handle as he drops his position and staggers over to a corner to throw up. The two marines with Reno narrow their eyes and turn away, but Reno's own experience shines through as no stranger to death. He approaches one of the bodies and turns it face up, examining his belongings.
As the rest of the marines enter the square, Reno locks his assault rifle onto the clip on his back, relaxing a little as it seemed whatever caused this destruction was no longer here.
“Search for survivors.” Reno says as he pulls out a data pad from the dead scientists coat. The marines begin to split up and search the colony for any signs of life. Reno begins to flip through the digital pages of the data pad, but finds nothing of use, just technical information on the colonies construction plans.
“Captain!” A marine shouts from behind one of the buildings in the square. Reno quickly joins him along with the two of the lead team who were still standing. The small group had found what looked like a massive mole hill in the ground.
“What is that?” The male marine on Reno's left asks.
“Crater from an orbital attack?” The marine who had called out suggests. Reno squats down and draws his fingers across the edge of the upturned dirt.
“No scorch marks...” He says quietly.
“MAC's don't leave scorch marks.” The female marine on Reno's right weighs in.
“True. But why would a Human ship attack a Human colony?”
“Pirates?” Another marine picks up. “We're close to Yaki territory, aren't we?”
“Not that close...” The female marine says.
Suddenly there is a tremendous scream, followed by the sound of sustained automatic gunfire. Reno whips his assault rifle from his back and with the other marines close behind rushes back to the square. Three marines, rookies as they were were firing off into the distance, a constant stream of bullets instead of quick bursts resulted in their weapons emptying themselves of ammo within moments. As Reno and his group get to the edge of the square, the ground begins to shake and crack. The panicking rookies desperately fumble with new clips, but before they can lock them into place, the ground opens up with a deafening, monstrous shriek.
A beast of immense size bursts from the ground, it's tentacles tearing through two of the rookies and its gigantic mouth closing around the third, dragging him down underground.
“Open fire!” Reno shouts as he drops to his knee, allowing the marines behind to fire over his head. The group only gets a few hits in on the beast before it disappears again underground. The sounds brought the entire accompaniment back into the square, a mistake Reno knew was going to cost lives – he just didn't know how many... Yet. Some of the more experienced marines had taken up positions on top of a building that was still standing and spared of fire with sniper rifles in hand, surveying the colony and any signs of where the beast may again resurface.
There's what seems like an eternity of eerie silence as Reno slowly moves across the square. Suddenly the inevitable happens as the creature again bursts out of the concrete ground, right underneath the highest concentration of rookies, sending twenty or so flying into the air as the massive worm-like creature catches several in its huge maw in mid air. The air is filled with the deafening sound of automatic fire from thirty assault rifles and sniper shots, the sound over shadowed only by the screech of the creature as its tentacles tear through the front lines. As Reno's weapon is emptied it becomes apparent the creatures scales were as hard as steel, bullets just flinging off of its surface. Reno drops his assault rifle and pulls up a grenade launcher attached to his lower back. The weapon extends itself and Reno aims carefully with only one shot loaded. The marines kept up their fire, and as the beast stretches forward through it position in the ground, Reno fires the slug into its huge mouth.
After a second of delay, the slug explodes, again causing the beast to scream in ear piercing pain. It sinks back into the ground and again there is quiet. Barely fifteen or so marines were still standing, and the creature didn't even give those that were time to reload. The ground bulged as it moved beneath the earth, ramming the structural base of the building where the snipers had perched. It bursts forth again, taking a huge chunk of the building with it as the concrete collapses, taking the snipers and a handful of of marines at the base of the building along with it.
“Pull back!” Reno finally orders, but as he turns to follow his marines. The beasts massive blue tongue lashes from its maw and strikes Reno dead through the chest.
“Captain!” The female marine who was by Reno's side all this time shouts back as she turns.
“...Ru-run...” Reno says with his last breath as the beast tosses his body aside. It again dives underground, giving chase after the just seven of fifty that remained. The ground again bulges as two of the creatures razor sharp tentacles dig through the concrete like a shark moving as easily through water.
The female marine dives out of its path as it passes her by, the tentacles slicing through the six others. Two survive the assault, only tripped up by the movements in the ground. With no thought for her own safety, the female marine rushes over to them, dragging them away from the tentacles. She pulls them to their feet, and holds onto them by the arms as they try to get away as fast as possible, but as they turn the tentacles whip forward from the ground, slashing through the female marines armour. She screams in pain as the weight is shifted and all three marines fall again to the ground.
With blood dripping through the cracks in her armour, the female turns onto her back to see the beast burst up from the ground and loom over her with lapping bright blue tongue and thousands of dripping teeth. Everything begins to go back for her as the creature prepares to drag her underground. The last thing the marine sees before everything goes black is a flash of light in the sky. She hears the creatures ear piercing scream, and feels the tremor as its huge body slams against the ground, her entire body splattered with blue blood.
She stares up at the sky as the bright blue dwarf star began setting on this worlds horizon. She was sure her time was at an end, and that the last sight she would see was her ship descending from the sky, the only other two survivors of this suicide mission looking over her and calling out her name in concern. The creature laid lifeless next to her, felled by a single shot from the frigates MAC, tearing through its body with ease. The darkness washed over her vision, the voices of her fellow soldiers got quieter and quieter, but in those last few moments she could swear she heard another voice... A young girls voice reach out to her...
“This is not your time, Kira. After all, if you are to die here, then there would be no story, now would there?”
0400 Hours, March 18, 3612 (Military Calendar) /
Local Cluster, Sol System, Planet Earth, New Eden.
“Okay
rookies! I hope you have everything you’re gonna need packed, we’ll
be on tour for some time starting now.”
A man known as
Captain Reno spoke to what must be the count of at least three
frigates of Terran marine troops, He spoke loud so his voice would
echo through the large docking bay of the hanger that himself and
everyone else was in, he needed them to make sure that they could
hear him – for although there may not be much action now and days,
in space no one is one hundred percent sure what is waiting to
attack. His eyes cast over everyone, mostly the troops he knew just
by how much he had to push them during training or how much trouble
they were. This is when he noticed that one individual was no
present... this particular rook was actual not a rookie – he had
seen action before and at a seemly young age at that; and at the Sol
Civil War.
“Where is he?...” Reno shouts out, as he
knew that the marines who were frequently around this missing one
would know the situation; and yet no one gave a answer. A few rookies
in the front line nudge one another, the one that was nudge looks to
the line up behind himself to a female marine who shakes her head
which causes the one who looked to her to sigh. By the time this
marine looked in front of himself, Captain Reno was staring him face
to face.
“Taymer James Gegitts... I know you know
where Amisak is...” Reno says causing Taymer to get very nervous,
put on spot, and unsure of what to say; sweat could be seen running
along his face up this close.
“So you know, WHERE THE HELL
IS HE!?!” Reno begins to shout only to have a marine standing next
to the female one speak.
“He is unable to make it sir...”
Reno raises one eyebrow up high to this.
“Oh he cannot
make it? So let me guess that girly headed, metal face couldn’t
make it because he had a hair and nail appointment? Is that what your
telling me?”
“No-No Sir it is a matter of over
intoxication Sir!”
“What?... ov-over intoxication?”
“Sir yes Sir!... W-...I went out to party with him last night
and he had Waaaaay too much to drink and is now KIA in bed Sir!”
“... So then WHY DIDN’T YOU WAKE HIM!”
“We
did! Uh I mean, I did try Sir...” Taymer says as he thinks
to himself for a few moments of the attempt of waking Jin up.
1
Hour ago, Marine quarters...
“Yeah I got everything of mine... Tay, make sure Jin isn't in
that bathroom fixing his hair all day long please! We have to go.”
The female marine says while walking out of the door to head down to
the space port where the Captain is. Taymer nods his head, throwing
his duffel bag over his shoulder while knocking on the bathroom door
and not getting a response for sometime afterwards.
“What the hell... JIN C’MON YOUR GONNA MAKE US LATE AND THEN
WE’LL GET BATHROOM DUTY! I DON’T WANT BATHROOM DUTY AGAIN MAN!
BIGGS TOOK THIS SHIT THAT STUFFED THE TOILET THAT ONE TIME AND I AM
NOT DOING IT AGAIN... I-I can still remember the way it bubbled up at
me when I finally unclogged the toilet... UGGH!...” Taymer says
while getting the jitters thinking about to that horrible week... Yet
still no response from the bathroom, so he places his hand on the nob
and turns it to a open... and no one was inside.
“What
the hell?... Eh maybe he already left...” He says shrugging his
shoulders and then heading to the door to leave the quarters as
well... until he heard a loud snore from one of the bunk beds. This
noise scared Taymer half to death as he jumped up and then went into
a roll while grabbing the closest thing to him as a weapon – he
prayed it was not a space rat of some sort as those scared him.
“Wh-Who’s there dammit!?” Taymer shouts and then hears a
groan from Jin’s bunk, he goes over to it and who else does he see
in it? Jin... sleeping carelessly...
“Oh shit...” He
says to himself. Taymer knew just what was happening and why Jin was
sleeping as hard as he is. A quick flash back to last night where
they all drank and partied comes to his mind; also Jin’s attempt to
touch the boobs of their female marine partner – who used the
aggressive force of a punch to the face to fend him off. This causes
Taymer to laugh for a moment but then snap back to reality because he
himself personally did not want to get hit with toilet cleaning duty
yet again, he begins to violently shake Jin... but nothing happens
but the continuous sound of his snoring.
“Fuck...”
Taymer says, he then goes off into another room and grabs pots and
pans and bangs them loudly, he also grabs a partner’s trumpet and
plays it directly near his ear; however these did nothing to wake
him... A few other marines attempted to help but nothing worked, the
female marine even came back just to throw in a punch when she
noticed she was nearly the only one waiting at the shuttle to take
them to the space port. Taymer even goes for the throwing water on
the sleeping person trick but nothing, he had no idea how to wake him
up... and no more time... he rushes out with his bag over his
shoulder and hat titled down.
“Sorry Jin – I do NOT
want those toilets calling out my name! Good luck bro!” Is all that
Taymer says...
Back
in the current time...
Taymer was still in
thought until Captain Reno’s shouting bought him back to.
“PRIVATE!!! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU RIGHT NOW!?!”
“AHH!!!... Uh-... here?... sorry Sir!” Taymer stutters
frantically while sweating harder.
“It is okay private...
Just answer that question again when your in space cleaning out the
bathrooms.” Captain Reno says with a slight grin as he walks away
from Taymer who’s jaw hit the ground in disbelief; he ended up
having to meet his dreaded enemy yet again after all... Toilet
duty.
“Let that be a lesson to all of you. You DO NOT
leave a comrade behind If they are still breathing! On the
battlefield your comrade, your partner, your unit and team IS your
life... Without them you WILL be in a world full of SHIT! GOT THAT”
Captain Reno shouts out to the marines who reply with a loud “YES
SIR!” – Though Taymer’s was low and filled with sorrow for the
future set ahead of him...
“All right, we disembark in a
half so everyone go to your assigned freighter and get comfortable,
your gonna need it for the next few months” Captain Reno says as he
walks off into one of the freighters, the rest of the marines doing
the same by going to the others and about a quarter of the bunch
going into the one he entered.
Back at the empty marine
quarters Jin finally awakens... and when he does he is literally
horrified. He was soaking wet, he had pots and pans next to his bed
along with a trumpet, a open bag of flour and finally now both sides
of his jaw hurt...
“Oh my god... wh-wha did they do to
me.. Did I get raped?...” Jin says with large, frightened, child
like eyes as he peeks his head out from the side of his bed and sees
no one around. This causes him to remember that he was suppose to be
ready for the tour today.
“SHIIT! I AM NOT BEING TRASH GUY
AGAIN!!!” Jin leaps up but due to still feeling drunk he instantly
falls into something breaking it completely...
“Oh shit...
someone is gonna kill me...”
Jin slowly creeps away and
heads into the bathroom where he just washes his face and puts a
little water in his crimson and black hair and literally rolls around
in clothing while putting them all on – now that he was in his
private uniform he just grabs his guitar case and heads off. By the
time Jin makes it to the space port where everyone was at the last
frigate was taking off into the sky.
“Ooooo shit... Yep...
aaaaah yea... I’m fucked!” Jin says with a sarcastic tone of
voice as he paces back and forth for a moment of two before heading
back to the empty quarters and flopping back onto the bed and going
under the covers... hiding in them like a child while awaiting his
fate to the head honcho...
